by Charles Rye
Red Waters
A Sci-fi Fantasy Adventure
c. Charles Rye 2019
The sun had just begun to raise above the ashen, crumbling city ruins when Aurelia slowly opened her heterochromatic eyes, shielding them with her hand to block out most of the blinding light.
Without what was once a sparkling city skyline to block out the morning sun, her eyes were still having trouble adjusting to the brightness.
Thankfully, she had goggles with green tinted lenses to help protect her eyes.
She slid the goggles into position as she pushed herself up with her legs from behind the white prison bus she used for shelter since it wasn't useful for much else, it'd been broken down and slowly rusting for the past several years.
Buses, especially prison ones were no longer in use after everyone on Earth had either been killed or died from infection, Aurelia, to her knowledge was the only survivor so she saw no harm in using a broken down bus for protection.
From the things that managed to survive along with her.
"Another day to survive through, hopefully I don't run across any of those ugly ass things." She muttered to herself as she slid her arms through the sleeves of her crimson red jumpsuit.
She had discovered it in the prison bus and found it to be the perfect outfit for scavenging, plus she had found it to be surprisingly comfortable to sleep in when the temperatures dropped at night since the heater in the bus was busted.
Swinging her AR-15 over her shoulder, she began to walk along the cracked and crumbling road that led to what was left of the buildings that were destroyed by the fires caused by several meteors that hit the center of the city.
All that was left were smoldering ruins, charred and crumbling which made it the perfect breeding ground for the mutated creatures that survived and evolved after everyone else had been wiped out from the destruction of the city.
It had only been several years since the city's population had died out and replaced by the mutated creatures.
Aurelia had made a habit of hunting them, since they were her only food source, but the damned things were fast.
She could only manage to take down one or two at a time, mostly picking off the weaker ones that seemed slower than the others, which made them easier targets and they hardly ever put up a struggle.
The first time she had seen one and had the fortunate luck to kill the bastard always stuck in her mind and could recall every detail of the experience even though it happened over a year ago.
It was a particularly foggy morning and Aurelia was wandering through the city ruins trying to find anyone who may have survived, but what she came across instead made her heart feel like it was going to leap out of her chest it was beating so fast.
Laying low to the ground behind the crumbling ruins of what used to be an apartment complex was a large ferocious beast with jagged fangs sticking out from it's upper lip, it's eyes were a mix of bronze and silver and they had locked onto Aurelia.
Even from her position behind a brick wall nearly thirteen feet from where the beast laid she could smell it's horrid breath that was unlike anything she had smelled before, it kept it's eyes on her as it opened it's mouth revealing razor-like teeth.
The sight of its teeth alone sent a chill down Aurelia's spine, causing her to shiver involuntarily as she tightened her grip on her AR-15 in case the creature decided to come after her.
That's when she noticed it had a large gash across it's neck and realized it wasn't preparing for an attack on what it assumed would be easy prey, so she crouched low to the ground and snuck around from behind her hiding spot, gun ready to take the shot.
Once she was out in the open, the creature let out a low guttural growl from deep within it's throat doing it's best to intimidate her but being badly wounded it hurt the creature to growl.
As Aurelia slowly approached the creature with her gun held out in front of her, she lifted it up to aim it just right before squeezing the trigger.
When she did, it sent a 5.56mm bullet screaming through the air towards its target at an alarming rate, striking the beast's chest.
It let out a horrid cry of a mixture of agony and shock, as if it had never experienced pain before.
Aurelia almost felt bad for the creature but easily shook it off as she cautiously approached it's lifeless body, praying there wasn't anymore nearby to claim the kill for itself or avenge a fallen mate.
She sure as hell wasn't going to stick around much longer to find out, using some rope she'd found in the bus, she tied the creature's front legs together.
Then twisted the rest around her wrist, finding it hard to pull the creature behind her. Shaking the recent memory away, she regained her focus, remembering to check her surroundings as she continued to walk through the desolated structure.
Something vanishing out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, which only made her even more cautious, she could sense the fur on the back of her neck standing up and tingling.
"Something's not right‚" She thought, trying to shake off the disturbing feeling of being watched.
She only ever had that feeling when there were creatures around, but far as she could see, there weren't any nearby so that meant something else was and it did not seem friendly.
"Show yourself!" She shouted, swiveling around with her gun held out at arm's length, prepared to defend herself.
A large shadow dashed over Aurelia, making her suddenly look up as something jumped clear over her head but it wasn't one of the creatures.
