A Legend in the Decay

by CruelBlood

The year is 2024, and a war had broken out between countries that had massive chemical and biological weapons.A young man named John has to survive out in this dead world that he once knew. While out there amongst the rubble of the old world; he meeting a beauty amongst the vileness of the dead world and she shows him there is a lot more that he didn't know about when he was human.

1. The Survivors

A Legend in the Decay©

By Albert Lamont
9/21/13

Chapter 1

The Survivors

Walking through the court yard as a small game of catch was going on. My family a small group of 17. We were in the yard for a small game of catch. As the ball was tossed to one another person I made sure not to cross the boundary so not to get in the way of the little game they were playing. It was a rare day, one with no worries, no searching for food, and especially we didn't have to be on guard for any wild animal or monster out there. Everywhere sun's rays touched I knew it would keep us safe on this beautiful day.

The game of catch went on for a long time, long enough where the sun, our precious sun started to wane. Jogging to the house to help fix up the fires and prepare the food. We had a bounty of apples, canned beans, meat from some deer and rabbits we killed over the past few weeks, fresh water, and a various items that we couldn't get enough of. Watermelon, we searched high and low for it. It was a fantastic refreshment and meal all at the same time. Just don't eat too much of it or you'll find that your belly would hurt. Another family member was already cooking the meat and washing the apples. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and was just a bit taller than me. He was wearing a brown shirt with torn blue pants. He had a dark blue bandanna tied around his shoulder. Then it smacked me in the face. The smell of the meat over a wood stove made my mouth water. "Is there anything I could help with?" I asked. "Wash your hands first, then I'll show you what you can do." He told me in a near whisper. I walked over to the sink. There was a bucket and ran my hands over the water scrubbing them. After a minute I shook my hands hard to get the water off of them. "Alright what can I do." He gave me the apples and a tiny knife. "Peel the skins off these apples while I get more fire wood." He said while walking out the door.

A minute later I was done with peeling the apple skins. with my hands all sticky, I walked over to the bucket once more and rinsed my hands. I noticed that one of the family members that were supposed to come back hadn't yet. I walked over to the wood pile in the back of the house, but he wasn't here. "Where is he?" I asked myself. I stopped for a second to think, (where did that kid go?) I walked around the back yard for a few minutes. "Hehe," I heard some faint giggling coming from the barn. I slowly crept to the barn door. I slowly reached for the door handle, and then pried it open. "Mitch. Getting fire wood huh?" Mitch and the girl jumped, I shook my head in amusement. "Sorry John, I was just taken a break from cookin." He explained. "Right, well I'm done with peeling the skins off the apples. And once you're done with kissin and flirtin come help with getting the plates on the table." He scratched his head, "right, be right there." I closed the barn door and walked back to the kitchen. I went over to the wood stove and checked on the meat that was slowly cooking to perfection. I walked over to the cabinet and grabbed some of the cracked plates that were neatly stacked in the cabinet. I walked over to the table made for thirty and got it ready for the food that was about to be served. After I got the plates on the table I walked over to the cumbered picked up some forks and placed them on the table. Creek. The door swung open and in popped Mitch. "Took you." I said with a humph. Mitch scratched is head, "My apologies. I see you got most of the table done." I picked up a fork then walked over to the stove. I stabbed the meat and ripped a piece off then ate it. The juice saturated my mouth as I chewed. The meat was just right it. "It's done, could you go get everyone, time for dinner." As I swallowed the juicy meat Mitch walked out or the room. Creek, tick. I heard the door click shut. I went to the bathroom to wash my face of all the dirt that had gotten stuck on there for the longest. I focused on washing my hands then grabbed a rag off the sink I dipped it in the bucket. The water was very very cold. I didn't really pay too much attention to it. After soaking the rag for a few seconds I brushed it against my face. Above the sink there was a mirror. It was big enough to get the top part of my body. (My shoulders up) I had near black hair that didn't pass my ears. My ears were small but I had very, very acute hearing. I can hear a bunny in the brush or a deer frolicking about. I had dark green eyes that had small amounts of blue but you couldn't tell unless you got really close to my face to see. I had very, very light pink lips. My nose was small but round. I enjoy the smell of cooked meet and the smell of flowers in the spring time.

I cleaned off the rest of the dirt off my face and hand a walked to the stove and grabbed the meat and placed it on the table ready to be served. The clamber of feet started to rawer to the door and into the bathroom. After everyone got into their seats we began serving our selves. Each of us had a slice of meat on their plate and three slices of apple. We took our time eating, each one of us taking small bites of our food because we knew that we would have more tomorrow. After everyone had finished their food they put it in the sink and one of us would be getting it tonight. "Mitch, your turn to do the dishes." One of the family members spoke up. "yeah your turn and no getting out of it either." Mitch looked at me with a 'help me' look. I grabbed my plate and placed it in the sink. "Mitch it's your turn and you must do it." I paused for a second to see his reaction to my words but before he could speak I said. "But someone can help." Everyone started to look around to see who was going to help him. "I will help." A women voice came out of the crowd. She stepped out and stud beside Mitch. It was the same women Mitch was kissing and flirtin with in the barn. "O-Kay." I said slowly. Everyone began to disperse till it was just Mitch, the girl, and I left in the room. "Thanks Seirra, I really didn't want to do all of this by myself." she shook her head. "No problem." She said with a small smile. "Alright make sure that you hang the rest of the in eaten meat out in the barn, high enough so the animals don't get to it. also make sure you lock the door." They both shook their heads yes and I walked to the end my room to relax for the night.

