Michael Robertson - New Reality - Truth

Looking at Tom’s prize, Jake swallowed an arid gulp. “Water.”

Breaking the seal on the large bottle, Tom handed it to Jake first.

Lifting it up to what little light there was in the sky, the clear liquid seemingly uncontaminated, Jake looked back at his friend. “You’re letting me have it first? Shouldn’t you go first? You found it.”

“Stop being soft, Jake. Just take a bloody sip.”

When Jake lifted the bottle to his lips, the cool liquid filled his mouth. Although his body craved the quench of the water, he took a small taste and passed it back. “Slow and steady so we don’t throw it up.”

Watching his friend drink, phlegm sticking in his throat, Jake couldn’t take the bottle back quickly enough when Tom returned it.

After they were done, the water swilling in Jake’s guts, he sat down on a nearby rock and looked at his hand. “You didn’t answer me before, Tom.”

“About what?”

“How long have I got before my hand turns septic? Seriously, how long would you give it?”

“I don’t know, Jake. Maybe your body will fight against the infection and you’ll be all right.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“I’m not. I just don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Looking at the dirty bandages wrapping his hands, Jake sighed.

With the conversation dying, Jake sat on his rock and looked at what little he could see around him. When his eyes caught some movement on the brow of a small ridge, his heart jumped. Staring at it for a moment longer, he saw that his eyes weren’t deceiving him. The ground was lifting up slowly as if something was crawling beneath it.

Standing up, Jake stretched to the sky, trying to be as casual as possible. “Okay, I’m ready to set off again.”

Frowning up at him, Tom remained seated, his long body folded over in a slump. “I thought you wanted a rest?”

“I do. I did. I’m fine now. That water’s worked wonders.”

When Tom looked down at the floor, Jake glanced over at the raising rubble again. It was still lifting, slowly crawling towards them. “Come on, man. If we’ve only got a few days left together, we may as well cover as much ground as possible.”

Tutting, Tom stood up with a long groan. The heavy wind rocked the tall man where he stood. “You’re so bloody contrary, Jake.”

Raising his eyebrows, Jake simply shrugged. “Come on, let’s go.”

Moving as if every joint ached, Tom took Jake’s lead and followed him directly away from the thing. With the memory of the bloody eyes sat in his mind, Jake powered up the next hill and waited at the top for his friend.

Arriving a minute or so later, red-faced from the effort, Tom shook his head and continued down the other side.

Just before Jake followed him, he looked back. The raised line of rubble suddenly closed the gap between them at a sprint, and Jake flinched when it stopped just meters away from him, rocks and debris spraying up.

Staring at it for a moment, his heart beating in his neck, Jake waited to see if it would move again. When it didn’t, he spun around and headed after Tom.

As Jake stared at the slim back of his tall friend, his mouth dried and his stomach was gripped tight. No matter how fast they travelled, the thing was quicker. The only reason it hadn’t caught them was because it had chosen not to.

It was toying with them.

Why was he protecting Tom? She didn’t want to kill Jake, despite her orders, but he was making it hard for her. Why didn’t he just let the tall idiot go?

With her eyes burning and a shake running through her, she watched on. Five days was too long. It couldn’t go on like this. With shot nerves and a stabbing headache, she rubbed her face.

Five days was far too long.

Whenever Jake looked around, he saw the rubble following them. It lurked in the dust storm, just at the edge of his vision. Was that why Tom hadn’t seen it? Maybe the sunglasses offered Jake a longer line of sight. No matter the reason, he wasn’t about to tell Tom. The last thing his maudlin friend needed was another excuse to put on a headset.

Trying to stay positive, Jake turned to Tom as they climbed the next hill. “This is it. When we get to the top of this hill, we’re going to see a forest stretching out before us. No more bricks and rubble and twisted metal. We’re going to see lush greenery filling the distance.”

Holding his breath, Jake took the last step to the top of the hill.

Releasing a long and deflating sigh, he shook his head as he looked below him. Lying in the next crater was more rubble, more bricks, and more twisted metal. Although this time, stretched across their path was a huge electricity pylon that covered the ground like the skeleton of a dinosaur.

When Tom appeared next to him, he looked down and then raised an eyebrow at Jake.

Returning his focus to the pylon, Jake watched a mangy fox with a gammy back leg winding in and out of the metal structure. In this world of scavengers, he was no better than the flea-bitten canid. Even the concept of a food chain was now obsolete. Other than gamers, all that was left were scavengers and the dead. He looked behind again at the raised rubble. And then there were the things.

The strong winds prevented the fox from detecting their presence. Putting a finger to his veiled lips, Jake bent down and retrieved a small rock. With his stomach rumbling, he allowed the weight of it to settle in the palm of his left hand. Pausing for a moment as he visualized the rock connecting with the fox’s head, he pulled his arm back and hurled it.

The clang of the rock hitting the electricity pylon made the fox look up, its ears pricked. For the briefest moment, Jake and the fox stared at each other. The golden eyes of the mangy creature were wide but not petrified. It was almost as if the fox was assessing the threat posed to him by these two weak men. The fox then jogged away from them in the opposite direction.

When Jake turned around, he saw Tom looking at him.

“That was close, Jake.”

“All right.”

“I’m being serious. The fox only needed to be about thirty times its size, and you’d have scored a bull’s eye. Well done.”

Glaring at Tom, Jake showed him his raised middle finger.

Shielding his brow, Tom scanned their horizon. “The view from every hill looks exactly the same. More concrete, more rubble, more metal.”

“That’s why I’m going to leave this crap city when I get the chance. There has to be something else out there.”

“You hope.”

“All right, Tom. I know you’re ready to go, but there’s no need to piss on my fireworks. In five days time, you can have your wish. Until then, give me some happy memories to keep me going, yeah?”

Shaking his head, Jake then said, “Come on, let’s keep moving.” Patting Tom on the back, a little harder than he hoped because he had less control over his weaker left hand, Jake’s stomach sank as he watched his friend stumble.

Everything moved in slow motion. First Tom wobbled, his arms windmilling. Then he took several steps down the hill, each one longer than the last, each one less stable. When his legs crumpled beneath him, his body headed towards the floor.

Wincing as Tom connected with the pylon at the bottom, Jake first heard a loud crack and then a throat-tearing scream.

Surely this was it. There was no way he was getting up from that. Rubbing her hands together, she closed her sore eyes and whispered, “Please let this be the end of him. Jake deserves a chance without me having to kill him. Please give up, Tom. Please.”

Rushing down the hill, riding the landslide as best he could, Jake skidded to a halt next to his best friend. “Shit, Tom! Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”