Chapter 2
Shelly's feet hurt. She had been walking barefoot for the past little while, along the gravel roads and through farmers' fields.
She had kicked off her shoes - one almost as soon as she had left the farm, the other a long time after, when they had changed direction and headed down a new road. She was trying to leave something to help Adam find her. She wasn't sure if he'd come across the shoes, but she didn't have anything else with which to use. She had to hope that these would be enough.
One of the men pushed her
.
Ric
k
, that was his name.
"Hurry the fuck up," he told her. "You're slowing down."
"I'm tired." She knew that it would have been best to remain quiet, but she couldn't stop herself.
"You're tired? You're lucky you're even walking! With what you did to Jim back there we should have fuckin' poked out your eyes or some shit."
"Then why didn't you?" Again, she should have kept quiet.
"Wh
y
didn'
t
we?" Both Rick and his friend, Joe, started to laugh. "Will you listen to this little chick? Balls of steel, I tell ya!" He pushed her once more and continued to walk.
Shelly followed. She didn't have much of a choice. She knew that she wouldn't be able to fight against these men. She couldn't outrun them, either. And even if she could, her feet hurt too much to try.
She lowered her head and looked at the ground. She promised herself that she wasn't going to say anything else, no matter what.
She watched her bare feet pass one by one through her vision. Over and over. She tried to focus on them. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she kept picturing the man that she had killed. She could imagine his face exploding once she had pulled the trigger. Half of his cheek flying off into the air. The burst of blood. Bone exposed.
She tried to push the images out of her mind, but couldn't. She saw the man falling, crashing onto the ground.
Rick pushed her for the third time. "What's your fuckin' problem? Why are you walking so slow?"
Shelly squeezed her mouth shut tight.
"It's her fuckin' shoes," Joe shouted. "They're gone!"
Rick looked down. "Where the fuck are they?" He turned to Joe. "She was wearing some, wasn't she?"
"I think she was. I can't remember."
Rick stopped and reached out to grab Shelly's shoulders. He faced her so that she couldn't look away from him. "You were wearing shoes, weren't you?"
Shelly continued to squeeze her lips together.
Rick slapped her. Her head shot to the side.
"Answer me when I'm talking to you," he said. "Were you wearing shoes or not?"
"No."
"No, what? No, you weren't wearing shoes? Or, no, you won't answer me?"
Shelly smirked. She had actually meant that she wasn't going to answer him. He hit her again.
"Answer me, you little bitch," Rick demanded. "Were you wearing shoes or not?"
"No, I wasn't."
Rick cocked his head. He thought that the girl was lying, but couldn't be sure. "If you've kicked 'em off, hoping that your friend will find them, h
e
won'
t
. And even if he does, we'll be long gone before he can do anything about it."
Shelly didn't what to think about that. She needed to tell herself that Adam would find her shoes and they would lead him to her. He would save her and take her away.
She took a deep breath.
"I didn't kick them off," she said. "I wasn't wearing any. When I heard you guys outside, I came out of the house. I didn't think to put them on."
The lie was plausible enough. And the two men seemed to accept it.
"Good," Rick said. "Now let's get moving. We're almost there."
Shelly lowered her head and followed.
This time, she felt the smile creep back onto her face. She definitely wasn't happy about where she was heading, but she had felt as though she had won some type of victory with her lie.
She had fooled them. And Adam still had a chance of finding her.
Chapter 3
Adam ran over to the gun cabinet. He could hear th
e
thing
s
outside, banging on the door. He tried to ignore them.
Lifting his keys, he placed one of them into the lock. It fit. His fingers shook as he quickly tried to turn it.
The key didn't budge.
"Damn!"
He pulled it out and tried another. That one didn't work, either. Nor did the third or fourth.
"Damn, damn damn!"
He started to panic
.
This needed to work!
He grabbed the lock and began shaking it wildly, hoping that it would come undone. But it didn't take long to realize that it wasn't going to work.
He turned around and looked for something to smash the lock
.
Surely there would be something in her
e
. A hammer. A shovel. A crowbar.
