Cold Ashes

Chapter 1 - Stone Veins

He was aware of the smell of must within the apartment complex. It was as familiar as his heartbeat now. Just like the penthouse suite that had become little more than a foggy dream of its former glory. Mouldy beds and rotted dreams.

He was blinded by the bright sun of morning, shielding his eyes he rose from sleeping, looking to the small body that lay peacefully next to him. But it wasn't there. Not anymore.

It was true that today would've been the child’s birthday. There was a time when everyone came together and celebrated with cake and laughter. With parties with other human beings. But things had changed. Everything had changed. The human race had become more… desperate than generous.

The teenager remembered those times like they were some dream. Two lonely males; a teenager and a ten year old - one who was frozen perfectly in time - just trying to survive for the human race’s sake.

He hadn’t lost himself. Not yet.

The teenager got up with the aches and burns in his body and looked in a dusted mirror. There was still a face there, thin and starving but still there; he had pale skin but it was stained with dirt and sweat. Blonde hair which was barely recognisable under the matted, dried blood and mud.

He had to remind himself that he was still human every morning. That despite everything around him, he was still alive. And would stay alive no matter what for Alan. Because of the promise he made to him in those seconds before death snatched him away.

“My name is Ryan. Alan is gone. I am alone”

***

He had food. Plenty of it for now. But it was the kid’s birthday, so he wanted to do something useful... Anything but sitting there, in the silence. Maybe he could actually find a sweet or something special that would make a change.

He didn't know exactly how anything like that would survive, but it would be a problem for later. He'd survived one year without mum or dad, and that was worth something to him. Even if his brother wasn't there to appreciate that.

Ryan looked up at the apartment he was staying at; his dad had blown up the floors below with some explosives that he managed to scavenge the first few days. It was strong enough for the smell to burn and linger. The bang had attracted a lot of them, but after some tried and failed to get up, they gave up and moved away.

That was the scariest night of them all for him. Not knowing if the thump they heard would be the last they would ever hear. At the memory alone he shivered.

Ryan left the emergency stairwell and kept moving, weaving through the city streets that he came to know so well. He had an old rucksack on his back and a whole day to spare, maybe two. He knew that the kid would've hated him for it.  

As he ran, he thought of where he would go. It would take a while before he would have to get back, but he could do with the fresh...ish air outside. There was a lot of risk nearer the centre of the old city, a lot of the dead usually gathering there.

So there wasn’t much chance he would go down that way; but he saw a castle to the east the other week that he wanted to check out. It looked like it had electricity, and where there was electrics, there was probably a fridge.

His dad always told him to never go that way. The north and the east were always out of bounds to him and their family. Ryan trusted his dad's judgement, but everywhere in the south-west was sucked dry of resources. There was barely any food, the fuel from skeleton cars long gone.

Ryan continued to check those that he came across, however. Mostly out of some dying hope. It should've gone by now. A rare, stupid thing to believe in. Nobody had hope or a life or a job or a family. Although technically, he was nobody. He was everybody. The human race nothing more than a memory.