Day 8

The air was getting hotter by the minute; I had to find shelter soon. The sun was steadily climbing higher into the sky; I’d be dead by the time it reaches its peak.

Sometime over a hundred years ago the world collapsed, the moon split, our world suddenly became a very dangerous place. Technology was lost to people, the great machines of the past became a legend grandparents told their grandchildren at night.

No one ever talked about how the planet died; Mother Nature disappeared when the world fell into ruin. Trees lost their leaves before they rotted away to nothing, everything green turned brown and crumbled. Roads either cracked from the earth shifting or became overgrown with dead plants. Buildings fell; power plants exploded killing everything in its reach.

The sky now painted grey, looming greens streaked the atmosphere of our planet. The rivers and lakes dried up decades ago leaving behind jagged rocks, skeletons of what once inhabited those areas had long since turned to dust. Debris littered the ground, hiding old ruins from sight.

The earth was washed with golden sand burying the old world forever. The oceans remained, gradually drying up from the suns heat. Nothing lived in the sea anymore; radiation had taken care of that nearly a century ago. Radiation had been the main cause of our world dying, I never found out the real reason behind the world ending but I know it had something to do with the radiation.

The rocky trail proved to be more difficult to climb, muscles sore from reaching for higher rocks and then hoisting myself up. My hands were raw from all the times I’d slipped, tiny cuts covered my palms collecting dust as I continued to climb higher.

My finger-less gloves had been removed before I even attempted to scale the treacherous mountain for the cave I’d spotted around a mile back. I’d taken my gloves off to save myself any accidents stemmed from them; I was less likely to lose my grips on the rocks, the fall would surely kill me. I didn’t want to run the risk of tearing the leather knowing full well I wouldn’t be able to repair them nor could I replace them on account of having nothing to trade for them.

Pulling myself up onto the ledge, I twisted around on the ledge to sit comfortably looking out over the valley my legs swinging freely. Shuffling my backpack off I turned it around to face me and removed a red piece of cloth from my backpack and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I shoved the rag back into my bag knowing full well I needed to get inside the cave as soon as I could.

Climbing to my feet I grabbed the strap for my back pack and tugged it along behind me as I entered the cave. Using a loos stone I marked where the shadows on the floor were, making a mental note to watch those shadows for the next hour or so.

The last decade or so it was impossible to go out in sunlight when the sun was at its highest, the heat was fatal burning people enough to kill them. I remember a time where we didn’t have to seek shelter from the sun, I was still only a child, my brother was still alive so was my father. I still had a scar of a burn on my right shoulder from the day the suns heat pierced the atmosphere, my parents had rushed my inside when they heard my screams. My brother and I used to play in the sun all day, pretending we were bandits robbing our small town.

He went missing when our father took him to the next town to trade, they never came back. Those who had been with them claimed they had been killed by some militia group that had risen after the world had ended and assumed control of what was left of the land.

I continued to watch the shadows dance across the rocks whilst I reminisced on the old days. The shadows passed the marks I’d made on the ground showing when it was safe to venture out of the cave. Shouldering my pack I slowly made my way outside, I could now see my destination on the horizon, black smoke rising from the tall chimney. Slowly I began my descent down the mountain careful not to fall.

The way down was always quicker than it was going up. Pushing through the small canyon to the dirt road I shifted my goggles from my hair to cover my eyes, shielding them from the sun. Slipping a ribbon from my wrist I pulled back my hair and tied it back, allowing the cool breeze to fight off the bite of the heat prickling my bare skin.

Days like this it was impossible to wear anything other than a vest and shorts, even then it was too warm. The desert stretched for miles appearing larger than what it was, the town I was heading towards looked like a little black dot on the horizon with smoke rising from it. Waves of heat blurred my vision when looking ahead for far too long.

Hours past, the sun descended in the sky nearing the horizon looking as if it might set fire to the edge of the planet. I stopped in my tracks when screaming reached my ears, looking up from the sand my eyes widened. It wasn’t black smoke from the chimney it was from the fire that had engulfed the factory.

Jogging up to the arch that acted as the entrance to our home I stopped again, standing partially hidden by the metal post as I watched. The militia were surrounding the people of the town, steam-powered pistols and rifles pointed to each of the inhabitants. Each member of the militia rode horses towering above everybody they’d ordered to their knees.

There were two members of the militia walking around talking, asking for my mom and me. Someone tried to tell them that my mother died almost ten years which earned them a kick to the stomach. The others tried to say they hadn’t seen me in days. Had it really been that long? Taking a deep breath I stepped from behind the metal post and slowly approached the group.

Stealth and subtlety weren’t my thing so I shouted ahead saying ‘I hear you’re looking for me.’ This gained their attention, guns pointed directly at me. I held my hands up a smirk clearly on my face as I stepped closer to the group looking around for anyone who could be injured.

One of the men who had been walking around turned to me, a pistol nestled in one of his many belts. He pulled the hammer back on the pistol before pointing at me and ordering me to stop moving. Doing as he asked his men crept closer to me and rummaged though my backpack, another patted down my clothes making sure I had no weapons.

When they were satisfied that I had nothing they all moved away from me stepping back in their circle. He looked me up and down smiling as he looked over his shoulder and shouted fro his friend to join him. This man turned to join him within seconds, my mouth likely dropping open when I realised who this man was.

“Nate” Slipped my tongue as I stared at the man. He didn’t look any different from the last time I saw him, even if that was ten years ago he still looked the same as he did all those years ago. He smiled a nice toothy smile as he approached me.

“Constance”