Waves of fury, p.20
Waves of Fury, page 20
Tyler snaps into action, already pulling his first aid kit from his bag before settling in front of her. She continues to sob and tremble, clearly in pain. I stand behind Tyler, holding the flashlight so he can see the damage.
A big gash stretches along the sharp line of her jaw to the middle of her chin. She took a nasty fall. She spits blood out and something white tumbles out. A tooth. Ah, fuck.
“You broke a tooth?” Dan says, trying to look inside her mouth.
Tyler swats him away. “Let me clean and dress this wound first. Then we can look at the damage inside.”
As Tyler sets to cleaning up the bleeding gash, I take stock of our surroundings. Murky smoke keeps us from truly seeing too far away. The only reason we know where we’re going is we’re keeping the fire to the left of us at all times, betting that eventually we’ll reach the north side of it.
Hope and Aaron are once again looking at a map. We’ve encountered a few roads, a few abandoned cars, and burned-out husks of buildings with the same “Gerty got us” message sprayed on the outer walls. Nothing worth anything thus far and certainly no people. However, based on the sickly scent of burning human flesh, I’d say a lot of people never made it out of Vegas. Just like San Francisco. Everywhere, people are dropping like damn flies.
The sky is beginning to lighten, which will help our traveling not be so treacherous. As much as we’re all in desperate need of rest, we can’t until we get the hell out of this area.
I glance back over at Tyler to find him blowing on Hailey’s chin. He’s used the medical glue to seal up her wound. Once he’s satisfied with how it looks and that it’s set, he shuffles out of the way to let Dan, our resident dentist, take a look.
She starts to cry when he removes another broken tooth from her mouth. He gives her a bottle of water and instructs her to rinse. Another howl escapes her as she does it, clearly still in pain. Her father has her open her mouth again, shining the light inside.
“Most were knocked out clean.” He counts under his breath. “Three. Three teeth are gone.”
“Oh, honey,” Judy says with a sob, stroking her daughter’s hair from behind. “You must be in so much pain.”
Tyler already has pain reliever tablets out of a packet and ready to administer to her. Dan continues to look inside her mouth. Finally, he sighs with resignation.
“What is it?” I ask, frowning.
“I need to pull this one,” Dan grunts. “It’s broken in half but part of it is still lodged in there. She’s going to be in a lot of pain unless I do something about it.” To Tyler, he says, “Get me some gauze ready to pack this wound. Anyone got any pliers?”
Hailey squeals in horror, but her father isn’t kidding. Jesse and Wayne both agree to look through some abandoned vehicles for a toolbox or something. We’ve passed some work trucks, so it’s possible. While Hailey cries and her parents soothe her, I try not to think about what this young girl is about to have to endure. This whole thing is super fucked up.
Finally, Jesse runs back over to us, a set of pliers in hand. Hailey shakes her head vehemently and starts to scrabble away. It takes Tyler, Wayne, Jesse, and myself to all hold the poor girl down. She swallows down the pain pills that are offered to her and then a gulp of water. But she knows what comes next and stiffens. Her wild eyes lock on to mine, terrified beyond belief. Aaron joins the fray, helping to pry open her mouth forcefully this time. I’m able to get a good look at the damage.
It’s the front, top tooth. Broken, jagged, bleeding.
Dammit.
By the time we have her in position, Judy hands the pliers to her husband. They’ve been cleaned off the best she could. Dan makes quick work of latching the pliers on the sharp, visible end of her tooth and tightening his grip.
“On the count of three, sweetheart,” Dan croons, voice shaking with emotion. “One, two—”
He yanks hard, never making it to three. She screams in horror as tears stream out of her eyes. Blood continues to gush, but Tyler is quick and at the ready with the gauze. He quickly packs that hole plus the others as she sobs uncontrollably. Everyone releases her now that the worst is over. Silas, hugging Pretzel to his chest, cries right along with his big sister, only stopping to cough and then to cry some more.
This, somehow, is worse than Elise or Gerry or what happened to Kyle and those college girls.
No one wants to see a kid in such agony.
