She panted as she ran, her hair and skin blackened by the ash that had covered the earth in ever increasing layers for most of her life. Two weeks earlier she and her party, a group of thirty or so fellow vagrants, some coming from as far as Eastern Europe, received word of a safe haven in Northumberland. Though they didn't think it to be any more than a wishful rumor, they had little to lose anymore. So they began the 125 mile journey, Kazik, a Polish man who had been living in Edinburgh when the beasts first appeared had hypothesized that if the group could manage 20 miles a day, they'd make it to the alleged sanctuary within a week. They set out from the demolished Glasgow metro station they'd been calling home, gathering all that they could carry without hindering themselves too greatly. For several days they maintained their goal of 20 miles a day, hiding out in derailed train cars and rubble, occasionally caves though they seldom came across the latter; nearly all that had once been a cave was now filled to the brim with ash. It wasn't until the fourth day in the afternoon when they encountered the dragon. More than half the party fried where they stood, Kazik included. The dozen or so who dodged the beast's first attack took off in opposite directions. Disgusted with herself as it made her, she was relieved when she saw the dragon going after someone else. It was every man for himself; they couldn't afford to live any other way.
Now she traveled alone, it'd been a day and a half since her canteen had run dry. No food, no water, hope. She was entirely exposed; there was no debris to hide in here, only rocks and ash. She had come to accept that if she didn't reach her destination immediately, her demise would be immanent.
She fell to her knees and looked around. How long had it been since she'd seen color? Nothing beyond the black ash beneath her and the polluted gray skies above her. No green grass or blue skies, no reddish brown earth or sweet smelling yellow hay, not even stars in the night sky, though she was often too fearful of what she might see to look up to the skies at night.
'If I am to die," she thought. 'I'd like to see green once more.' With that, she felt her vision growing dim. She heard the sound of wings flapping and assumed the worst. She closed her eyes and laid into the ash. There was nothing could be done anyway.
"Keep looking!" Quinn Abercrombie shouted. The watch falcon let out a shrill screech as it flitted around overhead.
"Come on Quinn," Eddie, another man from the castle said, sticking the barrel end of his gun into the ground and leaning against it. "You don't see anything, I know I don't see a bloody thing and Creedy sure as- hold up," he looked around. "Where's Creedy?" Quinn looked up from the spot he'd been examining to find his friend was in fact missing.
"Creedy?" He called. "Creedy!"
"Oi, over here!" The Scotsman shouted back.
"What is it?" Quinn asked hurrying over.
"'S a girl." Creedy replied kneeling over the young woman's small frame. He brushed some hair away from her face. It was impossible to tell what color it may have been due to the ash that covered it so heavily.
"She breathing?" Quinn inquired. The Scot placed his hand in front of her nose to feel cool air, rhythmically being exhaled.
"She's alive, go get the truck." He said. As he scooped her up into his arms, he noticed her eyes fluttering open. "Can you hear me, honey?" He asked. The girl looked up into his soft green eyes before her eyelids closed again.
Reviews plz