The shadow disappeared behind the ruins of a building with one of its first floor windows still intact, and sunk below the windowsill.
"Identify yourself!" Aurelia demanded again, moving around a crumbling brick wall towards where the shadow had vanished.
"If you do not show yourself I will have to shoot you." She threatened.
She suddenly felt the cold barrel of a gun pressing into the back of her head; she slowly raised her arms in surrender but quickly tucked and rolled away from the stranger, suddenly aiming her gun at him.
The stranger was unlike herself, he was a wolf with white and black fur, soft blue eyes and he wore tattered jeans that had been ripped at the knees and leather boots.
"Who are you?" They spoke at the same time.
"You answer first." Aurelia demanded, still aiming her gun at the stranger.
"Name's Caliphar." He finally answered, blowing air out his nose as he swung his weapon back over his shoulder.
"Aurelia." She replied pointing her gun at the ground, still holding it in case it was needed.
"I thought I was the only one who survived." She added, giving Caliphar a curious look.
"Well, it apparently seems you were not,"
"Whether that makes you happy or disappointed isn't my problem." He spoke in a rather solemn tone as he twirled what seemed to be a butterfly knife between his fingers.
Aurelia noticed an unusually shaped scar on the inside of his right arm, the one he was using to twirl the knife.
"Where did you get that scar from?" She questioned, looking up into his now cold blue eyes.
He stopped twirling his knife, slipping it into the back pocket of his jeans before returning his gaze to her.
"You've seen those creatures that hide amidst these ruins, I was hunting one when the bastard caught me off guard and got a hold of me, leaving me this scar." He explained, holding his arm out to her.
The scar ran from his wrist up to his elbow in a jagged pattern.
"It's like that because I had to pull my arm out of the damned thing's mouth, hurt like a son'of'a'bitch too." He almost chuckled harshly.
"So how come we've never crossed paths till now? You been hiding or something?"
"I've got a place on the ot
her side of the ruins down the road; I come out here to hunt since this seems to be the only place the creatures like to stick around." She answered.
"But it isn't exactly anything special, just an old broken down prisoner bus that had been abandoned."
"Show me." Caliphar said shortly, looking at her.
"What for?"
"Just trust me." He replied shortly again.
"Trust you? You just tried to blow my head off with a Remington 870,"
"I think trusting you at this point is highly unlikely for the time being until proven otherwise, big boy." She snorted.
"I am sorry about that." He replied as they began to follow the cracked road out of the city, with Aurelia walking behind him.
They soon reached the prison bus; Caliphar looked up at it and smirked.
"I like it, I like it very much." He grinned noticing the word radioactive spray painted across the right side along with the radioactive symbol.
"I thought it was appropriate." Aurelia smirked.
"But like I said, it's busted so all it's good for is shelter."
"Then maybe it is a good thing I nearly blew your head off with my Remington." Caliphar chuckled propping the bus' hood open, revealing the engine beneath.
"This should be an easy fix; I expect there's a tool kit on board?"
Aurelia looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Caliphar sighed as he stepped past her and pushed the bus' door open, stepping up into the bus walking to the very back.
"Ah, I was right! There's a tool kit under this panel in the flooring." He grinned tugging on a panel by the bus' emergency exit, revealing a gray toolbox.
He pulled the toolbox out and replaced the panel into its proper place.
"What are you going to do?" Aurelia asked when he came running out of the bus holding the toolbox.
"What do you think I'm gonna do, love?" He grinned as he popped the toolbox open, an assortment of tools were neatly arranged inside and still looked brand new.
"Now that's a simply beautiful sight."
"You can fix the bus and get 'er running again?" Aurelia asked, moving to stand behind him to watch as he picked up one of the tools.
"Correctamundo!" Caliphar exclaimed excitedly.
"I guess I should thank you for nearly shooting my head off." She chuckled, watching him intently.
"That should about do it, go turn it on and see." He said a moment later, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead.
Aurelia eagerly ran onto the bus and slid into the driver seat, turning over the keys as the engine attempted to sputter into life.
Soraf to the rescue
Caliphar slammed the hood of the bus down, locking it securely into place.
He then picked up the toolbox and quickly joined Aurelia on the bus, closing the door behind him.
"So, am I trustworthy now? I did fix your bus, so it can be used for more than mere protection and shelter now," He asked her, setting the toolbox down into a nearby seat.
