Chapter 2: Deep Indigo
Living in this wasteland is as harsh as it gets. The radioactive fallout has affected the weather severely. The elements of the seasons are even more potent than what I've read. According to pre-war maps and books. I'm in the ruins of a once strong and industrious country, Germany. Reduced to rubbles, like any other known and unknown nation to me. Thankfully I have my trusty sidekick at my side to help me throughout the journey.
My pistol that I had scavenged when I first set out. A revolver. Judging by the looks, it seems really, really old. Which I assume, was made even before the thing happened. I like to call it "The Marker" for obvious reasons, you know, you mark your enemy with their blood.
Found it in the ruins of an old museum. Hiding under the destruction was an underground facility. The place was in really good condition, can't say the place wasn't destroyed through and through. In fact, the place was in almost pristine condition. Only full of dust. Luckily my helmet is retrofitted with a gas and dust filtering mask helped me through. There was a huge metal door, beside it was a terminal. Now here comes my skill in opening things with a computer. All that time in the wasteland, surely, I've kept myself busy before all of this. Learn to read books, this and that and whatnot.
"Time to crack the door open."
I whispered to myself as I reached for the terminal. Oh, and would you look at that, this thing is still on. After all these years a computer is still up and running? Can you believe that? I'll be damned, I've read that people had harnessed nuclear energy, used it on all sorts of different things; cars, houses, robots, weapons, you name it. Well, if this thing's running, then defenses are probably still up and running, or will start to when I open the door. Who knows? You might think I'm hacking the computer and it's gonna be all easy. Boy have I got some news for you. It took an hour or so just bypassing the primary security protocol. Another hour and half more until I finally managed to open the door.
About damn time.
The metal door started opening, and my ears just bled a river with all that metallic screeching. It stopped. Made an opening just about to fit my size. I held my silenced 9mm pistol up. Ready for anything that might pop up when I pass the door. It was dark inside, there were lights, but only a good amount lit the room up. That place, I will never forget. So full of… things… things that I can only think of as the true reminders of the bygone age of a bygone civilization.
Left to right, lined glass containers holding of what seems to be a skeleton, a huge replicate of an animal that I don't know. There were much more animals, I can name only a few based on the inscriptions written before the glass.
The place may be underground, but it was still enormous. The display stretched even further, by the looks of it, each were separated by sections-- animals with animals only, skeletons only with themselves, and life-like display of humans.
I walked further the inside the place, discovered more and more. My footsteps echoed across the room. There and there, at a corner, were tons of guns. A huge display of them. There were various kinds of guns on display in front of me; sniper rifles, assault rifles, pistols, and shotguns. They were old, but they looked good. All of them were good looking to me, the pistol I was holding didn't even compete.
I could've taken them all, hoarded it for myself. But there's just plenty of them that I wouldn't be able to carry. So, I just decided to keep it light, like how I did. Only a pistol. I looked at a section of only the pistols, chose a higher caliber since mine was awfully weaker than the rest. I picked a revolver. I used the butt of the pistol I was holding to break the glass. It didn't work, it was tougher than it looked. I took a couple of steps back, and shot at it, but up to no extent. Shooting it didn't do me good. It ricocheted away and hit more glasses.
"What a waste of ammo." I grunted.
Then I realized, the bullet I shot caused the glass to crack. I might have a chance in this after all. I've only got a couple magazines left with me, so I hoped all I could that the glass would at least make a good crack for my hand. I shot again, this time at the mark left by my first one. The crack grew larger by the shot until it finally broke a section. With a leather glove on my hand, I reached for the revolver. Glass fragments broke off as I inserted my hand inside. And there it was.
This one stood out for me than the rest. It was long and simple, and didn't really have some fancy things with it like the other revolvers. It had a sleek design, shiny from the wooden stock up to the length of the barrel. I checked the gauge, pre-loaded with .45-70 Gov't. The inscription on the side said "Magnum BFR; MRI 2130". A couple hundred years old. I tried shooting. The gun almost flew off my hand, it was damn powerful. It packed a lot of punch. I didn't shoot anymore as that would've been a waste. I took what ammo I could then explored a bit more.
At the center wall I saw something shine from my light. A terminal, again. I went and checked it, but it was turned off, so I started it up again. This one didn't have any security of some sort. There were files. Files telling of a paradise, hidden away. I checked the other files but they didn't do any good. The last one though. It was different. It had instructions, instructions on how to travel to this "paradise". I examined it, and clearly enough it was that simple. It said I could access it through this computer. To me, it was malarkey. It didn't make any sense to me.
Still, I did try to do what the instructions said. Surprisingly, a small doorway opened up just beside the terminal. I peeked at it and it was pitch black inside. I still entered anyway, curious. I didn't mind the dangers that may lie ahead. I shone my flashlight. Then the door shut silently behind me, killing off any source of light I had left. My flashlight started to dim, I pointed it across the room, but I could barely see the edges of the room.
Click. Click.
I heard. I leveled my recently acquired gun over my flashlight hand. Bracing myself for anything that may come out.
A second passed, nothing. A second more, still nothing. I exhaled a sigh of relief. I closed my eyes for a few seconds. Afterwards, I was blinded. Blinded by a bright light, but in all of a sudden, I was elsewhere. Where exactly? I didn't know, perhaps still in that room, perhaps teleported away.
The scenery in front of me, I will not believe. I was in this "paradise" I just recently read. Suddenly I found myself standing in a place full of life. There was nobody else here aside from me, but still, the place gave off such a sensation, which I think, will never experience again.
There were numerous sorts of flowers blooming at my feet, trees towering over me, and plants gazing at me. They all felt real, I would've never left the place. A place I've seen only in books.
I looked at my feet, my shoes, touching the grass and stems of flowers. I reached for a flower, but hesitated. "Are they real?" I asked myself. With a curiosity to sate, I closed my eyes and I tried to grab hold of a flower and pick it.
I straightened myself, stood upright. With my hand, through my glove. I didn't feel anything, only the leather of my glove. I looked at my hand. But nothing, there was nothing. I failed to pick it up. But how? I felt it touching my hand when I grabbed it. But then it just isn't there. I looked at my feet again. Nothing was picked off the ground. I can feel it, but I can't hold it. How does that even work?
I looked up. It was getting darker, the sun is getting covered—no, the sky was clear. But it was getting darker and darker. The scenery was fading away. I was confused, how is that even happening?
The scene was almost gone, but the flowers—the flowers at my feet were still there. It's color, purple—no, it was a darker blue. And purple. Indigo. I watched it slowly fade away. With an indescribable feeling, I stood in the room.
I was in the dark room, again.
—
I sat in front of a campfire, I stoked it so it wouldn't burn out all the fuel. In front of me in the dark, sat a man I recently met. Wearing full combat armor. Polishing his pistol like it's his baby.
"So, care to tell me your story, Courier?"
"What's there to tell? I don't have any."
"Come on, you've been travelling much of the wasteland, I'm sure you've encountered something."
He sighed through his helmet and agreed.
"Fine. I'll tell you about my recent travel…" He said.
"I was in a museum…"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Azusaaa
Azusaaa This work is a one-shot short story. Thanks for reading.
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