Okay. Thank you all for the reviews, they mean so much!
kaaayyytteee: Thanks, I was actually kinda motivated by your story to post here XD
I am apprehensive about sharing my writing.
K so here's the second chapter. I really sort of guessed at the layout and how long trips would take and all that crap, so if I got it wrong, I don't really care.
Enjoy, and Review :3
Iris woke up to filtered daylight spilling in through the dirty window above them. She shifted slightly, trying to adjust her position to get more comfortable, and found herself spooning with Lizard. His arms were lazily draped over her sides, his head nestled in her neck, and his body pressed against her back. Iris tensed immediately, not knowing how to react. Now that day was upon them, her fear of darkness was gone and her usual caution of other people returned. Lizard had never given her a reason to fear her, really, yet Iris was still constantly apprehensive of him, and the majority of the others, as well.
She pushed herself onto her back carefully, trying not to wake Lizard, and then began slowly moving from his arms. Iris accidentally smacked her hand into his stomach while trying to reposition, stirring him from his slumber. Lizard stretched next to her, freeing Iris from his grasp, and she took this opportunity to push herself up and throw her legs over the end of the bed. Lizard noticed this, gazed at her confusedly, then joined her on the edge of the mattress, still staring at her through narrowed eyes. When he reached for her arm, Iris flinched away.
"Ahh fuck Iris, I ain't gonna hurt ya," Lizard growled, retracting his hand. Iris sighed heavily, feeling awful but frozen in shyness and fear of what might happen. Which was ridiculous, considering what she could be capable of, and he knew it. It was one of the few things that kept the more persistent mutants at bay. But Iris had given it up long ago, stored it away in the back of her mind, never to be touched again.
"I'm sorry," Iris mumbled, forcing herself to override the useless thoughts screaming in her brain by leaning against Lizard's side. He chuckled rather callously, but slid his arm around her back nevertheless, pulling Iris closer. She felt awkward and horrible. Iris looked at Lizard as a brotherish-figure, since he had been there protecting her for most of her life (in his own sort of strange, confusing way). She knew he regarded her differently, but he always kept his distance. Iris had convinced herself that he did out of respect for her, but deep down she knew that wasn't the real reason at all.
She felt Lizard's nose nuzzle against her head and into her lank brown hair. Iris stiffened unconsciously, fighting the fleeing instinct that was overcoming her. As Lizard nuzzled lower and towards her neck, Iris closed her eyes. She moved away slightly but Lizard didn't seem to notice.
"Mmm…" he rumbled, breathing in her scent.
Something moved near the bedroom doorway, which was still ajar. Iris' eyes snapped open and when she spotted a young, small girl standing there she immediately recoiled away from Lizard, pushing his arm away from her. His younger sister, Ruby, stared at them silently. Her face was a dark tan colour, and one of her eyes was slightly lower than the other.
"G'way, Ruby," Lizard ordered her, his hand idly reaching back for Iris.
"Oh for god's sake," Iris said, rising to her feet. "She's probably hungry. You want some cereal or something, Ruby?"
She nodded as Iris approached, and the two headed for the kitchen. Unfortunately the room along the kitchen, which was supposed to be a dining room, had been turned into some kind of meat hanger. Typically they didn't smell too bad, as they were removed or taken to a different house, but every so often they got a bit rotten and Iris would take them out herself. It drove her insane, and she knew Ruby didn't approve of it much either. Thankfully there wasn't too much hanging around at that moment, and they had enough room to drag in the small dining room table from the living room to the kitchen.
While preparing a bowl of Corn Pops for Ruby, Lizard stumbled out of the bedroom, scratching his fingers through his hair. Iris poured what little milk they had into the bowl of cereal and sighed. She'd have to get food again, or be forced to eat more of the human meat, which they had so much of. And that meant a trip to the gas station, and an awkward visit with Jeff.
Lizard sat down at the rickety table across from his younger sister as Iris placed the bowl of food in front of her. Ruby smiled up at her, and Iris returned the smile warmly. Of all the mutants in the village, Ruby had to be the one she connected with best. The mutant girl was as kind as you could get in this hellish place, and, like Iris, wasn't exactly on board with the cannibalism thing. But they both had to put up with it if they wanted to survive.
Iris checked the clock on the beaten-looking microwave as she leaned against the counters. Quarter after ten in the morning. She still felt exhausted, despite having slept for over eight hours.
"Any special plans fer today?" Lizard grunted from where he had laid his head on the table.
"I assume you're talking to me."
Another grunt.
"Gotta go get some food. Go see whatsisface. Should be joyous," Iris rambled, grabbing the Corn Pops box, which she hadn't yet put away. Jamming her hand into the bag within, she withdrew a handful of cereal and began munching on it idly. "Wanna come?"
