Move Along... 2

I nearly fell out of my seat from the impact. Basil has been gunning the bus, at least going eighty. I heard grunts as people fell out of their seats and woke up. Danny was starting to cry. Miley was looking at me with huge, scared eyes.

I grabbed my shotgun and ran to the front of the bus. Basil kicked the button that opened the doors, mostly because he wasn't in the mood to get eaten I suppose, and let me out, leaving on the headlights.

"You see anything?" His caffeine-buzzed voice wasn't so peppy anymore.

I looked under that car, seeing black blood, but not smelling anything. He hit one. But where was it?

I looked at Basil through the blood-specked windshield. "It's not here--"

There was a terrible crunching noise, making people cover their ears and scream. I saw what it was and shot my gun at the roof. The creature grunted and fell down. I went over to look at what species it was, but it was gone. Oh. Crap.

"Basil, get the car started! It's one of them!" I yelled as I ran back inside. "It's somewhere. It disappeared."

"What did it look like? Human? Animal? Plant?" Alyssa asked me, her dark brown eyes wide.

"Human, I think. But it didn't seem to go through the whole change, or else it may have used the door. It's probably a kid or a newborn, driven by primitive instincts," I gasped.

Basil was using his coffee-high to drive as quick as possible.

"What if it's a hybrid? We've ran into those one time? Were you here then? No, this was over five years ago. It was a wolf-person. Scary," Alyssa shivered, replaying the scene over in her head.

I shook my head. "Wasn't here then. A hybrid? Like, it got more than one virus?"

She shrugged. "Not sure. It ran off before we could kill it, though. Might have bitten someone. Passed on the gene."

I shivered and looked at Miley and Danny. They looked scared. Understandable. I mouthed for them to stay away from the window. They slid over to the middle of the seat. "Basil, how long till we get to a shelter?"

He shrugged, looking stressed. "Seven hours, maybe? I'm going pretty fast." The dirt roads were going past us in a blur. "But we still have to go through--"

"--The marsh." We ended together. he nodded grimly. We were on plains right now, completely vulnerable. Nowhere to hide.

I heard an eerie, howling sound. It was creepy and made goosebumps crawl up my body. Wolves. Infected ones.

Alyssa looked ready to cry. That was scary, seeing that in a woman who'd been fighting these things for ten years; she was nearly thirty. "That's them, I'd know that sound anywhere. They're probably in packs." She gripped my arm so hard I swear it was bruising. "Don't let them get us, Carter. Please, don't."

I nodded and patted her hand awkwardly. Jumper looked... impassive. "What do you suggest, commanding officer?" I sneered at him.

He looked at me, shaking slightly. "I don't--Those things--I've heard of them--" He started to cry, laying his head in his hands and sobbing. "God--They nearly killed me--I've still got scars--" So that's where he got them from. "And that was only from ONE!"

Oh. Not good. Alyssa let go of my hand as I got up. "Okay, everybody, get a weapon and get armed. These things are dangerous! More dangerous things than the other ones, okay? Get the kids under the seats and protected by blankets and clothing. They're deadly. We may have to fight this one out."

The bus screeched as Basil slammed on the brakes. I stumbled and flew backwards, bracing myself to hit the windshield, but a hand caught me by the waist. I looked up to see a guy, twenty or so, helping me up. He probably just saved my life, but I couldn't think of his name right now.

"What the hell, Basil?" Alyssa yelled. Basil was breathing hard, his chest had hit the steering wheel, and pointed out the window with a shaking finger.

A wolf was standing in the way. Was it a wolf? It looked like it was my size, if not bigger. It hard patchy, black fur that was falling out in clumps and looked like it had a rabies-mange mixture disease. It had foam coming from its mouth, the unprotected skin was red and looked like boiling water, moving under the skin. There were maggots coming from its eyes and ears, and it was snarling so loud that we could hear it inside the bus.

I was trying not to throw up. My breath was coming in heavy gasps. "What--the hell--is that thing?"

"A wolf, I think?" Alyssa made it a question. "Maybe it had a case of mange before it got bitten?"

