Rim of the World

Chapter 4

The Bike Ride

"Instead of staring why don't you come and sit next to me?"

"They gave us the code at registration,"said Darius,"umm 669."
Gabriel fiddled with the code,messing up the numbers.
"Come on man,"grumbled Darius,"Hurry up dude come on!669!"
"69..."
"Dude what you talking about? I said 669! Come on man. Dude hurry up! Just put it in there! What are you dumb?"Yelled Darius getting annoyed.
"I'm not dumb,"whispered Gabriel looking upset and confused.
"Here Gabriel let me help you,"mumbled Zhenzhen putting the code in.
"Hey are you okay?"whispered Ivy pulling Gabriel to the side.
"Yeh I'm fine. Thank you,"smiled Gabriel.
"I want this one it has a wakanda forever sticker on it,"said Darius grabbing a bike.
Everyone grabbed a bike.
"Hey guys there's not enough bikes,"Said Ivy.
"You'll have to ride on the back of someone else's," suggested Alex.
"I volunteer Gabriel's services to you Ivy. I mean you just need to get together already. I'm just trying to speed y'all up," said Darius.
"I don't mind you riding on the back of mine,"said Gabriel grinning at Ivy.
"Sure if you can handle my weight Gabriel?"grinned Ivy.
"Your as thin as a stick Ivy,"replied Gabriel.
"You shouldn't be so sure about that with the amount of junk I eat a day,"Ivy laughed whilst climbing on the back of his bike.

Alex just stood at the door,not moving.
"Hey what's wrong?" Gabriel Asked Alex.
"I can't go with you."
"Why not?"
"I can't ride a bike.I never learned.Its okay...you guys can go without me."
"Cool. We out,"stated Darius earning a glare from Ivy.
"No. We got back down to your camp but everyone left you. How did that make you feel? Gabriel replied making Ivy smile at how caring  he was.

Once they had a change of clothes, they headed into the road.
"Alright. Zhenzhen go on the right  of Alex and Darius go on left. We'll get him up to speed,"Ivy suggested whilst everyone nodded.
"I won't let you fall,"smiled Zhenzhen placing a hand on Alex's shoulder.
They came up to a sign.

Los Angeles ↘️
⬅️ High Desert

Everyone turned the Los Angeles way, whilst Darius hesitated.
"Come on Darius. We'll be fine!"Shouted Ivy.

"Put your feet back on the peddles,"said Darius trying to help Alex.
"He needs to get moving. The faster you go the easier it is to stay balanced," explained Gabriel.
"Are...are you sure about this?" Asked Alex.
"No,"replied Gabriel plainly.
Ivy playfully slapped him on the shoulder,"Great way of boosting his confidence up,"she whispered in his ear.
"Good. Your good,"said Darius,"alright just keep doing that."
"I don't know if I can do this!"Shouted Alex not realising that they had taken their hands of his shoulders.
"Alex! Your already doing it,"grinned Zhenzhen.
Everyone started cheering for him,as he rode his bike more confidently down the road.

However he got to confident and fell off.
"Alex! Oh my god are you okay?" Shouted Zhenzhen as everyone ran to him.
"Yo is he dead,"Shouted Darius.
"He fell off his bike not down a cliff," stated Ivy.
"Holy shit,"mumbled Zhenzhen.
"Yeh like holy...shit,"mumbled Darius.
Over the cliffs edge you could see the city surrounded by smoke and planes flying through the air.
Is that where we're going?" Asked Darius.
"Unfortunately...yes."

LOS ANGELES BASIN
68 miles to JPL

The group walked down the city street.
It was completely destroyed and deserted.
Ivy felt herself begin to tear up as she spotted a teddy bear on the ground. She couldn't help but think about the little kid that owned it.
And where he or she was.

"There,"said Darius heading towards the sheriffs station,"Man this place is trashed."
"Guys I don't...nobody's umm. You guys go ahead. I'll just um stay back and watch our bikes," Gabriel said.
"What? Oh yeah coz the aliens wanna jack our mountain bikes," Darius said.
"Yeh looters could take them. Yeah someone should stay and watch," Alex agreed.
"I'll stay with him aswell. Just in case," Said Ivy.
"Whatever man,"Darius sighed as he,Alex and Zhenzhen began to walk into the station.

