Monster War

Chapter 5

We walked, ate, slept, walked, ate, slept, walked, ate, and slept for a long time after that. The High wasn't able to find us after the motel, so disabling the camera on the phone was a great idea, which I bragged about to Reta for weeks. She didn't like that and didn't talk to me for a while. It wasn't until I tried jacking a car that we ran into more problems.

"Hey! What're you doing?" A middle-aged man ran toward me as I broke his Camaro's window.

I looked at the man straight in the eyes and said, "I'm taking your car. Where are your keys?"

He was aghast at my blatant answer and I turned back around to the car. "Nevermind, I'll just hotwire it."

"Now hang on!" He grabbed my shoulder and threw me to the ground.

I rolled onto my feet and looked at the guy. "Whoa now. We don't want any trouble."

"We?" He looked around and the last thing he saw before getting plowed into the ground was a yellow blur. Reta had tackled him hard, his head hitting the asphalt with a horrifying crack.

I stared down at the unconscious man and knelt to feel his neck. I looked at Reta with widened eyes. "I think you killed him."

She looked at me. "And?"

I sometimes forget she's a monster. "Nevermind. Let's go." I rummaged through the guy's pockets and found his keys. We got in his 80s Camaro and started driving. I saw that the radio was updated with a screen that also featured GPS. I put in the closest town to the monster nest and it showed an estimated time of 5 hours. I looked over at Reta and said, "We're going to be just fine."

It was not fine.

"Go faster," Reta screamed.

"This is as fast as it can go!" I smacked the wheel, honking the horn accidentally.

Not an hour later after we hijacked the car The High caught up to us. I pushed against the gas pedal as hard as I could and we shot off like a rocket, tires skidding. We approached 120 miles per hour as a helicopter appeared from over the woods. There was no chance we would escape but I wasn't going to let them take us without a fight.

After two hours of this chase the GPS said we needed to go onto a bridge ahead. I saw there were two ways onto the overpass from this side of the road, and on ramp and off ramp. I passed the on ramp and hit the brakes while swerving to the side. The car skid across the asphalt as we did a 180. I let off the brakes and hit the gas again. We shot onto the off ramp and turned right onto the overpass. The High didn't expect this kind of maneuvering and shot right past the overpass. The helicopter was confused too, but Reta...she was excited. She was having a lot of firsts (as was I) and after we lost The High she was loving every second of the ride.

We kept up the speed for a long time before I started slowing down. We came to a stop on the edge of the bordering town and I looked at her. "Alright. Let's get out and figure out where we go from here."

She didn't say anything as she got out of the car and looked around. I went around to her and handed her the winter coat, now ragged from constant wear. She sighed and took it.

We started walking into town and I noticed that there weren't a lot of people walking around, and those who were looked scared. Unnerved, I told Reta this and she seemed puzzled as well but didn't say anything about it. I took this as meaning she would like to know but she doesn't want to ask. As we passed by a woman with a child I put an arm in front of her. "Excuse me, ma'am."

She froze and looked at me fearfully. "Y-yes?"

"What's going on around here? Where is everyone?"

Her eyes became confused. "Don't you know?"

"Know what?" I dropped my arm and turned toward her.

She grabbed my shoulder and got in my face. "Run. Run while you can. The monsters come and take everything at night, our cars, our food, our lives. RUN!" She grabbed her son and started dragging him away.

I turned around toward Reta with a surprised look. "And now we know."

"Do you think we'll be attacked?"

"Me, maybe. But you? You'll be fine."

She didn't seem to be assured by my statement which I could tell from the way she grabbed my hand tightly, like she didn't want me going anywhere. I looked at her and squeezed her hand back. This earned a smile and I was happy with that. We started looking for a place to stay while I figured out where to go, when I saw an armored transport parked in front of a shop. I stopped and pulled Reta back around the corner we had just turned. She glared at me and I shushed her.

"The High is here," I whispered.

Her eyes widened and she whispered back, "How do they know we're here?"

"I don't know. I thought we–" Then a realization came to me in the form of the car we stole. "The GPS."

"The what?"

"The GPS. It uses satellite tracking. They must've tracked us from the GPS."

From her expression I thought she was about to say something and I shushed her again. "Now is not the time. We need to get out of town."

She huffed and said, "I was going to say that."

"Oh." I looked back around the corner and saw the transport was moving away. I grabbed her hand and pulled her in the other direction down the street.

We were so close. We ran south across town, ducking behind dumpsters and into alleyways to avoid The High. It was going good...then a pedestrian caught Reta with her hood down. They screamed and alerted all The High to our location. We ducked into a store as soon as The High arrived in armored carriers and cars. Masked men and women got out and trained their weapons on the front of the store.

Reta pulled on my arm desperately toward the backdoor. "Come on! We have to go!"

I looked at her, panic creeping into me. I opened my mouth like I was going to reassure her when I realized something about her. She has powerful legs that can run faster than humans. I do not. No matter what happens I will always be slowing her down. I needed to get her away from me or else she will never be safe. I racked my brain for a solution. I knew she wouldn't leave me, but she couldn't stay with me if she needed to survive. I knew what I had to do.

I looked at Reta in her eyes, her beautiful eyes that I had come to cherish over the past few months, and said, "Leave."

She didn't seem to understand me. "What?"

I yelled at her, "Leave! Did you hear what I said? I said leave me!" I forced my eyes to become angry and screamed, "I hate you!"

Her eyes widened in shock. "O-Orphen–"

I waved my hand in front of her, cutting her off. "No, don't call me that! It's not my real name, got it? I never gave you my real name because I never liked you. My life was great before you came along, I was happy!" I stomped my foot and she recoiled toward the backdoor. Her eyes were filled with tears and I hated myself for making her cry. "I hate you! Get out of here, you-you-you monster!"

She yelled at my hateful tone of voice, her expression showing exactly how much my words hurt her. She turned and ran out the backdoor faster than I could ever move. I heard yells of surprise from the men behind the store as she made her escape. I ran out the backdoor just in time to see one of the men targeting Reta running down the street. I lunged at them and knocked them down, allowing Reta to escape. They shoved me off of them and I was dogpiled on top of, forced on the ground. I looked up from the concrete and saw a golden pinprick at the end of the street. Reta was watching me.

I felt an aching in my chest for her, to let her know I didn't mean any of what I said, to let her know the past three months have been filled with the best moments of my life. And as I was lifted up and taken to a cell van, I saw her disappear and realized I wanted her to know how much I cared for her.

My last words before darkness engulfed me in the back of that car were, "I love you, Reta."