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Sorry this took a while guys, I've been working on all my other stuff down in fanfiction and school started and...well, I got a bit busy :P
Well, heres chaptwer three anyway, enjoy it while you can! And thank you to everyone who reviewed, I love you guys!
But that isn’t going to happen anymore. And it never will again.
Mia shook her head and grabbed her bag from her pile of salvaged luggage. Rummaging through it, she picked out one of the Heat-It food packs and ran her finger down the side to start warming it up. While that was happening, she looked through the bag for her water, but instead her hand touched a hard, round object. Taking it out, she pressed the little green button on the side and a holographic image came up.
The family photo. It was taken about two years ago, on Mia’s birthday. There she was in the middle, holding a present, with her mother and father on both sides of her. Her mother, with her blazing orange hair that curled neatly around her face, her soft blue eyes and fair complexion, and her father, with his short black hair standing out against his white skin and his bulky, strong arms wrapped around his daughter. They were all smiling. But the family photo wouldn’t ever be whole again now that her mother was gone and her father was missing.
Mia reached out to touch it, to feel what it was like again, but instead her hand went right through the image. Because that’s all it was, an image on a photoscreen from a long time ago.
Mia felt more tears coming out of her eyes. The hope that she had earlier was slowly fading.
Stop it Mia. You are living in the past. This is the future now, and you have to realise that.
But how could she? How could she leave everything behind?
Wishing for it won’t make it come back Mia. Just let go and get on with your life.
Mia turned the photoscreen off and hastily stuffed it back in her bag. Bringing her knees close to her chest, she put her head down and bit her lip.
What life?
There was a small beep as the Heat-It pack finished. Mia let it sit there; she didn’t really feel hungry anymore. On second thoughts, she didn’t want to waste it, because it might be the last good meal she ever ate.
Making up her mind, she picked it up and began to eat. The artificial chicken stuck to the roof of her mouth and the green beans tasted like wet string, but she ate as hungrily as a bear tearing at a carcass.
When she’d finished, she pressed the incineration button and the packet burst into flames. In the brief moment it burned, Mia warmed her hands, but then the flame went out and she was once again plunged into the cold darkness of the night. It was times like this she wished that her family had gone camping and made fire when there were still forests in the world. She crawled into the tattered sleeping bag she’d scavenged and tried to fall asleep, but her mind kept going back to the woman with the white eyes, that stared at her until the image seemed burned into her skull.
Curling up in fear, Mia reached into her bag and pulled out her old teddy bear-whom she called Sammy-that she’d packed right before they’d left. It was old and worn with age-Mia had had it since she was five-and some of its dark chocolate brown fur had fallen out, but it was the only comfort she had right now. Cuddling it close to her like she used to, she eventually fell into a deep sleep, but tossed and turned long into the night.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and her father crawled into the kitchen, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Mia stood up, causing the table to shake and the food to fall onto the floor.
“Dad!” she shouted, but he didn’t hear her.
“You didn’t stop the plane” he said, “You shouldn’t have jumped. You didn’t stop them…”
There was a scream. Mia turned around and saw her mother, lying on the floor. Her mother shifted before her eyes, and in her place was the woman, the woman with the white eyes…
“Why did you leave?” she asked, “Why did you leave me to die…”
Mia covered her ears. This couldn’t be happening!
Her father gripped the bottom of her jeans, “Goodbye Mia. You’ll be next.”
There was a bright light, and Mia saw a meteor heading towards the house. She shut her eyes…
Mia sat up in her sleeping bag, breathing heavily, sweat pouring down her face. She looked around, her sensors alert and her brain going into overdrive with fear.
She sat like that for a minute, and when she was sure there was nothing to be afraid about, she lay back down and sighed. Searching for Sammy in the bag, she felt his fur and gripped him tightly.
It was still dark. Mia could barely see in front of her nose. It was so weird; she’d never been in total darkness before. There had always been a streetlight, or a lamp left on in the house. And as she lay there, she also realised that it was quiet. Usually, there would be some noise from cars or humming heaters and air conditioners. But here, now, there was total silence.
Mia listened. It was so peaceful…
She sat there for a while, drinking in the silence, and then her thoughts were shattered as something bleeped in her bag.
Mia frowned as her peace was disrupted, and she searched through her bag to find whatever was beeping. Still frowning, she noticed a light on her bag and pulled out her phone.
She hadn’t realised she’d left her phone on, and now it was beeping at her for something. She pulled it out of her bag and her eyes widened as an email message appeared on the screen.
R u alive? i am 5k walk east of you if u need shelter.
Mia gulped. How did anyone get her number? Actually, never mind that, how could anyone else still be alive? Five kilometres…that wasn’t too far away (after five different types of measurements were used around the world, the United Government decided to convert back to metric units. For building sites, they used milli-metrics, which can measure up to a thousandth of a millimetre.). She could walk five kilometres. Then she remembered all her stuff and she sighed. Five kilometres herself would take an hour, maybe two. With the bags…it would take at least six if she stopped for breaks.
She checked the time on her mobile and groaned. Three in the morning. That means she’d be down about…nine. Oh well. Better to start early now that she was awake. She rolled her eyes, put away the phone and began to pack up her little camp.
