We didn't linger. Mutants, drawn by the scent of fresh blood, were already converging on the scene from their hiding places in the nearby buildings. Beth climbed into the passenger seat while Trevor manned the mounted machine gun, and Ethan positioned himself behind him in the back. Hitting the accelerator, the truck lurched forward. It had been a while since I'd driven; my last vehicle had crapped out on me about twenty miles south, probably not helped by the bullet holes in its engine.
I navigated through the maze of wrecked cars until we were clear of the city's confines. The road here was less cluttered with debris and abandoned vehicles. Within five minutes, we had passed the housing estate where we had spent the previous night in the rat-infested bunker and were now speeding southwards.
"The highway is collapsed about a mile further ahead," I informed Beth, getting my bearings.
An offramp loomed ahead, and I took it, descending to find the road disappearing under the dust and sands of the wasteland. Off-road now, the terrain opened up, allowing me to press the accelerator harder and pick up significant speed. We sped past the old service station where I had narrowly escaped the mutants and could soon see the large structure of the superstore in the distance. Beth pointed westward, and I steered the truck in that direction. A few minutes later, we crested a small rise, revealing a column of thick black smoke rising lazily into the sky from the compound.
"Oh no," Beth muttered.
I drove straight towards it, covering the distance in just a few minutes. Upon arrival, the scene that unfolded was one of total devastation. Slowing the truck to a crawl, I closed my eyes for a moment, all too familiar with scenes like this. Dead bodies were scattered around the compound, the chain-link fences smashed through, and a handful of mutants were already feasting on the corpses. I banged on the roof of the truck cabin. I banged on the truck cabin roof. Trevor swung the gun around and blasted the fuckers into disgusting multi limbed pieces. With the mutants killed we all got out of the truck. Trevor leapt from the back and sprinted inside. I winced as he let out an anguished cry. Again, I’d heard too many of those in my thirty three years of life.
I waited next to the truck and kept watch as the others searched the compound. The dead were their friends after all. Shit, they were probably family too. I looked up as Trevor emerged from the garage his eyes red with tears.
“I can’t find her. My little girl is missing,” he sobbed.
I winced at the anguish in his voice.
“Alice isn’t here either?” Ethan said.
I raised an eyebrow.
“She’s my girlfriend,” Ethan answered my unspoken question.
Finally Beth finished her sweep. Unlike the others she still kept her cool but I could see the rage in her eyes.
“Jake isn’t here.”
Now that got my full attention.
“The Dominion almost always kill the men in the settlements they attack,” I said. “Trevor’s daughter and Ethan’s girlfriend are probably still alive, but they’ll soon wish they weren’t. They take the women as their concubines and for slave labour.”
Trevor stared at me with horror in his eyes.
“My little Robin.”
“If that’s the case then we have to get after them. They can’t have gotten too far!” Ethan cried heading towards the truck. I shook my head. It was Beth who spoke next.
“We can’t get after them. The sun will set soon and those few mutants will be the least of our troubles. We need to secure this place as best as we’re able and hunker down until dawn. Then we’ll go after them.”
“Go after them? The Dominion?” I said exasperated. “Even if we do catch up with them what are the four of us going to do? They’re the biggest group of Marauders out there. There’s hundreds of the fuckers Beth, a literal army.”
“I- we can’t just leave them to their fate scavver. They took Jake for a reason, like you said they rarely take male prisoners.”
I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. The Dominion only took male prisoners if they were desperate for bodies to fight for them or as Beth reasoned they held some sort of important information. I stopped my pacing and looked at her.
"He knows something, doesn’t he? About the Reclaimers, beyond those radio broadcasts. What is it?" I pressed Beth for answers.
"He never told me, but yes, he knows something. Listen, scavver, if you want to abandon us, then go. I don’t need you here if you’re just going to be a liability," Beth shot back, her words sharp.
Something inside me snapped, driven by the gruesome scene before us or perhaps the culmination of stress from the past 24 hours. "What more do I have to do to prove myself to you? I navigated us through the city. By some miracle, I got us all out alive, and yet you still stand there judging me as some deadbeat, untrustworthy scavenger. Fuck you!"
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
For a moment, I half-expected Beth to draw her pistol and end me then and there, but the rage in her eyes gradually subsided, and she stormed off back inside. I moved to follow her, but Ethan placed a hand on my chest, stopping me.
"Let her go, man. She'll cool down after a bit. She's right, though. You don't have to join us. I mean, you saved my arse back in the city, more than once, so I'd like you to come along. But, as she said, it's your call," he reasoned.
I shrugged off his hand, still simmering with anger. "It's suicide," I muttered, then walked inside.
*
Still seething, I made my way to where I'd stashed my pack. The garage was a scene of chaos, littered with debris and shards of broken glass crunching underfoot. Bloodstains smeared the walls, and in one corner lay the bullet-riddled bodies of three men, their lifeless hands still gripping their guns. I paused, poor bastards. They’d died trying to defend what little was theirs and the people they loved. At least their deaths had some meaning. too many in the Wasted Earth died for nothing, their lives claimed by disease or some other horror. To die for something, well, that was at least something. With a heavy sigh of frustration, I considered just walking away. I could seek out the Reclaimers alone, as I had been before. I didn’t need these people.
