Carriers

by Krissy Reynolds

  She was thankful for the change of clothes, a lose-fitting gray v-neck with purple and black running shorts felt much more comfortable to her than the risqué Hooters uniform. It was nice to not be presenting her body off to everyone anymore.

  Maybe it was the day's events that kept her conscious, or that dull pain that seemed to radiate through her entire right side. Every little noise that wasn't an animal call or lush leaves rustling would cause her to open her eyes and reach for the m-16 stowed beneath the seats, every sense in her screaming surprise attack. After today she knew never to let her guard down again. The Carriers weren't safe anywhere, no matter how much they wanted to be.

  Keeping her eyes open she tilted her head back to gaze out the passenger side window, met with nothing but the inky sky, stars dashed across the horizon like a jar of glitter's spilled contents. Out here she could see so many more stars than she could back home- it looked so vast. Remembering how bleak the night sky was back home caused a pang of homesickness to ripple through her. It was funny how even the smallest things could trigger such powerful feelings.

  "Wake up," a female voice whispered from the open driver's side window. She recognized the voice instantly as Katrina. She quickly decided she was in no mood for anything Katrina could possibly have on her mind, whether it is dirty jokes, ridiculous antics, or just something downright stupid, like the day's whole Hooters fiasco.

  "Waaakee uppppp," Katrina arrogantly drawled, her voice increasing in volume. She lightly pounded on the door of the truck, trying to create some noise in an attempt to rouse her from the fake sleep Katrina believed her to be in. She continued to fake sleep, hoping eventually Katrina would surrender and leave her alone. For all she knew it was the middle of the night, and she had to be getting tired.

  "Goddamn Shay, wake your lazy ass up and get out here!" A new voice hissed. Instantly pissed off, she sat straight up to be met with Katrina and Marena trying to cram themselves in through the driver's side window. Marena's nimble body was already halfway through the window while Katrina was struggling to get her upper body through.

  "I wasn't sleeping," She hissed. Marena and Katrina both froze, Marena's blonde hair slipping into her face. Instantly, the trio started laughing. "You two look like idiots, by the way."

  "I think Dumb and Dumber is the right word," Carson chuckled as she strolled up behind the two awkwardly-posed girls, standing on his tippy-toes to get his face in the gap between Katrina's shoulder and Marena's side.

  "Well now it's Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest," Marena shot back as she slid out the window, shoving Carson out of her way as she did. Shay couldn't help but laugh.

  "I think Marena's Dumbest." Carson remarked sarcastically.

  "At least my parents didn't throw me at a wall, Carson."

  "Oh no, they didn't throw me; I think catapult is a better word." After he finished retorting Marena's insult the four instantly broke out into laughter.

  "Well, anyways, we came to wake you up. We're having a little campfire, it's too nice outside not too," Katrina informed her, sliding her body out of the window. She nodded and slid over the seats to the door. To her dismay, Marena was holding down the lock, grinning, and a glimmer of something she didn't like in her hazel eyes.

  "You get to crawl out the window," she grinned, using her free arm to strum her fingers along the door of the truck. She groaned but complied, placing her hands on the other side of the door as she pulled the first half of her body out.

  She wasn't expecting what her friends did next- Carson, Marena, and Katrina all snatched her hands at once and pulled hard. She meekly screamed before her entire body came plummeting out of the truck, crashing hard to the ground a few feet below. She landed on her left side, thankfully, sparing herself from a fresh dose of pain from the right. Still, small rocks prodded her skin as she rolled in the dirt, coming to a stop at her boyfriend's feet. She refused to move and instead just lay there, dazed, as the other three cackled around her.

  "Assholes!" She screeched, reaching out for Carson's bare ankle and yanking back hard. He fell next to her, much more gracefully, but continued to laugh. It was strange how just hours ago they had been burying one of their own and now were behaving as if they didn't carry the weight of the world on their shoulders at all. She began to join in with the laughter, despite it being at her own expense. If it was just the company of Marena, Carson, and Katrina with her, she wouldn't mind it at all, because then every moment, no matter how heavy, would be spent like this, taunting each other and acting crudely. It was just the relationship they all shared.

