Paxcorpus.com Migration

Alright guys, so this is probably going to seem abrupt, but I have perfectly good reasons for my actions!

First of all, what’s this all about? I’ve migrated my blog to Blogger. Every post I’ve made since the beginning of 2012 to this day will now be at the new home for my blog. My domain, paxcorpus.com, is also in the process of changing over in order to redirect visitors to my new website.

What’s this mean? Well, I’m going to leave this website up and running for archival purposes. Sort of a monument to everything I’ve written and done up until this exact moment. New posts will now be made over at paxcorpus.blogspot.com, which will probably redirect you right back to this blog until the DNS servers have completely updated. Could take up to 24 hours, I believe.

My reasons for doing this? WordPress, for the years I’ve been using it (since 2008), has been sort of annoyingly restrictive in what I can and can’t do. For example, requiring me to pay for CSS changes and the fact that I can’t even edit any of the base HTML.

I’m also in the process of making Google+ my author command center, so this is a huge benefit for me.

Plus, once paxcorpus.com leads to the new blog, you’ll see just how clean and nice it looks. I decided to chop out a lot of the word clutter you can see on the old blog. And there’s a totally sweet background image from my published novel “PaxCorpus” and the in-progress “Escape Velocity.”

I know I’ve been recently receiving new followers for the WordPress blog (which will be at the address dantem.wordpress.com, by the way) and I think that’s about the only downside to my migration. It would be awesome if one, five or any amount of you followed me over to Blogger but I do not expect that to happen at all. I understand that people who follow WordPress blogs are interested in WordPress blogs. So, it’s all good no matter what.

Thank you for stopping by, though! Hopefully I’ll see some of you at my new location and join me in the experience of simply being an indie author on a quest for glory.

Until next time, Ryan S. Fortney. You can’t move forward unless you make changes.

Pax on Google+!

Word is Facebook has, once again, changed things for the worse. According to multiple sources, I’ve heard that Facebook “like” page updates will no longer appear on a person’s timeline unless that person has added your page to a preferred list. Seriously? I can understand this, because a lot of the stuff coming out of “like” pages is annoying, but what about indie authors like me? People are already scared to take a chance on buying my work (you know, I’m just a face in a sea of faces) and now, using FB, it’ll be that much harder to communicate with potential readers and/or fans.

I mean, yeah, somebody Facebook savvy could easily add an indie author’s page to their list, but what about the majority of people who pay features, such as this, no mind?

Where does the indie author go, now?

Google+!

Considering I’m a huge Google fan-boy (Hell, I use an Android phone, I write Escape Velocity in Google docs, I use Google Drive, etc.) this is a plus for me. Pun intended?

Here’s what’s so great about G+. Since the social networking platform emerged, I have seen nothing but good improvements made.

You know how you wake up in the morning sometimes, log onto Facebook and suddenly something’s different and it doesn’t make any sense as to why it even had to change in the first place? Yeah. Google doesn’t do that.

So, anyone reading here, I’d like to direct you to a place where I’d eventually like to have everyone I know and/or communicate with.

Here’s the link for my personal Google+ page: Ryan S. Fortney

And here’s the link for “The Pax Series:” The Pax Series

I intend for both of these places to be a source of communication between other authors, friends, fans and readers alike. I also think it makes more sense to have a “brand page” dedicated to the current series of novels that I am working on, instead of some tribute to myself.

I’ll be trying to spread the word, so this is just the beginning!

R.S.F. – Gamer – Author – Masochist!

Here’s a fun little video I made earlier today. I think I’m getting the hang of it now! (I promise my next post is about Escape Velocity)

R.S.F. plays: MASS EFFECT 3

I thought of a little idea and decided to go with it. Mass Effect 3 (along with the previous games) is one of my favorite pieces of video-game art. So naturally, I want to play through my favorite parts of the game and show off my Shepard and my uber skills. Here’s video number one!

Back in…action?

After a month of not writing a damn thing for Escape Velocity, I’m back. It’s time to set aside things that have been dragging me down and use them to fuel the word-movie in my head that has been begging to be told.

After reading PaxCorpus, again, I noticed one of the things I do most is I go into major detail about what Dante happens to be doing during an “action” sequence. You know:

I aim my gun forward, eyes through the scope, pulling the trigger. Side-step here, back to the wall there.

My biggest fear about my work is being repetitive. I feel that it can be dull to the reader after a certain length of time.

