The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 46: Paranoia

Chapter 46

The wrinkled skin is turning the detached arm a dull gray color. It's fingers are long and bony. It was cut off right above the elbow, and I can see the flesh starting to swell and soak up water. The water surrounding the snapped limb is a mucky blood brown. It's color being too close to the rest to even notice the arm floating around. The tips of it's finger nails are staring to turn a moldy green, but the rest of them are a jaundice yellow.

The only thing I can do is stare. I cannot believe my eyes. In front of me is a severed arm. This can't be real. Am I hallucinating again? I hope.

My eyes start to sting from my intense starring and lack of blinking I'm doing. I quickly fall back onto my bottom, and scoot myself away from the hole. My breathing becomes rapid and I can feel my hands starting to become clammy.

I swing my head around to see if anyone else has noticed. To my surprise, everyone is still either in their tents or off to their posts. I'm the first one.

What do I do? Do I tell someone? No I can't do that. I will be the first suspect. Everyone suspects the newly welcomed outsiders, let alone the one that suspiciously finds the corpse. I have to keep quiet, act like I didn't see anything. Makes me a little more innocent then I would be. I can't risk taking Robbie's medical care away from him, I wouldn't hear the end of it from Scooter and Layke.

I need to leave. No one can see me here.

I quickly gather the wet clothes into the basket and grab my backpack, I walk towards Jaw's cabin as fast as I can. I make sure to look unsuspicious or like I wasn't running away from anything, even though I was.

I quietly walk up the steps to Jaw's cabin, and set the clothes next to the wooden door. I hold my breath thinking about if the door swung open and Jaw's burly body was standing in the doorframe. My face would go white, and he would know something was wrong instantly. I would stutter, probably trip on my own feet, and run away. Then he would defiantly know something was up.

Why am I worrying so much? It's not like I was the one to murder someone. For all I know it could be like a prank or something. There's a lot of children around here, they could have done it right? Or maybe it's there on purpose and Naomi didn't tell me. I'm over reacting! There's no way someone was murdered.

I turn around to walk down the steps of the deck, and I adjust the straps of my backpack against my shoulders. Before I can even comprehend anything, I smash my chest, head, and the rest of my scrawny body into something. But it wasn't a material object, I know what a human feels like. The mushiness of their body, the feel of the fabric they're wearing, and even the small peach fuzz lining their skin are all too familiar.

All I can do is freeze, tense up and squeeze my eyes shut.

Please don't be Jaw. Please don't be Jaw. Please don't be Jaw.

"Whoa now, chill out I'm not an infected." I hear a familiar voice say.

I quickly take myself out of my mortified state and back up. I put on a smile and move the few pieces of hair that came out of my pony tail behind my left ear.

"Well good morning to you too Layke." I say trying to camouflage my reaction.

"Why are you up so early on this amazing day in the paradise they call Moen?" He says sarcastically as he pushes the sleeve of his green shirt up passed his elbow. The backpack that's hanging off one of his shoulders almost blends in with his shirt, the two army olive's only differentiated by one being a tad washed out than the other. The base of the backpack sits against his right hip and blue jeans. The friction causing his shirt ride up a bit, exposing the elastic band of his underwear.