“We’re going to need that?” Mallory said pointing at the gun.
I shrugged and gestured for her to lead the way. She gingerly walked across the road looking from side to side as if she were worried the creatures would create a new hole at her feet.
I glanced over my shoulder at the others as we stepped down into the squishy ditch. There was a slight incline as we made our way into the trees.
The birds above us ceased their chirps but it seems as though the ones in the distance became more vocal. It felt like the temperature inside the trees dropped at least ten degrees.
“Okay,” I said firmly planting my feet in a dry spot of dirt.
“They can still see me,” Mallory said.
I turned my back to her. “No, they can’t and trust me, they don’t care to see.”
“I just like my privacy is all,” Mallory said.
I wanted to tell her everyone does, but I didn’t want the conversation to continue. It was like being in a random women’s restroom and having someone try to strike up a conversation with you from the other stall.
I leaned against a tree keeping my back to Mallory as I watched Noah and Bradley climb back into the SUV. Noah reclined the driver’s seat and pulled his hat down over his eyes.
Austin gave a quick glance in our direction before leaning against the back of the truck. He said something to Marty and Marty nodded before walking around to the front of the truck. He disappeared from view as he laid down on the front seat.
I shook my head even though they couldn’t see me. Austin was the one that should have been lying down on the seat getting his rest.
A group of small birds released a chorus of anxious chirping sounds. It sounded like they were hungry and waiting for their mother to return with their breakfast.
Mallory let out a terrified scream from behind me and when I turned, I realized the noises hadn’t come from baby birds at all. There were three miniature sized creatures hopping through the trees at a quick pace as they made their little high-pitched squeaks.
Mallory’s feet look like they were moving through pudding as she tried to get to me.
“Lucy! Help!” she called with wide, saucer eyes.
The little creatures bounced around heading in her general direction but they bumped clumsily into nearly every tree along the way. They didn’t have the skills of the larger creatures but that didn’t stop them from trying to hunt their prey.
Mallory crawled to me and grabbed my leg. “Help!”
“Come on,” I said swinging the gun over my shoulder to help her to her feet. We had to get out of the shade of the trees.
My eyes scanned the area looking for the larger creatures that would be accompanying the smaller ones but I couldn’t find any. Perhaps the smaller ones were braver. Maybe their eyes just weren’t as sensitive to the light as the grown creatures.
The little creatures were even more inaccurate than the grown ones but they were faster. Somewhere in the distance or maybe even from down below, a creature let out a painful high-pitched squeal.
I pulled Mallory’s arm but instead of her moving along with me, she crashed to the ground with a surprised gasp. There was a small creature perched upon her back ready to dig its claws into her body.
I used the flashlight and smacked the thing on the side of the head. It whimpered as it rolled off of Mallory and onto the ground next to her. She moved faster than I thought possible as she crawled toward the road.
I followed her reaching down to help her to her feet. Right as I bent over, a second creature had launched itself at me. It slammed into a tree to my left, missing the back of my neck by just inches.
“Dammit,” I breathed.
Mallory screamed as the third one made its attempt. It stopped in its tracks and covered its ears.
The hesitation was enough for me to click the flashlight on and aim the beam directly into its eyes. It whined and ran off bumping into several trees along the way.
I breathed heavily trying to keep the oxygen flowing through my body so I didn’t fall into having a complete panic attack. My eyes darted around as I looked for the other two creatures to flash the beam into their eyes.
Mallory cried out a random noise and turned and ran out of the trees. I backed out of the trees slowly moving the flashlight in every direction possible as I grabbed the gun in my left hand.
The light had worked well enough on the small creature but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to have the shotgun ready. If the parent of the small creature came looking for me, I wanted to be ready. I’d scream just like Mallory had as I flashed it in the eyes with the light, and if none of that worked, well, I’d shoot it in the face.
I backed away, releasing sharp gasps as I looked at each shadow expecting something to jump out at me. There were too many shadows… too many hiding spots. I couldn’t find them all and I definitely couldn’t watch them all at the same time.
My breath got stuck inside my throat as I back into something. I turned so quickly I felt lightheaded.
The flashlight was up and the bright light was in the eyes staring back at me. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move and I was just about to scream, but before I could, a hand covered my mouth.
Austin’s eyes were wide, pleading with mine to recognize that it was him staring at him. It took me what felt like several minutes.
I let him drag me across the street and away from the trees. The muscles in my legs had turned into putty.
He said the same words over and over to me but they hadn’t made sense. They were just words.
Austin held me. “It’s going to be okay.”
Chapter Eleven
The rest of the day we all took turns driving. Marty and I each drove for as long as we could keep our eyes open. We planned to wait as long as possible before waking Austin. He needed the rest more than any of us because I knew after what had happened, he would want to be the one driving at night.
Mallory had been so shaken by what had happened, she probably wouldn’t ever get out of the SUV again. It wasn’t like I was handling what happened all that much better. My fingers were wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel that it wasn’t just my knuckles that were white.
