Chapter 5: The Show Must Go On
My heart was pounding against my chest as I raced towards the circus tent. I cut through thick bushes and sharp branches as they scraped and tugged at me. Time was of the essence as my children were alone in our RV and the men of our group had been missing for over 20 minutes. I was on a blind mission to rescue Gabe and Noah. If only we would have stayed together. If only we would have kept heading west and not stop to investigate the damn circus tent!
I came upon the clearing and there was no activity at the camp. I hesitated as I desperately searched for a plan. Then I felt the sharp sting of cold steel against the back of my neck.
"Slow down, senorita…what's the big rush?" The voice was that of a man with a thick foreign accent. I froze in my tracks. My hands gripped tightly to the guns. This man was in my way. My children and my husband flashed in my mind. I had no time to deal with my assailant. I turned on my heels to fire my guns but instead I felt a burning sensation rip across my wrist. Both of my guns dropped from my grip.
I looked down to see blood flowing from my right wrist.
"Damn you! I have no time for this!" I went into blind rage as I lunged at the slender blonde-haired young man dressed in a Renaissance costume.
He took a step back and raised his hands to the sky. His playful grin mocked me. Before I could reach his throat, another blade appeared across my throat. My eyes darted to my right and yet another character from the Bristol Renaissance Fair stood next to me. A fair-haired young woman with piercing eyes stopped me in my tracks. She became increasingly blurry as I lost my balance and dropped to the ground. As blackness consumed me I could hear her voice fading into the distance.
"Why did you have to cut her so deeply?"
My name is Eliza. I am the oddball in my family, the Morales. My father Gabriel is the protector... some protector... he took us away from the Atlanta group! I actually had friends! Sophia and Carl. I miss them so much, especially Carl. He was soooo cute. Ever since we left for Alabama it's been nothing but a nightmare…Thanks dad!
My mom, Miranda is a total control freak. Me and her butt heads all the time. As for being in control…she rarely is. Usually over-thinks things and ends up standing around with her head up her... you get the idea. Now she has left me in charge of the big, old, cramped RV while she tries to rescue the so-called men of our group.
Then there's Noah. Some hottie we picked up on our journey. He's the only good thing about this trip. But he's too quiet and hardly looks my way. My mom's totally crushin' on him!
Oh yeah... I almost forgot my screaming brat of a brother panicking in the back of the RV. No.. he didn't get bit. He just doesn't like the fact that I have taken total charge of this bogus situation.
"STOP! ELIZA you are crazy! What are you doing? We can't leave mama and papa!" Louis shrills at me. Yup you guessed it… I am driving this bad boy outta here! It's been over half an hour, no sign of my family, and a herd of walkers where surrounding the RV. I know the basics of driving a car. My dad used to put me on his lap and let me steer our family car before all this went down. I watched him press the pedals with his foot. Those were fun days.
The RV is much bigger and I hardly reach the pedals but I got it moving and onto the highway. But steering this thing is a whole lot harder. I swerved side to side as all the pots and pans flew across the camper. My little brother's screams did not help. I don't know how far down the road I drove but it felt like I was driving for hours…it was probably only a few minutes. At some point I must have steered too close to the shoulder of the road and the RV went flying into a ditch.
We came to a sudden stop as my brother hit his head against a cabinet door. He was out cold. I held onto the steering wheel and ended up kissing the airbag. I gathered my wits and made my way to the back of the RV where Louis was laying on the floor. Then I stopped in my tracks as I heard voices outside coming towards us. I hoped it was my family. I peeked out a window and saw a young couple dressed in all white scurrying down the ditch.
"Oh my, I hope there are survivors." The lady said to her partner in a concerned voice.
I frantically searched the floor for a gun. The floor of the RV was covered with items that had been tossed around during my awesome driving. I dove for a gun under some paper plates as the door swung open. I pointed the gun at the opening and held my breath.
"Hello? Is anyone in there? Are you ok?" The voice of the young man sounded sincere enough. Then he slowly poked his head inside and looked around. He spotted my gun aimed at him and he froze.
"Hi there…it's ok. We saw your RV swerve off the road and we came to help. I'm Caleb and my friend Joan is with me. She has medical experience and can help anyone who is injured." Once again his trusting voice touched my heart.
I took a deep breath and answered… "I think my brother is hurt. He's not moving."
"Can we come in?"
"With your hands in the air…no funny business." I commanded the nice looking guy. His eyes where a beautiful bright blue color…. Noah who?
They came in slowly and examined the wreck. I kept my gun on them as I sat up on a chair while they checked Louis.
The beautiful girl with short dark hair examined his head.
"He's got a nasty bump. He needs medical help Caleb."
Caleb turned his attention to me.
"Where is the driver? Where are the adults?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "We got separated a while back. I drove the RV away from the walkers."
They looked at each other with a puzzled glance… "Walkers?"
"Yeah, you know the zombie thingies. That's what we call them."
They stared at each other.
"Oh you mean the Damned. You weren't bitten or scratched by them?" Their voices had a hint of panic as they tried to keep up their pleasant smiles.
"No, no. we are both ok. But we need to rescue our parents..." before I could finish my sentence Joan interrupted.
"Your brother needs medical attention right away. Once he gets treated we will help you find your parents. OK?"
I hesitated as my head started to spin.
"I don't feel so good..."
Joan helped me out of the RV as Caleb carried Louis in his arms. They had a white SUV running with a driver waiting.
As I sat in the rear of the car I swear I saw a figure watching us from behind a tree across the road. At first I thought it was a walker but it was standing at attention. Then my eyelids hung down and I passed into a deep sleep.