Hypersonic Missiles

Ada

The sun never really came out these days. There were just warm days and cold days. When the impacts had hit the atmosphere had gone into chaos, irreparable damage done to the ozone layer. Everything had fallen apart so quickly. Governments had tried to fix things but failed. The infrastructure wasnt there. Dad had said it wasn't that though, he'd said the unimaginable had happened and that now we were faced with it, all the grief, the mass destruction, people just didnt have the will to fix things. So the weather had changed and clouds had rolled in which didnt shift. And after awhile we realised it wasnt clouds. It was ash, dust, pollution. Dirty air which left everything coated in a fine ashy kind of substance. It clung to everything. You could feel it settling in your lungs.

It wasn't so bad now but it wasn't much better. And the sun still didn't ever really come out. I couldnt remember what it felt like really, to have sunlight warm your skin.
Now it was either warm or cold. It either rained or it was bone dry and lifeless.

It was warm that morning, the air was drier than it had been and so Eli had woken me up with the sunrise. Whispering me awake before the others, trying to be gentle with me when he made his suggestion.

"Remember what I said yesterday little one, about tryin to wash your cuts in the sea?"

I looked up at him with a ripple of dread in my eyes but I nodded because i knew really he was right. I was going to have to eventually.

"If we get up now," he started softly as if he could tell he was going to need to coax me into compliance, "theres less risk of anyone else stumbling across us... might see yourself some dolphins too eh?" He said gently already beginning to push himself up. He could tell from the hesitant look on my face that I didnt want to. From the way I looked towards Sam's sleeping figure beneath a blanket on the floor as if i thought he could come to my rescue.

"Sweetheart," sighed Eli softly, "I know youre scared of me but I promise you youre safe yeah? I want to help you, I don't want to hurt you..."

"Its going to hurt," I said quietly, trying to be brave when I shrugged my shoulders, "I know that. Need to get better though don't I..."

"Aye lass," he said softly, his hand taking my bandaged one and turning it over carefully, slender fingertips tracing my palm delicately, "we'll be as quick as we can though yeah? An it won't hurt for long..."

"I'm not scared of it hurting." I said wanting him to know that it wasn't pain which frightened me, that I wasnt naive.

"What is it then love? Cause you haven't moved yet have you?"

"What if you're wrong and those men are hunting me... they use dogs don't they... they could have followed my scent all the way here by now... what if..."

He must have sensed my rising panic, the anxiety clenching inside me as I spoke faster, voice wobbling, because he shushed me quickly. His hush firmer than he had been so far with me that morning, eyes dark and serious. Determined.

"I've got a gun Ada," he said softly, "if theyve followed you here it'll be their mistake alright, I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you..." he held my gaze for a long moment, satisfied only when I hushed and settled. When I looked back at him like I believed him.

"Kay." I said quietly, not exactly feeling any better but because there was nothing else to say. I had no option but to believe him. And if i was being honest the darkness in his eyes was enough to convince me. The shift in his demenour told me he'd killed someone before, that if we were threatened he wouldnt think twice about killing someone again.

So we slipped from our seat along the front of the caravan, treading carefully so as not to wake the others. Eli offered me his hand as he guided my steps over the sleeping lads at our feet and then down the steps and out into the junkyard woodland and the crumbled cliff face.