Gray Hills - Chapter 4
Hey y'all, so this story already has over 500 views, and I was looking at where you all read from. It's really interesting to see how widespread the story is read. So greetings to all of you, my friends from other countries. Spain, Sweden, Italy, Russia, Pakistan and even Iceland to name just a few.
Anyways Here is the next chapter, which I hope you guys will like, and now onto reviews.
- Thanks for the encouraging words my friend, I enjoy writing it.
MAGA - As I said about, thank you for the encouraging words.
kinglan10 - Haha agreed my friend, and I'm glad you think that my story is pretty good compared to others.
theRevil - I'm glad that you are enjoying the story and picking up on the little details and secrets that are just touched on in the story. Also, it's good to see another fan of Aerosmith.
Disclaimer - I do not own Star vs The Forces of Evil
They followed the bend in the road, walking on the hill beside it. "Remember we have to stay low, because we can't let them see us." They sat atop an embankment, creeping along, under bushes and behind trees. The wind kicked up, blowing dust into the air all around them, and that is when Marco smelt it.
After spending weeks with only Star and the wild to smell, he picked up the scent of the person or people they were following. The scent was strange. Something Marco never expected to smell again. "Their very close." Marco whispered. "Let's get closer to the the edge so we can see when the dust settles." Dropping their bags and crawling towards the road, they sat under a bush, waiting.
"What is that smell Marco? It is so sweet." Star whispered, her body already craving sugar at the scent of it.
"It's syrup. Really strong." This made Marco think. If they have that, how big is this group? Marco reasoned with himself for a moment. If a group had syrup how big were they? No one would waste space to carry that instead of food. But if it was a group why was there only one can. Could it be the group that had passed them days earlier? Marco was pulled out of his thoughts to Star whispering.
"Marco, the dust is clearing." The dust settled, allowing them to see the stretch of road in front of them. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary." Star said.
Marco could still smell the sweet aroma of syrup in the air, but Star was right. Nothing was moving. Not a trace that a human had been there in weeks, besides the lingering smell. After waiting for fifteen minutes, Marco whispered to Star. "Whoever they are, they're either long gone, or waiting like us. Either way let's get going." They slowly scooched back behind the bush line where their packs waited.
Walking along a few hundred yards, they eventually peeled back onto the road, Marco removing the map from his pocket. As they walked he pointed at the map. "We're about here." Marco said, pointing at the map. "After this big bend, we will take one fifty six up to one fifty two, then stop for water here." Marco pointed where the highway stopped between two lakes. "After that we take highway five up to the outskirts of Sacramento, before we go around the city."
Whenever they looked at the map, the distance always seemed so short compared to when they started walking. "How long do you think it will take?" Star asked.
Marco studied the scale for a moment, then the map, drawing his finger over it. "About four and a half miles, so about an hour and a half at our normal pace." Star groaned when he said that, before they started on their way.
Marco quickly noticed that the sweet smell disappeared, and took comfort in the fact that soon the would turn off of the main road, losing whoever was now behind them.
The following two hours were uneventful and boring as the hills turned to farmland. Trees gave way to a checkerboard of flattened crops and fields. The highlight was when they passed a flea market, and Star asked him all about them. Questions like "What is that?", "What did they sell?", "So they're like the food stands on Mewnie?" and "Where do you think they are now?".
Marco put thought into her last question. "I am sure that they are fine. Out here they didn't get hit. That was only big cities, so they probably made their way north and got evacuated." Marco explained.
"How would they be there already though?" Star asked confused.
"They had cars, They could drive there in a day if they were far enough away from the cities."
Star seemed contempt with this answer, and said nothing else until they came to a diversion in the road. They had two roads to follow; the first was keep walking straight, the second veered off to the east. "Which road are we going to follow?"
"The one less traveled by." Marco replied, smirking to himself.
"Why are we taking that one? Won't it take longer?"
"It will make all the difference."
"And how are we supposed to know which road is less traveled by?" Star's voice had an annoyed tone to it. She sensed he was purposely speaking in a way she didn't understand.
To her question Marco merely smirked, started walking towards the road that turned east, and promised to explain it to her later.
Throughout the afternoon while they walked, clouds rolled in from the south, a rolling sea of charcoal suspended in the air. "Let's hurry up, we are almost to the next town, and after that we will hopefully be able to make it to that hill line over there."
Marco pointed north east, and Star could see, just past the town a road that winds into a short mountain range. "Once we get there we can find shelter for the night. Staying in town is too risky, especially if they're still behind us."
