A Winter Wasteland (Robotics and Necrotics Book 2) Read online

  A Winter Wasteland

  Silas Vale

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Silas Vale

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  First ebook edition March 2019

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  Valearith

  Valearith is the world in which all of my novels will take place. This book takes place in the second series I have created, though Aisling Grace is the daughter of Willow Grace from The Circuit Saga. Erile is also present once again, though within this novel, he has not met Aisling yet. For information regarding their origins, please consider reading the first series.

  CONTENTS

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Old New Friends

  By The Gods

  Burning Skin

  A Shocking Morning

  Moving On

  Survival Of The Fittest

  City Life

  The First Bite

  New Wounds Become Old

  Limb From Limb

  The Big Rotten Apple

  Going Home

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to all of the wonderful people who have reached out to me to express their opinions of my work. All of you have helped me get to where I am today.

  Old New Friends

  Saythe Grace took his mother's name. He had, of course, never met his father.

  The wind was cold. Everything was cold. The trees were covered in snow and the ground was practically frozen over. They walked somewhere in between what used to be the United States and Canada, but without governments to enforce borders… Did they even really exist? They were just arbitrary lines, drawn by politicians vying for the most land.

  The problems between the borders of the countries had fallen with the rise of the dead.

  The only variations in the stark-white landscape were the two red-haired people that walked along it. One was Aisling Grace; she'd been through a hell of a lot, though the main problem was finding that the father of her child had shot himself.

  And the other… Well, that was her son.

  Saythe had grown up scrawny, but he was stronger than he looked. He carried a pistol, even though his mother had never let him take a shot, and carried nearly half of their supplies. They used hiking backpacks, which they had scavenged from a broken down hardware store, and had only three weeks’ worth of food left.

  And still, they were always hungry.

  Traveling through open, snowy fields was always a gamble; the Aurans could smell someone from miles away if they weren't surrounded by the scents of the woods, and they were getting increasingly bolder. They used to stay in the cities, where there were more survivors and therefore more food for them. Within the last two years, however… The cities were running dry. The Aurans were taking bigger risks and going out into the wilderness, and eventually had begun hunting game. That… That was a problem, considering the people surviving in the woods depended on the animals for food.

  Aisling had scored them a deer the month previous, and she had turned all of it into jerky. It was the only meat that would keep these days.

  "Mom, I'm tired." Saythe groaned, adjusting the backpack that laid heavily across his shoulders. They couldn't stop; they had to get to the forest, which was another three miles ahead of them. Stopping in the middle of an expanse of snow like the one they were in was suicide. Saythe knew this, of course; he was a smart kid.

  But they had walked all day, and three miles was so far.

  "Do you think we'll find any other survivors?"

  They were making their way towards Aisling's parents' house, and they were nearly three-quarters of the way there. They had met a few survivors along the journey, but recently… They had been seen less and less frequently.

  Saythe didn't know this, but Aisling was worried; if they got there to find that Nych and Willow were gone, well…

  No. That couldn't happen. It wouldn't happen.

  At least that's what she told herself. And her son.

  Without that belief, they had nothing.

  "I know you are, kid." Aisling sighed, furrowing her brows as she cast a glance to her son. "I can take your pack for a little while if you need it, but we can't stop here. I promise the second we find somewhere safe, you can rest." She had most of the supplies strapped onto her back, and wore a large leather fur coat. Her boots were steel-toed, and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun so no loose hair was available to grab.

  She wasn't taking any chances. Saythe needed her.

  She carried a bow in the other hand and a quiver on her left shoulder. It was silent, and she was a damn good shot with a bow. She could nail a target dead on from across an open field, and she had done it before. She had a long cut that crawled up her face, and it was crudely stitched shut. She had gotten it a while ago, and she was relieved that it was healing well and didn't get infected. She had medicine, but a limited amount.

  She wanted to save it in case Saythe ever needed it.

  "And maybe we will." She added, her voice a little lighter to try and instill some hope in her son. "Who knows? We could even find a settlement. Wouldn't that be cool? A whole place where we could rest up and get some food for a couple of days."

  If they ever came across settlements, they never stayed long. Enough to rest and get some food before they moved on. Aisling knew that the settlements never lasted long anyways. They were always destroyed. Whether by the undead or living, it was only a matter of time. Saythe always complained whenever they had to move on, but she knew it was the right thing to do. People would go crazy for a little bit of food and shelter these days.

  It seemed most of the people left were either scumbags or good people who were bound to die soon. She didn't really like forming relationships with anyone anymore. They usually turned out to be horrible people looking to take advantage of her. Or they wound up dead not long after she met them.

  They walked in silence for a few moments, both of them lost within their own thoughts.

  Saythe was daydreaming of the settlement they had left behind all those weeks ago; with its warm food, and working electricity- it was the first time he'd ever played a video game, and then his mom had made him leave.

