The Last Hope

“Finally this dust has settled.” Came the croaked voice of one of the guards. Outside of the walls, there was nothing. Just a sandy death trap. “At least we are safe in here, where the dust does not go, where the nuclear remnants cannot reach.” Came the voice of James. “Keep your eyes out sergeant, this is when they appear. This is when the raiders come.” Croaked the same guard. James a newly promoted watch guardsman stood up to look his senior officer in the face. He was old, his back curved from years of the watch.

“Why do they come? We have nothing tooter.” James responded, he joined hearing the stories of the raiders after the great war that sent the world into its barren state. The old guard looked at James. “We have shelter, we have the auction, and today’s auction is a special one, settlements all over this land will be coming to it, we have the rare marigold flower up for bid, and you can bet your bottom bottle top that this will go for serious bottle tops, maybe even some lingerie!” The old guard chuckled to himself.

James said nothing, a flower from the old world was rare and even rarer was the flower thought to bring back life.

“You just stick to your task, make sure no one interrupts the auction. This is how we survive these lands.” The old man finished as he went to sit down.

The time passed slowly as the beating heat from the desert sun scorched down on James, since the ozone layer had been damaged to the point of no return, it was forbidden to be outside for more than an hour.

James kept an eye on all of the lands he could see beyond the wall, not many people got this view, other than the delivery drivers. The wind gently whipped against his face as sand began to move across the Ince full lake that lay here.

“What time is the auction?” James asked as he looked behind to the old man who was laying on a makeshift mattress made up of old paper and tissues. “In about one-tenth of the suns moving.” Came the answer.

James put his hands above his head to see the sun's position. “The sun was at its highest point signifying the midpoint of the day. He sighed, “that is ages away.” He looked towards the old man who was now snoring through his congested nostrils.

James moved back into the small hut that was atop the guard post, this was his protection from the sun's unbearable heat.

“Hey, stranger.” Came the shout from down below, James looked down to see Lilly Hayes standing there, looking as beautiful as ever. “Hey Lilly, are you okay?” James asked taken aback by the wavy blonde hair and blue eyes of Lilly. “Yeah, just heading to the auction, it is the talk of the town.” She giggled. James nodded to her. “I have some bottle tops in my hut if you need them.” He shouted back to which she nodded and left, leaving James to wonder what he was actually doing up in the guard tower.

The sun had moved position and now it was getting close to the auction time. A steady stream of vehicles had entered the city so far and everyone's tensions where raising with every moment.

“They are coming.” Came the shout from another guard post. James grabbed the binoculars to see the sand being kicked up. The air became thick around James, this was the first time he was seeing a raid live.

“Alright sunny Jim, now this is where we earn our bottle caps.” The old man croaked as he stood up and pulled out an old-styled snipe rifle. “Back in my day, this was the weapon of choice.” He croaked as he leaned it against the side of the guard rail and leaned into it.

“Wh… what should I do?” James stuttered as he realised the action was on the way to him. “Head down to the auction and protect that God damn flower!” Screamed the man. James quickly jumped and headed for the ladder down to the ground. “Hey!.” The man screamed as he leaned further into his weapon, take your pistol, anyone enters that tent without official clearance, you put a pellet in between their eyes.” The old man coughed as he finished his sentence.

James nodded and headed down the ladder. Quickly, he began to run as the sirens began to blast at full volume, people scuttled inside their huts and locked their doors.

Shots began to fill the air from the guard towers. James sprinted towards the tent that filled the center of the town, with a pistol in hand he entered. “Everyone stay down, do not move.” He screamed in a commanding tone, just like he learned at the academy. Everyone listens. The floor was scattered with people, petrified for their lives. “Do not worry, we have dealt with the raiders before.” James shouted above the sound of gunshots ringing out.

James looked around the tent, old wooden tables aligned all sides of the tent where people sat in the middle was the stage where the items were brought out, in the center surrounded by a plastic casing was the flower.

The flower was a bright yellow colour, with the writing African Marigold Perfect Condition. Inscribed in the casing. James took his position moving tables into the way to act as a barricade. “THEY ARE INSIDE!” Came the announcement.

James’ heart stopped beating as he realised he was about to come face to face with the devil itself. The raiders.

