Wings and Scrolls

by Moon_Fire

First published January 1st, 1970 00:00

So how does a post-apocalyptic earth communicate? With a flying Bat-pony's menagerie of birds carrying scrolls between everyone of course!

I'm Night Scrolls, formerly the human David. I roam the "wastes" of America. looking for survivors to tell them that there's a colony starting in Texas – Bastrop to be precise – and that they'll be welcome as long as they do something to help the colony thrive.

Who knows what I'll encounter and who knows what trouble I'll get into on my journeys?

Chapters

5-23-15

5-23-15
View Online

Wings and Scrolls

5-23-15

I was sitting on my couch reading the latest strip for Prequel Adventure around midnight when I noticed that my fingers couldn't reach the joystick on my controller. I looked over and saw that my arm was turning grey and a coat of a slightly lighter shade was growing on it, spreading from my wrist up my arm. It was.... strangely calming. I couldn't place why I wasn't freaking out at all. Maybe it was just my nature to go with everything that was happening around me?

Nope, here comes the panic! How the fuck was I turning into another being?! Is this some sort of government secret? That-that we aren't really humans anymore? Or is it just some that aren't human and never even knew they weren't human?

.... Wait, that's the best I can come up with? Laaaame! Well, at least this means that there are aliens out there, just a lot closer than we thought.

I looked over the back of the couch just in time to see the headphones fall to the desk. My mother had just-.... She just disappeared! She was sitting right there at the desk and just poof! Gone without a trace! I- My dad and little brother.

I managed to climb over the back of my couch and get down the hallway to my parent's bedroom after a few falls, though I probably should've tried walking first instead of galloping. When I stopped in front of my parent's door, I hesitated a moment before shoving it open. All I could see was my dad's body pillow on the bed.

The next thing I knew I was lying on the floor with my tail in my forelegs and was stroking it, muttering to myself. Why was I the only one of my family to change? How did they disappear? Why were the lights off but I could still see?

I sat up and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself as I sat back up. Okay, freaking out more wouldn't help me at all. I had to find someone who- I yelped and leaped from where I was sitting. Something just brushed my back. Something that didn't feel like it was friendly. I jumped again swiping at where I felt the sensation, only to hiss in pain.

Looking over my shoulder revealed that I had a pair of leathery wings. They were covered in what looked to be a very short coat of grey-ish purple fur and had a hook-like protrusion on the second joint. There was a membrane going halfway up the hook extending to the tip of my wing and back to my shoulder where the wing was attached.

I stared in shock at the appendages. I had wings. I had my own pair of wings! They were a little on the small side, but with enough speed I could possibly fly! "Oh, I have got to learn how to use these ASAP!" I exclaimed, giving a little *squee* of happiness.

Then my mood instantly dropped. I was alone in a new body, in a house with no power, and was possibly the last one living in Lincoln. Yeah.... Being the last one alive in a town small enough to be considered a ghost town didn't really help my nerves. That's how the really old, good horror stories started, and I did not want to end up like the people in them.

"I.... I need to get a plan together, see if anyone else is in the town." Opening the front door was hard, but I managed to do it and propped it open with an old carjack and then looked at the van. It was a tan 2007 Chrysler Town and Country. .... That could be a good ramp for me to get in the air. The sooner I get in the air, the sooner I can leave.

I shook my head and forced myself to think of how I would eat or sleep. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't just take a few days to learn how to fly and then leave. I had to find food, a place to sleep, and possibly find a good defensible position to set up a base of some sort. I seriously doubted I was the only one left on the planet, someone would eventually find me, right? Right! I-I can't let the disappearance of my family make me believe I'm the only one!

.... That didn't mean I couldn't spend an hour or two trying to learn how to fly. I wasn't exactly an expert on how birds flew, but I had watched plenty of birds and other creatures fly and studied skeleton drawings.... Okay, fine, I had drawn a rough sketch or two and researched as extensively as I could on how I could try to give myself flesh and blood wings! It's been my dream ever since I picked up the Maximum Ride series to soar above the clouds and sleep among the branches high up in a tree.

I walked down the steps and over in front of the van, turning to face it once I was about thirty yards away. I knew what I wanted. I knew how I could achieve that, all I needed was to put all the theories and mental run throughs together.

I opened my wings fully above me, stretching them to their limit before flapping them. Hard. I shot up a few feet and with a panicked yelp of surprise, I landed right on my face. Damn, even though they're small, they still got me off the ground with a single flap. How heavy am I now and... are my bones really that light?

I pulled my muzzle out of the ground and muttered, "If my wings are already that strong, then all I need to do is learn how to fly. But that would mean taking time away from looting the town and I don't want to spend longer than I need to in here." I shuddered and glanced around. Not having anyone to talk to - or rather, listen to - didn't seem like it would be good for my sanity in the long run.

"Okay, I need to find out how to drive so I can start moving around the town and seeing if there's anyone here." I frowned and shook my head. "No, I can just use wagons to transport what I find back here. Besides, if I think of a way to attach them to the van I could take them with me and use them to store more than the van can hold."

With that, I nodded and began going around to the other houses. I'm not going to bother with the details of how I found cans stacked away in pantries and cereal boxes on top of fridges that weren't running. Rummaging through drawers and medicine cabinets for bandages and other medical supplies. Not a single person was in the dozen or so houses I broke into. No one even answered the shrill alarms that I set off...

I shook myself back to the present and opened the driver's door on the van, pulling a pair of crutches in behind me so I could reach the pedals. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly I said, "Okay, let's hope I don't crash into anything and actually stay on the road."

I fumbled with the key a bit, but managed to get it into the ignition and turned it. As the van turned on, I pressed the brake and put it in reverse. ...Shit, I left the passenger door open. I reached over to close it- SHIT! Turn! Turn the wheel! DON'T HIT THE WAGONS!

I slammed the brakes, jerking the gearshift back into park. "Fuck. I just tore the door off on the tree. Heh... heheh.... Well, at least I'm facing the right way and the van's still... mostly in one piece." I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "I really need to find someone else. I'm not going to be able to survive on my own."

I looked back down the road and saw that the sun was just about to rise over the trees across the highway. "Well, at least I'll be able to *yawn* sleep in a comfortable bed today."