The Wanderers [Old Version]

Chapter 1: Fugitives

Rain's POV

I never knew the geography of the outside world. I had never been outside the kingdom. King Tyrian had outlawed all Old World documents and texts. He didn't want us to know anything about the outside. We were lost. All we could hope was that there wasn't a fork in the road. Any decisions we made would literally be life or death.

I never learned much about the outside, although I was always interested. Occasionally, I would find an old newspaper with a news headline talking about Old World current events. From what I gathered, whatever happened to the Old World that caused us to retreat to the walls of kingdoms, happened in June, of the year 2015. I don't know how long ago that was, but the Old World technology I've seen is nothing compared to ours. They had nothing compared to what we have.

It was raining hard, and mud was forming. Draco, ahead of all us, stopped, "Wait. Our boots will get muddy and if we go on the road our tracks will show. Walk on the side of the road."

We stepped onto the ground next to the road and continued following it. I felt my feet sticking with each step. Only thing I hated more than getting wet, was mud. And Mother Nature just decided to put them both together. Great.

We walked for a long time, in complete silence. Eventually we found a sign on the side of the road. Petra walked up to it, "Welcome to Buff...Buff...Buffalo? Welcome to Buffalo, New York. Population: 312,000. Big town."

It was too dark to see from a distance, but soon I could make out the skyline of old towers. Most were crumbling, some stood intact. I could see a few lights buzzing around a few towers. Were they hovercrafts sent out by King Tyrian?

Nico spoke up, "Think this could have been a kingdom? Maybe they were in a war, and lost."

Draco shook his head, "No. This is...well, was...an Old World city. Kingdoms wouldn't have a population sign outside, and there's no wall. Not even any sign of a wall. This is just a city. Probably a capital or something important, if it has towers like that."

The rain was finally starting to slow, and it was getting really dark out. The temperature was dropping fast and we would need to find somewhere to sleep for the night.

We kept walking. We walked into the city and immediately noticed the smell. Not sure what it was. Bodies, maybe? Or trash? Couldn't have been sewage, I spent too much time in the sewers under Lightstone to know that smell. Draco stopped us in front of one of the towers. "We'll stay in here tonight. Try not to sleep near any windows or doorways, don't want no creeps lookin' in on us."

We entered the tower. It was actually surprisingly nice inside. A few couches sat in a dark corner of the room around a decaying coffee table. A desk sat in the middle of the room, with a broken Old World terminal on it. Dried blood was stained on the side of it, and a bullet hole was in the desk. The chair was flipped over and spider webs were everywhere. A few sleeping bags were in the corner of the room, still folded neatly.

The lights in the building were off, but I could still make out most of the objects. Draco walked forward, as if he knew exactly where he was going. He turned a corner that led to somewhere I couldn't see and stopped, "Stairs. Let's go up. We'll sleep on the next floor. It'll be slightly safer there."

We walked up the stairs, bullet holes ran along the wall, a few dried blood stains as well. The upper floor was scavenged and torn up. Desks were flipped, terminals sat stacked in the corner, and sleeping bags laid everywhere. Most of the lights on the ceiling were busted out of their sockets and hanging down. Some of the windows were shadowed and the cool wind was blowing in.

Draco walked up to one of the broken windows and gripped one of the desks, "Nico, help me out. We need to block some of these windows, keep the wind out. Rain, you and the girls block some of the other ones."

After ten minutes of desk pushing and crushed fingers, we blocked all of the windows. I helped Petra and Clara set up some sleeping bags for us, while Nico and Draco set up a fire made from an old desk.

Finally, after walking all day, we had the chance to sit, to lay down, to rest. I was always a seclusive person, I purposely set up my sleeping bag away from everyone else's. What could I say? I liked my space. I laid on my back, in the musty old sleeping bag, starring up at the ceiling. A content smile on my face. I closed my eyes, and slept peacefully for the first time in years.