by B. Buechter
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Copyright © 2018 Brittany Buechter
All rights reserved.
To all those who said I was “too wordy” and “long winded”. Especially to everyone who did not believe I could do it.
How it must feel to be so wrong.
Chapter 1
Dim, hazy lanterns lined the steel walls of the massive, single-room building. Smoke billowed and stuck to its high ceilings. The source, small fires underneath boiling pots of food. At the door, a line of people waited to be served their second and final meal of the day. Both the cooks and their hungry patrons were clad in mismatched ragged clothing. Dust and mud-caked figures carrying small knives and blades, grabbed their stomachs and licked their lips as they neared their dinner. These people, who called themselves Rovers, were farmers who worked tirelessly through the day. Next to the queue stood a bar. Glass bottles of different shapes and sizes brimming with clear alcohol, lined the warped wood. A few of the patrons laughed loudly in a slurred, drunken stupor. Their kin ignored them. Merchants bartered with one another for clothing and supplies around the edge of the room. It was hard to believe that this was once a large, boisterous town. Today, the population filled only half of the hall. Enslavement, murder, and famine had plagued the colony for over a decade. Now, everyone spent their days living in fear of the next time the Gangs would strike.
In an unoccupied corner, at a lone table, sat a young woman. She was silent. A hood concealed her face as she ate. Those around her paid no attention. The wide berth they gave her was intentional, not out of fear, but respect. She preferred to be alone, but was listening to the Rovers’ voices when the men came bursting through the door. Two gunshots rang through the hall. The murmur of voices silenced. Small children whimpered. Each bullet had met its mark in the body of two innocent men, killing one instantly, and leaving the other writhing in pain for mere moments before falling limp. And yet, the woman in the corner did not stir.
“Bow or we will take more lives!” one of the assailants commanded. “The Rats demand it.”
The woman in the corner mouthed the word “Rat” to herself. She knew that this Gang was smaller, but boisterous about their weaponry. Their compound lay West of the forest. They were notorious for recklessness - almost an excitement - about ending the lives of others. Every one of the Rovers in the food hall were now on their knees with their foreheads pressed against the floor.
One of the Rats noticed the woman in the corner had not followed his demands. “Hey, bitch!” He stomped across the room toward her, kicking and stepping on the Rovers that were in his path.
She lifted her head but did not turn to them.
“You deaf?” said the other man, nudging her shoulder, hard. “We told you useless pieces of shit to bow down.”
The woman rose slowly to her feet. “And why… would I bow to you?”
“Because we shoot if you don’t,” the Rat scoffed. “You’ll end up like your friends over there.” He pointed to the bodies near the door. She could make out two motionless figures out of the corner of her eye.
“Leave now or I will kill you idiots where you stand,” she demanded, back still facing them.
The laughter from the Gang members were cut short. Without pause, the young woman had revealed a hidden knife and buried it deep into the eye socket of one of the Rats. As his body came crashing to the floor, she pulled the handgun from his open holster and pointed it at the survivor while he fumbled to reload his own weapon. Ammunition scattered over his friend’s body from his shaking hands.
A half-smile crept across her mouth, barrel pointed at his chest. “Did you kill anything else before coming here? Shouldn’t leave only two bullets in your weapon,” she mocked. “I could have killed you ten times over by now.”
Her face was still obscured by her hood and the low lighting, but the man seemed to know of her.
“You’re the one they whisper about, aren’t you?” he stammered. “You must be her.”
“I am the protector for those who cannot protect themselves,” she replied. “And you take innocent lives with reckless disregard. Now, I am your justice.”
She squeezed the trigger. The bullet burst through the man’s rib cage. He fell back, his body jerked, and the life faded from his eyes. For a minute, everything was silent. When the Rovers were sure that both the Rats were dead, they dashed out into the streets with soft cries. Parents held their little ones and rushed into the darkness. The families of the victims stayed behind to mourn as the bodies were carried out to be buried by able-bodied volunteers.
A man walked up and shook the hooded woman’s hand. “Thank you for stopping two more of them. I know there isn’t much hope of us surviving even a few more years, but maybe it is possible. When you decrease their numbers, my wife thinks it scares them from coming here.”
“I am not so sure about that. They will return looking for their comrades,” she spoke shortly. “We will return their bodies to the edge of the forest. Perhaps their Gang will believe they met their end on the other side of the woods. Doubtful… but who knows.”
After the Rovers had left with their fallen, the woman beckoned the bartender for help with the Rats. The cooks had soaked up most of the blood from the floor. She looked around at those who chose to stay behind. Most of them had been with the colony for years, watching it dwindle in size as the Gangs continued to butcher and oppress their people. Those that they called the Elders were no longer phased by bloodshed. She, too, had grown calloused to death itself.
The bartender called for her. “Eva. We are always grateful for your protection. Though I must ask, you really think that more will return for revenge?”
