Light seeps through the cracks on the metal roof, the rusty walls of that old storage shed being covered in the recent memories of the events that happened only moments before.
Blood dripped down the pipe held by that terrifying man as he brutally smashed in the skull of one the soldiers guarding the door. Cornelia’s screams as she saw the faces of the men surrounding her began to twist, deforming into bubbling piles of their bones, entrails mixed with blood as the result of the vengeful frenzy that the man unleashed upon them. Charles’s horrified pale expression bore witness to the indescribable amount of pain he endured until his eyes rolled back into his skull.
As the man entered armed with nothing but that long pipe. He bashed in the head of the guard that was by the door trying to enjoy the perverted spectacle going on a few steps away. Seeing their fallen comrade, Charles and his men turn to see the mysterious figure steadily approaching them. Rushing him in a furious frenzied counterattack, the man adeptly dodged the sloppy attack of the oncoming soldiers, two thunderous gunshots resonate through the metal walls, followed by frantic scream of pain as Charles realized his forearm was completely shattered, before he could reacted another succession of blows strike his legs, leaving him turning in pain on the ground. The enraged shadow then turns toward the two remaining men, being petrified by the man’s unbelievable speed and strength they decide to attack him both at once. He skillfully dodges once more their attack, breaking one of the soldier’s neck, killing him instantly. The remaining fatigued man charges toward him wielding his knife, only to be overtaken and placed at the mercy of his own blade which was now slowly entering his chest.
Getting up from dispatching his men, the man turns to Charles still agonizing on the floor, dragging himself to reach his pistol a few inches away. The man takes the pipe and breaks his hand, smashing it repeatedly until his arm was unrecognizable, as Charles tried to beg for his life, the man calmly picked up the gun and shot him twice, placing a bullet in each of his knees. Yelling out in pain, he attempted to utter his final words when the man firmly grabbed his head and began slitting his throat with his comrade’s knife, leaving him agonizing to drown in a pool of his own blood.
Cornelia was still mortified by the situation that just transpired, trying to make Adriana recover from the shock she was experiencing as well. They felt that they had stumbled upon an even worse psychopath in this New World, seeing the lifeless bodies of the communist and the people they executed. Wiping his bloodied hands with a rag he found on one of the dusty shelves around them, the man turns to the as a beam of sunlight reflect on the man’s big smile, revealing that it was Lindbergh as he said:
“Don’t worry. No one's gonna try and touch you anymore... Uhm, I mean… If you don’t want to, you’re free to be touched by whomever. As long as it's consensual.”
An overwhelming sensation of relief and nostalgia overcame both girls as they began to tear up at the sight of Lindbergh’s grin.
“Lindbergh! I’m so glad you’re here… I thought you were dead or worse…” Adriana exclaimed as she began to cry.
“Well I did die for a moment there, but I managed to survive through it!” he replied as he wiped off the remainder of the blood from his face.
“Making jokes even at a time like this…” Cornelia grunted while trembling. “I’m glad you’re alive, you idiot. I wouldn’t want to carry on without those bad jokes of yours.” Cornelia said in relief as she began to burst into laughter.
“You know it would take way more than a bunch of dumbasses like these to take me down, chicuela.”
“How’d you find us?” Adriana asked.
“Well, I saw Charles and his men dragging you away from the battlefield along with a bunch of prisoners. I was running to help you when one of those cute little kittens decided to try playing tag with me. After chasing me for a while, I managed to shake him off as he became interested in some new victims. Seeing that you were taken across the river, I tried searching for a boat, I found the one we had, but it wouldn’t start. So I had to swim across all the way here, I was so wet, angry, frustrated, and when I saw what they were doing to you… I just lost it... “
“They deserved what they got.” Adriana stated.
“They got handed a proper dosage of their own medicine. They didn’t show even a bit of remorse up until the end. If they were willing to do this to us, who knows what they did to those that came before us?” Cornelia highlighted as she stared across the bloodied room.
“Alrighty then, let’s get you out of these so we can get out of here… There we go!” exclaimed Lindbergh as he released them from their bounds helping them slowly stand up. “I doubt there are any more of their friends around here, but it’s better to play it safe for a while.”
