Download App
73.07% Scions of Gaea / Chapter 57: Caravan, Pt 9

Chapter 57: Caravan, Pt 9

The caravan finds itself on the road soon after the Crag assault. Everyone packs up their gear as fast as they can before all of you get back to your travels. Hunters in the caravan do their best to shed your scent and cover up your tracks as best they can. Noir helps them with this as well - she is perhaps one of the more experienced hunters in the group to begin with. 

Still, despite all your precautions, many of you can't help but be anxious about the Crags. If they've attacked once, they'll probably attack again. Beyond that, some of the caravaners murmur nervously about what has happened thus far - heavy rainfall and wild crag attacks are simply the beginning of their problems, and they know it. 

Both those things are just a sign of the hardships they're going to face in the weeks and months ahead of them.

Though their worries rise and fall and rise again over the course of the next few days, they all continue their long path northwards. Many simply do their best to swallow their fears and stay the course. Frank's leadership helps keep everyone together as well. And it goes without saying - you and Nance occasionally let loose a calming Surge that helps keep morale high.

As with the first day, you all do your best to stop before daybreak, then continue on your journey before the sun sets. If anything, to avoid the oppressive heat that daylight brings. You all also come to find that everything is much more active at night than during the day, and that makes for a more restful sleep.

You suppose that everything has a similar mindset to all of you - being active during the hottest part of the day only results in getting exhausted faster. And so most critters have become nocturnal, more or less. Some more reluctantly than others, you're sure.

Though the road itself is rough at times, the wounded among the townsfolk are able to heal - yourself included. The town doc helps as much as he can all along the way, re-dressing wounds, tightening splints, and so on. In fact, him doing the daily rounds for checkup and check-ins helps considerably.

You note that the groaning and complaining has all but subsided. Whether their aches and pains have actually reduced, or they've become more used to it, you have no idea. Everyone is on top of whatever is ailing them, and they do their best to manage their pains. And the doc has certainly helped with all of that significantly. 

And of course you teach and mentor Nance as you travel, imparting her with as much knowledge about psionics as you can. Not that you think you're some kind of expert or anything, but what you teach is better than nothing.

You watch her improve significantly over time, and she becomes capable enough of handling many psionic threats on her own. Mostly, she does what you usually try to do and calm down anything that comes at the caravan aggressively.

It works most of the time, with the remaining few often requiring an Orchestra and a show of force to overcome. A certain amount of pride fills you at seeing her become truly capable. Once she was just a Novice, barely able to see the future. Now, her potential is as limitless as yours.

A quick Scan shows that she's able to harness about as much energy as you did, before you started your Walkabout. She isn't quite up to your level right this moment, but you're certain that with time and practice she'll become truly formidable.

You watch as she Telekinetically spins a hovering rock in front of her, even while all of you walk further down the road. Though her movements are a bit awkward and unsteady, they aren't any worse than when you started your own TK journey.

And the way she practices her powers, she's liable to pass you at some point. You make a note to be as diligent as she is, at least if you want to seriously make it on your own.

Regardless, you both still have plenty to learn, and neither of you will improve if you don't continually practice and improve.

"Frank tells me that today's your last day with us," Nance says. She doesn't look up when she speaks, as she would normally. This time, her eyes are fixed on her rock. It's clear that most of her focus and attention is on her exercising her power.

You see her face contort slightly as her mind works hard to keep the thing in the air.

"Yeah, a turnabout's coming up ahead," you reply. "Gotta take it so I can keep going west. I've got my own journey ahead of me, and I can't delay it much more than I already have. Every day that I don't kinda takes a toll on me. Wish I could explain."

"I understand," Nance says. She nods in acceptance, but you sense a hint of reluctance within her. Understandably so. "I hope I've got what it takes to keep everyone safe…"

"Of course you do. You did great with the crags right on day one."

"All I did was keep the team together."

"Don't downplay yourself like that. Anyway, how about that swarm of rats a day or so ago? You dealt with that mess pretty much by yourself. You had them entranced like the Pied Piper or something."

"Ah, they was just rats. They're easy enough to deal with when you know how to talk to them the right way."

"Ah yes, just rats. Just a thousand of them all wanting to chow down on us… You're doing great, Nance. No need to doubt yourself."

Nance sighs deeply, then lets go of the small rock she's been practicing with. It immediately falls down and smacks the asphalt soundly. 

