Running Away - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (The Ravaged Land Series Book 4) (5 page)

I
instinctively started trying
to get my arms free and Penn and Dean must have noticed because they let go. I dropped below the surface of the water flailing my arms and kicking my legs to get back up, but I wasn’t coordinating my efforts because of the panic.

“Help!” I said in a gurgly voice as I popped above the surface. Penn grabbed onto my arm and raised me above the surface, holding me until I was able to calm down and regain control of my limbs.

Now that my arms were free I was fine. I could tread water to keep myself above the surface, although the current started to move me slightly.

“We’ll have to swim across,” Penn said as he swam back a little towards Sienna. She was managing to stay above the water, but she looked nervous. It seemed like she didn’t want to take the last step where she knew she wouldn’t be able to touch the bottom any longer. Penn looked her in the eyes, “It’ll be OK. I’ll help you.”

Dean stayed close to me and I watched as Alice and Carter bravely and carefully lowered themselves into the deeper water. He watched her as they swam towards us.

Alice took two strokes before she started coughing. The cold water probably triggered it but it didn’t stop her from swimming. Her already pale skin looked white and her lips were blue, but she was determined and kept moving across the river.

I focused on the other side of the river as I swam with all of my remaining strength. The current seemed stronger in some parts of the river, which made it difficult. I was almost to the other side when I heard Sienna scream.

She wasn’t there. Her head must have been below the water because I saw Penn furiously trying to reach down for her. When the look on his face changed, I knew something was wrong. He was swimming in circles looking around at the water.

“Sienna?” I screamed, but there was no answer. If she was underwater, she probably wouldn’t have been able to hear me crying out for her.

Dean pointed at me and then at the other side before he turned to swim back out towards Penn. But the current picked up even more and practically threw him into me.

We were fighting against the current when I spotted Sienna’s head pop up for a split second further downstream. I saw her gasp for air right before she was pulled back under.

“Go! Get to the other side,” Penn shouted as he dove under the water towards Sienna.

Dean looked as if he didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have to ask to know that he felt as though he should go after his sister. But if he even tried, the water would probably push him under too, only making matters worse.

I looked upstream but I couldn’t tell what had caused the water to start moving faster. Whatever it was seemed to be worse right where Penn and Sienna were.

Alice and Carter were almost to the other side as Dean and I were still struggling to make it the last third of the way. I couldn’t do anything but swim and let the water push me along, but once I was closer to the bank, I was able to stand and wade my way out of the river.

Once I felt I was safe, I turned to see if I could spot Penn and Sienna, but I couldn’t find either. I walked along the riverbank scanning the surface of the water for either of them.

I couldn’t even guess how far the current had pushed us downstream. It probably pushed Penn and Sienna even further, considering they were still in it.

Looking out at the water I could tell that it was raging even more the further downstream we walked. It was a white water rapid, and I worried that neither of them would make it out.

“Where are they?” I said unsure if anyone would hear me over the noise of the river rapids. I started to jog down the river, trying to be careful over the rocks and uneven terrain.

I barely noticed how much my body was shivering. The air was warmer than the water had been, but it didn’t seem to matter. The water had chilled me to the bone. Or maybe it was because my friends were being pulled away from us by the raging waters and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

“There!” Dean shouted and bolted past me to the edge of a rock. I spotted Sienna’s head bob up and down, and then back up again. Her arms were flailing around as if she was trying to tread water, but it was no use. There wasn’t anything she could do to fight the rapids. They had total control over her body.

“Where’s Penn?” I said scanning the surface for any sign of him. I felt my chest tighten when I couldn’t find anything.

Dean shook his head as he grabbed my hand and pulled me along. Sienna was moving away from us so fast I was worried I’d lose sight of her. I just hoped she wouldn’t get pulled back under. We had to do something, and fast, to get her out of the water.

When I saw Penn pop up about ten feet away from her, I almost felt relieved. But given the dangerous conditions there was nothing to be relieved about. They were both still in trouble and I could tell how true that was by the horrified looks on their faces.

Penn tried to swim along with the current in an attempt to speed up so he could catch Sienna. I worried he was moving too fast and would go right past her.

Every so often it would pull them down but they both seemed to fight their way back to the surface, or maybe they were just being jolted upwards by the raging torrent. It was impossible to tell.

Penn was about two feet away from Sienna when he lurched himself forward. He managed to grab onto her and she wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him like he was her life preserver.

We ran along the bank watching as they rode the rapids together. Penn was trying to steer them in certain directions but for the most part he was unsuccessful.

I saw a long, thick branch sticking out over the water and it appeared Penn noticed it too. He reached out for it but they were moving too fast. They jerked to a partial stop before the branch cracked and they were back to bobbing down the river. The branch floating along with them.

Penn lifted his hand up and I could see the deep shade of red washing down his wet hand. He’d cut himself on the rough bark from the tree branch. Penn grimaced and started scanning the side of the river for another branch.

We tried to keep up, but they were moving fast and it was difficult. My legs were so cold they felt stiff and the wet pants didn’t help matters. It was hard to watch them and watch where I was stepping at the same time so I didn’t break an ankle on the rough, jagged rocks that lined the riverside. I was pretty sure that if I sprained or broke my ankle out here, I’d be as good as dead.

