The Colony

by Kathleen Groger

  “There’re more coming around the house. Hold on.” Adam stomped on the gas pedal. The car shot forward and he twisted the wheel. With a spin of tires, we roared out of the driveway, spraying gravel in every direction.

  Thwamp. A loud thud reverberated through the car.

  “What was that?” I spun in my seat, but couldn’t tell where the noise came from.

  “Hold on.” He jerked the wheel to the left, then the right. Something shifted on top of the car.

  A burning, anvil-like weight crushed my chest. There was a Rasper on the roof. Could I shoot through metal? Or would the bullet ricochet?

  Adam pushed down on the gas and turned the wheel. I grabbed the handle above the door.

  A sallow-skinned hand reached down my window and a whimper tore from my throat. I went for my gun, but it wasn’t in the holster. No. No. No. Where was it?

  The hand slid further down. Instead of a fingernail, the Rasper’s index finger ended in a long, pearl-white stinger and he dragged it across the glass.

  My chest burned. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. I tore my gaze from his stinger and looked at Adam.

  He spun the wheel and my Glock skidded across the floor mat. I bent down and reached for it.

  “Val, stay down!”

  A gunshot rang out above me and glass exploded. I lifted my head. Adam had shot out my window.

  “Missed.” He jerked the wheel again.

  This time the Rasper’s body slipped off the roof, but he caught himself on the window frame and pulled himself up, his stinger aimed right at me. His face loomed a foot from mine, his eyes shaded by sunglasses. He opened his mouth and released a foul stench, like dead vegetation and dog crap. My throat spasmed. I wanted to throw up, or scream—or both. I pulled back, but the seat belt locked.

  “Val! Shoot!”

  I raised my gun. The Rasper exposed gray-tinged teeth and grinned using only the left side of his face. He let go of the car. Disappeared.

  My breaths came in fast gasps, teetering toward hyperventilation. I unclipped the belt and leaned out the window, searching for him. What the hell? The Rasper rolled across the road and into the ditch. Son of a bitch. He had smiled at me. That was the second one to smile as if they knew something I didn’t.

  “Why did he let go?” I brushed away the shards of glass, and then had to shove my hands under my legs to stop the trembling.

  “Did he sting you?” Adam glanced at me, then quickly focused on the crumbling road.

  “No.”

  He exhaled visibly and bobbed his head. “Thank God. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” No. Not really. “You?”

  “Yeah.” He swerved, just missing a series of cracks big enough to swallow a motorcycle.

  I turned back expecting to see more yellow-skinned Raspers giving chase, but the road remained mutant-free. After a few minutes, I faced forward. “That was shitballs intense.”

  “You’re telling me.” Sweat dripped down Adam’s brow and he clenched the wheel as if he was afraid to loosen his grip.

  I spread my thumb and index finger across my forehead to erase the craziness. The terror. The pain. It didn’t help. “Where did you learn to drive like a race car driver?”

  “Video games.”

  I didn’t have the energy to laugh. I clutched the handle above the door again, bracing myself to ask the question I didn’t want to ask. Wind whipped through my hair. “How much gas do we have?”

  “About half a tank.”

  My grip loosened. “Better than fumes. How far can we get?”

  “I’m not sure.” Adam checked the rearview mirror and smacked his palms on the wheel. “Damn.”

  I spun around searching for Raspers. “What?”

  “I left the papers from the gadget room on the table.”

  “Well, at least you have the map. Right?” Weary jitters replaced the adrenaline jolt of the crash.

  He pulled the map from his pocket and tossed it at me. “Here. See if you can figure out where we are.”

  I tried not to think about why the man had clutched it when he died.

  Adam drove down the two-lane, pot-holed road and I watched out the window for any sign of a major interstate. Trees flashed by my busted window and the wind howled in my ears. I couldn’t think straight. My mind churned with thoughts of Raspers—Bugs—Adam.

  “Any clue where we are?”

  His question pulled me from my highway hypnosis. “No. Find me a sign and I’ll see if I can spot it on the map.”

  Adam nodded then pointed to his left. “There. Interstate 70.”

