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Wasteland Spirits

Loss

By Antoine BoucherPublished 6 years ago 11 min read
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(Disclaimer: I wrote this in high school a few years back for English class.)

In the wasteland that the Old World left behind after the great war of 2070, it is rare to see someone enjoying some fresh and non-irradiated food... Yet, under the remains of an old rusty train wagon, a little girl was sharing a juicy pineapple-like fruit with her mother who was cooking the meat of one of many mutated animals over a campfire.

"Mom..." The girl said quietly.

"Yes?" The mother replied with a smile. Smiles were such a rare thing... A genuine smile of happiness was even rarer than any fruit.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" The little girl asked somewhat worriedly as she chewed on a juicy piece of the fruit.

"We're following the tracks, going west." The mother answered in a comforting tone before flipping the makeshift pan over some old pre-war plates, letting the two steaks fall into them. "Like usual. Why?"

"Well, I just wonder… Why are we going west all the time?­’’ The little girl countered.

"Because we have to reach New New York… It’s the safest place in the wasteland. They have water purifiers and gardens..." The mother replied with a warm smile. Water purifiers and fresh food… It was for most only just a dream.

The little girl took time to ponder on the idea. For about a minute or so, she remained silent as she ate her stiff piece of meat, trying not to hurt her jaw by chewing on it. Then she dropped her steak into the plate. "Mom?" She asked again. "How do you know where west is?"

Before she could answer, the whole place became much warmer around them. "Because I tell her, honey." A male voice replied, speaking inside their minds. The girl sighed as she stared at her plate, trying to find something to reply, but she knew that spirits were always right. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke."I miss you daddy..." She whispered sadly.

A sigh could be heard. "I miss you and your mother too..." The voice replied. "That's why you have to make it to New New York, dearie. You must not let the raiders do to you what they did to me." The male voice said, as softly and comfortingly as it could. Then, just like that, the warm presence around them vanished.

The daughter sighed again. She knew that sadly, spirits would only be there to give advice quickly. "Mom... Will we really make it someday?" The girl asked as she began nibbling on the piece of strange meat.

The mother smiled again. "Of course... We'll find a way out of this mess." She looked down and sighed quietly. "As long as the spirits guide our way." The adult added, gently passing a hand through her daughter's hair.

The family of two slowly finished eating, then went to bed shortly after. Tomorrow was another big day. Pittsburgh to New New York was a long walk.

________

Morning came and the two girls packed their food supplies and checked around the wagon for something useful. Then they left, following the tracks. The only real problem they had was that they wore very light protection and owned only two weapons. One for defense, one for hunting.

Barely a few hours after leaving their shelter, the duo got attacked by a lone raider. His pupils tiny, his amor spiky, his face bloody, and his gun rusty.

"Hide right here honey!" The mother said, closing the door of the remains of a car as gunshots rang through the air and bullets sparked off the vehicle.

"Blood! Blood! Blood!" He screamed in his frenzy, firing the rifle in the general direction of the girl's cover. After using half the magazine or so, the raider's gun jammed, leaving him confused as to why it didn’t go bang anymore. The woman took this opportunity to swiftly get out of cover and use her homemade weapon to neutralise him. The poison coated dart cut through the air silently and immediately paralysed the man. He fell to the floor, fighting for breath before he fell asleep, where he would die quickly, peacefully and without pain.

"It's okay... It’s okay..." She said as the door opened. The daughter jumped in her mother’s arms, on the verge of tears as they hugged. A few seconds later a cold presence could be felt around the two, along with the voice of a very angry man screaming insults at them.

"Don't let him in dear... Don’t..." The mother said as she covered her young one's ears and hummed a steady tone until the voice died down and the spirit of the raider left.

"I was so scared..." She quietly whispered, knowing all too well that her mother could have suffered the same fate as her father and fearing that the spirit was right. Now the tears began dripping along her cheeks.

"Sshhh... It's okay... No worries... They're go-" The mother stopped abruptly as she heard the howls of a band of raiders approaching. Raiders never travelled alone.

"Fresh meat guys!" The girl leading the group screamed madly.

"Stay there... Hide yourself." The mother quickly spoke, pushing the daughter to lie on the seat before grabbing her special dart gun and turning to shoot, only to be met with a baseball bat to the stomach. She fell, dropping the weapon and grunting in pain as she held her gut. The band began poking her in the belly with the softness of an 18-wheeler.

"Wait! She could be a good slave... fetch a high price at the Pitt!" The leader said once the mother was just a quivering mass, grinning deviously as she began pulling the destroyed woman on her shoulders and left the poor little girl alone while telling their victims all about the horrors of the Pitt. The mother coughed up some blood as she looked at her daughter and whispered her to stay there and that she would be back soon. The daughter nodded with a sniffle, tears running down her cheeks. Both of them knew that neither of them were in condition to break free.

