by B. Buechter
“She must’ve gotten out when I was resting… I… I thought she would be taken like her mother,” he admitted. He wiped his face. “Thank you, Eva.”
She nodded to the man and started digging through the Gang members’ pockets. The door shut and locked behind her. Self-preservation was strong with the Rovers. Parents would not dare go after their children if they were kidnapped by the Gangs. Those who did would never return. It was their sad truth.
In the past few years, Eva had witnessed the colony shrink in half. And even though she did her best to protect those who remained, it was never enough. Many of those who were now slaves in the compounds were young adults or children torn from their families years before.
She pulled out a handful of ammunition that matched the pistol that she owned. Nice. She loaded her weapon and continued searching. After turning one of the bodies over, she spotted the Gang’s symbol on his clothing. Tigers. Second-largest Gang in the region. Their main product of bartering with other Gangs - metal weaponry. At night, the glow from their eternally burning fires could be seen against the clouds for miles. High demand for their weapons forced their slaves to work long hours under limited food and water. It was not uncommon for any Gang to force their slaves to work through the night and the Tigers were no exception.
While the other fallen men and women had nothing else of value, the leader of the band carried two crumpled, bloodstained pieces of paper. Both had the same handwriting, but it was barely legible. One, a letter, and the other, a map. It seemed to have been intercepted from the Tigers’ only rival, the Serpents.
We finally burst through that thick door in the hills. There are hundreds of people there. Believe it or not, their ancestors had built the place before the Old Time Wars. They know nothing about this world. Perfect for slaves. I’ve included the map to the location. There may be some stragglers that hid when we ran through. Go back in a day or so to get the rest of them. -Chief Dalkin
Eva read through the letter twice. These people the note described have lived in solitude for 500 years? Not a single day of exposure to the outside world. Never having to endure pain or loss. If they fought back against the Serpents, they would have been executed. And those who surrendered would likely be forced into slavery. She turned to the second piece of parchment and unfolded the map. Her heart sank. At first, she had made the decision to search for survivors. But upon looking at the location of the vault, she became hesitant.
The two largest and strongest Gangs, the Serpents and Tigers, shared a border to their compounds in the East. Between rows of colossal metal walls crowned with barbed wire, stretched an old road that lead up into the hills. It was used, although rarely, for the transportation of supplies, slaves, and weapons to other civilizations north of the region. Other Gangs were permitted to travel through, but at the price of half their own goods. Anyone aside from a Gang member would be caught, captured, and tortured if they attempted to use the highway. Rovers had come to appropriately name this straight The Blooded Row.
Eva struggled with the urge to leave any potential survivors at the mercy of the Gangs. Her own survival was priority, but these people were helpless and unarmed. Before she had a moment to reconsider, she trudged into her house and grabbed an empty pack along with some food and water. Sprinting back to the corpses, she removed their jackets and stuffed all but one in the sack as the Rovers started making their way towards the food hall from their homes. Some of the Elders stopped to question her.
She handed one of them the map. “I’m going through The Blooded Row,” she explained. “The Serpents discovered some sort of civilization that’s been cut off from the real world since the Old Times. There may still be survivors.”
“Watch yourself Eva,” an Elder woman warned. “You may be able to pass as one of the Gangs, but they watch that Row day and night.”
“Well, they’re blind at night.” Eva threw the Tiger’s oversized leather jacket over her own. “I’m leaving now.”
“It’s a two day journey,” an elder man said. “Make sure you eat with us tonight.”
Eva nodded. The Elders cared about her safety. The other Rovers would rarely speak to her out of fear or respect. She followed behind them to the food hall, taking a bowl of soup and a haunch of bread. Just as she sat down to eat, she felt a tug on her shirt. It was the little girl from earlier. She looked much less afraid and wore a delicate smile.
“Thank you for saving me today.” Her high-pitched voice was soft and sweet. Matted blonde hair hung in her face and dirt caked her cheeks. Thin valleys from old tears stuck to her puffy face. “I won’t be going out anymore during the day.”
“That is good little one.” Eva’s heart melted a little. “Be sure to remember that promise.”
The little girl bowed and scampered off to her father who was sitting at the far end of the building. Eva finished her meal without another interruption. She stood up and weaved through the crowd of people, dropping off her dishes. Closing the steel door behind her, she noticed the moon and stars were now shrouded in thick clouds.
Perfect. She smiled to herself. Darkness.
Her journey to the compounds began down a cobblestone road. Every moment Eva tarried, there was a greater chance that another Gang would locate any survivors before her. She jogged through the colony into what remained of an ancient community. Several of the buildings were unsafe to enter, so many of the Gangs only used the area for trade. Late into the night, she rested in an old home, sleeping with her blades within reach.
Dawn came swiftly, and if she was to make the compounds by nightfall, she had to hurry. She woke, snatched up her weapons, and continued her journey. Cresting a large hill, Eva was met with a long stretch of highway. On either side were smaller streets, leading to homes and shops from another time. Countless vehicle shells clustered over the six-lane road. The metal that had not rusted was scavenged years ago, when the Gangs first began their plunder of other civilizations.