They zipped downstream and their heads bobbed and disappeared frequently. It was hard to keep track of them. I watched as Penn lined himself up to attempt to grab onto another branch. This one looked bigger than the last. It curved out and almost looked like a giant arm reaching out to cradle them.

Their bodies hurled towards the branch and Penn didn’t have to do much. Penn’s body was thrust into the branch and it looked like he’d hit pretty hard. He quickly draped his arm over the big branch. They both looked like they were struggling to catch their breath.

“We’re coming!” I shouted, but I doubted they could hear me over the loud noises of the crashing rapids. Penn was already pulling them along the branch towards the riverbank.

I was so happy they were going to be OK that I could barely hold myself together. They were both so important to me that I didn’t think I could handle losing either of them, let alone both of them.

I had to stop and bend at the waist so I could steady my breathing and reign in my emotions. Watching them get washed away from us had been terrifying, although probably more so for them.

“You OK?” Carter said lightly placing his hand on my back.

“I’m fine… overwhelmed or something,” I said through oddly spaced breaths.

I waved him away. If he stayed around worried about me I’d probably burst into tears. And for some reason I didn’t want him to see me like that. Then again, I didn’t really want anyone to see me like that, which is why I was doing my damnedest to hold myself together.

Dean reached out his hand to Sienna to help pull her to safety. I stumbled closer, trying to force my weak legs to work. I couldn’t run to them even though I wanted to.

Once I hobbled my way to Sienna, I threw my arms heavily around her shaking, soaking wet body. “I’m so glad you’re OK,” I whispered into her ear and I could feel her head nod in agreement against my shoulder.

Carter and Dean were helping Penn out of the water and onto the rocky bank. Penn looked in our direction and smiled, but it wasn’t a strong smile. It was forced. His arms and legs looked like they were made out of overcooked spaghetti noodles.

I couldn’t smile back. I was worried about him. There was only so much a person could take. He was one of the toughest people I knew but it almost seemed as though things were getting to be too much, even for him. Penn’s drive, strength and determination were being tested and I think he was aware of it. If he couldn’t manage it, what chance did any of us have?

“Let’s go,” Penn said as he slowly made his way through our little group and back upstream. We probably had a mile or more that we had to cover to get back to the same spot we’d originally crossed the river. “We have to find a shelter.”

“How’s your hand?” I shouted towards him but he just waved it up in the air. I didn’t see any major cuts or blood dripping down, so I figured he was fine. Although, maybe he intentionally showed me the wrong hand so I wouldn’t pester him about something we couldn’t do anything about.

I looked up towards the sky. We had a couple hours before the sun would start to fall and the world around us would be dark. Hopefully we could find something before then, but with how desolate things were around here, either from the storms or maybe it had always been this way, I didn’t hold much hope for finding somewhere to stay.

Penn reached into his waistband and I knew he was checking for his gun. He gripped the handle tightly as if he wasn’t really sure it was still there. I instinctively checked for mine and breathed a sigh of relief. At least if we had to stay outside for the night, we still had our weapons for protection.

But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

* * *

W
e walked
for several more miles before we decided to give up and find somewhere as secluded as we could. If we had to stay outside, we wanted to be as hidden as possible. The water would help because I was sure no one would be trying to cross it, especially at night. It would also give us something to drink, even though every time we drank the unfiltered water we were taking a risk. But we didn’t have a choice.

We had our guns which would provide us protection, but that was all we had. And after everything we’d been through, all the swimming, walking and emotions, I was starving.

Everyone sat clustered together. Penn went back and forth about trying to start a fire. First, he would worry about having a fire and drawing attention and then he’d worry about not having one and freezing together in our wet clothes in the cold night air.

“It’s going to get really cold,” Carter said. I figured since he and Alice hadn’t lived all that far away, they probably had a good idea of what it was like at night. It seemed as though he was gently urging Penn to make a fire without directly telling him to do so.

Penn looked up at the darkening sky. It wasn’t dark yet, but it wouldn’t be long before the sun completely disappeared below the horizon. I was pretty sure he had the knowledge to get a fire going if he needed to with whatever he could gather in the area. I could tell he wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was.

“We have our guns,” I said, sounding as though I was trying to persuade him, but I wasn’t. At least not consciously. I wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was either, but I wasn’t excited about the idea of sitting out in the cold night in my still damp clothing without a fire.

Penn looked at me and then towards Sienna and Alice who were both sitting there trying to hide their chattering teeth and shivering bodies. If I wouldn’t have been so focused on the feeling that my stomach was eating itself, my teeth probably would have been chattering too.

“OK, I’m going to make a fire,” Penn said standing up and waiting for anyone to stop him. But no one did. He walked away from where we were sitting and started to scour the ground.

“I’ll be back too,” Carter said and quickly walked away before anyone could stop him to ask questions. I watched him as he put distance between us. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, but maybe he was just trying to find somewhere to go to the bathroom.

Penn came back with some dried pieces of thin grass-like stuff and rolled them loosely together. He dropped a couple pieces of wood down on the ground.

“I’m not sure I’m going to get this to work,” he said without looking up. He had a long stick piece and another thicker strip of wood with a bit of a gouge in the side.

He placed the thicker piece down flat on the ground and the long one inside the little notch. His knee was pressing against the strip of wood holding it steady while he spun the stick between his palms.