Crystal City | The End of the World is Just the Beginning

[football_fever 6]

man in suit:   I'm just getting onto the plane now....it's only for
                                     a couple days...I know....I'll miss you too...bye sweetie...



man in suit (to passenger beside him): there's my new apartment...the blue one by the park...



      ***FLASH****


   ****BOOOOOOOOMMM*****



Whenever I have that dream, I wake up in a sweat.  I have to check my surroundings.

Was it real? 

Was it a dream? 

Who am I?

Where am I? 

It's happened dozens of times.

Pathetic...I know.  I should know by now.  The knowledge should be burned into
my brain...that everything I knew for the first 28 years of my life is gone.
My home...my family...my wife...the high school I went to...they're gone.
It takes a minute, but it comes back to me.

Yes it was real

I wish it were a dream

I am Alex Davidson

And I am running from the ones that destroyed everything I knew.


Table of Contents

 

[crazychickensc12 84]

WHoaaaa epic!! this sound interesting kinda like Bourne Identity, i can't wait to see what happens!!

[Gab2k614 0]

looks like your house is toasted

coold pics

[masochist 111]

Wow, talk about a Boomtown! (yeah, I'm sorry...). Nice explosions...excellent start!

[jacqulina 162]

wow nice start and was that a finish to the start lol nice explosion,great intro and fantastic pics

[Constantina 5]

Sounds like a great start.

[Tommy_Vercetti3 3]

Fantastic start. One word of advice though, don't get the Pause or disaster frame in the picture. Other than that, great start looking foward to more.

[Schulmanator 5,787]

An interesting start. Looking forward to more.

[tommiej 0]

really nice start!! i'm looking forward how this continues!! keep it up

[SpecialEddie 3]

Very dramatic storyline we have have here. Though the city building could use some improving, I can't wait to read more of this story.

[Blazerhawk 162]

You've got me hooked. As has been started don't get the pause or disaster borders in your picture. 10 rate start.

[Sunil 3]

wow great start

[Darth Krow 0]

nice start

[football_fever 6]

Thanks for all the comments already.  This is my first CJ and can use your tips.

crazychickensc12 maybe a little bourne identity with more sci-fi, and a story that is revealed like Lost...I have big plans

Gab2k614 just wait until you see the rest of the city

masochist I'm really happy with the second explosion...so happy I'm using it as my desktop background at the moment

jacqulina great to have a ST all-star like yourself in my topic.  Thanks for stopping by

Constantina same goes for you

Tommy_Vercetti3 is there any way to keep them from showing up besides photoshoppinh them?  The pause was all me, but the disaster one was a mistake.  I tested the bomb, and a disaster thing never showed up.  Fankly I was lucky to get that shot because of my computer lag

Schulmanator I promise I'll keep it interesting

tommiej same for you

SpecialEddie I actually made this city so it could be destroyed...not my best work, but they will get better

crushedcar thanks for the 10.  My gophers play you in a couple weeks...not looking forward to it

Sunil  thank you

Darth Krow thank you too

I wasn't planning on updating just yet, but I'll show you poor San Verona before & after

Before

After

[beskhu3epnm 8]

Big plans? Look at the damage here! This is worth it for the explosions alone.

Here was me after reading that last section:

[dadyrghluv 8]

HOLY HELL!

what a way to start this bad boy off eh? love the intro. what a way to see your loved ones go!

u just destroyed your whole town..../cry.

rebuild sonny jim rebuild! i look forward to an update.

[giorgos69 52]

All the buildings in the town where abandoned anyway.

[football_fever 6]

Thanks for more good comments

beskhu3epnm if you like explosions, definitely stick around.  more will be revealed in the next update

dadyrghluv no wonder he's having nightmares

giorgos69 there are a few abandoned buildings, but in this one little corner of the map there was 160,000 people and rising.  It would've kept going, but I had to stop and blow it up before I got attached to it.  Love your athens stadium by the way.

A new update will maybe come today.  Depends on how tired I am after work.  Adios

[choco1 4]

I like this, with those Ultra-Cool effects you can't go wrong!

Hehe, nice work. Keep it up!

