Note: this a compilation of all 8 parts of Chapter 1.
I peer out into the moonlit night through the old rusted bars of the window. I shift on the similarly rusted oil barrel, precariously attempting to maintain my balance. I often sit here, gazing out across the field of tall grass waving gently in the moonlight. Looking to the woods beyond, I muse on the days gone past. The sunset is beautiful and its rays bouncing across the landscape often sparks my imagination, sometimes even prompting me to write. Now that it was becoming dark I entertain more depressing thoughts. Holding no regrets was something I once thought I could manage to do. Now, I'm not so sure.
“Lo, of regrets I do have many,”
“Many things I would change of the past.”
A tear makes its way down my cheek. I roughly wipe it away. What was done is done, and there's nothing I can do to change that.
“But hark, the past remains unchanged,”
“Unchanged in reality, and in me.”
I slam my fist onto my knee, dropping my pencil in the process. Why is it so hard for me to move on and forget all of these things? Must I constantly be haunted by my past choices?
I bend down, pick up my pencil and start writing again.
“See, they still haunt me to this day,”
“They, the wrong decisions I have made.”
The sound of footsteps on the metal stairs behind me arouses me from my deep thoughts. I see Adrienne's pretty head appear at the top of the staircase, her auburn hair bobbing up and down as she clambered up the metal stairs. She knows some of my past, and I know that she is worried about me. It is a testament to her character that she always tries to be understanding of my need for time alone.
She looks at me and gives a weak smile, and I give her a sad smile in return. She knows what I'm thinking about. More or less.
“But now I have a new hope for the future,”
“Yet it is still foreshadowed by the past.”
She walks up to me and gently rests her hand on my shoulder.
"Are you alright?" she asks softly.
"I'm fine," I reply, quickly covering my poem with my hand while trying to make the movement look casual.
"What were you writing about?"
"It's nothing, really... Just some rant." I look down at my hands and fumble with my pencil.
"I see... are you going to come sleep soon? You know that you need rest."
I place my hand over hers. "I'll come soon. I just need a few more minutes."
She looks at me for a second, then nods. As soon as I hear her footsteps clank down the metal stairs, I continue writing.
“What was done is done, no one can change it,”
“My only hope is that the future will bring comfort.”
Musing some more of the future, I think of tomorrow and the days coming afterwards.
It was a catastrophe, really. Now, there is no supermarkets, no malls: only nature. The trees beyond hold my only food source, but also my greatest danger. Nature is both your friend and your greatest enemy.
“The greatest challenge lies ahead,”
“Danger is around future's corner.”
I stand up and walk downstairs into the large room that serves as our dormitory. Many beds are scattered across the room; few are full. Mine is right next to the only window in the dormitory. I love looking at the stars as I fall asleep. Yet there is also a part of nature that I do not dare to love. The empty beds are evidence of that.
“Many friends have I lost in this war,”
“The war against both man and beast.”
I sit down on my bed, fighting back tears at the thought of my lost friends. They are all gone, never to be brought back again. They are part of my past, but not my future. Oh, if only I could bring them back...
But I still have some companions left, the remnants of all the strife and hardship, and I am determined to not let harm come to any of them. They all feel the same about me.
“I hold fast to what I have now,”
“Never wanting to let them go.”
“For we are all that is left,”
“We, the remnants, only us.”
The year is 2040, five years after the end of World War III. Nuclear weapons, electro-magnetic pulses (EMPs), biological weapons and other weapons have destroyed most of civilization as we know, leaving vast wastelands in their wake. Ninety percent of the world's population is dead. Most of those that survived are either sick, injured or near the brink of death. Hundreds are dying daily. The governments that haven't been completely annihilated are rumoured to be hiding in bunkers underground. There is no law, no police, and no prisons. Street justice rules now. The small part of the population that are healthy enough to survive usually form groups, since many skills and high numbers of people are needed to survive and counter threats. Some are populating cities and hope to rebuild them, but this will surely take time. And without any electronic devices or modern technology that work, people are essentially back to the Dark Ages. Hunting, foraging, farming and stealing are the only ways to get food. Life is very hard.
This is the story of Humphrey and his group of friends. We will follow them on their many adventures as they fight for survival in the unforgiving wilderness that is their home.
