Sidewinder - Chapter Fifteen

“We’re lost, aren’t we,” Evita said flatly.

“Depends on your definition of lost.” Jian gave up on trying to read the GPS, which was showing her only fuzzy and indistinct lines, and shoved it back into her pocket. “I prefer directionally challenged.”

“Cute. How do we get back on track?”

“Pick a direction and head down it until we stumble on something we recognize? Hope these stupid things start working again?” Jian smacked the pocket contained the GPS. “I wonder what could be making it go all weird.”

“Maybe you should stop hitting it.”

“Maybe.” Jian sighed and stretched out her shoulders. “Want to take a break and eat anyway? It might start working again in a bit.”

She didn’t wait for an answer before dropping down in the scrubby grass lining the road and digging a package of trail mix out of her pack. Evita joined her after a moment but didn’t eat, concentrating on adjusting her skates instead. Jian had to admit it was a nice enough day, if she pretended she wasn’t topside in a race she was quickly coming to think was a bad idea, with her friends missing and strange noises in the night. More than once she’d thought she’d seen movement from the corner of her eye as they skated, but each time she looked there was nothing there. Evita seemed just as worried, frequently glancing back over her shoulder; the little frown line between her eyes had gradually deepened throughout the morning.

Jian shook her head hard and told herself to stop dwelling on it before she made herself paranoid. She turned her face up to the sunlight filtering through the clouds and closed her eyes, trying to relax for a few minutes before they got going again. It was hard to fight off a groan when Evita tapped her on the shoulder only a moment later and suggested they see if either GPS was working yet. Jian dug hers out of her pocket and held it out beside Evita’s, but they both showed only static.

“Cheap pieces of shit.” Evita tossed hers back into her pack and got to her feet again, offering Jian a hand up. Jian took it, and wondered if she’d only imagined that Evita held their fingers laced together for just a little longer than she needed to. She tried to see Evita’s expression, but Evita had already turned away, shading her eyes to look down the road.

“I think our best bet is to just try and follow a major road. And hope either we get the GPS to work, or we find someone else. Or someone notices and comes to give us new ones.” Something about saying the last sentence left a bad taste in Jian’s mouth, and she tried to push away the thought that no one was watching; or if they were, they didn’t care.

“This was such a stupid idea,” Evita muttered. “I don’t know why I agreed to it.”

“Your school, remember? When I win, maybe I’ll help you build it.” Jian slung an arm around Evita’s waist and grinned at the look Evita gave her. “Smile, you’re getting wrinkles.”

“Let’s just get going.” Evita freed herself gently, without anger, and started down the road again. After a moment Jian followed her, whistling a little to try and break the silence.

They heard the water before they saw it, the faint sound of a stream or small river somewhere off the road. Jian exchanged a look with Evita then they both left the road and headed towards the sound, keeping an eye on the undergrowth around them. After a few minutes they came out at the lip of a small overhang above a shallow but wide stream, bordered on either side by moss-covered trees with trailing branches. The water was clear enough that Jian could see the stones that made up the streambed, their colours shimmering beneath the water’s surface. Jian felt suddenly thirsty and began to make her way down the bank, but before she’d gotten more than a few feet, Evita softly said her name.

Jian glanced back over her shoulder then followed the line of Evita’s arm to see what she was pointing at. A flash of bright colour caught her eye and after some squinting she made out a pair of shorts and a red T-shirt tossed casually onto the bank, along with a hiking backpack and a pair of neon-green skates. She glanced up at Evita again then began to walk carefully towards them, wary of slipping in her own skates.

Evita joined her as she was poking through the clothing and gear, looking for ID or some clue as to where their owner was. A quick scan of the water showed no movement and the stream was moving too slowly—and was too shallow—to have swept someone away. She almost called out, then something inside thought better of it.

“I think there’s a trail over here,” Evita said softly. “Maybe they went for a walk?”

“Naked and barefoot?” Jian raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Think anyone would want to get that in tune with nature?”

“Mmm, you might be right. It’s creepy, whatever the reason is.” Evita glanced back towards the stream. “But I don’t know if I can just leave without knowing what happened.”

“Words we’re probably both going to regret,” Jian sighed, and headed down the trail.

It was broad enough for them both to walk abreast, the ground beaten and stamped down into dirt hard enough to skate easily on, and twisted in languorous curves. One curve took them within sight of distant cliffs and it didn’t take Jian long enough to figure out that that’s where the path was ultimately leading. She looked over at Evita but Evita was looking straight ahead, her mouth set in a determined line.

Nearly half an hour had passed by the time they neared the cliffs. Scuffling sounds up ahead caught Jian’s attention and she took Evita’s arm, warning her to be quiet with a finger to her lips. They moved off the path and through the bushes as quietly as they could until they came to a spot where they could see where the trail ended at the base of the cliff.

