The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 69: Cost

Chapter 69

The moment my hope is at its lowest, my prayers are answered.

Out of the blue, the sound of gunshots rings through the air. I fall to the ground, shielding my head with my arms.

The mutants scream out as bullets collide with their skin. Their black blood splatters all over the dirt. Luckily, the shooting makes the mutant that was carrying Brianna drop her. She doesn't let her fall ruin her chance to get away. The second her butt hits the ground, she crawls through the black blood-soaked dirt, towards me and out of direct gunfire.

The cornstalks start to tussle and in the next moment, Layke and Scooter step out of their hiding place and into the open. They both are carrying military grade machine guns that vibrate their whole bodies when they press the triggers. I don't know how they got their hands on something like that, but boy am I thankful.

Layke and Scooter continue to shower the mutants with gunfire. One of the mutants drops to the ground in a heap of seizure-like movements. The other three mutants are keeping up the fight, clawing at Layke and Scooter. Their claws come inches away from them, but they're able to use their gunfire to push them back. Layke roars as he holds down the trigger of his gun, sending a couple of rounds into the face of the closest mutant. It drops to the ground.

With two mutants still standing, it seems like there's hope for us to get out alive. In the midst of the gunfire, Brianna makes it over to me. Her elbows are covered in black gook and her face looks like she just walked out of a coal mine.

"Are you hurt?" I ask, trying to raise my voice high enough to be heard over the gunfire. Brianna shakes her head no.

"Fuck yeah!" Scooter screams. I watch one of the mutants drop to the ground. Its face is deformed from the bullet wounds. The wings that cover its face are full of holes, and one of them looks broken. Black blood pours down its bark-like skin and into the sticky dirt below. The last mutant lets out a sheik as Layke shoots it in its chest. It starts to thrash around, and it finally hits the ground with the same jerky movements as the other.

Quickly, Layke takes out the machete that was attached to his jean's belt loop and runs over to one of the mutants. With all his force, he sends the blade through its neck, decapitating the head. Finally, the mutant's body is motionless. He does the same to the other three mutants, killing them.

The silence is like music to my ears. I stand up and hold Layke in an embrace. "You came at the right time." Layke squeezes me back with the arm that's not carrying the gun. "It seems that way." He says. We both let go and I give him a smile.

Scooter throws his gun over his shoulder and helps Naomi up off the ground. "Everyone okay?" He asks.

"I think so, thanks to you," Cameron answers as he holds out his hand to shake his.

"How did you know how to kill them?" I ask.

"You don't want to know," Layke says with a wink.

Even though I'm tremendously glad that Layke and Scooter were here to save our asses, I can't think of anything else but Robbie. If he's not here with them, does that mean he's dead?

"Where's Robbie?" I ask.

I hear movement in the corn where Layke and Scooter emerged from. "Right here." I hear before Robbie hobbles through the stalks. He limps over to us, holding his chest. "I'm not dying yet." He smiles.

With panic in his voice Scooter says, "We've got to leave now. The military will be looking for us and the gunfire doesn't help. We're sitting ducks."