A technomancer's journey in an apocalyptic world

Chapter 56: The Grand Escape (Part-4)

Ryan had a soft spot for a certain hero from the comic world, a 'hero' who others might call an antihero but to him, he was a hero nonetheless, a hero that had flaming skull riding on his extremely cool and as Ryan would eloquently put it as a 'badass' motorcycle he would have always dreamt of owning, after all, who does not like such a vehicle.

Ryan's dream had been fulfilled as well as he was slapped by the harsh reality, the large explosion caused by the tank was the only beginning the shockwave and the heat triggered every other tank that had been somewhat intact, even the oil on the ground was not spared.

Ryan felt as if he had been hit by a sledgehammer, the explosion destroyed his eardrums making him deaf, he threw up the blood inside his mask as the glass had cracked, he felt weightless for a moment as the only thing that kept him on his seat was the seat belt, while the Goliath did a few good somersaults in the air.

A small touch of his hand made sure that the glass that covered his eyes was repaired as the large explosion had managed to crack it.

The Goliath came down with a loud thud cracking the already cracked ground even more, as its wheels buckled for a moment before it speeds forward, but unlike before it was not only shaking but it let out rattling noises.

A dazed Ryan quickly came out of his shocked state as he took control of the steering wheel as the car rushed forward. Ryan winced hard as the impact of the car falling was so great that for a moment he thought his spine would snap.

But, that was a bit, not the only problem that he had to face, the car's shock absorbers and spring system had been damaged to the point that it was practically non-existent, as such he could feel every bumps and pothole on the road.

A copious application of his skills later he had managed to somehow repair the cracked windshield as well as his window, the rear camera had been destroyed and a glance at that side camera view had confirmed his fear, the entire Goliath was aflame it gets a nice oil bath courtesy of the exploding tanks.

There was nothing he could do about it, as the entire outside had taken the looks of hell on earth, the fire was spreading first an explosion had caused what left of the city to collapse as well.

Unknown to Ryan the fire did not stop there, the leaked oil had managed to find an entrance and travel into the sewer mixing with the water, now the oil was set aflame with an explosive gusto, thereby causing even more damage to the city.

The ground cracked and trembled underneath as the flaming vehicle ran through the broken streets near the banks of the river.

Ryan's grip on the steering wheels hardens as he stared forward, with most of the lights destroyed he had to rely only on his eyes.

Ryan was frightened beyond belief never had he thought that such a thing would, never would he have thought that one day he would go deaf, he would never again hear all those wondrous sounds, he would never be able to hear anyone speak to him, he would not hear his family's voice, even if he had to listen to his mother's terrible lullaby that was torturous he missed it.

His vision became hazy as he blinked a few times as it became clear again, 'I will deal with everything later but first I have to get out of here first, the dam is close, I just have to cross it.'

If Ryan was able to hear he would have heard the sounds and cries of creatures trying to outrun the fire that was gaining more and more strength, if he was able to hear he would have heard how bad his car was damaged to the point it was letting out a rattling sound, if he was able to hear he would have learned about the danger ahead.

Goliath rammed his way through the broken cars and creatures as it made its way to the dam letting the burning city behind, to onlookers it looked like a burning car from hell, even the tires were lit aflame.

A smile graced on Ryan's face as he looked at the entrance to the dam, he had to just cross it and he would be far away from the city.

A loud screech was heard as the car took a sharp turn as it climbed on the top of the dam, the seen in front of him made his breath hitch.

'How could I forget about the fact that people used to use the dam as a bridge, after that day their cars, buses and trucks might be left behind.'

Ryan drove over a creature as he tried to bulldoze his way through the various vehicles that were stranded on top of the dam.

If he had his hearing he would be a bit more cautious about approaching the dam that was groaning and crackling loudly.

The Navalach Dam had been touted as the greatest accomplishment for the Republic of Balonia for nothing, as it had held itself strong even after suffering such a devastating quake, holding back the millions of gallons of water.

But, today the explosion did something that even the large earthquake that shook the city failed to do, it failed to completely break the dam, true it left cracks all around that made it leak water but it still held in one place, until today that is.

The explosive shockwave rattled the dam enough so that the cracks spread fast, as more and more water began to leak from it, and then it happened, the Navalach Dam the pride of the nation began to collapse.

Ryan was only halfway through when the dam shook rather violently, to the point that it was becoming rather difficult for him to drive.

