Visions of the Atom: The Last Children

by Luis Robles

  Visions of the Atom

  The Last Children

  Luis Robles

  Copyright © 2017 by Luis Robles

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email info@skygatetale.com

  Contents

  1. Desert

  2. Into the Night

  3. Monsters

  4. Oasis

  5. The Visitors

  6. The Fall

  7. The Worms

  8. Flight

  9. Havens

  10. A Lost Race

  11. The War Beasts

  12. Genocide

  13. All or Nothing

  14. Abaddon

  15. The Enemy of my Enemy

  16. For Humanity

  17. A Choice

  18. The Final Minutes

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Sky Gate Tale Books

  1

  Desert

  They, like everyone else, were the last children, the only ones left in this forgotten world. The alien invaders had turned most of the world into a wasteland, a hot and dry wasteland. They grew up as scavengers, knowing the desert and nothing else. Every day was a fight for them, a fight for survival.

  The desert blanketed most of the world known to them or, better said, most of the world they only dared to know, for beyond the desert lay only death, death brought by the hands of blistering cold subzero temperatures, and death brought by the hands of those who visited and laid waste to the world. The brave souls who ventured outside the desert limits never came back.

  The known world was shrinking as time went, as the desert itself was a hostile terrorist for humans: everyday it got hotter, and the creatures within it grew hungrier.

  There were many stories about what happened when the visitors came, but no one knew for sure, no one that was alive then, was alive now. Most of Earth’s history, culture, and knowledge were all lost to the cold night. Only the remnants of what was once a great civilization now remained.

  Colonies of humans dotted across the desert, barely surviving, but survive they did. They considered themselves lucky and blessed to be alive, even if it meant living in a vast wasteland.

  A fire burned within most humans. They wanted the world back; they want to give humanity a second chance. And they were ready to do anything to take it back from those who came to take from them.

  As for the visitors from another world, they made one grave mistake—they were not able to kill the human spirit.

  2

  Into the Night

  From a young age, the children of the atom, the children born under the Haven’s fragile roofs, were trained. They were trained on machineries around the Havens; they were trained in combat and how to use the weapons from the old world. Most importantly, they were honed to develop skills to survive in the unforgiving new world.

  For the faith of humanity would rest on the shoulders of each generation, training was paramount and was an everyday occurrence in the Havens, a part of the everyday life, ultimately prepping the young to go out into the vast desert and reclaim their world once again.

  Early on, each of the young students would specialize in a skill, if they showed a knack for it. This was how builders, engineers, scouts, and even linguists came to be. The people from the Haven worked together and worked hard every day to keep their life raft afloat. But as time went by, things were becoming more difficult to sustain.

  As the last generation of students was growing up, they showed incredible promise. They were the best pupils the Havens had ever seen. Taking swift action, the members of the Council had decided that this group of new graduates would be the ones to go out and search for the beast.

  They knew it was dangerous, but time was running out for them. The resources to sustain life were scarce, and the only water well they had known was drying up. The colony known as Haven 3B emptied their supply banks to give the new expeditionary team a chance.

  “Are you sure about this, Chief? If we take this, the colony would only have food for a few days,” the young man asked.

  “At this point, I’m not sure about anything at all. But it’s the only thing we can do. It’s the only real chance we have. You five, are it. I’ll send a team tomorrow to Haven 1B and see if they could lend us some supplies that will keep us living a little longer,” the old man replied.

  “I hope we are able to find it... I really hope it is out there,” the young man said.

  “Yes, I hope so too...because of you don’t find it, then we are all dead anyways. Perhaps, this is the last chance humanity has for survival,” the old man commented.

  “But what if I am not strong enough? Maybe I’m not the one that should be leading the team. There are way better candidates than us in the other Havens,” the young man said.

  “Candidates, perhaps. But none I can trust to get the job done. I trust you, and I trust the others. This is what you’ve trained for since you were a child. You are just going to have to be. There’s no going back,” the old man responded.

  The old man was Marcus Sykora, and he was the third generation of chiefs in Haven 3B. He had taken the role as chief after his father died at a relatively young age from radiation poisoning. The expected lifespan of the people from the desert wasn’t in great, in fact it was quite the opposite. People often considered themselves lucky to live past the age of 55. That would be if they lived out their lives confined within the walls of the Haven, for every time humans ventured into the desert, they ventured knowing full well that it was in exchange for their lives.

  Marcus, like many other chiefs from the Haven, had no shortage of enemies, people who thought that they would make a better leader, people who thought that they could lead humanity back into prosperity. The biggest of Marcus’ enemies was Craig Williams. He had been a longtime contender for chief of the Haven and wanted to revoke Marcus at any cost. Craig firmly believed that with his leadership, Haven 3B would flourish.

