From Ashes

Chapter 1

This is my first story so critiques are appreciated. Rated for language and violence. I hope you enjoy.

Rain, cold unrelenting rain. It obscured the ruined desolate city making the shattered windows of skyscrapers, chunks of them from the upper floors still breaking and falling to the streets below when disturbed by wind like tonight, and broken down cars look almost like a dreamscape. It was encircled by sprawling suburbs that rolled wave like around the evil fortress. She stared at the city calculating her next move.

She sat under a tarp strung up between to blackened dead trees with a small warm fire crackling beside her as she leaned against her pack left leg outstretched and left hand pressed hard against her side while she stared out at the dead city. She didn't notice the time passing as she sat there hand pressed against a two day old wound with tacky blood squelching under her fingers as she weighed the options of going into the city. There were dangers with the old dilapidated buildings falling down or booby traps like the one that got her set up by others to catch prey for dinner. She shifted her palm absently and hissed as the shirt, clinging to her drying wound, tugged at the painful gash. A tramping through the woods made her look up just as a bloody wet mass of fur was shoved into her face.

"Arrrg Jack that's gross." she pushed the large dog back as he excitedly tried to shove the dead animal back into her face making her laugh tiredly "Okay Jack, OKAY! I'll prep it for you, smelly dog." she scratched him behind his floppy ear before grabbing the small dead creature and slowly stood up, making sure to not disturb the hot numb wound on her side. She hoisted the large fat bundle of fur she had grabbed by the ears up to eye level to examine it and clucked her tongue.

"Is it a rabbit or a hare?" she glanced up at Jack for his opinion. He paused mid ball lick to look back at her as if to say 'Don't know, don't care' and resumed his ball licking. She pouted at him trying to bore her will into his boney back but he took no notice just continued to lick. "Fine, since you have no input its rabbit." she paused for effect but all Jack did was huffed mid lick ignoring her. She rolled her eyes but smiled and with one quick slice of the knife and a wet squelch she had the creature skinned, skewered, and on the fire.

She hummed tunelessly, turned the rabbit every now and again, and ignored the dark dead city behind her, or atleast tried to ignore it. She however couldn't resist, the looming empty structures called to her, the terrifying heights reaching towards the clouds, the cracking of glass like thunder before it plummeted to the ground and shattered, the dead husks of car along the streets as if still, twenty years later, stuck in traffic, drew her eye back to it. Sprawling moat like suburbs encircled the distant dark city protectively and the further in and closer to the dead metropolis, the larger and more dark and intimidating the buildings got. She frowned thinking about the feeling of foreboding she go from the city, but she needed supplies and hopefully, maybe, there might still be some in the city or in the suburbs

She pressed her side absently thinking when a soft wuffing and a wet nose rooted around her ear startling her from her revere. Jacks triangular amber eyes stared directly into hers and he wuffed again as he pawed the air to her side and she turned.

"SHIT!" she leapt up and snatched the blackened rabbit skewer away from the fire. "Why didn't you warn me sooner" She glared at Jack but all he did was sit and waggle his butt excitedly as she waved the skewer around. She smiled faintly as he made a fool of himself "Alright, alright but you get the top half." she laughed quietly as Jack jumped up and began to dance and bark around her as she chopped the rabbit in half and handed him his half. She watched him for a minute before she took a large bite of her own meat. It wasn't as bad as she had though only the outside was charred while the in was soft and wept with melted fat. She could feel the grease oozing around her lips with each mouthful she starred off into the city again as she thought about what they were about to do.