Awakening: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction by Norman Christof

a little wager?  I’ll bet you I can bring this one back the same way you brought me back.  You couldn’t even do that, now, could you?  What do you suppose she’d do?  Things didn’t go all that well last time you tried it.  I’m sure I can do better though.  Let’s try it, shall we?”
    Before Christa could finish saying, “Don’t …” Andreas was already in Leekasha’s head.  He thought about what it felt like to be under the control of the drug.  How much it hurt, and no matter how much he screamed, the pain never went away.  He could hear her screams and followed them.  They meandered around corners, down pits and up into mountains. The screaming got louder the closer he climbed.  Eventually he could picture a ravine with a rope bridge across, but the bridge was broken and hanging down the sides.  He reached across the ravine, with just his right arm stretching it further than it should be able to go, and grabbed the broken bridge.  With his left arm, he grabbed the near side of the bridge and brought the two sides together till the ropes touched.  The two sides fused and the bridge was once again whole and undamaged.
     
    Andreas open his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was the look of horror on Christa’s face.  The next thing he noticed was the bodies in the booth next to theirs.  Two couples broken and bleeding.  Their throats were torn wide open, with warm blood gushing out.  Then he saw Leekasha feeding on the same pretty blonde girl that Andreas had noticed earlier. 
     
    Leekasha’s attack reminded him of Captain Willie.  Of how good it felt to release all that tension and pain that had tortured him for years.  He still remembered the pain, and still felt it.  No amount of killings would ever take that away, but he understood why Leekasha had done what she had.  The pressure had to go somewhere.  It couldn’t just stay inside.
     
    “Leekasha, now look what you’ve done,” he said, smiling.  “You’ve gone and killed the pretty one.  Why didn’t you just take the fat one over there?”
     
    Christa moved quickly to Leekasha, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her off the blonde.  Andreas piped up over the booth, “It’s too late now, she’s already ruined that one.”  He looked at his empty beers, then around the room.  It was quickly being vacated by screaming patrons running and tripping over each other for the exits. 
    “Don’t suppose there’s any chance of me flagging down a waitress in this mess.  We may as well go.  Alright, Christa, I suppose we can do it your way now.  What did you have in mind?”
     
    Christa was already leading Leekasha towards the exits.  Andreas got up and casually followed them, grabbing a half-full beer from a deserted table.
     
     
     

Kill or Die
    Alex and Chaz were loading the last of the supplies into the back of the black military-grade SUV before heading out.
    “We’ve got enough ammo and rations here to equip six of us, Colonel.  How long exactly do they think we’re going to be gone for?”
    “Hard to say, kid.  The lead we’ve got isn’t all that great, and we’ve got a big area to start searching in.  A little extra gear is good.  We can focus on finding Christa and not have to worry about where our next meal is coming from.”
    “You might change your mind about that after you’ve eaten some of these military rations, Colonel.  They’re not exactly your mom’s home cooking.”
    “Yeah, thanks, kid.  I’m well aware of military food.  Here’s to hoping either it’s gotten a lot better in the last few years or we get lucky and find Christa quickly.”
    “She’d like that.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Alex rubbed his eye and looked around nervously.  “Well … she’s just having a hard time of it lately.  Things aren’t really going her way.”
    “She told you that?  She still talks to you?  Inside your head?”
    “It’s more a feeling.  She didn’t say anything