Creepy Ghost
The deep orange sun rested on the horizon, it painted the sky in shades of red and cast shadows among the high rises. For the four who dragged their feet along the streets, however, its beauty was the last thing on their minds. With no one to brighten the dark windows, or power the crooked streetlights, the city rapidly became swallowed by the night.
Kayla looked away from the sky, and over at the kids. Their tiny slumped figures waddled after them, barely keeping up. Both Tara’s and Bunbun’s eyes had gotten so puffy, it would be a wonder if they could open them at all tomorrow. Still they stoically kept on. A step at a time.
Her wolf ears and tail drooped, she stared down at her worn sneakers. They had continuously walked, for much longer than normal, not to mention all the running earlier…Her steps falted, and slowed to a stop.
It had been close to noon, when they came across that squad of X-ers.1 If you could call it that anymore. There were only a handful left, of what originally would have been at least ten. But it had been enough.
She looked ahead. James still walked forward, the low set light shadowed his back and stretched his shadow so long it almost reached her feet.
He hadn’t spoken since then, none of them had, really, they had just gone through the motions in silence. Done what they knew they had to do.
It almost felt wrong to break it now, but.
She sighed, “James…”
The kids stopped at her side and looked up at her, but James hadn’t shown any sign he heard. Kayla pressed her lips together and clenched her fists in determination— “James!”
He finally stopped, and turned around. The sun was to his back, she couldn’t see his face. Nor did he say anything.
His lack of response unnerved her and she hesitated, but nonetheless opened her mouth, “Um… we should, no…” She straightened her back and lifted her chin, “We ARE setting camp.”
There was a long pause where she feared she wouldn’t get an answer, but then he slowly spoke, “The bot…”
And god, his hoarse voice sounded so small, defeated. So utterly exhausted. Dead. But she knew he wasn’t talking about the X-ers. She shook her head.
“Just… Let’s just make camp now, okay?”
Shoulders slouched, he nodded.
In the end, they made camp in a playground.
They had walked past it only a little while ago, even so, by the time they made their way over, it was just barely visible in the low light.
Kayla had worried she made the wrong decision. But the small playground was better than she remembered, not only was the brick fence intact, it was high enough that it should hide most of their light from any active X-ers.
The rusted gate creaked as she wrenched it open and slunk to slink through. Her ears pointed in high alert. A And the dimly lit playground came into view. The pathway and center were tiled, and thankfully clear of plants. But that was all. The swaying grass at the side reached to her thighs, and once decorative plants had fully reclaimed the space;
The sand was covered in bluebells. The bars and merry-go-round engulfed by ivy. What dominated in particular was a shrub with small white flowers. It had been planted along the walls but grown to engulf the entire swing set, merely the edge peeked out of it. Kayla crinkled her nose, the flower scent was a bit strong but— She waved the rest in— It should be fine.
The kids didn’t waste a breath. Tara shrugged off her pack and helped Bunbun unlatch his, then they both beelined to the overturned slide in the middle, flopped down against it, and started pulling the weeds from between the tiles to make space for the campfire. Well, it was as good a spot as any.
Kayla picked up their packs and moved them closer, then opened her own to take out the fire starter. She glanced over at James who had sat at the end of the curved slide, usually he would volunteer to gather wood, but it might be up to her this time.
She turned around. Would the high grass and shrubs around here burn or would it create too much smoa— There was a very conveniently placed pile of wood directly in her line of sight. She wavered, but was too tired to care.
And soon they had a fire going.
Kayla slumped against the slide. Allowed herself to close her eyes. There was much left to do. Well, they didn’t have to do everything, but at minimum they should at least pull out their bedrolls, or blankets. Or eat. Yeah, eat. Now that she thought about it, they hadn’t eaten since the morning…
She peeled open her eyes, pushed back a groan, and reached for the packs. Food was the last thing she wanted at this moment— Her appetite was in the negative, the other’s too most likely— But she had long since learned that not eating would only make a bad day worse.
