We're determined to leave this town behind. There's nothing for anyone here anymore. Staying at this place is almost like a death sentence. Nothing but the sound of the wind to comfort us, and even then it's nothing but a chill down my spine and goosebumps crawling along my arms. The dust still lingers here-it'll stay in the air long after we're gone.
Even as I pack everything away, Carter's still on my shoulder. His talons are gripping into my shoulder whenever I bend over or move around. It hurts at first, but I get used to it. Once the knapsack's on, he'll be off my shoulder anyway. Hopefully he'll be fine with gripping on a strap instead of my body. If not, I hope he's fine with flying-I'm not giving him a ride on my head.
The bird's quiet. Hasn't made a noise since I found him. He just preens his feathers while he sits on my shoulder. Maybe there's just nothing for him to sing about. As much as I appreciate him not getting in the way, it's kind of creepy having him here just worried about his looks. I want to see him fly around at least once. Maybe perch on top of one of the statues. Give my shoulder a bit of a break. He's dead set on staying here with me, though. I don't blame him-if I was him, I'd keep as close to the people I find as possible.
Carter pecks at some bread that I find in a cupboard in the back of the room. There's even a bit of peanut butter in an old jar. Still tastes good, so I make myself a quick bite to eat as well. I don't think he'll like anything else I've got packed away. Hope we can find something else to eat while we're off. Granola isn't going to sustain us forever.
It's really hard to leave the others behind, knowing they're so close to me but so far away. I place my hand on the older man. They still call him a professor. He's not going to do much studying or research anymore. Not that he knows or cares, but still. The others are still staring into the pit, excitement stretched across their frozen faces. I give each one a long hug, even though I've never even seen two of them before in my life. The last one I know. He gets another embrace, even though it's getting me covered in dust again and it's really awkward with his arm sticking out like that.
When the bird's done, he comes back to me and perches on my shoulder again. We need to leave now. No more delaying the inevitable.
There's a chill in the air when we step outside. Not so much the cold, although it's there-it's almost like the anticipation and hope and despair and fear and confusion of everything I've experienced lingers here. Carter seems to either be unfazed or apathetic, I can't tell which. Either way, he shakes the falling dust off his feathers and preens again. It's almost as if he's trying to impress me. I'm flattered that he's gussying himself up, but there's no need to. Just enough to keep the dust off of him, that's all I want to see.
There's the beach to the south. There's no water out there in the sky, but the sand is still here. It's gray and ashy, just like everything else. I scoop up a handful of particles and watch as the wind blows them into the void. It's sort of hypnotic, watching the stuff swirl around in the air before dropping off the face of the earth. Carter's even tempted to chase after it, but I keep him back. I'm not gonna lose him so soon after finding him.
We have to go to the north. It's the only way out of the town. There's no reason to go anywhere else now. Maybe there'll be some answers in the city. Or maybe there won't. Just gotta keep moving forward. We'll find out eventually.
Carter jumps off my shoulder and glides ahead. Lucky him-he can fly. I'm stuck on the ground kicking up dust and watching the grass stick on my shoe. They stick out of the top like tiny needles. I stop every so often and stomp them clean against the ground. There's always a cloud of dirt that billows up to my face and I cough. Better than blades of glassy grass in my feet.
The ground continues to keep up with me, one step ahead of the edge. There's patches of the taller weeds laced in with the grass and the path. There's a good chance that I might find something hiding in the overgrown stuff; then again, I remember finding nothing on the way to Sandgem. I don't even know where Carter's from, to be honest. Maybe I'll find out some day-not this one, though.
As I swing my foot forward through the grass, I hit something solid. I trip over it and slam down into the ground-at least the dirt makes for a softer landing than the streets of the last town. The stuff I kick up dries out my mouth. I start coughing and rubbing out my eyes. That stuff hurts if it gets in your system, believe me.
Through my watery eyes I see a face. It's a human-or, rather, was a human. An eye is staring back at me; it's cold and lifeless and made of stone. I reach out to touch it, but as soon as I lay a finger on it, the whole thing collapses on itself. I cry out and bring my hand to my mouth. There are tears in my eyes as I bite down on my finger to stop myself from crying. It's a boy-a boy with friends and family and now he's just a pile of rubble in the middle of a path.
Carter comes back to see me on the ground like this. Judging by the vast emptiness ahead of us, I doubt he was able to find anything. I don't know how long I've been sitting like this, but I need to move. The wind is picking up and rustling through my hair. I'm sure I've got plenty of soot in it by now-I don't really care, to be honest.
Even with my pack, I manage to stand up and look to the path back into town. That boy's foot sticks up out of the grass and I didn't even see it until now. Just staring at it makes my shin throb with pain. I need to keep moving. Hopefully there won't be any more statues out here.
I take a step out toward the unknown when there's a rustling in the bushes behind me. I look back and see nothing but bent grass in the wind. Strange, though, that there wasn't a gust to go along with that. Carter's off like a jet as he shoots through the grass, blowing back everything to see what may not be there after all.
