Inspired by the S4 episode 'The Wacky Molestation Adventure' one of my favourite episodes. I know Kyle initiated everything but for all intents and purposes...just go with it.
The sunrise broke over the mountain ridge in the distance, it's rays splintering in to varying directions; one of which happened to be Kyle's direct line of vision. The golden beam temporarily stunned him. He stopped dead in his tracks, squeezed his eyes shut to block out the light and shook his head. When he opened them again he found he'd broken out a funk he hadn't even noticed he'd been in. Glancing over his shoulder a small figure trailed behind him wearily, brow so furrowed in determination one might think he was sulking.
"C'mon Ike, not much further now." Kyle called to his baby brother. Not that he was a baby any more. Ike had turned nine in March, hardly an infant. But it was impossible for Kyle to stop thinking of him as the same baby his parents had brought home from the hospital and allowed him to cradle in the big armchair. He wasn't Kyle's birth brother mind, he was adopted. Ike's birth parents were a Canadian couple indoctrinated by a bizarre cult in Utah. When their psychotic 'messiah' was overthrown, the cult was disbanded forcefully by authorities. Several members didn't take too kindly to this and resorted to protest by arson, Ike's parents included. The judge accepted their plea of insanity, but deemed them unfit to take care of their impending baby at the time of the trial. Enter Mr and Mrs Broflovski. Kyle and Ike were understandably chalk and cheese in the appearance aspect. The elder had inherited his mother's flaming red hair, thick and effulgent curls, but had eyes that apparently came from his paternal grandmother. They were grey, flecked with what his mother insisted was gold: 'the most glittering pebbles you ever saw.' While Ike's dark mop of hair wasn't as striking, he possessed perfectly aesthetically pleasant eyes of olive colouring. Not that any of this mattered, as far as Kyle was concerned Ike was carved from his own flesh and blood. This was long before the Molestation pandemic of course.
Ike huffed and puffed melodramatically until he caught up with his brother. He stopped next to Kyle and let out a groan that turned in to a whine.
"I'm so tired Kyle, can't we stop please? We haven't slept in thirty six hours."
"I know Ike, I'm sorry." Kyle reached out and combed Ike's hair with his fingers. "I just wanted to put some distance between us and those Kansas kids, they were weird."
The brothers had been nomads for a year now. After their parents were arrested in 1998 they continued to live in their San Francisco home undetected for a while, but when social services tried to get involved Kyle knew they had to go. His parents had had first-hand experience with social services and Kyle had heard horror stories about biological siblings being split up, never mind he and Ike. Only three weeks after they left did they hear all adult authority in San Francisco had fallen, the rest of the West Coast swiftly following. They were already gone of course, en route to his father's home town further East. A mountain town called South Park, which was supposed to be isolated but peaceful. Perfect.
The kids Kyle was referring to they had crossed paths with near the state line. Due to travel restrictions amid infectious paranoia among the remaining adults, Kyle and Ike were unable to plough straight through Nevada and Utah to Colorado. They instead had to skirt around on a route that took them through Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming. They'd finally breached the border and were feeling optimistic, when the pair had intersected another group of travelling kids. They had already met several along their way, with adults vanishing rapidly children everywhere were migrating at a similar rate for whatever reasons they had. Most had been perfectly nice, but the Kansas party were something else. They were cutting through Colorado and headed for Arizona where they heard every child had an adult slave. Kyle felt sick to his stomach at the idea and had done his best to retain his composure when declining their invitation to join them. He'd thanked them but said they were already meeting cousins in Colorado, squeezing Ike's hand firmly so his brother knew not to react to this false information.
'Alright, but just so you know, Colorado is a dead state now. With no adults keepin'em here kids all over are moving to cooler states.' A buck toothed boy had shrugged. Kyle had doubled their daily walking progression in his head, so they couldn't be too far now. However it was all up hill and Ike wasn't taking it too well.
