literature

A New Way of Life

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Aurora pulled the sniper rifle off of her back and put her eye to the scope, closing her right eye which she couldn't look through the scope with. Off in the distance there were moving figures, she could see that much without the scope. With the scope she was able to see that these people were raiders. Raiders had destroyed her city and killed almost everyone that she had ever known. Her mother and herself, along with one of their friends was able to escape with just the clothes on their back and a few of the weapons that had been in the city. The Raiders had undoubtedly gotten most of the supplies. They'd only been able to take what they could carry at the time.

The raiders were looking through old cars that had been on the surface for many years, their colors were bleached away by the sun, most of the interiors had been stripped away from previous scavengers or destroyed by the wildlife, and anything breakable had already been broken. Unlike the area where Aurora had grown up, it was safe to be on the surface without a hazmat suit. They'd been under the suburbs of one of the cities that had gotten bombed when the countries of the time had gone to war that ended with the near annihilation of the human race. Those who managed to survive the nuclear fallout were mutated in many ways. The people who were normal, or at least looked normal were the ones that were living in the country side or those citizens who had been able to get into the shelters before the bombs had fallen.

"How many of them are there?" Kevin asked her. Aurora scanned the horizon, counting their numbers in her head before she told Kevin aloud. They were upwind so they had to be careful that their voices didn't travel. He had asked in a quiet tone, not quite a whisper but not the way he spoke normally.

"I see five, but that doesn't mean there aren't others around," Aurora answered. "I don't see any dogs either, but it doesn't mean that they have them. There is a chance that this could be part of a larger group that is moving through," Aurora added. "I think we should get out of here before they see us."

"Do they have large packs?" Kevin asked. Aurora shook her head.

"No, just small ones that look like they could carry a day or two worth of supplies," she answered quickly. "They're pretty well armed though. I see pistols on each one of them, at least two of them also have pipes or some other form of blunt instrument, and there is one sniper on their team as well." Kevin nodded his head.

"They're an advance team, scouts, whatever you want to call them. They're checking around and they aren't high in the rankings of the group," Kevin commented. "If they find anything interesting they'll grab it but they won't head back until they're out of supplies. Since they're not that high in the group they won't have dogs, and if there are some that are carrying melee weapons, that means that they don't have a lot of ammo, for whatever reason. If you can take out their sniper, and then at least one other with the rifle then we can overpower them." Aurora pulled her head away from the scope and stared wide eyed and open mouthed at Kevin.

"You're asking me to kill someone, Kevin! Without them trying to kill me first."

"Of course I am. It's kill or be killed out here, Aura," Kevin explained. "You're a better long range shot than I am. If you don't take the shot we might as well shoot ourselves. We have no food and we're going to die of starvation or dehydration. It is them or us."

"Aurora, do as he says." It was the first time her mother had spoken up since they had spotted the raiders. "Out here, listen to Kevin, he knows more about the surface than we do." Aurora raised an eyebrow. She was confused. As long as she knew Kevin had always been in the city.

"You two know something that I don't. I feel I should know whatever it is." Aurora looked at her mom, who shook her head.

"It isn't my place to say."

"It's fine, Beth," Kevin said. "I was a Raider before you were born," Kevin explained. "It wasn't until I was about to take over the group that I realized what we had been doing. I knew how to fight, but I had never been involved in big fights. I was more of a general than a fighter." A dark look came over Kevin's features and Aurora moved away from him.

"You were a Raider? How can we be sure that you aren't going to turn on us when you realize that you're better off with them?" Aurora moved her gun and aimed it at Kevin.

"Aurora!" Beth hissed as she reached for the barrel of the gun. Aurora moved at the same time that Kevin held up his hand to stop Beth from trying to grab the gun from her daughter's hands.

"I've been with the city for longer than you've been alive," Kevin commented. "I'm not going to turn now. You know how I got them to accept me? I brought your mother back from the Raiders." Shocked Aurora looked at her mother who nodded her head.

"They had caught me when I went to the surface to gather supplies. They took me to a farm house they had turned into their headquarters. I was Kevin's initiation. I was gagged, tied up. He was supposed to rape me and then kill me, proving that he was strong and didn't care that the human race might die because of them. Women aren't allowed to be raiders, unless they're exceptional."

