Bug: First 8k words

The first 8k words of Bug. This is also a rough draft, so I am less focused on grammar and spelling at this point.

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The thud was followed by a splat and then the sound of hooves splashing through mud. The animal was running away from her, an arrow lodged in its side. She reached out for the animal but it had already ran through the fence whole she had made. The deer made a frantic dash towards the outskirts of town. She had definitely seen an arrow, she thought to herself. Placing her the bottle back in her pack and reaching for the pack mic she whispered, “Guys I’ve got trouble over hear.”

The radio was silent for a moment. Rebecca crouched next to the back wall of the shack intensely listening. She dared not move or make a sound. Whatever put that arrow into the deer may not have noticed her. That’s when she heard gasoline powered motor bikes in the distance approaching. It sounded like they were following the deer.

“You guys get that meat, I’ll get the girl” she heard a man’s voice yell outside the fence. She was stunned. “I’ll get the girl,” he said. That was her. She was the girl. She tried to calmly think how to get out of there.  She could hop the fence, but then she would have to outrun the bikers. She needed to trick them somehow. She needed them to think she wasn’t where she was. She could hear footsteps splashing in the mud a few feet away. She looked at the tablet in her hands. The drone was nearby. She had an idea. She quickly added one final waypoint, at the front of the shack. She pressed the accept button and quietly placed the tablet back in her pack. Her rifle would be too loud, it would only invite more to peruse her, but only if fired it. She slung her pack onto her shoulders and ready her riffle, gripping it with both hands.

The man was close. She could see his shadow stretch forward beyond the shack. She lowered herself into a crouch, getting ready to explode. Just as she saw the man’s foot the drone began its descent. As it did so it let out a chime, indicating that it was landing. The man stopped, and turned to look behind him. She lept forward, exploding upward while holding the butt of the rifle in her hands. The thrust it into the back of the man’s head with a crack. The man crumpled to the ground, his face landing in the mud. She wanted to run. She wanted to get as far away from their as she could, but she knew she had to be smart. Smarter than them, if she wanted to see her kids again. She examined the man. He was still breathing. The thought to run flashed through her mind again. He could wake up. In movies they always wake up. They wake up and they catch the girl. This was no movie.

She wanted to badly to run, but she didn’t know what she was running into. Was there just the 3 of them, or was it a larger party? She had to be smart. Turning the man over onto his back she saw that he was wearing an orange scarf around his neck. He almost looked like he was wearing a uniform, if Oliver Twist started a gang. Though this thug was no Artful Dodger. He had a pistol and a knife in his belt. She took them both. She looked at the man’s neck, the knife in her hand. She could take care of him right hear and right now. She placed the blade to his neck as she holstered his pistol into her belt. She continued looking him over, when she noticed the rhythm of his breathing had changed. She looked up at his face and his eyes were wide open.

“Okay girly, let’s not do anything stupid.” He said.

She pushed the knife more into his neck, trying to think of a way out of this mess.

“You’re not going to hurt me girly,” he said slowly moving his arms up towards her hand.

She jerked the knife back and thrust it into his leg. The knife pierced deep into his leg several inches, as the man yelled out in pain. Quickly she pulled it back out and placed it back onto his neck. The man’s facial expression was a mix of pain and fury. “So now we both know that I can hurt you.”

A radio keyed up with another man’s voice, “Dearil, we got the deer.” The man started for the radio but she leaned into his neck a little harder. His forehead was furrowed and he was showing his teeth. She knew what to do, and she needed Dearil to make it work.

“Tell them I hoped the fence and ran toward the south side of town.” She demanded. The knife had drawn a few drops of blood. It wouldn’t take much for her to cut through. The man seemed to think it over for a second, until he finally nodded his head.

He placed his hand on his vest, where she could now see a make shift microphone key had been installed. He pressed the key, “Ok fellas, good Job. It looks like the girl jumped the fence and is making her way south through town.” She jerked his hand from the key with her off hand.

His grimace had turned and the hard lines in his face had smoothed. He grinned as he said “We are all alone now girly. It’s been a while sense I had it with the girl on t…” He was interrupted by the butt of her knife smashing into his temple. He was wounded, but he would live. She could leave and they would have no reason to seek her out. All she had to do was to get out of there and fast.

