Chapter 8 - Bloodshed

Sun was right above the horizon, casting a beautiful golden light in their path.

"Reya, look it's a rainbow," Mina pointed towards the shadows. Somehow, she had found a small prism nearby, and she fell in love with it. "Reya look Vibjor," squealed looking at the bright colors refracted from the small triangle.

Reya booped her cute nose and corrected, "Its Vibgyor, Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and...." she paused.

"Brown!" Mina squealed with her hands in the air.

"Correct, it's Brown. Wow, my mina is super smart," she tapped her small forehead.

"Reya, Mina, Keep up," Momma Jade said from ahead of them.

"Yes, mom" they said in unison, looking at each other and laughing out loud.

Today marked the first day of their journey and truth be told it has been going quite smooth. Mina had been a little pale in the morning, so they had to lay her in the trolley and cover her with the duvet. Thankfully, the Roads had been very smooth till now, so it was quite easy to pull the small wagon around.

Reya pulled the wagon with a little more force.

"Faster, Faster," Mina squealed from inside her blanket. Soon they joined her mom and Mr. Kooper, and kept up with their speed.

"here," Momma Jade handed her a bottle of water.

Reya took the small bottle and squished it inside her jean pocket.

"Stay hydrated Reya" Her mom chided her with a small smile.

"It's okay mom. I'm not that thirsty," she said with a small smile. Water became a luxury during this perilous period; she wanted to save as much as she can so that Mina and mom can have enough.

They came across a torn bridge. "Wow is that the Brooklyn bridge," Reya whispred with shock in her eyes.

"Yes, I think so," her mom sighed and continued, "We can try the Manhattan bridge," she said with hesitation.

"No, we should move ahead into the Bronx, then we can walk up to Washington DC," Mr.Kooper said and continued, "I have her brother staying there. He is an Astronomer maybe he might have some answers as to what that think might be," he said pointing towards the sky.

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea," her mom nodded at him.

"I personally think that's a rock," Reya said rolling her eyes.

"Rock the Johnson," Mina countered with a cheerful smile. "Rock the meteor perhaps" she said and started laughing alongside her.

"Girls, enough messing around, keep up with us," momma jade shouted ahead of them.

Chuckling, Reya rushed ahead, pulling the small wagon.

Lunch time came, so they found a small building and settled down. Mr. Kooper found some books from nearby and they started a small fire.

Reya heated up some filtered water and gave each a small cup. It was quite cold today, so the hot water warmed up their frozen fingers. "Biscuits, cereal or ramen" she said, lifting up the choices from her duffle bag.

"Cereal," Mina shouted from her wagon.

"Cereals it is then," Reya said and took a random pack from her bag. She poured a pack of cinnamon crunch cereals into four small bowls. They didn't have any milk, so they ate it just like that.

Crunching on the cereals, Reya kept feeling the eerie feeling that they were being watched.

"I feel an eerie feeling here, is it just me or..." she said as she glanced around them.

That place was silent, almost too silent, because after the end of the world, birds and animals had occupied the cities. Birds even chirped cheerfully every morning near their shelter. Listening to the almost abnormal silence here gave her Goosebumps.

"Let's leave here quickly" Mr. Kooper said. They started packing right after.

"Where are you going so soon?" a voice appeared to the right of them. They all rapidly turned their head towards that direction.

"We come in peace. Why don't we join your little group as well? We are starving," a scrawny man said as he walked out of the shadows. He had a sneer printed on his face as he gazed at them. He licked his lips, "Ah, you have some delicious-looking food," he said looking at her.

Mr. Kooper pushed them behind him and took his gun out from the holster. "Stay back or I will shoot," he threatened, pointing his gun at him.

The skinny man just laughed, "Oh, I'm so scared" he said in a high-pitched voice. He kept moving closer to them with confidence.

"I said stay back," Mr. Kooper shouted holding his gun in both of his hands.

"You got a gun? I've got a knife, see," he said pointing towards his left hand.

"Why don't you look behind you before you shoot?" he said, pointing towards their back. "Hey Remmy, which one do you want? I got dibs on the bald one," he said, looking behind them.

Her hands started to shiver as a subtly glanced back at them. There was no one there. Fear numbed her voice, so she couldn't shout out her thoughts. 'Oh shit it's a trick, don't fall for it Mr.Kooper,' Reya internally prayed looking at their exchange with her eyes wide open.

But Mr. Kopper being the naive guy he is, turned back. The scrawny man ran swiftly towards them, with a small dagger in his hands.

"Mr. Kooper, look out!" Momma Jade screamed, pulling him back at them.

The scrawny man attack missed its target. "Slimy woman, I like it" he said, gazing at her mom and licking his lips.

Reya felt absolute disgust at his actions. She pulled her mom and Mina behind her and stood in a defense stance.

The scrawny man kept slicing at Mr. Kooper, and he kept dodging. At one point the dissipated man was able to push away the gun in his hands and aimed his knife towards Mr. Kooper's throat. The gun rolled on the concrete ground and landed near her feet.

Without any hesitation, she picked up the gun and shot at the man. "Bang," the gunshot rang, blood sprayed everywhere.