  He loved his mother, but sometimes… He didn't love her decisions.

  It was a few moments later when Saythe looked up from his boots, and saw a figure in the distance.

  "Mom." His voice immediately took on a tone of alarm. She had always taught him that figures were usually bad, so it was better to be prepared and wrong than dead.

  The figure, however, seemed to be moving about in circles.

  Aisling's gaze snapped upwards, and she stopped. She shot a hand out to block Saythe, furrowing her brows as she squinted towards the figure. "Get your pistol ready." She glanced back towards her son, then took a couple steps forward and drew an arrow from the quiver. She pulled the string back so it was taught, and raised it as she silently took aim. "If I tell you to run, you run, got that?" She raised an eyebrow at him before looking towards the figure.

  "OI!" She shouted, voice gruff. "WHO ARE YOU?"

  Her voice definitely carried. And she hoped to God it wasn't a walker. Otherwi
se they'd have to take a detour to get around it and any others that might be in the area. Where there was one, there were usually others. The ones that wandered this far out were typically on their own, however, and that was why she had taken her son this far out into the wilderness. No people, but no Aurans either.

  The figure seemed to stop wandering about, and then… A very unnaturally bright flashlight seemed to be turned on and aimed at them.

  It wasn't dark, but it was snowy, and the light seemed to cut through it easily. It blinded them, though the figure in the distance definitely wasn't an Auran. Because he spoke, and Aurans don't speak.

  "HEY! CAN WE TALK? I THINK I'M LOST."

  He seemed… Genuinely confused.

  Saythe chuckled. Even though he was a kid, he understood an idiot when he saw one.

  Aisling flinched, and grit her teeth. "TURN THAT THING OFF!" She snapped, furrowing her brows. What was this moron doing? He'd scare off all the animals in the forest and attract the attention of any other people or Aurans while he was at it. She pointed the arrow at the source of the light, narrowing her eyes at the man. "YOU'RE GOING TO GET US KILLED YOU IDIOT!" Her lip curled in a snarl, and she narrowed her eyes.

  Aisling was very serious about things like this, and for good reason. It could mean life and death.

  "Stay behind me." She glanced towards Saythe, and then looked back up. All of her senses were on high alert.

  "I’m going to walk towards you now!" The man shouted, seeming to turn the light off and tuck it into a bag. He slowly moved towards the two of them until he was only around ten meters away.

  "Stop there." Aisling aimed the bow at the man's torso, narrowing her eyes as she studied his form. "Give me your name and why you’re here. Do you have any weapons on you?" Her demeanor was intense, and she hardly even blinked. "Put your hands up. Away from your body. I don't want you pulling any shit around me or my son." Her head was lowered dangerously, her eyes locked onto his. She was like a wild animal waiting to pounce.

  And well, in the snowy forest… She pretty much was.

  "These arrows are barbed." She smirked ever so slightly. "So if I knock you with this thing, have fun pulling it out and not bleeding to death."

  The man stared at her inquisitively. He seemed… Extremely out of place.

  His hair was a very, very light blonde, and hung just a bit past his ears. His eyes were a gorgeous shade of aquamarine, and belied only honesty. From just the man's face, it didn't seem like he was capable of telling a lie.

  His clothes, though… His clothes were the interesting part.

  He wore a very crisp, clean pressed suit. That… That was impossible. No one had been able to iron anything for years, and if this asshole had a pressed suit…

  What the hell?

  "Mommy? Why is he so… Clean?"

  The man looked at the two of them, and seemed to sigh.

  "When am I?"

  "… Stay behind me, kiddo." Aisling furrowed her brows, looking the man up and down. "What the fuck do you mean 'when am I?'" She grit her teeth, cocking her head to the side. "It's the middle of the apocalypse, you asshole. There are Aurans everywhere, and you're lucky we're so far out, otherwise you would've attracted a damn horde with that flashlight. But you should know that already, unless you've been living under a rock for eleven years."

  She seemed confrontational, and overprotective. Probably because of her son.

  "Now answer my questions." She raised her chin, pulling back on the string of the bow threateningly.

  He didn't seem the least bit concerned that there was a woman with a bow pointed at him.

  "I'm Erile, and I suppose… I suppose I must seem a bit off to you. The apocalypse, you say? Damn, I was pretty far off, then. Oh well. I suppose it isn't reasonable to suspect you'll come out exactly when you left. Gave it a shot, that's all."

  His voice… It was kind. Soothing. He was speaking craziness, but the words didn't sound like lies. They sounded like he genuinely meant whatever babble he was talking about.

  This was odd.

  Saythe looked at the man, and knew that he wasn't a threat. He tugged on his mom's arm, and when she looked to him, he shook his head imperceptibly.

