by Nina Burman
Mo looked beneath her as the jungle fell away and started giving way to more populated areas., Tthey were quite high but she could still make out the abandoned houses and cars that covered the highways. It was a hot day and she gulped down on the water and blood they had brought with them. She didn’t see any people, it was how it had always been portrayed in all of those apocalyptic films, desolate., Nnature had already started to take over, breaking through the concrete of the roads, the fields overgrown with long grasses as well as dead animals, owners not able to open a gate before they submitted to the virus allowing hundreds of animals to die of lack of food and water.
They began to fly over the suburbs of the city they were visiting, t, they intended to go to the centre. , Mmany of the houses they passed overhead were in a state of ruin having already burnt down with no-one around to put out the fire. She saw packs of dogs roaming the streets seemingly finding it easier to survive than their probably long dead owners, feeding no doubt on the many rotting carcasses. There were human bodies of course, especially the closer they got to the centre, some clearly long dead others not so much., Sscavenger birds pecking at their eyes, even at the height they were at, the smell was awful., Tthey even passed over what appeared to be a mass grave, clearly no-one left to do the last deed and cover it over. Mo couldn’t believe the devastation, she hadn’t prepared herself for this., Iit was so awful the tears started to stream from her eyes as they flew on. They started to fly over the city, swerving around the taller buildings, there was little sign of life, just death and destruction. , Eeven here however, nature was taking hold with no-one to manage the trees and the park land, it spilled out everywhere as though it was taking back the city.
They flew high up on to one of the taller buildings which had a reasonably flat roof and landed. Mo dropped to her knees, great heaving sobs racking her bodyy., Sshe had left everyone she had ever known to this, to die like this, no-one was left, what had she done? Benji came over to her and put his arms around her.
“What’s wrong?” She could not believe what she just heard. S sheShe looked up to him and it was like looking at a different person; how could he even ask that question.
“Everyone’s dead!” She spat out to him.
Benji’s head dropped after a few moments. Hhe looked back up, a kindness had returned to his eyes, he stroked the side of her face wiping away the flood of tears.
“I’m sorry Mo, you didn’t see what I did, I was expecting this., I am sorry, I should have, we should have prepared you. I thought you would have realised what it would have been like.”
“Does it not bother you, all the dead people, their bodies being picked at just like rotting meat, these were ordinary people with family and friends.” Mo sobbed out.
“I did care and I did cry but I can’t keep going on like that, you can’t survive like that, I had to bury those feelings otherwise they would overwhelm me.”
Mo’s heart melted. Sshe knew how awful things had been for Benji before Lordes and Ethan had found him, how he had struggled to survive and this was it, this is how., Sshe flung her arms round his neck and sobbed into his shoulder as he gently calmed her and stroked her wings.
After some minutes they broke apart, she looked around for Lordes but could only see Ethan standing at the edge of the building looking quite awkward. She wiped her eyes.
“You ok?” Benji asked.
“No, but I will be, especially with you.”
They both smiled and then walked over to Ethan. “Where is the big guy,” Benji asked. Ethan frowned at Benji’s name for Lordes, but replied.
“He is looking around the city for any signs of life, we should do the same, we should look out for small shelters or fire and barricades, anything like that. Fly from building to building, do not go down on the ground, the buildings are too close and you won’t get back up, stay in sight of each other, you can see Lordes over to the west. They both looked and sure enough they could see the glint of his gold wings flying up and then diving down searching the area.
“Can I stick close by Benji?” Mo asked.
“Of course, we will all stick close by each other, we will work in a line two buildings apart, just don’t go down too low ok?”
They both nodded to Ethan as he turned and set off.
“You go next, I’ll be along here but just one building apart, if you see anything at all just call and I’ll come over we can investigate it together.”
