Dragongate
Story concept



Frank is enjoying a pleasant evening drive through the forest. The fall foliage is full of colors and there’s no sign of the apocalyptic events that had reshaped much of the world years ago. He is heading home after visiting an old friend who recently moved into a cabin they had built together in the forest. He was listening to a rock station on the radio, although right now a pledge drive is happening. Oddly the station cut out and an irritating buzzing sound blasted out of the speakers! He pressed the channel button and the noise continued. He took his eyes off the road and glanced at the radio as he pressed the button again. He sees the channel change, but the noise seems to be on every station. “Damn thing broke!” He said as he turned it off. Just then everything blurred and slowed. The sound of the car engine seemed muted and he felt dizzy. Everything went black and he felt weightless for a moment. He distinctly felt himself and the car falling through the darkness! Then the car slammed back to the road with the sound of shattering glass and screeching metal! The airbags deployed and it felt like a giant soft fist punched him! He sat there is shock for a moment before his brain registered the fire blooming out from under the hood! He immediately panicked, thrashing around and struggling with the seatbelt! He managed to get the seatbelt off but the door won’t open! He can’t see a thing in the darkness but found that the driver side window is completely gone. He climbed out the window and fell onto the pavement. He got up and stumbled away from the burning car. The fire is illuminating the surroundings. Everything is wrong. The road is different, it wasn’t a newly paved road before but now looks more weathered. The forest is now a pine forest and something isn’t normal about the trees, but he can’t tell just what. It looks like the middle of the night even though he was sure sunset wasn’t for a couple more hours. There are no sounds, no insect calls or wind. The car fire has a sound, but there is nothing else. He looked up to see no stars at all in the black night sky. He can see three dim moons in a big triangle above him. “Yep, concussion, yah”. He said. He became aware of many cuts and bruises all over his body, his lower back is quite painful. He took his cellphone out and turned it on. The screen filed with weird shapes and random colors! “That’s just great”. He said. He looked back the way he presumably had come. The road just trails off into the dark forest and out of sight. He looked ahead. The road and forest continue but there seems to be a building not too far away. He saw a fallen tree branch nearby and picked it up. It is heaver then he expected and seems to be hardwood, the bark matches the pine trees. Using it as a crude crutch he began hobbling towards the building. As he got closer, he can see a wooden sign near the building that says, “south outpost”. It looks old and falling apart. The building is rather drab. It is just four cinderblock walls with a few windows and a door. The roof seems to be plastic. The building is perhaps a fifty-foot square. It might have looked better once, now all the windows are broken and there are large cracks in the bricks. The roof seems fine though! Frank staggered to the door. It’s a beat-up and rusted metal door. Inside is pitch black. He can hear what sounds like metal being hit with a hammer repeatedly. “Hello?” He called out. Someone answered, “Yeah, fixing the fuse box, hang on!” There was the sound of many objects falling and then more hammering. “That voice sounded like a parrot! What’s going on, is this place being robbed? Maybe I should get out”. Frank thought. A few dim lights came on and revealed that the place looks a gun store! Frank looked around and then thought it’s more like tiny army base. There are what appear to be large metal barricades bisecting the front room. There are racks and shelves with many different firearms on them. Some of the weapons look very strange. Everything is somewhat rundown. Just then some kind of bird person walked out of the doorway leading to the back.  He looks like a blue macaw; he has wings and arms. His feet are bird feet and he has form fitting shoes. He is wearing a slightly tattered military uniform. “Nice costume. So, I think I’m lost. I crashed my car or something and broke my phone. I’m hurt can I use your phone to get some help?” Frank said. “I don’t have a costume, you’re a lot more lost then you think human! And since the last raid we don’t have working phonelines right now”. The bird man said.


To be continued….