The Road

A story about an individual in Wasteland on his last legs. Reminiscing about the past and trying to figure out how to survive. Fallout setting.

    I don’t know how long it has been. I’ve just been walking for days now. I have just been walking forward until I hit anything. At first, I was keeping track; the nights and days. But what is the point anymore? It was a constant reminder of how long it has been since I have eaten anything. When was the last time I ate? It was that bug meat I found in some stranger’s belonging. I figured he wouldn’t mind, not with that big hole in his stomach. The food he would eat would just fall out, come to think of it he can just eat it again if it did fall out. A continuous eating of the same food over and over again. I ate it in a hurry though, not that I wanted to. I didn’t want to see if whoever did that to him was still around. Most of the time, they do stick around. Just to pick off the scavengers, but they wouldn’t mind if I sniffed around. Most of the time they want to catch a big fish, not someone like me. I bet they kept the good food to themselves; something tasty. Maybe horsemeat or somethi--, actually let’s not think about that. My stomach is already in pain, if I think about it’s just going to get worse. Mother always said you have to be strong to survive in this world. The weak will be killed if they are lucky enough. For the rest, it is a constant struggle for survival. It wasn’t always like this, grandmother used to tell my mother about the old days, before the Wasteland, before the sickness. She said the sickness changed everything, even us but I wouldn’t know. Stories of people living in harmony, everything luscious and green instead of constant hell of the Wasteland. Decayed building, psychopath and creatures trying to eat you that is the world now.
    My mother was always looking out for us. Regaling us with stories of the Old World, and how everything was. Though she used to warn us about the Wasteland. About the sickness and the creatures, it brought with it. She warned us to always be cautious around others. The creatures weren’t the only dangerous things lurking around. There are a lot of dangerous things out there but what beats them all were the people who inhabit this world know. As the world changed they changed as well.
One thing I remember about my mother is that she was one tough b***h. When there was danger, she always rose to the occasion to protect us. Everything she fought for she gave to me and my two siblings, Sammie and Rock. When it came to the three of us nothing scared her and nothing stood in her way to take care of us. She would take down even the fiercest beast if it looked at us funny. Maybe that’s why she didn’t run away with us that night.
    I had two siblings, Sammie and Rock. We had our bickering but they were great. Sam inherited our Mother’s fearlessness. Always the one who attacked a situation headfirst. If someone tried to pick a fight with us, she’d be the first to attack. Sadly she didn’t inherit our mother’s toughness. Usually Rock would have to step in and take care of it. He was the strongest out of us. The only thing greater than his strength was his kindness. He would only show his fierceness if one of us was in trouble. I recall one day some stranger in a mask tried to take me. I tried my best to fight him off. I wandered off by myself, although didn’t mean to. It just happened like that but Mom wasn’t in the mood for excuses. The stranger picked me up from the neck and was about to carry me off. That’s when Rock showed up out of nowhere. He leapt straight onto my would-be kidnapper. I’d never seen his eyes so bloodthirsty. That’s the only word I could think of to describe it, but that wouldn’t be the last time I’d seen eyes like that. Rock managed to cut his neck and the kidnapper threw me aside, desperately trying to stop the blood. He tried to scream, but all he managed to do was gurgle. He limped off somewhere while Rock was covering me making sure I was out of danger. Mother gave me the biggest lecture I’ve heard. She warned me countless times never to wander off without her or at least my brother or sister. “Just takes a moment for something to go terribly wrong” she said. It was a day later that we found the stranger dead. The birds treating him like he is their own personal buffet.
    We always kept moving, Mother warned us to never stay in one spot too long. Danger always has a habit to just find you when you get to comfortable. I remember a time when we were wandering, we found a cave that had a little oasis inside of it. Untouched by the world outside. Mother was worried at first. That the water was filled with the sickness. The sickness is everywhere but it doesn’t affect you a lot anymore. Mother explained to us that for some reason. As the sickness changed everything that it affected. For some reason it didn’t really affect us or our kind. Water was a different story. The sickness spreads rapidly once you step foot into water. We can drink it little by little, but it is a different story if you submerge yourself in water. She checked the water carefully. I do not know how she was checking it. I believe it was some intuition she had to see if it was safe. She turned her head around and gave us the greenlight.
