Chapter 4 - Civilization

After the storm had settled to nothing but a faint hum in the air, Dave lifted away the sturdy door, and peered outside. Instantly, he became aware of the ever-present sun, and the moment he stepped outside he actually noticed where he was.

Around him, there were small parts of walls still standing in the sand, most not higher than his knee, having been blasted away by some force he could not comprehend, but a few were left standing, and among those the small space he had found shelter.

All around him, there were blackened fragments sticking out of the sand, and it did not take long for him to figure out that this probably once had been a village, a small city of some kind.

Gathering up his belongings, he set out again, picking his way between the rubble, passing a quite big building, it's roof fallen in and the edges of it badly burn. One of the short sides had given in, and had fallen in. A broad stairway now scorched and broken, led up to the entry, where an empty doorway and equally empty, blackened windows with no pans, but only the frames left, staring down below at the sand, constantly blowing up on the stairway, only to be swept down by another gust of wind a few seconds later, an endless cycle.

Passing by it, he held his steps for a few seconds or so, intently watching a mark of what once had been a highly developed civilization, before continuing on his path by it, stepping over a fallen pole with a sign that stated "stop" upon it.

Behind him, the ruin's empty windows continued to stare off into the seemingly endless dunes of the desert, and only by it could you see a sign that this had been a great city long ago, and on the rubble-covered floor, a piece of the upper roof had fallen down, remarkably in one piece, but not yet so scorched by the sand that it was unreadable to see what it was, an eagle upon a round background with the words "United States of America" around it.

When the ruins were hardly anything more than a spot behind him, Dave thought he could see something ahead, something that actually looked like a settlement.

When he approached it, he could clearly see what it was, and it indeed looked as a settlement.

Because of his vantage point, where he was standing upon a dune, he could easily survey the area, and A two or three meter tall wall built of white stone surrounded the whole area, and inside it were houses, most small, but a few bigger, all made out of the same white stones, with scarcely placed windows , probably to keep the heat out he mused, and those who were in place were rounded, with wooden bars crossed over them.

It could not have been a big settlement, probably nothing more than a few hundred yards wide and at the very most a hundred yards long.

Between many of the houses, he saw crops being sowed, and there was also a Brahmin pen in the north-western corner by the wall. He could feel the smell all the way where he was now standing, at the gates, because he had now arrived by it, an interruption in the constant white wall, with a stoned arch over it, which showed a "road", or more like a "place where there were no houses", or "free path", or whatever one may wish to call it, down to the opposite wall.

He could make out a stone pillar in the middle of it, about halfway down, and there was one bigger house to the left by the wall in the south.

As of now, however, he was more intent on watching the people he saw at the gate, one who carried some kind of aged rifle, probably rebuilt for hunting or the such, but who had a friendly, but yet at the same time stern face. He was dressed in the usual clothes of a farmer, which consisted of deep brown boots, which looked much worn, probably made out of Brahmin hide, yellow tunics, and a brown tunic. He had brown hair, but which was greying at the edges, and he frowned as he saw Dave approach.

By his side was also a woman, probably not much older than Dave himself, dressed in similar clothes to that of the man, but instead of the constant frown, she wore a smile, and did not at all seem very troubled at having visitors. She had blonde shoulder-length hair, and she actually seemed to brighten up on the prospect of him approaching, as if she simply was too bored by being where she was now.

Deciding to simply take a direct approach, he picked up his pace in their direction, and tried to ignore the small tremble that ran through the older man's trigger finger, and prepared himself to try to keep as diplomatic as it was possible.