“It is very likely.” Eva removed her hood to reveal shoulder length burgundy hair and piercing aqua-colored eyes. “But your kin just gained two more firearms. If it isn’t the Rats, it will be the Serpents or the Tigers. And if it’s not them, it will be some other Gang. We must stand to fight or die. That is always the choice.”
Even though I’m the only one doing the fighting, she thought to herself.
Eva walked with the bartender over to the pale bodies of the assailants. She handed him the contents of their pockets which included two pistols. He pocketed them. With help from a few others to carry the bodies, Eva lead them out of the colony and towards the forest. She paid little attention to the setting sun as she trudged towards the purple twilight.
“Why not take them to the outskirts of the city instead?” one of the female Rovers asked Eva.
She nodded towards the woods. “No one ventures through that tree line without a guide... Well, except traders and few others who know the path. Either way, the Rats shouldn’t go looking inside to see where their friends met their demise. And if they don’t come looking for the bodies in a day or so, animals will take care of the mess.”
The two lifeless bodies were soon discarded at the edge of the foliage and the Rovers had returned to their shacks. Eva also had her own home. Her shack, like the others, was constructed from pieces of large metal sheets riveted together. There were small cracks where the sunlight could seep in and the door was
fitted with a bar and deadbolt.
With the last few rays of daylight, Eva was slumped in her bed. She took a few moments to admire her knickknacks. Countless treasures from the Old Times she had scavenged from the nearby city over the last five years sitting on an ancient shelf. Although she did not know the purpose of most of these odd trinkets, she presented them as trophies and memories of life from that time. So that their memories will not dissolve into history. One of her most prized valuables was a journal, preserved to near perfection. It may have only been half-filled with the life of a mysterious author, but she decided to continue the story with her own adventures. Stories of survival, both past and present, from an anonymous writer and Eva, spanning hundreds of years. Each evening, she would read another entry and write her own.
Tonight, the radio warned us of impending nuclear war. Minutes? Days? Months? No one seems to have any clue. All they said was that the world was no longer safe. Everyone was our enemy, but they were also enemies with one another. Our nukes are ready to strike whoever tries to attack us first. America waits with bated breath. It is a good thing that my family took refuge in our bomb shelter. They believe it is only a matter of time before the end of the world. I just hope I built this thing right.
Eva flipped to the next available page and grabbed her pen, scrawling her evening into the leaf.
Not much to say about tonight. Two Rats killed two Rovers while everyone was gathered for eating. Rats were easy to dispose of, though. We took their bodies to the forest. I hope the animals tear them apart… But I wonder if the Gangs will ever learn that their greatest threat is one they do not know by name?
With that short entry, Eva was out of light to continue. For a moment, she laid in bed with her arm hanging over her gear, contemplating her next move. She caressed the hilts of her blades, staring up at the rippled ceiling. Soon, a wave of exhaustion overtook her and she passed into a deep sleep.
***
The sound of chirping birds roused her from her slumber. A few faint rays of light danced up the wall near her feet. Each morning, her routine started with scavenging in the city while the Rovers slept. She carefully placed the crackling journal under her pillow and swung her feet over the bed. Yawning and stretching, she tied up her boots and rolled on her stomach to peek through one of the slits in her wall. It was almost silent. The rustling of small animals and twitter of birds were the only sounds in the dew-covered town. A small herd of deer trotted noiselessly down the dirt and rock path disappearing in the morning haze. Rabbits that were feeding on the weeds noticed them and scuttled out of the way. If the thought of inherent danger had not been ingrained in her mind, Eva would have savored the calmness of the day.
She sprung out of bed and opened a cabinet of assorted fruits, vegetables, and potatoes in her back room. The Rovers each had a small garden, right outside their homes, where they would plant various types of foods. Granted, it was barely enough to feed them all. They would offer their crops to the rest of the community. Vegetables and herbs were grown in this colony. Other foods and delicacies, like chicken and wheat, were bartered by traders and Nomads - a large group of nature-worshippers who lived in the city - for these vegetables and herbs.
Eva choked down a quick meal while holstering her guns, various knives, and her most prized possessions - two short blades. When she was just a teen, she had taken them off of the first person she had ever killed. The leather carrier wrapped around her shoulders like a small backpack and crossed the weapons like an X over her shoulder blades. Each hilt felt as though they were constructed from a special type of leather that never thinned with use. And the blades themselves were cast from metal that never seemed to dull. Part of her believed that these short swords had supernatural abilities, somehow making her lighter and more agile with each new kill.
After she brushed the remnants of breakfast off her chest, she cautiously made her way outside of the shack. The first step was always the most dangerous. Many Gangs traveled through the area during the day, terrorizing her people in route to the city. Even though the closest compounds were a two day journey from the colony, there was always a chance of an attack. Noticing that it was secure, Eva began her three-mile hike south towards the ever-crumbling city. Only the tops of these massive, misshapen buildings were visible from the town. It would take about an hour to reach her destination.