  “What about him? Does he really have to go?” the young man asked, as him and Marcus walked towards where the other four brave souls that would venture into the desert were gathered.

  “I’m afraid so. Craig got the majority of the Council to vote on it, and they wouldn’t have it any other way. Don’t let your guard down for one second; who knows what they’re planning. But I know that at the end of the day Clint is a good man, and he will help you in many ways with the task at hand. This is the only reason why I let him go,” Marcus said.

  “This is going to make things a lot more difficult,” the young man uttered.

  “Listen to me carefully, Arnold. If you so much as think that things are going south, make sure that you’re the first one to take action. Do not hesitate to make a decision. Do what you have to do. But let’s not worry about tomorrow until it comes. In the world we live in today, tomorrow is not guaranteed,” Marcus said, lowering his voice as they neared the group.

  The group of brave souls that would venture into the desert stood there as if getting ready to receive the worst news of their lives. A concerned look was the common denominator in the group, but they were ready to take on Hades itself if they had to. They understood the weight on their shoulders all too well.

  “Good of you to join us! We have no time to spare,” said Ron, the chief engineer of the Haven, also Marcus’ right-hand.

  “Okay, l
isten up. You are it...this is it. In the backpacks, you’ll have rations for up to seven days, eating twice a day only. Our new targeted location is approximately three to four full days away by airboat. You’ll be taking the Orca. I just finished running a full inspection on it and it should be able to last outside the desert with no problem. Remember, and this is very important... Once you go outside the Haven, you cannot stop or slow down. Do you understand?” Ron said, pausing to hear an answer.

  “Yes sir,” the five chorused.

  “As far as we know, the worms are attracted to seismic activity. Now, the airboat will keep that to a minimum. But if you happen to stop and the worms get you, which they will, not only will you be dead, but you can consider us dead as well. Make no mistake for a lot is riding on you, guys. Don’t let us down,” Ron said, looking at each one’s eyes.

  “Arnold here will be your lead. You must listen to him at all times. Whatever he says goes,” Marcus spoke, gesturing towards Arnold.

  There was a clear look of irritation in the face of one of the four.

  “Is there something wrong, Clint? You don’t look happy with the decision of the Council,” Marcus said, looking at the biggest one in the group.

  Clint Williams, son of Craig Williams, was among the five that would venture out in the desert. Clint was a large young man, standing at 6’6” and weighing 250 pounds; he was by far the largest one in the group. He built was solid, and those 250 pounds were probably all muscle.

  “No, Sir. There’s no problem whatsoever,” Clint responded with a deep voice.

  “Good... very good. I’m glad to hear that. I know your father and we have had our differences, but leave that here. Out there in the desert, there is no place for nonsense. Out there, you make a mistake and that’s the last mistake you make. The desert will be against you, looking for different ways to kill you 100% of the time. Do all of you understand this?” Marcus asked, now gazing at each one in the group.

  “Yes sir,” they replied.

  “We are only doing this because we have finally pieced together the map we need. Kenya will be your guide, and your map. She will be bringing with her the most updated map we have of the desert in the last expedition we had. If she says go right, you go right. If she says go left, then you will certainly go left. You got that?” Marcus asked the group.

  “Yes sir,” they answered once again.

  Kenya was the daughter of one of the most prolific scouts there was in Haven 3B. She took over her father’s position two years back when he failed to return to the Haven. She was no more than 16 years old at the time. Now at 18, she was still the youngest one in the group. She had dark, long hair, and she stood at 5’3” and kept her body in shape. Although small, by far she was the most agile in the group.

  “Right... My son, Jordan, is also going with you. He will be the rigger, slash engineer in the group. If something gets broken, if something needs fixing, he will be able to help you. I cannot think of any better person to go with you guys than him,” Ron said, trying to remain strong, but he was obviously affected by letting his only son go out into the desert.

  Jordan Price was a bright, young man with engineering skills to surpass those of his father. Jordan was a well-tempered young man, always keeping a cool head in stressful situations. He was, as some would say, ‘stocky.’ He stood at 6’1”, and weighed more than Clint.

  “As for Avenn, you can rely on him to read and translate most of the old languages if you should need so,” Marcus said.

  For as long as he could remember, his only talent was to read books. By age 12, he read all the books in the colony. And that was no simple task; there were over 450 books, in multiple languages, that remained from the past world. He often dreamed of the past and how things were; he envied the humans and stories of history as the only thing he had to look forward to was more dust. Avenn Winters was by far the most out of place in the group, as he had no real skill outside reading. He had been scolded time and time again by the trainers in the Haven for his lack of interest. He had black hair, stood at 5’8”, and was of average built.

