Iron within a Rose

A lone tall figure toiled away in dimly lit area. Heavily covered from neck to the feet in a semi-bulky protective suit, with a clear glass helmet over the head, hunched over while tending to a row of plants. What was once a basement of the church ruins above, was now host to a variety of plant types that could grow in the colder weather inherent to the side of a mountain. Well placed, clear plastic sheeting affixed over the missing parts of the ground floor and sunken side of the basement wall kept the worst of the elements out, as well as enclosing the burgeoning crops.

The figure stood back up and curled back a moment, right hand on a hip with the other on the gardening implement stabbed into the soil as they looked up above to the dark night sky above the ruins. Turning to the electric lantern sitting on a bench nearby, facial features covered by a mask, piercing blue eyes stared at the silhouette in front of the glass. The silhouette was made by a heart shaped rose gold locket placed there so that any movement would cause a detectable shift in the ambient light and shadows.

The battered looking locket was an anachronism from a time when the world had made sense. It once belonged to the figure’s namesake maternal great grandmother. The letters R O S E, was still legible in the back, alluding to both the former and current owner. It had long been repurposed as a talisman of protection of sorts, the presence of a metal fragment within which would heat itself and the locket up and cause it to move towards a creature of the same kind that the fragment was once part of if nearby.

Rose stared intently at the locket’s silhouette, looking for any tell-tale signs of movement. She had seen it move earlier in the evening after feeling the ground shudder. Alarmed, she had taken the lantern and her spear and cautiously looked around the ruins, expecting to see one of the creatures. However, after a few laps, she had not seen anything in the albeit limited light and so returned to her work after resitting the locket.

Satisfied of no detectable change, she shook her head back in the glass helmet, flicking an errand strand in her red hair away from her eyes. Taking the garden implement in both hands, she went back to work, while mentally reviewing what she remembered about the history of the creatures that brought the world to ruin.

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It had been when the first Rose was only a child when the creatures came, the aftermath of a planetary meteor swarm. Each creature arose from a meteorite, their form that of a central body of plates encasing a green light with three to six limbs. It was soon apparent that each creature could wield electromagnetism and came with a hungering desire for magnetic material, which caused a worldwide disaster as they quickly multiplied.

Sizeable biological creatures were not safe, from elephants down to adult humans. When a Ferrumite was near, the metal atoms in the body would magnetise and change before being extracted from the body. For the lucky few, death was from asphyxiation while, for the rest, from the extraction process when they were still alive struggling for breath.

The scientists of the time had given them the scientific name of Ferrum diabolis. The names of iron boogeymen and metal vampires were also been banded around, before settling on Ferrumites, a name still instilling dread generations later.

Attempts to eradicate the creatures were of course attempted by the thinning world governments where they used the Ferrumites’ proclivities to herd them into clusters for nuclear strikes only for the Ferrumites to survive and return stronger.

At this, the remaining world leaders, elite and privileged took to space to regroup, becoming watchers who would reign nuclear destruction whenever the Ferrumites concentrated, even at the cost of human lives nearby.

The less fortunate on Earth, after much trial and error, took to the mountains to cluster as colonies where, thanks to favourable conditions inimical to the radiation and the Ferrumites, they fared better albeit in near deprivation and constant hunger.

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Engrossed in her work and her memories, Rose lost track of time despite continually checking on the locket. Only when she had filled her hessian sack with produce, she noticed it had gotten lighter in the sky above and, much to her chagrin, the rays of the sun were slowly working its way down the mountain side. She was overdue back to the colony and her people, the main reasons for this farming exercise.

Day time was the most dangerous time on the mountain for it was when any Ferrumites were active on the mountains if present. Night time robbed them of the sun, which, rendered them inert.

Hurriedly, she closed up the sack and picked it up, only to drop it when she spied the locket moving as if tracking something in the ground floor above her head. She ran to bottom of the steps leading up, grabbing the spear leaning against the wall nearby. Gingerly, she switched on the attached electric pulse device and slowly made her way up to look around.

There hadn’t been any sighting of a Ferrumite for nearly a month and only then it was at the bottom of the mountains that a returning foraging party had unfortunately crossed paths with.

The steps deposited Rose on the left side of the church, close to where the entrance would have been. Spear in hand, she looked around and sure enough, the blackened iron form of a Ferrumite was near the remains of the altar, fusing with the metal crossbar that was once part of a cross.

She watched on as the crossbar formed a new limb for the Ferrumite, one that bent in the middle after she saw it become white hot. Instead of dropping away, she saw the addition move and flex in an imitation of an arm or leg waving back and forth, as if trying to grasp or touch something.

