Blood Outback (Early chapters/concepts for "Children of the Outback")

Chapter 3

            Three days. Three days had passed since I jumped the fence, three agonizing days. It felt good to be free, but everything else was pure misery. My ankle throbbed with every step I took, a sure sign I hurt myself more than I originally thought, and I felt like I was dying of thirst. My throat burned and my mouth felt like it was filled with cotton. The blood from my cuts had long since dried but, whenever I stumbled, fresh blood always oozed through. I dragged my forearm across my forehead, only slightly surprised that it wasn't drenched with sweat. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since leaving Black River. How much farther to the sea, or to water for that matter? The desert couldn't be completely unending, could it? No, I was sure it couldn't. There had to be a way out, a way to survive. This couldn't be the end. I looked toward the horizon, toward the setting sun. It would be dark soon, a good thing. It would be cooler once the sun was out of sight. I squinted in the distance, trying to determine some end to the remote outback. Then, a sinking feeling of dread passed through me. There was no way of getting around it. I was completely lost. The desert looked the same. There were no landmarks to guide me, no indicators of how far I'd come or what direction I was travelling. For all I knew, I was walking in one big circle.

"No," I said out loud, my voice rasping thanks to dehydration.

I couldn't have been going in a circle. If I had been, I would've been back at Black River by now. Unfortunately, that was no comfort to me. I still had no idea where I was. For all I knew, I could be heading deeper into the desert or, worse, into the city where Brody made his home. Wouldn't that be ironic, running from one vampire I feared only to be caught by another? I tried to remember what city he lived in. I knew he lived in a large city because that's where all the leaders lived. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember which one no matter how hard I tried.

By the time darkness fell, I was ready to rest and wanted nothing more than to just sit down for a few minutes. I couldn't do it. I was too weak. If I stopped, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to start again. I stumbled through the darkness, trying to find my way, my leg protesting with every step. I needed a miracle. I'd been lucky to make it this far but, as always, my luck had run short. Between the darkness and my distraction, I didn't notice the ravine, probably a dried up river bed, in front of me until I was falling through the darkness. I landed hard on my stomach, air exploding from my lungs, my right shoulder slamming against the ground. That was it. In my mind it was over. I wasn't strong enough to get back up and keep going. I struggled to catch my breath and rested the bruised side of my face against the earth. The sand stung my cuts, probably reopened thanks to the impact. I released a shaky breath. It was over. This was how I was going to die, just like in the dream. I knew death was a great possibility when I left but, to look it in the face was one of the hardest things I had to do. I couldn't fight anymore. I could feel unconsciousness creeping up on me, threatening to drag me into an abyss that I wouldn't wake up from. As I willed it to hurry up, to make my death quick and relatively painless, my mind wandered to Elijah. No doubt someone from the camp would eventually find my body or, at least, my bones. I just hoped it wouldn't be him. He didn't need that, didn't need the regret. I hoped that he'd be able to forget me like he would any of the other humans.

"I'm sorry, Elijah," I whispered before slipping into unconsciousness.

I wasn't sure how long I was out cold or even if I was still alive when I finally regained awareness. My shoulder and leg ached, a testimony that I was very much alive. But where was I? My eyes darted across the rough, wooden ceiling and, for a moment, I panicked. I was back at Black River. How did the guards find me? How could my efforts have been all for nothing? I waited, expecting Elijah to walk in at any moment and chastise me for my stupidity, but no one came. I sighed and watched the sunlight flitting across the ceiling. Sunlight? That couldn't be. We didn't have windows in any of the buildings at Black River. It would be too dangerous if any of us got our hands on some broken glass, a potential mass suicide. I breathed a sigh of relief, then panic set in again. If I wasn't at the prison camp, where was I? Had I, by some crazy twist of fate, been rescued? I wanted to sit up, to throw the thin cloth that was covering me off and look around, but I couldn't. I was still too weak and thirsty to do much of anything.