| Twilight Of The Apocalypse |
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| Fear… |
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| The
one thing that cripples your mind and soul, and drains you of the strength to
carry on… |
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| Tom
had experienced fear many times in his life, but none as horrifying as what
he was about to experience. |
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| Free
Haven, Trimoire Island – 0635 hours |
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| The
town of Free Haven was the only inhabited place on the small island of
Trimoire, |
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| named
after the man who discovered the island in the 16th century, after his ship was sunk |
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| by
pirates in the Bass Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania. He
drifted for |
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| four
days before he spotted the island. |
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| Tom
Shanks was one of the many fishermen on the island who made a living by going |
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| out
to sea in the morning, and returning in the evening to sell their catch of
fish. He was |
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| only
eighteen, but nonetheless decided to help his old father cast the nets and
hauls in as |
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| many
fish as he could. His father would often praise him for being a good
fisherman at |
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| sea,
but he only nodded at the compliment. |
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| Then,
one evening, he was just returning home with his father when he heard shrieks
and |
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| screams
coming from the town. Looking up, he heard a loud whistling sound, and a
large |
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| black
object the size of a truck cut a swath through the air as it fell from the
sky. The |
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| cool
evening breeze was gone, replaced by the heat emanating from the glowing
object. It |
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| was
burning with crimson fire. The colors of orange and pink in the sky were gone
too, |
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| for
now dark smoke rose from the tail end of the object, and darkened the entire
sky. |
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| More
such objects were soaring above the pair now, and his father said, “Go! Get
to the |
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| bomb
shelter. I'll be right there." |
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| Tom
asked, “What about you, Dad?” |
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| “I’ll
have to get this fishing trawler in place. |
" |
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| “Alright,
Dad. Hurry!” |
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| As
he ran, Tom saw that already a few houses were burning, especially the wooden
ones. |
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| They
were old, dry and were the most likely to catch fire. One of the objects had
crashed |
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| into
the roof of a 2-story brick building. The dying screams of those trapped in
the |
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| building
could still be heard. Looking back, Tom yelled for his father to hurry. |
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| Unfortunately,
it was too late. As his father ran across the docks towards the town, he |
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| was
quickly closing the gap between Tom and himself, but he never had a chance to |
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| reach
his son, for one of the black, glowing objects crashed into the docks and the
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| wooden
stilts exploded into thousands of tiny splinters. His father slipped and fell
into the |
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| murky
depths. |
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| No… |
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| Tom
fell to his knees, looking at the spot where his father had been just moments
ago. |
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| Again,
the loud whistling sound forced him to move. He ran, and ran, and finally |
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| collapsed
as he hit the door hard and stumbled into his home. Blood trickled from his |
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| mouth,
down his chin. |
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| He
cursed silently. |
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| His
home was a wreck. One of the flying objects had crashed into his home too. A
pillar |
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| of
smoke rose into the air from the crashed object. His house was on fire. No, he said to |
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| himself.
He could not stay here. Looking at the object closely, he saw strange
characters |
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| and
symbols on the sides of the ‘craft’. Who knew what might be inside? |
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| He
left the building and headed for the mall. He knew he would find shelter
there. The |
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| mall
was located within an old brick building that was as high as three stories.
He might |
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| be
able to find others here. He sprinted up the stairs and entered a large room,
its walls |
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| covered
in orange, green and pink paint. This was the art gallery. |
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| Footsteps!
He had heard footsteps from beyond the doorway on the other side of the |
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| room.
Peering into the darkness, he saw nothing. But as he turned his back to the |
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| darkness,
a massive clawed hand grabbed his shoulders and spun him around to face |
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| whatever
creature had caught hold of him. A hideous face with large yellow eyes stared
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| at
him. There were four eyes on its small, deformed head. Those eyes reminded
him of |
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| those
of a reptile’s. Small sucker-like projections protruded from most of its
skinny and |
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| fragile-looking
body. Black scales covered its entire body. |
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| Before
he knew it, tentacles from the creature shot out and encircled the struggling
man's neck. |
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| Then,
sharp talons at the ends of the tentacles stabbed into his body, and Tom felt
an indescribable |
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| pain.
Then he fell to the floor unconscious. |
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