The Badlands: Kinship

I find myself wandering around the settlement I have called home as long as I have been alive. I know I am going to have to figure out some way to buy some food tonight or I spend another day hungry. I need to figure out who could use someone like me for an odd job. Though I never take anything that leads me from the settlement. The areas outside of our walls are not safe, like most settlements in the Badlands of their areas.

I approach a board in our sand filled lot. I look for the job postings and it seems again I am too late. The bounty hunts are all that are left on the board and I haven't any chance at that. I know better. Just two days ago there was a man sent after a hell hound that was tormenting a farmer off the settlement nearby. However, the man never came back.

Most people don't even bother learning each other's names or making acquaintances or friends. We keep to ourselves because we all are suffering and barely scraping by for survival. I hear that the settlement of Lost Angels is very well off in comparison, although rumours of the Oro’Mastaras come from that way. We hear about New Boston now and then from stories that our trader gets from the next closest settlement, which is a four-day journey on foot. There is no other way we can travel around.

"Hey! Etha!" I can hear a woman's voice call me.

"What's up?" I turn around.

"I saw a job for you earlier, so I made sure to nab it before anyone else." A short blonde haired woman with red and white patched skin approaches me.

"Uh, thanks?" I say in response.

"Don't remember me, do ya?" She says as she hands me the job sheet.

"No, you don't even look like you're from here. Are you passing through?" I ask.

"I came back from New Boston." She says.

"Yeah, Sure. The likelihood of that is next to impossible. The mutants alone are too hard to avoid." I scoff.

"My name is Mia. I left here with my father five years ago." She explains.

I think hard for the moment. I haven't any idea why I should know her. I never seen someone with skin marked like hers. Perhaps she mutated while in the Badlands.

"Why'd you come back?" I ask.

"You, Etha." She says.

"Yeah, okay and why would that be?" My voice fills with aggravated sarcasm.

"I'm serious. I am starting a group back in New Boston. We are going to try to make this continent livable again. We want to help bring water to land from Lost Angels and the East Coast. We need to start finding a way to live through this all." She explains.

"What'd you say your name was?"

"Mia." She says.

"Come with me." I say. I walk to the area closest to the southern wall.

We stay quiet. I don't want anyone catching onto this. It may just be some psychotic idea. However, I want to hear this out. We all need better living quality. I wish I only knew the answers right now. If this is just a fantasy in her head, then this is for nothing and I could be earning money for the day. I look at the sheet she handed me earlier.

'Requesting agile people.

If you can climb, run and use ropes and etcetera, then please come to the North Gate and talk to Reginald. Look for the bright blue shield on the house's front door.'

I stare into it, confused. I know my way around the settlement, thankfully. I look up and turn to face my door. Only a few people are walking on the streets.

WEAAAAAHHHHH!!! A siren blares to alert us. The warning of a sandstorm.

"Sandstorm! Let's go in!" I grab Mia's hand and dart to my door.

"Hey!" She exclaims.

I sigh. I slide the door open and shove her into my house. I can feel the wind picking up. I enter and face outside to close the door. The sight of a large, deep brown storm of sand only greeted my eyes coming our way. Like that of a giant washing wave that came from the desert sands. I close the door as quick as I can muster.

SLAM!!

"Pass me that chain." I turn and point at a hook behind Mia.

"Sure." She grabs it quickly and tosses it over.

I grab a big blowtorch and weld the chain to the door, then the wall as well. I sigh deeply when I am done. The shack begins to shake. The rattling and grinding of metal sheets is the only sounds we can hear. I can only hope I built my home strong enough this time.

The wailing of my home fills our ears. We crouch down and sit quietly. We can only hope this is going to keep us safe from the devastating winds. I can hear the moaning of metal bending outside. I feel tears rippling along my cheeks. I don't want to die this young.

I grasp a hold of Mia without thinking. My fear is eating me alive. The dark shadows of the feeling of fear are drowning my entirety. My soul feels broken. This is it.

SLAM!

I hear metal scratching across my home's walls. I exhale. I don't know how long the storm has been passing by. Mia is staying quiet due to of her own internal struggle of the need to make it through the storm.

The sound of the howling winds grows harsh. I get us to slide under a metal work bench I have for my tools and repairing some basic stuff. The tools rattle as the ground shakes. The winds must be so powerful cause I hear a voice try to call out but vanish before a word could be finished.

A low tone howling fills the air. Something must have come with the storm. It is a deep rumble. The winds calm down. As the sand is hitting the metal, you can hear the slowness of it, until it stops.

"Think it's safe?" Mia asks.

I lay a finger over my lips. I can hear a large animal panting outside of my home. If any of what I hear matters, it's a hellhound. The giant canine creatures, according to rumours, have a great reputation for being unstoppable and being immortal.

"Wait." I whisper.

CRASH!

I flinch down towards the floor. Mia does the same. Not even a shift in sand has been made. We stay dead silent. If it hears us, we are as good as dead. I hear the faint steps of the beast. Another set of footprints can be heard on the other side.

Thump! I hear something outside fall. Seconds of silence go by. Suddenly, a grown man's screams of agony break the silence and it feels like hours as we wait for them to stop. It seems as if there are a few hellhounds taking advantage of our settlement. I wait, full of nerves. Mia has her face becoming filled with sweat.

We stare at one another, hoping to see the end of this nightmare. I don't even want to leave the home if it's over. My settlement probably lays in near ruins after that rush of weather and the hellhounds.

I can hear surges of zapping as the sounds get farther away. I let out a sigh of relief. It seems like they are moving forward from us. I slide a slot open in my door to take a look outside, checking if it's safe.

"How's it look out there?" Mia asks me.

"Bad." That's all I can say.

Scattered metal scraps of homes lay all over. Blood stained sand fill the area's roads with the bones and ligaments of people who were living here. The sight is absolutely horrific.

"How did they get through the wall?" I ask.

"That's a part of why I am here for you. We need better knowledge of how to make things stand against the mutated animals out here in the Badlands." She replies seriously.

"What do you have in mind? I'm no leader, nor am I a fighter, let alone very smart." I explain.

"You are agile." She says. "You were the fastest at jumping the fences I had ever seen when I was young." She adds.

"I haven't done that since I was a child." I explain.

"Well, we will help you get back into shape." She says with a wide smile.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"We may have found out where Mark Twigs ran Canadia from." She says.

"What's the big deal about that?" I reply.

"Apparently, that's where all the major information of the old world may be resting." She explains.

"Why does that matter? It's not like we can undo what they have done." I reply.

"No, that you are right. However, there were old books in New Boston talking about water purification. That would change almost everyone's life in the world. Especially deep land settlements like Basha." She smirks at me.

"Okay, so this is based on some ancient book you dug up?" I scoff and shake my head.

I unhook the chain and blowtorch it free from the wall. I sigh as the chain swings with its metallic clinging. Mia stares at me.

"How far is New Boston?" I ask.

"About a week's travel." She replies.

"I guess we better prepare if we are gonna expect to survive that long out there." I say.

"So you'll help?"

"It's not like I have much reason to live around here. Hope sometimes is better than nothing." I answer.