End Of The Beginning

Chapter 1- The New World

He slowly opened his eyes. The bright yellow rays made him blind for few seconds. A small delay to see what the world become. When he could see, he looked around. There was no trees, no wind, no birds in the sky. Ashes and dust everywhere. The world he knew, it's long gone.

The world has become nothing more than a wasteland. There's nothing left, the entire place is filled with dust and ashes, nobody could see anything even if it was right in front of them. And when the spaceship crashed, things got worse.

There was him, a man in his thirties, not so tall, well-constructed body, round face, perfectly cut hair, and a long beard covered with dust and blood, wearing some kind of spacesuit that gets ripped in some places, who didn't have any idea what happened. The ears where still humming from the explosion. He was sitting on a piece of concrete leaning against a broken wall. He attempted to get up, but his leg injuries made it impossible. He examined the wound and made sure the leg wasn't broken. He was thinking of what would happen next. For the first time in a long time, he didn't know what to do. He was tired, injured. After a brief moment, the eyes slowly shut.

"Boooooom..............................................."
The noise made him open his eyes, it's almost dark. What's that sound? Where does it come from? He looked around, and saw a fire to his right,not far. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it. It had two vials. He injected one in his wounded leg. The pain is significantly decreased, but he knew he couldn't stay there. His hand began looking for something to help him get up, he found a long steel pipe. With the help of the pipe, he slowly began to walk in the direction opposite the fire. Because he knew that if he walked toward it, he would be a moth seeking its end in a flame.

He knew that he could not continue walking and that he had to hide somewhere. But before that, he had to find medicine or antibiotics or whatever it took to treat his wound. But it was almost dark and there was not one light that he could find but the big flame. Hunger, thirst, exhaustion, it was all against him. The primary goal is to find the spacecraft that was hit and damaged as it entered the atmosphere. It's here somewhere. But finding it before dark with his injuries is pretty unlikely. So first he needs rest, to do that, a shelter becomes his top priority.

There was two options

One - finding higher ground; stay in the high ground will help to locate the ship more easily if it's somewhere near, and also make a quick scan of the area
Two- find a subway station. Where making a fire is more safer than anywhere else.

However, there was not a lot of time for a clear decision. It was about which of those two he sees first. If he sees a subway, go downstairs, see a skyscraper and go upstairs. And maybe pick up some supplies along the way. There was no living being anywhere. Shattered walls, wrecked vehicles, dilapidated buildings, almost everything made by man collapsed.

Suddenly, his eyes locked on something, something that would help him with his current situation. He started walking towards it with some curiosity and high expectations.It was an ambulance, crashed onto a car that crashed onto another. Most likely left by paramedics in an unfavourable situation. The ambulance doors were open, those guys probably left in a hurry. He looked in, there was an ECG monitor, an oxygen tank, a stretcher, and a few other items that he doesn't need now. He was looking for something else. He was trying to find something else. And it was sitting on top of the stretcher, a first aid kit bag. He opened it and looked inside, and the face broadened with a smile of relief. It had almost everything that he needed. Antiseptics, alcoholic pads, antibiotics, bandages, etc..... While digging around, he also found a flashlight and a city map. The map showed an underground station nearby. After finding his way to the station, he didn't waste a great deal of time thinking about it. The wounded man began walking toward the station with a bag full of supplies.

He walked for 10 minutes or so. When he arrived in the subway staircase, he looked around. There was nobody else but him. He slowly came downstairs and lit the flashlight. There was less damage on the inside than on the outside. The rails were empty, no trace of a train. With the flashlight, he went down into the tunnel. While walking he found the door of a service room. He broke in and shut the door. He went through every inch of the room to make sure it was completely sealed. Then made a fire using the wood he collected from the outside, demolishing a wooden bench and tables outside a restaurant, and fuel collected from cars. Then he started stitching up the wound. Cleaned it and injected the last vial from the box. Then he started dressing up, and for an amateur, he did a good job. The eyes are getting heavier, he find it difficult to open them. But before he went to sleep, he used bandages to cover his wound. A few moments later, with his eyes shut, he fell asleep gently.

Sleep lasted longer than expected, when he opened his eyes it was almost noon. The watch is displayed 01.04 but, it was not accurate. Because it's a different time zone and correct time probably earlier than his watch shows. He got up and went outside. He checked the wound again, it's getting better. the pain is reduced,he removed the bandages to check the stitches, it's looking good, no sign of infection.

He scanned the whole area, no sign of any life. Shops are abandoned, vehicles are smashed against each other, everything is broken or completely destroyed. Shards of glass scattered on floors and roads, it is everywhere and shines in the sunlight like small twinkling stars. He began to walk, he has to find something to eat. He knew he could find something to eat at abandoned malls. And the search lasted about 15 minutes and he found a shop, there was a lot of food and beverages. He could not wait, he opened some boxes and began to eat. When his stomach was full, he started stuffing his bags. There was no time to lose, locating the ship became the first priority. He had an idea where to look, it should be someplace where he was yesterday. He ejected from the vessel approximately 200 meters off the ground. So it's time to return to where he landed yesterday.

It took less than an hour to get to the location and start searching. He looked as far as he could, but the ship was nowhere to be found.
He checked the map, marked some areas where the ship might crash. Then went to the first zone marked in the map, sadly the ship was not there.

He saw a building there with seven floors. He walked to the building and went inside. It was completely abandoned, he started walking up the steps to the roof. it took some time to reach the top because of his injury and concrete objects and pieces that blocked the stairway. But he managed to reach the rooftop. He scanned the entire are. He saw the destruction that was surrounding him, it was really terrifying.

Suddenly, his eyes locked on to something, there it was, the ship. It crashed beside a fountain near a place that looks like a park. It was a relief. But he had to wait, he needed to cross a lake but it's almost dark, getting out now is a risk. He knew what would happen at night, and how dangerous they might be. He therefore decided to wait until tomorrow and remain in the building.

He found a room with less wreckage. He made up his mind to stay in there. There was still work to do. He covered the windows with clothes and cardboard which he collected from the building. It took a while, it's nearly night. He checked all those windows. He made it impossible for anyone to see him from the outside. Then he ate some of his food and went to sleep

He woke up early in the morning. He took a few things out of the bag and went into the bathroom. There was water in the building. Even though it didn't look great, he took a shower. Then he replaced the bandages. He seemed freshened up after the shower. There was still food in the bag, he ate it, and began packing everything..

He couldn't go straight to the ship because he was on the other side of a lake, so he had to go around it to reach there. He picked up the map to find the easiest route to the ship.

He got to the ship by noon, exactly in one hour and 46 minutes. He felt so happy. There it was, the ship is right in front of him. It looked like a white whale from the outside, and it was almost as big as a football stadium. He went towards the entrance and opened a hatch which scanned his face. Once the door opened, he walked in.

As soon as he entered the ship, he heard a voice. " Welcome back Captain ".