The Last Flower on Earth

The Ruins

The next morning, I rise from my bed knowing full well I'm going to The Ruins to scavenge for anything from food to books to parts.

But why parts, and what parts am I talking about?

Specifically automobile parts.

The Chamber, actually just a garage, has everything one could need for making anything. Lathes, hydraulic presses, drills of every shape, size, and stature. It's probably here. I have been striping vehicles in attempts to make anything that could run in this terrible terrain.

I have something which could be called a car. Though it's lacking on most fronts.

I press the platform button and the doors open. I double-check my belongings and step onto the platform.

Finding myself on the surface I take in my surroundings to find where I could go.

Behind me is an endless wasteland that meets with the ruins. The S.C.S.S along with melting all the ice caps also boiled ninety-nine percent of the not frozen water, that's why it snows so much along with the not as helpful stuff polluting the lower stratosphere.

The wasteland was at one point a river. But that no longer seems to be the case, but even if I don't have to swim across it's still dangerous as the massive dip is almost always a massive spot for high winds. Enough to knock even the strongest of men onto their asses.

The ruins on the other hand are expansive. Its last documented size was about one thousand square kilometres of urban grounds.

If you try to cross that number with a real city you should remember for me it's 220X.

The sky clears up enough so I can see that time is not of the essence. And I have a lot of time.

My worry of being caught in the night is perfectly justified, as not only does it get stupidly cold. Negative 50 Celsius! So, if I get caught outside it's guaranteed hypothermia as I lose sensation to my arms.

This happened before and I barely managed to get back inside. I called it a week after that, almost dying can really kill someone's optimism really fast.

I pull out my map to see which buildings I've already cleared, by the looks of it if I go left of my current position, I can hit some more buildings. That sounds good.

But there is apparently a large structure a fair distance west. Between me and the industrial line, based on outdated maps there was a golf course at one time. It got replaced with factories for weaponry manufacturing for the war.

It really is a shame.

I decide to go left and explore new buildings. This helps distract me from the isolation I start feeling. And getting out of that bunker lets me breathe better as well, even if it is through a scarf it's still not recirculated.

I rummage through street-side stores and navigate around broken glass and the bodies of those who weren't fortunate enough to enter a bunker but fortunate enough to be in a position where they weren't turned to ash.

I take some engine parts and canned food from the very destroyed buildings. But I see one which appears to be in a well enough state to climb.

And by climb, I mean take the stairs.

I've tried climbing before, didn't turn out too well, almost crippled myself.

Standing directly in front I see its six stories. All the windows are blown in meaning broken glass could be a problem.

The sign reads about 'Gord▮▮omple▮'

Some letters are weathered to the point of incomprehensible scribbles and lines. I've taken to just ignoring most signs since they serve no real purpose without constant upkeeping.

And I sure ain't going to be the one to upkeep them.

This is also the same reason almost every single bridge has fallen, suspension bridges can't exist without upkeep and maintenance. Small arches across creeks and rivers may still exist, I wouldn't trust them though.

I leave my wagon outside with all the collected items and head inside. I swallow before entering.

My flashlight flickers to life, it has a rechargeable battery which lets it be viable. Though some batteries can still be found.

The light from the torch reflects off the glass, letting me carve a path with ease. But the looming threat of the building creaking when I stand still lingers like an anvil on fishing wire.

One wrong move and it's game over.

The ground becomes louder with every single step, the crunching of glass and the cracking of the weathered concrete haven't stood up as well as I've hoped for.

As I reach the staircase my weight on the first step is enough to fracture the overly rusted steel. I catch the railing in a last-ditch effort to stop myself from entering the basement.

Unlike the stairs the railing holds long enough to pull myself up before it too collapses, falling below with a metallic thud.

Carefully and precisely, I hug the wall where the steps are strongest and find myself nervously sweating on the second floor.

Away from outside openings, I stop to take a drink, my Bota bag is half full. The purified water has a slightly off taste when coming from this water pouch, wonder why.

I check the second-floor room for room. Bedside cabinets where I find the same book in each one, I've already read it though. It was a fairly weird fiction with odd formatting, obviously all these people liked it.

I made my way to the third floor with no problems, this place seemed more stable than I imagined.

In the final room, I made a rooky mistake, I stepped into the very center of the room, next to the bed.

Before I noticed the floor cracked, I heard it and before I could move it fully gave way. I was in a free fall.

The ground of the second floor collapsed when my force collided with it. I hit the concrete ground of the floor.

Everything went black.