The only thing she had to look forward to every day was being allowed to drive for a few hours, and be it day or night she was happy to oblige. It had taken a while to get used to the company of Tony and his two roommates, but once they had all realized they were on the same team and headed in the same direction, they all got along well enough.
There was still something bothering her though, but she didn’t know quite what it was. There was always that feeling deep down in her heart that told her she was alone in the world, but how could that be when she was with her two best friends and her boyfriend Jeremy every day? Still, she felt all alone.
Her boyfriend was another story, one that she didn’t have time to think about while she was busy driving. It seemed to her that he had lost interest in their relationship just as soon as this horrible situation had started, which was only four days ago. He never seemed to want to talk to her, and when they were alone together in their small, cramped room to go to sleep, he had even refused having sex with her. Ashley didn’t know if it was something she had done or said, but she was set to find out, and soon.
But she was still driving, and everyone else was asleep aside from Tony, sitting on the couch sharpening his sword. On the counter across from him, his scorpion sat in the dark in its box, waiting to be fed. “So really, what’s with the scorpion?”
Tony looked up from his work, his hand held still above the sword. Ashley could see him in the rearview mirror, and he smirked at the question. “I told you already,” he said, setting back to work. “He’s my pet.”
“I know that much, but why did you have to bring him with you?”
“I don’t really know,” Tony said, stopping his work again. He looked confused. “I guess…I just couldn’t leave him to die all by himself, you know?”
She didn’t answer him, just turned back to keep her eyes on the road ahead of her. She didn’t know what would happen if she got in a wreck now, with all her friends sleeping peacefully in the back. She had flipped her grandfather’s truck once, luckily only bruising up her face and coming out of it in one piece. The truck, on the other hand…
Don’t, she told herself, focusing on the road once again. She looked up at the sky, nothing but black. No moon, no stars. No safety. She felt exposed out here on the highway, driving through the pitch black of night with no company but the sound of a sword being sharpened over and over. He’d been sitting there for hours now, and Ashley had been taking careful glances at him whenever she had dared. She hoped he hadn’t noticed her stares. For one, she hadn’t taken a proper shower in almost a week now, and she hadn’t had the time to straighten and brush her hair every morning. There just wasn’t a reason to do so anymore, as they were in the RV all hours of the day, only stopping to find gas when they were running low; even then, half of them would stay inside while only one or two would go out and pump gas and pick up any food they could salvage. And two, she had a boyfriend. Jeremy, she remembered, wondering if he was asleep in their room or wide awake, seething at her for some unknown reason. He loves me, she had to remind herself. And I love him. But to what extent?
Suddenly her thoughts turned to Zack, her ex-boyfriend. It had been a long distance relationship, and he didn’t want to complicate things in the beginning. She told him that this is what she wanted, what they both wanted, and soon they were dating, trying to ignore the fact that they were thousands of miles apart every day. He would text her every morning when he woke up to bid her good morning, and she could only imagine what it would be like to wake up next to him, to wake up to his loving kisses. She knew that he had longed for the same thing, had longed to be with her each and every day.
And then it came true. He had somehow managed to get a plane ticket to come fly out to her all the way out in the middle of nowhere to her sad excuse of a house, surrounded on all sides by fields of corn and small, half-paved roads. One week he had spent there in her arms, one short, fast-paced week. The most amazing week she had ever had in her life, one she would never forget. And then as fast as that, he was back on a plane, flying back to California. She broke down, not knowing what to do. She could only hold on to him for so much longer, but she knew that soon she would have to let him go. It was too much pain for her to pretend that she would ever see him again.
If I have one regret, it was breaking his heart. Zack…I’m so sorry. Please, I know I don’t deserve it, I know you probably hate me by now, but if there is anything of the loving, caring person left in you, then please…please forgive me. I’m so very sorry. I’m sorry I—
“Spoon!” she cried out, slamming on the breaks. The RV stopped just short of hitting someone or something in the middle of the lane.