We approached the water carefully. We never stepped foot into water before, so we were unsure on what to do. I approached the water with Rock carefully. Rock carefully put his foot in it and quickly took it out. I was just looking at the water. I have seen water many times but never once stepped foot into it. It was uncharted territory for me. I admit I was a little scared of what might happen.
“MOVE OUT THE WAY!!” Sammie yelled as she leapt straight into the water.
    Rock and I stood there shocked on what Sammie did. She was indeed crazy. Mother laughed and laughed telling us it was okay. Rock and I followed Sammie into the water. I didn’t know what to do at first, shocked at first that I wasn’t just standing. Was just kicking around trying to figure out what to do. Yet somehow, I could just float there, a deep instinct guiding me as I moved along in the water. Rock was having a little trouble. Sammie was kind enough to help him out a little. We were just playing, laughing and just for the first time completely enjoying ourselves. There was this tranquility that we all felt. That for the first time we didn’t need to be vigilant, that nothing right then was going to hurt us.  Mother joined in after a while, she just floated around easing her tired bones. As we were playing around, we started to notice that there was something beneath us. We started to panic, desperately trying to get out of the water. Mother reassured us that there was nothing to fear. The things that were beneath us were called fishes. She explained those are regular fishes, untouched by the sickness. Before everything they were just harmless creatures minding their own business, not the carnivorous creatures that we are used to today. As she told us before the sickness changed a lot of things out in the world. As she said this her tone had a profound sadness to it that me and my siblings could feel. I don’t think it ever really occurred to her how peaceful life was until that moment.  
We wanted to stay there and make an actual home for us. Sadly, that is not how this life goes. We were there for God knows how long. Exploring every crevice that the cave had to show us. We saw rocks that somehow light up the dark. Animals that live peacefully co-existing with each other. Each day we were there was a gift. It was a dream that we were all experiencing together. But all dreams must come to an end. As we were exploring the bottom of the water, mother signaled us to resurface. She heard something, something that was close. We got out the water and listened to whatever sound our mother heard. It was a long silence and we were about to give up listening when we heard it. A howl that seemed to echo through the cave much closer than our mother heard previously. It was just one howl, we wanted to stand our ground and fight whatever it was that was coming. Mother implored us to leave. She knew what was coming and she knew how it will turn out if we stayed there.  We knew our way around the cave. WE even found another way to get in and out. We were able to get out safely. Sammie wanted to stay and fight. She wanted to stand her ground. Mother quickly grabbed her by the back of the neck and forced her out. We managed to get out safely. I never did find out what made that howl. What kind of creature it was. I just knew that whatever it was, mother was afraid of it. To me that was a big deal, because mother didn’t fear anything.
    I quickly snapped back to reality. The reality that is my current situation right now. I noticed winged beasts started to circle above me right now. Sensing that I am pretty much close to death. Just waiting to I am weak enough to not fight back or until I just collapse. Maybe I am just stubborn, but I do not want to give them the satisfaction to feast on me. I have seen what they do to their victims, when their prey is to weak that is the moment when they attack. They furiously pecked at you dead or half dead they don’t care. Food is food to them. Most times you are too weak to fight back, you are basically at their mercy. They tear at you, taking you apart piece by piece. That isn’t exactly how I pictured myself going out. Unable to fight back, I’m a fighter. If I was going to die, let me die fighting. Let me give whatever killed me a fight he or she will never forget. If you are going to die, give them hell. One thing about the beasts they are slow though; the sickness distorted their bodies. Some have abnormal grotesque mouths, strong but makes them slow. They distracted me I didn’t really notice my surroundings. I walked until a town. Yet there is no one here, never a good sign. I sniffed around, the whole town was empty. I tried to find food but no luck. I am basically on my last legs. Each step I take I feel as if I am walking towards death. And those b******s in the sky know it too.
