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thelordofthepenblog-blog · 8 years

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The Future is Here!

“The future is now!” proclaimed the damaged billboard. “Let Reinhald Tech guide you to it!”

Murphy looked around him, then turned to us. “Can I get a ticket to the past instead?”

Serena snorted. Regi actually broke his normally stoic demeanor to smile. Even I had to laugh. It wasn’t often Murphy cracked a joke anymore, not since his dog was ravaged by a basilisk four months back, but it was always nice when he did so.

“Well you could get one,” Serena replied, “but I think the train’s out.”

This was met by a few more chuckles, but these were strained, forced. Laughs to get the dark out of us, even if only for a little while.

We left the billboard with its slogan and the three corpses that swayed from its bottom. None of us could make out anything definitive about them, and we weren’t about to take a closer look. We resumed our walk down the highway, passing the rusted, ruined cars that littered its asphalt surface, always alert.

The sun was beginning to set by the time I turned to Regi and asked, “Anyplace to set up camp for the night so we don’t have to sleep out in the open?” I indicated the vast desert that stretched on and on in either direction.

The massive man pulled a map from his knapsack and unfolded it. It was old, crumbled, and made of paper, of all things. But it was our lifeline, the only thing keeping us from wandering aimlessly across the wastes. Without it we would be lost to an ambush by bandits or monsters or old robots.

And sometimes, late at night, we would huddle around Regi as he pulled the map out of his bag and just look at it, wondering what it was like to live Before…

“There’s an old gas station another few miles up the road. Assuming it’s abandoned, we can rest there.”

“And in the event it’s not…” Murphy pumped his shotgun and grinned at us.

We walked in silence until the gas station finally came into view. The moonhalf was finally coming into view in the sky ahead of us, and we got down to the ground to avoid detection. We couldn’t be sure if anyone was there, but it was best to keep the element of surprise.

Serena went first, darting under the cars and deftly avoiding anything I probably would have tripped over. I lost sight of her quickly, but Murphy led us along quietly, telling us to step where he stepped.

We were halfway down the highway when Serena rejoined us, appearing as swiftly as she had disappeared. “There’s an old man in there. He’s alone, but he’s armed.”

“With what?” Regi asked sharply.

“Only a pistol, but I saw plenty of tripwires around the parking lot and gasoline pumps. He’s probably rigged them to explode.”

“So do we keep going?” Murphy asked.

Regi shook his head. “I saw no other buildings on the map for miles. Unless we come upon a settlement, this station is the best we’ve got.”

“So what’s the plan?” Serena asked.

“Why don’t we talk to him?” The other three looked at me with annoyance, and I shrank back. “It was just a suggestion…”

“That might fly back where you come from, but not out here,” Murphy said, his normally jovial tone replaced with something cold. “Here, it’s kill or be killed. Buster learned that the hard way.”

Serena and Regi nodded, but I frowned. It didn’t have to be like that…

“If we set off the pumps, it’ll destroy the station and give everyone in the whole state a beacon to find us,” Regi said.

Serena hefted her sniper rifle. “I only have five rounds, but I can take him out from here.”

“We’ll use that as a last resort,” Regi replied. “We may need those bullets later. Murphy, you and the kid circle around the back. If you can find a way in, go and kill the old man. If not, come tell me and we’ll come up with another plan.”

Murphy nodded, grabbed my arm, and we set off. I swallowed as we left the safety of the road and into the unpredictable nature of the surrounding desert.

“The future is now,” I muttered. Shit, I missed my old home…

#postapocalyptic #story #technicallyscifi

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blossomcushions · 8 years

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