Chapter 3 - First Blood (2752 words) - Stat screen

  That year…. That first year went fast. Each of us had celebrated a birthday here, and I was coming up to my next one, twelve. Reece was five… and he had grown quick too, so damn fast.

  Our new life was very different.

  The electric from the grid had failed in the first month, there were some old school signals dad said, analogue I think but then after than nothing at all in terms of news, of people.

  Our daily life revolved around so many things and foraging for food was the biggest. My days were alternated, I’d be out hunting and trapping with dad, and learning all kinds of outdoor survival skills, then with Mom we studied the books from the shop on all the wildlife, local animals. Not that there were many around now. They’d almost vanished, a bit like all the people had.

  But with foraging, learning about the plants too, it wasn’t long though that we had mushrooms, leafy plants, and root vegetables plucked from the surrounding forests. If mom was doing the heavy work. I was keeping Reece occupied and watching her back.

  Watching her back had become a must. There were drifting monsters coming in now, and no matter how much of a warning Dad’s alarm system gave us, it was never enough. Just like he said, I had to listen and watch.

  It was about six months after we’d settled in the cabin when it happened. Mom was harvesting mushrooms near the tree line, and I was watching Reece play with sticks nearby. The alarm system sounded, and putting my fingers to my mouth I let out a sharp whistle.

  Mom looked back at me, and she paled. Before mom could do anything, I saw it, something on four legs and dam was it running fast.

  In a split second I had the guns sight to my eye, the safety off and my finger on the trigger. I didn’t have any other time to react, but I had to be sure of my shot. It was running straight for her.

  I saw Mom’s fire spark, but I was faster, the animal in my sight, and the trigger pulled.

  Dad had let me see as close as possible what the recoil was like on this gun and his larger weapons when he shot rabbit, or other animals for us. But nothing prepared me for that first time. It wasn’t as bad as I’d feared - more of a firm push against my shoulder than the violent kick I’d imagined.

  But the creature hadn’t gone down, it was lurching instead of running. The bolt action of this rifle meant that it was a much easier reload, quick lift and pull back the bolt to eject the spent casing.

  I sighted again and pulled the trigger.

  This time though it was maybe fifty feet from my mom, it went down.

  Mom turned to look at me, her fires till sparking and I ran for her.

  Recognizing First Kill - Stri-Cat

  Recognizing Skill

  Shooter

  Skill will not upgrade till puberty.

  Mom clung to me, but I wanted to see what it was, my eyes scanning the terrain.

  “There,” Mom shouted, but I’d already spotted another one.

  “I see it. There’s another one?” My voice was steady, focusing on the threat like Dad had taught me.

  “I count six,” Dad came in behind us panting. “Heard the alarm and the gunshots.”

  We watched in horror as the other critters popped up, stopped, seemingly communicated with each other, then stalked around us.

  “Where’s Reece?” Dad asked.

  “The play pen,” Mom said.

  “Slowly,” Dad said and waved his hand so we’d back off.

  Slow it was, we kept our eyes on the Stri-Cats and moved as one.

  When they wanted to though, they roared, and then they lunged.

  Dad was faster than me with his gun and much more accurate. I hit one again but didn’t knock it out. He’d hit two and was moving to get the fourth. Five and Six though, they were nowhere to be seen.

  Then in that instant, one was before me, and I did the only thing I could when it opened its large mouth, showing me razor sharp teeth, I pushed the gun into its face and fired.

  Dad got number five and mom let loose with a flaming hurtling stream of fire at number six.

  Recognizing Second Kill - Stri-Cat

  By the time we reached Reece he just looked up, and said, “Hungry.”

  Mom took him and we walked slow back to the cabin, Dad and I never leaving our eyes off the surroundings.

  “We might need to take it in turns to watch at night,” Dad said.

  “That will make any day jobs, much harder,” Mom added.

  Dad looked at me. “You can take south side on your own, right Cer?”

  I was nodding but mom was not.

  And that was how the next few days went. I did take the south side, the furthest away from the main roads, the closest to any critters, but nothing else came our way.

  Those days turned to weeks, and then months.

  We worked as a team and when dad was out fishing, I was now checking all the traps. Every single day.

  On days when mom was too exhausted and Reece was extra cranky, like all kids are when they reach teething and the terrible that get into everything phase, I stayed with her no matter what jobs I should have been doing.

  Winter set in, and we ran out of propane. Dad couldn’t do anything else, so we packed up the truck and we moved to the next house, and then the next. Till out of eight properties, we’d used four.

  The following summer Dad and I cut trees and loaded the next two houses up with wood, we were practical, systematic.

  Mom and Dads ‘magic’ was growing stronger. Every time they went out, every time they practiced, and when dad wasn’t there, I helped mom strengthen her control. “Focus on your breathing, Mom,” I’d tell her. “Picture the fire as an extension of yourself, not something separate.” I sounded like one of those meditation guides from the old YouTube videos, but it seemed to help.

