Gabatrix: the Forgotten
Copyright© 2026 by CMed TheUniverseofCMed
Chapter 10: Armageddon Part 2
Science Fantasy Sex Story: Chapter 10: Armageddon Part 2 - Set after the events of Gabatrix: The Batrice Crisis, humanity launches an expedition to establish contact with the unknown alien race known as the Venermax. However, Doctor Theron, the lead scientist behind the mission, has vanished. It will be up to the Doctor and his friends to solve the mysteries laid forth as Theron tries not to perish in hell itself. Story contains: Sci-fi, Future, Drama, Survival, Action, Light Horror/Psychological Thriller, Human/Alien(s), M/F, Sex, Love, Interspecies
Caution: This Science Fantasy Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Consensual Fiction Mystery Science Fiction Aliens Space
A few hours had passed...
Through the haze of dust and ash, the truck moved slowly through the ravaged environment. In the distance, along the road, any houses or former farmland were gone, either ripped to pieces by the volcanic eruption or buried under volcanic ash. All the trees seemed to have been crushed by the sheer strength and power of nature itself.
The worst was yet to come. Through the toxic particles that fell from the heavens, this was soon to be joined by a falling layer of rain. Mixing with all the pollutants of the atmosphere, the toxic muck, the liquid water would drench the ash particles as it fell upon the landscape. A layer of humid fumes would rise from the ground and onto anything that dared to try to breathe it.
Theron was keeping a close eye on the truck’s engine status. It wasn’t energy that was the prime issue, but the threat of clogged filters or anything that would disrupt the truck’s operation. The threat of the falling liquid would splash against the closed passenger side door. Meanwhile, the gauges would all show the same danger meters when it came to the air quality itself. Red and at maximum levels, it was beyond dangerous to take the suits off. A beeping sound erupted on Theron’s suit. He quickly disengaged the breathing filter with a tap, then slipped on a brand-new spare with a satisfying click. However, upon examining the filter, he saw that it was covered with a dark orange, brown, and black resin. The very thought that he and the others were breathing in was gut-wrenching.
Gemma could see it as she seemed to remain at ease to the best of her abilities.
“It feels so familiar,” she said calmly to him.
“What is?” Theron asked.
“When you drove me and my brother...”
“I know, ... I remember.”
“ ... I miss my brother, but I’m happy to be alive...”
“ ... I know.”
“So much death ... How did you ... how do we survive this?”
“I don’t know. One minute at a time ... inch by inch ... centimeter by centimeter. Either way, we get to Waterville, DC.”
“The great city?” she asked.
“The last true bastion of mankind ... it’s our only hope now.”
There was a surge of light in the sky above. A thunderbolt ripped through the sky as the storm above was encouraging the occasional electric discharges.
“I need to pee,” she said.
“Use the bottle for your suit,” he said. “Just like I instructed you.”
“I ... I...,” she seemed hesitant to hear that.
“You’ve done it before, Gemma. Remember our past trips? We all have to do it.”
The truck was getting covered in the deadly residue. It was at a point when the horrific sludge would tear into the truck’s paint job and metal surface, as if nature were taking the next step in wiping out the structures and equipment that stood everywhere.
“Cassidy,” Theron asked the adult woman from the open comm display connected to the bed of the truck behind the cabin. “What’s the status of the air quality back there?”
“Not good,” the woman replied, looking at her tablet. “This rain ... it’s a toxic soup mix the longer we’re in it. It’s only getting worse outside.”
The windshield wipers were constantly working, trying to keep everything clean for the driver to see, but it was proving to be difficult. The hints of orange, brown, and black tar would collect and stick to the windshield. Despite technological advances, visibility remained low. Only the light sloping hillsides remained constant here. Even the lights would be cluttered by aerial debris. Finally, there was a hint of something unusual ahead.
“I see something!” Joseph replied.
“Stop, stop!” Theron said.
The truck quickly came to a halt as the driver let off the accelerator pedal. The moment the truck came to a stop, visibility cleared a little. The sounds of splashing water could be heard from the roof.
“What?” Calum asked as he looked at his tablet.
“Umm...,” Joseph remarked. “Fuck ... we got a problem.”
“What is it?”