  “You’ll be leaving now. The Orca is ready and waiting for you. So, suit up. I hope you said your goodbyes already,” Marcus said.

  To venture into the desert, or anywhere outside of Haven 3B, a heavy specialized anti-radiation suit was required. The suit could shield them from the radiation indefinitely, as long as there were no tears in the suit. It was equipped with the best filters they had, and each helmet was embedded with their own tactical radio, making communication between the people who wore the suit easy and instantaneous. Light armor was also present in the gear, usually near any vital organ. The suit was also equipped with its own cooling system, with heavy radiators along the shoulders, as temperatures could easily reach 144°F on any given day, and -124°F during the night. Without the suits, human beings wouldn’t survive for long out in the vast wasteland.

  Earlier that day, the group of five spent time with the family, if they had any. Arnold, Jordan, and Clint all said goodbye to their families, while saying goodbye to the Haven wasn’t so difficult for Kenya and Avenn as their family were no more.

  The five of them were chosen among everyone else in the Havens because of the set of skills, including Clint. They were the best Haven 3B had to offer.

  The Orca was a prized position of Haven 3B, given that the other Havens around the area didn’t have their own airboat, much less one with the capabilities of the Orca. The airboat levitated a few feet from the ground, using an antigravity core that ran along the entire boat. Thin but long power sails were at the front of the boat, gathering power from the sun at any chance they could. The highly conductive material allowed the sails to be incredibly efficient, charging up the giant batteries in a matter of hours. Machine guns and shields were spread throughout the boat, and a large main cannon guarded the back. This was an old technology invented before the fallout that turned the world into what it had become, and also was all they had, all that they were able to scavenge.

  Besides the desert, the second worst thing out there were the worms. The weapons on the airboat were barely enough to discourage a worm attack. Oh, those worms were the kind of creature straight out of someone’s nightmare. They came in all shapes and sizes: some you can get scurry away with just a few shots, while some were so giant that not even bombs could get rid of them. The only thing humans had to their advantage was speed; for the most part, the worms were easy to avoid. A human could sometimes outrun the worm, but every now and then there were some fast ones.

  Many thought that the hungrier the worms were, the faster they would get. Worms followed movement and scent, and they were scattered everywhere. That’s why the Havens were often built at the top of a rocky mountain. But the lesson of building on high and solid ground came at a cost: many of the first Havens that were not built on solid rock were destroyed early on by the desert worms.

  “Come on... get ready. Make sure everything is here, well at least everything that we have,” Arnold instructed the others as he checked his trusted rifle one more time.

  “Looks like we are ready to go... Everything checks out just fine. The Orca is running at full power and is ready to go at any time,” Jordan said as he went over the checklist on his tablet.

  “Do we have a heading?” Arnold asked, staring directly at Kenya.

  “Yes. The course is set in the Orca’s navigation computer,” Kenya responded.

  “All right, let’s go,” Arnold said, staring at Jordan.

  Jordan simply nodded, and the Orca began to move forward silently. No one knew what to say, not even Marcus or Ron; they all had stinking feeling in their stomach as the last hope of humanity departed into the desert.

  The Orca picked up speed as it went, gliding smoothly down the inselberg slope in the wind. The night was blistering cold; the only audible sound was that of the Orca sailing down the mountain. When they got down the mountain, the silence grew and so did the cold. As they left the Haven
behind, the boat picked up speed, sailing effortlessly through the endless desert flats. Afar, silhouettes of giant dunes were visible in the horizon. The sky was pitch black, and the moon much like the stars were nowhere to be found, as they were hiding behind the thick, dark clouds.

  “Jordan, can we have some lights?” Arnold asked.

  Jordan swiftly turned on the lights of the Orca, illuminating the ground far into the horizon. At the same time, he noticed dots on the radar approaching the Orca.

  “I think we have a problem,” Jordan said.

  “What is it?” Arnold asked.

  “I think we have some worms approaching us fast. They are flanking us!” Jordan exclaimed.

  “Try to maneuver around them, but don’t veer off course. We will open fire if we have to. As long as we don’t get a large one, we should be fine,” Arnold said.

  The five grew tense as they waited for more of Arnold’s orders.

  “Kenya, I want you in the bow. Clint, you take the stern... I’ll watch the port. Avenn, you take the starboard. If any of those sons of demons come too close for comfort, start lighting them up,” Arnold instructed.

  They scrambled to the newly assigned posts. It was then when they saw them in the distance—the unmistakable silhouette of the worms.

  “We have several of them on our trail!” Clint shouted.

  “Don’t do anything or they might get more aggressive. As long as they don’t get too close, we will be fine,” Arnold said, trying to stay calm.

  “Let’s not give them a chance to get close. I think we should shoot them,” Clint sneered.