"No," the guy who saved me murmured. "I saw that thing eat my parents. It's a blend of the species, it has more than one virus."

"How many were there when they died?" I breathed, my eyes focused on the wolf. We were staring at each other. It seemed that, as long as I stared at it, the wolf wouldn't attack.

"Ten, maybe. It changed the whole pack." He was staring at the animal as well. "I think it's just surveying the land right now. It might move on."

I highly doubted that. "If we don't move, will it go away?"

The guy stayed quiet. It seemed like a small eternity before either of us moved. The word listed it's head to the sky and howled deeply, the sound that had freaked us out before. Then its eyes connected with mine again. They were red, glowing red. Like some type of albino rat. Beady, crazy eyes that made you want to cringe. There were more howls, not coming from the wolf.

"I think we should start driving before the others get to us," I suggested.

Basil hadn't moved an inch. His tongue was the only thing that moved when he talked. "What about the wolf? He's in the way."

"Run it over. He'll move then," Alyssa guessed.

The howls were closer this time. I looked out of one of the side mirrors and saw glowing red pairs of eyes coming closer.

"Go!" I yelled. Basil pressed on the gas, making us all stumble back a step or two, then hit the wolf, which yelped under the bus and made us airborne when he moved over it. I landed on the guy that saved me while Alyssa flew back a seat. Jumper yelled because he hit his eye.

"Sorry," I squealed a little to the guy I landed on. He chuckled as I helped him up.

"It's okay, I'm used to taking hits."

We both looked out the window at the back of the bus. The wolves were getting closer. The one we hit wasn't dead, just limping.

Basil cursed. "What?" We both yelled.

"I think I screwed up the front of the bus. We'll need to pull over soon!" He whimpered.

"No!" Screamed almost everybody on the bus.

I ignored them. "How long until we have to stop?" I asked, stress clear in my voice.

"I don't know. Something's probably jammed in the hood or something!" Basil murmured. His foot seemed to be stuck on the gas petal. We were at least hitting ninety.

The boy and I sat down on the seat close to Basil in case he decided to slam on the breaks again. "You sure?" I asked, peeking out the back of the bus again. I saw faint red glows. The bus seemed to be at a distance. Basil shrugged, starting to sweat from pressure. "Okay, next gas station we'll stop and look around."

We were silent the rest of the way. Everybody was to edgy to talk.
###
I walked inside the store cautious as ever. The boy who saved me--he said his name was Thierry--came in with me, along with Alyssa. Jumper was guarding Basil while he checked out the hood.

There was more destruction in here than in the last store. Lots of blood, some of it molding or dried into the ground. There were rotting bodies strewn all around. Alyssa nearly gagged when she saw a rat crawling out of someone's eye. I just shuttered and looked around some more. People had gotten all the food--maybe us before, maybe another group of survivors--so there wasn't anything to really be looking for. I was just looking for survivors.

I heard something move behind us. We all looked behind us, but saw nothing. Alyssa gripped my arm. "I don't think anybody's here, Carter. Maybe we should--"

I shrugged her arm off and walked up the stairs. Not as much destruction, it was actually pretty neat in here, except for flies. "Anybody in here?" I whispered. No sound. I shrugged and looked around some more. Some pictures of a family, pets, basic office stuff. "Anybody here?"

"Yes," I calm voice said behind us. We all jumped and looked at the speaker. She was a young girl, probably fifteen, with wavy blond hair and blood-red lips. Wait... She grinned, showing pointed teeth. "Hello, little pawns, how about we be friends and you set your weapons down?" She licked her lips, making the blood smear. It was starting to leak down her chin and onto her chest. Her eyes were completely black, like her pupils took over everything.

Alyssa and Thierry seemed under her spell and set their weapons down. I gripped my shotgun harder, but couldn't shoot it. Mind control.

The girl smiled and stroked my cheek. "So pretty. My brother would like you, as a pet, maybe?" She giggled and played with my hair. "Now, sweety, what's your name?"

Her eyes were making the truth come out of me by force. "Carter."

