The Wastes Part 1: The Storm is Coming
Heyo! So here we are again, this was done right quick but I had to make a few changes and then exams came etc.
Anyway, this is it. Props to:
Darkwolf for the use of Tammy and Aspean for this story.
Others will be appearing shortly.
Everyone else unless mentioned is mine. Part 2 soon!
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The old books tell us of a great war, how different species clashed on the battlefields all over the world. The reason for war, the books say could have been anything, love, resources, race or the inner desire in all of us to fight. When the dust finally settled, the world was covered in everlasting darkness. The sun had been blocked out from the smoke that rose from New York, Chicago, Moscow and Europe. Those who were left alive tried to pick up the pieces, temporary governments rose up all over the world but each one fell in time. People splintered, camps formed. There were cities again, but the term city used to mean large buildings and hundreds of thousands of people. Now, the term city is a large concentration of tents with hundreds of thousands of people, little food and armed guards. But despite all this progress there is no formal government, only a system: The System of the Wastes.
The world is cold now, without the sun we lost track of the seasons, without the suns warmth an eternal winter covers the world coating ruins and the land in a blanket of white. Crops died, live stock died and famine ensued, for five years every year a horseman rode until the millions of survivors dwindled down into the thousands. But my story, my story will be remembered long after the snow melts and the grass covers the land once more.
My tale starts in my old home of Ft. Wales in what used to be Florida.
I grew up here you know, these tents and shacks are my homes, these scared denizens are my people. My father was born here and his father before him. My family's life has been based around these four walls, thirty feet, five inches thick with firing holes for anyone tall enough to reach them. The camp was built against a mountain which gave us a tactical advantage that served my grandfather well in the beginning and my father as well. But the one important thing my father taught me when I was a cub was you could never have enough guns or ammunition, the real question always was whether or not you could use it the right way or were you just an idiot firing from the hip. But like all good things, my time here must come to an end. Our supplies had been low for a while but we were surviving off what we could trade but even that wouldn't last.
The traders were scared off by stupid rumors of the Burned beginning to move into our region and no man or fur would want to be cornered by them. When the bombs dropped, you were either vaporized or inflected with some form of radiation sickness. Those who weren't lucky enough to die in their beds were driven feral. Years later they still roamed the plain and I always wondered whether or not these were the same poor souls who witnessed the end of the world or some sick offspring. In the beginning you could easily avoid any contact with the insane ones but it seems like every day more are spotted wandering the plains, we needed to move before the plains became overrun with them.
The wind was cold, but the void across the plain was even colder. Hundreds of questions ran through my head. When would we reach Anchorhead? How many people would I lose and would I be able to deal with the guilt if I did. A familiar voice broke through my thoughts.
"Jason! HEY, get down from there and get some sleep before you catch your death."
I peered over the edge of the tower and down at the ground, where a familiar figure was shouting up towards me. "Get the fuck down from there and go to sleep!" I only shook my head, it was still my watch and responsibility always came before my well being. I wrapped my scarf a little tighter around my neck and stared out at the plains, that is until I felt something cold and solid strike me in the back of the neck creeping down my back soaking my fur and my jacket.
"God...fuck DAMN IT! That's cold!" I flailed my arms, trying to shake the snowball out of my jacket. "God damn it Laura what the hell!"
"You're much too serious Jason, standing up there looking at the plains all with a pensive look on your maw, smile a little dude. The world may have ended but that's no reason to be Mr. Sour pus." You wouldn't know if you looked at her but Laura was in fact a Raccoon, her features hidden beneath her parka and massive amounts of scarves. I shivered slightly, my back fur drenched to the bone.
I sighed softly. "Alright, I'll go to sleep but what about you?"
She was smiling when I got off the ladder. "I'll take over of course! Now go get some sleep grumpy." She pushed me down the path towards the collection of tents that housed my people. It took me a few moments to reach my own tent, curling up against the small heater before sleep claimed me. But the dreams haunted me as they do every night, but every night they are the same. I see burning cities, murder in the streets. I see soldiers marching into cities they don't belong in, mushroom clouds over Tokyo and Moscow. I see the once sacred rays of the sun disappearing behind and the world plunged into everlasting darkness and every morning I wake up, my fur matted with sweat and my arms covered in fresh scratches. I emerge from my tent, my arms freshly bandaged and a warm cup of coffee in my paw. I look up at the singular tower and find that Laura had been replaced with someone else over the course of my sleep. I begin to make my rounds through the camp, making sure everyone is ok and the day is just like any other.
