//Three hours later~//"Look I can see the city dad! Wow those buildings are tall!" Jyn shouted in excitement.
In the distance was a colossal city, industrial works that stretched for miles. Gigantic skysc.r.a.pers that went into the clouds, their foundations were thick and wide. Surrounding them were countless smaller buildings bathed in a thick smog, so much that only the tallest of the smaller buildings managed to peak through the fog layers.
Apart from that, the only other blemish would be the many pillars of smoke rising from various parts of the city and the large amount of damaged collapsed buildings.
Although the group was still quite far away, they could hear distant gunshots from the great city.
"Indeed they are but the pollution really ruins them. It"s the reason why me and your mother moved out to the family farm." Grim reminisced.
"It was really your fathers idea. I didn"t really mind the smog, though, ...the fresh air was nice." Laura mused with a weak smile.
The group were currently walking along a elevated highway 6 meters off the ground, it was packed full of abandoned cars and dead bodies seeping black goo, the rotten smell of dead flesh sticking to their noses. Many of the bodies were dismembered, probably a result of the creature attacks.
It was quiet the frightening sight to the group. No matter how they tried to get used to such things, it never seemed to get any better.
Rick looked at Grim and remarked. "Like you said, we should only stay on the outskirts." He peered into the distant city and shuddered at the number of creatures he could see on the top of several buildings.
From the constant gunfire echoing from the city, he could tell that the firefights were brutal for the remaining military forces.
Grim agreed and replied. "Safety first."
Grim and Rick equipped their weapons, ready for any threat that might appear.
As the group reached the outskirts of the city, buildings started to appear by the sides of the tall highay they were on. Pa.s.sing a destroyed tank, they walked for several meters until they heard a voice from one of the abandoned cars. Shockingly, they recognized the person who was speaking.
"Greetings people of Telos. I as you may know am the current president of the Allied States, Morteus Willard. Today will mark our final act of defiance!" The car radio was playing quite loudly disturbing the quiet highway.
The man speaking on the radio had a coa.r.s.e yet charismatic voice filled with vigor that inspired others, truly the leader of the current world.
"I am deeply saddened by the current turn of events and the ending of our great civilization. Even though this evil G.o.d created us just so we could be discarded and destroyed at her whim, I have no doubt that the three thousand years we have been given was an immense blessing!"
"Through the ups and downs, we carved our own path, created many fabulous wonders and reached the stars themselves. We.. we have done well, you all have done well my people and now it"s time for us to rest."
As the voice went on it increased in strength, resounding louder throughout the abandoned highway.
"Today my people, after 2 weeks of constant discussions and after every possible attempt to thwart the impending apocalypse failed, I and the other leaders of our people have decided our own fate!"
"5 minutes ago, we launched our entire nuclear a.r.s.enal, every city on our beautiful planet has been targeted. This.. this suffering that has been imposed upon us cannot continue, we will not go silently into the night, no, we will shine brilliantly like a thousand stars!"
The radio began to sputter but the message was still audible. "Thi..s my will be my fin..al act as the 22nd presi..dent of the Allied Sta..tes, may Orion bles- ....Bless you all.. "
The group stood there silently as the message ended, all that remained was an eerie static.
Grim looked blankly at the car which played the radio. Rick had a look of shock on his face, his hands were shaking.
"Don"t f.u.c.k with me!!!!" Grim screamed in anger as he took his shotgun and smashed the car window shattering it. His sudden outburst frightened Laura, Jyn and Mary.
"Everything we did in order to survive! To live! And you decided it was okay just to throw it all away? You made the decision for us? f.u.c.k you! I refuse!" Grim repeatedly smacked the car as hard as he could.
Laura couldn"t stand and watch anymore, without thinking she jumped towards Grim and latched onto his waist. "Husband! Please stop!"
Grim was blinded by rage. All the people he has killed, the people who he made his wife and son kill.. was it really for nothing?
"Please.. please, stop." Laura pleaded with tears streaming down her cheeks.
