Post Apocalyptic

Chapter Five

My eyes widened. I spun around, looking in all directions, trying to figure out where the scream had come from. My breathing was rough and harsh and panicked. I continued to spin around, looking for any sign of Skylar, listening for any sign of her.

"Skylar!?" I asked in a choked cry, hoping for an answer.

I got no reply. 

"Skylar!" I screamed, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes. I was breathing even heavier, fearing the worst.

"Addison!" I heard a high pitched, shrill scream. She sounded as if she was struggling.

"I'm coming!" I screamed, running in the direction I had heard the scream come from. My feet slid on the damp, soggy leaves, making my running sloppy and uncoordinated. The rain was now a full on thunderstorm, sending stinging pellets onto my flesh. I could barely see three feet in front of me, but I didn't stop.

"Skylar!" I screamed, my voice getting lost in the pounding rain. I didn't slow down. I couldn't. I slipped and fell hard on my side, my ribs sending a dull throb throughout my body. I sloppily got back up and trampled though the thick vines and bushes, still screaming her name.

"Addison!" Her scream seemed more faint now, like she was giving up. I full out ran again, lungs burning and thighs stinging from the strain. I whacked branches and damp, dripping leaves out of my way, running harder and faster.

I came to a clearing where the ground to the right of me sloped down drastically, very steep and easy to get hurt if someone slipped and fell down. I looked over, trying to get a visual of any body, maybe a shadow. "Skylar?" I shakily called over the edge.

"Addison!" Her shrill voice came from the bottom of the slope. I narrowed my eyes and tried to get a visual on her. The rain was way too heavy, and all I saw was the thick cold fog and the shoots of rain falling down. I took a step onto the slope, trying not to slip and break something important.

"Addison, don't come down, it's a tr-" Her voice was cut off. I stopped and looked around, rain falling in my eyes and making me blink excessively. 

"What?" I called as I felt the large, rough hands on my back. I went to turn around and shove my spear into the stomach as he shoved me with way more force than I expected. I lurched foward and gasped as my spear was yanked out of my hand.

I tumbled down the steep slope, small switches cutting at my bare arms. I slid and tumbled over the leaves, them flying over me and getting caught in my hair, my clothes. I clawed for anything to grab onto, anything to stop my descent. Nothing stuck out for me, so I grasped at the ground under the leaves. But the slope was too steep and the ground too slippery and wet. I curled myself in a ball to shield my body from anymore damage.

I got hit hard in the back, knocking the breath out of my body. My eyes bugged out as I sucked in a deep breath, trying to breathe. I slid around the object that had hit me, it being a huge tree. My body unfurled in a limp, noodle-like slide, still trying to catch my breath.

I tumbled to even forest floor, stopping after a few rolls. I layed in a crumpled heap, squirming, trying to breathe. I opened my mouth wide against the leafy ground, trying to get any air in my struggling lungs. I slowly crawled into a somewhat sitting position, head down, still trying to breathe in some of the cold, thick air.

"What the hell?" I let out a strangled cry, panting heavily and rubbing my sore back.

"Addison!" The scream was loud and right beside me. I turned to see Skylar in the mist, hands held behind her back and large brown burlap bag covered her head. Her head moved back and forth frantically, trying to see.

"Skylar?" I whispered, crawling towards her. "What.."

I was cut off my someone yanking me back by my hair. I screamed and kicked as I was drug across the ground, away from Skylar. My shirt rode up to expose my back, leaving the sharp corners and stems of leaves to poke and stab me. "Let go of me!"

My demand was not acknowledged at all as the person sat me upright, pushed down on my back, and wrenched my hands behind my back. I screamed and squirmed as I felt the person tighten a plastic zip tie around my wrists. Rain pounded down on us, and I wondered how he could be so efficient in such bad weather. I felt the hot air of his ragged breath on my neck, and I took the opportunity.

I let my head hang down, then forcefully flung it back, the back of my skull slamming into the front of his. I heard and curse as he stumbled away, leaves being kicked up and tossed in the wind in his stumbling wake.

I wiggled towards Skylar, determined to get us out of this situation. I didn't know what they wanted, and I had no desire to find out. I got up on my feet somehow and ran for Skylar, but I was kicked down by a heavy, forceful boot. I gasped in pain as I fell in a particularly soggy area, his boot landing in the exact spot where I had tumbled into the tree. I stayed on the ground and curled in immense pain.

I was yanked back up by my hair and tugged back to the spot where he had first had me. I tried to make out his face in the rain, but it was difficult. All I could tell was that he was a monster of a man, with huge broad shoulders and huge, rough hands. His hair was probably really curly, but the rain made it lay and drip in muted waves. He looked down at me, barely on my feet, and smiled. "Oh, James had said you'd be a feisty one." He had a thick southern accent.

I made a digusted face at him and spit in his face. He looked in surprise and confusion at first, trying to figure out if it was rain or spit. His face turned to one of pure anger as he punched me in the face with those monstrous hands. I fell, yet again, on the cold ground, head and vision fuzzy from the force of that hit. I heard jumbled yelling as I went out of it, something like, "Don't hit her like that!" and "She's not your girl anymore!" But I wasn't sure at all.

I tried to focus on staying awake, tried to form a plan, but I couldn't. All I could do was lay there and hear them bicker and argue, while I tried to swallow down the vomit coming up. My breathing slowed as my vision went darker, and I made out a faint shadow of a person in the mist, walking toward me. I wasn't entirely sure if my jacked up head was perceiving this correctly or not, but I was sure of the deep, ominous words that fluttered into my ears.

"We finally have you."