Nightmares:
I was surrounded by smoke and loud noises in a large field, suddenly, it started to pour, a large amount of storm clouds quickly covered the sky silencing all the light, then a flash of lightning, followed by the boom of the thunder. There was a foul stench, like something rotting. I scanned the area looking for somebody, anybody. I walked a short distance and noticed that the stench was getting worse. The mud made me lose my balance, I do a face-plant and earn a mouthful of dirt and whatnot. I placed my elbows in the grime to use as a leverage and ended up face first in a body. I quickly get up, getting a closer look at the body. It was a kid, barely 9, he was torn apart by someone unknown animal, blood puddled out from under him. I placed my hand around his wrist searching for a pulse, nothing, but the cold. There was another corpse besides him, getting a closer look, it was a boy around Alex's age and in his arms was a baby boy. The kid's head was severed leaving an evenly cut stump for whatever was left of the neck. The boy in his arms was beheaded like him, except is arms and legs were lacerated, leaving a bloody pile of human flesh, whatever was left of any remains of a meal quickly resurfaced. I wiped my face with the remains of my Furnace uniform. I glanced back only once before turning away, as I walked further, the corpse count increased, and the stench of rotting flesh grew. I nearly tripped over a kid dressed in an army uniform, he was around 10, a child soldier no doubt, I regained my footing and continued on. The field began to end, bringing up the debris of a bombed town. Walls and homes were blown apart, bodies lined the street, blood flowed like a crimson river. There were no signs of struggle, no hope, no faith, no belief in survival. It seemed like the people of this town gave up as soon as they saw the soldiers attacking.
There was a crying to my right, a high pitch wail of a little girl, I walked into the door of each and every home, it was actually quite easy, since there were almost no actual buildings, I finally located the wailing, under a pile of debris was a small baby girl. I quickly moved over to her, I grabbed the huge wall on top and shoved, it weighed a ton, but I couldn't give up, I turned around and used my back to gain momentum. I kept pushing and shoving in hopes of getting the wall off her. The wall finally collapsed behind me, I scrambled around the pile, pulling and throwing chinks of wood, metal, plaster, sheet rocks, and dirt. My hands stung from cuts, but I couldn't leave her behind helpless and in pain. Once I felt the soft fabric of her blanket, she stopped wailing and opened her big, fawn-like, brown eyes and smiled. The sight of her was simply breathtaking, she was oblivious to the terror and torment around her, I couldn't help, but smile. Inside her blood stained blanket there was a letter, it read;
" Please take care of my darling, tell her I'm sorry that I couldn't protect her, tell her that I love her. Please nurture her into a fine young woman capable of doing what I couldn't do. Please be a parent that I cannot be. Her name is... Rose."
"So, your name's Rose, huh?"
She giggled in response, and shifted in my arms as I walked closer to what seemed like the remnants of a town square. Blacksuits lied under piles of debris, I covered Rose's eyes with my dirt stained hands. A few blocks later, her stomach growled, I stopped at one of the "good" houses, the ones that remained somewhat intact, and I entered. In the kitchen, I placed Rose on the floor away from any remains of doors and walls, an rummaged through the cupboards and cabinets looking for baby food. I found a small jar of carrots and some homemade cookies that were still a little warm. I scoured the drawers and finally found a spoon, I turned on the faucet and a cold blast of water streamed through the sink-head, I scrubbed the spoon and my hands under the stream. I opened the jar of carrots and placed Rose in my lap, I spooned the carrots into her mouth, after she was full, I held her under the sink to clean her up a bit.
I pocketed the cookies and wolfed down a single one, I walked around the house looking for baby clothes and warm food. I found an outdated backpack and returned into the kitchen to shove baby food and a clean spoon into it. I grabbed the soaking wet Rose, shouldered the backpack and proceeded upstairs. I found a towel to dry her off and rummaged through the closets, finding a ton of old fashioned clothes, I quickly changed into a white, cotton, button-down and brown trousers, grateful for the change of wardrobe. I also discovered a pair of black combat boots and switched them for my paper Furnace shoes. I carried Rose into the next room full of baby goods. I grabbed several articles of clothing and peeled of her blue, blood stained blanket, trading it for a soft, clean, pink one. Rose whimpered as I tossed her blood stained blanket aside, so I shoved that along with a fresh sets of clothes for the both of us in the backpack. I grabbed some more food and placed it in the pockets of a new coat I just found.
I left the house, and continued to walk further, my arms grew increasingly heavier the longer I carried. I stopped at a house on the outskirts of the town, the owners' bodies were thrown on the lawn, like grotesque Halloween decorations, I was glad that Rose was asleep in my arms. I wandered into the kitchen and found the now cold cookies and scarfed them down. There was a loud thud and several booming footsteps, I hid Rose in one of the many cupboards and crawled underneath the sink. A man in an army uniform accompanied by an ancient gas mask, peeled off the cabinet doors, revealing my shelter, he pointed his rifle at me, and placed a finger on the trigger ;
"Any last words kid?"
"Uh, yeah, you guys suck and you can all rot in the fiery pits of hell!" I spat.
He frowned and pulled the trigger ;
"Wrong kid, that was dead wrong!"
Author's Note:
Hey guys, finally chapter 3 has arrived! I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and none of that dinner came back up. This is probably going to be one of the longest chapters of the story and for me it was actually the easiest, but the ending was difficult since I couldn't kill off Rose, she was just too adorable! Man, is Donovan a klutz or what? I mean, seriously falling face first twice, isn't that a little embarrassing, especially since he's one of the toughest kids in Furnace? We also got to see Donovan's soft side, saving a baby girl, isn't that just precious, we should all call him Papa D! Jk! I now have a problem though … After pouring my heart out writing this chapter, I now have writer's block and have no idea what to do for the next chapter! So once again I need some help! So shoot me a P.M. about an idea for the next chapter. I probably will pick the ones I like the best and convert them into brand new chapters! Don't worry you too of course can be part of the next new chapters! Wait are you waiting for, hurry send me a P.M. Oh, also forgive me for all the grammar mistakes... I don't have Windows so I had to use Open Office and I'm not completely sure if my grammar is correct, since they don't correct grammar very well... So, please forgive!