The Charred Lands: Apocalypse of Fire Page 12

  We stopped at what had once been a library, where Lynette ordered us inside. Upon entering, I couldn’t help but be amazed by its interior. It was a large, single story building – I could tell that this one was particularly older than most of the others around it. The walls were lined with countless books that must have been nearing two hundred years old. The pages would have been filled with stories and tales of a world before the Rise. I wanted so badly to quietly slip one of the books into my bag, but I feared the consequences should I be caught. The heads on spikes were a harsh reminder of what this place was capable of doing to wrong doers.

  “So, this is your headquarters?” Conrad laughed as we were directed to our seats; he too had been admiring the building as we walked through the quiet, dusty library.

  “It sure is. I remember all the time we spent here; growing up, reading books about all kinds of things.” Lynette smiled, showing her softer side. That confirmed my suspicion that she and Conrad had history – but I didn’t suspect it being that long! They were both looked to be in their fifties, meaning there was a good chance that they actually visited this place before The Rise. Back when the world was, ‘normal’.

  “Ah, those were the days.” Conrad said, with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “I couldn’t think of a better place to set up – I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been damaged during all these years of hardship too. There are countless books here for me to refer to. Everything from this history of warfare, to local maps I can study to help me getting the upper hand on the Saviour of Man.”

  “It’s quite fitting.” He laughed, placing Lizzie down in a seat before taking one for himself around a large wooden table. The chairs were taller than me, fitted with fine, well-kept leather to boot. I helped myself to a chair besides Lizzie. Lynette sat down across the table from us. For a few moments we remained in utter silence. Conversation was sporadic and only ever really included Conrad and Lynette, neither me nor Lizzie said a word for the entire hour we spent inside the library. They spoke of years gone by, spent in Warrington together. In a way, I enjoyed sitting and listening to the pair reminisce about what it was like to grow up in Warrington. It gave me a whole new understanding of what life outside of Haven had been like. I was a little disappointed when one of Lynette’s troops arrived to inform us that our house had been set up and prepared for us.

  We quickly said goodbye to Lynette and headed for our temporary home for the night – by now it was nearing dark, yet still the sounds of gunfire within Warrington rang out. I didn’t feel safe here, not one bit. I couldn’t imagine myself being able to sleep with the constant warfare raging on outside; I could only hope that it would subside come nightfall.

  We were lead to a large, detached house just around the corner from the library. The walk was a short one, but it gave me another opportunity to survey the streets of Warrington and get a bit of first-hand experience as to what the streets were really like. Still, even as the dwindling hours of the day passed by, hundreds of people busied themselves preparing for whatever was coming. I could tell by the faces of the make shift soldiers that these people were scared. Something told me they didn’t expect to win this war.

  Upon arrival at the house, I was surprised to find just how clean the place actually was, despite likely being abandoned for such a lengthy amount of time. It was quite a large building – nowhere near the size that the farm house back at haven had been – but it was big enough to give me and my two companions their own bedroom. With hardly a single word Conrad tucked Lizzie up in her room, before bidding me goodnight and disappearing inside his own.

  I spent a while wondering around the house, trying to picture what it would have been like to live here before The Rise. It filled me with a great sadness. Being in this building, or even walking the streets of Warrington filled me with a hollow feeling inside. It reminded me that there had been a world before the Charred Lands, a normal world full of comforts and luxuries. It pained me to know that I had missed out on all these things. Suddenly I was filled with a great sense of motivation. That life can still be achieved out here, or so I hoped. And the one place that seemed likely to be able to provide this was simple – the Legion of Light. This made me more determined than ever to reach the Church of Fire and exchange my precious egg for the goods that would grant me entrance to the Legion.

  I eventually stumbled off to bed – I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

  Chapter Nineteen

  An explosion awoke me from my sleep. I almost shot out of bed as the room around me shook. I grabbed my precious backpack and charged into the hallway. Already Conrad was returning from Lizzie’s room, with her strapped to his back as usual.

  “What’s happening?” I frantically asked, my eyes still stung from the abrupt wake up call.

  “Looks like the Saviour’s are bombarding the town. You slept through the first few hits; they weren’t too close but that one was way too close for comfort. I’ve already got all our stuff, I’m ready to leave.” Conrad said, making his way downstairs. I had no option but to follow him.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Get the hell out of here. No where’s safe if they’re bombing us.” He yelled, charging outside. After a brief check to ensure that I hadn’t left anything in the house, I followed. The streets were filled with panicked people running back and forth, some seeking shelter, others seeking action. It didn’t take long for me to find Conrad making his way over to Lynette. She stood atop of a chair in the middle of the street, with an army no fewer than a hundred men strong standing before her. I couldn’t believe how quickly they had amassed so many people, all with their own weapons and gear. They were preparing for something big here.

  “Just in time.” She called out for all to hear as our trio reached her group of makeshift soldiers.

  “What’s going on?”

  “We’re getting ready to attack. Are you helping us or not?” She asked.

  “Yes.” He simply replied, before turning to face me.

