Safe Haven

“Get down on the ground!” He boomed.

Wielding a flaming plank, he brandished it at me with all the fury of Prometheus. I cowered as he stripped the set of keys from my hand.

“You’d understand if you were in our shoes,” he muttered, as she shoved the keys into our car.

***

My worn-out sneakers kicked up dust as we plodded along the deserted highway. It had been weeks since my father, and my little brother and I had left the flooded cities, heading towards the new safe haven. Ever since we were robbed on the road, all that was left of our lives were packed into an old suitcase that now trailed behind us, its wheels long broken.

The sun beat down upon us like a slave driver. Our clothes were wet with sweat that we could not drink. A last cruel irony of this lifeless hell-scape. We trudged on. And on.

Yet a ray of hope would shine upon us today, or so we thought. We reached a sign whose original markings had long since been scratched off. New writing had been haphazardly sprayed on.

N E W H A V E N

T H I S W A Y 9 0 K M

Despite walking with renewed vigour, the horizon barely seemed to move. My little brother sputtered with discomfort at the growing phlegm and dust accumulating in his mouth. His arm weighed a bit heavier on mine after each step we took. We hadn’t eaten since the night before. The robbery had left our suitcase of supplies simultaneously lighter and yet feeling heavier with each famishing day.

It was as my stomach let out a thundering growl that we passed an abandoned petrol station. We agreed it might be worth exploring since our supply shortage had become dire.

Yet we were still wary. I tugged on strand of my heart-shaped locket to free the sweat accumulating beneath it. My father instructed me to stay with my brother as he inched past the array of decrepit cars. We watched intently as he navigated the wrecked storefront.

Despite his careful steps he couldn’t avoid a stray pane of glass on the ground.

A moan. Two moans.

They came from the back room. I rushed to my father’s side, leaving my brother to watch over the suitcase.

“Who…” I had half exclaimed before my father flung open the back-room door.

It was an elderly couple, cowering in a corner of the storage room. They appeared gaunt and frightened, trembling at the very sight of other human beings. I offered them my water bottle and they both drank eagerly. They told us how they had been robbed of all of their belongings when they stopped to siphon petrol some hours ago.

My hairs stood on end as the sun began to dip below the horizon, sending chill breezes across the landscape. I pondered whether the old couple could survive the night.

Bringing over the suitcase, I pulled out my blanket and gestured towards them, “have…”

They both shook their heads, interrupting my words. But I thrusted the blanket into their lap nonetheless. The old lady smiled weakly. My father offered to travel with them but the old man politely refused. As he clutched his crucifix, he told us they were waiting for someone. Yet he trailed off when we asked who, closing his eyes and waving us goodbye.

We left the old couple to their slumber and continued along the road, determined to reach the safe haven.

The last vestiges of dusty copper ebbed away. Just as it revealed the indigo twilight, we reached the edge of a small town. I felt the intermittent shivering of my brother’s body as the wind howled through the corridors of the intersection. His legs had given way and I now carried him. His cheeks burned as they rested on my chest. I looked at my father, who looked back at me. He attempted a smile but gave up half-way. We pressed onwards.

The town was stripped bare. Even the street signs had been looted. There was nothing save for a faint light on the other end of the town. What was it? Who was it? Were they dangerous?

These questions soon left our mind as my brother coughed violently and seemed to squirm in pain. As we approached the light I could make out two silhouettes, half illuminated by the warm glow of burning wood. They sat along the side of a car covered in the dust of many places. They immediately jumped up. My father raised his hands to signal that we weren’t a threat. They stared at him silently. Then at me, still with my brother wrapped around my chest. Their expression softened. It was a young woman and a small boy. No older than my brother.

“We…” I started before my father placed his on my shoulder, interrupting my honesty.

He told them we were just passing through. They said they were driving further inland to find the boy’s father. We all sat for a short while, watching what used to be a door burning peacefully on the ground. The young woman asked if it was my mother who gave me the locket. It was then as the blaze dampened that my father suddenly gripped my hand tightly. Taking another piece of door, he slammed it into the fire. Flashing red reflections swirled into the billowing smoke and embers.

“Get down on the ground!” It was a voice I barely recognised. But it came from my father’s mouth.

Wielding a flaming plank, he brandished it at the young woman with all the fury of Prometheus. The woman cowered as he stripped a set of keys from her hand. The young boy accompanying her began to wail loudly.

“You’d understand if you were in our shoes,” he uttered under his breath as he shoved me and my brother into the car.

He ignited the engine and began to accelerate. I could hear the woman screaming. She jumped onto the hood of the car. I screamed and covered my eyes. I heard my father stamp on the pedal.

A thud.

We were gone. I sobbed quietly as we drove. My father said nothing. We drove on. And on. Until…

N E W H A V E N

We stepped out of the car. There was nothing. Just ash.

“…become,” was all I could manage to babble through the tears.