After The Long Haul: Safe at last

[Robert]

After The Long Haul: Safe at Last

A tale of Jack Smith and his adventures with Alice Bishop after the events of Chapter 5 of TLH.​

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03/08/2005, 19:47 - Somewhere on the northern coast of Russia along the beach

"So... you ready to get out of here?" a man said towards a female companion.

"Yeah, you driving?" she responds

"I don't mind, though I wouldn't know where to head to. But guess we can just travel in any direction by sea and eventually we will hit something."

The old man lightly smiles, looking at the boat ready by the dock. He walks over towards it, stepping out of the shade and into the dying sunlight of dimly lit sky. His hair was white, his skin looking frail and old, eyes a dark blue... but even with his old looks, he was wearing what you mainly expect military types to wear. It would appear he was dressed for battle with his heavy Kevlar vest, military cap, working uniform and all, even had the boots for the job.

The female on the other hand who followed the old man out into the light would seem much younger in comparison around their 20s or 30s while also being dressed for a fight. Slinging her rifle onto her back, she hops into the boat, making herself comfortable while the old man proceeds to do some final checks before sitting down at the front and turning the engine on.

The odd pair had their respective names of course. The old man was Jack Smith and the younger female was Alice Bishop.

"See that arrow?" points at the fuel meter "Seems like a compass. F for forward and E for East, I guess. Just follow that Jack."

"Oh? Is that so? Very well then, full speed ahead and straight east, we will hit something eventually." the engine then kicks in, turning the rotor. Jack puts his foot down full speed ahead, moving the boat forwards out of the dock. He gets some distance away before turning east and heading off into the distance, leaving all the other Long Haulers behind without even saying goodbye.

What awaits them on their travels? Where could they possibly be going? When will they stop travelling? Who knows...?

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07/08/2005, 11:21 - The western coast of America between Oregon and Washington...

"Here we are, land at last, just in time too as we're running low on fuel. How was the trip?" The old man says as he pulls the boat up to the edge of a beach, cutting the engine off and looking back to a female companion sitting at the back of the boat.

"Eh, I have been on better rides than this."

"Ouch, is an old man like me not a good enough driver for you? Guess I won't be driving the next boat then."

"We both know you're not actually that old Jack." Alice tosses Jack a look. "I suppose I am not.. hehe... anyway, where do you think we have ended up? You're the one who knows the world more than I do." he responds

"West Coast, North America. Though..." she pauses, looking around and takes a few steps forward, then staring up into the darkened sky. "It's morning yet it seems so much darker than it should, the land has certainly changed and that sky looks like nothing normal. Then again, nothing is normal anymore... so far as I can see, no signs of wildlife, buildings or much of nature for that matter."

Jack joins in, looking around the environment around them. The land is torn, light patches of nature all skewered in a mix of ash and destruction. An abundant lack of grass, leaves or any form of natural formations appears to be missing. The two proceed forwards, both feeling slightly disturbed by how disrupted the once peaceful environment was. What was once flourishing green land filled with trees, bushes and bountiful life was now nothing more than a dead land, something akin to a nuclear apocalypse... but far more destructive.

"Seeing all of this really does go to show how much the combine has done to this world already."

"This wasn't the combines doing... let yourself feel the density of the air more, focus on the energy around you more often."

"You become a philosopher all of a sudden? Be as old as you like but please don't go all philosophical on me now. Jokes aside, If you say it's not the combine, then I assume it would be the storms."

"Exactly. This land has been ravaged not only by a high concentration of portal storms, but an incident that occurred not too far away from here 3 years ago if you remember all the news about that... this was ground zero, the origin of how you and the rest of the group we were with got where they are now today."

"The news always kept slightly quiet on what exactly happened, so it has made me wonder this whole time about what happened here and how bad it got."

"Well, look around you of course. This part of the world had some of the strongest portal storms ever recorded, ravaged the land and has destroyed many cities, killed millions upon millions of people... turning it into what you see now. A baron wasteland... the abnormal energies are strong here, we'd be wise not to travel too far south."

"Should we keep an eye out for portal storms too?" Alice says with Jack giving a nod in response "That would be for the best, though I will warn ya if one is forming so don't worry about it too much. Where to next?"

"Guess I will save the story for later then, but you better tell me all the details at some point. We should continue heading east for now, remember the compass. Just as we got here it was pointing us East. Should find ourselves a shelter, some more food and drink and possibly a car. Would be nice to get around fast when we need to."

"Rig-" Jack is about to speak up but is interrupted by a very assertive Alice, slipping into a more commanding tone. "Once we got the basic necessities we need, we can also grab some lighter weaponry and more ammunition for the journey, roughly making pit stops every few miles. Need to keep ourselves well rested and better yet it would be good to grab some supplies from any stores we can find for survival equipment for campfires, cooking pots, tents and so on. Don't make ourselves too heavy though, if we need to carry anything that's too big... leave it behind unless it is definitely essential, in which case, put it in the car if we manage to get one."

"Umm.... uh... YES, MA'AM!!" he shouts in response, surprised by the sudden change of tone and quick planning out of the blue.

"Off we go then."

The two begin to walk west, continuing their journey onwards through the wastelands of America. The sun hidden behind dark clouds, occasionally lit up by the flashing blue and green energies intermittently. Meanwhile, in the south where the strongest of storms remain, the ground shakes violently and is continuously being torn apart by an ever-growing presence unknown to the pair. Where will their journey lead them now? Where will it take them next? Find out later on

[This story is WIP and will be cutting off here as still need to discuss the story with @Gr4Ss (Alice Bishop) to find out exactly where we want the story for our characters to go next]