By Josh Sanders
PROLOGUE
Often times, exploring ruins was no matter for Ronald Darcy. Though at times of war it may seem as though only an idiot would go out to recover lost treasures of humanity’s past, Mr. Darcy was sure that he could get the job done. The places of his explorations however were more or less older war zones, a fact he often used to justify his travels. His companion Claire Pemberly however was much more cautious of their destinations. The young woman had passed through many unnamed ruins of towns before, however she had not wished to put herself or Mr. Darcy’s well being at risk of being spotted by unmentionables.
Many human beings who had been caught by the unmentionables would of course posses a guaranteed death in their near future. This fact had been engrained in the minds of the two travelers at an early age. So far every human caught by the wretched beasts were never to be seen of again. Much of the world’s human race had already been hunted and exterminated by the creatures. So it was with caution that the two approached the next town.
The empty streets were filled with dust and old broken rubble of cracked and aged buildings and vehicles. The town itself was in complete ruin. The old town sign “Waverly” sat worn upon the town’s main road which no longer consisted of gravel. One look at the main road had told the story of a terrible tragedy lost in time. Nature’s grass seemed to snake through the cracks of broken pavement and gravel of the town in furry green looking cracks. It looked as if too were to aid in the town’s destruction. The buildings sat empty and deteriorating. Most of the metal and concrete were eroding and nearly all of the wooden structures had been eaten through by termites or worn by the rough weather. This town had become abandoned like so many others had long ago.
Mr. Darcy and Ms. Pemberly knew very well what had ravaged this town before nature had come to take back its land. Their knowledge of past destroyers and present deteriorating of human possessions had given them a purpose to restore what was left and to salvage all they could. The stones, and rubble crunched over their boots as Mr. Darcy and Ms. Pemberly entered Waverly, rifles in hand. Mr. Darcy had taken a large amount of pride in his job of salvaging the past and always knew to be prepared. Between the two travelers the needed equipment and skills had been split between the pair, making them more or less two halves of a whole.
Darcy was a man of 29 whose muscular build and tall stature of 6 foot 4 inches was an intimidating figure. He wore thick protective pants and a jacket, along with his own backpack of tools he would possibly need to build or excavate with. His handsome features and dark well kept hair and brown eyes would often be able to attract many women. If there were any attractive females whom Mr. Darcy had favored at the moment he would not have much of a problem obtaining them. His skills at keeping his eyes sharp and his mind clear made him exceptional at exploration, however Darcy’s skill with handling firearms was less than exceptional.
Pemberly was a shorter woman of 5 foot 5 inches with a curvaceous build and possessed the youth of 22 years. She had also worn protective clothing upon her legs and torso similar to Darcy’s and wore a satchel possessing many medicinal items. Her short vibrant red hair and average facial features made her an average sight to see. If there were any attractive men whom Ms. Pemberly had favored at the moment she would have to work a bit harder to obtain them. Her skills at evaluating situations and nursing wounds made her a necessity to their team and her skill with handling firearms were deadly enough for the unmentionables to be afraid.
The two were almost polar opposites but worked quite well together at their job. Neither of them spoke a word as they walked along the sidewalk of the town. The sky this day was gray, a color that Darcy and Pemberly had both gotten used to over the years. Though there was no sign of rain from the clouds the sky had cast a gloomy shadow over the empty town of Waverly. Old, crushed skeletons could be seen in many frightening positions as they walked, some hanging out of windows, some lying under rubble, most just bones of the body scattered through broken rock and worn rotted wood.
Pemberly would often daydream as they explored these towns and cities about who these people once were. As she spotted the old bones of a child in the middle of an empty street she couldn’t help but let her imagination run wild. Mary Elizibeth, age 9, went to school at the old schoolhouse two blocks over, lived a fulfilling live until the unmentionables arriving. Pemberly thought as she stared, following her partner through the wreckage. She did not notice that Mr. Darcy had stopped walking until she had bumped into him in surprise. “Is something the matter Ronald?” she asked.
Mr. Darcy pressed his index finger to his lips and pointed them at a pile of what looked like human carcasses. Yet again upon seeing another dead corpse amoung the hundreds upon thousands Pemberly’s mind had begun to flash thoughts yet again. George Bluemen and Charles Reins, twin brothers, both cut open and devoured by wild beasts. “I don’t see-“ Pemberly started until she immediately cut off her speech. Time of death occurred approximately a few days ago.
She knew now what Darcy had seen. There was still meat on the bones of the dead bodies, fresh meat. “How long do you suppose?” Pemberly whispered.
“I’d guess a few days.” Darcy spoke in his low toned voice hardly managing a whisper.
The two lifted their rifles, Ms. Pemberly’s finger ready to squeeze the trigger at a moment’s notice, while Darcy’s only resting near the trigger for show. Fresh human bodies also meant fresh enemies nearby. Their suspicions about the town had become confirmed as a howling sound erupted in the distance, followed by more and more. “A nest of wild beasts” spoke Darcy as he and Pemberly took refuge in a nearby building whose walls and bits of roof were still standing.
