Almost There

The boy stopped, holding his fist up to signal for the girl to do the same. She did so, gladly. Her feet burned as if on fire, cuts and bruises covering almost every inch.

The boy peered over out over the town for a while, then ambled back to where she was waiting. His eyes were dull with exhaustion, obscuring the intelligence and warmth within them. He shook his head slowly.

“What’s it look like?” She asked.

“The river goes all the way down, far as I can see. That’s a no go. Town right in front of us, big bluff on the right-hand side. We’d have to go the long way around to bypass.”

“How long?” She asked.

He sighed. “Another day,” he said. “Maybe two.”

“We can’t do that,” she said firmly.

“Who knows who, or what, is in that town? There’s bound to be people there. We shouldn’t risk it. We should play it safe, go around.”

“We can’t, you know that,” she repeated. “When’s the last time you drank anything?”

He looked away, but she knew it had been too long. The damn rain had ruined everything, making the river all but unpassable and delaying their journey by two days. It roared loudly nearby, almost mocking them. The water there may look cool and clean, but it would kill them all the same.

“We’ll have to take our chances. We’ve handled worse. We can handle this as well,” she said.

“We don’t know what’s down there. It’s…what you have is too important,” he replied.

“All the more reason for us to get there as soon as possible. We’re no good to anybody if we die out there in the woods.” She absent-mindedly fingered the heart-shaped locket that hung around her neck.

He considered it, running all potential outcomes through his head. Ultimately, he knew she was right. They had to get there, safely. They had to.

“Okay. We’ve got about two hours before dark. From what I understand, safe zone begins where the trees end, there’s a swath of land cleared out all around, I hear. We get you there, we’re safe.”

She nodded. “Let’s do it then.”

He grabbed her hand, squeezed, and smiled, an odd mix of sadness and determination on his face. “How are your feet?”

“They hurt like hell. Now let’s go.”

They began climbing down the steep embankment of their vantage point and crossed the broken road into the small town. The sky burned a dull brown, the light just beginning to fade. Apparently, before the Fall, the sky used to be a bright blue. An odd thought.

They stayed low and moved fast, hugging buildings whenever possible, only stopping to check their corners and sightlines before moving. Soon, they found themselves at a dead end.

“Damn!” The boy whispered furiously. “We’ll have to go back.”

“Wait,” the girl said. “Maybe we can cut through this building. It should open up on the other side.”

The boy peered through a nearby window, pursing his lips.

“I can’t see anything,” he said. “I wonder if we…”

“What is it?” The girl said softly.

“Shh!” He hissed, raising his hand. He cocked his head to the side. “You hear that?”

She listened, but heard nothing, just the oppressive silence. She shook her head.

“Fine, let’s go, just be careful. Follow me,” he said. He tried the doorknob, found it unlocked and opened it slowly. She followed closely, quietly closing the door behind her. It was an old kitchen, though whatever supplies it held was long gone.

They eased through the saloon-type door at the end into a cavernous room. There was precious little light, but enough for them to see the horrors of what was before them. A number of seats were filled, the patrons nothing but skeletons with a few scraps of clothing still clinging to them. A macabre dinner party, attended by those ignorant of the calamity on the horizon.

The girl gasped softly, but the boy silenced her with a look. He was as shocked as she was, but they had to keep moving. He certainly didn’t want to hang around here any longer than necessary. They moved through the remains of the room, trying not to look too closely at the scene around them, when suddenly they heard a loud thud from across the room.

Light flooded the room, and the sound of voices could suddenly be heard. Someone was entering the building. They both dropped down, hiding under a nearby table. They were saved by the wall separating them from the front, but this advantage would only last a few seconds. There was no time to make it back to the kitchen.

“What do we do?” The girl asked frantically, her heart racing. She felt as though it was going to leap out of her throat. The boy thought fast, surprisingly calm. He knew they only had one chance.

“I’ll distract them. You’ll have to go, alone. It’s not far. Stay low, stay quiet,” he said quickly.

“No, I…I can’t go alone,” she said.

“You have to. You have to get to them.” He looked at her locket. “Keep it safe. It has to reach them, it’s the only thing that matters. She entrusted it to you for a reason. Now go,” he whispered with a tone of unmistakable finality. She looked into his eyes, and nodded with resignation.

“I’ll distract them, you crawl and slip out the back. It’s all on you now,” he said. “Now go.”

The strangers entered the room, lights shining around.

“Ugh, bloody hell,” a woman said.

“Wrong night for a dinner party, must have missed the memo on the arks,” a man replied.

