COMPLETE! The Wasteland. A woman screams in the night. Spotlights flash on a pile of dust in the desolate patch of land that lay just beyond the tall crosses that picket the boundary of Encampment R-34. A group of curious students leave their bunkho...
MELL'S NOTES BOOK November 5, 2245 Entry #12 - Handwritten
We have made it back, but I wouldn't say we made it back safely. There is no simple way to begin this.
I was not expecting to be so...or the trip to be so chaotic. We went much further than we had planned. We decided earlier that this was the chance for us to get comfortable with the wasteland and being out beyond the crosses. But we just kept going. And then, we got turned around. What we hadn't been expecting, and something that Rufus had failed to mention, was that Scavers primarily travel during the day. As I think I've written before, the infected move at night. Daytime travel would have been better for us. It was hard enough reading the map by moonlight. Navigating it was something else entirely.
It didn't take long for us to get out of the valley. Oscar had the Watchmen tower assignments memorized, so we knew the best direction in which to leave the valley. Reaching the top of the hill and looking down on Encampment R-34, each of us paused to take it in. Bryne and I had seen the Encampment from a distance, and Oscar had witnessed the valley from the watchtowers. We three understood just how small it was within the land that surrounds us, but only Roof appreciated how small we truly were in comparison.
Of course, we were almost always protected by fencing. To be out above the valley, standing in ankle high grass, we all felt much smaller than we ever had. Even Roz, who generally had a quip for every situation, was at a loss for words.
"We should keep moving," Oscar said, shouldering his rifle and ever watchful of the towers. "They'll monitor the hilltops. It's dark, but our skin reflects the moonlight."
Rufus folded his map to the quadrant where we were standing and pointed us toward the rock formations in the distance. "We need to head in that direction for at least three clicks."
"How far is a click?" Lane asked, as I scanned the map.
"Not sure," Roof answered, "but it's represented by the tick marks here, along the edge of the paper."
We stayed close during the walk. Felicity was nervous. Rufus and Bryne seemed the most confident. Crevan was silent, most likely because he had more words for Edie who had been left behind. Most of what we experienced tonight, until things escalated and he came to our aid, I'll get to him soon, was peaceful. We heard the chirping of the night creatures. We felt the chilled wind on our faces. We studied the landscape of darkness that could have swallowed us if we were as frightened as we should have been.
I suppose it was easier for Bryne and I since we had left the boundary so many times. Felicity wanted to turn back, at least twice during that first hour. She only told me, and I kept her safe by holding her hand for more than half of the journey.
The path we were on dipped into a valley that was filled with rubble, far more haphazardly placed than the ruins of R-13. Rufus was confused the moment we reached the valley and opened the map completely.
"This is new. I think we're in the wrong area."
Behind us, we heard Roz yelping in pain as she tripped on a hunk of metal and fell to the stony ground, bruising her knees. We rushed to her aid, but Roz is not one to show pain. She brushed herself off and stood, as if it never happened.
"Let me see your maps," Bryne said, taking them from Rufus. "We took the trail here, between the rocks. We have to be over here," he said unfolding the section. "These tick marks are a lot closer than we realized."
"That, or we've been out here a long time," Oscar stated, looking at the moon for some reason. It made me think that he was capable of interpreting its position in the sky.
"Roof, I'm going to lead us for a stretch."
"Go ahead, I'm too nervous to focus, here."
"We need to go back," Felicity said, loud enough for the rest of them to hear. "I'm not liking this place."
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see shapes defined in the rubble. Strips of openness that spoke of walkways from another time. One structure, much further down, towered over them all, higher than the valley ridge. Just as I was about to suggest we climb to the top and look for the tall cross on the map that Rufus indicated to be the location of the books, Bryne spotted the cross to our left. We were almost there.
We left the valley the way we came, which may have saved our lives. The group moved faster after that, each of us growing eager to return to the safety of the encampment. There was a strange noise coming from the distance, a high pitched an eerie animal sound. It was strange enough that Oscar took the safety off on his rifle and aimed in that direction. We waited until he said it was safe to move on. But he never lowered the weapon.
"Look, there. You see it?" Rufus called from the front of the pack, pointing out to the darkness. Bryne and I followed his gesture to see a small carriage in the distance, with tall animals leashed to its body.
"That's it. We've made it."
"We should be more careful now. The woman who attacked us could be anywhere."
"Or nowhere."
"You're stronger now, with me," Luther Priest said with a smile. That was the last purely joyful moment we had tonight. Possibly forever.
"Maybe you scared her off when —"
Oscar was only able to fire off three shots before screaming out behind us. We twirled to find him rolling on the ground with a creature, what we thought was a creature. We raised what weapons we had as Luther searched his billowing robe for the cross he had brought with him.
"Oscar!"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
