The Charred Lands: City of Ash

by Josh A. Murphy

  “Look, it’s over. You need fucking medical help; you need to get the fuck out of here. Just put the gun down and go home!” I pleaded, for all the good it would do. This bitch was determined; nothing would stop her from bringing these two back.

  Though I had a clear shot at her, at near point blank range, I couldn’t bring myself to squeeze the trigger. Already today, I had seemingly killed my first human. I fired countless bullets in his direction, I could only assume enough had hit him to put an end to his life – but that was different. All I could make out then was a shadowy figure in the smoke – I didn’t have to watch the bullet hit home and cause unthinkable, gory damage. This was different to me. I had my finger on the trigger, but despite how much I urged myself to pull it, I simply didn’t have the strength.

  “Look kid, I appreciate your bravery, I really do. But just turn around and fuck off – you don’t need to die for these people. They’re nothing, they’re worthless!” She said, never looking at me. Instead, her one still functioning eye remained locked on the pair. Even though I had a gun aimed right at her, she managed to act as though I wasn’t even there, like I wasn’t a threat. But truth be told, she was right. I could just walk away and leave this whole mess behind me – Wayne openly admitted that he wouldn’t think twice about leaving me to die, so why should I risk my life for him? Then the answer became clear to me – I was afraid. I was afraid of being alone again; I needed these two.

  “You’ll have to kill me, too.” I said, standing firm.

  With a grin, she turned to me and laughed “So be it, I won’t lose any sleep over you.”

  That’s when I heard something. At first I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, but they slowly became louder, and louder. The sound of the Volcveetle’s clicks approached, somewhere to the left of me.

  I couldn’t risk taking my eyes off the woman, even for a second – this would allow her to get the drop on me. So as hard as it was to ignore the sounds, I remained fixed on her. Never for one second did I let either my eyes, or my aim slip.

  The sounds of clicking grew closer as each second passed, until I could hear the creature scurrying over the broken glass of the motorway – I didn’t know where it was, but it was near. Suddenly, the sounds abruptly stopped and the motorway fell into silence, until the air was filled with the most horrible, inhuman, high pitched screech imaginable. The sound came a few meters from my left. Only then did I dare look away from the woman. Stood just besides an old, rusty car shell, stood the Volcveetle, its tail high in the air. From seemingly nowhere, a liquid, the colour of fire, shot from the creature’s stinger. I watched the orange, lava like substance fly through the air, straight towards the female marauder.

  She didn’t even have time to react. Almost the second the creature sprayed out its venom, it was upon her. Most of it missed, but a small amount managed to land itself right on her gun hand. Instantly she let out a gut wrenching shriek as steam began to rise from the sizzling flesh on her hand. She released her grip of the shotgun, dropping it to the floor as she clutched at her hand – the flesh on her fingers began to melt and slide off, revealing white bare bone.

  “Come on!” I screamed, grabbing Wayne and Azaria, I couldn’t stand to look at the sight for another moment longer. She might have been a tough woman, able to shrug off what the dragon had done to her, but surely this would put a stop to her reign of terror over Wayne and Azaria.

  Together we took off running down the motorway, with Manchester ahead of us, and the woman’s echoing screams behind.

  CHAPTER SIX

  We ran for a while, before falling into a jog, and then finally, a walk. We didn’t speak much for the next two or so hours– all of us had one single goal in mind, and that was putting as much of a distance between ourselves and that atrocious woman as possible. Her injuries were enough to put most people down, but something told me she was an exception. I didn’t see her die, so as far as I was concerned, she was alive, and she would be pursuing us. I didn’t plan on giving her another chance to catch us again. I wanted rid of her – if only I had the stomach to kill her myself. I’m sure if I handed the gun to either Wayne, or Azaria then they would have shot her down without a second thought. But for now, she was off our case. I prayed I wouldn’t live to regret not pulling the trigger.