I walked to my room that I shared with Mitch. I sat on the floor and crossed my legs, put my hands on my thighs, and closed my eyes. I could feel my heart beat as my breath began to slowly trickle to a near halt. I felt my legs as they began to relax and go numb, then my arms, fingers, shoulders, neck, and then finally my head. They were heavy but also weightless at the same time if I moved or even twitched the feeling of calm and tranquil, this peace would be gone and I really didn't want that. I took a slow deep breath in and felt my belly rise. I slowly exhaled, the air leaving my body. I was very calm now and almost sleep like. My body all relax not have to worry about the food or any harm to anyone in the family. (Creek) the door slowly began to open but I did not flinch. I let who ever in, in. "John, you asleep man?" the voice asked. It sounded like it was Mitch. I didn't pay no mind. I could feel the floor give a little as he walked closer. then he walked away to his side of the room. He we had a small fire barrel in the room to keep us worm during the night. The rustling of the wood inside of the barrel made a scraping sound against the metal. He must have been checking if we were going to need more fire wood before we went to sleep. We must of needed more because he left the room as quietly as possible. I could hear him go to the back door and open it. Seconds later, he was walking back up the stairs to our room. He placed the wood in the metal barrel and walked to his side of the room to try and sleep.

I slowly opened my eyes and peered around the room. Mitch was well fast asleep and the fire was slow cooking the wood. I got up and left the room to check on the others. I walked the halls like a ghost in the night. I opened each door to see everyone fast asleep. After I knew that everyone was asleep I went down the stairs and looked outside. Light from the sun was peaking over the horizons. It wouldn't be long before it would be day and everyone would be hungry. I went into the dining room and grabbed some left over apples that were saved for today and placed them on the dining table. Seeing as everyone was still asleep I would just wait until everyone was awake before I start serving people food. I walked to the back door and looked outside to notice that we would need more fire wood. I marked that in my brain and continued on my check list of the needs for the day. We had a small flowing water a short walking distance from the house that we could get water from. Looking at the water buckets that we had for storage of water we were going to need another run to that water source. The skies growing brighter as I walked about, soon I could hear the creeks of movement about upstairs. So I grabbed those apples and opened them up from their covering. The movement up stairs started to get louder as more and more awakened. It was now bright enough to go outside and look at the meat that was hung in the barn to dry.

I opened the back door and went to the barn door only to see that the barn door was not locked as it was supposed to be. I went back into the house and walked slowly so to not make everyone wonder what was up. Saw my room and sped up to my room to get my revolver. It was old, it had a black grip with three indents for my last three fingers. The trigger, the cylinder, and the barrel was all a stainless steel. The barrel had some engravings on it. The last owner had said it was called a Magnum. At the time I was very small kid back then but all I know is that when this thing goes off it makes the loudest sound I have ever heard. I loved this revolver; it's gotten my butt out of many sticky situations with all the dangerous creatures that live out here. Every time I have used this gun I made sure I took some time to clean it. I snatched and its holster off the floor, strapped it to my belt. I went back down the stairs, opened up the back door walked slowly to the barn door. I waited and listened, waiting for something to move inside. After a minute I reached for the wooden door handle, and wrenched it open. The meat was all over the floor. I walked in and holstered my gun and started to examine the now rotting meat. "Mother of All…" I said to myself. Then I noticed that the meat was also eaten. Paw prints were everywhere inside the barn. They must have gotten in and ate at our meat. The realization that we now had no meat to eat made me very, very angry.

I walked out of the barn and made my way back into the dining area. Everyone had already started chowing down on apples. I sat down and grabbed an apple, wiped it off with my shirt. I let everyone eat before I started to dish out chores for the next three days. This was our fourth day morning routine and everyone seemed to not care about it. Once everyone had gotten their fill of apples I stood up and everyone look up to me. "Morning everyone." Everyone said Morning back. "Well you know what time it is, Delegations time. Okay Before I start handing out chores for everyone is there any volunteers for a certain chore today. I kid in the back raised his hand and yell out "I want to wash the cloths today." I quickly responded. "Fantastic, any others?" I waited a second before I started calling out names. "Okay here we go and remember your chores. Merie and Carlos you have to clean the house from top to bottom. Howard and Richie you are going to the apple orchard and pick apple five baskets full. Alayna and Zak you're going to be cleaning the dishes. Emily and Shane you're empting out the water from the side of the house and putting new water in it. Allyson and Bernarda will be going out and looking at the traps that Mitch and Seirra set two days ago. Lori, Julie, and Avery you three are going hunting but Mitch will be your guide to his spot. After you get done with showing them where to go, Mitch and Seirra are going to clean the barn. Tina and I will be cutting down trees for the fire wood. The rest of you will be going to scavenge and thing from the towns. You may choose where you want to go but you must do at least two. I hope to see everyone done with today's chores by dinner. Good, now that you got all of that I have to tell everyone. Someone didn't lock the barn last night so the meat got eaten by some mangy dogs." Everyone started to wine and cry over it. "Alright, I know that's a bad thing but we can find more meat. I know it might not be today or even tomorrow but we will." Everyone looked disappointed and some angry. "Okay everyone knows what they need to do. Well see each other at dinner okay." And with that everyone started to leave the dining room and start their chores.