"Can't help but worry," she replies. "Whole town's relying on me."

"Everyone's relying on everyone else right now," you counter. "You don't have to be the strongest pillar, just another pillar among other strong pillars, yeah? And besides, you're already getting crazy good with psionics. I mean, it's only been what, six or seven days since we started? And already you're floating rocks in the air. You're gonna be a powerhouse by the time you all get to where you're going.""

There's a mutter of agreement around you, specifically from Nance's team. A couple of them give her some encouragement as well, and do their best to keep her spirits high. Plenty have seen her grow significantly.

"You can always lean on us whenever you need," says one. 

"We've always got your back," says another.

"If it weren't for you, we'd still be tangled up with that dang Rat King," a nearby caravanner interjects.

Together they lift her up, metaphorically speaking. It's more than enough to lighten her spirit and cause her confidence to swell. And because of her bonds to everyone, their spirits lift as a whole.

"Thanks everyone," she says after a moment. "I appreciate it. You all being here means the world to me."

She then looks at you, and gives you a wistful smile.

"I guess I'm just sad that we're losing a friend soon," she continues.

You find yourself misting up a bit on hearing her words. You've never really been much of a people person to begin with, and having someone call you a friend is… incredibly nice to hear. It hits deeper than you expect, that's for sure.

"We're still friends, Nance," you tell her as your throat dries up. "And we'll meet up again sometime soon. Months from now, anyway. Once I'm done with my Walkabout, I'll be heading up north to join you all. I promised my Dad I'd join him. Well maybe not quite a promise, but I said I'd go."

Your words lighten up Nance even more, and you note that she adds a spring to her step as a result. Perhaps subconsciously. But she isn't the only one who seems affected - anyone in earshot perks up on hearing your words.

Someone even gives you a 'hell yeah' in response.

It feels really good to be wanted and needed, and you wish you could stick around to help them. And also soak up all this camaraderie. But that just isn't in the cards for you. Not your immediate future, anyway.

The group eventually comes to a highway interchange, where numerous offramps lead up and around, curving off towards a couple different highways altogether. It looks like a winding mess from where you're standing, but is likely geometrically amazing from above. You suppose that it's likely symmetrical from there.

At the center of it all is an expansive parking area with some kind of shopping center in the middle. It's kind of like a mega travel center, with a medium-size shopping center surrounded by a handful of gas pumps and fast food stations in every cardinal direction.

The parking lot surrounding the travel center is about one third filled with derelict cars, many of which have long since been broken into. A few even seem somewhat lived in, with all manner of empty food tins and drink bottles gathered up outside. It's especially true for the vans and roomier SUVs. Not only that, but you see a handful of tents set up near the entrances into the shopping center, though none seem to be currently occupied.

You and Nance perform Scans, with both of you coming to the conclusion that there are about a half dozen people in the shopping center itself. They've likely been scavenging and living in the center for some time now, probably months at the least.

You tell Frank's team as fast as you can in order to warn them of course. The last thing any of you want is for a violent confrontation that leads to the deaths of the caravaners. But before they can really do much of anything, someone runs out from the mall towards you.

Her face seems happy, and she seems to wave at all of you in joy. You can just make out whatever she's yelling, even from this distance. You suppose that's thanks to your ESP, which improves to some degree every single day.

"Oh my lord, people!" she cries out. "We thought we was the only ones left! Come, come! Tell us where you're from!"

Her welcoming mood seems incredibly genuine, and you're certain that she doesn't have any ill will towards you. In fact, another Scan shows that the other people in the mall are genuinely surprised at your arrival. None are psionic. Which you tell both Frank and Nance through a newly-formed Network. The two of them decide how to proceed as you all approach, thanks to your psionic intel.

And so you and Frank and his team follow her back into the shopping center, while Nance and her team watch over the rest of the caravan outside in the parking lot. 

The other five people living here greet you as you walk into the building, some more tentatively than others. But in all you sense that they're happy to see other people in the first place.

Frank steps up to introduce himself and start a conversation with them, while you go and scout out the rest of the building from the inside. 

The building itself is smaller than it seems from the outside. In truth, it's less of a small shopping center and more of a large cafeteria. There are numerous food stalls along the far wall with a large eating area in front of them, in the very center of the whole thing. The food court is flanked by a large souvenir shop on the western wall and an equally large convenience store along the eastern wall.