"I suppose, and I do thank you for not shooting me. If you had, you wouldn't have known about this bus and wouldn't have a way to travel safely." Aurelia grinned.
"This is very true, so I should also thank you for not shooting me." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's just sort of funny. I've spent the past few years assuming I was the only one who'd had survived, and the first other survivor I come across happens to know how to fix this hunk of junk." She laughed softly.
"But now it makes me curious to know if there are others like us doing their damnedest to stay alive and thinking they're the only ones."
"Maybe there are. We could always go looking." Caliphar grinned at her.
"I have always wanted to explore beyond the city ruins. I've only ever gone there to hunt," She replied.
"Well, before we just go and explore beyond the city, there's still a lot of repair that needs to be done on this bus," replied Calliqrus.
"I noticed the rust and a few other things. Fixing that wire was minor. However, it shouldn't be too difficult of a task. However, finding pieces I may need to replace might be a bit of a challenge."
"I think there's a junk yard somewhere near the city‚" Aurelia stopped mid-sentence at the sudden sound of several sets of claws clicking and clacking across the metal roof of the bus.
Caliphar looked out through one of the windows and saw a creature with twisted spikes protruding from the top of its head and along its spine. It bared its jagged fangs as it sniffed at the air.
A second creature followed the first. Its features were more prominent and fierce-looking than those of its pack-mate. It had barbed spines jutting out from above its front and hind paws, and sharp curved spikes protruding from around its neck.
The eyes of both creatures were a mix of silver and red that shimmered gold in the sunlight.
"What the hell are those things doing here?" Aurelia hissed. She looked up at the ceiling, listening to the sound of the creatures' claws against the metal roof.
"They probably followed us. I've never seen them go beyond the city," Caliphar replied, watching the pair outside circle the bus.
Out of nowhere, a dagger flew through the air, impaling a creature in the neck as it collapsed to the ground. Spasms wracked its body as it lay dying.
"Whoa! Did you see that?" Caliphar pressed his hands against the window, watching the creature that had collapsed convulse.
Aurelia jumped up to stand beside him, looking out at the creature shuddering violently on the ground as its mate looked on helplessly.
A loud and sudden thud on the bus roof caught their attention; followed by several other loud, muffled thuds.
The creatures on the bus leaped off one by one, but did not run away.
They held their ground, glaring up at the roof. Their eyes shone bright in the sunlight.
"Wonder what's got their attention," Aurelia remarked, glancing sideways at Caliphar.
"I do too, but with that many creatures out there I'm a bit wary."
"I'm not!" She darted out of the bus, avoiding attracting attention to herself.
Standing upon the roof of the bus was a white wolf-girl with violet purple markings visible across her shoulders and striping the longer ruff of fur around her neck.
She wore a black tank top, tatty blue jeans and combat boots. Her tank top bore neon-green and purple lettering that read I love the eighties.
Goggles similar to Aurelia's covered her eyes.
She probably had them for the same purpose Aurelia did.
"Caliphar, you might want to come see this," Aurelia called, waving him over.
Caliphar swiftly exited the bus and came to stand by Aurelia.
His jaw dropped when he saw the stranger standing atop the bus.
"Hey there! Mind giving me a hand here?" She called to them.
Aurelia and Caliphar both swung their weapons around from their shoulders and began firing rounds at the creatures while the stranger on the bus kept them distracted by running back and forth across the roof.
Suddenly, she jumped down to the ground beside the first creature she had killed and pulled her dagger from its neck, spinning around on her heel in time to thrust her weapon into the neck of another creature that had leaped toward her.
"Damn! That was incredible!" Caliphar exclaimed, watching her slice the creature's throat open.
Its metallic red blood dripping down the dagger's twisted blade.
Aurelia dropped down onto one knee, raised her gun up, and fired just as one of the creatures leaped over her.
It landed on the ground beside her with a thud when the bullet pierced its chest.
Caliphar quickly rushed to Aurelia's side and knelt beside her. "You all right?" He asked, glancing sideways at the dead creature.
"Yeah, I just really want to know why the fuck these things came after us. And I want to know who the hell you are," She added as the stranger came to stand in front of her.
"My name's Soraf," She
replied curtly, cleaning the blood off her dagger with a rag pulled from her jean pocket.
"You're welcome, by the way. I did just save your lives."
"That I won't ignore and am somewhat grateful for, but we thought we were the only ones and you just show up out of nowhere. It just seems a little suspicious."
Aurelia eyed Soraf carefully as she stood up, swinging her gun back over her shoulder.