Collapse (Book 1): Perfect Storm by Riley Flynn

Author:Riley Flynn [Flynn, Riley]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic
Publisher: Syndicate Press
Published: 2017-12-02T07:00:00+00:00

21

Feeling the pain in his back, Alex had given up on his gun. Even reaching for it hurt. There was no need for it now. Timmy had already run across to the attacker, was checking his neck and feeling for a breath. The man was dead.

Alex struggled upright, the body armor–broken and bullet-holed as it was–had saved the spine from any real damage. But it still hurt like all hell.

“Thanks,” Alex began, staggering towards his friend, ribs burning with pain. “You saved me there. Really.”

The shotgun was still warm. Alex took it. Timmy didn’t resist. His eyes had glazed over, his mess of red hair standing almost upright.

“Timmy, listen. He was going to kill me. You saw him with that bat.”

The only sound was the autumn wind, blowing softly between the cars. They were standing in an open stretch of road. On one side, two trucks had been parked at angles, acting as a blockade. The line of cars stretched back half a mile but here, they’d been split open, creating an arena or sorts. A trap.

“I… I just saw you in trouble.” There was a quiver in his voice, a falter.

“Yeah, Timmy. I was. Real trouble. You saved me.”

The pain was still shooting up Alex’s spine. This body armor needed to come off. It was already broken inside, the bullet having torn through the Kevlar layers. It wouldn’t stop another bullet. A bat, maybe. But how many more bats would they be facing on the road to Virginia?

“Here, come and help me get this jacket off, would you?” Alex asked, attempting to distract his friend.

Still silent, Timmy obeyed. Holding the shoulder of the leather biking jacket, Alex squeezed himself out. Moving the arms too much in any direction hurt. A lot. Together, they unclipped the fastenings of the armor and inspected the damage.

“He really hit you, man.”

“Yeah, and you saved me. I gotta say, you did amazing.”

Inspecting the armor, examining the impact marks and the damage, Timmy didn’t talk. Then he dropped it all to the floor. Ran back to the man’s body. Jumped down next to him. Grabbed his collar, pulling up. The man was bleeding, the pool of blood spreading and staining Timmy’s knees. He didn’t care.

“What the hell?” he screamed in the dead man’s face. “Why’d you do that? Why did you do that?”

Rushing over to his friend, Alex tried to wrestle Timmy away. With each movement, his back cried out in agony. Finally, he managed to pull his friend free, prying him off the body. Together, they fell backwards.

“Why, man?” Timmy was shouting at nothing now. “Why’d you make me do it? We just wanted to get past. Why?”

Timmy arched his back and shouted at the sky. Long, empty syllables. Not shouting anything, no words Alex could understand, anyway. Just raw, primal sounds screamed up at the heavens.

Running back to the bike, Alex found a water container. Taking it back to the makeshift arena, he found his friend sitting in the same place, head tucked between his knees.

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