  “You’re coming with me too, Zach. Lizzie is staying here, but you… I want you by my side.” He said. I felt my stomach drop as the words left his mouth. After everything he had done for me, I couldn’t possibly say no, yet every ounce of my being was screaming for me to tell him where to stick it. Reluctantly, I nodded my head.

  “Wait, you can’t just leave me here!” Lizzie protested.

  “It’s where you’ll be safe. I won’t stand a chance out there with you strapped to my back.”

  “Will somebody escort this girl back to her house?” Lynette said, caring not for Lizzie’s pleads. Conrad carefully unstrapped the girl, before handing her over to a pair of volunteers who, between the pair of them, started to quickly transport her back to the house. I could see the pain on her face, but she didn’t protest too much – she understood.

  “Wait!” I said, running over to her.

  “Keep hold of this please… just in case.” I said, hanging her my backpack. She gave me a half smile before whispering in my ear, “Good luck.” She simply said, before the two soldiers took her away. Though I didn’t like leaving the egg under the protection of others, a young crippled girl no less, but I knew it was for the best. If I really was about to march into a battle, I couldn’t risk the egg being harmed in anyway.

  Still, somewhere in the distance explosions seemed to sound out. I saw a large crater just outside of the house that we had been staying it, it looked fresh – and I hadn’t noticed it last night. I couldn’t believe how close a missile had landed from the place I had been sleeping. Perhaps luck was on my side, that’s if I still believed in luck anyway.

  Conrad and I quickly joined forces with the band of riff raff survivors. A quick scan around confirmed that this was no army, it was more of a militia; built up of all kinds of people; small, tall, fat, thin, tough, weak, and everything in between. The weapons on show weren’t great. Mostly handguns, whilst a few had bolt action rifles; I noticed very few automatic wea
pons between the squad. Everyone turned to face Lynette as she cleared her throat at the front of the pack.

  “Today, you’re all going to embark on a very important mission. I feel that finally, the time is right for us to launch counter attacks – and that’s what we shall do. It will be the last thing that they expect from us. These bastards think that they can just take our town! Murder our family and slaughter our children in the streets like animals! We cannot let this stand. We will not let this stand!” She cried to her troops. They ate up every word that left her mouth. All around me people began cheering and chanting like a pack of wild animals, intent on tearing their enemy apart. I exchanged a nervous look with Conrad.

  “I’ve devised a plan of action. One of my most trusted generals, Maximus Heath will be in charge of today’s operations.” She said, gesturing to one of the three men standing beside her. There was something a little different about these guys, they seemed to stand out from the rest of the riff raff of Warrington; Maximus particularly. He stood around a foot taller than the rest of the people standing by Lynette’s side. He may even have rivalled Conrad for height. His rough, wrinkled face bore no emotion. His clothes were clean and well kept, a rarity in Warrington it seemed. His hair was well trimmed, and a stylish moustache kept his top lip warm. He looked tough, and most importantly: confident. Knowing that we would be charging into battle behind this man gave me a great deal of confidence.

  “Come on then, follow me!” Maximus bellowed out as Lynette stepped down from her chair. With that, the large squad began to follow their new leader.

  “Stick by my side out there.” Conrad whispered to me as we began our march through the streets of Warrington. From all around us, women, children and men not fit to fight, or left behind to defend the streets cheered us on.

  “I won’t fucking leave it, don’t worry.” I laughed, nervously.

  “Aye, you’re the new guys, right?” I heard a quiet, whimpish voice call out from behind. Much to my dismay, I found it to be Carl, the lad who was part of the trio that captured us yesterday.

  “Yeah.” Conrad said, without so much as looking at the boy.

  “My dad and brother aren’t fighting today… I don’t really know any of these people. Can I stick with you?” He timidly asked, struggling to keep up with us between the rows and rows of militia.

  “Stick with Zachary.” Conrad said, still looking ahead.

  “Sure, I’ll look after him if that’s what you want.”

  “I don’t need looking after.” I snapped, a little offended.

  “I didn’t mean anything by it, I just, well…”

  “Just keep quiet.” I said, and with that, Carl fell silent.

  I stuck close to Conrad, and Carl stuck close to me as our army of around a hundred makeshift soldiers matched across Warrington town centre, away from the main populated area. The sounds of explosions and gunfire drifted into the distance as we passed through one of the large manned gates and left the town’s makeshift walls. We marched for around about an hour, heading in a westerly direction until we suddenly came to a standstill, ahead of us, Maximus held his hand up to bring us to a stop as he scanned ahead.

  “Alright, we’re in line with their forces. They’re a little under a mile away from us now – they won’t be expecting us, so I want to keep this as quiet as possible for as long as possible, understand?” Maximus called out to the troops. Several people gave hushed cheers whilst others simply nodded their heads.

  “From now on I don’t want to hear any talking.” He added, before continuing our march. I whispered good luck to Conrad before following.

  This final march seemed to take an eternity. With each passing minute I could feel everyone around me grow more anxious, the confidence in their mission had quickly dwindled as we neared the enemy. From what I had heard from the other men chatting, we didn’t have any intel – we had no idea how well equipped they were, how large their forces were, or even where exactly they were. All we had was a general location and a simple goal; destroy every single Saviour of Man troop that we came across.

