Journey to Elvander

By Eric Gutierrez Jr.

Deacon Maynard may be young, but he is hardly idealistic. A Tech Repairman, he spends his days surrounded by tools and broken phones, watching the news unfold on the television while carefully trying to avoid the reality that seems inevitable.

There is a war out there… and it is creeping closer and closer to his home.

Elvander, a high-tech country miles away, is locked in a colossal battle with the deadly terrorist organization, Shadow Cannon… and it’s a war Deacon wants nothing to do with.

Until he spies a flash of light outside his apartment window and discovers Ragnar, a giant machine Golem meant to be a Shadow Cannon secret weapon – a machine that is now asking for his help.

Suddenly thrust into a war he wants no part of, Deacon must struggle to discover the truth, save his strange new friend and possibly save the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreaded Sushi Press
• Release date: Feb 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386033493

Eric Gutierrez Jr.

Eric Gutierrez Jr. is a Texas-native writer who dreams in code and beer. He’s the sexy guy behind Devil Sunrise, City of Doves, and The Exile. He lives in Laredo with his lovely, crafty wife, 2 children, and 3 Pomeranians who seem to act like hellish imps.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

THE ALARM WENT OFF with a loud, blaring annoying god-awful sound. Deacon shifts over from side-to-side trying to fight back the sound with his grunts and yells. He blindly threw his pillow at the alarm clock hoping to knock it on the ground away from him. The pillow only got on top of the clock, muffling the sound.

Good enough.

He rose from his bed like a vampire barely waking up from his ten century long slumber, but without the fangs or taste of blood. His hands rub his eyes to recover the blurry vision while he yawned loudly. The young man looked over by his glass door and saw that rain was still heavily pouring down. Deacon enjoyed the noise of the rain, but the muffled alarm clock reminded him that he wasn’t running on his own time and quickly rushed to the bathroom to fix his appearance.

His toothbrush rubbed against his mouth staring boringly at his mirror; he knew that he was going to the same place that he’s been going to for the last three years and what was going to happen before he set foot in there. Routine was poison to him; it killed him slowly as each day passed. He hardly complained about it though since it paid his bills. He was trying to be as quick as he could to avoid being late for the second day in the row he didn’t even shut off the alarm clock when he passed by it to make himself a pot of coffee.

Oh man. Deacon looked over to his alarm clock. Can you shut up for one second?!

The tired man stomped over to the bane of his morning and pulled the cord off the wall plug. His face gave a smile of satisfaction while he tossed it on his bed, which consisted of a mattress, a blanket, and a pillow. His bills didn’t allow him a frame, or a pillowcase for that matter.

Deacon rushed to his recliner where he had his work clothes laid out and ready for him to wear. The outfit consisted of black slim jeans and a black T-shirt that said I heart Code in a fun style typography. Within five minutes, he was dressed and prepared to get to his job, rain or shine.

HE STOOD OUTSIDE OF his glass door under the heavy rain. He sighed heavily and pulled over his yellow poncho as he stepped down his stairs to the street where he looked toward his garage. His car was parked inside with the hood opened and partially covered with a tarp; it had seen better days and Deacon knew that. Unfortunately, the car’s next better day wasn’t going to be today.

He ran to the bus stop along the corner of his home in front of the corner store that sold his favorite red bean bagel. His pockets were strapped for the week thanks to his budget and his last purchase of the Raging Uppercut season pass. The purchase itself set him back about fifty dollars. He regretted every second of that purchase, but enjoyed every single minute of that show.

The rain beat down his poncho while he waited for the bus, which would look like it was almost at his stop.

I made it. Deacon told himself with a smile.

The bus approached cautiously to the bus stop and hissed until it made a full stop. Deacon allowed the other commuters to exit before he made his way inside. The inside was filled with elderly ladies holding their shopping bags of groceries and mothers holding their children on their laps to leave space for the other riders. Although it looked hectic with the variety of people inside; it gave Deacon a peaceful feeling that he only found inside Tyur, his hometown.

He placed two dollars inside the slot and retrieved his bus pass then proceeded to sit in the side of the bus next to one of the mothers. Her baby stared at him with her big eyes and saliva dripping down from her chubby cheeks matched the dripping frequency of the rain outside of the bus. Deacon gave her a smile and a silent wave as he put his headphones on to listen to his lo-fi playlist. His struggled to make his eyes stay open since he didn’t want to fall asleep and miss his stop... again. He nodded his head, but pinched himself awake while the baby next him continued to stare at him.

Next stop is Baldur Plaza. The bus driver said over his P.A. system.

Bye cutie. Deacon lightly pinched the baby’s cheek then quickly pulled the stop line and rushed to the exit of the bus.

