Just US

Flicks? No Thanks

There wasn't just one flick. No, I turned my head, frantically looking around everywhere, there were tons, we were surrounded. "Oh no Ryder, this isn't good". "Oh really you think?" "Yeah, I do" I smiled, somehow.

Flicks couldn't talk, but they could growl, as they were doing right this moment. And they could walk, closely closing in on us. Their steps weren't that big, or that fast, but it sure felt like it, especially when there were about ten of them trying to find their next meal.

Funny thing was, flicks don't need to wait either, they're just killers, for fun. It's just part of their nature, in their blood. "How are we supposed to get out now?" I asked. "He grabbed a torch out of the side of his bag along with a pack of matches and lit it. I took the hint and grabbed my knife as well. It wasn't very big but it would do if they got too close.

The torch was now burning, and Ryder waved it around at the flicks. "Hey careful! I'm right here you know!" I shouted as it passed my face by only a few inches. "Sorry" he groaned. As the fire got closer to them, they backed off, only to come right at us again. "Argh you stupid things just quit it!" I groaned in frustration.

Evelyn my thoughts echoed, Evelyn. I only had one job right now, and it was to get back to her. Quickly, I snatched the torch out of Ryder's hand and replaced it with my knife in one swift move. I motioned for him to follow me as I stepped up to the flick closest in my way.

Waving around the torch, I brought it as close as I could to its face and drew it out of the way. Grabbing Ryders hand, I started running. Not caring at all how much noise I was making, I ran. Far away from the flicks, so far that if they did follow us it would take them days to catch up.

"Wow, nice one. But next time ask before you take my torch alright?" Ryder said, panting. "Sorry, but I did just save your life so" I laughed.

This would be a long journey if we came into contact with any more flicks along the way, which was inevitable. "Flicks? No thanks" I snorted, we'd definitely avoid as many as possible. I just remembered what Ryder had said last night about asthma, which explained why he was gasping for air. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I forgot!" I exclaimed. "You're good" he said lightly, still fighting to get air. "Do you have an inhaler or anything" I asked. He shook his head "no, I lost it early on". Great. Now I really hoped that we wouldn't see anymore flicks, he has double the chance of dying than me.

Against Ryder's will, I made him stay where we were for a while and get some rest, so that he could get his breath back. I felt bad for making him run like that, but he would've died if I didn't, so it had to be done. Still, we were okay now, so it would be safe for us to stop. "Okay, I'm fine now" he said. "No, you're not" I stated. He opened his mouth a moment to protest, before closing it, knowing that no matter what he said it would do nothing.

Another five minutes passes "Alright, Thea, I'm okay now, really" he put an emphasis on the really. I took a deep breath before finally nodding, signaling him that we could start again. We got started on our trek through the forest once again. "Oh wait, Thea?" He asked. "Hmm?" "I actually have something, a compass" he pulled out a circular object from his bag. "What! And you didn't think to tell me this earlier?" "Well, it doesn't really work, but still". I snatched the device out of his hands and took it as my own to examine it. Surely enough, the arrow was swiveling around every which was as I moved it, never picking a certain direction. "Ugh, so what you meant is that you have a uselesscompass" I rolled my eyes. Well, I did say that it didn't work".

Even though the compass didn't work, and even though it was technically Ryders, I held it in my hand, occasionally glancing down at it for the rest of the walk u til we settled down for the night. Maybe, just maybe, I was hoping that it would magically start working again, this stupid apocalypse has easily proved that anything can happen. Anything.

"You know, we've been walking for a whole day now, and nothing looks familiar, maybe we should turn around and go the other way, we don't really seem to be getting much closer ya' know?" I said. "Actually, everything looks familiar, which doesn't make it any better I guess. But sure, in the morning though, I wanna sleep soon, I'm getting pretty tired now" he replied with a yawn.

We sat down, this time leaning our backs against the largest tree we could find, which was probably about at least five-feet wide. I closed up our bags and put them behind our backs, to help prevent them from being stolen.

I looked up at him, he was so much taller than me, especially while we were sitting. He smiled and nodded, I lay my head down on his shoulder, and he put his head on mine, just like last night. "Hey Thea" I looked up at him but he signaled that I could just listen, so I put my head back down. "This is nice. Being lost and running for our lives isn't, but at least if I'm gonna have to do that it'll be with you". I smiled softly at his words, and with that, I fell into a deep, deep, sleep, knowing he was here was all the comfort I needed.