Falling Skies

It had been more than 96 hours since the last time she ate. It had been almost 14 hours since the last drop of water trickled down her throat. It was getting dark and she had no idea how she was still walking.
At least it was also cooling down. Nighttime made it easier although what she was hiding from could certainly see in the dark. At this point, she was too exhausted to care. An attack would kill her but she was prepared to die like a rebel - free at any rate.

As she spotted the shack in the distance it was almost as though her legs, no, her whole body, gave up on her. The anticipation of getting some rest made her muscles weaker, her bones heavier. What seemed like only a few hundred yards suddenly felt like miles and the closer she got, the more she regretted it. Was this place even safe? It looked more and more like a trap but there was no turning back now. Her body yearned for it almost more than it yearned for food and water. When she finally stepped through what used to be an entrance, she felt the sweet release as she laid down, completely at ease and ready to die.

And death would have been sweet. But death didn't come.

Instead, she woke from her deep sleep which felt like it could have only lasted a few minutes, when someone pulled a hood over her head. She screamed and was punched in the face in response.

'Shut it, girl.' a voice commanded. It sounded demonic. She knew instantly that dracs had found her.

'Are you sure it's her?' another voice asked.

'Do you think I'm stupid or what? It is her. She's even wearing the necklace.' the other one replied and she could feel his cold, disgusting fingers fondling with what was around her neck.

Panic set in. Weirdly enough it had taken until now for that to happen. She was too weak, too confused, to let it happen sooner. But at the mention of her necklace, adrenaline kicked in and she began to struggle, trying to wind herself out of the firm grasp of two pairs of hands holding her down.

'A dead giveaway.' the demonic voice stated and she could hear the noise of paper being crumbled. 'Punch her again. She doesn't seem to want to cooperate.'

This time the fist hit her stomach, almost piercing it. The pain made her feel nauseous and her body went limp.

'Hey boss, what do you say? Can we have a lil fun with her before we head back to headquarters? Korse said unharmed, he didn't say unspoiled.' one of the dracs next to her asked. Whatever you do, get it over with. Get it over with so I can die, she thought, pleading silently.

A snicker by the demon followed. 'Alright boys, but hurry up. I'll be waiting outside.'

Before he even finished his approval, she could feel her pants being ripped by one, her jacket being snatched off of her by the other. She knew what was going to happen next and prayed for unconsciousness.

*

'Who still looks up at the night sky and sees the stars? Who's still able to smell the sweet scent of rain out here in the desert? Taste anything else but dust on your tongue lately? If you do you're lying. It's just a memory and not even a good one. But it could be worse. At least we can still remember. At least they haven't turned us into zombies just yet. Does that give us hope? No. But it keeps our hearts beating if nothing else does. Next up – the...Ha-...we...' static interrupted the broadcast and Poison cursed under his breath.

'Stupid piece of shit. UGH.' he took the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling the smoke and started fiddling with the radio.

If there was something that set him off it was complete silence, especially out here, on patrol. He hadn't reached the border yet so why was this even happening? Still cursing he turned the radio off, he had another 10 miles or so to go before he could turn it on again, looking for another signal. It was his third week on patrol and so far the only thing he had received had been the faint signal of a hacker which made him change coordinates immediately, in fear of being discovered. But still, he had to keep looking, although he wasn't sure what he was even looking for.

The noise almost blinded him like a flash of lightning. He hit the brakes with full force and came to a violent halt. The radio was on again, numbers on the display going crazy, light flickering as though it was about to explode.

'What the hell?' he muttered. He had turned it off. How?

Again, the noise pierced his ears, almost painfully. He couldn't place the sound, a high frequency static of some kind, he had never heard before. An eerie feeling crept its way up his back, giving him the chills. What was going on? He reached out to the tuner, his hands shaky, and turned the knob, numbers flickered again and for some reason, his foot pressed down on the gas pedal, hard, as he steered the Trans Am into the darkness ahead of him.

*

'I wanna go first. He he.' she continued to struggle although it guaranteed her more abuse. It was a mystery how she still had the strength for it.

'Just do it, but leave some for me. Should we gag her?'

'Nah, let's hear her scream. There's no one out here who would help her anyway.' one of them had finally pinned her down and she could feel the other one leaning over her, trying to spread her legs. It was time to give up. Admit defeat.

'Here's a good girl, now let's-' he was interrupted by the screeching of tires followed by a gunshot and a thudding noise from outside and she could feel his weight shifting.

'What was that?! Did you hear that? Boss? What-ARGGHH!' she heard the one on top of her scream, his body crushing hers and immediately felt something warm and wet seeping through the hood on her head.

Blood. She could taste it before she heard another shot and scream, this time coming from behind her, she felt the body that was holding her going limp and releasing her from his grip. By the time the hood was ripped from her head her vision had already begun to get blurry.

'Shhh, it's gonna be ok.' she heard an unfamiliar voice say. She was pulled from underneath the dead bodies of her attackers and lifted up by a pair of strong arms, the only thing she could do was hold onto whoever it was that had come to her rescue before she finally passed out.

