by Levi, Casey
Kristen looked up at her. “Not really. Besides the fact I probably have a concussion, I keep hoping that I’m going to wake up from this nightmare.”
“It’s not all a nightmare. I mean, what about you and Reed?”
“What about us?” She knew that she was busted and tried to hold back the smile that was forming on her lips.
“Yeah, what about you two and that hot steamy kiss in the back of the jeep?” Kristen could feel the butterflies swimming around in her lower belly at the thought of her kiss with Reed. She had wanted to do so much more. “Well I’m glad that you two finally grew up and realized how madly in love you are with each other.”
“Yeah, now that it’s too late.” She said regretfully.
Julie huffed out a deep sigh. “Kris, I know this might be the end or whatever, but I don’t think it’s ever too late to tell someone how you feel about them. It’s better late than never, right?” Julie paused as she scowled at her. “I just wish you would’ve listened to me earlier, then maybe you could’ve finally lost your-”
“Do not say it!” Kristen bolted up right, and covered Julie’s mouth. “I will murder you.”
Reed kicked the back door open, causing both to jump. She silently thanked him, and was glad Julie was not able to finish what she was about to say. God knows she only mentioned it every time Reed was brought up. Not saying that she would not love to do it with him, but the timing, and the fact that she has never had sex with anyone. Shaking her head, she looked over as Reed opened Aran’s door. He leaned in and shook Aran as hard as he could. Aran swung his arms out, and smacked Reed right in the face.
“Dammit!” Reed cursed and checked to see if his nose was bleeding.
“What the hell… what happened? Where are we? Where’s Julie?” Aran began to freak out and started to fight against the seatbelt that was holding him in place.
Reed did not bother to explain. “This might hurt a little.” Before Aran could say anything, Reed cut his seatbelt causing him to fall flat on his face.
“What the hell bro?” Aran punched him in the arm and crawled out the jeep.
“That’s what you get for hitting me in the face…” Reed’s voice trailed off as he helped Aran over to where he had left Bodie on the side of the road.
Kristen sat with Julie in silence until Reed made his way over to the passenger door, but as he tried to open it, it would not open. “It must be stuck from the crash. I’ll come around and help Julie out from the driver side.”
“Alright. Let me just climb out first.” Kristen moved to crawl out of the jeep, but as she turned around, she let out a horrific scream. “Reed!?”
She heard his footsteps as he ran around the jeep to the driver side. “What the…”
The man that had tried to crawl through the window was now crawling inside of the open door. He grabbed a hold of her leg and began to pull. Her body slid towards him, and she let out another scream as she reached behind her to grab a hold of Julie. “Reed help!”
“I can’t. This is not possible.” Reed said flabbergasted.
“What the hell do you mean?” She screamed at him as she grabbed a hold of Julie’s hand.
“Hold on…” Reed paused for a moment. “Aran help me bust open Julie’s window, and get them out!”
Kristen let out another cry when the man pulled on her leg harder, and she slid closer to him. She could feel his nails digging into her bare skin as he grabbed her upper leg and pulled on her. She gripped Julie’s hand tighter as Reed and Aran began kicking in the passenger window with full force until the window shattered. Reed leaned down to cut Julie out of her belt, and as Julie crashed to the roof of the jeep, she let go of Kristen’s hand.
The man pulled on Kristen again, and she slid further away from the door. She dug her nails into the roof of the jeep and tried to crawl towards the door. She could feel the glass slicing into her fingers as she struggled to free herself. Suddenly a strong hand grabbed hers and pulled her hard. She slid through the glass and kicked the man off her as Reed pulled her out of the jeep.
They ran over to Bodie, and then they all took off running down the darkened road. There was nothing in sight, and Kristen could feel the drop in the temperature. She tried to warm herself by crossing her arms across her chest but wearing nothing more than a tee shirt and boxer shorts did not help. They made it about halfway down the road before they slowed to a walking pace, and no one had said anything since they left the sight of the crash. She prayed that someone in Barstow would know what was going on, and that they could find some shelter for the night.
