Welcome To Travis County
Hello everyone. Sorry for the slight delay. Been thinking about how to continue this story. Anyway, here it is. The fourth chapter of Welcome To TravisCounty. I hope you all have enjoyed the story so far, because it's about to get better.
The sun slowly rose with an array of dim purples and oranges as the Texas countryside was illuminated by yet another dawn. Inside the forest, huddled around an overturned van, Kouta, Yuka, Nana, Mayu and an unconscious Nyuu were huddled together in slumber as a dim yellow illuminated the empty street they laid by. As if the absence of cricket chirpings was the cue, Kouta was the first to drowsily shake himself from his sleep. He looked around wearily and soon remembered where he and the others were, and what had happened. A flat tire, a crash, and a burning pain in his head. Their cuts were taken care of, but they had to find help fast. Kouta quickly shook the others from their sleep, except for Nyuu because she was flat out cold. When the others were able to stand, it was time for action. "Alright everyone. I know we're all hurting from those cuts we got last night, and I know we're all hungry." He said to them trying to sound as calm and authorative as possible. "But we all need to pitch in and try to find somebody to help us." Yuka finished for him. She didn't like the fact that he was trying to recap them on the plan he already came up with the night before, as if they forgot.
"So, first thing we need to think of is how we get Nyuu around." Kouta asked, hoping for some suggestions. "Well, we could use one of the blankets we have as a gurney and carry her. If we just draped her over our shoulders, that could probably hurt her even more." Mayu whispered timidly. "That's a good plan, Mayu. We'll grab the biggest blanket we have and two of us will carry her while the rest lead." Kouta said as he reached into the overturned van and pulled out an old worn wool blanket that looked like it came with the van when it was first made in the 60's. "May not be the cleanest thing in the world, but it doesn't matter." He grumbled as he and Yuka lowered the unconscious crimson haired beauty onto the homemade gurney. "Alright. Mayu, Nana, I'm sorry, but you two will have to carry her. I have to clear the way through those branches so we can move without any delay alright?" he told them as Mayu and Nana surprisingly, lifted up Nyuu without any real strain. "But Kouta, isn't there something I should point out?" Yuka asked as Kouta pulled out a small handheld hatchet from the back of the van. "Ok. What's that Yuka?" he asked politely. "Well, how do we know if there's even any houses for who knows how many miles around here?" Yuka asked him impatiently as he held his hands up in defense. "Well, I'm sorry for the answer, but that's just something we'll have to find out ourselves." Kouta said in a meager tone as he began to walk into the brush, already hacking away at leaves and bushes and branches as the others began to follow in line.
It was only morning, and yet the sun was already beating down on the five unlucky ones as they continued to march through the forest, trying to keep in line as Kouta continued leading the way. As Mayu and Nana continued carrying Nyuu, neither of them noticed the faint moan of pain to escape the red-haired Dicloni's pale lips as her face slightly clenched in pain. Mayu was the first to notice this, as she had the end of the gurney with Nyuu's face closest to her. "Um…K-Kouta, I think Nyuu's coming to, but I think she's really in pain." She exclaimed to the boy worriedly. "Maybe she needs water." Nana added tiredly, seeing as they all needed it too. "I'm sorry, girls, but we don't have any water with us. Hopefully we'll find a river or something to get this heat off." Yuka responded, exhausted as the glared daggers at Kouta from behind. He could feel the icy glare and tried his best to ignore it, but to no avail. For some reason, he was easily freaked out whenever he got an angry look from Yuka. He couldn't explain it, but that's just the way it was.