“You’re driving so slow,” Marty said.
“Oh, sorry,” I said looking at the speedometer.
He was right. I was only going thirty-five miles per hour on a road that was completely free of any abandoned cars or debris.
“I wish the GPS on your phone was working,” I said. “It would be nice to know how close we are to the church.”
“Yeah, and I could know how much time I have to prepare,” Marty said.
“Prepare?” I asked. “What do you need to prepare for?”
He looked out of the window off to the right as if he were hiding his face from me. “I guess I thought I wanted to go but now I’m not so sure.”
“What changed your mind?” I asked.
If anything, after the baby creature attack, I was actually looking forward to getting out of the truck and hiding in a building for a while.
“I haven’t changed my mind, it’s just more that I have no idea what the right thing to do is,” Marty admitted.
“None of us do,” I said chuckling softly. “I have absolutely no idea what the right thing is but I also don’t think we have a lot of options. If mom and dad were still here, they’d know.”
It was Marty’s turn to laugh. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye before shaking his head.
“They wouldn’t have known what to do either,” Marty said. “It’s probably better that they aren’t here to see us die.”
I opened my mouth but then my mind went blank. Maybe he was right. Maybe they were better off.
“You want me to take a turn?” Marty offered clearly wanting to change the subject.
“Nah, I’m good for a bit longer. Get some rest,” I said.
“You sure?” Marty asked nudging me with his elbow. “You look tired.”
I rolled my eyes. “We all look tired.” I glanced at him noticing the red spiderwebs in the whites of his eyes. “Really, I’m fine. Get some rest.”
Each passing mile became more challenging but I had my mind made up that I was going to drive as long as I possibly could. The adrenaline pumping through my veins was wearing off, but there was still enough of it there to keep my eyes open.
There hadn’t been anything to see in miles. A few broken-down homes, fields that hadn’t been tended to, and various groupings of trees. Every time we drove through a section of the road that cut between the trees, I was ready for a pack of baby creatures to pounce out and land on the truck. Hell, I probably should have turned the lights on because of the shadows, but I didn’t bother.
It only seemed as though the younger creatures had been out in the shadows. Their parents had been calling for them to come back from below.
It was a frightening thought really because when the babies grew up, they’d be less afraid. They wouldn’t stay below the surface during the day. A day might come where we’d have to worry about the shadows… if we ever made it to that day.
We hadn’t stopped for a break since the baby creature attack but I knew we’d have to stop soon. I just kept telling myself that I could make it one more mile and before I’d known it, we’d gone an additional twenty miles.
I was excited. We were making good time even though I was driving a little slowly.
Behind Austin’s truck, Bradley was driving my mom’s SUV. Every so often, I’d look into the rearview mirror at him clutching the wheel and staring straight ahead. He seemed nervous. Uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to drive or because of what happened to Mallory and me.
Marty shifted in his seat and groaned. “You need to go faster.”
I had thought he’d been asleep.
“Sorry,” I grumbled as I pressed down on the accelerator.
“We’re never going to get there at this rate,” Marty mumbled. It didn’t sound like he was fully awake.
“Okay, okay, sorry!” I said waving my hand at him even though he probably had his eyes closed. It wasn’t like I needed help driving. “Go back to sleep.”
He shifted around for another minute or so before his head fell back and rested to the side. His mouth dropped open and he released a nearly completely inaudible snore.
Marty’s sleep was restless. It seemed as though he was dreaming about something and I could only guess that it was something similar to the nightmares I had when I closed my eyes.
Austin probably had them, too. We probably all did.
A yawn so large it pulled my lips apart so far it felt like the corners were going to crack. I was exhausted even though the adrenaline was still surging through my veins.
I forced my eyes open wider because even if I woke Marty for his turn, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep anyway. There was just too much going on in my head for my mind to let me relax enough to find sleep.
The yawns kept coming with each mile. My speed dropped slower but I managed to go faster than what I’d been doing when Marty told me to speed up.
For a second, everything had gone black. My eyes popped open and I coughed to cover my gasp. It had been a long blink. But the blink had definitely been too long.
I told myself one more mile. I could do one more mile. Then, we’d be that much closer.
Except, I’d been wrong. I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened but the right front tire hit the gravel and bounced the truck to the side.
I turned the wheel to get back to the road but it was no use. The truck flew into the ditch and we fishtailed as I tried to regain control.
I pressed on the brake but it wasn’t the brake that stopped us. Our bodies all jerked forward at the same moment. The left front end of the truck slammed into a tree I hadn’t even seen.
Chapter Twelve
I felt lightheaded and disoriented. Had I hit the window with my head?
“Is everyone okay?” I asked sounding as if I had just woken up from a deep sleep. My voice was raspy and it felt as though it had been far away from my body.
Noah was at the passenger side of the truck, knocking on the window. He reached down and tried to wiggle the door open.
How had Noah gotten to us so fast? I’d only just hit the tree seconds ago, hadn’t I?