I awoke to the feeling of the sun's warm rays dancing across my face. Temporarily blinded by the brightness of the light, I sat up on my bed and rubbed my eyes. Looking outside, I see that the sky is cloudless. I'm pleased that the weather will be good today: a rainy day usually means being cold and wet, with mud and water everywhere, and also acid rain. The toll the war took and the damage caused on the earth and its atmosphere is irreparable. Now, whenever it rains, it brings chemicals down with it, stinging our skin and even eating away our clothes. The radiation is also widespread, but our location in a valley between mountains offers some shelter from it. Nevertheless, all of us are afraid of the effects of radiation. We have heard many stories of mutations and other grisly defects caused by the radioactive mist that now covers most of the earth. Iodine is in great demand because of the resistance it creates to radiation and we have managed to obtain a bottle containing a small amount but, thankfully, we have had no need to use it yet.
EMPs have also destroyed nearly every electronic device on earth. Only those that were in Faraday cages were safe. The only people who possess those electronics are the governments and rich people, or what's left of them. Most are hiding in underground bunkers.
Rumours have been making rounds that some governments have come out of hiding and are planning rebuilding cities, but they remain just that: rumours.
I turn over onto my side and look at Adrienne in the bed to my right. She is still sleeping. I think back to our many childhood memories together. We were born in the same suburb and went to the same kindergarten, primary school and high school. It was in my senior year and her junior year that the war started. The school sounded its fire alarms, and we all rushed to the assembly area. Everyone thought that it was just a fire drill, so we were quite shocked when police officers appeared and started herding us into buses. As I climbed up into the nearest bus, trying to keep pace with the sudden surge of students rushing towards the buses, I saw Adrienne already in the bus, sitting near the back. I pushed through the throng of bodies and found a seat next to her.
"What's happening?" I asked. "This obviously isn't a fire drill."
"It sure isn't," she said, looking worried.
I stood when I felt the bus rock slightly as it pulled away and walked forward along the aisle toward the driver. I recognized him as the old Scottish man who lived next door. He had signed up to be a substitute driver for the school.
"What's happening?" I had to raise my voice over the din of the din of the chatter of children's voices. "Where are we going?"
I noticed the worried look on his face. The creases that it made made him look older than he actually was. This worried me: he was known to always be upbeat, even in hard times.
"Sorry sonny," he said. "I'm not allowed to tell ya. Jus' go sit back down in yer seat. Everythin'll be fine."
"But can't you just tell us where we're going?" I pleaded.
"Listen sonny," he said, becoming slightly irritated. "It's the coppers' orders. Now go sit back down in yer seat. You’ll find out soon what’s up."
Reluctantly I walked to the back of the bus and sat down again.
Adrienne looked at me questioningly. I just shook my head. I looked up to find quite a few heads turned in my direction. Everyone had heard my exchange with the driver. Everyone was worried.
As we travelled, I noticed by the position of the sun that we were travelling in a south-easterly direction, away from town towards the mountains. It was roughly two hours later that we came to a stop at a police roadblock. I saw a long line of cars on the other side of the roadblock and then realized that we had seen no cars in the oncoming traffic. We all pressed our faces against the windows to see what was happening. A policeman walked up to the driver's window and checked the driver's license. He briefly glanced at us in the bus. Satisfied, he waved us through and as we were driving past the last police car we the bus rocked in what felt like a huge earthquake.
This sudden shaking was shortly followed by an explosion eclipsing all the thunderstorms I had ever heard. My hearing was temporarily gone with a nagging high-pitched ringing taking its place.
We heard shouts and saw people pointing down the road behind us. Turning in our seats, Adrienne and I accidentally knocked our heads together in our rush. Dazed from the knock, but still curious, I managed to look out the back window. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, not believing my eyes. A giant mushroom was forming in the distance. And it was huge.
"Tell me that I'm dreaming," I said to no one in particular. "This stuff only happens in movies. It... it can't be real."
I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder, and I heard the driver's voice next to my ear.
"Well, sonny, now ya know."
I sat back down, bewildered, my legs suddenly feeling weak. Turning to Adrienne I saw her hunched over with her head in her hands. I comfortingly put my hand on her shoulder. Without looking at me, she quietly spoke: "That was a bomb, wasn't it? But it... it must have exploded near our town... it is in that direction. What about my parents? My brother? My friends? Did they get away in time? I can't even bear to think about it... Humphrey, I'm scared."
"It's going to be alright," I said, having to keep my voice strong as I realized the gravity of the situation. "They'll have been evacuated, just like us. They're safe."
We sat for there a few minutes in silence, then Adrienne simply rested her head on my shoulder. I put my hand on her head and gently stroked her hair.
I looked up to see the driver still staring out the window.
