Wanderers of the Grasslands

Chapter 4. The End?

Chapter 4. The End?

I could immediately smell burning bodies as I coughed my way into the burning church. "Come with me!" My throat burned. My eyes watered. I grabbed as many people as I could and thrust them outside. I saw Bravess briefly before the roof caved in and collapsed on his motionless body, rendering him dead.
I moved up the stairs, avoiding flames that licked the walls mercilessly. There were other stationary people, slumped and in various positions, that I dragged roughly towards the front. The main foundations of the building collapsed and fed into the Main House as I rushed into the hall and grabbed as many supplies as I could. It was sweltering hot and I brushed beads of sweat off my forehead as I tried to get to the basement. But part of the stairs had collapsed on Wildfire. Hothead had regained consciousness and was helping me to shift the stone, to no avail. I shook Rodent awake and we were able to force it aside enough for Wildfire to scrape his sides as he wriggled out. We let it drop as the fire grew stronger and I rushed Wildfire out. But Hothead had dropped to his knees and was coughing and spluttering. I put my arm around his shoulder and hauled him towards the front. When he slid out the door, I slammed it, exhausted. Before Calling with a dry and sore voice. "Everyone into the pickup truck!"
I raced around the side of the Main House towards four other tractors and grabbed the keys from the metal tin. It took me around fifteen minutes to get the four of them round to the front, where Hothead was still coughing and Rodent was helping people into the back of the truck. When he spotted the tractors, people were told to get into the trailers in the back and I awaited for Rodent to call the shots.
"I say drive them to Creek's Edge. They can make their way from there."
"The bridge's collapsed," Pointed out Rodent and I cursed the Wanderer. "We'll drive them as far as that I guess." He said and I studied his soot engulfed face before nodding.
It took us an hour to get everyone to the remains of what used to be the hill. Dirt had been thrown all over the place and chunks of rock were embedded in the ground. I stopped just short of the damaged bridge as the tires were punctured and called to Hothead, who had clipped the last trailer onto the back of the third tractor. "We need to go back for more." I looked as the Wanderer was pounding the earth with its fists.
"Scrubs are you crazy?! You've done enough." Spat Hothead and dropped off of the tractor. I began walking and as he tried to stop me I ducked under his arm.
"Hothead we can't let anymore die because of what happened!" I screeched and began to walk towards the lake, which was dried up and uneven.

"Hothead wait!" As Rodent spoke, I noticed the enormous Wanderer turn to face us. It noticed the uneven bridge. It began to walk towards us.
"We've no hope now." Sighed Rodent and turned to the pickup truck. I bolted into the driver's seat and turned the engine. We hadn't finished yet.

The Wanderer eviscerated the rest of the Farmlands. Rodent, Hothead and I were able to get three tractors to the south boundary and into the Grasslands. But the remaining one was destroyed. I panted with fatigue and sat on the grass. Hothead and Rodent were helping people out of the trailers and the back of the truck. "That's everyone." I looked at the thirty people, all gathered in a circle, with Bandaid, the Farmlands doctor, tending to various wounds. I thought of how perfect everything had been a month ago. I thought about Pa and Mam, and how I could have spent more time with them. I thought about how Bravess had died giving a noble speech to the majority of the Farmlands' residents. I thought about how serene life had been, yet how precarious everything had been as it existed. We were mice awaiting the Wanderer's attack as a cat. It was far too easy to be destroyed. I knew then, from the book, from all of the sources, exactly why we were where we were. We were the remaining survivors. We were the only ones left because of these...things. I saw Wanderers in a different light. They had annihilated the human race, and for what? To make things perfect?

The sun was going down as everyone who survived gathered around a fire for Hacksaw's father, Hammerhead, to speak. And I watched the sun setting with the last bits of hope leaving me...