“Shut it,” another man said, gruff and commanding. “Fan out, let’s take a look and get out of here. Dark soon.”

The girl looked back at the boy, who was now kneeling and watching her. He put his fist to his chest and nodded at her, then she watched him stand and raise his hands. She resumed her crawl to the door, she couldn’t let what he was about to do be in vain.

“Wait, don’t shoot!” He cried out. “Please!”

Every light in the room turned towards him. He covered his eyes with one hand, trying to see who he was addressing exactly.

“HANDS UP! COME OVER HERE, SLOWLY” The gruff-sounding man said. The boy, making sure to keep his hands held high, slowly walked over to the group of strangers. “Who are you, and who are you with?”

“Nobody, it’s just me. I’m…please, do you have any water? I’m so thirsty.”

A couple of them laughed at this.

“No water here for you, brudda,” one of them said. “At least not yet. It’s just you?”

“Just me,” he replied. “Me and my family were attacked a few days ago, I’ve been wandering ever since.”

“You sure? Scary place to be just wandering around in. You not lying to me, no? I don’t like being lied to,” the gruff man said.

“No, I promise,” the boy said.

The girl finally reached the back, a sixty-second crawl that felt like an eternity. She made her way back to the outside door, slowly opened it and stepped back into the street.

Asa soon as her foot hit the concrete, she felt a pressure on her head and was suddenly on the ground. She looked up to see a bearded man looming over her, the butt of his gun inches from her face and covered in a sticky-looking substance. She realized it was her own blood.

The man lifted her by her shirt, tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of goods and yelled to his group that he found someone. She tried to regain her bearings as he marched her back through the kitchen into the large dining room. The boy was kneeling in front of the leader of the group, while a nearby woman rifled through his pack.

“You were right, Major,” the bearded man said. “Caught her sneaking out the back.”

The man in charge looked at the boy, a pained expression on his face.

“You just promised you weren’t lying to me. Ty che blyad!” He said. “Bring her over here.”

The bearded man unceremoniously dumped the girl at the foot of the gruff man.

“I’ll ask you devochka, anyone else with you?” He said.

She shook her head vigorously. ”No...no, it’s just us.”

He looked at the woman holding the boy’s pack. She shook her head.

“You sure?” He asked. “Here, maybe this jog your memory.” He pulled out his gun, and fired a single bullet into the skull of the kneeling boy. The girl screamed as his now lifeless body slumped over.

“I’ll ask again, is anybody else with you?” He said, his tone that of a man just making conversation.

She tried not to, but her body betrayed her, and she glanced at her dead compatriot through stinging tears.

“He can’t help you devochka. He lied to me. You don’t want to make the same mistake, do you?”

She shook her head numbly. “I…it’s just me. We were…we were trying to get to the safe zone.”

He smiled cruelly. “Almost made it, too. It’s just over that way,” he said, pointing out the door. “But they don’t let just anyone in. No, they demand tribute. So why them, and not the Green Hats? Why not just give what you got to us instead? Save yourself from the fate of your friend.”

“I…we have nothing. Please…mercy. Just, all I want is mercy,” the girl said. “Please.”

The man shook his head sadly. “There is no mercy here devochka. Sal!” The woman holding the boy’s pack walked over. “You and Grey search her down, we’re going to look around. Make sure there’s no one else.”

“What about her after that boss?” One of the men, presumably Grey, asked.

The leader waved a hand casually. “Do what you will. Sal, just make sure you met us back at the point in thirty.” The man turned and left at once, sparing a glance for neither the girl he doomed or the boy he killed.

She felt Sal’s hands on her, searching and patting. After finding nothing, Sal looked at Grey.

“She’s empty. Do your thing, I’m going to look in the back,” Sal said. She looked at the girl with something approaching pity. Grey also looked at her, but there was no pity in those eyes. Only hunger.

She awoke sometime later, laying in a pool of blood, both the boy’s and her own. She felt numb. Dirty. Defiled. She gasped, and clutched at her chest...but, somehow, the locket was still there. Before the Fall, she was told it might have been a treasure, something of value. Now, it was just a worthless trinket, except…

She removed the locket from her neck, and opened it, her tears turning to those of relief in her eyes. They hadn’t found what was inside. Her bounty, her ticket to the safe zone was still intact. She wept, for a minute, or maybe an hour, it was hard to tell. With trembling fingers, she put the remains of her clothes back on.

She took a minute to compose herself, and to say goodbye to the boy. But she had to hurry. It was almost full dark, and she was so close. She put the locket back around her neck, its contents secure. She stumbled out of the building, off in the direction of the safe zone. Almost there.