Eva looked upward towards the sky. She pulled her hood over her head when she noticed that dark clouds had replaced the sunshine from a few moments before. Distant thunder rolled through the ruined city and into the valley. While she was scavenging, having complete awareness of her surroundings during a thunderstorm was cumbersome. Now, she had to be much more cautious. Over time, she had learned how to survive in the ever-changing circumstances of this unforgiving world.
The land between the Rover colony and the aging metropolis bore staggered remnants of the Old Times. Ancient, collapsed homes lined streets dotted with vehicles. The blackening sky offered an ominous glimpse into memories of the war. Eva often wondered what life was like before. From time to time, she had discovered papers that detailed these Wars, yet little literature about her ancestors’ daily lives. Objects left behind could only tell a part of their stories. Bizarre trinkets made of unfamiliar material fascinated her.
After a couple of hours, the cityscape had come to meet her. The pitter patter of raindrops danced over her hood and down her shoulders in beads. She inhaled and closed her eyes for a moment of bliss as a welcoming shiver crawled up her spine. However, she stopped and shook her head. Gotta stay alert.
Entering the city, she followed along a road she had not traveled in some time. Buildings in this area had largely been scarred by The Old Time War. Thunder crashed above her. Nomads left no mark in this part of the city. It made sense that they would stay away from the areas that had taken a lot of damage 500 years ago. These buildings were far more hazardous than in other blocks. At any moment, they could collapse. In fact, some of the towers looked as though they had fallen to rubble recently.
Eva’s boots crunched on glass as she stepped into an old shop with one hand wrapped around the hilt of her blade. She took care not to step on the broken glass with her boots as she searched the shelves for anything of value. All of the food from this ancient convenience store had either spoiled or been consumed by animals. But it wasn’t food that she was after. No. What Eva searched for was medical supplies or unusual items to add to her own collection. Not much was left on the shelves except a few swollen, rotten cans of lima beans and brussel sprouts. She had almost given up until something caught her eye near the cash counter.
Passing a quick glance into the street, she hopped over to the desk. Against the wall in the corner, there was a palm-sized coin purse. When Eva opened it, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Jackpot. Twinkling gems filled this clasp to the brim. Even though she did not know what type of jewels they were, she guessed they would fetch a high price with traders. And if nothing else, she could keep them in her home.
Until midday, she rummaged through countless shops and homes. It was a particularly cool day. The sun was tucked behind thick billowing clouds accompanied by a soft drizzle. Still, scavenging was never easy work, despite the weather. Even on her most successful adventures, she could gather maybe a handful of semi-valuable items after spending an entire day in the city. Today, she found nothing aside from the bag of gems.
“Well, I’m done for the day,” she sighed.
The rain had stopped by the time Eva reached the edges of the colony. It seemed as though the Rovers were still sleeping peacefully as she entered the ghost town at dusk. All of a sudden, towards the center of the town, she heard a child’s scream. Without a second thought, she sprinted towards the source of the noise, unsheathing her blades.
I hope I’m not too late.
Closing in on the source of the noise, the voices of adults rose above the sound of her own breath. They were calling the little girl, whose back was pressed against a sha
ck, trying to lure her to come with them. Eva slunk between two shacks and peered out down the main road to find a group of Gang members surrounding a small child.
Shit kid, she thought. Why would you leave your house alone?
“Come on little girl,” one of them beckoned. “We will take you somewhere nice. You will never have to be scared again.”
Eva heard the faint click of a gun. She had one chance to keep this kid alive. If she was too loud, one of them would grab the girl while the others stayed to fight. And if she tried to attack them from afar, they may take the girl’s life. She had to come between them, forcing a barrier, and fast. With one steadying breath, she crept around the circle of shacks until she was directly behind the child. She stepped out, now blocking the predators from their prey, weapons at the ready. They took a step back in shock. Two strikes and two were dead at her feet, throats slit. She replaced a blade with her gun. Another blink and two more, dead. A single trickle of blood between their eyes. Every motion that she made had been practiced a thousand times before and felt completely natural. Finally, only one Gang Member was left standing.
“What are you?” he stammered.
“I am someone who does not appreciate how you treat these Rovers,” she answered, face still obscured by her hood.
“You’re the one,” he gasped. “There is a price on your head. A nice one.”
She laughed. “Good luck. You’re going to end up like your comrades here.”
“Someone will put a stop to you,” he gulped, his hand shaking to his pistol. “Someone will end you.”
“I have never met anyone skilled enough to beat me. Until then, I hold that pleasure for myself.”
The final ear shattering gunshot echoed around the metal walls of the town. The man collapsed to his knees and slumped over one of the other corpses. Eva could feel the eyes of the Rovers on her, watching from the safety of their homes. She turned to the little girl who was trembling with fear. When Eva tried to reach out for her, the child bolted towards the closest door. It opened just enough for her to vanish inside. Her father, standing at the threshold, thanked Eva with a tear in his eye.