The Charred Lands: Apocalypse of Fire (2 page)

“
I wouldn’t dream of it.” I laughed, nervously. Perhaps I could
do a better job at hiding my worries from my brother than I had my
dad.

A confident
half grin split his face as he watched me approach. Brandon towered
over me, I felt like a tiny child in comparison. Fitness and
working out were his passion. I would find peace and solitude in
one of the many books lying around the farm house, whilst Brandon
seemed to let off his steam by hitting the make shift gym at the
back of the barn. For some reason, Brandon always opted to wear
tight clothing, despite there being more size appropriate clothes
available. He always says it’s because it allows him to be more
agile out in the Wasteland, but really I think he just likes the
way it makes his muscles show. He was like that, he was attractive
and he knew it – all of the girls on the farm looked up to him, and
he loved the attention. In many ways, Brandon was almost the
complete opposite of me. He was built for combat, brimming with
confidence and blessed with charming good lucks; whilst I had arms
like twigs, and always wore an old pair of glasses that my Grandpa
managed to sellotape together for me.

“
Good to see you lad.” My uncle, Timothy called as he noticed
me from across the barn. He gave me a quick wave before returning
to the stack of maps laid out in front of him. He always liked to
have an exact and unique plan whenever he set foot into the
Wasteland, which usually required some in depth study of local
maps.

The gear
Brandon had laid out for me was just as I expected; very minimal
and light weight. We were quite well stocked here, meaning everyone
had a gun for themselves and plenty of ammo. We always did our best
to try and pry some off of travellers in return for a safe bed for
the night whenever one happened to pass by. Placed down on the
table was an old was an old rusty Beretta, which was exactly what I
had been hoping for, something small and simple. This gun would be
mine until I either earned, or found another. Just like the rest of
our weapons, mine had a small emblem scratched onto the handle of
the gun.

I picked up
the weapon and gave it a good look over, no doubt Dexter Payne had
already cleaned it for me, but it always paid to double check. It
felt empowering to hold a fire arm in my hands. Up until this
moment I had only ever held a gun at the firing range whilst my
father taught me the basics of gun play, but now this weapon was
mine. From this moment on I would have to clean it, look after it
and care for it. Quite a few people around the farm referred to
their weapons as their babies, I had never quite understood why,
that is until I held my own for the first time. I instantly felt a
connection. If I looked after this and kept it in the best shape I
could, it would in turn look after me.

Aside from the
Beretta, several other essentials for venturing outside had also
been placed down on the table for me. These were; a whistle, a
flashlight, one clip of ammunition, heavy duty boots, and a combat
knife. I had always been told that absolutely anything can happen
out in the Wasteland, so it always paid to be prepared. One time a
new recruit lost his way and wasn’t seen for another five days. He
eventually turned up at the farms walls, bleeding heavily and
extremely dehydrated. From that point on everyone was made to
religiously study the local maps, as well as being given a whistle
for attracting attention and a flashlight in case they become lost
and weren’t able to find their way home before nightfall.

I quickly
holstered all of my equipment and threw my heavy duty boots on
before nodding to my brother to let him know that I was ready. A
few moments later, me, my brother and Uncle Timothy left the barn
to join my father by Haven’s walls. With each step towards my
father, I felt the tension rise within me. I felt as though my
breakfast was ready to repeat on me, my mother had given me an
extra-large portion this morning as she did her best to calm me
down and send me out in good spirits. She always hated it whenever
one of her children were out in the Wasteland, never mind when it
was their first time. She had managed to get used to Brandon
leaving the confides of our community, she was even beginning to
get used to my older sister Ruby heading out too, but I wasn’t like
either of them. She knew I was quieter and more reliant on others.
Sometimes I even felt like my younger brother and sister, Toby and
Amber were going to be ready for the outside world before I was,
and they were only seven and eleven, respectively.

“
All set?” My father asked the three of us as we approached
him. He stood by the gate, beside him my older sister, Ruby waited
with the rope to unlock Haven’s only gate. Ruby wouldn’t be joining
us today, we didn’t like to have too many people out at once – but
not only that, mother would have flipped if she found out that
three of her children were out all at the same time.

My heart began
to race in my chest, and my palms grew sweaty as Ruby began to yank
on the gate’s rope. A few moments later the doors were open and the
Wasteland outside awaited us.

Chapter
Three

I felt as
though my entire world was being slammed shut behind me as Ruby
pulled Haven’s gates to a close, locking us outside. Having my
father, big brother and uncle with me did help settle my nerves to
a degree – I can only wonder how I might have felt had I been
venturing out with Dexter Payne or anyone else from outside of my
family. Sure, everyone in the community was extremely close but
nothing came near to family, even if you had spent your entire life
surrounded by them.

“
Keep your wits about you.” Timothy whispered to me as the four
of us progressed further away from the Wasteland. There was a
harshness to his voice, unlike my brother and father who had done
their best to try and keep the mood as light as they could for
me.

We walked in
single file down a small dirt path between thick rows of trees,
with my father at the front of the pack and my brother at the back.
My Grandpa always told me how lucky we were to have such beautiful,
untarnished woodlands around our farm. He often spoke of entire
forests, entire cities and towns being burnt down in a matter of
minutes since the Rise. He told me we had both our secluded
location, and sheer blind luck to thank for that.

The greenery
around me almost gave me a false sense of comfort. Right here,
walking through the swaying green trees it was hard to imagine the
world which had been described to me, even with the thick, grey
smoke clouds lingering just above the tree line as a constant
reminder of the danger. Perhaps that’s what Timothy meant when he
told me to keep my wits about me. I quickly detached my attention
from the scenery and refocused on the task at hand.

