Rotten World

Chapter Two

It's been about a day and a half since the attack and so far we've run into a few bug groups and one lone howler that followed us for a few miles before it realized we were a different species. We haven't found a settlement yet and I'm starting to feel like we won't ever find one. My nightmares keep getting worst to the point where I straight up punch poor logan in the face, he doesn't seem to care much about it though he now looks at me with worry and concern. Lexa is starting to get restless and goes after anything she's able to.

" how long are we going to walk along this river, it's leading us nowhere. Plus it seems to be getting smaller." logan looks behind him at me " look I don't know ok, I don't know. I thought we'd find something if anything by now. I was wrong, but I don't know what else to do." his shoulders visibly slump and he lowers his head in defeat and stops walking. " hey I know you did what you thought was the right move and at the time it was you kept us alive but we gotta face it we're not going to find anything by following this shrinking river. I think it's time to move away from it and head into the forest. I know what you're going to say, it's too dangerous, and that may be true but it's also our best bet." he moves his head to look at me again taking a minute to think through what I said. Then he nods and says " ya ok your right but here's the deal you stay behind me at all times ok, and keep Lexa by your side." I hold up my pinky finger and crack a smile "deal".

********

It's been about three hours now and we are way deep into the forest by now, still haven't seen any settlements through but we also haven't seen anything that wants to kill us either so it's a mixed feelings situation. " maybe this wasn't such a good idea" logan lets out a humourless laugh " well it was yours so no surprise there" I smack is shoulder " hey that was mean" he turns his head slightly to look at me " ok ok I'm sorry, that was rude of me. But we are a little too far in to turn back now so suck it up." I huff and keep silent.

********

"ok so maybe you were right," Logan says as we cautiously walk through the now almost pitch black forest " oh you don't say, " I say sarcastically and continue forwards while trying to avoid sticking up tree roots.

I never noticed how loud the nights are and how quiet the days are until now, as we walk through the forest we are met with loads of sounds from howlers and other creatures that live here. But one distinct noise that makes us all stop in our tracks is the sound of a bunch of rigged breathing, wheezing and shuffling bushes and footsteps. I whisper under my breath "shit, Redhounds" logan hesitantly reaches back to grab a hold of my hand and squeezes it gently.

'well shit' I think as I slowly look around us to see over a dozen glowing yellow eyes stalking the three of us. Lexa lets out a small whimper and shuffles closer to my legs. This is defiantly not a good situation to be in. "do you think we could outrun them?" I whisper to logan " we might be able to, maybe we could try to find another river up ahead". " right ya good thinking, they don't like water right, if we cross the river they won't follow" "precisely, the water seems to irritate their skin they won't go more then a few meters from it."

"ok, so we run, for as long as we can, and hope to god we find a river" he nods his head and with a light squeeze of my hand, he bolts in the direction that the glowing eyes aren't. logan trying as hard as he can to keep a hold of my hand and also focus on running seems to hit a root and stumble for a bit but quickly recovers and continues.

I make the age-old mistake of looking behind me and what I see almost makes me want to throw up or faint or both, behind us are over a dozen zooming red figures, their limbs seem to knock into one another as others stretch out in front of them in an attempt to graupel on to my free arm. They all seem relatively at a safe distance behind us, at least for the time being. 'we're doing it we're out running the...' my thought was cut short as something big and hard knocks into my side, causing me to stumble but not fall. logans grip is what keeps me from fully falling but it's not enough as I soon feel a stinging feeling in my side, then a rush of something wet, then a blinding pain that I've never felt before. My vision starts to blur but I take one last look behind me to see that the thing that ran into me was the leader of this group, and had suddenly stopped in place with a terrifying smile plastered on its face. With blood dripping out of it's mouth. That can be good.

I soon realize that the reason they have stopped is because we somehow made it to a stream, we make it across when my legs give out and I fall into logans back then to the ground. I don't remember anything else except for the extreme waves of pain that keep pulsing from my side, then everything goes black.

*******

I wake to the sound of rushing water, whimpering, and what sounds like to be someone crying. My eyes aren't open but I can feel the heat of the sun on my face, telling me that we survived the night. I then become aware of the uncomfortable ache in my side and the feel of someone's hand holding mine. I try to open my eyes but slightly finch at how bright everything is, this signals to the person holding my hand that I am indeed awake " Reagan, are... how are you feeling" its logan but his voice is off like he hadn't spoken in a while, its all cracky. I open my mouth to say something if anything to logan but nothing but a dry screech comes out. Damn, why is my throat so fucking dry.

I feel logan lift up my head and pour what I hope to be water into my mouth. The liquid is cold and smells like wild roses. " thanks, and I kinda feel like shit. To be honest with ya I feel like a giant rock fell on me. hey uh, what happened? I don't remember anything after we crossed the stream" I make another attempt to open my eyes and this time I'm able to, though everything seems to be blurry. I turn my head to look at logan. He's still holding my hand but he's not looking at me, his head is turned downwards and his hair is messy like he ran his hands through it dozens of times. logan sighs and finally looks up at me. I lightly gasp at the appearance of his face, his green-blue eyes are red and puffy and he has wet streams of light blue tears going down the length of his face. To be honest with myself I never knew synths could cry, I didn't think they were capable of it. But here sitting beside me is my life old synthetic friend, and he's crying.

We just look at each other for some time before he wills himself to answer my question, and what he says makes my heart stop " Reagan you were bit "