by A. M Martin
She whimpers and lets go of the fence.
“Yes,” I mumble.
Rushing over, I grab her hand, helping her off the ground. I take off running towards the river bank, pulling her behind me.
I plop down on my butt at the edge of the bank. The water is dark, fast rushing with the current. I bet it's cold too.
I start to lower myself down when the sound of metal grinding and howls have me frozen. Fear shoots through my body. My heart feels like it's trying to beat its way out of my chest. We share a wide-eyed look of fear.
“That was the gate, wasn't?” Tara whispers.
I think she might be going into shock. She trembles and the color drains out of her face.
I shake my head, yes. More than likely it was the gate and they'll send a team out of it and over the same area of the fence we crossed.
“Hurry,” I say, sliding into the water.
I suck in a harsh breath of air as cold bumps break out along my skin. The water is freezing, but at least it only reaches mid-thigh on me.
"Look, it's Tony and Vanessa,” Tara says in a normal voice.
Snapping my head around to see where she's pointing, sure enough, I can make out two figures crossing the top of the fence. It must be them. Please let it be them.
I turn and start wading through the water. Slow small steps, not wanting to lose my balance and have the current carry me off. When I hit the middle, I turn back to make sure Tara was doing alright.
Yep, she's doing dandy still standing on the river bank.
“Tara.”
She jerked around to look at me with a smile.
“Get in the water. Pay attention. I can't keep telling you what to do,” I snap harshly.
I’m at the other edge of the bank when I hear her drop in the water with a gasp.
My eyes close and my head shakes. She's too slow. She's going to end up getting killed or caught taking me with her. I should have left her. I need to leave her.
I bite my lip as the thought races through my head.
Sitting with my hands on the bank, I push up with my arms, shaking with the effort. I use my feet to dig into the soft mud wall taking some of the work off my tired arms. I'm out and on my back breathing hard and trembling from fatigue. Soft. I'm too soft and that pisses me off.
It's summer but feels like winter at night especially since I went through water. My fear. My fear makes it seem colder than what it really is.
Listening, I can still make out a scream or two and growls. It's not over yet. Get up.
“Help,” Tara grunts.
Sitting up, I look at her with a raised eyebrow.
“I can't get up.” She sounds annoyed.
“Yeah, all right. I'm coming.”
I stand up and grab hold of her wrist. She grabs mine.
“Use your feet too,” I grunt.
She's almost out when another triumph howl goes up. I pull harder and faster, dragging her completely out of the river.
“I'm cold,” she mumbles.
“Yeah me too. Running for our lives will help.”
I take off running already out of breath. Up the incline and into the dark woods that looks like it's absorbing everything into its shadow.
I used to be afraid of the dark. Now it has became my safe haven. It's funny how the stuff that frightened me or the things I thought I would never do in a million years gets pushed from my mind.
I scan my surroundings. Right, front, left and behind me, I pause and narrow my eyes. Two dark silhouettes are crossing the river.
“Is it them?” Tara huffs.
“Yeah.”
Maybe. I don't know. It's too dark to tell. I pause when a black streak zips around the building. I caught the sight of glowing blood red eyes.
“Shit! Tara, we gotta move faster.”
I snap back around. Digging my toes and fingers in the cold ground, I pull myself up faster over the hill.
We're both out of breath as we crest the top of the hill.
Not wasting a second, I grab Tara's muddy hand with my own, pulling her behind me. I break out into a full out run, dragging Tara with me as I cross the line into the woods.
“Can,” gasp, “We.”
I shake my head as Tara gasps out words. Not yet. We can't talk yet, it uses energy that can be put into running.
It's darker under the trees with their thick branches and leaves blocking out what little light the moon shines down.
I don't know how long we’ve been running for when Tara's grip slackens, making me hold on tighter. I'm running, panting one minute and the next a dead weight jerks on my arm. I get jerked backwards, falling over Tara and onto the ground.
A groan pulls from my lips and I look at her.
“My legs gave out,” she pants, shrugging her small shoulders.
Huh. Guess that's a good reason to stop.
“Sorry.” She pants red faced.
I wave my hand at her, too out of breath to form words.
I give myself a minute and force myself to take slow even breaths. The fatigue starts to sit in as my breathing returns to normal.
“It's okay,” I say, my voice jerking Tara's eyes open.
“One of us was bound to hit dirt sooner or later,” I state with a smile.
My clothes are soaked in sweat and river water. My whole body trembles. All I want to do is lay down. I can't. Not here anyway. Not yet.
“Come on, we can't stop yet.” I reach out my hand.
Her eyes narrow but she lets me pull her to her feet. We both stumble forward. Our bodies weak.
“Why do you call them the greys?” I ask, bending under a low hanging branch.
I always call them pets or slaves. I've been curious about the name ever since Tara first said it.
“Because of the grey scars marking their face.”
My mind wonders to my own black scars. As I look at Tara. Will she be another stamp I will need to add to my flesh? I hope not. I shake the thought away, looking at the trees surrounding us.
