《West And Further》


 Chapter One

    Chapter One


    1st November 2040


    All my senses are fried and I think I need sleep.


    Nuewark


    01.11.2040


    The air was so cold, it almost cracked upon the tall redwoods that surrounded the compounds; a derelict area composed of nothing but rusted metal and abandoned buildings which had been quarantined for over a year. The once elegant and majestic scenery now aching and groaning with despair and torn asunder by the rough winter that had settled over the country. In these freezing temperatures, you had to be either stupid or holding a death wish to step foot into them. Yet still, two very important people were about to meet under such circumstances.


    Barry E. Mitchell stumbled upon the dying embers of a woman¡¯s campfire. The female was almost frozen stiff beneath her red duffle coat. Even her wild hair was stiff like icicles under the rabbit-fur trim of the hood. The two glared at one another, not exchanging a word for some time. It was the woman that spoke firstly, her voice as small and scared as the woodmouse that was dead at her feet.


    ¡°Don''t tell me. You''re here to kill me,¡± she asked. It felt more like a statement rather than a question.


    ¡°Actually, I came to loot you and leave you to the wolves,¡± Barry replied sarcastically which went unnoticed.


    ¡°Jeez, thanks¡­¡±


    ¡°I was kidding,¡± said Barry as he shifted in the log to get comfortable. ¡°I''m Barry, and I''m definitely not here to loot you or kill you.¡±


    ¡°Then, why are you here?¡± she was a curious one.


    ¡°I''m heading west, passing here was purely coincidental.¡± Barry shrugged his shoulders like they weighed that of a bison. Heavy, and tense.


    ¡°And what''s there?¡±


    Of course, Barry couldn''t tell her what was there. It was a safe haven, away from any virus, with clean water and food at the ready. But he didn''t trust her. Nor did he trust the source of the information.


    ¡°I can''t tell you.¡±


    ¡°Why, you don''t trust me?¡±


    ¡°That, and I don''t trust the source of the information either.¡±


    She replied with a roll of her eyes which only suggested her boredom. The silence after that became deafening. No birds sang. No wolves howled. The only sound that split the icy air was the crackles of the dying fire, and the females laboured breathing. It was only when she had lent forward to grab a bag that Barry noticed the open wound on her arm. It looked bad, from what he could see; even the arm of the duffle coat had been torn and was soaked with browned blood.


    ¡°How¡¯d you?¡± Barry asked and leant forward to examine it. It was his second nature, due to his previous training in the special forces. Yet this female lurched back as if he was a sharp object hurtling toward her.


    ¡°I fell.¡± Her voice wavered. ¡°I fell, and now I''m in agony. My whole fucking body hurts, I wouldn¡¯t mind if you killed me right now, put me out of my misery ¡®n all that.¡± She reached back toward the bag, this time she pulled out an outdated protein bar and handed it to Barry. Barry took it reluctantly, unsure of what to make of it.


    ¡°Uh. Thanks?¡±


    ¡°Just take it. I¡¯ve had plenty.¡± She wriggled a little and poked the bubbling embers with a stick. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re not poisoned. Promise.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief.¡± Barry cracked a smile. Her humour was starting to blossom beautifully, she was starting to come out of her shell. Barry couldn¡¯t decide if that was a good thing.


    ¡°You never told me your name?¡± Barry enquired as he opened the protein bar packaging and took a bite.


    ¡°Felicity. But everyone calls me Fizz.¡± She shrugged gently and looked back up to Barry.


    ¡°Fizz?¡± Barry raised his eyebrows and discarded the rest of the protein bar in the nearest bush. Tasted like shit.


    ¡°Mhhm.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a prostitutes name. Anyway, what are you doing all the way out here? Alone.¡± Barry broke a few sticks into halves to throw onto the fire, hoping to ignite the flames again. In his fire igniting duties, he didn¡¯t realise that Fizz had blanked out, her grey eyes gazing into the white of the snow. Her skin just as pale. Her breathing shallow as she recalled the past.


    Barry got the fire burning stronger and looked back up to Fizz with a questioning expression. ¡°Felicity?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± she looked back to him, her chest still heaving and her hands trembling, either from the bitter chill or the terrifying memories that ran over her fragile mind.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.¡°What are you doing out here?¡± Barry asked again, his brows furrowed with concern.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Her bottom lip trembled as she shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    ¡°Right. Sorry.¡± Barry apologised calmly. ¡°Look. Fizz. Did you want to come with me? At least come with me till I find shelter. Then you can decide what you want to do. But right now, you will freeze to death before the sun rises tomorrow.¡± Barry moved across the log to sit a little closer.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point? There¡¯s nothing left, not anymore.¡± Fizz looked down to her hands. She would probably be crying right now if it wasn¡¯t so cold.


