The Wastelander

Chapter Seven - The Church Of Atom

  Without even thinking I ran down the stairs, tripping over the last step but quickly regaining my posture, opening the door and seeing Sandy on the bar, a blade sticking into his lower abdomen.

  He looked pale instead of his normal tanned face, his long ginger hair hanging loosely off the table and favourite black shirt wide open, exposing his slim but muscular build, the only thing that is normal about how he looked is his shorts don't have a stain on them but his shoes, his favourite white trainers that he tirelessly cleaned were missing.

  "Sandy, are you okay?" I ask nervously.

  Thankfully I can see that he is still breathing.

  "Waste" He murmurs.

  "Yeah man, what's up?" I ask, grabbing his exposed right hand, worried.

  "Tell me, do I still have my shoes?" Sandy asks, smiling.

  "No man, they're gone" I laugh.

  He sits up, shocking some of Anne's customers and I begin laughing loudly, I should have realised it will take a lot more than this to kill him.

  "Oh, whose sword is this?" Sandy asks the room, lightly tapping the hilt.

  The hilt is black in colour and so was the guard, but much to everyone's surprise, Sandy just pulls it out like it is nothing, blood pouring out quickly, but Sandy is unfazed by it, just holding the blade in the air and staring at it.

  "Isn't that one of yours? I questioned him, crossing my arms as I also looked at the sword, the blade itself was thin, but sturdy and extremely well made, shining against the lights in Anne's.

  "I think it is, I wonder how it got there, oh, and can someone get the doctor please, as anyone can see I've lost a lot of blood" Sandy smiles at everyone's face of shock at what they are witnessing.

  But I know why he is like this, in his own words, if he can survive having his legs cut off and eaten, he can survive anything, especially with a smile on my face.

  Two people ran out the door to get the doctor, but almost immediately the door opened again and two men walking in, both bald with no facial hair but both wearing long robes, one was golden and the other was dark green with golden rims, both had a golden eagle insignia which is standing on top of a nuclear signal.

  "What the fuck are you guys doing here?" I ask, a growl in my voice as I glare at them and I know exactly who they.

  They are part of The Children Of Atom, a crazy cult of religious nut jobs that set up bases all over the world, living in places where the nukes caused the most devastation, or where nukes fell unexploded like ticking time bombs.

  Their main base of operations in the New Orleans Wasteland is Megaton, a sprawling city built around an unexploded but primed nuclear bomb that could go off at any moment.

  "Your friend attacked our church, we would like an apology" The man in the golden robe answered nonchalantly, his voice sounded monotone and uncaring.

  "Sandy, what happened?" I ask, my gaze is not leaving the man in the golden robe.

  "I explained to them Waste, the guy I was hunting murdered two women and mutilated there bodies, the job was to assassinate him which I thought would be nice and easy, but he spotted me and ran into there stupid church, I burst in there with my swords out and then the next minute they started attacking me, but I didn't kill any of them, I just went limp and let them attack me but then the guy who I was hunting stole on of my sword, stabbing me with it so I free myself from the other guys who were attacking me and beheaded the guy and that's when they all got the guns out and started to shot and me so I ran, I didn't even know my sword was stuck in me until I noticed it just now" Sandy explained urgently, the worry still in his voice.