Bouncing on the spot, Jake looked at the loose cellophane around the four remaining bottles. It flapped in the wind.
The dust cloud was getting closer. “Fuck it.” Dropping the bottle in his hand, water spurting from the open top when it hit the ground, Jake watched the precious fluid soak into a breezeblock. The waste tore at his heart, but what could he do? Picking up a sealed bottle—one being all he could carry comfortably—Jake set off after his friend. “Tom, wait up, man!”
Whether Tom heard him or not was unclear. What was perfectly clear was that he wasn’t stopping. Focusing all of his attention on Tom’s long back, Jake gave chase. After only two steps, the bruise on his shin ached and the recently consumed water swilled in his empty stomach.
Dragging shallow breaths into his tight lungs, Jake released a series of burps without slowing his pace.
When he caught up with Tom, he vomited a shot of the tasteless water into his mouth. Swallowing the warm liquid back down again, he spoke between breaths. “What … did you … see coming out of the … crater?”
Although Tom looked across, his sharp grey eyes clearer than they had been in weeks, he didn’t reply.
“Just tell me what you saw, man.”
“What are you talking about, Jake?”
“Come on, you saw something.”
Tom frowned. “I didn’t see anything.” Dropping his head, he picked up his pace.
Grabbing Tom’s skinny shoulder, Jake spun him around. “Wait!”
Although Tom stopped, his attention was behind them. “Why are you stopping me?”
“If there’s nothing following us, then why are we running and what are you looking at?”
Bouncing on the spot, Tom looked behind yet again.
Keeping a hold of his friend’s shoulder, Jake stepped up onto a large rock. It wobbled beneath his feet.
“What are you doing?” Tom asked.
“Trying to get a better view.”
“So there’s no grit up there then?”
Staring at the large dust cloud on the horizon, which was no clearer from his elevated position, Jake threw Tom a tight smile. “All right, smartarse. It was worth a try at least.”
“Was it? Why?” Tom looked behind again.
“Okay, it wasn’t worth a try.” When Jake stepped down, the jolt of landing on the ground sent bolts of electric pain up his shin. “Being two feet higher off the ground did nothing to help me see better. Happy?”
Shaking his long head, Tom frowned. “Not really. I’d much rather be able to see what was going on.”
Folding his arms across his chest, Jake pouted. “Like you haven’t seen them already.”
Shaking his head, Tom stared at him. Another look behind and he walked off again.
Despite the near-deafening wind, Jake heard a low boom in the distance. It sounded like mortar fire. Running with a limp, he caught up with Tom again. His eyes were wide and his breath short. “Tell me you heard that.”
Tom continued walking.
Jake had to skip every three paces to keep up. The effort put a strain on his tight lungs. The water continued to swill in his guts. Every trip and stumble ignited the fire in his shin. There was no way he was losing Tom. Not now. Not ever.
It was Tom who spoke first this time. “You’re imagining things, Jake. It’s probably just another landslide.”
“A landslide? A landslide doesn’t bloody chase you!”
“It does if you’re unlucky.”
Looking behind, the cloud of dust closer than before, Jake said, “We’re going uphill, Tom.”
Tom shrugged and continued walking.
“You know exactly what’s following us. You’ve bloody seen it.”
The accusation was met with silence.
Another loud bang went off behind them, and Jake’s stomach twisted. It took all of his focus not to shit himself. When he saw Tom’s wide eyes, he pointed at him. “See, you heard it that time. I know you did.”
Tom didn’t reply.
“So, if there’s nothing following us,” he caught his breath, “what the fuck was that noise?”
Bang!
Jake’s heartbeat ran away with him. “What is it, Tom?”
Bang!
The ground shook like it had a few minutes previously. With his dry throat turning arid, Jake wanted to stop to drink, but Tom was moving faster than ever.
Bang!
The ground wobbled to the point where both of them had to steady themselves. “It’s just the shifting landscape, is it?”
Tom’s mouth hung loose, and a frown wrinkled his brow.
Bang!
Bang!
The last bang nearly threw Jake to the floor.
Finding his voice, Tom said, “Faster! We need to move faster.”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg, Jake sped up and overtook his friend, arriving at the bottom of the next hill first.
Bang!
The noise nipped at their ankles and was now accompanied by the skittering of a thousand spindly legs. It was like being chased by an army of giant spiders. Jake imagined a carpet of them coming over the hill, smothering him until he couldn’t breathe. Gasping for air, Jake’s knees weakened. The next rock he stood on slipped and threw him to the floor. He emptied his bladder where he lay.
Bang!
When Tom approached, Jake looked up from his crumpled position, paralyzed with fear and exhaustion. “What shall we do?”
Looking down at Jake, Tom shook his head and carried on up the hill.
Jake looked back in the direction of the sound.
Bang!
“Tom! Tom! Help me! Tom!”
Turning to look up the hill, Jake watched the tall man reach the top, stare back at him for a second, and then disappear over the brow.
Grinding her jaw, she watched on. The dust on the wind was particularly thick today, but she still saw everything. Why did Tom just leave him? His only friend left in the world. A friend that had given up the past few years of his life to search for his son, and he’d left him.
Shaking her head, she looked at Jake all alone on the floor, crumpled as he lay there, vulnerable to what was coming over the hill towards him.
Chapter Six
Staring at the space his friend had occupied seconds before and seeing only grit, Jake shouted, “Tom, help me!” How far away was he? Could he even hear him now?
Bang!
The ground shook again, and Jake grabbed onto a rock next to him. “Tom!”
The scuttling sound came forward in a wave. Any second and the things would burst through the dust cloud. Every atom of Jake’s being wanted to run, but his impotent body wouldn’t respond. Without Tom he was fucked. All he could do was wait. As he searched the storm, tiny pops of grit hit the lenses on his glasses. Holding onto his bottle of water as if it would offer him salvation, he remained alert and waited, his mouth dry, his body shaking.
The sound surrounded him, the wash of noise now in front and behind. Looking back up the hill, he shouted again. “Tom!” His heart sank. Tom was long gone.
There was still nothing to be seen, but the ground rumbled harder than before. Having ignored the thought up until now, Jake found it impossible to push it from his mind. They were beneath him. Was that even possible? How could they move so quickly through the rubble?