  Finally, we reached the edge of the town. Just like I had crossed the day before, there was a large main road, followed by what looked to be miles of woodland. Somewhere, inside the thick, condensed trees was our enemy. Just like the one on the other side of town, the road was lined with destroyed, burnt out cars.

  Suddenly, as I stepped onto the road, I began to feel vulnerable. Conrad had done his best to try and keep us away from the front of the pack, should we be ambushed, but even here, some ten or so rows deep into the pack, I felt ready to feel a bullet whizz through the air and strike me dead. I scanned the treeline ahead, desperately looking for any enemy movement, snipers or mounted machine guns were what I feared the most. But as we reached the halfway point in the road, I still hadn’t seen a single glimmer of movement.

  “Hold up.” Maximus called from ahead, sending a cold shiver down my spine. The entire company came to a standstill whilst Maximus scanned ahead. I hated him at that moment, for making us come to a standstill, right out here in the open.

  From nowhere a gunshot rang out. I, and everyone around me hit the deck. I felt shards of glass pierce my skin as I hugged the ground. All around me the sound of gunfire broke out. I managed to lift my head to scan the treeline ahead. Just a few feet in front of me, I saw Maximus Heath hit the floor, blood pumping from the gaping hole in his forehead. The treeline was different now. Rows and rows of enemies cling to the trees for cover and they began opening fire on the squad. All around me people jumped and ran for cover behind the burnt out cars. I scanned around for Conrad, or even Carl, but I saw neither.

  I scanned the unfamiliar faces of the Warrington militia as they returned fire on the treeline. Man after man took a bullet and hit the floor in a puddle of blood. All around me the road was becoming lined with still, unbreathing bodies.

  “Look out!” I heard a familiar voice scream from my left, I turned just in time to see Carl jump for cover in my direction as a missile landed behind him. The explosion shook the ground and sent men flying into the air, consuming them in flames. Most of Carl landed some twenty feet away, whilst his left leg struck my own. I gagged and quickly chucked the severed limb away, only then did I see Conrad peering out from a behind a car.

  “Keep your head down!” He yelled to me. The body of a young boy, not much older than me collapsed besides me. Blood pouring from a bullet hole between his eyes like a red fountain. His dead, unblinking eyes seemed to stare into my soul. I forced myself to look away from the boy, staring instead at Conrad. He tentatively peered over the hood of the car before ducking back down.

  “There’s too many of them, all around the tree line. We don’t stand a chance!” He yelled to me. Still, people from Warrington tried to continue across the road, but most were cut down before they even made it half way. All around me people continued to drop to the ground, riddled in bullet holes. The ground turned red with the blood of my fallen makeshift comrades, and before long, the battleground fell near silent. I scanned my surroundings, still, a few brave soldiers continued to jump out of cover to fire off a few shots before ducking back behind a car. From my view, I could see at least twenty men cowering behind vehicles, occasionally popping back up to fire a few shots away. Behind me, I spotted a few men trying to run back to Warrington in cowardice, only to be shot down – by their own men. I watched as a man that had spent the most of the journey stood beside me aim his rifle and place a bullet into the back of a man who had tried to retreat.

  “We fight to the last man!” He screamed, before a bullet struck him in the stomach, he collapsed onto a couple of fallen comrades, moaning with pain as he bled out; before long he fell silent and motionless.

  “Can you crawl to me?” Conrad asked, the pain from the broken glass embedded in my left arm began to increase.

  “There’s too much glass to crawl!” I almost cried, feeling like the stranded child I really was. I couldn’t believe how fast
this entire plan had fallen apart. I knew it was going to be a deadly, risky mission, but never would I have predicted that this would have happened. I scanned the highway, dozens upon dozens of bodies littered it as the last remaining fighters took a bullet and joined the carpet of corpses around me.

  “Retreat!” I finally heard a voice call out from somewhere on the body riddled road. The order was about five minutes too late, already the majority of our forces had been slain. From where I was lay, I could now make out no more than ten soldiers still standing, all of which cowering behind their own vehicle. The battle – our slaughter – had only lasted but five minutes.

  “Don’t move, Zachary. I’m coming to get you.” Conrad yelled, despite the risks. Every time one of our people tried to turn and run back to Warrington, a hail of bullets were sent in their direction, more often than not hitting their target. Now that our forces had been reduced to near nothing, the enemy only had to wait us out and pick us off one by one.

  “No, I can crawl…” I said, but before I had even finished talking, Conrad was on his feet and charging towards me. Instantly gunfire from the woods broke out. I heard bullets striking the cars all around me. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the mammoth of a man charged through the bloodbath. He jumped over a corpse, his grey, shaggy hair bouncing with every stride, he had a look of pure determination on his face as he charged in my direction. I stared into his eyes, they didn’t show fear, only valour – until something in his face changed; mid charge, a bullet tore into Conrad’s left arm, blood shot from the wound like a sprinkler, yet he hardly so much as broke stride. Conrad was a machine. A man on a mission, determined to do anything to help us survive…