If peaches still were popular around the Earth, one could describe the hues of the sand as just that : peach. Warm yellow-gold in color, a little sweet to the nose, and as sure as heck thick and tough to traverse on just two feet, the peach sands budged little against the fierce whipping Mistral winds. Max, as well as Corrie, were making their way North, towards the Old Mojave : one of the oldest deserts in the New World.
They were recently joined as a hunting pair by their Patriarch. Their objective was quite simple : take back that which flows through the Old Mojaveās sands, and bring back a prophecy of prophecies - the news of the End Times...
PAST ACTIVITY
Max trudged through the thick sand, kicking back some pieces as he wiped his sweaty brow.
Corrieās eyes lit up under her gas mask, shining a soft lavender color from beneath the lenses as she panned left and right. Sure, on her skis, she could traverse the peachy sands quite easily, but with the Mistral grain adding friction to her work, she found her efforts a little too strenuous for her body.
She looked towards Max for a moment, waiting for what he would say. Would he concur and opt to use the mech...orā¦
āBrother,ā Corrie stated as she glided ahead, ā...can I sit in the Kite?ā
The Kite was their shared mech, a bipedal runner armed with two chainguns. With flat, wide feet, it could navigate the sands almost as easily as its aerial namesake, though without its original wings and jet, it could really be the mech it was made to be. Still, as an efficient, gas-powered machine, the Kite did more than enough to succeed in several hunting missions. Max would know.
Max threw a side-ways glanced at her. He saw how she struggled slightly under the heat of the desert sun and felt a pang of sympathy for the poor girl. He guessed she couldnāt be anywhere over the age of 12 from her slight frame and petite face--such a delicate age to be involved in such difficult missions.
He drew up a hand to scratch the back of his head and grunted thoughtfully as he looked over their supplies. Perhaps they had enough fuel to spare to run for just a couple minutes, no, every ounce had to be saved for emergencies: what happened if they ran into any unfriendly tribes or had to abort mission? They would have to risk leaving behind their precious Kite, and possibly even their jobs if the Patriarch found out they had abandoned one of their mechs. Now that wouldnāt be good.
He then looked back at the girl, who waited patiently for his reply. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, strands of dark hair stuck to her sweaty forehead, and her body sagged slightly from exhaustion. Other children would be complaining and crying by now, but she just stood there with calm, placid eyes. Truly a well-disciplined soldier despite her youth. He felt angry but didnāt know why.
He let out a sigh, and tapped the mech with one gloved hand.
āYou can get on and Iāll drag you for a couple miles until youāve caught your breath. Donā suppose you weigh that much so it should be alright.ā
"Thank'ee," replied Corrie, who then ski-ed back to the mech. She let the slight downhill slant pull her closer to the mech, to who's leg she caught with an arm. She leaned on her left foot as she jammed the end of her pole into the clasp of the ski, unlocking it from her foot. Max could hear a muffled yelp from under the mask as she almost failed to catch the ski, but a thumbs up told him all was well.
A gust of wind signaled the beginning of a greater storm, though this time the smell of coal told him it would be an Ashen Storm. While these were rare down South, compound systems were a relatively normal thing at the equator. Corrie, who also noticed this, opened the Kite's hatch and scrambled inside for cover, before slamming it shut.
Ash was heavier than dust, but lighter than Snow, which was lighter than sand. Even skis would have a hard time...unless he did things the old-fashioned way : barefoot. He would ache later in the day, but in that time they could make some good milesā¦
He threw off his dark combat boots and placed them safely in the Kite with Corrie. The smell of burning made him cringe slightly, and he brushed his nose with a curled finger as if to wipe the smell away. The thing Max hated most about Ashen Storms was the bitter stench that accompanied it. He drew up the bandana wrapped around his neck to cover his nose and mouth, and fished out a pair of old-fashioned sunglasses from an inner pocket of his leather jacket to help avoid ash from getting caught in his eyes. He then walked over to the Kite, and after making sure Corrie was seated securely within the mech, he locked his feet into the warm sand and began to pull the apparatus. It glided nicely over the sand, and within minutes they were making steady process through the storm.
It isnāt until far too late does Max realize that he has made several miles in the Ash before signs began to show the storm was letting up. Corrie was undoubtedly napping comfortably inside the hatch, and Max was still out there, covered in a fine layer of grey. As the winds give way to the harsh sunlight, a tall, looming darkness seems to block his path.
