hmmmmm.....ok then...i'll add a word for you, whats a really curley one *thinks hard*.
hehehe....i got one: detonation
Ok. I dont know if I will make a habit of this, unless you guys like it, but I could help it for this word. I decided to write a small piece of my novel in progress, Project Tango. I havent gotten to this part yet in writing. But I wanted to write here to practice two key things. I will explain those after the story. So if you for some reason dont want to be spoiled about the story if I publish it later and you get a copy, dont read it. Although it is a rough idea of how this section will go and is liable to change, a specific plot point will remain the same.
Also, I toned down the blood and gore here a lot. I skipped some parts, like the SSAD and Napalm dogs, as well as the wasps, mainly to cut down on the length. This whole scene will be bigger in the actual book, but I think it serves its purpose for this challenge. So here's my story for detonation.
---Battle at Valley S---
The intense heat is almost too much as the fire warps around the tree I took cover behind. It dies out, thankfully. I peer out, seeing the blue-eyed boy is no longer there. The mostly melted knife he used to kill the dog is all that is left of him now. I turn to Liberty, who knows what has occurred. She whimpers for her fellow dog, now gone due to the cruel acts of the Germans. I peak over the stone wall to my right. The Germans have begun their advance down the hill, led by more dogs. As they enter the bottom of the valley, I see several of them drop. More and more follow them. “What’s going on?” I whisper to myself. Then, from the forest on the left, droves of green suited men rush into the German army. The Mexican’s morph into the Germans and fight mercilessly. I can see a small orb coming up the hill towards me. I squint to see the ball better, but it’s still a blur. As it gets closer, I cans see it more clearly, and soon I realize what it is. My eyes bulge and I slam my back against the wall of stone. I gather enough sense to grab Liberty and pull the dog close to me. A man charges towards me and I shake my head at him. He ignore me, jumping over the wall I hide behind. Shortly after his departure, I hear a scream. It must have got to him. His arm comes over the wall and drags the rest of his body onto my side. The man spasms for a while then dies in front of me. Through his quivers, I see the large creature that killed him. I lift my gun and shoot the two-foot Mexican wasp. A swarm of the deadly mutations of war fly past me and collide with more members of the volunteer army. I sneak over the wall, Liberty following close behind.
The Russian army has reached the valley and is fighting brutally to win. Four helicopters with the Japanese army insignia on them have also arrived and are taking out the masses with their SSADs. I make it to another wall and take cover behind it. From behind my wall, I can see him. Marc is lying on the hill a good distance in front of me. There’s just a flat open field between us. Thankfully, he is sniping towards the Russians and doesn’t see Liberty and I. I vault over my wall and sprint towards the man who killed my father. Maybe I can get some answers before I kill him. Liberty pursues after me. Marc feels closer than ever as I approach. Then all sound stops. The shooting and yelling is sucked from existence. Something punches my feet and the vibrations smash their way up my body. Dirt and pieces of metal engulf me and obscure my vision on the hill, still a distance away. I feel weightless as I am lifted out of the cloud of dirt and debris. I reach out to the ground, but it leaves me sight and is replaced by the sky. I land flatly on the ground. My eyes are swallowed by black and purple. My lungs can’t seem to remember how to perform their job. The world snaps back into vision all at once. I see the dirt settling back into its crater. Liberty is dragging me into cover by a tree. Liberty looks up at me. I stare into my dog’s brown eyes. Her black fur is still matted down with the blood and dirt I promised to wash off. I know what she is thinking of doing. I try to tell her no, but all I can manage is a garbled moan. Liberty takes off around the tree. I rock my head and force my unresponsive body to fall over. I watch on my side as Liberty runs for Marc. She gets farther and farther from me. An explosion of dirt eats her whole, then spits her out the top. Her light body flies farther than what I assume mine did, and she hits another mine.
Her body comes to a limp stop and I manage to prop myself up on shaky legs. I can see from here these are concussion mines, designed to knock the wind out of you. They also tend to knock tank treads loose as well as other vehicle’s tires. Non-lethal. Liberty should be fine, a little shaken like me, but fine. I stumble over to her. Out of the corner of my eyes, an explosion goes off in the sky. German anti-air has hit one of the Japanese SSAD helicopters. It loses control and smacks into the ground, sending me back onto my side. The blades catch on the ground and send the twisted heap into a roll. The burning metal machine rolls over Liberty, coming to a complete stop in two pieces over her. My heart ceases to pump the blood into my body, my fingers turn frigid, my stomach drops off the Earth. “Liberty!” my throat tears open and my voice is forced out so fast its almost incoherent through the desperation for what I have witnessed to be only a mirage. I pick myself up and force my uncooperative legs to run towards Liberty. The whole world falls away as my eyes fixate on Liberty’s paw, the only thing left visible under the crashed helicopter. Inch by inch I get closer to my dog. My best friend. My only family member. My heart turns back on, and I notice my hyperventilation now. I open my mouth to scream for Liberty, but it is immediately filled with charred dirt. I am weightless again. The paw I so desperately longed to reach leaves my sight. Sky replaces paw. Earth replaces sky. Sky replaces Earth. Earth finally grabs me back. My body is limp again. A boy enters my fixed vision. My mother’s blue eyes stare worryingly into my own. Matt. Matt scoops me up and runs off into the forest to get us to safety. As the forest closes around me, I catch one last glimpse of the charred wreckage, fatefully positioned on top of the last thing left on this Earth I cared enough to live for. This must have been how John felt.
The chapter this is in is called "Battle at Valley S" hence the short story's name. I wanted to see if I could accurately portray someone in first person being engulfed in an explosion. the mine is less than lethal of course, but well effective. imagine an explosion, minus the parts that blow off your legs. its similar to that. The second thing I wanted to do was show someone, who has already lost everything, lose the one thing in their lives that made it worth living. I will go more into detail on the violent gore of the battle in the novel, thus enhancing the feeling of total chaos that revolves around the situation, but here I had to make it more family friendly. If you dont know who John is, you can PM me for the part that has his reaction which is hinted here. He had what he loved most teared from him, and his bloody reaction to the situation isnt Furtopia friendly. So you can PM me for a link to read that excerpt.
Thanks for reading and I will get around to the next word tomorrow with any luck. Today has flown by and i dont think I will be able to write much today from what else I still have to do today before bed.
comment if you want, and again, i dont know if its a good idea to post excerpts from my novel as you miss out on the rest of the story and subtext. But whatever.