Bathrooms are in a couple of corners, while a security station sits in a third corner. The final corner is some kind of private office, but it has long since been broken into.

Beyond its layout, the whole place is practically a wreck. The people living here have scavenged it all to hell and upturned every possible container in sight. Certainly, every food stall has been picked clean, and the only things left in the other shops are cheap trinkets or useless electronics. 

You note that the center of the whole place has been relatively cleaned out - or at least the tables and chairs have been pushed off to the side. In the absolute center of the room is a makeshift fire pit ringed with various stones and cinder blocks. There's some kind of makeshift, ramshackle tripod standing over it with a pot hanging from the center.

The floor in the center of the stone ring has been blackened with soot, and you can just make out coal chunks littering it. Clearly, that's where these survivors have been cooking their food.

Of course, while you look around, you also maintain your connection to Frank and his team through a Subnetwork. Not just to keep tabs on them, but also so you can still get every word of their conversation.

It turns out that these people have only been here for about a year. They came from somewhere in the middle of the country and decided to flee their homes after the apocalypse. It seems the damage was so bad there that they had no other choice but to leave. 

"Half our town died that day," says one of them. "Would'a stayed to rebuild, but the river got polluted and we ran outta food, so we decided to go east in search of some. Never did find much, at least until we got here. Been keeping us alive ever since."

"And where'd the rest of your town go? They move on while you stayed?" Franks asks.

"Most died on the way," someone says, her voice filled with sadness. "Not at any one time, mind you. Just bit by bit as the days went on. I think we stopped here 'coz we didn't got the strength to keep going. I mean, if we're the last, then we're the last."

Complaints and light curses erupt from the others, but she waves them off easily.

"I'm just being honest alright," she counters. "I know that's how I feel, and I'm sure as hell you all feel the same. I ain't lying to some stranger just 'coz I wanna save face or whatever."

She's met with a chorus of mumbles and grumbles, apprehensive of her stance but ultimately approving of it. There's no reason for them to hide how they're feeling, especially since Frank is more than willing to listen.

Plus there's something about Frank that just disarms whatever reticence they have.

"We lost so much getting here, things, people, maybe other stuff deep inside," says the one who greeted you outside. "Makes us wonder if it was a good idea to leave in the first place. Or if maybe we shoulda stopped somewhere at some point. Like here, now. But with more people to actually do the rebuilding with. Can't do that now with just the six of us."

"And staying here's gonna get us dead," says a third. "Ain't nothing left to eat, except that stack of canned beans. If we don't move soon, we're gonna meet up with the rest of the town no matter what."

