Escape From Thera: Chapter 5

I tried not to stare at the blade under my chin but it was really really hard. She stood over me and I couldn’t get a feel from her. She was wearing some kind of letterman jacket with the number 9. It was red, blue, and white. What little of her face that I could see was tanned but tanned in the way that pale skin did. Her eyes were narrowed to slits as she looked at me. She had dark black hair that was pulled back in a rough pony tail. Build wise she was lean and taller than me probably.

“Alright. So I didn’t want to stumble into you or your place like this.” I tried to sit up some and the machatte moved higher up, pressing into my neck. I didn’t move anymore. “Okay. Let’s all be chill right?”

She wasn’t speaking, couldn’t get a grasp on her face, and she was standing rigid like a robot. “Look I was hanging out in the other building and things started getting crazy. Probably doing some looting that turned to hell. I swung across and your window happened to be my target. If you let me stand without a machete in my neck I will be on my marry way.”

She was silent. No twitch of the wrist, tilt of the head, or even blink of the eyes. I really wasn’t sure how much time passed but it felt like an eternity. The only possible clock I had was my heart beat. I needed to get this bleeding stopped before it became an even bigger hazard.

“Oh.” I said suddenly startling myself and probably her as well. “That’s a Lions jersey. I haven’t seen another Lions fan since the meteor. We won the world cup before the world ended.” Just thinking of that I still grinned even though this was not the right time.

She stared at me harder and then began to lower the weapon. I didn’t want to move. I was scared that this was a trick or if I was lucking out or something equally crazy. She walked away and took a few seconds to glanced back at me before going toward the wall. There was a cabinet up there which she opened.

She came back to me with what looked like cloth and a bottle. She crouched in front of me, poured some liquid from the bottle onto the cloth and started dabbing my face where the cuts were obvious. I wasn’t sure what to do with this very sudden kindness. I stared at her face but her eyes were focused elsewhere. She definitely had some sharp bone structure under the mask.

She kept doing this until she treated them all. When she stopped she walked away and then pointed toward the door. I guess she wanted me to leave now. Wasn’t expecting the first aid so upside.

Getting to my feet slowly I nodded toward her and then went toward the door. My body ached and my arm was still numb but I could move it alright. Pulling the door, I glanced back at her. “Thanks.” Reaching around I lowered my bag and tore a piece of bread off as well as a chunk of cheese and handed it to her.

She hesitated before taking them from me. Nodding at her I offered a smile but got nothing in response. I shrugged my shoulders and turned around.

With that I walked into the hallway and closed the door behind me. The hallway was a mess like the other one sans most of the claw marks and shit like that. I walked down the hallway and into the stairwell. Going down would take me to street level and I didn’t think I was in any good place to be on the street right now.

So taking the stairs up I started to climb. As I got further up it was getting kinda humid and there was even a little bit of condensation on the banister. Glancing at my hand then the banister I looked at the floor. It was actually wet. Like water leaking down the steps wet.

Frowning hard I kept walking and splashing as I went and circled around to the next set of stairs. There was a water running from under the door and toward the stair case. Tilting my head to the side lightly I went for the door and it actually opened on the first try.

More water flowed out slashing across my ankles and soaking my socks. My face fell so hard, my irritation just exploded to my face. “Alright. What the fuck is going on on this floor.”

Stepping through the water I ignored the rooms on both sides of me.  I was searching for the source of this shit. The hallway was dark but getting lighter with the sun rising. This hall was way more put together. Not quite as much scavenging. Most people probably gave up after the third floor.

Halfway down the hallway I slowed and saw the door the water was coming from. It was pushing out from cracks within the door, from the floor, and even the hinges. I didn’t want to open this door and be in front of it.

I thought about it for a few seconds and took a few steps backwards. The door would open out and toward the left so I went on that side. Then I raised my hands and gripped the door with my magnetism. The door rattled and I gave it a huge pull, threw my back into it and everything.

Apparently that was over doing it.

I stumbled backwards from my own force as the door slammed open. Water exploded out flooding the floor of the hallway. It swept into my legs and I stumbled before falling face first into it. Panicked I shoved my hands against the ground and jerked my head out coughing and spitting the water out. It tasted like chemicals and the air burned to breathe in now.

Shivering I tried to stand but I was not having that kind of luck. My legs really didn’t want to work. Trying to get my shit together again I forced myself to stand and leaned against the wall. Coughing again I trudged through this water and toward the room now.

The water that was once knee length was now above my ankle and it kept trickling out. Arching my eyebrow again I looked into the room and found the cause of the issue. There was a massive hole in the wall and a pipe was speared through it. Water was gushing through it and continuing to fill the room.

“What the hell did you do?”

I started and turned to a new voice. It was a guy but he was wearing a clam bra and green leggings. He had bright red and flowing hair but it didn’t look like it belonged to him. His skin was pale but it was really really dirty. Like mud and barnacles scabbing on his skin. It looked like this guy had just come from the bottom of the ocean.

