The Downward Spiral Book 1

Chapter 4. Cold Blooded Killer

"I didn't mean to! There wasn't anyone there in front of me! I swear!"

My mind was racing and it was then that I realized that I haven't seen a single car pass by on the way to town on our way here. In fact, we ended up smack middle of the bridge where a safety guard stopped us last night.

But it was deserted now.

The multiple blockades they used to prevent us from coming in last night were now broken in several different places. Bright orange traffic cones were scattered everywhere and flattened with tire tracks.

"What the hell happened here last night?"

"Sasha, don't change the subject! Look what you did!" Lily wailed.

Ray tapped her on the shoulder but his eyes were wide and staring past her. "I don't think she was the one who killed him."

Lily whipped her head around so fast that it almost sent her raven hair flying out of it's curls. "What do you mean?! The whole car nearly fell over when we hit him!"

He pointed in front of him and we saw then what had made him frozen with fear.

Bodies upon bodies laid motionless up and down the streets. The intersection had a trainwreck of cars smashed into one another with flames still burning from the impact. I spotted a few people still inside with gashes on their foreheads, all dead or unconscious. Burning flesh tinged my nose hairs and I quickly closed my eyes from the sight.

This place is a graveyard.

"Are they all...?" Raymond choked, slowly inching back towards the car.

"Yeah, from the looks of it..." I mumbled.

I couldn't believe what we saw. The white of their eyes and their mouths hanging open, twisted in pain still burned into my eyelids and wouldn't go away.

"Anyone else feel like going home? Like right now?" Ray asked, hopping back into the car.

"Yeah, we should." I agreed.

"Wait." Lily protested.

I was already halfway in when I stopped, wondering what in the world would make her want to stay at this terrifying scene. If I was to get even a small sniff of the decaying bodies roasting on the sidewalks in this morning sun I knew I was going to lose what little I had in my stomach.

"We...we can't go yet please. It's my mom...she could still be out here and she's all I have left. I have to go see if she's okay" She was shaking badly. "I mean I know, this is frightening as hell but..."

Tears were forming in her pleading eyes and when I saw how difficult it was for her to swallow the lump in her throat. I let out a reluctant sigh. It wasn't everyday to come across not just one dead body, but dozens? I even spotted one of the construction workers still in uniform sprawled out over someone's lawn.

"You sure?" I asked, with the tiny sliver of hope that she would change her mind. "Maybe we should call the police about this first and let them take care of this."

"Sasha, who knows how long that will take? You even said it yourself that whatever is happening to these people that take out police officers. If that's true, I may never find out if she's alright." She broke down in front of me. "Please help me. I don't know what I would do if I lost her too.."

"But what about us Lily? What if we cross paths with the people who did this?"

"We could at least try." Ray spoke up in a whisper. He quickly cleared his throat. "We'll go as far as we can and then we turn around if it gets too much for us to handle."