At first all they could see was a ring of things that looked like craggy rocks until they shifted and moved, revealing glimpses of flat faces and sloping foreheads, and oversized arms like a gorilla’s. They had hard-looking skin coloured in almost a camouflage pattern and streaked with bits of shine that looked like quartz. Jian found herself studying them with interest, cataloguing their appearance and movements, until the ring spread apart enough to show her what they were looking at.

The skater’s name was Robert, though everyone called him Bobby; even, and especially, when he told people to at least call him Rob. Jian had always thought him nice, if a bit quiet and easily overwhelmed by stronger personalities. Now he stood panting, covered in dirt and scratches, blood dripping down his side from a shallow gash across his ribs. He was facing something that looked like a hairless cat with the smashed-in face of a bulldog and the long gangly legs of a horse, though these ended in paws bigger than Jian’s hands, each toe tipped with an inch-long claw.

“We have to—” Evita managed before Jian clapped a hand over her mouth. The creature nearest them glanced back for a moment, its ugly face twisted into an expression of dumb suspicion, then returned to watching the hairless cat circle around Bobby.

“You think we can take them all on?” Jian murmured, leaning in so her mouth was right beside Evita’s ear. “They’ll tear us apart.”

Evita gave her a mutinous look and shook her head slightly, pointing to the knife at her belt. Jian nearly snorted in disbelief, barely catching herself back before she would have given them away.

“Unless you’ve suddenly turned into Xena, Warrior Princess, get real.” She risked a glance at the ring of creatures when a number of them made an excited snuffling noise. The cat had scraped a paw down the side of Bobby’s face, tearing his cheek open and soaking him in blood. He stumbled back, whimpering as he pressed his hands to the torn skin, and the cat began to circle again. “Jesus, Evita, I wish we could, but we can’t.”

The look Evita gave her made her feel worse than she’d ever felt before, but after a moment Evita nodded, gently pushing Jian’s hand away from her mouth. They began to creep away from the bloody ring, until a burst of whooping made them both freeze in place. Jian looked quickly back over her shoulder and immediately wished she hadn’t. The cat had got in again under Bobby’s flagging guard, and this time it had opened his belly as neatly as a butcher with a carving knife, spilling his guts down his front. He staggered, trying to keep them in with his arms, his face the colour of parchment.

Jian dragged her eyes away and kept moving, reaching out unconsciously to take Evita’s hand as soon as they reached a spot in the path where they had room to skate flat-out. Evita’s fingers tightened convulsively on hers as the screaming began behind them, and neither of them stopped until they reached the stream. There Evita stumbled to a stop and dropped down on the bank, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in her arms, her shoulders shaking. Jian went down on her knees beside her, wrapping both arms around Evita’s shoulders and hugging her tightly, as much for her own comfort as Evita’s.

They stayed that way for a long time, until Evita gradually stopped shaking and Jian had fought down the urge to vomit until her stomach was completely empty. Even when Evita had straightened up they still sat in silence, arms around each other, both taking deep shuddery breaths.

“We should—” Jian started, but the rest of the sentence was swallowed when Evita kissed her, almost hard enough to bruise. Despite herself Jian returned it, until noise in the undergrowth startled them both into scrambling to their feet. Jian took Evita’s hand again to lead the way back to the road, but Evita pulled away long enough to go back and snag Bobby’s pack, slinging it over the shoulder opposite her own pack.

“Supplies,” she said in response to Jian’s look, adding defensively, “And something to take home to his parents. Since I’ll bet you fucking anything that nobody else will bother.”

“Okay,” Jian said gently. “It’s a good idea.”

She drew Evita back to the road, keeping a close eye behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed. Nothing came out of the brush after them but they still set a fast pace down the road away from the spot. Evita obviously struggled with the double load but refused help any time Jian offered, and after a while Jian stopped trying.

Later, when night had fallen and they’d barricaded themselves inside what had once been a convenience store, while Evita slept with her head in Jian’s lap, Jian stared into the fire and thought about the Racing Commission. After a few moments she carefully reached over Evita to get the camera out of her pack, holding it up so the lens was pointed at her face.

“I’m pretty sure you did this on purpose,” she told the steady red ON light. “You had to have known what was up here. I think I even know why. But I’m not dying, and neither are my friends. So suck on that.”

She put the camera down on the ground and picked up the chunk of firewood sitting beside her, bringing it down on the lens as hard as she could. A crack spiderwebbed through the glass and another whack shattered it completely, making the ON light blink then flicker off. Evita stirred slightly, muttering a question, but settled again when Jian stroked her hair and told her to go back to sleep. Turning back to the fire, Jian watched the flames until exhaustion passed over her and sent her down to sleep.