Nuclear Love

2 | Finding Myself for Starters

I had more than one vote for keeping the poor sap alive, so here we go! I just want to keep moving with this story, so you can all keep reading!

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈․° ☣ °․┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

MY HAND SHAKES uncontrollably, finger brushing the trigger. Rage and confusion wallowing, I look down at the shaking guy, barely younger than myself, shielding his face as he prepares for death.

I can't do it. That's not me.

My hand twitches uncontrollably as I try to will myself to do it. To finish him, but I can't do it.

Clicking the safety on and throwing the gun to my side, I bend down to the level of the man.

"What's your name?" I ask.

Beads of sweat on his forehead and a quivering lip is all I get in reply.

I sigh, raising my hand to his, only to have him flinch.

"I'm not going to kill you. I think I've done enough of that for one day."

I grab onto his hand which feels like pumice, and pull him to his feet. He nods in gratitude.

So far he hasn't attacked me yet, so we're off to a good start.

"Where am I?" A second question. And again, no reply. He's obviously in shock.

So I decide the only way to figure out where we are is to head toward the light. Not necessarily what you want to do in all cases, but for this time, getting out of this hunk of death metal is the best option.

The raider stops as we begin walking toward the exit and runs over to his fallen comrades. Hastily he bends down by each of them, and with his eyes closed, feels around until he picks up some small boxes the size of candy bars.

We walk toward the broken doors, and the best sensation in the world wakens my senses.

The wind.

It brings in a freshness, of earth and trees, of life, in complete contrast to the smell of death where we now stood. It was as if I were experiencing the world for the first time.

We walk out to the open air, the sunlight making my eyes sting something fierce, and after my pupils shrink down ten sizes I'm able to squint and look around.

It's beautiful.

I stand on a large plateau that lets me see the entire valley below. Large ponderosa pines, red cedars, and white-barked quaking aspens fill the land. A wide rushing river juts back and forth playing peek-a-boo in the forest. What catches my eye though is an old town that must be a mile or two away, taken over by the foliage, with buildings crumbling and roads cracked into pieces. It looks like it's been abandoned for years. I can even see broken down cars, school buses with no wheels, and large dump trucks still full of gravel and heavy rocks. Large mounds of dirt cover some of the houses.

"Whoa," I say out loud. Raider boy has stopped shaking to the left of me, but still keeps his head bowed low. "Where are we?" I ask. Looking over in his direction, I see a boy with dirty blond hair that's caked and greased with lack of hygiene. Even though he is more muscular than me, and a plethora of scars go across his hands and arms, I know he must be younger than he looks. He has a baby face and when I peer into his squinty brown eyes, I see a sixteen, maybe even fifteen-year-old boy. Relief washes over me as I think about accidently killing a kid.

Turning around, I look at the large, metal object we just came from. It's about the size of two or three houses, a huge cylinder split down the middle into two pieces. A triangular piece juts out from the side like a wing, while the other half of the object scraped into a boulder-size rock and ripped the wing off.