There was a soft pitter patter of rain that began to spring up as the morning drew to a close, was rather nice to see that spring is beginning to come to full strength. The newest of the crops began to sprout, which is great for our little town. If that’s what you want to call it. I remember right before the collapse that ‘Towns’ were in the thousands of people, not the four or so dozen that populate and guard this place. Walking down the dirt packed road that use to resemble asphalt, a few patches laid here and there but, doesn’t serve any purpose anymore other than being a nuisance. I pop the collar of my torn fleece to help keep the rain off my neck, the rain still cold to the fur on my neck. Looking up at the rain as i walked only showed the dark clouds coming and the heavy rain following. My long unkept hair getting soaked, with a solemn sigh I walk through the forming mud, the water soaking through my cobbled together sneakers, remnants of my dad’s when he was younger.
A few of the other townsfolk taking shelter underneath an awning made out of old sheet metal and wood, from what i overheard was about the failing crops. I solemnly shake my head at the thought of the dying fields. The town was a shadow of it’s former self, people have left since the food was running out, we are starving. But, aside from that the town has been reinforced was as much as a few dozen people could do, with limited resources and fuel. Now the town has houses on the outskirts that do the farming but, most people live inside the old stores and apartments. Everyone has a job, a guard, a scout, farmer, trader, etc. Mine? I don’t have one as of yet, still trying to figure out what the town needs after all. Nobody really knows what to do with me since my father didn’t make it last winter. The flu got him, thankfully not the Boils.
I cringe at the thought of all of that pain that infected people must go through, celestia rest their souls. The Boils has everyone paranoid of anyone that gets ill, but thankfully most think it was originally a military grade virus which was made to attack and die off after a while, there hasn’t been a case of the Boils here for the last four or so years, hard to keep track of who all has died and from what. Flu, bandits, animals, cold, weather, starvation, you name it someone has died from it. We ran out of room for the graves last year, so everyone is cremated as best we can do. Hopefully, i don’t have that job…
Some placed a hand on my shoulder which snapped me out of my thinking, the hand was a light green with a small scar going across the top of the knuckles. I recognized the small hand. I stopped and turned to see Scarlet Berry, my one of a few remaining friends.She moved a string of loose grey hair from her face, revealing the brown eyes underneath and the smile that I always enjoyed. Before, i could let loose my usual greeting, she smiled and gave me a hug; Which wasn’t unusual for her, as she was a friendly person. “I got the job!” she exclaimed, as she tightened the death grip around me.
“That’s...G-great.” I managed to squeak out of my decreasing supply of oxygen. “Can you let me go…” i said losing the last of it.
“Oh.” she said with an embarrassed blush. “Sorry.” She said with a smile as she let go.
I took a deep breath, letting the oxygen get back to my brain and letting loose a cough.
“For being only as tall as a fence post, you’re strong.”
“HEY!” She yelled giving me a hard slap and letting off a hard huff.
“OW! Fuck!” Rubbing my cheek and checking my jaw to make sure it was still in socket.
“Can’t take a joke, can you?”
She giggled a bit, and sighed. “Yeah, just a bit. You know i don’t like it when people make fun of my height.”
Giving a shrug as I walked toward town hall, with her following closely behind. “You said
you got the job? The teaching or the nursing one? I know you applied for both.”
“Well, I got the nursing one. They don’t need two teachers, teaching the like six odd kids running around here.” she said with a bit of a scuff, seeming disappointed at that fact. From what she’ve told me over the years, she always wanted to teach, so much she became the best student in this town for the last several years. But, the town always comes first. As the ‘mayor’ always says. “Jenks is the best town that hasn’t been jinxed!” I say in my head as we walked into said mayor’s office.
