Bound as the World Burns

by Alexis Abbott

  She found herself collapsing from exhaustion before she could come up with any answers.

  The next day, she awoke to light streaming in through the crack above. It was welcome at first, until she remembered: it exposed her. Made her vulnerable to whatever lay above the surface, waiting for its prey.

  For the first time ever, Cassidy fled from the light.

  Life without Leon suddenly loomed before her. And it was a gaping chasm.

  Where would she go without him? She didn’t even know what direction she was headed in without his knowledge of geography and navigation. Where would she find food or clean water? That was an urgent problem that she had no idea how to solve.

  Leon was good at scavenging. He could remove rubble and pry into places that were damaged, find what was worth taking. She at best could squeeze through cracks and hope they didn’t crush her.

  And worse again: was there even a point to continuing without him?

  He had so quickly become a huge role to her life. The only way she knew how to survive in this new world was because of him. And the only reason she could see for continuing was for him. Everything about her world had flipped upside down.

  All of those questions ate at her, the only distractions from her gnawing hunger and urgent thirst.

  Even the terror of that beast from hell or darker pits beyond couldn’t overshadow the worry that she’d lost her love, her protector. The only one she had.

  But then some modest sliver of hope appeared: She saw it, the battered sign above a convenience store. She wanted to run, but her aching legs, tired from lack of sustenance, dragged, and she could only jog along limply there.

  Some vehicles had collided in front of the door, but she was able to squeeze in between them and through the door inside.

  There she found it: blessed food and water.

  Most of what was inside was damaged or destroyed by the caved in ceiling, but there was plenty to sate her needs then and there. She found some bottles of sports drink, and immediately opened one to down it. Then tore into a few packages of snacks and jerky.

  She remembered what Leon had taught her during previous little scavenging stops: sugary snacks are good for a quick boost when you’re exhausted, but you need something heftier to keep you going. So she ate appropriately.

  But reminders of him, made her break down part way through her feast, and she finally fell into tears.

  Cassidy had no idea how long she sobbed in that corner store. It felt like an eternity, but her eyes were raw, her collar soaked with tears. She had to drink all over again, and choke back the sobs as they tried to rise once more.

  She told herself she had to find him, that she could do it. She poked through the store, and avoiding the gory mess of the cashier, she found a backpack hidden behind the counter.

  Sweet, young Cassidy stocked up on what she could carry. Packing some cans of food, plastic wrapped snacks, bottles of sports drink, and a little woolen hat she found in the employee’s room in back.

  Filled with determination to find her lost husband, she squeezed back out through the gap she came in through. She had to pull her backpack after her, but it snagged on the shattered remains of the store’s door. She tugged, and it resisted. Then she tugged again… and it gave.

  It gave too much.

  The door had mingled with one of the vehicles, and together held up some of the collapsed stonework above. And it began to tumble down around her as she shrieked.

  She pulled away, her backpack tumbling after her as she fell back. But one collapse caused another, and before she knew it, it seemed the whole building was crashing down before her.

  Cassidy scurried away, her new backpack still intact, albeit a bit torn.

  All around, the block echoed with the sounds of the building’s collapse and she cringed in thought, remembering Leon: he’d be worried about what that sound might attract. She once more pictured that hell beast rising from the ruins of society, and that image alone was enough to steel her resolve.

  She pushed herself back up to her feet, and began to run on down the road, or what little winding bits of it she could make through with the chaos about. And it was then she became aware of the sounds of something following her.

  Something big.

  Something heavy.

  13

  She began to panic and ducked beneath an overturned tanker truck to get in under it. One thing she’d learned was those creatures were far too big to follow after her in anything resembling a tight space after all.

  But as she got down on her feet, she heard it:

  “Cassidy!” came the loud, gruff voice, filled with desperate longing.

  And she looked back.

  They might’ve been the only two people alive, but there he was. Leon.

  “Leon!” she cried out, her eyes welling up as she dropped her bag, and he his. They ran to each other, and he threw his thick, strong arms about her.

  “I’ve been looking for you non-stop,” he said as he picked her up off the ground and squeezed her to his chest so tightly.

  “I was so terrified, Leon,” she said, her eyes welling up as her slender little arms clung to him. “I thought I might never see you again. The only thing that made me go on was that I had to find you.”

  He kissed her. He kissed her curly hair, her cheeks, her forehead, her lips. Oh, how he kissed her lips, deep and long. Until at last they broke apart and he smiled at her broadly.

  “I was never gonna give up on finding you,” he said. “And here you were, headed in the right direction and all.”

  Cassidy blinked away the tears, “I am?”

  He threw back his head and laughed.

  “You are,” he assured her, kissing her once more.

  They didn’t dare give into passions beyond that, not then, not there. But they made out long, until finally they gathered their bags and began once more.

