Into Oblivion

Into Oblivion

Chapter 1

As the sun rose it highlighted the look of fear on her contorted face. The scenic surroundings clashed with the horrific events which were taking place. The tall trees swayed away from the act, as if trying to escape. The blades of grass were lightly covered in blood, but still enough to be obviously visible. The cleavers stood over Hope's dead friend; they looked down in eagerness and kneeled. While running, Hope glimpsed back at the scene behind her and tears began to roll down her cheek. She continued to run; partially blinded by the excess liquids in her eyes. She ran until she hit something and rolled behind it. Then, from behind a boulder in the distance, Hope looked back again, and witnessed the consumption of her best friend's flesh. She felt physically sick. She wanted to vomit but knew it would drain the already dwindling supply of nutrients left in her body; she would need them to flee in a moment. She knew she should have always expected this moment. This sort of thing was common in the wasteland, but she had always hoped for her happy ending. That was one of the reasons she had named herself Hope; a stupid decision as she looked back. She made herself breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth in an attempt to control her heartbeat. She felt certain the cleavers would hear it. Then she braced herself, and did one of the most dangerous things anybody could even imagine in the wasteland; she attempted to escape from the cleavers. 

As she sprinted she heard them charging after her; their eyes livid for the possibility of more fresh meat. Her feet pounded off the ground in an unsteady rhythm, making her likely to fall, but she had no time to regulate her footwork. All she could do was run. The few trees that were left standing in the wasteland seemed to pass her so slowly, she was sure the cleavers would be upon her any second. Her stomach felt as if it was an empty void; searching for food that, due to malnourishment, wasn't there. She knew if she didn't come up with a plan soon there would be no hope for her at all. Suddenly, an abandoned silver quarry appeared; left to raiders that never showed up. She raced towards it, knowing it could well be her last hope. As she neared it she heard something very rare; a gunshot. Her panic rose to a whole new level, although guns were rare in the wasteland the firepower they packed was still immense, and from what she'd heard being shot wasn't one of the most pleasant experiences around. She saw the ground erupt a few meters in front of her, then again around her feet. She had reached the edge of the quarry, when she abruptly stopped just short of the edge. She turned and the cleavers were already there. She looked at them; there were three. One was missing several teeth with long brown hair; he looked extremely stupid. The second was missing even more teeth with thin grey hair, which was windswept and greasy. He also looked quite dumb. The third, who was obviously the group leader, was surprisingly well kept, his hair was cut and swept across his forehead, and it was shiny and looked soft; which was an extreme oddity in these times. He had stubble which was lightly tarnished with Hope's friend's blood. His face looked soft and well maintained and he was holding the gun. Hope thought to herself, 

"Two men for muscle, one for brains, typical setup." She dug her feet into the ground and muttered "Do your worst." 

The two stupider looking cleavers instantly threw punches at her. She dodged one but the other hit her jaw, she held her footing and looked at the attacking cleavers. They had sacrificed good footing for those first blows, she tripped one and he stumbled, crashing into the second cleaver and knocking him into the quarry. She heard the dull thud of his body hitting the ground below. She looked at the second cleaver and grinned slyly. A look of fear was on his face for a moment, and then he remembered he was supposed to be tough and resumed his stupid look. Then it happened, the sound of the gunshot rang in her ears as she began to fall down the quarry. She shut her eyes and said goodbye to herself, as there was nobody else in her life to say goodbye to. She lost consciousness.