Tony, Amy and
Kyle had been heading just over a mile away from Haven to check on
our only known neighbour, Barry Deer. He lived in a small cottage
just down the road from us. He usually kept himself to himself, but
occasionally came down to visit us in order to trade some supplies
with us. It had been over two months since his last appearance.
Growing worried for his safety, we decided to send Tony and two of
his children to check up on Barry on their next venture outside of
Haven. We hadn’t heard from any of them since they left.

Dexter Payne
theorised that Barry may have murdered the trio. It was a definite
possibility, something we have prepared ourselves for. My father
instructed that we were to shoot Barry without question should we
arrive at his home and find anything amiss. Personally, I wouldn’t
put it past him. I had never quite liked the guy, nor trusted him
whenever he visited Haven. He always looked at the girl’s a little
funny and never seemed to have the time of day for me. He was
always more interested in talking to the women around the place,
young and old. I could never understand why on earth he would
choose to reject several invitations to live with us, in favour of
living a secluded life all alone. Nobody really knew him all that
well; God only knows what he might be capable of.

“
Hold up.” My dad whispered, stopping dead in his tracks.
Instantly, Timothy and Brandon froze, withdrawing their weapons
before I had even come to a stop. For a few seconds I could only
remain where I stood, trying to work out just exactly what had
spooked my dad, it was only when Timothy gave me a nudge from
behind that I remembered to unholster my weapon and ready
it.

“
What is it?” Brandon whispered from the back, his voice
sounding calm and collected. I on the other hand, felt ready to
keel over. Something had alarmed my dad, chances were it wasn’t
going to be friendly.

My father
nodded to thick foliage to the right of the path. I quickly scanned
them, with my gun at the ready. That’s when I heard the
rustling.

My first
instinct was to squeeze the trigger and fire as many shots as I
could at whatever was standing on the other side of the bushes, but
somehow I managed to contain myself and stay somewhat composed.

Suddenly
something erupted from the trees. I felt my entire body tense with
fear as I slammed my eyes shut and fired off two shots before even
beginning to comprehend what had jumped out at us. For a few
seconds I stood completely motionless, my eyes still clenched shut
and my hands wrapped around my gun so hard that they began to hurt.
I heard something drop to the ground just ahead of me.

“
Fucking hell, Zachary.” I heard Timothy sigh from besides me,
a laugh cracking his voice.

“
Good shot I suppose.” Brandon chuckled from besides him. Only
then did I have the courage to open my eyes. I felt a wave of
relief sweep over me as I laid eyes on what I had shot
down.

A dog. I let
out a sigh as my heart beat began to return to normality. I was
certain that it was either going to be one of the Charred Lands
many dangerous creatures, intent on ripping us apart, or one of our
missing allies.

I felt my
father place his hand on my shoulder before he spoke in soft,
reassuring words, “You got lucky here Zachary. Thank the stars
above that it was just a wild dog. I expect that you’ll stay more
composed next time something like this happens.” He warned, I felt
my muscles begin to relax a little.

I didn’t
reply, instead I simply nodded, unable to take my eyes away from
the small dog that I had just put a bullet in. I didn’t feel any
remorse for the animal, after all it would make a good meal, but I
felt a great deal of disappointment. I knew I had let my team down.
Nobody said anything, but I knew what they were thinking. All three
of them were writing me off, more than ever now. I knew they were
thinking I didn’t have what it takes to survive out here, I knew
they were thinking I was weak. But what disappointed me the most
was that deep down, I knew they were right.

We continued
on in silence, though I knew their minds were all just as busy as
mine; all thinking over what had just happened. Though they had
initially laughed it off, I knew this would have long lasting
implications. It took me less than twenty minutes to make my first
mistake in the Wasteland - My father has always done his best to
stress that just one, one single mistake was enough to get you
killed out here.

Right then I
wanted to turn around and run back home. Run back to my books, my
little siblings, back to my comfy bed and Grandpa’s stories. But
those days were over now. I was sixteen. I was becoming a man and
it was expected of me to behave like such. I struggled to fight
back tears as we progressed on.

“
It’s just up here.” My father finally said as we reached a
small wooden gate. It had been a good fifteen minutes since anybody
had spoken so much as a word, hearing someone’s voice did a little
to settle my racing nerves.

“
Guys…” Brandon simply said, his eyes fixed on the sky. I
matched his gaze and joined him in staring up. A thick trail of
black smoke rose above the treeline, it looked close. Instantly I
knew where it was coming from. As did my dad, judging from his
reaction, “I knew it,” he mumbled through gritted teeth as he
picked up the pace. He quickly vaulted the wooden fence before
taking off in a run.

“
Come on Zachary” My brother urged, giving me a little shove as
he also took off running past me.

I did my best
to keep up with my three older, fitter companions as we charged up
a dirt path. By the time we reached Barry’s home I was completely
out of breath. Gasping for air, I wiped a trickle of sweat from my
forehead as I caught up to the rest of the team who all stood
motionless, staring on at Barry’s house.

I didn’t want
to imagine what had caused such damage to the building. The house
had once been a relatively large, single story white cottage. Now,
nothing more than three, black, burnt walls remained in place.
Smoke rose high into the sky from the still burning fire inside the
charred remains.

“
This doesn’t look good.” My dad sighed as he began to approach
the building.

“
Remember; whoever or whatever did this might still be in ear
shot so keep the noise to a minimum, lads.” My uncle instructed as
he followed my father, his gun at the ready.

It was hard to
tell just exactly how long ago this damage had been inflicted on
the building, but I would say that it couldn’t have happened any
more than three days ago. From the damage to the surrounding trees
and ground, it looked as though there had at one point been a large
blaze here. The small crackling inside the house was likely the
dwindling remnants of it. Every ounce of my being prayed in harmony
that whatever had caused this was long gone.