[jacqulina 162]

you are welcome im enjoying popping in.wow what an explosion and not much left of the buildings i like the effects,does this mean that you were not happy with that spot there and were going to see some new things pop up,i cant wait to see what you do to this area,great pics btw

[football_fever 6]

Alex Davidson

 -66 days after the end of the world

What would you do if everything you ever knew was destroyed? I mean everything.

Your family...house...car...the park you played in as a kid...the gas station with the pretty cashier...

Would you give up?

Would you run away from the problems until they caught up to you again?

Or would you fight? Fight for your right to live. The right that was taken away from the rest of the world.

I don't know what you'd choose, but I can tell you what I did.

I fought...I am fighting...

My name is Alex Davidson, and I am one of the last people of Earth...

Alex: good morning delsa

Delsa: I'm so glad you're here. If I had to stare at blank space for another minute I'd open the hatch and float away.

Alex: great...that makes me look forward to my shift

Delsa: heh...godnight Alex

 

and so I settled into the chair for another long monotonous shift. If you think going into space is exciting, I'm here to kill your aspirations. Don't get me wrong...it is exciting...for the first few days. Then a week goes by...then a month...then...who knows how long we've been here. There isn't exactly a sun revolving around us anymore to provide a sense of time.

Not falling asleep on a shift was easy. I hated sleeping. Whenever I closed my eyes to sleep...I saw it. The destruction. I didn't want to see it. Ever.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and knew my boredom was broken

Allison

Allison: hey, sleepyhead

Alex: Good morning

Allison: Morning? It's the middle of the night

Alex: For you it is

Allison: You know I'm always right. Plus, don't you owe me a backrub from the bet you lost the other night?

we smiled

Alex: Are you going to make some breakfast?

Allison: Sure, how do you like your eggs?

Alex: Not dehydrated?

Relationships with others in the crew were hot and cold at different times. Not with Allison. We were drawn toward each other somehow. I lost my wife, she lost her husband. We had both moved to San Verona recently, we were on the same flight...we both survived...

Suddenly the computer said something in a language we couldn't understand. There was a lot about the Hyperion we didn't understand.

Allison: What did it say?

Alex: I have no idea. But we'd better find out.

Allison: The first word it said...I think I actually remember it...remember the asteroid we nearly hit?

Alex: yeah...it was an alarm...

Allison: But for what?

Then it appeared

Alex: Oh...no...

Allison hit the alarm as I shouted for the people sleeping to get to stations

Greg: *%^& They found us

Alex: Delsa! You know how to use the weapons best! Fire at that thing!

Delsa: Firing weapons!

Alex: It didn't do anything!

Nick: They're coming closer...

Nick: we're hit! we need to land on that planet

Alex: Liz, can you get us into the atmosphere without burning up?

Liz: I think heat shieds are still intact

Nick: We'd last longer in the atmosphere without heat shields that we would fighting that damn ship

Alex: Let's do it

Liz guided the ship toward the white planet. I hoped this wasn't the end. We've come so far. Too far to just burn up haplessly in the atmosphere of some random planet.

The intense orange glow was filled the bridge. Everything was shaking violently. I thought maybe if burning up didn't kill us, then surely our brains would vibrate right our our ears.

Liz: 100,000 feet....80,000....60,000....reversing thrust....

The ship felt like it had slammed into the ground...but we were still falling

Liz: Decent is slowing...30,000 feet...10,000 feet...brace for impact

to be continued......

[City2TheMax 3]

Wow... That was kind if... destructive. I love those explosions! Looking forward to more!

[football_fever 6]

does anyone know if there is a way to get rid of the grid on the landscape? It isn't too noticeable on grassy areas, but on the snow it sticks out like a sore thumb.

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull effects love what you are doing,i think you press the g key or something like that,excellent pics by the way

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Wow! Lots of destruction. Interested to see what happens next

[Blazerhawk 162]

Awesome! This is absolutely top-notch! Waiting for the next update with much anticipation.

[tommiej 0]

nice effect and pics!! really like the explosion and the damage which it has caused!!

looking forward for the next update

[infinitum19 0]

Wonderful indeed. You made me read from the start until this end. Its like the storyline of a movie. Cool!

[football_fever 6]

I think it's about time I gave you a meaningful update that moves the story forward, so here you go.  Hope you enjoy it


Alex Davidson
-66 days after the end of the world




As soon as I came back to conciousness, I could feel the chill of a panic flowing up my spine.

