The End of the World has Come

Chapter 4: The Sanctuary Blueprint

Fifty-two minutes was all the time Creed had.

The holographic timer in the right corner of his vision was flashing a violent red color.

He had to get ready before the wave of refugees led by the Vanguard elites who had left him for dead arrived at his location.

Creed ran down the ramp into the subterranean bunker.

His boots hit the stone floor so hard that they cracked it.

He did not stop to catch his breath because he did not have time to be tired.

His lungs were still in pain. He was already thinking about what to do next.

He was looking at the space and thinking about where the bad guys could attack from.

The bunker was like a tomb. It was going to be closed soon.

The big blast doors at the top of the ramp had been blown off weeks ago.

The entrance was like a hole that was open to the bad air outside.

If the refugees came in through that hole they would bring the sickness and the monsters with them.

They would take over the bunker in seconds because there were many of them.

Creed stopped in the middle of the Sub-Level 2 area.

The blue emergency lights were not working well. They were making long shadows on the floor.

He felt like he had been hit hard.

He was feeling very sad. He did not know what to do.

He was one man and he was not very strong.

His special powers were not working well because he was tired.

He was supposed to make the bunker safe in less than an hour.

The computer was saying that he had a small chance of surviving.

Creed held his staff tightly.

The computer did not know that he was not going to give up.

He was going to change the way things were.

He went to an area of the floor and got down on one knee.

He opened his pouch and all the things he had taken from the Vanguard scouts fell out.

There were three rings, some monster cores, some mana crystals and some broken iron pieces.

These things were not very valuable. Creed thought they could be useful.

He took one of the rings. Put it on the floor with the other two.

He put the monster cores and mana crystals around the rings.

He put the iron pieces on top of everything.

He took a breath and put his hands on the pile of things.

He was going to use all his powers to make something

The computer was warning him that he did not have enough power to do this.

Creed did not listen.

He closed his eyes. Used all his strength.

The golden light came out of his hands. It was very strong.

The pile of things started to scream. The iron turned into liquid.

The monster cores. The mana crystals started to glow.

The computer was saying that this was not possible but Creed did not stop.

Finally the light. Creed fell back onto the floor.

He was very tired. His body was shaking.

He looked at what he had made. He saw a small black cube.

It was very heavy. It had a special power.

It could make a barrier that nothing could pass through.

Creed was very happy. He laughed.

He had made something valuable, from nothing.

He got up. Took the cube.

It was very heavy. He had to use both hands to hold it.

He started to walk towards the power grid.

He had to put the cube in the place before the Vanguard arrived.

He had forty-one minutes left.

He had to move

He went down to the levels of the bunker.

It was a strange place and the laws of physics did not work well there.

The hallways were bent. The gravity was not constant.

Creed had to use his instincts to navigate.

He finally reached a door that said Primary Generator Control.

He opened the door. Went inside.

The room was very big. It was full of old machines.

The air was hot. It smelled bad.

Creed walked into the room. His boots made a crunching sound on the ash-covered floor. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up straight. The blue lights in the room were not working. The only light came from the violet veins of the Sovereign Engine Core that he was carrying.

He stopped moving. The room was very quiet. It was too quiet.

System Alert. There were creatures inside the area.

They were called Abyssal Crawlers.

They were level 18.

They were a threat.

These creatures liked to hunt in groups. Could hide really well. They had bad venom that could paralyze people.

Creed looked around the room. He could not see anything. He could hear a faint clicking sound. It sounded like a lot of objects hitting metal. The sound was coming from the ceiling.

These creatures were living here. They came because of the energy in the lower levels. The Vanguard squad did not know that these level 18 monsters were right under their feet.

Creed did not panic. He slowly put the Sovereign Engine Core on the floor. He needed both hands to fight. He put away his dagger. Held his kinetic staff with both hands.

The clicking sound stopped.

A drop of venom fell from the ceiling and hit his armor. The armor protected him. It showed him where the creature was.

Creed looked up. Saw a bad creature. It was like a centipede and a human spine mixed. It was eight feet long and had many sharp legs. Its head was a soft ball that opened up to show many sharp teeth.

It was not alone. Many creatures appeared on the ceiling and walls. They were all pale and glowing in the dark. The whole room was filled with them.