He was a fat bastard, and i hated him every minute that he was here; undermined my grandpa when he was the mayor and took the seat from my father. Made our lives living hell for the last two years, by harassing our house and town with ‘taxes’. Luckily, this is his last term or he will be convicted for abuse of power, hopefully. He was a tan stallion with an oversized stomach, he was about as round as he was as tall; still don’t know how he is able to fly with his wings i’ll never know.. His torn up top hat and suit he always wore was to make him ‘seem presentable’ he said to me one time when he visited my class a two or three years back. He sat in his chair with his hat on the table, the balding black mane showing his age, and stress level. He was reading a pre-boils book, one that the pages had yellowed with age, but the dust cover was missing so there was no telling what the book was called. He put down the book and smiled, with those fucking yellow teeth. Would look good smashed against a curb.
“My my, Jack Rabbit. About time you came into my office.” he said placing down his book and looking me into the eyes. “I heard you graduated school and now looking for a job. I might have a few options for ya, but they aren't great, as the others in your class took the other available spots.” I could smell the bullshit that was coming out his mouth, the fact of the matter he always hated me because i was related to my grandfather and father. My class only had six people in it, most are farmers and the fact of the matter is that they need as many farmers as they possible could, the crops are dying in an alarming rate, but i know little to none about farming as i only know how to build shit, mainly makeshift weapons. Mr. Clooves at school would always bitch at me for having a makeshift knife on me during school. I made an external sigh as i went back and listened to Mayor fatass give his spell. “Now, you know that our crops have been… failing as of late.”
I nodded, remembering looking at the fields seeing nothing, but brown and death. “Now, i haven’t told anyone this other than you two and the remainder of the team you’re going with. But…” he gave a pause, the look in his eyes seemed everything of worry. “ that our leftover winter stockpile will last another month or so at best. That’s with extreme rationing… something that we are all gonna have to do by tomorrow. We-”
He was interrupted by Scarlet slamming her hands on the table. “What do you mean remainder of the team?” he said in an almost motherisk voice.
He taken back by the suddenly upfront Scarlet, i’ve never seen her like this. I took a step back as the mayor spoke, loosening up his collar with a finger. “Miss Scarlet… what i mean by a team, is that young Jack here is going out on a trading mission out to Ravor’s village out to the north. Along with a few others…” He said with a nervous smile, trying to calm down Scarlet.
She glares at him, with a pissed off demeanor. “How many?”
He swallowed a bit. “It’s going to be him along with four others. Silver Badge will be there to guide them.”
She looked at him for a moment, then at me, then at him. “What will be there armaments?”
He took a deep breath and grinned at us. “We have been able to find and maintain a few bolt action rifles mainly old surplus stuff in war’s past, and a few shotguns. Jack here is going to get a shotgun with ten shells.”
“TEN!? Are you trying to get him killed!?” She screamed as she slammed her hands on the old oak desk, knocking over a cup of pens and pencils. But, when she muttered those words, the Mayor grinned.
“No, Miss Scarlet. We aren’t trying to get them killed. We are trying to prepare them the best we can for the journey ahead.” He moves around the desk, his fat gut jiggling with every step as he is basically pushing us out of his office. “You have ten minutes to get to the gate, Jack. you will have all your gear there waiting there for you. This mission is of the utmost importance.” With the final word, he shut the door behind us, the rain coming down with a heavier might.
Scarlet seemed to be having steam come out of her ears, storming off a bit cursing under her breath. I never understood why she was so protective of me, or why she acts the way she does when people are treated like shit. I’ve come to expect shit from the Mayor, he never really liked me or my family for some unknown reason. Sa La Vi, i suppose.
Scarlet and me walked back to my house, near the end of the town, at this point the rain was getting heavier as the day went on; water soaking into the fibers of my clothes. The sight of my house gave me a bit of relief, as we got closer the damage to the old gas pumps could be seen with the awning gone. It was built in an old gas station if you couldn’t tell, with the windows boarded up for privacy and protection from what lurked outside. I stepped in front of the door, the edge of a dirt mound could be seen towards the back of the station. I stopped to open the door and let Scarlet in; she gagged almost immediately. “Jesus, Jack. When was the last time you cleaned this place?”
I sighed, looked at the trashed floor, filled with empty cans, empty water bottles and soda bottles, some alcohol hidden in there too. “I don’t know… about a month or two ago.”