______

"And all of you miserable slaves will do exactly as we say!" The overseer of The Pitt shouted, concluding his speech and sending everyone to their respective posts. Lucky enough for her, the mother got herself a spot in the sawmill crew. The sawmill was a place where slaves worked with four-headed rotative axes called buzz-axes to cut away at old metal relics such as wagons, cars, busses, light posts, etc. This way, they could re-use the metal for their own needs. One of the best and safest positions she could get into. Everyone began working their respective places, the engine of the metal buzz-axes almost deafening everyone in the sawmill as they cut through the remains of old trains and vehicles.

When everyone went to sleep for a few hours at most, the mother tried to talk with a few other slaves. As the days passed, she began making friends. As weeks passed she found another slave who had been planning on breaking out for years now.

"Hey…" The mother began.

"Hello." The other slave replied flatly as he looked sternly towards the horizon.

"I heard you were… um… Leaving." She added, turning to look with him.

"I’m not." He said, turning away.

"But… That’s what the others said..." She replied, before the other turned and looked angrily at her.

"What are you, an overseer’s spy?" He replied in an irritated tone, looking ready to kill.

"N-No! I’m... I’m a new slave… I… I was taken here a few weeks back… I need to get to my daughter..." She stuttered pleadingly, letting him know about her daughter because she did not believe that he wasn’t leaving.

The male turned away and scoffed. He looked conflicted for a moment. Finally, he faced her again. "Fine. But you have to do exactly everything I say. If you don’t, I’m leaving you behind. Deal?" He said as he looked still angrily at the woman, who nodded, agreeing to the deal.

Before they went to bed, the man took time to explain the plan of escape. It was rather easy actually. They would work on the carcass of an old bus. While no one looked, he would go and cut the fence a bit, then return to working on the bus as if nothing had happened. Eventually the fence would give in and that’s when they would drop the buzz-axes and make a run for it. Once they were out of the Pitt, they would run and get lost in the ruins of the town, then detour far from the Pitt and then she would finally be free to see her daughter, and hopefully he would stick with them.

_______

The little girl had walked farther down the tracks until she met another old train wagon and had set camp there. Luckily for her, she had her mother’s weapon to protect herself, and their hunting knife that wouldn’t poison the food. Over the last weeks, she had made a bit of money… And had made herself a reserve of pre-war food. The daughter had made sure she could last until her mother came back. In fact, the wagon itself had become more of a little house with a campfire spot in the middle, some old metal plating to cover in case of attack in one corner and some shelves to put food on in the other.

"Should I stay… Or should I go?" The girl asked herself, knowing that unless you were in a city, it wasn’t a good plan to stay put for too long. Then, the same warm presence as earlier could be felt…

"Don’t worry honey… Your mother is coming soon…" the male voice said softly. The girl just smiled sadly as she looked down. Every time her dad spoke… She was glad to hear him, but sad that he was still dead…

"Dad… Will we get out of this mess one day?" She asked in return, but the presence was already gone, it’s advice given.

___________

The rest shift was over now, and it was time to get to work. The mother and her new acolyte began working, deafening each other with their buzz-axes as they cut through the bus. Every now and then, one would go and cut at the fence, then come back to pretend they were working. After a few hours of work, the fence looked like it was ready to give in.

"Okay… We can make a run for it as soon as this guard looks away." The man said quickly, avoiding to leave his axe off for too long.

The mother nodded and continued cutting away at the bus, stopping only to give him an idea. "We should leave the axes running inside the bus, they’ll think we’re still inside."

The man and the woman nodded to each other and climbed inside the destroyed bus and watched through the windows, ready to run once the guard was around the wall. As soon as the guard walked around they dropped their tools, and ran towards the fence. The man just jumped through it, making it fall with a loud metallic bang which alerted everyone as he ran. The woman followed through, running as fast as she could.

"Hey! Stop them!" Some guards from the Pitt yelled as the alarm rang. A few armed people tried taking shots at them, shooting at the floor near their feet but never hitting them.

The man was smiling as he turned to go and get lost into the city ruins, beginning to outrun the woman. "We’re free! Free I tell you!" He screamed. The woman smiled like she hadn’t smiled in weeks.

"I’m coming dearie!" She yelled happily over the distinctive sound of sharpshooters in the distance. The gunshots, as opposed to the bullet impacts, grew farther and farther, quieter and quieter.

________

The daughter woke up on that morning and remembered what her mother used to tell her. She decided she wouldn’t stay there anymore. Not only was she running out of food, but she had settled down for far too long. Slowly enough she got up and began picking up the food and placing it in her bag. She carefully placed the weapons into her bag as well and stepped out of the wagon with an uncomfortable feeling. Maybe she felt bad because she was leaving when her mother told her to stay…

"Dad? I’m... I’m leaving… But... I’m not sure where to go." She said, quietly, hoping for some advice. Suddenly, a warm presence could be felt… But it was a different kind of warmth. It felt like… A mother’s embrace….

science fiction
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