All Chapters of From Abandoned Bride to Apocalypse Survivor: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Theresa PovThe first thing I felt was pain. The second was cold metal digging into my back.I opened my eyes to a gray sky and lay still while my head throbbed and my ears rang. The air smelled of rust, burnt wire, and damp dust, and a cold wind carried fine grit that settled on my eyelashes. When I turned my head, a jagged strip of steel jutted from the ground beside my cheek, close enough to have opened my face.Mountains of scrap surrounded me. Bent pipes, crushed vehicle doors, and sheets of steel twisted like paper rose so high in places that they swallowed the horizon. A bus lay on its side nearby with its roof buried under machinery, and beyond it the shells of old buildings leaned together like exhausted giants. Far off, a colossal statue of a crowned man stood half-buried in wreckage, one stone arm raised and its fingers gone. Strange markings ran across its chest, and I couldn't read them.When I pushed myself up, pain stabbed through my right ankle. My wedding dress had s

Theresa Pov[Host survival probability: Critical.]I stared at the message while the ground trembled beneath me. Outside the ruined maintenance building, the Colossus Wraith let out another grinding roar that rattled through the concrete and into my bones. Dust sifted onto my head, and a rusted pipe tore loose from the ceiling."Wonderful," I muttered. "Critical. Very encouraging."I crawled through the ventilation passage on my stomach, concrete shredding my elbows, my bad ankle dragging behind me like a sulking child. When gray light appeared, I pushed through a gap in the metal sheets and rolled into a shallow ditch, breathing as quietly as a woman in a ruined wedding gown could manage.The air tasted of rust and burned plastic. Far off, the Colossus Wraith lumbered between heaps of scrap. I had a folding knife and a steel bracket. 'That is not a weapon. That is a hobby.'Survival wasn't about proving I was brave. Sometimes it meant knowing when to run. I waited until the creature

Theresa PovThe cave floor trembled beneath my boots.I raised my rifle toward the glowing lines crawling between the stones. The ancient mechanism groaned, and dust rained from the ceiling. Ken gripped the edge of the coffin, knuckles white."What is happening?""That's what I'm trying to find out."I backed away and studied the light. It followed the carved lines around the coffin, then branched toward the statue's feet. Every new line joined an existing symbol. Nothing about it was random. It was a system, maybe a machine, and it had started moving the moment Ken woke."Did you activate this?""I told you, I do not remember!" His voice cracked. He clamped his lips shut as another tremor rolled through the floor.I couldn't blame him for being afraid, but we couldn't both panic. "Then we work with what we have. You woke up, light shot into the sky, and now the floor is glowing. We get away from anything that might collapse.""The storm is still outside.""Which is why we need a seco

Theresa PovThe scraping came again, and this time it stopped directly outside our hiding place. I held my breath. Our shelter was a narrow recess between two ruined buildings, cracked concrete on three sides, rusted sheets sagging across the roof. Beyond the entrance, the Infinite Scrap Yard stretched under a darkening sky, a graveyard of broken machinery. Cold drafts carried the stink of wet rust and burnt metal, and far off, a blue flash lit a shattered tower before the dark swallowed it. Ken sat against the wall, black hair falling around his pale face, his ceremonial clothes filthy and the gold patterns dulled. His legs still trembled whenever he tried to stand. I had my rifle. He had a metal rod. Neither of us was ready for a real fight. Something struck the wall, and dust sifted from the ceiling. Ken flinched, and his hand jerked toward the place where his divine power should have been. Nothing answered. I watched the realization cross his face as he lowered his hand. "Habi

Theresa PovThe metallic clang came again, followed by a low vibration that crawled up through my boots.I tightened my grip on the metal rod. "That thing is getting closer."Ken leaned against the doorway, pale, his injured shoulder dragging him sideways. "Or something else is answering it.""That's not comforting.""I wasn't trying to comfort you."'Even half-dead, he can make a sentence irritating. It's a gift.'We had two metal containers, some wire, sealed bandages, and the damaged rectangular device from underground. My rifle was too battered to trust. Staying wasn't an option.Beyond the ruined land, dark hills rose against a gray sky. A narrow trail curved along one slope, edged with metal scraps and old lamps at regular intervals. Not made by Wraiths. Made by people."There's a path," I said. "Someone maintains it.""Then we should be cautious.""That makes two of us."Far off, a golden light pulsed behind the hills like a heartbeat.[Environmental Analysis: Dread Zone detect