Aurora looked between her mother and Kevin. There was a friendship between them that she had never understood, but this explained it. Suddenly a thought came into her head.

"Please don't tell me you're my father," Aurora said.

"He's not your father," Beth said. "Your father ran off as soon as he knew that I was pregnant. They pulled his body out of the tunnels a few weeks after I had told him," Beth added. "Now do as Kevin says." Aurora looked at her mother once and then at Kevin, for a few seconds their eyes were locked and then Kevin dipped his head very slightly.

"They wouldn't hesitate to kill you," Kevin added. Aurora sighed and nodded her head, knowing that he was right. Aurora laid against the side of the ditch, training her site on their sniper. He was unaware that they had been talking for the last five minutes, deciding his death. Just like she'd been taught she took a deep breath, aimed the gun, let out the breath and as the last bit of air left her body she pulled the trigger, hitting the man in the back of the head. Through the scope she watched blood, bone, and brain matter shatter into the air. She was moving the site and putting the next bullet into position, working the bolt as fast as she could.

The figures were surprised, and a few of them hadn't realized that they hadn't been the ones to shoot. Aurora found her next target. He was looking toward where she was laying and knew that he was the leader. The process repeated, and the leader's chest blew apart several seconds later. Once more she took out another person and it was only after that, that they realized they were being hunted. A few of them dove behind cars, hoping that their skeletal remains would provide enough cover to save them.

"They're behind cover," Aurora commented. Kevin nodded his head.

"Beth, are you ready?" Kevin asked as he pulled a large combat knife from the sheathe he had at his back, it gleamed in the light. Her mother pulled out her own knife, just slightly smaller than Kevin's and nodded her head. Her face grim, but determined. "You're smaller than they are, which means you're quicker. If you're spotted kill them with bug bites, otherwise go for the neck." Kevin mimed the proper way to drag the knife across the neck so that you nearly cut all the way back to the spinal cord. Aurora went pale when she thought about what exactly her mother would be doing. She knew that her mother was strong, had killed a few raiders in her day, but she hadn't thought that she would be sneaking up behind one and cutting their throat, spilling blood everywhere.

"I could just wait until they pop out of cover and shoot them," Aurora said.

"I would rather not use anymore ammo. We'll signal you once we're finished," Kevin added. "Stay low." Before either woman had a chance to say anything, Kevin was moving through the ditch, to a spot where a car blocked the view of the ditch. Her mother followed silently. Aurora waited a few minutes before she looked through the scope to see Kevin and her mother stealthily moving through the cover. Kevin's face was completely blank, his muscles were relaxed, his body moved easily, but Aurora knew what was going to happen, she had seen it in hand-to-hand combat training back when they'd lived in the Underground. When he found his target he would pounce with deadly efficiency, swiftly delivering the death blow, his target wouldn't even know what had hit him until it was too late. She had no doubts that Kevin would come out of this alive and unscathed. Her mother on the other hand was another matter.

Her mother had shot more than a few raiders in her time in the city, but shooting them was completely different from stabbing them. You were up close and personal as you watched the life fade from their eyes, Aurora wasn't entirely sure that her mother would be okay. She was a strong woman to be sure, but these were human beings.

Looking through the cards Aurora spotted her mother moving in on one of the raiders. Aurora couldn't be sure, but she thought it was one of the ones that had a pipe for close quarters. If that was the case her mother needed to get him without being seen. Unlike Kevin her mother was tense, but focused. She prowled through the cars like a big cat hunting its prey. Beth lunged at the man, stabbing her knife into his neck, he screamed loudly, drawing his friend's attention. The distraction allowed Kevin to come up behind the man and cut his throat quickly.

Beth was screaming now, as she stabbed the knife over and over again into the dying man's neck. Blood splattered her face and her clothes, making her look feral. Aurora had never seen her mother like this before. Even though the signal wasn't given Aurora leapt up from the ditch and ran through the cars, not caring if there was anyone left, she just knew that her mother needed her.

"Mom! Mom!" Aurora yelled as she sprinted through the cars. Kevin got to her mother first.

