Warrior Princess
Page 4
Outside the air was fresh, there was no breeze to speak of and all around her it was eerily quiet and still. Zipping up her jacket she set off down the dark street ahead of her, careful to stay on the centerline so as to give herself options just in case anything came at her from the shadows.
She headed south, for that was the most direct route to the 4Horsemen Bar & Grill, where Jasper was more than likely heading. The night was relatively late when she stepped foot onto the road and Siobhan figured that he would not be game to walk all the way back in the dark at his hour. He was taking cover somewhere resting up and recharging his energy, she was sure of it.
Dawn broke with a flicker of light that burst onto the morning sky, breaking through the darkness over the deserted city. A bright sun appeared as an orange fireball, bathing the wastelands in warmth. Shadows quickly receded, taking with them the threat and intimidation with which they governed the streets at night.
Atop a red Hyundai hatchback Siobhan crouched low, eyeing the landscape around her searching for a sign. She had trekked all night relentless in her pursuit of her prey, circling around in front of him in order to position herself perfectly for an ambush. Confident that she had outflanked him, she now waited to spring the trap.
It had been hard going as many stray creatures had come at her from the shadows all through the night, forcing her to defend herself. She had pushed herself hard and was well pleased with her progress, getting ahead of the game enough to now be poised to strike.
Reaching into her backpack she took out an apricot muesli bar and proceeded to munch on what could only be described as a measly breakfast. Her jaw still ached, but she had to eat even if it was bird food. It still tasted nice enough despite the recommended use-by date expiring long ago, she cared little for those stamps on food packaging anymore anyway.
A faint sound in the distance caught her attention. Suddenly, a split second later the rear window of the vehicle she was on shattered, sending glass flying everywhere. Siobhan acted quickly, rolling off the roof landing on her toes cat-like, crouching low between several other abandoned vehicles.
Jasper!
Several hundred yards up the road the big man squinted to peer through the sight as he took aim again, the skin on his cheek pulled taut exposing the long scar that ran down to his chin. Watched, waited... fired again.
Siobhan was showered in glass as the windshield of the vehicle she now cowered next to shattered also. Several stray shards caught the skin on her face opening up several superficial wounds, sending trickles of blood down across her jawline.
“Fuck!” she cursed herself. In her excitement of getting ahead of Jasper, she had not anticipated he would be upon her this quickly. She had lost the element of surprise and was now pinned down on the road. The pistol that was holstered at her waist was no match at this range, so she needed to find better cover and then reset her strategy.
Another shot rang out, the bullet whizzing overhead and thudding into the door of a pickup truck. It was time for her to go and Siobhan wasted no time knowing that Jasper would be taking aim again. She simply had no choice but to move. Squatting low she snaked her way though the deserted cars, heading for the closest building.
A small dust cloud rose around her as Siobhan skidded across the floor down an aisle inside the 7-Eleven, colliding with the Slurpee machine with a thud. Reaching to her side she pulled her large sword free and prepared to defend herself.
Moments later a shadow appeared at the door.
“Did you honestly think you could outsmart me you stupid little bitch?” Jasper meant business. “There’s a reward on your head, dead or alive and I aim to collect. It would be so much easier to just drag your bleeding corpse back to camp than have to worry about walking you there, you’d be nothing but trouble alive.”
Removing her backpack and jacket, Siobhan got herself battle ready, scanned the convenience store looking for defensive positions and places to attack from. Spied a door and thought quickly, acted quicker. On hands and knees she crawled to the opening, slid through to the back room and then got to her feet. Before her was another door marked ‘EXIT’.
Moving with the utmost stealth was one of the skills she had learned during her time alone in the wastelands, today proving to be an invaluable asset. She crept her way through the alleyway, stopped and peered out onto the road to see Jasper standing with his back to her at the doorway, still blurting out threats to an empty store.
Gripping her sword tightly the petite Irish girl inhaled deeply, exhaling slowing to calm herself and steady herself for the attack. Counting the steps in her head Siobhan quickly plotted her maneuvers, she had to be swift, deadly and accurate just like always.
Jasper caught sight of the shadow and spun around in fright, raising his rifle in self defense just in time to deflect the downward blow from the massive sword. His weapon was cut in two and he dropped it immediately as he toppled backwards. Lashing out with his boot he tripped his attacker before delivering a hard punch to Siobhan’s thigh, numbing it instantly.
Collapsing to the ground in pain she caught another blow, this one to her already aching jaw most certainly breaking it this time. The stab of pain was intense, almost blinding and she fought to remain conscious. Blood streamed from her nostrils filling her mouth and causing her to cough and spit through her teeth.
She reached behind her back her for her gun but it had been dislodged in her tumble and fallen just out of reach. Felt the tip of her knife as she brought her arm around, allowed her fingers to caress the leather handle. Drove the darkness from her eyes as she nearly blacked out, resisted the pain and filled her mind with thoughts of her friend. This was her chance to avenge her and she was not going to miss this opportunity.
Jasper came at her again, lunging with another clenched fist aimed directly at her head. In a desperate attempt to evade him she rolled to one side, felt the rush of air as his hand brushed past her. Swiftly, in the same move she clasped her knife tight, pulled it from the leather sheath and drove it deep into his neck. Blood pulsed immediately, covering her face as it gushed over the blade.
Rolling to her knees Siobhan felt the ache in her leg, her thigh was numb and throbbing. It would not stop her, nothing would for she had one final task to complete. As she stared Jasper in the face watching him trying to stem the flow of blood from the stab wound, she smiled through gritted teeth. “For Lisette!” she said solemnly, driving the blade deep into his forehead.
Only the sound of her heavy breathing could be heard as she held the handle of the blade tightly until the last drop of blood had left his body. Then, and only then did emotion take her and she burst into tears wailing loudly, calling out Lisette’s name, sending it echoing though the empty streets of the wastelands.
Epilogue
Months passed.
Nothing much changed in the wastelands, the sun rose and set on the desolate city, shadows came and went. In a dark stretch of road in a deserted part of town, a small light flickered through the first floor window of a green building. Inside, a solitary figure sat at a large round table, pen in hand writing a list.
About the Author
Sebastien Woolf is an author, creative dark force and coffee connoisseur. He has has been working toward publication for many years while battling depression, addiction and recovering from a breakdown. His life has been far from perfect, overcoming adversity to learn how to balance family life with a writing career. Heavily influenced by splatter, gore, slasher horror books and movies and forever obsessed with the zombie apocalypse, he is a lover of all things dark and macabre.
All Sebastien’s stories, characters and plot come from the deep, dark recesses of his subconscious mind. Most of his manuscripts have been written by hand for as he is feels empowered with pen, ink and paper and can feeling the energy and creativity flowing through him. Now he simply cannot stop writing.
The series ‘Dark of Dawn’ explores many maxims of human behavior and
the many and varied complex social, cultural and religious issues survivors are challenged with. As the zombie apocalypse arrives, humanity crumbles and those who remain are forced to face the very real dangers that lurk in the shadows.
Sebastien likes the idea of remaining a mystery, an enigma so he will continue to write behind the mask, alone, finding comfort he finds it comfortable there in the dark. Come join him in the Dark of Dawn....
Web: www.darkofdawn.com
Email: sebastienwoolf@darkofdawn.com
Twitter: @SebastienWoolf