The Charred Lands: City of Ash Read online

  CITY OF ASH

  THE CHARRED LANDS,

  VOLUME 2

  By Josh A. Murphy

  Published by Josh A. Murphy, 2015.

  This is a work of fiction, any similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  City of Ash

  First Edition. May 13th, 2015.

  Copyright 2015 Josh A. Murphy

  Written by Josh A. Murphy

  Also by Josh A. Murphy:

  The Charred Lands: Apocalypse of Fire

  Unfortunate Friends

  More information at Josh A. Murphy’s Facebook page.

  Special Thanks:

  I would like to give a massive thank you to my Mum for finally reading and enjoying the first book. I would also like to thank Elizabeth Jones for all the help she’s given me in writing this, including the countless late nights she put up with me writing till four in the morning, and helping me edit through this book. Thank you!

  Contents

  PROLOGUE............................................................................................................................ 5

  CHAPTER ONE...................................................................................................................... 7

  CHAPTER TWO..................................................................................................................... 9

  CHAPTER THREE............................................................................................................... 12

  CHAPTER FOUR................................................................................................................. 16

  CHAPTER FIVE................................................................................................................... 23

  CHAPTER SIX...................................................................................................................... 25

  CHAPTER SEVEN............................................................................................................... 27

  CHAPTER EIGHT................................................................................................................ 35

  CHAPTER NINE.................................................................................................................. 38

  CHAPTER TEN..................................................................................................................... 44

  CHAPTER ELEVEN.......................................................................................................... 46

  CHAPTER TWELVE............................................................................................................ 52

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN......................................................................................................... 57

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN....................................................................................................... 61

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN............................................................................................................ 67

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN........................................................................................................... 72

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN..................................................................................................... 77

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN........................................................................................................ 80

  CHAPTER NINETEEN........................................................................................................ 83

  CHAPTER TWENTY............................................................................................................ 87

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE............................................................................................... 91

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.................................................................................................. 94

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.............................................................................................. 97

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.............................................................................................. 100

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE............................................................................................ 105

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.................................................................................................. 109

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN............................................................................................ 112

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT............................................................................................. 115

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE............................................................................................... 120

  CHAPTER THIRTY............................................................................................................ 125

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE................................................................................................... 131

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.................................................................................................. 134

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE.............................................................................................. 139

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR................................................................................................ 142

  Author’s note:....................................................................................................................... 148

  Contact:................................................................................................................................ 149

  PROLOGUE

  I’m alone now. I have been for the last two days. I didn’t think it would be this hard; but it is. Every part of my body is screaming at me to turn around and head back to the war torn town that I had just fled. But I couldn’t – my mission was in the other direction. I had my goals, and I had to complete them. Reaching the Church of Fire was far more important than any blister on the bottom of my foot, or stitch in my side. These were all small, personal obstacles standing in my way, but I was determined to smash them and reach my aim – this is the only hope I have of ever living a life without fear.

  My name is Zachary Jefford. Up until around a week ago, I had been sheltered from the harsh realities of the Charred Lands. I had spent my entire life living with my family and friends in a walled community, secluded from the monsters of the lands, hidden away from what the world really was. There had been twenty of us living in my home; we called it Haven. Now, I’m the only one left. The others are all dead, or gone; just gone. I don’t know what happened to everyone, but I’m very doubtful that anyone else made it out alive. I saw my family die right before my eyes, and even held my own father as he bled to death.

  Already, I can feel the world changing me – my family would hardly recognise me anymore. I was a timid, shy lad who spent most of the time buried in an old book or hiding away in my room to avoid doing chores; but I soon realised people like that weren’t meant for this world. They didn’t survive out here. I’m still learning, I’m still growing and I’m still toughening up – but this world is changing me in ways I never thought possible. I’ve seen people die in the most barbaric of ways; some died trying to protect me, some died trying to kill me. That’s the world I’m faced with now. Every day, hour or minute out here could be your absolute last. I no doubt owed my life to a few people who had come and gone along my travels, none more so than Conrad Logan. He was one of the good guys; he’s dead now. I guess that’s the price you pay for selfless acts in The
Charred Lands.