“What the fudge was that?” Tony asked, but he didn’t sound angry. Ashley looked back at him, trying to catch her breath. He had stopped sharpening his sword and was looking at her with a puzzled look on his face.
Ashley looked back out the windshield, but there was no one there anymore. “I don’t know,” she answered him, craning her neck to look at each side of the RV. “There was someone here just a minute ago, I almost ran him over.”
“Hey,” a voice came, and Ashley turned to find Ashre stumbling out of her room in her pajamas, “what’s going on?”
“Your friend thinks she ran someone over,” Tony told her.
Ashley scoffed in disbelief. “I didn’t run anyone over, I just thought I saw someone.”
“Why would someone be running around in the middle of the highway?” Ashre wanted to know.
“I don’t know, Ashre!” Ashley bellowed, her temper taking over. She was tired of the questions, the endless wonders that never had any answers. She just wanted to be alone, she needed to sleep and clear her head. She missed the sun and its warmth. It wouldn’t be morning for a few more hours. “I can’t drive anymore. Tony, can you take over? I need to get some sleep.”
“Sure.” He set his sword on the floor and got up from the couch, switching places with Ashley. She almost collapsed in exhaustion onto the soft pillows. Ashre sat down next to her, looking at her in that way that said ‘I know something’s wrong.’
“Don’t,” Ashley said before her friend could ask anything. “I just…I don’t feel well.”
“You know I don’t buy that,” Ashre told her. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Ashley had to almost yell. She was sure if this went on any longer, everyone else would wake up and wonder what was happening. “Can I just have some time to myself to think and get some rest?”
Ashre looked taken aback, but she seemed to understand. “Of course.” She bent down and gave her best friend hug. Ashley thought she might cry then.
Instead there was a banging sound on the side of the RV, making the only three friends left awake to jump in their seats. “What was that?” Ashley whispered, her thoughts and worries forgotten. All she knew now was fear.
“Hell if I know,” Ashre whispered back, frozen in spot.
Tony was the first to move, snatching his sword up off the floor by their feet next to the couch. “Don’t move,” he told them, unsheathing his weapon.
Another bang resonated off the side of the RV, making Ashley jump again. She got up from her laying position on the couch to have a better look around. She pulled back the curtain of the window above the couch to have a look outside and almost fell off the couch when she came face to face with a bedraggled and unkempt, grey-haired old man.
“What is it?” Ashre asked, taking a look outside herself. “I don’t see anything.”
“There’s someone out there.”
“Not for long,” Tony announced, and he threw open the door, his sword held out in front of him in defense. Ashley tip-toed towards the door to get a better look, Ashre following close behind. Outside, Tony was wrestling an old man to the ground, his sword forgotten on the cold cement. Ashley crept over on her bare feet and picked up the sword, watching it glimmer in the light from the moon. She hadn’t noticed the moon until then.
“Ashley, what are you doing?” Ashre called out.
“Helping,” she whispered, unsure if anyone could hear her. She calmly strolled over to where Tony and the man were fighting each other in the middle of the highway, lifted the sword up, and prepared to bring it down with all her might on their attacker.
“Stop, stop!”
She didn’t know if Tony or the old man had said it, but she wasn’t about to listen to either of them. This man didn’t look like he could be trusted, and she wasn’t about to lose her life to some stranger. She lifted up the sword again, but Tony rolled out from under the old man and kicked her feet out from under her, wrenching the sword from her grip. She fell to the ground, slamming the side of her head onto the cement. For a moment she could only see stars, and not only the ones in the sky above her. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t see.
“Damn it,” she heard Tony swear, and then the clink of metal as the sword fell to the ground, but something was wrong with what she was hearing. Everything was muffled and seemed far away, and people were talking but in a language she couldn’t comprehend. She could only lay on the cold, hard ground and wonder if she was dead.
“You’re not dead,” she heard someone say then, and somebody took her by the hand and yanked her to her feet. “Not yet."
"Get away from me!” Ashley cried, pulling herself away from the old man. She stumbled backwards into Ashre, who helped her to keep her balance.
“I apologize, miss,” the man said, his voice hoarse. He glanced around at everyone as he started to notice that people were coming out of the RV to see what was happening. He had an unusual amount of acne on his face for his age, and as he stood there glancing around at everyone he kept scratching his arms, leaving red marks across his skin.