  Aisling stared at the man incredulously for a moment, before she loosened the arrow and lowered the bow. "What the hell are you talking about?"

  She sighed, grumbling as she brought a hand to her forehead with irritation. "Okay. Look. Where the hell did you come from?" She furrowed her brows. "You're talking crazy, but obviously you must've come from somewhere nice if you're completely clean and you have a pressed suit." She slung her bow over her back and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "So spit it out before I make you."

  It was mostly an empty threat, but he didn't know that.

  The man looked to her, and his eyes widened. It finally seemed to be dawning on him that he was in the middle of the apocalypse, and yet he was still dressed to the nines.

  "Ah… Well, you see, that'll be a devil to explain… I'm from the Ea. You live in the Rith. But that's something that people in the Rith aren't supposed to know. Hell, I'm not even supposed to know that, but I made a deal with one of the Gods. So I get to know."

  He seemed… Well, absolutely nuts.

  "But hell, I uh… I have supplies? If you guys need anything?

  He got down onto his knees, opening the bag he had at his side.

  "I don't know if anything from the Ea will help you, but… Here's a gun with a silencer that I picked up from the Rith once? Might be from a hundred or so years in the future, but she should still fire well."

  This gun… Saythe took it immediately, and began gawking at it.

  Blue veins seemed to flow through the material, causing it to glow slightly. Where the hell… What the hell…?

  Aisling's lips parted in shock, and she furrowed her brows as she looked down at the gun her son held in his hands.

  For starters, that man had just willingly handed them a gun. He had to have been crazy, because to show that much trust in a person in this day and age was practically a death sentence. There was no way to know who would come around and stab you in the back just for kicks.

  Second, what the bloody fuck was that gun?

  Her gaze shifted back over to the man, and she furrowed her brows. "Why are you giving that to us? You don't know who we are. We could've shot you. We still could shoot you."

  The man, well… He didn't even seem to have considered that option.

  He stepped back for a moment, a look of panic spreading across his face. "W-Why would you shoot me? What did I do? I would give you anything else I have but none of it would be of any use in the R-"

  And then the idiot tripped, spilling his bag of trinkets all across the ground.

  He immediately scurried to pick them up, but not before Aisling and Saythe saw most of them. They had no idea what any of it was; there was something that looked a bit like a grenade, a huge button-looking device, and the rest… Well, the rest they had no idea.

  "I don't want to die, please, all I'm trying to do is get home and I came out in the wrong time and I'll leave if you want me to-"

  Aisling sighed, bringing her hand up to her face and dragging it down it. "I'm not going to shoot you." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I have no intention of hurting you, unless you pull anything with me or my son. And considering you're bumbling around like an idiot and you're probably crazy, I doubt you're going to." She tilted her head to the side, her piercing purple eyes studying him up and down.

  "You don't trust anybody in this day and age." She narrowed her eyes. "I mean nobody. You are on the track to get yourself eaten alive by Aurans or shot and killed by someone who wants all of your weird shit."

  She spoke the truth.

  "So get up off of your ass and come on. We need to get out of here in case there are any lone Aurans in the area that were attracted by your dumb fucking flashlight." She narrowed her eyes. Apparently they were taking on another
survivor, at least for the time being.

  "The… Aurans. You mean this is the Auranis?" He asked, a bit dumbfounded. His mouth then broke into a huge smile, and he held up what looked like the flashlight. "They're scared of bright light. Why do you think they're more active at night? And this puppy would have caused them to walk in the other direction. But I'll put it away if you want." He dropped it into the bag, and then watched as Aisling and Saythe began to walk away.

  "W-Wait, where are we going?" He picked up his bag and jogged toward that, inquiring like a lost puppy behind them.

  "How far away is Mexico? I don't know where I ended up, but I was supposed to end up in Mexico in the year twenty-two thirty-one."

  Woah. He must’ve been crazy. That was hundreds of years away.

  "What?" She glanced back at him for a moment, before rolling her eyes. "You're crazy. You're not going to live that long. We're on the old border from Canada and the United States, and we're heading across the continent to try and find my parents." She hesitated for a moment.

  "… How the hell did you figure out that they're afraid of bright light?" She stopped and turned around, looking towards him. "How the hell did you survive such a close encounter with one of those? And especially with… Well, let's be honest. You're probably not very good at confrontation with anything."

  She was blunt, but understandably so.

  The man… Well, he stared at her. He really didn't know how to say this without sounding even crazier.

  "Look… You don't believe any of this, and I get that. I wouldn't if I were you. But… I learned about the Auranis in textbooks. They did studies after the cure was distributed with some test Aurans they kept locked away."

  The man turned, his blond hair speckled with snow, and sighed.

  "They're afraid of bright light, water, and dogs. People always asked what would happen if the people of the apocalypse knew this stuff."

  He turned back to Aisling, mirth dancing in his eyes.