I wade through the brush and find the bird on the ground next to a ball of brown. There's a bit of the gray stuff mixed in with everything, but that's to be expected. I reach down and poke it with my finger.
It quivers at my touch.
The eyes open slowly but surely. They're beady and black, just like Carter's. Two giant buck-teeth catch the little glint of light and send it right in my eyes. I'm seeing spots when it shakes itself off and looks around the area. It yawns and turns its gaze toward the bird with sleepy eyes before staring back toward me. It's almost as if it's expecting us.
Carter hops forward along the ground before looking up at me. I don't know whether he wants me to let it join us or leave it behind. Too bad he hasn't said a thing since I found him-it'd be nice to have a conversation with him, even if he and I can't understand each other at all. Break up the silence, at least.
If he wants to come with us, that's fine. We could use the company-maybe he'll talk to me a bit more than you.
The ball of fur stands up. I can see tufts of brown hair billowing from its cheeks as it walks on shaky legs and rubs its face against my ankle. It almost looks like a stuffed animal-something I would collect back in my younger days. I feel nostalgic all of a sudden as a name I once knew pops into my head. It's perfect for the new guy.
Bert. He's a giant fluffy thing with a warm fuzzy name.
As quick as that sudden wave of comfort washes over me, I hear something I never would have expected otherwise-flapping wings. There are a lot of those birds that look like Carter that start flying out of the treetops: a massive shroud of feathers and beaks and squawking dives toward me and Carter and Bert. We've got no choice but to run away toward the edge. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that I don't lose Carter-he's flying ahead of us, scouting the way that doesn't yet exist. The fuzzy ball is in my arms; I don't ever remember picking him up, but I guess I don't trust him enough yet to run off without me yet.
They're still following us. I can feel the cawing under my skin, scratching at my nerves. I have no idea why they're all so mad at me, nor do I care to find out. Turns out there's more of these surviving creatures out in the wilds, but why them? Why are they so special and Missus Kingsburg and Mother not? Why am I so special? No time for that now-have to keep running otherwise they'll get me.
Even at a sprint with the adrenaline pumping through me, the ground keeps up with my pace. Fragments and chunks and splinters form at my feet and pave the way through the twisting path. The birds, however, are at an advantage, seeing as they're not stuck on the ground like I am. We can only run so fast and so far before my legs give out and I collapse again in a heap on the ground. There's nothing to do but hit the deck and wait for the things to descend.
And then the strangest thing happens-nothing. The birds disappear from behind me. When I look up, there's nothing else there but a single black feather right in front of my face. This is as big as one of Carter's wings, which is weird because his wings aren't all that big. It couldn't have come from one of those birds that were chasing us, could it? They were just as small as Carter and with white and gray feathers-not this inky plumage. Bert seems somewhat afraid of it, but I can't seem to put my finger on why he would be, or if he's just tired or in shock from the sprint. It's just a single feather, but where did it come from? Did the thing, whatever it was, manage to scare away everything, or is it all in my head?
As I pluck it from the ground, I notice that the grass stops before a paved road. There's a bunch of cracks in the path like it's been needing repairs for a long time now. With those birds gone all of a sudden, I can walk into this newly-ancient ruin without fear-at least from being attacked by them for the time being. I'm not too worried about them, though.
What's got me scared now are the hundreds of statues going about their daily business in the streets of the city. Men in suits with briefcases clenched in their stony fists-there are plenty of them out and about. Mothers looking after their children as they stare at the rubble of buildings that once stood tall against the sky-they're out there too. Kids like me, exploring the world around them and trying to figure out what they're gonna do with their lives-those hopes and dreams die out with this, whatever this is.
And none of them ever think about this possibility-of standing in this moment forever with no one to look on but a confused and bewildered girl.
The walkways are still but my mind is playing tricks on me again. I can hear the dull roar of the crowds walking through, talking to one another, going about their daily business. Now they're just as frozen as that boy on the path to this place. A city full of statues-I swear someone's playing a trick on me at times and I half-expect people to burst out from the shadows and surprise me, but I know deep down that it's not going to happen like that.
I let Bert down to the ground and watch him run off toward a statue. He's got a bit of a spark in him despite his sleepy appearance: he's off and sniffing at everything he can reach. Not like he can catch a scent or anything off of stone, but he tries anyway. Carter flies through an open window on the ground floor of one of the wrecked buildings we come across. I don't know if he's searching for anything in particular or if he's looking for something shiny, but he comes back empty-handed anyway. Such is the way of the scavenge, I guess.
The market is destroyed. The high-rise apartments are mostly reduced to rubble and shards of glass and assorted pieces of destroyed furniture. Each room has a refrigerator that's completely destroyed any food that might be inside. It's disheartening to see the same destroyed contents of the rooms over and over again. That and my food supply is running low. We need to find some place to get more food, otherwise we're gonna starve. I need to think about keeping the number of creatures low so they don't eat everything too quickly.
My vision is going fuzzy now-there's a bit of fog or something that's blanketing this ghost town. The air is thick with that ashy stuff. I don't know how the others are able to walk around and deal with this stuff, it's so murky out now. They're not even covering their faces or mouths. All of these people are a lot stronger than I am if they're all standing out like this-means I have to be that much stronger for all of them.
