#living_machine

Tintin and King Ottokar's Sceptre(c)Herge

Had loads of fun doing these! gonna plan some more stuff out for some larger landscape pieces some time later

Benjamin Kusuma Atmaka and drawing©bee2001-738

The feeling of fire on his fur was the first sign that something had gone amiss. The painful burning along the right side of his body, tinged with the smell of burning fur is what slowly brought him back to consciousness.  His eyelids slowly fluttered open, a groan escaping from his muzzle. He softly coughed again, paw slowly rising up to his face, feeling along the rim of the now shattered and half melted glasses that clung to the top of his muzzle. Another cough escaped from his sore lips as he slowly rolled onto his left side, a groan coming from them as he hissed, the sudden bright lights that assaulted his vision hurting. Flames licked at the building in front of him. His vision blurred on the debris that surrounded him, pockets of wood and twisted metal surrounding him as the crackle of the growing fire grew louder.    His tattered uniform offered no protection on the growing heat and cold, the mixture of heat from the fire and the nipping cold on his burned and blistered exposed skin.  The dog gingerly removed the glasses off his face, hissing as the pulled on the fur from where they were stuck, sticking them gingerly into a pocket as he continued to watch the growing fire, taking in deep yet shallow breaths. He gave a grunt, gently pushing up on the ground, his tattered clothes flapping softly in the growing breeze as he slowly rose up on two shaky legs, more hissing come from the steadily growing pain. “Mother fucker” the dog hissed softly, his uninjured arm draping over his midsection as he tried to keep taking in lungfuls of air, each breath feeling like pins and needles now. His eyes looked over the dark orange glow of the growing fire, the dark smoke drifting off into the deep dark night sky. Its crackle and pops growing as more was added to the growing hunger, the building groaning and sagging each minute as he continued to stare. A popping noise drew his eyes from the flames, blue eyes drawing over to the buildings beyond his location, drawing to the growing smoke clouds in the city beyond him. More and more fires could be seen growing, screaming and yelling filled the air, gunshots and explosions raging as he took another deep breath. Wide eyes watched the growing chaos before another round of pain and burning sensations took hold, diverting his attention again as he growled. “God damnit” he grunted, wincing at the pain in his lungs, “Like World War Z in this shit hole” he growled as he took his first step. A dull throb was his reward, thankfully not the pain of anything broken; He was thankful for that at least. He continued those few steps, grumbling as he did so as he fought of the sleepy feeling that grew behind his eyes, away from the warmth of the fire and deeper into the cold winter air around him.    He trudged on deeper and deeper through the complex of buildings and parking lots, devoid of life at this time on a Sunday, trying to make his way towards salvation seeing as the buildings beyond the port where currently in a warzone with someone who the dog didn't have any clue, but one he didn't really want to find out. He gave another hiss as his right side throbbed, not liking the cold air on burnt exposed skin, but still he trudged on, deeper and deeper into the port complex.    With a grunt, His tired body slid against a wall, the dog landing with a hiss on his half burned tail, taking a deep breath as he slowly took off his tattered jacket, the burnt article of clothing offering little in the way of protection at this point. He slowly wrapped it around his worse burns over his arm, hissing at the sloshyness of his skin, tightening it as much as he felt safe before softly sighing.  His ears softly swiveled upwards as another explosion, much closer to him went off. His eyes slowly tracked upwards, a column of fire and smoke following a summersalting boiler as it arched through the air, coming down with the crash of metal on metal as it went through the roof of some poor building on the port front.    “Son of a bitch” whispered the dog softly as another explosion rocketed the port, than another, than another as fail safes failed, boilers and over pressurized tanks going up like fireworks on the fourth of july. The building he rested against shook and vibrated every explosion. He decided at that time it was probably best he didn't stay here anymore, even if his weakened body thought otherwise. He slowly rose onto his paws once more, grunting and hissing with the movement of sore muscles and cooked flesh as he staggered against the building.    With a stagger, he grasped the buildings vinyl siding, hissing as his body tried to once again collapse again. He had to push through, find somewhere safe. He staggered forwards more, gripping and grabbing at the wall till he could get a rhythm, pushing gently against it as he began to drag his right leg, the muscles having decided that working wasn't an option at that moment. He continued forward, his breathing more and more haggard as he gasped, a cough coming from his throat as he staggered against a building till the fit was over.    Once he was sure it was over for the time being, he pushed forward again, hissing and growling along the way as his body softly began to shiver. The cold was definitely getting to him, and he needed shelter, hopefully in a place that wasn't a ticking time bomb. His undamaged left paw grabbed at a door handle, thankfully that with a squeal of old hinges it opened. Lights flickered on, the obnoxious hum of fluorescent lights coming on, illuminating an empty garage. With a shiver, he shut the door behind him, letting it softly latch as he trudged deeper into the garage, growling as he took his broken hurt body in search of the offices here.    