Ember awoke early in the morning, when the sun was beginning to break over the horizon. She never woke at this young hour. What was different?
The she heard the growling.
The dull light outside of the tarp tent just barely illuminated the campsite, revealing the man-Alder, he had said-already on his feet, his rifle tucked in his shoulder. Ember brushed away the tent flap and creeped out, a modified 9mm submachine gun in her grasp.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the abandoned streets, making Ember clench her teeth and squeeze the pistol grip harder. Alder glanced back at her, revealing the alarm in his eyes. He was clearly thinking the same thing Ember was.
Mutants.
Another screech snapped them back to the situation at hand. Without looking back, Alder dropped to a chrouch and aimed down his scope. "Watch my back," he breathed. Ember nodded despite knowing he couldn't see her. Then her breath hitched in her throat.
Perched on an abandoned sedan, a humanoid figure stared their way, unnervingly still. Alder spied it as well and placed his reticle on the thing's chest. It remained unmoving. Alder lifted his head for a moment.
"That is one ugly fucker," he spat before dropping his sight back to the scope.
Ember hardly had time to cover her ears before the cool morning air was split by the explosion of the rifle's powerful cartridge. The mutant seemed to snap back and fall from his hunched position to the ground.
Alder pushed himself up and started rushing towards the spot where it had fallen. Ember watched in surprise for a second before taking off after him, exclaiming, "Hey, wait up!"
YOU ARE READING
The Collapse
Science FictionLong ago, humanity ruined its home world of Gaia with quantum weapon fire and synthetic production of soldiers. High-ranking officials were able to board battleships and disappear into the stars, but the rest of the population were left to fend for...