  I consulted the map. “Take it and keep going.”

  Before long, we were speeding down the highway, dodging abandoned car after abandoned car. Barren landscape slipped past the windshield, a surreal scenic blur.

  I caught movement in my peripheral vision. I turned my head just in time to see a deer run into my side of the car. The car jerked left and ran over the animal. Adam yelled. I screamed.

  The tires squealed, followed by a metallic groan. Adam gripped the wheel harder, but the car spun 360 degrees and skidded toward a bathtub-sized hole in the road.

  I couldn’t stop screaming. My head slammed against the window frame and a kaleidoscope of pain and color burst in my eyes. I groaned and tried to focus.

  The car refused to cooperate with Adam’s attempt to steer. It didn’t want to go any farther. It shuddered, jerked, died.

  Adam faced me. “Holy crap. You’re bleeding.”

  I touched my forehead and my fingers came away smeared with blood. “How bad is it?”

  “Can’t tell. There’s too much blood.” The tone of his voice told me it was bad. Real bad.

  I reached in my bag for anything I could use to stop the blood. The first thing my fingers snagged was a clean sock. I pressed it against the cut, then rolled my neck. I pulled my makeshift bandage away and checked out the damage. “Crap, it’s really bleeding.”

  Adam rested his forehead against the steering wheel. “This blows.”

  I unclipped my seatbelt, got out, and hoisted my bag on my shoulder.

  Blood and deer pieces covered the road surrounding the animal carcass. The car was equally dead. The front driver’s-side tire had landed in the hole and it spun in the air. The front end was crumpled halfway up the hood and the metal twisted into the front passenger tire. I looked around. Massive trees flanked the road and climbed up the hills on either side. The deer had stranded us in a remote area. Perfect. Droplets of blood dripped down my cheek. I pressed harder.

  “How far do you think we are from the next town?”

  I jumped and squealed like a little girl. “Don’t do that.” I hadn’t heard Adam get out of the car. “Damned if I know. Stupid deer. We finally get a car and the animal totaled it. Idiot thing couldn’t have waited ten seconds before it bolted? This sucks ass.”

  “Glad to see you’re remaining positive. Maybe we can cook the meat over a fire.”

  “Sounds disgusting.” I shook my head. My vision exploded with spirals of white and my stomach churned. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, then walked back to the car. Why was I being such a bitch? My head pounded an out-of-tune rhythm. I wanted to crawl into a ball and sleep for days. Maybe then, the pressure in my head would release. The sock was almost saturated and I folded it. I leaned in the broken window. The car seemed to swim beneath me. I picked up Adam’s bag and tossed it at him.

  Adam swung his bag onto his injured shoulder. “We need to keep moving. Do you think we should stay on the road or move into the trees?”

  “Doesn’t that hurt your arm?”

  Adam glanced at his arm and shrugged. “It’s okay. What do you think? Road or trees?”

  Whatever. If he wasn’t worried about his wound, I wouldn’t either. I had my own problems. I scanned the area. Trees of all sizes and species filled the landscape. “To find a town, the road would be better. But it leaves us totally open to a Rasper ambush. The trees p
rovide some cover, but who knows what’s lurking inside.” I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I don’t like either option. Damned effing deer. I’m thinking trees.”

  “Me too. Hang on.” He crossed back to the car and popped the latch for the trunk. “I want to see if there’s anything useful.” He bent inside. “Yes.”

  “What is it?”

  “A blanket and an umbrella.”

  “Leave the umbrella.” I dabbed the sock on my cut, pulled it away. “Has it stopped bleeding?”

  “No. It’s a small gash, but head wounds bleed forever. You want me to put a bandage on it?”

  Shots of pain seared through my scalp. “No, thanks. We need to keep moving.”

  I tossed the bloody sock into the wrecked car. I prayed the Raspers couldn’t track us by following the scent of blood. I grabbed a fresh sock and held it against my head.

  Adam stuffed the blanket in his bag. “You sure you’re okay to go?”

  “Positive.” There was no way I was staying here, a bleeding beacon to the creatures. We had to keep going.

