The Big Waste (After-Skirmish Book 1) Read online

  As the salivating reptile closed in, Iggy relaxed his eyes and let his breathing crawl to a sedate pace. It was going to come soon. Nature was going to take him back to wherever he came. He closed his eyes and he heard the sickening crunch of powerful jaws gnashing into flesh and bone. There was no feeling, only sound.

  Fucking Animals.

  Chapter 3: Bright Eyes

  The Big Waste was home to all manner of living things. Humanity’s grip on the hierarchy of the wild was very loose since the end of the skirmishes. The disfigured mutants known as Blights controlled most of the geographical space, making use of well-organized underground tunnels and fortified outposts that had an unparalleled network of communication. As these blights were primarily soldiers and excavators during the skirmishes, their training put them ahead of desperate human scavengers too poor or unskilled to live in an advanced ‘Citadel’ or even a more modest ‘Shell’. They would be killed, hunted and enslaved by the Blights. Humanity had turned their backs on them and they had no intention of showing compassion in return as a society.

  Some humans were in bandit gangs or worked as well-armed mercenaries that made them less vulnerable to the Blights, but apart from rival gangs, the biggest threat to life was the wildlife itself.

  There is little information on what kinds of weapons were used in the skirmishes; reports range from wicked science to arcane magic but the effect they left on the world is undeniable. They changed the very make-up of the creatures that survived it. Large cat-like creatures with gills dart through the waters like trout. Oversized bloated Rhinos spew toxic waste during mating season. Squirrels combust into flame as a self-defense mechanism and a fly-trap plant species that will snatch a person walking by and drain the volume out of them, leaving them as powdery husks so light they are carried by the harsh winds or buried by the pale sand. Almost everything was a carnivore; food crops were hard to come by and were more valuable than any drug. The creatures of the waste adapted to live off flesh, the food chain was circular. Everything was eating everything.

  A large wolf-creature with white eyes dashing across the plains was about to become one of them.

  She wasn't completely certain why she was running but she was finding a lot of peace in her aimless high speed. Her silver-white paws seemed to barely touch the sand as she sprinted gracefully towards her unknown destination. Her powerful shoulders fit sleekly atop her toned forelegs covered with a fine coat of shimmering white-grey fur that matched her pale grey-blue mane. Her eyes were focused, yet free, her breath was strong but measured. Her appearance did not match the toxic, fragmented background of the waste, but she moved through it as if she were its ruler.

  Her midday run began to find direction as her powerful stomach began to churn and gargle with the oldest urge of any living thing. Hunger. Letting her nose become her targeting system, her instincts cycled through the proximate scents for the best source of food. A few carcasses in one direction, probably too rotten. A nearby source of water to be kept in mind to visit later. A burning smell, maybe an explosion or two...but it was masking another scent, one of another animal. No, two animals covered in the stench of panic and desperation. The two sources were becoming close, directing her to the meeting point. A live hunt maybe? A perfect source of food for the wolf.

  Her speed increased to a breakneck pace as she closed in on the curious pair of whiffs. Her eyesight was good but it was far behind her sense of smell, her crystal white eyes left the job of locating to her much more adept nose, and it was doing a fine job.

  Finally, even in the harsh uncomfortable sunlight and the dusty air, her vision began to perceive a shape in the distance; the source of the smell, a tasty body of living meat. She came in at such a speed that the target didn’t even have time to react. The sheer impact of this powerful wolf beast’s tackle snapped the target’s neck and most of its spine. It was lifeless before it flopped to the ground, turned over. She wasted no time in taking her first bite. There was an audible crunch of gnashing jaws crushing bone. She had caught a tasty lizard.

  She was so busy feeding she barely noticed the badly wounded, barely conscious human right next to her, quivering with his eyes closed. None of this mattered to her, as she was hungry.

  Chapter 4: Wheelhouse

  The sky was a pale orange now, the nuclear weather worked in mysterious ways but every now and again it would find a way to be beautiful, whistling with a gentle breeze as it maintained a comfortable temperature. This was the fortunate face of the waste that Iggy awoke to. He felt he must be in the afterlife, though he expected it to be a little more cloud-like.