“Uh, what?”

“You destroyed my home! All of that water took weeks to gather. I was finally going to go home and you ruined it!”

So this guy was nuts. Probably nuts.

“I never asked to be a part of this world! You’re forcing me to be here! I’ll kill you for this!”

“Now hold on guy-“

Water slammed into my face and I was thrown into the water. It pushed down like hands were trying to drown me. If an elephant could be made 100% water and really menacing then it would be this pressure. Gagging and choking I tried to struggle out but it really wasn’t working. Once again near death, and this time it might the one. Death by drowning anyone?

I heard a cry and then the pressure was gone. Shoving myself above the water I coughed dripping and blurry eyed. Air never tasted so good. Being alive never felt so good. God life is beautiful. God is good. Gonna make a believer out of me with stuff like that.

Jerking my head upward the Ariel wanna be was standing still, arms splayed out and rigid. His eyes were rolled back and blood was pouring out his mouth and chest. A hole was in his chest that I was pretty sure wasn’t there before.

The water splashed and then he jerked backwards before falling face first into the mess. Blood trickled adding a flush of red into the river. My face had to be red as that blood right now. Chest heaving and legs aching I walked through the water and toward the body. Taking my bow off my back and knocking an arrow I slowed down.

I kept it steady on him just in case, I don’t know, something crazy happened. I was about five feet away when I stopped and stood over him. Kicking my foot out I turned him over slowly and arched an eyebrow. He had a big hole in chest. Mouth was agape. Looked terrible. The hair was floating away and he actually had short brown hair instead. Wigs man.

But how the hell did he die just now? I didn’t do it. And it was just the two of us. Lowering my bow, I turned around and looked down both hallways. Nothing on both sides. I don’t know if I should be scared or not.

The water splashed again and my bow went back up immediately. I wasn’t alone. Someone else was around me. Someone else had killed that guy and now I was next. The water splashed again and couldn’t tell if it was coming toward me or not.

The splashing slowed and then stopped. The back of my head tingled and it wasn’t because of my arrow. Something else was metal around here and it was nearby. Narrowing my eyes, I flexed my fingers on the bow and let my magnetism find it.

It was roughly in front of me just hanging in the air. No idea what it was but it was there. Concentrating as best as I could I gave whatever it was a tug. And just like that a person materialized from nothing. Not just any person. It was the woman from the floor below me.

“You?”

She stood up and lowered her machete giving a short nod.

“You followed me?”

Once again she nodded but didn’t say anything to me.

“And you turn invisible?”

Another nod.

“Well thanks. You saved me.” I lowered my arms and frowned. This silent masked woman has saved me twice now. And also was the only person I’ve met in a few months that hasn’t tried to kill me on first glance.

 “Are you going to try and kill me any time soon?”

She shook her head. From this angle I could see she was definitely taller than me. Twice was the beginning of a pattern and maybe this could be a trend. Maybe it was time to try my hand at being a saleswoman.

“You wanna join up?” I asked and the woman raised her eyebrow slowly. “You know travel with me. We scavenge, work together, watch each other’s back and shit. It’s better than doing this on my own.”

The woman was quiet. Like quieter than she had been before. Something with the eyes. My little brother used to do that when he was thinking hard. Usually before telling me to fuck off. Maybe I misjudged this one. Probably scared her off. Maybe I’d have to fight her too. Shit I didn’t want to kill her. Oh man I really shouldn’t have tried to make a friend.

Water splashed snapping my head upward. I caught the barest of a head nod and I wasn’t sure what to take from that. I hesitated for a second and spoke up.

“So you wanna team up. At least for a while?”

She nodded again and I was lost at what to do next. I had a new friend. Or ally who wouldn’t stab me in the back any time soon. And I could just magnet her machete if I felt like things were going sour. This was going to be interesting.

“Hey I finally have someone I can talk to.” She was gone though. I looked for her but couldn’t see her at all. Water splashed and I figured that was her moving toward me slowly. I guess I was the leader on this one.

“Can you turn visible for a second?”

She did so and stood in front of me.

“That room on the floor down there. Is that your place? Like do you live there?”

She shook her head.

“What about the water and cloth. Do you have a bag like this?”

She gave a short nod.

“Alright let’s go get that then move out. Find a better place or maybe just keep coming back?” I shrugged and walked back toward the stair well. The accompanying splashing meant she was there with me. I glanced over my shoulder and she was invisible. Getting used to that was going to be weird.

We grabbed her bag from the room I crashed into. It was a simple single strap bad she hung across her chest. When she grabbed it, it turned invisible almost immediately. That was cool and weird at the same time. Then again, so stones and glasses houses.

We went back to the stairwell and took them going down. On the second floor I started walking but there wasn’t a step. It was literally just a hole in the ground. My leg would have gone straight through and probably broken but I was grabbed before I could go down.

