Travel (closed)

[MrGoatee]

Cautiously he approached the ridge, crawling on his belly he used the bushes to conceal him as much as possible. The smoke had revealed the settlement five miles back, but caution had become the sensible option in these days of pain and hardship.

The smoke was white and clean, a good sign in general but he had never trusted such signs. Slowly he raised the binoculars to his face and began to scan the settlement.

Half a dozen dwellings, an open area and a larger building. All surrounded by a makeshift wall and three watch towers. All the settlers, looked healthy and he saw children - finally a positive sign. He shifted his pack, spending time hiding his pistol, three rounds only left...

He stood, adjusting his machete and bowie knife to be less ready and stepped out to walk down the hill

 

[sandi_grl]

Everyone had their role, their place. Everything was by design. Everyone had to survive.

She sat with some of the younger children, reading what few books they had or singing songs with them. They didn't need to know the harsh truth about the world outside of the walls yet. Once they started asking why they couldn't go outside the settlement and the excuse of "because there's monsters out there" didn't work anymore, they weren't children anymore. Laura enjoyed working with them while she could, before they started training, learning to survive. They kept her heart young and gave her hope for the future. Maybe they could fix the world...

Hearing yelling from the towers she looked up. Someone was coming. Just one person. Curious, she stood, telling the little ones to go play for a bit and she'd be back shortly to work on their writing. She adjusted the quiver of arrow on her back and retrieved the compound bow she had settled against the wall.

Three guards exited the compound to greet, or kill, the new visitor.

 

[MrGoatee]

He walked closer, slowly opening his arms. The gesture of peace, of wanting no harm. As he did the photo fell from his pocket unknown to him, his old life in it, the only true record of it.

Time had not been good, his face now scarred, a burn on his left cheek, his left eye possibly damaged and covered in a dirty bandage. A souvenir of his last attempt to skirt a hostile settlement. That time he had been forced to fight, three dead and him left scarred.

He called out as he approached "trade?" He moved the sack from his pack "I have seeds, good ones, food ones. For water"

He waited for the response

 

[sandi_grl]

The three men who had gone outside to meet him lowered their guns and moved closer to assess. Once determining he wasn't a threat, they ushered him through the gate which shut with a loud clang!

Voices whispered and murmured at the mention of seeds. Seeds for food. The settlement had been doing fine with what they had, but slowly the garden was dwindling as plants were beginning to reach the ends of their lifespans.

Laura stood back, watching everything unfold in front of her.

 

[MrGoatee]

He opened his bag showing the contents. Arms always open, he tried his best to barter. What's with the face?' One of the men asked. 'three days back, I was trying to trade on the trail. Three men took exception to me.' He shrugged 'it will heal, they won't. I'd ask for medicine but it may be too much' he shrugged.

Gingerly he lifted the bandage showing the weeping wound. 'they had an iron in their fire'

He looked at the settlement, the population he could see watching were a healthy mix, women, children, armed men. 'I'm heading to high ground, for a few seeds all I seek is a couple of says rest from the wild and water to take with me'

He paused, hope his only emotion

 

[sandi_grl]

"Come." One of the men turned and started off through the settlement.

The redhead sighed, seeing the two walking towards her, knowing what was going to be asked of her. "Dad," she greeted, kissing the older of the two on the cheek. "Who's this?"

He gave her a tired smile, the past several years wore on him. "I want you to get our friend here some water. And see if you can find some medicine for his eye." He turned to the traveler, "I don't believe I got your name."

 

[MrGoatee]

'Cole' he said 'my thanks for your kindness, its a rare thing these days' he watched quietly, still uncomfortable and nervous around people.

The settlement was clean, as clean as these days allowed, and looked homely. He watched as the children gathered and quietly watched him. He smiled but worried his face would scare them. It had been too long since he had seen children, especially ones that had no fear.

