"Can we please go look at dolls today?" Emmie asks me the next morning. She's somehow managed to climb down the bunk herself, because Travis is still sound asleep in the bunk across from me.
I had completely forgotten that promise I'd made her. "Yes," I whisper groggily.
Emmie clutches my hand and yanks on me to get up, and I roll my eyes at her impatience. "I'm coming," I tell her calmly. "Let me get up."
She flips on the lamplight and stands in the kitchen as I rise up out of bed. I quickly check Travis over, wondering if last night had been a bizarre dream of mine. He's sprawled out on the bed now like a starfish, covers flung every which way. Crazy, but comfortable. When I look back at Emmie, I put a finger to my lips, motioning for her to keep quiet and not wake him. She places her finger over her own lips and nods in return. He deserves a good rest if what happened last night was real.
I grab the keys and begin unlocking the doors. Emmie is a ghost behind me as we exit and scamper across the yard toward the house. She squeals with delight when we reach the back door, her toothy grin spread wide. Only so that it can vanish when I open the door.
A grey-bearded man near the height of Travis emerges from the kitchen and my first instinct is to run, but my limbs go numb and I ice over. The man is haggard and thin, no match for Travis's muscular build, but definitely for mine. One of his hands is hidden behind his back, and I know he must have some sort of weapon with him, ready to strike the second he's close enough. Where did he come from and how long has he been hanging around? Did he hear us yesterday?
"Well, look at this," the man's dry, scratchy voice sneers. He creeps toward us and my lips mash together into a line as I attempt to refuel my composure. Snapping out of my shock, I grab Emmie's hand and position her behind me. Obviously she has been through something like this before, because I don't have to tell her to remain silent.
My weapon options are limited. Either I try to get around him to grab a kitchen knife, I sprint for the barn and use the axe, or I hope and pray Travis hears something and emerges from the depths of the shelter to save us, but that thing is a soundproof box.
Move it, Aurora! Or you're dead before you can even try, I shout at myself.
The man takes a step toward us and I involuntarily take a step back.
He's winning. Don't let him win.
Emmie's hands clutch my left leg and I cringe.
His eyes meet hers. "Hello, little girl," he says.
I gulp as my heart pounds roughly against my chest. "Leave," I spit out, my stupid voice shaking like a rattle. "Leave us alone."
His bleary eyes shift to mine and his expression turns ugly and sensual as his lips curl into a smirk. Another step forward and I fake it the right and dash to my left for the barn, but he's faster than he looks and snags me by the hair and drags me into him from behind.
"Let go of me!" I scream and wriggle around in his grasp as if I'm dangling from a noose.
The scraggly man whips out a cold, rusty blade and presses it up against my throat. My neck tightens at the knife's edge as I try to distance myself from it, which only brings me closer to him. "I'll do what I want!" he bellows.
I silently plead at Emmie, who's just a couple yards from me, hoping to transmit some sort of message like Get help!
Instead of leaving me to get Travis, she jumps at the man's leg. "Let her go!"
"No, Emmie—"
Using his free arm, the man shoves her to the floor and curses. "Get off of me!" he growls. I feel the tip of the blade turning inward, the point of it poking my flesh. "Where's your food?" he demands, his gross breath on my face.
"We don't have any," I choke out, and he wedges the knife deeper into my skin, piercing through the top layer. I grit my teeth at the incision, but hold in any verbal signs of pain. He will not make me weak. "You can check the house. I swear there's no food there!" I tell him.
"Where do you think I came from? Where are you hiding it?" he roars, but bursts into a horrendous cough, stunting his aggressive demeanor.
There's the distraction.
I snatch his wrist and twist it away. "Run, Emmie! Get Travis!" I shriek and shove her toward the yard as I liberate myself from his hold. The man's face reddens with ferocity and he snags Emmie this time. Instinctively, I reach for her, but he slashes his knife at me and slices into the side of my neck, causing me to withdraw from the fight and clot the instantly bleeding wound. The searing pain of the strike sinks in and burns like hell has moved into my veins and is setting fire to my throat.
"Aurora!" Emmie wails, her eyes filling with tears.
I can't back down. He'll kill her. But if I charge him, he may act before I can set her free, and I can't risk that.
"We have nothing to give you!" I cough, feeling the blood trickle down my neck. "Let go of her!" I snatch Emmie's other arm, turning this fight into tug-of-war.
He wins and drags her over to the barn. "This is where you're hiding it, isn't it?" he growls at her as I sprint after them.
"No," Emmie cries. "Don't hurt me. Please."
The man yanks open one of the barn doors and his eyes light up. I reach out and snatch Emmie just as the man cheers. "Ahhah! Take the stupid girl." The man throws her at me and runs over to the car. "This'll do!" He leaps into the driver's seat, hitting his head against the frame before getting in.
"No!" I shout, my throat stinging as more blood oozes out. "Please, don't take it!" Emmie is crying at my side as the man starts the car and guns it straight for us. I latch on to her arm and leap out of the way, the front wheel narrowly missing her leg as we fall onto the ground. The car squeals out of the lot and down the road, leaving a huge cloud of dust in its wake.
My chin quivers but I contain my tears as Emmie's stream down her face. "Come on, we've got to...we've got to get Travis." My hand stays smashed against my throat, but the blood seeps through my fingers. It's not enough. "Hurry up," I command her, wincing. My vision blackens with each blink as I stumble toward the shelter, my head lighter than a feather.
SYSTEM CRITICAL blinks in front of me in red letters as my vision blackens around the edges. I look back at Emmie who is holding her ground, standing erect with her arms crossed. I have no choice but to drag her or leave her behind. So I grab her and pull.
"You let him go!" she cries, flinging her arms and legs around in attempt to get free. "You let him steal the car! Now he'll just come back for us," she whimpers, sobbing. "Travis wouldn't have let him get away," she snaps.
"Shut up and get Travis!" I snarl, but immediate regret speaking. Those red, blinking lights distort my blurry eyesight and I can't see which way is forward anymore. Every adjustment of my head tears the cut deeper and deeper. I won't make it.
SYSTEM CRITICAL
We need to get to those doors. We need Travis. I need help.
YOU ARE READING
OTHERS (Formerly The Scarlet Effect)
Science FictionThe pandemic was just the beginning. After an unknown virus sweeps across the globe, Aurora and two other survivors seek out safety in a bomb shelter with enough supplies to last a few years. Just as she starts to adapt to her new way of life, she i...