Kristen did not know how long they had been walking for, but she had to stop and rest. Her body was becoming numb from the cold, and her legs were protesting. All she wanted to do was sit down. She found a spot and lowered herself to the ground. Everyone else stopped and took a seat along the side of the road by her. She leaned her head against Reed’s shoulder and welcomed the warmth of his body as he wrapped his arm around her.
“How much further do you think we have?” Kristen looked at her friends.
“I don’t know. I don’t even remember what the sign said, but hopefully its close.” Aran ran his hands down his face.
“Aye, I think we should keep going. The temperature is dropping to below freezing, and some of us are not dressed for a night out in the desert.” Bodie stood up and winked down at Kristen.
“Do you think anyone will know what’s going on?” Julie stood up and brushed off the back of her jeans.
“We can only hope. We need to call for a tow truck too, and hopefully no one hits into your jeep.” Aran stood up from the ground and wrapped his arm around Julie.
“Too bad we can’t just get a signal out here, but instead we are stuck in the middle of butt fucking nowhere.” Bodie commented under his breath.
As reluctant as she was, Kristen knew that they needed to keep going. She waited for Reed to stand up, and then climbed up off the ground. He grabbed a hold of her hand and interlocked their fingers. Walking was starting to become dreadful, and every few feet Kristen wanted to sit back down. She could feel the tiny blisters forming on the bottom of her feet, and her skin was starting to feel numb all over the place from the cold. She could not even feel the warmth of Reed’s hand anymore.
It seemed like they had been walking for miles, and when Kristen looked up to see the reflector of the road sign, she almost cried. “Look!” They ran for the sign, and Kristen almost let out a ridiculous laugh when she read it. “Half a mile to Barstow.”
Not wanting to drag it out any longer, they began to run the rest of the way. Kristen found it hard to keep up with Reed as he dragged her behind him. He pulled on her hand and yanking her forward she almost tripped over her own feet. She tried not to snap at him, but she could not keep up with the pace that they were all running.
“Kristen keep up!” Reed said irritated.
“I can’t.” Kristen jerked her hand free from his grip and stopped. She leaned over her knees and tried to catch her breath.
“What the hell Kristen, come on!” Aran shouted at her.
“I can’t run no more.” She tried not to cry. It was not the fact that she was tired, or sore, or even that Aran once again was yelling at her. It was the fact that her head was beginning to spin, and it felt like her brain was swelling against her skull.
“Kris come on, we’re almost there. Just keep pushing.” Julie grabbed her hand and pulled her to keep running.
“Alright.”
“That’s my girl.”
They took off running again, but the further down the road they got, the more Kristen started to feel like something was wrong. She felt sick to her stomach; it was a feeling that made her want to pass out. Her mind raced over what could be wrong, and searching the desert, there was nothing in sight. She thought about Mairland, and what she had said. What Tyler had said. None of this made any sense to her, and it seemed like the more she thought about, the more it became complicated.
&nbs
p; “You guys look.” Julie said pointing to something in the distance and bringing Kristen out of her thoughts.
A small dimmed light shined in the distance, and all she could think about now was that they had made it to Barstow. Her hope was crushed though. She could not push past the nagging feeling in her gut, which was slowly eating away at her. What if there was no hope? There had to be hope though, right? Someone will have to know something. This could not be the end; it just could not be. She was not ready to die.
As they started to round the bend over the hill side of the mountain, Kristen could swear that she saw something move. She squinted her eyes and looked over the desert. Dark figures stood in the middle of the field, and before any of them could react, Bodie took off running down the hill side towards the figures.
“Bodie wait!” Aran shouted after him, and they all took off running after him.
“Hurry, they might know something.” Bodie called over his shoulder.
