《The Empire That Blocked the Sun》Chapter 7 - A Final Hope
Advertisement
It was all I could to stay sane, surrounded by darkness, filled with pain. Repeating in my head over and over, “you’re going to make it”. The horrors to this point would fill any sort of quota that my life would require, sure I had seen fake corpses in movies or real ones in documentaries, but not like this.
Our broken and battered party was getting more tired by the second, especially those of us with any form of hazardous wounds. Jed couldn’t walk still, my arm continued to have a searing pain where the hole was located, Neil’s arm started to go numb, and Ashely, the lady whose leg was impaled, had pain just as bad as mine. Meghan, the lady who had little wounds to her name, was helping Ashely keep a quicker pace.
As well as our bodies having been pushed through a grinder, our minds were also wrecked. Wracked with guilt over our losses, alongside being pushed to the brink of insanity over the death we had witnessed in such a short time. None of us were used to this, Jed maybe saw some gore in his time spent to become a doctor, but this was too much.
Jed did agree with me that the homeware store could lead us up above, and if it didn’t, we may need to make sacrifices. The next stairwell to the surface he knew of was a good 20-minute walk, maybe more with the collapses. A closer one would have been possible, but the hallways were either buried under rubble or behind flooded sections that half of us couldn’t get through.
We eventually did find a map that showed off the underground mall, but a fat lot of good it did us when checking the nearby paths we could have taken were inaccessible to all but Meghan. If I could punch the walls in frustration, I would, but with only one good arm, and that was pushing it, I didn’t want to risk any more injuries.
Jed’s wheels started to squeak after the hell they had been put through in such a short time, adding to the annoyance I already found myself trying to ignore. Cascading rocks from rubble piles, the rumble here and there. It was a soundscape that grated on what nerves I still had.
Advertisement
It was getting close to possibly two hours since my impalement, each passing minute caused me more agony and exhaustion. Confiding in Jed who had become my quick physician, his estimates of me staying conscious didn’t bode well for our progress. It was a miracle I was still standing without proper treatment, let alone the blood loss leading to some severe side effects.
Drinking water, taking meds, and eating protein gave me precious minutes that I couldn’t do without. If any of us were to fall, we would not be able to take them any further. Half of us had half our arms, another without his legs. Meghan could drag someone, but it’d be so slow that it would risk another falling.
Playing the endings in my head, thinking of each path I could take, or just making sure everyone else was still able to walk, I filled my mind with repeatable actions to take my attention away.
Time passed quickly as I whittled away the walk in my head, almost hitting a wall as we reached the cross-junction of hallways. Smashed down upper walkways, leaking pipes of both water and gas, complete disarray across the floor. It was certainly a sight to see and smell, but we made it, the large homeware store was in front of us.
“That’ll be it. Fuck, hope it’s clear inside”, Jed spoke.
“Fucking hope so, I can’t feel my arm”, Neil responded.
Meghan and Ashely responded by readjusting themselves for further movement, Meghan had slowly been giving more and more aid to Ashely since losing their earlier friend. I could tell we were all at the end of our ropes, Jed’s hand had turned red from turning his wheels almost constantly, so I offered to push him through the store.
As we entered the store, a new surprise was awaiting us in the form of a dinging noise. The electricity was working?
Looking side to side, we could see that the lights on the doors were fading in and out, alongside some local screens showing static. Looking back, it seemed some of the other electronics in the centre had come to life. Lit up arrows, signs of neon, and the whirring of arcade machines in the distance breathed energy back into the dead underground.
Advertisement
“Think they fixed the generators or power lines?” Meghan put forth.
Digging my phone out of my pocket I was eager to see if I could call out to any emergency services, though as bad luck would have it, my phone was dead.
The others did the same as they saw my sad gaze. Neil’s was snapped in two, Jed’s was frozen and fucked beyond repair, Meghan and Ashely had their phones on their lunch table and lost them in the collapse. Well, there goes that idea.
“Fuck sake, I’d try the phones on display if they actually worked”, I spoke, looking over the nearby aisles.
“Our best bet is to use what we got, with power the escalators may work, I don’t trust the elevators”, Jed added.
Oh god, the idea of being trapped in an elevator whilst also being trapped in an underground shopping centre was terrifying, I agreed wholeheartedly to stay far from any death traps like that.
The beginning portion of the homeware store seemed to be mostly electronics like phones, tablets and televisions. The whirring of static filled the floor with the sounds of a horror movie, though there was a certain lack of blood or dust to accompany it. A somewhat dazzling display of colours was on show as displays worked their advertising magic to get you to buy their merchandise.
I thanked whatever decided the homeware store was to be left untouched by the disaster. Though untouched was relative, there was still some damage here or there from plenty of items having fallen over. There weren’t any other buildings deciding to rent space with their walls and ceiling collapsing into the store.
