Shocked (3 page)

The sun wakes me. The fire is now just a few smoldering embers in
the fireplace. I stand quietly and stretch. The angle of the sun makes me believe it’s early. Lucas is sprawled on the floor next to me. Carefully I climb over him to get to the bathroom. When I return he’s sitting up and appears much more clear-headed than myself.

He smiles and I grunt a response before heading into the kitchen. After a quick breakfast we repack our bags with the most we dare carry and make our way back outside. Bright. That’s the word. With all of this morning
sun reflecting off of the snow it’s too damn bright. Maybe I’m a little cranky, too.

Although really, what else should I be? I don’t know if there’s a reason to make this journey or if anything’s worth it anymore. What choice do I have, huh? That’s right. None! No flipping choice at all.
Gah!

I kick at a snow mound which does nothing to relieve my anger and instead finds me sprawled on my ass in the middle of the street. I’m not hurt. If anything now I’m just more
upset. So naturally (in my fit of discontent) I let loose one frustrated scream. Because honestly, who’s going to hear it?

To Lucas’ credit he doesn’t even snicker. Maybe he’s just being nice (or maybe
he fears I’ll zap him) but he doesn’t say anything smart as he helps me up. “You okay?”

I nod
not really wanting to speak. Lucas ignores my outburst as we continue down the main strip. He’s cautious. It begins to lighten my mood slightly—mainly because there’s no reason for it. I’m still too grumpy to say anything though, so I meander behind him and try not to fall again. My butt’s wet enough already from the last time I fell in the snow.

Lucas begins
to check cars. After the first two he shoots over a look that kicks me into gear. Whatever I’m dealing with right now isn’t his fault. He’s just trying to help and my little hissy fit isn’t getting us any closer to where we need to be. I move to the opposite side of the street and begin checking cars for keys. After all of them end up keyless I spy a house and wander inside. Lucas finds me rummaging through the kitchen.

“Hey, we got enough food for now.” He’s
looks at me like I’m losing it.

I move to reassure him and see what I’ve been looking for hanging behind him on the wall. I grin and reach behind him to pluck the keys off of the hook. He tenses for a second, but visibly relaxes when I hold the keys out to him and take a step back.

Lucas’s whole face lights up when he grabs the keys out of my hand. “Awesome, good job!”

“Thanks, maybe we can save some time. Now we just have to find the car they go to.”

“That should be easy enough.” We step outside and Lucas hits the key fob. A shiny sedan beeps and flashes its lights. Just like that we have transportation. Lucas looks at me. “You want to drive? I mean, you did find the keys and all.”

“No, you go ahead. I don’t have much experience behind the wheel.”

He shrugs but opens the passenger door for me. I toss my bag into the back and move to pull my door shut when I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. Lucas tosses his own bag in the back and shuts the door before he notices what I’m staring at.

“Crap! Kat shut the door, let’s go.” Lucas says brusquely, but not unkindly. I listen and can’t move my line of sight from the soldiers
that make their way closer to us.

The second my door clicks shut Lucas peels out. The sedan is having trouble finding traction on the snow. Lucas manages to get us moving and right this moment
I’m really glad that I let him drive. I look behind us when the rest of them come into view. I realize how close to danger we are. One of them raises their weapon. Its stream of grey fog shoots after us. Lucas sees it in the rearview mirror and almost flips the car rounding a corner on the snowy road trying to avoid it.

“We should’ve left last night.” Lucas says more to himself than me (I think). “They must’ve traced the video chat. But I don’t know how they got here so fast.”

I swallow hard and look back again while Lucas turns down another street. “General Carch?” My voice is barely above a whisper.

“Has to be.” Lucas growls. “Don’t worry, we can lose them.” He hits the main road and starts driving faster. We’re almost to the edge of town when another soldier moves in front of us, weapon aimed. Before he can shoot it, I open my window. “What are you doing?” Lucas yells over the wind.

“Saving our ass!” I let the energy pour from me. It feels good after being bottled up for so long. The poor soldier never stood a chance. Lucas races the car through the burning soldier remnants. I create a powerful sphere and toss it as far as possible behind us. There’ll be no spread of the infection if I can help it. I feel a bit of guilt for the soldiers who may still be there. Although undoubtedly they’re one-hundred percent aware of what’s coming out of their weapons.

I sink back into my seat and shut the window. Lucas doesn’t say anything, so I fire up the radio. I’m happy to find a CD in the player and crank it up. Maybe the music can drown out my thoughts.

The gas lasts longer than either of us expect. Unfortunately it’s not far enough to find another place to refuel. Lucas says it’s probably for the best. It’ll make it harder for them to find us. While I see the logic, I’ll sure miss watching the world fly by.

The road’s long behind us and we pick our way through the snow in the woods. Lucas has a compass he continues to check, ensuring we’re heading in a southwestern direction.

“Do you know where we are?” I ask.

He pulls out a map and points to a region on it. “Somewhere in here.”

We make it to Missouri which is better than Ohio, at least for our purpose. Of course with our severe lack of transportation the going is about to get much slower.

On my own I figure I can cover around ten miles a day on foot. Lucas and I usually set a good pace, but the math doesn’t lie. Without a car this trip is going to take forever. Coincidently that’s way more time than I want to wait for some answers.

We break through the trees. The sunlight that reflects off of the snow is blinding. It takes a few moments for my eyes to adjust. When they do I can’t help but notice the houses in the distance. It’s not a town—just a few houses scattered along the hillside. Lucas sees them too, pulling his gun from its holster and making a shush sign with his finger.