Wordless, our group packs back up and continues our trek. Wayne scoops up the crying girl, carrying her as though she’s precious. My heart breaks a little. Tyler shoots me a somber look. We all hate what had to be done.
Another few hours of walking and it’s clearly the middle of the day despite the dark smoke clouding the sky. We’re able to see farther ahead and scope out our resources available to us. When we see a cheap hotel come into view, I nearly choke on my relief.
It appears to also be abandoned, much like the cars we’d first encountered. Though it’s still close to the heart of Vegas, which may as well be Hell for the size of the massive inferno, we decide we can spare a few hours to catch some rest as long as someone keeps watch.
We find rooms on the west side and easily break into them. Dirty, unmade beds and empty takeout boxes litter the spaces in each room, but we’re all too exhausted and spent to care. Shockingly, the water still works here, and once Tyler deems it safe, both of us take turns gulping it from the tap.
“Shower?” he asks with another huge yawn. “I doubt I’ll get sleep but at least I’ll be clean. Then I can go relieve Aaron.”
Aaron chose to stay and watch to make sure the fires didn’t loom too close.
I nod, too sleepy to keep my eyes open. Tyler starts the shower, strips out of his filthy, smokey clothes, and steps in. I get a nice view of his sculpted ass before he disappears behind the curtain. It’s a struggle since my limbs are so weak, but I manage to also get undressed. By the time I join him, he’s already soaped down and his hair is wet. He steps out of the spray to let me get under it.
The hot water feels good on my aching body. I wish I could stay here forever. My eyes have fallen shut and I groan with pleasure when his calloused hands start to soap up my chest.
I’m dead on my feet and hurting everywhere. I hiss, unable to keep from thrusting against his tight fist.
“Touch me too?” he pleads, voice raspy.
I don’t need to be asked twice. With desperate need, I grasp onto his length as my lips crash to his. The next several moments are frantic until we’re both completely spent. We stand there, lazily kissing, as our bodies come back down from our shared high. Then he continues to wash me.
“I’m going to go relieve Aaron,” he says with a quick peck to my lips. “Rest. You need it, old man.”
I smirk and manage to swat his cute ass before he disappears. Since I haven’t washed properly since getting sick from eating bad meat, I take the moment of privacy to clean every crack and crevice I can reach. By the time I’m dried off by one of the used, crunchy towels and into clean clothes, I feel like a new man.
An exhausted, barely standing new man.
I don’t even remember falling into bed.
“Get up! Hurry, Kell!”
I wake, completely disoriented and confused. Tyler is standing over me, thrusting my bag, pants, and boots at me.
“What is it?” I rasp out as I scramble to throw on my pants. “Fire?”
He shakes his head, a panicked look on his face. “People. The bad kind. They’re headed this way and already shot out the windows on the front of the building. We have to go. Now.”
I yank on the rest of my stuff and am out the door in the next few seconds. Tyler thrusts the shotgun at me and races out the door. The rest of our group groggily exits their rooms, but we’re all already hurrying along the sidewalk, hoping not to run right into more bad people.
A figure bolts out of a stairwell in front of us and I barely manage to get my shotgun up before Tyler shoves it back down.
It’s Aaron.
“This way,” he hisses, pointing north. “They’re coming from the south side. We have to move!”
Wayne yanks a hobbling Judy onto his back while Dan drags a coughing Silas quickly behind them. Jesse has a protective arm around Hailey who hugs a trembling Pretzel, with Hope hot on their heels.
Aaron darts off ahead, rifle at the ready, searching for threats before our group can encounter any. When he reaches the edge of the building, he peeks around the side, scans the area, and then turns around to motion for us to move faster.
Wayne runs like a football player, charging full steam ahead. We all rush after him. Aaron waits until Hope, the last of our group passes, to put himself between her and the other group.
We have a good head start, but once we hear shooting behind us, panic sets in. I can hear the report of Aaron’s rifle so close I’m nearly deafened. The smoke grows heavier as though Wayne is taking us right toward the fire. I want to scream at him to go in the other direction, but I know it’s in an effort to lose them.
I just hope it isn’t a fatal mistake.
Pretty soon, we’re all coughing and staggering in the thick smoke.
