A Dangerous Road: (Post Apocalyptic Fiction) (Collision Course Book 4) Read online

“It’s not funny, okay?” Rocky shot back.

  “You were one of the main hunters back at camp,” Lexa reminded her best friend.

  “Seeing an animal’s blood and insides isn’t nearly the same as seeing your own.”

  “Makes sense,” Lexa said as she attempted to stifle another fit of giggles.

  For as long as she’d known Rocky, he was always the tough, macho type. If someone needed help moving something heavy, Rocky would volunteer. If a wild animal encroached their territory, he was the first one to grab a crossbow. She’d never seen Rocky weakened by anything, until now. But not everyone was the same on the inside as they acted on the outside.

  “It’s going to hurt a little,” Lexa said more kindly.

  “I know.” He’d grabbed another piece of cloth to put in his mouth to bite on.

  Long ago were the days of medicine and painkillers. According to the stories her parents told her, back before the world essentially ended, if someone was hurt or needed surgery, they’d get lots of pills to make them feel better. Not anymore, though. Now, if you were in pain, you felt every single second of it. There were no more doctors, and no more companies left to manufacture the pills. You either suffered, or you put an end to your suffering. Those were your only choices.

  Lexa cleared her throat. “On the count of three, I’m going to start, alright?”

  Rocky nodded and put the cloth in his mouth to prepare for the stitches. He trusted Lexa to do the best job she was capable of. She wasn’t the camp’s medic or anything, but she occasionally watched the others during procedures.

  “One, two-,” Lexa inserted the needle into Rocky’s leg, “three.”

  4

  Lexa stitched Rocky’s leg despite his protests that he didn’t need quite as many stitches as she recommended. Eventually, she asked Ivie to come outside and help hold Rocky down for Lexa to finish.

  “If you don’t hold still, you’re going to have a ridiculous scar,” she warned.

  “I don’t care, please stop!” he cried.

  Ten stitches later, the sun peeked above the horizon and cast burnt red hues across the sky. Rocky rested while Ivie and Lexa packed up their mini campsite and spoke of what to do next. All three of them gazed over to the dead cannibal’s body, unable to look away.

  “Should we bury him?” Ivie asked as she narrowed her eyes in disgust.

  “Well, it would be sweet irony to leave him out here to be eaten by the animals,” Rocky said.

  Lexa tore her stare away and walked a few paces to catch her breath. Blood congealed around the man’s wounds, and the sour scent of rot shimmied into the air surrounding him.

  “I don’t want to spend another minute near him,” she said. “He’s not one of ours. We’re not obligated to bury him.”

  Rocky and Ivie agreed. Rocky stood, unbalanced, and tried to hide the pain gleaming in his eyes. Lexa tossed her bag on one shoulder, eager to get away from the spot where the naked man lay.

  In the distance, the ground rumbled slightly, and high-pitched calls floated in the breeze. Ivie looked to her big sister with the memory of the stampede at the zoo on her mind. The sounds were too similar in nature. Could another stampede of wild animals on the loose be happening? Were they coming their way?

  Rocky turned his head and tried to find the exact direction of the commotion. He pointed in the opposite direction. By now, the abhorrent cries were more distinguishable.

  “That sounds like chanting!” Ivie squealed.

  It definitely was not another stampede.

  “We’ve got to get out of here,” Lexa said, her voice shaking. “I don’t know what that is out there, and I don’t want to find out, either.”

  Rocky nodded, and the three of them jogged as fast as they could, Rocky struggling to keep pace, away from the campsite and into thicker brush several yards ahead. The sun, which had risen above the horizon, lit up the forest just enough to see the lush vegetation and animals around them. Lexa, Ivie, and Rocky hid in the trunk of an enormous oak tree that must have been engineered to grow willow branches and leaves instead of its own kind. The long tendrils of the tree swayed in the breeze, and just as Lexa peeked outside of the trunk, she glanced up and saw a golden and black snake wrapped around another branch a few trees away. Its tongue taunted her almost as if were purposely goading her.