  I didn’t have a clue what time it was. Out here time was generally irrelevant, but I longed for the sun. Still, I refused to waste the batteries in my flashlight, so we spent the entire time running down the motorway in nearly complete darkness. Just as always, the smoke clouds above blocked out any light from the moon, or the stars – but luckily, living my entire life in the Charred Lands had blessed me with a great ability to see in the dark, my eyes had long become accustomed to the sheer darkness of a typical Charred Lands night.

  “I need to rest.” Azaria eventually said. For a while I was beginning to suspect that neither of them would put the idea across – I was begging for one of them to. I didn’t want to be the one to hold them up again.

  “Right, we’ll slip off the motorway again.” Wayne said through gasps for breath, he too sounded exhausted.

  The three of us quickly made our way off the road, scanning behind us for any signs of the woman’s pursuit, or even the Volcveetle– luckily it seemed as though it had just been the three of us on the motorway. We were more concerned with the woman’s pursuit than the creatures, already it had been clear to me that the creature didn’t really possess any real speed. It’s short, stumpy legs made it impossible for it to run at any great speed.

  We found another small opening in the woods, just like the one where we had stopped previously. Wayne reluctantly suggested stopping for the night here. Though I didn’t have a sleeping bag of any kind, I managed to find a comfortable spot by a tree. I felt tired – but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t shut my mind off, I remained ever vigilant for sounds of any threats of the night.

  I lay there on my back, staring up at the sky for quite a while. My mind was abuzz with activity, once again I found my thoughts lingering on my family and loved ones, but as usual, I did my best to force this out of my mind. Instead, I tried to focus ahead, rather than on what’s behind me now. One of the hardest parts about living now was trying to sleep. No matter how exhausted I was, I could never drift off to sleep without finding myself in internal turmoil over my feelings towards my family. It was emotionally draining to ignore the lingering feelings of grief inside me, but I couldn’t afford to mourn, not yet. I prayed I could hold them back for long enough to allow myself to find somewhere I could safely unleash them.

  I tried to focus my mind on Wayne and Azaria too. They were an interesting pair. I could tell that Wayne would have died for her in a heartbeat, but for some reason I didn’t get the feeling that she would do the same for him. In a strange way, it was like she belonged to him. It sounded like he saw her in captivity, rescued her, and took her as his. It didn’t seem like either of the two really knew each other, they just seemed forced together by a combination of shit scenarios. Perhaps Wayne was using it as a way to overcome the loss he had encountered – replacing his family with a girl to protect definitely made sense, though ironically, it was almost the complete opposite to what I had done. I too had lost my family, yet unlike Wayne, I had decided to throw away the girl that I had come to care for.

  That was the first time Lizzie had really crossed my mind since I abandoned her in Warrington. I hated myself for what I had done, but I knew it was the best. I didn’t have the strength to carry around the little disabled girl with me, allowing her to accompany me on this journey would have only got us both killed. But it wasn’t the fact that I had left her behind that bothered me, it was how I did it. I didn’t even give her the respect of a goodbye – I just left. Now she had nothing. She did have Conrad, but he died for me – and then I fucked her off too, leaving her alone in that God forsaken town. At the time, I figured Lynette would look after her. After all, Lynette and Conr
ad had grown up in Warrington together, Lynette knew how much the man cared for Lizzie – but the more I thought about it, the more I began to doubt that theory. Lynette was a busy woman – she was the leader of the free people of Warrington – she was fighting a battle to keep the streets as safe as she possibly could. She didn’t have time to babysit a disabled girl.

  Part of me wondered if I would ever come to see Lizzie again. Assuming I even survived long enough to reach the Church of Fire, and decided to head to the Legion of Light, rather than staying there, then I would no doubt be passing back through Warrington. But I left it in a rough state – there was a war going on, and they had just lost a heavy battle. If the massacre on the motorway was anything to go off, then Warrington’s enemies were far smarter, stronger, and superior. Lynette sent myself and the rest of that small brigade of men to their deaths – if she continued doing that then Warrington would soon find themselves out of man power, and that meant defeat. I didn’t have much first-hand experience of Warrington’s enemies – Saviour of Man – but if the stories were true, then Lizzie didn’t stand a chance in that town.

