When The World Burned

Chapter 1

Rue adjusted her gas mask and looked through the box of supplies they had stumbled upon. Most of it was a collection of old toys, but some of them were mechanical. Setting them all aside, she picked through the other objects and took a lighter, what might have once been a screwdriver, and a small hook. Adding them to her pockets and backpack, she slung the old brown leather bag over her back and buckled the strap in front.

Standing, she walked across the destroyed house they had been exploring to find her older brother, Benjamin, digging through a cabinet. He continued to toss boxes aside, only taking canned goods that were not ruined. Shoving them into his own pack, he offered his sister a look from behind the goggles he always wore. Continuing his search, he asked, "What is it, Rue? Find something?" Grabbing a bottle, he shook it to hear only the soft rustling of dust and tossed it aside.

"No," She answered. "Doesn't seem to be much here at all." That was the truth about almost everywhere they went. No one ever greeted them, but that did not stop them from carrying weapons. Despite there being no people so far, there were beasts prowling the planet, most coming out at night to hunt for their next meal. They had trained in the bunker, her older brother keeping them both in shape and ready for anything that came at them, especially since they feared running into the demons that now ruled the planet.

They had coped with the loneliness, knowing no one would come find them. There was no rescue coming from space or even underground. If others were out there, which they were sure of, those people wanted nothing to do with a pair of scavenging siblings just trying to get by. It was the demons they really had to worry about. Those things barreled along with bodies built of pure muscle that always frightened Rue to her core. She had only seen one since their travels began. It had frightened her, frightened a girl who could shoot and kill animals without blinking an eye.

"Well, we have some more food," Her brother said and raised a hand that held another can up. The paper encircling the cylindrical container had faded long ago, most likely washed away by the weather and heat. "It'll give us time to hunt down another one of those dogs."

A sick feeling simmered inside of Rue's stomach every time her brother mentioned the word dog. The first time he had shot and killed one with the old bow and arrow they had brought from the bunker with them, it had felt so wrong. She had read so many books about them being man's best friend, but survival was survival. If they did not eat, they would die like the rest. Eating dog meat had taken some getting used to, but those were the easiest creature to catch and kill in the wasteland they traveled across.

They were nothing like those odd scale covered things that never stuck around long enough for her to get a good look at.

"Where are we going now?" She finally asked.

Zipping up his pack and pulling it on, Benjamin stood up and pulled their old faded map from a pocket in his coat. Unfolding it, he laid it out atop a table that was still miraculously standing. "Well," He began and tapped a part of the map where they most likely were at. "If my calculations are correct, we're here. We want to get here." Sliding his gloved finger across the map, he stopped it northeast of where they currently were. The spot was some coastal state she did not recall the name of. "It'll take us a few more days to get there, but I think we're on good time."

She frowned beneath her gas mask at the map. "What if there's no one there."

"They'll be there." He tried to sound reassuring. "That's where the emergency bunker was for them."