Nuclear Rising
Page 26
“Let’s go!” I yell, reaching down to grab a dazed Brig from her feet.
She mumbles, “What did you do Quinn? You’ve got some balls, kid.”
I laugh, replying, “You still have to do one more thing remember? When we cross the bridge?”
She nods and we approach the end of the long bridge, the skulks that had stopped the group of kids and women and Jake Manley lying in dismembered piles, convulsing. Screams emanate from somewhere to make way for the General.
“Everyone clear?” Brig asks tiredly. “Good.”
Brig reaches down to a large rock, and heaving it to the side, exposes a control panel of some kind with a bunch of square number tiles. She quickly types in several numbers and then with a final pause, presses a rounded, red button.
Seconds later a chain reaction explodes along the bridge, flames bursting in the night sky, deafening booms blasting the stone into the water below, sealing the city off from us.
“One way in,” Brig says. “One way out – it was the perfect fortress. And tomb.”
I try to look across the river, but only see a pile of skulks crawling back and forth over a large mound of a monster while it still struggles to stand.
“Can’t they just cross the river and get us?” I ask, glancing at Brig.
“Not a chance,” She says. “They aren’t going to leave their precious blue orb in the sky now, and even if they did, that water is full of all kinds of mutated fish and creatures – they won’t make it far.”
“Good,” I say, finally breathing a sigh of relief, catching Bree’s emerald eyes in the fading light.
I walk up to her, showing a large, dimpled grin, and hug her tight as we stand on a hill overlooking Vantage.
“Thank you,” she says quietly, leaning her head against my shoulder as I wince slightly from pain.
I look down into her beautiful, round eyes, and reply, “For what? Saving your dad or you? Or even coming up with such a brilliant idea to stop that ugly monster thing? Maybe saving at least some of your people? Or the children?”
She rolls her eyes, and laughs that light and airy laugh.
She leans her lips up into my own, taking my dry lips into her own supple, wet lips.
“You know,” she whispers. “My dad might actually like you now. As soon as his bleeding is stabilized.”
I laugh. “I’m pretty sure he’s glaring at my soul from somewhere behind us as he gets his half-torn arm bandaged up.”
Bree looks into my eyes, tears in the corner of them and a question freezes on her parted lips.
“What is it?” I ask.
She hesitates for a second. “Where do we go Quinn? Our home is gone.”
I purse my lips, glancing at the ruins that are Vantage as a beautiful scene covers the land. The fading light casts dark across the embattled city, its brilliant large waterworks and metal alloy buildings no longer glinting in the sunlight. Across the river however, there is still light shining in the distance where large oak trees hug the riverbank.
I plant one more kiss against her gorgeous lips.
I had found my new purpose for living.
“We’ll make a new home Bree. A new tribe. A new life.”
But somewhere deep inside me knows that even a new life couldn’t help me move on from Celeste and my son. At some point the two lives would have to merge. I couldn’t help wondering where Celeste was, if she made it to our son, and if she finally found her happiness.
I look into the distance, still holding Bree’s hand, exhaustion suddenly overwhelming me, and I just have one desire as the adrenaline begins to wear off.
Sleep.
About The Author
Christian Smith
Christian Smith is a part-time author, part-time torturer with a professional degree that loves immersive, character-driven stories that whisk readers away from the day jobs we all share. While being author of several unpublished novels and published educational literature, this is the first he has published in the literary world, and he is ecstatic to share his love of fantasy fiction with readers.
He lives in a beautiful land surrounded by mountains, much like the setting for Nuclear Rising, only less skulks and more regular people. While his literary accomplishments publicly extend little more than passing AP English and winning the fifth-grade spelling bee, his love of reading started at a young age with Archie comics and Mad magazines.
Please enjoy reading Nuclear Rising and look forward to many more post-apocalyptic adventures in the future.