The Calm Before the Storm, Part 3

"Wake up sunshine!" came a voice from the darkness, startling Max awake.

He sputtered and flailed around a bit until calming down. The scraggly biker towered over him, grinning.

"Are you awake yet?" He barked, grabbing Max's face and shaking it a little.

The scraggly biker stomped his foot and untied Max from the post, getting Barn's to help lead him and Bron out into the woods.

"We're gonna have a little fun, how's that sound?"

Max responded by spinning and clocking the scraggly biker in the jaw, then pushing him to the floor. Bron did the same, uppercutting Barns and running beside Max. Before they could flee, the other bikers appeared on the scene, and a brawl broke loose. Punches flew and angry shouts rang through the greenery. Max and Bron had successfully taken out a handful of bikers, but slowly, the numbers grew. Then, the burly biker took action. Max and Bron slowly backed away as he walked closer and closer.

"Ohh..shit..." Max muttered, and had his vision blocked as the biker grabbed his face and threw him across the clearing.

By the time Max had sat upright, Bron was already down.

"Nice try guys, but our numbers are too great. We'll just have to punish you for this." The burly one said, approaching Max.

"Fuck you." Max barked, spitting in his face.

"Why I outta - " He swung his foot, generating a loud crack as it collided with Max's face and sent him on his back.

He grabbed Max by the leg and dragged him and Bron deeper into the forest, the other bikers followed. Once he had decided they were far enough, the burly biker let go of Max and Bron and stepped back.

"W-What're you doing...?" Max sputtered, blood spilling from his mouth.

"Why, we're just gonna play a game!~ It'll be fun!" The scraggly biker cackled, wiping blood off his cheek.

The others laughed with him, and they all pulled out their guns.

"Let's see how long they last."

For about a minute, they let a flurry of bullets soar into the sky. The sound of the gunshots cracked like lightning in the air and rang out for what felt like an eternity. Max began to panic.

"Y-You idiots! That'll attract a bunch of monsters!" Max sputtered, sweating nervously.

"Exactly." The burly one smiled, and the group of them backed away from the presumed danger zone.

A low gurgling crept through the air like a wounded snake, followed by a posse of creatures.

"Good luck!" They laughed.

Max's mind was racing. Bron was unconscious and he had no weapons, meaning he'd have to fight alone, and unarmed.

'Ok...ok you can do this. Play their game." He thought to himself, putting up his dukes angrily and facing the posse.

He was given no choice but to fight with his hands, weapons were nonexistent, or perhaps they were hidden among the greenery. He shoved them away and swung forcefully at their heads to disorient them. The bikers continued to cackle at the show he was putting on, and a glimmer of amazement resonated off of them. Max failed to notice a creature flanking him and wrapped its arms around his neck. They both fell to the ground and wrestled furiously on the floor for a short time before Max grabbed a rock and used it as a knife as he burrowing the sharp end into the creatures face. He wiped the blood from his face and picked up a branch, which was about as thick as an axe handle. Using it as a bat, he swung and made all the heads of creatures he made contact with, cave in and gush blood. Hours passed, the sound of growling had faded and was substituted with Max's labored wheezes. Like many times before, he was coated in blood splatters, and collapsed to his knees.

"Wow! He lasted throughout the whole time!" The scraggly biker gasped, genuinely amazed.

Max turned to snap at him, but held his tongue when he noticed a creature coming up behind him. He noticed, screeched, and shoved it into Barns. This was a mistake, it grabbed him and pushed him against a tree.

"H-Help!!" He cried against the grunting of the monster.

No one stepped in to help but Max, he lifted the branch high above his head and swung down hard. It's head drooped and it collapsed to the floor limply.

"Y-You.... *wheeze* ... You ok?"

"Y-Yeah.. t-thanks.." Barns nodded, fear frozen on his face.

"Well, that's enough excitement for now. Barns, get this one back to camp and tie im' up, I'll get his friend." The burly biker grumbled.

Hesitantly, Barns sighed and motioned with his hands for Max to start walking.

'Barns...he's a good one...I can feel it..' Max thought.

~o~

Lorrie woke from her slumber by a gust of wind. Sighing in relief, she sat upright and looked around. The sun sat comfortably, high above her head, shining its comforting light on the infested world below. The copy of, "The Chrysalids" was still on her lap. It had been a while since she read some more, and considering the cliffhanger she was left to dangle on, she was dying to discover what happened to little David Strorm and his group of clairvoyant comrades. Before she could touch the slightly faded and torn book cover, another massive gust of wind sent it soaring into the air like a bird on the wing.

"Crap!" She yelped, and stood up to follow as it hit the ground and skidded to a stop in front of the barn.

She quickly scooped it up and brushed it off before another gust crossed her path. She was going to head inside, but the storm clouds above clapped with thunder. The only refuge close enough was the barn, so she entered quickly. The musky smell of animal's floated around the dark, eerie stable, but no actual animals could be located. Lorrie didn't question this and sat down leaning against the wall. She sighed and listened to the menacing cracks of thunder outside, muffled by the barn itself.

"This storms moving in...Max and Bron are still missing...where are you guys...?" She asked herself, hanging her head and staring at the ground. Looking back up, she noticed a glint of something in the darkness of the barn ahead of her, She crawled toward it, and upon further examination, it was a camera. It was stained with some kind of substance, but was unidentifiable since it was long faded.

"Huh...crappy condition, but it might still work.." Lorrie said hopefully, turning it over and pressing the power button. It shone with life and a gallery of photo's and videos appeared.

"Huh! Cool!"

She skimmed through the album of selfies and pictures of a girl with others who looked like her family and friends. The dates on the picture got nearer and nearer to the present until it reached just a couple of weeks ago. There were now pictures of monsters and the girl with her family with tattered clothing and dried blood stains. It was sad to see how things changed. Lorrie finally came across a video and pressed play on it expectantly. The video started with her sitting on a log with her father in the forest. The campfire in front of them crackled lively as they sung a song. The video ended, and the next one was her and her father crouching in the bushes. The girl zoomed in on a deer which her father shot at and hit.

"Nice one dad! Mom'll be so happy we actually got food!" She giggled with glee.

The father chuckled in response and asked her to help him lift the animal. The video ended again. Small tears slid down Lorrie's cheeks. Even in a hellish world, this wholesome family managed to stay alive. Or so she thought. She went to the next video expectantly, but was startled by the sound of the girl's father yelling at someone.

"Get the fuck away! You don't belong here!" He barked, the only visible thing on the video was the sky and a couple of trees.

Lorrie begged that the girl would hold the camera upright so she could interpret what was happening, but it ended after he finished shouting. This wasn't good. Lorrie slowly pressed the button to start the next video. The sound of the girl screaming shook her ears. She screamed for help and cried as the camera flailed around, leaving everything on screen a big blur. The video finally stayed still as the camera hit the floor and showed a view of the trees and a dirt path. The girls flailing legs were dragged off-screen as she screamed as loud as possible. Lorrie covered her mouth in shock and watched the video end. She sat in silence for a couple of minutes, and rushed out of the barn, leaving her book behind.