As they were about to walk out, Adriana and Cornelia felt a chilly breeze pass through them, making them remember that they were still half naked, their shredded clothes barely being able to cover their chest.
Searching through the old storage shed, they come across a large wooden wardrobe filled with a large selection of clothing. Checking out all the styles that it had to offer, Cornelia grabs a cropped sand brown leather jacket as she sighed:
“Well these look to be in pretty good condition considering the end of the world.”
“Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be a lot here that could fit me though…” said Adriana as she peeked through the selection.
“Well blame nature for giving you those massive melons.” Cornelia snickered. “There has to be something here that will fit you, let’s see…”
“Hey! Yours aren’t lagging behind!” Adriana points out as she grabs some clothes for Cornelia. “Try this on with that leather jacket that you found.”
“Oh! That’s cute! Lemme see if I can find some pants to go with them… Aha!” Cornelia announced excitedly as she began taking off her pants.
Baffled by the situation, Titus asks:
“Uhm, wouldn’t it be better to ask us to step outside for a moment, Cornie?”
Already having her pants halfway down, revealing her generous behind with her red thong, she turns red blushing at the realization that both Lindbergh and Titus have been staring at them the entire time they were playing with each other’s breasts and bodies.
“GET THE HELL OUT! Pervs…” Both girls yell out almost simultaneously.
While waiting out of the shed under the glaring sun, Lindbergh yells out with slight exasperation:
“Oi! Don’t take all day in there!”
A loud thump hits the door, sounding like someone threw a heavy boot, they decided to remain quiet from that point on.
A loud metal screech startles them as they open the door, revealing their new outfits. Cornelia wore the cropped sandy leather jacket with a short sleeve red V-neck shirt, black stretchy jeans, together with her old Converso sneakers. Adriana sported a dark blue American varsity style jacket, an anatomical grey shirt that barely covered halfway down her forearms, revealing a part of her belly button as well. She decided to keep her old jeans and khaki boots since there weren’t that many other options to try out.
“Wow girls… You look really good! A fresh new look, eh?” said Lindbergh almost completely dropping his jaw at the sight of them.
“At least they’re clean and fit well enough.” Cornelia affirmed with a smile.
“Y-yeah… I’m glad you like your clothes… I hope we come across some other place where I can try out some other options…” Adriana stammered as she wrestled with her clothes.
“Well I think you look… Really nice.” Lindbergh gulped. “Aren’t you comfy in those?”
“Yeah well… At least I’m gonna be warmer from now on, this jacket is soft and toasty.”
“Yeah, you both look good and comfy. Now the questions: where are we?” Titus asked as he sniffed around.
“I think we’re back on the mainland, way up North of the city.” said Lindbergh thinking out loud. “What I don’t know is why we’re surrounded by these huge walls made of garbage?”
Observing their surroundings more closely, they realize that Lindbergh’s words were an understatement as they saw massive garbage walls piled up as high as most buildings around them, packed so tightly together that it seemed almost impenetrable and high enough for it not to be easily climbed over.
“Uhm, Lindbergh… Remind me, why can't we cross back over the river?” Cornelia asked.
“Well I--”
“Because Lindbergh sabotaged and destroyed the C.L.A.N’s boats before he went in to save you, thinking he probably wouldn’t get out alive.” Titus interrupted as Lindbergh lowered his head, feeling ashamed.
“Well at least we can still use these weapons they left behind.” said Cornelia as she picked up a large combat knife. “Too bad there aren’t any bullets left in Charles’s gun though…”
“I’m taking it just in case, you never know when it might come in handy.” Lindbergh grinned.
Walking further South, they awe at the completely empty streets within the trash walls.
“These streets are awfully clean for a place that seems so abandoned… It’s as if they were trying to keep something out, or maybe in?” Adriana nervously commented as they kept walking.
