• He looked over towards her, her eyes gazing ahead upon the vast city before us. Even when everything was in ruins, there was still a certain beauty, a certain magnificence of the old American city. The skyscrapers still seemed to reach towards the sky, as they themselves seemed to become a beacon on this New Earth. The glass panels reflected the small amount of light off of the sunrise onto them. The crisp air seeming to refresh them as they breathed in. The smell of a distant rain storm filled the air, threatening to come their way.
    Jhonathan looked towards her in amazement. The sunlight gleamed perfectly off of her gorgeous face. Even with all the gear she was carrying and the dirt that covered her face and arms, she still looked amazingly beautiful in his eyes.
    Michael brought them back to reality when he heard something. It was some sort of high pitched screeched. Enough to hear but it was so distant that it quieted the sound greatly. But he had no idea what was out there. So he, Jhonathan and Adrian moved towards the desolate city, walking carefully but heads held high. This was after all, only the begging of their long journey towards the fabled Oasis.
    Passing through the residential area of the city, there was something oddly fascinating to them as they came towards the skyscrapers that loomed above them. An old world relic, held within a vast city. Then came the same screech once again, except louder. Jhon's heart skipped a beat as he looked towards the sky, trying to find the source of the sound. And when he saw it, his body froze out of fear. He was paralyzed as he looked upon the thing.
    Its leathery black wings stretched across the sky from its dark, coal colored fur. He could see the claws that the thing was bearing within its heavy, cat-like paws. Another high pitched screech came from the beast as it flew towards the skyscrapers towering above them. It caught one of the skyscrapers and folded its wings into its side, revealing the heavy cat-like body that it possessed.
    Jhon felt as though he couldn't breathe, much less move as he watched the beast land upon the building. Michael grabbed both Jhon's and Adrian's arms, forcing them to follow him. Almost running through the rubble strewn streets Michael lead them into the nearest building, hoping to be out of sight from the beast that now loomed above them.
    All three of them now breathing heavily. But not solely from running but from their growing fear of what they just saw. Even through the thick walls they could hear the high pitched screeches. Except now, they seemed louder and more aggressive. They looked towards the opening where they came in, to see a large shadow pass over them. All three of them seemed to stop moving as it passed by, unaware of what might happen.
    When the screeches sounded distant, they finally felt as though they could breath again. Letting go of the breath he unknowingly had been holding in, Jhon felt relieved to hear the thing to disappear. He looked down to see Adrian holding his hand tightly as if she was completely unaware of it. She pulled her hand back almost immediately after realizing that she was holding his and began to blush.
    Finally breaking the silence Michael said; "alright, let's hunker down for a bit until we know for sure that whatever that thing was is gone." He turned towards Jhon and Adrian, away from the door. "Let's set up a small camp for now. Jhon, you can take first watch while Adrian and I rest for a bit. Wake us if you hear or see anything out of the ordinary."
    Jhon nodded in response to him, before sitting down on one of the concrete slabs that were strewn about the floor. He watched the door as Adrian and Michael laid out their bags and began to drift off into sleep. The smell of ozone became apparent as Jhon stared out of the door and into this new earth. Clouds covered the entire sky for as far as he could see. Jhonathan jumped when he heard the boom of thunder, as the lightning hit the ground a ways away from them. Then the rain began to come down and hard.
    As the smell of the rain engulfed him, he walked over towards the doorway, listening to the rain as it landed on the broken asphalt streets.