Raising his head and leaning his elbows on the table, Lizard narrowed his eyes at Iris. "What's in it for me?"
"What do you mean, 'what's in it for me'? An adventure or something, that's what. Something to do for once."
Lizard rose and rubbed his eyes. "Mmrrrgh," he said, and began walking back to his room. "I'll get my shit," Iris heard him call, and assumed that meant he was coming.
Silence came, broken only by the sound of munching as the two girls filled themselves on cereal. Ruby stared at the table while she spooned food into her mouth. It almost looked like she was deep in thought. Ruby was a very quiet girl, rarely speaking, but when she did it was usually well-thought-out remarks instead of the angry slurred rambling a lot of the other mutants took to.
"What about you, Ruby? Doing anything today?"
She shrugged. "Maybe explore. Find a creature to look at."
Iris nodded encouragingly. "Good idea. Did you want to come with me to the store?"
"No thanks. Told Goggle I'd come with him to Mines later."
"Alrighty. You be safe in there."
"I will. Goggle'll help me."
Another older mutant, Goggle was Ruby and Lizard's brother. He was the middle child, being in his early twenties. His greatest affinity was being a look-out, and he knew the desert better than pretty much anyone in the pack.
As Iris closed the Corn Pops box and slid it back into it's place in the cupboards, Lizard shambled back down the hall. She could hear a sort of sliding noise following him, telling Iris that he had his spike strip. Why he could possible need it to get food was beyond her, but Iris didn't really argue. If they were ever attacked, she'd rather have him with a weapon than without.
"Well?" Lizard growled after a moment of staring at the two girls.
"Well what?" Iris said, studying the weather outside through the dusty window above the sink.
"Let's get on with it."
Quirking an eyebrow, Iris continued to stare out the window. "We're going right now?"
She heard Lizard make a noise of frustration. He was so quick to anger, something Iris often found amusing.
"Yes, now! Unless ya wanna go by yer fuckin' self!"
Laughing lightly, Iris turned and headed to the front door. "Okay, okay, Christ. Let's go."
The two left the house after Iris slung a pack over her shoulder and strapped a knife to her leg for extra protection. They left Ruby to her own. Typically a child of her age couldn't be trusted home alone, but Ruby had been forced to grow up quickly, and knew how to handle herself well.
They walked in silence through the test village they inhabited, and didn't encounter any of the other mutants that lived there. Iris ended up slipping on some sunglasses in an attempt to block the already-blazing sun out of her eyes. The glasses were slightly too large from her, mainly because she had taken them from a couple who had met their unfortunate end at the hands of the mutants years ago. A lot of the things all of them possessed came from the people they killed, since they were practically the only way to get supplies.
"Another fucking hot day," Iris muttered in a lame attempt to start a conversation. Lizard grunted in reply. They were only a few yards from the end of the village and had already reached one of the entrances to the mines, cut into the rocky hillside.
"It'll be cooler in here," Lizard said as they stepped into the dark shaft. Iris pushed the sunglasses up to rest on her head and reached into her pack to grab a flashlight, then clicked it on to help lead their way.
"These passageways are so goddamn creepy," Iris said, frowning. Lizard snorted next to her, and Iris jumped when she felt his hand touch her arm. He laughed harder at this. "Oh shut the hell up," she spat, stepping quicker to move ahead of him.
"Ya gotta be less sensitive, jeez," she heard him say a few paces behind her. "Always jumpin' and shit, can't be healthy."
"And all the radioactive activity in this place is."
"Well, it sure helped you out, dinnit?"
Iris scowled but said nothing. They walked on, their feet crunching on the rocks and dirt as they avoided the railways and rubble strewn about. After about fifteen minutes and moving down the proper paths in the mines, the two caught sight of the exit, which filled the shaft with blinding sunlight. Iris replaced the sunglasses over her eyes as her and Lizard stepped out into the desert once more, then turned to the left to spot the gas station Jeff ran.
Lizard chuckled darkly. "Think he'll be happy to see us?"
Iris sighed. "Is he ever?"
Jeff was a human, of the non-mutated variety. Years ago, when he was much younger, he found out about what was going on in the mines, and how people had been abandoned and poisoned by radio activity there. He decided to help in the best way he could: by sending passer-bys down a "shortcut" that took them into the Hills, thus becoming prey for the poor mutated folk. As time went Jeff became more and more skittish about the whole situation, and was often irritated and wary if one of them visited.
The gas station itself looked run-down and completely out of order. Iris was always surprised that people actually visited it. A bell rang out a bit too loudly when the two opened the door and stepped into the convenience store that Jeff also ran. Iris immediately began perusing the aisles, grabbing food and stuffing it into her bag, while Lizard poked around behind the cash register. As Iris studied the expiration dates on the milk, she heard the register pop open, and whipped around to see Lizard riffling through the few bills that were in there.
