by Lee Argus
Rachel excused herself to the car to sleep. I sat there alone with her as the fire began to die down. I reluctantly got up and put a few more pieces of wood on the small flames. I was saving the larger logs for once we went to sleep. I sat back down near Stephanie. I tried to think of something witty to say, but nothing came to mind. Her hand reached over mine and rested on top of it. My heart beat faster and a small smile touched my lips. Her fingers intertwined mine. It was nice to sit there and just hold someone’s hand.
“Before you came, I thought there weren’t any other people left. That maybe my sister and I were it.”
“I felt the same way. I couldn’t even remember if there were any people like me. Meeting you and Rachel was more than I could have hoped for.”
Her soft blue eye reflected the firelight while I looked at her. She wore the same smile that I had. For once I wasn’t thinking about the Kurus, survival, or anything but the moment I was in.
I leaned my face closer to hers. She didn’t withdraw, but moved in equally close to me. I slightly turned my head as I closed my eyes and brought my lips to hers. They were softer than I’d expected. I breathed in slowly, savoring the sweet perfumed scent.
I reluctantly broke the kiss, but kept hold of her hand. Her pale cheeks looked flushed in the soft glow of fire.
“Why did you stop?”
“I like you, but I don’t remember anything about myself. I might have a girlfriend or even a wife. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
She considered my words. I really did like her, but I didn’t know her. I’m sure she’d been lonely and alone. I had felt the same way.
“I really do like you. If you can take it slow, I’d like that. I hope you can understand.”
She nodded, and didn’t let go of my hand. She leaned up against me and we held each other. When she started to nod off I walked her back to the car. Rachel had fallen asleep in the passenger seat, leaving the back empty for Stephanie. I couldn’t resist giving her one more small kiss before I went back to the fire. It was starting to burn low again.
I laid the few larger logs across the fire. They would stay burning throughout the night. I’d have to wake myself up in a few hours just to make sure. When I got back to the car I was greeted by snores.
They didn’t wake up when I snuck into the driver’s seat. I reclined the seat a little, but it didn’t do much for the level of comfort. I nodded off for a while.
When I awoke it was still dark. The fire was burning lower than I’d hoped. I got out of the car, closing the door while gently pulling on the handle. Rachel stirred in her sleep, but didn’t wake.
I walked over to the fire, rubbing my hands together for warmth. It wasn’t freezing cold, but it felt like it. I flipped the unburned part of the log back over the coals. After adding some more kindling and smaller pieces it began to catch. I held my hands out, enjoying the heat.
I was still tired, but I added the rest of the larger pieces of wood that were left. It should be enough to last the few hours of night that were left. I sat near the fire trying to warm up.
The night was impenetrable past the fire. The wind blew smoke and ashes towards me. My eyes watered and I had to fight down a cough. It changed direction, rustling the trees.
The whistling sound died down. In the silence that followed I heard a snapping sound in the distance. I stood up and tried to look farther into the dark. The trees hid everything that was outside of the firelight.
I heard another snap. The sound seemed to be coming from past the fire, but I couldn’t tell. Maybe an animal was moving around in the forest. Maybe it was a deer or raccoon prowling for food somewhere in the dark. Shortly after, a bush in the opposite direction rattled, like something ran past it too closely.
My head turned as soon as I heard the sound. I caught a glimpse of something I couldn’t make out. It streaked past a tree and vanished. I should have brought my shotgun out of the car. I would have had a flashlight. I looked at the car, but Rachel still looked like she was asleep and Stephanie was lying to low for me to see.
I held still, listening. The sound of chirping insects had stopped. I picked up a piece of firewood, holding ready to throw or swing.
A metallic banging sound caught me off guard. I turned behind me to see several dark figures slamming into the car. One of the girls screamed. A throaty howl came from one of the figures. They were Kurus.
7 NIGHT TERRORS
I threw the wood at the nearest Kuru before I could think of anything else. It spun end over end until it hit one on the back. It turned towards me, but shielded its eyes from the light of the fire. It shrieked at me before continuing to hit the car.
Without a weapon there were too many of them for me to handle. A chunk of wood wouldn’t help. They were too sensitive to the light to come close to me. If Rachel turned on the car, the headlights and dome light might scare them off. Since she didn’t she must have been too afraid to do anything or too startled to think rationally.
One hit the glass in the back of the car hard enough to send cracks across it. I only had one idea, and it wasn’t a good one. I picked up a flaming log with my bare hands. It wasn’t burning on the end sticking out of the fire, but I still felt like I was holding hot coals.
Screaming half from pain and half from anger, I charged to the car. The closest Kuru turned its head in time for me to smash it across the face. The still burning wood set fire to its hair while knocking it back against the car.