Eva slowed her pace as midday approached, becoming more hesitant as she neared the compounds. Still, the tall walls and watchtowers were concealed by the horizon, but she was only a few short hours from their outskirts. The land that separated the Rover colony from the Tiger and Serpent’s compounds was used for trade with Gangs all across the region. They called it No Man’s Land. Posts were designated over the land, unowned by a single Gang to ease the fear of an ambush.
Old, desolate homes were soon replaced by a grassy clearing. Eva took refuge near a large boulder for a short meal. A cool breeze and gray sky kept the region in a mild Summer’s embrace. Four hours until it would be dark enough to enter The Blooded Row. Luckily, with the compound walls now perched atop the skyline, she was making good enough time to slow down a bit more. As soon as she finished a short nap, she continued on her way. The weather was so hypnotic, her mind began to overpower her concentration.
I hope this is worth it, she thought. What if I risk my life for a waste of time or walk right into a trap? But, those people have never had to deal with this shitty outside world. I would bet they walked right up to Serpents with their arms wide open. Plus, even if I do find any survivors, I’m going to have to teach them how to survive.
Eva’s stomach dropped. Up to this point, she stayed to herself and relished the seclusion. Never before had she been responsible for another’s life unless she chose to save it. Her life was most important. It was this mentality that had kept her alive for so long. Being alone was one of the major rules that she lived by. After witnessing countless men, women, and children being tortured and killed in unspeakable manners, she vowed never to take part in a group.
Before Eva realized it, evening was upon her. She would reach her destination in perfect time. The sky grew dark as a heavy storm materialized over the region. The rain with her dark clothing would shroud her through The Blooded Row. She could pass practically invisible. On the other hand, the wrath of the storm was unknown. Unusually powerful weather was known to simply appear overhead w
ith no explanation and this storm was no exception.
The heavens opened, and waves of water fell to earth. Lighting ignited the sky and careened down to the watchtowers nearby in deafening explosions. Eva was motionless at the boundary into Gang territory. Over the torrential downpour, she could hear yelling from the slave masters to ‘keep working’. Thunder crashed overhead. It was time to go. And with buckling knees, she took her first steps in between the two deadliest Gangs in the region.
Eva could immediately feel the presence of people in the compounds around her. In the towers, a few dark figures with guns marched back and forth, their attention focused elsewhere. Her footsteps were silent, masked by the storm overhead. She hastened her pace. A bolt of light crashed a hundred feet from her, illuminating the area. There was shadow of a large hole dug into the hill ahead. She glanced around the top of the compound walls on either side. No one is watching. She made a break for the entrance, sprinting as fast as her feet would carry her.
Puddles splashed beneath her with each step. Droplets of rain pelted her face like bullets as her lungs filled to capacity. What was only a few hundred feet felt like it took forever. The chasm in the hill was not getting any closer. Her chest hurt, but she noticed the guards starting to turn towards her direction. Shit. Digging into the muddy ground with her boots, she pushed into a full sprint. Suddenly, her foot hit an uneven patch of concrete. She dropped to her knees and rolled her ankle but managed to stagger the final few yards.
Finally, she made it inside the vault, panting heavily. Her lungs were burning. Luckily, her boot was tied tight enough to keep her ankle from serious injury. She was drenched, but a mysterious cooling air came from the darkness before her. The familiar but faint smell of human decay filled her nostrils, but the darkness was so thick, she could not make out a single figure. Rumbling thunder and the torrential downpour were the only sounds around her. A flash of lightning brightened the room enough for her to see clearly for a moment. Nothing could have prepared her for such an unusual place.
Chapter 2
It must have been the mysterious machines that intrigued and frightened Eva. She had never seen anything like them before. They were stacked on one another at either side of the entrance. Most were broken, but a couple still whirred softly. Tiny light bulbs blinked like pinpoints of green, blue, and red starlight. She neared one of them warily, pressed a button, and jumped backwards. Nothing happened. Waiting another moment, her gaze fixated on any change in the light pattern, noticed nothing, and moved on. At this point, the machines were far too destroyed to perform the task they had once been created to do.
Everything in this vault reminded her of the technology she had seen in photos from the Old Times. She had no clue what any of the items were used for. The Serpents may have believed that these machines were weapons and destroyed them. Without a doubt, Eva knew this place had been constructed before the War, 500 years ago. And somehow, they were able to keep their technology working all this time.
A lamp flickered on the floor in the corner of an adjacent room. Eva saw some papers littered on a desk. They were stained, but she could make out the doodlings of a small child. The undeniable smell of rotting flesh passed through her nose. She turned to find the body of the young artist in the shadow of her bed, lying in a heap behind tiny footsteps of blood. Gently clenched in one hand were her coloring utensils. Misery and disgust overpowered Eva. She lurched out of the room, clutching the door frame for support. With her back pressed against a wall, she put her head in her hands and rubbed her burning, wet eyes.
A shuffling sound down the passageway startled her. She wiped the tears from her cheek and pulled out one of her blades. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a faint light bobbing up and down. It was closing in on her. With her blade at the ready and her fingertips fluttering over the holster of her pistol, she spun to face the sound.