"Ok everyone, settle down please." I tap the wooden desk we use as a podium. The noise in the tent grows to a murmur as everyone cranes their heads to look at me. "We have a problem, our supplies have become dangerously close to being unable to support this camp so it is my decision as leader to move us to Anchorhead." The tent rose into rebellion, people yelling out that this was their home that they had grown up here and more. I slammed down on the desk to quiet them. "I don't like it either but we don't have a choice. Traders will no longer pass through here." It was a hard truth and it made the room even quieter so I could speak again. "We leave in two days, pack whatever you can carry and say your goodbyes. Meeting adjourned." They filed out of the tent slowly, heads hung low as they made their way back to the tents. I was on my way too when I heard a voice call out to me from the darkness.
"Jason."
I turned around, peering into the darkness, recognizing the white ghillie suit she always wore, that small tuft of orange hair that poked out. "Hey Tammy, how did your scouting mission go?"
I could feel her eyes roam over me, as if she looking for some chink in my mental armor to exploit. If she found something she didn't say a word about it to me, instead telling me to go to my tent and she would be there soon. It sounded more like a seduction than a formal report but I listened nonetheless. I arrived at my tent to find it empty, curiously I poked my head back outside to look for her finding nothing I turned around and there she was.
"Jesus Tammy don't do that...Is that my good vodka?"
She only grinned up at me, tilting the glass a little before it disappeared into her mouth. She must have found my secret stash beneath the snow pile outside my tent. Wiping her lips she began her report. "The plains are becoming harder to navigate every day. I see more and more of... them every time I look through my scope. If I was you I'd move the date up, we need to leave before the plains become overrun and we become trapped." I listened to her, my eyes dropping lower and lower with every word. "There's one more thing. Jason, I think they're becoming smarter." She paused for a moment, letting those words hang in the air for a moment. "I went back to an old position I used and found them waiting for me. It was almost like they were tracking me, watching me." This made me uncomfortable and she could see this in my eyes. "I find it unsettling as well, but what we do from here is completely up to you...boss." I nodded; feeling the weight on my shoulders grow heavier.
"Alright, we'll leave tomorrow. We have no choice, if what you say is true then we won't have enough bullets to defend ourselves. Go and call a meeting. I'll be there shortly." She nodded and almost as silently as she entered she left the tent. It took me a few moments to collect myself and then I made my way towards the meeting tent for the second time. This time it was truly in an uproar, I spotted Tammy at the front with some of my trusted staff. I made my way to the front and did my best to calm down the crowd.
"People please, calm down and take your seats I'll explain everything." But my voice was drowned out until a booming shout silenced them.
"If everyone will kindly shut the FUCK up and let the man speak. Thank you."
I looked to my left and felt a smile form on my muzzle. It was Aspean, he had finally returned from his trip to Anchorhead, hopefully with our living permits. His clothes stuck to him like a second skin, muscles rippling with every step he took, black fur poking out of every sleeve and opening. To this day I wonder how he even got that big or how we found clothes didn't rip in half every time he flexed. But it worked, the room had calmed down and people were taking their seats.
"They're all yours boss."
"Thanks Asp. Alright now everyone listen. I'll do my best to make this short and sweet because believe me you're going to need all the time you can get. Tammy, our chief scout has given me some grave news, I won't go into detail but this news has forced me to move up our timeline. We will not be leaving in two days; we have to leave by tomorrow. "
The expected gasps and shouts came but were quickly silenced by another shout from Aspean.
"You have to understand we don't have a choice. The plains are slowly becoming infested to the point that if we wait any longer we will be overrun." It was harsh but it was also the reality and I knew that despite the shouts and glares I was getting they knew I was right. Slowly the room grew silent as people filed out and began to pack what little they had. I had the rest of my staff stay so I could give them a condensed version of Tammy's lovely report. They quickly took up seats in the front row while I leaned against the desk. "So I don't think I need to get into what Tammy here has told me, you all know pretty much everything just by standing watch at night. But what worries me is Tammy's claims of intelligence. If these freaks are starting to think then we're in trouble."
"Yeah, well no shit boss." Snorted Aspean, he had taken a seat next to Tammy and was chewing on what I hoped was bubblegum instead of the chewing tobacco he carried on a regular basis.
"What's the plan Jason?" Laura asked.
"We're going to move quickly out of the valley, that is our top priority right now. We don't have the ammo to defend the entire camp. In a few hours we'll be moving out, I say get some sleep and be prepared to move bright and early." A chorus of giggles erupted from my staff; how a once tireless expression could have meaning now was impossible.
"Are you going to get any chief?"
"Yeah...I think I'll try. Thanks Laura."
"Sleep tight big guy." The Raccoon padded off and out of the tent while I made my way back to my own tent. Sleep came easily for once and I reveled in happy dreams.
But happiness in the Wastes never lasts long...