“Who’s that?” Ashley heard someone ask quietly from inside. No one could answer because nobody knew.
“Please, forgive me,” the man said loudly then, and everyone listened to him in silence, the wind pulling at their hair and clothes. Ashley couldn’t believe how cold it was, especially here in Nevada. She was sure that if it were to rain, snow would cover the ground for miles. “I was just…I was wondering if I could maybe hitch a ride…”
“Think again!” Ashley yelled at him, lunging towards him, but Ashre grabbed her arms and held her back. “You tried to kill us!”
“I didn’t try to kill nobody,” the man said in his defense, looking utterly shocked.
Ashley didn’t know what had gotten into her, but she wanted to tear this man limb from limb, even if he was just a lost soul, trying to hitch a ride to someplace warm. “I don’t trust you,” she told him.
He ignored her. “My name is Larry.” He bent down and made to pick the sword up off of the ground, but Ashley had something else in mind for him.
“Stop!” she shouted, breaking free of Ashre’s grip, kicking the sword across the ground away from the man named Larry.
“I was only—”
“I don’t give a spoon what you were intending on doing. I don’t trust you, and I don’t even know how you’re still here.”
“What?” Larry asked her. “But I’m only—”
“Enough of this,” Tony said, snatching his sword up. He briskly walked back over to the RV and someone handed him his sheathe. He put the sword away and turned to the three of them left outside in the cold. “Wee’ve lingered here long enough. It’s time wee continue on to our destination. Get inside.” He turned and looked Larry square in the face, then seemed to accept him for who he was. “All of you.”
“But—” Ashley began, but Tony was having none of it.
“That’s enough, Ashley!” Tony bellowed, pounding his fist on the side of the RV. He grimaced in pain. “This man is obviously just looking for a ride, if he was trying to kill us I’m sure he would have used the sword on me.”
“He tried to grab it, just a minute ago.”
“I assure you,” Larry said, taking a step towards her, “I only meant to return the sword to its rightful owner.”
Ashley couldn’t take it anymore. Her head was pounding and felt ready to burst. “Why the hell do you have swords, anyways?” she asked angrily, wanting to kick something. Ashre was still behind her, ready to hold her back if she meant to attack Larry again.
“In case something like this even happens,” Tony reminded her, as he had told her a hundred times already why he had brought a sword, among other things—like his scorpion. She hoped it couldn’t escape from the tiny box it was being kept in. She’d never be able to get any sleep knowing that there was a scorpion crawling around somewhere.
“Ashley!” someone called, and Jeremy came pushing his way out of the RV, still in his pajamas. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” she told him as he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her forehead. “Nothing happened. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, pulling away from her to look her in the eyes. They were green eyes, but they were probably yellow now that she was angry. She wondered what Jeremy saw deep inside of them, if there was anything worth seeing.
“I said I’m fine,” she told him sternly, leaving him there in the cold. She ignored everyone staring at her and closed herself off from the world in her tiny room, falling in exhaustion onto the even smaller bed. She knew Jeremy would be coming in to sleep with her soon, and wondered how they’d both be able to have to any comfort squashed together on the tiny mattress.
She didn’t know if she was dreaming or still awake when the door finally opened, but she didn’t think it was Jeremy coming into the room. Who? she wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth, parched and dry as it was. The figure slowly closed the door without a sound, then strode on silent footsteps over to the bed, gazing down at her with eyes as white as snow, and little flakes were falling from his face and eyes to land on the blankets. The soft white snowflakes never melted.
That’s when Ashley felt the warm body pressed close against her, the arm draped over her. Who? she tried to say again, her heart racing in her chest. She turned her head to find Jeremy snoring peacefully next to her, oblivious to the danger they were in. “Hey!” she shouted, and then everything seemed to happen in a fast blur. A hand lashed out, quick as a cat, and Ashley held up her own hands to block her face. It wasn’t her the attacker was going after though, and she turned just as Jeremy woke up next to her, crying out in pain. He flailed about and fell off the bed just before he managed to turn on the light, bringing the room to life.