  She was feeding like one would expect from a beast, her mouth barely closing before another bite was taken. She gave herself no real-time to savor the taste or pick the leanest parts of meat, just letting her maw act as a chaotic factory of consumption. She was eating as a monster would. But a monster was not the creature before Iggy, it was a person – a wild looking female with pointed ears, large canines and grey eyes so bright they almost looked white. She was a fascinating being of ambiguous humanity.

  Iggy's clouded mind attempted to process his current situation, taking in the familiar bleak sight around him with a very heavy heart. As his tongue became reacquainted with the torrid air of the waste, he concluded that he was probably still alive due to the stranger in front of him. His ‘rescue’ seemed dubiously swift but his curiosity was halted by what he saw. Gratitude for his life saved dissipated as she continued feasting, tearing through the very ribcage of his would-be devourer. The carcass was gone; beyond the desert scales, the lizard was unrecognizable. Its skull had been mostly chewed off; its limbs were gone. Its chest was open like a volcano.

  How did someone her size, tear through that motorbike-sized lizard so quickly? And how hungry will she be after she’s finished with it? Do I need to stay to find out?

  Just as Iggy sat up and began to pat himself down to see if he had lost anything, the female's head snapped up from the food in response to Iggy's nervous motions. She stared at him with an animalistic intensity that could be read as either caution or curiosity. Iggy's defeated expression was all he could offer back. He wasn't even completely sure if he was alive, and if he was how long it would actually last.

  The silence was broken a guttural grunting sound from the woman. It was so deep and strong it reverberated the air between them. It had the short sharp bang of a dog’s bark but sounded like a word.

  “Mine.”

  Her eyes narrowed, now with something that looked a lot more like anger. Iggy gasped weakly in confusion.

  “I...ahh...”

  “MINE!”

  This time she sounded like a gunshot. The sudden sound made Iggy jump, almost dropping the blood-soaked bat he had been gripping without realizing. It was now clear what she meant. She was claiming the kill.

  “It's yours…you earned it...I'm gonna go to my car now…OK?” Iggy pleaded, trying to not make sudden movements.

  As he attempted to crawl to his feet, he made waving motions toward his car behind him while keeping his palms open to show complete pacifism. Even if he wasn't half-dead from his ordeal, she had just made a meal out of waste reptile that could have easily swallowed him.

  Not someone I want to fuck with.

  Her head tilted with a mild bemusement as she looked at the car behind him. Her gruff voice was less of bark now and more of a growl.

  “Wheels...Wheels house, yours!?”

  “Yes...wheels, but not house. It's a car, my car.”

  “Cah...house...cah?

  “Just car.”

  “Cahr… where...sleep? House…Cahr.”

  Well I guess I'll be sleeping in the car for a while, won't be back to the Citadel anytime soon

  “Yes…it's a wheelhouse...car,” Iggy said coyly trying to hold a neutral expression. “I'm going inside now”

  Still utterly perplexed by the situation, Iggy rose to his feet trying to find his balance on his near useless leg. The woman also
stood up, seemingly more interested in the vehicle debate than the half-eaten prey.

  “House...strong...sleep...nice.”

  At full standing height, she was about 5’8, a couple of inches shorter than Iggy himself. Her hair was long and silver, bushy but less tangled and dirty than one would expect it to be. Her face was angular with sharp features. Soft but pursed lips covered a pair of inhumanly sharp canines as she spoke. Her nose was small, delicate and slightly pointed.

  Her shimmering eyes were set a little deeply into a youthful pair of cheeks which didn't match perfectly with her mature jaw. It was clear she wasn't fully human but she looked more attractive than any mutant or blight that Iggy had ever seen. Her body was roped with toned muscles covered by a light grey skin that showed full definition. She was completely naked aside from a loose piece of cloth on her shoulder that was being worn like a baggy poncho reaching down far enough to cover the top half of her thighs.

  As far as Iggy was aware no person in the Waste dressed like that. She looked like a fantasy creature from a pre-skirmish novel. It was interesting to observe her, despite the pain he was in.