"Don't worry guys. I'm sure there's water nearby, otherwise there wouldn't be so much plant life here. It's common biology." He yelled back to them, trying to sound as optimistic as the heat would allow. Before he could stop himself, his feet suddenly planted on air, and he found himself stumbling out of the bushes, down a dusty dirt slope, and into the ice cold embrace of water. He brought himself back up to see the others looking down at him, Nana trying to suppress a giggle as Kouta looked around and saw himself waist deep in a small lake. It wasn't big enough to really be considered one, but dammit, they didn't care right now. Once the others were able to find a safe place to lay Nyuu down from the glare of the sun, they all gathered and began to swim like there wasn't a tomorrow to be had. "Kouta, you said there was water nearby and here's water!" Nana exclaimed excitedly looking at him with what looked like adoration. "Are you magic?" she asked amazed. He simply sweat dropped and shook his head in denial. "No, Nana. He just got lucky for once." Mayu told her friend, laughing as they both ran away into a collapsing pile on the water.
Yuka cupped her hands and tried to see if the water was safe to drink. Luckily it was, and so without hesitation, she quickly brought as much as she could to the unconscious Nyuu, trying to get her lips to part even a little so she could drink. After a little effort, she was finally getting her to do it, and that was finally one problem solved. After several more minutes of regenerating his exhausted body with this godsend, Kouta covered his eyes from the sun and actually noticed something on the horizon. "Hey, guys, there's a house out there!" he shouted in excitement as he ran out of the water onto the rise of dry land and the others followed suit. As they followed his pointing finger, they too noticed the large shape at the end of the grassy plain ahead of them. "Maybe somebody lives there. We could be able to use their phone, call a tow truck, and we'll finally be home free." Kouta said in relief. "But we can't start walking again. It was hot enough in the woods. That house is really far, and who knows how long it'll take to get there." Yuka complained tiredly. This time, instead of obliging her needs, Kouta glared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yuka, this is seriously the worst excuse I've heard to not move. If you and the others don't want to go, you can all stay here. There's some berry bushes over there for food, and then there's water. I'm gonna go there, and I'll come back if there's anybody there and if I was able to get a tow truck to get us." He told them as they all slowly receded back into the shade of this little Eden of theirs. "Promise you'll come back soon?" Mayu asked him worriedly. "Don't worry. I'll be alright." He told them as he waved them goodbye and began to walk across this overgrown field to that large monolith on the horizon.
After a surprisingly long ten minutes of walking, Kouta was finally at the front of this house. At first he was beginning to get discouraged when he saw there were cars overgrown with weeds and rust littering the front and backyard, but he was relieved to hear what sounded like small footsteps inside. He had seen his share of bad cases of littering before, but nothing like this. There was glass jars filled with god knows what littering the grass and pieces of junk and ancient boxes that didn't look like they were ever opened inside large carrying beds like on an eighteen-wheeler. "Hello!?" he shouted into the air, hoping somebody from the house would answer. No such luck. "Is there anybody there?" he asked again, but to still, no response. He figured, he had to get some help for his family and so he began to approach the door. The wood for the deck was ancient. The paint looked several decades old, and the creaking was something awful. He approached the door. The actual door was gone, but all that was there was a rusty, torn old net door for bugs. He tried to look inside but it was dark as hell inside. "Hello?" he asked again, quieter this time. No response. Hoping he wouldn't be thought of as a thief by doing this, he began to slowly open the door, the piercing squeaking sound from the hinges causing him to grit his teeth. He took some time to adjust to the dark. He was beginning to think this house was abandoned and that the footsteps were just some old boards banging against the wall or something.
The entrance room had a gigantic staircase that led high up into the upper reaches of the house. On Kouta's level, there were two doors, one ahead of him, and one to his left on the left wall. The walls looked worn and faded. There were ghostly scraps of wallpaper hanging from the cracks in the wall, drifting in the wind like dust. Inside each doorframe, the view of the next room, he saw what looked like feathers and chicken bones, decorating the nearby walls. Kouta was starting to get rather uncomfortable here. He didn't know why, but something about this place made him feel uneasy. Perhaps it was the absence of the sound of blowing wind, or the nearly death silent folding sounds of the wallpaper scraps. But nevertheless, he had to see if someone here could help him. "Hello?" he asked again, trying to hide the fearful shaking in his voice. "Is there anybody home?" he asked, looking up the stairs. "Hello?" he asked again, almost no quieter than a whisper. The silence was really beginning to get to him.