    How I ended up in a situation where I am barely clinging onto life was just a string of bad luck. We were looking for a place to sleep for the night, somewhere that will keep us safe for the night. Rock thought maybe we should just find a nice quiet spot and just take turns. Sammie didn’t really like the idea just for the fact she will probably end up sleeping on her watch. We were arguing on what we should do when we came across a junkyard. Sammie quickly ran off to check if it was safe to sleep there for the night, which really irked Rock. All the dangerous things that are out there and Sammie still blindly charges in. Sammie had a reckless nature that annoyed Rock deeply. Though I admit Rock became over-protective after that night, he always insisted that we should explore together. That we shouldn’t separate from each other. It was rare to see him not make a big fuss over Sammie just going off on her own. Sammie did it on a regular basis and guess Rock is just too tired to argue about it. Sammie finally came back, very excited. There were more of us, but she warned us some of them are different though. Mother warned us the sickness can sometimes change you. The sickness changed them, but she was convinced that they weren’t dangerous. They just warned us if anyone tries to come in or get out we had to stop them. Only the Master could come and go. Other than that, we could stay and sleep here if we liked. Seemed strange but seemed okay, Sammie and I were exhausted from our journey and just wanted to rest. Rock was uneasy and didn’t want us to stay. He felt uneasy about the whole thing. He finally gave into our pleas. Thinking back, I wish we went with Rock’s instincts.
    We were there for a couple of days, we saw a lot of strange things. The Master was some fat guy with red paint on his face. He was always bringing in and out people. There were some who stayed but they didn’t want to be here. The Master was cruel to them, throwing them around, hitting them, forcing them to go with the others but it wasn’t our concern. The only thing I wondered about was that they all had this weird collar, the only people not wearing them was the Master and the people who came to see the collared people.
    We stayed there longer than we expected. It wasn’t the worst place to be. We were given food every night by the Master. Truth be told it wasn’t a bad setup. Though one night changed that. Everyone started barking and growling. We were unsure what was going on. Rock told us to stand back and just hide. Sammie went off to see what was happening. I stayed closed to Rock suggesting we should grab Sammie and quickly make our way out. Suddenly there was this huge boom. Strange people started to come in and started shooting. The Master commanded everyone to attack. I witnessed the people with collars screaming and trying to get away. They were as confused as us. But as soon as they went outside, curiously their heads exploded. We were watching from the back hiding as everyone was fighting and dying. This night would be something I will remember throughout my life. It wasn’t the carnage I would remember but what happened after.
Rock got me out of my trance and told me to run. We couldn’t find Sammie during the chaos. Rock was furious at himself that he didn’t demand her to stay. We wanted to find her, but it was too dangerous, and she could be anywhere in the junkyard. She was smart, we were sure she will able to make it out. I couldn’t even process what was going on. Rock screamed at me to focus and run. That is what I did I ran as fast as I could. If it wasn’t for Rock I would have probably died there. As we were escaping, Rock got hit by a stray bullet. His leg was bleeding a lot, I didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t run, and it was impossible to escape with him injured as he was and he knew this. I didn’t know what to do, what would Sammie do, what would Mom do? I was panicking, I couldn’t carry him, I wasn’t strong enough I was still small.
Rock just said one thing, GO. I didn’t understand what he was saying, how could I just leave him. He was calm, calmer than I have ever seen him. He told me to go, be safe. To meet up with Sammie and just be safe. That he will be okay, he told me not to worry. That everything will be okay, I knew he was lying.
    It all went downhill after that night. To tell the truth it was downhill ever since Mom died. I never did find Sammie. I still lay awake sometimes wondering if she was okay, if she made it out. I tell myself she did, that she is out there exploring new places, a little lie I like to tell myself. I try not to think about Rock anymore, it hurts too much. I wasn’t alone for long, not that I had a choice though. Someone snatched me up as I was sleeping and put me in a cage. I don’t know long I was in that cage for. At first, I tried to get out, screaming and kicking but after a while I knew. I resigned myself to whatever fate had in store for me. We were traveling for a while. When we finally stopped they grabbed me and welcomed me to my new home. I ended up in a fighting pit. They pit us against each other and fight until one of us died.
The first time I stepped in the Arena, I admit I was scared. The creature they made me fight was grotesque, its body was distorted. I don’t think it was capable of rational thought, it probably had only one to eat. I realized if I was going to survive I had to use my head. By the way it eyes looked, its vision wasn’t good. I used that to my advantage. I went into its blind spot and with all my might I went for its neck. I felt sick to my stomach as I stood there and watched the creature take its last breath. All the while the crowd around me cheered. It was hard to believe that they were people. At that moment I felt pain. Not a pain inflicted upon me but something inside. And it grew with each passing day. 
