[Issue 28] [Story] Remnant - Part 1

[Thekillerpenguin 1,731]

Remnant

Part 1: Prelude

 

An explosion rocked the tank in the middle of a tense firefight. A gaping hole in the chassis was formed as Dimitri tried to drive to cover. His fellow tankers were getting destroyed all around him. An enemy tank pointed its turret at him as a ethereal blue light glimmered from the tip of its long barrel. His tank exploded in burning flames. And then he felt nothing.

 

Dimitri woke up in sweats. He looked around in a panic, before realizing that he was dreaming. “This has been happening a lot recently”, he thought. “Wonder what that means”.

 

He got out of his bed, and stood for a second, trying to maintain balance as he glanced around his dilapidated room. It was small and worn, with paint chipping off the walls and rusty heating pipes decorating the walls. Dimitri took a moment to open the window and take in the fresh, invigorating spring air. “It’s the little things in life that count”, he said to himself. “The war took away a lot of things from us, but I’ll always be able to enjoy the sun and sky.”

 

He made his way downstairs, where his mother and younger brother were eating breakfast. “Your father left earlier this morning to trade with the other families”, said his mom. “After you eat, could you go over to the old warehouse to look for anything we can use?”

 

Dimitri finished his breakfast and took a piece of bread and a can of meat along for lunch. He strolled over to the garage. There were two spots for vehicles; one of them was for his father’s truck, which was currently empty. The other spot was occupied by Dimitri’s tank. It wasn’t a tank as much it was a steel frame, an engine, and treads with lead plating to protect against the radiation. It was originally a destroyed tank that Dimitri found a few days after the war; it might have been a Hunter or a Viking. Neverless, its war days were long gone, being replaced by a lifetime of ferrying materials back and forth.

 

After filling up the gas tank and checking the plating, he climbed through the hatch into the seat. The engine started with a jump, and then slowly calmed down to a constant, low rumbling. Dimitri drove out of the garage and onto what was left of the street. It was a cloudless day, with a deep blue sky as the sun shone brilliantly, heralding the day to come.

 

For the next few miles, he did not encounter any issues. He soon had to cross a crater from a dirty bomb in order to reach the warehouse. There was no path around it, and his Geiger counter was clicking. “Looks like I need to cross this hot zone again. I really hope that the plating is still in good shape.” He drove his tank at full speed across as his Geiger counter clicked furiously, and he managed to exit within a few seconds. "If we climb out of this mess some day, I hope we ban nuclear weapons. Thanks to them, half of the world is gone, and what's left isn't very good to live in."

 

Dimitri proceeded along what used to be the main street of the city. The buildings were damaged, deserted, and devoid of anything useful. Everybody had left the main city in the days following the attack, bringing all their possessions with them.  Looters pillaged the rest. The clock in the center of the plaza had stopped when the bombs hit, and it still marked 12:23 PM. That was the time that the old world ended and a new, crude one began.

He was about to reach the warehouse when he noticed a bullet-ridden pickup truck and a dead body at the side of the road. Perplexed, Dimitri climbed out of the tank and investigated the corpse. There was quite a bit of blood, and the man had plenty of bullet wounds. “Somebody filled this guy with bullets. And probably looted him for good measure. Doesn't seem like he's been dead for long. Hmm, I wonder who did this. I thought the people still left around here were friendly. Could it have-”

 

His thought was interrupted by the sound of a revolver being cocked behind him. He heard a gunshot. And then he felt nothing.

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2014 by Thekillerpenguin

[hogree 4,179]

Intriguing. Well done TKP. Love your writing style.

[SonicTemplar 10]

nice! keep it up.

[r_priyangshu0 270]

Lol i Didnt know U were part of the reporters team?!

[mdit108 121]

Lol i Didnt know U were part of the reporters team?!

he was promoted recently...

btw nice article, keep on the good work

[Promissory 569]

Nice! When is he getting the avatar, he deserves it.

[Magnificence 126]

Great one Tkp!

[tiger_of_malaysia 271]

Looking forward to the next part! ;)

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Same

[Thekillerpenguin 1,731]

Thanks for the feedback! Part 2 will come out in the next issue.

[donut70 97]

waiting for the next one

[rambobear11 21]

D: it's it's jaw dropping good

[rambobear11 21]

 

is this what ur avatar should look like I love ur avatar beg for them to use that 4 u

JAKE...DAVE FROM STATE FARM

[Thekillerpenguin 1,731]

is this what ur avatar should look like I love ur avatar beg for them to use that 4 u

JAKE...DAVE FROM STATE FARM

When my avatar comes, it's most likely going to be the default press one, since everyone else on the newspaper team has that. I'm not complaining, since it looks good already.

[Darren4Turbo 4,913]

Ulala... you, the mighty king and the killer of the whole penguins in the world had made the best story I had ever seen in the press!

 

great job TKP :)