    ¡°Fizz. I¡¯ve lost everything, just like you. But I¡¯m still pushing forward. I need to. You can¡¯t just give up.¡± Barry urges, feeling a sense of empathy toward her, even if she was still a stranger to him.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll come.¡± She seemed to sense that they were both victims of the accident and after some internal deliberation decided to join him on the quest to find shelter for the night. The conditions were so bad now what once was lightish had all but disappeared under the blanket of snow. Falling so heavy that you could only just about see the breath of each other in front of you.


    The pair packed up the items they removed from their respective bags and attached them back to their shoulders. They were prepared to make headway to find shelter for the night. Barry took charge of the general location he seemed to think he found an abandoned cabin a few hundred yards back and was scouting the area when he happened upon Fizz. The trail was fairly treacherous, even in daylight, the path would be difficult to navigate. The path was just about one footstep wide, scattered branches and roots were protruding out the ground like wooden bear traps, waiting to ensnare helpless victims walking amongst them. Every so often, Barry looked over his shoulder to make sure Fizz was still following, but he could see no further than an arm''s length behind him. So, he relied on the exchange of voices to guide her onto the right path. He wasn¡¯t really sure in his mind what he was expecting, this was the first human interaction he has come across in a long time.


    ¡°I¡¯m still here, don¡¯t worry!¡± Her voice pierced through the thick snow and jagged branches.


    ¡°Not much further! It¡¯s just on top of this hill, I saw it earlier on my way through. Just keep following my voice if you can!¡± Barry shouted.


    Their muscles burned from the incline, despite it being bitterly cold. Every step was exhausting, testing their bodies under the extreme conditions, evident by their laboured, rasping breaths.


    The cabin appeared suddenly from the white pages of the snow, forming solidly in front of their eyes. They didn¡¯t care for the rusted sheet metal roofing or rotting wood. Shelter was shelter after all. Once inside, a pungent smell stang their nostrils. Knowing there was no alternative they both knew that they would have to find the source of the smell and clear it. As they walked through the wooden hallway into what seemed the living area they noticed the partly decomposed carcass. They couldn¡¯t make out what it was, only that it was some kind of mammal from the remnants of fur and prominent canine teeth. Fizz couldn¡¯t handle it.


    Barry headed back out into the hallway and went on the search to find something to help remove the body. Outside, he found a shovel blanked with snow. A little rusty, but it would do. Once back inside he approached the deceased animal and proceeded to try and scoop it up which he found difficult as the blood had thickened and congealed like glue against the wooden flooring. Fizz stood outside retching violently. This job was a man¡¯s job.


    After a heated disagreement with the animal and some forceful persuasion, it finally became unstuck from the flooring. Even to Barry¡¯s strong disposition, this made him gag when a juicy wriggling intestine landed on his foot. He didn¡¯t want to notice it was crawling with maggots which were dropping onto the floor like raindrops, but it was difficult to ignore. He gingerly walked the carcass out the cabin door and threw it as far away as possible, narrowly missing Fizz.


    ¡°Eww, dude! A maggot hit me!¡± Fizz groaned and threw up once again. Barry couldn¡¯t hide the small snigger of amusement.


    Once back inside he proceeded to open up all possible ventilation to air out the wretched stink, and when it was safer, Fizz entered again, more cautiously this time.


    ¡°Is it gone?¡± Fizz asked from around the corner of the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s gone,¡± Barry confirmed, biting his bottom lip to stifle a laugh.


    ¡°You think this is funny, don¡¯t you ?¡± Fizz mumbled and dropped some sticks into the cobblestone fireplace.


    ¡°No, it was disgusting, even for me. But your reaction was a little funny.¡± Barry admitted and slung his backpack to the floor to dig in search of his matches. He had a collection of around four boxes of one-hundred matches. Matches were useful, especially in these temperatures.


    ¡°A Little funny?¡±


    ¡°Just a little¡­¡±

 Chapter Two

    Chapter Two


    10.03.2020


    Hinckly


    ¡°Barry!¡± A thunderous voice cracked the silence, Barry shuddered he recognised that voice.


    ¡°I''m awake¡± he replied his voice a little croaky from the rough night''s sleep.


    He led there a few moments his head rested on a square object under a thin sheet-like blanket they called covers, people always wanted to work for the organisation he was working for. The great Mr Smith the legend himself, the one who funded and founded the cure for cancer. Mr Smith was a unique individual, a monstrous 6 foot 10, his jet black hair slicked back, dark eyes that were almost black and scruffy beard.


    He was wearing his usual attire, dark navy suit white buttoned shirt and a purple tie. staring into the room through the double-sided window that surrounded the ¡®jail¡¯ Barry was trapped in. Barry slid his feet towards his chest and hung them lifelessly over the edge of the bed and proceeded to sit upright. everything was a struggle and these wake-up calls is something you never get used to.