Mo nodded and smiled at Benji reassuring him that she was ok. She ran and leapt off the building flapping her wings hard so she soared upwards and then she started a slow dive back down to the next building. Sshe could see that Ethan and Lordes were landing where they could to get a better look at the streets below and so Mo did the same. They worked methodically but could not see anything, everything was so desolate, abandoned to the elements. Mo could see a good roof slightly ahead of the others and she decided to head there as it was large and flat and she would get a good view of a number of streets, as the building was a little smaller, but not so small it would be hard to take off from. She landed and headed to the front of the building which looked straight up what must have been the main high street in the city., Iit was now littered with cars, bikes and mountains of rubbish., Tthe smell of death tainted the air down here and sure enough, if you looked carefully you could see the rotting corpses., Sshe heard her name being called and looked back to see Benji high above her, he was pointing at something ahead. She looked and could see some movement, something was darting between the cars, she wasn’t sure if it was just a dog but the movement was too calculated, stopping when it got behind something. There was another sound further up, shouting, and Mo could see a group of young men stumble out of one of the stores. They were shouting and looking under and around the cars and rubbish, they were looking for something. Then the first thing Mo had seen darted out from behind a car and started to run down the street towards Mo. , Iit was a young girl. Sshe was filthy and tiny, maybe only about five years old. A shout went up from the men, they pointed and started to run after her. She was running for her life Mo could see that in her face, what would they do to her? Mo couldn't just stand here and watch, she jumped into the air just as Benji was landing behind her . “Mo no, wait. ETHAN.” She heard Benji say as she flapped her wings, finding what thermal she could to carry her towards the girl. Mo didn’t think she just acted, she knew this was stupid but she couldn't stand by, the men were getting closer and the girl was tiring, Mo flew over them all and banked back. They had not seen her, too concerned with their quarry, so as Mo flew back over them it took them all by surprise and they slowed up giving Mo a great opportunity, the girl was still running and Mo shouted to her . “Look up, reach up.” The girl looked and without a second glance she reached up. Mo could hear the men behind her had gathered their wits and were almost upon them. She had never flown so low and had no idea if she would be able to get back up. Sshe grabbed the girl's arms and flapped with all her might. The extra weight made it even harder and her wings burned with the effort. , Sshe looked up and could see Lordes and Benji on the roof shouting at her and pointing to her left. Sshe looked left and just above was Ethan, he must have caught a thermal just above her as his wings were not flapping., Wwith huge effort she flapped and flapped until she felt the wind beneath and lift her up, she spread her wings out wide and let it carry her and the girl up. She tightened her grip on the girl who for such a small thing felt unbelievably heavy., Tthe wind took them high above the buildings and they had to bank round to reach the roof Mo had started from., Sshe first flew low and as gently as she could dropped the girl before landing herself a few feet later.
“What the hell are you doing?.” Lordes shouted at her as he stormed over. Mo tried to respond but she was so out of breath she couldn’t, she just knelt, panting on the floor which allowed Lordes to rant on even further., Mo tuned this out. Sshe looked over to the little girl who Benji and Ethan were helping up. She was a slight black girl with very
raggedy hair all twisted and matted from lack of care, she had huge brown eyes that were now staring in wonder at these two giant creatures looming over to her. Mo gathered her strength and walked over to them.
“It’s ok, we are not going to hurt you.”
“Are you angels?” tThe girl asked, her voice seeming much older than her figure.
“No we are not angels, we are called Volucris.” Describing herself for the first-time filled Mo’s heart with pride.
“My mum said you weren’t angels either.”
“You have seen our kind before?” Ethan asked.
“Not quite like you.”
Lordes then stomped over, “What are you still doing talking to her, we have to leave now.” He raged.
“Why is it so bad I helped her, I know it was a bit risky but listen to what she has to say.”
“A bit risky? Iit was unbelievably foolhardy. Oonly a complete idiot would attempt what you just did. I thought Ethan had been training you to make good decisions, I am amazed you pulled it off.”
The words stung Mo and as she looked over to Ethan she could tell they stung him too, wasn’t this the reason they were out here looking, to find people?
“What is your problem, how do you know she is not Volucris and I have just saved her from god knows what.”
“How do you know she is Volucris?.” Lordes snapped back.
“She is.” Benji suddenly piped up.
“What!” Lordes turned on him and Benji shrank back a little.
“She is Volucris, a young one, her wings are there, just need to grow.” Benji responded.
“And how pray tell do you know this, got x-ray vision?” Lordes was not hiding the contempt in his voice.
“No, I can smell it.” Benji responded as though this was completely normal.
“You can smell it, what do you mean?” Mo asked.
“Can’t you with your heightened sense of smell?”
They all looked at Benji as though he was mad.
“What else can you smell?” Ethan asked.
Benji looked a little bemused and if possible even shy, with everyone now focused on him. “Err everything.”
“What exactly do you mean you can smell everything?” Lordes asked, his interest now spiked as he walked over to Benji.
“Err, well it’s hard to describe., I guess for example, I can smell what we all had for breakfast. , Tthe rotting smell round here is almost too much to bear, but it means the smell of the living I can pick out., I can smell those guys who were chasing this girl have now entered the building below us, they are on the stairs.”
“You can smell all that?” Mo asked.
“Sure, can’t you guys?” They all shook their heads.
“This isn’t possible.” Lordes added looking over to Ethan.
“When you said you could smell the storm you really could smell it then from way off?” Mo asked.
“Sure.” Benji was so matter of fact as if he hadn’t dropped this huge bombshell.
“And you always seem to know when someone is about to turn up before they do.” Ethan added.
“Yeah, I can smell them, and to be honest those horrible guys are pretty horrible. Tthey are both covered in blood that isn’t their own and are about half way up, they are both carrying knives, I think we should leave.”
They all stood there in disbelief before what Benji had said sunk in and then they started to move. Mo turned to the little girl. “Are you alone here, do you have any family in the city?”
“No just on the outskirts.”
