Chapter Two
"Where are we?"
She asked as she clambered up over a mound of twisted metal and shattered masonry.
"I'm unsure. I was only in America for two days before they came".
"No, I mean, are we close to this base with the injured?"
She clarified.
"Oh, another 10 minutes at our current rate, and if nothing intercepts our journey".
The destruction took on a whole different appearance where most of the fires had burnt out. Plumes of smoke no longer bellowed upwards into the atmosphere, but the skies were an unsavoury maroonish grey colour, hints of yellow and blue occasionally shone through the gaps in the new style of cloud. The smell was even worse than she remembered. The burnt remains of city, nature and humanity seemed to have increased. The usual mounds of bodies that lay scattered about were a beacon to every nearby fly to deposit its eggs, the maggots having a fine time wriggling through the long dead flesh. Trees that once made up green forests that stretched for miles were simply graveyards; all that was left of the nature was the charred and blackened skeletal trunks and branches.
What amazed her was the "snow". Rather then being pure white, and a product of freezing temperatures and a long winded explanation of evaporation, the ground was covered with black soot. It was at least ankle deep in parts, covering her shoes and dirtying the bottoms of her pants. She hoped whoever had donated the items wouldn't be offended. Of course, the morbid thing was that who ever these clothes had belonged to, they were probably dead now… or worse. Of course, they could have come from a department store, but given the few holes and faded patches they were obviously pre-owned.
They climbed up over a hill walking over the fractured roadway until they reached the summit. The view stripped her of any hope of a rebuild. The giant plumes of smoke that had once shrouded the city had now dissipated enough that the ruins of the metropolis were plainly seen – and there wasn't a hell of a lot left. Mostly the metal spines of buildings, bent, twisted, warped by a non-human heat. They were at least 40km, but even at that distance the sheer morose nature of the place ripped into her soul, it wasn't even her native soil but it still hurt. She didn't know the name of the city, but at that point it mattered not as it would mostly likely never again be a home to anyone, ever.
She was suddenly aware her companion was pulling her down towards a pile of rock that an overturned car lay balanced precariously against.
"Ssssh".
He pointed.
She saw.
"Oh… crap".
She whispered as she looked towards the monster walking through the ruins.
The two ducked down behind the rubble and crawled behind the car. Muhammad peered out cautiously. An intense glare spread across his face and his eyes were filled with hatred.
"Allah calm my mind. Guide my hand. Death to the soulless infidels".
He whispered, she noticed him suddenly slide what looked like a gun from his pants and he aimed it in the direction of the alien.
"No… look… I think its leaving".
She said softly, barely audible.
He looked at her then back at the creature.
She hadn't seen that one before; it had blue shins and lower arms, and a white torso, with hints of grey. It picked something up and crushed it, then holding its arm out straight, opened its fingers and the dust sprinkled down to the charred earth. It said something but they were too far away from it to hear. It transformed into a dune buggy kind of thing before speeding off towards the city, bouncing about as it went.
"You don't think it found the base thing?"
She whispered as she watched Muhammad stand, he was quiet, and his features were still firm with detestation. No point asking if he hated them, or why, it'd be pretty obvious and guarantee his reasons would be similar to her reasons and her reasons were similar to every other human on the planet.
"I don't' think he'd be crushing rubble if he had found the base".
He stated after an uncomfortable silence… well, she felt it was uncomfortable, especially when he didn't even look at her as he spoke.
"This way".
