Trunchbull

The small girl closed the door to the underground structure quietly before exhaling a sigh of relief. Turning around she leaned back against the door with her eyes shut, it was the first time she’d been able to relax in several days.

“Where are the others?” a woman's voice asked. “Where’s my boys Rindul?”

Rindul clenched her jaw before opening her eyes to respond. She hadn’t killed her sons, but the mother already decided she had and so there was no point in trying to explain herself. Looking directly into her pale blue-gray eyes, she shook her head.

The old lady lifted her chin as her eyes went to the floor. Her mouth formed into a thin line before turning away to leave the room.

There were only eleven of them now, most either too old or young to gather supplies. Each of them had lost the ones keeping them alive over the past couple years. She was the one person no one relied on who continued to return.

No, that’s not right. They all rely on me. I am responsible for all of them.

Just as she started to remove her coat, one of the few men remaining approached her.

“Not much left out there with raiders movin’ through, am I right?” he asked.

Rindul stared at him, her expression saying it’s been a long couple days Miller. Get to the point.

He moved the hand-carved toothpick in his mouth from one side to the other. “Look, I know you just got back. But I came across somethin while you were out. Somethin that ain’t gonna last if we don’t get it now.”

Rindul blinked in response.

“Look, I get it. You just got back. You’re thinkin, ‘go get it yourself Miller, you’re a big boy’ or you may be thinkin why am I tellin you?”

She shrugged.

The older man looked around, though no one was paying attention to him. “There’s lots of reasons, Rinny. The biggest of those reasons is you’ve been out and back more than anyone else. It may have escaped your notice, but a lot of everyone here thinks you should be dead. They don’t want you dead, but they don’t understand how you’re alive.”

Rindul tilted her head to the side, motioning she understood.

“There’s also the matter that I don’t move around so well,” he knocked on his prosthetic leg. “And of course you can keep a secret unlike anyone else here.”

Her eyes narrowed as if to ask, and why would I need to keep a secret?

He lowered his voice to a whisper. He scratched near the side of his eye as he said, “There may not be enough for everyone, but if there is,” he looked around the room at the depressing group of people. “This could change everything.”

She waited for him to continue, for him to tell her what it was.

When he didn’t, it only took her a second to find an empty, orange, medicine bottle. She picked it up and motioned to it.

“Medicine?” he asked. He shook his head. ”This is better than medicine Rinny.”

She continued to remove her coat as she walked away.

“Rin! Rin wait. Rin Rin Rin Rin Rin,” he repeated several times before catching up with her. “Look, it ain’t far from here. Raiders won’t be over there based on their movements for at least another day. We get in, get out,”

Her eyebrows furrowed.

He cleared his throat. “Alright, you get in and out. I’ll cover you. You know I’m a good shot.”

At that moment, one of the blankets separating the rooms was pushed aside and she saw the mother of the boys she’d been traveling with. The old woman sat in a corner leaning against the wall, her cheeks stained with tears. Even when they were safe, many things were still performed in silence out of habit, the worst being when they wept.

Rindul swallowed. Any frustration or anger she anticipated feeling toward the woman faded away.

“Rin,” Miller’s tone had shifted to something more serious. “If we’re successful in this supply run, the hope you’ll bring these folks will be like the sun shinin’ out from behind dark clouds.”

Rindul lowered her head as she pondered what she would do.

She didn’t like making decisions without having time to assess them from every angle, and simultaneously thought she needed to implement a new rule stating she needed at least twenty-four hours before doing so.

Yet she wasn’t about to allow vultures to pick a supply cache of weapons or medicine clean if she could get to it first.

After sliding her arm back through the empty sleeve hanging off her shoulder, Rindul tugged at the lapels of the coat pulling it back on.

Miller smiled. “That’s my girl.”

Rindul stared at the pine tree in irritation. Her coat would be ruined, but she couldn’t think of any alternative given the time she had to prepare.

Miller stared at her in confusion, his toothpick shifting from one side of his mouth to the other. “Got somethin’ against that tree?”

Ignoring him she climbed up into the branches, pressing up close against the trunk with her chest, arms and legs. She hesitated only a second before rolling her head against the center of the tree, coating her hair in sap. After inspecting the stickiness on herself with various pokes of her finger, she climbed down.

“Easily the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” he shifted his rifle from one shoulder to the other. “And I was alive before all...this,” he motioned to the sky. “You gonna tell me what that’s all for?”

She shook her head. She didn’t even know if her idea would work.

Their destination was in the opposite direction of where she and her party were days before. She knew of the place, but hadn’t been in charge of searching the area until now.

They stopped half a mile outside the ruined city, just inside the treeline. Miller unslung his rifle and peered through the scope.

Rindul appreciated how meticulous he was in scanning the area; it took several minutes for him to perform an entire sweep of the direction she was most likely headed.