He ran over to a work bench. There was a saw on it, but he didn't think that that would work. The blade looked too weak to cut through steel.
He searched the walls and saw a hammer. It wasn't big, but he thought that he might be able to bash the lock until it busted.
He ran over and took it off the wall.
Back at the cabinet, he began hitting the lock. Each crack brought about a new revived bout of screaming from th
e
thing
s
outside. Adam ignored them.
The hammer rose and fell against the lock, clanging loudly. It didn't seem to do much else.
Adam started to hit harder, faster. He could see a few slashes etch in the lock. Nothing that would come close to breaking it.
"Damn!" It wasn't going to work.
Adam turned and threw the hammer across the room. Then he turned around and began searching frantically around once more. He ran in circles. Checked each corner or the room. Looked for something
-
anythin
g
- to help him.
This was a barn
.
There had to be something that he could use
!
He saw some rakes and shovels. There were some shears and a long knife of some sort.
Adam stopped. He had to make a decision.
He looked back at the barn door. The three creatures continued to bang against it.
Then he walked over to the far wall and picked up a rake. He wasn't going to get into the gun cabinet. And he could no longer wait in the barn. He had to get out there to find Shelly before it was too dark.
The rake was better than nothing. He had to try.
He made his way back to the barn door, holding the rake tightly in his hands. Once he opened the door, he would just have to start poking them with it. It seemed like a pathetic plan, but it was the best he could come up with.
He approached the door, slowly, and reached out his hand to place it on the latch. Once he pulled it open he wouldn't have much time. They'd be on him quickly.
He took a deep breath and crouched down. He could feel the cold metal underneath his fingertips. One pull and the fighting would begin.
He steadied himself, took another deep breath. Then he closed his eyes and stared to count. One. Two. Three. He opened his eyes and squeezed the latch tightly. He was ready to open it.
Yet, before he did, his focus shifted back to the work bench. He hadn't noticed it before, but hanging underneath it were a set of keys. He couldn't believe it
,
they had been here the whole time
!
He took his hand off of the lock and rushed over to them. There were only two on the ring. He brought them over to the gun cabinet and placed one of them into the lock to try.
It clicked open.
Adam let out a small cheer and raised his fist into the air in excitement
.
He'd get the guns. And he'd get Shelly
.
He pulled open the latch.
As he looked them over, a sense of disappointment washed over him
.
They had been here all of this time. If he had only found them earlier, he could have protected her…
He shook those feelings away and grabbed hold of the shotgun. He had never used one before, but it didn't look too difficult. He'd just need to find ammunition.
He looked down. There was another locked box. He used the other key to open it. Inside was ammunition of several different sizes.
Adam grabbed at the ones that looked like they'd fit. They were thick, red. He loaded several into the chamber. Then he walked back to the barn door.
He should test it first
,
he realized.
He raised the gun and aimed it at the door. He steadied the barrel and pulled the trigger. There was a loud blast and Adam was rocked backward.
The gun blew a large hole in the door. Adam was surprised at the size of it.
The creatures were looking through from the other side now. They were screaming and trying to claw their way into the barn. Adam watched them with some type of fascination too.
He walked up closer. He could see scratches along their faces. The veins in their foreheads were bulging. Their eyes were bloodshot.
He raised the gun and pressed it against one of the creatures heads. It tried to grab at the barrel, but didn't get much of a hold before Adam pulled the trigger. The creature's head exploded in a burst of blood and flesh. Adam watched it disappear from view.
He turned to the second one and did the same.
The third one continued to try to get at him. It hadn't noticed that its companions had died, that their heads had been blown off. It didn't know that it was next.
Adam took a deep breath and levelled the shotgun. He pulled the trigger.
The creature's head disintegrated before his eyes. It's body fell heavily to the ground.
Adam stood there. Everything quiet, except for the ringing in his ears. He could smell the gunpowder.
Without much more thought, he turned back to the gun cabinet and prepared to take them all.
