The sun rises above the wasteland. The eerie hum of the winds carrying radioactive dust, every breath shortens our lives yet we have no choice. The chirps of birds who’m build their nests in great towers of metal and stone where once millions lived. Entire cities that now lie in ruin retaken by nature. Where mankind once enjoyed a life of prosperity and greatness reduced to a sanctuary for nature and a deadly trap for those brave enough to enter these ruins.
We live in a world, a nation where the average lifespan of mankind sits just below the age of 40. And no its not because of child mortality but because most of us will never live that long. The state of our world has turned us into what some may consider evolutionary masterpieces. But the shattered remains of the old world lingers in the air itself, a toxic poison and with every breath it saps our life bit by bit. A world where you are one stray bullet away from death. Civilization has all but collapsed yet we live on, for our determination and willpower is stronger then the will of nature itself. Angel’s Light sits close to a place of great mystery. “A ruin of the old ones” they called it. “A wicked place, cursed untill the end of time.” They said. Yet as a child i could not help but be fascinated by this distant place. My grandpa always reminded me about the dangers of these ruins, should i have heeded his warnings? Perhaps. But it has always been a dream of mine to see for myself the very places that millions once called home… My name is Chloe and i am about to do the stupidest thing one can do in this wicked world of Nukeya.
A modified truck drives across the cracked roads of an ancient ruined city. As the truck comes to a stop, chloe steps out with her sniper rifle in hand. She finds herself in a world completely different to the one she was used to. Back in Angel’s Light, the surroundings were mostly nothing but wasteland. But she had always admired the far distant rainforests that blanketed mountains. She now finds herself in the middle of a place that many call cursed and wicked. “This is it…” Chloe says to herself. She tightens her grip on the sniper rifle. She feels both amazed and yet afraid. Its far from home and the stories she had heard about “The Lost City” still linger in her mind. “Calm yourself Chloe you’re just here to look around and then you’ll be home before sunfall.” Chloe says to herself again. She takes a deep breath to calm herself. “Here goes nothing.” She says while locking her truck’s doors. She heads out into the ruins of the lost city.
While making her way through the city her footsteps disturbs a flock of birds which fly away from the tall buildings surrounding her. Chloe looks around at the numerous buildings besides her. “Captain Fishout’s Diner? What kind of name is that?” Chloe says snickering a little while looking at an old abandoned restaurant. The streets are full of buildings in which reside the remnants of old stores. Plantlife has completely overtaken the city with even trees growing where the road’s pavement used to be. Chloe walks through the streets fascinated by the old buildings, their architecture and just about everything. The quiet peace also helps in making her feel calm and confident. She eventually stops to look at a unique looking building. Its sides have a completely different pattern then the ones besides it and the letters above the old doors spell: “Veranchi. Interesting…” Chloe mumbles. She rests her sniper rifle at the entrance of the door and decides to head inside the building and finds herself inside the remnants of a clothing store. “Clothes likely have turned to dust already but whatever.” Chloe says. Despite that statement she still managed to find some of the old clothing items. Although completely unusable in any way she is still amazed by them. “So… is this what the old ones wore? So little fabric?” Chloe remarks while looking at a ragged female dress. She stumbles upon an old poster still hanging on one of the walls. Using a flashlight she is able to see what is actually on the poster. It features a man in an nice white and red suit smiling with stark white teeth while holding a thumbs up. A pretty woman in the dress chloe just criticized stands elegantly behind the man. The poster reads the words. “Veranchi! The future of fashion!” Chloe grins at the poster upon reading what is on it. “If only they knew what the future really is like…”
Chloe exits the Veranchi store and walks out onto the street yet again. After some more uneventfull exploring eventually finds an old destroyed tank overtaken by moss and plants. “Woah… what in hell’s name is this?” As she walks around the tank she suddenly stops and falls silent in shock. A skeleton wearing a decrepit soldier’s uniform lies next to the tank. “Oh… they told me this city had no inhabitans… except for you apperently…” As chloe looks at the street ahead she sees dozens of skeletons wearing the same uniform along with more decrepit tanks. “and your friends…” Chloe says silently. Her fear of the city has returned tenfold and she’s suddenly ready to call quits and leave. However her curiosity gets the better of her and she aproaches the skeleton of one of the soldiers. One of its arms is entirely mechanical and appears to be in good condition. “Could make for fine scrap metal and earn me an extra buck.” Chloe says as her mood instantly improves. This however proves to be a lie since as soon as she removes the arm from the skeleton she notices a ton of birds flying away in an instant from her street. “Huh… they were not scared of me when i got here…” Chloe says to herself. Around the corner of the street however a large mutant spider appears. “Oh… yeah… still Nukeya…” She immediatly grabs the mechanical arm and makes a run for it while the spider hishes loudly and gives chase. “Where’s my rifle dammit!” Chloe yells to herself while running. The spider slowly catches up and as Chloe turns around, one of its sharp forward claws slices her right arm completely off. “!@#$ ME!” Chloe yells as the street below her caves in and both she and the spider fall into the abyss below. After a few seconds Chloe falls in a deep pool of water while the spider lets out a loud deathly cry. After some hard fighting for her life Chloe gets out of the water with the mechanical arm still with her in her left arm. She turns around to see the spider impaled by a large metal rod. “Burn in hell !@#$… aurghh…” She looks at her right arm which suprise is no longer there and is bleeding like a fountain. Chloe looks at the mechanical arm in her left hand which just so happens to be a right arm. “Screw it…” She jams the mechanical arm into what remains of her right arm and right shoulder before passing out.
