Halves of A Whole

The maroon sky churned and rolled like a thick bowl of borscht fresh from the pot. I looked down to see Liza entranced by the colour tones and noticed how beautifully it reflected in her pale blue eyes. She looked so much like her father. It was at times painful to see the likeness of that beautiful blue in the sea of red.

"Momma?” she spoke softly, "What are we doing here, I thought it was too dangerous to go this far."

I sighed and looked across the baren wasteland at the edge of the farm.

"Darlin', things have changed." That was the best explanation I could muster up for a wise 5-year-old without getting too teary.

“Alright”, she mumbled as she sucked on her locket. Her small mouth intricately moved over the grooves on the half of the heart shaped gold metal frame. She did this often when in deep contemplation. It was the last thing her father had given her before he had left to find the other human colony. He had always carried the other half to make sure their hearts were never too far apart.

It had been over a year since Liza’s father, Griffin, had left our farm. He was a very intelligent man and had a range of knowledge from rendering the land to the most advanced mathematical equations. He predicted the nuclear fallout long before anyone else could prepare. The farm was our utopia amongst a horrid reality, and our little utopia started to crumble without his guidance.

A crunching sound broke me from my thoughts.

"Down now.” I motioned sharply to Liza.

We both flattened ourselves into the dirty fried grass without a sound. I covered Liza's head and shifted my gaze to a hunched figure in the distance. Immediately I knew it was one of them. A slight awkward arm motion followed by an unearthly growl and the slap of a long tail made my skin crawl. Liza began to whimper.

"Shhh c’mon don't look at it, used to be just like you n me I bet."

I slowly peered out again to see the creature shake what appeared as a rattle like appendage and watched it crawl back into the earth.

The mutations started shortly after the first bomb wave hit the USA. The toxic nuclear waste invaded the water systems causing mass mutation amongst the majority of the population. The farm's well water was kept separate and never had any contaminates. Griffin had tested it often to be certain.

Liza poked up after a few minutes of silence, "Is it gone momma?"

"Yes baby."

Her soft golden hair had fallen to her sides exposing her fair back to the smoky sky. It was at times like this I realized how fragile she truly was, seeing her blue veins dance through her paper skin. But I also knew Liza was not a delicate child. She had been born into this world of hate and fear and she knew how to protect her innocence and light from the horror.

She fiddled with the locket as we continued to wander through the fields.

"You think we'll find him? I think we will momma." She smiled up at me with a hopefully face. It gave me some comfort.

"I think we will baby.” I spoke with confidence but knew it was a long shot. Griffin had stopped sending radio signals from what I had calculated to be about 10 miles from the farm. He had told me he was to head north in search of surviors and reasources. I knew if we had not left, we wouldn’t be long for this world without him.

An hour had passed of eerie silence and we hit a paved highway. Liza was extremely excited to see this and jumped on it with glee.

"Look at this! We must be so close now!"

I smiled at her weakly. A wave of nausea came over me as I knew what brutality she may witness very soon.

Littered alongside of the road were things that reminded me of life before the fallout, an old Volkswagen, a billboard for a kids TV network and lots of interesting garbage. I don't believe Liza dared to blink as she was taking in the surroundings in fear of missing something new. She darted across the highway from side to side, investigating every single plastic she found.

I inhaled a putrid smell up ahead and told Liza to stay close. The smell of rotting meat took my nostrils by surprise.

“What IS that?!” Liza whispered dramatically.

Before I could explain, we had reached the top of a hill on the road to witness a horrific view. Mutants were swarming the streets of what used to be a small town, riffling through building and car remains to find their next dinner. A few of them appeared to be brawling with one another as they hissed and scratched using their long talon like hands. Another manipulating it’s body like a boa constrictor to squeeze an old mini fridge open.

“Be very quiet and try to stay calm, they can sense elevated adrenaline.” I held my breath.

I spotted a small warehouse away from the action on the outskirts of the town. In one swoop, I pulled Liza onto my back and covered her head with my hood in an attempt to hide her from the atrocities roaming the streets.

Moving as swiftly as I could with limited ruckus from downed branches, we approached the dilapidated building.

Liza flipped up the hood as soon as she felt the shade cast onto her body from the building. We both took a brief moment to admire the work that went into the structure. My eyes followed one particular sculptural detail of a large wolf head engraved in limestone. We heard the screeches of mutants in the distance.

"Do you think they still think like us?" Liza looked into the distance with concern.

"I don't think so honey, I think they forgot who they were a long time ago."

I pushed a rusted door that squeaked when I applied pressure and made just enough space for our small hungry bodies to fit through.

I sat Liza down on the cool concrete floor.

"I think this is a good spot to stop for a minute." Panting, I pulled out the last of our small well water ration.

A loud thudding sound arose from above us and I glanced toward the metallic pipes in the rafters. A large bulky creature with glowing iridescent eyes stared back at me.

"RUN LIZA!" I screamed and the monster dropped down on top of me.

Its snarly drooling mouth brushed an acidic fluid onto my cheek as it smelled me. I whimpered out of pain as the acid ate into my skin. I opened my eyes to meet the gaze of the beast to see a familiar blue tone set amongst a red dirty face with bulging veins. Over the sound of my skin burning , I could hear Liza crying in the distance. It was then I felt the dragging of a metal piece touching my chest with every breath of the beast. Through my shaky vision, I spied a gold heart dangling from the monsters neck.

Before the pain of the acid burns overtook me, I turned to see Liza wheedling a large metal pipe running towards the animal bearing down on me.

I felt a sudden weight fall onto me and a rush of thick warm fluid caress my torso. The last thing I remembered before the world faded into darkness was the sight of Liza with big tear streaks down her face and a bloodied weapon in her hand.

"Daddy?" She whispered.