'i suspect raiders are near' he said 'the ones who did this had the red bands on their arms' he pointed to his face. 'They are a while away but they will come' he said

He looked as she approached, the red haired woman who had called one of the men father. He smiled shyly

 

[sandi_grl]

"We'll be ready for them." The man clapped his down down on Cole's shoulder. "Laura will take care of you, I leave you to her." With that, he walked off.

Laura smiled at him. "We don't get many visitors. Particularly those that are traveling alone. Why don't you have any companions?" She led him into one of the dwellings as she spoke, and motioned for him to sit in a chair. Grabbing a cup, she poured some water from a pitcher and held it out for him. "Here."

 

[MrGoatee]

Cole drained the pitcher, he looked sheepish and smiled 'I am better alone, everyone with me dies' he looked away, hand going to his pocket. Worried, he patted his pockets then stood. They're gone' he muttered.

He formed a fist and clenched it hard 'I have lost them' he muttered. 'It was all I had left of before'

He looked up, 'I'm sorry, the past should stay there' he offered her the seeds 'please take them all, I have already drunk their worth I'm sure'

He looked around the dwelling, smiling, 'a place one could settle' he smiled

 

[sandi_grl]

She watched as he patted his pockets, then stood. What was he looking for? Who are they? Is he delusional?

When he held the seeds out to her, she shook her head and closed his hand around the tiny sack of seeds. "Sit down." Her voice was soft, but firm.

As he did so, she turned and dug through a cabinet before retrieving a tube of anti-bacterial ointment. After grabbing some clean cloths, she knelt down in from of him. Slowly, Laura reached for and removed the bandage on his eye.

"Who are 'they'?"

 

[MrGoatee]

He sat, as she moved to touch him he recoiled softly 'family' he muttered 'gone now' his hand unclenched, resting on his thigh now. Cole looked at her with his good eye, aware that only a shadow of movement was all his other eye saw. 'I lied about this' he whispered 'they caught me, pinned me down and were going to take everything' he gulped 'the iron they used was mine' he pointed to his knife, 'heated in my fire ' he paused 'i fought back'

 

[sandi_grl]

Wetting a piece of cloth in a small bowl that held a bit of water, she dabbed around the outside edges of the would with great care. She listened to him, and her heart ached for how horrible the world had become. Between global economic collapse, anarchy, viral epidemics... Everything went to shit.

"You are safe to stay here for as long as you need," she offered. Now cleaning the actual wound, she whispered an apology as she prodded, knowing she was probably causing him pain.

"...How many were in your family?" She asked cautiously. She knew other people within their settlement had lost their families as well, to many different circumstances, and it helped some of them to talk about it it.

 

[MrGoatee]

'wife, two children. The cholera had them.' He only flinched a little from the cloth, 'they went early, I don't think they would have coped with this' he gestured around. 'I should go though, I am heading to the mountains, its safe, defendable, I know the terrain.' He looked into her eyes, 'they will come, and if they don't worse will follow'

He had seen the raiders, they were bad, rape, murder, slavery. But what they feared, he had never seen it and did not want to

 

[sandi_grl]

Laura stared back at him, her brows coming together and she worried her bottom lip. "Worse?" Sitting back on her heels after applying a fresh bandage over his eye, she lost herself in thought for a moment. "You should probably talk to the others and tell them about this so they can prepare." And protect the children, she thought silently.

Standing, she tidied up, putting things back where they belonged. "Stay the night at least so you can rest before you continue."

 

[MrGoatee]

He nodded 'I thank you. I have only ever seen the mess of what's after. A burned campsite, body parts scattered, eaten, worse' he looked at her 'you must move the children, get then south, around the danger and then to the coast. Maybe a few men here could distract.....'

He stood 'your father, will he listen? I would stay, fight. If your people get the children safe'

He opened his pack, showing the gun. 'I have used it, but its a last resort'

 

[sandi_grl]

Laura stared at him for several long moments, considering his words. Could she trust what he was saying? After all, he was a stranger. He easily could be one of the raiders, attempting to lure them out of the safety of the walls. But something about him, in the way he spoke, the way he looked at her... She believed him.

