Nuclear Calamity

Chapter 4: Luna

Xavier awoke slowly, his eyes feeling crusty. He still had a pounding headache but he was no longer nauseated. He sat up slowly and gasped in disgust.

His clothes were drenched in sweat and chunks of vomit. Xavier rubbed his eyes reluctantly and got up. He opened his backpack and pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen and took two pills. The pain in his arm had subsided but still was numb. Blood had soaked through the bandage around his arm. He cracked opened a can of hash browns and munched down. Gagging at the salty taste. The boy finished his meal and gulped down a whole bottle of water and stood.

He walked back into the kitchen and changed his bandage, wincing as he took it of. The jagged bloody teeth marks of the animal still pooled with crimson red blood. Xavier went back into his room and sat down on the pallet trying to decide what to do today.

His arm was still a little weak and he is slowly recovering from radiation sickness. He almost decided to just lay back down and fall asleep but then he looked down at his clothes and grunted. He looked awful and smelled even worse. As he stood over his bed something in his backpack caught his eye. It was the brochure. He took it out of the bag and started tracing the map with his finger.

There weren't any stores labeled on the map but he figured he could find one easily.

Xavier started to pack up for the day and decided to write in his journal, ignoring the entry about his parents.

I'm heading out again today. Yesterday I came across a dog thing devouring a carcass in the woods. It noticed me and attacked me, I barely made it out alive but I made it back somewhat safe.

It's eyes glowed a light green and it was really aggressive. It was radioactive, which is weird, radiation should've killed it by now. I don't know how it got the way it was but it got me really sick. I took some iodine so I think I should be fine. My heads still pounding.

I'm gonna try to find a store so I can find some new clothes. Gosh, I wish I had running water. A nice hot shower would be good right about now.

Xavier picked up his radiation suit and inspected the holes from the attack yesterday. The boy rummaged around in his backpack until he found a suturing kit. Xavier exiting the room into the bathroom and used some of his water bottles to wash out the vomit from the suit. He then sat on the rim of the bathtub and haphazardly sutured the holes closed. Once he finished he inspected the sutures and nodded.

Good enough

Xavier put the suit on and exited the house, taking note of the blood stains on the porch and the deep scratches at the door. He walked quickly through the neighborhood not stopping to look around this time. Soon the streets became too clogged with cars and Xavier was forced to walk on the lawn of the decimated homes. But once particular house caught his attention so he stopped just for a moment. 

The house front door was wide open and blood was splattered across the porch and lawn.

The dark-colored blood stretched across the front lawn like spiderwes, seeping its molasses texture into the coarse dirt below. A metallic smell entered the air wrapping a band of odor around Xavier's face causing him to gag loudly.  He pulled his arm to his face to block out the putrid odor. He walked anxiously across the lawn avoiding the blood trails. As he made his way down the long windy street, he looked back at the house once more imagining the horrors that took place.

Xavier made it to the entrance of the neighborhood and almost gasped at the scene in front of him. The city resembled a war zone, entire buildings were destroyed. Cars cluttered the streets and destruction was basically everywhere. Buildings had large gaping holes in them resembling giant bee hives. Large pieces of buildings crumbled to the sidewalk below, wind swept through the city blocks blowing all kinds of debris and dust around. Vegetation started to grow around the decimated buildings and grass broke through cracks in the asphalt.