"I hope yer right, son. I hope to God that yer right."
I swallowed hard, knowing that until we saw our families again, we'd be left in uncertainty.
Then I thought, why would anyone want to bomb us? Sure, we were an important country, but we had no real enemies. We were at the forefront of civilization and there hadn’t been a war in half a century.
“That’s an atomic bomb...” I stated with a grimace.
Everybody nodded their agreement.
“Hey, my phone doesn’t want to turn on!” one of the other children on the bus shouted. She’s frantically been trying to call her parents.
“Mine too,” shouted another.
I took mine out and found a similar result. It was just dead, as if its battery had drained. But mine had been fully charged when we left. Now we couldn’t call our families to see if they were okay.
"So, where are we going now?" I asked the driver, trying to get our minds off of everything that was going wrong.
He pointed out the front window.
"Those there mountains. Protection from radiation they said. I think they know what they're talkin' about."
Then it hit me. Radiation was coming. The worst part of the bomb.
But how did they know that the bomb was coming in the first place? Why was it launched at us? Many of questions flooded my mind, but they remained unanswered.
I bring my mind back into the present from the flashback, and I hear Blake's bed creak as he gets up to my left. We nodded a greeting, not wanting to wake the others. He always wakes early to take early morning walks. Blake is a really nice guy, yet much of an introvert. Electronics and engineering is his thing and you could always find him fixing something. No one knows where his parents are. Poor fella.
My mind turns back to those fateful days on the bus.
I had awoken with a jump, and for a moment I did not know where I was. Then everything came flooding back in. We had been in the bus for two days, living in it while the driver kept on driving. Food was thankfully available at each stop, but for how long we didn’t know. Cars were bumper-to-bumper on every single road so progress was slow. I had lost count of how many towns we had passed. Last night I had fallen asleep next to Adrienne while we still travelling toward a mountain range in the distance. Looking around to see what had aroused me, I noticed that most of the others were still sleeping. Then I saw that we had just crossed a bridge and slowed down to a halt on the side of the road. The driver stood up and looked back into the bus, and I waved to him. He gestured for me to come forward.
"I saw a fire in a house behind those trees o'er there," he said while pointing with a stubby finger at a cluster of trees a hundred metres away. Only then did I realize that it was raining. How he’d been able to spot the smoke in that rain I didn’t know.
"You stay here and watch the bus. I'll go see if anyone needs help."
I grabbed his arm when he turned to go.
"Don't you need me to come with you?"
"It's not dangerous, I'll just be checking to see if anyone needs help. I'll be quick," he promised.
I nodded slowly and he opened the door and stepped out. After a few seconds he had disappeared into the trees beyond. I could still only barely see the smoke rising beyond the trees because of the rain. Some children had also awoken.
Suddenly I was hit by some unseen force and thrown to the floor. A flash of light engulfed the bus for a moment, then it faded to a red hot haze. As I pulled myself up using a metal railing, I saw where the explosion had come from. The house. I rushed out the door and jumped outside. My mind raced as I ran towards it. Had he been gone long enough to have entered the house? Could he have survived such a blast?
I could feel the searing heat from the angry flames hitting my face as I closed in on the burning heap of rubble that was once a house. I pushed through the low-hanging branches of the trees to get a better view. The heat was overwhelming, even twenty metres away where I was standing.
Looking around and not seeing the driver, I shouted his name a few times, but there was no response. Getting closer to the house was not an option, as it would be suicide. I kept on looking at the house, peering into the flames, but I did not see him or anyone else. I would never see him again.
I skirted around the house to try and see what might have caused the fire or the explosion. Unfortunately, I was so blinded by the flames I couldn’t see anything. It was hopeless, I decided, and trudged back to the bus in the mud that was now forming because of the rain.
Curious faces peered out of the windows as returned. I slowly climbed the steps and stood at the front of the bus. Adrienne was there. Looking around at everyone, I saw their scared faces, and I sympathized with them. This... all of this... it just didn’t feel real. I mean, how could this have ever happened? None of us could imagine this.
We were on our own now. We also didn't know where to go. Sure, we knew the general direction he was driving in, but we still didn't know where exactly. Our only hope was finding some official-looking guy who could tell us where to go.
“What happened?” she asked me, softly laying here hand on my arm.
“He’s dead,” I answered, looking at the ground. “The driver. He saw a house on fire and stopped to see if he could help. It exploded while he was inside.”
A few girls started crying, no doubt affected by having to wake up with a bang with news that your only hope for safety was dead. As I looked at them, I knew somebody had to hold them together and lead them now. Somebody had to make the decisions.
