Failed Hero copes with isolation |
Survivor Phoenix hiked through the ruins of middle America, one of the few areas that wasn't devastated by the recent catastrophic events. Littered around the new wasteland were newspapers that warned of the impending doom. The mad scientist Dr. Destruction, was making claims that he'd end the world if they didn't get in to his demands. Headlines asked “Will the hero save us in time?” even though they already had known the answer, he always did. The icy lair of Dr. Destruction... his base always hidden somewhere around the North Pole some some sort of sinister St. Nick. Phoenix would travel once more to fight his long time rival, and infamous super villain. They would battle, Phoenix would win, the day would be saved, ad infinitum. Looking back, he never understood the stakes. Dr. Destruction's latest scheme went wrong, the resultant doomsday weapon was released to early, or Phoenix was to late, the end result was still the same, Phoenix's ability to resurrect was the only thing that saved him. Within days and weeks, with no one to attend to them nuclear power plants began to break down, subway tunnels began flooding, and dams began to burst. Slowly, Phoenix made his way throughout the land. Occasionally he would sleep in a rural house, looking at the photographs of the families that resided in them. At times he would shut his eyes and imagine the lives that lived there. Drawings on the fridge, toys strewn about...a broken window from a baseball, like watching a sitcom. Early on, the highlights of his days were watching movies, or recorded tv shows, until the power stations failed in the area and then he would move on. He stuck to canned foods, easily prepared meals, it wasn't scarce. He often wondered what it would be like if there was another person to share his food with. Maybe that's what he was searching for, a chance that someone else escaped. He didn't know where to look, only that if they did exist, they weren't where he was. So he walked, every day, stopping only when he was exhausted enough. |