The first creature jumped down towards Creed's head. He stepped back. He was very slow because he was hurt. He swung his staff. Hit the creature. It fell to the side. It did not die. It made a high-pitched sound that called the other creatures.

Many creatures fell from the ceiling. Started moving towards Creed. He spun his staff. Hit some of them. He broke the heads of three creatures. There were too many. They were around him.

One creature grabbed his arm. Bit down. Creed used his hand to grab his dagger and stab the creature. The creature died,. Two more grabbed his legs. They cut his pants and one of them cut into his muscle behind his knee.

System Alert. He was. Had a cut.

The creature's venom was making him numb. He fell to the ground. The creatures piled on top of him. They were trying to bite him. His armor protected him.

Creed's health was very low. He was going to die. He felt bad. Thought he was not meant to fight.

Then he got very angry. He remembered when Vane locked the doors. He did not want to be a victim. He wanted to fight back.

He could not reach his staff. His hand was near the Sovereign Engine Core. He forced himself to move his hand and touch the core. He used his skills to open up the core's energy.

A big wave of energy came out of his body. It destroyed the creatures on top of him and all the others, in the room. The energy was so strong that it cleaned the floor and made the turbines move.

System Alert. He killed 47 creatures.

He got experience. Leveled up. He was now level 11 level 12 and then level 13.

The system notifications filled his screen. He felt his body healing. The venom was gone. His cut was fixed. He had a lot of energy now.

Creed lay on the floor for a moment then he sat up. Grabbed his staff. He felt different now. He was stronger and faster.

He did not have time to celebrate. He had to fix the generator. He put the Sovereign Engine Core into the machine. Used his skills to fix it. The machine started working. The whole facility came alive.

Thirty-two minutes had passed. Creed had survived again. He felt like a fighter now.

The blue emergency lights above stopped flickering. Became a warm golden light. The big air cleaners started working with a loud humming noise. Creed could feel the bad air being sucked out and clean air coming in.

The system interface in his vision got bigger. Showed him a blueprint of the whole bunker.

System Alert. The bunker is. Strong again.

They found an energy source.

Something is not right. The bunker is stronger than it should be.

They are changing its classification.

Congratulations. You made a place.

The safe place is working.

Creed is the owner.

The air is clean.

The bunker is stable.

Creed felt happy and proud. He did not feel like he was just trying to survive. He felt like he was in control. He made a place good again. He had air, good gravity and working systems.

A safe place is not safe without good doors.

Creed had twenty-five minutes.

He ran back through the hallways, which were not shifting anymore. The bad things that were making the hallways weird were gone. He went up to the level and looked out at the big entrance.

He needed to build doors.. He needed to make them dangerous.

He used the system interface to design the doors. Because he owned the place he could control it. He did not need to touch things to fix them. He could tell the system to do it.

He stood at the entrance. Raised his hands. He wanted to make iron doors.

The concrete walls. The iron came out. It was like the iron was being molded like clay. The iron made two strong slabs that fit together.

Creed did not stop. He remembered that standard iron would not be good enough.

He made the doors even stronger.

The doors were done. They were legendary.

The doors closed with a bang. The locks clicked into place. The bad air and noise were gone.

Creed was not finished. He needed something to stop people from getting in.

He carved lines on the floor. If someone came in they would get hurt.

He stood up. Went to the security terminal. The screen was working again. He could see the outside.

He saw people coming. They looked scared and dirty. The Vanguard squad was with them.

Creed saw Vane. He looked bad. His armor was. He was hurt.

The people got to the doors. Started pounding on them. Vane yelled at Creed to open the doors.

Creed talked to Vane through the speakers. He said that Vane's authority did not mean anything in his place.

Vane was scared. He said that Creed was dead.

Creed said that he was not dead. He was the one in control

Vane begged Creed to open the doors. He said that the city was gone and they had nowhere to go.

Creed said that he did not want to be, on Vane's team. He said that Vane had to give up and work for him if he wanted to live.

Vane got angry. He swung his sword at the doors.

The doors did not break. Instead, the sword broke. Vane got hurt.

Creed watched Vane on the screen. He said that he would see how long Vane could survive without his help.

The timer went off.

A big monster came into the courtyard. Creed locked the terminal. Walked away.