"Well tell you all what," Frank says. "I've got people with me, and we're headed north to some kinda tradesman commune co-op that's been forming up there. Lemme talk to everyone else, maybe we can talk about inviting you into the caravan so you could come with us. Y'all can try to build new lives up there with us, too."

~~~ Author's Note ~~~

This marks the end of Act 1. 

Hope you're enjoying the story so far! If you are, help me out by leaving a review and sharing the story with someone you know. Thanks much - I appreciate it greatly!

Check out more of my work here: linktr.ee/CeritusOrbis


Chapter 58: Burning Plains, Pt 1

The trees dwindle significantly the further west you travel. Even the shrubs and bushes become sparser and sparser as the days go by. Despite most of the foliage receding, the grass persists. And with the lack of competitors for sun and rain, the grass grows relatively tall. You can see the blades sway in the breeze, under the moon's light.

It's all beautiful and serene, at least from your point of view from the road.

Of course, the landscape changes as well. It becomes flatter and more even as you travel, and the beautiful rolling hills vanish alongside the diminishing foliage. The last vestiges of your old home are far behind you now, and there's no going back.

It isn't long until you find yourself in a vast valley that seems to stretch on for an eternity ahead of you. The highway itself becomes completely straight, and practically vanishes out into the dark of night. Although you're enhancing your vision through your powers, there's still only so far that you can see.

And from what you can tell, it's going to be a long time until you find any kind of shelter to sleep in.

If you don't find one soon, you're going to end up sleeping in the grass without protection from the sun. That is a scenario you would rather avoid. Without any manner of shade, this beautiful and serene plain will become a deathtrap once morning passes. Even if you're covered up by your poncho, the sheer heat radiating from the ground around you will surely cook you alive. 

Well, it might not quite be that bad, but you're not exactly willing to test out just how true your prediction could be. 

There are certainly still the occasional abandoned cars on the road, but none of those are a good option either. When you peer through some of their windows, you can just make out the sun-bleached and sun-worn interiors. Most plastic and leather surfaces have large cracks in them, and are visibly falling apart. Anything inside of them has become faded and worn, simply through direct sunlight and oppressive heat.

On the outside, the closer the paint is to the roof, the more faded it gets. Plus all the seals around the doors and windows have melted and rehardened time and time again. The rubber wheels themselves have molten over and fused the car to the asphalt to some degree.

It's clear that these have become little more than roadside ovens, and you'd rather avoid sleeping in them if at all possible.

You do your best to heighten your ESP, so that you can see and sense farther than ever before. And by using your Temperance, you're able to gain a powerful catlike night vision. This allows you to truly see much further out than ever before - perhaps half a dozen kilometers out.

Most of it is fuzzy and hard to make out, sure. But you can see, and you can scout.

And from what you can see, most of what's further out are overgrown farmlands. There are rows of overgrown crops in numerous spots, though various weeds and other plants have also taken residence on the extremely fertile soil around them. 

There seems to be an old tractor out in one of the fields, also likely rotting under the oppressive sun as well. 

More critically, you can just make out silos and a barn at the edge of your sight off to the southwest.

Might be better if we travel offroad from this point on, you transmit to Noir over the Network.

You mean crawl through that itchy grass? No thanks, Noir replies. I'd rather stay up on the road here so I can see where I'm going.

Is that so? Well check this out.

You focus your energies into a narrow Scan, and check for life all along the path from where you're standing all the way to the barn. You sense numerous animalistic thoughts and emotions rise up in the tall grass closest to you - and beyond. 

In fact, there's such a dense concentration of critters around the silos that you're certain they're all pillaging whatever's in them.

Noir gasps psionically as your Scan echoes through the Network. The sight of so much prey all over the place causes her little heart to skip a beat.

So yeah, we're gonna need some food, you continue. And water. And a place to sleep. Over there seems… robust with all those needs.

Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, I'm sold, Noir replies almost absentmindedly.

You sense some kind of switch flip inside of her the moment she goes into a stalking mode, then she leaps off into the grass and stalks the nearest critter to her. It only takes her a few seconds to get close enough to strike. 

But instead of physically attacking her prey, she instead flings a lethal Telekinetic claw at it, which slices off its head from the neck cleanly. Its life energies wink out a moment or two later.

Noir doesn't bother to stop to even inspect her kill before she bounds off further towards the farmstead. Clearly, she's excited by the prospect of so much death to deliver. As such, you decide to give her a little extra space and a little extra time to do her homicidal thing before you get off the road and head in after her.

You turn off the asphalt road, which immediately slopes down for a couple meters or so. At the bottom is a wide highway gutter designed to soak up heavy rains. The gutter itself is lined with gravel, presumably to help keep it from getting clogged up by debris.

You're able to leap over it easily onto the other side, where the grass grows right up to the edge of the gutter, and progressively gets thicker and taller towards the farmlands itself.

There's a rickety old wooden fence that marks the edge of the property, which you easily Telekinetically dismantle a portion of to make an entrance for yourself. Then once you pass, you use your Telekinesis to put that fence back in place, just the way it was before.

You then wade through the tall grass which comes up to about your knees. Though it isn't tough to walk through, you can feel each blade hold you back ever so slightly. It's an odd sensation to be able to tell just how much you're slowed down in the grass, even if it's a miniscule amount. You've never been so attuned to your physical self in the past, at least before the end of the world.