  Eventually, after what felt like hours, I fell asleep, my conscience still haunting me over Lizzie.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Wake up.” I vaguely heard, above the sounds of the screams in my dreams. I felt a boot give me a slight prod on my left side, snapping me into consciousness. Wayne stood over me, looking a little annoyed. The sky above was orange, meaning it was day. I could distinctively remember my dreams, but somehow it felt as though I had only been asleep for no more than a few minutes. My entire body ached as I tried to sit up.

  “How’re you feeling?” Azaria asked, with a rare smile on her face.

  “Tired – achy too.” I laughed, forcing my weary body to its feet.

  It was a nice way to wake up, but the pleasantness was short lived as Wayne approached, “You’re going to have to get over it then. If we’re going to accompany you on your mission, then you can’t slow us down. The way I see it, we’re doing you a favour here, so try not to put us in any more danger then necessary by being slow about it, alright?” He snapped. All I could do was force myself to nod, already growing tired of his attitude. I found it ironic that he considered their companionship on my mission a ‘favour’, yet hadn’t thanked me once for liberating them from the marauders. I figured this was just Wayne’s personality, I’m sure that deep down he was thankful for what I did for him – but perhaps that’s just wishful thinking.

  I stared at Wayne for a few moments, trying to figure him out. I couldn’t blame him for being guarded of course, after everything he had been through. His face was typical of the Charred Lands, dirty, unshaven and rough. Like pretty much everyone else I had come across on my travels, his eyes seemed soulless, as though this world had long stripped away a part of him.

  After judging him so heavily, I couldn’t help but wonder how these people saw me. I knew I stuck out like a sore thumb around here. Of course, days and days of travelling had made my clothes dirty and torn, but even beyond my physical appearance, they must be able to sense a difference about my being, there was no way I was the same as the people out here – even I knew that. I didn’t feel as tough, or as mentally strong as the people I had encountered, I prayed they didn’t see this too, that would no doubt make me seem vulnerable, and thus, a target.

  “Give me a minute.” I finally said, letting out a stretch, it seemed as though almost every bone in my body cracked as I struggled to wake myself from my slumber. Sleeping rough wasn’t easy, but I guessed I could class last night as a good night’s sleep. I didn’t wake up screaming, not even once – so yes, it was a good night’s sleep.

  “Hurry up about it.” Wayne said, scanning our surroundings for any potential signs of danger. I couldn’t recall him letting his guard down for even a second since I first encountered him.

  “Did you sleep much last night?” I asked, to nobody in particular.

  “Nope. Not sure how you managed to conk out, not out here. The closer we are to the city, the more dangerous it becomes. It’s clear to me that you’ve got much to learn, and I’m no fucking teacher. Someone had to keep watch on us, and you didn’t seem eager to volunteer so I took it upon myself.” Wayne ranted, growing red in the face. Azaria on the other hand was too busy taking a leak by the treeline to reply. I caught a glimpse of her unzipping her pants, but quickly looked away and stared at the ground, awkwardly. Like Wayne, I felt myself going a little red in the face too, only for different reasons. I prayed she didn’t spot me looking.

  “Ready when you are.” I heard her call, luckily she didn’t sound annoyed or even creeped out, so I assumed she hadn’t caught my accidental glance at her private moment – and with that, we headed back onto the motorway.

  Just as I had hoped, we were the only people on the wreckage infested road. Despite the majority of the cars around us already being burnt out, it didn’t look as though the fire from last night had spread this way. Looking at these cars, I supposed they had been destroyed by ancient fires. The last standing marauder was nowhere to be seen. With a little luck, the Volcveetle would have made a meal out of her, but I had long abandoned the theory of luck.