'What in the hell is this thing? How will I drive now? Why is it shaking so much?'

His answer came quickly as he watched part of the dam collapsed along with the car that was on the side, as he sped up, as more and more cracks became visible to him.

'Is the dam breaking? How cursed is my luck? Just a bit more and I would have been safe.'

The Goliath collided with a slipping car as it veered off course as Ryan wrestled control of his car with great difficulty, as he slammed his feet on the accelerator as hard as possible.

It was becoming rather difficult for him to see as the inside of the Goliath seemed to be getting filled up with smoke, even his filter was having difficulty filtering properly with each passing second, but Ryan did not have time to pay any heed to it.

'The end of the dam, I can see it, please let me reach it please! Please! Please!'

He prayed and pleaded as the part of the dam he currently began to tilt dangerously along with it so did the Goliath.

'Come on, please climb please climb.'

Ryan's heart pounded as he gained a fearful look on his face, he knew that if he fell in the water he would be dead, no matter what kind of vehicle he was driving even if the vehicle could survive a mine blast without a scratch he did not have so much confidence about it surviving being buried under so much volume of water, not to mention the various creatures that live in water nowadays.

As such with all his might he pushed the Goliath to the limit, as he tried to escape from the watery grave.

It had been a few hours since dawn and Michalina had broken off the camp, and Celanna had gathered their ride, which was coincidently large goats.

Jessica counted to ten before she hopped on top of it with her eyes closed, as she held on to the horns of the creature like a lifeline.

Nikita snickered at that as Jessica shot her hate-filled glare that made Nikita giggle out loud.

"I know I might sound like a spoilsport, but we are about to enter a highly-populated area by midday, as such keep your eyes peeled as we are abo."

Michalina's words were stopped as Celanna's gasped filled shout came to her ears, "What is that? Is that some new kind of creature?"

Michalina looked at the direction as her binocular quickly found its way in front of her eyes, as she looked at the thing at the distance her voice choked with emotion as she spoke, "It is a car, a car that means that must be Ryan."

She did not wait for others as she slapped her goat hard enough to make it run fast, while she clung on to it for her dear life, 'Who knew riding an animal without a saddle was so hard.'

As she neared her eyes narrowed, she could see the black car that was being driven might not be the fastest one but at the same time it was not steady as well as it was having difficulty staying in a straight line.

When all of a sudden it took a sharp turn before stopping as it hit a tree, she hit her goat harder as she urged it to pick up speed.

Each step looked a mile and each second a year for her, her heart was pounding hard, as she neared the car then it stopped seeing the badly damaged condition of it.

She could hardly recognize the car from the burned and destroyed exterior, only one military vehicle came to her mind, but seeing the damage made to the car her heart as well her to stop.

Jessica managed to reach by her commander's side as she spoke, "That vehicle looks like it came from the warzone, burned so badly, look a few parts of it are still burning.

When all of a sudden the door of the vehicle swung open, and then a figure fell off on the ground from inside if the vehicle, as he lay there unmoving.

Michalina hit her goat so hard that it let out a cry of pain before it sped towards the person who was lying on the ground.

Michalina jumped off the back of her goat as she scrambled towards a figure lying on the ground were a tactical armour that she was extremely familiar with.

Her hands shook slightly as she tried to touch the fallen figure only to be stopped by another hand grasping on hers.

Michalina glared at the offending person who in turn gave her a soft smile as she spoke, "You should be cautious while treating an injured person because handling them wrongly might aggravate their condition so why don't you go and set up a perimeter while I give a check-up on Ryan."

Michalina gave a hesitant nod as Nikita with the help of another elf by the name of Maralyn came by her side as she helped to turn over Ryan's unconscious body.

"Are you sure this is the Ryan person that you are searching for?"

Nikita nodded at that as she spoke, "Yes I am, not only is he wearing the same clothes but as far as I know only he has the power to make the technology work again.

She then gently removed his mask and helmet before letting out a gasped shock, as most of Ryan's face near his mouth was caked with dried blood and the part that was still uncovered by blood was red like a well-cooked lobster.

Maralyn touched Ryan's head as she spoke with a frown, "He is running a high fever, and I am going to give him a thorough check-up."

Maralyn then touched Ryan as her hands glowed for a moment while her brows furrowed before she spoke with a troubling expression in her face, "He is.."