The silver wrappers gleamed in the firelight as she got them out. Military rations. The one food still edible from before the end, ironic really. She lifted her head and looked over at the others.
The kids tranquility gazed at the flames with half-closed eyes. They seemed about ready to doze off. Even in the low firelight, there were visible tear trails in the dust on Tara’s face. Kayla sighed and broke the bar in half.
She leaned forward and brought the pieces to their mouths. Tara blinked and lifted a hand to grab it, while Bunbun simply bit down on his. He sat back on his hunches and held it with his paws as he nibbled away.
James had gotten his own pack off at some point, it lay discharged off to the side, but he still held onto the half-burnt backpack in his arms. She waved a ration back and forth in the air, he looked up from the pack at the rustle and met her eyes. And shook his head no at her question. She threw the bar across the fire to him anyway. Then opened one for herself. Bit into it.
As she forced herself to chew and finish the bar, she found she didn’t mind the blandness. That was a first. They had needed to rely more on scavenged rations as they got further north. The taste had been hard to accept.
In the south, wild fruits and vegetables were aplenty. There were even some proper fields still there, maintained by “ghosts”, benign robots from before the end. Though they were rare and far between.
She tilted her head back against the slide, and watched the sliver of sky visible between the high rises. The sun had set, and the stars had begun to come out; ItIn a way, it was ridiculous it had to get this late. But Seth had been the oldest, and the one to decide when and where to stop…
With a soft thump, Tara leaned against her side. She had fallen asleep, a piece of food clutched in her limp hand, and her mouth gaping open. Kayla smiled and used her sleeve to dab away the dust and crumbs from her face, then her fingers tapped her small chin and closed her mouth. There.
Careful to not move, she pulled her pack over by the strap and took out the blanket. Bunbun was awake, she gestured for him to come closer, and put the blanket over the three of them. It wasn’t as soft as a bedroll, or an actual bed, but it was warm. And enough. Her eyes fluttered shut.
The rustle of paper woke her. It was still dark, and without the sun or good view of the stars, she couldn’t say how long it had been since she fell asleep. But she already felt better, by a lot. She yawned, and blinked the blur out of her eyes.
The fire was smaller, but alive. And James was awake. He sat cross-legged with the burnt bag in his lap and held something in his hands. He hadn’t put on his jacket, or grabbed a blanket, or bedroll. Kayla rubbed a hand against her eyes and moved Tara over to Bunbun so she could get up.
She got all three from his pack first, her arms full of fabric as she walked over, yet he didn’t once glance up at her. And as she put the jacket over his shoulder she at last saw what he held and stared so fixated at— A map. THE map. A third of it gone, the edges charred. That… would make everything so much harder.
Eyes closed, she took a deep breath.
But that wasn’t what was important right now.
“Hey…” She put her hands on his shoulders and playfully rocked him a bit, her tail swaying with him. As she did her hand accidentally brushed against his neck— He was dead cold.
Lizardmen were different from hot-blooded beastmen, she knew this, still she had always teased James and Seth for the way they bundled up so much at night. It was summer and though the night was cooler than the day, she was fully content with a blanket. For him to have gotten this cold, she must have severely underestimated their differences.
She wrapped the blanket around him as well and reached for the map, “Let’s get you to bed—“ James moved the map away from her outstretched hand.
At the same time, as she leaned forward, she noticed the unopened ration on his right side. Fine, okay. She huffed-sighed as she stood back up.
If that was the way it was going to be— She plopped down next to him— Then she was done. What had that crazy bot called itself? Right, Nanny. She was done being this group’s nanny— She was done babying him. It may be in her blood as a wolf, but it wasn’t in HER nature.
“That was pretty stupid of you, you know?”
She faced the dying flames and spoke louder, and brasher, than necessary. It was hard to not check for his reaction, but she had both patience and stubbornness, and eventually, a gruff reply came from beside her, “What.”
