Walls

07

The water tasted like barf and his eyes hurt like a bitch.

Nathan Lennon was a good swimmer. But swimming to the bank while simultaneously wanting to rub his eyes was not working well for him.

He looked back over his shoulder at the stretch he'd swam, which was not much. The grey handles of his beloved motorcycle were still visible as it slowly sunk into the greenish water. He couldn't pull it out despite the number of times he tried. It was stubbornly determined not to move.

Nathan let out a frustrated growl. He was most definitely going to kill Abbie for this.

The pull beneath his chest was powerful than he expected. His clothes were soaked and heavy, pulling him into the water. Before his arm couldn't handle the pain anymore, he kicked his legs and pushed his arms forward, swimming towards the road.

The bullet wound was wreaking havoc all over his entire left side. Blinding pain ran furious sprints along his arm up to his neck, pinching at the side of his head. Blood oozed into the water spreading a red tint around him.

He ground his teeth together as he tried to focus on something nice. But that was the problem - he had nothing nice happening to him lately.

He was left behind - the last of his family, the only one alive. He left his job months later. And now there is an enormous wrench throw at his master-plan. Abbie and Elias were the reason behind all of that.

The fresh wave of murderous rage flowing over him numbed his pain, propelling him forward towards the road.

He emerged from the water, smelling like rotten eggs and covered in what looked like green slime. Chest heaving and face twisted in a wince, he looked down at the wound. His arm was most probably infected at this point. It had to be cleaned up immediately.

Climbing onto the bank Nathan looked around.

Weeper's Creek was not the type of town anyone would want to get lost in. It was miles and miles of empty road with no signs of life. Nathan looked around him, pressing tightly on the wounded arm. Everything was still, under a canopy of dark clouds snuggling against each other.

He could not hear anything over the pounding in his ears. His breaths came in short and painful bursts, and the foul taste on his lips was probably poisonous.

Somewhere in the depths of his pant pockets, his mobile phone blasted a grungy ringtone. Cursing hysterically, Nathan patted his body, searching desperately for the device with one hand. It had to be his boss calling - ignoring the boss was not an option.

His slippery fingers pulled out a slime-covered device from his back pocket. He struggled a few seconds trying to swipe the screen and finally pressed it to his ear.

"You lost them?"

"Abbie cut me into the water," Nathan wasted no second dashing into an explanation.

"I figured that."

Of course, he did. He could track Nathan with the his tiny GPS device. Nathan knew his boss was smart enough to guess what happened when his marker appeared at the center of the lake.

"Also, I lost my bike," Nathan added.

"Find a vehicle and call me. I might have a location by then. I have a way to find them."

The call disconnected.

Nathan heaved a loud sigh before dialing for some form of transport. He knew where he could find a rental around Weeper's Creek. Hopefully, there were enough vehicles left to rent out.

He couldn't help but blame Abbie and Elias for everything. He knew it was them. If only their stupid GPS markers had not disappeared off the grid that morning. Nathan would then probably be at his house coordinating the mission like he was meant to - not out in the open hunting for two people who were a pain in his ass.

"Hello, you've reached Luke's Car Rental. How can we help you?" a monotonous voice grumbled at the other end of the line.

Nathan sighed, "I need a vehicle at my location ASAP."