Gabriel found himself not being able to look away from Ivy as she sat herself down on the grass next to the bikes.
"Instead of staring why don't you come and sit next to me," Ivy smiled whilst patting the ground next to her.
"Why did you stay with me?"Asked Gabriel as he sat down.
"It's unfair to leave someone alone in a time like this. We all have to stick together if we want to survive," explained Ivy," Also I don't have the best experience with cops."
"What do you mean?" Asked Gabriel confused,"You look like a good girl to me."
"Trust me I'm not. I'm known as a troublemaker on my street. I haven't exactly had the best childhood,"Ivy smiled sadly," Anyway. What's the real reason you don't wanna go in there?"
"I haven't had the best experience with cops either,"sighed Gabriel.
"Don't wanna talk about it?"
"Not really."
"That's okay."
Ivy rested her head on Gabriel's shoulder as her eyes closed slowly. Gabriel couldn't help but smile as he looked down at her.

After a while, the others finally came out the station. Ivy woke up as Gabriel asked if they had found a cop which everyone shook their heads at.

When everyone was on their bikes again,they set off down another side street.
"How is your watch still working?"Asked Zhenzhen to Alex.
"It's not electronic it's mechanical. It was my dads. He gave it me,"replied Alex.

Suddenly everyone had to slam onto their bikes as about five army trucks flew past them on the road.
"Hey hey over here! Stop!"everyone began to shout waving their arms.

"Stay where you are do not move!" Shouted a soldier as the group got surrounded by men with guns.
"Kids! Kids!" Shouted the same soldier putting his hand up to the others," You should have evacuated hours  ago. We're at war."
"Sir we where  in the mountains when the attack started. Can you tell us what's going on? How big is the attack?"Asked Alex.
"Did it reach the nations finest Mercedes dealership?" Asked Darius."
"Dude how can you ask that?" Ivy Shouted.
"No my dad owns it. I'm the future heir to that shit."
"All I can tell you is that your not safe here. Everyone on the bus right now,"ordered the soldier," We'll take you to the evacuation centre."
"Woah woah wait!" Shouted Alex.
"Hey stop!"Yelled Ivy.
"What?" Snapped the soldier.
"You need to take this key to Pasadena,"answered Alex holding out the key to the soldier.
"Where did you get this?"
"An astronaut from the space station gave it to us," Said Zhenzhen.
"She said we need to take it to JPL,"added Gabriel.
"What's on that key can stop the aliens,"said Darius.
"You need to get that to JPL in Pasadena to a dr fielding,"stated Alex.
"We've been receiving morse code from a Dr Fielding at JPL all day.Finding this key has been the primary objective. Thanks kid you may have just saved the world," grinned he soldier.
Everyone cheered as they walked to the bus.
"Yo I'm so happy I told you all to go down the hill,"cheered Darius as they climbed on the bus.
They all sat down happily.
"We did it,"smiled Ivy softly," sitting next to Gabriel.
"Yeh we did,"he smiled back.

Just as the bus set of , two army cars blew up infront of them sending one of them straight into the bus.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?"Gabriel Yelled grabbing Ivy off the floor.
"I hit my head,"she answered with tears falling down her cheeks.
"Come on it's okay. Let's go," Gabriel said taking her hand in his.
Everyone quickly climbed off the bus in fear as screaming could be heard all around them.
Planes were flying overhead shooting down at the aliens and dogs that were attacking the soldiers.

"Oh shit help him!" Shouted Darius as they spotted the soldier from earlier stuck underneath a flipped car.
"What are you doing? Get out of here!"he shouted.
"Gabriel, we can't leave him. To many adults are sacrificing themselves for us,"Ivy whispered,breathing heavily.
Gabriel and the others tried pulling him out but the car was to heavy.
"Stop you've gotta go."
"Come on we can't leave you,"Said Alex urgently.
"Stop stop. It's okay. It's on you now. You have to let me go. Take the key. Promise me you won't let anything stop you. Okay,"said the soldier," now go!"
Everyone began to run again, with Gabriel helping Ivy as she stumbled along.

Sorry it's another long one but I can't help it😂 Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!💖