Danger Days

Chapter Two

Plastic Parade had been walking for hours, and the sun was now turned red, orange, and pink as it set magnificently on the horizon.

She needed to find a place to stay soon, someplace she could sleep without worry of being found until morning. There were lots of coyotes in the desert, and although they were sissies that were usually scared away with a few yell and a kick, Plastic was tired, and wasn't sure if she could intimidate them much in her state.

A jolt of energy struck her as she saw something in the distance. A small canal. That was good. Canals usually had reeds, which were good for hiding in, and water, which was scarce in the desert. Possibly even fish.

She quickened her pace to a jog, and even though it didn't take long for her to get there, by the time she stopped to look, the sun had set and the sky was rapidly fading to black.

There was only about a foot or so of water at the bottom, but it was moving, so she probably wouldn't get sick, and there was a thick clump of weeds that she could sleep in.

She scooted on her butt down to the water, where she used her hand to scoop cool water into her mouth, and then into her canteen. She walked to the clump of reeds and pushed her way into them with some difficulty, and pulled out a small, thin blanket, which she pulled over her and then lay down with.

It wasn't long before the chirping of crickets and soft gurgle of the water lulled Plastic to sleep.

She woke to the sound of mud sucking on feet, and chattering voices. Beginning to pack her blanket into her bag, she listened.

"-and then," a girl's voice said. "she just kept clubbing it, and clubbing it, and then it died. How badass is that?"

"Pretty badass," a guy responded. Plastic peeked out and saw a flash of bright red. "What happened to the chicken?"

"Oh, the chicken was fine. It had just like, given up. Chickens do that, it's weird. Just like 'oh, I'm being attacked. Might as well give up'. Isn't that-"

"Shhh!" the male interrupted. "Are those footprints?"

"Hey," the girl continued. "They are. Pretty fresh looking too."

"Yeah," the guys said. "And they lead up to..." Plastic caught a glimpse of two faces looking right into hers, and panic shot through her. She leapt from her hiding place, struggled out of the reeds, and took off running at top speed.

Glancing behind her, she saw a girl her age with purple, blue and black hair, and a man with flaming red hair. The two stared at her for a minute before hopping into an old white Trans Am with a spider painted on the hood and gunning the ignition.

With another jolt of fear, Plastic realized the car was coming her way. They were chasing her!

She turned her attention to fleeing once more, her black shoes slapping against the hot, cracked pavement.

She stood no chance against the speed of the car, but if she could hide...

She dove to the side and crawled into a drainage pipe, her heart beating fast. She heard the car screech to a halt above her. They knew she was here.

She scrambled out the other end and ran back towards the canal. Her breathing was fast, and her face was red with exertion. But she managed to make it to the ditch while they were still turning around, and began to run some more. With luck, they wouldn't be able to tell which way she went.

She ran for what seemed like hours, and didn't hear the car again. By that time, her legs felt like overcooked noodles, and every inch of her body burned.

She collapsed on her side in the mud, dirty, thirsty and tired. A grain of sand was in her eye, which was squeezed shut while tears leaked from it.

After she had finally regained some strength, she wiped the sand from her eye, and drank some water from the stream.

She pulled a can of the food she had gathered yesterday, Power Pup, from her bag, and a green swiss army knife out of her pocket, and opened her food, eating it with a knife.

She wrinkled her nose at the taste, but ate almost all of the can, shoving the rest into her bag for later. It might spill, but Plastic didn't care, much.

Finally, she stood, and began her daily journey. Somewhere far from the place she had started.