Storm of the End: Book One

Chapter III.III: Rising Storm

There was silence for a second, and then Aaron asked, "If it wasn't an earthquake, then what was it?"

"I don't know Aaron. I really don't. I can't even begin to guess. All I know is that it's not an earthquake."

Aaron looked away. He was so scared, I could tell. How could he possibly not be. We were heading right into the thing we should have been running from, without any solid clues as to what was waiting for us. This whole situation was unreal. It didn't feel like it was actually happening to me.

Yesterday when the storm disappeared it gave me a sense of security, and then we wake up in the damn thing. This had all began so suddenly, and things were unfolding so quickly. It must have only been an hour and a half since we woke up, and already things were looking bad. We drove in silence, and all I could hear was the rackety engine and the steady rhythm of the raindrops colliding with the car.

Before long, we passed by a sign indicating the exit to Arborline was only a mile away. I was starting to see more and more people walking along the side of the road. I began to wonder how many people had actually stayed in the city, and prayed that we wouldn't run into any people that were driven mad by this situation.

I kept turning back to Aaron; he was staring at the fog veiled city up ahead. I was beyond worried for him. I wish I didn't have to bring him with me into the city, I wish I had somewhere safe to put him. But there was no one that would help us now, nobody that I trusted, at least. That sense of the fear of the unknown was unfathomably overbearing as we drove into the city, as the fog grew thicker, as the amount of people and cars became fewer and fewer.

What was waiting for us in there? I kept asking myself the same questions in my head as I looked up at the approaching outlines of the skyscrapers in the fog. What were those damn screams? What was the noise? I needed the answers. I needed to find Jessica.

Though I was frightened, though I feared for our safety and especially Aaron's safety, I wanted answers. I needed answers.

Finally, we reached the exit to Arborline which lead up into an overpass. My heart started to beat faster. We were almost there. As I drove up onto the overpass, I had to slam on the breaks. Part of the road was missing. It must have been caused by the "earthquakes": about half of the overpass had completely collapsed and fallen onto the ground below. I got out of the car to inspect it and Aaron came out right after me. I looked down where the asphalt broke, there was still enough room to get by but it still was going to be a little risky.

"Uhm, dad!" Aaron called out. I turned to him; he was on the edge of the overpass, looking off the side. I quickly ran over, "What's wrong, Aaron?"

He pointed ahead. I followed his gaze and gasped. All around there were massive tears, crevasses and cracks in the road and in the earth for as far as I could see through the fog. Some of the holes were as wide as about 60 feet or more. Buildings and cars had been tossed around or ripped apart everywhere nearby. There was even a fallen jet not far from the overpass, still flaming even in the rain. It was a scene of complete decimation. I followed the trail of destruction with my eyes, and I wasn't surprised to see it led towards the city.

"What... What's happening? What did that?" Aaron muttered.

I heard a rumbling behind us, and looked up to see more jets fly by overhead. I followed them with my eyes as they flew above the destruction below and into the shrouded city. They faded in the fog, as if they had been swallowed up entirely. Looking at the destruction around us, I knew that I could no longer rationalize what had caused this. It was beyond any normal and logical explanation. Something more than a storm or earthquakes had caused this, that was something I could no longer deny no matter how much I tried to pull the wool over my own eyes.

I almost decided to turn back right then and there. I knew I was in way over my head. But somehow I mustered up the courage to keep going.

"We'll find our answers in there Aaron, come on" I grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently as we walked back towards the car. Before driving again, I took one last scan at the wreckage around us. I took a deep breath, and we were off. I drove across the overpass very carefully, keeping a very close eye on the road ahead for any holes. Before long, we drove off the ramp and on to the main road that lead to the city. We were about a mile away now.

With each and every inch that we drove closer to the heavy fog veiling the city, my heart would beat. I unconsciously drove pretty slowly, I think my mind was trying buy some time for me to steel myself. But I knew that no matter what it was we were going to find in there, I would never be ready.

All we encountered was scenes of desolation. We passed hundreds of cars on the sides of the road broken down, crashed or simply abandoned. Occasionally we would pass by a corpse and I always tried to distract Aaron so he wouldn't see it. As we drove further, I was surprised to see a few armoured vehicles and tanks lying around. One of them was completely torn apart, pieces thrown everywhere. We passed by a police barricade that had been broken through. I told Aaron to close his eyes, because I was fully expecting it to be grisly. The windows were completely smashed in every car and a few doors were torn straight off the hinges. I started to get light headed. Blood splatters painted the outside of the cars. I made the mistake of breathing in through my nose, almost causing me to vomit. The air smelled like death, like hundreds of corpses were rotting just nearby. But the strange thing is... I didn't see any bodies. Curiosity got the better of me for a moment, and I had to stop the car and look carefully. There was not any bodies. I shook my head. Where the hell did they go? What the hell caused all this carnage? It was like a war happened here just an hour or so ago, but not a corpse was in sight.

I looked back at Aaron. His eyes were shut tight but I could see that he was getting antsy. I didn't want him to see this. I turned one last time towards the wreckage, my eyes resting on the carnage without any bodies. My head was throbbing. Best not to waste any more time here. I knew that we would see more scenes like this as we went on. We'd probably see much worse. A shiver ran down my spine. I couldn't begin to imagine what was waiting for us deeper in the city. I drove ahead a bit, and then told Aaron he could open his eyes. I knew he wanted to ask me what I saw, but he didn't. I guess it really wouldn't have mattered anyway. He was bound to see something eventually, but I wanted to shield him for as long as possible.

We continued to drive on, moving into the more urban area of the city. There still wasn't anybody around, alive or dead. Closer and closer we neared the thick fog. Every building we passed was damaged in some way, some were even completely torn apart. I saw Aaron looking around with wide eyes. I knew the same question had been resonating through both of our minds over and over again since this morning. What had caused this? We both knew that the closer we got to the city, the closer we were to finding the answer.

My heart began to beat faster in my chest, and my breathing became more ragged as we passed by the rusted sign that had once read "Welcome to Arborline!" Except the sign had been torn clean off, and all that remained were the metal poles that had supported it.

The thick fog was a mere ten feet ahead of us. The wind pushed hard at it, but it appeared to not be affected at all. I slammed the breaks.

I couldn't go in. Oh God, I couldn't. The fog was so thick that it looked almost like a solid wall. My head was pounding even harder now and I shut my eyes as I started to develop tunnel vision.

"Dad?" Aaron called out, "Dad?!"

I opened my eyes, and I almost broke down then. I almost started to sob, but Aaron's presence convinced me to do otherwise. I had to stay strong, for him.

I took a few deep breaths, and then straightened myself.

"I'm fine, Aaron. I'm fine... let's go."

I hesitantly pulled my foot off the break pedal, and moved it over to the gas.

I pressed down; the car moved forward and we were swallowed up by the fog.