    I spent around four years in the Arena, fighting for my life. Facing different types of creatures from the Wasteland. They even threw a few people at least I think they were people. Their skin was distorted, burned and they didn’t talk. They just growled and lunged at you. They were fast and strong. I don’t even think they felt pain. Luckily for me they usually pit two of us against them. They were happy to see us tear it apart. They had a hatred towards them. The violently we killed it, the louder the cheering.
There was only time I truly experienced fear, that I was going to die. I remember everyone was silent, I didn’t know what was going on. I felt confident as there were 4 of us. One with the sickness that made him bigger and stronger than the rest of us. When they bought up the challenger, we all backed away. We never seen a creature so twisted. The body was human but that was it. It had five legs, but they didn’t look like legs, more like arms that it was using as legs. Its bones were coming out of its body, teeth were visible sitting in the middle of its chest, if you can call it a chest. It had no arms surprisingly, we were relieved it couldn’t grab us that easy. We all probably had the same thought at least it wouldn’t be easy for it to grab us. That’s when it shot out some tentacle thing from its mouth and grabbed one of us. It quickly drew him in and started biting on him. All of us lunged at it trying to free him. But his body was hard, our attacks didn’t do much. It didn’t even realize we were attacking it. It wasn’t until the strongest of us decided to attack the tentacle that he finally let him go, unfortunately it was to late. The only thing we had over it was our speed. It knew that, and it started shooting out some of liquid at us. We were smart enough to stay from the liquid. We knew we had to do something or else it’ll just tire us out. As it was chasing us I noticed that it was slow to turn its body around to chase us. I hatched a plan and told everyone I just need a quick distraction. They didn’t like it, but they didn’t have any other option. They both rushed the creature while I snuck around him. They were carefully attacking and backing away as soon as it was about to strike. In life you have moments where it could go horribly wrong, or completely right. This is one of those moments everything went completely right. As soon as the creature got into position I quickly jumped onto its back. It trashed around trying to shake me off. Trying to use its tentacles but they couldn’t reach me. That’s when I went for the back of its neck with everything I had. Took all the strength I had but managed to rip its neck open and it went down. The other two took the change to charge at it. The crowd was in an uproar. They didn’t think we will manage to do it. They came to watch a massacre, imagine their surprise when we managed to kill the creature.
    After that we were considered valuable, top of the food chain. Top tier fighters, they didn’t really make us fight a lot. When they did they either give us some of the weaklings of the group. This went on until one night the people holding us got attacked. Strangely enough they looked like the same people from the night of the Junkyard. We saw our chance to escape and we took it. I decided to venture by myself, the rest probably became a pack and went off somewhere. I didn’t give them a second thought. That’s pretty much how I managed to get into my little situation that I find myself in. Maybe if I went with them I would be somewhere better than this, with some food in my belly. Though I don’t think they would follow me searching for traces of my brother and sister.
    I finally collapsed no more energy to keep going. I laid on the ground, half dead. The winged beasts landed a few feet away from me just staring at me. After a few moments passed, guess the bravest of the bunch finally approached me. He was circling around me, slowly approaching. Gave me a quick peck right on my leg, I didn’t respond. I am thankful for one thing that all the Arena gave me. It honed my skills. I had to be patient, wait for the right moment. As he finally was in my reach I quickly rose to my feet, I feigned an attack, so he could back away. With everything I had, knowing this was my last chance. I lunged at him and managed to damage one of his wings. A clipped bird is a dead bird. It tried to fly off, but it already knew. It was at my mercy. I was going to enjoy my kill when all the sudden something flung me aside. I heard the screech of the bird, I got to my feet to see what attacked me. I shuddered when I saw it, a ferocious monster, bigger than anything I ever seen. Its claws were about the size of me. There was no way I could fight this monstrosity, I already gave all I had to the bird. As the creature approached, it towered above me. It let out a huge howl, the same howl that I heard all those years ago in the cave. Now I know why my mother was so afraid. This isn’t the type of creature you choose to fight with. It rose its claw ready to cut me down. As it swung at me I jumped back. It still cut me deep. I laid there on the ground waiting for the inevitable. That is when it happened. Blood splattered across my face, his arm on the ground. The monster roared looking around for whatever shot its arm off. Another shot came, this time it hit its body. It staggered and started running towards the sound of the gunshot. I collapsed knowing I was either saved or condemned. In and out of consciousness I heard more shots, more roars. Some timed passed and it fell silent. I heard footsteps coming towards me. I couldn’t see who was nearing me. All I heard was a voice.