“Calum,” Theron addressed him. “The road is staring over a cliff.”
There was a pause as Calum was finally able to confirm it on his tablet. The constant rough readings on his tablet were difficult to tell due to the extremely poor satellite reception. However, Calum turned his attention to the outside.
Theron, Gemma, and Joseph could see a massive crack in the Earth. The volcanic eruption was so intense that it tore the entire landscape apart. The road literally drops over a twenty-foot-tall cliff to the road below.
“I’ve ... never seen anything like this,” Theron said in disbelief.
“Believe it,” Calum replied. “Geographical readings are rough, but it’s been confirmed that there’s been damage to the North American tectonic plate over this region. This fissure spans 5 miles across.”
“Is there a way we can safely drop?”
“We’ll need a natural ramp to reach the main road below. Otherwise, we have to drive around it.”
“How far are we to Rapid City?”
“We haven’t even reached Gillette, yet. We need to scout around to see if there is a natural ramp to continue.”
“Damn it,” Joseph remarked. Even Theron remarked in disbelief.
“Stop whining,” Calum told them. “There are other roads that lead into the city. If need be, we’ll scout around Gillette to find anything of value. Theron and I have scavenged the city once before.”
It was true, but Theron knew that Gillette was not a well-populated town. With the exception of the few times he and Calum went there, the other past scavenging missions, they simply flew over the area to Rapid City. However, there still might have been something they missed. Reaching it was a good checkpoint, nonetheless.
“We need to stop anyway,” Theron said. “The filters need to be cleaned, rest for a moment, pause so we can regain our bearings...”
“I really thought we got further than this,” Joseph said. “We’ve been driving for hours and haven’t even cleared Gillette yet.”
“We’ve made progress, nonetheless,” Calum replied. “Engh ... We stop for now. Ben, go and help Joseph clean the filters. Be sparing on the water and remember to use the tarps so it won’t get any other shit in the engine compartment.”
“You got it,” the other man in the bed of the truck replied.
“Don’t worry, Joseph,” Theron told the driver. “I’ll take over the driving once you finish up.”
The man nodded as he powered down the truck. The electric motor quickly shut off, as if it were relieved to be turned off. There was a brief moment where Joseph turned to look outside.
It looked like hell. Whatever the countryside was, nature had torn into its side to display the sheer magnitude of an uninhabitable environment. Anything that was dead, anything that might have survived the ongoing Orange Muck fallout, was dead from the sulfuric ash and pollution, where the ash would continue to blanket the area and cover the dead. Theron was amazed by how quickly his environment shifted in a couple of years.
There was a subtle shifting from the bed of the truck as one of the men climbed out. Joseph turned to look at Gemma and Theron for a moment, gesturing to them that he was going to open the door.
The moment he did, the interior cabin was awash in soot, dirt, and vile debris that hovered in the air. Joseph was quick as he leaped out of the truck and closed the door behind him, where he proceeded to head in front of the truck.
“You’ll need to replace your filter in about thirty minutes,” Theron told Gemma. “I need to step out and talk with Calum ... stretch my legs a little bit. If you need to pee, you can do it now, while we aren’t here.”
“I don’t have a problem peeing in a bottle if you’re here, Terry,” Gemma replied. “I just ... don’t want to make a mess.”
“Everything is a mess, Gemma.”
“But, my suit ... the inside will get dirty ... gross.”
“I know ... our goal is to get as far away from here as possible. The sooner we reach shelter, the sooner we get to cleaner grounds.”
“I feel safer with you ... I’m more scared now than ever.”
“The domes kept us safe, but always remember that you’re stronger than you think. You’ve been able to handle things that a lot of children your age could never handle. Don’t forget that.”
“ ... Thank you.”
“Wait a few minutes after I close the door before you use the bathroom. Allow the ... crap in the air to settle down so it lessens exposure. Don’t worry about ... making a mess, ok?”
“What if I need to poop?”
“Do you need to take a shit?”
“No, but if we do, how do we ... you know?”
For a brief moment, Theron looked back outside. He knew that humanity was finished if it didn’t even have the luxury of being able to defecate in peace without the threat of the environment melting the flesh off someone’s bones.