"What the—what the fuck are you doing?" Iris yelled.
"I'm lookin', fuck off."
Iris exhaled in exasperation. It was bad enough that Jeff sent people their way without them stealing his money. After shoving milk into her pack, Iris marched over to where Lizard was, still poking around the cash, and pushed him aside.
"It's not like we need money," Iris said, closing the register.
"I said I was fucking lookin'!" Lizard snarled, but then froze when he heard footsteps heading towards them from around the corner. The gas station was attached to Jeff's "house", if it could be called that, and he often slept in the back when nothing was going on.
Just as the two lunged out from behind the counter, Jeff emerged from the back rooms, looked disheveled and tired as ever. He was tanned from the sun, unshaven, and wearing torn and stained clothing along with a tattered baseball cap. Jeff squinted at them suspiciously.
"What do you two want?" he said.
Lizard looked at Iris and shrugged, apparently expecting her to answer him.
"Oh…well, I was just coming to get some food," Iris said, trying to sound and normal and polite and possible. "If that's okay with you."
Jeff nodded, still staring at the two of them like they were teenagers caught stealing booze. "Alright with me. But I don't want any funny shit going on." Iris noticed he looked pointedly at Lizard when he said this.
Unfortunately Lizard noticed this look and scowled at the old man. "What the fuck is that supposed ta mean?"
"It means I don't trust you, Lizard!" Jeff snapped back, taking a step towards the mutated man. Lizard was a bit shorter than Jeff, but anyone who knew Lizard knew that his size didn't stop him from being one of the most bloodthirsty mutants in the hills.
"Get that look of yer face before I rip—"
"Hey, quit it, both of you!" Iris yelled, shoving herself between the two. "No need to get so bloody hostile."
"Tell that to that old geezer, givin' me a look like I'm gonna fuckin' burn the place, fuckin'…" Lizard rambled angrily, jostling to get past Iris.
Jeff merely stood still, glaring death at Lizard, and Iris realized how tense and painful the relationship was getting between him and the mutants. It actually really scared her, seeing as he was a huge lifeline for all of them.
Iris finally gave up and elbowed Lizard in the ribs, sending him a few steps back. "I am so sorry for disturbing you, Jeff. Thank you so much for the food, and I will probably see you later." Iris gave him her warmest smile, but the pissed-off expression didn't leave the old man's face. Sighing, she pushed a protesting Lizard towards the door and exited the convenience store. A slight wind had picked up outside, but, despite this, it seemed even hotter than before. As Iris adjusted her now heavy pack, she shot a look of venom at Lizard.
"What?" he said.
"You should really give that man more respect," Iris said. "The outside world has no real idea about us, thanks to him."
"Doesn't give him the right ta look at me like I'm some kinda criminal," Lizard replied. He caught Iris' sardonic look at rolled his eyes. "Rrrgh, okay, whatever. But I've never don't anything to him."
She stared at him for a moment longer, then her face fell and she looked straight ahead. "I'm just really worried. This whole situation seems to really be affecting him. He's not quite normal anymore."
Lizard laughed. "Since when was he normal? Is any of this shit normal?"
Iris knew Lizard found the situation comical compared to what he had learned of the outside world. He enjoyed his life of torturing others, killing them, eating them. As did the majority of the other mutants in the village. Iris had to admit that it could be somewhat entertaining sometimes, but often she felt completely guilty and horrible about murdering innocent people. If it were criminals, people who had gone out of their way to harm another, then she'd feel no remorse about it.
But then she'd ask herself, what are we? Criminals, of course. Sometimes Iris would tell herself that they had to do this to survive, that they had all be abandoned by humanity. And in many ways it was true. But the days wore on and the screams of people begging for mercy bore into Iris' brain, making her sick and regret ever being alive.
Then, of course, the nights came, and the memories of her childhood.
And Iris cried to Lizard, the one person she trusted, and the one person she abhorred.
Iris shook her head, trying to clear it, trying to make it all make sense.
"Somethin' wrong?" Lizard asked, seeing her move suddenly.
"Huh?" Iris said, forgetting he was there. "Oh. Nothing. I just want to get home."
Another day of dry heat, suffocating quiet, and loneliness. Time passed unhindered as Iris lay in her bed, thinking. The other mutants walked through their daily lives. She rose only to attend to her body's undeniable desires, or to look around in a vain attempt to find something to do.
As the day neared its close and the darkness began to set in, Iris heard Lizard return to the house from wherever he had been. Heard him drop his spike strip loudly on the kitchen floor. Heard him cut through meat with a cleaver as he prepared himself something to eat.
"Father," Iris whispered to herself as her bedroom began to sink into shadows, "Father…what's the point?"