The Last Teens on Earth

CHAPTER 21: THE RIVER

POV: Clare

Something’s really up with that kid. I wonder why. I should probably keep an eye on him.

POV: Nicolas

“Huh. I wonder why Max didn’t want to come all of a sudden.” I spoke to myself. I found it really odd. “Ever since I woke up, he’s been distancing himself with everyone…” I arrived at the store that Clare told me to go. I carefully went inside and looked around for the food on the list. I never thought that the store would have so much stuff.

I take my huge sized back pack and grab what I can. I should have brought a bigger bag or a trolley to get all this stuff. Wait, could there be a trolley here somewhere? I walk around looking for a trolley so I don’t carry everything. I find one outside but it has been dented quite a bit. I sigh because I was hoping to find one in good shape.

The store seemed to be mutant-free. I look around in the back room where everything is usually delivered. Why would a shopping cart be in here? I tried switching on the light but it didn’t want to switch on. That was a blonde moment for me. I grab my torch and switch it on.

As I did, I saw a dog-like mutant staring at me. Blood was dripping off its jaw. It growled at me and charged in my direction. I used one of my weapons to fight it. It was a sharpened staff. I stabbed it in the mouth to buy me time to kill it.

And I did. I stabbed it in the chest and then the head. I felt so guilty for killing a person who didn’t ask to be turned into a mutant. I examined the room and found a cart. It was close to a trolley and I could pack everything into crates. And I grabbed everything from the list, I went back, still feeling guilty of killing the mutant.

I arrive at the house and open the door. Everyone looked at me with horror. I didn’t realise I had mutant blood all over me. I brought the cart in the house and everyone else sorted the supplies out while I went and showered. I still felt guilty. Am I becoming a monster?

Killing people who didn’t deserve it? I had no choice but to do it, but it still felt wrong. I get out of the shower with a towel covering me and head to my room. Eva and I shared a room and I saw her looking at my bloody clothes in my hands. She asked “So you killed one, didn’t you?” My face darkens and I reply “I’m sorry, I had no choice.”

She hugs me and says “I’m just glad you got out of there safe. I know you didn’t want to kill them because they were once human.” I reply “Thank you for the support.” Eva leaves the room for me to get changed. I did and put my bandages on. I walk out and then say “Alright guys. We’re going to the South of Johannesburg. Pack what you can in the bakkie. We’re leaving.” Everyone nodded and packed their things.

There were a lot of supplies to pack since I came back with a huge load. Luckily, I was taught to drive when my parents were still alive. We had everything loaded and drove off, leaving the house. We actually needed two bakkies to load everything in. I drove the one bakkie and Leo drove the other. I heard Max keep saying that they call it a truck in America.

I got tired of both hearing that and driving on the road. I needed to sleep. The road was long and we got attacked a few times by mutants on our way. We also had to collect more resources because our own was decreasing and expiring. Eva drove like a mad man but no one was killed. I slept through it all and didn’t even notice.

I had to take over again and Eva slept with a smile. The only thing I didn’t enjoy on the trip were the potholes. I had to drive slowly to avoid them. We arrived at the South and I went to where I knew the area. I was glad the satellites were still online. Jake had to charge a cell phone tower every time we lost connection to the GPS.

That’s one of the reasons we were running out of food. I would have preferred to live on my uncle’s farm but of course everyone didn’t like farms. Only Eva wanted to come to see the farm. And we had to drive far to get more resources. So that’s why I decided to come here. Though the farm had game so we could always hunt for our own food.

We stopped at the Spar near my home and then the Sasol petrol station on the opposite side of the road. We all looked for houses that had enough rooms for the 6 of us. While we were searching, we did encounter mutants and left them alone. We finally found an empty one and packed all of our stuff there. It also had a security fence even though we all knew that we needed electricity. Luckily, we had a clean river nearby so that we can fetch water.

We needed electricity for the dam to be active. None of us knew how to activate or control a dam so we all chose the river. I found it strange that none of the mutants wanted to attack us there. Nor each other. But we were safe there. We hung out there a few times.

The only person who never came with us was Max. Clare would only come for doing research on the mutants. There were even mutants that lived in the river. None of them minded us at the river. It felt like paradise here. We were all safe by the river.

*Is this the happy ending that everyone wants? This isn't the end...*