Walkers Of The Waste: A Post Apocalyptic Story

Russell

"I remember the first time man stepped on the moon, almost three hundred years ago now. And here we have some stupid idiots flinging themselves at it, in hopes they'll reach a base that most certainly won't be there. I mean come on, if the old government was still there, do you not think we would of heard from them by now?" I tilt my head to the side, what was this man, thing, talking about? "Russell." He says offering his hand, I look at it, his skin so tight that the bones are easily visible. I flick my eyes between the hand and his face. "No? Okay then. So, who's your friend?" He asks looking past me and at Lucy. I just continue to stare at him, but I shift my foot back to kick Lucy slightly, causing her to stir.

"Phil, five more minutes." She groans out, and I roll my eyes kicking her again. "Fine, I'm up. I'm up." She gets up from off the ground and rubs her eyes. She doesn't seem to notice the man, Russell, standing there for a few moments. When she does, finally, she lets out a small squeak and jumps behind me.

"Hi." Russell says cheerfully, waving his hand at her, cautiously Lucy moves from behind me to my side.

"Hi?" Lucy says back, before whispering in my ear. "What? Who? What?" She emphasises the second what more.

"Sorry, introductions. My name is Russell, I came across your camp a few hours ago and have been watching. Quite a guy you've got yourself there by the way." The man states, I glare at him and he chuckles. "Don't worry, there was no way you could of figured out I was there anyway."

"Well, I'm Lucy, and this is Phil." Lucy tell him, pointing between her and I. "Small question, if we didn't know you were there, then why make yourself know. Phil could of killed you."

"But he didn't." Russell states, I'm still tempted to shoot him. "And you missed it, the first time in centuries someone managed to make it past the atmosphere, and you were asleep."

"Pardon?" The man sits down on the ground and Lucy does the same. Sighing I start a fire, so we have some light. As the light begins to flood the area I'm able to see the man more clearly, there are burn marks up the right side of his neck. His gold eyes become more prominent in the flickering orange light.

"Never mind that. Your friend is sick." What? "Can you not see his eyes?" My eyes, he noticed the hints of gold.

"What about his eyes?" Lucy asks, does she really not know? "They seem fine to me."

"They're turn gold." He states, I pull my sword out of the scabbard and look at myself in the shined metal. Sure enough my eyes have taken a more gold look, no longer are there only small flecks but most of the iris have now changed colour. "Quite a bit, if I do say so myself."

"What does that mean?" Lucy's concerned voice questions. I roll my eyes, it means nothing, just that I'll have a shorter life than most, even by todays standards.

"He's dying." Russell states, and I nod my head. I'd meet at least a dozen people in Havenstone who's eyes turned gold, none of them lived longer than a cycle after the first flecks became visible.

"But your eyes are gold and you're not dead." Lucy points out, and I hear Russell sigh, I'm too busy looking at my own reflection to look at him. Or her for that matter. Scabbed over cuts and scars littering my face, my hair starting to get annoyingly long.

"Yes, but this happened to me very quickly, and during the war, there was more radiation around." Russell's statement jolts me out of my thoughts. What did he say? There hasn't been a war since the last war.

"What do you mean during the war?" Lucy seems to ask my question for me, I stare at the man with intent, not wanting to miss a word of his answer.

"I was a soldier in the last war, I was in a city called Paris, over the seas in Europe. The Germans, the Russians, and the rest of their allies, had been forced out of France, and we were celebrating, we'd be able to go back home to our families. Then the Russians started dropping nukes on us. I managed to get to safety, and wasn't killed by the blasts. Unfortunately the area was flooded with radiation, in minutes I felt my skin start to burn, I managed to make my way out of the city and to an out post. There I was treated for the radiation and burns, but already it was too late. I was sent back to the States, they thought I was okay, a lucky survivor. Then the Germans and Russians allegiance shattered and nukes went flying in all directions. The States, being allies of the British, responded when the United Kingdom was obliterated. That lead to the bombing of the States. Leading to this mutated hellscape you live in today. I managed to find a aircraft carrier that still worked and have been sailing it around the world, hoping to find a place where the bombs hadn't caused destruction. Half of Europe was so damaged that it had sunken into the sea. Africa is covered in mutated creatures. Asia is gone, most of the countries declared war on each other. Australia is about the same, although from what I could find there weren't many survivors. Most of the Pacific Islands are underwater, New Zealand being the only one to be slightly above the water. Antarctica is nothing more than a barren waste, all of the ice melting in the heat caused by the giant tear in the ozone. South America is been covered in mutated trees and other things. And North America, as you know, is nothing more of a desert now. I spent a century trying to find a way to contact the moon base, but nothing seemed to work, most electrical systems were fried by EMPs during the war, and the rest weren't strong enough to reach. I've met many survivors in my time. I documented a large number of creatures that now inhabit the earth. Fought a mutated giant squid. Killed a Sandworm. Started a small war between two rivalling new governments in Russia. Assassinated the 'King of the Forests' in South America. And recently I've been walking the wastes trying to find company." His story, it sounds like it should be fake, but the way his eyes go darker, the way his breath seems to slow. Like he's sad, that he regrets not dying. He's not lying, but it sounds like he is. I open my mouth to ask a question, but Lucy talks first.

"Why do you need company?" She asks, the man looks at her with an amused look on his face, I look at her in shock. Of all the questions she could ask.

"I just told you my life story and you ask that." He says with the roll of his eyes, I glare at him, and then her. "No, no, it's fine. Have you ever spent two hundred years alone? No, well I have, and let me tell you, it's boring as hell."

"Why not die?" I ask, Russell looks at me and starts to chuckle. I didn't say anything funny, why is he laughing?

"I've been shot enough to know that it's gonna take a lot to kill me. And why die when there is a whole new world to discover?"

"But, you've been alone all this time, how have you not seen all there is in the world yet?" Lucy asks and Russell smiles at her.

"That my dear young lady, is the question. There are many places that I haven't been able to get to, given that I had no one to look after my boat. And it's dangerous to go alone." He tells her.

"Do you still have your boat?"

"Indeed I do, it's docked on a small island just of the coast, about perhaps ninety miles east of here."

"Would you take us with you?" She asks, I stare at her, this man could be trying to get us to some imaginary place so that he can kill us and she wants us to go with him. Yes I'm curious about the possibility of exploring the world, but I don't want to die because I trusted someone random. 'I trusted Lucy, and she's fine.' A voice in my head tells me. That's different though, isn't it?

"Depends, how good are you with weaponry?"

"Phil's great, I'm not that great, but I'm a fast learner."

"Let's head east then."