Hi everyone, happy new year! Hope you all still got a complete set of limbs, digits and senses. Once again this is pure for the fun of it. Enjoy as Jacob and his friends start their exploration of the city! Chapter 7; Cityscape.
The trip was uneventful for the first few hours they'd passed empty gas stations every now and again. At noon when they had finished the first leg of their journey they stopped at an abandoned gas station. It had been plundered but most medications had been left behind. There where some first aid kits and some over the counter meds which they loaded into the trailer. Searching in the rubble they found an old laptop which they took as well. They found that there was still some petrol in the tanks so they topped up on fuel. They also filled up some jerry cans they had found in the building. After that they got on the road again. Here they saw some more evidence of looters. There where now more homesteads visible from the highway and some where burnt to the ground. At one point they saw a burnt out wreck next to the highway. As they drove by they scattered some buzzards who had been pecking at some dried scraps of flesh hanging from the bones of a body lying next to the wreck.
As they drove through a forest they saw that a tree had fallen and was blocking the road. It was Jacob who said to stop the car and back up a bit. As they did he took out some binoculars and studied the tree. There was something about it that struck him as odd. Suddenly it struck him. The trees which had fallen in the mountains had either torn up their roots or their trunks had been splintered. This one looked too clean. As he stared at the tree he noticed that some branches had been chopped of cleanly, obviously with a chainsaw. He pointed this out to Jim who had also noticed the same oddity. They all agreed that chances where that this was an ambush. Now they had spotted the trap they checked the trees and readied their weapons. Tony who was driving quickly put the car in reverse and they sped back until they came to a spot where the road was a little wider. Here they turned the car and once they had cleared the forest they stopped to discus their options.
Since this was the only feasible route through the forest and they didn't want to leave the bandits in the position to attack other people they decided to destroy the ambushing party. They carefully hid the car in a gully and used camouflage netting to hide it from sight. Jim and Jacob would lead the way while Tony would provide the backup. Carefully moving silently through the forest it took them two hours to get back to the site. They had already spotted a lookout who had hidden himself in a tree. They silently circled him and went to the main ambush site. They studied the bandits for a while before deciding on their actions. There where six bandits including two spotters. The five in the main party had set up camp a little away from the road in a hollow shaded from the road by a thicket of shrubbery. They decided that Jim and Jacob would take out the spotters first and that Tony would simultaneously open up on the main party with his M16.
Their plan went of smoothly as they took the bandits completely by surprise. While the two spotters where still tumbling down from their perches in the trees Tony took out two of the bandits with his first salvo. Before the remaining two could take cover Jim and Jacob shot them down. Cautiously Jim approached the bandit's camp while Tony and Jacob provided cover for him. When he got to the camp he checked the bandits one was still alive and moaning, he had been hit in his shoulder. Jim carefully checked him for any weapons and then cuffed him. He then motioned for the others to approach. When they got to the camp they decided that Jacob would stand guard while Jim and Tony searched the place.
Under a tarpaulin they found some looted stuff, not just foodstuff but also a lot of personal valuables as they looked further Jim's keen eye spotted some tire tracks leading away from the site. A little further in the woods Tony and Jim found several vehicles including a pickup truck and a small stash of fuel. They also found an open pit where the bandits had dumped the bodies of their victims. By the look of things not all of them had had an easy death. There where more than a dozen bodies lying there. Tony threw up violently at the site of the mass grave. Jim let him, it was a sickening sight. He had seen his fair share of dead bodies but mostly they where accident victims. This was almost too much for him as well.
After they had returned to the campsite they decided first to send Tony to fetch their own car. Jim and Jacob carried the bodies of the bandits to the pit and dumped them in their above the bodies of their victims. They stacked a lot of dead wood on top of the bodies and then using fuel from the bandits' supply they thoroughly soaked the funeral pyre in gasoline and then lit it. The fire burned fiercely once it took and the flames roared up into the sky.
By that time Tony had returned with the car. They shifted through the goods the bandits had gathered and took all the rifles, ammunition and food they'd found and stored it in their trailer. The remainder of the usable goods they stored on the pickup with they decided to take with them. They thought the extra loading space might come in handy. It would be a different journey this way and they decided to share the task of driving the pickup. They left the site before dark and passed through the woods. The night sky was lit for some time by the light from the blaze of the funeral pyre. That night they stayed in a place that was hidden from view from the road. Setting up camp behind a couple of boulders they spent the night there.
That night they posted a guard and slept uneasy. They started out late in the morning and as they looked back to the west they could still see a haze of smoke above the forest from the fire. Trough out that day they drove more cautiously and kept a watchful watch. By midday they reached the road to oaksfield and after a short meal break they reached the back road Jim had told them about early in the afternoon. The road led through a forested area with some open fields scattered in between. Keeping a sharp lookout they drove on after a while they saw evidence that people had fled this way. There where abandoned suitcases lying in the road and every now and again they saw abandoned vehicles. Next to the road they saw the remains of campfires and torn pieces of clothes, more broken down vehicles and all the assorted float some of a population running from some disaster.
Despite the desolation along the road they made good time. They stopped when they where some five miles from the city. They decided to spend the remainder of the afternoon in a clearing in a small forest from where they could observe the road without being seen themselves. They camouflaged the car as best as they could using the camouflage netting and bushes they uprooted rather than cut down so as to make sure they remained green long enough. Now that they where here, the lure for Tony became almost too strong. After much discussion and weighing their experience with the bandits they decided that they would all go. The following day they started out early. They planned on approaching the city on foot covered for the first part by the darkness of the predawn hours and then using their skills as hunters to approach the city stealthily. Jim thought that it would cost them at least the better part of the morning to approach the city if unhindered, longer if they found that the city was guarded.