Bradley was opening my door and reaching into the truck to help me down to the ground.
“I’m fine,” I said swatting at his hands like they were pesky flies. I turned to Marty to drag him out of the truck with me. “Marty!”
His eyes were closed. I shook him vigorously.
“Marty, wake up!” I shouted at his face with desperation dripping from my tone.
He turned his head slightly. “No, mom,” he groaned as he half-lifted his hand off of his leg. “I’m too sick to get up for work today.”
“Marty, it’s me,” I said shaking him again.
“Stop shaking me,” he said opening his eyes.
I gave him a hug and spotted Austin over his shoulder. He wasn’t moving. Blood was dripping down from his eyebrow rolling down the side of his face.
“Austin,” Noah said patting his palm on Austin’s cheek.
He didn’t open his eyes. His body was slumped to the side and it looked like Noah was supporting his weight so he didn’t fall out of the truck.
“Austin!” I said practically climbing over Marty to get to him.
“I think he hit his head,” Noah said glancing at me. “He’s breathing. He’s just out.”
Noah looked at me and studied me for a long moment.
“Remember what happened?” Noah asked.
I shook my head slightly. “Not exactly. How do we wake him up?”
I was trying not to freak out but I was on the edge of a complete meltdown. If anything had happened to Austin, I wouldn’t be able to deal with it. How had I been so careless?
Noah ignored my question and kept tapping him on the cheek. “Come on, Austin,” he begged. “Time to wake up, brother.”
I exhaled a shaky breath just as Austin’s head lifted slightly before rolling back to the side. It was like his head was too heavy for his neck to hold.
Austin’s eyelids squeezed together as he pushed through the pain. He pressed his hand to his forehead just above the cut.
“Ow,” Austin moaned. He looked dazed as his eyes moved around the area. He sucked in a breath when his eyes connected with mine. “You okay?”
He must have realized what had happened.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I said smiling as I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“My head is killing me,” Austin said. “But otherwise, yeah, I think I am.”
The confusion was pouring out of his eyes. He blinked several times focusing on the tree that the front bumper had smashed into.
“I’m so sorry about your truck,” I said.
“It’s just a truck,” Austin said. “I’m just glad you’re okay. What happened?”
My teeth dug into the inside of my cheek so hard I thought I broke through. “I think I drifted off for a second. It was only for a second. I’m so, so sorry.”
“You should have woke me up,” Marty said.
“Thanks,” I said. “Helpful.”
A squeal from not too far off sliced through the air causing us all to freeze. Noah reached under Austin’s arm to help him out of the truck.
“We should get back to the road,” Bradley said from behind me.
It felt like he was too close but when I turned, he was several feet away with Marty standing next to him. They both stared at me with concern in their eyes.
A jolt of pain shot up the back of my neck like and it instantly felt as though I had a kink. I climbed out of the truck as I dug my fingertips into my bruised feeling skin.
“What about all our supplies?” I asked looking over my shoulder as we all walked through the tall grasses to the SUV.
&nb
sp; “I’ll figure it out,” Noah said. “For now, let’s just get back to the SUV.”
Austin wrapped his arm around my shoulder. The blood was starting to dry on the side of his face.
“Did we bring a first aid kit?” I asked shaking my head. “I should know the answer to that.”
“Yeah,” Noah said. “It’s in the SUV.”
I felt tears bubbling up inside my eyes. I tried to fight them off but it felt like they were going to burn right through if I didn’t let the coolness of my tears out.
“Hey,” Austin said stopping to turn me to face him. “No need for that.”
“I wrecked your truck,” I sobbed. “I could have killed us.”
“You were going like ten miles per hour, you weren’t going to kill anyone,” Marty said. “Even the bugs had a chance to land safely on the hood instead of getting squashed on the windshield.”
I pressed my hand to my mouth. “It’s my fault this happened. I could have lost both of you.”
“We’re fine,” Marty said.
I hated that I felt so weak. Marty was staring at me. He blinked several times before smiling.
“Come on, Lucy,” Marty said. “It’s okay.”
I couldn’t cry. Not in front of Marty. I needed to be strong. He needed me to be tough.
I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand. “I must have hit my head harder than I thought.”
Mallory hadn’t bothered to get out of the SUV but she did open the door as we approached.
“Are you guys okay?” she asked with both concern and surprise in her voice. “I saw it all happen. It was so scary for me to watch because there wasn’t anything we could do to help.”
“Yeah,” I said. “That must have been so hard for you.”
Mallory nodded vigorously as she waved me inside. “You should sit down.”
I hadn’t realized until she patted the seat next to her just how unsteady my legs felt. Even though she believed the world revolved around her, she was right, I did need to sit down.
“Thanks,” I said feeling as if I were shrinking as I crawled into the familiar SUV.
I wrapped my arms around my still shaking body as Bradley and Marty climbed into the back seat. The door was still open so I could hear Noah and Austin whispering.
Desolation - An Apocalyptic Novel (From Below Book 2) Page 6