  The pounding of footsteps grew louder, and Lexa pulled Ivie closer to her, into her lap. Ivie’s body quivered with fear, and Rocky put his arm around both of them. He wished more than anything that he wasn’t injured so he could protect his girls. In this state, he was nearly useless, a soldier without a gun, a lake without a filter.

  “Aye, lookee here,” one of the savages called to the group. “Eees Neeno!”

  “Ohhh, come on! Ow’d he get ‘imself killed, the old bat?” another voice cried.

  Rocky, Ivie and Lexa looked to each other in fright. They never imagined the man, now known as Neeno, could be part of a pack. How many of them were there out there? Could they track humans like a hunter did its prey? Would they be caught and eaten just as Neeno had tried to do before Ivie killed him?

  “Someone killed ‘im,” the first savage said. “Look at his ‘ead!”

  Ivie gulped as the other cannibals studied her handiwork. Lexa glanced back up and noticed the snake from the nearby branch disappeared. She scanned the dense foliage for any sign of it, though she wasn’t particularly fond of the animal. She couldn’t spot it, but as the cannibals searched around for any clues of their friend’s murderer, Ivie tugged Lexa’s sleeve fiercely. Lexa wanted to smack her baby sister for rustling around, but once she saw the reason, she too wanted to get Rocky’s attention, but she froze instead.

  The snake slithered toward them with a sparkle in its eye. It couldn’t have been fewer than ten feet long. After the world ended and the water supply was tainted, many animals including snakes morphed into longer, wider and more robust versions of themselves. The snake looked like a water snake, but Lexa’s father once told her some venomous snakes have non-poisonous look-alikes. For the life of her, though, she couldn’t remember what made a snake venomous and what didn’t. The snake heading toward them could be safe or a threat, and she had no idea.

  While the cannibals searched around and inched closer and closer to their hiding spot, the snake slithered into the hole in the trunk where Lexa, Ivie, and Rocky hid. Rocky finally noticed the source of the sisters’ commotion and placed his arms around them to try and calm them down. The snake curled up against Lexa, and tears poured down her face. She’d never been this close to a snake, let alone one that could kill her.

  Lexa swore it actually looked back at her, like it knew what she was thinking or wanted to say. It rose and stood nose to nose with Lexa while Ivie prepared to make a run for it. Rocky’s heart pounded, and he tried to hold the girls down and comfort them.

  The snake’s tongue touched the tip of Lexa’s nose, and she squeaked like a mouse a snake would hunt in the dead of night.

  The cannibals stopped their searching and listened for another sound.

  “You ‘ear that?” one asked. “I think Neeno’s killa is ‘idin’ somewhere!”

  Jeers erupted from the rest of the group, and they frantically turned over logs and pushed through the vegetation. Lexa, with the snake in front of her and a group of cannibals behind her, suddenly felt lightheaded and dizzy.

  A cannibal stepped on a twig just on the other side of the tree. The snake diverted its attention away from Lexa and toward the snap. Ivie clung so tightly to Lexa’s arm, she drew blood with her overgrown fingernails.

  The snake abandoned the kids in the tree as it slinked away and ventured toward the cannibal behind the tree trunk. Another moment later a shriek erupted from the cannibal, and he dove away from the snake, back toward his naked brethren.

  “Snake!” he screamed as though he were a little girl.

  “It must be what killed Neeno!” another said.

  The snake continued its slimy pat
h toward the cannibals, sending them running far away in the opposite direction.

  Finally, once the thump of the bare feet against the earth dissipated, Ivie, Lexa, and Rocky let out the air they’d been holding in. Lexa collapsed against Rocky and continued to cry, but these were tears of happiness and relief.

  “The snake saved us,” Ivie whispered.

  “Yeah, and it could have killed us, too,” Rocky said, his voice shaking.

  “Let’s get out of here before it changes its mind and comes back,” Lexa said, heaving and still trying to catch her breath.

  The trio, without needing any more convincing, trudged away from the tree trunk and the snake, which hadn’t been poisonous after all.

  5

  “On the road again,” Ivie sang to herself.