He was thankfully it didn't take him long to find that, even with him being as blind as he was at the moment. His hand grabbed at the first aid kit on the wall, flipping its lid down as he rummaged through it, hissing as another wave of hot burning pain blazed up and down his right side. No gauzes, but at least he had some ointments and hydrogen peroxide here to use.He didn't bother measuring what he needed, dumping the liquid over the visible burns along his sides and legs. That earned a particularly loud howl of pain from him, the skin bubbling and fizzing from the contact, his teeth gritting through the horridious pain that joined in his agony.    He repeated the step  on his arm, dumping the liquid down under the jacket he had turned into a bandage. That proved to be the most painful, he could feel the skin moving under it as it tried to slosh of his arm. It proved too much, the howling pain, he didn't remember much. Gripping the table, the dots in his eyes, than nothing.    The feeling of flesh sloshing and the pain it brought snapped the dog back as he rose with a gasp, groaning at the pain his potential fuck up had brought. He could only weakly tie the knot further to stop it from getting any worse as he pushed the first aid supplies of the table, letting them scatter and roll along the floor as he leaned back and gave a weak sigh.    “Well fuck me upwards ah guess” he mumbered softly to himself, his blue eyes trailing upwards to the clock that slowly ticked above him. Tick tock it went, the hands barely moving as he stared, letting the buzz of the lights and the ticking of the clock wash over him as he grunted. His ears swiveled as he heard a new noise come into play, the angry cry of voices… clearly unhappy voices if he could hear correctly.    “Mah luck” he grunted as he slowly got up to try and investigate, the jerkiness of his movements not helping as he had to physically drag a leg that had decided that working at all was not in the books now. He cursed softly as his foot bumped up against something, the object rolling slowly away from him as his eyes darted downwards.    A pipe. Could be useful.    With effort that made him feel 40 years older, his paw managed to wrap around the older looking piper, happy in the knowledge is wasn't hefty; he at least could defend himself now, even if it was gonna be a poor attempt at that. He continued his trek towards the voices, to the wall where it was coming from behind. He turned and leaned against the wall,  a bad idea in hindsight as his weak leg immediately gave out, the dog whimpering as he painfully slid against it, but at least he could hear the voices clearly. “I dont care what you say, You can take your asses and get the hell off my docks” growled a voice, female if the dog could tell, his ears standing up the best they could from the pain. “And I’m telling you again, We need to make sure this port is at least secure. We don’t need any-” sounded another voice, scruff and clearly male, and clearly someone who would not like knowing the dog was here. “Even if god himself came down wanting this dock, I would tell him to get the fuck out of here as well. This is my dock, my rules. The city is in chaos and yet here you are, bullshiting me and my friend with your garbage talk. How about you get your ass back into the fight, and leave me and my associate alone. I’m sure such a large ass like you wouldnt have any issues with any armed forces in the city, now would you?” the female sound, a loud huff coming from her.    “Fine than, have it your way. But if we find out trouble is brewing here, you won’t be able to stop us from clearing and securing every building in this port” growled the male. The dogs ears perked up at the sound of engines revving and pulling away; weird, he hadn’t even heard them get into their vehicles.    “God damn lard asses” said the females, huffing as the engines died off. It was at that moment, that all the pain and misery the dog had faced over the night decided to come into full rebound. He gave a soft groan as his arm and sides really decided to enter searing pain territory,  as the throbbing grew much much worse. Pain he didn't even know he ad flared up, his face feeling like he had dunked it in a pot of boiling water that just grew hotter and hotter.     He whimpered as he fell onto his side, stupidly it seemed like later on, as  the burning of his body came into contact with the concrete flooring under him. The cool concrete could do nothing to help him there as he continued to lay there holding onto the pipe. He needed help, he could feel it, his body was burning up, and he wasn't gonna just walk this off.     With what few ounces of strength he had left in his bones, he banged the pipe off the metal wall. CLANG, again he struck, CLANG, cycle after cycle of hitting the walls. He hoped the voice could hear them, if not, this musty garage was going to be his tomb.    “Hello? Is anyone in their?” called out the female's voice, now closer to the building, and to the clanging. The dog could feel his mouth drying, his throat felt like a hot oven, his breathing becoming more labored over time as he just really wanted to sleep it felt like.    “Help me, please” he said, barely at normal speaking volume as he felt his eyes growing heavier with each passing second. The sound of a garage door squeaking opening sounded through the garage, his labor breathing the only sound the door was hearing as the sound of a vehicle pulling ahead could be heard. An older looking SUburban, white and blue, Port Security etched along the side gingerly rolled inside, the dog not getting a good look at the driver as it ventured ahead of him.    “Help me…. Please.. Help me” he said, his voice now basically a whisper as the edges of his vision became more and more black, the color draining from his vision. The vehicle stopped, gingerly turning towards him. His saw the flash of yellow wash over him, blinding him as he managed to get out one final word. “Help” he whispered as his brain finally couldn't take the pain, his eyes shutting down from overload, not being able to take the flash of one last bit of color.    At least if he died, he had been found he thought before his brain joined his eyes, snapping him fully in darkness.