End of the World Tourist

It had been the photo opportunity that Horus had been waiting for as he rose up into the air a dozen metres to take decent video footage before lowering himself down onto the roof of the military vehicle much to the surprise of the man.

Horus saw his eyes. Greedy things full of desire and want. He began to shout that all of the money on the roof of the vehicle was for Horus if only he would save him or give him his flying equipment.

Shaking his head, Horus had kicked the bags and containers full of money with a little bit of force sending them flying into the air where they had also split open and temporary money clouds were formed with a mixture of valuable gems, gold coins and plastic cards.

Holding his orange quantum camera and ignoring the shouts of the man and the now pest noises of the zombie crowds he took a panned the scene and took a long panoramic image. The look on the face of the man had been same the as when the raiders had come to butcher them and steal their goods.

Horus had been fortunate enough then to have his fill of revenge from borrowed hands because he had been the one who had broken the wheels on their goods wagons so they had been unable to escape. He wasn’t worth the time for any raider to kill, skinny starving thing that he was and one of the raiders had even thrown him a roasted chicken on a skewer and a flask of water out of pity.

That had been a good month, the raider had kind eyes, similar to that of his mentor when he had stolen her bowl of fresh noodles but far less fierce. He’d starved even less for a few weeks after he scavenged through the dead bodies before soldiers from the capital city arrived on their white horses.

Once he had taken the camera footage, Horus signalled to Casey to store it away and asked for the nearest location of a secure military base that hadn’t yet been overrun. No tourists enjoyed seeing a world completely overrun by zombies unless they were particularly morbid. This post-apocalyptic world only had a seventy-two percent chance of being completely overrun due to the heavily militarised nations and tribes that lived here so it wouldn’t have been too hard.

He’d spoken to the man then, thinking to give him just one chance to show Horus that he wasn’t the same as the greedy merchants who had spat at his feet and called it charity for a beggar boy.

‘Hey, would you like to go somewhere safer then this?’

Horus gestured to the zombie horde surrounding them as various dying screams echoed around them from the buildings in the financial district as reinforced doors were broken through and survivors tried to escape.

The military vehicle was rocking even harder now. For a moment Horus had considered asking Casey to store it away a novelty to remind him of the footage. He decided to do it later to make sure that everyone was dead by the time it got stored away. The rotting flesh smell and dead bodies inside could be vacuumed way easily enough.

He changed his mind and decided that he should show the people dying in the city in their droves as the reanimated bodies of their deceased friends a good time. They deserved to be cheered up. He focused his attention on the massive military vehicle underneath his feet and connected his attention to the loudspeaker before activating it with a full playlist of his favourite songs.

‘One good turn deserves another right? If the guy didn’t throw all those thousands of banknotes, then the video wouldn’t have been as funny. Hundreds of zombies reaching up in the air groaning as money fell from the sky around them were brilliant footage.’

‘Yeah, you do have a sense of humour don’t you Casey? Not as good as mine of course but still pretty good. Wow, I’m getting so off track here. How about when we’re done with this place, we go to a zombie planetary reality? Or vampires. Not much difference really.’

[Of course Sir, for now, though we have found a suitable bunker awaiting your sincere presence. A small to medium-sized structure from my scans. No weaponry appears to be prepped or any military or aircraft bases in the vicinity.]

Hey, do you think they’ve had a command structure meltdown yet and there are factions at play? Or it’s a bunch of rich people throwing tantrums. I dunno.’

[I would believe Sir that they might need a little longer than a day after a global nuclear exchange to suffer immediate breakdowns in the command structure. Usually, it would take some time to adjust to a new reality where your entire family and society had been destroyed. Then again, humans are so good at adapting so I’m afraid that you’ll just have to wait and see Sir.]

‘Ah, right. I forgot the time delay effect. My body is still adapting to this dimension. Say how long would it take roughly for the radiation to die down to acceptable levels where they can walk outside in protective suits?’

[An answer which surely depends on their level of technology. From my understanding, they would surely be relying on a combination of an insulating mixture of rubber and lead along with a mask for filtering out any particles. It would be hard for me to tell you exactly unless we were given immediate access to one at this moment. The technology level on this planet does differ between the three main countries that dominated the war. I would estimate a six-month minimum but the weapons used are generally not overly powerful as to completely blanket the planet in lethal amounts of radiation. Most of the main population areas were targeted either directly or indirectly.]

‘Six months trapped inside a bunker. I bet anyone would get sick of steak and beans by that point. I make them a bowl of freshly cooked noodles and they’ll probably elect me as their new leader. The best leader ever in the history of best leaders. I’d like to see anyone else giving them fresh food on delivery. I would be able to teach them the ancient arts of cooking fresh soup noodles, clearly essential post-war skills in demand.’

[Sir is indeed a fountain of good humour and a man of many good merits. You do have the power of fresh soup noodles at your disposal. Now, if you do have your camera ready, we should get a move on. The radioactive storms have yet to settle yet if you want to have a decent light source for your footage.]

‘I’m really lucky to have you, Casey. You were the best purchase that I ever made. I’m pretty sure that you were the first purchase that I ever made. C’mere buddy, bring it in for a hug!’

[….]

It was an interesting sight to see if anyone in the area had still been alive to see it and it wasn’t located in the middle of a radioactive wasteland. A figure in a radioactive protection suit equipped with filters on his back with a bright orange rectangular box hanging from his neck was awkwardly holding on tight to a floating dark blue suitcase that would be more suited to an airport check-in desk. The luggage slammed shut tightly before it shifted its position and bobbed in the direction of the man.