  After Marena helped her regain her footing she dusted herself off and followed the others around to the back of the truck towards the overlook. A small campfire was burning, orange flames licking at the air, casting a glow upon the surrounding kids. Axel and Kyleigh were sitting side by side, Axel casually putting his arm around the petite blonde. Looks like they're officially a couple now.

  Katrina sat down besides Owen, motioning for Carson and Shay to sit next to them, which they did. Glancing over at Marena she felt bad her best friend was missing out on the whole boyfriend thing. Sure, she'd had one back home, but he was more than likely dead now. She didn't seem to worry about his fate, however, which shed a little light on her commitment issues. Marena couldn't care less about relationships most of the time.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes, some enjoying the company of one another or simply enjoying the scenery. Shay gazed awkwardly towards the stone that acted as Jaycee's grave marker, feeling as if her spirit was just out of reach, watching. She tried to shake the feeling away, yet something just felt off. Maybe her death had bothered her more than she was letting on to.

  "So, Shay, what did you think of today?" Katrina asked. Shay looked up to see her grinning. She instantly made the assumption she wasn't referring to Jaycee's death that happened in the early hours of the morning or the turmoil that followed. She was referring to her Hooters stunt.

  "It was a mistake," she responded with obvious disdain.

  "Well I happen to disagree," Carson spoke up. Axel and Owen nodded in agreement, Axel even snidely smirking. "Didn't you have any fun?"

  "Nope. Not at all, especially thanks to Axel. Jaycee died and we went to Hooters, for God's sake! I know we agreed to bury her later, but we could have spent the day in a better way than walking around in revealing clothing?" She seethed back, her tone catching Carson off guard, for his smartass grin quickly added.

  "You say it like Jaycee's death is no big deal," Marena added in, looking at her in a quizzical manner.

  "It is, trust me. Maybe we didn't care about the person much, or did when she died, but it helped us realize we aren't immortal." She responded, the anger that burned within her previous words gone.

  "Which is why you need to learn to have some fun!" Katrina butted in.

  "Shut up!" Shay, Carson, and Marena all barked at once. "I don't think we want to dwell on this…" Marena continued, eyeing Katrina. At the moment, she didn't look too pleased with the crass teen ether.

  After that everyone quickly fell into an awkward silence. Kyleigh huddled herself into the crook of Axel's arm, closing her eyes. Katrina and Owen were silently whispering to themselves, probably speaking lowly of Shay, Marena and Carson. She sat in silence, crossing her arms over her body, refusing to talk to anyone. It seemed as if something expected to be joyful had turned sour rather fast. Not that she minded. She wasn't sure she was in the mindset to be in an upbeat mood anyways.

  "Well, I know we dropped the subject long ago, but I have to say this- ladies, you looked pretty damn fine today." Axel practically slurred, grinning flirtatiously. Ever since middle school, when everyone first met each other, Axel had always been the flirt. He never stayed with girls for very long, and he 'liked' about three times as many as he ever dated. He just couldn't seem to make his mind up, which gave him one of two traits he was widely known for- being a ladies man and stirring up trouble. He probably held the record for most dete
ntions in a month.

  "Drop it, Axel," Owen grumbled, moving his arm protectively across Katrina. "She's mine."

  "And you can keep her!" he snapped back eyeing Katrina with something that looked a lot like disgust. He then pulled Kyleigh tighter into him. Carson tried to reach for her but she leaned away. Seeing the hurt in his eyes made her wince. She instantly leaned back in and he wrapped his arm around her. She shifted in the grass a few times before resting her head on his shoulder.

  "But, Marena, you were the flattest one out the bunch." Axel said loudly, breaking out in laughter as soon as he finished.

