The Ballad of PFC Pavel

Day 5

I jump up and hit my head on the roof of the humvee after hearing another distant explosion. It is still pretty dark and my watch says it is 5 AM. I climb out of the vehicle and look to see the source. In the direction of the water is a large plume of black smoke. I grab a pair of binoculars that were ditched in the humvee and look in the direction. What looks to be an oil tanker just detonated, the ocean around it is burning. So yet another thing to worry about with the air quality, good thing my mask along with the spare filters can protect me for at least 6 more days, today included of course.

Now that I have binoculars I look around at anything still standing. There is a very little left, most buildings already came down, the ones still standing are heavily damaged. To my north is that factory that exploded, I can see a wildfire burning over a ridge near where the building used to be. East is a bunch of rubble and the Omekata site, which has seen better days. The entire thing was disintegrated with a few evacuation vehicles still sitting around in the sand. West is a large cloud of smoke and a light blue glow around it, in the same direction are more partially collapsed buildings. I can see a slight golden shine in the distance to me southwest, when I look closer it is a destroyed police station with a gold statue of a badge. It is shining because of a fire raging in a nearby apartment complex. 

I won't be able to reach the police station however because of what started that fire, a fissure eruption. For miles there is lava shooting out of the ground in a line, until that stops erupting I can't move forwards. As I get off of the humvee and start walking east an earthquake happens. I fall over and quickly get up before running away from the towers. While I run I hear the sound of metal twisting and what sounds like a train coming towards me. I glance back and see the remaining towers have crumbled.

I keep running away from the ash cloud even after the shaking stopped. When I finally slow down the entire area behind me is filled with a grey smoke. I am not heading back in there, that would be suicide. Even with my gas mask the amount of toxic chemicals in the air will mess me up. Ash like that sticks to your clothes and you can't get it out without decon equipment, which I do not have. Basically if that ash gets on me I will die when I take my mask off, or a while after I take it off. I'm not a firefighter okay?

"Hey Mur Mur, it's Pavel, how are you and god doing?" I say into the radio. "We are doing great, you wouldn't happen to be at the "Quad Towers Evac Site" as you called it, would you?" Normally I would be confused as to how she knew that but considering she is with god it makes sense. "I am there, or a few blocks from it, entire thing just collapsed." I answer, she replies with "I am going to drop down there to explore, wanna meet up there?" Oh no, even if she is friends with god I can't go in there, "Don't go in there, it is contaminated heavily and I can't enter the area safely." I hear a thud before responds again while coughing heavily, "Oops, should have waited for a reply." This is who helps god do things?

I wait on the edge of the dust cloud while shining my flashlight in, I can barely see a humanoid walking out. I pick up my radio and advise command of my status, "PFC Pavel to dispatch, day 5 of incident. I have made contact with a possibly immortal subject at the remains of the Quad Towers Evac Site." Nothing on the radio, it did annoy Mur Mur though. "Right here you know. What is with you taking into the radio about everything?" She asked. "Simple, I follow protocol. I want my superiors to know as much as possible to keep me other units safe." I replied, she seemed a bit confused for a moment but perked up and started walking. By the way, she is really short, as in she might be a child.

I realize something and call put to the odd girl, "Wait! We need to decontaminate you." That ash on her is a danger to her health, even if she is immortal the particles could fall off and harm me. Mur Mur turned and asked "How do we do that exactly? I could just shake it off right now actually." "Yeah, don't do that" she looked up at me and tilted her head, "You might be immune but that dust can kill me. If you shake it off I would be contaminated." I explain the plan and we set off in the direction of a nearby siren.

I tell her to stand back as I mess around with a fire truck. There is a manual but it really isn't helpful since it is in Japanese, Mur Mur is acting as the translator and seems concerned about what she is reading. "I need to learn about the discharge valve! Not the intake, got it?" I yelled.  "Yeah yeah, it should be that handle right there." Mur Mur pointed at a valve and I hooked a hose to it. She looked back at the manual and kept reading while saying, "What do we need this for exactly?" When she looked up I was opening the valve, I turned around and picked up the hose. "Oh you piece of shi-" She was cut off by me spraying her down the the hose, her body was flung and I was pushed back a bit. I fumbled to stop the hose before looking up at Mur Mur.

That was a bit too much pressure. 

Oh she is mad.

She punched me in the stomach and I bend a bit as the wind is knocked out of me. "Sorry, not a firefighter" I say while wheezing. She is clean however so... problem solved? And she just picked up the hose. I realized what she is doing and I ran for a pile of rubble. Before I can reach it I hear the hose turn on followed by a thud. I look back and Mur Mur was launched back into the fire truck by the pressure, the hose is flinging around on the ground. I walk over and help her up, for a minute I think she actually got hurt but she is just laughing, "I had you! You thought I was going to spray you." "You were though, you turned on the hose, you just missed" I say, she is still laughing while assuring me it was a 'calculated move'. Calculated enough to launch her backwards into a steel box, I don't say that because anyone who can laugh that off I don't want to anger.

We walk east for the rest of the day messing around with abandoned vehicles and exploring the ruins nearby. I somehow don't die during this and at the end of the day she just teleports away. Did I just befriend a deity?

Best

Day

Ever