Chapter 14

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[The Man]

"Hey, stay with me. Stay with me." My daughter told me.
"Stay with me!" The mother yelled. "Hey! Are you there?"
My eyes flew open. I wasn't dead.
Not yet.
I could see another war boy racing for the girls, so I leaned up and broke the rod off like a twig, separating my hand from my forehead. Running full speed I traveled down the rig and bashed my shoulder against the war boy sending us both flying onto the hood. I gasped for air and peered through windshield to see The Woman's eyes wide.
The War Boy was approaching me once more for another chance to fight, when the rig lurched forward. She had stomped on the brakes to save me. I pushed myself up and saw a glimpse of someone on the front of the rig. Another buzz cut through the air and I saw the War Boy with a chainsaw. I planned to run to the back of the rig, get off the unstable hood, but another war boy with knife blocked the way. I was undoubtedly trapped in a situation with only two options: they died, or I did.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw The Woman trying to fight off attackers and still drive. I needed to finish these boys off so I could help her.
"Come on. Help her, dammit." I told myself.
The boy gripping the knife ran down and swung at me, but I dogged it with ease and elbowed him in the stomach. While he was hunched over in pain I grabbed him and pulled him in front of me. The boy with the chainsaw took no time before swinging the spinning blade deep into his friend in an attempt to strike me. The chainsaw almost cut him in half. The boy noticed that he wasn't going to be able to hit me, so he shoved the chainsaw deeper into his friend, making me I tip back. The shift in weight was too much to compensate for and I lost my balance. I took my last deep breath. I flew over the side of the rig.

[The Woman]

My arm shot out the window and grabbed his foot. I had always had fast reflexes, but I have to say that that was fast. I had caught him, but another problem arose. I couldn't lift him up. I wasn't strong enough. The girls were trying to find someway to pull him back into the rig as I tried to drive straight. "Hold on. I thought. Hold on to him."
Before another plan could sprout in my mind a sharp pain entered the side of abdomen; I screamed instinctively. I screamed louder then I was aware I could, which alerted the rest of the population in the cab. I turned and saw the Seed Holder kill - with her last available breaths - the war boy who stabbed me. The Dag helped to kicked him from the rig.
I had focus all my strength into holding the mans foot, but my grip started to loosen the second my side was penetrated by the rusty blade. I looked to the right and out of the passenger window, catching a glimpse of a scene that infuriated me: Toast being held with her hands against her back and her face being pressed against the window.
That lit a fire in me. The voice in my head screamed "hold on! Hold onto him. Hold on to your god damn redemption".
A yell brought half my brain back to reality and I saw a war boy driving up from behind, straight for the man I was clinging onto for dear life. There was me driving the rig, a man the girls called The People Eater driving next to me, and a car driving in between us preparing to crush the man. I yelled and turned the rig into the war boys car, crushing it between the People Eaters vehicle.
I had just saved the man when out of nowhere he was ripped from my grasp and I cried out. When I lost my grip I was forced to move forward a bit causing my insides to burn with pure fire. Then the fear kicked in.
"Did I drop him?!" I blurted out.
No, no I had not. The man appeared on the front bumper of the People Eaters Mercedes Limousine.
With my newly reclaimed hand I grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and shook my head. I forced my mind to clear
Focus.
The end of the gear shift was sticking out of my side and I wondered: "I'm supposed to leave it in, right?"
I gritted my teeth but my made a decision. I needed a gear shift. I grabbed the bone with my sweaty, shaky hand and pulled it out. I stuck the blade into its home in the gear shift. The blood soaked into the cloth on my hands that were covering my glass wounds. I was losing blood at an alarming rate. I couldn't die here, not yet. I had to finish this fight, and then I could go if I had to. I wanted to stop, crawl in the back of the rig. This fight was far from over. I couldn't. I made the girls a promise they didn't know about, and I intended to keep it nonetheless.

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