  “So, when are you going to explain this mission of yours?” Azaria asked as we began to walk down the motorway, I found myself walking alongside her, whilst Wayne had stormed ahead a little; he was probably out of earshot so I assumed Azaria was simply trying to make small talk. At first I didn’t quite know what to say. Part of me, for whatever reason, didn’t feel like expressing the true reasons for my quest. I didn’t like the idea of advertising to the world that I had such valuable cargo on my back – but then again, these people were in it with me. If they were going to risk their lives passing through this forsaken city, then they deserved to know the reasons why.

  “I’ve got a dragon egg.” I simply said, deciding to wait for her reaction before I expanded.

  Her attention immediately fell to my backpack, and with wide eyes, she gasped, “What?”

  “We found a nest back at my home – this egg is the last of them. My dad told me to take it to a place called the Church of Fire, right before he died.”

  “Why?”

  “The Church of Fire is a small group of people that worship the dragons, as though they’re the second coming of Jesus and shit like that, or so I’ve heard. My dad said they would be willing to exchange it for something that would buy my way into the Legion of Light.” I explained.

  “I’ve heard about the Legion. Hell, I know where their base is, I think. A few years back I met a man who used to belong to them, until he was captured by Anarchy’s Children during a recon mission, and was forced into being a slave.” Azaria said. This came as a surprise to me. Finally, I had someone who had a little inside information on the place where I was so desperate to live. Come to think of it, I didn’t know anything about it; only that it claimed to offer safety to a very select few.

  “What’s it like?” I asked, desperate to paint a picture of what the place might be. After all, I pinned every single hope I had on spending the rest of my life there. Ever since I left Haven, I hadn’t come across a single place that I would have considered safe. As far as I could tell, Legion of Light seemed to be the only true safe place left in all the land. Should this place turn out to be a false hope, then I didn’t know what my next move would be.

  “He said it was a nice place. It’s run by a kind, generous man who looks after his own. The rumours about them refusing entry to people, and letting them die on their doors, are true – but this is only so that they can sustain themselves and produce enough food to allow the people of the Legion to live comfortable lives. It’s harsh, but necessary, I guess.” She explained, giving me a little more insight into the place, but still I craved more information.

  “Do they still let people in, like… for a price?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to speak to him much. After being there
a week he tried to escape and was shot dead.” She sighed, and with that, the conversation fell dead. It was nice to have a little chat with Azaria. Despite her background, she seemed cool enough. She was friendly, and polite, unlike her apparent boyfriend, Wayne. This was probably the first real conversation I had had with her, I couldn’t help but wonder if that had anything to do with the fact Wayne wasn’t around.

  For another hour we continued on in silence, with the city of Manchester coming into view ahead of us. A little while after I finished talking to Azaria, she picked up her speed and caught up with Wayne to fill him in on my story, soon after he offered to carry the backpack to give me a little rest. Though I was a little hesitant to hand it over to him, my shoulders were sore and bruised, and a chance to go some time without having to lumber the thing around was welcomed. Carrying that thing around reminded me of Conrad, and how he used to carry the disabled Lizzie on his back all the time; of course, she was easily three times as heavy as the backpack and the egg, so I couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard it was for him.

  As the day stretched on, we grew hungrier and thirstier. We scanned cars as we passed them, but saw nothing salvageable. I prayed that we would run into something of use once we reached the city. If they were as dangerous as I had heard, then I hoped that supplies such as food and drink may have remained largely untouched by the Charred Lands’ scavengers over the years.

  “Check this out.” Wayne mumbled to me as I finally reached him. He had stopped a few moments before and began to stare off into the woods, it wasn’t until I reached him that I realised exactly what had brought him to a stop. It was a miracle he had even spotted it; just off the motorway was one of many small dirt roads and turn offs that we had come across since traversing the road, but this one was different, it had a small wooden sign. It read ‘Rangers Cabin’.