Into the Wastelands

Start writing..... Zander

It’s so hard to breathe. I’ve felt pain before but nothing like this. It’s like someone has stuck a white hot iron rod down my throat. I haven’t had food in three days and I just finished the last bit of my water yesterday, it was windy and one of the hottest days yet. I try focusing on sitting up but I’m so disoriented it takes me forever just to get my hands under my shoulders to push myself up off the red dirt. As my head stops spinning I notice I’m inside of a culvert.

I’ve been traveling for months to get back home after I finally escaped out of Grimburg. One of the four cities in this world that keeps order and peace among the people or that’s what they want you to believe. Out of the three of us who tried to escape I was the only lucky one enough to get out. I was a scavenger back in Malimoor. A tiny village hidden away for people who have escaped in the past. Our team went out the search for food and other necessities our village needed. Then we were caught in a trap and brought to Grimburg to be used how the Governor sees fit. He takes whatever he wants while his people suffer. If they don’t fall in line, well nobody really knows what happens to the people they take away. The rumors are enough to keep most people out of trouble.

I’m out in the wastelands now, its all desert and a orange haze that settles on the horizon. Its dangerous being out in the open without anywhere to run to hide for long periods of time. It’s always so hot and if it does rain, it’s acid rain. Everything hard to come by now a days and the people I have happen to run cross were not the greatest of beings. I’ve been super lucky in my travels and I’m getting so close.

I pull out my little sister’s heart shaped locket she gave me before I left. We may be fifteen years apart but I helped raise her while our parents were working to keep food on the table. Inside the locket is a picture of our mother and father. “100 more miles" I whisper to myself as I run my finger over the locket. I can only hope they’re alive and safe.

Once my head stops spinning I realize that I must have passed out good because the sun is already setting. It maybe easier to travel during the night because of the cool temperatures but the more dangerous creatures come out during that time too. Unfortunately I have little in my backpack for protection against any of the monsters that are in the wastelands especially a Sand Leviathan.

I’m lucky enough that I am able to see a far ways in front of me incase I see someone coming but unfortunately with that position I have no shelter to hide behind either. I feel like I’ve been walking for hours but based on the sun’s position I’ve only been walking for an hour. The lack of food and water isn’t helping either. Finally in the distance I see something prompted up on a rock. As I get closer I realize it’s a backpack.

Everything in me is screaming that it’s a trap but to survive the rest of my hike home I’m going to need whatever I can find and I am really hoping there is water and food in it. I keep my distance at first walking around the rock and checking the surroundings before I approach the bag. I even throw a rock at it to knock it off just incase. Thankfully nothing happens. I finally feel safe enough to walk up and open the backpack. I find a jacket, some protein bars and two bottles of water. I quickly move the contents over into my own pack.

All of a sudden there is a knife to my throat. Calmly I lift my hands up over my head. “I’m assuming that this belongs to whomever is holding the knife to my throat right now?” I make sure to stay a still as possible so they know I mean no harm. “Yes.” A small feminine voice comes out from behind me.

“Well if you could ease up and remove it from my neck that would be grand. I promise I won’t hurt anyone, I’m just trying to get back to Malimoor.” I say with a calm voice. “Malimoor?” Says another female voice from behind me just a bit further away. “Yes, do you know it?” I ask suddenly realizing there could be more then just the two behind me. The knife comes off my neck and slowly I turn around. I’m happy to see that there is only the two women standing behind me and not a group ready to tear me to shreds, even though they wouldn’t find much anyway.

“I’m Ember and this is my girlfriend Liz. We’ve been traveling for a while looking for a safe haven. Unfortunately we have not found any other town of village beside s the major cities” Ember, dressed in black and short hair, looks like the kind of woman you wouldn’t want to pick a fight with, even on her worst day. I’m sure she could handle her own and not break a sweat. Liz on the other hand is small and petite with long blonde hair but she stands like she could take on anyone who would dare get in her way. They both look around their mid twenties, close to my age. “I’m Zander and I’m sure Malimoor would welcome you if you’d like to join me. We are only about eighty miles away. So we should get there in about three or four days. As long as we don’t run into trouble.” The girls look at each other like they are having a conversation in their head. Based on their facial expressions I think they’re wondering if they can trust me. Honestly I’m wondering the same about them.

