centre and cracked dryly when I kicked it. Pieces of burnt bark fell around the base and gently stuck in the sand that supported it from falling over.
“Calm down. We have to be getting close to somewhere that didn't get hit by any nukes.”
How could we be getting close to finding anywhere that hadn't been turned to ash when the only sign was a burnt stick? I looked off into the distance where I could just see what looked like a forest of dead trees.
“Look, you want dead trees? There’s a whole forest of them. What if we don't find anything? What then? Are we going to eat the bark from all the dead trees huh? What the hell are you going to do?” I was so tired of walking towards nothing, waiting for no one to appear before us and welcome us to the untouched utopia that doesn't exist.
“Stop it Abigail. I'm doing the best I can. I get that you’re tired and frustrated that we haven't found anything, I get it. But it's better than starving to death in the bomb shelter.” She scratched the back of her neck where her respirator rubbed against her hairline and pulled the goggles back over her eyes.
“Now I want to get to that forest before the sun sets, so let’s get moving.”
“What! The sun sets in an hour, we won’t –”
“Get your ass moving!” She yelled angrily making me turn and start to walk towards the stupid dead forest.
My mother and I didn't say another word to each other as the sun set, shrouding the empty landscape in darkness.
Finally we got into the cover of the skinny burnt trees. As we slowly walked farther it seemed as if the shadows grew eyes that watched us making our way deeper into the silent forest.
My mother put her hand on my arm as she drew her pistol from its holster, signalling for me to also draw my pistol. We continued to go deeper into the darkening woods. The gun in my hand shook with the adrenaline rushing through the veins of my body.
We both stopped dead in our tracks when we reached the centre of the woods. In front of us was the largest tree standing. But its size was not what had made us stop; it was the leaves on the very top branches.
“It's not dead!” My mother moved toward the tree, unsure of what she saw. “It must have been large enough to survive.”
I didn't want to go any closer so I settled with walking around the tree. Sat behind the tree was a small burning white candle that made the living bark at the back of the tree glow warmly. Something was wrong here.
“Mom, can we go?” I asked. The feeling of uneasiness spread through my body, making the small hairs all over me stand on end. “Mom, come on, let's go?” My mother peered around the huge trunk, to look at me confused.
“Why? This could be what we’re looking for.”
“Please.” I tasted salty blood in my mouth. I rubbed my fingertips together anxiously, trying to calm myself down as I waited for my mother to say we could leave the tree and the odd candle alone.
“Ok let’s go a little deeper while it’s still a little light.” My mother's groan seemed incredibly loud as she got up from her knees and walked stiffly around the tree. She came to my side, looking down at the candle I still stood in front of. “Must be a memorial, or something. Come on.” Even if she wasn't bothered by the candle, something about it still didn't sit right with me.
I found I was calmer with every step away from the tree.
Suddenly everything went completely black and soft fabric brushed against my nose and chin. A strong hand wrenched the pistol from my panicked grip.
“The calmer you are, the easier this will be.” The low voice said confidently into my ear. I took a deep breath trying to keep myself calm as I stood blindly not knowing what was going to happen to me. “Hold onto my hand tightly.”
The man took my hand and we started to make our way onward as my feet fumbled to find their footing over the uneven terrain. The man's hand was almost twice the size of mine and I'm sure if he had wanted to he could have crushed my small hand without any effort.
I stumbled through a shallow ditch, falling unsteadily to my knees, using my free hand to blindly brace myself against the ground. Beneath my hand I could feel the cool sensation of water running through my fingers.
“Come on beautiful.” The man gently hoisted me up to my feet carefully helping me out of the ditch, “We’re almost there, just a little bit longer.”
We made our way a little bit farther before the two men pulled off what we found were cloth sacks.
In front of us stood a large house made out of many dead trees similar to the ones earlier. Behind the house was a sheer cliff face keeping the frail building from some of the elements.
The bald man who had helped my mother through the darkness spoke proudly of the building in front of us. “Welcome to the Temple of Galla, Spirit of the Life Tree.”
