Restless

Chapter 9

An ear-piercing scream echoed through the air, and Eleni turned abruptly. "Neri!"

When she looked about, she saw half of Neri's body sticking out of the moonroof; her legs still pinned under the dashboard. Neri held the shoulder of a Restless, keeping the woman from biting her neck. She hissed and squirmed, and had one of her hands gripping Neri's other arm.

"Here!" Neri threw her arm out, causing the Restless to fall dangerously close to her. A handgun skidded across the pavement to Eleni. "Kill the rest!"

Eleni gave a brief nod, then bent down to retrieve the gun that Neri threw her. She began shooting again, but threw continuous worried glances to the fire that was beginning to crawl onto the rear seats, less than a foot from Neri. The Restless continued its brawl against Neri, and Eleni hoped that it would turn out. Her heart pounded in her chest, and felt like it was breaking through her ribs. Even though it was was brisk, a cold sweat covered Eleni's forehead and her hands, causing them to steadily have less and less grip on her weapon. She peered over her shoulder again to see the Restless gradually getting closer to Neri's exposed neck.

Eleni turned back around to shoot two more Restless that dare to come closer, but a louder, more terrified, even more desperate shriek echoed through the air.

Blood covered the mouth of the Restless, and Eleni saw a smear of blood on Neri's neck, most likely from the woman trying to grab her. Her jaws were an inch from her neck, until Neri's hand finally came up with a knife in her hand, launching the blade into her scalp. The woman fell limp, hitting the pavement.

"I'm fine!" Neri called, still struggling to pull herself from under the dash as the flames grew steadily closer.

Fire began to lick the seat Neri was partially in, and she screamed as her ankles were scalded. Eleni gave a final desperate look to Neri, before shouldering her rifle and running over to Neri, jumping over the dead body of the Restless.

Neri's eyes watered and she gave out forlorn cry as blisters raised on her legs.

Eleni grabbed both of Neri's arms, and wrapped her fingers around her elbows. Neri did the same, and Eleni pulled with all her might. The growls behind them grew closer. She pulled again with clenched teeth, throwing her head back as she yanked and yanked. With one final pull, something in Neri's left ankle snapped, and with a shriek, she was pulled free. She crawled out from the moonroof, and regardless of her pain, Neri grabbed the straps of the singed gym bags.

Eleni pulled Neri to her feet, who had both bags on her back, and slung an arm around her shoulder. A Restless grabbed Eleni's sleeve, and with an enraged kick to the stomach, flew back against the ground.

"Let's go!" Eleni said, and pulled Neri.

Eleni ran and limped along the road, until a large distance was put between them and the fireball of a car. When they were farther down the highway, all they saw was a speck of light and numerous silhouettes standing around it as their car burned. They turned without the slightest bit of pity, and began walking north once again until daylight came.

The walk they had ahead of them was almost entirely uphill, and stranded from the road. Eleni and Neri rested next to some fallen trees when they walked into the forest, so they would be shielded from passersby. The first aid kit from the glovebox of their car had been shoved into their gym bags the previous day, so they took care of each other's burns. One water bottle of the remaining three was used for cleaning.

Neri put some bandages over the deep cuts Eleni had on her arms, and a patch over the deep one that ran along her cheekbone to her chin. Eleni also suffered from two black eyes and a bruised nose, with a cut in her lip. A deep incision was just below her eyebrow, and would've taken out her vision in her right eye if it went any lower. Fortunately, nothing was broken in Neri's leg. Her ankle had been twisted while she was being pulled from the wreckage, but over the night the tenderness had mostly faded. She could walk with a moderate limp, but running was still a step too far. The burns on her ankles weren't severe, but enough to be bandaged and thoroughly disinfected. The bloody nose she'd had was dry now, and she'd scraped away most of it with her fingernails. Finally, Eleni wrapped gauze around her neck from where the seat belt almost decapitated her.