Bodie outran them, and as she ran down the hill she watched as Bodie stopped a few feet away from the figures. Suddenly he let out a loud yell, and they ran faster towards him. She could not see Bodie anymore, and his yells turned into a frantic scream. Aran and Reed ran ahead, and when Kristen got closer, she abruptly stopped. Bodie was lying on the ground, and Reed and Aran were pulling people off him. A few of them were staggering to their feet, but Reed and Aran grabbed a hold of Bodie, and they took off running through the field and down another mountain side. As Kristen made her way down after them, she hit into a rock and tripped over the stub of a bush. She tumbled down the mountain side and cried in pain when her left foot caught behind her and made a loud pop.
Julie ran back for her and helped her up. “Julie, I think my ankle is dislocated.”
“Hang on to me. We are almost there.” Julie wrapped her arm around Kristen’s waist, and they started running again.
“There’s a building just up ahead.” Reed called out.
They slowed their pace as they approached the building and stopped short in their tracks when a short stubby man came out waving a shot gun in their faces. Kristen could hear the faint sound of grunting coming up behind them, and with no time to waste, Reed pushed past the man and they followed. The short man came in yelling at them as Reed lowered Bodie to the couch, and then he ran over to the door and slammed it shut. The man started yelling louder, but Reed slapped his hand over the man’s mouth.
They stood there in the darkness, not daring to move. Kristen could hear movements outside the door, and scratching along the side of the house as the people ran by. She squeezed her eyes shut, and as the noise started to fade, she slowly lowered herself to the floor and let out a long slow breath that she did not realize she had been holding.
‘We made it.’ She thought.
8
Chapter Eight
Everything was quiet as they listened for the last of the people to pass. Kristen felt like she could not breathe and was afraid that if she did the crazed people would hear her. The seconds seemed to drag on, and she prayed that they would go unnoticed. Looking around the darkened room, she watched as Reed peeked through the blinds. He held his hand up, then let the blinds fall back into place as he signaled to them. Kristen slowly eased herself up from the floor as the room densely lit up from a candle, and she tried not to put any pressure on her foot. She looked up at her friends, and noticed the short chubby man walking forward with his shot gun pointing at them.
“I don’t know what you kids are up to, but you better get to movin’ before I give you a new breathing hole.”
“Please sir… we mean you no harm, but our friend is hurt.” Kristen pleaded with the older man. “And I think I hurt my ankle.”
The man furrowed his gray eyebrows and looked all of them up and down. “Alright… but I don’t want no funny business, you hear?”
“Yes sir.” Kristen said, reaching her hand out towards the man. “I’m Kristen, and these are my friends; Reed, Aran, Julie, and Bodie.”
“Rick Shepard, and that there is my son Jesse.” The man shook her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you Rick.” As Kristen let go of the man’s hand, she almost lost her balance.
“Here, take a seat in that there chair, and Jesse will come take a look at yer ankle.” Rick pulled out a chair for her, and she sat down.
As Rick walked away, she could hear Reed talking to him. “Sir, do you know what’s going on?”
Rick looked over at Bodie. “What there happened to yer friend?” When Reed did not answer, the man continued. “Y’all kids in some kind trouble?”
Reed looked at the man in confusion. “Do you not know what’s going on out there?”
Kristen tried to hear the rest of the conversation as Reed explained to the man what was going on, but his son Jesse came over to check out her ankle. She looked at the kid in front of her and noticed that he was not incredibly old. If she had to guess, she would say that he had to be around seventeen years old. He had a good athletic build for his age and stood around five ten. His light sandy brown hair was tussled and curled out at the top of his ears. A cute kid if you asked her.
“Hey. I’m just going to look at your ankle.” His grey eyes smiled kindly at her as he bent down and took a hold of her ankle. She winced at the pain. “It’s nothing to serious. Just needs to be pulled back into place.” Turning, he waved for Julie to come over. “Now this might hurt a bit.” Before Kristen could process what Jesse had said, he gave her ankle a tug causing it to pop, and she stifled back a scream.