Chapter 4
Adam had the guns laid out neatly on the work bench. There were four of them: the shotgun he had used to kill the three creatures, two hunting rifles, and another that looked like a combination of the two.
He looked at them lying there. Black steel tubes. Firepower. Protection. He was sure that he could do some damage with these things. He definitely felt better about his situation, certain that he would soon get Shelly back.
He grabbed the guns and placed them under his arm. Then he leaned over and picked up the ammunition box. It was heavier than he had expected, but he would need to take them. A gun wouldn't do much damage without bullets.
He walked to the front of the barn and looked down at the dead bodies. Each and every one of their faces had been mutilated. The one that Shelly had shot, his face was nearly gone too.
Adam continued to stare down at them. He thought that he should feel some sort of regret at having killed them, but he didn't. He didn't look at them as human. They were animals
…
if tha
t
.
He bent down to get a closer look at one of them. He hadn't noticed before, but it had been a woman. She had long black hair. Her plump breasts bulged underneath her blood-soaked t-shirt. She was wearing skin-tight jeans and sandals. He couldn't make out much of her face, but he gathered that she had been pretty.
Adam stood up.
No, he didn't feel anything at all.
He turned to look at the house. He could see the two bikes leaning against the front. The pink one shone brightly underneath the early evening sun.
Another bout of guilt washed over him
.
He should have protected her!
He looked back at the body of the man Shelly had shot and kicked him once more, heavily in the ribs. Blood spurted out of the hole in the side of the dead man's face.
Adam turned back to the house and walked toward it.
When he got there, he headed straight for the master bedroom. His backpack was there, lying on the ground. So was Shelly's. Though he wanted to bring it to her, he thought better of it. It would only slow him down, make his task that much more difficult.
H
e could come back for it after, if he wante
d
. He was sure that it would be safe here until he returned.
He grabbed his backpack and placed it on the bed. He dropped the guns and ammunition beside it.
Adam opened his backpack and stuck one of the guns into it. The fit was tight. So much so that he knew that the others weren't going to get it there.
He started pulling his clothes out. One after the other, they fell around him. He needed the guns more than he needed anything to wear.
With his pack was empty, Adam began shoving the guns into place. He opened the ammunition box and poured the bullets in too.
Everything fit
,
barel
y
. The guns stuck out the top of the pack. The sides bulged.
Adam grabbed the tie-string and pulled it tightly. It closed around the barrels of the guns and held them in place. It wasn't the most secure fit, but it would have to do.
He stood up and swung the backpack over his shoulders. It felt awkward and heavy. He loosened the straps so that it would fit better. It helped a little.
Then he walked to the front door.
As he opened it, another cool breeze blew upon his face. He took in a deep breath and prepared to leave.
He went to his bike and pulled it from the wall. He walked it out to the main road. Its wheels crackled along the gravel driveway.
It was when he got there that he began to worry.
He looked left and right, not knowing which way to go. Both ways seemed just as likely.
He closed his eyes and bit his lip
.
What if he chose the wrong way? He'd never be able to find her.
He shook his head and told himself not to think that way.
Adam opened his eyes and looked around again. To his surprise, he noticed something to his left. It sat unmoving along the side of the road. He thought he knew what it was and ran over to check.
Shelly's shoe
!
She must have kicked it off to show him which direction to g
o
.
He picked it up and pressed it against his chest. After a moment, he placed it into his backpack. There wasn't much room for it, but he wasn't going to leave it lying at the side of the road. It just wouldn't feel right.
He slung the backpack back over his shoulders and straddled his bike.
He looked down the length of the road. Shelly had gone i
n
tha
t
direction. She had left him a sign. He was sure that she would leave others too. He'd simply need to keep an eye out for them.
Adam grinned. His mission no longer felt as impossible as it had. He was going to find his young friend.
He kicked up the pedal and placed his foot on top of it. He rocked the bike back once and then pushed forward. He felt the wheels roll underneath him. They picked up speed as he pressed his foot down.
Adam balanced the bike. It was difficult with the bag of guns on his back, but he managed to get it under control.
He was off, going to find Shelly.