Their early morning march covered the first three mile in just two hours. They saw no signs of people in the dark. At dawn they halted waiting for the light to spread. Staring in the direction of the city the noticed the glow of dying fires in the distance. Now that they where close enough they could hear the sound of sporadic gunfire in the distance at times they heard louder explosions. They exchanged worried glances at that ominous sound. It was obvious there was fighting going on in the distance, whether the fighting was between humans or man and machine they couldn't tell.
After they had rested they continued their journey. Moving stealthily they still made good time, they saw no sign of watchers human or not. At the end of the morning they approached the suburbs properly. Their first goal would be Tony's house as this was close to the cities border. This way they could both explore the city and help Tony. Before they moved into the suburbs they studied what they could see. The houses that where visible looked deserted. They could see into the street up until a crossroads. They saw some wreckage lying at the crossroads. A house had been burned down to the ground and another had collapsed. They saw that several other houses where damaged and many of the gardens and hedges where also damaged in some way. There where no sounds or people visible. Neither was there any sign of movement and at some homes there where doors open.
They studied the scene for some time until they felt safe enough to move ahead. They picked a house as a target and moved silently like ghosts to that first house. It was surrounded by a hedge. At one point an animal, maybe the families dog or cat, had been passing through the hedge often enough to create a small hole in the edge. Tony and Jim wiggled through easily enough, for Jacob being bigger it was more difficult but he took his time and he managed to squeeze through without disturbing the hedge. After passing the hedge they crept up on the house. Looking in the house they neither saw nor heard any sign of people. Moving to the rear door they found it was open.
Jim carefully opened the door and looked around. The door opened up onto the kitchen as he looked around he saw all the signs of a hasty exit. Cupboards had been rifled through and left open. Not as a thief would do it, only specific cupboards had been opened showing that whoever had done this knew what they where looking for and where it was but hadn't taken the time to tidy up after them.
Jacob and Tony came in after Jim and asked quietly if the place had been ransacked. Jim shook his head and explained why he didn't think so. Whoever had done this had made something to eat before leaving but hadn't cleaned up. Other things had also obviously been used but left behind. Some utensils had also been taken; a bread knife was missing from the knife block and some mugs where also missing. Jim was positive that if they checked the cupboards they would find other things missing as well. He also knew they would be common household items, things people would take with them if they where leaving the house for an extended period but would also have to take care of themselves.
When they explored the rest of the house they found even more evidence, clothes where taken, suitcases, bedding, in fact everything people would need when they where fleeing, questions was, what where they fleeing from? After they had checked out the house they discussed what to do next. To get to Tony's house they needed to move two streets up. They decided to avoid the streets and move through backyards and alleyways. Moving through the yard of a big house with a red roof and a old garden shed they suddenly heard a voice.
"Hey you! What the hell are you doing walking in the daylight? You'll be spotted by the tin cans that way. They'll capture you!" At that they stood stock still. It was Jacob who replied; "who's there?" He asked. "Oh Shoot! Over here, in the shed." The voice called out. As they looked at the garden shed the door opened. An elderly man beckoned them over; "quickly now, I don't want them metal heads to find me." The man opened the door quickly and pulled them in. "You're in luck; I was just fetching some tools to fix Annette's chair. Otherwise I'd never seen you and those damned tin cans would have gotten you. Well don't stand there gaping, get in!" He said. He had moved a cabinet and they could now see that it wasn't just a cabinet, for one thing most cabinets didn't opened up to small niches on hinges. In the niche a threadbare carpet proved to hide trapdoor.
When they'd climbed down the narrow ladder they came into a small room where an old lady was sitting on a couch. A chair had been turned upside down as one of its legs had turned askew. The room was decorated in an old fashioned style. To the two opposing sides where two doors. On one of the blind walls a window sill had been made and scenery painted on the wall. The other was covered by a nearly empty book case, some books lay on one of the shelves.
The old men sidled pass them and stood before them. "Now gentlemen, just 'cause you're armed don't think you can take advantage of me and my wife." Saying this he produced an old browning pistol. "Now please place your weapons against the wall behind you." The man motioned to the wall with the painted scenery. Since the old man had a gun aimed at them the complied, even though Jim figured he could have taken the man. He thought that the old man didn't mean them any harm but just wanted to be safe. As if he could read his mind the old man spoke up; "it's just to be safe, when you leave you can take them with you. Please explain to me who you are and what you where doing." Bewildered they stared at the couple. Then Jacob started explaining, when he mentioned Tony the old man stared at him startled.
When the old man was finally satisfied Jacob asked; "who are you and you mentioned 'tin cans' what did you mean? Are there truly machines out killing people?" The old man then smiled; "where are my manners. In these crazy days it's easy to forget how to be civil. My name is Alfred Johansen and this is my wife Annette." He then told them what had happened in the city as far as he knew. How at first everybody had just been shocked at the nuclear explosions in the distance and then the terrorist attacks in the city it self. He then recounted the first appearance of the machines in the neighbourhood. It hadn't been on the first day that they had appeared, although they heard later on from refugees what had happened there. Apparently this part of the city wasn't considered important enough to be controlled straight away. It was on the second day that the first refugees had appeared. Nobody in the neighbourhood had believed their stories about machines killing people. It wasn't until the third day, when the stream of refugees had steadily grown into a continuous flow of people, that they first saw the machines.