The fire had continued to burn through the night and into the early morning hours. They had moved into the garage as the rain started coming down. The cold of the season made it feel like tiny shards of ice striking their exposed skin. The rain had done nothing to quench the thirst of the flames initially and just seemed to make it angrier, fizzing and spitting as the house continued to burn. Eventually, the rain got heavier and slowly, the downpour began to take its toll, and the flames finally started to subside. They sat looking through the open doorway, watching it burn, feeling useless as if they could do nothing.

Thankfully, the house was far enough from the nearest trees that the flames had not managed to reach the woodland. As the fire died, all that was left were the smouldering remains of wooden beams and other flammable material surrounded by the stubborn brickwork with its blackened and charred facades. The first floor had virtually vanished, with only the supporting walls still standing as the roof collapsed into the interior of the building. All that remained of their once beautiful home was the burnt husk of despair.

“We can’t stay here any longer,” Tabs said, emotion straining her voice. They had both run out of tears throughout the night, their tear ducts failing them eventually as they watched their home burn before their eyes. The few months they had lived here had been the happiest of their recent lives, and it was as though a dark cloud had come over them, snuffing out any joy they had felt.

Kyto nodded in agreement with Tab’s statement, staring at the devastation.

“We should try and find one of the townships from the radio messages.” He eventually replied, standing up from where he sat.

Tabs stood also, and between them, they went through all the belongings they had rescued from the blaze, laying everything out on the garage floor. They packed the backpacks as best as possible with spare clothes, blankets, and provisions. They had the winter clothes they had found in the house, which were waterproof so they could at least stay dry while travelling. They had also rescued the books that had been downstairs, and Tabs packed them in the bottom of her pack. Books would not just allow her to continue improving her reading and writing. They also had value and could be sold if necessary. Kyto had attached the frying pan to the outside of his backpack and packed his old trusty cooking pan. They finished by ensuring that all Kyto’s tools were packed, and Tabs strapped the axe they used to chop the wood to her pack. Finally, Kyto draped some rope across the top before forcing his pack closed and clipping its fasteners together.

They eventually picked the packs up, placing them onto their backs. The pack was heavier than Kyto used to travel with, and he felt the immediate pull and weight pressing down on his shoulders. Tabs adjusted her straps until she was happy with the load. Kyto could not deny that Tab’s strength and physical ability outshone his own. The only bonus they had this time was that neither of them suffered from any injuries and had bright green displays.

They began the trudge up the path leading to the front gate of the property they had discovered so long ago. Tabs took one last look over her shoulder as they turned the bend in the track. Kyto had hardly said a word since the fire. She thought he was more upset than herself. She had noticed that about him that when he was annoyed or angry, he did not speak. Then, eventually, he would blurt out what had got to him. It was usually about one of his contraptions not going to plan and that he hadn’t remembered something fully. She reached out and took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently. He looked at her and smiled weakly.

They soon reached the main road and decided to continue heading in the direction they had been travelling initially in the vehicle, hoping that the township they had heard on the portable radio would be there. They had not been onto the road since they first discovered the property. Rather than the vibrancy of the summer, though, they were now surrounded by the gloom and darkness that winter brought. It had not stopped raining, but they both now wore waterproofs. There was no sign of anything, not even hearing any Wild Ones. The skeletal trees hung out over the road, and the wind driving the rain whipped through their branches, cascading them regularly in water showers and creaking in protest.

Compared to their journey from the farmhouse, though, they were well prepared for what may lay ahead and had enough provisions to last them a few weeks if they ate sparingly, thanks to Tab’s preservation knowledge.

They travelled for a few hours before the light started to fade. They hadn’t seen any signs of a township or travelled routes. As they walked, they passed several dilapidated buildings and could see a small building just ahead. “Let’s stop there for the night,” Kyto said.

The building must have been glass-fronted at one time as the front of it just had metal frames now. They checked inside to make sure that nothing was using it and decided that they would stay there for the night. The small store had a couple of rows of shelves and a small counter at the back; behind the small counter was a storeroom with shelves covering its walls. Everything in there was long since rotten or broken, but the door was still hanging, and with some effort, they would be able to block the doorway.

Kyto lit a small fire with some kindling and started a small fire, taking some of the old wooden shelving. He had built it just outside the doorway to the storeroom, and it bathed the insides with its firelight and gave off just enough heat to take the immediate chill from the air. The smoke was being drawn outside by the breeze that ran through the shop from the open fronted windows. Tabs prepared them some food, and they ate in silence, looking out into the darkening gloom of the winter night.

Once they had eaten, they put the fire out carefully, both paranoid after last night’s events and moved back into the storeroom, managing to force the door over the opening. It protested loudly and no longer fit in the frame, but it was good enough.

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“I honestly thought we could have stayed there forever. We made it our home.” Kyto suddenly blurted out. Thinking of the place as his homemade, his heart sink, ‘it had been their home,’ he thought. Kyto could feel his eyes welling up, and a tear rolled down his cheek. He had never thought of anywhere as home before. He had places he stayed at and called his place, but never a home. It was a strange feeling he wasn’t used to. He looked over at Tabs, who looked at him with sad eyes. She leant forward and kissed him gently.