  "Hey!" Marena screeched as everyone, even her best friend, burst out laughing. Everyone besides Marena was cracking up, whom was sitting there looking like her head was about to explode from fury. She punched Axel in the shoulder, hard, and he shied away, rubbing his shoulder. Another thing everyone knew about Axel- he was all bark and no bite.

  Eventually the laughter died down as well as conversation, leaving the group sitting there in a welcomed silence. For once she felt normal, even slightly. With everyone laughing and taunting each other it felt like just another bonfire party. That was probably because her back was to Jaycee's freshly dug grave.

  Chapter 29

  Graceyn Claire was sick. Not sick with the Blue Plague, thankfully, but she was sick all the same. She'd thrown up three times that day. It was probably just a normal bout of stomach flu, yet with both her parents gone it seemed so much worse. Her mother was in one of the several hospitals scattered throughout the city, busy trying to keep the sickness at bay. She hadn't heard from her in three days. Her father was still on duty, any healthy police officer called in to help contain looters. She hadn't heard from him in four.

  It occasionally crossed her mind her parents might be dead. She would shut out those thoughts as soon as they entered.

  She was in the basement bathroom crouched over the toilet, one hand holding her hair and the other clutching the rim of the toilet. Unlike her older sister her hair was light brown- they had the same color of eyes and a similar nose, but otherwise they wouldn't pass for sisters. Shay, at fifteen was five six and Graceyn, who was approaching her fourteenth birthday, was five nine.

  Outside the bathroom the large flatscreen television was tuned to the news, blaring headlines she'd already heard before. She'd heard everything from the death toll to whatever was the newest story on the Carriers. Ever since eight days ago, when her big sister became the subject of almost nationwide news, it had been impossible to turn the tv off. Her parents acted as if Shay Claire wasn't their child. Maybe it was an effort to cope with her impending death- she wouldn't know.

  Numbly she slipped down to the floor, sprawling herself across the cold tiles. She'd been up all o last night vomiting- she had four hours of sleep, tops. She closed her eyes and sighed loudly.

  "This just in, near the Missouri-Arkansas border there's been another attack by the Carriers. The death toll however is higher than last night's bar attack, if only by one. However, despite the casualties of local authority and government agents, the primary focus of this attack is believed to be infecting, as seventeen customers in a Hooters restaurant were all infected."

  Graceyn sprang up from the bathroom at the mention of the Carriers. A Hooters? Her sister could be pretty immature at times, but a Hooters? She wouldn't go for that. I bet Carson had something to do with it.

  She stumbled over to the couch, leaning against it and taking deep breaths. She was a little too weak to be making such sudden movements.

  "Eyewitness accounts have led us to believe that they knocked the actual waitresses unconscious and posed as them, infecting every customer in the restaurant. The police were eventually called when someone recognized them, but the government took over the job as they were in the area. Three agents were killed and two other sustained severe head injuries. Their condition at this time is unknown." The news anchor reported without much emotion. She stared at the screen, expecting to see her sister's face pop up. There was never a report on the Carriers without showing their faces.

  "In light of the events of last night there has yet again been a bounty raise," the anchor began. She stiffened. The more money on her sister's head the more incentive there was to go after her- would she be able to fight off waves of money hungry people? God only knew how long they'd be able to elude them for.

  Four faces replaced that of the news anchor, each just a photograph- Shay, Marena, Carson and Katrina in order from highest to lowest bounty. They're the big four, she thought. The support network. They're the ones they want dead more than any of the others- if they strip away the support network the rest will be easy kills. She swallowed hard. The more she thought about it the more her hope diminished. Shay and the others were just high school kids, not trained soldiers. It was only a matter of time before one of them got killed.

  "Witnesses say that the bar fight started in a southern Missouri bar two nights ago was started by Carson Bradley. He later assaulted a local law enforcement officer and now he's also been found responsible for killing a local officer and a Government agent, one two nights ago and one yesterday, bringing his bounty to one hundred ten thousand. Marena McGrew has also been said to have taken part in the bar fight as well as the assault on the officers. She's also believed to have seriously wounded a government agent, raising her bounty to one hundred twenty thousand. Shay Claire, as always, is believed to have had a huge involvement in the bar fight, assault on officers, and the murder of Government agents. Her bounty now sits on one hundred sixty-five thousand."