A keening wail came from within the flaming head. The other Kurus backed away from the car and thrashing body. I ran around the car swinging the wood. I couldn’t feel my hands through the pain and heat. When the last Kuru ran crashing through the trees, I dropped the wood to the ground.
The wounded Kuru was struggling on the ground. It convulsed, swinging its arms and kicking wildly. I tried to open the driver’s door, but it was locked. One of them must have locked the car. I tapped on the glass with my hand. It felt tight and swollen.
Rachel reached across the seat and unlocked the door. The shotgun was still lying partly on the floor board. I picked it up and looked at the snarling figure on the ground. There were only so many shells left, but I couldn’t just leave it there.
I kicked into its face hard enough to flop it back onto its back. I stood over it and fired a round that shattered its skull. I looked around, but didn’t see any more Kurus. Stephanie and Rachel were still in the car. Rachel was clinging to her pepper foam and Steph was holding her sword.
“I think they’re gone now. You two can come out now.”
They hesitantly opened the doors and walked over to join me.
“I can’t believe they were here too. Are they everywhere now?” Stephanie asked.
“I don’t know, Steph.” Rachel said. She turned to me. “Should we leave? They know where we are.”
“We can.” I said. “I slept long enough to drive, but I don’t think my hands are up to it.” I held my burned palms and fingers out for her to see.
“God, that looks bad.” Steph said. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve felt better. One of you will have to drive.”
“Let me clean you up first.” Rachel said. “We need to bandage your hands. Burns can become infected pretty easily.”
Rachel popped the trunk and dug around until she found a bag that had a first aid kit. She sprayed a small bottle on my hands. The sharp pain receded to a dull throbbing ache. She then rubbed an antibacterial cream on my hands before wrapping them up.
“You need to keep your hands dry and not use them for a while. Steph has some pain medication she can give you if it starts to hurt too badly.”
“I’ll be fine. It doesn’t hurt much.”
We didn’t take much out of the trunk, so there wasn’t any packing to do. My hands started to feel worse. When the wind blew across them it felt more like razorblades. Steph must have seen the pained look on my face.
She came over to where I was sitting in the car. She was carrying t
he shotgun in lieu of her sword. The car was running with both the high beams and dome light on. My hands made me look like I had been partly mummified.
Rachel was putting out the fire with dirt. I asked why, but she said you always make sure a fire is out before you leave a camp. I guess it’s a wildfire thing.
Stephanie had a few pills in her hand.
“Take these. You’ll be able to get some sleep and your hand won’t hurt for a while. I know you don’t want to, but will you for me? I don’t like to think of you in pain for helping us.”
I couldn’t argue with the pleading look she had. She put the shotgun down and pulled a can of soda out of her hoodie’s pocket. It opened with a hiss.
“It’s decaffeinated. Try to drink as much as you can to cushion the pills. You’ll feel drowsy, so don’t fight it. You need some rest to heal faster.”
I swallowed the two pills with the orange soda. It was too sweet, but I was thirsty enough to finish it. The medicine took about ten minutes before they took effect. After a while I started to lose focus. My memory started to flicker in and out.
I didn’t remember much of the drive. Rachel drove with Steph keeping watch from the passenger seat. I kept zoning off during the drive. One thing I didn’t forget was when we reached the far side of the mountains. A crowd of twenty or thirty Kurus scattered from the road under the glare of our high beams. They screamed and howled at our passing. A few even ran after us.
Rachel’s hands turned white as she gripped the steering wheel tighter. She calmed down once it became clear that we’d left them all behind. She’d sped up for a while after that, but was now slowing down. The sound the engine made as it ran soothed me back into sleep.
I was startled awake when I heard a loud bang. I pulled myself up in time to see Rachel fighting with the steering wheel. The sun had risen and we were driving down an empty road. She slowed the car down and pulled over to the side of the road.
“What the hell happed?”
“I think we hit a nail or something. The tire popped.” Rachel said.
She got out of the car and started looking at the wheels. Stephanie got out next. I was going to follow them out, but saw that my bandaged hands wouldn’t be able to open the door. I tried to wave my hand, which now felt like I’d dipped it in a fryer.
“Hey!” I shouted to Steph.
She opened the door, abashed that she’d forgotten that I couldn’t myself. I got out and walked around to the back where Rachel was standing. She was staring at the place where the tire should have been. Only shreds of rubber remained. The whole tire must have just burst.
“Did anyone check to see if there was a spare tire?” Rachel asked.
I shook my head. I should have thought about that before we’d left. Rachel went to the driver’s seat and popped the trunk. She and Steph pulled out all of our bags. Under the trunks carpet was an empty space the size of a tire.
“Well that’s just great.” Stephanie said as her lips tightened.
