The Pestilence

Chapter 2

Welcome to my life.

It consists of hunting at night and resting in the mornings and always moving. We have to keep moving.

The three of us walk together in a pack, with me leading and Iris bringing up the rear. Hayden is always right behind me, ready to point out every misstep I take or always watching my movement. It’s like she doesn’t trust me.

She shouldn’t.

Roxy leaped ahead of me and wandered around. She sniffed a couple of trees before retuning back to Iris’s side. Roxy’s black fur coat glistened in the sun as she trotted along with us. She’s always been at Iris’s side for as long as I remember. Hayden wanted to leave her behind when the Pestilence hit, but Iris wouldn’t let her. I’m okay with Roxy, her hound instincts make her a good hunting dog.

I tuned my head to hear the sounds around us better. The leaves and foliage crunched underneath our feet. Hayden walked up beside me, “We shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered.

“I told you that you could stay behind,” I said.

“And let you and Iris go off on your own? Not a chance, Lila.” She replied.

I sighed and lightly touched my hand against the gun that was hanging from my belt. The air was hot and humid, but after the Pestilence, the whole continent had been like that. I listened to the silence that took hold of our group.

“We have to do this, Hayden. We have to keep going,” I said.

“Why? That place was like a prison, with so much death and suffering. And if you remember correctly, we didn’t exactly have the best memories of our lives there. It’s just ruins now, anyway,” she said back.

“Hayden, there might be a chance for a cure. If not for us, then for the Pestilence. We could stop everything, go back to a time without the Pestilence, without human testing, without corruption,” I said.

“Why? We owe them nothing. Let them die from something they created!”

“We don’t know for sure who created it,” I whispered.

“No? They let it kill them, not once, but THREE times! And instead of coming up with a cure for everyone, they start experimenting on it to see if it can be used as a weapon.”

I took in a deep breath. The smell of sweat, grass, dog, lemon, and rosemary. The smell of the familiar scents calmed me. The rosemary was Iris and the sour lemon matched Hayden’s personality. I could smell my own scent like a soft blanket that covered my body. I took another breath. This time I flinched. There was something different this time, sweet, sterile and very warm.

“They were idiots and they deserved it!” Hayden continued ranting, “It kept spreading and spreading and all they could focus on was ‘how did it spread?’ ‘Can it be duplicated but controlled?’ ‘How did it affect people or animals?’ Not ‘Can it be cured?’ IDIOTS…” she continued now shouting at Iris who rarely said a word.

I held back from them. The smell was getting stronger. It was like a tune that was stuck in your head but you couldn’t quite make out the words. I turned back towards the two of them who were already walking ahead, with Hayden fuming the whole way.

“Ouch,” I said to myself as a thorn from a branch caught my arm and specks of blood dripped out of my arm. I looked at it for a moment, inspecting the deepness. I caught a whiff of the smell of my blood. It smelled warm and sweet. I lifted my head to smell the air around us again.

I was the same smell.

“Damn!” I shouted at myself and took off running towards Hayden, Iris and Roxy.

“Stop!” I shouted over and over again at them. They stopped briefly, Hayden still ranting.

“It’s a trap!” I panted as I caught up to them.

“What the hell, Lila?”

She barely got the last syllable out before her feet came out from underneath her and she was lifted up into the air. The net bounced around her as she struggled to get out. The trees shook as she bobbed up and down suspended in the air.

“Hayden!” Iris’s high voice shouted.

“Crap, give me a minute and let me reach my knife,” she said.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a deep masculine voice said as my arms were grabbed from behind me and a sharp object was pressed up against my throat.

 I smelled blood and metal from the boy who couldn’t be much taller than me. I turned to see a boy about a foot taller than Iris, grab her from behind and push a knife to her throat. I gave a quick shake of my head at Iris as the boy behind me tightened the knife against my throat.  

“Well, what do we have here?” his voice said in my ear.

I clenched my teeth and let out a sigh, “Damnit.”

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Sooooooo this is chapter 2 I guess. Like I said, I don't update very often but I really try. This is my first story too, so Im not quite sure what Im doing. Thanks for reading! Hope u like it!