The Charred Lands: Apocalypse of Fire

by Josh A. Murphy

  “Who are you?”

  “There will be a time for formalities soon, but not now. I have to get you and your friend out of here. Are you hurt? Can you walk?”

  “I’m fine, but I’m not too sure about her.” I said, nodding towards Amy.

  “Then I’ll have to come back for her, once I’ve got you out of harm’s way.” He explained. Finally I felt his knife tear through the last shred of the rope around my legs. It felt amazing for them to be free once again, I instantly felt blood begin to circulate properly through them. The stranger quickly got to work on freeing my arms.

  Within minutes I was free. It took me a minute to steady myself after standing up, blood rushed to my head, sending me dizzy.

  “Are you sure you’re okay to walk?”

  “Yes.” I firmly said, stretching the stiffness out of my limbs. I took less than five steps before I collapsed into my rescuer; I felt his strong arms grab me to prevent me from hitting the deck.

  “I’m going to have to carry you, we don’t have time for you to stumble around like a dazed puppy. I’ll come back for your friend in a minute, don’t worry.”

  “Why can’t you grab her now?” I asked as he picked me up with ease.

  “You’ll see.” He said, carrying me out of the cave.

  “Wait a minute!” I whispered, struggling to break free of his grasp. I had managed to catch a glimpse of my bag when they were bringing me inside the cave, I knew exactly where it was. Finally he let go and I fell to the floor, landing neatly on my feet. Without so much as a stumble I crossed the small cave and grabbed my bag, just as I had hoped, the dragon’s egg was inside.

  “Right, let’s go.” I said, following my mysterious hero out of the cave.

  We ran out into the cold nights air, the world around us was deadly silent. Suddenly I saw something move to my right. At first I didn’t know what it was, until it spoke.

  “What about the other?” A girl said, she looked no older than fourteen. She sat leant against a tree with a rifle in hand. Her voice was hushed and soft. Despite looking so young, she had a certain toughness about her. I guess that was because she had been raised in The Charred Lands – I could tell by her clothes that she hadn’t come from the luxury of a place like Haven. Brown, dirty tattered clothes that were either too small, or too big for her, very few travellers ever had nice, clean clothes – aside from Oliver and Phil that is. Despite living out here in the middle of nowhere, they both seemed to take excellent pride in their appearance. Only then did I turn around to get a good luck at the man who had so kindly set me free. Compared to him I looked like a baby. He stood easily six and a half feet tall, with stocky shoulders and plenty of meat on him too. He wasn’t exactly fat, but he did have a bit of a stomach going on. He had long, scraggy, grey hair and a beard to match – a real Charred Lands survivor. If I had stumbled across him in any other circumstance, I would have ran a mile.

  “What now?” I asked.

  “Come with me.” The near giant said, picking up his tiny companion. Even I towered over the girl, but she still seemed capable of kicking my arse. I found it peculiar that the man was carrying her, like some kind of oversized servant.

  I followed the pair as the man carried her out of the small campsite and through several bushes with ease. We headed in the opposite direction to the one beaten path to Oliver and Phil’s home.

  After a minute of walking the man placed the girl down, once again against a tree before turning to me.

  “My friend here, Lizzie, is paralysed from the waist down. You must look after her whilst I rescue your friend. Keep a look out for your captors, should they return, shoot them down.” He said, handing me the rifle that Lizzie had been holding. I looked at it like an idiot for a few seconds before accepting the weapon. It was a bolt action hunting rifle, the biggest weapon I had ever held. Despite its size, I was surprised to find that it wasn’t too heavy. Though I had never fired one of these weapons before, I found it to be fairly basic and easy to understand. I knew I wouldn’t be too efficient, but having this to guard my rescuer was better than nothing. I was half tempted to ask for him to retrieve my gun, but he had already risked so much in saving me, I couldn’t ask for him to go stumbling around in the dark looking for a handgun.

  “Watch my back.” He whispered, before returning to the camp site. He stopped at the mouth of the cave and tentatively glanced around. Finally, after reassuring himself that the coast was clear, he disappeared inside.

