Scott still sat, perched up against the trunk of the large shady tree. His eyes were closed and his hands sat behind his neck supporting his head while he slept under the thick treetop. As he sat and rested, Selena and Eden walked through the open valley searching and scanning for safety and shelter or any sign of help. The two of them looked at their surroundings, the sky was covered in smoke making it seem like the evening, even in the middle of the morning. They stared up at the sky, the only thing visible being vibrant, crimson-colored clouds poking out behind the gloomy gray smoke.
"Do you think the clouds will always be red?" Eden asked, staring at the fluffy cloud above.
"I don't know, maybe," Selena said, scanning the covered sky briefly.
"I think it symbolizes death," Eden said, shrugging their shoulders.
"How do you mean?" Selena asked, curiously.
"It wasn't here until the bombs hit, and what happened after that? Nothing but death," Eden said, flailing their arms.
"Well, we survived, doesn't that mean something?" Selena responded, attempting to block out the feeling of loss that had been sitting between her shoulders.
"Yeah...maybe. I just hope it'll be for a good reason." A knowing silence fell between the pair as they moved forward.
"Look over there!" Selena called pointing toward the edge of the tree line, where a police car sat wrapped around the wide trunk of a healthy tree. The pair raced to the car hoping they would get lucky by finding a person or radio they could use to call for help.
The closer they got to the cruiser, the more they realized how terrible the crash was. Blood stained the once-white hood, most of it had dried but there were some remaining drips that fell from the glass shards sticking out of the windshield. One officer sat in the driver's seat his concaved head resting against the bent steering wheel surrounded by a dark black liquid oozing from his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. His skin looked as if someone had put him in the oven on broil for too long. His hair was missing and his uniform was melted to his flesh.
"Holy shit, what the fuck is that?" Selena screamed peering in through the passenger window.
"What? What is it?" Eden asked attempting to push past Selena to get a look at what she had seen.
"N...nothing, he's dead - I just.." Selena replied, pushing Eden away from the window, and trying to hide her disgust.
"I've never seen a dead body before. I was startled. C'mon, you don't need to see it too."
Eden kept attempting to see but it was no use. Selena was not budging. She glanced inside the car looking through the passenger seat in an attempt to find anything useful trying her best to avoid looking at the burnt-looking corpse.
She glanced down toward the driver's hand. In his crisped, grasp she saw an outgoing radio connected to the police scanner.
"Looks like he tried calling for help," Selena said, as her stomach clenched tightly.
"I think I can reach the radio," She continued, attempting to squeeze her upper body through the half-opened passenger window. It was no use, no matter how hard she struggled and squirmed her body wouldn't fit past her chest with the radio being just out of reach.
"Shit, I can't fit past my boobs," She said, jimmying her way out of the window frustrated. She looked over at Eden who chuckled silently.
"Eden, I think you'll have to do it," She said, not seeing another option. Eden was skeptical for a moment, knowing whatever Selena saw was enough for her to push them away.
"Okay," they replied hesitantly, walking nervously toward the window. Selena thought to change her mind, but before she could retract her statement Eden was already face to face with the oozing corpse in the driver seat. They wanted to scream and throw up, but it lodged itself in their throat. They could only stare, watching the remaining wet droplets of sludge leak from his face. Eden felt the bulge in their throat tighten, knowing one thing: that radio could save them all. They took a deep breath before pushing deeper through the window, seeing more detail on the officer's body come into focus.
"He looks...cooked," They said, scanning the charred skin of the driver.
"Just grab the radio and let's go," Selena replied gripping their ankles tightly. They rolled their eyes before readjusting their wrists to pull forward into the car and reach out to grab the radio. They stretched their smallest finger and finally grabbed the radio by the chord.
"Got it!" they shouted, excitedly yanking on the coiled chord, the hand fighting to cling onto it.
"Good, then let's get out of here," Selena said looking around paranoid that something was about to jump out at them. Eden gave a light pull to no avail. The driver's grip was too tight. They regripped the chord and gave a hard tug this time. As they turned their pull into sharp tugs, the driver's grip went from strong to non-existent. They felt the snap as the hand turned to ash scattering across the torn fabric seats of the cruiser and puffing into their face
Their eyes widened, and their face turned pale white before letting out a loud high-pitched scream and pushing backward out of the window, knocking Selena to the ground in the process.
"What? What the fuck happened?" She asked, plopping on the ground. Eden didn't give any response all they did was mumble an explanation and then begin to cry while pacing rapidly.
"Calm down Eden, you have to tell me what happened," She said, standing up from the dirt and soothing them.
"They...broke," They whispered under their breath.
"Sorry? What do you mean?" She asked, placing a cupped hand on her ear.
"They broke!" Eden yelled, sobbing into Selena's shirt as they hugged her firmly.
"What broke?" She asked, hugging them tight. Selena was filled with confusion as she held Eden.
"Now, tell me what happ- the ground began to rumble beneath them. The pair lost their balance and fell back to the ground. The trees and rocks around them jumped with the grumbling earth below.
Looking around rapidly, they searched for the source of the movement as the police cruiser they had just robbed began to move. It shook side to side quickly until a long thick vine emerged from the dirt and sprouted up one side of the car and down the other. The vine moved quickly wrapping itself around the car twice. Eden and Selena stared in awe as the vine began to constrict crushing the car like a tin can and dragging it and its dead driver into the ground.
