Wasp

Chapter twelve: Getting out of Glasgow

Shouts came from inside of the prison, they would start searching for them soon but for now they were free all they needed to do was get out of Glasgow. Actually leaving the prison was the easy part, leaving the city would be ten times more challenging. The city was full of feral ghouls, mutants and rabid animals, as well as the motorway entrance being surrounded by raider outposts but it was the only way out, and they had to get out.

It would take them about a day and a half to get from Glasgow to Portpatrick but this diddnt include stopping for breaks of detours due to the path being blocked. James pulled out the map and handed it to Ryan. "So we are here," he pointed to the prison, "and the last raider outpost is here." He pointed to Newton Mearns. James thought it would probably take 6 hours to get there and the sun would be setting by then. They'd have to find shelter past the outpost but also have to find shelter before it gets dark and the monsters that lurked within the darkness came out, hungry for flesh.

"Well let's get a move on then." James said in a cheery voice, trying to lighten the mood. Ryan followed in the middle, still pissed off with James and his new nameless friend. The stranger took up the rear.

The walked along, making sure to stick to the alleys and stay out of the open roads. Most of the houses were destroyed and looted, some were just rubble from the bombs that dropped decades before James and his sister were even born. She would've hated it here, hated the man made structures and industrial look of the area. She always loved forests, proper forests were pretty much extinct now, the acid rain and radiation had gotten to them and most of the trees had died leaving only carcasses of what they once were. Jane always wanted to go to Ireland, and that's why James wanted to go, in a way of setting her free so that he could see what she never could. He shook his head, he needed to focus.

Ryan walked in the middle of the group kicking rocks along the ground. He felt betrayed, how could he or James trust this new person they could kill them at any second and James had just invited them in to travel with them. The stranger was silent, too silent. Ryan hated it. For some reason, he felt jelous of them, they had gained James trust too easily and it wasn't right. He continued to walk, trying to take his mind off everything and just keep walking.

The stranger was silent, as always, hardly even making a sound as they walked across stones and rubble. They had always traveled solo, they'd have to leave at some point but at the same time it was nice to have someone watching their back. Then they stopped dead in their tracks and looked out into a park. They motioned for James and Ryan to do the same.

Across the way from them was an old park with a group of raiders - around ten of them - appeared to be cooking a two headed deer. They crouched down and James turned to the small group, "Kill them or leave them?" He said in a whisper. "Just leave them." Ryan shrugged rolled his eyes and Carried on trying to sneak past the hunters. "what's his deal?" James muttered to himself  as he followed along paying no attention to the raiders.

Five hours later

The group was almost at the final outpost, they hadn't seen or heard any other raiders on the way and the most danger they had gotten were a few feral ghouls that had attempted to kill the stranger and had inevitably failed. "Here we are." Ryan said while pointing up at the outpost. It was big, a lot bigger than all the others, they wouldn't be able to go in guns blazing, it would be suicide.

To the left of them was a large building with a ladder going up the side, they could either hide up there until they go to sleep or snipe them from the roof. James started to climb and the rest followed suit.

The building was a great vantage point and they could see almost every guard that was stationed. As they seemed pretty safe there they decided to wait, it wouldn't be long before the raiders turned in for the night. The sat on the roof in silence, making sure to stay out of sight. "I'll be back" the stranger said quietly and slid down the ladder. James looked in shock, it was the first time they had heard them properly speak. "OoOooO they speak" Ryan said mockingly which broke James' stare. "Look Ryan, what's up with you?" James said, slightly annoyed.

Ryan ignored James question and went back to looking at the guards. James cautiously put a hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort Ryan. Ryan shrugged off James' hand and turned to him, "Well maybe I'm fucking jelous that you meet this random person and you instantly like them," tears stared forming in Ryan's eyes, "You know I like you...a lot. But you don't bloody like me back it's jealousy James, I'm JEALOUS" Ryan sniffed and sunk his head in his hands. Immense guilt suddenly sunk into James as he struggled to form words.

"Ryan I'm-" a sharp ring of a bell cut his words off as they heard shouts coming from the outpost. The stranger sprinted out of the large metal gates and out onto the open road. James cursed under his breath and grabbed Ryan's hand, "COME ON" he said as they slid down the roof and jumped out onto one of the watchtowers. James sprinted down the stairs barrelling past any raiders he came across but making sure Ryan was following behind him. They got out of the outpost and ran across the open road as the rattle of a machine gun started up behind them.