  The seconds seemed to pass like minutes as I waited in silence with the young girl besides me. Despite how cold it was, my hands grew sweaty on the handle of the gun.

  “See anything?” The girl asked.

  “No.” I said, squinting against the darkness. Every time the breeze moved a bush I almost squeezed down on the trigger. Shadows seemed to move across the darkness of the woods all around. The more I focused, the more the trees seemed to come to life and twist reality. I shut my eyes and shook my head.

  “Keep it together. We’re both fucked if those guys sneak up on Conrad.” She said, I was surprised by her harsh tone. She didn’t sound like she wanted to be here, but I couldn’t blame her given her condition. I wanted to ask her so many questions right then, but it simply wasn’t the time.

  Then I saw them.

  “They’re here!” I almost screamed as my voice broke. I saw Oliver and Phil make their way down the well-trodden path towards the camp, each with a well-stocked bag draped over their shoulders.

  “What the fuck are you waiting for, kid? Shoot them!” The paralysed girl spat. Without hesitation I raised the gun, aimed up my shot and squeezed the trigger.

  I could only watch in agony as a piece of bark blew away from a tree just to the left of Oliver. I missed. Both my captors ducked down to the ground as I readied the gun to fire again.

  “Who the fuck is fucking with us?” I heard Phil call out through the night’s air.

  I let my gun do the replying. Once again I pulled the trigger, not aiming at anything in particular. The bullet hit somewhere in the grass, I didn’t hear a scream or a cry of pain, so I could only assume I missed.

  “You really shouldn’t be doing this.” I heard one of my captors call.

  Suddenly I saw a head pop up, I quickly readied the gun for a third shot before sending another bullet flying in their direction. Once again, I missed.

  “Are you actually hitting anything?” I heard Lizzie moan besides me.

  Without warning, Phil and Oliver jumped to their feet and took off charging. I hastily tried to reload, but with each shot, my hands grew more and more clammy, in turn making it harder to operate the latch to click a new bullet into the chamber. I screamed a little with anger as the pair charged towards the mouth of the cave.

  “What’s happening!?” Lizzie spat from behind, facing away from the camp.

  I didn’t reply, I was too focused on popping another bullet into the chamber, and I did – with excellent timing this time. I held my breath, aimed the gun, waited a moment, then squeezed the trigger. This time my shot was true. Phil, leading the pair, let out a cry of pain as a cloud of blood exploded from his left leg, he instantly collapsed to the ground, clutching at the wound. Oliver almost jumped over his downed companion as he continued on running, completely unfazed.

  “I’ve been shot!” Phil cried out, almost laughing. I felt a great sense of pride at actually hitting the target, but the job wasn’t done yet. I quickly reloaded the gun once again, but before I was finished, Oliver disappeared from view. My stomach sank as I watched him charge into the cave. Surely, from all of the shooting, Conrad was aware of their return, but still – I had failed from keeping the pair off his back.

  “Did you kill them?” Lizzie asked, starting to annoy me a little. I would have felt a little less pressure if she hadn’t been pestering me the whole time.

  “Oliver made it into the cave.” I sighed, keeping my aim trained on Phil in case he built up the strength to crawl to the cave. Instead t
he downed man remained on the floor, clutching at this injured leg.

  “You fucking idiot!” Lizzie spat. I was already beginning to take a dislike to the girl. For such a young, pretty thing, she had a harsh tongue on her.

  “I got one of them.” I argued, though I knew that wouldn’t be good enough for her, truth be told it wasn’t good enough for me either. They were both out in the open, an experienced shooter would have nailed them both.

  For a few moments we stood in silence, watching the mouth of the cave, hoping, almost praying that Conrad would emerge unscathed and alive. I listened out for sounds of a commotion inside, but heard nothing – other than the sounds of insects chirping and Phil moaning in pain. I thought about firing another bullet into his skull, but I didn’t think I had it in me to murder him in cold blood, he wasn’t going anywhere or doing anything in a rush now anyway.

