Hero of Tomorrow

2. Excursion

   "It's such a beautiful day, can't wait to go out and play. Oh, you and me. Oh, can't you see? It's such a beau--"

   I practically pounded the life out of my alarm clock as I slammed my fist onto it. God, I hate that song it plays every day. It was a relic from the old world, given to me by my father long ago, and the last thing I have from my family.

   I begrudgingly opened my eyes and sighed as I lay in my worn-out bed for a moment longer. Calling it a bed is too generous - it was just a ripped-up mattress with sewn-together cloths covering it, on top of a sheet of metal. It sure was another day, alright. As I lay there, I heard a faint hissing sound from outside.

   "No! Shit!" I jumped out of bed and burst through the front door.

   My house was surrounded by makeshift defenses - a rusty chain-link fence reinforced with barbed wire, broken glass, and old car parts. Beyond the fence, I had set up a perimeter of noise traps, designed to alert me of any intruders. Despite these precautions, my motorcycle, made of all sorts of scraps, was surrounded by a pack of radrats. Those little fucks had been nibbling on the tires and popped one. I reached down to pick up a stick, then poked it around the rats to get them away. Luckily, they quickly scurried away, leaving me alone with this issue. Dammit, this is the third time this month I needed to repair my bike. Great way to start the day.

   I inspected the perimeter to figure out how those radrats had managed to get past my defenses. To my frustration, I discovered a section of the fence where the barbed wire had come loose, leaving just enough space for the rats to squeeze through. The noise traps had been set off but were damaged, likely from the last storm that had blown through. I sighed and made a mental note to fix the fence and traps later. For now, I'd have to head down to the Oil Springs again to try to find something to patch up the tire. So, there's the mission for today. I quickly freshened up a bit, got dressed, and started my journey. Having to push my bike wouldn't be very helpful, so I had to set out on foot.

   The Radlands were dangerous, and I had to be cautious. My path took me through the remains of an old industrial complex, a maze of rusted machinery and crumbled structures. This place, known as the Iron Maze, was notorious for its hidden dangers. Navigating around the place, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of movement. The air was thick with the smell of rust and decay. It was nauseating at times. As I moved deeper into the complex, I heard the distant clanging of metal. I ducked behind a large piece of machinery, peering out cautiously. There was a group of scavengers, armed and dangerous, sifting through the rubble not far from where I hid. I waited, holding my breath, until they moved on. Just as I thought it was safe to continue, a loud crash echoed through the complex. One of the scavengers had accidentally triggered a trap, sending a shower of debris and a cloud of dust into the air. There was the opportunity to get out. I slipped past their position, keeping low and moving quickly.

   The path ahead was blocked by a collapsed walkway, but I spotted a narrow passage through the wreckage. Squeezing through, I found myself in a more open area, but the ground here was unstable, and I had to carefully make my way across, testing each step to avoid falling into hidden pits. Halfway through the open area, I heard a low growl. I turned to see a pair of scab hounds emerging from the shadows, their elongated limbs and razor-sharp teeth glinting in the dim light. My heart raced as I slowly backed away, looking for an escape route. I spotted a narrow ledge along the wall and quickly jumped up, just narrowly avoiding the beasts snapping at my heels. From the ledge, I managed to jump across to a higher platform, putting some distance between myself and those things. Breathing a sigh of relief, I continued onward.

   The air began to grow thicker with the smell of something incomprehensible, signaling that I was close. Climbing over a final ridge, I saw the Oil Springs below, a sprawling junkyard, surrounded by natural geysers of crude oil that acted as a barrier for the place. With a deep breath, I began my descent into the Oil Springs. Something to patch up my bike's tire was all I needed. I'd be insanely lucky to find a new one altogether. I began searching through the piles of trash for what I needed. Plenty of random scraps, burnt up books from the old world, unknown substances. It looks like this place was raided recently, so not much luck finding anything so far. I continued searching around, then saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Turning to my right, I saw the very tip of something pink, beyond a few trash piles. There's hundreds of strange creatures all across the Radlands, but I don't recall ever seeing anything small and pink, so I was interested in whatever this was.

   I crossed through the piles of junk to find.. something truly unusual. Around a pool of oil were three small rosebuds. They were sentient, in fact - each had a face and small green arms and legs coming out of their stems. One of the rosebuds seemed to be stuck in the oil, while the others had worried looks on their faces.

   "Uh, need a hand?" I cautiously asked.

   Two of the rosebuds looked up at me and hopped up and down while making soft whistle sounds. I figured that was a yes, so I quickly knelt down. These guys were about the size of my hand. I carefully reached out and grabbed the one in the oil and lifted it out. Once I placed it back on solid ground, the three of them were smiling and making much more positive-sounding whistles. The little rosebuds then went over to the opposite side of that oil pool and pointed at something almost completely submerged. I dove my hand in and fished out what looked like a piece of some small pink gem.

   "Is this what you were after?" As I gave it to the rosebuds, they were once again happily whistling, with the top of their heads slowly, slightly, opening and closing, and pink sparkles coming out. "Happy to help." I smiled, then started to go back to my task. As I turned around, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left hand. "Ow, the fuck?" There was a small thorn sticking out of the back of my hand. I turned back to the rosebuds to see they now had angry faces and thorns all over their bodies. I started feeling lightheaded. "What... d-did you... do...?" I collapsed and blacked out.