  Graceyn felt her head begin to spin. She collapsed onto the couch, sinking in to the soft fabric. Her sister's bounty had gone up thirty thousand dollars. Marena's had gone up nine ten thousand and Carson's had taken a huge incline as well. She pondered if they had any idea how large their bounties were, if they were even aware they had any at all.

  "No witnesses claim to have seen Katrina O'Dell perpetrating in any of these events, which is reason to keep her bounty where it is at one hundred ten thousand, but that amount is subject to change in case a new testimony comes to light. There is, however, a new unidentified male travelling with them. He is responsible for the wounding of the other agent and participating in the bar fight, setting his bounty at eighty thousand. The government is trying to determine his identity at this time."

  She didn't pay any attention after that, for she was back in the bathroom throwing up again. This time, however, she couldn't be sure if it was from sickness or shock. They were catching up to the Carriers.

  Chapter 30

  Out of all the things that had surprised her in recent times, the fact that they had still remembered her birthday surprised her the most. Eight days after they buried Jaycee, June thirteenth, Shay woke up to a cheap cake on the campsite table. It was too hot for candles- they just sang an extremely loud, terribly-sung birthday song and divvied up the cake. Where they'd gotten it she had no idea, as she was fairly sure the campsite store didn't sell cake, but who was she to worry? It was her birthday.

  Despite everything going on around them it was a happy day. One of them had made it to sixteen, something they doubted might ever happen. She'd doubted it as well since Jaycee died. She'd come to terms with the fact it was only a matter of time before someone shot her in the face, yet the fact she had lived to see another birthday seemed to chase those dark thoughts away. Maybe there is hope after all. Maybe I am just Sourpuss Shay.

  Eight days seemed like an explicably long time to go without a run-in with the government or the cops, and she knew she wasn't the only one who was growing apprehensive. Every time a twig snapped in the night or a person stopped and stared for too long she wouldn't be the only one to reach for a gun- Marena, Carson, Axel and Katrina all would as well. Maybe the government just didn't expect them to stay at a campsite. Who knew? As long as they were momentarily safe, she was content.

  On her first full day of being sixteen they agreed sitting around the campsite was ge
tting to be quite a drag. This campsite was meant for one thing, anyways- canoeing. After scrounging up the money and singing the waivers under aliases they were good to go.

  The midday sun beat down on her back as she dug her oar beneath the surface, clear water glistening in afternoon sun. The heat of the last few days had been unbearable- humidity impossibly high and little breeze. The cold water at least helped make the heat tolerable.

  Marena rowed up next to her canoe, the metal sides of the boats scraping along each other. She cringed at the noise and used her oar to push the other canoe away. Laylia was sitting in the front of Marena's canoe, her dark hair covering her face and arms crossed. Leave it to Laylia to piss on the fun.

  "How much longer until we're done?" Marena complained, rowing twice as fast to keep in pace with Shay and Carson's canoe.

  "Oh, I'd say another four hours or so," she replied with a smirk. "Enjoy the time with Laylia."

  Marena dug her oar deep into the water, bringing it up to splatter her with chilly water. Soaked, she copied her best friend but missed, instead drenching Laylia. She turned, the displeasure prominent across her features. She said nothing, for her fiery glare said everything for her.

  Up ahead Katrina and Owen pulled up the shore, picking a spot that was in the shade of several trees. They beached their canoe and waded out into the water, pulling it further onto the ground. Marena and Carson both stuck their oars into the water, turning the canoes towards the bank. They came aground next, bottom of the canoe scraping over the rocks as they came ashore.

  She stood up on the sandy bank, stretching out the kinks sitting for at least an hour had caused. She proceeded to wade out into the water, the coldness making her hesitant to submerge her body even more.