“Listen up everybody,” I shouted over the crying. “Hey, listen up! It’s not going to help us to sit here and, well, cry. I know what’s happened, but what’s done is done. Let’s make a plan to save ourselves now, and then we can worry about other things later. Any objections?”
A hush had fallen over the bus.
“Good. Does anyone know how to drive?”
Silence.
"Anyone?" I asked again.
I slammed my first against the side of the bus. Now what?
There wasn't anywhere we could stay, and it was getting dark. The rain was getting worse.
Then I started selling a strange smell. It was almost the kind of smell you would get when walking in a forest after a heavy rain, but only somehow more pure.
I stepped outside for a second and immediately felt a stinging on my skin. It wasn't like a burning feeling, but only a slight stinging feeling. I opened my mouth to taste it. Big mistake.
The bitterness of it absolutely seared my mouth through. Coughing like crazy, I staggered back into the bus.
"It tastes like acid!" I managed to cough out, spitting on the ground.
"Acid rain," Adrienne noted, looking out the windows. "It must be the fallout of the bomb."
Having partially recovered, I said, "We stay in the bus tonight. Tomorrow, we move on."
Little did we know, tomorrow would be much worse.
We awoke to the continuous drumming sound of rain on the metal roof of the bus. Adrienne and I got up together and stood next to a window. I could still feel the bitter taste of acid in my mouth.
"It's still raining. Look how dark it is, though the sun has probably already been up for a while. What's happening, Humph?"
I shook my head and started walking down the aisle toward the front of the bus. Then, someone held out their arm and stopped me. I saw a young girl, no older than ten or eleven.
"I must be a nuclear winter formed. My dad talked about that after we watched a TV show about the end of the world. It's where everything just goes dark because of the fallout of the bomb," she said, looking up at me with big eyes. "Now he's probably dead."
Tears formed in her eyes, and I could feel some welling up in my eyes too.
"There, there, don't worry. We'll all see our families again, promise." I rubbed her arm. "You'll see."
"Adry, I'm going to go look for help. We can't just sit here and die," I said
“I’m coming with you,” Adrienne said, grabbing my arm.
“And then who’s going to look after these kids?” I retorted. “Come on Adry, I won’t be gone for long.”
She looked as if she wanted to slap me then, but I stood firm. I knew she really wanted to just get out the bus and away from anything that reminded her about what was happening, but I couldn’t leave the other children on the bus alone.
“Fine,” she said softly and strode back to her seat. I didn’t wait for her to sit down before I was out of the bus.
The soft pitter-patter of the rain was but an illusion of what danger it really was. I noticed that my clothes had small brown spots on them where rain had fallen the previous evening and I knew that in a day or two they would form holes. Also, what affect would the acid rain have on our health? We’d all probably become sick soon. All the more reason for me to find help.
Stepping into the middle of the road, I took in the geography of the area we were in. We were in what seemed to be the foothills of the mountains. The mountains, however, couldn’t be seen because of a fog that was forming. I look north to where we had come from. The road was went back a few hundred meters and then curved around a small hill. The south side of the road was similar. Trees surrounded us pretty much all around, so it was hard to see far.
The hill to the south of me looked to be easy to climb and we should anyway be heading that way, so I decided to climb it. It was eerie to walk down a deserted road with no signs of life anywhere around you. The rain and fog made it even worse.
I stepped up the pace into a jog until I reached the base of the hill.
It was a strange hill since the base of it was completely covered by a small forest of pine trees, yet the top had only a few dotted here and there. I wasn’t complaining, though, since less trees meant a better view for me.
After a few minutes of climbing, I came over the crest of the top of the hill. Expanding out in front of me was one of the most beautiful views I’d ever seen.
The valley below was covered in beautiful forests with patches of green grass between. A river snaked lazily through the valley, and I guessed that it would have been a beautiful blue if it hadn’t been overcast. Just in view in the distance were higher foothills rising into the low clouds. I turned to my right and saw the road heading east, parallel to the foothills. There was probably a town somewhere along the road although I couldn’t know for sure. Visibility, again, was my enemy.
I trudged back down the hill, my shoes becoming quite muddy now. What now? My hopes of seeing a town or a house nearby had been dashed. No one could drive the bus, and the meager shelter it offered didn’t come with food and drinks.
