Gavin's Story(on hold)

19 Maddie's Bridge (update)

Flash Forward 

Maddie dug her sword into the ground and uses it to stand. Completely covered in ash and dust she chokes as she breathes in deep. Pulling up the ragged cloth, which had once again saved her life, back into place over her nose and mouth. Wiping her goggles off, she looked around for her partner.

            Dragging her pack behind her she climbed the hill; her blast had taken out a lot of the remaining area. David! She spotted one of his boots hanging out of a window above her. Securing her pack in a car right under the window she threw her rope up to a beam that hung above the window. Scaling the side she prepared herself for the worst, why was he so close to the outside? Did he not get out of the way in time?

            ‘David please be alive.’ She whispered.

Her foot slipped and she grabbed hold of the beam at the top and dangled for a second. She took a deep breath and started to swing toward the window. She let go of the beam and grabbed the window seal, it creaked and started to give way from her weight. A hang grabbed her and yanked her inside they crashed together onto the floor.

            ‘Maddie what do you think your doing?’

‘Getting your sorry butt down, your boots are better than mine, if your dead butt wasn’t using them I sure was going to.’

She would have stuck her tongue out but he wouldn’t see. ‘Whatever, you almost fell!’

‘Yes I know that’s why I need better boots.’ He shook his head at her.

‘I just woke up from your nasty blast.’ Blood spots danced over his once white shirt. She wiped the blood from his brow. ‘Sorry love.’

‘Sure you know when we get some clean air you owe me.’ He laughed.

            They lay there for a moment more, ‘Come on Maddie we need to get moving we have a mission.’ Her favorite part was sliding down the rope she tied it around her and ran down the side of the building until she hit the angle and she slide down the rest of it. He laughed as she reached him and he slung the rope down from the beam.

            Grabbing her pack they started walking to the bridge. ‘We will reach the bridge right before the sun sets tonight.’

‘Good I’m tired of seeing it in the distance.’ She muttered.

            True to his word they reached it and saw the small fires all over the bridge burning, they burned for them. 

A man holding a rifle walked up to them. ‘David?’

‘That’s me’

‘We’ve been looking for you for weeks.’

‘We got caught up clearing the path for you guys, just a little trouble but its all clear now.’

‘I’ll bring you to Emi.’

People covered in dirt and ash, clothing mix matched and torn all stared at them wide eyed. These two people had been their hope, and rumored to be the last of the great ones who had been trying to save mankind. They reached out to them trying to touch them as if that alone would save them or maybe they had seen what they’d only imagined and that touch would confirm their beliefs.

‘Emi!’ The man shouted.

‘Boy you know im busy!’

‘Well we can just come back.’ David said smiling.

‘Oh my god, David, Maddie! I’ve been worried you guy got hurt. But we’ve kept our hope up for you guys coming to us.’

 ‘You two are tired, tomorrow we can talk, follow me.’

They were led halfway across the bridge where it suddenly stopped a wide gap was in front of them, too far to jump to. Maddie stood where she was looking across the bridge the destruction of the city on the other side seems just as bad possibly worse. There was no light on that side save the moon that hung almost full casting long shadows on the once full river.

Emilee turned around and stood next to Maddie and gave her a small smile, ‘tomorrow I will show you what we’ve done.’

‘That sounded like you have a few things up your sleeve.’ Maddie raised her brow. ‘Tomorrow’ Emi said again.

Emi led them to the side and dropped a sack of sand over the side it was tied to a rope up where they stood. A few minutes later a basket on wires was pulled up to them Emi opened the side like a door and walked inside pulling them in too. Securing the door she showed them the hand loops to hang onto and they were lowered a few stories. They stopped at a platform a guy opened the door for them and gave Maddie his hand, ‘Welcome’ David quickly got out and held her hand and the guy just laughed.

‘This is Grant he’s the basket operator. This is where my self and a few others stay, plan things, eat, and sleep. And you two have an actual cot to sleep on.’ Maddie smiled and followed with David closely behind, inside the old bridge maintenance building. Their heads found a pillow and they passed out.

The sun came inside the big blown out windows as it rose up and the wind became more intense as Maddie opened her eyes. The tattered sheets hung in the windows flapped around the railing that had been welded in the window so no one feel. She pulled her jacket around her as she glanced out.

Below the bridge was an almost dried river a stream had made it down the sandy old riverbed. Rusty car parts, buildings and ancient odds and inns littered the whole area. Maddie had the sense of de ja vu as what she remembered as a pure clean river came back to her. The river she knew had become the city’s overflow for waste, a place the crime lords dumped bodies and evidence, and a lot more.

‘It was sad what it became.’ Emilee said. Maddie didn’t know if she was talking about the river, the city, or even the world. She waited for her to say more but Emilee left and Maddie followed.

David came up behind her, ‘Morning’ he whispered. She leaned into him, ‘hey’ he squeezed her and they waited on Emilee. She came in bearing maps covered in scribbles and drawings. Grant rolled everything out and lined it up.

‘Here we are, river, the way you two came from.’ Pointing, ‘what else can I show you and what’s your plan?’

‘As we thought the train tracks where pretty much clear, there was a few places we moved stuff out of the way and there is some places we needed more muscle.’ David pointed to the edge of the city.

‘Right here we will need to stop and move cars. Not a big deal though. As far as supplies there are stores we can stop still full and load the train up.’ He looked at Emilee who was looking odd. ‘What?’

‘We have a hiccup’ she said frowning.