The Ballad of PFC Pavel

Day 6

I am following a stream uphill to find the source, now this isn't a normal stream, it is a stream of molten lava. The air around me is filled with a grey haze whole smoke rises from every nearby car and building. Fires are burning out of control in the area. Eventually I find the source of the lava, a fissure that goes for miles. I notice that a collapsed building spans the gap and if I am brave enough I could cross. This would get me over to the police station sooner but I have to bet on the rubble not shifting and the lava spraying in the air to not hit me. Neither of which is likely considering the collapsed building is almost constantly hit be lava and there is a fire burning inside of it. I'll have to come back later.

I turn and walk for a few hours, up until the sun rose, and then I saw a downed aircraft. Not a helicopter, a full sized airliner crashed into the ground. The fires around it are out but the remains of the wings are still smoldering. The wings were sheared off and the fuselage is torn in half with probably 60 meters between the ends. I climb into the wreck and turn on my flashlight to look for survivors. The seats are filled with burnt and maimed corpses, horribly disfigured with dried blood pools below them. After finding the rear half had nobody inside I ran over to the front half. At the point where it snapped a corpse is sticking out of the sand missing it's legs and with it's entrails hanging out. I climb into the wreck and once again there are no survivors, at least not any still inside. I bet they were evacuated already. 

Hopefully they were.

I keep going through the destroyed city, a light haze from the fires is everywhere,  While I walk I see a giant explosion on the horizon, a large grey cloud of gas rising from a mountain. Checking my compass and a map of Japan I found I figure out what that was. Mount Fuji, a massive volcano that is worryingly close. I put away the paper and see the shockwave approaching, dust is kicked up and there is a loud bang but no severe damage is caused to me. A high rise in another part of the city collapsed from that slight movement, I can only imagine what would have happened if I went inside of it.

I keep looking for survivors or am evac site when I hear a distant rumbling noise. I look towards the volcano and see a large grey cloud approaching my location at high speeds. I start running while looking for a shelter. I notice an abandoned APC that the NO army left behind during and jump I got the back. I close the door and lock it before covering myself and every opening I could find with cloths. The ash cloud hits and it gets stupidly hot inside, the APC tilts to the side a bit but doesn't flip. I go over to the controls and realize the turret camera still works. I jump into the gunner seat and turn on the turret controls.

The camera has a few functions, the normal view is blacked out by ash and smoke, I switch to thermal and everything is glowing. I fiddle with some settings and get a better view. Not only is the area covered in sand and rubble, it is blanketed by ash as well. Buildings that weren't burning originally are now and Fuji is pouring out lava. Speaking of Fuji half of the mountain is gone, obliterated in that initial explosion. 

I put down the controls and get into the driver's seat. I press down the ignition and the engine fails to turn on, the warning says "\\HEAT OVERLOAD//\\ENGINE FIRE//" I move towards where the motor is and open the panel. Immediately smoke comes out and I am blinded by a white glow. I slam it shut as I hear fizzing. I grab a fire extinguisher from under the driver seat and reopen the hatch. I use the fire extinguisher and the glow dies down. The fizzing also appears to have stopped so I look in. The motor is destroyed, burned apart and melted. The fire is also reigniting itself inside so I close the hatch again. 

Brilliant.

I am sitting in an APC that is on fire, my oxygen supply going down, and with the outside being even worse. My only hope is to stop that fire and get the air filters back on before I die in here. I grab tools and the engine manual from a compartment under the driver's seat and return to the panel. I open it and put the fire out again before disconnecting the power supply. I pull out the destroyed battery and look around inside for anything else that is broken. Nothing else looks broken, at least not bad enough to not work, and look for a replacement battery. 

I find an auxiliary battery under another compartment and it is much smaller, but should be enough for the air filters to work. I install it and shock my arm in the process, it goes limp and hurts really bad. I realize I should be wearing gloves for this so I grab a pair soldiers had ditched on the floor. I put them on and shake off the pain before going back to work. I plug in the battery and check the controls.

Nothing.

No power at all.

I go back to the battery and hit it once, nothing happens. I look inside and see the problem, the wire that shocked me was important to provide energy to the controls. I grab both parts of the snapped wire and twist them together before wrapping it in electrical tape. The controls light up and the air filters turn on. I go back to the controls and try and drive out. The motor begins to make a noise and the battery is failing fast. Probably better to not do that again. Now New Orderian vehicles use electric engines, this APC included, that battery was what powered the entire vehicle. So with me using the auxiliary one odds are I am not getting out of here. The garbage battery isn't even the only problem, part of the APC is buried in sand and ash, this thing is not moving every again.

Considering the APC is cooling down and the air inside is breathable again I take off my mask. I look around for anything to eat and find an MRE, I cook it using the still burning original battery and drink from a canteen left in the APC. After all of that I lay across the bench in the back and go to sleep.