Mo turned back to Lordes, “We should take her there.” He nodded in response, “But you got her here so you can carry her.” He responded clearly, still angry with her.
Mo’s heart sank, she didn’t think she had the energy. Ethan came up to her “Here.” He thrust some blood into her hands,
“But you need this,.” sShe said pushing the blood back into Ethan’s hands.
“Not as much as you will, I’ll help strap her on, come.”
Ethan lifted the girl into Mo’s arms. Wwrapping her small arms and legs around her she clung like a limpet and wasn’t at all scared, he then went into his bag and pulled out long strips of leather using them to bind the girl to Mo. He worked quickly and Mo found her effort in carrying the girl was much reduced. They were cheek to cheek so Mo asked. “What’s your name?”
“Betty, what’s yours’s?”
“Mo, which way should I fFly?”
“The girl squealed with glee at the prospect of flying - a true Volucris in the making Mo thought.”
“West, I’ll guide you once you get to the edge of the city.”
The group heard their pursuers bang through the door onto the roof, but they were too late the quartet of Volucris were taking to the sky leaving them in their wake.
Chapter 41
Betty did not struggle at all strapped to Mo’s chest and even though it was still hard to fly with the extra weight, it was a whole lot easier than carrying her with her hands. Betty gave Mo instructions on where to fly, taking them into the suburbs of the city. It was hard for her to navigate from the air and Mo had to fly low so Betty could twist her neck to see where they were., Aafter a few wrong turns she spied the train track which she told Mo they lived near, so Mo followed the track for about a mile before Betty recognised her street. The others had been flying higher while Mo had been looking where to go and she now re-joined them.
“Do we think it’s safe?” Lordes asked.
“Is there anyone else around, Betty, thatBetty, that could hurt us?” Mo asked.
“No just me, my mum and brother, everyone else is dead.” She said it with so little emotion it made Mo realise that all this girl must have known is death, that was her norm and she had gotten used to it.
Mo relayed this information to the rest of the group.
Lordes looked uncomfortable going onto the ground and Mo couldn’t blame him, the neighbourhood, or what was left of it, was littered with rubbish, cars, houses falling down, not to mention the stench of death and bodies littering everywhere. Lordes looked over to Benji.
“What can you smell?”
Benji looked a little taken aback that Lordes was actually asking his advice, and also pleased as punch Mo thought. “I smell an adult woman and a young boy, the boy is Volucris, the mother I am not sure, she is sick I can tell that much.”
“Nothing else in the area? . No people or animals for that matter?” Lordes asked.
“No, just death.”
Lordes nodded. Mo could see he was impressed and she felt a pang of jealousy that Benji had impressed him and not she, she dismissed this feeling at once knowing it was a childish thing to think.
“Ok, let’s all go down as a group but be on your guard.” Lordes shouted to all of them.
They all landed together in an arrow formation as they would fly., Mo was relieved to hit the ground. Aas light as Betty was, carrying any weight was truly difficult, she was grateful to Ethan for letting her have his blood. With Ethan’s help they unstrapped Betty and she pointed out the house her mother and brother were in, although Benji was already standing in front of it, he knew exactly where they were and Mo marvelled that he had not told her about this amazing sense of smell he had.
“I’ll go in first and explain, don’t want to scare them.” Betty said
Mo nodded in agreement and the girl skipped off into the house, after a minute or so she came out of the door and beckoned them in. The house was small, maybe only two bedrooms. Iit had a small run down porch and was surrounded by a wire fence. Within the fence the grass was now dust but there was no rubbish, it was all piled up outside the fence, it looked like someone had been trying to keep at least one area tidy. They all had to duck low into the house. Mo had been expecting a scene of devastation and destruction but the house was clean. Betty was skipping around showing them the small camp fire she cooked on, the tins of food she would collect from the other houses. There were buckets of water she
and her brother collected from a nearby stream they used it to flush the toilet and clean and they boiled it to eat with. Mo could see that Betty was proud of her home, that she had managed to keep something clean and good amongst the hell that surrounded them.
“I was in the city trying to find medicine for mum. Sshe fell a couple of weeks back when we were collecting water, fell on some glass, we tried to keep it clean but it’s gone bad, there, back here.”
Betty showed them to a room in the back. Sshe opened the door and Mo could smell straight away that something was not right. The room was again clean, a simple dresser and wardrobe and in the middle of the room at the back, a woman in about her 30’s lay on a double bed., Iit was warm outside but she was covered in sweat, a blanket was covering her leg and flies buzzed around. A little boy Mo thought looked little more than a toddler, was sitting on the bed close to his mother holding her hand in one and a beaten up old teddy in the other., Hhe had huge eyes staring at Mo and Ethan and cuddled into his mother for comfort. She looked up too, little surprise on her face as these fantastical creatures entered the room. Mo could see the fog of illness covering her eyes,eyes; she was full of pain and fever.