She looked at me with a concerned face. “So you haven’t cleaned since your father passed away.” I didn’t say anything, but give a slight nod. She sighed and touched my cheek with a tender hold. “I’m going to worry about you even more now.”
I gave a saddened smile as i held her hand. “It’ll be alright. I’ll be back in a week and things will be back to normal. Don’t worry, about the things you can’t control.” her eyes looked puffy after i said that.
She paused for a moment, backed up composing herself. “Well… alright.” She kicked a can out of the way, looking at the ground. “So, why are we here again?”
I smiled, as i clambered through the junk taking out an old satchel, throwing a few items in. food, water, a journal, most of all. I took out a pistol that was hidden away in the back of the shelfs. A Browning Hi-Power. “I came for my things… mostly this.” ejecting the magazine into my hand seeing it fully loaded. Slipping it back into place, with a satisfying click, i took the spare out, it being only half filled. Scarlet was silent the rest of this time, observing me as i gathered what i need. Until, i stopped and turned around, i only figured out she was gone.
Walking outside, i find that she was over there, by the dirt mound. I felt a heavy feeling in my chest as i walked to the mound, stopping right next to her. A wooden cross was placed behind the mound. ‘Jackal Hare, RIP’ it was my father’s grave. “I just hope you don’t end up dead Jack…” She said as she stared at the grave. “I don’t need anymore death in my life…”
She turned around, soft tears mixing in with the rain as she drew me into a hug. “Be safe and come back.”
I hesitated to hug her, but eventually did. At least i knew someone cared about me in this shit. “I’ll be safe, no worries.” I said with a smile as i broke the hug, turning around. “I’ll sure to say hello when i come back.” i said giving a two finger wave goodbye.
The gate, the rusty hunk of metal that has protected us for the last ten years, it is a miracle that the thing hasn’t fallen down under it’s own weight yet. It was pieced together by old car parts and whatever we could find at the time. The fence only appears at key points to draw in enemies at choke points between buildings. A fatal funnel if you will.
I looked at the rusted hunk of junk for a moment, before seeing a group of four people waiting by a wagon attached to a large old horse, the wagon itself seemed to have seen better days as did the old horse, but without the supplies, not much can be done about that. Stepping up to the wagon, the four looked at me. One was definitely a trader, not one that i recognized. The others seemed like guards, built tough from there time out in the wastes.
The trader stepped up, brandishing his rifle, what appeared to be an old military M16 by the looks of it. “Ol up there, buddy. State your business comin’ over here or I’ll make you swiss cheese.” He said with a rather odd southern twang. The guards didn’t look worried mostly due to my stature, i guessed.
I raised my hands up slowly to chest level. “Whoa there... take it easy… i’m just here to lend a hand guarding to goods to Ravor’s Village”
Before the trader could tell me to fuck off, one of the guards floated down on his wings and looked at him. The winged stallion stood over the stocky man. His face was covered in a bandana and goggles.Nothing much about his appearance said ‘weak’, all i could tell about him was that he had silver hair and that he was seasoned, that was for sure. “Corn Stock, this is the one we have been waiting for.’ He studied me for a brief moment, before picking up an old hunting shotgun that was leaning against the cart and throws it to me.
I fumbled a bit, but i caught it, quickly checking the chamber to see if there was a shell in it. There was. “There are six shells in there. You got four in reserve. Don’t waste them.” He said with a stern tone, before the sharp tune of a whistle bellows out. “Let’s go!” The trader scuffed as he got his horse ready to go, the guards operating the gate, opening it slowly showing the hilly knoll that surrounded us, the dirt path leading into a heavy forest that held the town that we needed to reach, at any mean possible.
The others jumped off and surrounded the wagon, as i slung the shotgun over my shoulder, standing behind the winged vet that held what looked like an old hunting rifle with makeshift sights, the scope that once called that home was nowhere to be found. The wagon began to shift and move as the trader rode up top behind the horse. The rain begins to lighten up a bit now, showing that the day has only begun.