    After a few moments, Barry was up and ready to leave his cell, the automatic door whooshed open and allowed Barry into the pitch white corridors to start his day. Barry always did hate those corridors, they drained the energy out of him. no windows so you couldn''t tell the time of day nor what the season was completely isolated.


    He headed down the thin walkway to another automatic door labelled ¡®Operation X¡¯ then disappeared from line of sight as the door closed behind him.


    02.11.2040


    Barry woke up first, the sunrise beaming through the broken half hinged window of the cabin they had taken refuge in the night before. The freak snowstorm from the previous day seemed to have ended and left a mountain of snow layered deep on the floor weighing heavily down upon everything. Barry made his way downstairs and back out the front door to the outhouse to get some more wood for the fire. Once back inside he started piling the items into the fireplace and lit it with one of his many matches. The fire crackled and hummed nicely and let out a lovely gust of heat that filled the living area.


    Barry went into the kitchen on the hunt for some eating utensils of some sort, he had found a wooden chopping board and some plastic forks in the cupboard, he took them back into the living area and placed them on the old looking table. He reached into his bag and pulled out a brown paper bag, quite a big looking bag it seemed to have been sealed shut. He opened the ration bag and pulled out some cheese and some crackers and laid them out on the chopping board.


    Fizz had started to stir. The heat of the fire must have woken her from her slumber, Barry looked to the living room door and as if by magic there she was, pink hair floating everywhere, eyes wrinkled with crows feet, a yawn so big you could make out her wisdom teeth.


    ¡°Good morning, sleepy head,¡± Barry teased with a smirk on his face, Fizz met his gaze and proceeded to grunt at his comment. ¡°I took the liberty to make us breakfast, come and join me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather poke my eyes out with one of those plastic forks¡­¡± she mumbled and gripped her arm that was now oozing painfully with yellow puss.


    ¡°You should really let me take a look at that arm of yours,¡± Barry suggested quite firmly, slightly raising his eye level to meet Fizz''s.


    ¡°Why? So you can poke it and hurt me? Just find a saw and take the damn thing off¡­¡± someone was in a mood this morning, it seemed.


    Barry knew this one would not be easy to negotiate with.


    ¡°I won''t hurt you Fizz, I just want to help you I promise,¡± Barry said calmly, his voice soothing the atmosphere like an expensive scented candle that just sucked all the tension right out.


    Fizz sighed. A shrug pulled her shoulders up tightly. ¡°Fine, whatever. Do as you must, just... Don''t hurt me.¡±


    Upon closer inspection, Barry could see that the arm was broken, halfway between her elbow and wrist. It looked a lot worse than what it was the cuts were yellowing and scabbing a little this definitely happened some time ago. The wounds weren''t deep but lack of medical treatment made it appear quite severe. Barry left Fizz in the front room and went outside to a tree he could reach grabbed a couple of branches and ripped them off their host. He headed back inside to Fizz, reached into his bag and pulled out a little clear plastic bottle labelled ¡®emergency¡¯. He undid the cap and looked at Fizz


    ¡°This may sting a little. It will only hurt for a few seconds, I promise.¡±


    Fizz looked away as Barry poured the black coloured liquid over the open wound. She winced at the pain but like Barry said the pain was over and done within minutes. he grabbed the branches he had ripped off the tree and cleaned them with a penknife he revealed from a zip pocket in his rucksack. He had removed all of the outer layers of the bark and left a rough looking wood before he placed them against Fizz''s arm and marked the size needed using the knife, then proceeded to snap them roughly and placed them side by side on her arm. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Just hold these here for me please,¡± He asked Fizz


    He headed out of the room and returned with a bit of cloth that looked jagged and torn away from the sheets they had used the night before and proceeded to wrap it tightly against the sticks.


    ¡°It should be a little better in a few days,¡± Barry said gently tying the ends of the cotton together.


    Fizz could hardly believe her eyes. She stood there frozen like a deer in headlights, just completely overwhelmed by Barry''s actions. Two complete strangers and he''s treating her like she''s worth a million pounds. She tried everything to hide the water starting to brim her eyes.


    ¡°Should we eat? Our cheese is going cold.¡± Barry joked with a crooked smile on his face. They sat opposite each other and in a moment of pure innocence and beauty just ate their breakfast, the silence was deafening and only broken by the occasional crack of the open fire, Barry realised that in order to take shelter here for a couple of days the place would need some work on it. Some minor issues with the wood panels that exposed a hole near the windows and a few other things would need to be in order for them to survive the long cold nights. Barry knew he was running low on supplies, he managed to survive so far on what he had but with him and Fizz to look after they would soon run dry. He would need more food, wood for the panels and fire, some sort of lighting arrangement, clean up the kitchen and living area properly and remove the copious amounts of dead animal and flies that occupied their living space like a bad smell.