  Lexa, Ivie, and Rocky stayed parallel to the main road but didn’t dare follow it directly. The closer they ventured toward the City of Lightning, the higher their chances of coming across more cannibals, gangs or random people who wouldn’t think twice about killing them for sport or to quench their thirst for drama.

  Up ahead, Lexa noticed the abandoned city littered with cars missing tires. She’d been here only days earlier in a mad panic after she discovered the gruesome fate of her camp. Then it hadn’t taken long to reach the abandoned city as she ran on the main road and sprinted as fast as she could. This time, it had taken longer to reach the place as traipsing through the forest avoiding cannibals took up a lot of time.

  Lexa felt for her knapsack where she knew the purifier she’d found was safely in tow. Sure, she still needed batteries to turn the device on, but it couldn’t hurt to bring it along. Just in case.

  Ahead, dozens and dozens of broken-down vehicles lay before them. Most were covered in orangish rust, while many others were nearly hidden as vines wrapped around them as though trying to devour every last piece of metal.

  Tons of buildings stood tall but disheveled before them. Once a bustling metropolis, it was reduced to rubble and decay after the world and society came crashing down. Buzzards soared overhead squawking raucously at the teenagers.

  “Why are they following us?” Ivie asked timidly.

  “They’re waiting for their next meal,” Rocky replied as he limped along.

  Ivie cringed and forced herself not to stare at the large beasts flying above them. Instead, she focused on the road ahead, uneven with a distinct fissure dividing the pavement. More exotic and overly plump birds of prey wove in and out between the crumbling buildings ahead. The sky appeared gloomy above, which was no surprise, as with every step they came closer and closer to the City of Lightning.

  Rocky paused and leaned against one of the cars, which surely hadn’t run in decades. He took out his canteen, and with a look of fright, he poured the last few drops into his mouth.

  “What is it?” Lexa asked.

  “I don’t have any more water,” he said, his voice shaky.

  “What do you mean?” Lexa asked. She strode toward him to inspect his canteen for herself.

  “You had some yesterday?” Lexa pointed out.

  Rocky’s heart sank as he studied his duffel bag he retrieved from his old camp only days ago. Inside, the gun, a bottle of vodka, and a few first-aid supplies remained. The bottom of the bag felt damp and mildewy.

  Lexa followed Rocky’s eyes and felt the bag, too.

  “I think my canteen was punctured,” Rocky said, dread filling his voice.

  Ivie clung to Lexa’s waist, and around them, the birds descended lower and lower toward them.

  “Let’s all just take a deep breath, okay? We can figure this out,” Lexa said.

  “I need a new canteen,” Rocky said.

  Ivie let go of her big sister and started walking around and peering into the abandoned cars. “Do you think there are any canteens in here?”

  Lexa sighed. “I don’t know, Ivie. These cars have been here for years. I imagine they’ve already been looted a ton. Not sure if we’ll find anything important.”

  Rocky nodded, and his shoulders sank. One less water bottle meant one less source of water. Now, only Lexa and Ivie had water with them, and their own supply was dwindling. If they didn’t find a new water source and soon, they’d be dead before they had a chance to save the camp.

  “Can’t hurt to try, right?” Ivie asked.

  “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s dig around, but not for too long.”

  Rocky stood away from the car where he leaned and limped toward another abandoned car a few feet away. Both Lexa and Ivie started searching while thunder and lightning roared and flashed only miles away.

  Ivie crawled into a once-red truck and yelped loudly after seeing something in the back seat. Lexa abandoned the vehicle she’d climbed into and jogged toward her sister.

  “Ivie? Everything okay?” she asked.

  Ivie crawled backward out of the truck with a triumphant look on her face.

  “Told ya so!” She stuck out her tongue and revealed an extremely worn but rather clean canteen in her hand.

  “How did you find that?” Rocky’s eyes bulged with surprise.

  Ivie shrugged. “You guys really couldn’t survive this trip without me.”

  “Unbelievable.” Rocky shook his head. “Well, now that I’ve got a new, or rather used, canteen, we still don’t have any water.”

  Lexa bit her lip and scratched her head as she contemplated their current predicament. “Maybe we could keep searching around here for some batteries?”

