Thea's Reprise

Chapter One: Kris

First Person: Kris

I open my eyes, however quickly shielding them as my bed lines right up with the sun's rays. The chirping of avei and children's laughter leak through my window; meaning I overslept. I shoot up and grab the cloak off of the floor before walking down the narrow hallway. A familiar voice rings from the kitchen, my mother's. The sweetness of her voice makes me forget our circumstances for a moment, but the slight cracks in her tone bring me back to reality.

She’s about to snap.

A man in a black tuxedo sits in front of her; my mom’s eyes lock with mine before widening. I feel a hand on my shoulder, hear my mother scream at the man, see her lunge at him, knife in hand, and taste the bitter flavor of Rohypnol just to smell the odor of chloroform.

Until I wake up, that is.

Six years, it’s been the exact same dream for the past six years. I’ll go to sleep, lose my mother, and wake up holding my chest. I’ve been putting off sleeping because I hate waking up in tears. But it’s already been two weeks, and my bag ran out of food two months ago. I'll have to sleep soon.

Or I could find some food.

Which is easier said than done; trying to find an animal that won’t outrun me, kill me, or both is nearly impossible. I'm not finding plants for miles in a wasteland like this, especially not in a storm.

A storm in a desert of ashes is shit. I can’t see for more than a few meters, the gray ashes swirling around in front of me make the world look like TV static, and the wind is screaming in my ears, almost like a beehive in my head. Breathing in the soot won't kill me, but getting it in my eyes might put me in a situation that will, so a bandana and goggles are mandatory; my sinuses are acting up enough.

“That’s so dumb,” Sometimes when I think too much I blurt things out.

But it is dumb though, how am I supposed to find a big enough animal to eat? Maybe a Taurus? A bison? I wonder how common-era radiants killed those things. Humans, I think that’s their name. From what I know, their lives sucked.

I can't imagine being unable to go more than 10 weeks without food, I mean my usual fasts go for about 15. Did they really have to use machines to lift anything over two hundred pounds? What if they fell off of one of their tall buildings? With windows as flimsy as theirs, you could probably punch them out of position, so falling must’ve been commonplace. Or maybe they couldn’t knock them out of place. Were they really that weak before nuclear evolution? “I just can’t believe that-”

What was that?

A crash? No, it’s more like a rumbling now. There’s a building falling near me.

“Where is it coming from?” I blurt in an anxious tone.

I’m basically looking at static in a storm like this, but it sounds like that building’s coming down fast. Is it a threat to me? I can’t tell. It sounds close enough to be a problem. Then what direction is it coming down from? And then I see it, just about two meters above me. A skyscraper, or at least half of one, is coming right for me.

It’s only getting faster. Left or right, where do I go?

Is there more space to the left? How about the right? I can’t tell, but judging from how fast it’s falling I should probably go left. What if it’s one of those buildings that extend on the sides? No, it would be louder on the other side. But my hearing isn’t at 100 percent right now so-

“Forget it!”

I jump to the right, sliding against the piles of cinder just as the building crashes; clouds of smoke and debris rush at me as I cross my arms to protect myself. I breathe a sigh of relief once the smoke clears. Note to self, think a little less. I dust myself off, move the hair out of my face, and look around. Now why did that building fall? It could’ve just been a coincidence, but I heavily doubt it. Especially since I heard a crash beforehand. It couldn’t have been a radiant; we’re strong, but we’d put a lot of effort into knocking over a skyscraper; and doing it in one blow is out of the question.

Then what hit that building?

Just then, a loud roar echoes through the storm. I turn towards the source of the sound, or at least where I think it is. It’s like I'm in the middle of a tornado. The soot is still clouding my vision, but there’s something there, right next to the building’s remains. It’s blending in well, just about two shades lighter than the ash at my feet, but standing next to the rubble gives it away. Judging by its features, Big body, four legs, two horns on the side of its nose, one on top, I’d say that’s a-

Holy shit, it’s a paratana.

Out of all the things I could run into, a paratana? Give me a break; I’m hungry, but I'm not that hungry. A three-horned rhino bathed in radiation is just a few meters away from me. With horns sharper than steel, a body that makes bullets bounce off it, and a top speed slightly faster than mine, this thing is a living tank that’ll hit anything that moves.

Paratanas, just like common-era rhinos, are practically blind and can’t see more than a few feet in front of them. So we’re at the same disadvantage right now. The only issue is that its hearing is off the charts.

But if I move away slowly, it might not notice me. All I have to do is walk backwards...

Crack!

It heard me.