    Speaking of smells the cabin would need to be aired as well as the rotting smell of carcass still haunted their senses as they breathed in. Barry instructed Fizz to stay and rest her arm while he sourced out some essential resources for them to survive in the cabin for a few extra nights. He headed out the front door and onto the wooden porch of the cabin front which he could finally make out after last nights snow storm.


    To the right of him was an outhouse he collected firewood from, to the left of him a wooden shed that looked deserted and mistreated ¡®Bingo¡¯ Barry thought to himself. He already had intentions to tear down the shed. Nails, screws, and wood needed to make the establishment safer for the pair of them.


    It was not exactly going to be an easy task to collect the pieces of the shed, only armed with a pocket knife of which the blade had become jagged and rusty.


    Barry started to work on the shed, stripping the side panels first using nothing but strength and the knife as leverage he managed to remove the first slat. careful to not break any of the nails or wood. They wouldn''t need much just enough to fix little issues like the missing windows and rotted panels in some places. ¡®I wonder how Fizz is getting on¡¯ Barry thought to himself while removing another line of wood.


    The day was a bit warmer compared to yesterday, the layers of snow still there to remind them of the treacherous conditions they walked through yesterday. But hardly any of those fluffy marshmallows like clouds lined the blue sky above them today.


    Barry was leaking now, the hard work and strain ached his muscles, he felt the acid burning heavily in his shoulder and arms. Sweat dripping off his forehead almost flooding his eyes, his breathing heavy and exaggerated each one deep and forced.


    It felt like an age had passed but he finally had enough wood to make his way back to the cabin to help repair certain aspects of the place. They needed to work on the place as it beat freezing to death during the nights, Fizz''s condition wasn''t really great for travelling anyhow, she needed time to recover from the fall she had experienced earlier on in her journey.


    They would also need to find food and a source of clean water to survive but the main importance and key to people''s survival is a shelter. Barry had made it back to the cabin and secured the main entrance and reinforced the door to survive a little better. Fizz had curled up in the front room by the fire and seemed cosy, it looked like she had drifted off and was peacefully away with the fairies. Barry headed through the corridor and upstairs to the main bedroom area where he fixed up the windows and main walls that were rotting away.


    The sun was already heading west for the day, most of it preoccupied with reinforcing the cabin structure, it was starting to feel more home-like. Fizz awoke from her little slumber yawned massively, stretched and winced as her arm reminded her that it was hurt, she looked across to the other sofa.


    ¡°How long was I out for?¡± she muttered lethargically rubbing the sleep from her heavy eyes.


    ¡°A little while, judging from the sun¡¯s position I¡¯d say it¡¯s after midday¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan? What shall we do?¡± she enquired finally meeting Barry¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°We should probably find some food¡± Barry responded with the same calmness that convinced Fizz the first time to trust his intuition.


    They headed outside it took Fizz a while to get used to the radiance of the sun emanating its glorious glow down upon them. The pair veered off down the track and into the forest area carefully calculating where to step and how much noise to make. They were hunting for a rabbit or something of that size as it was just them eating they didn¡¯t want to kill something too big and waste it.


    Fizz¡¯s demeanor was tense and uptight, the thought of killing another animal to survive seemed to weigh heavily upon her. Not that she was a herbivore or naive in that sense, it seemed more that she never had to do this type of work before. Barry however completely opposite, relaxed calm and seemed focused on the task ahead ready to capture his prey with a moments notice.


    Barry came to a sudden stop by a tree engulfed in a bush like substance and crouched down, he signalled to Fizz to do the same. The pair sat there momentarily and just looked straight ahead in between the bushes and the trunk. Fizz finally saw it, an earthy, cinnamon brown deer, it appeared to be a youngling judging from its stature. It looked preoccupied with something on the forest floor sniffing and snorting around the bed of tree leaves that scattered across the floor like jigsaw pieces. Barry¡¯s senses were heightened and ready to spring into action, he was used to this all the training he did when younger allowed him to know what needed to happen.


    Barry reached down his right-hand side of his coat to his hip where a concealed blade was waiting, his calf muscles tensed with the preparation to pounce before he could even flinch a massive dog-like creature leapt onto the deer.


    The pasty ashen creature had grabbed this deer by the throat and its claws and weight seemed to crush it into the ground taking it completely off guard and killing it almost instantly. The wound in the neck had severed an artery and was spraying blood everywhere, a stream of blood had sprayed in Fizz¡¯s direction and landed on her, the scream she tried to unleash seemed caught, only for her to realise that Barry was covering her mouth and prevented her drawing attention of the animal to their presence.