She grabed her bow and arrows. All those who were trained with weapons, either guns, bow and arrows, or swords, were required to be armed at all times.

"Follow me," she requested of him. She led him to another building, and asked him to wait outside.

"Dad," she called out as she enter. Several pairs of eyes fell on her, her father's included, as she approached him. "Cole, the visitor? He has some information you need to hear. He is heading to the mountains for safety from the raiders. He says they will come, and worse will follow if we are able to fend them off."

The older man gave a small smile and half a chuckle. "And you believe him?"

She nodded. "Just listen to him."

The redhead appeared back at the door a few minutes later from when she left Cole. "My dad agreed to hear you out... You're going to have a hell of a time convincing him, though. I hope you have something up your sleeve."

 

[MrGoatee]

He entered the room 'stay put, you need to explain..' He went through the pack, searching, clothes, a little food, tools, nothing sinister to indicate danger. When he turned and looked at Cole. 'seems normal, tell me what you know'

Cole looked up, 'I saw them fist time about two years ago, thought they were normal but then insaw what they had done. I followed for three days when they attacked a small group, they killed them all, raped the women, burned the....' He paused. 'i left quickly'

'you have to get your people away, higher, safer. I'll show you where they are, fight with you, but time here. I haven't much else now...'

The man walked out 'Laura! You trust him?' He said holding out the picture he had picked up from the floor outside

 

[sandi_grl]

She took the picture from her father and looked at it. It was Cole, slightly younger and unscathed, with a woman and two children on their backs. His family.

Nodding, eyes went back to her dad. "Yes I do."

With that, he turned back inside for several more minutes. She could hear the low tones of voices. Emerging once more, he called for a 'town meeting.' He explained to the others that the settlement was no longer safe. Though they'd lived there for a number of years and had won the few battles they had to fight, they weren't going to win this one.

It was decided that they leave at dawn and make their way to the coast. They had a better chance of finding food there anyway, and could build a strong fortress with the redwoods that grew along the coastal mountains.

Kinks were worked out among the elders, others prepared for the travel ahead. Packing clothes and food and water into sakes for everyone to carry, and onto carts pulled by livestock. Several horses, a cow, and a few goats. Ammunition for the guns as well.

The morning light came and moans came from those who weren't morning people, Laura included. The group trekked out, children in the middle of the group, protected. They were the future. A few select volunteers stayed behind. Their goal was to give the now traveler's more time, maybe reduce the number raiders that would follow them.

"Laura," a small voice called her out of her thoughts, a smaller hand taking hers. "Where are we going?"

She looked down at the little girl and offered her a smile. "We are going to go live by the ocean," she told her. "And we are going to find some mermaids. Do you remember when I taught you about those?" God, she tried so hard to keep their imaginations alive. "If you could be a mermaid, what color would your tail be?"

 

[MrGoatee]

Cole watched them gather, he saw the struggle, but he saw hope. He gathered his bag, and as he stepped into the sunlight he saw the red haired woman, she was natural with the others, at ease with the children and strong. He smiled, admiring her.

As her father approached Cole became serious, 'I'll take you to see them, then if you need me I will be here for you, nothing left to loose.' The man held out a photo, Coles lost photo and nodded'for them?' He asked the intent of his question clear. 'not for them' Cole insisted and pointed to the leaving families 'for them' he took the photo and looked for a moment before passing it back. 'keep it for me, if we do this right you can give it to me then'

Then two men stepped out, heading back up the ridge. Cole leading and moving quickly, they travelled light, only seeking to observe and report back. By mid day they had seen the black smoke, curling around a treeline. Cole settled and raised his binoculars, 'there they are' he whispered, passing them to the man. The raiders were enjoying a kill, a lone traveller, currently being crucified and tortured.