Adrienne waved at me out the front window of the bus. I waved back. She seemed to want to tell me something so I walked a bit faster. My shoes and feet were completely soaked by the time I walked up to the bus and I busied myself by trying to shake most of the water off. As I rested my hand on the side of the bus, I noticed a few rust flakes under my hand. They hadn’t been there before. In fact, this bus had just received a bodywork makeover. Then I felt my hand stinging and immediately pulled my hand away from the bus. Acid. Oh hell no, the acid rain was eating through the bus!
Just as I had come to that realization Adrienne, who had lost her patience by now, came around the side of the bus.
“There’s a kid who said he can drive the bus!” she announced excitedly. “He says his dad let him drive whenever they went to their grandparents’ farm.”
I nodded and pointed to the rust. “Thank goodness for that. See that rust? It’s because of the acid rain. It’s eating away at the bus.”
Having dried my feet the best I could, I climbed up the steps into the bus. I was met by a kid who seemed no older than fourteen.
“So you’re the kid who says he can drive, eh?” I asked. He nodded in response.
“Yeah. And my name is Rob, not “kid”. My dad always let me drive his old van when visited my grandparents. It’s really fun! You should try it.”
“Not right now, not right now. What I need you to do is drive this bus that way,” I said, pointing down the road ahead. “We’re bound to reach a town soon.”
Without hesitation he clambered into the driver’s seat and turned the key to start the bus. The engine turned over a few times and then was silent. Rob tried again with the same results.
I heard Adrienne’s sharp intake of breath behind me. Trying a third time, I heard the engine turn over once, twice, thrice and then take. The gentle hum of the engine broke the angst silence.
“Well now, everyone get back into their seats and buckle up,” I commanded.
Obediently everyone sat down and I took a seat behind Rob. He gunned the engine, and then slid it into gear. The bus jerked unsteadily, and for a moment I thought it would stall, but then he coaxed the bus into gentle acceleration. As the bus sped up, I realized that Rob was only used to driving a van and not a full bus.
“Careful now, Rob. You’re not used to driving something this heavy, so take it easy,” I warned. Without even looking around he gave me the thumbs up. Typical confident kid. I just hoped he knew what he was doing.
We went around the first turn without mishap, although Rob had drifted slightly over the centerline. No problem, he was just getting used to driving something this big.
The road was straight for a kilometre or two now. I peered ahead to see if I could spot any signs of civilization.
"How far do we have to go?" Rob asked.
"Until we get help, why?" I replied.
He tapped the fuel indicator. The fuel pin was visibly dropping. Where it has been half full a minute ago, it was now only quarter full.
"It must be a leak. There's nothing we can do now: it's too late," I said resignedly. "Build up enough momentum so that we can coast when the fuel runs out."
Just when I had said that the bus hit a deep puddle and swerved to the right, then to the left, and started fishtailing. A few swerves more and the bus spun completely around facing towards where we came from.
"Sorry," Rob muttered and tried to start the bus up again. This time, after multiple efforts, it wouldn't start.
“It won’t help to open up the hood and check the engine,” I sighed, defeated. “The fuel tank is probably empty by now.”
“But then what do we do?” Adrienne asked concernedly.
I grimaced. “We walk.”
Slowly everyone filtered out of the bus, some still holding tightly onto their now-useless cellphones. How they all had failed at the same time was still a mystery to me.
I looked back at everyone grouped together next to the bus and then motioned for them to follow me. Some hesitated, but eventually everyone started the slow trudge towards who knew where. Adrienne stepped up her pace and came up walking beside me.
“Your eyes are red,” she said softly. I looked at her and saw that her eyes were also red, just like mine.
“Yours too,” I said. “It must be because of the fallout. You know, with the acid rain and all that.”
She nodded and we continued walking in silence. After a while I had lost track of time. Every turn seemed to be the same as the last. The long winding road never ended.
Everyone including myself was thirsty, not because it was hot but because all the acid’s negative effects. Only a few children had bottles and most shared them around for everyone to have a sip. It wasn’t enough, though. Collecting rainwater was obviously out of the question. Any freshwater pond would also be contaminated.
Just as we were walking up a slight slope I spotted an electricity pole. Electricity, of course, meant civilization! I ran towards it, hopeful. Yup, it had wires running along it, so at least it wasn’t abandoned.
“The wires have to lead somewhere,” Rob said.
“Let’s keep going people,” I shouted to the group. “There must be a town nearby.”
We kept on walking.
Then, I heard a low rumbling sound. I put out my hand and stopped Adrienne.
“You hear that?” I quipped excitedly. Everyone went quiet and listened. The sound was audibly getting closer. I knew it was just around the next turn.