“I don’t know, Gemma,” he told her. “I truly don’t know anymore...” he sighed.
There was a long pause. Theron wish that he had an answer, but nothing more came to mind. Finally, Gemma seemed to console him.
“I miss them,” she confessed. “Grandma and Grandpa.”
“Your grandparents? I know...”
“No, your mom and dad ... I hope they’re in a better place...”
There seemed to be so little time for Theron to really grieve, but he felt that he didn’t have a choice in the matter. The current moment was more important than anything. Instead, he simply gave her the best answer he could for her.
“I know...” He said. “We had something back there ... even if it was going to work or not. We had our own world to live in, and now it’s been taken away from us ... for now, all we can do is move forward.”
“But, wouldn’t that take us over the cliff?” she playfully asked.
“ ... Yeah, it would...,” Theron smiled underneath his mask. “It certainly would.”
There was another pause as the front hood was lifted. Ben walked around the truck with a container of water. Theron wondered if it was even possible to clean the vehicle. The environment was so dirty that even the best vehicles would struggle to operate in it. It simply fell into the matter of faith, hope that they could push just a little bit further ahead to find some sort of shelter, anything that could work.
Theron knew that he needed to speak with Calum. Despite finding his own inner hope for survival, much of it mysteriously fell upon the hardened survivor.
“I’m going to head outside,” he told her. “Wait a few minutes before you do anything. As I said, let the inside settle down before doing your business.”
“Ok...,” she said.
Theron undid the seat belt and grabbed his shotgun stuffed by the door. He reached over to the box below him and pulled out a black bottle, most likely filled with something nobody wanted to see or know. The man handed it to her before he reached over to the door handle and opened the door.
As before, the rush of the deadly outside world came in. Theron quickly stepped out and closed the door as his boots struck the thick ash beneath him, kicking some into the air.
The environment seemed even more terrifying than it appeared inside. Even with a thick layer suit to protect him, Theron felt like he was in hell. No life was visible, except for the survivors working outside. The lights of the truck remained on, serving as the only beacon of activity in the barren wasteland.
There was a sense of unease. Anywhere was simply an inhospitable environment. No help, no people, nothing. The transformation of the environment ensured that those who didn’t stay together would have no hope of surviving.
Suddenly, Benjamin walked up to him. Theron didn’t see which direction he came from, but addressed him anyway.
“Ben, you need help?” Theron asked him.
“No, I’m alright,” Ben replied, the voice being odd and almost distant. He saw him heading back to the bed of the truck.
“You need some tools or something? I can help you out.”
Benjamin said nothing as he walked and began heading away from the truck. He was heading deeper into the unknown.
“Hey,” Theron said. “Let’s get the truck fixed up first so that we can explore the area. I’m sure that we can...”
“Who are you talking to?” Joseph asked Theron. The man swung around and caused him to show a hint of utter surprise.
Benjamin was actually at the front of the truck, handing Joseph a funnel and a vacuum pump. Curious as to what Theron was talking to, he momentarily stopped and looked at him. The hint of confusion remained in the man’s body language.
Theron quickly turned back around to see that Benjamin, or whoever he saw, was never behind the truck to begin with. If anything, he never left. Confused, Theron stepped toward the engine.
It couldn’t have been possible ... who did he see? The man’s mind was confounded. There was nowhere to run or hide, especially in this vast open environment. There had to be one reasonable explanation for what just happened. Theron realized that he was momentarily hallucinating.
“Oh no...,” Theron said to himself quietly before raising his voice. “Ummm ... It was nothing. Thought I saw something out here...”
Both men quickly resumed their work on the truck. Perhaps he was simply stressed, especially in this sort of environment. Maybe his mind made up something. He quickly discarded the thoughts and began to walk around to the bed of the truck. Each step through the ashen dirt would cause his boot to sink several inches before he stepped forward to repeat the process of shifting through the ground. Even the truck almost seemed like it was partially buried in brown snow. For Theron, the terrifying reality has set in: the environment itself is trying to bury the original civilization, all human achievements beneath its ashen clouds.
The man reached the closed bed of the truck. Theron lifted a small device and tried to contact Calum inside.
“Calum, are you there?” he addressed him.
