Descension- Beginning

Chapter 8

Phil, Wanda, Amy and Doug exited the cruiser and looked at what Doug had saw. It was a small town with a large white sign out front, the sign had painted over though now reading: 'Amber: MILITARY SAFE ZONE AHEAD'. Reading this, Wanda laughed joyously. "We're here! Let's head inside." She said, getting back in the car.

Phil was happy to see it too, and when he got in, they could finally relax. The town looked surprisingly safe with long, metal barbed fencing all around and controlled entrance in and out. The road leading up to the town was kept under surveillance, most likely for safety reasons. A suitable location too, outside the city but a view around to know if anything was coming. This was planned out. Phil nodded and got back into the cruiser, still tired, driving into the complex. The fatigue of the crew was washed away by their excitement and anticipation, what would happen when they got in? Something unexpected to them.

Ned and Josh saw it, Amber. "Oh my!" Josh stuttered, "It's bloody real."

"Hold up there, kid. We don't know nothing yet. So, before we start shouting Hallelujah, let's look at it before we go in!" Ned told him, he tried to get a good look of the town by climbing up a small hill for a more overhead view, he pulled out a pair of high-powered binoculars from his orange backpack. He started talking down to Josh: "I see the fence covers the entire town, but there's a couple breaks and tears I'd say from the monsters. Got a nice couple guard towers maybe for snipers, those also may be where they keep the guns, or they've converted a house into an armoury. Speaking of houses, quite a few of them, bit of wear-and-tear but looking good. But-" Ned paused

"What? What is it?" Josh asked

"I don't see no people." Ned replied gravelly

The police cruiser rolled into the tall entrance gate, there was a singular red and white barrier controlled by a booth to the side, but no-one was inside. Phil was confused by it, but Doug got out of the car and climbed inside. He pressed the button and the barrier rose. Whilst the cruiser drove in, Doug looked about. There were no civilians, no cars but no soldiers either. Had they been the first people there? Surely not. The streets were trashed and abandoned, the houses were barred up and boarded up and any buildings with food or water had been broken into! What on earth had happened, Doug thought, had the people descended into anarchy? Abused this place's resources and supplies for themselves? No! There were no way things had got that bad already! Had they?

The truck Josh and Ned had taken from the garage laid just outside the metal fencing and barbed wire and the two went in looking around, all the buildings looked in terrible shape and, like Ned had observed, not a soul in sight. "I knew it." Ned angrily uttered "This place has already gone, Josh. Ain't nobody here no more, there all dead or monster food!"

Josh didn't want to believe it, he had so much hope that Amber could be a safe place, that he could find his family here. It all shattered before him, in pieces. Maybe Ned was right, from the devastations that may have once been a haven, the people, the people looked like the main cause of the problem. 'Trust is rarer than bullets these days Josh, that's why if it's there it's a very good thing' is what Ned had told him. They continued, looking at Josh how distraught the atmosphere was, no smoke or fire, just silence. Ned wanted to prove his hunch right and immediately jogged into one of the few guard towers, he was right. He found a small stash of wonderful bullets, ones for his rifle and one for his sawn-off. He even saw a nice-looking handgun with two full clips beside it, he thought he would give Josh a present. Taking the bullets and zipping open a small pouch on his belt, he placed them inside and the shells he put in a pouch on his right. Josh waited outside for Ned to finish his pillaging but came out bearing a pistol and a smile, "Here, for you. You needed a gun with less kick anyway." He planted the pistol in Josh's hand and gave him the two clips for it. Josh loaded and cocked it, but put the safety on so he wouldn't shoot himself in the foot. They turned a corner and saw an inviting long diner and a small grey building with iron bars at the windows.