A search for Vicky

Part Twelve

‘Well, well, looks like we have a truck in front of the stores down there.’ Vic almost smiled. ‘What the fuck is that?’

He moved his sight around to the right of the shops on main and over the flats; he could now see they were sports fields with a church. ‘Wow, not seen a church in any condition worth remembering.’

‘Further.’ Vic’s voice was week.

‘Fuck me.’ To the right of the church was a school with a two story block. Standing at the same height was an Alpha death claw. Sixteen foot tall filled with anger, with the power to back it up. They headed back to the wall and made camp. They had some moonshine to stem their nerves and so they would not feel the cold. Knowing they would be in the area the next day they sat quiet till night came around. When darkness fell they made their way south on the wall. Asra and Vic’s heads where much clearer when they reached the south wall. They had encountered the death claw they first encountered as they began travelling along the wall. It had just stopped and watched them from below.

‘They’re two large to climb.’ Asra stated surprised.

‘We have the high ground.’ Vic stated assuring Asra and herself.

They stopped over the south entrance which was built over the end of Main Street. A lot of the buildings were intact in this area and were only one story tall, mostly. They could see almost the entire area due to the height of the gate. Three death claws, the Alpha was not to be seen though there is a hole, in the side of the church, big enough to fit the gargantuan lizard. The convoy was clear along the high-street; the drivers must have been in the restaurants or shops where the EMP blast from the bombs stopped their vehicles.

‘It’s about half a K to the back of the convoy, if that’s not the hard bit, how can we get to it without attracting them?’

‘I was thinking of shooting off the locks from cover and remaining hidden in the buildings until they leave.’ Vic almost sounded confident.

‘Could work. We will be hid for a while though, a basement would be perfect.’ They both scoped out the shops on the strip.

‘Got some restaurants that would need storage, and a liquor store.’ Vic thought of getting wine for Jax.

‘That a bank?’ They both looked over the building.

‘Looks way stronger than the rest, probably a good shout for shelter, anyway.’ Asra nodded and they set out.

The way down was a thin set of treacherous stairs. There was extensive damage to them from giant claws. They quickly realised the dark pile at the bottom of these stairs was not dirt but bones and bloodied clothes.

‘Christ, must be a hundred bodies at least.’

They walked down knowing the nearest Death Claw is the Alpha in the church. They broke for the nearest building on the opposite side of the street; it was an open sided restaurant. They stepped in through a smashed window and past a corpse facing the gate. It had a gun on the bench next to it and a large hole in the top of the skull. They carried on past the counter and to the kitchen. The food that was left was beyond rotten, practically dust. The next two building were cleared apart from the tables and chairs.

‘Couple more then we should get on a roof.’ Vic stated.

‘Main Street is still clear.’ Asra was looking up the road leaning out a window. ‘There is a two story house out back of the shop next door.’

They entered the house, it was filled with trinkets and photos, the floor was carpeted and a teddy was resting on the sofa. The stairs creaked a little as they scaled them. Vic got to the top first and looked away from the open room. Asra slipped past, two skeletons are on the bed holding hands, needles on the bed next to their outer forearm bones.

‘At least they chose.’ Asra stated blankly.

Vic pointed to the far end of the room.

‘No’, he stepped back and bumped a dresser causing a glass vase to fall and smash on the wooden floor. A crib, not empty.

‘Lets…’

Crunch.

A loud crash followed, they ducked and lay on the floor. They knew they would be fucked if this was the Alpha, but this one approached from the east. It was too small to see in the windows. A massive claw pierced the window frame and three other peaked in the space above Vic’s fear shaken form. They looked straight at each other and avoided even taking full breaths. The size of the claws meant that it was fully grown and would not move off with any urgency. They heard the thing clomp away after a couple hours.

‘The big guy must be louder than that. Should hear him from quite far.’

‘Rather not hear that kind of death coming.’ Vic almost smiled at the joke.

‘Fair point, let’s find a basement to sleep through the day, these guys seem less active in the night.’

They headed back to the main stores on the strip, to Vic’s’ joy she found a bottle of vintage whiskey and moonshine on some shelves. To Asra’s joy he found there was a wine cellar going down through the back office floor. They shut the hatch behind them and set a small fire in the centre, he began cooking. Vic spent the first half hour searching for some old wine; she wished to share it with Jax upon their reunion. Asra sat in a camping chair he found in the house, he drank till he fell asleep. Vic sat and re-read the note from Jax whilst enjoying the moonshine. She fell asleep propped against her pack.