There was something sticking out of his neck, and he yanked it out and threw it aside before she could see what it was. She and Jeremy both turned then to find Larry standing there with his eyes in the back of his head, white powder smeared across his face. “Ashley…” Jeremy muttered, and then he fell to the floor, shaking violently, blood pouring from his neck.
That’s when she screamed. She screamed as loud as she could, and it wasn’t long before the vehicle began to slow down and come to a stop and someone flung the door to the room open. By then she was crying like a baby, and Larry was slowly leaning down over her, not taking his eyes off of her. “There’s no point in fighting,” he said, bringing his lips down towards her face. There was white powder smeared across his face and his acne, and she thought she knew what it was then. She pressed herself up and back against the wall. “Kiss me.”
“No!” she screamed, pushing his face away from her. “Get away!”
“If I can’t have you then nobody can,” he declared in a voice that didn’t sound like his own, taking a knife out of his pocket. He raised it in the air and brought it down with all his force, but a hand caught his arm and stopped him before he could stab her. Ashley peered out through eyes full of tears to see that Ashre had burst in and was now pulling Larry out of the room, calling for help. She had one arm wrapped around his neck while the other held his arm down, trying to shake the knife loose from his hand. Larry was gnashing his brown, rotten teeth at her, trying to resist, white powder falling from his face and under his nose.
“You will die!” Larry screamed at her just before he was yanked out of the room. “All of you will die!” There was a loud, metallic smack, and then silence ensued.
Ashley was frozen in place, scared that Larry would run back in and put an end to her life. But no one ever came. Jeremy was still convulsing on the floor, and she flung herself off the bed, crying out for him. She turned him over and tried to hold him still, but there was spit running from his mouth and his eyes were almost as white as Larry’s had been. There were no towels around, so Ashley had no other choice but to pull her shirt up and over her head and press it against Jeremy’s neck, trying to stop the blood, but it was pouring out of his neck like a faucet.
“No, no…no, no, no…” Ashley moaned through huge, breathless sobs. A hand touched her back and she flinched away, excepting Larry once more, but it was only Ashre, holding a frying pan, a dark red liquid dripping from the bottom of it. She gaped at it in astonishment. Larry was surely dead.
“Oh, God,” Ashre muttered, dropping the pan to the floor. She knelt beside them, watching in horror as Jeremy’s life poured out of his neck, drenching Ashley’s shirt through.
“He’s dying,” Ashley cried. “Oh, God, look at him…there’s so much blood…blood everywhere…”
“What is this?” Ashre asked, picking something up off of the floor. She held a needle up in her hand, the end of it red with blood. “Larry stabbed Jeremy with this needle?”
“God, no!” Ashley cried, swatting the needle out of Ashre’s hand. “Get out!” She turned and saw that everyone was watching from the doorway. “Everyone get out!” Ashre hadn’t moved, so she pushed her away. “I said get out!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Ashre left her there alone to cradle Jeremy’s body against hers, holding his hand tight, never letting go until…
His grip on her hand loosened, and he stopped shaking, but the blood still poured out of the hole in his neck. His eyes opened, and he could see Ashley looking down at him. The last thing he did was smile.
Ashley was choking on her sobs, trying to think of something to say, something to do that would bring him back to her, but she knew it was pointless. He was dead, and that’s the way he would stay. Her head dropped down in defeat and she began to cry more, but the soft white flakes of snow on her pajama pants caught her attention. She pressed her finger against a cluster of the powder and brought it to her nose, giving it a sniff. “What—”
“Get away from there,” Tony ordered, rushing into the room. Ashley then realized her nakedness and tried to cover herself up. “Don’t mind me,” he told her, lifting her to her feet. “Put a shirt on and wash your hands.”
“What is it?” she asked, unsure if she already knew. She pulled a shirt out of her bag and threw it over her head, trying not to look at Jeremy’s unmoving body.
“That,” he said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder at her, “is cocaine.” Tony was kneeling on the floor next to Jeremy, inspecting the needle and its contents. “This is meth.”
“How can you be so sure?” Ashley asked, trying to dry her tears. She frantically wiped her fingers off on her pants, smearing a bit of white down her jeans.
Tony turned around and looked at her with a sad, guilty expression. “Because it’s mine.”