  Those logs helped the propane last longer, at least better for cooking. It also kept us warmer in the cabin. Eventually though, no matter how prepared we were, things were starting to run out.

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  I was thirteen now, at least I thought I was, mom had tried to help track the days in an old journal, but they blurred the only things that were consistent were tracking the weather, the days, the rain, the spring summer, and then winters.

  “I have to start going farther, maybe the next town,” Dad said as he sat before the fire one night.

  “You can’t go alone,” Mom begged him. His only other option, their option was to leave us. At first that worked. But then….

  Reece and I got sick.

  I don’t recall much of that time, though I knew it was bad.

  Dad had tried to use his skill of protector to manipulate the magic around us for healing but nothing he’d tried worked. We’d ran out of drugs that were worth anything so that meant, he had to travel.

  Dad went further afield and brought medicine home. It was only later that we started to get better, that he got sick, and then so did mom.

  It was freezing out, so cold. I did the only thing I could: I kept the fire going, I did for them what they’d done for me. I spoon fed them both and kept Reece occupied as much as I could. I set traps, though a lot closer to home and I cooked. It wasn’t anything special, but the broth and the meat was enough for them to get better too.

  Mom looked me in the eyes that day, and cried, she cried so hard.

  ***

  “We’ve got to make a plan for leaving the valley,” Dad said one night. “It’s clear we’re done here, there’s nothing trapping, the wood we’re storing is no way enough for winter.”

  “We can’t leave,” Mom fought, but it was a weak effort.

  I’d pretended as usual to fall asleep in the chair. Usually, dad would have moved me by now, taken me to bed, even if I was a teen.

  This time he hadn’t. I knew he was letting me listen. He’d been doing that more lately - treating me less like a child and more like part of the decision-making team.

  “We’ve seen settlements,” he prompted her.

  Wait, I almost sat upright. There were other people out there, they’d seen them.

  “They’re not safe, and you know it,” Mom said.

  “We have to try, Mirta, we need more for the kids.”

  “You always blame the kids,” Mom spat, but I knew she didn’t mean it quite like that.

  “Let’s go to those in the town center, early tomorrow. Let the kids sleep in. We’ll be back before they know it.”

  Mom relented way too soon, and I felt bad for her. Only then did Dad come and move me, gently placing me in bed before kissing my forehead.

  I lay there thinking about what I’d heard. Other settlements. People. After three years of just the four of us, the thought was both thrilling and terrifying. But why wouldn’t they tell us? And why go without us?

  I let my mind drift, and then the next thing I heard was the door going.

  It really was early, very early, and following them was rough. I’d already tucked a note under Reece’s stuffed bear explaining I’d be back soon, and left him food and water by his bed. He’d be fine for a couple hours - he usually slept late anyway.

  I kept my rifle tucked in behind me and kept pace. I was proud of my stalking, it had become a real skill the last year, tracking with Dad. I’d even surprised him a few times while he was fishing, he never heard me coming, not at all.

  I’d never been this far out of the Valley though, everything was different, cars abandoned in the middle of streets, rotting away to nothing but rusty shells. Some covered in vines and even trees sprouted out of them.

  Mom and Dad made their steps very clear. And I wasn’t brave enough to veer off at all, even if I thought something looked interesting.

  “Not today, Cerys,” I muttered to myself. “Stay focused.” No detours, no matter how curious I was about the ruins of this civilization.

  That’s when I heard a deep male voice. “Hello there.”

  My heart nearly stopped. Another person! A stranger’s voice after all this time was almost shocking to hear.

  My ears… I’d never heard anything as exciting. I wanted to see, but I couldn’t from here, this is where to get closer I would have to sneak around them. So carefully, making sure my foot holds were solid I made my way around.

  “Hello,” Dad called back. “We’re looking for somewhere to stay, my wife and I.”

  No mention of children? I tensed. This was why they hadn’t told us - they were hiding our existence from these people.

  Why? I was confused.

  “Well then,” I could see the man step forward, he was covered in thick clothing, though it wasn’t pre fall clothing, this was hand made. I’d seen mom patch many things for Reece as I as we had grown in sizes the last few years, but this… was interesting.

  “What’s in the bags?” the man asked.

  “Nothing,” Mom said. “We’re scouting, hoping to find things.”

  “Throw them over,” he said. This time though he was waving a gun. “And put your gun down too. Then back away.”

  I crouched lower, my finger moving to the trigger guard of my rifle. Something wasn’t right. Dad had taught me to read body language - this man wasn’t interested in making friends.

  I didn’t think Dad was going to let them anywhere near his gun, they were our only weapon’s even if Mom had fire.

  Which as soon as the man stepped forward, she reacted with, bright red sparks flew from her fingers.

  The man screamed then. “James! We got some fresh abilities out here, best come see.”