I’ve also gone back and made a few small edits to certain bits of detail. Things I believe would maybe make the reader feel as if I think he or she is stupid. I want to avoid that, because I know none of you are stupid.

So here’s how I started the next chapter of EV. It’s an action sequence, but done a little differently. I’m wondering if you can still tell what’s going on, but I feel the passage diverts from the repetitive.

I chew on a stick of gum. Keeps the static in my head at bay and makes it easier to aim. A painting of black, red and gun-steel flush like a waterfall all around me. Each crack of each pistol is a snap of the viscous latex between my teeth.

The only thought in my head is her.

Why is it that every problem in your life is the result of a woman?

Clenched hands cover the sides of my head and I hurl myself into a ball just beyond a balcony that looks down into a sea of confusion and murder as gunfire, sure as fuck aimed for my face, slaps against the concrete barrier that separates me from the intruders.

Feed to the Back

Hey people! I’ve put together a PDF version of what I’ve written so far for the sequel to PaxCorpus. I’m going to share the link here and, if you feel like reading through a handful of chapters, let me know what you think! I’m looking to get an idea of what other people think of the direction the Pax Series is going. This may or may not influence me along the path to completion of Escape Velocity.

Escape Velocity – PDF – Rough Draft (so far)

As always, thank you.

What’s goin’ on?!

Not much, man, why’re you shouting?

But, seriously. I’ve been considering a lot of things lately. It’s been sort of a harsh year so far and just recently had to “take a step back” and remember who I am.

Escape Velocity will continue as planned.

Aside from that, I’ve been really distracted by things like Mass Effect 3 and Diablo 3. Contrary to public opinion, I find Mass Effect 3 to be most amazing 100% of the way through – even if the ending leaves a huge amount to the imagination. But I won’t go too far into that. Let’s just say I haven’t experienced anything as epic since Metal Gear Solid 4.

Now, Diablo III? Hell, yeah. I’m working on a Demon Hunter – an arrow machine-gunning, beast! If you’re reading this and you play in the “Americas,” add me: PaxCorpus#1795

Now, where was I?

Escape Velocity – THE COVER!

Illustrated by my favorite artist, Leah Moore, I bring you the cover for Escape Velocity!

Escape Velocity – Intro (rough draft)

It all began with a virus in the year 2013, which spread through our drinking water, here in the United States. This virus was released by a rogue terrorist group which goes by the name of the former corporation, “ZeroFactor.”

Like normal human beings, we went about our daily lives, unaware of the changes and the danger that simmered just beneath the surface. Before long, it was all over America, then it crossed the Pacific and the Atlantic, successfully infiltrating the entire world.

When the effects of the alleged “stage 2” of the virus began, the world immediately went into “lockdown” status.

Here in the U.S.A., the CDC was thought to be the answer to our problem. But our first hope for salvation was dismantled from the inside, out, before they even had a fair chance to respond, by the leader of the terrorist organization — someone we all know, now, by the name of Nuhm De’Ara.

Martial law began as chaos and riots broke out.

We were beginning to run out of options.

And contrary to popular doomsday scenarios presented in entertainment and the media, nobody ever threatened to nuke anyone. This was about survival, not destruction.

Our military attempted to retain order and peace, but lacked the technology and medical advancements to keep themselves from becoming one of the infected.

This all leads up to the fall of the American government, the point at which we knew it was definitely time to panic. Some would argue that the time to panic had come and passed, before such an event even took place.

Just after Day 1, the beginning of humanity’s last stand and mass evacuation from all heavily populated areas, myself and a selected team of Manhattan’s Emergency Response Unit returned to the city in order to secure survivors and survey the damage.

Fighting our way through the undead and the onslaught of homicidal terrorists, this is where we made our first mistake.

The fault for the opening of the wormhole, now known as the Rift of Manhattan, lays entirely on my shoulders.

To add insult to injury, this “rift” unleashed monstrous alien forces upon the Earth, who come from an unknown and uncharted location in the Universe. Needless to say, this didn’t and doesn’t make it any easier for the people who fight for a better tomorrow.

Six years later, in the small city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I lost thousands of people whom I had sworn to protect, thanks to the aforementioned terrorist leader, Nuhm De’Ara and gained the reclamation of memories I had once lost, due to a bullet in the head, delivered by the same person.

Since then – one year later – she was presumed dead, along with any fighting chance her organization may have had.