But then, a realisation hit me. I had been a fool. Roaming the Wasted Earth solo was sheer madness. Memories of my numerous close calls flooded back—the times I’d narrowly escaped becoming mutant fodder or nearly torn apart by rogue machinery. By all accounts, I was lucky to still be breathing; it was all due to sheer, dumb luck.
I walked through the building and found Beth sitting on the floor, pouring over maps and scattered papers, her focus as intense as her earlier fury. The sight of her, so composed yet clearly driven by an internal storm, gave me pause.
Approaching cautiously, I cleared my throat to announce my presence. Beth looked up; her expression guarded but the fire in her eyes had been replaced by a weary resignation.
"I'm sorry about earlier," I began, unsure if my apology would mend anything. "I should've been more considerate. You saved my life, and I want you to know that I will help you. If you want it."
Beth sighed, putting down the papers and gesturing for me to sit. I pulled up a chair and took a seat across from her, the hardness in her demeanour softened slightly. "It's not just about today," she began, her voice quieter now. "The Dominion... they destroyed everything I held dear. They raided my village, killed those who resisted, and..." Her voice faltered, a shadow passing over her face. "They captured me and my sisters. Emily and Grace, just twelve and nine. It was a living hell."
I remained silent, giving her the space to continue.
Beth paused, collecting herself before continuing. "One night I managed to trick one of them into untying my hands. Earlier I’d managed to loosen a piece of metal from the post they’d tied us too and when- when they took Emily for their fun,’ she spat that word with disgust. ‘I was able to grab it and hide it. I faked being ill and I think the guard had taken a liking to me. I played on that and then when I had my chance, I stabbed that piece of shit. I can still recall the surprised look in his eyes. This young girl, a killer. I slit his throat and then managed to escape the tent and then the compound in which they kept us. I ran out into the wasted Earth, lost and alone. I wanted to save my sisters, but I was too weak, too afraid. I walked and walked until I collapsed from thirst. I was going to die and a part of me wished it to happen. It was Jake who found me, barely alive. He saved me, gave me a purpose again.”
She fixed me with a hard stare.
“That's why I can't abandon him, no matter the odds. He wouldn't leave any of us behind."
I nodded in understanding.
"You're right," I admitted. "We have to try. If there's even the smallest chance, we can save him and the others, I owe it to him—to you—to take it."
"Thank you," she said simply before returning her attention to the maps.
“I’ll go help Trevor and Ethan clear the bodies,” I said and left the room.
*
I've lost count of the number of bodies I've either buried myself or helped to bury. Life on the Wasted Earth is fleeting and often ends violently. As the last body rolled into the ditch we had dug beyond the edge of the compound, I wiped my brow. Trevor shovelled the final pile of sand over the bodies and then stabbed the ground with his shovel, venting his anger, fear, and frustration through the manual work.
"So, you decided to come with us?" Ethan asked, handing me a canteen of water. I took a greedy swig.
"I'll come with you. I doubt you'd last a day without my help," I chuckled.
"Well, I for one am glad of it. I’ve never gone up against the Dominion before," Ethan said nervously.
"If it’s any consolation, neither have I. Normally, I wouldn’t be that stupid. No offence," I replied, glancing at Trevor. The big man hefted his shovel and placed it over his shoulder, covered in dust and grime like the rest of us. How I longed for a chance to wash, but we couldn't afford to waste what little water we had, especially if we were to pursue the Dominion across the wasted earth.
"For years, those bastards have spread across the land—an army of murderers, rapists, and slavers thousands strong, and nobody has challenged them," Trevor growled.
I tilted my head. "That’s not strictly true. About a year ago, I ran with a group who called themselves the Arbiters. Their whole thing was about trying to bring some semblance of law and order back. They used to dress up like old-school cowboy lawmen, you know, like the ones you see in old magazines and pictures," I explained as we walked back to the compound.
"What happened to them?" Ethan asked.
"They all got killed. There was a large settlement out west called Sweet Haven. The Arbiters swore to protect it. Unfortunately, the Dominion had set its sights on it. One night, they arrived in such numbers, it was unimaginable. I’d never seen so many marauders in one place before. They attacked; the Arbiters tried to fight them off. The fighting was intense—bullets flying, explosions everywhere," I gestured to a scar on my cheek. "I took a piece of shrapnel, then I ran."
"You ran?"
I nodded. "Not my proudest moment, I must admit. I was just a hired gun, signed up for a place to rest my head and a decent meal. I wasn’t about to die for them, as noble as their cause was," I said with some regret.
"They were brave men and women, but going up against the Dominion? They didn’t stand a chance."
"That doesn’t bode too well for us, does it?" Ethan said.
"No, kid, it does not. But it’s not going to stop us from trying," Trevor said bitterly. His tone suggested he was the type of man who would burn the world down to save his child.
We arrived back at the compound and set about securing the entrances as best we could. Using scraps, we built a barricade over the main doorway and hammered boards over the windows. It wasn’t Fort Knox, but if we stayed quiet and hunkered down in the basement, we might avoid detection from any threats lurking outside.