  We walked to the guardrail, climbed over, and cut our way through the forest. While the woods grew wild and untouched, they seemed more orderly than the chaos of the lawns neglected when everyone died.

  With every step I took, my eyelids grew heavier and my veins felt filled with lead. Every cell in my body screamed for me to rest, yet I kept walking. No stopping. Not here. Not now.

  I pulled out a bottle of water, had one sip, and then the trees spun. The bottle slipped from my hand and blackness clouded my vision. The world tilted. I could still hear, but I’d lost the ability to see. Panic choked my lungs, but I couldn’t scream.

  “Val. Val.” Adam chanting my name was the last thing I heard before I slipped into darkness.

  6

  When I opened my eyes, shades of blue and gray undulated like jellyfish. I tried to sit up, but nausea swirled through my belly.

  “Stay put.” Adam pushed me down until I was staring at the jellyfish again. My vision cleared. Wait, not jellyfish. Blue sky and clouds.

  “What happened?” Stabbing heat poked behind my eyes. My whole body hurt and my head throbbed. I wanted to curl up and sleep to numb the pain.

  Adam bent over me. His dark hair fell forward, framing his face. Stubble covered his strong jaw line. “You passed out. Almost cracked your head on a rock. I just managed to catch you. I think you might have a concussion.”

  My vision swam and for a moment, I saw two Adams. I blinked repeatedly until only one remained. “Can you get me some water?”

  God, what was wrong with me? I didn’t think I hit my head that hard, but my body screamed otherwise. I touched the cut. At least the bleeding had stopped.

  Adam nodded, then disappeared. He came back, sat, and lifted my shoulders up onto his legs. Heat seeped through the denim and warmed my head. He gave me a bottle. “Sip it.”

  “Thanks.” I took a drink and the nausea went away. Thank God.

  “Let me see your eyes.” He leaned over and I stared into his green irises. They stayed in focus. He fumbled in his bag for something.

  When he flashed a light into my eyes, my head screamed, asshole. “Stop, that hurts.”

  “Sorry. I think you’ll be okay, your pupils seem to be dilating correctly. My mom always checked my eyes whenever I hit my head. We need to find shelter. The sun is just about down. Can you move?”

  Strange noises only found in the wild raised the hairs on my arms. “Is that an owl? A bobcat?” My thoughts spun out of control.

  “I don’t know.”

  I pushed myself away from the comfort of Adam’s legs. He helped me stand, but I tilted to the side. He reached out and caught me around the waist.

  “Thanks again.” Rule Number One, trust no one, flashed like a fritzing neon sign before my eyes. To hell with Rule Number One. I had absolutely, completely, totally violated it. There was no going back now. Not when Adam seemed in the habit of saving my butt.

  A howl tore through the air. “Oh my God. More dogs.” My chest burned and panic squeezed the air from my lungs.

  “It’s okay. They’re probably a long way away.”

  The woods closed in, smothering me in a blanket of green. Visions of predatory animals circled around my mind. My head still pounded enough for my eyes to lock in a semi-squint.

  “We have to go.” Adam took my bag.

  “I can carry it.”

  “No. I’m good. You need to keep your strength.”

  I didn’t like it, but I let him carry my bag; my life wrapped in canvas.

  There wasn’t a path to guide us. We weaved around tree after tree. I took a deep breath of the clean air. The scent of leaves and dirt had replaced the stench of rot and decay. We walked on. There was nothing but woods and more woods. With each passing moment, what little confidence I had in our plan slipped away.

  “What were we thinking? We should have stayed on the road, Raspers or not.”

  Adam didn’t answer for a minute, but he finally said, “Look up there.”

  I stopped and tried to make out what he pointed at, but trees littered the hill. “What? I don’t see anything.”

  He inched closer, lifted my left arm, and extended it out and up. His touch made my cheeks feel like hot coals.

  “Look where your hand is pointing. I think it’s a cave.”

  I still didn’t see anything, but met his gaze. “Maybe.”

  Adam maintained the eye contact a few seconds too long—long enough for my heart to stop beating—then released my hand, and turned. Oxygen seized in my lungs. I tried not to think about how it took all my effort to stop staring at him and focus on our dilemma.

