Journey Into The Aftermath |✔

A/N & Sneak peek(Ignore)

So, this week's chapter was rather emotional than the typical explosion you would normally see (err, read) in a science fiction book like this, but giving my characters (no matter how insignificant) some background to make them seem more human. If you're into flawless heroines who have blonde hair, blue eyes and the most you know about them is their foot up your a** then this isn't the book for you haha!

Now that brings me to this.

The next chapter is FULL of action! So, I will give you a sneak peek into the hurricane of a chapter known as "Mountain Pass"

***

We got back on the highway and it was my turn to be back in the driver's seat while Noah snacked away. He could see the longing in his eyes when I told him he had enough of our stash for today and who knows how long this food has to last. I took my fair share and a warm bottle of water that probably had some type of nasty bacteria growing in it.

I batted my tongue in my mouth at the bad taste. "If we don't die by a wild bear, it will be the sickness that takes us."

Back on the highway, I had Noah tell me when we were getting close and then about a half hour later, he shot up in his seat. Not like something just happened, but like he forgot to tell me something he should have a little while ago since he was distracted with the movie.

"It says were just miles out" he told me.

"Finally" I pedaled the gas to pick up the process. That was dangerous because of the state the road was in, but since Noah said that, I felt that the chances of anything happening were slim.

"And take a left on Dresden and the road will lead into a bridge, the Norway Bridge" Noah finished instructing me. "It will lead through the mountains"

I followed and when we got up to the bridge...well let's just say there was no bridge. "This is going to be a problem" I stated. There was a thin line of the outer range where the support for the bridge used to be, but the entire middle section of the bridge was gone. A powerful mist settled over the entire area.

"Jesus Christ" Noah exclaimed once he looked. "What the hell are we going to do now?!"

"Cross it"

"C-cr-cro--what?!"

"We did not drive that long to turn around!" I yelled, not really meaning to. I was more upset about this than anyone, but I didn't mean to direct it at Noah. It happened anyway. "What would we turn around to anyway?! We can only go forward"

"We have the village" Noah countered.

"Like we would ever find that again" I shot back. "Tell me where that is on the map so I can just punch it in and off we go!"

I stepped out and Noah followed. The truck was parked at the very edge where the road and the bridge would have met. I walked to the right side where most of the bridge seems to be left over. The red bars that held (used to hold) the bridge from underneath were rusted to hell. There wasn't any part of the bridge that connected to the road and looking over, I could see that we were standing on a high cliff. There was a very small stream running under us, but it was mostly rocks upon rocks over fifty feet below this bridge.

For dad I thought.

Noah motioned to stop me, but then I gave myself a running start and took a deep, deep breath before taking off at the bridge. He yelled for me to stop but stood aside as I flew through the air, flailing my arms for balance as my heart threatened to blast from my chest and my stomach rose to my throat. The red metal side bar I aimed for was about a foot wide and it had a decent sized slab of concrete attached to it so I figured that would be a good place to start.

Wrong.

With an all-star landing, the concrete completely broke off under my weight. The sudden shift threw off my mind set as I screamed, but then I quickly grabbed onto the red bar as I fell. I climbed back on to the railing and motioned for Noah to follow once everything stopped spinning.

"Are you CRAZY?!" he screamed after seeing my struggle. "I'm not jumping!"

"So what then?!" I called back. We were a good ten feet apart and the need to yell felt necessary and not because of the distance. "Are you going to watch me cross without you?! Attempt to find the village?! What?!"

"I'm not going to die for this!" he shouted.

"Because you have so much to live for?"

That comment did some damage. He went into deep thought about how the Earth has practically no future since the explosion. You don't have to worry about education anymore because there's nothing to become. No more innovations and inventions to be made, no hope of settling down with a family of any sort. He realized that I was right, Noah would be just as much use to the world if he died in that jump or if he studied molecular physics the rest of his life--which he was kind of a natural at anyway--.

"I'll give you the bag" he called to me as he went back for the truck and filled that leather sleeping bag with the food and threw it across the gap. I caught it and swung it onto my back.

"Something tells me you're that you're not buff to pass science exams! Put that muscle to use!" I barked. I could see his mind spinning wildly as he was on the edge of doing either or. He needed one more push.

"This is our dad we're talking about!" I shot with a lot of hand gestures. "Think about the hell he's going through and we are the only ones who can help him!"

Shaking his head on last time, he ran for the ten foot wide gap onto a foot wide bar. I at least had the slab before that fell off. A huge part of me kind of regretted pushing him like that; what if he really doesn't--

"Ughh!" he bellowed as his arms came into contact with the red bar. He was hanging at the end of the bar trying to swing himself over the edge and on top of the bar. Without thinking, I reacted by rushing to his aid. I stood my ground on my knees, bending over to let my arms down for him to grab. I crossed them putting my right hand over to the left side and the left on the right for more stability when I help him up.

I was able to pull him up, but the force it took to do so made something behind us creak and moan, causing the bar to shift violently. Something snapped. Something else crackled. And then it popped.

***

Hope that was enough to satisfy your need for epic action until i post the full chapter next week!