Grey Hills - Chapter 1
AN - Hello everyone, I just finished reading an amazing book I got today titled "The Road". I definitely recommend that you pick it up if you have the chance, if you are into a book that is about a great journey. Reading that book inspired me to write this story, I don't know how long it will be but I have a few story arcs planned out in my head.
This story will get a bit dark, you will see why but I really hope that you enjoy it if you decide to read. I'm going to be updating every once and awhile, one a week perhaps, but batch write them. Usually I have about two weeks where I am super busy and then a week of no tests or projects in school. However without further ado, let me turn on some Aerosmith and present you with the first chapter of; Grey Hills.
Disclaimer - I do not own Star vs The Forces of Evil
The only sound was the scraping of feet against the scorched pavement. The pair, a boy and girl only sixteen trudged on despite the rumbling in their stomachs and blisters on their feet. "Just a little farther." was the only thought keeping them going every day when they woke. It had been nearly a week since either of them had eaten but they kept their course. North. Ever since leaving Echo Creek, the uneventful days seemed to fly by until they lost count all together. Their best guess was that it had been three months since the day where all had gone wrong.
It was a normal Saturday in Echo Creek. Children outside playing, traffic jams downtown, the occasional whirring on sirens in the distance. Two teenagers were spending a day outside, relaxing. "Marco Diaz you come back here this instant."
"Not until you promise that we can just do nothing today."
"All right, all right we can do nothing today, but only if we have nachos later."
Before the young man could reply, frantic cries came from the house. The two rushed inside only to see the boys parents in front of the television. "Kids we need to leave the city." Loud beeping was emanating from the speakers.
"What why?" Before a reply could be given, brilliant light blinded the family before the world seemed darker.
"Marco, when do you think we will find food? I'm hungry." the blonde girl asked. Her clothes were ragged, carrying only the clothes on her back, and a pack with a large book, and wand in the bottom.
"I don't know Star, but I hope it is soon. We should be coming up on a town called Penvir soon, hopefully there will be something there. We've been walking all day, do you want to stop or keep going for a while?"
"Let's keep going until we find a building." The burnt trees and dead vegetation offered little in the way of scenery while they walked. Every now and again they would come across a rotting animal or totaled car. Star always stayed behind when Marco went to check on the cars, but he rarely came back with much insisting the cars were empty.
After walking for another hour they came across a shell station. They snuck up to the building, looking through the shattered windows to see if there was anyone inside. "It seems to be empty, and there should be some candy around."
Marco entered the store first, ensuring that the girl's worn soles avoided glass. "Watch out for glass, and look around for food."
"The end of the world and you're still the safe kid." Star laughed, starting to look for any food not ravaged by previous scavengers. The barren shelves ceded little in the way of food, mostly ash and empty wrappers. At the end of their search they made a count of three bags of chips, four chocolate bars, and a tray of stale nachos.
In the back of the gas station was a small room with a couch, battery radio, and cardboard boxes. They took their findings into the back room, gathering the cardboard. Star reached into her bag, pulling out her book. "Glossaryck can you help us?" The pages flipped to reveal a small blue man in torn robes.
"We didn't find any pudding, but this should do you for a few days." Marco handed Glossaryck a chocolate bar.
"Thank you Marco, I assume that you need fire?" Heading towards the cardboard, he snapped a number of times before a small spark ignited the cardboard, warming the three of them.
The teenagers started on the nachos, plain with no cheese but still food. They finished the nachos, still hungry but satisfied for the time being. "I think those nachos were a bit better than yours Marco." The girl joked.
The boy laughed for the first time in weeks, momentarily forgetting their situation. "The slight sogginess was what really sealed the deal for me." The three of them laughed for a few seconds until the crackling of the fire took over.
"Are we going to be okay?" The same question that she asked every night, always met with the same response.
"When we get to Canada." The question brought them all back to the damp, vulnerable reality they were in. "At least we have some food now to hold us over and we can gather the water dripping from the roof in the main room."
"Things will look up Star, we just need to get to a place with no interference and then we can contact your parents." Glossaryck continued, attempting to bring up her mood.
Star tried to lighten the mood, but "We should get to sleep, we have a lot of walking to do." was all she could muster up.
"Alright, I'll take the watch. You guys get some sleep and I will sleep on the road tomorrow." Glossaryck offered. The two agreed and Marco lay on the couch, offering Star to sleep with him. She accepted, curling up in his arms between him and the back of the couch.
The two quickly fell asleep providing each other warmth as Glossaryck looked towards them while fueling the fire. "Sooner or later I will have to make the choice." He sat at the fire the whole night using what little magic he could to secretly enrich their small amount of food so that the two got what they needed to continue their journey.
Star woke in the morning to the sound of static. She rubbed her eyes seeing Marco in the corner fiddling with the radio they found there. "What are you doing?" she asked him.
"Attempting to find any sort of radio signal." He replied before a garbled voice came through the small speaker.
"... Vancouver. The military is evac ….. lians to the ocea….." Only half of what was being broadcasted was audible. "Be saf …. everyo …. some music." A song that Marco interpreted as some song from the early eighties played.
He shut the radio off, removing the batteries stuffing them and the radio into the bag he carried. He handed her two thirds of a chocolate bar. "Here is breakfast."
"What did the radio say?" She asked while devouring the food she was given.
"The best that I could make out is that they are evacuating people from Vancouver, so I guess that group was right." About two weeks earlier they came across a group in a small town near the coast.
They stayed the night with the group, Glossaryck performing basic magic in exchange for some food, and after a while they said that they heard the Canadians were organizing some sort of evacuation.
"I got a call from my friend up in Canada right before we got hit that they were evacuating the country out of the cities and over to Australia on the west coast." one of the group had said, while they all shared beans around the fire.
"You think they got hit as bad as us?" Marco asked.
"I heard that the only places hit were on the west coast and even then that was a few hours after we got hit, so a lot of people got out into the countryside. Before the radio went down completely they were reporting refugees from Britain and France were coming in."
"Well Canada is a big place, with not a lot of major targets." another piped up. "Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, and Quebec city are the only places of value to hit. But I'm sure if it was the Russians who fired they got other places hit. Fighting over the Arctic and all."
Those being the first friendly people they had met since they left the city, they stayed up well into the morning talking, laughing, and trying to enjoy the time they had before they had to venture out into the cold grasps of the wilderness.
In the morning they tried to convince the group to go with them but they replied with, "We have family in Texas and then plan to head by boat to the tropics." After that they bid the three farewell and continued on the road.
Continuing on the road was what they did every morning. At around ten they gathered their few possessions, slung their packs onto their backs and kept following the road north.