Tales of the wasteland: Akari

Chapter 1- A mother's instinct

Three months later

On top the roof of the dilapidated building, Akari stood with a pair of binoculars, scanning the surrounding wasteland. It was nothing special. Couple of buildings sticking out of the tomb of sand and ash that now cover them. Couple of barely visible roads, dirt, rocks, all as far as the eye can see. There was nothing spectacular to see in such a wasteland riddled with dirt and debris. Nothing of significance other than food, water, and other survival supplies anyway.

She puts away her binoculars, heading back into the building from the roof's entrance. She immediately checks in on her son, who she sees is still peacefully asleep underneath his blanket. At that moment, Akari's stomach growled. Loudly. She knows she hasn't eaten in literal days, but she doesn't care. As long as her son eats, her own meals don't matter.

She sits down next to her son and begins going through her bag. She takes out a bag of jerky she had found in the back room of this ruined building. It's way past its expiration date...which really doesn't matter given the current state of the world. She takes out a couple pieces and puts the rest away, making sure to save them for her precious son.

She quickly devours the jerky she took out. The taste is quite rich and robust, even for expired jerky. Akari enjoys this simple moment, thinking back to before the Great War. Everything was so simple back then. She wasn't a hybrid animal, she had her loving husband, and she was still pregnant with Xavier.

Akari stands up, ridding her mind of any past memories. Her mind fixates on one thing, and only that...protecting and making sure her son has food and water. Everything else is meaningless to her.

Thinking of this, she gets up and begins packing up. Upon discovering this building, Akari definitively hit the jackpot in terms of finding food and water. However, these resources have long since depleted. Very few food items and water remain. Akari knows she'll have to search for these resources now, especially for her son.

After packing up everything, she kneels down next to her sleeping son. She takes the blanket off him and puts it in her travel bag. She then gently picks him up, walking out of the building. Once she reaches her bike, she gently puts him on the back seat and makes sure to fasten the buckles securely...for obvious reasons.

                                               ...

Few seconds later, she gets onto the bike and puts her helmet on. Before she sets off into the unknown...she suddenly just...freezes. She looks down at her hands, her whole body now trembling. She gets a brief flash of her husband, who's teaching her how to properly ride a motorcycle. "...Sebastian..." She sheds a few tears, albeit her expression unchanging from the usual stoic tone. "...I...I..." She looks up to the sky. "...I miss you, Sebastian. I don't know if there's anything beyond death...but..." She try's her damndest to act strong. "...If you can see and hear me, my love...know that I'll never stop my love for you and our son. I'll die before anything has a chance on laying a single finger on our baby boy." She sniffles. "...If I'm able to find your killer...I will make him suffer." She lowly growls. "...I promise that, my love."

She wipes away her tears and lowers the helmets visor. She proceeds to rev the engine to the bike, about ready to leave this place for good. She then sets off into the vast unknown with her son.

                                               ...

Endless stretches of dust and sand is all Akari could see as far as the eye can see. There was the occasional sand worm that popped out of the ground, but other than that there was nothing to be seen. She just kept driving and driving, focused on finding someplace that could potentially still have food, and more importantly, water.