Down Below

The ground fell.

“Watch out… Looks like they’ve been here too.” Mark whispered; his voice dropping towards the end.

Lea sighed. “Yeah. Let’s be more careful. There may be more of these.” Mark side eyed her and walked ahead. Lea scoffed at his arrogance and followed suit.

10 years ago was when it all happened. A single experiment gone wrong by the central government had led the world to collapse in and on itself. Underneath the veil of the government the people knew of, existed another. Secretly testing nuclear weaponry in rural areas that were left uncharted on the maps leaving many to deal with the unknown. Banned by every country yet the race to develop the best in what they called ground breaking technology was prominent until one day a test had gone terribly wrong.

An explosion off the shore of the mainland had gone off immediately raising alarms from every country. Investigations started and lawsuits were underway until the first wave came. It had started with the illnesses. Disease and tumors riddled those closest to the explosion but that was just the beginning. A freak storm had followed, sending an uproar of chemicals high into the sky spreading the toxins throughout the air reaching most of the mainland. Soon, what was known as a physical threat became an invisible one. Fallout shelters that had long become abandoned served their purposes once again and many went into hiding.

90 years.

That was how long it would take for the chemicals to subside to at least half of their toxic levels followed by an additional 50 to minimize the effect it had on humans. This had left many to die of starvation as the fallout shelters held little to no supply and under emergency evacuation, many had barely taken anything with them.

Some were better than others but the majority of them were badly managed. Scavengers went out to find what they could, geared up in gas masks and heavy duty clothing, they sacrificed themselves to battle through the unknown to find what they could to eat, drink and nurture the children that had ultimately ended up in this mess. To survive. It was a sad sight to see and a painful one. The choked cries in the dark followed by the coughing had left nothing but scars in the minds of everyone. Just closing her eyes, Lea could hear and smell the death that awaited her like a horrible game of roulette.

Mark was adamant on surviving. Lea had met him about a year ago on a Scavenger run just about 5 miles out. Lea made it a priority to widen her range on every run she took. Despite the mess the world had plunged into, desolate and quiet, rogues often lurked in the shadows waiting to attack those with enough stock to take for their own. Lea had her share of run-ins with a couple of rogues. She had lost her partner just before meeting Mark a year ago and even after a year, Lea couldn’t tell if it was a blessing or a curse.

The sour man of no more than 35 was arrogant and quickly tempered yet he had helped her multiple times and proved his worth to their group. Lea never asked why Mark had decided to join them nor did she ask him where he had been staying before all of this. He was a man of few words but Lea could tell there was more to him than he often let on. “Just up ahead, we should find the market we couldn’t get to a few weeks ago.” Lea heard from in front of her.

Gripping her bow, Lea scouted the area. The indicators they had placed a few weeks ago were still intact. In case one of them got lost or separated they would know their way around. So far, they hadn’t needed them but it never hurt to be cautious.

Adjusting her gas mask, Lea trudged on. “Wait,” She said. Mark instantly stopped in his tracks. “There’s one more.” Lea got closer to Mark and patted him twice on the shoulder before pointing to their right just a few feet ahead. There underneath the uncut earth and cracked asphalt was another indicator that wasn’t of their own.

Slowly, Mark took out his combat knife and held it firmly. They had seen indicators before from other groups yet they had never bumped into any that were on active runs but they had found the bodies of a few. Sometimes fresh or sometimes in the midst of their last breath. Too late to know if they had gotten into some trouble or if they were in for it instead. However, the strange yellow indicators weren’t familiar to either of them. Mark bumped Lea’s shoulder with his own and nodded towards the market.

Removing her bow, Lea followed behind with her senses high. The mask made it hard to hear sound like footsteps or rocks being kicked but over time she had adapted to see movement within her line of sight far quicker than most. Reaching the entrance, the shattered glass doors had allowed just enough of the foggy, thick light from the outside world to illuminate the dull, eerie market. The light fixtures hung from the ceiling, flour and other products painted the floors along with shopping carts that were strewn across the aisles and entrance barely giving way for them to enter the large market but they managed.