“What are you doing?” Reed was at Kristen’s side in an instant.
“You ‘re not going to want to walk on your foot for a few hours or so. I’ll go grab some ice for you to put on it.” Jesse stood up and walked into another room that she assumed was the kitchen.
“Are you okay?” Julie rubbed her hand on Kristen’s back to comfort her.
“I’m fine.” Sitting up, she took in a deep breath. “How’s Bodie doing?”
“To be honest. he does not look too good. He’s got a few more bite marks on him from the people in the field.” Reed stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s lost a lot of blood, and if we don’t-”
“Reed get over here.” Aran called from across the room.
Reed and Julie both ran across the room to where Aran was kneeling by Bodie, and Kristen hopped along behind them- trying to hold onto anything to keep her from falling. When she got between the two of them, she looked down at Bodie and covered her mouth with her hand. Bodie’s once dark chocolate skin now looked grayish, and his whole body was damped with sweat. The bite marks had quit bleeding, but the skin around the wounds looked dry. As if his skin was starting to decompose. She looked at his face, and the glossy shine that covered his wide eyes. She knew that he was gone.
“He… he… he’s…” Kristen stumbled backwards and clutched onto the back of a nearby chair. She could not bring herself to say those words. She did not want to. She did not want to say how another one of their friends was dead. Lowing herself to the chair, she could see tears welling up in Aran’s eyes. He had just lost his best friend. They all lost a friend, and she tried so hard not to cry herself. She wanted to be strong, not only for herself, but for her friends. Why did everyone seem to be dying? First Mairland, then Tyler, and now Bodie. ‘What the hell was going on?’
Aran stood up from the ground and faced Reed with a weak stance. “Did you call the police, or a tow truck?”
“The line is dead.” He simply said without looking away from Bodie.
“Well we’re going to have to walk then.”
“Wait? You want to go back out there?” Julie folded her arms. “No way!”
“No, Reed and I are going. You two are staying here with Rick and Jesse.” Aran turned his back towards her to talk to Reed but was pulled back by Julie.
“You’re just going to leave us here with these two? Two complete total strangers?” Julie hissed in a harsh whisper as she glared up at
him.
“Well, when you put it that way. I guess you can come with me then.”
“Oh no, no, no, no. No way! Aran, I am not going back out there.” Julie pleaded with him.
“Julie what other choice do we have? Kristen cannot run on her ankle, and it is either you and I go, or Reed and me. So, take your pick.” Aran said through gritted teeth, and Julie lowered her head, shaking it from side to side.
“Fine! You two go…” Letting her voice trail off, Julie walked away from Aran.
Reed turned to face Rick, and his son Jesse who were standing there staring at them. “How far is the police station from your house?”
Rick rubbed his wild beard. “It’s about two miles up the road from here, but you won’t get no one till morning.”
As Reed went to answer the man back, he was cut off by a horrific scream from Julie. Turning their attention towards her, they stared in shock as Bodie abruptly sat up from the couch. He turned his head and lunged forward onto Julie and taking them both to the ground. Julie screamed in horror as Bodie tried to bite her face. Kristen sat in horror, and watched as Aran grabbed a hold of Bodie, but he was to strong and swung around wildly until he broke free of Aran’s grip. Bodie turned and lunged at Rick causing the older man to cry in agony as Bodie bit down into his arm. They fell to the ground, and Kristen almost threw up as Bodie ripped into the man’s face.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as she watched the scene in front of her. Jesse began screaming out of control and ran towards his father. Aran and Reed grabbed him and pulled him back. Next thing she knew, she was being pulled up by Julie and hopping towards the back door through the kitchen. Kristen did not know where they were going to go. They were in the middle of nowhere, in a small town, and it was obviously crawling with those things.
“Where are we going?” Julie cried as she tightened her grip on Kristen’s waist.
“I don’t know, just keep running.” Aran demanded.
