Present Day - Strasbourg

“S*** Fereday, get your head down!” yelled Corporal Graff.

Charlie ducked back into the safety of the trenches. Machine gun fire blazed over his head, narrowly missing his helmet. He gripped his Mosin tight to his chest, breathing deeply, not from fear. It was more like tranquility.

Corporal Graff turned his head to Charlie, “Damn Private, third time today. These Germans can’t seem to put you down son. You’ll make sure they regret that one day.

“Don’t worry sir, I plan on it.” He clenched his fist and hit himself on the forehead. The hail of lead ceased for a moment while the Germans began to reload. Charlie took the opportunity to pop his gun over the ledge, rest it on some sandbags, and put his eyes to the scope. To others, what seemed to be less than an instant, he acquired the gunner, calculated his shot, and pulled the trigger. He gunner’s head exploded. “Gunner down,” he yelled back. He heard a faint whistling growing louder. He got back down in the trenches again as an artillery shell smashed into the ground, scattering dirt onto the soldiers heads.

“Ha ha ha! You lucky son of gun. And to think that only a few days ago you were fumbling to chamber one round.”

“Yeah,” he muttered under his breath. Only he knew what really happened to him. No amount of training could have melded him into what he was now.

One Week Ago - North Sea


“This is command. Somebody give me a progress report.”

“Captain, this is Staff Sergeant Green. We are 2 minutes out from the target zone.”

“Good. Make sure you reach it before the German U-boats get there. God only knows what will happen if they get there first.”

The American submarine approached the search area, their beaming headlights bouncing off the seafloor. The day before, radar sweeps of the area revealed a blank spot about a quarter mile in radius. As they got closer some of the crew took a brief moment from their duties to witness what was outside the ship. Old temple ruins lied half buried with seaweed weaving through the stone arches. Through all the destroyed buildings there was one part that was untouched by the erosion. A small dome, right in the center, that was emitting the faintest light through the stone cracks.

“What the hell is all this? An ancient city just decided to fall down here?” said Green.

“Sir, radar is going crazy. One second it’s clear, and the next it lights up like a Christmas tree.”

“Okay, looks like we are going in dark. Keep your eyes open for other sub lights.”
The sub moved in closer to the center dome and a robotic arm extended from the side, grabbing rocks for samples. The arm reached toward the center dome, and as it was about to touch it, the claw piece incinerated just before it made contact.

“S***! What was that?”

“Sir, it seems that we have lost control of the arm. Water is entering the breach.”
The ship’s lights blacked out for a moment before the red emergency lights turned on. All navigation systems were down except one constant beep coming from the radar.

“Sir, it appears someone has acquired a missile lock.”

The single beep stopped for a few seconds, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Their moment of reprieve quickly ended when they heard rapid beeping instead.

“Fire flares!”

The incoming missile took the bait and followed the false heat signature. Unfortunately for them all, the flare it followed flew right at the center dome. A small explosion went off when the missile hit the side of the dome, breaking it open. All looked at the ensuing light had their eyes scorched out of their sockets. The only thing they heard was the screaming from fellow crew mates. If they could see, they would have watched the light imploded on itself into a complete, all consuming darkness.


One week ago - Strasbourg

The resulting explosion of the dome jolted Charlie from his sleep. His eyes snapped open, images of dead soldiers floating in the ocean, a flash of light breaking up each picture.
“Someone get me a gurney! S***. Ah s***! Come on man don’t do this to me.” panicked Private Hart.

But Charlie couldn’t hear his cry. All he heard was the silence of being eleven thousand feet underwater. He began to convulse, when two medics arrived with the gurney. They lifted him up and rushed him to the infirmary. He heard a voice then, once he had reached his room. It echoed into oblivion in his head, “My gift to you, son.” He tried to hold onto it as it faded, but it was just too hard. Black.

Three days ago - Strasbourg

He woke up a few days later with a massive headache. The intense light of the medical bay didn’t help either. He tried to rise but a hand on his shoulder quickly stopped him.

“I wouldn’t get up for a while if I were you,” said nurse Joy.

“Please, I feel fine. Really, it won’t be much trouble to walk.”
“Well I can’t stop you, but it is highly against my recommendation.”

Faraday rose with ease, swung his legs of the side of the bed and stood. The quick movement though just furthered the pain in his head. He wobbled from dizziness for a moment.

“If you insist on leaving I need to cut off your patient band.” She reached out and grabbed his hand and brought the scissors up to cut the band off. As she touched him though his headache disappeared. He looked into her eyes, thinking she had done something to relieve him of the pain. They were bleeding. From her nose, ears, mouth, even the pores of her skin, blood was seeping out. He retracted back and watched her body collapse.

What had he just done to her. His heart began to race and he flickered his eyes around the room. He slid her body into the closet and locked it with her key. He saw a box of rubber gloves and he put one on to cover his hand, the one with all her blood on it. He ran out of the infirmary trying to forget everything that happened.

Present Day - Strasbourg (German side)

The gunner’s partner looked down at his friend’s exploded head. He clenched his arm with pain. He had been shot, with the bullet that was supposed to kill his friend. And yet, there he was, dead, headless.

Present Day - Strasbourg


Charlie grinned. He knew this war was over. Now that the got his new power. The Germans didn’t stand a chance. No one stood a chance! He laughed maniacally. The soldiers around him looked at him with fright. “Charlie are you okay, its just one German. Im sure you’ll have the chance to get another,” said Graff.

“Hahaha, I’m going to get them all! They can’t stop me, no one can stop me!!!!”

Charlie leaped over the edge of the trench and began sprinting across no-mans-land. His friends watched as he dodged machine gun fire, artillery shells exploded around him, and jumped over all the razor wire. He was going to make it. They cheered him on. Until one sniper round hit him square in the chest. He stopped and so did everyone else. Both sides watched as he just stood there, waiting for him to drop.

“He put his hands to the sky and yelled to the heavens, “Hahaahhhaa!!! Told you.”

His body exploded with the force of the big bang. Infernal fire ripped across the terrain, scorching the land and evaporating oceans. All human life no longer existed. The end.