Apocalypse Of The Gods

   The world as we know it is gone. It has been consumed by radiation in a tidal wave of death and destruction. The radiation wiped out technology completely, leaving the people that are left in the aftermath in the dark, no communication with one another and no way to restore it.      The radiation kills half of the world's population within minutes, making the sick disappear into dust as if they never existed to begin with. Some are lucky enough to not be affected at all by the radiation, staying as they were before the world was consumed.      Then there are those who became something else. Something more than what they were before. They are mutated by the radiation and forever changed by it. These people have one thing in common. They possess the blood of the ancient Gods such as Osiris, Horus, Set, Re, Anubis, Ares, Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, Thor, Odin and Tyr. All of these people have a god for a father and a human mother.     From all the ancient bloodlines people turn into creatures, monsters, titans, and Gods. It’s now a battle to take over and keep the world. Who will lead the Gods in protecting the last of the humans from themselves and the monsters out to get them?  ———— Alora’s POV    It was about three on  a normal hot Saturday afternoon. San Diego was bustling with busy families and tourists. It was sunny and bright which made me personally happy. I loved seeing the sun.     I was out buying my weekly groceries at the store a few minutes away from where I lived. I was on my normal every Saturday adventure to buy food then go back home to put everything away. What an exciting life I lived, right?      As I drove down the streets to my apartment I listened to the local radio station, 98.1 KXSN. They were currently talking about the wildfires that were in Southern California at the moment. We would see smoke from the fires from where we lived when the wind shifted just right. It was a sad state of affairs when things were on fire. So much was lost because of it.     I got home after a ten minute drive avoiding all the traffic that I could. I quickly unloaded my car of my groceries, grabbing everything I could in one trip.     I opened the unlocked door since my boyfriend, Rob, was home from work already. I didn’t realize I had spent so much of my time at the store. Most of the day was now gone.      Rob is a tall guy with fair skin, dark hair and dark brown eyes. He could be a sweet guy but he could really be an ass some days. We have been dating for three years and I felt like the relationship wasn’t really going anywhere, but I still loved him. We met in college and started dating after being friends for a couple of years.     After walking through the front door I walked into the kitchen of our apartment and put the groceries down on the floor. Rob came from the living room, up behind me all sneaky like and smacked me on the butt playfully. I turned around with a grin on my face pointing my finger at him. He knows that a little smack like that will result in some bedroom fun, but we needed to see who was going to tell the other what we were going to do.     “Help me with the groceries, and then we will settle this like responsible adults with a game of soccer,” I tell him.     “No. Not soccer because you always win. We’re going to play a pick up game of basketball,” he replies.     “Gross. No. You always beat me,” I say.     “A video game then?” Rob asks with a sly grin.     “You're on. I’m gonna kick that ass,” I tell him.     “That’s what you think,” he says with a smile.     He crosses the kitchen with a smile on his face and kisses my lips softly before we start to put the groceries away. We had everything put away in a flash because of teamwork. I got out a sparkling water once we had finished along with an apple to munch on. I eyeballed Rob as he opened a package of veggie chips and started loudly crunching on them.      We stood there in the kitchen in comfortable silence, staring each other down. Rob had already changed out of his work clothes and was now wearing black basketball shorts and a white t-shirt that had a stain on it. I was in a gray t-shirt and black athletic shorts.      As we finish eating our snacks we feel the ground below us start to shake in one powerful wave. The lights that were on in the apartment flickered and then went out quickly. I looked around and the electricity had gone completely out. We sit on the floor and I look at Rob with a questioning gaze.     “That’s not a normal earthquake,” I told him.     “No it’s not,” he says in a worried tone.     When it's all over we stand up and I grab my phone to see if the news sent anything out yet. Nothing. Then I noticed I had no signal. The earthquake must have knocked the cell towers out along with the electricity. I put my phone down on the counter and looked out the window of the dining room to see people walking around outside. A dark red cloud started washing over the area quickly. It was almost like a storm was rolling in, but I’ve never seen storm clouds that are red.     Soon the neighborhood was illuminated by an eerie red glow that made my skin crawl. Rob and I were still standing in the kitchen just watching everything happen. I take an uneven breath feeling like it was all of a sudden hard to breathe. I looked up at Rob to find his face going red. I touched his arm in panic, worried as to what was happening to him.     He fell to the floor gasping for air and I knelt beside him in complete helplessness. I had no idea what to do for him. I tried not to panic and help him in any way I could but I had no idea what to do. He wasn’t choking on anything, so what was happening to him?     As he laid there gasping for air, I watched him start to turn a dark gray color in a matter of seconds. I felt tears starting to form in my eyes not knowing what to do, and completely freaking out  at this point. I placed my hands on his chest and raised them up to his face. He felt cold already and as I pulled my hands away.  It was like his skin went with it and disappeared into dust.     I sat there in frozen horror with wide eyes as I witnessed someone I loved disintegrate into nothingness right in front of me. I cried hysterically clinging to the clothes that were left behind now that his body was gone. I sat there in shock all alone in the silence with tears rolling down my face as my chest heaved up and down. I could feel the snot starting to run out of my nose as I ugly cried.     What happened? What was going on? Why had my boyfriend just disappeared like he never even existed?      I sat there with my face in my hands crying for a few minutes when I heard people outside screaming at the top of their lungs. I wiped my face and dropped Rob's shirt to the floor. I got up off the ground and moved to the window in the dining room. I saw people running around in the streets and several of them were disappearing like Rob had already. Fear was welling up inside me. Not for myself, but for my twin brother. He’s now the only other person I had left in my life.     I instantly knew I needed to go look for Aziel. I grabbed my phone off the counter and ran out of the ground floor apartment I called home. I went straight for my car. I opened the door and climbed in then tried to start it. It wouldn’t start. I checked my phone one more time to see if there was service and there was still nothing. I got out of my car and put my phone in my sports bra. I started running down the street in sheer panic, watching so many people around me die the same way Rob just had.     I pushed myself to run faster towards Aziel’s apartment that was six blocks away from mine. I didn’t know if he was there or not, but I had to try and look for him. I kept running looking around at screaming people knowing I wouldn’t be able to help them because I had no idea what was going on.     I had reached the block where Aziel’s apartment building was. I caught sight of him on the street at the same time he saw me. I ran up to him thankful that he was alright. I don’t know what I would do if he died. I wrapped my arms around him in a hug and he did the same to me.     Aziel is tall with dark tan skin like mine. We both have black hair and dark blue eyes. I always pick on him calling him my younger brother even when he’s only seven minutes younger than me.     “What’s going on?” I asked him in pure fear.     “It’s a type of radiation,” he said.     “Then why aren’t we dead too?” I asked in confusion.     “I don’t know. We need to get somewhere safe.”    “Where would that be?” I asked in sarcastic fear.     “Let’s try the Tanabe Research Laboratory,” he said, as he took my hand and started running full speed pulling me along with him.      I finally found my footing and started running with him. How long would we survive in this madness and why had we survived this long when so many others were already dead? So many questions were running through my head and I needed to find someone to answer them.