The Vertigo Project (CRINGE-FEST 2K15)

Chapter 34 Moth

That morning, at about 8:56 AM, the eight kids all figured that they should head to their home's new location.

The only conversation that passed throughout the SUV was about what they were going to do in case there were people guarding their new house.

Suddenly, the car shuddered. Their conversation immediately stopped.

"The hell was that?" Akio asked, only for the car to shudder again in response.

Then, it sputtered. Smoke started to leak out of the hood and the exhaust.

"Oh shit!" Jett instantly pulled over. They all took the hint and jumped out of the car. They got Primzo out, and ran. Toby took his sweet time and grabbed the container with all of their weapons in it.

The eight kids and their dog sprinted as far away from the car as possible. Soon enough, they were about a quarter of a mile away. Akio looked back, and then noticed that the car was on fire. That just made him run faster.

They were in the middle of nowhere. It was all flat grasslands, with one strip of worn road running through it. The clouds had made a thick layer in the atmosphere. The gray seemed to just make the bright orange-yellow even brighter.

A loud boom rocked the ground beneath the Vertigo Project. Some of them tripped over their own feet, but didn't fall completely.

Out of impulse, they all stopped, turned around, and watched the mushroom cloud slowly dissipate as black, brown and gray shrapnel rained down onto them.

"There goes a tire." Jackson stated as a rubber wheel rolled away as if it were on a mission. Joseph just punched him in the shoulder out of disapproval.

"Well," Jett began, "Now we're REALLY fucked."

"You could say that again." Heidi agreed. Primzo whimpered, sat down.

"At least we have our weapons." Toby said sheepishly, holding up the large, dark green container.

That just made Jett mad, "Yeah, Toby. But do we have food? Do we have shelter? No, we don't. We. Are. Screwed. What in the Heavens are we going to do with those things if we don't have anything to hunt them with?!"

Toby just shrugged, looking down as if he'd just been wounded.

"We could eat Primzo." April suggested.

Everybody looked at her. Primzo cocked his head at his mentioning.

"Are you fucking with me?!" Jett shouted.

"Geez, I was just joking. Calm down." April defended.

"Don't joke like that." Akio said sternly.

Jackson, Joseph and Heidi agreed, "Yeah."

April just blushed in embarrassment. Jett scolded, "You really need a filter, April. This is getting old, you're not nine anymore."

April just looked at her. They'd had this argument time and time again. She wasn't about to start another one.

Jackson broke the tension, "Well, why don't we just follow this road back to the main highway? I mean, we know our way back."

Jett agreed, "Yeah, I agree. You're right, Jackson. But first, let's get all of our weapons out."

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After hours of walking, the group finally entered a city. A very worn one, at that. The buildings were ivy-infested, dirty, crumbling shells. The streets were cracked and crawling with weeds, the yellow stripes in the gray fading from the abandonment.