“Yes, ... I need to speak with you,” Calum replied, grunting. “You’re outside, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“I need to get out...”
“You’re injured.”
“I ‘need’ to get out...” He reiterated.
The small confinement was more than enough to drive Calum to stand up and begin heading out. The back door opened, exposing Cassidy and the two teenagers to the outside as Calum braced his side.
Theron wanted to object to Calum’s movements, but it was proving to be fruitless. Calum was stubborn. Seeing that the floor was closer than expected, he almost jumped out, but was mistaken that it was very soft dust that quickly folded under his weight. In reality, he landed hard on the ground, causing him to react in terrible pain that he quickly grimaced under his suit.
“Sir!” Theron addressed him, reaching out to him.
“DON’T!” Calum yelled at him. He practically swatted his hand away from him. Instead, Theron helped Calum close the back of the truck up for the occupants inside. It made Calum brace, pressing his back against the vehicle as he leaned on it, shoving away the pain. Finally, for what seemed like half a minute, the man stood up a little bit more and looked outward.
Behind the truck, Theron knew that Yellowstone’s remains were still throwing out the sulfuric gases. However, the disrupted atmosphere made seeing it impossible.
“Urgh...,” Calum grunted. “You should be scouting ... find us a way through here...”
“I need to talk to you,” Theron said. “Has there been any word of what’s going on?”
“We’re trying to escape hell, Theron. What else needs to be said about it?”
“That isn’t an answer. We need an evac.”
“Then get us to Rapid City ... anywhere ... anywhere the fuck away from here.”
“You’re going to die before we reach safety. You need to be treated.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re far from it,” Theron told him. “Possible internal bleeding just from the look of it. We can sit here and waste our breath, or we can get a clearer picture of what’s going on out there.”
“ ... Fine ... it’ll get you to do something, then. Yellowstone is slowing down ... it’s still pumping shit, but it’s expected to stop in the following couple of days. I can ... ungh...,” Calum grunted again. “I can barely read anything beyond ... fucking too much shit in the atmosphere. If the reception gets any worse, then we might end up driving in circles.”
“We don’t know how much we’re going to get from this truck. It’s amazing that it’s lasted this long as it is without it staling or clogging beyond recognition. Even if they’re robust, they simply weren’t meant for ... this...”
“You make a lousy salesman if I was going to buy a vehicle from you ... you know that?”
“Let’s just say that the last couple of years can change a man’s career.”
“ ... Heh...”
Theron was actually surprised to hear a faint chuckle from Calum. Despite the hellish scenery, Calum was doing the best he could to remain calm in the situation.
“Don’t worry about me, Theron,” Calum said. “It should have been my time when the eruption destroyed the dome. It should have been all of us ... but we survived. The Devil has his due ... payment in blood. If there needs to be one more on the sacrificial slab, then let it happen. He can take me if it means getting everyone else to safety.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.”
“ ... Oh? You really think so?” he almost seemed to mock him. “Then how about this? I received the word over an hour ago. Full evacuation ... all the domes in the central US ... make way to California, west coast, south to New Houston, Texas, or Waterville DC, anywhere but here.”
“ ... All of them?”
“Anywhere that wasn’t directly impacted, although I doubt there’s any escaping this. The ash is continually being pumped over us ... it’ll spread throughout the world in no time. All the worst-case predictions point to the same thing. We’re facing nuclear winter proportions that will last years, combined with the muck outbreak that’s going to last almost ... indefinently. All the cities are near dead or abandoned, our food stocks are dangerously low, we’re running out of fresh water, ... and then we get this eruption to add to it.”
Theron could picture the other domes as they were in rampant decline. Whatever surviving domes throughout the US would be hit with refugees. Mass convoys of vehicles and aircraft were being made ready, all trying to get people out. The last few strongholds of mankind were eroding piece by piece. The other dome cities would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of refugees arriving, only to further erode their food stocks and water supplies in turn.
Meanwhile, the last survivors of Theron’s dome were stuck on a road, where so few resources could be made available just for them. Their prioritizing would be made evident. Would the US care for one single vehicle and all its inhabitants? Theron had no perfect answer for it. All he knew was that the great dome expansion of Central North America was over. Its failure would become evident as it slowly sank into toxic ash.