“At least we still have each other.” She said.

They removed their jackets, rolled them up to use as pillows, took the blankets from their backpacks, and settled down on the hard floor. They lay holding onto each other with the blankets wrapped tightly around them, their combined body heat keeping the night chill at bay.

∆∆∆

The days were much shorter, and since they did not want to travel in the dark, they were limited to how far they could get each day, especially with the added weight their backpacks gave. The going was always challenging, even using the road as it was overgrown; on more than one occasion, the pair had managed to slip or trip over roots or holes in the surface. Everything was deserted. There was nothing or no one in the area, and apart from the rare sound of a Wild One in the distance, their only accompaniment had been wind and rain. Each evening, when they stopped, they would find an abandoned building to hold up in. Most thankfully, they had managed to secure it, but on one occasion, they had to split the night up with watches.

They had been on the road for five days when they reached a major junction. They could either turn east or west onto what looked like a wider road or continue straight on. They decided to head further north in the general direction Kyto believed New Talisia would be. The road they were on had been winding, and off to each side, they always came across abandoned and forgotten buildings. Nothing around the area had been habited for a long time. Like most of this area, trees were on either side of the road. As they trudged down the road on the fifth day, they spotted an old, battered sign by the side of the road reading ‘Welcome to South Shore’.

“Must be a town up ahead,” Kyto said.

As they approached and entered the outskirts of the town, it was ghostly silent, and they continued walking up what must have been a main road. They walked by old businesses and a church, everything unused for a hundred years or more. They came upon a large, wide road, much larger than the one they had been travelling on. It was at least four lanes and turned east to west. They made their way across it and continued in a Northerly direction. Another few hundred feet, and they came to a dead end. In front of them was a wide river, which had to be two thousand feet wide. There was no way that they could cross it. Tabs could see a bridge about half a mile up the river, “Over there,” she pointed, “we should be able to cross.”

They followed the edge of the river round and crossed an old rail track before returning to the wide road they had crossed earlier. They eventually reached the bridge. Two huge supporting masts were sticking up from the river, and thick steel cables ran down from them, holding up what remained of the road. Some cables or supports had snapped or worn out and looked very unstable. Across the bridge, they could see a large, sprawling town. A small jetty was on the far bank, and several boats' remnants were still attached to them.

They set off over the bridge cautiously, watching their way. Even though the bridge had once been massive, it seemed to creak and grow with every step they took. The left-hand side of the road had fallen away completely in many places, and there were cracks and holes everywhere. Slabs of concrete had dropped into the river below. Some still seemed to hang on by mere threads around metal bars that protruded through them.

They reached the other side safely and made their way onto firm ground. The buildings here were much bigger, with five or six storeys, and just off to the left, they could see a warning and fractured sign with the word police on it. The building behind it had been on fire at some point, as black stains could be seen outside the walls. Everywhere was overgrown, and where street and traffic lights once stood were now turned into homes for vines and creepers. There was a large faded and broken green sign on one of the buildings with what they assumed had once been a white letter ‘H’. “Let’s check around and see what we can find,” Kyto said. Tabs agreed, and they made their way towards the building with the H on it.

This town had a strange feeling that Kyto could not put his finger on. He had a tingling sensation, which was never a good sign. There were the usual abandoned vehicles dotted around and the typical dereliction within any previous town or city area, and there were no signs of life they had seen. The rain was starting again, so they headed into the building. It had a reception area and a sign on the wall read ‘Holiday Inn Hotel’.

“What’s a hotel?” Tabs asked.

“Where people used to stay.” He replied. Kyto sometimes forgot how much of a restricted life Tabs had previously. She had always been with her family at their homestead until she was taken and rarely saw the outside world. He felt sorry for her and what she had been through but also for the lack of ability to learn and discover the wider world and what it held.

He walked behind the large semi-circular reception desk inside the foyer and checked the back office area. Everything had been ransacked at some point, and nothing had been left unturned or destroyed through time. The ground floor consisted of a large reception area, a bar, a conference room, and a kitchen area. There was also what Kyto once believed may have been a swimming pool, but now it was just a pile of pale blue broken tiles inside a pit. They made their way around the building, checking in and out of rooms. Nothing was left of interest; anything that remained was damaged beyond repair.

They left the hotel, and the pair spent the next few hours moving in and out of nearby buildings. They didn’t venture far into the town and decided to stay on the outskirts. They headed to the waterfront and found a two-storey building that looked pretty good. It had a porch like the house they had lost, although half the size. The front door was open, and the inside was like everywhere else, smashed or damaged somehow. They checked the rooms, found a large bedroom upstairs with a solid door and intact windows, and set their backpacks down. It was getting dark outside, so they decided to stop for the day.

“Let’s stay and search the town before we head on,” Tabs said. “We may be able to find some stuff worth scavenging.”

“I am sure we can,” Kyto replied. “I am unsure how much more we can carry; we are both pretty laden now.”

Kyto still didn’t feel right about the place. Something was unnerving him, but he could not grasp what it was. They had blocked off the front door and did the same once they were in the bedroom, making sure it could not be forced open easily. “There is something about this place I don’t like.” He said.

“Well, let’s see what it’s like in the morning when it’s light again.” Tabs replied.