Page 107 of Chained

"Not for long. How're we doing on time?" Coal asked.

"We have about thirty five miles to cover before dawn in ten hours, maybe twelve if Hunter's feeling generous," Alicia said.

"Let's gather what we can carry from the supplies in the truck," Coal suggested.

We set about trying to find everything that had been flung from the truck bed. I retrieved my soggy jacket and put it on. I tried to repress a shiver as the cold, damp material clung to my skin and made all of my cuts and scratches sting.

"Since when do Creepers drive anyway?" Alicia asked, pointing at the yellow monstrosity that had caused so much devastation.

"I've never heard of it before," Coal said, moving to look at the vehicle which had caught in a dip in the ground and fallen onto its side.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a tractor, we use them in the farms. They must have stolen it."

"It's a damn shame is what it is," Alicia said. "We can't make stuff like that anymore, seeing one ruined when there are so few of them..." She shook her head in disgust.

"Well at least they ruined theirs as well as ours," Laurie said.

I moved away from the tractor to stand over the Creeper King. There was something strange about him that I couldn't place my finger on. My eyes strayed to some of the other bodies nearby and something slid into place.

"He's not a Creeper," I said quietly.

There were little clues, some visual: he didn't have the slightly lengthened limbs that the Creepers all shared. Nor were his hands curved and bent from years of using them as weapons. Instead I could see callouses similar to those lining Coal's palms. The kind you get from using weapons and tools.

"I think you're right," Coal said behind me. "I thought it when we were fighting. He'd clearly had some training. Plus he drove that tractor and spoke well and actually put thought into the things I was saying to him."

"So why would a... non-Creeper, decide to join them?" I waved an arm around the clearing at the broken bodies surrounding us.

"No idea."

"Are you two planning on helping at all?" Alicia called across the clearing.

"Sorry." Coal raised his hands in surrender and started scouring the wreckage for anything useful. I noticed that he was limping slightly and frowned.

I looked at the King one more time, something about his decision to join the Creepers made me feel uneasy. I shrugged my shoulders and let it go, I had enough to think about without trying to solve that mystery too. Just as I stated to turn away, his chest rose slightly. I watched intently until it happened again; he was still breathing.

I opened my mouth, about to tell Coal and then closed it again. The King was out for the count, beaten and alone. We'd be long gone before he woke and it didn't feel right to kill him in cold blood.

r /> I turned my back on him and moved to help the others.

We piled up all that we had found and filled our packs with anything useful, mainly food and water. Alicia moved around the clearing, searching the bodies and retrieving any knives that she could find, plus the ammo that Coal had thrown into the mud.

"So do we just follow the road?" I asked.

"No, we're meeting Hunter at a new location and there's a much more direct route if we go straight through the forest," Alicia replied.

"Let's get moving then," Coal said, glancing up at the sky.

"When does it get dark?" Laurie asked, coming up behind Alicia. With the thick rain clouds it was already pretty dark anyway.

"Hmm... about six hours," Alicia said, also looking up at the sky through the dense, leafy covering.

"No cougars here though right?" I asked.

A glance passed between Coal and Alicia before she replied.

"No. No cougars," she said a little too quickly before turning away and marching into the forest. "We really need to get going."