Walkers Of The Waste: A Post Apocalyptic Story

Lucy

The sun beats down harshly from it's position in high sky. Passing by yet another fallen structure, I halt momentarily in the small shade that it provides. I drop my shotgun to let is swing down next to my side, the strap keeping it from falling to the ground. Surrounding me is the remnants of a once mighty city, beaten down by time and war. Cautiously I move past a small cave like structure, pausing at the sound of scraping, keeping my eye out for any movement. Nearing the edge of the city I notice a small object sparkling in sunlight, nestled under sand. After taking a quick look to my surroundings I bend down and scoop up the small item. A hand sized rectangular, thing, made of some kind of plastic and glass. A piece of old tech. I put it in my bag, you never know what can fetch a high price with a merchant, if I find one that is. I continue to make my way through the rubble, always on alert. There's no telling who, or what, inhabit these ruins. Gun fire sounds of in the distance, a fair way from me, but still close enough to have me bolting in the opposite direction. It doesn't take long to find my way out of the desolate city, re-entering the dusty terrain.

After hours of walking, the sky becomes too dark for me to carry on. In the light of the broken moon, I find a small sheltered off area, probably the remnants of a house. I let my duffle fall to the floor and remove the weapons from my body, placing them next to and on the bag. I sit down next to it, resting my back against a broken wall. My tiredness claims me soon enough, pulling me down into a dreamless half sleep. When I open my eyes again sun light has started to stream through a small crack in the front wall, gathering up my belongings I make my way out. I turn back to see that shelter is a half buried house, sand piling up over time to cause it to be etched into a dune. It's tempting to stay, but I quickly decide against it, too far away from any water source. Thinking of water I grab my canteen and take a sip, I can hear the small amount of water sloshing against its metal container, meaning I'll need to find a non-radiated source and soon.

I let out a huff as I once again make my way out into the desert. There's no sign of life, except for a few Glowbugs, the child sized bugs easy to kill, but nothing salvageable on them. I come across a few tunnels, probably dug by the giant Sandworms that inhabit the area, rumour had it they were going extinct. Which would be good, given they're known to burrow under their prey and then tunnel up, devouring who, or what, ever was unlucky enough to be stalked. No one survived a Sandworm attack, their giant fangs and almost impenetrable skin, the only way to kill one if from the inside, that is, if you weren't ripped apart first. Cautiously making my way around the tunnels, I hurry away. They seem fresh, so no need to worry about the one that made these, they only feed once a moon, and these can't be more than a day old. But I know it's still safe to get as far away from one as possible.

A few more hours of trekking later, I spot a figure approaching in the distance, I pull my bow off my shoulder and nock an arrow. Bullets are hard to come by, and these arrows still have the poisonous Glowbug blood on the tips. One hit from one and the recipient will be dead in under a minute, the blood dissolving the victim from the inside out. The figure moves closer and I'm able to get a better look at them, or her. The figure appears to be no older than I. I keep my bow raised as she comes even closer.

"I mean you no harm." I hear the girl yell out, I keep my weapon ready, but soon notice that she does not have any visible weapons herself. Finally she stops a few feet in front of me. "If you truly wanted to kill me, you would of done so already." I lower my bow with a shrug of my shoulders and a roll of my eyes, keeping the arrow notched in place. She visibly relaxes. I give her a once over, she's dressed in a tattered brown over shirt and long torn grey pants. A small backpack slung over her shoulder and a canteen hanging around her neck. Her shoulder length red hair isn't tied up, flowing around her head. Her blue eyes show no hint of gold. "My name's Lucy." She tells me extending her hand forward, I just stare at her and her hand. She awkwardly moves her hand into a fist and drops it to her side. "Do you talk?" She asks, I roll my eyes, and nod my head. I only talk when I have to, and with this girl I may have to soon. She looks at me with confused eyes. "What's your name?" I never really had a name that stuck, the people of Havenstone only called me rookie, or newbie. Before that I wasn't in contact with people long enough for a single name to stay in place

"Don't have one." I tell her bluntly, my voice deep and hoarse, she seems taken aback by the revelation.

"Then what do people call you? Someone must of called you something at some point." I shake my head, the names I had been called were never used for long, and I can't be bothered choosing one for myself. She just looks at me shocked. "How about I give you one?" I nod. "Drew?" I shake my head no, she pauses and thinks again. "Adam? Mitchell? Solomon? Gavin?" I shake my head to all of those. "Phil?" I like that one, I nod. "Phil it is then. So Phil, where ya from?"

"Havenstone. Gone now." I tell her, she gives me an apologetic look.

"The Crucibles?" She asks and I nod. "Did you have family? Anyone?" I shake my head, again she looks shocked, like someone can't live without a family. "Not even any friends?" Again I tell her no. There were people yes, but I wasn't close to any of them. "Why don't you talk?" I consider ignoring the question, but decide against it.

"No reason to." I tell her, I try to step around her but she grabs my arm.

"Don't go that way, a Crucible group have set up an outpost that way." She tells me, I sigh, before turning around to go back the way I came, I could probably make it to that house I found before sun down. "Where are you going?"

"Shelter."

"Can I come with?" I stare at her, she just met me and she's already prepared to travel with me. I shrug my shoulders, why not. I nod, and a smile appears on her lips. "Thank you." We begin the trek back to the house. With the two of us, it takes slightly longer to get there than planned, but we make it, shortly after sundown. The trip there was filled with questions and stories from her, and silence from me. We settle down in the back room of the house, I prop myself up next to the door, she takes the back wall.

"Sleep, I'll take watch." I tell her, she nods her head and close her eyes, drifting off to sleep soon after. A question still plagues my mind. Why does she seem to trust me so easily? I shake my head, trying to dispel the thought.