The Charred Lands: Apocalypse of Fire (19 page)

I slipped out
of the house and made my way down the quiet Warrington street. The
sun had barely risen in the sky, it couldn’t have been any later
than six in the morning. I couldn’t even hear any distant gunfire.
I took one last look at the house where Lizzie remained, sleeping
and oblivious to what was happening.

I felt like a
piece of shit, but I knew this was for the best. If I was going to
complete my quest, I couldn’t risk Lizzie stopping me, and after
last night, I didn’t know if I would have it in me to turn her down
if she pleaded with me to stay. Leaving her like this was my only
option.

I felt tears
begin to fill my eyes as I rounded a corner and left the street.
Truthfully, I didn’t know if I would ever see her again. But one
thing I did know was that I would never forget her. No matter how
long, or short my life turned out to be, she would always be a part
of me. I had to bite my hand to hold back the tears as the guards
opened Warrington’s gates and let me slip away.

Once
Warrington had disappeared into the distance, I stopped and leant
against a car. I carefully pulled out my map, doing my best to make
sure it remained in a good condition for as long as I could. I
spent a while scanning it, following Lynette’s directions with my
finger.

The route she
had highlighted for me ran straight through Manchester. I had
already been told countless times of how the city had become
overrun with dozens of different species of deadly creatures.
Hardly a single human had what it took to even so much as step
inside cities like Manchester anymore, yet here I was, preparing to
travel all the way through the thing.

Alternatively,
I could walk around it, but that would add an additional five days
to my trip. I simply didn’t have the supplies for that. I knew that
my only option was to travel through the infested city. After I was
done with Manchester, only a few miles would separate me from The
Church of Fire. That’s where I would see if my journey was worth
it. I could either join them, spend the rest of my days raising the
dragon inside my egg, or sell it and make my way to The Legion of
Light. Once again, I didn’t know exactly where that was, but I knew
all about it; a large, underground community some eight thousand
strong, with enough sustainable resources to last generations.
People who lived there had the best lives in all of The Charred
Lands. It’s only there where I could live a safe, comfortable life.
I guess the time for deciding between the two options would come
later; right now I had to focus on getting to The Church of Fire in
one piece. All that stood between me was an entire city crawling
with thousands of deadly creatures, murderous marauders and
anything else The Charred Lands felt like throwing at me.

I took a deep
breath and set off on the second phase of my journey, alone and
scared.

Author’s
Note

Thank you
for taking the time to check out my first novel! The Charred Lands:
Apocalypse of Fire is the first book in what will be a three part
series following Zach’s journey to find peace and safety in this
harsh world. Keep an eye out on my Author’s page for any details
regarding the second part of the series. – Josh A.
Murphy

Contact
You can contact Josh A. Murphy on his
Facebook
page.