[Sir, thank you for your kind hugs but I do insist we get a move on. Unless you prefer a decent view of the same radioactive wastes, it certainly doesn’t offer any form of splendour that would find with a little bit of effort.]

‘Yeah. Guess you’re right Casey. You lead the way and I’ll follow you. I hope that it’s going to be a retro-style bunker. It’s kinda hard to tell the level of technology and style when everything was flattened with a nuclear warhead.’

[Of course.]

‘Do see that place ahead of us? Looks like this road was leading somewhere after all. It must have been a pretty massive site originally before it got flattened by a bombardment.’

The remains of the cracked and broken asphalt road had ended with Horus looking onward towards a plain ahead of him that was destroyed. There were still minute traces of buildings and heavily built structures but judging from the warning sounds coming from his suit the radiation in this vicinity was far above any standard that a living being could survive.

[Multiple warheads Sir. I do believe that this location used to be a military base. You can see the vestiges of the barbed wire fences and other structures. Ah, several of the bunkers seem to only be partially cracked open. I sincerely doubt any normal person would want to live in such ugly buildings. They look hideous, completely lacking all sense of style now if you’ll just board me shortly, we should be there in several minutes unless you would of course care to take a slightly slower pace of travel.]

‘Thank you, Casey. I appreciate your hard work. We make a good team you and me. Hey, do you know where I’d love to visit? ‘

The suitcase began to slowly expand Sir as it began a process of expanding to transform into a small single-seater jet plane.

[Please enlighten me, Sir, if you’d like to board, I can run flight checks and we’ll be there in a jiffy. Would you care for any in-flight refreshments? Mint chocolate?]

The man wearing the radioactive suit climbed into the newly formed cockpit of the small jet plane before making sure that his orange camera was resting around his neck and comfortable in both hands. If he got the opportunity to see any sights along the way he’d be taking them but for now, he was enjoying talking with Casey.

Horus paused for dramatic effect before he tried his best to give a serious tone to his voice.

‘Giant mushroom gods. I’d love to see a planet where the population gets infected by a fungal virus. Imagine continent-sized fungal gods. Once everyone died of course or became part of the giant living fungi. Wait, don’t they only grow on dead things? I wonder what powers those types of gods would possess. A better bet would be to grow a mushroom superhuman and then let them spread spores across the planet until they simply grew in size and took over everything.’

[Yes Sir. Fungal deities do sound reasonably engaging. As we will soon be arriving, are you sure you wouldn’t care for a snack or drink? It’s no bother so supply one from my storage silo. As for mushroom gods, I would imagine that you would certainly need a large supply of anti-fungal medication.]

‘I guess so. I mean a normal human would but I’d probably be able to brush off the spores when they came into contact with my skin. Are we ready now Casey?’

The small single-seater jet floated above the ground and the main engine roared in response. The plane began to rise into the air similar to a VTOL plane as it rose vertically above the mostly destroyed remains of a country’s military base.

If there had been any humans around the immediate area they would have been shocked at the speed of the jet, the fact that it still existed after a nuclear war might even have brought hope of rescue from authorities that no longer existed on the same scale.

There might be remnants of the state government hidden below in bunkers and secure locations, but rescue was no longer a possibility. Amid all the death and destruction, one man was happily chuckling along to himself as he held his camera to the edge of the transparent cockpit and aimed and took footage along the way.

In a mostly destroyed world, one person still felt a sense of happiness and inner purpose. He was known as a post-apocalyptic tourist. He would turn destruction and chaos into a holiday visit, at least only for him and his only friend Casey.

As the small jet shot through the air it encountered the beginning of radioactive storms, although it was able to navigate them it still required subsequent energy to be used up. Casey would need downtime to sufficiently recharge his power units when needed.

The cost of shielding Horus from the radiation which was able to get through the suit was slightly draining but not at a level where it was necessary to create a safe refuge. If they were able to find a secure underground base that was radiation-proof with a decent power source Casey would recharge itself.

If the inhabitants of the bunker chose to disagree or would not allow entry, then things might get a little messy. The last time this happened Casey had been able to swallow an ocean’s worth of nanobots and recycle their inherent energy sources. Yes, the portable EMP that the Master had used had worked for a short period, but it had proved ineffective in the larger area.

It would be likely that a fast recharge period would provide enough energy. It wasn’t as though the Master didn’t have his defences and weapons. On a genetic level, he had been changed but it was the thought that mattered. A suitcase was to protect its master from harm even if they weren’t at risk.

[Drawing closer now. Have you prepared your usual speech Sir?]

‘Sure, I’m not a threat, I’m only here for the sights. I promise I’m not here to take anything or cause any harm or damage. Would you like a bowl of noodles?’

[Yes Sir, it does sound polite in that tone of voice. Are you sure that you need to include a bowl of noodles with your speech?]

Horus put down the camera that he was holding with both hands and looked forward towards the far horizon. There were still fires and explosions raging throughout the distance. He gazed at the destruction of an entire planet’s ecosystem, it might recover in time and life would grow again but during this time the surface was being razed and immediate survival was a priority.

His tone became more serious unless his usual jovial self.

‘Casey. A long time ago I was starving in the streets of a city lost to the sands of time. I remember a woman came up to me and asked that very question. It was a life-changing moment. Even when she nearly beat me to death with her bare fists. Ah, happy memories.

Casey kept its silence as the jet continued rushing towards the underground bunker location.

Only a few thousand metres left, he asked Casey silently to slow down a little to give him some time to enjoy the journey. The air rushing by was silent to his ears in the sealed cockpit.