That was, until now.

Escape Velocity

What is “Escape Velocity?”

noun (Physics, Rocketry)

1. The minimum speed that an object at a given distance from a gravitating body must have so that it will continue to move away from the body instead of orbiting about it.

2. The sequel to PaxCorpus.

In between bouts of a screwy relationship, the procurement of a new vehicle, hectic amounts of work and sleep, I have not only drawn up the ideas for the sequel to PaxCorpus, but I have settled on a name, commissioned the artist, Leah Moore (who did the cover for PaxCorpus) and am, hopefully, going to have something of a teaser “trailer” soon. My plan is to have the rough draft finished before the end of the year and get this going to published status much faster than it took me to get the original story up and out to the world.

Three years is kind of a long time.

So far, we’re working with six chapters, all of which set the stage for the, hopefully, epic story I am weaving here, for Dante Marcellus, Meryl SinGarda and their friends, Robert (Rob) and Ed (Mr. Pumpin’ and Thumpin’ time). I’ve determined that there will be no amnesia this time. That wouldn’t make a lot of sense. Though I am injecting a little bit of dreamy-foreshadowing, all of which is directly related to the title of the book.

Yes, we’re still dealing with the undead, the alien-monster guys who pour from the Rift of Manhattan, and the rogue terrorist group, “ZeroFactor.”

The original plan was to deal with each problem separately and then make my way toward the evolution of the story as a whole, which leads into something even crazier, but I’ve got this. I’ve got it all figured out.

For now, just keep your eyes peeled. I’ll be posting stuff.

“Why should I read PaxCorpus?”

Because you enjoy reading, right?

I woke up today, ate some lunch and started thinking, “You know, what reason do people have to read my book? Nobody knows who I am. For all anyone knows I could have scribbled thirty chapters of  ’pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza, etc, etc, etc.”

I have heard many different things from those who have read the book, though. “It’s awesome, amazing, mind-bending. It powers on like a juggernaut! It drove me crazy. I couldn’t make it through the whole thing. If I weren’t your friend, I would not have read this!”

I’ve also heard some hilarious things from people who’ve read my currently published short stories.

“It seems that the author’s whole point is to make you experience what it is like to be a serial killer. You see the sex and killing through his eyes. I found it very disturbing and regret reading this book.” – An Amazon review on my piece of flash fiction, White Night.

But now I’m here and today I’m going to give you some bullet points. (bullets are an essential part of the story, anyway) Reasons I believe you should read my very first novel, PaxCorpus.

• Because you enjoy the mixture of science fiction and horror! This has always been something that I’ve wanted to do. Ever since I’ve seen 2001: Space Odyssey and Event Horizon or Dawn of the Dead and Land of the Dead.
• It’s my FIRST book. By reading this story you are getting just a taste, a pinch of what you’re in for in the future. What the rest of my stories will be about. What they’ll sound like. In ten years you’ll be able to say, “Yeah, I read that guy’s first book. Now he’s got this crazy-ass seven book series that all started with this post-apocalyptic backdrop, riddled with secrets, twists and turns and MAN, can he write a climax or WHAT?” As you stand with your jaw-gaping and your friends all holding their drinks and staring at you like you’re a crazy person.
• This isn’t just a zombie apocalypse. Even though I’m a fan of the genre (zombies eating people and destroying the world) I realized that there needed to be something more to the story than just zombies eating things. So I tossed in some terrorists, some aliens (is that what they are?) and punched my main character in the face with amnesia. So maybe it’s more like science-fiction-horror splashed with a bit of Memento? (great movie, by the way)
• I designed this book to drive you insane. To really put you in the shoes of Dante. Because, if you’re not going insane, why should you believe that he is too?
• You should read this book because you enjoy fast-paced fiction that metaphorically kicks you in the face, takes advantage of you and leaves you naked and crying the morning after.

Okay, enough with the bullet points. This piece of work may not be entirely perfect, I’m working on that aspect of my writing every single day. You might absolutely love the story or walk away cursing me and wanting your money back. You may have already read the story and are highly anticipating the sequel(s). You may have glazed over the cover and bought a copy of Twilight instead.

Whatever you’re reason, whoever you are, I believe there is something you can take away from this book. And, if not, no big deal!

I’m really not a greedy guy, even though Lulu probably makes it seem that way. I just want to share my ideas and stories with the world.