  “How much longer? I can’t wait to leave this city behind,” Cassidy said, which was a shock to her. For so long she wished they’d never left, just stayed in that bunker in the heart of the city. Some part of her knew that wasn’t sustainable, but facing the world beyond the bunker doors seemed too much for the sheltered young woman. But after all that had happened, she wanted nothing more to do with it.

  Leon crested over another heap of rubble, and then looked back to her with a grin.

  “Come see,” he said, and he reached back, taking her hand and pulling her up with him. And she saw it.

  The end of the city.

  “There’s the last town between us and our new life,” Leon said as he held her close.

  And she saw it in the distance, off in the valley beyond. A quaint town, it looked far less damaged than the city. And Cassidy took that as reason enough to smile.

  “We’re finally getting closer,” she said with some much held back relief. She was almost afraid to let hope into her heart, but she swelled with longing. Perhaps they might actually have some kind of future after all. As husband and wife.

  “That we are,” he said, kissing her forehead.

  But it was late by that point, and the next town was still hours travel away. They held up in a battered building, just past the collapsed overpass.

  Leon held her close the whole night, the two refusing to part as they cuddled, kissed, talked of all they said and did.

  “What happened to you while I was away?” she asked, after telling him every detail of her own adventure.

  But his face fell then. Looking grim and distance.

  “I came across a crater,” he said hesitantly.

  “A crater? From… the things that fell from the sky?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “I guess anyhow. It was… I can’t describe it,” he said, and she didn’t need to ask more. She just understood. “There was something in it, something… wrong. And though I viewed it from a distance, I caught glimpse of those… things, stalking around it. As if it was their home, or… something else. I had to turn aroun
d and head away. There’s no way anything of this earth could survive close to that. So I knew the only direction was this way, if I was going to find you,” he said.

  Leon forced a smile, but she could tell it was hard for him. The images of what he saw haunting his sight, even after that crater was left well behind. And now, she too understood what a toll that seeing this new world could have on a person.

  “Get some rest,” he said, petting her hair. “We’ve got a big day ahead tomorrow.”

  Neither had any idea how true that was.

  For though they could see their next stopping point, all along the way they had that feeling at the back of their necks. As if those… creatures were stalking them.

  Leon took great precautions to stay off the road, to hide in the bushes, to slip between buildings when they saw them. And just stay out of sight.

  It was the tensest time of their lives, barring when they were separated.

  But ultimately, if the creatures were following, they never caught up, and Leon lost them. Because they made it to the edge of that town safely, and together looked upon the buildings, battered, abandoned, the streets gory and strewn with cars and corpses.

  But there down the street, they saw it: the school was largely intact.

  “We’ll make for there,” Leon said as he took Cassidy’s hand.

  But who knew what school intended for Cassidy this time. They could only hope that they’d last their visit.

  14

  Cassidy sat curled in the corner of what was once a schoolroom. It was harder and harder not to miss the relative safety and security of the bunker, but since they set out, there had been no going back. Even she knew that.

  The terrible sight of those massive claw marks gouged into pure steel and concrete told her that place was not the haven she thought it was. It was her last sight of what had once seemed like safety and even home. The days there with Leon had been so sweet and precious. The tall powerful man who’d come prying into her hole when all others had abandoned her made things okay. He had always known what to do and say. Made her feel safe.

  The trek through the wastes of the city, however, made it hard to cling to such illusions any longer. Any bit of safety she thought she had there in the bunker was false. She was just protected from the knowledge of what really happened in the city. Of the beasts from another world who had torn civilization apart.

  The new town was a different matter. She knew what lurked in the shadows, and it was as if the world was but an empty stage, and she jumped at any remote sound of movement. When she heard the sound of scraping at some rubble of a collapsed office building she nearly screamed aloud, but it was just some dog, scavenging for food.

  It didn’t even approach her, as if it too were afraid of the new world that was wrought around them. For how could a dog understand it if she didn’t?

  The cataclysm that brought civilization to its end had left precious little behind and she didn’t even understand what it was that happened. The glimpse of monstrous claw marks in steel and concrete, the great rumbles that she thought were earthquakes. The eerie vision of that… thing. It was as if the gates of hell had opened up on earth.

  Despite that burden of worry, she managed to drift off into her precious sleep, her aching legs finally melting from her senses.

  When she awoke again she was as she was before: alone. The classroom was darker, the door, however, was open. She could feel her heart beat. It was just like before. She had gone to sleep in the bunker with other survivors only to awaken to them having abandoned her, leaving her alone, with little food and the door unlocked.

  She heard the sound of movement upon the floor outside and then the large dark form loomed inside.

  “It’s all clear,” came that rich, velvety voice. Leon stood there, hunting rifle in one hand as he put it over his shoulder. He came to her, the nearly six and a half foot man towering above in his khakis, turtleneck and leather jacket.

  Bending a knee he put out his hand to her, kissing her forehead tenderly. He was a strikingly handsome man, so strong, so confident. His hair short and dark brown, though he had few opportunities to tend to it since they’d fled the bunker with dwindling supplies. He had bigger concerns. Taking care of her namely.

