Genre: Apocalyptic
“Freezing cold. Frost and snow would cover everything, stopping us from going outside. We would all just sit at home drinking hot chocolate under blankets by the fireplace.”
Mila closed her eyes, reminiscing on those untroubled winter days.
“That sounds absolutely horrid.”
Poppy snorted.
The laughter that followed burst straight through Mila’s memory, and she huffed in mild annoyance as her dream dissipated.
Ebony tilted her head back like she could feel the warmth of the sun on her face, “For me, the sun would be warm and bright, wid a cool sea breeze blowing cross to keep ‘way the heat.”
“Mmhm, now that sounds more like it.” Sienna sighed.
“And I would ride my bike to the park and lay on the grass with a good book until the sun went down.”
“We din’ really do parks like that, if you said beach though, now we talking.”
“Ouu even better.”
“Break time’s over girls.” Madame Arden clapped her hands, “We have work to do.”
Ebony stood up first, stretching as she cracked aching bones. “Well, that was short-lived.”
“Isn’t it always?” Mila handed Poppy her gear that was discarded on the floor mat. “Suit up.”
“Team A, head down south, B to the west, C and D cover them.”
Four groups of women, young and agile nodded simultaneously. They had their orders, it was time to move out. There were more of them once, men too, but the past years had taken a toll. Now, the continued survival of everyone here was on the shoulders of the twelve.
It was afternoon according to their watches, but the perpetually, rainy skies didn’t leave them with much visibility. At least the rain was light today, but their boots still squished through the drenched forest. Poppy laid flat down in the sodden earth, her straw filled with darts soaked in water hemlock at the ready. Unruly red hair still peaked out from under the oversized helmet. It belonged to her older brother, now it was hers. The other two girls on her team were hidden among the overgrown forest. Sienna was probably up in a tree, her arrow nocked and poised to fly. She was a cat, stealthy and nimble with keen eyes. She was made for this. Kerri was the weakest link of the three, but what she lacked in skill, she made up for in wits. She would have camouflaged herself into the leaves, keeping a sharp watch for any movement that wasn’t one of the twelve. Her bird-like whistles had saved their lives more times than they could count.
Mila quickly moved south, down to the water. It wasn’t exactly a lake, but the constant rain had made it into a makeshift swamp. Hopefully, her trap had yielded a fishy reward. She would rather stay out here than eat another bowl of seaweed with mystery meat that wasn’t much of a mystery. Only select animals thrived in this weather. Frogs, slugs and snails were the easiest to catch.
Ebony veered west into the thicket of trees. She was on the hunt. The last time she caught a rabbit. It would have been harder to achieve if it hadn’t gorged itself on all the vegetation the rains made grow out of proportion. That meant it was fat and juicy. When she brought it home, the entire camp celebrated with the crushed, fermented grapes they convinced themselves was wine. Maybe this time she would find its burrow, a whole family. Her mouth watered at the image that flashed through her mind.
The high pitched chirp of a Robin whistled over the steady hush of rain.
A warning. The girls were not alone.
The bird call went on for seventeen seconds. Ebony’s heart guttered. That meant that they were outnumbered by five and the group was majority males if the voices were anything to go by. The odds were not on their side, but stealth was their strength. She prayed they would all stay hidden and the newcomers would pass by without incident. Nonetheless, she crouched inside undergrowth, sliding matching steel blades from her boots.
As quick as lightning, two balls of white darted across the forest floor right by her feet, a greyhound on their tail. Her breath stalled, a minute ago she’d wished for those rabbits, now they might be the death of her. She needed to get out of here.
Frantically she searched for a hiding place, a tree to climb, a boulder to hide behind, anything. Two steel blades were useless against seventeen. The other two girls on her team were Yasmin and Mai. They were gatherers, picking mushrooms, snails, slugs and any vegetation that could survive the rains. Mai had a combat knife that she rarely used, and while Yasmin could swing her cutlass, she could only do so much. Ebony had no idea where they were currently, though that was a good thing. Sienna, was a great shot, but branches would be blocking her path, so Poppy was her best bet. She aimed low and her darts never missed their mark. Still, that knowledge was little comfort, Ebony knew Poppy only had about ten darts in her armoury. She pushed as far back into the bushes as she could and prayed to whichever God was listening.
Two chirps asked a question that Ebony already knew the answer to. With tears in her eyes, Mila replied with one. No. They were not going to help. It was crucial that they made it back to camp, even if one did not. Ebony was on her own here.
The group stumbled her way, following the hunt. The smell of whiskey and tobacco slicing through the air. Soon, they would walk right by her. She cringed squeezing her eyes shut.
As Poppy would say,
“The only thing worse than a troop of unfriendlies was a drunk troop of unfriendlies.”
On the flip side, maybe this meant they would be too preoccupied to notice her, God help her if they did.
She took to counting feet as they staggered by. There wasn’t much more she could do here, and the closer she got to seventeen pairs, the closer she got to freedom.
She counted all the way to fourteen before her bubble shattered.
In slow motion, she watched a hand reach down, pushing through her cover. She glanced up, holding her blades at the ready. She wasn’t going down without a fight.
Grey eyes widened when they caught sight of her brown ones.
“What is it man?”
He blinked, staring right at her.
“Kal?”
Her heart thudded in her chest, but her mind was calm. She was ready.
“Oh, too much to drink bro”, he rubbed his face emphasising his point.
He turned, after pushing the bushes carefully back into place.
“I could've sworn I saw a rabbit.”
Eco Article: Pouring It On- How Climate Change Intensifies Heavy Rain Events
Ha it's a short story 😉 but glad you enjoyed it so much 🤗
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