6 June 2012
Noxious fumes hung in the air. From every pile of rubble, every mountain of debris, a cloud of steamy, white gas rose.
"Everything is so foggy." Sean wiped at the glass on his mask. "I can barely see five feet in front of me."
"Yep, that's why it's so dangerous up here," Kenan told, "You never know what's lurking right in front of you. Be careful where you step."
Buildings lay collapsed before them. Broken rock scattered their path. In the distance, they could see a clock tower that had collapsed in on itself, no longer recognisable.
"London, huh?" Michael adjusted his gun and glanced up and down the street. "What a shit hole."
"They say it was a shit hole even before everything went to hell," Kenan laughed.
"Couldn't have been any worse than the underground subways we live in now," Riley added.
The group marched deeper into the toxic fog, moving as quietly as possible.
After about half a mile, Kenan brought them to a stop and pulled out a map. "There should be a small food shop straight down this road we're on." The road ahead was littered with rust-covered cars, they would have to meander through them like a maze. "A road splits off from this one to the right. That leads to a small bridge and from the looks of things, a large supermarket."
"So where to, boss?" Riley asked.
"You and Sean should head to the supermarket and bring back whatever you can. Michael and I will continue on up this road," Their squad leader instructed, "Meet back here in one hour."
Riley checked his watch. "Roger."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They reached the bridge a couple minutes later. It wasn't very big, but it crossed a small river that was filled with putrid sludge. If anything was to fall into that, it wouldn't resurface. The fact the bridge was near collapse didn't help either of their nerves. They had to watch their every step as small pieces of concrete crumbled underneath their feet and into the river.
"So, Riley, ever killed a mutant before?"
Riley closed his eyes and took deep breaths. The kid was pissing him off. "Yeah, Sean. Are you trying to say you haven't?"
"Err... Well I mean, I helped with those Ratmoles that attacked the camp, but... No, not really."
Great, a rookie. "Well, you're probably going to receive some experience with that very soon."
"Why do you say that?" Sean's face went pale.
"Wherever there's food, there's bound to be mutants."
"You have got to be kidding me..." The kid was starting to panic, that Riley could tell.
"Listen, don't worry. If anything, it'll only be Ratmoles, they're known for being scavengers" Riley said in an attempt to sooth him, "You can handle that right?"
"Yeah... Yeah, I think I can."
"Good."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The supermarket was in ruins. Where there should have been doors for a front entrance, there was now a large, gaping hole. The roof of the building had also partially caved in; Riley could see small holes covering it, with a large section to the left of the building's roof missing entirely.
"Good thing it doesn't rain anymore or all the food in there, if any, would have spoiled a long time ago," Riley thought aloud.
They stood in a large car park. Cars and shopping carts littered the area.
"Sean, go grab one of those carts and meet me inside," Riley ordered. "Make sure it's a big one."
Riley made his way toward the entrance. Through the trash and shattered metal frames, he could see a pickup truck crashed into the shelves just inside the store. Someone must have sent it flying through the entrance in order to get past the locked doors.
Riley smirked. This made his job much easier.
The gas still rose in places, but it wasn't as bad in the store as it was outside. Here, he could almost see all the way to the back of the store, although it was still rather hazy.
"Empty." Nothing remained on the shelves except trash and empty cans.
Sean came bustling up behind him, shopping cart rattling all the while. "Keep it down, kid," Riley whispered harshly, "There could be anything in here."
Riley marched ahead, rifle up and aimed. Sean carefully walked behind him, pushing the cart with one hand and a pistol in the other, rifle slung onto his back.
"Okay," Riley lifted up a fist to signal for Sean to halt. "There's a cafeteria just to our left, see it? Go there and check the kitchen and any supply cupboards. If you find anything, even if it's not food but cleaning materials or something, dump it into the cart."
"I thought we were only after food?" Sean looked confused.
"Since we're up here, we might as well take everything we can get."
"Roger."
They split up, Sean going left and Riley going right, along the aisles.
The shelves were all stripped clean. Nothing remained. Riley growled with frustration. "There should at least be something."
He made his way to the back of the store. Here was where the alcohol was kept, but all that was left were broken bottles and empty cans. "God damn it!"
Gunshots rang out. They fired in a frenzy until the magazine was empty. A feral scream followed soon after. The scream cut off suddenly and Riley heard a shopping cart crash to ground, metal reverberating.
He rushed back to the entrance and peered into the cafeteria. A body lay motionless, soaked in blood. The face had been clawed to a point where it was unrecognisable. An arm and a large chunk from the man's side was missing. A shopping cart lay next to him, crumpled into a ball.
Sean was dead.
Something growled from the kitchen. The sound of bones snapping sent chills down his spine.
Riley was next.
_____________________
To be continued
* This is much longer than I thought it would be. I'm pretty sure the next part is the last one, for this short story at least. There will be more Campfire Tales from Old Mr. Jameson :)
Campfire Tales: The Hunt - Pt. 2 • Opuss № I