Infected

Chapter 10 .~

»»Ella's Pov««

"Which way did Lila go?!" Julie asked, not aware of which way she took off in.

"She turned left onto the highway," Stephen answered without any patience. Julie floored the acceleration pedal and we took off at what seemed like the speed of light.

"Do you smell smoke?" asked Jenessa in a voice that seemed rather calm for the situation. We all took the time to see if we could smell it as well. Next thing I knew, Jenessa was crying and screaming, pointing ahead of us.

"What?! What is it?" asked Julie in a very shaky voice. The purple Prius was just ahead of us, ran into a fallen, burning tree. Lila could be dead.

The air was dark and smoky, and none of us could make out a thing as we approached the scene and parked the car. We all rushed out of the Station Wagon, only to be attacked by a layer of dark grey smoke. Hoagie, still in the car, began to bark excessively.

I began to cough uncontrollably, along with the rest of the group. Everyone but Stephen. He tucked his face into the collar of his shirt and hesitantly started towards the burning car. The ugly purple color of the Prius was no longer visible, the red and orange glow of the flames was all that could be seen.

"Stephen!" Jenessa screamed, interrupted by her lungs' desires to cough. "Get away from the car, you'll get hurt!" But before she could convince him, he disappeared into the smoke.

Julie turned and directed our attention to the other side of the road. Two girls, who seems to be actual, living people, one lied on the ground. They seemed to be about our age. Before I had time to investigate, Stephen ran back to us, coughing uncontrollably and stumbling every step of the way.

"She's gone!" he panicked. "Lila isn't in there! No body! Nothing! She must have gotten out and ran!" I feared the worst before hearing the shout of an unfamiliar voice. One of the girls on the other side of the road was yelling for us.

"Don't trust it." Stephen said. "We need to find Lila." If there still is a Lila. The girl was yelling and waving her arms, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. I knew it was foolish to stray from the group, but I wanted to know for myself. Curiosity killed the cat.

"Ella!" I heard from behind me. I turned around, only to find Stephen following my lead and Jenessa on her knees. She was so scared, but we more than doubled their size. What could go wrong?

As I approached, I noticed one of the girls was unconscious, with a bag lying next to her. The other, who looked rather intimidating, seemed more than fine. She had a black bag laying in the ground behind her. Then I noticed, the girl laying on the ground was Lila.

"Lila!" Stephen screamed as he took a swing at the standing stranger. The girl grabbed his fist and tripped him face-first into the gravel of the side of the road. Kneeling by him and holding him to the ground, she immediately pulled a blade from a holster on her hip, but did not direct it towards any of us.

"I am no threat to you." she said with a British accent. "I saved your friend from the burning car. She is unconscious from the lack of fresh air, but she will be fine." She allowed Stephen to his feet, and he stumbled to Lila.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" Stephen asked as he listened for Lila's heartbeat.

"My name is Riley Hayes. I mean no harm." she said, putting her blade back in the holster. What is she doing out here all by herself? Stephen stood up and walked away from Lila, keeping his eyes on Riley the whole time.

"Thank you for saving her." I said, doing my best to break the silence. She held a stern face for a minute, then softened up.

"It's not like I had a choice, the crazy ginger almost hit me." She replied with a wry laugh. I smiled, finding her laugh rather adorable. Her face was grey with soot from the smoke.

I didn't notice her giving me a weird look until Jenessa tapped my shoulder and wiped something off my face.

"You ok, Ella? You have something on your face." Jenessa said, making my face turn red. It was the slightest bit of blood dripping from the corner of my lip.

"Yes.." I said frowning, wondering how I didn't notice that sooner. Riley walked up to me, pulling a red and black handkerchief from the inside pocket of her faded black denim jacket. She smiled at me and gently wiped the blood from my face.

"What happened, blondey?" she asked, as she returned the handkerchief to her pocket.

"I just accidentally bit my lip earlier. I'm fine." I said, as I tried to act nonchalant. It was weird, I wanted her to like me. I didn't even know her yet.

Everyone's attention was drawn away from us as the no longer purple Prius exploded behind us. In a flash, parts of the Prius were scattered everywhere. A burst of heat went pass all of us, fire was spreading like bacteria. Riley quickly gathered Lila and their bags in her arms like a baby and took off running down the road.

"Run! We have to get out of here." Riley yelled, her British accent standing out more than before. We ran after her, trusting her to lead the way. "Quick." she said "There's not much time, just stay close."

I didn't know what came over me, but I trusted Riley to bring us to safety. I don't even know you.

Riley was racing towards the vehicle, trying to beat the flames. She quickly put Lila in the backseat of the Station Wagon, next to Hoagie. Before she had a chance to sit Lila up, Stephen shoved his way pass her and into the seat next to Lila's unconscious body.

"Who's driving?" asked Riley in an impatient voice.

"That would be me." said Julie. Riley opened the driver seat door for her and then quickly focused her attention towards me.

"Hurry!" she yelled. Before I could respond, she sprinted towards me. She stayed so calm, trying not to alarm me of what was behind me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car. Helping me into the passenger seat, she pulled her blade from her holster again.

She ran back and starting to fight off a group of cannibals that had swarmed the area while we were running. I was scared for her, I didn't want her to get hurt. Julie couldn't get the car started. Jared was such a coward, he had already left in his truck.

The fire was getting closer to the vehicle, and Riley was outnumbered by a lot. Stephen jumped out of the car to help her.

"Are you crazy? Get out of here!" she yelled, pulling her blade out of the eye of a defeated cannibal.

"You saved us! We aren't leaving you!" screamed Stephen as he punched a cannibal in the face and avoided any other attacks.

Julie got the car started and drove it right into the group of cannibals, allowing Riley and Stephen to get in without any trouble. After they were in safely, Julie stepped on it and we were down the road at 40 miles per hour in less than 5 seconds.

Hoagie began to bark at something through the back windshield. A cannibal had made its way onto the back of the car before we took off. Riley stood on her seat, putting the upper half of her body out the window. She took her blade and stabbed it right through the neck. Its body fell to the ground, and Riley got back into her seat properly. She seethed her weapon, breathing more heavily than before.

"Where are we h-headed?" she asked, trying not to stutter.

"We are headed for Montana." I said, feeling much more confident that we would make it now that we had such a skilled companion. Let's do this.

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Chapter written by --DKT-- , she's an amazing writer and I think you should follow her

Published, November 6th, 2015