She raised to her feet and slung her pack onto her back. They thought she was heading south. This was good because town was east. She could get to her bike and travel north, to get over the cliff side and then east to Sanctuary. She was going to make it, she thought to herself. As she approached the gate she noticed the bike was not in the bushes where she left it. She cursed under her breath. I am going to have to get out of here on foot. Then she thought about Dearil. He probably didn’t walk all the way out here. She scanned the nearby area and saw a motor bike propped on the fence by the far side of the motorized gate. She jogged to the bike, and saw it was missing the keys.

Turning back toward the fence she paused to contemplate returning to the deranged rapist to search for keys or to just go on foot. She decided to take the bike without the keys. She would be on foot, but at least that maniac would be too. She rolled the bike across the street towards the elementary school. She had noticed that there were some hallways in the school earlier. She may get some concealment as she travels through them. As she makes her way across the street she notices that she does not hear the motor bikes anymore. This was either a great sign, or a really bad one. They had either travelled so far they were out of ear shot, or they were aware of her rouse. It didn’t matter. She had made her choice, and at least that crepe wasn’t going to do with her whatever it is he was wanting to do.

She made her way through the halls of the school quickly. She was near the grocery store, and just a little bit further would be the cliff. She would have to make her way up the cliff and then go east a few miles. Her bike was likely still in range, and she knew she could call for help but whoever took her bike might also be listening. She had to be smart, if she was going to use the radio. She turned her radio back on and keyed the mic, “There are marauders at the town. I am heading home on one of their bikes. I am the North path.” It was short and had both key information and disinformation. There are marauders at the town. This was a vital piece of information that would let them know to get their defenses ready. Secondly she misinformed them as to her situation and location. Maybe this would be enough for them to start searching for her further North, instead of South.

Her hand was trembling. She was afraid but her body had pumped her up with adrenaline when she was dealing with Dearil, and now she is beginning to crash. She needed to slow down and take a moment to evaluate her situation. She knelt down behind the bike and peered across the street. The streets had turned to a small creek. Shard of glass and blood were floating past her. She stopped. Her eyes followed the stream of blood to the grocery store where she saw blood on the sliding door frame to the store. Someone is bleeding, she thought to herself. Someone is bleeding a lot. She raised her rifle to look down the scope. She could see the blood clearly. She lowered the rifle to look at the floor of the grocery store. She could see a trail of blood through the store. And then she saw it. The deer. It lay on the floor of the grocery store with its rib cage opened. It had been killed and then field dressed in the store. She looked through the windows of the store, but she couldn’t tell if they were still in there or not.

She had a rifle with about 4 shots, and she also had Dearil’s pistol. She wasn’t familiar with his weapon, and didn’t want to count her life on being John Wayne with it. She also had Dearil’s bike and a lighter. She paused. A lighter. She had a lighter. She unscrewed the gas cap from the console of the bike and then she untied her bandana. The plan formulating in her head. She would stash the bike in the blind alleyway behind the grocery store with her bandana stuffed in the tank. She would lure them down the alley and use the lighter to light the bandana then hide in the loading dock at the end of the alley. The explosion would likely kill them and she could pick off any survivors with her rifle. She could then use their bikes to get back home. It was a better plan than just trying to outrun them on foot.

She stood back up and quickly rolled the bike into the alley between the school and the store. She leaned the bike on the backside of a garbage dumpster so it would be out of site as they ran down the alley looking for her. She looked up at the loading dock about 30 yards from the garbage bin. It was a raised platform with a chain link fence. She could lay on the ground and rest the rifle on the fence and finish off any survivors. It was either her or them, and she wanted to see her daughters again. She needed them to follow her, so she unholstered Dearil’s pistol and walked to the corner of the store. She pressed her back to the wall and began to slowly slide towards the entrance. As she approached the nearest window she could hear yelling inside. It wasn’t clear what was being said but it was clear who was saying it. It was Dearil. He sounded upset to say the least. She gripped the pistol and leveled it in their direction, pulling the trigger. The window shattered as rounds began flying into the store. She saw one of them men crumple and then she turned to run.