End of the Line - Part 16
Me again :) Just a little one this time. I did write this to be part of a longer chapter but i kinda liked the moment of it and i felt it deserved to be on its own.
Title: End of the Line (Part 16)
Words:724
Disclaimer: Dont own them :(
Notes: I apologise, but i dont know LA that well, so i may have got details about it kinda wrong. Now, and elsewhere in this story :)
I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie
I have my freedom but I don't have much time
Faith has been broken, tears must be cried
Let's do some living after we die
Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day
Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones
They exited the house at dusk and trudged on through the night. Greg and Wayne led the way, with Chip and Jeff not far behind. Ryan walked behind them, his hands resting loosely on the straps of his backpack, his gaze occasionally averting to the side to watch Brad, who had been trailing the group and stopping to take pictures.
Every now and again Brad would lean over and show Ryan what he had just snapped, but Ryan found himself, more often than not, starring at Brad instead of the picture. Shaking his head in annoyance at himself, Ryan stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked faster to catch up with Chip and Jeff, leaving Brad gazing back down the road through the lens of his camera.
It was about midnight when they finally left the suburbs behind them and found themselves walking along Route 5, north out of LA. The California countryside flanked the highway for as far as the eye could see, and the comforting twinkle of the city lights were soon far behind them.
Littering the road and even the surrounding fields were numerous cars and vans, their hulking masses covering the tarmac, forcing anyone on foot onto the grassy banks at the road’s edge.
Most of the vehicles were simply stalled or parked, their doors left open or smashed in as the occupants had fled after the pulse. Some however were twisted together in crumpled heaps, the leftovers from fatal, post-apocalypse, pileups. Glass crunched under foot.
The air was warm with a slight breeze that lifted their hair and ran ruffling through their shirts, tinted with the acrid smell of burning. Crickets chirped merrily in the undergrowth and from a nearby copse of trees, an owl hooted. Far above the almost full moon shone mercilessly down upon them.
The gradual incline of the road led them to the crest of a small hill, and they were able to look back at the city they had left far behind. Few man-made lights still burned, replaced instead by the unholy destruction of a thousand burning pyres. What was left of LA was slowly being eaten alive, engulfing flames running amuck through the hollow streets as if sent from hell itself.
Wayne let out a low whistle and turned to Greg, raising his eyebrows. Greg nodded, for once at a loss for words. Ryan, Brad and Chip stood together in a row and stared at the place they had once called home.
Jeff sighed deeply and wrapped his arms around himself. He gazed down at the city, and then up at the stars above him.
‘You hear that?’ He asked quietly, his voice a whisper on the breeze. Without turning to him, Chip whispered back.
‘Hear what?’
‘The silence - it’s so quiet.’
And it was true. Without the hustle and bustle of civilization, without the trains and cars and buses and people rushing too and fro, it was as quiet and peaceful as when the world was young, before anything had tainted its surface.
Standing together, the breeze fresh on their faces, the blood warm in their veins, they registered a moment unlike any they had experienced before.
Wayne bowed his head, his hands clasped before him as if in prayer. Greg remained silent and as unmoving as a statue. Chip and Jeff stood close together, staring around them as if seeing their surroundings for the first time. Brad and Ryan moved closer together, each being drawn to the warmth of the other. They turned to look at each other, their eyes wide with trepidation but alive with the hint of possibility.
‘Well kids, welcome to the new world.’ Greg finally said, breaking the silence and at the same time, the spell of suspension.
Wayne turned to him and smiled.
Chip and Jeff reached into their backpacks for water and snacks.
Brad stepped away from Ryan, putting safe distance between them once again.
Ryan sighed. Yeah, and what a world it is.
End of Part 16
Title: End of the Line (Part 16)
Words:724
Disclaimer: Dont own them :(
Notes: I apologise, but i dont know LA that well, so i may have got details about it kinda wrong. Now, and elsewhere in this story :)
I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie
I have my freedom but I don't have much time
Faith has been broken, tears must be cried
Let's do some living after we die
Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day
Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones
They exited the house at dusk and trudged on through the night. Greg and Wayne led the way, with Chip and Jeff not far behind. Ryan walked behind them, his hands resting loosely on the straps of his backpack, his gaze occasionally averting to the side to watch Brad, who had been trailing the group and stopping to take pictures.
Every now and again Brad would lean over and show Ryan what he had just snapped, but Ryan found himself, more often than not, starring at Brad instead of the picture. Shaking his head in annoyance at himself, Ryan stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked faster to catch up with Chip and Jeff, leaving Brad gazing back down the road through the lens of his camera.
It was about midnight when they finally left the suburbs behind them and found themselves walking along Route 5, north out of LA. The California countryside flanked the highway for as far as the eye could see, and the comforting twinkle of the city lights were soon far behind them.
Littering the road and even the surrounding fields were numerous cars and vans, their hulking masses covering the tarmac, forcing anyone on foot onto the grassy banks at the road’s edge.
Most of the vehicles were simply stalled or parked, their doors left open or smashed in as the occupants had fled after the pulse. Some however were twisted together in crumpled heaps, the leftovers from fatal, post-apocalypse, pileups. Glass crunched under foot.
The air was warm with a slight breeze that lifted their hair and ran ruffling through their shirts, tinted with the acrid smell of burning. Crickets chirped merrily in the undergrowth and from a nearby copse of trees, an owl hooted. Far above the almost full moon shone mercilessly down upon them.
The gradual incline of the road led them to the crest of a small hill, and they were able to look back at the city they had left far behind. Few man-made lights still burned, replaced instead by the unholy destruction of a thousand burning pyres. What was left of LA was slowly being eaten alive, engulfing flames running amuck through the hollow streets as if sent from hell itself.
Wayne let out a low whistle and turned to Greg, raising his eyebrows. Greg nodded, for once at a loss for words. Ryan, Brad and Chip stood together in a row and stared at the place they had once called home.
Jeff sighed deeply and wrapped his arms around himself. He gazed down at the city, and then up at the stars above him.
‘You hear that?’ He asked quietly, his voice a whisper on the breeze. Without turning to him, Chip whispered back.
‘Hear what?’
‘The silence - it’s so quiet.’
And it was true. Without the hustle and bustle of civilization, without the trains and cars and buses and people rushing too and fro, it was as quiet and peaceful as when the world was young, before anything had tainted its surface.
Standing together, the breeze fresh on their faces, the blood warm in their veins, they registered a moment unlike any they had experienced before.
Wayne bowed his head, his hands clasped before him as if in prayer. Greg remained silent and as unmoving as a statue. Chip and Jeff stood close together, staring around them as if seeing their surroundings for the first time. Brad and Ryan moved closer together, each being drawn to the warmth of the other. They turned to look at each other, their eyes wide with trepidation but alive with the hint of possibility.
‘Well kids, welcome to the new world.’ Greg finally said, breaking the silence and at the same time, the spell of suspension.
Wayne turned to him and smiled.
Chip and Jeff reached into their backpacks for water and snacks.
Brad stepped away from Ryan, putting safe distance between them once again.
Ryan sighed. Yeah, and what a world it is.
End of Part 16