It isnāt until Max realizes heās looking at wood does he find out heās stumbled upon a settlement. The age gives little information as to how old the place is, though.
"Oi, what in the world--"
Max stopped abruptly to gaze at the dark village looming up above his path. He could make out the lumpy shapes of buildings through the ash, and considered his chances of entering the unknown settlement to wait out the storm, or avoid the village all together and seek a natural shelter.
He walked over to the Kite and sat on its metal surface to rest his legs. He pulled up a foot and started massaging it as he ran through their options. They've been at it for a good amount of hours now and the storm didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. They had fuel and supplies to consider, and if the villagers were friendly, they could manage a lucky meal or two. Plus nighttime was approaching and they risked running into desert bandits or nocturnal predators that roamed in the moonās wake.
Before he can decide, though, he is shoved into the ash as the hatch opens, revealing a waking Corrie who stretches her legs.
āGood morning, Brother,ā she chirps as she hops off from the hatch, into the grey.
ā...you seem to be thinking ābout going in,ā she states as she tries to peek in between the cracks of the wall. āFrom what Iām seeing, erryāthinās inside is dead or āsleep. Everything seems tābe a touch coldā¦ā
She lifts her gas mask and looks further in with her eye.
āEntrance is to the left. Iāll bring in this time. You can sleep, Brother.ā
Max brushed off the ash that coated his jacket and turned to face the younger girl. He lifted his sunglasses to a reveal a pair of deep brown eyes.
āI actually wanna explore the terrain for a bit. Weāll just find a nice little spot to put the Kite then hold out until after the storm lets up.ā The two started to pull the mech towards a clear area near the entrance. Max shoved his boots back on and started to pace around the settlement to make sure there wasnāt any signs of danger. When he was certain the place was safe, he walked back to the mech with an excited spark in his eyes.
āItās dead and empty like you said. Perhaps I can dig around the place for anything interesting, wanna come?ā
Corrie looks at the mech, and then at the distant horizon.
āMaybe thereās a big place to fit the mech. Iām sure it can fit somewhere,ā she replies before tugging the mech back towards the gates.
Speaking of which, are just as tall and strong as the walls around the settlement.
It takes a few minutes, but Corrie is finally able to place the mech right by the gate before climbing up on top to peek over.
From the Kiteās cargo module Corrie produces a bolt cutter, and clambers on to the other side without saying a word.
After a loud snap and some rattling of chains, the gates pull back to reveal...well, just like she said, a quiet, dead village. Most of the buildings here appear to have been built out of some sort of adobe, perhaps existing long before the Old World ended.
Itās odd, though. If that was the case, then why was the settlement closed off? Why were there chains to disallow access?
Max on the other hand, paid little attention to such details. He looked longingly towards the dark, mysterious buildings. The architecture was different from what heād ever seen, and had a touch of silent ancientness to it. āI bet I can find somethinā interesting for the little ones back home, they always get a kick out of it when I bring them something.ā He then pulled down his bandana to reveal a grin. Even though his feet ached painfully, he couldnāt wait to salvage whatever trinkets that were left behind from a strange and mysterious people.
The settlement, as soon as Max got a sense of perspective, was divided in half by a wide road that went straight through to the center of the village, leading towards a crumbling monolith. A number of small streets and avenues allowed access to the many buildings that stood here to this day. While ash mostly covers the articles inside, there are mounds everywhere inside the buildings, indicating there are...things. Eerily enough, the way the ash fell on these mounds was likened to blankets on a person...
Something like the cold touch of fear mixed with curiosity seized his throat. āNo way, are those...bodies?āā He thought to himself as his eyes searched through the darkened building to find more strange heaps of lumpy mounds covered in ash. He beckoned to Corrie, who stood only a couple paces behind him, before taking a tentative step inside the shade of the crumbling building.
āEy, I think I found something.ā
And indeed, Max might have. As he looms over them, the coat of ash seems to flake off, revealing some sort of petrified gray things underneath.
Corrie kneels down by one of them, and blows away at the āfaceā of the mound to reveal something like a lump of coal.
Only, this lump of coal had a human face on it. And it was still capable of producing a rather strong, burnt scent.