Hovering in the air for a second I grabbed the steps and climbed over it immediately. Rolling to my feet I glanced behind me. Couldn’t see her but I heard the steps beside me and knew she’d saved my ass. Again. This was becoming a trend. Was I really that much of a screw up?

Walking forward I turned the steps and came down to the final floor. To get out of here we were gonna have to go out one more hallway and then hopefully the front door. Going to the door I gripped the handle then hesitated. After everything else I’d done in the past few hours maybe some caution couldn’t hurt me.

Going to the tiny window on the door I peeked through it. Empty and torn apart. Like worse than before. I don’t think anything was in one piece. First floor was the one floor everyone could get to easily.  

It didn’t look that screwed up. There were bodies on the ground but that was kind of normal now. “So let’s figure this part out. There’s dead bodies out there. Probably okay. Think we can just waltz right through with no problems?”

Silence greeted me and I groaned to myself. She didn’t talk. At all. And when invisible I couldn’t see her nod or do anything of that ilk. “Alright so I have an idea. Watch this thing alright?”

Feeling out with my powers there were scarps of metal all over the place. Nothing major but I might be able to make something. I brought together three of them. Each was a thin strip of metal no more than an inch or two thick. Pressing them together with my hands I did that even more so with my powers.

The shards vibrated in hand and got really really warm. I almost dropped them but kept my shit together until it was good. Now I had one long mostly lumpy piece of metal in hand that didn’t really do anything for me.

“Hey become visible real quick.”

She did so her gaze on me. It was really weird to have this silent partner. Weird and cool at the same time. I levitated the metal strip over to her arm and against her wrist. I then grunted as I flexed the piece so that it wrapped around her wrist slowly. Biting my lip I kept turning the piece until it completed a perfect bracelet. It was an ugly silver, grey and black bracelet.

“Sorry about the ugly fashion statement but I need some other way to communicate with you without the usual nods and shakes of the head. Especially when you’re invisible. So here’s how this works. I’ll ask questions like normal. If it’s a yes, tap the bracelet twice with your machete or finger or hand. If it’s a no, then tap once. Fair?”

Oh shit I just realized that I kinda forced that on her. Embarrassed I glanced away and then at the ground.  “I mean if you don’t want this thing I’ll take it back off. Sorry about that.”

She did a half nod and then glanced at her wrist. Turning her arm over slowly and looking it up and down she tapped it with her other finger. Two light taps. Both taps actually resonated in my head as more than a sound but a sensation. Magnetism is weird.

“Anyway are we going forward or think something wrong is out there.” Silence greeted me and I thought about what I said for a second. Too complex a question for a yes/no situation. So I went back and reformed it. “We moving forward?”

Two taps were the response and I nodded. Opening the door slowly we walked into the hallway. Stepping over a broken chair I kicked a can away and listened to it clang around the area. When nothing screeched bloody murder we kept going and it turned out there were other dead bodies around. One of them had some weird kind of body armor.

Slowing down I crouched and looked him over as I turned the body over. The chest was really lacerated and he was actually missing an arm. Ick. I did not want to see what did this. The walls had claw marks as well. Probably a super mutant. A bigger one than the one I killed in the dorm. I really didn’t want to run into it.

Speeding up my walk I could see the front lobby just on the horizon. Sweeti freedom was at my fingertips when I heard it. A really high pitched whine of a growl. It sent a very bad shiver down my spine and I froze mid step. I’d never heard that sound before. Didn’t like that sound. Didn’t want to hear it again.

I heard it again.

High pitched growling echoed in stereo as something answered back. The ground shook slightly and that sent my panic survival instincts on the highest of alerts. An alert that hadn’t gone off in weeks. “Alright we’re running. We’re running right now!”

I sprinted forward going straight through the hallway. Jumping over a dresser then rolled under a desk but stumbled out of it. Skidding for a second her hand grabbed my shoulder and got me to my feet. We burst through the doors and thankfully the growling ceased. Outside the sun was rising above the clouds illuminating the world.

Running toward a car I leaned against it, panting heavily and my forehead felt sweaty. Turning my eyes back toward the hallway I could hear the faintest of a growl. “What the hell is that?”

I glanced back at my partner and she shrugged. She turned around glancing down the street and I saw the name there. Javier Baez. Guess that was what his number was. She was a fan of him probably.

“You don’t have a name you’re willing to give to me do you?” I asked and she glanced at me then shrugged her eyes lifting up slowly. “Alright, then I’m calling you Javi. After a friend and your jersey. That fine with you?”

She was quiet for some time her eyes coming together in thought that didn’t have anything to do with me. I noticed the sheath that she kept the machete in was on her hip but across it horizontal. It was perfectly concealed by her backpack. Two soft taps of the bracelet and I smiled. “Alright Javi. Well if you ever want to talk or reference me, I’m Jenny. Nice to formallyish meet you.”