Read Online Bones: The Complete Apocalypse Saga by Mark Wheaton - Free Book Online
Authors: Mark Wheaton
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hadn’t done Jesse much good, as the two bullets still lodged in his body made each step impossibly painful. Despite this, he still protested when Ryan laid him up next to a tree.
“Why are we stopping?” he asked, though he slurred the words.
“You’re bleeding again,” Ryan replied simply, pointing at the teen boy’s wounds.
“
Shiiiit…
,” cried Jesse as he rolled up his tattered jeans and sleeve, seeing that both wounds were trickling blood through torn scabs, soaking his shirt and jeans.
“Don’t worry,” said Ryan, trying to sound reassuring. “We have to be pretty close to people by now.”
Meanwhile, Bones was sniffing a wide perimeter around the boys, finding nothing at first but animal scents: a deer, a few rabbits, a possum or two, a bobcat and its two kittens and what may have been a raccoon. But then he caught the scent of humans, live ones, and followed it a little ways away from the boys, through the dense underbrush, newly lush and green from the morning rain after a long dry spell.
Bones emerged from the woods onto an old logging trail, twin tire track gutters bending the grass into a road as they cut through the forest. Bones sniffed in a southeasterly direction, and the human scent strengthened. He turned and ran back into the trees.
“Bones?” Ryan asked as the dog came jogging back to the creek bed. Bones stopped, turned around,
woofed
once, then turned around again and cantered back up in the direction of the logging trail. Unmistakably, he wanted to show them something.
“Can you get up?” Ryan asked Jesse.
“Probably?” Jesse replied, a little unsure, though he’d managed to staunch the blood flow with strips torn from his shirt. “The second I walk anywhere, it’s going to move those bullets around and I’ll start bleeding again. Wherever we’re going has to be close.”
“Well, we can’t stay here,” Ryan said. “I think they can smell us. We have to keep moving or we’ll get caught. Like Mr. Arthur.”
Neither boy had mentioned him since they’d fled the highway, but as Jesse had ripped apart his shirt for bandages, each had kept on eye in the direction they’d come from, hoping, by some miracle, that he’d show up. It was obvious, however, that this wasn’t going to be the case.
“We don’t know what happened to Mr. Arthur,” began Jesse, tightening the strip of cloth tied around his wounded elbow. “But if something like that happens to me, you make sure you don’t let it happen to me, because if they really can smell us, then I’d probably come right after you. You understand?”
Ryan nodded quickly but couldn’t find the words to reply with. Jesse got to his feet, patted Ryan on the shoulder, and started limping after Bones. A second later, Ryan hurried over to him, giving him an arm to hang onto.
It only took a few minutes for Bones to lead the boys to the logging trail and made the decision for them as to which direction they were going to go, leading them towards the human smells. But when Jesse looked down the trail, he blanched.
“This could go for miles,” he protested. “They might have even cut it to go around any town. We could be out here for hours.”
Ryan just looked at him for a moment with a
you’ve-got-a-better-plan?
kind of baleful expression but then began following Bones and the tire tracks. It wasn’t ten minutes later that they could see the break in the dense trees up ahead and, a few minutes after that, the first couple of houses. Ryan shot a proud look at Bones, which he then turned on Jesse. Jesse, however, wasn’t so certain and moved forward with suspicion.
“Bones?” Jesse nervously queried the dog, hoping for some kind of reassuring response as to the flesh-eater-free makeup of the homes ahead. Bones kept walking, sniffing the ground and sniffing the air without any hint of alarm, which Jesse finally took as a good sign.
They soon moved off the logging trail and onto a paved road, emerging at the back
“Why are we stopping?” he asked, though he slurred the words.
“You’re bleeding again,” Ryan replied simply, pointing at the teen boy’s wounds.
“
Shiiiit…
,” cried Jesse as he rolled up his tattered jeans and sleeve, seeing that both wounds were trickling blood through torn scabs, soaking his shirt and jeans.
“Don’t worry,” said Ryan, trying to sound reassuring. “We have to be pretty close to people by now.”
Meanwhile, Bones was sniffing a wide perimeter around the boys, finding nothing at first but animal scents: a deer, a few rabbits, a possum or two, a bobcat and its two kittens and what may have been a raccoon. But then he caught the scent of humans, live ones, and followed it a little ways away from the boys, through the dense underbrush, newly lush and green from the morning rain after a long dry spell.
Bones emerged from the woods onto an old logging trail, twin tire track gutters bending the grass into a road as they cut through the forest. Bones sniffed in a southeasterly direction, and the human scent strengthened. He turned and ran back into the trees.
“Bones?” Ryan asked as the dog came jogging back to the creek bed. Bones stopped, turned around,
woofed
once, then turned around again and cantered back up in the direction of the logging trail. Unmistakably, he wanted to show them something.
“Can you get up?” Ryan asked Jesse.
“Probably?” Jesse replied, a little unsure, though he’d managed to staunch the blood flow with strips torn from his shirt. “The second I walk anywhere, it’s going to move those bullets around and I’ll start bleeding again. Wherever we’re going has to be close.”
“Well, we can’t stay here,” Ryan said. “I think they can smell us. We have to keep moving or we’ll get caught. Like Mr. Arthur.”
Neither boy had mentioned him since they’d fled the highway, but as Jesse had ripped apart his shirt for bandages, each had kept on eye in the direction they’d come from, hoping, by some miracle, that he’d show up. It was obvious, however, that this wasn’t going to be the case.
“We don’t know what happened to Mr. Arthur,” began Jesse, tightening the strip of cloth tied around his wounded elbow. “But if something like that happens to me, you make sure you don’t let it happen to me, because if they really can smell us, then I’d probably come right after you. You understand?”
Ryan nodded quickly but couldn’t find the words to reply with. Jesse got to his feet, patted Ryan on the shoulder, and started limping after Bones. A second later, Ryan hurried over to him, giving him an arm to hang onto.
It only took a few minutes for Bones to lead the boys to the logging trail and made the decision for them as to which direction they were going to go, leading them towards the human smells. But when Jesse looked down the trail, he blanched.
“This could go for miles,” he protested. “They might have even cut it to go around any town. We could be out here for hours.”
Ryan just looked at him for a moment with a
you’ve-got-a-better-plan?
kind of baleful expression but then began following Bones and the tire tracks. It wasn’t ten minutes later that they could see the break in the dense trees up ahead and, a few minutes after that, the first couple of houses. Ryan shot a proud look at Bones, which he then turned on Jesse. Jesse, however, wasn’t so certain and moved forward with suspicion.
“Bones?” Jesse nervously queried the dog, hoping for some kind of reassuring response as to the flesh-eater-free makeup of the homes ahead. Bones kept walking, sniffing the ground and sniffing the air without any hint of alarm, which Jesse finally took as a good sign.
They soon moved off the logging trail and onto a paved road, emerging at the back
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