Chapter Seven
She found a reserve of strength that a few hours ago she wouldn't have contemplated existed. She waded through the slimy mess she found herself in until she was at the muddy shore. Upon clambering up out of that, she turned and discovered it full of human corpses, or parts of them. Bones protruded out from the dirty banks and skulls floated on the almost pitch liquid. Limbs with half rotting hands reached free of the reeking substance, and the occasional eye ball bobbed up and down.
Now free of the pool of rotting bodies she stood and looked upwards at what horror she had escaped. A huge pipe exited from the vast mountain side where more of the sludge oozed from. Stepping back, continuing to look upwards she stood in awe at the giant space ship, the back half of which penetrating outwards from the volcano. So they were alien, she thought as she tripped backwards over a rock, her supine position enabling her to see more of the once flight capable structure. Deciding that hanging around and sight seeing wasn't the best idea she could have, she decided to leave.
A natural formation of rocks and smaller hills stretched along south eastern path, she followed that since she couldn't really decide which other way to go. The hills appeared to have once been covered with trees, but they had been burned and the remains ploughed away, large piles of charred wood lay about the place every so many kilometres along. The sky gave no real indication to the time that had passed or the time it was now. The soot and ash remained in the atmosphere, this blocked any view the sun or moon would have of the savaged world below. There was a dim red light up ahead on the horizon she tramped towards. Possibly it was close to dusk, but she really had no idea or ability to decipher this. Pain ripped through her body and she slumped to her knees, taken by a coughing fit, she vomited a good portion of what looked like old blood or bile and some really light pink fluid, not wanting to linger on what that could be, she forced herself up and marched on.
After what felt like 20 minutes she came upon the distorted and blackened remains of a group of tanks and other human army equipment. What was probably a troop truck lay on its side, the wooden planks about the trailer were nothing but cinders, the steel poles were twisted and brittle, the cab looked like one of those things had punched a fist through it. The bodies of those unfortunate enough to have been ordered to attack their base had not fared much better. Their bodies, unable to ever be identified, lay about in pieces and piles. Perhaps one day, when the humans had reclaimed their devastated world, these places would be sites of memoriam, where people claiming these brave, or perhaps foolish soldiers as ancestors would visit, would pray, would remember how their lives were now free because of the sacrifices made here. Of course, the other outcome was that humanity would be completely eradicated and no one, ever, would step foot on this land again with intent to give reverence.
A further way up the valley were the remains of a F117, the pilots' sticky skeletal remains remained seated and strapped into the cock-pit, their deaths transpiring before they could eject. Her enthusiasm to escape the area was intensified when she noticed a large, un-detonated bomb with the tell tale propeller symbol indicating a nuclear device of unknown yield. It lay about three metres from the bomber, a large dent in its nose. Continuing along past further decimated military apparatus served to strengthen the morbid sense of depression that was filling her soul. These robots, these aliens, these transformers, they certainly didn't have any problem laying waste to the most powerful weapons humans had crafted to defend themselves. Attempting to scramble up over a mud covered hill proved too difficult upright, so she dropped to her hands and knees and scurried in a crawl up over the top. Once she reached the top she wished she'd never come this way, perhaps even wishing she'd been caught by the crazy mechanical man in the darkened passageways below their ancient ship. The sight so shocking she found herself standing to try and view it in its entirety, if only to fully grasp their sadism. For miles human heads had been impaled upon femurs. Some still had large chunks of flesh, if family members happened by they could possibly identify some of the heads. Some legs still had genitalia attached and these creatures definitely made no distinction between the genders when it came to their practice of slaughter. Completely indiscriminate.
To her people, such a practice was barbaric beyond any level of comprehension, it disrespected everything sacred about life, sacred about humanity, it offended both past, present and future practices. Even the ancient deities who were no longer called upon would turn their immortal eyes away in horror and shame. That's what these creatures were, shameful, they had no mana1. The rest of the body parts were strewn about without regard for any form of morbid artwork. Of course, she held no spare time to contemplate further on the true sadness this place leaked outwards.
Mana – respect, prestige, status afforded to people