draft 2A Chapter by Lena Rossmore We find out about Nyla's captor and were she's being taken too "Keep moving." he poked her with the stolen revolver, urging her onwards. "So we're walking all the way to the Lower Grove?" Nyla asked, skeptical as to whether the boy was a true evil genius or just a delivery boy on a mission. "Who said we were going to the Lower Grove?" he pocketed his pistol then began to inspect her revolver. "So we're not going to the Lower Grove?" their conversation seemed to only consist of unanswered questions. "Oh no, we are going to the Lower Grove, I was just wondering how you knew." he smiled to himself before poking her again with the gun, forcing her to pick up the pace. They walked for a few minutes over the dry, cracked ground before reaching a small, concealed dugout leading underground, which Nyla was informed had minefields littered around the entrance for intruders. He brought out two flashlights and handed one to her. "Remember," he said, his face clouding over in seriousness, "Try to use that as a weapon and i'll shoot you without a moments hesitation." She felt a shiver run down her spine; she wasn't afraid of man-eating monsters but somehow this strange kid managed to fill her with fear. "I'll try to remember that." she entered the dugout first, the darkness enveloping her. Even with the flashlight on she could only see a few feet in front of her and all that was was a narrow tunnel leading into oblivion . The walls were not made of the same dry mud as the ground outside; they were wet and covered in moisture. The ceiling was the same, and it dripped in some areas. She wondered how easily the dugout could collapse. As if reading her mind he answered, "It's a pretty sturdy structure. Been here since before the cataclysm actually, but of course Walt and I had to renovate it to make sure it was safe for use." He patted the walls, clearly proud of his restoration skills. "Who's Walt?" she asked, trying her best to be subtle in extracting information. "Oh don't worry…you'll meet him real soon." Something in his tone made her wish that she wasn't going to.. They walked for what felt like an hour, with Nyla anticipating where she was being led to all the while. She tried to numb herself of emotions; fear of death would just cloud her abilities to potentially escape. And she had to escape; not for herself, but for Griffin. After a while the walls began to diverge and the path grew wider; she assumed they were reaching their destination. They finally came to an opening. At first glance she thought it was a small room but then she noticed the floor was slightly higher than the natural ground; they were in some sort of lift. He walked over to a small fuse box on one of the walls and began to tamper with it. Nyla was too bemused to notice that he had left her unattended until the lift had started to ascend. She kicked herself for not running but then thought better of it; he would have had an easy shot at her in the tunnel. As the lift went up, the ceiling began to inch open, revealing the grey sky of the outside world. When they had finally reached a stop she was able to look at her surroundings. "Welcome Nyla, to the Jixaw Military Base." Nyla was unconcerned by the fact that he knew her name; she was too busy gaping at the land around her in horror and awe. "I thought the Lower Grove had been completely destroyed." was the only thing she could think to say. "Most of it was." he explained, "We had to stay underground for a while but then we discovered this branch of the military base which was still somewhat intact. We had to do a lot of work, but it's safe, secure and what I call home now." The military base was surrounded by water on three sides. The Saia Sea extended for miles in every direction except the one they had just come in. It was dark green mixed with hues of blue; the only vibrantly colored thing left after the cataclysm. The dugout they had just come from was underneath the only piece of land that connected the military base to the rest of the Lower Grove. They were on elevated ground that looked almost like a giant cliff, but she could still feel the spray from the water below. Barbed wire had been placed around the base for protection and a heavily padlocked gate had been erected behind them. Beyond the gate all she could see was rubble, debris and dust. The dust had created a heavy mist that settled onto the Lower Grove, but when she squinted she swore she could see the high towers of the clan headquarters in the distance. All she could see on the land making up the military base though, was masses of warehouses, caravans and supply cargoes. "I'm guessing this was the storage facility of the military base?" she didn't expect an answer, and he didn't give one; he merely laughed. He gave her a few moments to let her surroundings sink in before moving on, "Let's go. You've got to meet Walt remember?" He led her off the lift towards all the structures. They manoeuvred their way around countless cargoes and caravans, most of which were open and Nyla could see contained nothing but food and ammunition. As they neared a large warehouse and began to slow down, Nyla's impending doom began to dawn on her. She had no idea how she was going to escape from this; unless she was going to scale the barbed wire, jump into the ocean and somehow survive, she was as good as dead. The boy's friendliness had led her into a false sense of security and now he was probably going to kill her. All she could think about was Griffin. "We're home!" he rapped on the door three times, all the while humming a tune under his breath. He seemed oddly at ease about kidnapping and possibly torturing someone. After a few moments of silence, the door of the warehouse finally began to lift upwards, screeching as it slowly revealed the figure standing behind it. He was a big, brute man with muscles that had seen many fights. He wore camouflage shorts and a tight black t shirt, defining his body-builder physique even more. He was covered in scars that blended in slightly with his dark tattoos, but what really caught Nyla's eye was his snow white hair and the crinkles around his hard eyes. His body said 28 but his face said 70. "See Walt; I told you I could do it!" her heart sunk as she realised that this was Walt, but her captor was the opposite of defeated; she turned to see him grinning from ear to ear, a triumphant fist raised in the air. He caught her eye, scrutinising the pain in them, but his smile didn't falter, it only grew bigger. "Well done Mish." Walt stepped forward, the hint of a congratulatory smile on his scarred face, "Now go get Nyomi, I'll take it from here." Mish nodded and started to leave before suddenly turning back to Nyla. "You're gonna love him," he said before winking and heading off to find the aforementioned Nyomi. "So Nyla," Walt surveyed her with dark eyes, "Didn't put up much of fight did you? Mish isn't the strongest of the bunch. I reckon you coulda taken him." There wasn't an inch of humour in his tone. "He's fast," Nyla said, feeling defensive, "And how do you know my name?" Walt smiled for the first time before replying. "Because we've been expecting you." © 2012 Lena RossmoreAuthor's Note
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8 Reviews  Last Updated on July 30, 2012 Tags: fantasy, dark fantasy, psychological, apocalypse, zombie, cataclysm, romance, love, teen, teenage Author
Lena RossmoreLondon, United KingdomAboutJust another aspiring writer. "there's a hell of a good universe next door, let's go." Feel free to drop me a message and I'll be happy to do a swap, just read and review 'Century' as it's what .. more..Writing
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