“This isn’t the road home. This is a road littered with questions that will inevitably lead to an answer.”~Dante Marcellus (PaxCorpus)

Trouble on HighGard: A new short by R.S.F.

Trouble on HighGard is a new science fiction short story by Yours Truly. I’ll let my description do the talking:

The year is 3251, give or take, and humanity has come a long way. 

Not even the destruction of Planet Earth can stop our species.

Over a thousand years into the future, Commander Fly and his small team of mercenaries are contracted to diffuse a highly volatile situation on Planet HighGard, a vacation resort for rich scumbags.

At least, that’s what they’re lead to believe. 

This is my first attempt at setting the stage for my own personal Galactic civilization. Yes, this means there will be more. But I’d also like to mention that this story resides in the same Universe as PaxCorpus, if you hadn’t already figured that out. Click the image link below to check it out, first available on Smashwords and everywhere else – soon.

PaxCorpus: Paperback!

Finally, over a year later, PaxCorpus is available in print! At the moment, it’s only available through Lulu.com, but will be shipped to Amazon and the like.

Before you visit this link, know that the higher than average price (nearly 25 dollars) is due to the enormously greedy amount the retailer takes. Any lower and I won’t even make a cent. But that’s okay! There’s always the eBook, which is and always will be available for 1.99!

So, here you go: (simply click the image)

PaxII: Return to Manhattan?

I’ve been on something of a break, I guess.

The past month (December) was one hell of a stressful month. But I made it.

And now, after taking some time to read a few books and set some goals, I return to the development of the sequel to PaxCorpus.

Return to Manhattan, you say?

I spent last night fleshing out the six beginning chapters of PaxII and struck an idea this morning on a drive through York. Why not have all of the original characters return to the city of Manhattan? Which is in complete ruin, as far as they know.

If you’ve read the first book (If you have, please leave a review, be it Amazon, B&N, iBooks, etc., Thanks.) you’ll know that there’s the question of Dante’s (the main character) brother. And, right from the beginning of the second book, we begin with a few new questions.

I had posted rough draft previews here somewhere, but I may just refrain from more of that, for the moment.

Aside from that, I’ve gotta force myself to format Pax for paperback.

The Problem with Amazon

Just recently, Amazon.com launched a new KDP Direct program. Most indie author/publishers, such as myself, aren’t too happy about it. So I’ll just slap a link here and you can read what Smashwords has to say about it: Amazon Shows Predatory Spots with KDP

The Reboot

After some months of procrastination and the re-adjustment of a few aspects of life, I’ve gotten back into both the sequel to PaxCorpus and the “off-shoot” Osiris-9.

At first I was going to use the same formula I used for the beginning of Pax, in both the beginning of Osiris and PaxII, but then I decided against this. Instead, I present to you the roughest form of the new beginning of PaxII (WT):

Trails of rain slip down the triple paned glass of a window and the rest just patters against the ground.

It’s nights like these that make me think, more often than not, when I should be sleeping.

Death.

There are two kinds of death – Quick and painless, or slow and agonizing.

This takes me back to a time when I was still cop. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; before the war, before the end of everything — I was just a cop.

Down on eighty three, you’d get a call for a minor accident just about every day. You don’t think much of it and it ends up just a couple sheets of paper on your desk.

But the day I’m thinking of was different. Different because it was my first time.

My hands shuffle around the rotten wooden desk I’ve been propping my arms upon and I find my old, leather wallet. Opening it to see my yellowed identification card, that young and oblivious face. A receipt is folded within the pocket where money should be and a smaller bit of an area holds a few green encrusted coins.

Both lanes had been completely shut down before I’d even had the chance to get there. So I knew it was bad.

Just before the bridge that goes over the Susquehanna, an eighteen-wheeler had collided with a smaller car, which also caused a bit of a pile-up.

And I tell you, I didn’t expect to see what an entire four lanes of traffic were being held back for.
I remember, over the wheel of my car, first the swarm of traffic, then the flashing lights and sirens of a dozen ambulances and some fire-engines.

Stepping out, as I park, I walk cautiously through a crowd of people as one of my superiors turns away with vomit literally gushing out of every hole in his face.

Then, there it was. Head strung down over the steering wheel with the top of his vehicle pinning him down causing his body to make a rubber-looking bend around the entire column itself. Blood slowly seeps from the crack at the top-most part of his skull and fragments of brain still push out of his mouth and nose, bubbling and popping from the residual air left within his lungs.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak.