  I was undertaking the second phase of my journey. My quest had taken me all the way from the secluded woods that surrounded my home, to the ruins of Warrington; and now I was making my way to what I considered to be the biggest hurdle; Manchester. Warrington was hard – but I didn’t imagine it would pose anywhere near as much a threat as the graveyard that used to be one of the country’s biggest cities. Manchester was a dead city. From what I had heard, nobody lived there anymore. It belonged to the monsters of the Charred Lands. Buildings were Fider nests and the streets were cocooned in their lava like webs of death. I didn’t fancy my chances of being able to pass through the city, but I knew doing so would shorten my journey by around a week – I planned on leaving that decision until the last possible moment – assuming I even made it there in one piece.

  Danger lurks around every corner here, if not from murderers, thieves and blood thirsty gangs, then from the countless Charred Land monsters, or worst of all; the dragons. It had been a dragon that had destroyed my former home – Haven – and cast me out here into the harsh realities of the world. But, it was also these dragons that gave me even a glimmer of hope of ever securing a safe and peaceful existence in this world again. For in my backpack, sat a dragon egg. Decades of malnourishment had left the remaining dragons infertile, or so mankind had come to think. That was, until my father discovered a nest a little over a mile from my home.

  I had been told of a place on the other side of Manchester, up in the mountains, called the Church of Fire. This place was built up of radical religious nuts that saw the dragons as the second coming of Jesus or other rubbish along those lines. People spoke of a man in the cult called Mogbane – a man who had managed to raise a dragon from birth as his own. He is said to be able to fly high in the skies like god himself atop of one of these dragons. This is where I was taking the egg. I knew that these people would pay a handsome price for such a rarity. Here, I could trade the egg for enough supplies to buy myself access to the Legion of Light. The largest, safest community in all the land. They were said to live in a vast system of underground tunnels, completely sealed off from the outside world. I didn’t know the details of their organisation, or even where they were based; but I knew this was the only place I could hope to find permanent safety. That is why I am partaking in this quest. I know I’ll get it done, one way or another – or die trying. That is how I will survive the Charred Lands.

  CHAPTER ONE

  My stomach grumbled for the second time in the past hour. I knew it was time for me to take a break, find somewhere to sit down and try to decide just how much of my ever dwindling supplies I could bring myself to eat. I was down to one last bottle of water and a final piece of bread which had been given to me by the newly elected governess of Warrington. The supplies given to me had been intended to last me until Manchester, but I had gotten through them far quicker than I had anticipated – I guess that was down to my lack of restraint – and I was beginning to worry about my long term plan. Having no food or water out here would surely be a death sentence.

  I had been walking down a long motorway for the best part of the day. The road was littered with countless burnt out cars and lorries, I scanned them as I passed in a desperate attempt to find any supplies – but all that waited for me inside of the vehicles were the long decayed corpses of those that had died trying to flee in their cars. Most of the cars appeared to have already been broken into. I had spent the day walking in a single line between the two rows of cars that had been heading out of Manchester when they became gridlocked. It had been a relatively uneventful walk, but then I heard them - voices in the distance. I immediately stopped dead in my tracks and listened out. This had been the first time I had come across humans since I fled the war torn town of Warrington, it filled me with mixed emotions. Part of me desperately wanted to run towards them and rejoice in the chance to strike up a conversation with another living human being – then the Charred Lander inside of me spoke. It reminded me of my past experiences with strangers; soon the urge to introduce myself to them subsided. Instead, I quietly slipped off the road and began creeping in the high grass along the motorway, ever vigilant for signs of the mysterious voices. It was refreshing to hear my feet land on grass – I had long grown tired of hearing the sounds of glass smash under each step. The road had been lined with a sheet of tiny glass pieces from the countless broken car windows and headlights, all of which glimmered in the sun of the orange skies.