Someone—Tyler—grabs my bicep that’s holding the shotgun. “Take Hope’s hand. Everyone stay together.”
Hope’s hand is clammy in mine and I squeeze it tightly. The pace we’ve set out on is steady, but we won’t be able to keep at it for long. Silas’s coughing grows more intense and a nervous trickle shoots through me. We need to get him away from this smoke.
Something scrapes against my side and I realize it’s another building. I bump off it and nearly lose my footing. More shots can be heard and then Aaron roars.
“Aaron!” Tyler booms. “What happened?”
“I’ve been hit. Fuck, I’ve been hit.”
Tyler jerks me forward until I can see Dan in front of me. I give him a quick nod before he disappears to go find Aaron. My gut twists violently with worry.
We seem to be zigging and zagging through buildings and cars, some of which are smoldering. The coughing from our group grows more intense. It’s not until I gulp in a lungful of cold, less smoky air that I realize we’ve made it to safety.
From what we’ve seen thus far on our travels, it appears we’ve encountered yet another national park or wildlife range here in the desert. Though we won’t find supplies, we will at least be away from people since they’re every bit as awful as the weather events.
At least the earth is softer here and not so hard like it was when we were in Death Valley. It’s a bit marshy, in fact.
“We have to take a break,” Tyler says, panting from exertion. “We’ve been going for hours. I need to look at his gunshot wound.”
Everyone stops and all but collapses to the mushy ground. The shower I’d stolen seems as though I took it years ago, not hours. I’m already sweaty, smokey, and now my pants are covered in mud.
Aaron, face pale, allows Tyler and Hope to sit him down. I watch intently as Tyler unearths supplies from his pack. Hope whispers assurances to Aaron while stroking her fingers through his filthy hair.
They’re definitely an item. It’s crazy to me you can still find time and energy to be attracted to and care for someone even when the world is literally falling apart around you. I know I certainly have.
Hope helps Aaron take off his shirt. It’s cold as fuck and he shivers uncontrollably. Tyler inspects a bloody mess on his left arm. Everyone is quiet as he starts cleaning it, ignoring the hisses of pain from his brother. Judy thrusts a bottle of water at me.
“I filled them up at the hotel. Drink.”
Grateful for the water, I gulp it down. Well, almost. I save half of it for Tyler.
“Thanks,” I whisper, voice raw from smoke and exertion.
As Judy hobbles around, doting on the group, spending extra time with her kids and Jesse, I focus back on Tyler.
“I don’t think the bullet’s lodged in there,” Tyler states, relief in his tone. “I could push around to see—”
“Hell no,” Aaron grits out. “It’s a graze. Just glue it closed and wrap it up.”
Hope fishes out our dwindling supply of ibuprofen and pushes them into Aaron’s mouth. He gratefully accepts. Judy is there in time to pass a water bottle to him.
Maybe we can sit here for a bit and rest.
I consider erecting my tent but decide against it, instead lying back on the extremely soft ground for a quick nap.
And it must be lightning quick because in what feels like a couple of seconds later, I hear Tyler shouting at me—again—to get the fuck up.
We’re sinking.
Tyler
I hadn’t noticed it at first, but when I get up to stretch my legs after dressing Aaron’s wound, I can hardly get my boots unstuck. Everyone is in various states of sinking into the marshy ground.
At first, I’d chalked it up to the storms softening the earth, but then I get a sinking feeling—no pun intended.
Something’s not right.
It takes some effort, but with Jesse’s help, I’m able to pull Kellen out of the mud. His entire backside is completely covered. The longer we stand around, the more we sink.
“Keep moving,” I instruct to everyone. “We need to wind our way back over to a road and get out of this muck before we have problems.”
Wayne, the heaviest in our group, moves the slowest because he sinks down past his ankles with every step. Dan sticks by him, though, offering his arm to help tug him anytime he has trouble.
“Veer away from that,” I shout, gesturing toward a soupy, bubbling area of the earth. “I don’t like this one bit.”
We all continue to move as quickly as we can. What little energy we had left is completely drained as we physically exert ourselves just to walk. After my shower with Kellen last night, I was too amped up to sleep and ended up keeping Aaron company until we saw the people heading our way. Now I feel like my adrenaline is nothing but fumes at this point, and I’m quickly fading.