We manage to get inside a building with at least one other floor above our heads. The doors are knocked off of their hinges and the windows are shattered, but at least the walls are still standing for the most part-even if there are a few holes. There's an intimidating statue of the world in front of a fountain in the lobby of this building. I recognize this place immediately-it's the national TV station, the center for all news that needs to be broadcast to the cities. There surely should be some sort of information as to what's happening here! However small and insignificant it may seem, anything that can help shed some light on this situation could give me some sense of direction!
I hop over the desk at the back of the lobby, saying hello to the secretary who's looking over the appointments for the day. None of them are gonna come today-they're all busy with something else important. Behind this desk is a giant filing cabinet with names and papers and stuff I can't even begin to read let alone understand. This isn't the right place. Hopefully there might still be some information up on the next floor.
These stairs are just as creaky as the ones back home. Carter doesn't need them, and Bert's light enough that he can just jump up without having to worry about them collapsing under his feet. There's dust on my shoes as I leave a set of footprints behind; no need to trace symbols here, I guess.
The second floor, however, is not nearly as neat and tidy as the lobby. Everything is in disarray here: the walls are knocked over, rubble blocks most of what paths are available for now, and another filing cabinet is knocked down on its side with papers being caught in the breeze and fluttering over the side. I can see a few people hunched over computers and slacking off on their work. If the boss comes to see them now, I think they'll all be fired.
I find a stack of papers pinned underneath a piece of jagged concrete on top of one of the desks that are still standing. Must've fallen from the floor above when it was crumbling away. Nice to see that it landed on an important-looking newspaper-there's all sorts of markings and circles and writing on it, probably from the remains of the man who sits at this desk. I can still see the pen clenched in his fist; it's just as solid as he is.
The paper, however, is still flimsy and normal to touch. I brush away the dust and flecks of stone on it and read some of the highlighted material. A lot of the terms I don't understand, but there is something in there about the mines in the eastern city of Oreburgh-something about trying to meet a higher demand for the coal they're known for. I'm not sure why coal is such a huge deal to this man, but there's nowhere else I can go and no other leads for me to go by. Seems as good of a place as any to start looking for something, I guess.
Carter lands on my shoulder and looks at me expectantly. I can see in his eyes that he's hungry. Bert even seems a bit sluggish now too-maybe he can go for some food. Now that I think about it, I could go for something to eat. I've got a bit of water still and some nuts I can open for them all. Hopefully they'll be OK with eating that stuff; it might be all they can eat for a while unless we're able to find someone's stash somewhere. I highly doubt it, though.
I'm not sure how long it will take for us to walk all the way to Oreburgh... Maybe a day when I include the trip through the tunnel in the mountain, but we've been walking around and searching through these ruins all day. We need to rest and eat and sleep. They're just as tired as I am from everything that's happened today.
Bert runs down the stairs and curls up in a ball near the counter. Carter perches on top of the secretary for the time being as I unpack my bedroll next to the furball. As soon as I make myself comfortable, the bird flies onto my stomach and cleans off his feathers. I don't know why he thinks that's a safe place for him, but I don't complain. Maybe he'll wise up one day and think that it's a bad idea. Oh well-as long as he sleeps, I guess it's OK...
***
How I'm able to sleep so calmly through the night in this new world, I'll never figure out.
The morning haze is still here when I wake up-I expect nothing less than this. Bert is now inside my bag, as is Carter. They're still sleeping; I'm tempted to let them sleep for a bit longer, but we need to move on. We've got a mine to check out in the next city over, and we have to get there by the end of the day-I don't think we can survive out in the wild after the attack on the last route. We might not have a guardian angel looking over our shoulders any more.
After a bit of a rude awakening, I manage to keep the two occupied with some food as I pack everything else away. When that's done, I treat myself to one of those energy bars that I remember finding at home. A bit of a sweet treat just because I'm not as alone anymore.
We're gone from this place. I know we're going to come back eventually, but just the shock of everything that we see will haunt me no matter how much I try to block it out. It'll still be creepy just walking through the wreckage again, even if I know what I'm expecting.
There's a patch of the razor-sharp grass forming at the eastern edge of the city. We must be getting close to wilderness again. When we see some of the bushes get thicker, we know we're not in the city anymore. Not even this disaster can get the cities to completely die off-at least, not yet.
Something jumps out from one of the bushes-it's a round insect with a button nose and two black discs for eyes. Curly antennae protrude from its head; its stubby arms stick out from underneath a scarlet shell that seems to repel the dust flitting around in the air. It's definitely not expecting the three of us to meet it face-to-face like this. The bug turns and hops away from us-
No, don't!
It's too late-before I even get a chance to dive and save it from the edge, it falls clear off the face of the world. As soon as I move, the ground shoots up from underneath, blocking any chance of it coming back up. There's absolutely nothing we can do for it now; all I can do is turn to Carter and Bert for support, but even they look just as confused and bewildered as I.
Make sure you guys stay behind me-I don't want you ending up like that poor thing...