“Yeah ... it’s over,” Theron said.
“You wanted to talk to me about something else, though, right?” Calum asked him.
“ ... Yeah..., I was ... going to discuss this later. I’ve already discussed this with Gemma about it and...”
“Get to it.”
“ ... I have Nihil’s Syndrome.”
There was a pause as Calum seemed to think about it for a moment. He seemed more than aware of it and its meaning.
“How long?” Calum asked.
“Discovered recently,” Theron replied. “Early stages...”
“There’s no such thing as ‘early stages,’ Theron.”
“I was told by the doctors that...”
“No, we’ve seen it before too many times. It strikes and only gets worse ... worse to the point that you’ll become a muckman in no time.”
“Why, out of all the people, did I have to tell you about this?”
Calum nodded his head. “Because, like many others, you’re sane enough to know what’s reality and what isn’t. Any visions or hallucinations?”
Theron had to tell the truth. “Just now ... I saw somebody heading away from the truck. Thought it was somebody else, but...,” he shook his head. “It ... felt real.”
Calum extended his hand. “Give me your gun.”
“What?”
“Nihil’s Syndrome only gets worse the more you’re exposed to the airborne toxin crap. We’re right in the middle of the worst. Even if the filters are working, it’s more than they can properly handle, especially now.”
“Fuck...,” Theron was hesitant about giving up the shotgun. “What about bandits or other muckmen? We need everybody to fight.”
“No one could live in this for long. We’re the only ones out here. Even after the incident with Rapid City, we never encountered the muckmen again. I doubt we would ever encounter anything in the countryside, nor would we have the ability to win in a fight either. There’s too few of us to make a difference anyway.”
Theron unshouldered his shotgun and handed it to Calum. The man placed it to the side of the truck.
“Our goal is to reach Waterville, DC,” Calum told him. “You and that little girl ... you understand?”
“ ... Yes,” Theron replied.
“Good, go and explore the area ... find a way to get us through to Gillette.”
“What about you? Will the meds hold?...” Theron remarked before he began to walk away from the truck.
“Yes, it will. Stop worrying about me. Focus on you and Gemma. Understood?”
Theron nodded and said nothing else. He turned and began to walk away from the truck.
Calum continued to look at the area. Everything seemed so similar across the landscape when it came to landmarks. Only the lights and long-range communication ever gave any hope for those who ran astray from the only truck on the road. Instead, Calum sauntered across the truck’s side so that he could render assistance to the front of the vehicle, hand placed to his injury.
Two hours would pass. Theron and some of the other survivors had spanned the countryside to find a natural ramp. Finally, within less than forty minutes, Theron had found it. The truck safely descended and continued eastward.
From inside the cabin, Theron was behind the wheel. Meanwhile, Gemma remained in the same seat as before, along with Calum and the others who stayed behind in the bed of the truck. Joseph was taking a nap in the familiar cabin passenger seat. The interior compartment was dirty. Despite all the efforts to clean the engine, the engine light was giving a red indicator on the center dash display. The filters were dirty again, threatening to clog the engine and render it inoperable.
A part of Theron felt his nerves grow at the thought of what had happened earlier. The man he saw. He seemed so real, even if it was just an illusion. He withheld telling anyone else about his condition. Calum never protested about Theron being the truck’s driver now.
He could have said something, stopped Theron from driving, but didn’t protest. One could argue that Calum didn’t know the full extent of Theron’s possible delirium. Perhaps taking his shotgun was done out of safety, yet Theron remained behind the wheel.
The truck wasn’t moving too fast as it was, always crawling through the ashen roads at around 10 to 20 miles an hour. The low visibility and low illumination made seeing things difficult. He knew that driving slowly also ensured that he couldn’t accidentally wreck the vehicle anyway. Despite Theron’s unease, he knew the vast open environment at least gave plenty of breathing room in case he ever encountered anything that wasn’t real. He was also aware that what happened might have been nothing, and his mind was simply playing tricks. However, he kept a careful note of it and braced himself for the possibility that he might be seeing things that weren’t there.
