Reformation

15: New Arrivals

I was walking through the forest. Spidery tree branches hung over my head. It was cold. I shivered and rubbed my arms as an icy wind blew by, making my skin feel like marble. Something was smoking up ahead, I smelled gasoline and burnt rubber. I went towards the cause of the fire.

A black SUV was flipped upside down in the middle of a clearing, a steep cliff on it's left. Broken glass was strewn about the crushed vehicle, a tire still spinning. A limp arm hung out the driver's window, a piece of glass impaling the bicep of the arm. I looked into the window and saw a handsome man with chocolate colored hair and smooth yet defined cheek bones, his dead, blue eyes frozen open in fear.

I woke up screaming. Gia pulled her knife from the side table. "What is it?!" She looked around feverishly.

I calmed my breathing. "S-Sorry, just a dream,"

She put the knife back down. "I know how you feel. Mine are usually about the Virus. It helps if you start singing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' in your dream,"

"Really?"

She nodded. "Helps you calm down so you realize it's a dream. Anytime something scares me, I just sing that song, even if it isn't a dream,"

"Thanks,"

She smiled. "No problem,"

I slept soundly for the rest of the night. Kiera woke me up early the next morning.

"Tomorrow is our deadline," she reminded me.

It was still dark out. "Kiera, what time is it?" I yawned.

"The un-Godly hour of five am."

I rolled out of bed and stretched my back. "Alright, I'll be down in a minute,"

I was really nervous for what I would find today. The first thing I was going to do was see who the driver was.

I got changed into the clothes she lent me. I saw my backpack thrown in the corner, the pictures I grabbed sticking out of the front pocket. I sifted through them and found the picture Clara had took of me lying up against Ryan's bare chest while he read. I shoved it into my pocket and went downstairs to Kiera and Chase pressed against each other, kissing, leaning on the truck. Is that what Ryan and I looked like? I groaned when I saw we were taking the creeper limb truck.

"You ready, lovebirds?" I said.

They pulled away. "Let's go, preggers,"

The drive was long and silent, I sat in the front with Chase. He drove down many different long and winding roads and I didn't realize how far I had wandered. I finally saw skid marks appear on the road, a steep cliff to our left and more trees on our right. Bullet casings littered the ground, a long skid mark along with a chunk of tire sat on the side by the cliff.

"It went down right here," Chase said.

"Let me out," I said.

"What?"

"I need to see who the driver was, there is no point of going on a wild goose chase to find him if he is dead and at the bottom of the hill," I choked back tears.

Chase stopped the car and I got out.

"It's pretty steep,"

I didn't listen, I was already holding onto a branch for leverage.

"At least let me do it," Kiera offered.

All I needed was the step, I could see the driver's face, it was the man Beatrice had sent to kill us. Blood dripped from his forehead where his scar was and his seat belt sliced his neck.