End of Women: Part Six

Relics

Fourteen miles outside of Colton City, in the flatlands surrounded by snow-capped mountains, a bus drove alone across fresh black asphalt, carrying only two passengers. Jay and Lee had chosen to sit at the back of the bus, the better to avoid any real conversation with the driver. 

"It can't be much further." Jay spoke aloud to himself, nestling his feet up on the large azure blue gym sack he had borrowed from his Dad's wardrobe. Lee's eyes fell on the bag, and as they did, the bag seemed to move of its own accord. Jay thumped the heel of his shoe into the bag; there was a muffled squeal, and it went still. Lee sighed.

"I still don't get why you have to bring her with us."

Lee folded his arms and leant back in his seat. Jay rolled his eyes at the question, feeling he had answered it enough times already. 

"Its better to have one with us when the trail goes cold. She might know something."

"If she knew anything, she would have told us by now." Lee replied.

Jay made to disagree, but just then the bus came to an abrupt halt, the doors opened with a smooth hiss, and the driver called down to them.

"End of the line, boys!" 

Jay hoisted the sack onto his back and groaned a little at the weight. He followed Lee up between the seats, thanked the driver, and got off onto the new road quickly before the man could ask what was in the bag.

As the bus drove off, and the sounds of Metallica faded with it, Lee began scoping out the area.

"Really not much left." He tutted.

The stop they had come to was not really a stop at all. Not any more, at least. Shoots of fresh grass had begun to grow along the pale stretch of earth where once the road had been. The ghostly impression of the old Colton Compound Highway led them up a shallow incline, into a forest of saplings and right up to the rubble and ruin of what had been the largest control compound in the state.

Bits of brick, rocky rubble, shattered concrete, pieces of glass and fabric and piles upon piles of twisted, rusting cage mesh. Half of a copper-coloured incineration chamber housing, lying on its side, sinking into the soil. Rain and wind-weathered monitors falling into pieces. The detritus covered a three-square-mile area, and though Jay knew that much of it must have already been cleared away, there was so much material in a major compound that several more projects would have to be undertaken to really make it seem as if there had never been anything here at all.

Jay dropped the blue sack on the ground - "ow!" - and turned to Lee.

"I guess this is as good a time as any to try it." He shrugged. 

Lee seethed, and turned his head all around to check for anyone who might be looking. Jay crouched down and opened up the drawstring at the head of the bag, then placed a hand under each of the girl's arms and pulled her out.

"Ughhh!" She shook her head, spluttering as if she had just been pulled out of a slimy bog. "It stinks in there! I could hardly-"

Her words cut out due to the impact of Lee's fist beneath her ribcage, which shot all the wind out of her mouth. As Jay busied himself fixing a leash and collar to her neck, the girl wheezed and coughed, hunched over on her knees.

"Alright." Lee said when she finally gathered herself. He stood next to her as she held herself on her knees, gazing around at the wreckage. "First question. Is this your old compound?"

The girl squinted and shuddered. "We were never supposed to come here... we always kept away from this place..."

"Guess that's a yes." Jay looked at Lee, who nodded, and went on.