As they walked towards the town they could see for miles around. Flattened, dead fields with the occasional farmhouse or barn situated in the centre, a driveway snaking towards the solitary structures.
Marco looked out over the vast, barren land trying to imagine anyone else out there who were normal. Maybe Australia, or Africa. It was thoughts like this that filled Marco's head when everything was quiet. Silent plans going through his head if they could never get to Mewnie.
That and his friends. He constantly thought about what happened to them. Could they be attempting the same journey as Star and himself? Or had they simply given up, allowing the chaos to take them. Or worse than that, what if they joined the chaos. Looting, murdering, raping. No. He couldn't imagine any of his friends doing that.
But then again he never imagined that the world would end up like this. It was hard, getting up every day. Facing the broken, smoking pile of rubble the planet had become. He often wondered why he continued on. Then he would look over and see the sullen face of the girl beside him and remembered why.
Marco needed to be there for Star. She wouldn't make it out in the wild on her own. She can fight monsters, but what she didn't understand is that man is worse than monster. To trusting, and to naive of this world.
Marco was pulled back to reality as they came closer to the town. "We won't be going into town, but we should try to stay as low as possible so that no one from the town could see us." Star nodded at him as they hunched over, quickly making their way across the open fields near the town. Soon enough they were entering the mountain pass, just in time for dusk to set in.
Marco took one last glance towards the open fields, before turning and continuing with Star. Just around the first major bend in the road, there were forested hills on either side, with a small trail leading south. Following it, they came across a small valley within the mountains, an overhang on one side.
"Let's make camp here. We can start a fire without being noticed, take shelter under the overhang, and scout the next little bit from that hill." Marco started unpacking their tinder, and gathered wood for a fire. "It's going to rain soon, so we need to hurry."
Star opened her bag, pulling out her book to wake Glossaryck, and went into her purse for food. Pulling out two cans, one of corn, the other beans, she set aside the cans for consumption, and knocked on the book cover.
Glossaryck emerged from his book, and gave a her a small bow. "That time already?"
"Yeah it's getting pretty late, and Marco said that it is going to rain soon." Star and Glossaryck looked at Marco who was busy piling enough wood to burn for the night.
The two walked over to help Marco. "What's the plan for tonight Marco?" asked Glossaryck when they arrived.
Marco grunted as he heaved the last of the wood onto the pile, and brushed his hands off on his pants as he faced them. "Well, after we make dinner we will get some sleep and wake up early. Then we head east, and hopefully find fresh water."
"Sounds as good a plan as any, what's for dinner?" Both men turned to Star, as she held up the two cans she had removed from her purse. They filled their only pot with the beans and corn, mixing them in with each other, and then digging in with their assorted utensils until it was gone. Then they passed around a bottle of water, and scraped the sides of the pot clean with their fingers, before adding a small amount of water to clean it.
After dinner, Star and Marco made themselves comfortable under the cliff overhang, and quickly fell asleep. Glossaryck Watched over the campsite, gathering their equipment beside the teenagers so that it would stay dry.
Soon, thunder rolled across the countryside, as thick, black tears fell from the sky, slowly killing the fire. Glossaryck sat in the dark, as he did every night, reminiscing of the past.
In the morning, Marco woke to a sunny morning. Somewhere in the forest a solitary crow screamed to let the few living things know of its presence. Looking around, he saw black puddles conjugating in small ruts and valleys in the ground.
Marco sat there for a moment, admiring the beauty of the forest, even after the end of the world he found it relaxing. Taking a deep breath in, he hoped to smell fresh pine needles and a morning dew. But Marco smelt something different. He smelt a scent that, though normally associated with a good morning, only filled Marco with dread.
Marco violently shook Star, waking her in a confused state. "Wha? Marco what is it?" He quickly hushed her, and leaned into her ear. "Do you smell that?" Nothing besides that had to be said, and Star went pale. "Pack everything up quickly, where is Glossaryck?"
"I don't know, I don't see him!" Star started to panic, but Marco grasping her hand caused her to focus. His shaking hand squeezed hers, his determined look, and the sweat bead on his forehead. Star understood and calmed down. No matter what, I've got your back. Star squeezed his hand, and let go before starting to gather their packs into a pile as Marco pulled out his small Swiss. Flipping it open, he yelled into the forest. "Get out of here! We know you're here! If you don't leave then I will kill you."
Marco stood there for one second, two, three. He heard nothing until there was the piercing sounds of a shotgun action sliding to load. "Just stay where you are, turn around, and stay calm." a voice commanded from behind. Marco slowly turned to see the terrified face of Star, and found himself staring down the barrel of a shotgun.
And out rolls the first cliffhanger of the story.