  A cave. We were going to spend the night in a cave. Most likely with bats. I shivered, but bats were better than wild animals—or Raspers.

  It took us awhile to climb the hill and navigate around the trees. When we reached the top, more pain exploded into my head, like firecrackers. Maybe it was the lingering effects of a concussion. I hoped not. I needed a clear, focused brain, not a muddled mess. That would get me killed.

  We stepped inside the cave, which extended back about twenty feet into the rocks. Packed dirt covered the ground. We searched every inch of the place, making sure there was no sign of any animal living there. The cave would protect us and provided a birds-eye view of anything approaching.

  “Go ahead and get some sleep. I’ll take first watch.” Adam tossed me the blanket then sat down with his back to the rock wall.

  “Okay, I will in a few minutes.” I wanted to sleep. Needed to sleep. But my mind spun at cyclone speed. Adam… My parents… Raspers… Bugs…

  I sat on the blanket and pulled out my Glock. I took a cloth out of my bag and worked on cleaning the gun. I had to keep it clean, in perfect condition. My dad’s last gift was keeping me alive. I ran my finger over the small chip in the gun’s handle. When I was done, I glanced up to find Adam watching me. “What?”

  “Nothing. Are you going to sleep or polish your gun all night?”

  “Sleep.” The task had quieted my brain enough that exhaustion threatened to force me to sleep. A quick rest, then Adam could take his turn. He had to be tired too. I pulled an extra sweatshirt out of my bag, balled it into a makeshift pillow, and tried to get comfortable. It didn’t work, but I drifted off.

  A crack of thunder woke me. Darkness blanketed the cave. Damn, I’d done it again. I’d slept longer than I planned. I pulled my flashlight out of my bag and flicked it on. Adam’s backpack rested on the ground, but he wasn’t in the cave. The light stung my eyes and I clicked it off.

  “Adam?”

  No answer.

  I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the Glock. I aimed my gun and made my way to the mouth of the cave. It was too damn dark out there to see anything.

  “Adam?” I wanted to scream his name, but kept my voice to a whisper.

  Again, no answer.

  Where was he? What had happened? I pushed the light on
the watch I had swiped from the sporting goods store when I first ventured out after that day. The green light blinked 7:15.

  I tried to make out anything in the blackness, but couldn’t see. Minutes ticked by while I stood there waiting. Thinking. Figuring out my options. I couldn’t go wandering around in the dark. I had to stay put, at least until dawn. My eyes adjusted to the dark while my stomach twisted from a combination of nerves and hunger. I turned to grab a candy bar from my bag.

  A wheezing sound came from outside the cave. Raspers.

  I strained, trying to hear it again.

  Wheeze. Rattle.

  Son of a bitch.

  Adrenaline slammed my heart into overdrive. Did they have Adam? I wiped a hand across my hairline to clear away the sweat, grabbed my bag, and moved to the back of the cave. I crouched down, pulled out another gun, and set it on the ground. I double-gripped the Glock.

  Branches crunched. Someone was close.

  I tried to calm my racing heart with deep breaths, but instead of slowing down, it jumped into hyper-drive. I pulled out the flashlight and held it in my right hand, crossed under the gun like Dad had taught me. Maybe it was Adam and not a Rasper. But if a Rasper came that close… Oh, God. It could be a pack of Raspers. They traveled in groups. Ready to attack.

  A shape crossed the front of the cave. I hit the button on the flashlight, hoping to temporarily blind the Rasper.

  A crash thundered through the cave. “Goddammit.”

  I turned off the light and jumped up. “I almost shot you! Don’t you know I’m always armed? There are Raspers out there.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I heard the wheezing. Now be quiet.” My words were harsh.

  We stood there. The thumping of my heart roared in my ears.

  “I don’t hear anything.” Adam whispered.

  “Where were you?” At least the Raspers hadn’t gotten him. I felt like smiling, but didn’t. Something about the whole situation still seemed off.

  “I went to get some sticks to start a fire. Maybe you heard me huffing as I came back. Or it could have been an animal. I didn’t hear anything.”