Kapitel 11: Night Terror
The sun was rising. The sky had turned a red color once again, and that's when Lucas knew he had made it through the night.
Lucas usually didn't allow himself to sleep. It made him vulnerable, and he'd almost always be attacked when he wakes up.
He stayed up the entire night, not exactly conscious, but aware. If something were to approached, he could access it and jump into action. But this had some undesirable—
(???: "Hey…")
A voice whispered into his ear. Lucas flinched and twisted his head, trying to see what it came from, but he couldn't find anything. The voice. It was familiar, but foreign. It was young.
Lucas searched off to his right, looking up and down the trees for the source of the voice. He looked left. Eyes. Blue like the ocean. They stared into his own.
(???: "Hey…")
The voice whispered again. Although the source was right in front of his face, he heard the voice come from behind him.
What he was seeing and hearing wasn't lining up, and it was frightening him a little.
(Stella: "Are you okay?")
Stella saw Lucas staring at something in the distance, and he only snapped out of it when she said something. She tried to see what he was looking at, but she didn't see a thing.
Lucas looked up and her, and then back to his left. The eyes were gone.
Stella came closer and crouched down. In front of him. Lucas looked into her eyes.
(Stella: "Your eyes are, like, super red right now. Did you not sleep? Or is that just the sky?")
Lucas down to his right, back to her, and repeated this a couple times. Stella looked for what Lucas was seeing, but she didn't see a thing.
(Lucas: "Jesus…")
Stella was right in front of him. She was right there. But if that was so… then why was she still asleep right behind her?
Lucas rubbed his eyes with his palms. Stella was gone. She was no longer in front of him. Lucas remembered he had sat next to her as she slept. He looked to his right and saw her fast asleep, the baby wrapped up in blankets still in her arms.
Lucas heard a whisper again. He looked up and past Stella. Those same blue eyes stared at him. The person was covered with heavy clothing, and they held a gun.
Lucas shook his head. He mouthed the word "no" over and over and over again. The man waved the gun at Lucas. He raised the gun, putting it to the side of their head.
Lucas squeezed his eyes closed and covered his ears. He looked away. He didn't want to see, but the image of the man kept pervading his vision.
With a loud gunshot, Lucas slammed his head into the tree behind him. Once, twice, three times, four. He was out.
Stella awoke to the bright yellow tinted sky. The baby was whimpering a little bit, and she sat up and looked around. She saw Lucas fast asleep. He was slumped over to his left.
It was a humorous sight to behold. This man who tried so hard to act cool with that self-sacrificial talk was pathetically slumped over and asleep. Quite a juxtaposition in her opinion.
She fed the baby and sat next to Lucas. The water container was next to Lucas. It was one of those that had a little button to release the water. She pulled a cup out of her backpack and poured some water into it. She gave some to the baby before drinking the rest of it herself.
She could still see where the road was. The streetlights were still on. She wondered how they'd find Unit Twenty-one. There were no directions, and hardly any clues as to where it was.
They had only been following the lights so far. They didn't know if where they were going is where it actually was. They just assumed that following the streetlights would lead them to the source of the power. It was nothing more than an assumption that Unit Twenty-one was actually producing it.
Despite this, Stella remained optimistic. She had to. She didn't want to return to that cabin. She didn't want to stay around here. They needed a sanctuary, and she knew Unit Twenty-one was just that. It had to be.
Lucas woke up. His eyes slowly peeled open. He saw Stella cradling the baby right next to him. He sat up and scratched his chin.
(Stella: "Oh, look who's up.")
(Lucas: "Why are you so close?")
(Stella: "Did you sleep well?")
She ignored his question. Lucas wanted to scoot away from her, but he felt comfortable. He didn't want to move.
Stella looked above Lucas. He wasn't sure what she was looking at, so he looked around for it.
(Lucas: "What are you looking at?")
(Stella: "Your hair is so messed up. When was the last time you combed it?")
(Lucas: "Does combing your hair matter anymore?")
(Stella: "Of course it does!")
(Lucas: "Okay, then did you bring a comb?")
(Stella: "No… But~! But when we find one, I'll do your hair.")
(Lucas: "I can do my own hair.")
(Stella: "Pfft. Liar. You wouldn't know how to do it to save your life.")
(Lucas: "What? Like how I don't know how to use the crossbow?")
(Stella: "Just because you can use a knife doesn't mean you can use a crossbow, or even a comb.")
Stella snatched the crossbow away from Lucas, who still had it at this point.
(Lucas: "Okay, I can prove to you then that I know how to use the crossbow.")
He then pulled the crossbow away from her once again, standing up and getting ready.
(Lucas: "Set up a target for me or something.")
Stella sighed, but she stood up and went to go find something to use as a target. She brought back a thin stick and leaned it against a tree. Lucas clicked his tongue.
(Lucas: "Now, how am I gonna hit that?")
(Stella: "If you're such a master of the art of weaponry, then you should be able to hit that no problem.)
With a loud "hmph," Lucas got into a odd stance. He was awkwardly leaned back, and his knees were locked. He rested the crossbow against his shoulder and had his finger on the trigger at all times.
He aimed at the stick, ready to fire. He pulled the trigger. Nothing. He tried again. Still nothing. The trigger wasn't being pulled.
Stella strolled up behind him, reached over his shoulder and pulled a switch back.
(Stella: "The safety was on, genius.")
(Lucas: "That's not fair!")
(Stella: "Go ahead then, we're all human here, we make mistakes. Now's the real test.")
Lucas got into his strange stance once again. His eyes were locked on the target. He was ready. He pulled the trigger, and he heard a metallic click. The string thrust forward, sending the arrow plummeting through the air.
It plummeted toward the stick, before making contact. Not with the stick, but with the ground. The arrow dug itself into the ground, right in front of the stick that was perched on the tree.
Lucas was speechless. Why did it fall so severely? Stella laughed at him, almost falling to her knees. Even the baby was laughing along with her.
Lucas gave the crossbow back to Stella. He was stone faced, not amused by his failure in the slightest. Stella took it and continued to laugh.
(Stella: "What was that about a knife being harder to use?!")
(Lucas: "Shut up.")
(Stella: "Now that you've humbled yourself, would you like me to teach you how to use a crossbow?")
Lucas took a deep breath.
(Lucas: "How about when we find Unit Twenty-one, you can teach me how to use a crossbow.")
(Stella: "And comb your hair?!")
(Lucas: "No.")
(Stella: "Aw, man.")
They packed up all their stuff. Stella tied the water container to Lucas' back once again, and they set forward, back on the road.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
MichaelCK
MichaelCK Usually I’m not a fan of dream/hallucination sequences in stories, because they often feel out of place, but I think I’ve established that Lucas is often teetering on the edge of insanity, so I don’t think hallucinations are too far off of a possibility for him, especially when he tends to deprive himself of sleep.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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Rangliste 
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