Eventually they had to force me away, realizing I’d be no help to them in this state.

I remember not even eating or sleeping, for that matter, for days. Maybe a week. I’ve kept that hidden for a long time, but after all of what’s happened since twenty-thirteen, it may as well be fluffy hearts and rainbows.

My eyes close and I let the rain take me away, minus the taint of a nuclear cloud of devastation that still looms overhead, even a year later. Breathing deep, I let out a long sigh and my head falls a bit toward my chest.

A warm hand touches my shoulder and her voice, like serenity’s whisper, soothes my mind, “What’s wrong?” Meryl’s fingers curve in a motion of caress, “Every night, you’re here sitting at this damned desk. What are you thinking about?”

I steal a glimpse; her hair smooth as silk, draped atop her shoulders and even with that tattered old patch that covers an empty socket, she’s beautiful as ever.

As far as “the reboot” for Osiris-9 goes, I’m still contemplating as to whether or not it’s exactly what I want it to be, but I can say that the above is close to the perfect beginning for PaxII, at least in my eyes.

Blah, blah, blah – There is no spoon.

Usually, when I’m all by myself and it’s the middle of the night (when I’m not working, of course), I get to thinking about life. I think about a lot of things and I wonder if I should even mention them on an open Internet platform, since every person has a different idea of what life should be.

A good example of this would be a lot like the one time I posted (on an Internet gaming forum, no less) about my atheism and skepticism about the Universe, overall, and how I take what scientists say with a grain of salt and leave room for contemplation – not to say I don’t believe in facts, I just enjoy having a few yards to insert my own theories – and I was met with some of the most close-minded ranting I’ve ever come across, anywhere. It was almost like arguing with hardcore Christians, except these people were the exact opposite, taking all facts and scientific theory without thinking for themselves, not even a bit.

It’s actually a little depressing to think that most of the world is either one extreme or the other.

To get back to the topic at hand, though, I can tell you that I’m a huge procrastinator; I know what my goals are and what I need to do, but I’ve constantly got this voice in the back of my mind whispering, “You’ll get to it, don’t worry.”

I felt great when I published PaxCorpus and I guarantee there will be more, as long as nothing crazy happens, but the aspects of marketing and “audience finding” can be a major drain on my overall moral. It’s like screaming at the top of your lungs in the middle of an ocean filled with people who are also screaming – mostly things like “Me! Me! Me! Listen to me!” – and then I wonder what would constitute “giving up.”

I haven’t technically given up. I’m still writing. I still have this blog. I’ve got my presence on all of these social networks, but I’ve stopped “whoring” myself at every chance I could find. It just doesn’t feel right. I mean, I see people on Twitter constantly touting their guides on how to be a successful author and how to market and what they think you should and shouldn’t be doing.

I see people on Facebook spamming for “likes” and I wonder, “If you’re just getting likes for the sake of likes, what does that really accomplish, if none of these people clicking “like” actually know who you are or even give a hoot about your work?”

And then I remember that “Universe and other thoughts” discussion I had a while back and remind myself that everyone has a different idea of what life should be, what your career should be and what your beliefs should be. I remember that the general consensus is that you should either entirely believe in this or that, you should own a home, get married and have kids. But at almost twenty seven years old, I still find myself asking, “Why?” and “Who cares?”

The answer? Self importance and the attempt to justify what you do and what you believe in. Because, if it turned out that you were wrong, that none of this had any meaning at all, where would that leave you?

It is because of all of this contemplation, self-realization and questioning that I struggle to really connect.

I feel as if I should just write my books, publish them and then continue. Keep weaving these webs and stringing them together, eventually, I might not have to scream so loud.

And then maybe I can stop thinking so much.

Hope I don’t sound like I’m pretentious, conceded or bitter.

Pax for free! Round #2

For the second time this year, I am promoting PaxCorpus via Smashwords.com at the stupid low price of $0.00!

If you hadn’t had a chance to grab this book for free the last time I shared a coupon code, now’s your chance!

Just use this code ( EN56R ) here: paxcorpus

As far as everything else goes, I’ve been working (in the world of reality) and working to churn out different ideas for this pair of novels I plan on releasing in the near future. Stay… tuned?!

And I leave you with a favorite song of mine:

The Message [Urgent]

I read an article about a certain “syndrome” a lot of authors and bloggers have and it got me thinking about numerous things.