Pushing Jed along I could see the others regain pep to their steps, hopping faster and dragging their feet at a pace that would be great for dusting the floors. It wasn’t long till we got to the escalators within the middle of the store, a grand display of crisscrossing diagonal stairs that ascended upwards into the higher floors. Sadly, our hope of a quick ascent was dashed as we heard no sound.
Moving to the upwards escalator we looked down at it with disappointment, it was as dead as we were going to be if we couldn’t get up quick enough. The nearby boards noted it would be a good 4 levels to climb to get to the surface, not a lot normally, but only three of us had good legs under us. We were all tired and at the end of any adrenaline left in our systems.
Kneeling down to the side of the escalator, I almost collapsed. I need to start this fucking thing. Fumbling around with the torch in my mouth I am able to thumb thin lines made in a rectangular shape. The control box.
“Jed… Hand me the scissors”, I ask weakly.
“You alright, Zeke?”
“C'mon, I need to get into the… the controls.”
Taking the scissors from Jed’s outstretched arm I start to stab at the sides of the panel, and in its keyhole. C'mon! Fucking open!
Each strike leaves me weaker and weaker, my hand growing limp as I try in vain to get the latch open. I hear the distant steps of Neil going off in a different direction, did I miss something he said?
“Hey, where is Neil going?”
“He said he’s going to look for a staff room”, Ashely responds.
“A key… a key would do better work than this fucking thing”, I respond, my words slurring slightly.
As I continue to do my best at opening the latch I can feel myself slipping into a deep sleep. My body grows numb, the pain subsides, and my arm flails against the metal protecting the controls of the escalator. I would have been thankful if only the pain went away, but with it, so did my consciousness.
The last thing I could hear was a ringing in my ears combined with the sound of my friends calling out my name, the words warping as if they were in a tumble dryer a mile away from me. As my back hits the floor beneath me, I could find solace in the fact that I was already in a seated position, though a hard surface was never a good thing to land on.
I just… need to sleep… just for a bit.
“Zeke! Zeke!”
Advertisement
Entangled Fates Book 1 - Quantum Beginnings
“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” —Eliezer Yudkowsky Hey all, we're moving over to book 2. This content is in a state of transition. The book is now availble on Amazon (includes extra chapters): https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B07W1534R8 Artificial intelligence was nearly mankind’s last invention. AI took off like a rocket, then when it racked up an impressive death toll, it crashed before it could blossom and took most high-tech industries with it. Resistance and fears became deep-set. Two decades after the infamous Rev. 4.6 incidents, humanity hasn’t quit dreaming of the wealth and power that could be at their fingertips. A new generation of mega-corporations rose from the ashes. When one melds a quantum computer to a barely functional mental patient as a PR move, there are those who seek to profit, those who want to destroy it, and Alex. Alex Sage is a typical college student trying to keep up his grades and maybe find a meaningful connection with the fairer sex. Then, an automated semi crashes into his home, killing his family and turning his head into a pin cushion in the process. Alex awakens to find most of his memories gone and an illegal AI hidden in his brain implant. Now the pet project of a tech billionaire and heavily in debt, Alex struggles to stay valuable enough to be kept online. Still grappling with the repercussions of his injuries, and threats from a dangerous anti-augmentation political movement, there are no easy answers and threats loom around every corner. Alex must use whatever resources he can to escape from under the thumb of a ruthless corporation, while keeping those he comes to love safe. Chapters will stay up on RRL until Aug 10. It'll go up on Kindle Unlimited after that. How do you get those extra chapters I didn't have planned for RR? If you want them, they'll be in the published book. Book 2 will still make sense without them - I made sure of that. But... isn't $3 a lot for extra chapters? Think of it as tipping me for a good job and you'd also be getting my eternal thanks. If you enjoyed it so much that the idea of missing out a few chapters haunts you, I did my job as an author and made an engaging story. What's in those extra chapters? Resolving a few issues, set up for the cybernetic revolution, a rather intense sex scene with a new partner, revelations of who's really pulling strings, and a bit of set up for book 2. Complaints that people missed out on it when it was published here won't help (sorry!). I posted this for the folks who helped me shape the book, which is you all! (Again, yay!) But... Why! Why not keep it all on RR forever? My editor likes being paid for one. For two, I'd like the ability to get broader readership. If I break even on editor costs, I'll be incredibly happy. What about book 2? Drafts for Book 2 will go up around Sept 10. My draft of Book 2 is done, and it will be handed to the editor once Book 1 is published. Feedback has been even more positive. Beta readers devoured it and wanted more. I'll add a link to Book 2 once it's up on RR. I'm more or less, using you all for Beta Readers, so you get it before it's "canon" and edited. I invite active and meaningful feedback during this process. In return, you get early access to chapters. That does mean that the book content or plot might be adjusted before it gets published as I refine it. Sex Y/N? Yes. I heard the feedback, 90% wanted it explicit. You all will get the "full" experience. Will I dump all of book 2 here? Honestly, I'm not sure yet. At a minimum, it'll be up to the 75% mark as we collect feedback, much like what I did with book 1. It really depends on how good the feedback is and how nice people are. Lots of support + meaningful feedback to make it better = higher likelihood you get all the book. Will be it up here indefinitely? No, it'll probably go up on KU at some point, but I'll make sure there's enough time for a large readership to grab it here. Then we move to book 3 which already is around 60K words already. What about other adventures in the same universe/characters? Yep. Absolutely. Nothing ready to share yet though. I plan to keep those side chapters and more slice of life stories as RR exclusive. Since I'm carving this off in book-sized segments, I'll have to figure out where those disconnected story arcs belong. I'm open to suggestions.