The avenue was deserted, the only movement being the falling leaves after cold gusts of wind that came through the empty main road. The wall appeared endless, until they finally saw the old train platform that went over the avenue, between its faded letters one could still read: “Welcome to Tren de La Costa”
Initially, this train only connected the coast between Capital Buenos Aires and most of the beachside cities of the South Atlantic within the province. It was later expanded to go all the way down to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, the so-called: “End of the World”.
Hopeful that it was still operational, they were soon disappointed to see the entire station stuffed and covered with the same immense wall of garbage that surrounded them. Frustrated after spending half the day walking, they turned to walk back to the old storage shed for the night, when all of a sudden they’re enclosed by a horde of savage-looking men and women with bloodthirsty eyes. Their hateful gaze piercing through everyone, beginning to fear for their lives not knowing what to do, when a loud imposing voice springs forth from within the tribals:
“Stop! Can’t you see that they’re lost? Look closely, they’re not specters or food, they’re people like us!” said the man as he approached them. “Lower your weapons.”
Revealing himself from the crowd, the apparent leader of the wild band was a tall, fit, older-looking man in his 50’s, his brown hair was balding around the top of his head, also having a thick goatee, wearing nothing but improvised loincloths made from different types of clothes put together.
“You have to forgive these guys, they’re not too big on manners, you’d think that people would go crazy after a long time even in a situation like this, but eh, what can ya do, right?” the man joyously affirmed. “My name is Reyes, and this is the tribe of Arales, and you’re on our side of the Great Wall. For what it’s worth, we welcome you.”
“Great Wall? You mean you guys were the ones that turned the North into this fortified dump?” asked Cornelia, still baffled at the situation.
“Well, it wasn’t just us… There used to be a lot more of us, but that was before the Divide. Now we’re always feuding with our neighbors.”
“How’s that work, chief?” Lindbergh asked. “Are you fighting amongst friends and family or something? Besides, what’s the deal with this big-ass wall?”
“Being perfectly honest, it started out as just large open deposits of things everyone could use later on, then after a while those… Things started to appear, most of them weren’t really bad or looking for trouble. Problem was that when there’s cattle to prey on, there’s usually a predator not far behind. So we started building this thing to keep those beasties out.”
“What were those things that came out here? What could be so bad that it made everyone around here pitch in to such an insane idea?” Adriana asked as she trembled.
“I’ll tell you all about it in a bit, for now let’s just get out of the streets. You really don’t wanna be out here at night, believe me.” Reyes pointed out as he gestured to them to follow him into an old run-down CrossFit gym.
Near the end of the Great Wall close to the Tren de La Costa platform was a large CrossFit gym, as they entered they saw that people had turned most of the fitness equipment into tools for manufacturing rudimentary weapons, others were used for cooking and cleaning, while some were still being used for exercise.
“They look more like a warrior tribe than CrossFit aficionados.” Cornelia muttered.
Reyes leads them to a small rounded booth in a corner of an old juice bar, as they all sat he let out a long sigh followed by a small grin:
“Well you’re officially under the protection of the Arales tribe. Everyone here is a bit rough around the edges, but they don’t mean anything by it. Everyone has been a bit on edge lately since the last few attacks.”
“You’ve been attacked? By what?” Cornelia curiously asked. “What made you guys have to live like this?”
“Well on one hand, we have the crazy red berets upriver, but more importantly have been the retaliations on some creatures we used to hunt. They seem to have ran off or become something entirely different, we don’t know what they are, but they like to strike at night.”
“Well to ease your mind, the red beret crazies are dead. We took out their leader.” said Lindbergh as he threw Charles’s blood covered beret across the table toward Reyes. “I was thinking of keeping it as a reminder of all those lovely moments we had together, but I’ll let you have it if it brings you peace of mind.”
“This is splendid news!” Reyes exclaimed with a big smile. “There are a few more problems than that thought… But let’s not worry about them for now. Tell me about yourselves, you can of course spend the night here, if you wish, which I highly advise you do.”
“We appreciate that, Reyes. We aren’t sure how we could help such capable people, we barely have enough food and weapons to fend for ourselves.” Cornelia stated with a saddened expression.