“Aren’t you a rebel?” An unknown man says. Chloe’s vision is extremely blurry but she makes out a few men and women who aproach her. A bearded man with long hair steps forward and extends his hand. “Oh my goh? Jesus?” Chloe whispers clearly high or something. “Here let me help you out.” The man says before Chloe passes out again.
Chloe slowly opens her eyes and sees a slowly turning fan above her. She gets up from a rather comfortable bed. “Was this all a dream?” She mumbles before moving her right hand through her messy white hair. She takes one good look at her right hand and arm. “Oh…” The arm is clearly still mechanical yet completely synced with her actions and thoughts as if it wasnt mechanical at all. She sits there for a few seconds contemplating life decisions before the man from earlier enters the room. “Where am i?” Chloe asks him. The man takes a chair and sits down in front of the bed. “Hell’s Outpost. A few kilometers from the city where we found you.” Chloe looks out the window clearly noticing the early morning sun. “What time is it.” She asks. “Well you certainly had your beauty sleep. Its morning, never seen someone sleep for over 30 hours i’ll tell you that.” Chloe looks at him with a shocked face. “30…??? Oh no the old man’s gonna kill me…” The man grins a little. “Never seen someone so brave that they go inside an ancient ruined city without a weapon. Chloe looks at him with a disgusted face. “Pardon you i had a rifle with me… that i… lost…” The man looks at her with a “told you so” face. “Besides who are you?” Chloe asks. “Name’s christian. I run a local group of mercs and we often go on expeditions into the old cities. You should be lucky we found you when we did as there were more of those spiders on their way to the cave you were in.” Chloe decides to get out of bed while still slightly lightheaded. “Our doc patched up your other wounds but that arm appears to integrated with you in some way on its own.” Christian says. Chloe looks at her right arm again and takes a good look at her hand. “Its almost as if it is my right arm, i can still feel muscles that are not there anymore you get what i mean?” Christian looks at her with a rather confused face. “Kinda? Look let me show you around, you can get to know people here.” Chloe looks outside the window and then back at christian. “Fine, guess i can do that.” Christian immediatly rushes the two of them outside while yelling: “everyone! Meet Chloe!” While embarrasing Chloe immediatly. While the meet and greet between chloe and the locals is ongoing, one of christian’s men observes from far away while on the phone with someone.
“Completely White hair. Slim with rather large red lips, dark purple eyeliner. She also has a white mechanical right arm.” He says. A female voice from the other side asks: “where is she now?” The man awnsers: “Hell’s Outpost. Few kilometers from the settlement Angel’s Light and ruins known as The Garden.” The female voice then replies: “Make sure she stays in the area, i will send people to… extract… her.” The man looks at Chloe and Christian while they meet with the locals and Christian’s merc friends. “Trust me. She ain’t going nowhere else.”
Inside a decrepit office room a fan light slowly turns as Abigail sits in her office chair on call with the man back in Hell’s Outpost. “Remember that if you are right, you could be set to gain much.” She says. The man awnsers: “I am a simple man. Consider this a done deal.” “Very well… then i will see you soon…” Abigail awnsers before hanging up the phone. On her desk she has a map of Nukeya and she places a pin on Hell’s Outpost. While fiddling with a coin in her right hand she looks at the map before being interupted by a soldier entering her office. “My lady. The Overseer has requested your presence.” “Is it urgent? I am busy.” Abigail responds. “It is urgent madam.” The soldier replies. Abigail sighs while putting the coin down. “Fine…” She and the soldier exit the office and before Abigail closes the door, she takes one last glimpse at the pin located on the map of Nukeya and smiles…
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