Once he had reached the semi-trucks, he saw that they weren’t quite touching. If it wasn’t for his hyper-focused mind, he never would have noticed. Reece figured that the small opening changed his odds of survival from nil to requiring a miracle, so he aimed for the small gap between the trucks and the chasm just beyond them. He hit the gap at full speed and somehow didn’t hit either vehicle as he sped past. Not having any time to correct after he hit the gap, he rode the bike right off the jagged edge of the broken highway as it curved upward to go over the river. The cycle flew across the wide chasm like an arrow, pulling him along for the ride. Reece smiled at the exhilaration of the moment.
“What a way to die!” he thought to himself as he soared through the open air.
As Reece’s perception still had everything moving slowly, he looked down at the flowing river below, with its rushing waters forming white caps across the river’s width. The wild rapids spanned at least sixty meters. He looked back up and watched as the other side’s jagged edge grew closer. It would be close, but he thought he might just clear it. All he could do now was hope that wherever he was about to land would be a nice flat slope downward.
Luck was with him as he hit the other end of the bridge on a downward angle. The highway’s steep slope leveled off near ground level just past the river’s wide banks. He immediately needed to regain control over the Helios’s break-neck speed. There were several scattered wrecks on this side of the bridge, and they were all in his way. He slowed down as quickly as he could and swerved to the left, just missing an overturned jeep. That put him on the course of t-boning a minivan, forcing him to swerve back to the right, hard. All the while, he continued to slow down as quickly as the bike would allow.
Once clear of the wreckage and realizing he was still alive, Reece took a split second to look back and saw the lead wolf attempting to jump the gap after him. His concern for the lilitu girl rising, he tried to spot her. On the giant wolf’s back, Reece saw the determined lilitu girl holding her spear with one hand and the scruff of the dread wolf’s neck with the other. Reece could tell the mutated wolf wasn’t going to make it across.
Instead of riding it down, Karina let go and sprang from the beasts falling body with enough power to clear the remainder of the huge gap. She stuck her landing and slid for a second before using her spear to propel herself forward and maintain her momentum, racing down the long slope of the highway.
Reece saw the fear on her face as she frantically scanned the area. He saw relief wash over her as their eyes met. Relief and happiness spread themselves through Reece’s body as he came to realize that not only was he still alive, but this girl truly cared about him. She was becoming a true companion, perhaps even a friend.
Those thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant before remembering that they were being chased. He and Karina both looked back at the broken bridge to check on the wolves’ pursuit. Two more of the relentless wolves tried the jump and failed as well, their flailing bodies crashing down and breaking on the rocky bank of the raging river below. The rest of the wolves stopped at the edge of the broken bridge and howled in frustration at their escaped quarry. The unnatural howls were throaty and haunting, causing a shiver to run up Reece’s spine.
Not wanting to tempt their fate, the pair continued at a break-neck pace for the better part of an hour before slowing to a speed that wasn’t so dangerously life-threatening and reckless. Reece checked the helmet’s display. They were still on course for the Cape and they had about a half-day of traveling left before they reached it. The bike had about a quarter charge remaining and would need a recharge soon.
However, the sky was starting to darken with black clouds and the crack of thunder echoed in the distance. Reece pulled the Helios over to the side of the highway to speak with Karina and come up with a new plan. He ended up stopping on a long straightaway, near an abandoned school bus. Karina stopped and leaned heavily against the bus, panting hard as Reece pulled off his helmet.
“We need to find shelter soon,” said Reece as he looked over at Karina, noticing that she wasn’t looking so good.
She had several scratches on her left arm and her left leg had nasty-looking teeth marks across the thigh. She had also been running and fighting straight through for over an hour. She was clearly exhausted and looked pale and miserable. She merely nodded in understanding at Reece’s words. Feeling pity for her, he patted the seat in front of him which cheered her slightly.
She walked over and hopped onto the solar bike in front of him, resting her spear on the asphalt as she wiggled into position. She took her spear in both hands and twisted it. Sliding the top into the bottom, she shortened it by half. Hugging the bike with her legs she cradled the spear across her lap as Reece put his helmet back on.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Reece looked at the small platinum blonde head in front of him, seeing it nod in assent. Energizing the bike, they headed out. Reece quickly began looking for someplace to hole up for the night as it quickly darkened, storm clouds rolling in. Reece considered that perhaps they’d stay longer if the place sufficed. They could both use the rest and the cycle needed some amount of sunlight to recharge.
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The pair continued riding for another half-hour before it started to sprinkle. Reece still hadn’t seen anything promising. The couple of rest stops that they passed were places of carnage, and the second one was burned to the ground. About an hour later, the rain had started pouring down, forcing Reece to slow down or risk hydroplaning off the road or into an abandoned vehicle. They were drenched and still hadn’t seen any place that would do. Within minutes, the rain came down like a deluge.
