Ruin (The Ruin Saga Book 1) by Harry Manners

Author:Harry Manners [Manners, Harry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Radden Press
Published: 2014-08-11T04:00:00+00:00

XVIII

“You have to go,” Don muttered. His sentence’s end was followed by a great, wracking wheeze that sent him sliding down the face of the rock upon which he rested.

Billy, cross-legged on the floor with her arms clamped over her shins, started. Her head, ducked into her lap, shook violently. “No!” she whined.

Don was powerless to stop himself sliding until a mere inch above the dirt. Even moving his arms was now beyond him; breathing itself occupied the entirety of his attention. He had reached the point of no return days ago. He wasn’t at all sure how he’d kept going since then. Even staying alive for Billy’s sake wouldn’t have been enough to sustain him, had it not been for her incredible tenacity.

She had shown him no mercy, had marched him day and night.

Every village, town or hole in the ground along the way had been unapproachable. It seemed that people here had fared even worse than back home. The wreckage of entire communities, built on top of the Old World’s wonders, lay in growing ruin, blowing in the wind. Overgrown motorways had been dotted by the shrivelled bodies of the recently deceased.

In some towns, life had held on. But these places had been barricaded or road-blocked by stacked Old World motorcars. Enormous painted signs had hung from the tallest buildings, declaring: ‘NO FOOD HERE’, ‘STEAL AND DIE’, and ‘WANDERERS SHOT ON SIGHT’. Beside a few of these signs had been the bloodied bodies of those who had ignored them, nailed to walls or hanging by the neck from nearby tree branches.

Even the merest scraps of food had disappeared. They had once again reached the coast, but Don hadn’t a clue which it was, or to which sea the waves belonged. He’d lost all sense of direction in the forest days ago. In his exhaustion, he hadn’t even been able to make sense of the stars.

“You’ve been a very good girl,” he said, managing a single word per exhalation. “You’ve been strong. I’m so proud of you.” He swallowed, and dragged another ragged breath. “But Daddy’s not getting any better. I’m just going to get sicker, so you have to go now. Find someone who’ll help you.”

Billy unfolded her body into a sitting position. Her eyes were wild, aflame with a light that Miranda had once commanded. “No! You said that there would be food here. When we find it, you’ll be better.”

Don shook his head. “I was wrong, Billy.”

“No!” she cried. She leapt up and marched over to him, tugging at his sleeve.

His body bent to her will without resistance, and he felt his back lifting away from the rock behind him.

She had pulled him to his feet many times now, and on each occasion had managed it with a little less effort. At first he had thought such ease had come with her growing strength, but now a sickening truth seemed obvious: he had withered to the point that an eight-year-old girl could lift him without trouble.

The thought stirred a pang of fear in his gut as she righted him and looped his arm over her shoulder.

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