The Menace

The Body on the Side of the Road

𝐆𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐑

It was very early in the morning. I didn't know the time. Me and my relatives were driving out on the road, heading for our usual spot for hunting. Unfortunately, that isn't near where we live, but we were about halfway there. I usually sat back and let the men talk their ears off. They never really say anything to me on the rover rides unless it's important or if they have any stupid jokes. I was staring out the window, watching the trees and bushes pass by. But as I looked ahead, I spotted a body. Kind of a small body. Not too small to be a child, but not big enough to be a young adult like me. I called for Johnny, the driver, to stop. "What's wrong with you, kid?" he growled as he looked back at me. "What are you fussin' about."
  "There's a body on the side of the road..."
  He looked ahead and said "Gavir, what am I looking at? I don't see nothin'..." He stopped the rover anyway and I let myself out through the back like I usually did. I stepped down and walked towards the body. The closer I got, the more features I noticed about this person. She was a woman, and most likely my age if not younger.
  "Georgie, get out here!" I called. Georgie, my uncle, jumped out of the rover and rushed over to me and the body.

"Damn..." he said, out of breath. "Is she dead?"

"I can't tell... If not then gotta take her back."

"Where? Back home?"

"Yeah... Where else? We can't go to the hospitals; they're packed with sick people."

Georgie looked back at the rover and then back at me. "You think they'll be cool with that?"

"You know Lenny and Grandpa are the sweethearts..."

Georgie stood and ran back to the rover to talk to Johnny and everyone else. I gently shook the girl, trying to wake her up. I checked her pulse. It was so weak, I almost couldn't feel it. I tried listening for breathing. Nothing. She can't be dead... I thought. Georgie came back to me. I stood up with my head in my hand. "Well, is she dead or not?" he asked, impatiently.
  "No..." I responded. "She has a weak pulse, but she's not breathing."
  He bent down and grabbed her ankles. "Are you gonna help, or what?" he mumbled.
  "Oh, yeah, sorry." I grabbed her arms and we lifted her up and carried her into the back of the rover. When my grandfather, Charlie, pulled her fully in, Georgie and I climbed back in and shut the door.
  "Everybody set?" Lenny, the guy in the passenger seat asked. We all gave a 'yes' and then Johnny drove off. All she had on was a white tank top and gray sweatpants. I took my coat off and wrapped it around her.
  "Now, what could a child be doing out in this cold?" Grandpa Charlie asked. 

  The possibilities of that scared me. What could she be doing out in the winter with no coat, shoes or even socks? She's nearly dead and has frostbite on her feet and hands. When we were halfway to the farm, she started moving. She began whimpering and shaking. I moved closer to her and started talking to her. "Hey, hey, look– can you open your eyes?"
  All I heard were incoherent mumbles until she said, "I'm so cold..." I took her arms and carefully put them through the sleeves of my coat. As I did that, I noticed a tattoo on her wrist. It was a letter and number combination. Of course, I found it strange, but it didn't matter at the time.
  "You're okay. You're okay..." I tried to comfort her so that she would try to stay calm. I took the cup of hot tea that my grandfather was drinking. "Forgive me..." I mumbled to myself. I splashed the tea on girl's face and she sat up and opened her eyes immediately. She stared at me and then looked all around the rover.

"Where is this going?" she fearfully asked. I didn't know how to answer her for a few seconds. "I gotta get out of here..." she mumbled again as she quickly moved and opened the back of the rover and tried to escape. Before she could jump out, I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her back. Georgie shut the back of the rover. I held her down by her wrists and then she pushed me over and did the same. And she was incredibly strong. After a few seconds, she got off of me and backed up.