"Why don't you give me your back pack for now huh?" Kyle offered, reaching out for it. When packing he had tried his hardest to pack only necessities, but even they all added up. Similarly when dividing the weight between them Kyle had put the majority in his own pack so Ike's would be as light as possible. Their new lifestyle of walk, eat, rest, repeat had built Kyle an impressive stamina. Over the past couple of weeks he had noticed his previously slender arms and legs had begun to curve in to fresh muscle. Gradually he had been transferring more of Ike's stuff to his own bag.
"No, it's okay. I can carry my own weight." The younger muttered. "I'm just tired is all."
"We'll rest within the next hour, I promise." Kyle responded. "The moment we reach South Park you can sleep for days if you like."
"I'll hold you to that." Ike countered in such a miserly fashion that Kyle couldn't help but grin. Sometimes he wasn't sure if his brother had been eight going on eighty rather than nine. The boy set off again at a steady pace, his guardian promptly following. Just as Kyle had promised within thirty minutes they found a creaking sign post around the bend, assuring them the town of South Park was awaiting them not far away.
"I don't like it." Ike commented on the eerie sound the post made as it swayed in the breeze.
"Look at the state of it Ike, it's probably at least fifty years old. It would be creepy if it didn't creak." Kyle dismissed him.
"Maybe it's an omen."
"Don't be ridiculous, dad grew up in South Park. You saw his childhood pictures it's perfectly nice." The elder snorted.
"Nice an ambiguous word." Ike conjectured, but the glare from his brother signalled: 'I'm not in the mood for this shit.'
As they ascended the pass the air around them began to settle on their skin with a cold prick, making hairs rise on ends. They had anticipated this of course, and were already wearing thick rubber soled boots to conquer the rocky terrain; fleece lined sweaters were tied around their waists for when the sweat on their backs began to chill. They were now surrounded by dense clusters of towering pine trees that dominated the mountainside. Although every inch of him from his toes to his shoulders throbbed and ached, Kyle couldn't help but be entranced by the beauty of the pass. He'd never seen so many shades of green before, did every single shade have its own name? He wanted to know them all.
They trudged on, each step resonating painfully through the soles of their feet. It was Ike's delighted cry that dissolved Kyle's aching, as a couple of buildings appeared up ahead.
"And we're in business baby!" Ike yelled, punching the air with his fist. "Hellooo South Park!" Kyle grinned at the sudden spike in Ike's optimism, his own sense of relief kicking in. They'd finally made it.
Ike turned to him. "I can't decide what I'm going to do first, that overdue nap or poop in a real toilet."
"Steady on butthead, we should check for any signs of intelligent life first." Kyle chided him.
They hadn't expected a welcome committee. When they set off from San Francisco they hadn't done so with the idea a community would be waiting for them, it was nothing more than being the only other place of vague familiarity. A lot of towns they had passed through were utterly deserted despite signs of them having once been thriving. The brothers had come to terms with the possibility they might be alone in South Park, and that notion suited them just fine. There would ideally be a general store they could scour for abandoned goods, and a spunky New York kid Kyle had met back in Oregon had given him a master class on how to break in to and hot wire cars for potential supply runs. How hard could driving be with no other cars on the road?
As the dirt and gravel trail turned to concrete beneath them, the brother's initial survey of the town came up blank. While there was no sign in any living thing the typical tell-tale signs of chaotic abandonment were rife. Store windows and traffic lights were smashed, assorted debris littered the road and a dank smell hung in the air.
"This must have been the main street." Said Kyle, following with his eyes the boulevard all the way in to the distance where it faded in to the misty mountain scenery.
"Where did dad live again?" Ike asked.
"2605 Evergreen, off of Maple." Kyle answered. "Though it isn't his any more Ike, remember that. He sold it before he moved to San Fran with mom."
"It isn't anybody's any more." Ike contested. "There's nobody here. We can have it."
"Nobody that we can see dummy." Kyle muttered, though all evidence and reason suggested that this place truly was deserted. None the less he allowed Ike to lead him through the crumbling streets, each as empty as the last. It wasn't the first desolated town they had encountered, yet Kyle couldn't shake the creepy feeling they were being watched. He paused and glanced back over his shoulder, realising the huge white line that had followed them down Main had vanished. Only now did he wonder if it wasn't a road sign, but if it was –or had been- a marker for something.