Instead of focusing on what's on the ground however, you glance up at the night sky. Particularly at the stars embedded within it. Although they're still alien to you, you've at least begun to notice the patterns in them, and can now navigate with them to some degree.

And perhaps just as importantly, you can also tell the time using them. It's not quite exact, of course. But you're certain that dawn is about two or three hours away. That should be plenty of time for you to get to the farmstead. Even if you take a relatively slow pace, you'll still get there by the time daylight begins to break. 

Not that you're going to take a slow pace - you never know what you'll find over there, and you'd rather have enough time to deal with it before the heat makes such a task impossible.

You check on Noir quickly through the Network only to find that she's already a quarter of the way there. And she has incurred no less than a half dozen kills in the meantime. It's certainly impressive in a violent sort of way.

It takes you about an hour and a half to get close to the first building - one of the two silos. The trip itself is rather uneventful, with most of whatever nearby critters having long since run away. Clearly none want to be slaughtered like their dead compatriots and flee for their lives.

Or at least, that's how you like to think of it.

Noir has since stopped her wanton killing and is circling the whole farmstead. Both of you can sense the numerous critters all around you, perhaps in the hundreds. There are numerous other predators at the outskirts as well, wolves and crags and wildcats. They nip and snack at what they can without disturbing everything else here.

You suppose there's a kind of wisdom in that - no sense in disturbing the whole and interrupting a rich source of food. Which means you're the fool for trampling your way in right to the center, interrupting everything, barging into their pantry, disturbing the peace.

You quickly crouch down into a stealthy position, so as not to alarm any creatures and send them running. At the same time, you minimize your presence psionically as though you're on the hunt. But instead of going after any one critter, you sneak your way around, giving the silos a clear berth.

At their bases are countless rats, mice, and other rodents. Dozens and dozens of them swarm around the opened doors at the bottom of the silos, through which whatever grains inside have spilled out. 

You don't really want to disturb their meal, or become the target of their next, so you give yourself a bit more space and head towards the nearby barn. There's certainly far less critters there, perhaps only a dozen or so at one of the upper corners inside.

The outside is incredibly worn - like with the cars its paint has worn away from the sheer power of the sun. You can still see the remnants of the paint around the edges and close to the ground - it used to be a forest green color. Not only that, but the wood closer to the top has completely grayed out, dried up, and has warped as a result. 

But at least it's still standing solidly.

There are a couple of old, disused farm vehicles parked out front. One is a caddy-like thing with a small truck bed behind it. It's like a golf cart and a pickup truck had a kid… You've never seen anything like it before and are amused at the design.

The vehicle next to it is a 4x4 quad that's half covered in old, dry mud. Like everything else, its paint has been sun-stripped, its seals have melted and fused into the metal, and its leather surfaces are cracked and dry.

Its key is in the ignition, and of course it doesn't turn over. Not just because its battery is dead, but because the ignition itself doesn't budge when you try to turn the key. It has literally rusted over, no doubt a result from the constant rains it has been exposed to.

You note that both their gas caps have been opened up. Whatever they had in there has no doubt been siphoned out a long time ago.

The barn itself is wide open - its large barn doors on one side have been opened up all the way, with one of the doors ripped off its hinges. It lays in the dirt in front of its entrance. You step through the side door, which is also swung out all the way, and peer inside.

A musty and acrid smell assaults your nose - that of old and new excrement and urine. The musk is heavy in the air, and you find yourself ducking back out to avoid getting dizzied.

Clearly, most of the animals have made this barn their communal toilet. Which, honestly, good for them. There's a kind of poetic justice in that, at least for the animals. 

Even better for whatever critters are living on the upper story of the barn. Either they're brave enough to tolerate that smell, or they absolutely love it. No matter what, they're certainly secure up there. Nothing is going to go in there to predate them, that's for sure. 

You leave whatever critters that are in the barn alone, and instead head towards the next closest building - the actual farmhouse. The design is typical country-style, with a porch out front. There's even a rocking chair there, though it's looking incredibly worse for wear. You're sure that it'll collapse if anyone tries to sit on it.

Although you try to peer through the windows into what seems to be the living room, the glass is too smudged and dusty to see completely through.

The front door itself is splayed wide open, with its top half ripped out from its hinges. The frame itself is warped and splintered down close to where the door is still attached from the bottom hinge, which makes the whole thing pretty much useless.

You pay it little mind as you step through, into the darkness of the old farm home.

~ Author's Note ~

Hello everyone!

This chapter marks the beginning of Act 2, when the main character's journey really starts to get going. I hope you all enjoy!

Check out my other work: linktr.ee/CeritusOrbis


Load failed, please RETRY

Weekly Power Status

Batch unlock chapters

Table of Contents

Display Options

Background

Font

Size

Chapter comments

Write a review Reading Status: C57
Fail to post. Please try again
  • Writing Quality
  • Stability of Updates
  • Story Development
  • Character Design
  • World Background

The total score 0.0

Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
Vote with Power Stone
Rank 200+ Power Ranking
Stone 0 Power Stone
Report inappropriate content
error Tip

Report abuse

Paragraph comments

Login

tip Paragraph comment

Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

GOT IT