Children of the Atom: Prologue

Gerard
With his head cocked to the right, Gerard continued down the abandoned highway. He and Alex had been running from mutated centaurs for a few days now, but he seemed unusually restless today. That's the second attack this week, he thought to himself. Aberron, as Alex had named him, was a manic centaur who was subjected to intense atomic radiation. As a result, he lost most of his cognitive ability, but retained his survival instincts. Aberron did not speak, but bellowed and grunted in a wild fashion. He usually belted a massive greatsword, but was shattered by Dakry's massive power.

Alex was a master of his spear, but was often overpowered by Aberron's brute strength. Gerard muttered a curse in Greek, for a huge gap existed between him and the other side of the highway. It was probably ten feet wide, and it would kill Gerard instantly if he tried to jump it and fail. Alex was far behind, trying to hunt something for them to eat. An occasional deer that wasn't too mutated would come by, but these days all he would find bloodthirsty deerstalkers that could rip him to pieces.

Gerard decided to wait for Alex to catch up, and managed to set up a fire by a bunch of ruined cars by the side. After an hour or so, Gerard heard the sound of footsteps, and saw Alex running towards him, hauling a carcass of a deer. "Hah!" he shouted to Gerard while panting. "I told you I could get one!"

Gerard gave a faint smile. "I didn't say you couldn't. How did you get it?"

"I lured it with  Dakry's energy pulse.It came running towards me, and all I had to do was administer a short spear throw. Quite awesome, if you ask me."

"Any sign of Aberron?"

"Nah. I managed to shake him while we were running through a parking lot. Remember?"

Gerard's head started to ache as he tried to recall what happened. Alex told him that Aberron managed to fling him twenty feet, slamming him into a pile of cars. Alex tried to heal the wound with the best of his ability, but he was no healer. On normal circumstances, they could procure some ambrosia or nectar, but they were living in a desolate wasteland devoid of life. They were alone, or so they thought.

Alex
"Blast! We'll never get across this gap now!" Alex said in a untertone as he realized his attempts were futile. The gaping hole was too large for them to even attempt and jump it. And neither of them would want to spend the rest of their lives as puddles of flesh and bone.

"We have to stay calm." Gerard tried to reassure Alex. "We'll just go around it."

"We can't tarry any more! We have to reach New York by the end of the week, or we're toast."

It was always their plan to try and get into Olympus and try to contact the gods, but they were seperated from Layla and the others. It all happened when they tried to get past mutated venti. They erupted in a torrent of wind and water, blasting all of them miles apart. The others managed to set up a defensive enchantment, but Alex and Gerard were no spellcaster. The only thing that saved them was Alex's Dodecahedron, which mysteriously opened up into an invisible cushion that saved them at the last moment. Alex wondered if it was actually the Fates who brought him to the pendant. On the rare occasion it would hiss and rattle, but would die down in a moment. This was becoming more frequent and troubled Alex.

"Oh gods, were doomed." Gerard said grimly. "If only Evan were here. He would know how to get us across."

Alex flinched at the mention of his name, but realized that Gerard was right. They had no way to get across.