The following is an extract from Genesis, a book I'm writing
“You awake, Ethan?”
“Mmph...”
“Take over?” Ethan blearily opened his eyes to see Danielle, pale with circles around her eyes. He blinked again, and rubbed the grit sleep had brought into his eyes out with his hands. Suddenly he remembered where they were. “Oh... How long did I sleep?” he asked a little hoarsely, and cleared his throat.
It was dark outside, so he assumed that it hadn’t been very long. For a moment, irritation shot through him – Danielle was the one who had wanted to drive-
“A day,” Danielle replied wearily, covering up a yawn. “We need to refill this baby before we-”
A scream interrupted her, and Ethan barely had time to brace himself before Danielle stamped violently on the breaks, causing the both of them to fly forwards. Danielle stopped herself by bracing her hands on the steering wheel, but Ethan, whose hands were nowhere near the dashboard, flew forward and had to throw out one arm to stop himself.
Ouch.
The crazed creature in front of them, barely human, hit the windscreen with a sickening thud, cracking it in many places. It screeched again, and started to tear at the hood of the car.
What was it doing?!
“Gun get a gun, gun!” Danielle yelped as another one hit her window. The glass cracked, but held. Her fingers were scrabbling frantically for a gun, and Ethan spied a pistol in the backseat. He reached back and grabbed it – again, ouch – whipped back around and started firing through the glass at the creature. The bullet shattered what remained of the windscreen, and cut them with glass, but the creature fell over, dead, when he needed to reload, which he did swiftly, in case anything else decided to take advantage of their distraction.
Danielle had taken care of her own creature as well, and shut the door with a sigh. “Ethan, couldn’t you have run out to shoot it?” she asked, surveying the mess of the windscreen.
“If I ran out, I’d have been killed,” he replied defensively. “The thing was distracted by the hood of the car, and we’re lucky – if it hadn’t, we’d be pushing up the daisies.”
“In your case, you’d be pushing up the weeds,” Danielle muttered under her breath, but let it slide. “All right, you’re right,” she sighed.
“Of course I am,” he replied, smiling, and leaned back, looking worn out. “Well,” he murmured, closing his eyes. “That was exhilarating.”
“Certainly woke you up,” Danielle muttered, and sighed.
“I have to admit that that was one of the most exciting things I’ve woken up to,” Ethan said with a grin. Danielle rolled her eyes. “I’m thinking that I don’t want to know what the most exciting was.”
The youth shrugged a little wearily; he winced when his movement jostled his wounds. “Ah... Well, if you say so, Dani.” He grinned at her. “But I suppose I can tell you-“
“No!” Danielle yelped.
“-that it isn’t your face,” he finished, and grinned. She groaned.
“I’m taking that as a personal insult,” she muttered moodily, stepping on the accelerator with no success. “This car hates me,” she remarked.
“I think it just shitted itself when that thing was trying to kill it,” Ethan said laughingly, reaching over to poke around until the car was purring again. “Ah, there we go,” he grinned, pleased, and sat back up slowly with a sigh. Dani shot him a look of worry that he ignored.
“How are you ribs feeling? Maybe we should blow all the way to Genesis’ nearest minor laboratory – no stops except for bathroom, scavenging and refuelling trips. I know that they can treat you there. I can drive for a few more hours if you need to rest-“
He waved his hand dismissively. “Danielle, no matter how long I rest, I would still be in pain for a foreseeable future – depending on whether they’re broken, how much injury that thing caused, and if I live until the end of said foreseeable future.” He grinned at her. She frowned at him, and his grin faded. “And I’m not settling for anything less than Genesis’ Headquarters – after all we’ve been through, I’d like some comfort, thanks.” He grinned again. He wanted to avoid the minor labs thanks to his father, who was last seen at the minor lab at which one of his crazy experiments broke out – the same one who was possibly the one who let out that creature who started this entire situation. He’d probably have evacuated to the nearest minor lab, and was hopefully still waiting there, working on a cure. Ethan’s best bet was the HQ – it was safe from the stupid metal things and his father. It was like a lottery with added bonus!
Danielle sighed. “I don’t think they’re exactly five-star...”
“Oh, but they are,” Ethan assured her darkly. “Velvet seats in the guest rooms, soft beds... God, I wish I was there right now,” he muttered.
“I wish I was anywhere but here,” Danielle replied, sighing.
Ethan grinned. “You and me both."
(c) Angeline L. 2010
