The Scout

“From here on out, you cannot talk back to me.” A young man speaking through my ear piece, he sounds nervous, wonder how many people he has guided through the city. “Adam, I need to know you understand give me a thumbs up infront of your cam if you understand.” I’ll raise my middle finger to the camcorder strapped to my hat. “Very funny.” I thought so too. “Alright, last known feral location is three clicks north, we go in, we confirm their hideout, we leave.” Not my first trip kid, give him a real thumb up this time. “Alright ready when you are.” Time to get to work. The city looks like shit, concreate roads cracked with weeds and grass growing though them, most the windows are all broken shattered on the ground not too much to window shopping these days unless you like skeletons or expired goods. Cars are all abandoned, tires stripped most of them too rusted to work anyway. “You know I have never seen a car work before.” Of course you haven't, you were born after the doom not many running cars around these day. “Alright you want to go left at this intersection.” Would have been easier if he left me a map.

“Has it been a while since you been here?” Too long, God I can't really remember what it was like before all this, I remember the city being very busy, lots of everything going on, people walking, cars moving, where they were walking to I don’t know maybe to work maybe to home and now it's only me on these streets. Crap the kid wants an answer. I’ll throw up a quick thumbs up no need to waste time. “Yeah, it's been a while for me too, only been here maybe once but that was enough.” Better start walking or the kid will talk to me to death. So far so good, no feral in sight, no bandits or scavengers either you’d think humans would all band together in a time on crisis but look how wrong we were. “Is that a music shop on your left?” wow look at that, a shop with a window still intact, dam I’m old when did I ever get white hairs on my beard. “Alright Santa Claus, keep moving. Hey if we come back this way can pick me up some guitar strings? mine are all old.” What does this kid want a grand piano also? I’ll see but no promises.

“Alright from here we go right at the next street then left down main street.” Why does he keep saying we, it's not like he is out here in the field doing all the work he is just behind an old map watching what I see through a camera. “What was that?” I don’t see anything. “Near the tree to your right.” Kid sounds even more nervous, I'm sure it's nothing. Well, I can see the tree. “Bwark” a familiar sound makes “Bwark, Bwark.” Well would you look at that it's just a little crow. “Phew, my mistake.” Jumpy little prick. “Hey over here!” A man’s voice down the street yells. “Oh shit, quickly get to a hiding spot.” You don’t have to tell me twice, behind the dumpster I go. “Get your rifle out what do you see?” Three looters armed with nothing but makeshift weapons and armor, one has a pipe in his hand, another had a rusty knife and remaining one is looting through an old four wheel drive, looks like they found something one of them portable gaming thinga ma jigger. “How many are there?” I put three fingers infront of the camera. “I wouldn’t bother looks like they haven't spotted you.”

“Alright, change of plan we can cut through the watch shop a couple buildings a head of you exit through the back and then from there it's just in and out of buildings until we are on main street.” “Bwark, Bwark.” Dam crow shut the hell up, “A bird! Get it.” One of the looters calls out. “Stay still.” Just a quick peak, dammit they are running this way. A loud unhuman screech echoes through the street, the looters are frozen by fear. “Run.” The crow flies away in a hurry. “Quickly get to the watch shop.” I open the door and a small bell makes a ding noise, fuck. “Get to the back.” I can hear the looters screaming from here sounds like they are losing that fight, might buy me some time, might not. “Hurry exit though the back.” nothing but broken glass everywhere, every step I take makes a cracking noise need to be light on my feet. I move pieces out of my path with my shoe. “We don’t have time for this, you need to go!.” Another human like screech echoing down the street only this time it's closer. I can feel my heart racing in my chest “Run!” Stuff it. Before I knew it I'm out the door.

Why am I on the ground? “Get up Adam, get up!” must have tripped over something. “You need to leave!” God dammit shut up, my wallet where is it? “Adam what are you looking for?” There it is, crap its back at the door. “Adam leave it!” No. Just need to sneak up to it one footstep after another their easy. “You happy now? Got what you wanted.” He doesn’t understand this has the last picture of her, Siena. “Alright, look for a back door but keep quite.” Lucky the picture is still intact, I'll never forget that night, it was near perfection the way she looked at me, her dark blue eyes could piece through mine and in an instant she knew all my secrets and yet kept them to herself. The way her heart locket would seem to dance around as we were dancing, God I wish I knew where she went. “I’m sorry Adam, I didn’t know.” I just nod to let him know I'm okay, no need for this distraction now. There a back door that’s broken open that will do. “I lost my family too, early on that is, I was born early into the doom and the NPM took me in, raised took care of me. I’d wish I’d seen it, life before the doom.”

Well now look at this, an arcade. Haven't been to one of these in a long time. “Okay this place looks cool.” Thumbs up kid. Some of the plush toys are still intact, if I had the numbers would totally take that basketball game back to camp those people need some sort of entertainment. “Man, we need some of these things, the photobooth would be fun.” It's in poor condition but yeah it would be. “Alright we leave here continue right for a little while then down left main street, might want to pick up the pace get some distance between us and them ferals.” Yeah it’s be quite maybe the Feral is having a quick snack but don’t want to be around when its hungry. “People in the NPM suspect the ferals can still talk that they haven't fully lost their marbles.” The New Peoples Militia most of them are born during the doom these days or have forgotten what humanity used to be like. Honorable intentions at least retake land one piece at a time. “One guy told me a feral spoke to him, told him to leave, can’t confirm that his cam wasn’t on at the time it broke during a scouting op.” Mediocre.

No sign of ferals nor them looters they must be long gone by now. “Alright turn left down main street, the guy before you was last reported not too far from here.” Comforting. Why is it always the silence that spooks me? Three minutes ago, the screams of men dying alerted me to trouble but this nothing but wind feels like I'm being watched. I feel safer with my rifle in hand, the Steyr SSG, I picked this up of a dead military man during on my ventures in the outer city, he clearly didn’t need it anymore. The silence is gone I can hear the footsteps of the animal before I see it, a horse just down main street searching for food. The saddle is still intact maybe the rider is close by or maybe its alone. “That's a sight we don’t see every day.” Alright best keep moving. The roar of a feral fills the silence. Oh no. “To your left take the emergency stairs up to the roof.” Smart thinking. Luckily the ladder is already down, rifle sling to my back, time to climb. “Oh no, that poor horse.” I can’t watch that right now, got to focus on me. Sounds like the feral got to it, I can hear it scream in pain.

Alright this should be a good height. “Might be best we wait this one out, we could follow the feral see if it leads to their base.” Let's take a look at the monster shall we. Looking through the scope. There's the horse poor boy didn’t stand a chance. Oh, there it is can only see the back of it, its skin is flaking no longer a peach color more a grey then anything, surprised its has hair intact just some black long strands, the clothes its wearing are somewhat intact a torn faded red dress never seen a feral in a dress normally it’s a shirt and pants but never a dress. “Hard to believe these used to be human. Wander who she used to be.” Theirs that face, grey, boils and broken teeth and a, oh no, no. “Adam?” “No” “Adam what's wrong? You got to stay quite.” A heart shaped locket around her neck. No, it can't be her “Adam listen it's not her.” All this time, I can't let her live like this. “Adam, stop lower your rifle.” my eyes are filling with tears. “Adam! Stick to the mission we are so close.” Finger on the trigger, scope on the head all I have to do is pull. “No!” “I’m sorry kid.” the silence is broken by a gunshot, followed by an impact followed by several roars around the city.