REACHING HOLDER CREEK

Three days after traveling the rough forest trail, Elijah and Isaac finally reached a major road. They were both in quite a weak condition, having eaten nothing. They had only been drinking water from a small stream for the past day.

"Thank God," Elijah muttered. "We found the highway."

It was a long, empty road. There were no towns or buildings. There were only trees along the highway as far as the eye could see.

"Looks like we got a long way to go," Isaac complained.

"Can you still make it?"

Isaac grinned. "I'm stronger than you, Eli. Worry about yourself."

They walked into the late afternoon, the dense trees on the left and right edges beginning to look sparse. Beyond the tree line, the grassland, Elijah and Isaac finally saw rooftops in the distance. It seemed that they had entered a suburban area, and the nearest one was a farm.

The two decided to enter the farm, which was quite large. They were hungry and hoped to find a place to rest for a night or two. If the farm had not been destroyed by the ants.

It was a dark house with a broken door and windows. Elijah and Isaac looked at each other, the situation there was very strange. Both of them were alert, then they cautiously approached the cottage. Elijah took out his lumen and saw that the walls were covered with scratch marks, as was the floor.

"I'll check the barn," Isaac whispered.

"Be careful."

Isaac nodded quickly, then stepped through the cottage toward the barn. Elijah, meanwhile, entered the quiet house. It was in very bad shape, everything was in ruins. Surely the ants had invaded the farm.

Footsteps approached from the back door, and Isaac entered the cottage from there. He approached Elijah and shook his head quickly.

"There aren't any animals anywhere, but there's blood all over the place and it stinks," Isaac said quietly.

"Work of ants."

"Positive," Isaac nodded.

Elijah walked over to the letters scattered on the ground and picked one up. They were now in the Holder Creek area, a long way from New Castle.

"I found the motorcycle out back. Looks like it still works," Isaac said.

"Can you ride the bike?"

"No. I know none of us can, but it's worth a try."

"Okay."

The two began sweeping the floor of the cabin, finding a few candles, canned food, at least enough to satisfy the screams of hungry stomachs. Isaac built a fire in the back of the yard and heated the food in a pan for the two of them. Meanwhile, Elijah collected water from a hand pump.

A few hours later, they were both clean, dressed, and fed. They slept on the second floor, their mattresses arranged on the floor and lit by candles.

"I found a map. I put it in my backpack and we're going to New Castle tomorrow," Isaac said.

"I hope the folks here got out before the ants came."

Isaac glanced at Elijah for a moment. "Why are you always thinking about someone else's life when yours isn't necessarily better?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing." Isaac shrugged and lay back on the bed.

"So who wants to drive the bike? You or me?"

Isaac was silent for a while. "Whoever's better at driving it."

*

When morning came, the two young men were ready to go. On their backs were the backpacks they had found in the cottage, filled with whatever food could be found there. Elijah felt bad, as if he were a scavenger. But if he told Isaac, they would argue again.

Outside the house, Isaac tried to start the motorcycle. He had been trying for more than fifteen minutes, but the bike wouldn't start at all. Elijah sat on the porch steps and watched Isaac.

"Is it broken?" Elijah asked.

"No way."

"Did you run out of gas?"

Isaac was silent. He turned to Elijah. "How do I know we're out of gas?" he said curtly.

"I'm just asking. Oh, geez!"

"You're making me look stupid."

Elijah chuckled in annoyance. "Stop thinking negatively of me."

"Shit, where are we going to get gas? I don't know if the gas station is still there. Maybe it was destroyed." Isaac immediately changed the subject.

Elijah got up and walked over to Isaac. The young man studied the motorcycle intently, then had an idea.

"You ride," Elijah said.

"And then?"

"I use the wind to push it."

"Like riding a bike," Isaac muttered. "You're brilliant today."

"Hop on, idiot."

"Okay, okay."

Isaac held the handle, and Elijah sat in the back. Elijah's palms were open and he slowly concentrated, feeling the wind around his body. From his palms the wind began to blow and the motorcycle slowly accelerated.

"Wow, wow... wait, don't go too fast," Isaac warned.

"You just have to balance the bike."

"It's not that easy, Eli."

"Oh my gosh! You're so blunt!"

Elijah unleashed his wind power in a single stroke and the bike roared forward. Isaac screamed so loudly that the bike swerved and they nearly fell off. Elijah concentrated on keeping the bike balanced with his telekinetic power.

"Okay, this is fun," Isaac shouted, his fear beginning to fade. "At this speed, we can get to New Castle faster."

"I'm losing a lot of power. Look for a gas station!"

"Then let's continue towards Auburn. After that, head north to New Castle."

"Auburn?"

"That's the closest town. There's a fork in the road ahead, one going to Auburn, one going to New Castle. But I'm not sure we'll find a gas station if we go to New Castle."

"So we fill up and get supplies in Auburn?"

Isaac nodded. "Yes. I'm sure it's been destroyed by ants, but I hope we can still get what we need."

"I hope we don't run into any trouble there. Whether aliens or rebels."

"Hopefully the town won't be overrun by one of them."

"By the way, if there's a presence of ants here. Doesn't that mean there's an Orb?"