  Relaxing to a level of mild panic from existential terror was significant. He was pretty sure if this woman wanted to kill him, she would have already done it, and any predator that came in their direction she would decimate, so he felt he wasn’t in any immediate trouble. Picking up his bat and confirming he was still carrying the scavenged revolver; Iggy attempted a weak smile, nodded at her, and limped back to his car. He may have not been in imminent danger, but every hour meant a higher price on his head from the Citadel depot. Iggy didn’t get 6 steps from his car when he heard the light patter of quick footsteps behind him. In a silvery flash, the woman was already in front of him with her clawed hands searching all over his car. Despite being very protective of his beloved Blockgain Chaser he was equally careful with his tone.

  “H-hey…careful, that’s all I have you know!”

  Weird mutant girl with her mitts all over my windows…

  “House…Nice House…Nice...Home,”

  Her voice was no longer a harsh bark. It was still gruff, but even though it retained its primality, the tone began to resemble that of a human female. Iggy even picked up a hint of happiness.

  “It’s a nice car, yeah. That’s my Blockgain Chaser, my 3rd car. I built her up from a high-profile wreckage in the 230th Athens regional. The supercharger is brand new but I had to source the roll bars from the…”

  Realizing his chirpy rambling was probably all but intelligible to her he stopped to observe her further. Not only was she fixated by his car she seemed to be affectionate towards it.

  Both her arms were spread across the hood of the vehicle as if she was giving it a hug. Iggy felt like he may have inhaled some of the blue powder from the wreckage because he wasn’t sure what he was seeing was real.

  “Best home…my home…will stay inside.”

  A feeling of cold shock washed over him as he realized what she was getting at.

  “Listen, lady. I’m glad you like my car, but I’m leaving in it now,” Iggy said as he turned to the great empty pseudo-desert of the Waste. “I got people coming after me, more dangerous than that lizard too. So just keep all the food and I’ll take my, uh-house.”

  She stopped hugging the vehicle to face him with her sharp pale eyes fixed into a very serious stare, clearly understanding but not pleased to be hearing it.

  “House mine now. Open it.”

  The bark was back and it was now more authoritative than wild. It appeared her mind was made up. Iggy’s throat felt like a slimy cave of terror and sickness. He gripped his bat and attempted to take a defensive stance for his car only to hop into a painful limp once he put any serious weight on his leg. The woman broke her stare to observe his clear injury, tilting her head in analysis.

  “Cut, rotten...leg needs Clear-wet, or leg will come off,” she grunted as she sniffed the air between them. “Open home...we find Clear-wet.”

  Clear-what? Is that a brand?

  Iggy was taken aback by her interest in his leg, and also very impressed with her improved diction with every sentence. It seemed as if she was now offering something for letting her inside his car. Hearing her say ‘we’ reassured Iggy she didn’t want to car-jack him, but maybe hitch a ride.

  I don’t think I have a choice…and she’s right, my leg is probably infected at this point, and I won’t be near a clinic anytime soon. Not soon enough at least. Whatever this Clear-wet is...well it might be the only chance I got.

  “Well I doubt I could stop you, but if we are going to be riding together, I need to know what to call you,” Iggy said. He put a hand on his chest as he introduced himself. “I am Ignition…or Iggy.”

  He turned his hand to point at the woman. She seemed a little taken aback and paused for a moment before responding. “You...Ignishin...Nishin...I am…Sil.”

  Sil? Okay. My passenger is a mutant girl called Sil. This is my life now.

  Nodding in acknowledgment he slowly opened the door to his vehicle, tossing his new bat in the backseat and swatting away the severed bandit hand on his bonnet. Sil picked up the hand took a bite out of it, holding it like a takeaway burger. Iggy barely kept himself from vomiting at the sight. She finished the hand with a second bite, the crunching of bone in the mouth very audible, chewing through it like it was a piece of toast.

  So, she does eat human flesh then...good to know.