And then it appeared, driving at a crazy speed towards us.
“Everyone to the side of the road!” I yelled, running for cover. Without even slowing down, the vehicle zoomed past alarmingly close to us and then it was gone again, just a hum in the wind.
“That was a military truck!” Rob announced. “But why didn’t it stop to help us?”
I walked closer to all the children and held up my hand to stop everyone’s chattering. A few girls were crying now.
“We’re probably a few of many refugee groups moving around because of the bomb. That’s why he didn’t stop. However, he had to have come from somewhere, right? So all we have to do is keep heading that way and we’ll be fine.” I pointed down the road. “Now let’s keep moving before it gets dark.”
Again we resumed our slow walk. This time, we all kept our ears open for any more sounds that we might hear.
Turn after turn we followed the road. Soon, even though it was so overcast, we could see that it was getting dark. I was getting desperate. Where would we shelter for the night? Where would get get food and water? The boredom of the walk made these thoughts a hundredfold worse.
Before long it was so dark that we couldn't see more than a dozen metres ahead of us. A low fog had also settled on the land, making it even worse.
"Humph, the children are getting cold and tired. We should stop," Adrienne said worriedly.
"Stop where?" I asked, frustrated. "We can't just go sit under a tree. The ground is sopping wet and we'll all be soaked through."
Adrienne opened her mouth as if to reply, but then thought better of it.
A few minutes later I heard a moan and then someone shouting. "Stop, please! She can't take it anymore."
I turned around to see what was up and saw a little girl with what I assumed was her brother. She was lying on the ground, dead tired and very pale. I knew I had to make a decision.
"Right, everyone. You're all going to sit down here on the side of the road. Sit back far enough so that a car or truck can't accidentally hit you. I know it's wet and that the water stings, but I can't do anything about that." I looked over at Rob. "Rob here is going to look after you. Adrienne and I will keep on going to see if we can find help."
Everyone, including Rob, was too tired to disagree.
Adrienne, finally happy that she was actually going to be able to do something that will help, followed without hesitation. After a few steps we already lost the group in the fog. It was starting to get difficult to breath after such prolonged inhalation of the acid. Adrienne had already started to cough a while back. Things were just getting worse and worse.
"We won't be able to see a house in this fog!" Adrienne stated angrily.
"The road, Adry. Watch the road. If there's a town there'll be sidewalks, and if there's a house there will be a turn-off road. Just keep your eyes peeled. I'll watch the left side, and you can watch the right."
Every now and then I’d spot a pole off to the side in the fog, showing me the right way. That’s when I started thinking more deeply about the dead phone issue. I could rule out the fact that it was the networks doing that: they can’t do that to cellphones. A kill-switch that affected all the phones was also unlikely. It must have been something locally. Maybe some electrical overload or pulse? I’ve heard that circuit boards can be fried if too much power went into it and overloaded it. Could it be the same for the cellphones and, if so, how?
Before I could muse any further I heard Adrienne take a gasp.
“Look!” she exclaimed. “A light!”
Sure enough, up ahead through the fog I could just make out a soft light shining through the dark.
“Let’s go!” I said, starting to run towards the light.
As we came closer I noticed that the light was not high enough to be on a pole, nor was it low enough to be from a vehicle. It was also slowly moving from side to side as if the wind was blowing it, only there was no wind. This surprised me and I immediately slowed down. Adrienne, however, was so excited that she didn’t even notice.
“Adry, watch out!” I shouted to her. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
She looked around and smiled. “It’s a light Humph! What could go wrong?”
I started running to catch up to her again. She had mostly disappeared into the fog at this time. Then I heard her scream.
Rushing through the fog, I prepared myself for the worst. My mind couldn’t fathom what danger a light could be... I didn’t want to even know.
Then I saw it: the light was a skull with a bulb inside of it. It was hanging on a wooden pole that had been roughly planted in the ground. Above the light was a sign.
“Are you alright?” I asked Adrienne. She was very pale.
“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just that the skull scared the hell out of me. I thought it was a ghost or something.”
Satisfied that she was okay, I read the sign:
Hereafter be the town of Wakefield. No trespassers allowed. Law will be enforced at all costs. Refugees, seek shelter elsewhere.
The paint on the sign was wet, signifying that it had only recently been nailed to the pole. This was obviously some vigilantes who had set up a secured community. And they probably weren’t friendly.
Near the bottom of the sign was a quote:
We'd stared into the face of Death, and Death blinked first.
Eerie.