The End ch3: Safe Home
End of days
Chapter 3
"Safe Home"
Blade was alert all night, but thankfully nothing bothered them. As soon as the sun began to shine over the horizon, Blade decided to wake Kayli, as they had a long ways to go "Wake up" he said softly, while gently shaking her. She groaned and opened her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked sleepily. "About 5" he said."Why so early?" she asked. "We've got a long way to, and only one day to get there" he answered. She merely said "OK" and got out of the sleeping bag, still holding the fox kit, who was strangely still sleeping. Blade put the sleeping bag back into his pack, slung it over his shoulder, and set off at a fast pace with Kayli close behind. After an hour, they came to a small town, stopped, and sat down. It was a ghost town-not a single living soul to be found.
"I've got a truck up ahead, so it should be easy going from here on out" Blade said. "How far do we have to go until we get to your camp?" Kayli asked. "About 300 miles" he answered. "Why are you all the way out here if your camp is so far away?" she asked, confused. "I was looking for someone" he replied, standing up. He sounded like he really didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't press the issue. They walked into the town, heading down a crumbling street for about 5 minutes before stopping at an old run-down building resembling a barn. Blade opened a small door on the side of the building."Wait here" he said, before stepping inside. A few seconds later, he dragged open the large, rusty main door revealing a massive black military truck."This is out ride" he said. Kayli was impressed. She was expecting a rusty old pickup truck, not a rolling fortress.
The truck was about 20 feet long. It had a 10 foot flatbed, leaving 6 feet for the spacious cabin, and 4 feet for the massive nuclear reactor of an engine. Blade walked over to the truck, unlocked it, and opened the driver side door, revealing the luxurious interior. The driver seat looked like a racing seat with a 5point safety harness, but the passenger seat was a large leather seat that could easily fit 2 people. "Wow" was all Kayli could say, looking in through the open door. "Go ahead and get in the other side, it should be open" Blade said smiling.
Kayli went around and opened the door, noticing how high off the ground the armored monster was. Even the step to get into it was at knee level, and Kayli wasn't very short. She saw red lettering on the side of the hood. It red "BEHEMOTH III". 'Well, the name suits it' she thought to herself. She placed the still sleeping fox kit on the seat, and climbed in, taking note of the dense armor plating on the door, which was at least 4 inches thick.'Must've been built to take on god himself' she thought with a smile. She put on her seatbelt and picked up the baby fox, holding him close, and swinging the thick door closed with a loud 'Thunk'. Blade was already strapped in, had the key in the ignition, and was looking at Kayli. "All set?" he asked. "Yeah" she said quietly. Blade gave her a weak smile, remembering all she had been through recently. He turned the key, and with a loud roar, the engine came to life. They pulled out of the garage and turned left, heading north.
Kayli looked out the window, bursting with emotion. This had been her home since the disaster began over a year ago, and all her friends and family were here. 'Were here' she thought to herself, remembering what had happened to them. She began to cry quietly. 'I'll miss you. All of you' she thought. Blade noticed that she was crying. "I'm sorry for your loss" he said sincerely. Kayli remained silent, just staring out the window. "Just remember, they really are in a better place now, whether there's an afterlife or not." Kayli was still silent. "I shouldn't have ran. I should have stayed and died with them" she finally said. "Don't say that" blade said. "Why not? No one needs me. Life is pointless now" she said. "Not true Kayli. He needs you" blade said, motioning towards the fox in Kaylis arms. Kayli looked at the sleeping kit. "You're right" she finally said with a weak smile.
"Gosh, he sure is cute in his sleep" she said. "Kinda makes me want to be a mother." "Well, you kinda are his mother now" blade said. "True..."she replied, her voice trailing off."You must be tired after getting up so early" he said to her after a few minutes. He was right, Kayli felt dead tired. She yawned noisily and stretched. "I'll take that as a yes" blade said with a smile. "Go ahead and get some sleep, I'll wake you when we get close" "OK. Thanks Blade" she said smiling. She hugged the warm ball of fluff in her arms close to her chest, closed her eyes, and relaxed, letting sleep take over as the turned onto an unpaved road, gravel crunching under the monster tires.
A few hours later, Kayli woke up to Blade gently shaking her shoulder. "Morning" blade said smiling. "Morning" Kayli replied, yawning and making her ears pop. "Where are we?" she asked. "About 5 miles from home" he replied. Kayli looked out the window. They were in a heavily forested area, much thicker than where they came from, on what seemed to be a mountain. Kayli noticed a white powder of snow in the green branches of the evergreen trees. 'Definitely on a mountain. Always did want to live somewhere like this' she thought with a smile.
"This is Blade, anybody home?" Blade said. Confused, Kayli looked over at blade. He was talking into the handset of a CB radio. "Hey blade, where ya been?" a voice said through the trucks speakers. "You had us worried! Why didn't you come back yesterday?" the voice asked. "Oh, I had my reasons" blade said with a laugh. "Oh yeah? And what are they?" the voice said, clearly young and male."You'll see" blade said teasingly, and put the handset back in its holder on the dashboard.
"How many people are at where we're going?" Kayli asked nervously. "4 others besides you, me, and Tyler." he replied. Kayli was uneasy about living with a bunch of new people. "Don't worry, they're nice people, and they're gonna love you" blade said with a smile. "I hope so" Kayli said. They turned left, and stopped at a chain-link fence surrounding a military base. "Well, lets go meet the family" blade said with a smile.