Under the shelf
The shelf of the sky
Two eyes, two suns
Too heavenly blinds
Swallowing rivers
Belongs to the sea
When the whole thing washes away
Don't run to me

---

There is no need in making this world seem adventurous, thrilling and there was certainly no need in romanticising it. This world - the New World - is fucked up. There is no other way of putting it. Once the thread of order had been pulled away from modern world it all began to fall. The world as humanity knew it crumbled into ruins, into empty dunes, and the sand beneath our feet became the only remains of the civilised world, from this sand we are born, we grow.

If you wanted to survive in this world you have the face the horrors, the traumas, the bloodshed and death. it’s a shame that there is no media to splash a little colour and say some pretty words to making it all seem better. There is nothing but the naked truth, the reality; natural is a thing of the past and safety a mere memory.

Moments after the innocent bystander ended her life on the edge of the cliff, the sun scolded travellers were reminded of this new age reality once again. A distinct stench of decay had wafted from the ajar backdoor which led into the gas station. Although it could’ve been anything, from a dead animal to badly preserved meat, it was better to stay on the safe side and just make sure.

Jake was the first to take a glance. He tentatively opened the door wider and instantly shut it again, slamming his back against it. He turned a sickly shade of pale, he was moments away from spilling the contents of his stomach onto the floor. They had seen many things through the years on the road of the New World, but it still got to them every time.

The next to take a glimpse was Andy. In the dark he could see the figures, there were three of them. Barely human. Chains cut across their browning, bulging flesh which began to slip off their muscles revealing the green, maggot infested mesh beneath. Their scowling features seemed to have been frozen in the final attempt to gnaw on the fresh meat right before them. That’s how they died; unable to feed in their confinement they starved and wasted away into nothing.

Andy had seen this before; parents would try to keep their virus ridden children in their basements or lofts like pets. They would keep them like that, like a secret, and they would do anything to keep those lifeless rag dolls intact and well fed. He had seen it with couples too, with brothers and sisters, with friends and the lonely. The virus kept no one as the exception.

Their job was done here, it was time to move on.

Being in the middle of nowhere and having no means of travelling via a motor vehicle meant certain death. It didn’t matter how well adapted you became to the New World or how many parasites you have killed, you wouldn’t last twenty miles without a car. The only option for the gang became searching something that they could scavenge. Until then, they were stuck in the town.

Before boredom could beseech them and suicidal actions began to brew in their minds to their miraculous luck they had discovered four ridiculously precious motorbikes neatly parked in front of a equally neat row of apartments. Who could’ve it been other than tourists to be stupid enough to leave behind four harley davidsons in full working order and not take advantage of them.

Andy and Ash were the first to pounce onto the motorbikes and were the ones to choose what they expected to be the most trust worthy, all terrain durable motors with tanks that would last the longest with a constant press on the speed limit. Jinxx was the next to choose, not wasting a minute on observing the over joyed adult children. His choice seemed to complete the unofficial image of the fictional heroin Lisbeth Salander. With an air of humour, Jinxx smiled but didn’t note the observation to others, who knows how long it would take for them to stop cackling over the utterly tragic joke.

While avoiding the joyous squabbling, Jake and CC were left last to even make an approach to the motorcycles. Not that they could complain about sharing the motorbike, Jake was rather comfortable with encircling his arms around CC’s ridiculously skinny waist and it also meant that they wouldn’t have to add extra weight to the vehicle by lugging about gas canisters or extra weaponry. Quite honestly, they wanted to force Ash and Andy into this situation just to watch them squirm from an immature sense of embarrassment.

After strapping travelling essentials to the barely used motorcycles with a gleaming, promising future and saying their final goodbyes to their old companion who had a delayed retirement - the mustang, the gang had set a new course; upon Jinxx’s request they mapped a new route across the state of Oklahoma towards Texas, the lands where he left behind everything he cherished and lost the his last remaining beacon of hope.

Notes

SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! (Again) My co-writer (the amazing twat that she is) decided it would a great time to obtain an obsession of a sort that I nudged her towards for years. But oh well!

A bit stupid to say it here, since I could just do it face to face tomorrow or the day after, but thanks Cole for editing this shit and not complaining even once. I think you deserve a stiff drink and a fuck load of CDs.