Her reverie was broken as the end of the limb arrowed directly at her and it started towards her, tripping on the debris and broken pews. It was bigger than she was. Knowing that the floor above her was less cluttered, she raced to the remaining stairwell on the opposite wall that lead up to the second floor, hoping that the Ferrumite would be slowed by the narrowness of the stairwell.

As she crested the steps, she surveyed her surroundings, blocking out the crashing and breaking she was hearing below. She could already feel becoming light headed from the presence of the creature, so she turned the tap of the cylinder imbedded in the back of her suit near her spine, hoping the increased oxygen will buy her more breaths.

The far left side of the wooden floor was missing, approximately over where her crops would be in the basement below. Towards the back was what would have been the belfry above the chambers behind the main gathering hall of the church. The belfry was open to the elements, the ropes that would have once held and rang the bell swirling in the morning breeze.

Rose made her way to the middle of the floor, finding a knot in the floorboard to abut the end of her spear. As she made her way down to crouch, the Ferrumite burst onto the floor, all five limbs scrabbling around. One limb appeared to point at her quickly and the Ferrumite moved quickly towards her, resembling a black disembodied claw scrabbling towards her, the green light at its centre brightly visible.

As it neared her, it leapt, looking as if to grab onto her. Vision blurring, Rose tracked the position of the green light and whipped up the end of spear, embedding into a gap from which the light could be seen. However, to Rose’s dismay, as she thrusted the spear, her hands slipped up the spear’s haft as the Ferrumite’s momentum caused a bow and bend to the right that altered the creature’s trajectory to over Rose’s left. She ducked to her to right and felt the inevitable snap of the spear, flinging the Ferrumite to the wall but not before a flailing limb struck Rose’s helmet and back, sending her into a roll along the floor before coming to a stop.

Breathing increasingly heavier, she fought down pain and disappointment. Looking towards the belfry and beyond, a flash of inspiration gave her hope. She got up and race towards the belfry. Over her shoulder, she was the Ferrumite righting itself and gave chase, the detached head of the spear bobbing along with every step.

As she neared the belfry, Rose leaped and grabbed onto the ropes, preventing her fall down into the chambers below as she swung up and away from the Ferrumite. It scuttled to a stop, limbs splayed out as Rose returned. As Rose neared, the Ferrumite flailed a limb, which Rose adroitly avoided with her legs tucked into her, only for her to kick out down at the Ferrumite’s rising body.

Rose’s swing continued up and away, taking her into a slow spin, allowing her to see the Ferrumite fall to the ground below. Her vision dimming, she saw the following pulse of light and electricity, indicating the creature’s demise.

She had nearly blacked out when the rope she gripped snapped, sending her out through the opening in the ruin and out beyond.

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Rose woke up in the middle of a snowbank she had landed in, spluttering from the melted snow that had leaked in to where her helmet had cracked. Rolling quickly to her back, she saw the opening to the belfry that she had fallen out of. She still drew breath. She felt elation at her success and survival. As she got up to look around, her helmet broke apart, exposing her head to the environs. She grabbed at her thick shirt and pulled it over head for cover as she spied and went over to a nearby cracked sunken patch of ground. It was devoid of snow and saw the Ferrumite’s assumed trail that had taken it into the ruins.

Red sky above her, she moved as quickly as she back to the basement and her crops. Noting that the locket hung limply once more, she went to retrieve it and the lantern, when the locket suddenly shot out once more, this time straight to the limit of the chain and oscillated back and forth. Rose filled with panic at the intensity of the locket’s motion, pointing up and down the moutain. Picking up the locket, she returned to the belfry for a better vantage point and the view filled her with dread.

From down the mountain, streaming towards the colony, she spotted a large number of dark shapes and reflective glints in a menacing scything tide of Ferrumites. Her thoughts turned to despair as she heard a sound that she hoped to never hear for over the mountain wind, she heard the faint strains of the colony’s warning siren.

Overwhelmed, Rose sank to her knees as she bit off the sobs that threatened to overwhelm her.

Her focus went to locket, still wavering back and forth fiercely. She enclosed it in her right hand, stilling it as she brought it to her chest. It generated a heat that suffused her and calmed her as she recalled her duty and responsibility to the people of the colony.

Slowly an iron resolve grew within her, taking hold over her as it wrestled down her panic and despair. Slowly the threatening sobs subsided. Slowly her breath steadied. Slowly she rose up.

Then slowly at first but quickening with increasing determination, Rose climbed the slope back up towards her home and inevitable fate.