Even though I’m obviously more effective than a gun (should we get in trouble) I humor his knight-in-shining-armor routine. I mimic his crouch and stealthy moves through the tall grass. Maybe because we haven’t seen anyone in a while or maybe because I just don’t care anymore, it doesn’t concern me. With Lucas so intense it’s far too easy to crack ninja jokes right now. I fight the urge and refrain.

The first house is as silent we approach. No lights or movement appear from inside. Lucas makes some weird hand movements (which I totally don’t understand but assume means keep quiet and stay behind him.)

Next he kicks in the back door all movie-style like, pointing his gun to every corner. When it’s obvious that it’s devoid of anyone else, I follow his motion to step inside. The kitchen is drab. Pale faded yellow tiles scattered with mystery stains lay under our feet. Wood paneling lines the walls and cabinets making for monotony. The appliances look older than the dirt and grease they’re caked in. A shiver runs up my spine when I see something crawling in the corner. I quickly take a step away from it. I may be able to stop the nanobots, but I’m still a girl and creepy-crawly things freak me out.

Lucas moves into the even shabbier living room. Following cautiously, now I’m more scared of possible infestations than survivors. I’m grateful when Lucas declares the house safe. Even he’s ready to move on. My eye catches on the only shiny object we’ve seen so far, a pocket knife. I pocket it on our way out the front door. Even if I don’t really need to stab anything, it can still come in handy.

We avoid the path and swim back into the tall grass. Halfway to the next house we see something encouraging. The encouragement quickly changes to apprehension when a sound grows impossibly loud.

It has to be at least ten dogs—if not more. Possibly some sort of bloodhound by the sound of it: a low pitched yet almost squeaky non-stop sound. Each dog has a slightly different tone, interweaving with the next. Lucas pulls me down in the tall grass as the first dog comes into view over the crest of a small hill to the north.

“They can smell us, you know.” I say in the loudest whisper I dare. This earns me a stern look of disapproval from Lucas. I throw up my hands in a ‘what do you want from me’ gesture.

Before he can get any snarkier a group of burly voices finds their way to us (over the sound of the howls). My cocky attitude disappears along with the pallor of my face. Lucas mirrors my expression of terror, but he reacts quicker. Lucas slaps my arm and points behind the house we just left. He crawls on his belly through the grass, using his forearms to pull him forward. As much as I want to, I fight the urge to poke my head out of the grass to take a look around. I follow Lucas instead.

My mind races as I go—surely from the adrenaline—though also due to the fact that there are people.
People!
Memories of not so long ago: of a vacant town and the malicious men there swim through the grass in front of me.
Brie, Mason, Jared and I stop to refuel. When the boys don’t return right away we think they’re in trouble. I go off after them and leave Brie to watch the Jeep and Baby Bear. When I manage to locate the guys, they aren’t alone. A group of men- really bad men- have them at gunpoint in the middle of the street. From my vantage point on top of a building I have a clear view when another of them drags Brie onto the street to join them. She has worries about me and leaves the safety of the well-hidden Jeep. Once it becomes clear that these men plan on killing Mason and Jared (and keeping Brie for other icky, too gross to get into things) I have no choice other than to act. It’s the first time I use my power to harm another human—but sadly not the last.

Reality snaps back into place when Lucas pulls me the rest of the way behind the house. My hands are fists at my sides, ready should I need them at a moment’s notice. We plaster ourselves to the back of the house. The rotting stucco of the foundation sticks to our pants and crackles softly under our feet. The sun hangs low in the sky. It makes it just a bit harder to see and casts long shadows in the yard beside us. My heart has yet to calm down and still pounds furiously in my chest while the sounds of both man and beast grow closer.

Lucas has such intent focus on the side of the house that he doesn’t take the time to look around. I on the other hand begin to look around frantically for some escape—anything that will save me from taking the lives of more people! Just when we can hear the growl of a dog right around the corner from us, I see it. I grab Lucas and shove him under the meager back porch. It’s dark, small and filthy, but we quickly cram together inside it. Lucas leans an extra piece of disgusting discarded ply-board over our makeshift entrance.

The dog still comes. He moseys right on up to our hidey-hole and begins to sniff. Soon after a couple of his friends join him. They whine and scratch at the ply-board. My breath hitches and my body tenses. I wonder when they’re going to break through. My conscious doesn’t like hurting animals any better than it does people. I feel Lucas slip his hand in mine and squeeze gently. It’s funny the sense of camaraderie terror can bring.

With a creak and a crack I’m sure that the barrier is going to give way any second—when an ear piercing whistle sounds. All the dogs immediately retreat.

“C’mon now, you crazy dogs, go eat. What’d you get caught down there today, huh? Raccoon? Rabbit?” The voice gets closer with every word. Lucas raises his gun in front of me. There’s not enough room for us to reposition in the small space. The voice continues, “I hope it’s not another opossum, those suckers are mean as all hell.” With that our barricade is torn off and our cover blown. “Nope,” the guy looks me up and down. “You definitely ain’t no opossum…” His voice trails off when he sees Lucas’ gun aimed at him. His arms go towards the sky and he makes it obvious that he doesn’t want to be shot.

“Take ten steps backward.” Lucas says in that commanding voice again. The man complies and Lucas nudges me gently to climb out, quickly following me.

The guy looks nervously between the two of us. “I really don’t have anything worth much-“