James braced himself waiting for the masks to enter the tent, his arms tensed as he waited, sweat building upon his brow, screaming from the outside raised as he knew the raiders were close now.

He looked behind him at the flower, the last fully intact item, from a yester-world that no longer exists.

A loud bang outside of the tent woke James from his daydream, blood splattered onto the inside of the tent, as a watchman fell backward into the tent, a hole pushed through his body. James’ eyes bulged at the horrific sight.

“Secure the parcel dears, let's get out of New Hampton alive.” Came the sharp voice of a woman, she walked in, wearing a white leather jacket and sunglasses in the old style. She saw James holding his gun up. “Shoot me then.” She snarled as she moved towards him.

James did not know what to do, how to handle this. His training. Think about the training. He thought as images of the academy flashed before his eyes, blackness soon instilled.

“James, wake up.” Came the familiar voice of Lilly his childhood sweetheart. “They have the flower.” James woke abruptly.

“They are trying to take us back to the old ways before the war, we cannot let that happen.” Lilly screamed. James touched his face and felt a light liquid on his fingers. He checked as now his mouth filled with an ironic taste that he knew was his blood. “I am going after it.” James answered as he looked at the horrified look on Lilly’s face.

“But you cannot go out into the wasteland, the nuclear damage will kill you.” She shouted. But James had already made his decision.

Slowly, James got to his feet, the world around him in chaos and spinning. He took a deep breath. Remember your training. He once again thought as he left the tent.

Bodies were flung everywhere, as watchmen had fell protecting the tent, massive holes blown out of them by powerful guns.

James ran towards the open gates in the wall, where an old dirt bike from the before time lay. Quickly he got on it and looked at the weird controls. No computers to help.

He found the starter gave the motorbike a rev and flew into the sandy, nuclear wastelands, seeing the smoke in the distance escape him.

Just keep riding. He thought as the motorbike continued to pick up speed, he checked his satchel, which had his standard issued pellet gun inside, he grabbed it in his left hand, continuing to control the motorbike with his right.

He could see he was catching up to the raiders but had no idea how many there were. Here goes nothing. He thought as closer and closer he got, turning around to see the walls of New Hampton disappear into the sand dust.

Soon he could see, there was just the lady riding in an old fashioned car, he got close and shot at the tires. Quickly the car rolled onto its side, no high- speed chase required, no crashing. Just the sound of the metal frame of the car crying as it flipped.

Soon it came to a stop. James pulled the brakes on the motorbike as he watched the woman crawl out of the car, trying to get her hands on all the jewels that had been flung into the sand.

James slowly walked over and pinned the woman down.

“You stupid boy.” The woman whispered harshly in the sand. “You have ruined it, you have ruined us, we can no longer go back.” As she looked at now the marigold, bent out of shape and dying. “Go back, we can never go back, there are rules which foray it.” James shouted as the wind whipped the sand.

The woman laughed. “Rules set by the victors of the war.“ She spat. “They are your overlords, not mine. I believe in the yester-world, one where many had freedom.” She spat harder, blood trickling out of her mouth.

“You killed innocent people.” James shouted. The woman looked up at him.

“There are no such thing, not anymore, you are the product of a system of mass breeding, that happened after the war was finished. The sand is not nuclear at all, you would be dead by now. Bet that was the first rule the taught you at the academy.” She yelled with a smirk on her face. James looked back at the sand. He was told exactly that. The walls protect you from the nuclear waste, the vans that come in are protected, but that is all. His memories flashed back.

“I am sorry to inform you it is all a lie, created to allow the rulers to keep the population in control. We raiders are the outcasts of life, we choose to live in the nothing, to try and bring back together the world. But now it all is impossible, without that flower.” She sighed as she sat up feeling her stomach. “You must continue the search young man, my time is over, take these glasses and keep heading north, there you will find the truth, stay on that motorbike.” She whispered, as the pain in her face intensified.

“But be wary, the overlords will try and stop you. Go discover your truth. Be free at last young one.” She spluttered as she fell to the ground.

James looked up. He looked back towards where he had come from and looked towards the north where he could go. His decision was easy, it was a decision he had known for the longest time before he agreed to become a watchman for New Hampton.

I decide my own destiny. He thought as he picked up the sunglasses and jewels as well as the remnants of the flowers and headed north, never to be controlled again.