  After she was finished, they both stepped into the car. She wasn’t sitting firmly in her seat but instead stretched out all over the place like a lazy dog. She was at an angle where she was between facing Iggy and the front window. One of her legs was propped up on the side of his seat, while her other was crossed over her own. Iggy did his best to not leave his eyes wandering near her now fully exposed lower region, but she didn’t seem to care. Her eyes were darting around the car and she had a look of genuine wonder on her face.

  Despite all of his confusion, discomfort, and sense of dread, Iggy couldn’t help but notice her fascination and smile.

  Chapter 5: Free Trade

  The Blockgain Chaser is a heavily modified muscle car tuned and specialized for high-level demolition derbies. However, it was so expertly engineered it can basically be used for anything in the hands of a driver like Ignition. He was raised poor by an alcoholic Grandpappy in the slums of the grand Citadel of Athens. Despite most young boys in his area becoming money-dips and pit-fighters, Ignition made the most of Athens’ motor craze and learned everything he could about cars from his Grandpappy’s garage.

  He started out fixing local cars and salvaging wrecked vehicles in the garage when his Grandpappy was passed out on the couch or bleeding his standards dry at the slot arcade. Iggy would also take joyrides in the Junkers he fixed, developing an early skill for driving a wide range of vehicles in the tight streets of his neighborhood. By the time he was 12, Iggy was self-sufficient; making money for car repairs and betting on Citi-Races. His knowledge as a repairman allowed him to accurately assess the aptitude of the racers and get a near-perfect win rate. Driving came so naturally to him that he turned professional at the age of 17, which made Ignition the youngest driver in the Athens Premier League. Over a derby career of nearly 10 years, he rose up in the ranks to peak at #4. It was very safe to say that Ignition was a very good driver. But it wasn’t enough. The challenge wasn’t gripping him anymore. He had to do something else.

  But why…why did I enter the waste? What did I expect out here? Would the invitational tournament really have been that bad? I could’ve jumped to #2...

  “There! Turn house there!”

  Iggy’s somewhat peaceful introspection was interrupted by the now-constant barking of Sil’s passenger-side directions. There was no left, right or general estimate of distance; just a very frantic series of jumping in her seat while pointing and barking. This made Iggy feel like he was taking his driving test all over again. They must have been driving for 20 minu
tes and Iggy had no idea if they were anywhere close to this source of ‘Clear-wet’ that Sil spoke of. He could only guess she was following her nose as she seemed to inhale sharply before every barked order.

  Iggy’s leg was feeling waves of heat, itchiness and brief numbness. It was clearly infected but he was somewhat impressed that his leg had lasted this long. Being shot, having a toad drink the blood from his leg, and passing out twice made him think his leg had extra lives or something. He could only hope the ointment that Sil was so determined to locate was going to be the real thing. Iggy was barely surviving the Waste with two legs; he didn’t even want to think about trying with one.

  The land around him was beginning to look different, the orange sand was now more of pale beige and there were patches of golden-brown sand along with tiny ponds of shallow water. It still looked like a hellscape but one that could much more reliably sustain plant life. The sky was now a light purple, still bright enough to see but the glimmer of the night stars are showing very faintly.

  “Here, found here!”

  Iggy winced at the volume.

  “Where, near the ponds? What am I looking for?”

  “There!! Leave house there!!”

  As Iggy pressed on the brakes with his weak foot, he circled around the area deciding where to park but noticed Sil was growling fiercely at the window.

  Is she seeing something I ain’t?

  Iggy brought the Blockgain to a halt and scanned the area from the car window before stepping out. After finding the most comfortable weight distribution between his legs to stand, he limped out of the car. He was barely able to keep up with an impatient Sil. He noticed there were small amounts of plant life around him. Not just the moldy grass but a few weeds and even something that looked vaguely like a flower.

  Even inside the Citadel, plants were extremely rare, and there were almost never seen by folk like Iggy. They were reserved for the central districts were the ‘Zens’ lived, mostly to make their high-rise apartments and marble halls more attractive on promo vids. Sil rushed past Iggy like a blur and started to shout in her barking tone when she got close to a small turquoise cactus.