Once I looked around I noticed it could be the chill of just plain cold.

The instant I opened my eyes I was blinded by a bright light.  Is this death?
Cold and bright?  No, I wasn't dead.  I was still in the ship.  Wait...I was still in the ship
and there was bright sunlight shining in my eyes?  That's not a good thing

I noticed two people awake trying awaken the others.  It was a violent impact.
Who was unconcious, and who was dead?

Theresa: Alex, you're alive!

Alex: Yeah...ow, what happened?

Theresa: We're alive.  All of us except Paula and Ryan.

Alex: Oh my god...where are they?

Theresa:  Still in their seat.  We need to get everyone out of here that's still alive before
          something happens.

Alex: You mean the ship explodes?

Theresa: Or worse

 

I knew what she was talking about.  I didn't know how long I was out, but there couldn't be
much time to lose.

I went to the closest person to me, a middle aged man named David.

 

Alex:  David....David wake up...David....

David: oh...

Alex: David, you need to get up

David: are we alright?

Alex: For now we are, but we need to get out of here

 

I started to wake up the next person when it hit me...wasn't Allison next to me?

This time the chill was worse than when I didn't know if I was dead or alive...I
didn't know if she was dead or alive.

 

After a short time we were all awake.

Nick: Alex...glad to see you're alive

Alex: You too, Nick

Although Nick and I had many disagreements, we respected each other a lot.  The rest of
the group looked to the two of us for leadeship.  Why me, I don't know.  Apparently
I give good advice.  We didn't see eye to eye on many things, but one thing is for sure.
If one of us was gone, this cold place was sure to get a lot colder.

Nick: I saw something up on that hill.  It looked like it was made of stone.
      We should head there since the Hyperion won't keep up warm very long.

Alex: Good plan.

I addressed the crew

Alex: Everyone!  We're going to head up to the stone structure on the top of that hill.
      Grab whatever food and supplies you can, we need to leave as soon as possible.  You have 5 minutes

On the back of my mind was Allison.  Where had she gone?

I walked along the hull of the Hyperion.  Time to grab whatever food I could.

"That was a nice speech, Mr. Wallace.  You really inspired the troops there"

The voice came from the food storage....Allison

Alex:  Where the hell have you been?

We hugged

Allison: Well, I figured this is what we'd be doing eventually, so I started packing while you
         were still napping.

She had all the food packed into storage bins...all ready for transport

Alex: you're a genius.

The remaining 8 members of the Hyperion hiked up the hill to the stone structure.  As we arrived we found
the ruins of what looked like a castle.  It seems there was life on this ice cube at one point.

We found part of the ruin that went underground...perfect shelter from the cold.  Who knows how cold it
gets here at night.

Delsa: That was quite a hike Mr. Boyscout leader.  Is there any water in there?

Alex: Yeah, here

She took a drink and set it down on part of the stone wall.

Delsa: So what do we do next?  Live here until our food runs out?

Nick: We're not sure yet.  Today was kind've a lot to absorb.

Liz: Look...Delsa's water...

The surface of Delsa's water was shaking like Jurassic Park when the T-Rex was approaching.
I'd hate to see what a T-rex looked like on this planet.

But it wasn't an animal at all.  Pretty soon the entire place was shaking.  Delsa's water fell onto the floor

 

Liz: it's them...

Nick: They're going for the Hyperion

Theresa: They're going to find us!

Nick: You don't know that

Theresa: What about the tracks in the snow?

Alex: Maybe they don't see us

Everyone knew that was a lie, but we all lied to ourselves that it might be true.
If they could find our tiny ship in the middle of billions of miles of space, they could find us
Huddled less than a mile away in a stone castle

Miraculously they took off...after what seemed like an hour or more...

Alex: How did they miss us?

Nick: I don't know...but it seems we might be safe here for a little while.

Allison: I hope so...the only question...

where is here?

[football_fever 6]

Thank you again for your comments.  I'm in the process of upgrading my computer, so new updates might take a lil while.  I have most of the story written, but am still working on the City.  Here is a teaser.  It is farther along than this, but I can't give away too much, can I?