Suddenly, a noise caught his ear, the sudden making of it, causing Kouta to jump out of his skin. It sounded like the agonizing squeal of a pig, oinking and screeching tiredly, as if beckoning Kouta, daring him to come closer to the door in front of him. Kouta swallowed a gasp as he began to slowly approach the door. It wasn't until an old crotchety, angry voice erupted from behind him, that Kouta finally let out the scream he had been keeping. He nearly tumbled to the floor in a spinning jump, seeing a wrinkled old man in a wheelchair, sitting between Kouta and the door. What really caught Kouta's eye was that this man had no legs. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing in my house!?" the old man shouted as he banged his walking stick against the floor, producing an ear splitting bang. "I-I'm so sorry sir! I didn't mean to trespass, but we need help, you s…!" Kouta tried to answer, but the old man wouldn't let him. With another pounding of his cane on the floor, he shouted: "YOU GODDAMN YOUNGSTERS COMING IN HERE TO FUCK UP MY HOUSE AND STEAL MY SHIT!?" the old man roared with another two poundings of his cane on the floor. Kouta was turning in circles trying to think of what to say, momentarily catching sight of a rusted steel door on the side of the staircase with what looked like a peeking glass on it. "Please sir, my family and I just need help! We need someone to tow…!" he tried explaining, but interrupted by another pounding of the cane. "I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHIN' TO TOW, BOY!" bang! "I'M GONNA HAVE YOUR GODDAMN CARCASS TOWED, KID!"bang, bang!
With that final bang, Kouta turned at the sound of the rusted metal door sliding open, and he was met with the most terrifying sight he could ever imagine. A gargantuan of a man with a horrid looking face, like a crudely sewn rotting face made of dead skin, and garmented in a blood covered apron, standing in the doorway, armed with a rusted, blood splattered chainsaw, just as he revved it to life. With a blood curdling scream, Kouta took off in a mad sprint to his left, through one of the doorways blindly weaving his way through the cluttered and damaged rooms hearing the faint echo of the old man shouting "GO ON TOMMY, BOY! DON'T LET THAT PUNK GET AWAY!" With a mad leap, Kouta rammed his way through the back door of what looked like a kitchen, and he found himself back in the backyard, pure white sheets on clothes lines sifting in the wind. But that doesn't mean he stopped to see the scenery. He was still running as fast as his legs would carry him, followed closely by the low rumbling of that monster with the chainsaw, miraculously gaining on him. Kouta was screaming till his lungs were in pain as he tried to push his way through the lines of sheets, trying to keep running. Finally, catching sight of a fence leading to the grassland he had come from, Kouta began sprung himself forward in a mad leap, but at the exact same moment, the beast that had been chasing him got close enough to him and recklessly swung the blade of his rumbling weapon at the boy as he began to rise into the air, and unfortunately, he hit his mark. With that accursed timing of the swing, Kouta could feel pain like he had never experienced before in his entire life, burning up his leg and into his stomach, causing a scream and brief period of vomit to spew from his mouth as he collapsed on that monster's side of the fence. He looked to see the giant towering over him, silhouetted in the blinding sun, and when Kouta looked down, he saw a blood splattered sheet, blood on his hands, on his shirt, on his legs, and then finally, he saw that from his right kneecap downward, his right leg was gone. So close to freedom, then he got half his leg sliced off in a heartbeat. Kouta was beginning to lose consciousness, but before the darkness took him, he felt the creature grab him by his collar, lift him up, and then carry him back into the house, with a deafening slamming of the door.
Well, that's chapter 4. Sorry to all the Kouta fans out there, if there ARE any. Gotta make the story thrilling some way. Anyway, feel free to read and review. Say what you want, it's all reviews to me. Well, see you guys tomorrow. And I've also decided to make a sequel to this story when it's over.