*

Poison had no idea how he had even gotten to the shack, especially since he had never been here before. It was almost like a force had pulled him, guided him there. Radio still going nuts, it appeared out of nowhere and he had taken out the draculoid standing guard within seconds of spying him. Now covered in blood he wasn't sure to whom it belonged anymore, he rushed back to the car, the girl in his arms, clinging onto him with what little she had left in her. He had never seen her before either, not that it mattered, she wasn't one of them and she needed help. The who, how and why didn't matter right now. He put her in the back seat, as carefully as he could, taking off his jacket to cover her, pacing back to the other side of the car to jump in the driver's seat. He had to get her back to the diner as fast as he could. Minutes seemed like hours.

'Poison? What happened, what the- are you hurt? Is that your blood? What happened?' Kobra yelled, running towards the car. Poison had pulled up, honking.

'Help me with her.' Poison replied, already pulling the still unconscious girl from the backseat.

'Who is that? What happened?' Kobra asked again, looking at her shocked and confused.

'Found her. Out in the desert. Dracs. Help me or get out of my fucking way.' he pushed past his brother, into the diner where he was greeted by Jet and Ghoul who had been asleep already by the looks on their faces.

'Who-' Poison just ignored them as he paced to the back where he shared a room with Kobra.

'I need water. A cloth. The first aid kit.' he commanded, not looking at any of them as he put her down on his bed, obviously not caring about staining it.

They all looked at him as he brushed the hair back from her face. She had a bruised cheek, blood seeping from a cut in her lip but the rest of the red liquid seemed to be from one of the dracs he had taken out. Which was more dangerous as any injury. His stomach turned at the sight.

'FUCKING MOVE IT DAMMIT!' finally, Ghoul ran off and appeared just moments later with what Poison had requested.

He reached into the first aid kit, pulling out a small vial and a syringe, wasting no time, he drew up the clear liquid, located a vein on her arm and muttered a curse when he realized how hard it was to pierce it. She was dehydrated and weak. Too weak, possibly. The antitoxin would take its toll. After checking her other arm and finally finding a vein, he injected the content of the syringe into her, studying her face for any reaction from her. Nothing.

'Is it too late? Because if it is, we have to-' Jet whispered.

'I know what we have to do. Where's the water?' Poison interrupted him and waited for Ghoul to hand him the bottle.

*

She felt like drowning. She couldn't breathe. Drawing in air desperately, she realized her airpipe was filling with water and started coughing violently.

'Take it easy. Here...' she heard a voice say and then felt an arm slip underneath her, pushing her up a little. Her eyes were still too heavy to open but she could feel a bottle on her lips and after a few shy sips, she started gulping down the cooling liquid. It felt better than ever.

'Easy...' the voice repeated and she slowed down a bit, rationality kicking in, telling her she would puke if she didn't. She felt the bottle leaving her mouth and wanted to protest but the arm was removed from her back and she was gently put back down again. She was way too weak to speak anyway.

'Gimme the towel.' the voice said and a brief moment later she could feel a cold, wet cloth on her face, seemingly cleaning her off. Whoever saved her was taking care of her, still. It felt nice but the feeling was so unfamiliar, it still scared her. She winced when the stranger touched her cheek, triggering a chain reaction of pain she could suddenly feel all over her body. Her arm felt like it was about to fall off, as if someone was still twisting it. She hissed.

'I know...I know...it hurts. Try to relax.' the stranger withdrew the cloth and soon replaced it with what seemed like disinfectant or alcohol, from the smell and the sting of it. She tried to open her eyes, still unsuccessfully.

All of a sudden she felt cold. Although her brain was still unable to recall what had happened, she knew some of her clothes, or parts of them, were missing. She shivered and started to panic.

'Kobra, gimme your blanket.' she could feel someone placing a blanket over her but neither the shivering nor the panicking stopped.

Suddenly, she was back in the shack, demon dracs holding her down, whispering in her ear, tearing off her clothes. She felt their weight on her chest and the panic turned into terror. Again, she felt a sharp pain in her arm and the sound of her own screams were the last thing she heard before passing out again.

*

Poison had finished cleaning the blood off of her, trying his best not to shift what little was left of the clothes she still had on, although he had also sedated her, he didn't want to expose her even more. Her whole body was bruised and he could tell she hadn't eaten in days. She was around his age, 20, maybe, although her fragile state might have made her look younger than she really was. Her wounds were bandaged and he covered her with the blanket again.

'How is she?' Jet lurked into the room.

Poison stood, wiping the blood from his hands. He was aching.

'Not sure. We need to get liquids in her...food too. In the state she's in, her body might not be able to fight a drac infection.'

'We don't have a lot of antitoxin left...' Jet pointed out, sounding harsher than he had intended to.

Poison turned to him, narrowing his eyes.

'I'm just saying...we should be smart. If she's not gonna make it then-' Jet continued.

'It's a waste? Is that what you're saying?' Poison sounded furious but he couldn't help but think that Jet might be right. That realization made him even angrier.

'I am. But you're the one who calls the shots. It's your decision.' he looked him up and down. 'You should clean yourself off, too.' he said and turned to leave.

Poison sighed and looked at the girl again. There was no movement from her except the irregular rising and falling of her chest as she breathed in and out. Who was she? Where had she come from? And the most important thing, how, just HOW had he ended up at the shack, saving her from the dracs?

Notes

hope you liked this first chapter!

next chapter coming up soon!