C.J. Anderson's Blog: Beyond Ruinland , page 3

Caribou

They exited the cluster of trees and walked upon a herd of caribou crossing an icy river. There it was. Everything they needed to survive. Flowing water and red meat. The deer antlers looked like imperial crowns of bone stretching out to the heavens. Nature's gift for splendor and protection. Anise was amazed as she had never seen such grand animals. Lauren was happy that the deer weren't something else trying to eat the girl. But the Yukon was full of more dangers.

Needs

She picked Anise up and carried her through the woods. They couldn't stay in one place. Soon they would need to eat and drink. In her delirium Lauren remembered to bring a gun but all of the food and water remained on the airship. She would eventually go searching for the ship but she couldn't count on finding it. Maybe it was already burned to ashes or raided by scavengers.

Fire

Lauren thought of gathering sticks to build a fire. She was willing to give her own blood to save the girl but the flames that warmed their bodies would also alert everyone and every thing to exactly where they were. Eventually a fire would be necessary. They could not survive a single night without additional heat. Lauren wondered if she would be fighting this hard to live without her son and the girl. She reminded herself that they were worth it.

Stay Down

"Keep your head down," said Lauren. She listened for any sign of the shooter. Any movement or reloading of weapons. Nothing to hear but a soft wind and the heavy breathing of a trembling girl. "Be still. Be quiet."

Anise was nearly in shock. The memory of the raging bear trying to eat the girl would haunt her dreams for a lifetime. Lauren looked at her. Barely twelve years old and all but broken. Rescued from the brutal bunker but was she really better off out in the frigid wild, on the run from savage animals and unknown gunmen?

She shivered from cold and fright. Lauren comforted her with a close embrace. They hugged each other tightly and Anise wanted so desperately for God to be there and deliver her from the fear. She spoke softly to herself and whispered words into the shadows like a child conversing with a ghostly father. Lauren understood the need to believe. She chose not to dispel the fragile girl's faith any further than she already had.

"Can we stay here for a while?" said Anise.
"No we can't."

Hide

They needed to move out of sight. The mysterious gunman may decide to start shooting again. If Lauren was killed then Anise would become easy prey to anyone or anything that desired her flesh. She wanted to believe the sniper was a friend and possibly he was. But it could also be some crazed hunter or lunatic stalking the woods. She couldn't take that chance. Not with Anise. The girl was rescued from a nightmare of abuse and Lauren would never let that happen again.

A dense forest of spruce trees provided cover. Even under the threat of death she and the girl remained enchanted by the beauty of the frozen land. Pure white snow unstained by the sickening black ash of the ruined world. Nature flourished all around them. The mother of mankind still lived.

Tara

Tara imagined how her brother must have died. Did he even hear the shot that killed him? His murderer put him down quickly. The assassin Vasquez who left him in a bath of his own blood. What was he thinking? Why would he let the outsider so close to Lexa, and with a weapon? Not only did she take her brother's life but she let him die in shame. He would be remembered as a failed soldier and the worthless guardian who allowed a stranger to remove Lexa's cherished head.

She tugged the auburn hair out of her face and tied it tight behind her head. Tara needed to see clearly for what she was about to do. She could not afford any distraction. Her vision would be perfect to witness the death of the woman who ended her family name. Tara's brother was the last living male. Their bloodline's name died with him.

Their father's gun. A remnant from an old Middle Eastern war. She kept it to remember him. Now she would use it to avenge his only son's death.

Letter from Lauren

My name is Lauren Vasquez and this is my story. Every day I regret many of the terrible things I've done. It's been one year now since the ruin of our world and not a moment passes that I don't remember all of the human and synthetic lives I terminated. I have vowed to end the guilt that torments my conscience and my dreams. I believe the death and destruction I caused was all justified. The question is, will my son ever be able to forgive me?

EXIT RUINLAND

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Lauren killed their hallowed hybrid synthetic. India's attempt to make the artificial one step closer to human. Is it really murder to destroy a fabricated consciousness? Lexa had the face of a woman but her skin wasn't real. Mimic eyes like boiled eggs. Gadgets for inner organs. She couldn't even survive without oxygen and nutrients everpumped into her pseudoflesh. She was built not born. Cooked in a sauce of chemicals and then stitched together like some motorized voodoo figurine.
A platoon of soldiers searched for her. If they found her she would be shot on sight or beaten and publicly executed. She imagined her son's existence. Conceived in lust. Monster for a father. Murderer for a mother. If he survived her chaotic shell could he ever love her? I will make this right, she whispered. She kept her hope alive like drops of water on a Purgatory tongue.

Pyre

A violent victory. God's precious planet burned to ashes. Their perfect playground but no dancing demons or merry monsters to praise the pyre. The alleged Lucifer and his legions strangely slept unsurfaced.

Paracide

Earth would never recover. A billion years of sleep would not heal her wounds. The beaten and bleeding mother of humanity perished like a woman slain by her own children. Man destroyed his origin.