The silhouettes of two figures greeted her at the edge of the hall. One was a young man in his mid-twenties, and the other was a child about ten years old. Their lantern cast ominous shadows down the empty metal hallway. By the cleanliness of their clothes, Eva knew they were not part of the outside world. They were inhabitants of the Vault, clad in matching white and purple attire. And though their hair hung around their ears, it was not matted or dirty. And their brown eyes bore no signs of pain or weariness. Both of them looked terrified. The older of the two fought the urge to run and the younger was frozen in fright.
“Are you going to kill us or take us with the others?” he demanded, voice shaking.
“Neither,” Eva sheathed her weapon and relaxed her stance. “I came to search for survivors.”
“Why? So you can kill us?” An unexpected crash of thunder caused the group to jump.
Eva attempted to keep the kindness in her tone through gritted teeth. “No. I’m taking you away from these Gangs to a colony of Rovers.”
“Wait. What? Who? We aren’t going anywhere with someone we don’t know. Think we would just trust you?”
Eva sighed. “I promise to explain later. But if you don’t come with me, then you will die here when they come back...”
She thought of the little artist in the room nearby and choked.
“How do we know you aren’t just going to hand us over to the Gangs? I mean you seem to know so much about them.”
Eva rolled her eyes, but in the darkness, neither boy noticed. There was an awkward silence. It took a moment for her to realize that he was waiting for a response.
“I wasn’t sure if you were joking or not,” she said shortly. “If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t have wasted the time speaking to you. So… I haven’t killed you yet. I was hoping to help you and anyone else left here.”
“Why are you wearing a jacket like the ones who came before? The symbol is different, but it looks similar…”
Eva was growing impatient and cut the older brother off. “Disguise. There is a road between two Gangs right outside your front door. They would shoot me otherwise. We can’t sit here and chit chat… We need to head back to the colony while we still have the cover of night.”
She swung her backpack over her shoulder, letting it drop to the floor. The elder brother stepped back but the younger one stood silent. He watched closely. She knelt down, pulling out two of the bloodstained leather jackets and tossed them at the boy’s feet. The younger boy wasted no time and threw on the clothing.
“What are you doing Tommy?” the elder brother asked. Tommy still did not utter a single word. He just pointed to Eva.
She was getting tired of the older one. She strode over to Tommy, crouched to his level, and held out a hand, “My name is Eva Calloway. Nice to meet you.”
The older brother huffed, “I’m Jake. Jake McAvoy. We’re the only two left...”
His voice trailed off.
Eva pointed to the jacket and stopped. “Wait. It’s just you two here?”
“Yes,” he sniffed. “We searched the entire Vault after they left. Everyone was killed or taken. Th-They shot most of the kids. Kidnapped the rest.”
“You’re sure there is no one hiding?”
Jake’s voice cracked. “Positive. Please. I don’t wanna think about what happened.”
“Fine then.”
Jake reluctantly put the jacket over his shirt, taking a deep breath. Tommy grabbed his brother’s hand and they followed Eva to the front door. She stood at the threshold for a moment. The unsettling feeling of leaving the Vault without any search whatsoever became too overpowering. She turned on her heels and pushed them aside, her footsteps echoing down the hallway the brothers had come from. As she passed the lantern, she swiped it off the ground.
“Where are you going?” the elder brother called.
Eva ignored him and stared down the first hallway. She couldn’t live with herself if she just left without further exploration. The lantern was bright enough for her to see about halfway down the corridor. There were doors on either side, all open wide. The floors and w
alls were all made from sturdy, sparkling metal. Entering each room, she saw a small living space. Above the door hung a sign with the last name of the family that resided in each one. Inside, there were beds, a small kitchen, a table and chairs, and a doorway to the bathroom. There was nowhere for anyone to hide.
The first few residences were empty, but the smell of death lingered in the next handful of rooms. Bodies of men, women, and numerous children were slumped in odd poses. Every one of the Serpent’s victims were riddled with bullet wounds. Eva’s stomach churned as she searched each room.
At the end of the hallway were large double doors. She opened them to a larger set of rooms on either side of the passageway. The closest to her were labeled Mess Hall and Infirmary. Further down, a sign that read Schoolhouse housed several young victims. As for the other rooms, they were completely empty. Eva even took a few minutes to turn over furniture and call to anyone who could hear her.
I cannot dwell on the dead, she thought. I cannot.
If anyone was alive, they could have been too afraid to answer. “Anyone? I’m here to help.”
It was the same story for the rest of the Vault. Eva wondered how and where the McAvoy brothers had managed to hide while the Gang massacred their people. But at the end of the other hallway was a locked door without a window. A thick metal sign read Authorized Personnel Only - DO NOT ENTER. She tried to push it open, but to no avail. In between the doors was a huge, oddly shaped keyhole. Using the butt of her gun, she banged loudly and called out. No response. In the chance that anyone was still alive in there, she could not get to them anyway.
The storm was still raging overhead by the time she returned to the entrance. Jake and Tommy were waiting for her, hesitant to leave the place they had been all their lives. Eva said nothing to them as she passed. Her mind was still lingering on the last door.