She grinned and patted my cheek. "Last name?"

"Mason."

She smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Yes, I'll give you to my brother. He'd like you very much." She turned her attention to the other two. "Now, what are you names?"

"Alyssa Scott."

"Thierry."

The vampire gave him an impatient sigh. "Thierry what?"

"I don't know. I was adopted. Don't know my real last name."

She sighed. "Such a sad thing, being human." Her attention went back to me. "I know wat you think of my kind. Alien experiments, freaks of nature. But, little Carter, we've been here all along. But, sadly, someone turned the wrong person. He wants to change the world now. Sad fool." She smiled brightly. "I'm Elizabeth. No last name. You give those up when you live forever, don't you?"

She let her control slip a bit to let my answers be true. "I wouldn't know, I don't suck blood."

Elizabeth smiled brightly. "Oh, but you do, just not aware of it. Have you bitten you tongue before? Cut your finger? Eaten something the butcher gives you? They can't give the blood completely out of it. Pity, though, how you are so hypocritical about us. Must be the ignorance of your generation."

"We don't live of blood," Alyssa murmured.

The vampire glared, then smiled and ran a finger down my neck. The jugular vein. I stayed still, not moving a fraction of an inch. "Oh, you don't, do you? So, if I bite your friend right now, she wouldn't die?" Her smile grew to a grin when she saw Alyssa's panicked face. "That's what I thought. We are very much the same, my young friends, so don't judge." I now noticed that this whole time she was talking, my gun was slowly going out of my hand. I set it on the desk.

"Liza, talking to the dinner again?" A lazy voice sounded from the back of the room.

The vampire girl grinned--fangs galore--towards the back of the room. "This is my older brother, Adrian." She giggled. "Isn't he cute?"

Attractive, yes. It seemed all vampires had that in common, even though they were beyond creepy. He had chocolaty brown hair that was as long as the style was these days, hanging in his face, with deep blue, normal eyes. Not the type of eyes Elizabeth had. She made you want to pee yourself. He could easily be considered human, except for the translucent pale skin and the fangs that were making dimples on his full bottom lip.

"Anyway, Adrian, I was establishing a conversation with them. They seem quite interesting, especially Carter here," she giggled again. "Such a strong opinion of us, when she doesn't know us. Isn't that frowned upon in the human world? Stereotyping." She smiled. "Suck a shame. But quite amusing with this one." She released my neck and patted my head like I was a lovable dog. "I was going to save her for you, but the more I talk to he the more I crave her blood." She took a deep breath, then let it out in a content sigh. "So... delicious."

"Sister," Adrain's voice commanded, not so languid or lazy anymore. "Enough. Let them go."

Elizabeth pouted. "But, brother--"

"Now."

Elizabeth sighed and let me go, both physically and telepathically. We all gasped, relieved. Adrian had left. His sister stared after him, confused. "How strange," she mused. "Please stay here, little pawns. I can talk him into munching on your necks, I'm sure." She blew me an air kiss. "Stay." She skipped off.

I braced myself on my knees and grabbed my gun. "Is--she--freaking--INSANE?" I gasped, trying to keep control of myself. I was ready to cry. My whole body was shaking and I felt like throwing up.

"No, just a vampire. We can go, right?" Alyssa asked, her face scared.

"Hell yeah we can," Thierry murmured, grabbing my arm and dragging me outside.

I didn't know what to expect when we went to the bus. I suppose a massacre. But everybody seemed fine when we ran in.

Basil seemed cheerful, in fact. "Only a piece of fur under the hood, nothing to worry about at all," he said, then his face went grim and shocked when he looked at us. "What happened to you guys? And what took you so long?"

Alyssa and I exchanged glances, but Thierry had an excuse. "Bathroom break, we saw a little kid that didn't make it through the change. Just a toddler, really. We kinda got torn up."

Basil nodded and started to drive. We got into some seats, I sat by Thierry and Alyssa sat in front of us.

"So, can we never talk about that again? Like, ever?" Alyssa asked. We all nodded. She looked relieved. We stayed silent an waited to get home.