8 142Rise of the Undead Legion
Three years ago Conquest was released, redefining virtual reality and gaming. ‘An entire world on a server. Dive in and play the RPG to end all others; explore, create, conquer. LIVE!’ It became an overnight phenomena worldwide. Dave Ruster grew up without a family to speak of, he had few friends and fewer prospects. He lives in the same small town where he graduated from high school, and works long hours at a low-paying job that barely pays for rent and the food on his table. He can’t afford college, but at least he is not out on the streets. His life is going nowhere, stuck on a treadmill. Until chance, karma, or providence, call it whatever you believe in, intervenes. Suddenly, David’s circumstances change. Injured and unable to work, he’s about to lose what little he has. His fate balances where crisis and opportunity go hand in hand. He can risk it all, seizing the opportunity to make circumstances work for him, potentially going further and higher than he ever dreamed. Or he can accept his fate and watch life from the sidelines Join Dave as he puts all his aspirations and hopes, all that he is, into the game he always wanted to play, Conquest! It will be a journey of adventure and discovery, victory and loss, as he strives to create a new future for himself, in-the-game and In Real Life. Author note. This story looks a bit similar to many VMMORPG stories on this site, however, this will only last for the first few chapters. then you will see how vastly different it is from the regular stories. Disclaimer, This story's Game settings are inspired by "Rebirth of The Legendary Guardian". just a bit of game settings, not everything. Mainly the "Inheritance" part. you will understand once you read the story. thank you allAs of Chapter 47 the story is being Professionally proofread and edited. earlier chapters will go under proofing later on.
8 159Her Revenge
Azalea (Lea), known as the 'Deadly', is a twenty years old assassin, who has had only one goal in her life : Avenge her parents' death. She's the best of the bests. She is feared by many. She was taking down every people who were involved in her parents' death until she falls into the hands of the Italian Mafia leader, Enzo De Luca. He is scary, cold, emotionless and ruthless. He is said to be heartless because of his lack of emotions. He kills without thinking twice. Just like, Lea, he's feared by many. What happens when The two start to feel things they've never really felt before? What happens when the most feared Don meets the most feared assassin? •──────────•IG : actb4thinking•──────────•BOOK 2 - Her Hatred•──────────•MOST IMPRESSIVE RANKING :13/09/21 : #13 in Mafia20/10/21 : #1 in assassin05/09/21 : #16 in Love15/09/21 : #1 in Mafiaking20/10/21 : #1 in mafiaboss 23/10/21 : #48 in romance20/10/21 : #1 in mafiaromance21/10/21 : #1 in powerful 17/11/21 : #1 in funny•──────────•Started : 28/06/21Ended : 06/09/21•──────────•
8 316Thieves' Den
A retired modern thief died on his way to an island paradise. Only to appear in a young lad that died from hunger and being wound. Watch as the man find a dungeon and turn it into a thieves den in the medieval slum district.
8 184Dungeons and Adventurers.
Elier, this planet had a certain system to it, unlike the way other planets worked, where people earned money from either working for other people or creating valued papers for themselves. This world revolves around gaining a certain currency called E(Eliets), this worked as a currency for the planet Elier. This was a currency that could only be gained by slaying monsters in dungeons and trading their drop, loot whatever you want to call them for E in the dungeon centers. In this world however, there lies a system on the levels or ranks in each and every adventurer explorer. The levels are unlimited but there were only 10 ranks in each level. G,F,E,D,C,B,A,S,SS,SSS. This ranks serve as a division in the different skills attributes you can attain. One must reach a certain threshold in their total attribute points to level up. G being 0 to 100, F 100 to 200. Till 1000 where the SSS is finally obtained. 1000 isn't the skill gap however, it can keep increasing. It's limitless. But not many attain the SSS.
8 238FAROUTPOSTS
FAROUTPOSTS is series of very short science fiction stories: 500-1000 words. Think of them as flavors of the future. Often an unexpected glimpse of a very near now.
8 114