Ike seemed entirely oblivious to either of these, calling out street names as they passed them like check points in a game. Kyle carried on after him silently.
Then suddenly, there it was.
"Maple." Ike announced, yet more softly than the others. Without so much as a glance at Kyle the youngster shed his backpack like a suffocating cocoon and broke out in to a run toward the next street.
"Ike!" Kyle exclaimed, collecting the discarded pack. He was somewhat jealous the other had so suddenly felt able to lift the burden off of his shoulders, but another part of Kyle still felt uneasy about the town around them. "Ike come back!"
He couldn't run with two packs, no way. As fast as his legs would allow him Kyle power walked after his charge, grunting as he went. The grey clouds above him cracked suddenly and as they shifted Kyle groaned, not now for the love of-
"Hey Kyle over here!"
Following the sound of Ike's voice Kyle saw before him a dark green clap-board house, topped with dormer windows and a red brick chimney running up the left hand side like ivy. Sitting on the front porch among the dead plants and leaves as casual as a dog was Ike, looking very much the King of the castle.
"2605 Evergreen!" Ike grinned and pointed to the faded numbers above the doorbell.
"Ike you should never run off like that, how many times have I told you?" Kyle sighed and tossed his brother's pack on the porch floor next to him. Hesitantly Kyle hooked his thumbs under his own backpack straps, did he dare to take it off? He had done so a dozen times before of course, but this seemed so final. Their entire journey had been building up to this and it didn't seem real. Yet when the redhead finally slid the straps over his shoulders and allowed them to slither to the ground it felt just like it had those dozen times before. A momentary lapse of pain relief, before the throbbing commenced one more and would do so for at least an hour post-backpack. There was no euphoria, no celebratory trumpet, nothing at all.
"I already checked the door, it's unlocked." Ike said, not deigning to acknowledge the scolding. "Can we sleep here?"
Kyle looked back out at the street which was now awash with rain, so heavy it sounded like a thousand tennis balls were tumbling from the sky on to the porch roof. "I think we deserve some sleep." He smiled weakly at Ike. Needing no more semblance of permission Ike scrambled up and lifted the latch on the front door, quickly disappearing inside. Kyle rolled his eyes as he was left to pick up after his brother again, though deep down he was proud of Ike for how determined he had been throughout the entirety of their migration. Inside the house had no electricity, not that they had expected it to. There was no instant hot water either. However they found the stove was gas meaning the possibilities of boiling water themselves and also cooking food, so they were more than satisfied.
As neither of them were comfortable with exploring the upstairs just yet (as the previous occupant clearly hadn't left willingly), Kyle settled Ike on the sofa in his sleeping bag. Once he was comfortable Kyle slipped in to his own and nestled in the lumpy armchair adjacent. True to his word about being exhausted, Ike was unconscious in minutes. Assuaged that he was fine and fast asleep, Kyle allowed himself to grow tired. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the rain pound against the roof. Everything was going to be all right...
"KYLE!" Ike's screams pierced through Kyle's peaceful slumber like a red hot needle. He sat up with a gasp and blinked rapidly to clear the darkness, then realised he couldn't. Night had fallen while they slept and before his eyes could adjust Kyle felt himself grabbed by a frenzy of hands and thrust to the floor. His face was pressed in to the carpet and somebody was sat on top of him, pinning him to the ground in submission.
"What are you doing here outlanders?" A stern voice barked.
"None of your business!" Kyle heard Ike shout defiantly, before screaming more. "KYLE!"
Kyle turned his face to the side and ignoring the searing carpet burn on his cheek yelled: "Hey asshole! Leave him alone and pick on somebody your own size! Like me!"
"You heard him," The voice sneered. The faceless hands yanked him up on to his knees and twisted his arms behind his back, before pulling his head up to address their mysterious leader. Despite the animosity both bore, Kyle couldn't help but be utterly entranced by the ethereal blue eyes that pierced his own. A smirk stretched across the face that also studied him.
"Hi Kyle, welcome to Treasure Cove. You're trespassing."
A review would be darling.