Surviving The Haze ☑️

Chapter Nine

The next morning, we all woke up and started to to leave. We still had to go to Dallas; it was the only way we could end this.

The Haze had to be stopped.

As we walked out of the building, Lucy grabbed my arm and tugged me to her. "Keep an eye open for any Hazers. When one shows up, you take it down and tell me what to do after."

I glanced at my sister as she spoke. Her chocolate eyes were hard with determination; I knew I couldn't talk her out of it, no matter how hard I tried. She raised an eyebrow, clearly wanting an answer.

I stared her down. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

Lucy stared me down just as hard, her gaze not wavering once. "There's nothing I want more."

I nodded sadly. "Then I will."

She smiled triumphantly and walked on. Damien stopped next to me, his trash bag slung over his shoulder. "Are you really gonna help her turn into a Hazer?"

I frowned sadly. "I have to."

He nodded and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Okay. Just know this:if she can't regain her humanity, it'll all be for nothing."

I nodded and tossed him a sad smile. "Are you not gonna try?"

He nodded. "I am. I want to see if we can do it."

I smiled at him. "Ya know what, Damien?"

He gave me a half-smile back. "What?"

I faced him, putting my hand on his shoulder. "You're not half bad."

He gave me a full grin. "Well, thanks. I'm glad you're finally warming up to me."

I shook my head with a smile and started after Lucy, continuing our journey to Dallas.

***

We traveled for ten hours before we agreed we should stop. We stopped at a town next to Dallas called Highland Park. It was kind of small.

We found a motel not too far of of the highway and quickly ran to it. We decided to just camp out on the first floor since we were all so tired. We found a two-bedroom room and dumped our stuff in there before we collapsed on our beds.

Lucy was the first one to pipe up. "Can we go exploring?"

I raised myself up on my elbows. "Why?"

She shrugged, smiling. "I just thought since this was our last stop, we could explore. We won't be able to once we get to Dallas because apperently that's 'Haze Headquarters'." She used quotations around Haze Headquarters.

Damien spoke up for the first time, standing at the door. "I agree. We probably won't be able to just let loose when we reach Dallas."

I sighed as I sat up all the way. "Okay. Lucy, give your shotgun to Damien. We'll carry them just in case."

Lucy shook her head. "We won't need them. If we run into a Hazer, we'll just do what we had planned."

I stared at my sister like I thought she was stupid. "What if I can't hold the Hazer back? What if it tried to kill one of us? We need our guns, Lucy."

Lucy chewed on her lip as she thought. "Yeah, okay. But only use them if there is no way our plan will work."

I rolled my eyes as I picked up Lucy's shotgun of the ground and handed it to Damien. He cautiously took it from me and held it in hands like it was about to explode.

I sighed as I took the gun from him. "Look, loosen your grip. If you hold it too tight, you'll get hurt."

I demonstrated how to hold it and then handed it back to him. Damien took it less hesitantly than last time and held it in his hands, looking at me.

His hands were still too tight. He was also very tense, which would not end well. He held it like it was foreign to him.

I rolled my eyes at him. I quickly placed my hands over his as I loosened his hands for him. I moved his arms as if he was about to shoot, showing him how to stand. Then I shook my shoulders, telling him to relax his muscles.

Damien did as I said without hesitation. He watched my movements as I demonstrated how to hold it it correctly. He nodded along as I spoke, taking in every thing I said. Once I was finished, I asked him to get in his stance.

Damien quickly formed his stance, even aiming at the wall as if to shoot it. He was a bit hunched over and was still a bit tense. His grip was better, and his legs were wide enough.

I moved his shoulders back, and I shook his shoulders to help him stop tensing up. Damien kept his eyes on me as I fixed his stance.

Once I had him perfect, I stepped back. "Okay, Damien, stand just like that if needed. I'll yell at you if I need you to shoot."

He nodded slowly, still staring at me. Was there something on my face? Did I have a pimple? Why was he staring at me?

I shook off his gaze as I walked out of the door, down the stairs, and onto the empty street below.

Then I fell to the ground, a heavy mass on top of me.

As it pulled back, I caught the flash of blue eyes and glowing blue streaks, accompanied by a blue mist surrounding its body.

Lucy screamed and Damien yelled at the Hazer on top of me. It gripped me by the throat, slowly trying to kill me.

Catching it by surprise, I kicked it off with my newfound strength. It flew back and landed on all fours almost a football field away.

I turned to Lucy and Damien. "Get upstairs! Now!"

Damien nodded quickly and began to run up the stairs, but Lucy stayed put with her hands crossed over her chest.

I kept my eyes on the Hazer as I yelled at Lucy. "Lucy! Up the stairs now!"

Before she could answer, the Hazer attacked again, forcing me back to the ground. We wrestled each other until I was finally on top. I held down its arm as I grabbed the Hazer's neck. It struggled underneath me, growling and snarling at me.

Lucy was suddenly next to me, peering at the Hazer. "What do I do?"

I bashed its head against the ground once, causing its efforts to falter. "Go up the damn stairs, that's what!"

I saw Lucy shake her head in my peripheral vision. "No, I mean to turn Hazer."

I hissed at the Hazer as it tried to quickly whip me off its back. "Lucy, forget it. It's too risky! Now, go!"

She crouched down next to the struggling Hazer's head, staring at it. "I have to try."

I started to speak when she pressed her lips to the Hazer's, inhaling sharply. The Hazer put up a fight for a few seconds more, but soon stilled. Lucy continued to inhale the Haze, leaving me to only watch.

She finally looked up, a blue Haze surrounding her. I couldn't see her as she was engulfed in it completely. I heard her shriek and growl a few times, but I couldn't see her, no matter how many times I swiped at the Haze.

After a few minutes, the Haze flung itself into Lucy. It cleared enough to where I could see her convulsing on the ground, glowing blue. Her eyes were squeezed shut as the last of the Haze seeped into her, leaving behind a blue mist in its place. She slowly sat up on her knees and locked gazes with me. Her normally brown eyes glowed blue, and her hair was streaked with blue.

Lucy was a Hazer.

********************************************

Oh, snap! Lucy's been Hazed! What's they gonna do? Will she regain her humanity, or will she be a slaughtering Hazer for good?

You'll have to read on to find oooout.... >:)

Anyway, comment, vote, love it up. All I ask of y'all.

That's it for me. Night!