As Darcy surveyed the building for potential ambushing unmentionables he had begun to think that this particular building was some sort of factory. The worn reception area in which they stood would have made the place seem like a doctor’s office if it weren’t for the wall behind it being completely smashed to pieces. If kept intact the wall would have hidden the high ceilings and the many mechanical building devices behind it. Without thinking of his partner, Darcy had walked on his way through the rubble and through the fallen wall into the next area. The walls of the factory seemed to be colored maroon, but small bits of white confirmed that the maroon was only a sloppy paint job consisting of spattered blood stained years ago. Pemberly make quiet movements into the factory. “It doesn’t seem safe here.” She spoke. “Since the roof is still standing it could cave in at any moment.”
“You said the same thing in Sterlington and Ashford.” Darcy spoke surveying the place.
With a moment of silence Darcy spoke once more. “This is just like the factories of the cities. It’s very odd to see something like this in a town.” He spoke. “It’s where they began their attack.”
Pemberly kept silent and surveyed one of the tools clutched in the severed skeleton arm of a person of the past nearby on e of the belts. “This looks useful.” She spoke prying open the skeletal fingers.
“No that’s not of any use.” Darcy spoke. “It’s a wrench; we have one back at The Ark.”
“What is it used for?” Pemberly spoke in awe of the rusted thing.
“I don’t really know myself.” Darcy replied walking further in. “But we need something we haven’t found before.”
Pemberly nodded and began searching the dusty floors for anything shining or odd shaped. It was a hard task trying to define whether something was useful, a piece of rubble, or the bone of a skeletal figure. In the poor lighting of the factory almost anything looked the same. A loud bark and pitter patter of feet could be hear just a block outside of the factory. Pemberly panicked and searched the room with her eyes only to shake in frustration as her partner was nowhere to be seen. She held her rifle up in aim, for these wild beasts whom had roamed the Earth for hundreds of years were in fact savage and ruthless beasts who were excellent hunters.
It was much too difficult for Pemberly to believe the old tales of these beasts once being called “man’s best friend”, as she figured if they were so friendly they would have attempted to aid man in its most pitiful downfall. For fear of alerting their position Ms. Pemberly scanned the factory lane in which she stood for Mr. Darcy only to come up completely empty. With each cautious step she took, Pemberly walked deeper and deeper into the dark factory and through many isles of rusted, cobwebbed machinery. She had almost searched everywhere until she had heard a loud bark towards her right.
In swift movements she had squeezed the trigger only letting the high whimper of the beast assure her that her bullet had hit its mark. Ms. Pemberly did not expect however, for another beast to creep up from behind her in complete and utter silence only to completely surprise her with a mouthful of fangs and a fierce push to the back. Within a few seconds Pemberly had fallen facedown onto the dusty dirt riddled floor with the giant creature behind her sinking it’s fangs into her right shoulder just itching to devour its prey. Ms. Pemberly squirmed but remained firmly held down y the beast. She managed to raise her head and see the creature she had shot before lying on the ground before her eyes staring back at her emitting soft high pitched whimpers of pain until it would finally expire.
Pain was absent from her shoulder, for Ms. Darcy was wise to have worn layers of tough material which would give her time to fight off her hunter before his fags could actually puncture her skin. More barking nearby only notified her that more howling beasts were coming to feast upon her. Pemberly tried lifting her rifle to turn towards the beast upon her back it had taken a few tries but once she was sure the gun was aimed correctly she pulled the trigger. It was at this time that dozens more wolves had her surrounded and with her lying on the ground Ms. Pemberly was sure that this moment would be her last.
Elsewhere Mr. Darcy had stumbled upon a strange looking room with many switches. He had messed with a few but did not see anything of much use. Flipping switches on and off would surely be useless in this day and age but often times Mr. Darcy had managed to make some things work. The room was small and square, almost littered with stacks of old junk and rubble from the falling ceiling. Within his few minutes of searching for old salvageable objects he had heard snarling back at the factory and felt the need to rush back to aid his partner. Shots from her rifle could clearly be heard as he rushed along the corridor before him clumsily holding his own weapon. The gunshots had slowed and suddenly came to a stop but the snarls, growling and excited barking of the beasts could still he heard echoing up ahead.
Once he had ran through the factory however his sights were set upon a gruesome bloody mess of a carcass of which he could only assume belonged to his former partner. His shock led him to a vulnerable state, leading him to be tackled by a large number of the wild beasts themselves. Mr. Darcy had done his best to struggle with them, only thinking of how terrible this world was that he had been raised in, that it would possibly be a relief if he and Pemberly would just take the sweet release of death from this nightmarish world in which they had been born. Indeed, exploring ruins was no matter for Ronald Darcy but surviving them was a much more difficult task for him to manage.
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