“We will come with you to Malimoor, on one condition.” Ember says. “What’s the condition?” I ask. “Your going to give us your weapons and you’ll help carry our gear.” Liz says as she steps forward with her hand stretched out waiting for me to hand over everything I have on me. It’s not like I have much anyway and I’m really hoping they will share some of their water and food. I pull out my dagger and hand it over to her as a sign of goof faith. “and if we run into something that wants to kill us, are you going to let me help?” I don’t take my eyes of them while I pick up the packs. They look like they are sizing me up just incase but I’ve been trained as a Scavenger since I was twelve years old and its going to take a lot more then lack of nutrients to take me down. “I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it.” Ember says.

Ember

I know Liz isn’t a fan of this but it’s our best chance at survival right now. We can’t just keep hoping they won’t find us. We need to find a safe place to start over. “May I have some of your water and a bar from your pack?” Zander asks. I take a quick glance towards Liz and turn back to nod to Zander. He looks relieved. Liz might not be happy with me, she always think everyone is after us, she’s not wrong, it seems like it most of the time. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her though. She’s my only family and I hers. We’ve been through more then any child should.

We’ve been walking for three days now and we should be getting close to Malimoor. So far we haven’t seen or heard anything that could make us think that Zander is setting us up. “I think we are only about two hours outside of the village, we will be there before sundown.” Says Zander. We ate and drank the last bit of food and water yesterday. We are slowing down and the heat is getting to us all. We are more irritable now.

All of a sudden the ground starts shaking and we are all trying to keep our balance. “RUN!” yells Zander. We are running as fast as we can go but Liz is falling behind, I slow my pace to make sure I can help her if I need to. Suddenly all the shaking stops but we keep running. We continue for about two minutes before we have to stop and catch our breath. “What in the hell was that!” I yell hoping that Zander will have an answer. “I would guess a Sand Leviathan , it must have been moving into a different position underground because we should’ve been dead by now.” Says Zander. I see Liz’s face go white. That doesn’t put either of us at ease. I tell Liz that we have to keep moving and we should be there soon.

Finally after a couple more hours we can see the small village beyond the Orange haze in the sky. We should be relieved but something is making me keep my guard up. We make it into town but everyone has came out of their homes to stare at us to make sure we don’t cause any issues. A little girl screams Zanders name and comes running out of a house and he meets her half way in an embrace. It’s a heart felt moment but sad in a way because the little girl is crying. They must have been separated for a while. Zander pulls something out of his pocket, a necklace I notice and puts it around her neck and kisses her head then whispers something in her ear. She runs off back into the house.

Zander comes back over to where we are standing frozen in front of the villagers “Come on in, I’m sure we will have you guys settled in a couple days. Until then your welcome to stay with my family.” Liz and I both say “Thank you.” We make our way into their home. We’ve all cleaned up and have had some food. Zanders mom and sister are very nice, his father passed away when his sister was a baby while out Scavenging.

Just as we are settling down and getting to know each other three large horn blasts go off that scares us all. I see Zander, his mom and sister get up like they’ve rehearsed this a thousand times. “What’s happening?” Liz asks. “They’ve found the village” Zander says letting us know that we have to get our emergency gear and run. Again. As we come out of the house hundreds of people are swarming like ants getting on busses and making sure they have everything they need. We huddle in the back of a bus as it takes off with others following behind. “What happens now?” I ask anyone who will answer. An old man glances up just from under his hat to say “we try not to get caught and find a new home."

I might not want to hear the answer but I ask anyway “and if we don’t?” The man looks at me and I can see the jagged scar running down across his face. “We broke city laws. We left. What do you think they’re going to do. They’ll kill us. Or worse.” I don’t think I need to ask what’s worse then death. I’ve felt the pain as a child, wishing death would finally take me. All I do now is hold onto Liz and hope we make it out alive. We are fighters and we will continue to fight.