“What are you looking for?” Tara asks.
“A tree.” I mumble.
She laughs. “They’re everywhere. You do know that, right?”
“Hmmm. A good tree.” I hid my smile. It’s been so long since I heard innocent laughter.
“What's a good tree?” She smiles while showing teeth.
“That one.” I smile and nod towards the tree to our left.
Its branches are wide and thick. Perfect.
The closer I get to it I realize the branches are higher than I thought. I doubt a good jump would work. I bit my lip looking for a solution.
“Okay. I give, what's so special about it?” She laughs again.
It's a nice sound to hear. It makes my heart skip a beat. Has memories of happier times bubbling up. I grunt. I don’t need to go down memory lane. Not now, not ever.
“See the branches.” I look over and see her nodding, biting her finger nail.
“It's perfect for sleeping on.”
Her eyes widen. “What?” She sputters.
“I'd rather be up in a tree and get a little sleep rather than on the ground with no sleep and become some things meal.”
“Oh.”
“Plus, nothing can sneak up on us that way.”
“Who taught you all of this?” She asks, following me around the tree.
“What do you mean?” I mumble lost in thought.
“You know what you're doing. Well, at least you seem like you do.”
“Yeah, sort of.” I laugh softly, stopping at the lowest branch.
I jump. My dirty fingertips barely grazing the rough bark of the lowest branch.
I look at Tara, “Link your fingers together. I'm going to do a run and jump thing. Try to push up when I step on your hand.”
“I don't think that will work.”
“It will.” I nod. I don't think it will work either. But it’s the best idea I got at the moment and I need to rest.
I back up a cou
ple of steps.
Her hands are linked.
With a deep breath, I run. My left foot comes down on her linked hands. She pushes with a grunt, just enough of a push that my hand wraps around the branch as she screams with a thud.
“You okay?” I ask, hanging onto the branch with a shaky hand.
“No,” she mumbles.
It's good enough for me. I swing my other arm up and grabbed the branch. With both hands clamped on, I swing my body back and forth. On the third swing, I throw my leg up, wrapping it around the branch.
I did it. I honestly didn’t know if I had the strength to get myself up. The compound made me weak.
Laying on my belly, I catch my breath. Sitting up, both my legs hang over the branch and I look down at Tara sitting against the trunk.
“Your turn.” I smile and fall backwards, my legs clamping onto the tree with a death grip.
“Wow,” Tara says, climbing to her feet.
“You're gonna climb up me.”
I grab both of her skinny wrists. Pulling, I feel her latch onto the belt around my dirty jeans. Feel her pulling herself up. When her feet get within reach, I grab them, pushing her up the rest of the way.
Soon her weight disappears.
“Grab my hands,” I breathe, too tired to pull myself up.
She helps me and we're both sitting on the branch looking out into the woods.
“That was so cool, like a ninja,” she giggles.
I grin at her. “We're not done yet.”
“No,” she moans, wiping sweat from her forehead.
17
My heart skips a beat in my chest when I hear a high mewling sound.
We share an oh shit look with round eyes and start scrambling higher up in the tree. It's slow going in the dark and I doubt Tara has ever climbed a tree in her life, making her that much slower.
When I can no longer see the ground through the branches and leaves, I stop on a branch that's just about too small for my weight.
“Tara, I think we're good,” I whisper, leaning up against the rough trunk.
“Good,” she whispers above me.
I lower myself down, straddling the branch and swing my pack around in front of me; digging around inside for the rope.
“Tara.”
“Huh?” She asks sleepily.
“Are you sitting down?”
I trust she's smart enough not to fall asleep standing up in a tree. I ask just in case. People nowadays, you just never know.
“Umm no,” she giggles.
I can't help it. I smile at how Amy like she is.
“Sit down and tie yourself to the branch. Falling off while you're asleep is not something you want to experience,” I grumble, reaching the rope up above my head.
That's one of the many lessons me and Cora learned. I have a lovely two-inch scar from that fall.
“If I can sleep.”
Yeah me too, I think bitterly. I have more nightmares than anything that keeps me from sleeping. Grabbing my spare water bottle, I reach it above my head.
“Water,” I grunt and it quickly disappears from my hand.
“Thanks.”
“Yep.”
Getting my own, I quickly gulp the warm liquid. Wetting my dry throat.
I slip the bottle away and start wrapping the rope around my thighs and the branch. I tie a slip knot, prop my bag on my lap, resting my head on it and pass out.
◆◆◆
“What are we going to do Nikki?”
“I don't know Cora. I don't fucking know,” I screech out walking around in circles. Kicking rocks and twigs lying on the ground.
It's only the second week of this nightmare. Two. The screams have finally died down. Not a constant noise, but we still hear them every once in a while. And the howls. They seem to have picked up. Ringing out everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
We lost Dallas. Dad. Mum. Amy. It’s just me and Cora and I don’t know what to do!
I don't know what to do.
I ice over when I hear a throaty growl. It's deep and menacing, sounding like it's right behind me. Every little muscle in my body is frozen to the spot.