"Beth, look at me, look at me!" Kevin shook Beth slightly and slowly Beth pulled herself out of her head. "You're not there anymore. Look, there is Aura, you're not back in the raider camp," Kevin whispered. Aurora skidded to a halt at her mother's side. She had never seen Kevin looking so concerned for someone.

"Mom, are you okay?" Aurora asked. Beth looked at her hands, and quickly looked away, going pale. After a few calming breaths Beth nodded her head.

"I'm okay. The last time I was on the surface, well, it doesn't matter. Let's get their supplies and get the hell out of here." Beth knelt down and rummaged through the raider's bag.

"Aura, go check the sniper, he'll have more of what you need." Kevin hadn't looked away from Beth. Aurora glared at him and shook her head.

"No, you go check, I'm not leaving Mom's side. If you have a problem with that, well too fucking bad," Aurora snarled at him. Surprised Kevin looked at the young sniper. There was a rage that he hadn't seen in her before. The look reminded Kevin of her father. A pang of sadness leapt in his heart.

"Fine, she might go into shock, keep her doing something until she calms down." Kevin ordered. Aurora nodded her head and watched Kevin go.

"Your language is not appreciated, young lady," Beth commented. Her voice was scolding but her shaking hands spoke volumes.

"I had to get the point across somehow. Besides, I'm an adult now, I can swear and curse if I want to," Aurora added. "Mom, are you really okay?"

"Being up here brings back memories that I had long since buried. I never thought that I would come back up here, but here I am, stealing things from the corpse of a man I just killed. His body isn't even cold yet." Beth took the supplies from the man's body, being careful not to actually touch him.

"I'll do it, Mom." Aurora pulled her mother away from the body and made her sit down with her back to the car. "So, tell me about growing up in the city. You used to have some pretty wild adventures from what I remember," Aurora added with a smile. Her mother gave a small chuckle and launched into a story from when she was a kid. While her mother talked and distracted herself, Aurora went through the raider's pockets, taking out everything and putting it into a pile on the ground.

"I went and checked the other's," Kevin said as he came over and dropped a whole lot of things onto the ground next to Aurora. He sorted them into three piles, trying to put the same amount of things into each one. Each pile got three bottles of water, some ammo, Aurora's pile got more ammo than the others, for her rifle. Food was split up, there were chips, canned food, and what looked like some rats. "Put this stuff into your packs and let's go. It won't be long before the wildlife shows up for the bodies," Kevin added.

Beth and Aurora did as they were told and they headed in the same direction that the raiders had going. Kevin had seen all the supplies that they had and knew that they had just recently set out to scout. If they went in the same direction they would avoid the camp.

"I know you're pissed at me, Aura," Kevin commented. "There is something you need to know about surface living. It is either kill or be killed. You will have to kill from long distances, you will have to kill someone with a knife, and probably some other things as well. The fact of the matter is, you both need to experience these things in order to survive. You both grew up in the city, you're soft."
"Soft? I just killed three men!"

"Through the scope," Kevin said. "When you make your first kill with a knife or with your hands, you will be like your mother is now," Kevin added. "Maybe even worse than she is. My point is, leave everything but battle skills behind in the ruins of the city, everything that you learned won't help you."

"He's right, Aura," Beth said. "We lived easy lives up until now. Everything we knew is gone."

"If you do something like that to my mom, I will hurt you," Aurora glared at Kevin. Kevin smirked at her.

"Keep that fire burning in your heart, you're going to need it."
I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo, and it's going to be post-apocalyptic, this is to help me understand the characters and know how they interact with each other. The story will no doubt change when I write the actual novel. I'm not sure where the novel is going to go, I'm winging it and hoping for the best. :)

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure if this requires mature content. If you feel it does require that, let me know and I will change it. Otherwise I'm going to keep it like this.
© 2014 - 2024 DreamingAutumn
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NamelessShe's avatar
I'm always in the mood for post apocalyptic fiction. Definitely enjoyed this. I can already see some interesting character dynamics. Loving the tension between them. Very interested in Kevin's past.

As for the mature content thing, I never know. Maybe? Someone else will probably know.