But, good news remained. There was a hint that the ashen clouds were less thick in this region. The more space there was between Yellowstone’s prior eruption, the less the atmosphere was affected. However, the results were only marginal as the skies remained dark and gray. Only the falling ash seemed to be less commonplace than the rainstorms.
It provided just enough illumination and clarity for Theron to see more of the countryside. He could see not only more of the road but also the countryside highway as it branched in multiple directions.
Calum’s voice came over the main display screen, echoing inside the interior to stir Gemma awake.
“What’s the status, Theron?” Calum asked him.
“Not good,” Theron replied. “We’ll need to pull over again soon so we can try to clean the engine again.”
“It’s as expected ... We’re using up our precious water supply. The vacuum pumps are worn out as well. We may have to search the town of Gillette if we’re to continue...”
“There was another storage area we thought that might have had water.”
“Yes and no. Most of the water supply had been tapped out. We already know that.”
“What about the Energy Plant of Gillette, the one owned by Darin Energy Trading?”
“You mean Darin Industries?” Calum corrected him.
“Yeah, whatever they’re called now. We checked out the Energy Plant that was there.”
“It was a warehouse and a storage center for gas. We didn’t find any water there.”
“But it had an underground bunker that they expanded upon. It should have been rated for gas explosions in case they ever had an accident with one of their storage tanks.”
“Assuming the station is still intact, what’s your point?”
Theron sighed. “We need to pause. Maybe the environment will clear up some. Right now, pushing this truck’s engine is only going to result in it breaking down. We might need to call it a day with the travelling. Otherwise, we’ll drain up all our water supply just trying to even reach Rapid City.”
Calum seemed to think about it. “Hmm ... I doubt that’ll do much. You’re expecting that this will go away before we run out of supplies.”
“It won’t. I’m just saying that we should stop for the night. We managed to put some space between us and the volcano. We stop, eat, drink, rest, and try again tomorrow. Maybe it’ll even clear up enough for it not to be a hindrance to the truck.”
“Yasmine, what do you think?”
Theron seemed to give a confused look. “Yasmine?” he questioned. “You mean Cassidy, right?”
“I did say Cassidy.”
Theron was about to protest, but he swore he heard the name of Yasmine. It only seemed to confuse him before Cassidy spoke up.
“We should stop,” Cassidy replied. “I’m with Theron...”
“Ugh ... so be it,” Calum said. “But, instead of going to Gillette’s Energy Plant, we should check out the Wastewater Division Facility instead. It’s more reinforced and also has an underground facility for its wastewater treatment. If it’s been damaged beyond shelter conditions, then we’ll take a look at the other places.”
“Alright,” Theron replied.
It was less than a minute of driving before Theron could see the first rows of homes, at least what he could see through the light haze in the air. Past it, there were hints of what should have been structures. Homes, barns, the remains of civilization in the remote countryside.
In the end, there was none. Every house, every building had been torn to pieces by the powerful shockwave. Even with the further distance from the volcano, the sulfuric shockwave still ravaged this area.
Theron remembered Gillette. Years ago, it was a simple stop in the journey to reach his home deep in Wyoming. Even with a smaller population than much of the US, Wyoming was still a place of beauty. Its farms and remote locations still housed people who sought solitude from the harsh, sometimes inhospitable, city life. For Theron, the people of this state, like many in neighboring states, were hard workers, dedicated to simpler, more peaceful lives.
It was all gone, ripped away like it never existed. For Theron, he knew that there would be no such thing as looking for familiar landmarks. He could only hope that he would find the supposed location of this wastewater facility before the engine would give out entirely...
Less than 30 minutes would pass. It was unknown whether the truck was driving over broken debris strewn across the roads. The ash had all but covered it up.
However, the hint of hope came into play. Near the corner of town, the wastewater facility stood idle. Its brick structure had been almost completely torn away, leaving a shell of the building. No other standing structure seemed to survive.
Past the remains of a fence gate, the truck drove to the ruins of the building. Over the years, the wastewater treatment facility has been expanded, adding more filtration units. One such place seemed available, perched on the hilltop near the region’s great building.
Theron looked and could see it. Near one set of scorched brick and rubble, the nearby small hilltop had a structure built in place inside it. He drove the truck as close to it as possible.
“We’ve arrived,” Theron said. “I think...”
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.