As they cut through the sheets of pouring rain, Karina raised her arm and pointed off to the right. Reece squinted in that direction and could just make out the general shape of a building in the darkness. He took an off-ramp half a kilometer up the road and doubled back down a frontage road to the building. It turned out to be a cheap-looking motel, the type where the room’s doors opened right into the parking lot. With no other obvious options, Reece pulled into the parking space in front of the motel’s office.
It would work for the night, but they’d try and find something more secure to stay in for the following day or two. He parked the bike under the front eave of the motel and helped Karina off before hopping off himself. His legs were stiff from riding and the cold rain. He painfully stretched them both before heading towards the motel’s office.
“Wait here,” he told his shivering companion.
Reece sloshed his way through ankle-deep water to the motel’s office. Luckily, the front of the motel was up a good 20 centimeters from the pavement of the parking lot, so it wasn’t flooded from the rainstorm. Once inside, he was able to find the keys for the rooms and grabbed a set of keycards for the ground floor room near the bike, suite 103. As he examined the keycards, he noticed a lady’s foot sticking out from behind the front desk. It was desiccated and lying in a pool of blood, dark and dry from the long time that had passed since it had spilled.
Reece shivered, both from the cold and the realization that something very bad had happened right here...hopefully a very long time ago. Shrugging it off, he left the office and returned to his companion. He showed Karina the keycard and then approached the room, checking through the window to see if it was safe. He couldn’t see much, but it looked undisturbed. In the darkened room, he made out a couple of beds still made up from before the world went dark. Unlocking the room, he ushered Karina inside and then pulled the bike inside as well. He figured it would be best to keep it out of sight and allow it to dry off.
By the time he had closed and locked the door, Karina had stumbled over and passed out on one of the beds. He brushed his hand across her arm when he went to cover her up and felt how icy cold it was. Trying to wake her, he gently shook her sleeping form. With no response from the frozen girl, he shook her roughly, even slapping her face. It was no use. She was completely unconscious. Reece suddenly felt a pang of fear for her. Doing a quick search of the motel room, he found some towels and used them to dry her off. With the wet clothes, it was a futile effort.
With no good choice, he carefully removed her wet clothes and tossed them onto a chair near the pair of twin beds in the room. When she was completely stripped bare, he toweled the rest of her dry. He couldn’t help but get an eyeful, the girl’s beauty all but enchanting him. Swallowing hard, he placed her under the bed’s comforter and sheet, resting her head on a towel he had placed over her pillow to soak up the rainwater from her wet hair. Reece noticed that her face had softened, and she looked at peace as her body warmed up.
Once he had her situated, he hung her clothes to dry in the bathroom and found a plastic cup in the motel’s bathroom. Using a utility knife from Naeva’s bag, he cut the meaty part of his thumb and let his blood dribble into the cup until it was a little over half-full. He bandaged his wounded thumb with a first aid kit from the same bag, and then put the cup to Karina’s blue-tinged lips. Her once-pink lips were several shades darker than they should be. The rest of her was several shades lighter, offering a sickening contrast that gave her the appearance of death. He desperately hoped that the warmth and his blood would help the girl.
With the cup in hand, he sat down next to her head and slid his hand behind it. Tilted it slightly, Reece carefully fed her his blood from the cup. She didn’t regain consciousness, but she drank the cup of blood down nonetheless, her lips and mouth moving of their own accord. Within a few seconds, she had completely drained the cup dry. Now all Reece could do was wait to see if she would be okay.
Reece left her to rest, going over to the window to make sure there wasn’t anyone about. It had gotten dark and the rain was still coming down hard, though it seemed to have thankfully let up some. Realizing he was hungry, Reece grabbed a jug of water and a self-heating can of chicken noodle soup. Once he had prepared the simple meal, he propped himself up in a chair near the window where he could monitor their surroundings. Once his meal was finished, the anxious astronaut killed time by sharpening Aika’s katana to a razor's edge. He had to do it by feel because it was pitch black in the room by this point.
The guard duty may not have been necessary, but at least it helped pass the time. Besides, Reece knew it would be better to be safe than sorry. The driving rain kept up all night and the only times everything wasn’t inky darkness was when lightning flashed across the sky. More than once, he could have sworn he saw something large and winged in the sky as the lightning crackled across the cloudy night sky. As the rain slowed to a sprinkle and the sky began to lighten with the coming dawn, Reece’s exhaustion finally overcame his anxiety and he passed out in the chair.
Reece found himself tied to a post with Naeva, Aika, and Karina forming a defensive circle around him as the zombie hordes came on. They killed and killed, but still more came. Naeva was the first to go down, followed shortly by Aika. Then Karina stopped and just looked at Reece with deep sadness written across her face. A single tear fell from one eye as she dropped her spear and let herself be taken. Then the zombies came for him too...