Across The Border

Chapter 8: Beetle ride

Jay's pov:

The next morning had come quietly, one would say it looked like a perfect day if not for a little noise that interrupted the peace.

Jay looked around, rubbing the sleepiness off his eyes as they adjusted to the light. The noise cleared a bit, it sounded like tires at high speed through the forest. Crushing leaves and the sound of a motor caught Jay's attention. That couldn't be good.

"Lloyd, wake up!" Jay whispered as he sprinted to his friend's side. Shaking his shoulder to get him up. "Come on, we have to go."

"W-what? What's going on?" the blond boy asked as he woke up with a jolt.

"We have to go. Now" Jay said, pulling Lloyd to star moving and leaving the place behind.

"What's going o-" Lloyd stopped himself. He froze right in place, the grass crunching at his sudden stop as he the sound reached him. Jay made a quick stop to go back and pulled him to get him on the run again.

"Is that a motor?" He asked, now running along sides Jay.

"Yeah, I think they found us."

As they sprinted through the forest, the sound of multiple motors became clearer. Soon enough, they could hear the voices from all around them.

"I think they're surrounding us! How exactly are we supposed to lose them?" Lloyd asked as he sped up.

"Keep running, we'll find a cliff soon enough. We'll have to jump!" Jay answered, his sight locked on the tones of yellows and blues at the end of the forest.

"What! Are you crazy?"

"Trust me!"

The trees started to be lest frequent the more they approached the cliff. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the soldiers. The sound of various motors became louder and nearer, not long after that they could see said bikers making their way to them.

"They're right behind us!" Lloyd shouted as he turned his face back to their road.

"We're not far, get ready to jump!" Jay answered as he noticed a specific biker at his side. Their face hidden by the helmet that reflected Jay. But he was sure they were looking directly at his eyes.

"Jump!" Lloyd screamed as they reached the cliff. Jay sped up and both jumped, he could hear the tires scratching to stop just before following them. The sun didn't let Jay see properly the desert that spread before them. But he could make out the trace of something big making its way to them under the sand.

Before either of them crashed with the rocks at the bottom of the cliff, a giant beetle jumped before them and caught them in its shell. They both landed hard over it but managed to hang on to some rocks on it and prevent themselves from continue falling.

The creature kept leaping forward, hitting the cliff, and making the edges shake. Jay looked up; the edges of the cliff started to fall as the creature retracked just a bit to avoid the falling pieces of land. He could hear the shouting of soldiers as they barely managed to escape.

The pieces of land that fell brough with them a couple of the vehicles of the knights. The beetle let out a huge roar as it attacked the bikes as if they were a little snack.

"Bon appetite" Jay mumbled to the beetle, as he let his face fall into the sandy shell.

"How did you know it would come?" Lloyd's voice asked. Jay turned to him; he was still holding onto a rock that came from the hard surface.

"Bernie can sense vibrations anywhere. Even the smallest ones. That's why everyone avoids the dessert and anywhere near it. Bernie comes and eats anything in its path." Jay explained as he stood up. Looking down at the beetle that was enjoying its metallic lunch.