The Grid │ an F1 story

14

Something had been strange for some time. Everyone was on their guard, me and my companions alike. Something wasn't quite right and I wasn't sure what. At first I thought I'd be left behind. That one morning I'd wake up and they'd all be gone. But that wasn't the case. I was always lagging behind, always looking over my shoulder. Whenever I found myself alone looking for food, I felt like I was being watched. I preferred to keep it to myself, even though it was frightening, I didn't want to risk my friends' lives. Even if it was a soldier, or a secret agent, or whatever. What was the worst that could happen? Probably very serious things really. But I couldn't talk about it, keeping quiet meant I'd probably be protecting the boys. Even if it was contradictory, I could see it myself. Anxiety made me hardly close my eyes. I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating and I'd already passed out. It was Max who had found me on the side of a car. He'd thought I'd caught some damn virus. I wish I had. I really do. But now I felt like there were two of me in my mind.

'Max!' Daniel had just shouted, we were losing our strength, or maybe it was him who had slowed down to keep up with me. Either way, Max's military stride. 'Slow down, the kid can't keep up.'

'We've got to keep moving. It'll be dark soon and we need to get into town.' We were still roaring along, changing towns almost every day. Changing history and identity in the survivor camps. Our identity papers were waiting for us. Max had contacts everywhere, I don't know what he did when he was alone. I think he was living another life. He still hadn't told Daniel everything about his life before. And I'd stopped confiding in him since I started feeling anxious. I was no longer useful, I was living in the third person, as if I were no longer in control of my body. I was exhausted. I'm sure Daniel noticed. It was a horrible feeling to be the visionary of your own slowing down. Being chased by who knows who didn't help. For the first time in my life, there was a price on my head. Max had promised me that he wouldn't let me down, but I was beginning to think that everything would be easier if they let me down. I thought I was going to pass out, maybe I would.

'Lando... Stay awake. It's dangerous out here.' It was true that we could hear noises in the distance, maybe military, maybe Intoxicated. 'If we stay here too long, we'll have trouble getting through the night.'

'Don't put the blame on him. Poor guy...' Daniel had stopped me to carry my rucksack on his shoulders. Our bags were heavy, so much so that when he'd taken it off my back, I'd felt better already. 'Quatro, don't listen to him. Take your time.'

He'd patted my shoulder, and I'd continued to follow them. We'd been walking for so long, the noises were getting farther away, even though they seemed to be right behind me. My head was spinning. And I threw up. As if all my tiredness had finally come from my guts. The acid had run through my body, getting stuck in the back of my throat before escaping again. The blood mixed with it, slowly beginning to stain the puddle with the last of the meagre meals I'd been able to ingest. I couldn't take it any more. My body wanted to get it over with, while I dreamed of one day seeing a green and happy world again. Daniel patted me slowly on the back and I spat out the last clot of blood stuck in the back of my throat.

When I looked up, I saw Max's suspicious look. He must have been worried that I was ill. I could understand that. The poor man had spent the last few years looking after Daniel and now I'd come along and ruined everything. I blamed myself all the more. Then a strange noise made us all turn our heads, a sort of muffled scream coming from further into the forest. Then something collapsing in the piles of leaves. Like a heavy body. It wasn't long before Max told us to hide in a bush and run towards the noise. He ran for a long time, because you could always hear his footsteps crumpling the dead leaves. I still felt nauseous. I felt like my heart was pounding in my head, everything was resonating so violently in my body that I was convinced I was going to throw up at any moment. Daniel was still holding me close, watching Max in the distance. Eventually he came back, his eyebrows furrowed.

'We've been followed!' His tone sounded annoyed. 'Someone had already killed three infected before we left.' He was out of breath. 'I didn't even get a chance to see him.'

'Get out of there! You bastard! Come any closer and we'll kill you!'

'He's not coming Daniel... He's probably gone already.' Max was sweating, his face glowing with a mood I'd never attributed to him. He was anxious.

I understood him, for someone to follow us like that, in the woods, in the daylight, they must have known who we were. And this person had managed to kill three infected people with hardly a sound. I hated that feeling of being trapped. Being next on his list. That he'd take my decapitated head back to the FIA to show them who was finally the strongest. He was probably the reason Max was so scared.

'Let's hurry.'

Max had picked up my big rucksack before we continued on our way through the forest. It wasn't long before we reached our destination. The city stretched out before us, for the first time in days we were going to see civilisation again. Not to mention Max, who certainly didn't want to go there any more after the incident in the forest. But the city was beautiful, even if most of its buildings were covered in sand, and the black market flourished under the wealth of the army, which continued to pay its prostitutes. That's what Daniel had told me, his sister had worked there for a while. His first love too. He had grown up in this world, even before the apocalypse. He'd lost them all. He still blamed himself. So as he approached one of the many brothels, I could see his face imagining his family still happy inside. A man had entered, about my height, walking quickly, probably in a hurry to have sex with a prostitute when there were thousands of more important things. I put my mask back on my face. We walked slowly to the market. Daniel was watching all the faces while Max preferred to concentrate on our objective. That wasn't counting the presence of a small blonde who pulled me away from Daniel.

'Dani.' Her radiant smile almost made us forget the situation. If we were recognised, someone might report us. 'Don't tell me it's you... You've changed so much! Michelle would be so happy to know you're alive... Even though you look downright sick to me.'

'Heidi... Heidi... Calm down.' He'd whispered, Max's dark gaze still locked on her. 'I've missed you too.'

'Are you looking for Niki? A boy turned her inside out the other day, I'd be surprised if he trusted strangers. Come with me, I'll sort it out.' She had taken both our arms, under the suspicious gaze of Max who wasn't sure he wanted the stranger anywhere near Daniel. He had to protect him, Daniel was his only friend, he would go to any lengths for him.

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Short chapter this time, it's just to settle the atmosphere before more importants parts 🙂‍↕️
How are you guys? This grand prix was bad asf...