Wasp

Chapter two: Long road ahead

James continued to walk along the singular road that was an exit from the city. He didn't know where he was going or where he wanted to go, he knew he just wanted to get out of the city. James felt like he was running away from his problems and running away from his sister but he didn't want to admit it as his ocean blue eyes welled up with tears once again.

The bag on James's back became to become heavier everytime he took a step and the cold metal of the sniper rifle bashed against his back constantly. He knew he had to keep going but his body was growing weary, he couldn't take it anymore. James sighed and moved over to the side of the road.

He flumpped over onto a fallen tree and pushed the leather hat over his eyes. The wind made a howling sound which echoed through the trees that were surrounding the road, it was almost soothing a sense of peacefulness in this world full of anger. James looked up, a flock of what looked to be starlings swirled round the top of the forest in a pack, there must have been hundreds, maybe even close to a thousand swirling and chirping and flapping their tiny wings. James smiled, it was the first time he smiled since Jane had died, Jane......

James smile faded as he remembered her. Jane's happy smile, her beaming face, even when she was sick she was still smiling, James diddn't know until now that she was doing it all for him. She wanted him to be happy, She wanted him to go on without her and not be pulled down by her death, she knew James, sometimes better than he knew himself and she was always right.

James sighed and closed his eyes trying to imagine times before. The starlings passed as he started to fall into a sleep. The rain slowly stopped and the pitter patter of water on the ground beside him was no more. The air was cold and yet, not freezing, not yet anyway, wait till October and the northern winds would be blowing in and chilling everything it touched.

Many hours later James awoke, startled by the noise of a herd of cows
...or at least what looked like cows barreling over the road. He crouched into the fallen tree hoping not to be trampled and waited for the beasts to pass. A few minutes passed and finally the rumbling of hooves against the muddy ground came to a stop. James stood up and yawned, his breath making plumes of steam in the air which eventually floated up and dispersed into the cold sky.

James looked down at the mechanical watch, half past 6, it showed on the hands. It had belong to his father, one of the few who survived during the great war, one of the few who managed to get to a bunker, and a good one at that. Most of the bunkers were made for some sort of sick social experiment such as; leaving holes for the radiation to crawl in which in consequence turned all the inhabitants to ghouls, or forcing rich families to live in the worst situations. Fortunately, James dad lived in a vault that's perpous was to test the effectiveness of cryogenic freezers and lucky for James, they were effective and him and his sister were born.

James got up and stretched his back then carried on walking along the broken road. He had to find safety before dark otherwise...well, he didn't want to think of the otherwise.