The Town of Ruins

Chapter Five

     We stood up and looked around. The place was a ghost town. We were on a backroad, with overgrown grass and trees fallen down all over it. We saw a small house about a mile away. "Daddy could be anywhere. Maybe we should start with where he was supposed to be and go from there." I said. We walked over to the house in silence, Lisa and I leading the way.
     Once we got there, Lisa said, "Okay, Justin and Diana search to the left, Simon and Cassie to the right. I'll look inside." Simon and I looked around the trees, and around the side and back of the house. We looked around on the ground to see if he had fallen. We looked and looked until finally Simon shouted, "Hey Guys, I think I found something." I ran so fast, I ran into him and almost knocked him down. He caught me and said, "Slow down there, it's not that good." He pointed to a tree. It was covered in.. what was that? Rust? No, it was liquid. "Is that blood?" Diana asked. "I think so. We should follow the trail, maybe it'll lead us somewhere." Lisa said. Trail? What trail? I looked down on the ground and saw more flecks of the same red substance all over, leading away from the tree into the forest in a line. We all walked along the trail, following the blood but not stepping in it. Once the blood stopped, we were on the side of the road. "Okay lets start canvassing. We can look around and ask people questions at the same time. I'll go with the kids across the street. Diana and Justin, look over here and go down that way towards the bigger highway. We'll get this area over here." Lisa said. Simon and I walked across the street with Lisa following; Diana and Justin looking around the forest for clues. Simon stopped in the middle of the street. "What's wrong?" I asked him. He replied, "Ask yourself. You've been crying ever since we found the trail." Crying? I don't cry. But sure enough, when I looked down my shirt was soaked in tears. "I didn't even realize.."
     "Hey, it's okay. He's gonna be alright. I know it." Simon said. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. We walked the rest of the way holding hands, that is, until we were separated.