When he was finished he held the rifle up so she could peer look through the telescopic sight. She adjusted her view with her forearms, careful not to touch the gun with her sticky hands.

“See the building with the faded red sign? Right side of the street?”

After a few seconds, she nodded.

“Inside, there’s a circular plastic container. It’s not that big or very heavy. If you can get inside, grab it and bring it back here.”

Rindul leaned back and surveyed the area outside the sight of the gun scope.

“I got your back.” Miller said, in an effort to reassure her.

Only partially hearing him, she cleared her head and sprinted toward the city.

Even with no one around, her heart pounded as though she were in danger. She hated being in the open with nothing to get behind. Fortunately, it was only a short distance and the city provided what she had hoped for; an overturned dumpster with filth and garbage. Slowing down, she dropped to her hands and knees and crawled underneath the pile of trash. Once she emerged, she was covered head to toe in debris.

Rindul moved quietly down the street in intervals, waiting up to ten minutes before moving from one pile of refuse to the next. The city was just as quiet as the forest, but far more terrifying not knowing what could be watching from the hundreds of windows surrounding the place.

Just as she was about to stand up to relocate one more time before reaching her destination, a man standing almost seven feet tall stepped out of the alley less than a meter away. Like her, he was incredibly quiet when he moved, though his quiet movements were nullified by the heavy breathing under his mask. Muscles in his arms twitched violently as he slowly peered down each end of the street.

Rindul didn’t think she could move if she wanted to. Her arms and legs felt completely numb, the fear inside her was so strong she felt like vomiting.

She’d never been this close to a marauder.

What is Miller waiting for?

She paused.

Does he see more than one?

The man started down the street, heading deeper into the city.

Rindul moved to the door, reached up through one of the smashed-out, small glass panels and pulled the handle on the opposite side. There was a soft click as it opened.

She spotted the white container as soon as she entered, sitting by itself behind a glass-covered countertop. Still on her hands and knees, she crawled over behind the bench-like structure and picked up the container.

Miller was right. Whatever was inside didn’t weigh much.

She probably would have dropped it had her shaking hands not been covered in sap. Whatever was inside had to be extremely fragile.

Backing up against the wall underneath the translucent, grime-covered window looking outside, she looked up and arched her back to see outside.

On the third floor of a building across the street, Rindul spotted someone looking directly at her, which almost caused her to swear out loud. The stranger vanished as soon as their eyes locked and she knew her life was dependent on whether or not she could exit the city before whoever saw her could descend three flights of stairs.

She returned to the front of the store and pushed the door open just enough to slip out.

Careful not to drop the container, she sprinted to where Miller waited.

She risked a glance over her shoulder--but saw no one. She knew someone had seen her though, and immediately knew the only reason they wouldn’t chase her is if they suspected a trap. Once they discovered there wasn’t one waiting for them, she and Miller would be set upon.

Rindul didn’t stop once she hit the treeline. She knew Miller couldn’t run very fast, but he would have to force himself to if he wanted to live.

“Hold up kid!” he called out in a loud whisper. “There’s no one chasin’ you! Slow down!”

Rindul turned around jumping up and down on the balls of her feet. She nodded to their left and right and motioned for him to run.

“You got the container! Let me see it! Quick!” he held out his hands.

She felt like the fear, anxiety and adrenaline would cause her to explode any moment. Reminding herself she’d been in similar situations before, she forced herself to remain calm and hand him the container.

Miller carefully pulled the top apart from the base and smiled like a cheshire cat.

Sitting on a plate was a cake covered in a hardened, moldy shell.

The man sank to the ground, dropped his rifle to the side and took out his knife. With a hand as steady as a surgeons, he cut into the dessert and peeled away the outer coating to reveal the chocolate center beneath. Once the inedible layer was removed, he cut a triangular piece from the center, and took a large bite.

Rindul stared at the man in disbelief.

Miller’s eyes rolled back into his head as he chewed. He kept his eyes shut as he emitted a delighted moan. “Still moist,” he uttered between the mouthful of decadence. “This...this....Rinny you need to try this. You’ll forget--”

The man opened his eyes in time to see Rindul swinging the but of his rifle at his prosthetic leg.

It didn’t hurt when she hit it, but he did hear a distinct ‘snap’, meaning he wouldn’t be putting weight on it anytime soon. The barrel of the gun was pointed directly at him before he could think to try and grab her.

“What’s going on Rin? Have you ever had chocolate cake? Girl, do you know the emotions that’ll rise up inside you when you take a bite of this?”

Rin shook her head.

“I’d appreciate it Rin if you pointed that thing elsewhere.” he said with a half smile.

Rindul backed away, pointed the rifle in the air and fired once.

Miller’s expression went from smug to furious in an instant. He got to his feet with a growl and instantly collapsed.

When he looked up again, Rindul was gone. Looking back, the color drained from his face upon seeing five, giant, shadowy figures close in around him.