My helper looked at me saying, “My name is Thomas,” and then turned to the bald man, “Adam, will you inform Galla of our return.” Thomas spoke politely as if this was a regular occurrence here.
I looked briefly at him while the bald man disappeared through the dark doorway. The man had a soft face that sat under his short cut blonde hair. His brown eyes looked down at me and somehow I found myself not able to hold a smile back. A small smile danced across his lips when he saw me smile at him.
“Take these and when you are offered to stay the night, refuse it.” Thomas gave our pistols back to us, glancing at the doorway as he did.
“Why?” My mother's voice never wavered as she demanded answers from this man who looked no older than I did.
“She's insane and you won’t last the night if you stay. There is a city not far from here that she calls the magic city. Say you are going there and she will not put up a fuss about you leaving.” He gave his attention back to the man that had returned for us.
He nodded and began to lead us into the dark wooden temple. In the darkness both men knew their way.
The small corridor opened into a large cave brightly lit by several small fires with groups of people sitting around them. In the centre of the cave sat a skinny woman with a crown of woven sticks on her head.
I was surprised to see the left side of the woman's face almost entirely scarred. Her left cheek was missing! It almost looked like the skin had been burnt away. Through the gap in Galla's face I could see the inside of her mouth. The missing skin made seem she was constantly smiling on one side even when she was not.
“Welcome, dear children of the Earth, can I offer you any food? Perhaps a place to rest for the night?” Everything in the room came to a stop. They all waited intensely for our answer. My mother took a step forward; everyone tensed up, preparing to attack us if we got too close to the woman.
“No thank you. We only wish to find a city not far from here.”
Galla smiled sweetly with the right side of her face; the way a fox smiles at the chicken before he eats it for dinner.
“And what do you have to offer in exchange for my guidance towards the city.” Galla's smile grew as a look of despair formed across my mother's face.
My mother saw our hopeless situation reflected in the woman's glossy green eyes. She mumbled, “I have nothing.”
I could see the years my mother had spent looking after me by herself show in her face. And that was when I remembered them.
“I have something.” Quickly I dug into my pocket and pulled out the melted pennies as I stepped towards the woman.
“What...are those?”
I knew the exact thing to tell her so she would be happy and let us go.
“These are...um...healing metal stones.” I smiled the best I could as I lied through my teeth to this terrifying woman. I glanced behind Galla, at a thrown entirely made out of human bones. I could guess what they did with visitors that stayed the night.
“What do they do?”
I dropped a melted penny into the woman's scarred, outstretched hand. The woman's bright green eyes stared intently at the jagged glob of metal.
“They have
healing powers. You hold them and they will-um-heal you from the inside.”
Galla smiled and curled her hand around the penny, pulling her hand closer to her body.
“This pleases me. Thank you. Thomas shall take you to the edge of my forest and show you the direction to the magic city.” The black fabric flowed gently around her body as Galla turned back to her chair.
The blonde haired man gestured for us to follow him out of the strange structure. Thomas grabbed a torch out of the sand by the entrance and we began to make our way through the dark woods.
“I have a question if you don't mind.” Thomas' voice was a bright reminder in the surrounding darkness that we had escaped harm for the time being.
“Go ahead, Thomas is it?” My mother stumbled slightly over the rough terrain, gripping a dead tree trunk, causing it to fall over when she let go.
“Yes. I was wondering if I may come along with you to the city?”
Who was this guy? Why was he so desperate to get away from someone he worshipped?
“You do not enjoy Galla?” My mother's voice took on a mocking tone
“I love my sister, but I cannot continue to participate in her insane antics.” Without having to see his face, I could tell from his voice he was fearful.
“I'm sorry Thomas, but I don't think we have the resources to support three people.” My mother drew her pistol quietly as Thomas stopped in front of us.
“That's fine. Ahead of you is a barren plain and beyond that are the walls of the city.”
“Do you have any advice for us