The Wanderers [Old Version]

Chapter 31: Haunted

Rain's POV

I woke up before anyone else. Bryn was asleep on me and my arm was numb. I fell asleep with my shirt on, which was a weird feeling. I hadn't slept with a shirt on for years.

I shrugged my shoulder and moved Bryn's head off me so that I could stand up without waking her.

Marc was leaning against a pillar in his sleep. Petra laid with her ankles crossed and using her backpack as a pillow.

Clara was asleep on Nico's chest, and they were holding hands. They both looked happier then I had seen anyone in a long time.

I walked up the staircase that led to the roof and was immediately greeted by the cold wind.

Every breath I took, I could see the frost in the air. Winter was coming, and if we didn't find a permanent home soon, we could end up stuck in train depot until the snow melted in the spring.

The PDA that Petra placed up here looked charged, but it also had frost on the screen.

I found a power button and turned it on. It came on almost instantly. The date was on the top, with the time under it.

October 15, 2277. 7:24 a.m.

I had been so focused on surviving and killing, I had completely forgot about my own birthday. Nico turned 17 a few weeks ago and we didn't even know. My birthday was in four days.

There was a picture on the bottom of the screen that looked like a speaker, and I clicked on it. It started off with nothing but static but after a few seconds I could make out a man's voice, "This is Staff Sergeant Cory Wilson of the Fifth Battalion, Third Marine Corps. I'm stationed in New Jersey but I was sent here because of the invasion. I'm badly wounded and I told my squad to leave me behind. Their task is to find and destroy Russian AA guns set up on the roof of an office building. God dammit, this hurts. Fucking Russians invading us. I knew we should have bombed them sooner. Germany is getting their asses handed to them by the Russians. They were holding out for a while, but now they're losing. Because of them we had to send a good amount of the Air Force out to engage Russian fighters. I don't know how the rest of Europe is holding up. Last I heard they were kicking ass, but that was three days ago. We've lost contact since. Gahh...I'm losin' a lot of blood. Fuckin' bullet proof vest didn't do shit to stop a Dragunov bullet. Agh...God dammit. I'm not makin' it out of this camp. This is to my wife, Christine. I love you, hun. I'm out here fightin' for you and our unborn baby. Guess I didn't do a good job. Ahh...I hope you make it out alright. The national guard is supposed to be setting up refugee camps in certain cities. There's one in Denver, that's only an hour drive from our house. You can make that. Gah! Fuck...goodbye Christine, I love you. Name our son what you like, I preferred James, but that's just me. Tell our son what happened to me. I hope someone finds this...I'm sorry."

I heard the recording stop but then a different recording started.

"He's dead too. This was his radio. Looks like he recorded something on it. Fuck it. I'll leave it here. No use to us anyways. C'mon, there's bound to be some money around this place somewhere. I'll search this guys pockets. Hm, nothin'. Oh wait, just a picture of a pretty girl and him. She's pregnant. Poor guy. Not my problem."

The audio cut from that recording too.

"Damn." I heard a voice from behind me.

I jumped and looked behind me. Marc stood on the stairs, "My bad. Didn't mean to scare you.

I laughed, "You hear all that?"

"Yeah. Some soldier got hurt, died, looters found his body. It's sad, but it's what we do. That's how you have to survive in a shitty world, I guess. History just repeats itself."