Desert Dawn: Book Two: Dark Sun Rising

By Russell Paine

PLEASE HELP US! The old sign hung crookedly in the middle of the empty street; possibly made a few days after the clouds had come. He would have been surprised if anyone came to help, and if someone did; where were they now Where did they go Were they living on some island of paradise Or were they all devoured by Night Crawlers All has failed. The mighty chemical bomb which was designed to clean the air had been accidentally launched. The powerful eruption of the O.C. Device destroyed everything in its path, causing cities to burn and oceans to rise. Its chemical mist spread out poisoning all living things causing catastrophic mega deaths around the world. What was left was a desolate, rotting piece of earth. Out of the ruins a lone survivor named Phoenix must learn to live in this lawless and post apocalypse world. Deep in the wastelands is a fortress that holds something most valuable, but first he must battle through thieves and warriors, gangs and...Night Crawlers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257527717

Book preview

Hell….

CHAPTER ONE

Tonight, they would not stop coming.

Most of the bodies were lying only a thousand feet away from the barricaded door, but for some that was much too close.

Night After Night

Death After Death.

The creatures of the afterworld started to grow in numbers, and last night they managed to reach the inner perimeter of their boarded up warehouse, which the defenders had called home.

These small creatures were known as Night Crawlers, they were more beast than man and craved for nothing but human flesh. Their mutated bodies were covered with a decay of orange flesh, and teeth so sharp, they could cut into bones. And what they lacked in size, they gained in speed and strength. The Night Crawlers ran close to the ground and hunted like a pack of wolves.

The Ozone chemical did this to them, turning normal people into savage beasts.

Usually a blunt instrument to the head or disconnecting their spinal cord would end these violent actions.

But tonight, there were far too many of them.

They broke through! A voice filled with great terror yelled out.

This way, the boy heard his mother say, as she pulled him through the corridor and away from the broken door. People ran back and forth, some joined in with the fight, while others backed away to find their own hiding place.

The boy believed that if he was much older and his mother was a little younger, they would have stayed for the final fight. But at the time he was only eight years of age, and too young for combat.

Running through the corridors, they were able to run into a smaller room and barricaded that door with chairs and a large wooden desk. Though the door was secured with whatever else they could find, nervousness filled their souls as the sounds of terror crept along the outer hallway.

The boy shook and cringed from the blood-curling screams coming from such brave warriors; survivors, which he had once called friends.

They will be here soon. His mother cried out, and started to pace the room. She needed a plan and quickly, those Night Crawlers were fast, faster than any man that she had ever seen. As she continued to pace the floor, she could hear them tearing up their home, or munching on their latest victim.

Time to be brave, Phoenix. The boy’s mother whispered, while she could hear them sniffing at the door now it is your time to be a man.

At first the young boy thought she wanted them to fight, but his mother had a different plan. Lifting herself onto her tiptoes, she was able to reach the covering of the ventilation shaft.

With her first yank at the wire mesh, she had almost gotten the cover off, but it took two more hard pulls before getting the screen off completely.

By the time she had grabbed his hand, the Night Crawlers were already ripping at the door. Lifting Phoenix up to the now open shaft, she told him to keep going until he reached the roof.

That was always their escape plan if they were ever to retreat, but no one thought that this day would come.

Once on the rooftop, the following survivors would wait until daybreak before moving again. The Night Crawlers always traveled at night,…Always.

After Phoenix had climbed up the ventilation shaft, he turned and stuck his hand out in order to help his mother, but she told him not to wait for her.

Continuing to crawl his way to the rooftop, he had made it about thirty feet, but suddenly stopped when he heard a noise coming from behind. Turning around he saw a hand latching onto the opening of the small corridor.

Upon seeing his mother’s face, a warm sensation ran through his young body, it was a relief to know that she was still with him, but this feeling only lasted for a moment.

It was the look of fear which had startled him, an expression he had seen on many brave warriors before, but never had he seen it on hers. At first he was not sure why she made this face, not until he saw her body being yanked downward.

No! Phoenix screamed realizing that a Night Crawler had gotten a hold of her legs. Stumbling back to help, he was amazed to see that she still had a strong grip on the vent.

While reaching his hands down towards hers, he could see six of those crazed creatures, waiting for their meal to fall.

This was the closest he had ever gotten to one of those things. Their mouth drooled with hunger, their skin orange and wrinkled. He watched as they leaped up and tried desperately to get a free sample of his mother. But her reflexes were too quick, even for their speed, as she kicked the closest ones away.

Run! She yelled at him again.

No, grab my hand. Phoenix argued back as tears started to build up in his eyes. We can make it to the roof.

With eyes focused on one another, she tried desperately to grab onto his hand, but with all her attention on him, she never saw the Night Crawler inch up and bite her across the leg.

Screaming in agony, she lost her grip.

Once his mother was on the ground, the beasts began to close in, and even with her leg badly needing medical attention, she was still able to use her remaining balance and rose quickly back to her feet.

Phoenix watched as his mother pushed them further from their escape route. Then with her eyes gazing on his watering eyes, she told him to go, find the others.

But he could not leave her, not hurt and surrounded like she was. He wanted to help, but felt frozen in fear, he even tried to warn her, but he became too nervous to speak. And when the creature bit her across the arm, she didn’t even scream, and even when another jumped onto her back, it found itself being flipped over and toppling onto the others.

Run! She told Phoenix for the final time.

As he turned, his eyes caught three of them run into her, knocking her down.

There was nothing more he could do and did as he was told. But so many times he wanted to go back and fight. His blood boiled from the anger that grew inside of him. Hearing her screams from the pain only hardened the blow.

Still wanting to go back, he made it to the rooftop like his mother expressed. Hiding in the shadows, Phoenix curled into a ball and waited, waited for someone to show.

But no one came, not his mother, not the defenders, no one. He was alone.

Curling himself tighter, he cried until the night turned into dawn.

CHAPTER TWO

It was over, the world society built for its rich and glamorous lifestyle had turned into ashes.

Gone now - wiped away into the everlasting pits below.

Many would have thought that the world was a paradise compared to what it is now. A wasteland filled with decay and lost hope.

The world in which they knew had been taken for granted, the children of the world became spoiled, and all they knew was how to take and take some more. And in a year not so long ago, there was a President who only believed in money and power, a belief that it was the only thing worth fighting for.

No more was America the home of the brave, but the home of the greedy. War erupted between countries, after countries, all wanted more; more power, more energy, more money. Tempers erupted, bombs were dropped and many people died in this game of supercilious.

But when the smoke never fully cleared, the pollution from the bombs tripled in the air. The Ozone layer decreased in size, as radioactive waves burned to the ground. Farms were harder to grow, animals became infected