Hauling her makeshift sled behind her, she dragged herself across the dry plain that was all that remained of the world. It went on forever, an endless plain of red dirt with craters dotting it. Mia was reminded of the Sahara desert, the biggest and hottest desert in the world (until the anti-desert campaign reduced its size by up to forty percent). People said that it covered whole countries, and before the campaign began working (in 3045) it covered two thirds of North Africa.
But this…this covered the whole world. This bumpy, red landscape was all that remained of the human race.
The sun was beginning to rise, bringing an array of stunning reds and oranges into the dark sky. On any normal day Mia would have loved watching the sunrise, but the colours now looked horrifying.
It reminded her of blood and fire. The smoke in the air. The white eyed woman…
She shut her eyes. Stop it. Concentrate on walking.
She paused to find her water bottle. Looking through her bag, she realised that something was missing. She carefully took everything out and surveyed each and every item, and then her stomach lurched as she realised what she’d left behind.
Sammy. Her bear Sammy.
She looked at her phone. Four thirty. She’d been walking for an hour and a half, and already she was exhausted. She looked into the distance and squinted. It all looked the same; no bear-shaped lumps dotted the surface. A lump formed in her throat and she had to force back tears.
It’s only a bear Mia. Said the little voice in her head. But to Mia it felt like she’d lost yet another part of her life.
She knew if she went back, she’d lose her nerve. She bit her lip, picked up the gear and continued on, without a sound except the sled dragging across the dirt and her own ragged breath as she forced herself onwards.
She collapsed in a heap on the ground and just sat there for a moment, breathing heavily. The heat was really starting to get to her, nothing was making sense.
She started to panic. What if I die out here? What if I never make it? What if…
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. You’re suffering heat illness Mia. Drink some water.
She reached into her bag and took out the first aid kit and her water. She drained her water with a couple of painkillers, and then she grabbed a sun block pen and began rapidly applying the sun resistant formula to every exposed part of her skin. The cooling beads in the solution began to cool her body, and the sticky substance quickly turned into a hard, thin film over her skin. As an extra precaution, Mia rubbed the side of her designer jeans (which by now were totally wrecked) and in a few seconds the jeans had shrunk down to a pair of shorts. Mia sat there for a moment, enjoying the cooling effect of the sun block on her hot body, but then got up and, once again, began dragging her bags. It was only then Mia decided, hey, it wasn’t so bad.
I have three years of gymnastics and two years of scouts under my belt. She thought, I can do this. At least I’m not dead.
Yet.
Mia went on for another two hours. The day got hotter and hotter, yet she trudged on. It gave her time to think, time to plan. Every few minutes she’d pass a burnt out car or some sort of debris, and she’d stop to have a look. Once she walked right into the path of a crater, and it took her and extra half hour just to walk across the rim.
She didn’t dare go in. Not for a second.
She constantly glanced at her phone, constantly checked the time, and was constantly disappointed. The trip was taking forever. And still no more emails from her mystery contact.
Maybe he died. She thought grimly, maybe this trip was all in vain.
But she didn’t stop.
Suddenly, she thought she saw something in the distance. Yep, defiantly something…she squinted. It was moving.
Could this be her contact? Didn’t look like there was any shelter anywhere. She marched towards the thing cautiously, and when she got up close she saw it was a man. Just an ordinary man. He was wearing a pair of camouflage print shorts, but no shirt, and as soon as she approached he looked up at her hungrily.
“Got any food?” he asked, “Water? Shelter?”
“Are you the one who sent the email?” she asked. The man stared at her, and then he crawled over and grabbed her ankles.
“Food….” He said, “Give me your food…I know you’ve got it…”
Mia tried to step back, but her ankles were held tight.
“Give me you food.” The man repeated. Mia frowned, “Let go of me and I’ll give you some.”
“If I let go, you’ll run.” Said the man, and he laughed, “Everyone runs. Everyone runs from the bright light…”
He laughed again, but it was a mad, hysterical laugh that chilled Mia to the bone. She shook her foot.
“Let go!” she shouted, “Let go of me!”
“Everybody runs…” the man repeated, “Everybody runs…”
He suddenly relinquished her grip on her, and Mia grabbed her things and ran.
“I told you!” he screamed, laughter echoing across the plain and coursing through Mia’s body, “I told you you’d run!”
When Mia was far away from the man, she turned back and watched as he stood up and began walking in the opposite direction. She could faintly hear his laughter echoing through her ears.
Maybe he lost someone. Maybe he saw something. But whatever it was, Mia knew that there was nothing she could do for him. But she still felt bad, so she left a couple of her Heat-it packs and two bottles of water behind and set off again.
That was when she saw something. A faint line across the horizon. She took a few more steps forward and squinted to try and get a better view, but she still couldn’t see what it was.
What is that?
She looked at her phone. Seven thirty. She’d been walking for four and a half hours already! She didn’t even know how far she’d actually walked, nor what she was supposed to look for, but the mysterious line was biting at her curiosity and after she’d checked the compass she realised it was indeed towards the East. A perfect excuse for a detour.
Curiosity killed the cat…oh stuff it!
She walked in the direction of the line, a new spring in her step.