  My parents were surrounded in seconds and the people doing so had animals with them.

  Lunging on a rather large chain length leash was a massive three headed dog, and a woman to his left also had a huge, leashed cat of some kind. No… it was like those ones that caught us off guard a year or so back. Tri-Cat.

  My parents through their bags down, and reluctantly my dad also put the gun down.

  Three guys surrounded my mom and started pulling at her clothes. “Come on, show us what you got,” one said.

  I felt sick, rage building in my chest. These weren’t people looking to build community— they were predators.

  “Leave me,” Mom said. “Please, if you don’t have anything, leave us alone.”

  “We can’t leave those with abilities here,” the first one said. “You’ll be coming back to us at our camp. Jackson will want to know exactly what you’ve been doing the last three years to survive.”

  “We’ve mostly been hiding,” Mom said as one of the men grabbed tight hold and she set him on fire.

  It all turned to hell, gun shots fired out, the animals roared, and I could see nothing but flames and smoke.

  Then there were even more screams. “Ratters!” the first man screamed. “Back to base, now.”

  The others were backing away, and all I could see were my parents on the floor, a pool of blood spreading around my father’s torso.

  “NO!” The scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. I raced toward them, my rifle forgotten, panic overwhelming my training.

  No, no, no. I was screaming. When the others had gone, I ran to them. I had to stop the bleeding, “Dad. Dad!” I screamed.

  Nothing. I leaned down to his nose, trying to hear if he was breathing.

  Nothing.

  Then I turned to mom, straddling her chest and trying to get her to wake.

  She was breathing though it was ragged. I tried to shake her even harder. “Mom!”

  “Please wake up! Mom, please! I can’t do this alone!” My hands were shaking so badly I could barely check for a pulse. I pressed my fingers against her neck like Dad had taught me.

  “Oh gods. Oh gods.”

  I could see eyes in the darkness now there was no one else here to light the way.

  Darkness… so much darkness. I fumbled for my rifle, tried to sight one of those sets of eyes.

  “Stay back!” I yelled, my voice breaking. “I will shoot you!” But my hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

  “Please, no, no.”

  I went back to my father, he was breathing now, but it was so quiet.

  But my mom had stopped. I recalled what I had to do, to get her to breathe, and pounded on her chest, throwing my whole weight into it.

  “Please, no,” I begged anyone that was listening.

  The creatures surrounding us were chittering now, louder and louder.

  In my mind I was screaming at myself to run, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave them.

  That’s when I saw something else in the darkness, a flittering of wings, a flash of purples.

  The ratters stopped advancing. As if they were scared. They were still chittering though.

  “Who’s there,” I asked still trying to get my mom to breath. I looked at my dad and tears streamed from my eyes. “Help me, please. Someone.”

  Then more flittering, right in front of my face.

  “Show yourself!” I demanded, trying to sound braver than I felt. “I know you’re there!”

  You can see me?

  “I can see something.”

  Interesting, the voice said.

  “Who are you?” My voice was more controlled now. Whatever this was, it seemed to be keeping the creatures at bay. “Why are you here? Are you... part of the system?”

  They know a higher being when they see one.

  “You’re a higher level than they are?”

  I am, he replied. But you are not connected to the system, how do you see me?

  “I don’t know,” I said, wiping tears from my face. “Does it matter? My parents are dying. Can you help them or not?”

  Help you?

  “Yes, my dad… mom…. Can you do anything?”

  You don’t even know who I am, yet you’re asking for my help?

  My mom still wasn’t breathing. I tried to force air into her lungs. Then compressions once again.

  There was a larger presence surrounding me. I felt it.

  Then there were more and more eyes around us. “More creatures?”

  Yes, they come because I am here. They wish to see what I leave behind. The voice paused, then asked. What is your name?

  “Cerys,” I replied. “Cerys Bellova.”

  I haven’t had anyone ask me for help in a very long time. I will give you a choice Cerys, he said. You may save your mother’s life, by getting her onto that car door behind you, and dragging her away.

  “And my dad?” I asked, though I already knew the answer from the tone of the voice. My stomach felt like it was filled with lead.

  Your father is not long for this world. If it eases your mind he will not suffer.

  “No,” I cried.

  I couldn’t do it.

  I couldn’t.

  But the words tumbled out of my mouth. “Make it quick. Make it painless. He deserves that much.” And with that I was off my mom’s chest, and dragging her to the car door. Then slowly I was dragging her away.

  The chittering was growing louder. But I heard the voice above it all.

  In the name of Cerys Bellova, I aid you in your final moments, your crossing is pain-free of love and of hope. Your last life essences will help her grow and protect those who need it.

  Those creatures never followed me, and eventually my mom came too. “Alfie?”

  “He’s gone, Mom.” My voice was flat, empty. I felt hollow inside. “Dad’s gone.”

  Mom curled into herself on the car door, and even though I was hardly moving she let me drag her home.