Mark was in charge of searching for fluids. Water, Gatorade or even juice was enough to help the children and elderly in their shelter. Lea was in charge of solids. Canned food, packaged snacks or candy. It wasn’t much but their shelf life was far longer than most foods. Just the thought of a clean cut prime rib eye seemed like something from fairy tales.

Splitting up, Lea followed the signs above the aisle. The lighting hadn’t all gone wrong, surprisingly allowing her to see just a bit of what was above her. Walking just further down, Lea turned into the canned food aisle and sighed. Finding nothing but empty shelves and open cans all over the floor, as expected. Making sure to not step on any of them, Lea inspected every shelf. Nothing. Packed foods would be next. Walking down the aisle, Lea spotted some chips and hurried to put her bow down. Gently grabbing hold of them, Lea placed them in her bag. In the distance, Lea heard a few things fall and immediately she stood up alarmed. Picking her bow up she proceeded with caution.

Walking towards where she had seen Mark walk off to, Lea quickly moved. A few more things fell and she hurried.

There on the floor was a man in straddling Mark with a machete pointed straight towards his mask. Pulling the string of her bow as fast as she could, the arrow landed just below the man’s jugular and Lea hurried to help Mark up.

“I’ve got you.” She said as she helped him up. Pulling back roughly, Mark glared at her. Bewildered yet annoyed to think that she of all people helped him, he couldn’t help but look at the bow in her hands. He hadn’t ever really seen her use the bow save for practicing in the area down below and surely not for killing anyone.

Lea threw up a thumbs up and walked over to the man lying on the floor. Pulling the arrow out, Lea wiped the arrowhead before placing it in her quiver. “This man drew those indicators outside.” She said after noticing the faded yellow paint on the man’s pants. “I don’t think he worked alone.” Lea pulled out a map from the man’s pocket with circles drawn through certain areas. There were names she wasn’t familiar with throughout certain areas. “This looks updated.” Handing it over to Mark, he took it and looked through it.

Something shiny caught her eye from underneath the man’s body. Pulling the object, Lea tilted her head to the side and opened the heart-shaped locket. Inside was a picture of a little girl next to a beautiful woman who she assumed was her mother. Their smiles were infectious and gorgeous, reminding her of a time long gone. How many people had suffered from the government's disgusting actions? How many more years did they have to endure this lifestyle without telling whether or not they’d survive tomorrow or even tonight?

The pendant was snatched out of her hands and Lea looked up at Mark in question. Mark didn’t look at her and instead placed the pendant in his jacket pocket. “Let’s go.” He said sharply.

Taking the gas mask off the man, Lea quickly caught up to Mark. They walked in silence keeping mindful of the indicators and the traps that rogues often set out to catch Scavengers like they were wild animals. This world so unfamiliar yet so familiar seemed like a horrible dream with no telling of when they’d wake.

“My daughter,” Mark started just before they emerged onto the main road. “She’s with her mother.” Lea was too focused on his voice which was a few tones lower than it normally was to comment. “The day I found you and Miguel, I had gotten separated by the men who attacked you two.” Mark gripped his bag. “I haven’t been able to find them since but I know that every time we extend the perimeter, they’re close because of this.” Mark took out a red block from his pocket and handed it to Lea. It was a lego block. “My daughter loved them growing up and when we went into our shelter, my wife collected them for her.” He laughed bitterly at the memory. “It became our secret. If we ever got separated, she’d leave me these so I’d find them.”

“This one is -”

“I found this one before that rogue found me. They’re close, Lea.”

It was the first time Lea had ever heard him like this since they’d met. Taking the heart-shaped locket out again, Mark showed her the picture once more this time enough for her to see it clearly. “We’ll find them, Mark. I promise.” Lea told herself when this all had started that she wouldn’t get attached to anyone. There wasn’t a point with the diseases and pain hitting those either years later or death not too far off but just seeing their smile was enough for her to feel like she could do something before her time was up.

Lea couldn’t see Mark’s smile behind that mask of his but she knew it was there and it was the first time since the world had gone to absolute shit that she realized that maybe there was a bit of humanity left on this godforsaken earth.