My eyes look at Cora as she squeaks and stumbles backwards. Her eyes are wide and horrified, tears shining in them.
My eyes close. This is it. This is how we will die. I feel lighter even with my pounding heart. It’s finally over. Mum, Amy, Dad, Dallas, we’ll be there soon.
I turn around facing the beast with nothing left to lose.
It looks different from the others. It's like the virus is fighting it. Killing it from the outside in.
It's tall and lanky. Ribs poking out, its brown fur is in clumps here and there with human skin in between. Its eyes are solid white with thick black sludge like blood leaking from the corners of its eyes.
“Is it sick?” Cora whispers, and the thing jerks it head in her direction.
I don't think the thing can see.
I bend down, slowly and pick up a rock. I toss it to the left of us as hard as I can.
The beast growls and takes off into the trees, in the same direction I tossed the rock.
We took off in the opposite direction. Running hard.
“It was sick right?”
"I don't know Cor,” I huff out moving fast. My pack thumping into my back.
It did look sick. Perhaps the virus will kill them all off.
◆◆◆
I jolt awake with heat on my face. It was one of the calmer nightmares. Cora, I miss you. A lone tear falls from my eye.
The sun shines through the leaves, the dew making it seem like everything sparkles. The day seems peaceful. It's not. It's a mirage. A lie from mother nature. It's another day of life and death.
I groan as the stiffness in my body makes itself known. I stretch my arms over my head, pulling on the sore muscles, popping joints and shaking out my hands. I pull on the knot of the rope and it unravels in seconds.
A snore has me jerking and almost toppling over. I look up. Tara. I forgot about her, well she’s safe at the moment.
I shake my legs and twist my ankles getting rid of the pins and needles feeling from not moving all night. I hate sleeping in trees. It's the only place I feel safe though.
Rumbling snores ring out again, pulling a light chuckle from my chest. She sounds like a grizzly bear. I can’t believe I slept through that. Man, I was tired.
My pack is dangling in the open air with my fingers, ready to fall to the ground when the sound of snapping twigs has me jerking it back up. I clutch it to my chest and try to slow my air intake. I hear the distant sounds of voices.
Shit.
I climb to my feet, reach up and shake Tara's foot.
“What?”
“Shhhh. I hear something,” I murmur, peering between branches, hugging the trunk of the tree with one arm.
I scan what I can of the thick vegetation. Soon I start to make out words.
“I don't know.”
“I'm tired.”
“Fine.”
Who the hell is this?
When they finally push through the thick foliage, I see them clearly through the gap in the leaves. And I don't expect it.
Me or them.
“Oh my god. It's Tony and Vanessa!” Tara screeches.
I wince, watching the branches above me, shake and move as Tara starts to climb down. She just let everything around us know where we’re at.
“Yeah, I know. Now be quiet,” I snap. Stupid! Why would she think screaming would be a good idea?
I rest my head against the tree. The bark catches some of my hair and pulls it. My teeth grind and I take deep breaths of the morning air.
"Why?” She whispers.
“Something might be stalking them.”
That shuts her up really quick. I told them they could follow us but I never thought they would make it this far. They're compound babies. That's how I refer to the people who've been in compounds since the beginning. People who don't know w
hat the world is like now. Living behind their walls and fences. They don't know how to survive on the outside anymore. Or what it’s like to be hungry or afraid of every tiny little noise.
My eyes narrow as I watch them stop two trees away. They yell back and forth. They're complete dumb asses. I ignore their heated words. My eyes flickering around our surroundings and back to them. Waiting. Watching. They're making too much damn noise. Something will come sooner or later. It’s only a matter of time.
A growl bubbles up in my throat and I swallow it as I hear Tara's fear ridden whisper.
"I see something."
My eyes start to glance over everything. Looking for the smallest movement in the bushes, I scoot forward. Crouching on the branch, hands wrap around it as I lean further out past the tree's leafy canopy.
“To the right?” I whisper, my lips are hardly moving.
“No, the left,” Tara whines.
Shit, snapping my head to the left, I notice a freaking hound lurking next to a small grouping of trees. It's tall, maybe seven feet tall with huge bulky muscles, covered in wiry brown hair.
“It's a Grey,” Tara gasps.
I can't see a person. Tara's up higher than me though. I strain my eyes trying to look. To see what she sees. My eyes keep returning to the hound. It's one of the stronger ones.
There's this gut-wrenching feeling going through my body; the one you get when you know shit is about to hit the fan and you might not make it out alive. I shove it down deep into my body. Smother it into nothing. Those kinds of feelings will only get me killed.
I reach over to my bag. Thanks to whoever is out there listening, I decided to unhook the bow from my bag earlier. I grab my bag, sling it on my back and take the bow with one arrow in white knuckle grip.
I stand up slowly so the branch and its many leaves don't move.
“Tara put your pack on and try to get Tony and Vanessa's attention. They need to run and we need to jump on my call,” I whisper as calmly as I can. “Keep an eye out to the right, there's something there too.”