Young Writers Society

Vin Deayer

As they ran out of the store, Vin wondered why he hadn't dumped the couple of boys during the fight. It would've been easy to get away, to leave them in their own problems and prioritise his own. But he hadn't done that, he had joined in and helped like the idiot he was, and now, apparently, he was meant to be leading them somewhere. He stopped on a footpath and waited for Jet and Gale to catch up before pointing to a city in the distance.
“We’ll head that way. There will be more shelter, and it’ll be safer.” It probably wouldn't, there'd be more gangs, and they'd be a lot more likely to be attacked, but they weren't about to stay there. Who knew when Gale's “friends” would be back. They weren't the type of people you fell in with easily. Or maybe they had been good people before the ash. Somehow Vin doubted it. As he set off, Gale followed, his rucksack on his back. Vin had managed to grab his satchel in the confusion, so still had his notebook and Lillie's teddy, and the few foodstuffs he had managed to finda at the very back of the cupboards, as well as an old knife. He wasn't sure how they were going to survive, or even if they were going to survive, but he wanted to find his family. They evidently weren't in the town they were leaving, so maybe the next one...

It'll take all day to get to the city, and as long as no one starts talking, it should be alright... Vin thought, sourly. Or rather, if they don't ask me questions. There had been enough questions for him earlier, so maybe it was his turn to ask.

"So, Gale." He started, looking over at the other boy. "Who were they? They seemed to know you."

Gale Wakeley

The wasteland before and behind him was a colorless desert, where the sky blurred into the dusty ground and it was hard to tell which way was he was walking. Multiple layers of old shirts and scarves were wrapped around his head and over his mouth, and he had been lucky enough to find an old beaten red ball hat, which he would duck his head against the gusts of dirty wind to protect his eyes. His dark skin, what little wasn't already covered, was lost to the naked eye by layers of filth and stinging ash. While the thick layers made him look like a slow moving giant, he knew that what was underneath was a malnourished and barren body, bruised and wary.

Vin was in the head, Gale in the middle, and Jet was tramping behind. There was no real destination they had in mind; thrown out and unable to return to the small town they had retreated in for a few days, they were set to wander in hope of finding some place else, hopefully some place with a bite to eat. Gale ducked his head down once more, a surprise miniature dust devil slapping them around for a few spare moments.

"So, Gale." He heard from ahead of him. "Who were they? They seem to know you."

Gale swallowed, using the wind as an excuse to not speak for a moment. Then, once the wind died down, he lifted his head and darted his eyes to Vin's back, and then to the boy's eyes as he turned around to eye him.

"They, uh, are some- used to be- some old friends of mine. Before." Gale hoped that would be a sufficient answer, but Vin's dark look said otherwise.

Gale sighed and continued. "We were really good friends- I think. I was with them when there was that large boom. Remember that?" Gale's vision unfocused as he lost himself in memory. He didn't wait for them to confirm what he had asked; he felt as if the words were desperately stumbling out of his mouth, and he couldn't stop it. "One of them- I didn't know him- had tried to run. We couldn't find his body when the falling ash thinned enough to go outside, but it's not like we tried. We got hungry, so Morgan- the redhead- came up with the idea to go over to the neighbors. He said we'd just take a few boxes of stuff, and that we should take bats to defend ourselves, and we had never starved, so we were so hungry... And we kept getting hungry, and it just kept getting worse and worse... I think I realized what had happened to us when a man tried to fight me, and I hit him. I had never hit anybody before. But I couldn't get the guts to stop us."

There was a moment of silence as the other boys digested his sudden burst of honesty. Then, from behind, Jet shouted, "Look, I think I see a city!"

Gale followed his finger to where he was pointing towards the skyline. He squinted, and a sudden gush of clean air revealed a fleeting image of the imprint of skyscrapers in the distance.