“Don’t worry about that, but now that you mention it… There is an urgent issue I could use your help with.” Reyes mentioned with an anxious tone. “You see, our neighbors the Tura, don’t want to teach us how to grow our own food or even share the tools for us to try it for ourselves. Many of my people want to go over there and take it by force, but I’d prefer a more diplomatic solution. So I need you to talk to their leader and convince him to work together with us, I can’t go over there anymore. He’s too stubborn of a man.”
“Where do these Tura live?” Adriana asked.
“Right across the street. the main avenue is what divides our territories.”
“You gotta be kidding-- Ehm, we’ll try to help you as best as we can. By the way, I’m Cornelia, the scrawny smartass is Lindbergh, she’s Adri and the furry one is Titus. I hope you’re not freaked out by talking ferrets.”
“Hey! I’m only able to speak as the result of genetic experiments that I wasn’t even on board with! Can’t complain how things turned out though…”
“Genetic experiments? Don’t tell me he’s one of OptoGenica’s projects…” Reyes mumbled in shock. “One of the reasons we live this way is because of those rampaging beasts that OptoGenica made… They took everything from us.”
“We never thought that OptoGenica would turn out to be this bad, I always thought that they worked to improve medicine and help curing diseases beyond just people.”
“You never wondered how they managed all those breakthroughs in biology, genetics, biomechanics and even synthetic prosthetics, making them efficient and cheaply available? Everything has a prize, señorita.”
“S-so, maybe what happened to Thomas was also one of those experiments when he turned into one of those things.” Adriana stammered.
“What things are you talking about?” Reyes asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“It’s a white fungus that sticks to your skin, spreading as it infects you, only to turn you into a horribly disfigured husk of your former self. Apparently it takes some time to take hold though.” Cornelia explained in a nostalgic tone as she remembered Thomas.
“That does sound like something they would do. I’ve seen them doing all sorts of experiments on animals, vegetation and even people. This fungus seems designed to infect humans in particular, trying to spread its influence, for whatever purpose is beyond me, but it’s perverse.” Titus added as he jumped on the table.
All of the people around Reyes stopped their labors and pointed their weapons closely to the talking anomaly until Reyes calmly waved them down.
“Easy there everybody, this little guy seems to know more about those heartless bastards than we do. Go back to work.”
Seeing all of those buffed men and women, Lindbergh couldn’t help leaning in to Reyes as he asked him:
“Yo, chief. How do you even manage for them to listen to you? You’re way more easygoing than them.”
“They’ve always been like this, especially since the disaster. They’re a helluva workforce though. Socially speaking they’re worse than a volcanic firestorm, I’m sad to say.” Reyes said with a slight chuckle. “I used to be their boss back at the factories. I didn’t want to be their leader, but they wanted me here, so I’m trying my best.”
“But, if they’re so good at building and crafting things, why don’t you try trading your goods and services with the Tura?”
“We’ve tried. Their tribespeople even give us part of the food they grow or scavenge from time to time, the problem is their leader. He’s just unapproachable and spiteful.”
“If he didn’t listen to you or Mr. and Ms. Muscle over there, then what makes you think he’ll pay attention to us or chicuela over there?” Lindbergh mentioned as he pointed to Cornelia.
“Because he likes young pretty girls, he’s quickly grown tired of his smelly entourage. Being something out of the ordinary to him, he’ll most definitely be interested in Cornelia.”
“Then that means she’ll definitely fit in there, chief. She’s usually much smellier than now, but we already had her bather, even went as far as to give her all her shots and even a trip to the salon to get her nails done.” Lindbergh snickered.
“Hey! Would you please stop telling everyone I’m smelly?! Besides, I took a shower already…” mumbled Cornelia, exasperated.
“Whatever happens, we’ll be ready to help Cornie out. Right, Lin?” Adriana affirmed as she kicked Lindbergh to nod in agreement.
“I’m still worried that this guy likes ‘em young, I hope he won’t get any weird ideas…” Cornelia nervously muttered.
“Don’t worry, he only cares about himself. Just make him feel important so he can relive his glory days, then you can start to convince him when he relaxes a bit.” Reyes said with a reassuring tone. “The plan is to simply walk up to their base, knock on the big metal door, let Cornelia be in full view as they look through the slit in the door, make him feel good about himself, then bring up our current predicament and I’m sure everything will turn out fine.”
