Burning Sage

Chapter 8: Blood Buddies

The stars were ablaze in the inky sky, sending sparks of light in every direction. Thousands of them, shining in the void. I propped my feet up on the edge of the truck bed and gazed at the sky. Hope lay beside me, trying to clean the dried blood from her skin, with limited success. I stretched out, trying to make sense of everything. Hampton was now a ghost town, its once bustling streets now desolate and abandoned. The buildings looked defeated, as if they were slumped over and crying. They had no one to care for them.

"Snow!" Hope wailed, as flakes of snow began to fall. Her hollowed cheeks melted the snow, washing away the blood from her face. I sat up next to her, watching as the snow clung to our bodies. The taste of the rancid heart still lingered in my mouth, zapping my strength. I hugged my warm hands around myself, trying to find comfort. Self-love is a cruel joke, only funny for those who don't need it and demeaning for those who do.

The downtown roads were littered with dim lights. I wondered how long the power would last - maybe just a few more days. Pests of birds swooped down onto the sidewalks, scavenging for food in the remnants of our forgotten homes. Cars crashed into medians and buildings, as if they'd always been there. We roamed through a land of the dead, a brave soul required to venture down these roads.

"What do ya reckon we do?" Hope mangled in that tangy, country accent of hers while I chattered my teeth. "Food." I groaned, "My stomach feels like a butter churn."

"I ain't eat all day either. Used to it though." I couldn't help but notice how badly she had stained her borrowed attire. "Ember better stop soon. I don't wanna die from bein cold."

"Thought hell would be plenty hot." We both had blood smeared on our faces, our bodies, a simmering bond between us. I liked her, to say the least. Yeah it was wrong, border-line cheating on Blondy, but who are you to judge? Only God can judge me so go suck my dick.

Hope rubbed her hands against mine like two pieces of sandpaper. I'd already been desensitized, smoothed out, but I'd become rough again. I could physically feel it, and I melted inside at such a dotting touch. A touch that she held. A touch that was wrong.

Ember blew the horn, bolstering us into confusion, and we layed apart after that. She slowed the truck down and turned into the parking lot of a strip mall. The smell of exhaust and anxiety spread itself through the truck bed. Not a pretty smell, but one that didn't stay alone for too long. Me and Hope crammed ourselves into the truck, desperate to get warm. I had to sit halfway on top of Maple, like a little kid. I didn't care. I wanted the heat. I wanted to feel warm and assured that things would be ok.

"Ugh you're so cold and bloody. If I didn't know you I'd think you're one of them damn demons." Maple conceived, hugging me, "You're ok. Right?" My bloody face served as a sufficient answer. "Well I like need to talk to you. In private."

"I'll be back in a few." Ember rasped, storming out of the truck. Hope stayed there with us, hovering up against the heat vent. I didn't like being half-naked. Not in front of someone I wanted to impress. Not in front of Maple either, or God for that matter. "Can you like get out?" Blondy asked Hope. "Oh there's nothing ya could say that would surprise me." Frost rode up and down the windshields, making the outside look smeary. My eyes were drifting away from everything around me, and into the nightmare I was suffering in. I wanted to wake up, to hold my pillow near and fall back asleep with happy thoughts. "Ugh." Maple groaned, "You're an asshole."

"Takes one to know one." Hope smiled, "Sorry but ya not always gonna get ya way."

"SHUT UP!" Maple scorched, silencing Hope, "I don't even know how you're alive - you don't have any meat on your bones, not enough for them damn vultures out there." Maple said, "And Sage, I thought you were like going to die."