He stopped bashing the car with his shotgun which was now bent. Breathing heavily Grim slumped down as his knees. .h.i.t the hard concrete road, his an expression of what could only be described as immense desolation.
Laura was still holding him tightly with her face buried in Grim"s back, she was still crying and sniffling.
"Daddy.. what"s wrong?" Jyn asked as he looked at his father with a somewhat afraid expression. He didn"t understand what was going on as he was still only 8 years of age.
Grim didn"t say anything, he looked up into his son"s eyes. "He inherited his mothers looks, only his eyes.. His eyes came from me.. My son."
The thought seemed to linger in his mind, lighting a fire within that had nearly been snuffed out. Standing up shakily, he pulled Laura and Jyn in for a hug.
"Dad.. " Mary looked at her father with wet eyes.
Rick hugged her close. Although he was never one to cry, a tear slid down his cheek.
Grim held his son and wife tightly, he kissed them both on the cheek. His face steeled with determination. "No.. I won"t give up!" He growled hoa.r.s.ely.
He turned towards Rick and said in a deep voice. "We need to leave, right now!"
Rick nodded urgently. "We may still have time!"
The group ran back towards the direction they came as fast as their feet could carry them. It was only minutes later that they were greeted by a blinding sight.
In the distance on the edge of the horizon, bright lights could be seen. It was as if there were several suns rising with their lights shining over the mountains like miniature sunrises.
The group stopped abruptly, shocked they stood there with thumping hearts staring at the rising suns. Seconds later, a rumbling roar could be heard from the sky above.
An object moving too fast for the eye to see pierced through the sky with a grey cloud trail following it. The object flew directly above the trembling group and left a sonic boom in it"s wake. As it flew past, it went towards the center of the city at lightning speeds.
Grim was sweating bullets, a vein had popped on his temple. It could be seen how tense he was as he looked around, hoping to find some kind of suitable cover.
After a quick look around, he spotted the rather st.u.r.dy destroyed tank they had past earlier, fire was coming out from it"s hatches so they couldn"t hide inside it. Considering the other options, it was the best thing to take cover behind at the moment.
"It"s too late! Get down behind that tank!" He shouted to Rick who nodded in response. As the group took shelter behind the tank, they waited anxiously. Adrenaline was pumping through their veins that left them in a hyper aware state.
Seconds felt like years as the time pa.s.sed.
Laura couldn"t help but glance at a nearby car"s side-mirror that had a view of the city reflected in it.
Suddenly a flash of light so bright, the dusk of the day was wiped from existence. It was the brightest thing Laura had ever seen in her life. She screamed in pain as she covered her eyes and quickly buried her face into Grim"s chest.
The group huddled together in fright. The tank they were hiding behind began to glow red hot while the surrounding cars and dead bodies had burst into flames.
Behind them, the mountains were set alight as hundreds of thousands of trees burned furiously.
What came next was a rolling wave that came from the epicenter of the blinding light. It shattered the buildings to dust, even the heaven piercing skysc.r.a.pers were just dominoes to be tumbled down as the blast wave rolled over them.
The ground began to shake as the highway tilted from side to side, Grim held his wailing wife and son as tight as he could. Mary was screaming in fear as she held onto her father for dear life.
Finally a crack of thunder so loud it shattered eardrums. .h.i.t the group and along with it came the wave of destruction that had obliterated the distant city. It smashed into the group with unimaginable ferocity causing the immediate collapse of the 6 meter tall highway they were standing on.
As the rubble settled, the thick smoke that drifted from destroyed buildings remains was pulled towards the epicenter of the explosion.
Silence descended, in the background at the center of the once majestic city lay a ma.s.sive rising ball of fire and lightning 40 miles tall, it continued to rise higher and higher into the upper atmosphere.
This was the final act of the Eruba race, all that remained of their grand cities, the foundations of their civilizations was death, destruction and gigantic mushroom clouds that rose into the sky like colossal blooming fungal flowers.