PetrA

Chapter fourteen: Daniel

Daniel felt the blood rush in his ears. Couldn't Ellie see the danger and risk she's putting the others in? That kid wouldn't last long. He shook his head in frustration and kicked the bike to life, and then they were back on the road driving up towards the mountain. Hours passed and the dark started to fall over them. Soon they would have to stop and put up a camp. The only problem was that there were no houses, or cabins close by. Only the tall woods surrounding them, and being in the open isn't a good idea. However, it would soon be too late to drive with lights on, so they had to take a turn down an old dirt road. He had no idea where they were, but judging from the silence surrounding them, they must be far from any town.

The road stopped about five hundred metres ahead of them, and turned into two wooden paths, only separated by a thin line in the middle, kind of like a road. None of them used in years. He and the others on bikes easily drove on them; it was quite a bumpy ride. However, the car had trouble with the narrow space. The road seemed endless as it led them higher and higher, as the time went.
By the time, they reached any form for place where they could sleep, the moon stood high on the sky, the stars shining brightly in the missing light.

Suddenly up ahead a house loomed in the darkness. It had that old haunted house feel to it as Daniel looked at it. He mentioned for the others to stop. "Lesley, come with me." The two of them searched the area around the house for anything that might be a threat, before Daniel kicked in the door. Dust flew everywhere, Daniel and Lesley coughed as they went further into the house. All furniture was covered in white cloth and looked like it hadn't been touched in a hundred years. The whole house smelled musty and old. After they had checked the ground floor, second floor and the basement and hadn't found more than dust and old dusty things, Daniel sent Lesley out to get the others. Soon they all gathered in the living room, (or what appeared to be the living room.) They sat on chairs and old couches. "Where are we exactly?" Henrik asked looking at Daniel and Ellie. Ellie shrugged obviously she had no idea where they were. Daniel knew just how bad her sense of direction was; in fact, it was the worst he'd ever encountered. She'd gotten lost from his house and home to herself which were only 200 or 300m with literally only three turns, almost three years back when she didn't live in town.

"Judging from the signs we passed before we went off the main road, I'd say we're somewhere in the woods outside Tallahassee, not far from Davidstown. Besides, we're moving up in higher ground, but we need to be careful. There are some large cities around here, they're almost impossible to go around without going through the suburbs." Daniel looked around at them all, "So when we come by a gas station next, we're going to stock up on propane and everything else we need to keep us running for a while, so we won't have to stop." He looked at Ellie as if she might have something else to say, but she remained silent her attention on the boy. Daniel didn't like having a kid around, it took too much attention from the others, and it also meant they would be even more vulnerable. He wouldn't be able to run fast enough if they stood in a situation where they had to run. How old was he? 10 or 12 maybe...