We were in an empty stretch of road. There were no towns or cars within sight. Even if we did have a spare tire there would be no way I could change it with the burned hands I had.
“How long has it been since we passed anything?” I asked. If we hadn’t gone by any towns for a few hours it might be easier to just keep walking ahead. We’d have to check the map.
“We passed a truck stop about twenty-five minutes ago.” Rachel said.
“I’d say it was closer to an hour.” Stephanie corrected. “I’m not sure if there was anything there. I wasn’t paying it much attention.”
Rachel was looking over the map. My hands were throbbing even harder in the heat of the day. I thought about asking for another pain pill, but it would have to wait until we figured out what we were going to do.
“It’s about fifteen or twenty miles back. If we kept going ahead it would be at least sixty miles to the next town.”
“That doesn’t leave much choice then. We’ll have to walk back there. I can’t use my hands to use the shotgun. Think you can handle it, Stephanie?”
“I’ll carry it.” she said. She looked at Rachel. “Should he really be walking twenty miles?”
She shook her head, but I cut her off before she could say anything.
“I’m going with you two. Just give me a few of those pills, and I’ll be fine. Pack some food and water into one of those backpacks. I can carry it without using my hands.”
Rachel eventually relented. She did insist on cleaning and changing the bandages on my hands. They looked terrible in the sunlight. Where the skin wasn’t red it had large pus filled blisters. Several had popped in my sleep, soaking into the bandage. She cleaned them as best as she could before applying more antibacterial cream. I felt slightly nauseous from biting back the pain.
“You’re looking kind of pale. Maybe you should just wait here until we come back.” she said.
“And if you don’t come back? What if you get into trouble? I’m going with you. All I need is another pain pill. I’ll be fine.”
I looked at Stephanie, who was resting in the passenger seat. The doors were all closed and the car was running to keep the air conditioner going.
“Do you think Stephanie can make it twenty miles?” I asked, speaking more quietly than before.
“I don’t know.” she said, with a lot of concern in her voice. “She doesn’t have a lot of energy and she’s too proud to stay here or say she needs a break. If you see her getting tired, can you say you need to rest? I’ll do the same.”
I agreed. Stephanie seemed too stubborn like she’d said. Rachel packed a lot of water and junk food into the largest backpack we had. It didn’t feel too heavy, and would weigh less as we worked through it. Stephanie gave me a few more pills that made walking less painful. I was still careful to keep my arms up. When my hands hung down the blood flow made the pain more horrible than normal.
The sun burned into my neck as we walked. By the time the car was almost out of view I felt as though there was a spring in my step. My hands didn’t hurt at all. In fact, I could hardly feel anything. The backpack was light as a feather.
We didn’t talk much as we walked. Rachel and Stephanie looked tired. I’d forgotten that they’d been up driving half the night while I was passed out in the back seat. We were all heavily sweating, so I called for a rest. Rachel pulled out a water bottle for each of us. She had to open and give mine to me like a baby. I only took a few drinks, trying to conserve what I could. I did split a Powerbar with Stephanie. I needed something to try and get rid of my cotton mouth.
“How are your hands?” Steph asked.
“I can’t feel a thing. Thanks for the pills. This heat is horrible.”
“Imagine if the tire would have popped while we were camping. Hiking over the mountain would have been impossible to do in one day.” Rachel said.
“Let’s get moving,” I said, “The longer we rest the longer we’ll take to get there. Well take another break in a half hour.”
My feet dully throbbed, despite the pain medication I was on. We kept up a gruelingly slow pace. Stephanie was red and flushed. She’d wet down her hair, but I wasn’t sure if it had helped much. I decided to talk with her while she walked. Maybe it would keep her mind off of things.
“Why did you want to be a psychiatrist?” I asked her.
“Psychologist.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A psychiatrist usually just gives out prescriptions and sees whether they helped or not. They adjust dosages and change medicines based on how they patient reacts to them. A psychologist will help their patients work through their problems without the aid of chemicals.” She wiped at the sheen of sweat that was starting to run down her forehead. “More of a mind over matter approach.”
“Sounds harder than just giving out pills.” I said.
“Harder, but more rewarding.”
We talked more, and mostly about her. I didn’t have much to say about myself. She hadn’t be
en in a relationship in a while, partly due to school. She was passionate about wanting to help people. It seemed like she had so many plans on what she would do before all of this happened.
“What do we call you anyway?” she asked. It was a good question.
“I don’t know. What would you guess my name is?”
She frowned while thinking. A small dimple appeared when she had this expression. It was beyond cute.
“Well, how about John?”
“John.” I said, testing the name on my tongue. It didn’t sound right, but there wasn’t anything better I could think of. “Why John?”