    “You look like hell boy” the dark figured said and I just drifted into the darkness.
    I remember that night. We were sleeping, except my sister. She usually liked to sneak away and explore by herself. She came running and screaming telling us to wake up. That danger was coming. Apparently, a nest of ants was destroyed and some of the remaining were coming our way. Unfortunately, Sammie was to late they were already here. One of them charged right at me. I froze up, it was about to grab me when Mom quickly pounced at it. Taking out one of their antennas. Damaging the antennas makes them frenzy and attack everything in sight. Mom told us to run while she stayed behind to hold them off. There was at least 7 of those monsters there was no way Mom by herself could fend them off. Maybe the way I am now I could have helped her. But even their smallest was least half my size. Rock wanted to stay and fight, but Sammie grabbed him. Mom was ready to throw down her life for her us, her pups. If we were okay, she can die happy. We ran as fast as we could. We could tell she wasn’t giving her all, the sounds of the fight echoed throughout the lands. We could hear the painful screeches. But after a while it fell silent, we knew and howled. 
    I figured everything in that town was dead. Imagine my surprise when I saw a dog fighting a Deathclaw. Smart dog too, it knew by jumping back it would avoid the death blow. He knows how to fight. Dogs are the only thing that managed not to change when the bombs dropped. The radiation changed everything and everyone in the world. Three hundred years later here we are, the constant hell that is the world right now. Though seeing this dog reminds me of simpler times, before the bombs. Not that I am over 300. I was one of the lucky few who were selected to go into cryogenic hibernation. They promised a brand-new world when we woke up. Yeah it is a brand new f*****g world alright. The cat he fed a little turkey too is now a two -headed creature that spits acid. The dog was beginning to wake up, I holstered my pistol just in case.
I awoke in a strange place. Was I dead? No but I am probably close to death. Someone bandaged me up. Food and water was laid out for me. I didn’t question what was going on. I am not going to question it. I sensed that someone else was in the room but they let me enjoy my meal in peace. When I finished that is when he spoke.
“Pretty damn lucky dog, if I wasn’t out there you would have been Deathclaw chow. Maybe it was fate. Here I was hired to take out the local Deathclaws around here, apparently, they killed out the locals and nested here. Got this Anti-rifle just for them too, cost me a limb but worth it. You look like you been through hell boy.”  
    He started approaching me and I backed away. He was my savior so I decided to let my guard down and he approached me carefully. He started rubbing my head, it was the first time someone has ever done that, I liked it.  He stopped and gave me some more food. He turned away and waved goodbye. It’s been a long time since someone made me actually feel safe or was even kind to me. I decided then and there to follow him. He turned around and warned me that it will be a dangerous road sticking with him. It’s been a dangerous road so far, I am already accustomed to danger.  He decided if I was going to follow he couldn’t keep calling me boy or dog. He decided to name me Ghost, even though my name is Gizmo. I let it go since there was no way to tell him. I just barked and waged my tail. It has been so long since I wagged it that I forgot the feeling. He told me that he had a little safe house couple miles from here. Be a dangerous journey though, who knows what danger is between here and there. He is happy that at least he has backup.
“How about we listen to some music Ghost?”
    We ventured out to the unknown abyss that is the Wasteland. Travelling with my unkown savior. Placing my life in his hands, and vice versa. God knows what is laying out there for us. I hear the crack of his radio as it turns on. And the music starts to play..
I don't want to set the world on fire
 

Author's Note

The 1st person dialogue with the person who saves. Was contemplating third but thought maybe I'll expand and switch between characters. Sorry about the grammar mistakes.