She snuffled, and her wolf ears twitched as she took the time to bend forward to feed another log to the campfire. It crackled as it caught on.
“Charging at the bot like that earlier, I mean, what was your plan? To crush us?”
She chanced a glance, and he had finally looked up from the map, a nice offended scowl on his face. “I was saving you.”
Did she feel bad about insulting him— Yes. Did she prefer this to him never speaking or emoting ever again— Absolutely.
“It was holding like a 10-ton cement block over our heads…”
James eyebrow twitched. She hadn’t thought she would be able to laugh again so soon, but she had to fight to keep a smirk off her face. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do the same for her voice as she met his glare and mused, “And you decide the best course of action is to tackle it.”
He must have heard her amusement, because instead of arguing, his scowl relaxed and he rolled his eyes, “Okay, okay. I might—“ His beginning of a smile faded as he laid eyes on his brother’s map. And he faltered. She feared he would pull away again. But then he sucked in a harsh breath, and folded it away.
He opened the destroyed pack, changed his mind, and put it in his inner jacket pocket. Once securely tucked away, he reluctantly admitted, “…I might, have acted a bit rash.”
She laughed, in both humor and relief, “Just a bit?”
James tried to force a weak grin in response, it ended up more of a grimace, “But at least we’re still here… for now.” He turned away. His hands clenched at the bag, his claws digging into it. He probably didn’t realize he was doing it.
After all, that pack was all they had left of him. There wasn’t much in it either. They had used the blanket, bedroll, and clothes to cover his body. Those had been in a bad enough condition they would have been no use to anybody regardless. And it was the one thing they could do for him, they had already stayed too long.
It was possible the explosion had been quick enough, that the X-ers had been destroyed before they were able to send out a death call. But more likely than not, that wasn’t the case, and there would soon be more of them. So, they keep on moving. Do what they know they have to do. And never stop.
Kayla mentally recoiled and looked away from the bag, her eyes glassy and her ears back. She took a slow breath. Swallowed. And tilted her head back. Blinked. It was the flowers. Yes. The flowers. The end of the slide, where she and James sat, was closer to the shrub, the smell was stronger. It was just the strong scent.
Another deep breath, and she looked over to the kids. They hadn’t stirred and were soundly asleep against each other. Their matching puffy red-rimmed eyes made for quite the sight. She smiled. Sleep seemed like a great idea.
She stood and dusted off her pants, “I’m going back to sleep, you should too.” She nodded towards the bedroll she had left next to him, then met his eyes, “And eat if you can.” She broke eye contact, “You will feel better if you do.”
She began to turn but stopped when he answered, “I don’t think I will get much sleep tonight, besides, someone should stand guard.” His gaze moved to a point behind her. She followed it— “Oh my gods!!”
Her pupils contracted into slits, the fur on her tail puffed straight out, and she took a step back— A dark silhouette— In the shadows where the light from the fire couldn’t reach, right outside the gate, it ominously stood, and watched them.
“It is so…” Creepy. She crossed her arms and rubbed the goosebumps. She had never seen a “ghost” act more, well, ghost-like.
She bent towards James and hissed, “How long’s it stood there?!”
James sighed and shook his head, “Since we made camp.”
“Since we made— That’s—” Her eyes widened and she glanced back at it. Its blue eyes glowed in the night, like two floating flames. Chills went down her back. She had thought it harmless, but. She pressed her lips together and met James’ eyes. He nodded.
“We have to find a way to get rid of it.”
[1] – A squad typically consists of two teams, with a total of 4-10 soldiers. In this story, X-er squads contain 10 bots, and they generally don’t move in teams. Any number lower than 10 indicates they have lost some bots to time or battle.
A/N:
Aw, our poor Nanny Bot got labeled a creep… (Ｔ▽Ｔ)
It would cry if it knew, it just wants to care for those kids.
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