  “I found a nice spot we can hold up in the center of the school,” he said, his dark almond shaped eyes alight with warmth, and all for her.

  She was utterly reliant upon him, and she twirled that cheap engagement ring around her finger in reminder of what had come before. The bond that kept them together in spite of the destruction of the world as she knew it.

  “Leon,” she asked groggily as she pushed herself up. “If this was the apocalypse, why were we chosen?”

  It was the thought that had plagued her ever since that random man had dragged her into the bunker. She wasn’t the best Catholic, to be sure. Her time with him, and how quickly she fell prey to his charms told her that much. She was weak, a sinner, yet he’d made it right. He’d given her a ring despite the destruction, but it still didn’t make sense to her.

  “Best not to think on that too much,” he put an arm around her and led her out into the hallway. It hadn’t been so long since everything ended that the place had gotten dirty, or started collapsing, but it was still eerie seeing it so still and quiet, their footsteps echoing through the corridors. “That’s God’s reckoning,” he remarked, for though he didn’t believe strongly in such things, he knew she did. “What matters is we make the most of the opportunities given us.”

  She was so petite and delicate compared to him, for not only was he tall, but he was broad and built like a boxer. He had served in the military, the naval engineer corps, and was both strong and capable. He had a knack for fixing things and taking care of people. Taking care of her.

  Her soft face tilted back, her curls cascading down her back as she stared at him.

  She tried not to think on what happened to her prior bunker mates too much, either. They’d abandoned her, felt there was hope beyond the bunker. She was grateful, now, that they hadn’t taken her with them. No doubt they felt she’d be a liability, as small and as meek as she was.

  But Leon saw something in her. A compliment to his strength and virility, perhaps. Maybe God really had brought them together.

  She felt uncomfortable in the pants she’d put on, but knew it was best for traveling. He’d told her as much, after all, and she wore the heavier, more masculine clothes with an air of trepidation. It couldn’t hide her generous curves or her lovely face, but she did feel not quite herself in it.

  “What if those things come for us here?” she asked, sticking close to him and keeping her voice low. Terror gripped her heart as she spoke of the monsters. The reminder of their existence never left her, but it was as though saying it aloud made it even more real.

  Leon’s large hand rubbed over her slender her shoulder and to her shoulder blade, “Then I’ll chase ‘em right off,” he said with such casual confidence, a big warm smile on his handsome face.

  “After I scouted the place out I sealed up the doors. I’ll reinforce ‘em some more, but for now it’ll keep out most troublemakers,” he said as he guided her throughout the hallways, “and anything worse, well...” he smiled to her warmly as he opened a door for her. “It’ll have to find us in this maze, and by that time I’ll be ready for it.”

  He’d brought her to an area made for staff of the school. A hallway that connected a teacher’s lounge to some bathroom and offices and then, she saw it, the entrance to the cafeteria kitchen.

  “It’s like being back in high school,” she murmured, not sure how she felt about that. It was so different, at the same time, though. Like she was here after hours when no one else was around. It felt like she was breaking the rules, and her pale fingers laced through his. He was a lot older than her, she knew. Had been on his way to a great job when all this happened, and now all they had was each other.

  She was surprised by how okay she was with that.


  Bending down he kissed the top of her head, those lush curls brushing his lips. “Except this time there’s just the one teacher, and you’re my only student,” he said with tenderness and a bit of amusement.

  “There’s still a nice bit of food left here,” he explained, leading her by the kitchen, showing her inside. What surprised her most was that he flipped on the lights. “Hydro dam must still be running, because the power’s still on here, amazingly.” The stainless steel countertops and large appliances shined in the light, as if they’d only been abandoned hours ago.

  Her eyes widened at the bright lights, a gasp escaping her. “Do you think there’s people at the hydro station maybe? Or...” her face fell. Of course not. There was no way. It was just by miracle it was still running, and she leaned against him, her soft body hugging him affectionately.

  “No beds,” he explained as he gingerly pet her head, ignoring the question she didn’t want answered, “but the gym will have some mats we could use, for sure.”

  “That’ll be fine, I guess,” she agreed.

  Squeezing her pale little form to his body he embraced her closely.

  “I figure this’ll be the best spot to hold up. Because it was made for the teachers and staff, it’s closed off from everything else, and it’s got the food supplies right here. You need time to rest up before we finish our journey.”

  She knew he was right. Her limbs ached, and both of them were bruised and scraped up. That was the first thing they tended to, but she understood now what they needed to be ready for. They had to be at their full strength, rested and ready to make the rest of the trip up north, if they had any chance of making it.

  “Now,” he said with a broad smile, those white teeth showing as he stroked her hair, “how about you go take a peek at what’s here and make us some food while I go wrangle us up a few things? Make yourself at home, my wife. I got a feelin’ we can manage here for a little while at least. Maybe even a week long honeymoon.”