The Wasteland Chronicles

Chapter 2

Speeding down the country roads, they took a moment to "admire" the scenery around them. This was truly a wasteland. The occasional crashed car on the road was odd, but more importantly was the desert around them. Obviously it hadn't been a desert forever, but ever since the apocalypse, the once-lush hills were a sandy, abandoned land of pure evil. The dust rolled off the hills, slipping past the SUV like a snake. As the SUV rolled up to a gas station Hana cocked a brow.

"We're running low," Connor replied, simply.

Hana shrugged, and Connor grabbed his butchers knife and jumped out of the SUV. He let out a heavy cough as the choking, hot dust clawed at his throat. He squinted his eyes a bit and grasped the nozzle, moving it to fill up the SUV. Glug, glug, glug. Connor bit his lower lip again, and put the nozzle back into the gas tank. He glanced his head back, into the darkened window of the SUV. Hana was sitting in silence, her hands clasped together in some form of prayer. Her long, dark hair ran down her shoulders and looked slightly messy. Connor frowned - Hana wasn't the kind of person to be religious. Harlow was still in the back, she appeared to be whispering to her teddy, or something of the like.

Connor folded his arms, raising his left eyebrow and staring into the blood-stained windows of the gas station. He shrugged, and opened the door to the station. The bell hanging from the door chimed, and a woman in her early 20's shot up, aiming a Magnum revolver at him.

"Woah, woah! I don't mean no shit!" Connor yelled, pulling a cautious smile.

The woman gave him an uneasy stare, the gun still pointed at him. A teenage girl placed her hand on the woman's shoulder. She looked at her in the eye and shook her head.

"Lily... Chill," she said, sighing.

"Tara, what the hell do you mean 'chill'? This guy could be fucking dodgy!" she snapped back,

"Jesus, alright!" Tara sighed, and turned her attention to Connor. She rubbed her left temple on her tanned face, and took a ruffle through her short, black hair. Her deep blue eyes shot through him easily, seeming to take more of an effect on him than the revolver being aimed at him by Lily.

"Alright... Fuck. I know this doesn't look to great. But I'm a good guy, alright? I've got a woman and a kid in that SUV, I just needed some food is all," Connor defended himself, and threw his hands up as a surrender. Lily slowly lowered her revolver "You got room in that SUV?"

"Mhm," he nodded slowly, "You're welcome to join."

Tara pulled Lily back, as the two argued in a whispered tone Connor looked back to the SUV. Hana was dozing a little while Harlow still acting erratic. The two girls looked back and nodded "We may as well scavenge up this place before we go," Tara offered. Lily and Tara went to cram chocolate bars and other snacks from the isles into their backpacks. They swept through the shelves, scanning and observing for anything worthwhile to take. Connor took enough to fill his pockets and hands, and kicked open the door to walk out of.

Hana's eye twitched, and snapped out of her little nap. She opened the door and frowned "Who the hell are these lot?" she demanded, and Connor waved a hand in response with a mutter. Hana rolled her eyes and went to open the boot of the car, as they unloaded the food and bottles of water with various brands slapped on them. The boot was still quite empty, and Connor turned at the three women facing him.

"We really need to work out a plan, where we need to go..." he suggested warily.

"I've got a map," Lily said at last, and pulled out a map of Ashley County.

Hana ran her finger, pinpointing their current point "So we just got out of Palmerston... How about New Plymouth?" she pointed out, and placed a finger on the harbour city in the East.

"Really? That's miles..." Tara responded, with Lily making a quiet nod in agreement.

"Well... We could get a boat. Y'know, get the fuck out of this hell-hole," Hana sighed

Connor agreed, which Lily and Tara finally gave in to. They piled into the SUV and Connor pressed down on the acceleration, making the white Nissan speed out of the station and onto the country roads. Lily wound down the window, and leaned out to stare at the desert around them.

"So... We should probably get acquainted?" Hana brought up, followed by each of them saying their names. Hana briefly nodded "Lovely."

Lily frowned, and continued to stare out of the window. Something about the whole end-of-the-world was a peaceful getaway to her. It was lovely how there was no more noise, no rush, no pace. Even if there was a bloodthirsty demon everywhere you went. No more struggle with the economy, looking for a job. It was carefree now, wasn't it? To her it was, anyway. Her reminisce of the past was quickly interrupted by an odd, high-pitched clicking noise in the distance. She noticed a humanoid creature lurking behind a car. It was producing the odd sounds she had heard. As she stared at it for a few seconds, it darted into the unknown.

"What the...?" Lily muttered, drawing the attention of Tara.

"Something wrong, sis?" she enquired, with a response of a slight nod.

"I'm sure I saw something... It looked human but it's speed. Fucking hell that thing moved too fast."

"So... We're being followed? By some kind of demon?" Connor bluntly said, with a total silence filling the SUV.

"It seemed kind of like a scout, the way it darted off when I noticed it," Lily said, "But god knows... Hopefully we won't be seeing more of those... Prowlers."

*******

Four Weeks Before Hell

"I'm sorry, alright?!" Hana yelled, throwing her cushion at Sam (Her ex-boyfriend).

"You don't always have to go be a big fucking bitch about everything!" yelled Sam, enraged.

Hana shoved him out of her apartment after a violent encounter, locking her door and leaping onto her couch. She sobbed into her pillow until her eyes became red and sore, with a puffy look to them. She clenched onto her pillow as if it would save her life from the misery of her breakup. After sobbing for several minutes - ten or twenty - she stumbled to the kitchen. She grabbed a wine glass and a bottle of red wine, she slowly poured it until it was flowing from the glass, tears still running down her pale face.

She clenched the glass and took small sips as she walked back to her sofa. She slumped into the sofa and continued sipping from her glass of wine. She closed her eyes to picture all the memories she had with Sam, and all the abuse she suffered from him. She remembered the way he'd hit her and the way he'd belittle her. She never felt whole around him. It pained her knowing he was gone though, but it was probably for the better.

Her face lit up with happiness as she got a text from Connor - "Hey, you okay?" it read

She texted back the trouble she had, and the two had a conversation over the trouble she endured. In the end, Hana managed to smile. She finished her glass and laid her head into the cushions of the sofa. Thankful she had Connor, someone who'd always be there to comfort her.

*******

Present Day

"FUCK!" Connor screamed, driving into a pack of Pillagers. Pillagers were like foot-soldiers. Like stronger zombies, they were incredibly common in the first days. Their fists able to snap bone easier than a human can snap a twig. As the demonic creatures leapt onto the SUV, staining it in blood they let out hellish screeches. They could be mistaken for humans, except they had two spiked horns protruding from their forehead and flashing red eyes that burnt like an eternal flame.

Harlow wailed in complete terror, as Lily loaded her magnum and wound down her window, shooting off the Pillager that was pounding heavily on her window with it's insanely muscled fist. Veins bulged from a Pillager's forehead as it smashed it's horns on the back window of the car.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Connor groaned, and reversed, knocking off the Pillager. The SUV roared and powered through the pack of the monstrous things, and took them out onto the highway. Hana let out a shaky breath, and smiled in relief as they came onto the highway at last.