  Suddenly a gunshot echoed from within the cave.

  “Can you see anything yet?” Lizzie worried, growing more and more frantic by the minute. Though I didn’t know this Conrad person, I owed my safety, and no doubt my life to him. He had risked everything to save me and Amy, for apparently no reason what so ever; other than the kindness of his heart.

  “Nothing.” I said, through gritted teeth. I wanted to badly to make my way over there and inspect the place, or even try and help out Conrad in the cave, but Conrad had given me clear instructions to stay and guard Lizzie, I wouldn’t betray my word.

  “Go and help him!” Lizzie urged, as though she had read my thoughts.

  “I can’t. I told him I would stay here and guard you.”

  “I’d be safer without you.” She almost laughed. For a paralysed girl, she was pretty high on self-confidence.

  Finally, something moved at the mouth of the cave. I pressed my finger against the trigger, fearing for the worst. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when I saw Conrad charge from the cave, running as fast as his meaty legs would allow him to. Then I realised he was alone. He didn’t have Amy draped over his shoulder – to me, that meant only one thing.

  “Keep me covered!” Conrad bellowed as he charged in my direction, his breathing heavy and short. That also confirmed something to me – Oliver was alive.

  Luckily, Conrad reached the bushes before Oliver emerged from the cave. He grabbed his small companion, threw her over his shoulders and took off running, without so much as saying a single word. I took one last look at the cave, before following in his footsteps.

  Chapter Fifteen

  We ran for a good ten minutes, turning off in all directions in a bid to prevent Oliver from being able to chase us. My lungs were burning by the time we finally stopped in a small opening, I placed down my backpack and leant against a rock whilst I struggled to catch my breath. Despite it being a cold night, my shirt was stuck to my back with sweat.

  I turned to face Conrad. Despite carrying Lizzie on his shoulder the entire time, he had hardly broke a sweat.

  “Are we safe to stop here?” I managed between deep inhales.

  “We should be, but only for a moment whilst we catch our breath. There people who kidnapped you will no doubt have some tracking capabilities. Everyone who survives out in the wild knows how to track. Our stuff is stored about five minutes away; we can make camp for the night there. And your friend, she’s dead. I couldn’t save her.” He explained, confirming my suspicions. I stood in silence for a moment, thinking about Amy Olsen.

  “He won’t follow us.” Lizzie eventually said, as though fact, before she continued, “He’s not going to leave his companion to bleed out. But I do suspect that sooner or later, they may come looking.” I couldn’t help but be a little infuriated by her confidence. This girl was likely two or three years younger than me, but she was so much tougher, so much smarter. It annoyed me to no end.

  “Who are you people anyway?” I asked.

  “Like I said before, there will be a time for formalities later. Once again, this isn’t the time. We can get to know each other when camp’s been made.” Conrad said without so much as looking at me; his eyes still focused on the woods surrounding our little clearing.

  “Are you ready to carry on yet?” Lizzie asked. I was close to tutting at that statement. It was easy for her to want to carry on; she wasn’t the one doing the running.

  “Sure.” Conrad said, much to my dismay. I stared at him, wide eyed.

  “Already?” I gasped, my lungs still burning from our escape.

  “You’re more than welcome to stay and wait for your captors to catch up.” Lizzie sarcastically mocked as Conrad picked her back up and placed her over his shoulder again.

  “No you’re not. I didn’t risk all this for nothing. You’re coming with us, even if I have to carry you too.” He said, shooting down Lizzie’s sarcastic tone.

  He carried on in the direction that we had been heading when we stumbled across the opening. I took a final look around us, content that Oliver still wasn’t pursuing before I threw my backpack over my shoulders once again and took off in a light jog after the pair.

  Within less than five minutes of a solid, steady jog we reached another clearing – this one being where Conrad and Lizzie appeared to be have been staying. It wasn’t anything fancy, nothing more than two tents.

