The Corruption

Chapter 19 - Blood Sky

They all fell down on the grass, laughing so hard their ribs hurt, Derek getting his rock hard abs even harder, and the rest of them trying to catch their breath. "Wow.." Nate said, rubbing his eyes and laughing slightly. "I can't believe Kaleigh was able to push me.. I weigh too much," Derek pretended he didn't hear that, because he wasn't about to ruin this moment arguing with someone that he doesn't think has a chance with his girl. "Heh, we used to be those kids that would see what shapes the clouds made.. but now.. there's not a single cloud to be seen for miles," Liam squinted as he thought deeply about what shapes they saw years back. Nate, unusually, started doing sit-ups. It could have been for two reasons; to impress Kaleigh or to catch up to Derek's level of fitness, but either one, Derek did not like it. He would be fine with it if Nate hadn't been so over-friendly to Kaleigh before-hand, and the though crossed his mind that he was going to have to do something about it. He did not though, he simply kept a straight face, looking up at the red sky. Wait, red sky?

The grass was slowly fading it's lively green and turning to hell orange from the lighting of the sky. The sun appeared, though much darker and wider, giving the sky a red tone. The CPG had no clue what this meant, maybe the result of what you get when an eclipse overcomes a corruption, but that was just as unlikely as the possibility of it being an illusion. Liam and Derek both slowly sat up, Derek putting his hand over his eyes, squinting, to get a better look at the sky, while Liam, always one step ahead, heading to the car and putting it in ignition in case they had to go immediately. Nate, stayed on the ground, looking over at Kaleigh, smiling. Kaleigh didn't understand what Nate was thinking so she simply smiled back, though Nate was closer than before and so he held her hand. Kaleigh was used to this from Derek so she didn't pull back right away until Derek turned around and Nate quickly jumped up from his guilt off the ground. The CPG were like an audience at a magic show, what they saw was amazing, but did they believe it? No. All four quickly went to the van and got inside, slamming the car doors shut and locking them, except not moving. This was only a way of getting more protection and still being able to look out for what was going on. Kaleigh looked behind them in the back car window with her rifle readied, making sure not to hit anyone because they were all behind her. Liam and Nate clenched their metal clubs tightly and waited for the corruption to make it's move, while Derek went back with Kaleigh and sat next to her, flicking his knife around. Kaleigh didn't look at Derek, but she felt her eyes water in sorrow for Derek, because a realization overcame her thoughts, which was that if her rifle was aimed even slightly to the left, it would have been a headshot and Derek would be gone. She looked down, trying to hide her tears, and rubbed her eyes with one hand and focused on the task at hand. Derek wanted to cheer her up, and now that he had competition with Nate, he had to think of something even better, and fast. For the next few minutes there were sounds of thunderstrikes and lightning was seen only a few miles away. Kaleigh was able to keep her cool for a brief moment until she couldn't anymore, dropped her rifle, and hugged Derek, pushing her head in his chest. Derek stroked her hair and cradled her back and forth, hugging her tightly, as he held her cheek and kissed her softly. "If we don't make it out of this one, I'm glad I could see the end of my life with you," Derek whispered, quiet enough for Nate and Liam not to hear, even though Nate saw Derek kiss Kaleigh in the rear view window, which angered him, as he kept his anger behind a fake smile. Nate told himself that now was not the time to be caught in a love triangle, rather focus on not being jumped by a Snake or a Smoker. More minutes passed, and Kaleigh was feeling better after what Derek had said, even though she was slightly more worried if they were not going to make it, but she forced herself to be brave and sat up, aiming her rifle once more. The thunder was getting louder until they heard an ice cream theme song sound from a truck, slowly driving itself on the road.