A new challenger appears! Surprise, Ryall sometimes draws!
My submission is a tribute to one of my favourite sci-fi franchises,
Terminator, and is titled, “
Rise of the Machyeens.” I felt that sci-fi was being underrepresented on the forum this Halloween. I have included a short writing piece to accompany my submission to give a bit of context, but my submission is the drawing. Also, in case anyone is wondering, the shadow on the wall is my attempt at a phenomenon called ‘
nuclear shadow.’
- Rise of the Machyeens
Tyler watched the rain pouring across the desolate landscape, and all the shades of grey that came with it. It hadn’t rained in so long, and while it was a welcome distraction from his aching stomach, it also caused him to reminisce about the past which brought with it a crippling weight. Thoughts of that fateful day started to haunt him again. Tyler felt himself choking up. He and his best friend, Alex, had went to his parents’ cabin in the wilderness, for a weekend camping trip, on 3 November 2018: the day the bombs fell.
It was late morning, and Tyler and Alex were indoors preparing breakfast, when suddenly, blinding light engulfed the room. Even though Tyler reflexively shut his eyes immediately, the intensity of the light was excruciating, and even his skin felt prickling sensation. Moments passed, and just when Tyler was ready to open his eyes, the Earth trembled; the windows shattered, and he was knocked off his feet by a deafening blast of air. Minutes passed before Tyler recovered from the shock and looked at Alex who was also sitting down, completely bewildered. Tyler and Alex locked gazes, and then both wept, for they realised they had just lost everything, and everyone. That afternoon, it rained, and that was the last time Tyler had seen rain.
Tyler and Alex had spoken about that day many times, and they had wondered if the nukes had come from Russia or North Korea, but that hardly seemed to matter now. Tyler was unsure how many months had gone by, or if even a year had passed, but since then he and Alex had been surviving on food left over in their cabin and neighbouring cabins, supplemented with foraging in the woods. The food had run out, and both Alex Tyler were starving and sickly. They had not encountered any other survivors. Both Alex and Tyler had discussed venturing back to the city to look for canned foods, but had ruled out that possibility for fear of lingering radiation, or aggressive looters. Their options had now run out.
Alex saw his friend falling back into despair, and spoke, “come on, we’re nearly there.” Tyler’s attention shifted to the present, and he could not help but admire Alex who in spite of the cold rain falling on his dirty, matted fur, and in spite of his emaciated physique, was managing a smile. Tyler nodded and they marched onwards. The rain stopped but Tyler’s mood was still bleak.
They arrived at the city, which was now gutted ruins of concrete and twisted metal. Some buildings on the outskirts of the city were still somewhat intact, looking out of place amid all the devastation. While this was promising, it was difficult to remain hopeful with the sights that surrounded them: bones, shadows, and wreckage all posed disturbing reminders to Tyler and Alex of the billions of lives that were lost when the world ended in atomic fire.
Hours passed and eventually, the two came across the promising remnants of a shop. Among the debris of the store they found some cans of food – warped, but presumably still edible. Alex and Tyler were giddy with excitement at the find, and wasted no time breaking the cans open and shovelling the food with their hands. The food had a metallic taste about it, but anything was delicious right now. Night had fallen, and so the two decided to spend the night in the shop. As they lay down to bed on makeshift bedding, Tyler looked to Alex, and managed a smile. “Thank you,” he said. Alex smiled and nodded back knowingly. They passed out from exhaustion.
In the morning, Tyler and Alex were woken by a thunderous rumbling noise. They both rushed outside, in time to see a large apartment block collapsing close by, finally having succumbed the ravages of the nuclear holocaust. Vast amounts of dust billowed forth as the building fell with a tremendous crash. “Wow,” Alex commented. “Yeah,” Tyler responded. The noise stopped, and there was eerie silence as the two stared into the opaque dust clouds which had now spread to a mere 20 meters in front of them. They were mesmerised by the scene in front of them. “Tyler look!” Alex suddenly exclaimed while pointing towards the clouds. There was movement! A figure – the silhouette of a person - began to emerge through the dust.” Tyler was stunned. “I see it,” he responded. Tyler mused if this was another survivor. He could hardly believe it: he and Alex had not seen another living soul in what felt like forever. The figure stopped, turned, and then started shambling towards then. Two more figures emerged behind the initial one, and also started heading towards them.
The gait with which the figures moved was awkward and unnatural. Something was wrong. Tyler’s heart started to race, as a sense of dread overcame him. “A-Alex, we should go,” he stammered, but Alex was still mesmerised by the silhouettes. They were much closer now. “Alex!” Tyler yelled! A brilliant violet beam of light burst forth from the smoke, hitting Alex squarely in the chest. The heat from the beam was enough to sear Tyler just by being near it. Tyler watched, panic-stricken, as the light pierced Alex, disintegrating tissue and then bone. Alex collapsed, and the sickening smell of burnt flesh flooded Tyler’s nostrils. The horror was too much for Tyler, and he vomited. The initial figure stepped forth from the smoke, revealing itself not to be a person at all, but instead a grim mockery of one: a metallic machine with skeletal characteristics, brandishing a weapon of sorts. Its gaze was fixated on Tyler. Tyler turned to flee in terror, but his efforts were futile. Tyler felt complete numbness as that same light pierced his own abdomen, and he fell, gasping for air. Time stopped and everything dulled. In the lingering moments of Tyler’s existence, he felt a sense of relief that it was finally over.