  “Is this where you’ve been staying?” I asked, surprised at its simplicity. Oliver and Phil’s camp had much more to it, but this was literally just two tents and nothing more, no fire, no washing lines or anything of the type.

  “We made camp here today, but we’re not staying here. We don’t have a permanent home.” Lizzie explained as Conrad placed her down on the floor. He then disappeared inside one of the tents before returning with a small foldout chair, he quickly placed it down and helped her into the seat before checking all of their supplies to ensure that their little camp hadn’t been raided whilst they were out.

  “We were heading east, just hoping to bump into something or anything where we could make a life for ourselves. Then we saw smoke rising into the sky, so we thought it might be a good idea to scout it out. When I reached the origin of the smoke, I saw what was causing it. It was them burning your friend. I watched what they did to you. I wanted to help, but I knew the time wasn’t right. So I spent a while making a plan to rescue you, and well… it worked.” Conrad told me.

  “So you’re just travelling around?” I asked, feeling a little awkward without anywhere to sit.

  “We were living up in Warrington.” Lizzie said, with Conrad being too busy preparing defences to chat.

  “Were?” I asked as Conrad placed a trip wire around the camp. A long piece of string with countless empty, rusty tin cans tied at various points. He circled the camp, wrapping it around trees. Should anyone nudge the wire then we would be made well aware of their presence. A simple, yet brilliant idea.

  “It’s not safe there anymore. A war broke out just before we left.” She explained.

  “I heard it was always unsafe anyway?”

  “That’s correct. Warrington’s never had a ruler, or rules and laws; people have always been free to do as they please. However, The Saviour of Man recently decided to set up shop in the town. They began attacking civilians and wiping out anyone who refused to give up their homes. It was horrible. I watched them slay woman and children in the streets.”

  “Why would they do that?” I asked, gobsmacked.

  “Warrington has a rare trait. Despite its size, it’s almost completely void of any creatures. I’m sure you’re aware that larger cities are riddled with Fiders and Phymantis. But Warrington isn’t – we don’t know why.”

  “Phymantis?” I asked, sounding confused. I was aware of several of The Charred Lands creatures, none more so than Fiders – but Phymantis was a new one. Fiders were similar to every day spiders, but these creatures were spawned from the dragon birthing volcanos. In physical appearance, they were the same as regular spiders, only a thousand times the size. Though I had never seen either of the two, my Grandpa compa
red them to the size of a car, and capable of travelling just as fast. I’ve been told outrunning one of the creatures is impossible. Another similarity they share with the common spider is their ability to make webs, only Fider’s webs are different. Instead of a fine silk, Fiders make their homes out of a lava like substance. Men would burn and melt at the slightest of contact with them. They were the material of nightmares – I hoped never to see one of the creatures as long as I lived. I had been told that they were the most common creatures in The Charred Lands, especially in well-constructed areas. The cities were nothing more than Fider ridden nests and graveyards for a once buzzing civilization.

  “They’re like praying mantis, only a lot more messed up.” Lizzie simply explained, deciding not to go into detail about them.

  For a few moments the camp fell into silence as I tried to imagine the Phymantis, and Conrad continued to busy himself setting up the trip wire.

  “Am I okay to stay with you guys for a while?” I tentatively asked, sounding like a child asking to play with older children.

  “How old are you?” Lizzie asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Sixteen.”

  “Really?” She almost laughed.

  “Yes!” I replied, a little offended at her snigger.

  “Thought you were younger.”

  “Well how old are you, like twelve?” I snapped.

  “Seventeen, kiddo.” She winked. I instantly felt my face turn a bright red. I had been looking down on her like she was a child, but no! She was a year older than me, and a hell of a lot tougher too. I stood for a moment, looking at her. She had a pretty face, despite a scar stretching from the side of her eye all the way down to her mouth on the left side of her face. She had short, curly blonde hair and blue eyes. There was something about the way she stared at me that I liked – she was cute.

  “And what’s your name?”

  “Zachary Jefford.”

  “Funny name.” She sniggered. I was about to burst into a barrage of expletives to defend my name, but Conrad interrupted me.