  I crept through the waist high grass for around five minutes before the owners of the voices came into view. I immediately came to a standstill and knelt down just a little bit lower. Ahead of me, I could see a group of four; each dressed in black leather, all of them looked intimidating. They looked tough - they looked like survivors. I decided to stay put and listen out in hopes of trying to catch a bit of their conversation; I figured it might give me a heads up as to how desperately I should be trying to avoid these people. I listened for a few moments before any of them said anything of interest, “We’re not to kill them” I heard the only woman of the group say she seemed authoritative, her voice was thick with confidence and power. She strutted around a certain car like an animal stalking its pray – only then did I notice the young couple cowering away inside, “Even the boy?” I heard a skinny, bald man snigger as he too circled the car, almost skipping with joy. Each of the foursome had a weapon of some kind – the woman had a small sawn off shotgun, whilst the others had various melee weapons, both of the blunt and sharp variety. A cold shiver ran down my spine. It was hard to make anything out about the people trapped inside the car – I was however, able to sus a few facts. I could tell that it was a boy and girl – they couldn’t have been much older than myself; they were scared, and were defenceless. The people circling their car meant them harm.

  “Even the boy. We’ve been given strict orders to retrieve them, Bloodhound will decide what to do with them once they’re back.” The woman instructed.

  “I can’t wait to see what he has planned for them. He’ll skin them, or cook them alive. Maybe even both.” The scrawny, bald one replied.

  “I’m sure he will. Either way, we’re going to have one hell of a show on our hands when we get them back.”

  For a few moments I remained knelt in the high grass, listening to the group of four marauders taunt the defenceless couple in the car. I was completely torn; part of me wanted to charge in, all guns blazing and rescue them – but the other part of me kept me rooted to the spot. I thought hard about the time when I was in a similar situation. It had been Conrad who had come to my rescue when I had found myself hostage to a pair of maniacs; but I was no Conrad – He had lived his entire life in the Charred Lands, he was a tough, dependable survivor. He had killed countless men in his life. That simply wasn’t me. Never had I gunned a man down or ended someone’s life – I still didn’t know if I had it in me. There was nothing I could do for the pair – they belonged to their tormentors now.

  CHAPTER TWO

  It sickened me to continue on creeping down the side of the motorway, leaving the frightened couple to their fate, but it was my only option. I couldn’t risk getting myself killed over somebody I didn’t know. It was hard to imagine that I was possibly their last hope of survival; but I had to put myself first. After all, selflessness got you killed – just ask Conrad that.

  Before long, their voices faded into the distance as I headed further on down the side of the motorway. It wasn’t until the sounds completely disappeared into the distance that I dared return to the road. I figured I should pay heed to the young couple – it was likely that they too had been minding their own business, simply heading down the motorway before crossing paths with the wrong sorts – but the prospect of finding some invaluable supplies was far too tempting to avoid going back onto the road. I hesitantly stepped back onto the motorway, double checking I was out of sight before continuing on.

  I couldn’t shake the couple from the back of my mind, no matter how
hard I tried. I did my best to focus on searching for supplies in the burnt out vehicles but it did no good. I kept replaying the image of the scared pair, imagining what would have happened if I had decided to save them. Suddenly, the thoughts passed to the back of my mind when I caught a glimpse of something shiny in a nearby car. I squinted to try and make out what it was, before beginning to make my way over. I was less than two steps away from it when I felt a sharp, thin piece of glass pierce my shoe and bury itself in the sole of my foot. I instantly let out a cry of pain as I hopped around on one foot, placing a hand on the car for support. Though the pain coursing through my foot was immense, I still managed to peer inside the vehicles musty windows to get a good look at the object. It was an old Coke can, nothing of value. I cursed myself for getting injured over something so worthless before finally trying to place some weight on my foot. Instantly, I almost collapsed to the floor in shock. The glass was still lodged in my foot. Slowly, and with great difficulty, I limped off the motorway once again.

  I collapsed against a tree a few feet off the road to inspect my wound. I carefully placed my backpack aside and slowly unlaced my scraggy old boots and slipped them off my foot. Instantly a puddle of blood poured out. I looked away as I began to feel a little light headed – I couldn’t help but hate myself for still finding this stuff off putting.

  The wound didn’t look half as bad as I had been expecting it too – the piece of glass must have been no larger than a small pencil. With gritted teeth, I reached for the tip of the glass – which still protruded from the sole of my foot, placed my fingers around it, and pulled. I did my best not to scream as I pulled all two inches of glass out of my foot. It had really buried itself in. I tossed the glass away as though it had been an active grenade. It landed just short of the motorway – that’s when I spotted them.