Apocalypse: The Beginning of the End

Chapter VI: The Dead Surprise Us

Phoenix Drakos

It had been five hours since Apollo slept and I took charge of the ship. Melissa and I were still not talking to each other, but she seemed to have forgotten about hitting me. She was too absorbed in her thoughts to remember. I could see that through her reflection on my special watch. Even Apollo had one.

I had successfully managed to stop the fuel at the right time. The fuel tank that had been used for that duration had almost run out of fuel. But I would not have to worry about it for a long time.

Melissa took out some sandwiches for herself. It seemed like a good idea, but before I could do anything, I heard a ringtone from the exact place where I could control the ship.

I picked it up. Well, it was not a regular watch, but it was always a speaker-type thing coming from the control panel. "Hello?" I said softly after the nearly five-hour silence. My voice sounded hoarse.

"Hey Apollo," said a well-known voice. Melissa sat up straight, now glaring at me. I was so stunned that I could not respond.

"Hello!" said the voice again.

Slowly, I found my voice back. "Dad?" I whispered.

"Yes, it's me!" he said. "Who else were you expecting, Apollo?"

" It- it's Phoenix," I said, thunderstruck.

"What's the matter?" he asked, noticing my tone.

Complete silence. And then...

"HE'S BACK!" I cried so loudly, that my voice echoed and Apollo woke up.

"Wha- what the-," he stuttered.

"What's going on, kids?" asked Dad, concerned, while clearly hiding his laughter.

Melissa walked up to the front, gave me a disgusted look and then replied coolly and slightly annoyed, "Phoenix gave us the impression that you fell in lava."

"I did," he admitted. "But you saw it, Phoenix?"

"Yes," I muttered, not feeling too good anymore because Apollo and Melissa were now having a staring contest. Except that they were staring at me.

"Well, I suppose you want to know how I survived," he said. "As I fell, I managed to grab the solid land, and pulled myself up. That's how I'm alive."

We all understood what he meant, but we noticed his tone was bitter. That couldn't mean anything good.

"Your ship was the last ship to depart in this area," he continued. "All launching areas have been destroyed here and only about half the population have successfully evacuated. Now the rest of us are stuck, some already dying."

There was some noise that indicated that he wasn't in one place.

"Are you moving?" I asked. "Like in a car?"

Dad laughed. "Cars in this stage is impossible," he said. "I attached a strong motor to the piece of land with the help of which I had managed to save myself. Of course, a motor alone would not help, but I added other things as well. This piece of land is currently flying. And most of all, it's getting harder to find food. I have a lot of water with me, but food is still a problem, though I have a little bit of it."

"How?" asked Apollo. "And why?"

"Let's just say," he said. "One cannot stand safely on the planet unless you're in the air. I'm heading over and trying to rescue as many people as I can. So far, I've found no one, which is either terrible or it means most people have evacuated."

There was a pause. Apollo and Melissa looked impressed. I wanted to be, but I did not get over the fact that my father was still alive. And I just realised I was hungry. I opened a drawer, took out a sandwich and began attacking it. Here was something to keep me distracted from Apollo and Melissa.