  “Okay, that might be a stretch,” Ivie said.

  Rocky limped toward her with a look of determination plastered across his face. “Couldn’t hurt. Maybe our good luck will continue?”

  Ivie burst into laughter and clutched her belly. “Good luck? Good luck? We almost died when a cannibal came to our camp and then when his friends came looking for him!”

  “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, small fry,” Rocky said and rolled his eyes.

  He opened another car door, and it squeaked so loudly, Lexa and Ivie covered their ears. After a few minutes, Lexa and Ivie searched more cars too, but all they found were human and animal bones, decades-old trash and animal droppings.

  As the sun began to set, Lexa called the search for batteries off. “We’re going to have to find another way for clean water. We can’t stay here all night searching for them.”

  Rocky hung his head and nodded. “You’re right. I was just hoping we’d find some and be able to go back to camp tonight.”

  Lexa’s heart broke for her best friend. She assumed Rocky thought about his father and wondered if he was still alive. How many of the other infected were still alive, too?

  “Everything will be okay. We just gotta find those berries, find a new source of clean water, go back to camp and relocate to where that new water is,” Lexa said, waning optimism echoing in between her words.

  “Yeah, no big deal,” Rocky said. He slumped against a car and slid down its metal frame.

  Ivie sat down beside Rocky and put her head against his shoulder. He patted her head and looked down at his feet. Lexa knew that feeling, hopelessness. It was the same way she felt when she realized their water was contaminated and it’d been her fault.

  “We should get going,” Lexa said as she noticed the sun had fallen below the zenith of the sky. “I’d like to get a little closer to the City of Lightning before it’s night.”

  Rocky and Ivie nodded. Ivie stood first and pulled Rocky up. His limp grew subtly worse as the day wore on and even though he tried to hide and mask the pain etched across his face with every step, Lexa noticed it and her heart ached for him. If only they had better medicine or supplies with them, she could help him heal faster.

  Rocky stared ahead, past the abandoned cars and buildings before them. He put his hand on his forehead to block out the sun. “I’d say we can get in another five or ten miles before the sun sets.”

  “Let’s do it,” Ivie said and proceeded on the path ahead.

  The trio walked i
n silence as they maneuvered across the abandoned cars. The vultures flew overhead scouring the ground for their next meal. Lexa hoped it wouldn’t be them. She thought back to the group of cannibals and wondered if there were any other tribes of flesh eaters around these parts. She’d always heard about them but assumed it was an easy way for the bigger kids to scare the younger ones. Now, though, she knew they existed and weren’t to be messed with.

  As they neared the end of the abandoned city with the empty cars, one of the last few buildings that hadn’t crumbled stood tall and mighty in front of them.

  “I’d say here is better than nowhere to stay for the night,” Lexa said.

  The cracks in the concrete were filled with ivy, and dust covered the untouched parts of the building. The sun fell faster now, and shades of periwinkle and rust splashed across the sky.

  Ivie, Lexa, and Rocky stepped through the threshold of the building. All the glass had since been shattered and lay spread across the sun-bleached sidewalk. As they made their way deeper into the foyer of the first floor, mildew and darkness greeted them. It was so silent inside that Lexa could hear the pounding of her heart inside her chest. Ivie gripped her sister’s hand and held her breath.

  “Well, should we find a place to sleep?” Rocky asked.

  “If we can even get sleep in this place,” Ivie said and shuddered.

  Outside, thunder boomed and shook the building. It couldn’t have been any more ominous, foreshadowing what was to come.

  6

  That night, Lexa couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. She counted sheep in her head, made sure to breathe evenly in and out, and she even tried imagining a vacation on a beach to soothe her. In the end, though, none of her tricks worked. Eventually, she crept out of their tent and roamed around the building. She held a candle to guide the way and managed to find the largest office on the floor.

  Inside, a gusty breeze carrying mist from the storm outside caressed her cheeks, covering them with soot and ash. Faded papers were strewn about, and an office chair lay upside down. The wooden desk met a terrible fate at one time and was smashed to pieces. It barely stood on its own.