Searing World

Distraction

As soon as the old bus doors opened, the heat washed over them as if they had just opened the furnace doors to hell. It took a moment for the team's eyes to adjust, it had been years since some of them had been in the sun like this. The light was white poison to eyes so used to the dark. Caden was the first to disembark the sanctuary of the bus and immediately he scoped the area. A single road cut through the scorched earth, the road on which they came in on. The road was all they knew, they had little choice to but to turn tail from which they came. Instantly they were in formation marching double time down the white lines. Cars littered the tarmac. Doors half open, cars parked in a hurry, luggage all over the road but with nothing of use. They had been here for years and the group had little need for nightwear and bathing costumes.

The group had been walking for a few hours. It had all been quiet, including Buck. Lee kept close to Erin and Buck was practically in Caden's pocket, this was by design. Buck took a delicate touch to control, something Erin did not have. Caden knew there was always trouble up ahead at the best of times, let alone now. He knew Buck could make it worse. And with that thought still fresh in his mind, there it was. Here came the trouble they had been expecting and what Caden had been looking for.

"Hold! Burners on the road. I count...eight...maybe ten."

Caden talked in a hushed voice, a slight tremble hid in his throat. He knew fine well the burners could not hear him from where he was, but it was the fear making him quiet. Every time Caden came in contact with the burners he could not help but think about the first time he had seen one. They were just normal people, affected by the radiation and the heat. After the war the atmosphere had pretty much gone, it drove people crazy. That much heat on the brain was not natural and made them rabid like feral dogs. It was not hard to tell who was a burner. Even a blind man could smell them. The mix of rotting flesh baked in the sun hung from their bodies. Colours of black and red ran all over and even tainted the eyes. Pure instinct to feed on living flesh. These people were not dead but they were not alive.

"We can't stay on the road. They could linger here for hours, maybe days and we can't take them on ourselves. That would be suicide"

Caden spoke to the group with authority. He knew that the next word to fall from his mouth would only have one volunteer. He knew this too well.

"We can't go around and they are in our way," he paused. "We need a distraction"

"I 'm on it."

Erin instantly started checking her ammunition pouches and was on her feet like an Olympic runner, on the mark waiting for the set and go. She knew what she was doing and so did he.

"Okay. Erin is going to run and make a hell of a lot of noise. When she gets their attention we run forward, on the same line we have been taking up 'til now. Buck, I'm going to need those spare clothes of yours"

As Buck rummaged in his bag for a spare t-shirt, Caden removed the flint from Erin's bag as she stood still, ready to move. Buck handed a stained brown T-shirt to Caden. The stains did not matter. It was dry, this is all he needed for phase two of the plan. As he stuffed one end of the t-shirt in the fuel line of a sun-stained black SUV, he spoke.

"I am going to light this before we leave. The T-shirt fuse will give us some time to make some ground. When it blows, the burners will be on it quickly. It will be hot and that's how they like it. Erin will take this chance to make a B line back to us. Easy."

A silence overcame the group. Would this really work, it seemed a bit too simple. Caden spoke with confidence and Erin followed his words precisely. Truth be told, this was not a textbook manoeuvre. Text book would be to hit them head on in combat or to loop around and bypass them. This excursion was no textbook and required some abstract thinking. Head on would equal death with two soldiers and two civilians as would getting lost in the field. The group were all focused on Caden, waiting for his word. With one last look over the cars in a hopeful search for another plan, Caden retired his mind to the plan at hand. He was ready, Erin was set.

"Go."

Erin took off with a godly speed. Her black rubber boots were tearing up grains of sand in her wake like her feet were a source of wind. Caden found it amazing how quickly somebody could run on such little food and water, carrying full armament of gear.

"Hold. Wait 'til she starts making noise. Don't move 'til she's made noise"

Caden wanted to make sure that nobody fucked this up. Erin was risking her life and he would be damned if it was in vain.

Twenty-five meters...Thirty meters.... Come on Erin he thought that's too far... Forty meters...

"ERIN!"

Caden shouted out to her knowing fine well that the burners would hear him. This would not matter for all they would see is Erin. She stopped and turned around. A slight daze on her face. She realised what she had done, but now, all was well. With a calm and collected gesture of the hand from the forehead, like a casual salute, she took a knee and opened fire. Her AR-15 assault rife bubbled with the sound of victory. Each round projected a noise in slow motion through Caden's ears and he felt calm in this moment. Controlled hysteria is what he was used to. Not the uncontrolled madness the world had become.

Crouched down keeping their heads below car height, the group moved forward. Caden took point with Lee close to him. Buck was lagging behind from the moment they left. A look of dread dripped down his face while his eyes wandered all around him, not focused on the single task of moving forward. Caden was keeping a close look behind him, but it was not for Buck's benefit. The distracting car had not played its role, it sat idle just as the others did around it. It should have only taken a few seconds to explode. Caden was on a count of fifteen and was nearing the waypoint to hold up for Erin. He could still hear the rifle as they stopped, calm and controlled bursts filled the air of silence. He knew what had to be done without any thought, she may not have been family but she was a friend.

"Keep moving forward you two. I have to help. Stay on the road and don't move farther than a mile."

As Caden talked, his eyes were focused on the burners making their way to Erin's position. Buck was protesting with the sound of white noise, which went unheard. Caden adopted a prone position underneath a black Ford pick-up truck which had skidded to a halt at the side of the road.

"Come on Buck! We have to go!"

Lee was dragging Buck away, hand on shoulder with a confidence Caden hoped to see again. This was not the plan Caden had in mind, but he could not lose Erin or civilians trying. He counted five burners stumbling towards her. In his far sight he could see that Erin had to reload and was looking tired, maybe worried. Caden was alone now, Lee and Buck had disappeared into the queue of cars that waited the road. And with that he opened fire. Not being the marksman he used to be, body shots were targeted. This was known not to kill burners but would definitely incapacitate them, giving Erin the time needed to retreat back to the road. He shot one straight in the torso, in one side out the other. Being careful so no passing bullet would harm Erin on her retreat.

The group of burners were split now and more were en-route. The rifles had made a lot of noise and they needed to make tracks. The group was broken. As Caden lay on the tarmac under the black ford he was out of ideas. Erin had made it back to the line of cars with a lethal silence. No longer did the sound of victory bellow over the empty wastes around them, no longer did they have each other. Erin seemed to have made it clear and was now on her own, just as he was. Lee and Buck had each other for all the good that would do. Would he wait? Or double back? Staring off into the distant, bleak horizon he could only think of one person, Rhode. He had done the best he could for the group, they were all on the move apart from him. He felt no guilt over getting up from the tarmac and running. With a quick check of his gear he was gone.

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