Stay focused, man.
Kellen rummages in his pack as we walk and then pulls out a granola bar. He rips it open, tears it in two, and then hands me one half. “Eat, Ty.”
I wolf down the meager meal in one bite, barely chewing. My mouth waters for more, but time is of the essence.
Dan and Wayne fall farther and farther back while Hope and Aaron trek way ahead. Judy and Silas aren’t far from Dan and Wayne. Jesse, Hailey, and Pretzel are somewhere in the middle, closer to Hope and Aaron. I’m lost in my thoughts of what could be waiting for us in St. George, Utah—our next destination according to Kellen—when I hear Judy’s panicked yelling.
“Dan! Wayne! I need help!”
Me and Kellen both swivel around, sinking past our ankles to see Judy tugging at Silas’s arm. He’s nearly waist-deep in the muck.
Vibrations rattle through me and it takes me a second to realize we’re having an earthquake. For fuck’s sake. Again?
Kellen grunts, struggling to make his way over to Judy and Silas. The ground around us is jiggling like pudding in a bowl. I think about an old movie I saw when I was a kid where the hero nearly dies in quicksand.
Is that what this is?
The ground rumbles again and toward the soupier area of the park, it starts to sink—like shit being sucked through a half-clogged toilet drain. Within seconds, I can see a huge sinkhole has formed.
“There’s a parking lot that way,” Jesse calls out. “I’m going to see if I can get any of the vehicles going. I can see a road near it too. We just need to get over to it.”
More trembling from the ground has me falling to my ass in the muck. Kellen takes hold of my arm, yanking me back to my feet with a grunt. The ground continues to shake as more holes open up around us.
One gaping maw is not ten feet away from us and at least thirty feet in diameter. I can’t see how deep it goes, nor do I want to find out.
A piercing howl makes my skin crawl. I follow the sound to where Judy seems to be struggling near the mouth of one of these sinkholes. Dan and Wayne are almost to them, both of them trudging as fast as they can. Me and Kellen are too far away to make a difference, but we keep making our way to them anyway.
Dan reaches Judy first and barely grabs her arm before she disappears from sight. He almost plummets with her if not for Wayne snagging hold of his backpack.
“We have to get to them,” Kellen grunts, racing ahead of me as fast as one can in knee-high mud with sinkholes appearing all around. To them, he yells, “Hang on!”
By the time Kellen reaches them, Dan is chest deep in muck and Wayne is up to his waist. Kellen hooks an arm around Wayne’s impressive gut, anchoring him in place. I’m not far behind and manage to grab Kellen’s backpack.
“Hang on, honey,” Dan barks out. “Just don’t let go.”
I can hear Silas’s sobs interrupted by coughing fits and Judy’s frantic screams. Though I can’t see exactly what’s going on, I can paint a picture in my head. They’re dangling over a deep sinkhole and could drop at any second.
Twisting, I check to make sure the rest of our group is okay. In the distance, I can see Aaron, Hope, Jesse, and Hailey all crawling out of the muck. They’re near the road. At least they’re safe.
The ground starts to rumble again and I feel Kellen jerk forward. I hang on, doing my damnedest to keep from moving deeper into the mud.
“Can he get her out?” I bark to Kellen. “What’s happening?”
“I can’t see,” he hisses back.
“Goddammit, it’s deep,” Dan yells frantically to Wayne. “At least a hundred-foot drop.”
My stomach roils painfully. I don’t know much about the terrain around here, but there appears to be underground caverns or something and we’re traipsing along the roof of sand that’s quickly draining away.
“I have rope in my pack,” I grunt out, remembering the bundle I threw in when searching vehicles. “I’m going to have to let go.”
“I’ve got Wayne,” Kellen assures me. “Make it quick.”
I quickly release Kellen, pausing only a second to make sure he doesn’t disappear before my eyes, and then start rummaging in my bag. I find it under my dirty clothes I’d collected after my shower last night. Once I zip my bag back up and shoulder it again, I begin unravelling the rope.
