Arabella

Chapter 12

     "It's so hot," Dalton complained while the group trudged through the sand dunes, where Arabella knew they were in the middle of nowhere.
     The fatigue and sweat. The stench growing more and more by the hour of uncleaned bodies. "This is what it must be like for the other survivors," Chris assumed while they went uphill, then downhill.
     Their throats dry from the lack of water. How could anyone survive a scorched place like this? I'd be damned if someone still stayed alive here! Arabella thought to herself.
      Hopefully, just hopefully, they will make it to the palace and find a cure once and for all.
     "I really do wonder what's going to be out there in the kingdom," Arabella whispered to her brother, "Who all survived. Who's infected. What this place really looks like.."
     Max shrugged, "Hopefully we aren't too far from our destination." Luke stared at Arabella, who hasn't talked to him in a while.

Hey

Arabella turned back looking for Luke. She's been looking forward to speaking with him. A small smile reappeared on her face and she walked next to him.
     "Hey," she replied back and nudged him gently, "How's it going so far?"
     Luke chuckled and shook his head, "Feet hurt. Wish we could relax for just a bit."
     "What's that over there?" Noah pointed out from afar. No one could make it out, but from a distance it seemed to look like a tower.
     Arabella's dad called out, "Just a few miles, and we'll be there." All morning and afternoon they'd spent countless times resting and walking a few more miles before they repeat that process.
     The sand was soft, but it was easily stuck on people. From afar these mountains looked greater than ever. She held the baby securely, and walked along with Dalton. The baby was cooing quietly
"You look weird with a baby," Chris rolled his eyes but then shot a playful wink at him, "The hot kind of weird though." Luke, from ahead rolled his eyes and glared at him.
     Arabella smiled, "Well.. My responsibility now. But I'll let it be handled by Cameron." It's more weird calling the man who had been gone for half of her life, 'dad'. The sound of it sounded foreign to her, for she never had a father. He only did what was best for himself, she supposed.
     Time was running out as the hours kept passing by like there was no tomorrow. Arabella jogged up the hills every once in a while to get a clearer picture of how much longer till the tower.
     For the night, they set up a small camp. The baby was carefully wrapped in a new blanket as the surroundings were covered so no sand would get into her nose.
     Arabella watched all the boys and her father's group getting along with each other. She leaned on top of a slope of sand staring at them from below.
     "Sorry for interrupting your moment," the British voice had apologized. That was when Luke came about, "We hadn't talked in a while."
     She slightly pulled her legs into her chest, "I've been busy."
     "Last thing I'd ever want to happen is those runners chasing us," Luke mentioned, "They're killers."
     "Cannibalistic killers," Arabella joked, although it was somewhat the truth, "I hope this little anecdote thing works. Who knows if they'd be hiding under the sand."
     Arabella sat up and let her head fall onto Luke's shoulder as his hands were intertwined together as he thought. The conversation fell silent, but then e whispered, "I like you, I really do. I only want to know if you even feel the same way."
     "I do Luke," she murmured silently, "But we can't be together. Not right now... at least."
     Arabella fell into a light sleep, and woke up to the noises early in the morning. Not sunrise, it was still dark outside but a bit lighter. If it weren't for her watch that still worked, she wouldn't have known the time. Four in the morning. Clicking noises everywhere. Left and right, the sickening noises of the runners never left her head. It was permanently there.  The clicking got louder and louder. But she opened her eyes quickly. There it was. The gory, bruised, pale face with opened wounds filling with puss. Saliva and blood mixed together drooping from the mouth. Facing Arabella up close. Her heart skipped a beat from the horrific sight, and she quickly grabbed her gun, shooting the Runner in the head and rolled across the sand. Her body tingled with fear as she stood on her feet and ran to the campfire.
     "Arabella!" Luke screamed to her. She was panicking, and it didn't look good. Sweat trickled from her forehead as she watched the runner slowly fall to his knees. He stood beside her and pulled her close to him in any case.
     It sounded like the man was had a troubled time breathing in his coarse breaths. As if he were finally normal for once. It was a man, was. His hand stopped him from falling any further to the sand. Coughing, wheezing, clicking. The noises were almost human-like. Arabella slowly felt her heart sink as she heard this one man who was struggling, and dying. The other half of her felt like she did the right thing.
     She flashed the flashlight to him, and the man's eyes were noticeable, bloodshot blue eyes. Her eyes widened a bit, but he whispered softly, his final words "Thank you.." With that the man went limp, and she shook her head with her eyes shut tightly.
     "What is a runner doing out this far," Luke questioned himself, as the other teenage boys followed Arabella's direction.
     The flashes of flashlights went everywhere, till a spot showed. There were few Runners that were hungry for human flesh. Fourteen.. Fifteen.. Sixteen. They were in the search of food. Arabella only asked herself questions. Where did they come from?
"I'm not about to get chased by some crappy Runners," Chris was out of breath from running up the hill, "There was about fifteen of us total, some of them disappeared."
     "Let's just move," Dalton suggested as Arabella smirked, agreeing with the youngest here. Cameron came up with the baby in his arms still sound asleep, everyone sighing in relief. Arabella limped, but was able to walk. The tension on her leg was bad, but she didn't mind, knowing this wouldn't be permanent damage.
     She looked at them, the rims of her eyes slightly change of color. The blue rim, "Come on guys, move on. We can't stop now."
Arabella realized that it's been days since she's gotten hints from the mysterious voice that kept in contact with her. She checked the time now. Two full hours have passed, and they moved downhill. The wind was strong, and all she did was wonder. When was she going to die? Arabella had been giving up at this point. No sign of anything. No water. Barely out of food. Water should have kept them going.
It reached the late morning, ten o'clock. The sun was out and burning already on a hot day like this. Another way of saying it's time to get moving. People took turns holding the new baby, and every time Arabella looked at Isabella, it reminded her of the lady who had given her life up. Amber.
"So we haven't talked for a while," Chris nudged Arabella jokingly, "What's going on your mind shorty?"
She shrugged, "If there's an actual safe haven here. Or kingdom."
"If we can't find a cure, then you best believe this fight isn't over. Most of us are immune," he explained, "Besides, you seem like the person who's meant for this position."
Arabella folded her arms, "The important one?"
"Aside from mine, yeah," he bragged and messed with her hair, "Keep moving North right?"
"Yes sir," she said sarcastically and continued walking. Hour by hour, a mile closer. Every now and then they would jog or run to make it quicker.
There was the soreness again, the pain none of them had felt in a while.
"Bloody hell," cursed Luke, "This searing heat is killing me."
"Just keep going son," Cameron had muttered while jogging, "We'll be there soon." They got closer to the last few hills of the sand dunes.
An unfamiliar voice appeared from them. This time, a lady. "Who goes there!" It seemed perfectly normal. A lady's voice, healthy and young from the sounds. Just from afar, the group of hunters squinted their eyes, "I'm warning you. We will fire."