Mother Nature and Her Cruel Sense of Humor

When she was angry, she did not throw halfhearted tantrums. Who knows what I did this time to deserve her raging wrath, but if I did not take cover soon, humanity's last hope would be dead. That was me, by the way, the last human on the face of earth. Not that I've had leisure to explore all of Earth to confirm it, but you've got to trust me on this one, no one is out there. No one to answer my calls, no one to give me company, no one to save me from myself. Which is just as well, seeing that I didn't want to be saved. 

Mother Nature was coming at me strong and persistent, throwing everything she was made of into this summer thunderstorm. Figuratively and literally, seeing as a rogue branch was mere inches away from implanting itself into my shoulder as it was lifted into flight by a tenacious gust of air. Scooping up my backpack I scurried back to camp, which I had set up in what appears to be an old mall, but one can never be sure. Even in the oncoming gale, the vines climb up the walls, scaling to the top and back down again, making the once red-brick walls seem fuzzy with green leaves. Where tile used to lay now harboured moss and small sprouts that pushed between the cracks. Any wood furniture that may have been on display was long ago eroded into mounds of ever-blooming wildflowers. The sight was both marvelous and somber; a reminder of what had once been and what had become.  

I nestled down into my little fortress of blankets, content on calling it a day. The food I harvested was early in the season but still fairly ripe. Along with the cloth that could be converted into something decent, and a knife with a three inch blade (which by some miracle was not rusted to particles) I would deem it a good haul. The stars were my blanket and the hum of spring peepers my lullaby. Except that lullaby was turning into a Rolling Stones jam session, and not in dreamland. My eyes snapped open and I jerked into a sitting position. I mentally slapped myself, for allowing that microscopic sense of false security would dearly cost me. 

Narrowing down the precise direction of the commotion proved to be more difficult than I had imagined, for the towering remains of the structure I was taking shelter inside bounced echoes around as if sound were a ping pong ball between two opposing players. I'm not entirely sure why I was walking towards the sound of pure destruction, blame the drowsiness, but I immediately regretted it. Not even twenty feet from the doorway I was peering around were two shadows of fur and claws, interlocked in a tight embrace of death. 

Thankfully the mutts were too preoccupied to see me but once the omega was taken down, I would become the next victim. That's how it was in this world, kill or be killed, flee or fight to death, and I really didn't have room for a funeral (mine) in my agenda. In addition, animals were not something I ever had much luck with, but then again friends aren't food was a sore spot. What can I say a girl has got to eat. I seem to have just been accepted into the food chain, probably somewhere along with the bunnies and kittens for the amount of damage I truly do. I would like to say I had learned some cool Amazonian Warrior hunting skills during the thirteen years I've been on my own, but that would just be insulting towards Artemis and her hunters. 

Neither creature displayed any of the features one of the Deranged would, which was a relief, a huge one. A scar over one eye was the most prominent warning, a warning you would do well to comply, and high tail out of there. Walking with a haggard limp that almost made you want to put the animal out of its misery was not uncommon. If you did get close enough to do so though you might as well sign your death certificate. I've only encountered a grand total of three, and all nearly ended with me in shreds. Tufts of their pelt missing, leaving behind checkerboard patterns. Muscle spasms occur every so often, making the creature even more unpredictable. Excessive panting as if breath was just out of reach, with their teeth in a permanent sneer. And worst of all, a mournful howl, that sums up all the agony and anguishment in the world, that cuts right through you, slicing into your heart and soul. 

That gut wrenching melody meant it was time to find new grounds, before the thing creating it caught your scent and decided to have you as a snack. Not that the Deranged really killed for food, it was more of an enjoyable activity that resulted in free meat. They were pretty rare to encounter, considering they consisted of only a fraction of the mutations after the End. 

Still though, this type of racket never led to a good outcome, and it was time to move camp anyway. I shuffled backwards, not taking my eyes off the brawl a second. That was yet another of my dumb mistakes, which i realized far too late, as my foot glanced off of a metal tin that scraped the ground, barely making an audible noise, but a noise nonetheless. Everything stopped; my foot, my breathing, the fight, the rotation of Earth itself. Two pairs of gleaming dark eyes glistened from the darkness, taking in their chances of eating me. Under normal circumstances most animals would retreat, but these scrawny mutts have seen too much evil, and their stomachs demanded justice. Logically, I spun around and sprinted, blindly pushing things behind me in vague attempts of slowing down my now predators. Of course, this sent me sprawling across the floor, tripping on god knows what. This position left me vulnerable to attacks on both sides, and I hurriedly pushed myself up against the closet wall. Somehow I had managed to get cornered, basically placing myself on a silver platter, ready to be devoured. In a last effort to have some sort of defense I felt around me, hoping for anything that could be used as a weapon. It was too good to be true, I thought as my fingers wrapped around a gun handle, no way my luck was finally turning around. As I brought my newfound protection into the moonlight I came to the conclusion that Mother Nature herself was plotting against me. It was a stupid water gun. I guess plastic really does never decompose. I figured I might as well put it to good use and launched at the incoming nose of one of the dogs.Somehow the tiny plastic toy knocked it down, which then the other dog collided into its collapsed body, and they resumed their fight. 

“Dumb dogs” I muttered, very clearly annoyed at the waste of well-needed and well-deserved sleep time. Yet it was just another typical night. Finally I arrived back at my campsite, promising to move locations early the next morning, for I had cleared the area of supplies anyway. 

Apparently a decent night of sleep is a crime around here. However, this time it was not sounds of fighting that awoke me, but one much more chilling; the bellow of a Deranged,and to accompany it, the shrill shriek of a child. That couldn't be right, I was the only one left, yet the chance was one I could not pass up. Leaping out of bed once again, I sheathed my knife and headed out. 

I was more cautious this time, especially knowing that a Deranged may be involved. There, crouching behind a mongrel was a quivering child, a real, live child, who was about to become not so alive if the massive creature rearing in front of her had anything to do with it. Stepping onto the bridge, the wind didn't just whip my hair, it tore through it like a raging animal trying to break its chains of imprisonment. It roared in my ears, demanding to be set free. As so, for once, I listened. 

I didn't spare a second thought as I barreled straight into the bear. It’s massive paw swiped across its body, but failed to stop me, that motion of gravity, as I slammed into it. Warm, sticky blood dripped down my side as its claws managed to scoop out my insides. Nevertheless, we lifted off the ground, becoming weightless, and seemed to float there for some time. Abruptly we became matter once more and plunged into the menacing waters below. The sea had claimed back what was always its own and so had the sky and soil, letting mother nature sculpt what life was to come next, and I was okay with that. 

And then the abyss was all I knew.