“What if he refuses?” Cornelia worryingly asked.
“Don’t worry, they don’t have any weapons over there, only tools. If you feel something bad is about to happen, then just yell out to us and run across the street. We’ll protect you.”
“Alright then, but in exchange we want a way out of the Great Wall. Could you help us with that?”
Hearing her words, everyone stops their labor once more, staring intently at the group as Reyes gets up the chair with a grunt.
“If you do this favor for us I’ll make sure you get out safely. I need to ensure a proper supply of food for the Arales first, I’m sure you understand, but know this, I never forget a friend in times of need.”
Agreeing to his terms, everyone proceeds to prepare and go to bed early following Reyes’s suggestion. Trying to sleep proved difficult due to the unsettling amount of noise that came from the streets, until they finally passed out naturally from exhaustion.
In the morning, the awake to enormous rays of sunlight that squeezed through the dirty windows of the gym. As they nervously crossed the deserted street they saw that there wasn’t anyone or anything else but them on the long avenue.
Pounding nervously on the heavy metal door, Cornelia stands in full view of the slit as planned. To everyone’s surprise an extremely mellow voice asks:
“Heeey thereee… Wassup? Whatcha neeeed?”
Still feeling nervous about the whole situation Cornelia nervously replied:
“Yeah! Uhm… I was hoping we could get in and talk to your leader--”
Without being able to finish her sentence, the door slowly opened with a loud metal screech. Once inside, they saw that all of the tribals were skinny almost to a malnourished state except for a few chubby exceptions, sporting the same kind of weird loincloth as the Arales. They all appeared to be incredibly relaxed, some were even smoking blunts laying down on torn beanbags.
The place looked like an old coffee shop, it was configured in such a way that they could fit a large number of indoor greenhouse growing pots, complete with sprinklers and UV light systems. The filth that covered the floor was only comparable to the terrible body odor of its denizens, which all seemed to faintly smile and cheer at Cornelia as they lifted up their mates and tools.
Searching for their leader in all the darkness, they see large oval shaped shadows rush all around the walls around them, tripping on a large pile of residue Cornelia’s face turned to horror as she saw one of those shadows approach her curiously, revealing itself to be a giant cockroach, it’s large mandibles appearing long and sharp enough to skewer a pig, being as big as large ripped couch that was nearby, with huge empty black eyes staring directly into her, trying to figure out who she was tapping all around her with its antenna until a coughing raspy voices calls out to it from deeper within the abyss of the room.
“That’s enough, Marta! Come here…”
The giant cockroach immediately obeys the voice as it turns around rushing back to his feet. On top of a small corner stage of the cafe was a makeshift throne made out of a large worn-out leather chair, with an elderly man sitting on it as two tribespeople waved fan shaped pieces of cardboard around him.
In the dim light of the old shop they couldn’t see the man’s grin as Cornelia proceeded to introduce herself:
“H-hey there… How are you doing today? I’m Cornelia, and t-this is Adri--”
Before she could continue, the man quickly got up and approached them with an excited look. They could see a thin elderly man, his ribcage almost peering through his skin, he had grey hair made into a half-balding man bun with a long thin mustache that covered part of his chest along with his beard.
Licking his lips in anticipated excitement after getting a good look at both curvy girls, the man collects himself speaking in a stern tone:
“Good day, ladies. Who are you and what has brought you to my domain?”
“Well, we got lost on our way to the border. We were kidnapped and managed to escape here, but we’re not sure where we are.” said Adriana in a shy voice.
“We don’t know how to get out of here, we really could use your help…” Cornelia added with a nervous smile.
“Wha--? Oh yes, of course! I’ve been keeping my eye on you since you walked in the Great Wall, nothing escapes my gaze in these lands. I’m Alfonso, Alfonso Vitaser, at your service.” he said with a slight bow.
“Master Alfonso… Would you be so kind as to help us find a way out of here?” Adriana asked, returning a small bow. “We’ll be sure to find a way to repay your great kindness.”