LOl, nevermind, I had to read a first of the few lines  skimped through the middle and then again around the end to understand what kind of story this is....

(17/04/2010 06:26 PM)eKusoshisut0 Wrote:  Come on! You expect me to read this much?

I would if you knew how to read.
I expect anyone else to read it if they're not a little bitch.

are some of these characters loosely based off people you know? the guy tony with a scorpion sounds very familiar lol

as always though man, brilliant work. your a freaking writing legend, please keep it up

(17/04/2010 10:11 PM)Grey Ghost Wrote:  are some of these characters loosely based off people you know? the guy tony with a scorpion sounds very familiar lol

as always though man, brilliant work. your a freaking writing legend, please keep it up

So I'm guessing you actually read it?

Yes, every character is based off of someone I know in real life (except one, who is not in this chapter), and the book is going to be written as realistically as possible.

Also, this book is the sequel to The Death Merchant.

(17/04/2010 10:15 PM)theEvilOne Wrote:  

(17/04/2010 10:11 PM)Grey Ghost Wrote:  are some of these characters loosely based off people you know? the guy tony with a scorpion sounds very familiar lol

as always though man, brilliant work. your a freaking writing legend, please keep it up

So I'm guessing you actually read it?

Yes, every character is based off of someone I know in real life (except one, who is not in this chapter), and the book is going to be written as realistically as possible.

lol thought so

and of course, i always read your work.

(17/04/2010 10:17 PM)Grey Ghost Wrote:  

(17/04/2010 10:15 PM)theEvilOne Wrote:  

(17/04/2010 10:11 PM)Grey Ghost Wrote:  are some of these characters loosely based off people you know? the guy tony with a scorpion sounds very familiar lol

as always though man, brilliant work. your a freaking writing legend, please keep it up

So I'm guessing you actually read it?

Yes, every character is based off of someone I know in real life (except one, who is not in this chapter), and the book is going to be written as realistically as possible.

lol thought so

and of course, i always read your work.

Well in that case, should I post another, more interesting chapter?

hold on this is a sequel? well then I must read the first one, therefore I can get into reading this one

(17/04/2010 10:18 PM)theEvilOne Wrote:  

(17/04/2010 10:17 PM)Grey Ghost Wrote:  

(17/04/2010 10:15 PM)theEvilOne Wrote:  

(17/04/2010 10:11 PM)Grey Ghost Wrote:  are some of these characters loosely based off people you know? the guy tony with a scorpion sounds very familiar lol

as always though man, brilliant work. your a freaking writing legend, please keep it up

So I'm guessing you actually read it?

Yes, every character is based off of someone I know in real life (except one, who is not in this chapter), and the book is going to be written as realistically as possible.

lol thought so

and of course, i always read your work.

Well in that case, should I post another, more interesting chapter?

yes please

---

(17/04/2010 10:20 PM)eKusoshisut0 Wrote:  hold on this is a sequel? well then I must read the first one, therefore I can get into reading this one

not the point man, this is a sample from a chapter you read it to see if you like it, an therefore no if you would be interested in reading the rest.


like a game demo man you play a bit to see if you like it

(17/04/2010 10:20 PM)eKusoshisut0 Wrote:  hold on this is a sequel? well then I must read the first one, therefore I can get into reading this one

If you would like to read the first book, there is a thread for it that I posted a while back, it's called The Death Merchant. Either that or you could PM me and I'll send you a copy.