Chapter 16 - Kryonomicon

Jude walked for several more days, until he thought that his feet were going to fall off. He stopped rarely, only eating once per day and only sleeping for six or so hours per day. He had no more dreams in those days, and could not figure out the answer to that which he sought. Nor did he make any progress in solving the cube puzzle.

This particular day was surprisingly hot for the time of year that it was. Jude began drinking water regularly, although he was afraid that at this rate he would soon run out of it. Sweat dripped off of his back, neck, and hair, and every step felt like it will kill him.

The sun was high in the sky, and finally Jude could take it no longer. Looking around, he saw a building - no more than a residential house - that he could stay in until the sun got lower.

The building was two stories high, and was undamaged, despite the bombing that obviously occurred here when compared to the rest of the area. The plants in the front yard had long grown tall, and front door was nearly covered in vines.

Fortunately, Jude found that the back door was unlocked. He opened it slowly, in case any sort of animal had been locked inside of the building for a time.

Stagnant air hit his face, and he ducked back out of the house in order to get some fresh air. He held the back door open for a few minutes, in hopes to equalize the air between the two places.

Jude walked back inside. The air was fresher now and more breathable. He looked around. The place had remained relatively clean, but dust had long settled and collected on everything. The skeleton of a dog lay in the main room of the house.

Jude walked into the main room, pushing the skeleton aside. A sofa and a few chairs were there, and Jude thought to himself that this could be a good place to spend the night.

He wandered around to the other rooms on the ground floor. He found a refrigerator, and opened it up.

Ignoring the foul stench of rotten food that had had years to stagnate, Jude looked into it. Five bottles of water sat there. He took all five, knowing that he had been running low on it.

Jude then decided to travel to the second floor of the building. Climbing the stairs, he reached a hallway that led to the right from the staircase. Looking down the hallway, he saw into a room that was at the far end. A chest was there, and a skeleton was draped over it.

He walked to the chest, and then realized that the skeleton was not human. It was nearly identical to the one he had seen at the base of the world map where he had first seen the aurora-script. He pushed the skeleton and cobwebs to the side, and tried to open the chest. It was locked.

Jude knew exactly what to do. He swung his gun to the front and turned the power setting all the way down. He strafed to the side of the chest and fired on the lock at an angle. It melted off of chest.

He then walked back to the front of the chest and opened it. It was nearly empty. A single cobweb spread across the floor about halfway down the chest, covering up the bottom. Jude reached at it and destroyed it to see what was underneath.

Underneath was a book. The book was leather and had pages like old parchment. It immediately reminded Jude of Survivor's journal. The title was written in gold at the top.

Kryonomicon.

Jude nearly fainted when he read its title. He opened the book to a random page.
The page had a simple line drawing of a tower, reaching high into the sky, with three hyperbolic supports reaching down from about midway up the tower to the ground. Jude dropped the book on he ground, filled with shock.

And then he heard it. At least three voices were speaking at the bottom of the stairs. They were speaking another tongue and not the common tongue of the land. The voices grew louder, though Jude heard no footsteps as he would have expected. He looked back down the hallway.

Three beings were there, each brandishing full-size kryon rifles. The beings had many tentacles coming from a small body. Jude grabbed at his gun. He swung it forward, then moved to turn up the power.

He had grabbed the wrong gun, however, and the power switch was not where he had been expecting it to be. One of the beings - presumably kryons - pulled the trigger of its weapon. Jude dove to the side, and just in time as an explosion burned the chest. Fortunately, Jude had already moved the Kryonomicon to the side.

He looked at his gun. It was Survivor's. He turned the power to full, and jumped out in front of the kryons. He pulled the trigger. A massive double explosion of heat and light shot out from the end of the hallway. Alien screams came from the end of the hallway. When the dust settled, all three were lying there, their bodies burning.

Jude suddenly realized that he had cut off the one exit from the building. He looked around, and then realized that the fire was slowly spreading down the hallway to the room where he now was.

He looked around, and realized the one and only way out. Picking up the Kryonomicon, he moved to the window and smashed it in. He gathered up his inner strength, and jumped out.

He landed hard on the ground and fell on his face. He crawled away from the building, which in no time was fully engulfed in flames. He slowly stood up, and then looked down at the Kryonomicon.

It was exactly as he had seen in his dream. He opened it up, curious as to what it said. He growled in anger as he opened the first page.

The book was written entirely in aurora-script.