Alfonso’s decrepit pale expression became blushed at the thought of having two gorgeous girls willing to do anything to get his favor. As he was about to speak, Titus comes running through the darkness, jumping into Cornelia’s breasts as he caught his breath:
“T-they’re here, L-Lin… T-they’re o-okay…”
“Howdy there… How’s things? Lovely place you’ve got here, man. Good vibes.”
“What’s the meaning of this?!” Alfonso exclaimed in an increasing rage. “WHO ARE YOU? WHO LET YOU IN?! Pedro! Was it you again? How many times do I have to tell you not to let in anyone that comes knocking? Useless monkeys…”
Looking at the elderly man sitting on his oversized throne, he sees his pet cockroach at his feet, carelessly playing around as if it were a dog, one the size of a refrigerator.
“Hehey, boss… Boss man, you seem to have a bit of uhm, how can I say it? Pest problem around here? They’re not eating the furniture, they seem to have become the furniture.” Lindbergh pointed out in a mixture of fear and surprise. “How’d you let it get that big? Isn’t it a health risk or something?”
“What? You mean you’ve never seen a Racha? You must come from far away if so.” Alfonso asked, being slightly surprised.
“What are Rachas?” Cornelia inquired as she trembled in fear as the cockroach stared intently at her.
“I can’t really tell you why they grew so much, people around here seem to think it was something in the garbage they ate after The Collapse, but no one can be sure. One thing is true though, they’re delicious when grilled or fried.”
“Wait a second… Did you just say they are delicious?! You really eat these things?!” Adriana asked with a mortified expression.
“Of course! Here, try some of what I had left over from breakfast. It’s tomato basil Racha meat rolls.”
“I-I think I’ll try them… Later, sir. I had a bit too much to eat for breakfast myself.” Cornelia stammered.
“Chief, we humbly ask you to forgive our intrusion, but we require your assistance in order to cross the Great Wall, so we would like you to forge an alliance with Reyes joining forces.” Titus happily proposed.
Turning to a sour expression across Alfonso’s face, he replies:
“I have no intention of speaking to that fat oaf.”
“But…”
“Enough! My answer is final! If you don’t want me to leave you out on the streets, you’d be wise to keep your mouth shut.”
“Don’t be like that, guy. There has to be something we can do for you to get you to reconsider. Name anything you want. Besides, how long will it be before someone or something meaner and stronger than all of you comes bursting through the Great Wall? Better to stand together than scattered around.” Lindbergh said cheerfully.
“That’s impossible, nothing could get past the Great Wall and even if they could, the Caranchos would take them before they could do anything else…”
“Caranchos? Wild birds are attacking too? Lord save us…”
Cornelia turns to Alfonso, trying to compel him to see the bigger picture:
“You have a lot of crops growing around here, why not work a deal exchanging food for protection and services? Reyes is more than willing to sit down and talk it out.”
“That’s precisely the problem, my dear. We don’t need their weapons or services. It’s them that need us. We’re completely safe behind a reinforced door, growing our crops and tending to the breeding grounds.”
“This place is big and all, but I wouldn’t call it a breeding ground though.” Titus highlighted as he looked all over the moldy decaying laminate walls.
“I’m not talking about this place, my furry friend. Come with me, I wanna show you something, Except for you, funny man. You stay here.”
“Tsk, and here I was dying for a post-apocalyptic gardening and cattle handling session. Well I’ll just relax with my spiritual brothers and sisters.” said Lindbergh as he fell into a beanbag surrounded by tribals stoned out of their minds.
The rest of the group followed Alfonso through another dark section of the deteriorated cafe, until they stepped through another rusty metal door revealing a huge warehouse, with hundreds of Rachas crawling all over the walls and ceiling. At their feet were a vast muddy field with thousands of their eggs scattered about.
“Voilà! This is my Racha breeding ground. Magnificent, aren’t they? Virtually unlimited food, without compromising quality or flavor.”
“How can you eat these things, Alfonso?” Cornelia asked as she tried to hide her terrified expression.
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