I thought to myself, “Ryan, what is your message to the world?”

I believe that, in every work of art or fiction, there is a message to be had. PaxCorpus has this, a few actually, but are you able to find them? That is the question. Would I ruin it for everyone by posting the answers here? Yes.

But, it’s not all negativity.

For those that have been following the White Night series, so far, you may feel a bit put-off by the attitude of the narrator himself. And while I’m really not the kind of person that goes around scowling at everyone and wishing the world would blow up, I believe that there is a darker side within all of us.

A primal beast that bares its teeth and growls angrily at passing strangers.

This is part of the human mind and through my work, I’m hoping that I can dissect the feelings and hidden thoughts that we all have, from time to time.

Is that what I’m trying to accomplish with PaxCorpus or Osiris-9? Not entirely.

My fiction also comes from a hunger that I have. I indulge in fiction, horror, scifi, whatever. But none of it ever fully satisfies me. Maybe I’m just really picky, but that’s why I’m here. At least, that’s one of the reasons.

If you’re a reader and you’d like to know where I’m going with all of this – the stories I’m weaving – I’ll say that, in real life, my ultimate goal, the only thing I really want to do, is go to Space.

I could go the rest of my life unmarried and without children, as long as I make it out there, some way, some how, I would be complete. Besides, over the years I’ve come to realize that things like marriage and relationships are only ever really temporary. No matter how you look at it. And I feel that all my life I’ve been fed this mold for humanity that people think you should meet and live up to, simply because its the way life goes.

But I’m starting to see that life can only be one thing – What you make of it.

PaxII – Chapter 1:Blisters [Rough]

She should’ve killed me. A bullet to the head, one more time, just to make sure I’d have no chance of ever coming back. But now that chance is gone, swept away in the wind and left with nothing but a gut filled with anger – Anger like souls trapped in limbo with no place to call home – and no target for the rage that she planted deep inside.

So I’ll just keep it for now, set it aside and wait for the exact moment when I’ll need it.

Because we all know this is my fault, everything.

For six months, I told myself it was all hers.

The loss of Harrisburg and the lives that it kept within and the nuclear fallout that creeps over our heads like a looming cloud from the past, taunting me every single day with what I’ve done.

Death would save us all. Nuhm De’Ara’s words seeping out of my mouth like acidic corruption, as if a piece of her had been buried within.

Not so long ago, I had thought that something could be salvaged from all of this, but the days bleed together now. It begins to seem as though there never will be a light at the end of the tunnel – The struggle, the death, the madness – It’s coming back for more.

A shake and shift, vision bounces back and forth, heat fumes from every crevice of concrete and the roof of the building swings back into full view, all over again.

She’s there pointing my gun right where she’d shot me once before and she’s babbling on about homicide and her hatred for mankind. What they did to her, everyone, in her eyes.

The crimes they had committed against her, she thought she’d turn it around and push back, with full force. But I stand there trying to reason; you can’t just condemn the entire human race over the mistakes of a few.

And eyes burn with blue flame, that finger gripping the trigger, ready to blow me back to oblivion – Sometimes I beg for it. I beg her, please, pull the goddamned trigger!

Though it never happens, it’s always the same. Chest bursts open, flesh, breasts – torn, seared away by the heat of a fifty caliber shot – Bone, metal and wires expose themselves.

What in the hell did they do to you?

I find myself thinking, in a moment of clarity and pause, but the look on her face reflects no pain, only a look of satisfaction; a grin with perfectly white teeth that flashes in my mind every time I close my eyes.

My knees hit the ground and I’m holding my own weapon, barrel against my tongue and it’s so very bitter. Something keeps my alive, keeps me going. Before they pull up all heroic and full of enthusiasm – my team that consists of Meryl, Rob and Ed – A whisper hits my eardrums as loud as the nuclear warning sirens.

You must go on, this is far from over.

The beginning of the end, I would imagine and my apparent role in the salvation of mankind.

Wherever salvation lies, I muster a thought, it’s far from here.

A blast as hot as the surface of the Sun hits like a waterfall and turns everything and everyone to ash. Her hand reaches out and grasps for the withered and brittle parts of my face and a familiar stare peers through the darkness that shrouds my vision.

Meryl? A cough, a gasp and then fingers slide down along my chest, soft, gentle, almost comforting – My eyes twitch open and the steel walls of a Jersey fallout shelter welcome me to another day in Hell.