'I count a couple of dozen' the man said, 'why do the scar themselves?' He had noticed the scars on the raiders arms, neat lines down each arm, some raiders had many

That's how many kills we have made' came a voice from behind them

 

[sandi_grl]

The group had been moving for a couple hours, judging by the height of the sun in the sky. Adults took turns carrying some of the smaller children who were struggling with the trek. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits though, considering their circumstances.

Laura looked back and could faintly see the plumes of black smoke over the treeline. There was no turning back now, their home was gone.

Cole and the other man had been gone for quite some time now, and Laura couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right. She gripped her bow tighter and walked a little faster to catch up to one of the elders. She matched his pace to walk next to him. "Something's wrong," she said quietly, not wanting to alarm others. "They've been gone too long."

 

[MrGoatee]

The raider held a spear, crossbow on his back. But he was alone, grinning, confident.

The two men moved slowly, standing hands held out. Then Cole stepped forward, one pace, close enough to the spear for the raider to flash it quickly across Coles wounded face. The crack of wood on skull was loud, a report like a door slamming, but it gave Laura's father the chance he needed. Before the raider could recover or shout out, a knife was pushed in his belly, a hand clamped to his mouth.

Cole recovered slowly, shaking the stars from his vision 'Well I was hoping for a lower blow' he moaned. Then he saw blood, seeping slowly from Laura's father's side. 'shit!' He grimaced and quickly applied pressure. 'we need to move he hissed' as he applied a rough bandage. Lifting the crossbow and hiding the body he offered a hand 'lets do this slow and careful, but fast!' He smiled at the irony.

They supported each other, staggering slowly away

 

[MrGoatee]

The two men headed to the settlement, expecting it almost empty. They had been cautious but were aware of the raiders intent. Cole set the man down at the bridge, checking his wound. ' You'll be moving on, I'll stay, distract them as long as I can' he nodded to the settlement 'i there I can set a few traps, cause them to loose a few more, slow them down.' He checked the mans wound 'not deep, must hurt like a bitch though ' he grinned.

As they headed down the slope Cole hoped the settles had all got away, he would plan a trap or two and follow after setting a false trail. He nodded to the direction they had left 'head that way, they will be ahead but may need hurrying'

The man nodded and stumbled gingerly off after his people

 

[sandi_grl]

Laura kept to the back of the group, walking backwards at regular intervals, scanning the trail behind them for anyone, her dad and Cole or the raiders. She stopped, seeing someone coming up over the hill. Squinting, she realized who it was.

"Dad!" She sprinted towards him, a couple others trailing behind her. She noted he was favoring his side, and the fabric was wet, tinted darker. "What happened?"

Her dad gave a sheepish grin. "You should see the other guy." He winced as she prodded at the wound. "It's not that bad. But we need to keep moving, and hurry."

Laura stood from where she was crouching in front of him and looked past him with confusion. "Where's Cole?"

"He's setting some traps and a fake trail. He'll catch up. "

 

[MrGoatee]

Cole quickly masked the trail left by the settlers. He used brush, sand, anything to disguise it then he began the traps, simple snares mainly but concentrating them away from the trail. The temptation should be to follow the traps, otherwise why would they have been left.

He looked in the direction the group had travelled and wished he was part of them. He checked the bow string and hid waiting to make the traps more effective.



The first raider he saw cautiously approached the area, he pointed to the deserted settlement and began checking the ground. It was then Cole saw the first of the other things.....


It came from the east, side on from the trail and hit the raider side on, flattening him and clamping wide jaws around his throat. Muscular and fast whatever it was began to eat, crunching on the dying raider. Cole needed no prompting, he slid quickly and carefully to follow the settlers, now he knew worse was following and they had to move fast!

 

[sandi_grl]

They quickened their pace through the forest. Anyone and everyone who had a weapon was on high alert, ready to defend the group. Steven, Laura's father, was being tended to by a couple of the people who had been nurses or doctors before the world went to shit.

Laura hung back with a few others, working on covering the footprints and wheel tracks. Hopefully Cole could still follow and catch up to them. Assuming nothing happened to him.