They stared as the car disappeared in a single moment. The pair wasted no time at all they shot up from the ground and began sprinting toward the clearing they had come from.
"Shit! Keep going I'll catch up!" Selena said, turning back and seeing the radio on the ground.
"I'm not leaving you!" Eden replied
"Go, I'm right behind you!" She snapped back as she picked the radio out of the dirt. Eden looked up as she began heading back. Behind her, the ground cracked open as another large thick vine sprouted from the growing hole.
"Selena! Run!" they yelled, pointing to the vine towering above her head. Selena looked up to see the vine. She let out a loud shriek before sprinting toward Eden. The vine lunged back into the ground as the pair ran away.
"I can't see it anymore!" Eden shouted, looking back.
"It doesn't matter keep moving!" Selena replied, pushing forward. Suddenly the vine erupted from the ground in front of them launching sand and mud into the air as it slammed into the ground and attempted to crush the two of them.
"Move!" Selena yelled, grabbing Eden and practically throwing them to the ground. They hit the ground and rolled before regaining their feet and running once again. Selena pushed through making it past the vine and catching up with them.
"What does it want?" They asked, frantically.
"Us! Dead! Just keep moving!" She shouted her breath narrowing. The pair ran, stumbling over branches and roots as they evaded the vines' vengeful grip as it weaved through the dirt and grass. The adrenaline and fear overtook their bodies, and the burning of muscles almost disappeared. Their feet were blistered so badly they could feel the pooling of blood filling their boots. The vine, however, was relentlessly seizing every opportunity it had to catch the pair of them off guard. It was as if it knew their moves before they made them.
"We have to...end...this!" Eden shouted, short of breath.
"How do you suppose we do that?" She asked. Eden looked back, staring at the vine as it penetrated the earth before erupting, creating a suture-like stitch across the ground. They looked for any way to stop the plant. Scanning their surroundings before glancing down at the radio.
"Quick, give me the radio!" They yelled, holding their hands out to Selena.
"What no! No way!" She shouted, pulling the radio closer to her chest.
"Do you want to die?" They asked with a stern voice.
"No."
"Then give me the goddamn radio!" They yelled, shaking their hands out in front of her.
"Fine!" She relented, tossing it over. They gripped the machine tight before turning toward the vine as it inched closer and closer, plunging into the ground and sprouting up again. They took a deep breath wound up their arm and threw the radio with all their might. The radio launched into the sky toward the vine. The plant sprouted further into the air ripping itself out of the ground and grabbing the radio. Selena and Eden fell to the dirt and stared up at the vine as it held the radio above them.
The air grew quiet for a moment, as they anticipated death and pain. Then a loud crunching and cracking filled the surrounding area as the transmitter broke into thousands of pieces. As it crumpled down to the ground Selena and Eden prepared themselves to be next. They clenched their eyelids tight and gripped the grass around them. Time slowed. The seconds that followed felt like they went on forever. As they opened their eyes, inviting death - all they saw were the broken radio parts and the fractured ground in front of them.
"Selena?" Eden called out, nudging her gently.
"What?" She replied, peeling her eyes open.
"Wh-Where did it go?" Eden asked, still quivering in fear.
"I don't know," she replied, scanning the area for any sign of the vine. The only evidence that the deadly plant had ever been there were the holes in the ground where it had sprouted, and the large gaping chasm it left when it ripped itself out of the ground.
"I think it's gone," Eden said standing up off the ground, brushing flakey dirt off their clothes.
"It's like all it wanted was the radio," Selena added.
"Come on we need to get the hell out of here," they said, pretending they had dreamt all that had just happened.
"Yeah, let's go," she agreed, still in shock and confused. The pair walked back toward the large tree where Scott had set up camp while they were gone. There were make-shift tents made from leaves and sticks with a fire pit in the middle for warmth. Scott stood in the center of the campsite grinning from ear to ear proud of what he had done.
"There you two are. Where have you been?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air. They stayed silent both bore a look of dread and terror on their faces. Their skin was pale white and their eyes spaced out, unable to focus on anything but the feeling that the plant would be back to finish them off. Neither of them had the words to describe what they had just seen.
"Yo, is everything okay? You guys look like you just saw a ghost," he asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"We're fine Scott, just...tired," Selena said hesitantly.
"Okay, cool well good thing camp is all set up," he said, patting himself on the back.
"Great, suppose we'll pack up and leave again tomorrow?" Eden asked.
"No, I thought we could stay here for a while. I mean we have a water source and access to foliage and I assume hunting and gathering will be super easy from here," he said, mapping out the area in his mind. Waving his hands around toward the forest they had just escaped from.
"What are we, cavemen?" Selena scoffed.
"No, but I assume it's going to be a while before anyone comes looking for us and it probably isn't safe to venture back into town just yet,"
"That's if anyone does come," Eden said under their breath.
"What?" he asked.
"If anyone comes. How do we know help is coming at all?" they asked, filling up with anger and frustration.
"They'll come," he said, placing his hand on their shoulder.
"But until they do, we have to fend for ourselves and try to survive," he continued. Eden paused for a moment before nodding in agreement not wanting to argue any further. After mentally adding the idea that Scott was right to the list of things that didn't make sense; Eden and Selena knew they simply needed to survive and that Scott would make sure that happened. For now, their only option was to follow.