1. Keep heading north on the road. You've got to find a working vehicle eventually. Or a survivor. Or food. Or... anything other than blasted ruins.
Probably not the best idea to head toward a radioactive death-pit. You need to find a working vehicle and some supplies.
"Come on, honey. We're gonna find us a car to ride in," you say over your shoulder. Nicole remains silent, but continues to follow.
The hills to your west send up smoke that mixes with the red-brown sky. The whole world seems ash.
Another hour rolls by as you make your way north. Your legs are starting to feel weak. Still nothing but twisted wrecks and blood. The white lines that used to mark the left and right sides of this highway now only serve as a path for you to walk on.
Another hour. The damage is starting to become less severe. You actually see a few buildings that are still partially standing. Most of them are on fire. Nothing to salvage. Your legs are screaming at you. But if you stop now, you don't know if you'll be able to get up ever again.
Your life has now become one broken white line after another. How many more can you make pass under you before...
"There."
You stop. Nicole's voice, barely a whisper, behind you.
You turn, and she is pointing at a car. A car. Not a twisted chunk of metal and blood, or an overturned semi truck, tires burning. A real car. You would have walked right by it.
It looks like a Sedan.
You circle around it to the driver's side.
The window is splattered with blood from the inside.
Ok, you circle around back to the passenger's side. Ash covers the glass, but you brush it aside with your hand.
Pressing your face to the glass, you peer inside. Still a bit murky.
Fuck it. You try the door.
Maybe if you hadn't just gotten hit by a nuke and then witnessed two people's heads explode right in front of you, the sight of this would shock you. As it is, you only register a dead body.
Huh. Alone, inside a car? None of the other cars had bodies.
Jesus. It... it looks like he killed himself. His hand hangs limp on the seat, and in it's loose grasp is some kind of pistol. Looks like he ate a bullet.
And... someone has tied him up? It looks like the seat belt has been used to tie him down.
No, climbing in you can tell that he tied himself down. Both with the driver's shoulder strap, and the center seat belt.
You gingerly remove the pistol from his fingers. That quote about guns and cold dead hands scampers across your mind like a spider. It's some kind of revolver. You don't know shit about guns, though. It seems fairly small. You always hated guns, the feel of them, the look of them. Even now you don't want to take it.
There's a note pinned to the steering wheel.
they look just like us
don't let them in your head
don't let them in your head
i have to get it out
they take the bodies
"Nicole, honey, stay back there. Just... turn around, look the other way."
The driver's side was locked, anyway. You reach across the body. Dressed normally. Not a businessman. He needs a shave.
Needed, anyway.
You pop the lock, crawl back out, go around, open the door.
Shit. He's tied in there pretty good. The knots are sturdy. Knife?
Swallowing, you search his pockets. Wallet. Keys. Ah, there we go. Swiss army knife. Why the hell didn't you carry one of these?
With a bit of doing, you cut him free. The body slumps halfway out of the car. You pull it the rest of the way.
Wallet IDs him as Robert J. Garner. A few bills, some credit cards. Nothing useful. He's from out of state. Arizona. Road trip? Bad timing, you guess.
Dragging the body away, you turn your attention back to the car. You pop the trunk, give it a search.
Yes. A cooler in the back. Food, bottled water. You grab a water and down half of it. The taste is better than you can believe.
"Nicole? Want some water, honey?"
You look over. She makes no reply.
"Food?"
Nothing.
"Well, OK. Just come over here and get some if you want. I'm going to search the rest of the car."
Glove compartment has maps, registration. Paper, some pens and pencils. A duffel in the backseat. Change of clothes, a book. Something by Stephen King. Ironery.
Keys are in the ignition, though the car is in park. Gas is half empty. (Odd, you used to be an optimist.) No ammo anywhere.
Hmm.
After fiddling with the revolver for a bit, you pop open the chamber.
Five bullets. Only one he fired was the one he ate.
Stroke of luck finding this car. Looks like you can drive the rest of the way to the Vet's.
You pop your head out and look for Nicole. She's standing over where you left her. You grab the food and water from the trunk and toss it into the backseat.
"Come on, honey. We're going to get help now."
Nicole slowly walks to the passenger side, gets in.
You hold a water out to her. "Are you sure you don't want any?"
She shakes her head, then turns and looks out the window.
Shrugging, you put the water back, pop the cooler's top back on, and turn the ignition. The car starts up with a slight cough, but seems OK. The blood on the window next to you makes it so you can't see the driver's side mirror. That's alright.
You still are in a lot of pain. Your insides hurt. Your legs are exhausted. Your remaining eye throbs.
Where to?
********************************
1. That Vet's sounds good right about now. With any luck, you'll meet someone there and they can take care of you.
2. You know, maybe it'd be better if you and Nicole just got the fuck out of dodge. Some weird shit is going on around here, and you could head farther north, maybe see if the hills up there are clear.
3. Then again, there's that crater behind you... this is probably your last chance to check it out.
First to four.
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Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor-Severe (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:17), Revolver (5 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole
Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????
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Author
Topic: The End (Read 57567 times)