Humanity's Edge- The Complete Trilogy by Paul B Kohler

Author:Paul B Kohler [Kohler, Paul B]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781940740171
Publisher: Global Endeavor Publishing
Published: 2018-11-30T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

They hiked up the cliffside trail, Alayna and Lane leading, with Clay bringing up the rear. The girls’ steps were uneven, scattering rocks beneath them and nearly blasting Clay in the face a few times. Each time, they regained their composure, their balance, their own faces scrunching with fear.

“Imagine if we fell all the way down,” Alayna said, glancing toward the snaking road far below. “All this fighting—surviving. And for what? To be broken—and quite possibly dead, lying at the bottom of some stupid cliff.”

“I thought about that so often when I played that game as a kid. Oregon Trail,” Lane said. “How they’d made this huge, life-changing decision to trek across the entire country. To change their lives. To strike it rich. Whatever. And so often, you died from cholera or dysentery or starvation . . . in a place just like around here, in Colorado,” she said, half-laughing. “First off, good for us for landing in a place that used to kill thousands of people a year. Does that make us hardier than the rest of the country? Or just more foolish?”

“At this point, mankind seems like the most foolish experiment I’ve ever encountered,” Alayna said, chortling for the first time in a while. “Only a few months ago, I was worried that I wasn’t going to recover from a silly fight with my on-again, off-again girlfriend. And now, I’m worried I won’t survive the night. Life really flips over on you.”

“We’re just a part of someone else’s experiment. Someone else’s computer game,” Lane said, grasping at limbs and twigs along the trail for support. “Just pixels.”

Clay didn’t join the conversation. He kept his nose pointed upward, his eyes searching the top of the hill, hunting for good opportunities for shelter. He was worried about rain, knowing that once they got damp and chilly, they’d be susceptible to illness. Finally, something caught his eye. Pointing toward an overgrown area of bushes and tall trees, he said, “Let’s check that out.”

The girls slowed their tired legs, allowing Clay to step around and lead them off the path and through the weeds. Sweat poured down their faces; dehydration bleeding them dry. Clay glanced back at them and thought they resembled two skeletons, both hunched over, the hollows of their cheeks prominent. Their lips were chapped, specks of dead skin surrounding the darkness of their mouths.

If he didn’t get some food and water in them soon, they would all be stuck in the woods, too exhausted to continue.

Once in the stand of trees, Lane and Alayna collapsed in the shadows. Alayna leaned her head against her backpack, whipping her gun from around her shoulders. “Just end me now,” she whispered, sounding foolish. “So tired.”

Lane eased her cheek to the grass, humming to herself. “It feels as comfortable as any bed,” she whispered. “I could sleep like this for days.”

“I’m going to go see if I can find some water or food,” Clay said, pointing deeper into the forest. “Before it gets too dark.

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