The rain began to drop lighter than before, but still soaked the sidewalk that he was standing on. Baldur Plaza was decorated with a variety of shops ranging from souvenirs to books all the way to electronics in the form of the Repair Hub, a small store that specialized in selling used electronic devices and repairing phones, tablets, and other everyday devices that may need some tender, loving care. The place of business for Deacon. The store was located at the other end of the plaza; the opposite side of the bus stop. His phone said he was still about ten minutes early to make his shift. He started to make his way to work while the rain tapped on his poncho then seeping into his shirt. He shivered with the cold water, but he was close by the shop to bother complaining about it.

Luckily, he didn’t have to deal with the customers which gave him the benefit of having an easier day than his co-workers who had to talk the people into why purchasing a refurbished tablet was better than getting one at some mega-market. Deacon obviously knew that it was just the price, but those guys milked the pros a little too much for his taste.

His personal opinion.

THE DOOR TO THE SHOP chimed as Deacon entered for his shift. Children were already running around and playing on the video game consoles that stood around the store like monoliths, except more entertaining. The televisions that weren’t playing the latest hit video game had the news with the subtitles scrolling below the monitor. The headlines were the same as the week before and the week before that.

Looks like Elvander may begin to suffer without any form of a fuel source. The female reporter stated.

You may be right. Her male companion agreed with her. Shadow Cannon has been a force of destruction along the coast of Elvander, leaving a wake of fire and death wherever they land. Now with their primary fuel depots being siphoned, it may begin to mark the end of the once-prospering nation.

Damn. A female salesperson sighed from behind the counter, It’s starting to look like this war is going to end before it even started.

I don’t know. Deacon shrugged, Didn’t we have this kind of scare last year? People are going to the fueling huts buying as much as they can before we run dry. Sounds like a conspiracy to me.

Only you can see the ‘positivity’ into things! His manager’s breathless voice shouted from the stockroom.

All I’m saying is that I’m not going to feed into this panic when nothing is going to happen to us.

You do know that they will be releasing giant robots to attack the other surrounding countries, right? The salesperson said while she rang up a customer for a gift card.

Yeah, His manager emerged from the back with a large box, Like us!

You guys are putting way too much thought into this ‘war’. Deacon clocked in through the counter’s computer to start his shift. Now pass me those phones, so I can actually look busy.

THE FINAL MINUTE TO five finally arrived allowing Deacon to punch out and call it a day. He rushed to the bus stop and met with it to get home. The rain continued its way down to the street while Deacon’s footsteps stomped on the puddles when he made his way to his stop. The brakes hissed and the doors opened giving him access inside. He handed over his bus pass to the access machine and sat by the exit close by the driver to make a quick getaway to avoid getting any more wet than he needed.

He looked out by the road while the bus began its departure and saw some of the people stockpiling on water, fuel, and toilet paper; it looked like they expected the worst especially what they saw on the news. Rampaging machines, bombs, executions, and that was only this week. Deacon felt it was only Elvander’s problem since they were the ones who needed to make a power move when Shadow Cannon threw up their taunts.

Deacon shook his head in disbelief and slipped on his headphones to listen to his playlist while he took a short nap. He left one cup off his ear, so he can pay attention if his stop was coming up. The calculated time he came up with gave him a twenty minute window to close his eyes.

The bumps on the road kept waking him, but he attempted to power through since he didn’t get a chance to catch up on his sleep all thanks to his season pass and the alarm clock. After a few minutes of rumbling, he finally closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

We’re now arriving at Pinecone Corner. The bus driver announced through the P.A. with her siren-like voice.

Yay. Deacon sighed and stood up from his seat to get out of the bus.

Outside of the bus, the rain was reduced to a light drizzle and the street lights began to turn on for the night. He knew he wasn’t going to make it home before the sunset. The young technology repairman power-walked up the hill to his home just at the peak.

He ran up the steps, took off his poncho, and kicked off his shoes by his glass door entrance. His hand reached for the door handle then turned the lock to slide it open to get in. The house was quiet and dark from the spots the sun couldn’t reach while it sank below the horizon. The young man walked to the fridge to pull out a beer that was stashed in the very back of the fridge followed by throwing his work clothes back on his recliner where he sat down to watch TV.

The networks all began to show the breaking news about the Elvander/Shadow Cannon war, but Deacon didn’t want to waste his time with it; he cycled through the television until he found a comedy show about chefs trying to compete for the same love interest. A played-out concept, but he was a sucker for them.

He sipped his beer and leaned back on his seat to enjoy the rest of his evening. The same thing he did every other day. He didn’t expect anything more out of it.

Boom!

A loud bang alerted him from outside. He wanted to ignore it, but his curiosity took the bait making him hurry to his glass door where he saw a bright, fiery object falling down from the sky. Deacon’s eyes opened up wider as the object got closer to the ground. Deacon decided to break his routine and see for himself what that mysterious fireball was. The orange light that emitted from it soon disappeared once it reached the ground. A loud explosion was muffled from the distance, but it was obvious that it came from the direction of the strange falling object.

Deacon ran down his stairs while he put on his poncho and grabbed his keys. His steps paused once he reached to his garage.

I really hope you can survive this short trip. Deacon looked over to his car.