Northern Exposure: The Divided

by Luken Du Pont

  Chapter 23

  I sat comfortably on my Solarcycle which had been loaded in the back of the truck. I wanted to ensure I got every single last ounce of fresh air before returning back into the damp conditions of the sewer. Sharif drove and the Professor sat right by his side, for the first time since I had woken up I felt like I had a purpose in life, I felt like we were striving for something, I felt like we had a chance at a future. I could not wait to see Sky and Smiths reaction when they hear about what we had just discovered.

  In an hour we had already reached the SS mart, I thought to myself how the run down Super market had become a beacon to us, telling us home was just around the corner. It was truly a pleasant sight to drive through the abandoned lot, knowing home was just beyond the horizon.

  But as we approached the last stretch of road with the man hole in sight I became terror-stricken when I realised what was lurking just meters above my families head. A pack of Reapers were sprawled in front of the man hole. The feeding ground was painted red with the blood of three carcasses which lay stripped from their flesh. My heart sank, had I caused this, was that them; a thousand questions filled my mind as I panicked, I would not be able to live if it was my family laying there. Without thinking I had changed and was running head first towards the pack. Behind me I could hear the aggressive mixture of snobbish-hells as Sharif even more violent than me, came running past me shooting blindly into the pack, not even a pack of Reapers could stop his furry as he depicted the carcasses to be Shahkierah and Zara. As we got closer we realised we had made a grave mistake, the mauled bodies were that of three Reapers most probably the weaker in the pack. The cannibalised creatures did not think twice in eating their own if food was short. Sharif and I now found ourselves looking into a pack of five Reapers, and we had nowhere to run or hide!

  The screeches of a Reaper pierced through the silence and smack right there in the middle of the road a few metres away the Alpha stood with its pack behind him. His eyes locked on us and they got ready to attack. The Alpha was absolutely grotesque, a behemoth of a thing, swollen from retained water and layer upon layer of fat .The man had one arm severed off, most probably from a fight with another reaper, it added to his strange appearance. He wore a white uniform with a large apron which barely fit around his enormous belly. His uniform was covered in blood and dust and had a large printed picture of a cow in the centre; He had to have been some type of meat handler or butcher back when people still had jobs. I was both amused and scared at the same time, However there was no time for me to try and settle upon which emotion I had to choose between, this thing was coming towards us at full speed. His fat bounced around as he trotted down the road, for such a large creature the Reaper was extremely fast.

  A flurry of bullets came whipping past me and into the pack of Reapers, the agile creatures side-stepped and dodged the ballistic assault. One Reaper was not so lucky though as Sharif’s bullet tore through his skull stopping him dead in his tracks. This did not detour the others though, they did not look back. These things had no conscious, no sense of fear that they might have soon shared the same fate as their companion; all they saw was food and would not stop until they got their hands on us. Sharif kept shooting in hopes he would be a second time lucky. In a matter of seconds the pack was right in front of us, even though one less, The Reapers still out numbered us and were showing no intention of slowing down.

  Two reapers broke from the pack and started heading towards Sharif, as the other three came straight for me. I roared to the Arab, and pointed at the truck, I did not have to tell him twice, he knew exactly what I meant. Sharif bolted towards the truck with both Reapers hot on his heel, the Professor had the door open and began neurotically yelling that he better hurry his ass up. Sharif dove into the truck and the professor slammed the door behind him. Both Reapers smashed into the truck, jerking the suspension, but the automobile stood sturdy. Sharif and the Professor where now like two trapped fish in a bowl as the Reapers circled the truck smashing at the glass trying to get in. Sharif shouted as the Professor reached for his gun which had dropped under the seat. As the professor stumbled about trying to dislodge the gun from the gap between the car seat Sharif realised they had no more time and started the truck. As he franticly pulled off both Reapers fell to the ground.

  The Professor Shouted, “You can’t leave Cairo,” and the sadistic smile on the Arabs face explained he had no intention of doing so. He grabbed the handbrake and the truck spun doing a complete 180 degree turn, they were now facing the Reapers as they began charging towards them. Sharif held the handbrake up and revved the truck, it stood in the same place kicking up dust and bouncing, like a bull waiting for the charge. As he dropped the brake the truck shot off aimed straight at the Reapers. All I remember was the loud Bang and as I looked back for the briefest second I saw he had turned both creatures into road kill.

  Before I could focus I was hit and found myself skidding through the dirt with a Reaper mounted on my chest. It screeched and clawed at my face while the others caught up. I reached around the Reapers back and grabbed it behind its neck, with my thumb and index finger I squeezed so hard until I broke through the creatures flesh and grabbed the base of its spine Its screamed even louder now as I pulled harder, and with one final yank the Reaper fell , face first at my side. Still holding its spine I waited as the last two Reapers attacked. The Alpha Screeched and his follower seemed to pick up steam rushing forward attacking first. I lifted my large hand and roared, as he was in reach, with all my force I swiped down smashing his companion’s spine into the side of his face completely crushing his cheekbone. This may have slowed him down but was not even near enough to stop the tenacious creature. Immediately he sprung up and charged again, by this time the Alpha had caught up and both Reapers readied for their final assault.

  04-04-2036

  Monday

  Diary entry: 7

  When I was younger, out at sea with my father he would constantly repeat a quote he held dear to his heart, “Failure shall never overcome you if your determination to succeed is strong enough Cairo.” At the time I could not understand what he meant by this. But As I grew older I realised, he wanted me to strive for greatness, he did not want me to give up on my dreams as many in our community had, settling for mediocre jobs in the surrounding fisheries. He emphasised how I should not fall into the trap conformity. He did not want me to be like all the others around us content with the repetitive lifestyle of hauling loads of fish every day. No, my father truly believed I was destined to be a powerful, successful man. Regardless of the fact that when I received my chef diploma and eventually made the move to NYC he was very unhappy and even more so scared about my decision to relocate so far. In time he stood true to his words though and was so proud of my accomplishments he had informed the entire town of his young boy’s success.

  In a way I guess I had lived up to my dad’s aspirations and had become somewhat “Powerful”, not in the exact context he believed, but I had become great and important to the people around me. I was their life line, their protector, even though I was still coming to terms with my new role, I knew one thing. Failure would never overcome me, when I had such precious cargo on the line. I would have to insure I became the biggest, baddest, creature out there and even though I had managed to do so many remarkable things, I still believed many times luck was the reason we had escaped of precarious situations. My role of chef was over; my place a comatose victim had come to an end. Now I had one responsibility, which was getting these six people safely to Newport and no amount of Reapers would stop me! But getting there would be easier said than done. Our last battle had left us in a bad state. Ravaged, picking up the war torn pieces we had left, not having a minutes break as we got ready to push on forward to Newport.