*BOOM*
A loud explosion echoed through what seems to be barren lands, with heinous gigantic monsters wreaking hovac.
Amidst this chaos, a human was running for his dear life. Bloodified as he was, but he didn't stop, he couldn't stop.
"F*ck, i shouldn't have listened to those Bastards."
He cursed through gritted teeth, glancing at the cube like item in his hand.
"This sh*t better be worth it!"
The world was at its wits end afterall.
Many years ago, An incomprehensible event took place, which resulted in the end of the world, which resulted the beginning of the apocalypse.
Government and order fell. Rules, humanity and morality destroyed. All that was left was chaos and inhumane, twisted sense of humor that solely focused on survival.
...
A few days later.
The man was barely able to walk, for him survival seems a mere illusion.
He didn't waver, his eyes filled with hope as an Shelter Base came within his eyesight.
After another 30 minutes, he was just mere moments away from the gate.
Then, a soldier patrolling on the watch tower shouted.
"Do you have an U.N.I. badge? If not, then leave, we do not welcome refugees, I REPEAT, we do not welcome refugees!!"
Regarding this, he took out a skull shaped metal badge from his pocket. He raised his hand, showing a badge towards the soldier in the watch tower.
The soldier nodded, but didn't lower his guard nor his high tech, likely energy-based rifle.
Afterall, in this hell of an earth, who would anyways?
*Creak**Crack*
After a minute, the humongous gate slowly opened, creating irritative noise as it does.
As he walked in, he had to go through several tests and precaution measures. It took a long while but it was inevitable.
After going through the tests, the soldiers let him go on his way.
Just as he entered, a frail figure came running towards him.
"Reed, Okaeri!!"
Her words a soft whisper, but were filled with relief and affection.
"Suzie."
Reed responded, letting her embrace him.
After a moment, they parted as she grabbed his hand and lead him towards their 'home'.
...
"Here, open your mouth."
Suzie sweetly whispered as she fed him a very ordinary but fulfilling meal.
In the apocalypse, even a simple meal like this, clumsily made up of mashed potatoes, a bowl of rice and a bowl of instant noodles with little to no contiments.
"So~ How did the deal turn out to be?"
Suzie asked while sleeping down her portion of noodles.
*SIGH~*
He sighed in rejection as he shook his head, looking at the 'artifact' in his hands.
This was the item he almost gave out his life for, but what was the outcome?
Those 'higher ups' didn't even glanced at it.
*BOOOOMMMM*
Just then a thunderous shockwave spread throughout the base, as if it going to collapse in the next instance.
By instinct, Reed abruptly stood up, grabbed Suzie's wrist and then—
...Ran with all he'd got.
"Ah f*ck, don't i deserve a moment of peace?!"
He cursed aloud as he led Suzie out of their home.
But he didn't get a response from Suzie at all... It was as if she wasn't there at the moment.
He turned out only to see what he has grabbed wasn't Suzie's hand but a transparent slimy tentacle. Even his surrounding began to crumble as in a moment it completely shattered like a mirror.
"It's an illusion?!"
He realised as his surrounding completely changed and what came into view was nothing but a secret chamber, one where he got the cube in the first place.
He clearly saw how the tantecle was coming out from a crack in the cube like artifact and how it desperately tried to cling to him.
But he didn't resist as he knew resistance was futile. His death was certain.
He simply closed up to the cube, as if he meant peace. Just as he was at arm's distance from the cube, he took out a hidden knife from his shoe and stabbed it crazily.
*STAB**SLASH**STAB**SLASH*
"HAHAHA, I may lose, but i won't let you win either, you sick b*stard!!"
His sanity snapped, going completely berserk as he repeatedly hacked and slashed at it.
The tantecle wriggled to defend against the frenzied attacked but failed accumulating numerous cuts here and there throughout his body.
It only then realised that it shouldn't have shown that illusion to this human, completely rupturing his mental forfeit.
Just to make all this worse, the 'cube' began to brighten up, illuminating more and more by the second, until it finally engulfed everything.
When the light was engulfing him, a multitude of thoughts invaded his mind.
Reed had survived for around 9 years and 10 months in the apocalypse, disregarding his sanity, his dignity, his humanity only to cling to life like a cockroach.
And now he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to live like a beast anymore.
In this decade of hell, he had the worst of nightmares—canibalism, selling one's loved ones for food, people burnt alive and whatnot.
All this started a decade ago, when scientists found an extraterrestrial metal that doesn't melt even in millions of ⁰C.
They even discovered a special type of wave frequency called 'Quantum wave' which could potentially mold this metal to their wishes. A perfect icing to the cake. And what do you think they decided to do with this metal? They f*cking decided to poke the sun. YUP, to poke the sun by making satellite out of this metal.
Brilliant... Or so we all thought.
Everything was going well, they made the satellite, even left a coutermeasure for the satellite to communicate inside the sun. They launched it, and in a span of three months, it reached the surface of earth.
The satellite didn't melt, the misson was a success... Or so we thought yet again.
A whole year later, the satellite had now drilled into the sun's core, where it got malfunctioned. This, in turn resulted in the greatest solar flare eruption from the sun.
This was the start of the apocalypse, by humans very own hands.
As someone wise had once said—
"When humans were given power they are worthy of—they creates.
But, when humans were given power they are unworthy of—they destroys, the Earth, the Heaven, the Human."