The Drivers

Chapter 1

Dust? I taste dust. Why do I taste dust? A sharp pain jolts through my right leg, snapping me out of my hazy state. I open my eyes, but the bright light makes me close them immediately . Disoriented, I try to move my body out of it's stiff position. Trying to stretch my arms above my head, I feel the cool ground rubbing against my back. I freeze. This is dirt.

Opening my eyes, slowly now, I finally see the hellish landscape I am in. The sharp breeze stings as it whips past me, it's dust collecting on my face. I wipe away the grainy film with my sleeve, and sit up slowly, feeling my bones creak with discomfort. Sweat has accumulated heavily on my back and under my arms, and as I am fully able to register the bright light around me, I see exactly where I am.

A desert. There are almost no mountains, except for small ridges I can barely see on the horizon. The rest of the valley is empty, stretching until it meets the sky, and disappearing into the ground. I blink to clear my vision of the dust. As I look down to see where I am exactly, a chill wraps around my spine, as my train of thought is halted with despair. A pathetic whimper escapes my lips, but I can barely hear it.

Bodies.

I can't count how many, but I know that there are a lot of them, and none of them are moving. Putting my head in my hands, I wait for the wave of nausea to settle in my stomach.

Just then, I feel a hand on the top of my head. It was a big hand, and I whip around to face them, feeling my blood run cold with fear.

"Woah woah, chill." A man, alongside two other smaller men, are looking at me with a mixture of terror and hope. The man takes his hand off of my head, as I adjust to the bright light behind them. The sun is setting now, and the heat has slowly backed away from us. What the hell is going on.

"Hey," I respond shortly, averting my gaze. I don't know if I should trust these people, but there doesn't seem to be many other solutions here. "Do you guys know what's going on?"

Nervous laughter erupts from two of them, but the third stands with the same stoic expression as when he first saw me. A mixture of what I can say is anger and disappointment.

"We were hoping you'd know, too. Glad you're awake, though! We are gonna need all the minds we can to figure this one out. I'm Koda-" he reaches out his hand as he gets up from his squat, helping me up with horrific strength- "nice to meet you."

I stand up, letting the dust that has gathered around me be shaken off. It comes off in a cloud of smoke, that drapes the faces of those still asleep. I hope they're asleep, that is. There is still an intense heat in the air, even with the setting sun. The men are drenched in sweat, and look to have been awake for several hours longer, considering their tired eyes.

"Thank you, thank you. I appreciate you all welcoming me. Do you guys have any food or water here?"

Eyes dart between them.

"No."

A short pause. A gust of wind blows in from the mountain, and I cough away the dust-filled air.

"Do you know where we are?"

No answer this time at all. I suppose I didn't need one; if they knew where we are, they wouldn't have waited to escape the heat, just to save people they don't know.

"I'm Eric." I spoke again, trying to lighten the mood, or maybe just stop the silence. "I know Koda, but what are your guys' names?"

"Well, it's Dakota," he interrupts, excited to talk about himself. "But my friends always called me Koda. I figured we might as well start off as friends, so that we don't gain any enemies here."

I laugh. He's a smart guy. Starting off on the wrong foot in this group would be less than ideal. "Okay, and you two?"

The smallest one perks up, and speaks much lower than I expected. "Meeko, nice to meet you." Meeko reaches out to shake my hand, and with his strong grasp I knew he could take me down in an instant.

"I'm Dylan. Less exciting name than the other two, but here I am." I expected that sentence to end with a smile, but such a kindness did not appear. The other two seem un-phased by this, so it looks like this stoic behavior is his way.

"Well, Dylan, Meeko, it's nice to meet you both, too. How-"

"-Okay, I appreciate you a lot kid, but as you can tell, we art really the sort that like pleasantries." Koda interrupts with a grin. I smile back, understanding that these men probably don't have as professional jobs like I do. Koda and Meeko are both dressed to the dictionary definitions of "rednecks," with camo hats and ripped blue jeans to match. Dylan is dressed more thoughtful, but with the old sneakers, I can tell he isn't much more interested in fashion than they are.

"Agreed. When the hell are the others going to wake up?" Dylan acknowledges, as we observe the sleeping ones that remain.

Meeko chirps in. "27."

"What was that, Meeko?" I asked.

"27 people, us included. 4 out of the 27 are awake. Those aren't good stats, in case you have trouble figuring that out."

Dylan chuckles softly. "Yeah, those aren't great statistics in other conditions, sure. But what does that matter to us? More people won't help us survive, it's just more drama, and having to explain this shit over and over again."

We turn to look at Dylan, hoping that some reassurance of that freaky-ass statement would comfort us. His eyes never left ours, as his confidence in his statement remained sober and terrifying. He remained silent. I took a shaky breath.

"Still," Meeko replies, obviously as disturbed as I am from this statement, "someone might know something about this place, or where we are, or anything that can help us..." He trails off. He doesn't even believe himself.

Koda pats Meeko on the back, trying to reassure the group with this act of kindness.

"I agree. It's going to be better as more people wake up. Spirits can be higher, and we can make a plan." With this statement, we all turn away from the conversation, and leave our opinions as is.

The sun has completely left now, leaving us with a hazy glow in the sky, as stars peak their way into sight. Darkness envelops us like a blanket, cooling us from the grueling sun, and creating a place to finally relax.