Jet

We've been walking for hours. though it seems maybe more than that. My legs hurt, and Gale and Vin are chatting away about Morgan and the fight. That had scared me, but not as much as when Vin told me to shut up before. Apparently my singing was annoying. I thought it was quite good, actually.
The city finally looms up around us, and my eyes rove around, looking for any signs of life. Vin holds up a hand and we stop. Both Gale and Vin move forward a couple of steps, looking around. They seem to be searching for something. Did they hear something?
A sound travels to my ears. A voice. At first I can't hear what is being said, because it sounds like a strangled scream. Gale backs up to me, standing protectively in front of me. I peer around him to see a figure burst out of a pharmacy.
Vin readies himself for a fight as the tall, slender figure with flaming, dirty red hair. Something seems familiar about the figure, but I don't figure out what it is until she speaks.
"Jet!"
My eyes almost pop out of their sockets. This girl knows my name? How is that possible? And then I see her face. Slim, underfed, but still as dazzling as I remember. I gasp, tears springing to my eyes, as I step around Gale and start running toward the girl. Toward my sister. Toward Kitty.
"Andraya!" I holler.
Vin barks a word of surprise and Gale calls me back, but I ignore them, my heart racing a million miles an hour. Andraya cannons into me and we go flying. She twists in the air so that she lands on her back. The air is knocked from my chest, and she makes an 'oof' sound, but she's smiling.
Tears continue to roll down my cheeks like a waterfall, plopping onto Andraya's face. She laughs and hugs me tight, trying to sit up at the same time. My heart is rattling in my ribcage, erratically thumping. I think I'm going to have a heart attack. Andraya manages to sit up and hugs me to her body tightly, her cheek squished against mine. I hug her back, sobbing into her gorgeous red hair.
Around me I can hear voices, people greeting each other and speaking. I block all sounds out, listening to Andraya sob and cry and murmur my name over and over again. I thought she'd died maybe. I know she thought the same. But somehow I knew, I just knew she was alive.
"You're alive," I manage between sobs. "I th-thought y-y-you were d-d-dead."
Andraya shakes her head, squeezing me painfully close at my words. "No. Never. I'm never leaving you again, Jet," she cries. "Never, ever again."
After some time we pull away. I stare into Andraya's sparkling green eyes, so full of light. There's something wrong with her eyes though. It looks like she's lost something. Maybe she's insane? I wonder what's wrong. Her skin is a deep brown from mud and grime, except two pale lines running from her eyes to her chin. I probably don't look any better.
"It's just us, now," she whispers. "Mum, and ... and ... a-"
"Kitty, no," I cut her off. Tears begin flowing down my cheeks again, this time unbidden. "Don't do that to yourself, ok?"
She tilits her head to the side, studying me. Her green eyes rove over my body, her sad look turning to a glower as she sees the half-healed bruises. I blush at her scathing glance, and her sudden anger frightens me.
"Who did this to you Jet?" She asks, all trace of sorrow gone, replaced with a burning anger. "Who?"
I don't know how I'm going to tell my sister, when suddenly the words just come pouring out. "Well, I was with this group of people, and it turned out they were cannibals. Not all of them, just some. They asked me to become one of them, but I ran away. I did like you said all those years ago when you'd talk about cannibals! And then I found a house and stayed there. But I went crazy, see, and these guys came in. I didn't like them in my house, but before I could attack them Gale noticed me and then they were beating me and so Gale got me out and we hid in a cave for some days until we ran out of food and had to leave. Then we found Vin, who looked after us, but those guys from the house found us and attacked us. Vin and Gale killed some of them, and we escaped, and walked for ages until we found this city ... and then ... I found you," I stop and smile.
Andraya stands up, her green eyes cold and hard. She hugs me tightly and then gazes over my shoulder at Gale and Vin. "Who's Gale?" She asks.
I turn around with a smile and point to the tall, dark-skinned man. "That's Gale, he -"
Andraya rushes past me, and before anyone can even register, Andraya has punched Gale straight in the face, knocking him out. She gives a warning look to a shocked Vin, raising a fist to defend himself.
"Andraya!" I growl.
She straightens and looks at me. "He deserved it," she says simply, as if it makes her actions acceptable.
"No, he's my friend and he saved my life," I retort.
Andraya narrows her eyes at me. "No, he caused those bruises," she growls. "He isn't allowed anywhere near you."
People rush over to help Gale, and once again my eyes fill with tears. I turn around and run for the pharmacy, where I know everyone is camped. I run into a girl with wild black hair and fall over, yelping.