Yellow Heat - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (The Red Sky Series Book 6) Read online

  I managed to get myself to my feet, feeling a bit woozy as if I had one drink too many. My fingers moved to the side of my head and I winced when I felt the small bump that felt like it was growing. I must have hit my head when I’d fallen.

  I’d been walking.

  Dammit.

  I’d been on my way to Winnipeg.

  I reached out in front of me, feeling some kind of solid wall. My fingertips glided across the gritty wall as I moved in the shape of a rectangle. Everything I touched had felt exactly the same as the floor I’d just been laying on had felt.

  I’d walked nearly completely around the small area stopping when my feet bumped into something almost causing me to trip. I jumped back and reached for the blade I remembered I had. Something was with me. Something large.

  My eyes seemed to be adjusting to the dim lighting. I blinked several times ready to attack but then I realized what was on the ground.

  “Oh, God! Kellan!” I said dropping to my knees. His arms were stretched out into an awkward position. Was his arm broken? He hadn’t even seemed to notice that I had bumped into him.

  Maybe it was worse than a broken arm. Maybe he had broken his neck when he fell. Why wasn’t he moving? Why wasn’t he answering me?

  “Kellan! Wake up!” I said as I shook him. He still didn’t move. “Come on Kellan!”

  I stood up feeling like I needed air… needed to get away. The air around me was thick and humid. When I drew in a breath, it felt like I was drowning.

  I didn’t know what to do for Kellan but I had to try something. A rock scraped against my knee as I dropped back down beside him and pressed my fingertips to his inner wrist.

  My heartbeat was too loud. I couldn’t be sure if I was feeling his pulse. I drew in a deep breath and held it in my lungs. My eyes closed as I kept myself calm and focused on where my fingertips touched Kellan’s wrist.

  There was something there. A beat. A normal beat it seemed. Strong. Kellan was alive.

  I shook him again. “Kellan, wake up! Please open your eyes!”

  He groaned as he tried to look up at me. His eyes looked past me like he didn’t even know I was there.

  “Oww!” he said as his hand shot up to the back of his head. “What the….”

  “I think we fell,” I said looking up.

  It seemed as though he was experiencing the same brief memory loss I had experienced. At least hopefully his would also be brief.

  “Where did we fall? China?” he asked swinging his legs around and pressing his back to the dirt wall. His hands moved up and his fingers moved quickly through his hair as he scratched his scalp. Bits of dirt must have sprinkled down into his hair.

  I placed my hands on the wall and reached up as far as I could. It felt like the top of the wall was growing even further out of my reach.

  “Please tell me the backpack fell with you,” I said looking back down at Kellan. It felt like there were a hundred angry bees flying around inside my stomach. If we were trapped, we would want to be trapped with food and water.

  “Ugh, I think so,” Kellan said feeling at his sides.

  I scoured the ground and saw a shadow a couple of feet away from him. There was a hopeful twinge in my chest that we hadn’t been stranded without our supplies. Even though we didn’t have much, it would be better than having nothing at all.

  “Ah ha!” I said picking up the pack.

  “Flashlight,” Kellan said pointing as something several feet away from me.

  “Oh!” I said picking it up off of the ground and clicking the button. The light flickered for a brief moment, but wouldn’t come back on no matter how much I shook it. “Dammit.”

  Kellan held out his hand. “Let me take a look.”

  I watched him as he twisted and pulled at the parts of the flashlight. After a moment he dropped it to the ground.

  “We’ll just have to wait until morning to fully assess our situation,” Kellan said.

  The light flickered for a quick moment illuminating the wall to my side. There was a certain perfectness to the wall that seemed unusual. We hadn’t fallen into a random pit. We’d fallen into something that was man-made.

  “I don’t know if we have until morning,” I said with a hard swallow. “What do you think this place is for? A pit to catch animals or something?”

  I could feel Kellan’s eyes glued to me. “I think it’s for catching people.”

  “Why would you think that?” I asked even though the thought had crossed my mind.

  “It wouldn’t need to be this deep for an animal.”

  “Did you know about this?” I asked trying hard to keep my tone steady even though every inch of my body was being twisted with worry.

  “Of course, I didn’t,” he said sounding angry.

  I shook my head. “I… I didn’t mean to imply—”

  “I must have gotten us off course somehow but I’m not sure how I could have. I’ve taken this route many times.” Kellan scratched his head and shook it wildly as if there was still dirt that was irritating his scalp. “Ugh! I don’t know how this is possible. I heard the river. I was on the right path. At least I think we were. We shouldn’t have kept going when it got dark.”

  “Now it’s my fault?” I said crossing my arms. “I thought you guys often traveled through the night until you got there.”

  “Peter did. I followed,” he said looking as though the words had tasted sour. “If this had been here the last time we came through, we would have seen it. We would have known about it.”

  “Okay, so someone dug this recently,” I said as I chewed my fingernail. Little bits of dirt crunched between my teeth. “That can’t be good.”

  Kellan snorted. “Either way, new or old, this isn’t good.”

  I looked up as I paced. My heart pounded faster the more I breathed in the earthy, dust-filled air. I didn’t like being trapped and it was bringing every ounce of anxiety I used to feel daily back to the surface.

  Anxiety had been something that filled my body daily before the attacks. It had been there after the attacks too but we’d always been dealing one thing or another and I’d been able to push it away or ignore it. Down in the pit, however, the only thing I had to think about was my anxiety.

  “I feel like I can’t breathe,” I said pressing my hands to my chest.

  Kellan was on his feet and at my side quicker than I’d thought possible. He seemed unsteady but managed to hold me up.

  “Take a slow breath in,” Kellan said softly into my ear. “Everything is okay. We’re okay.”

  “We’re not okay,” I said sucking in several quick breaths. It was like I suddenly had forgotten how to breathe. “We’re trapped. We’re never getting out.”

  “Gwen,” Kellan said stroking my shoulder with his thumb. “Try to stay calm.”

  My eyes widened and the dry, dusty air scratched when I blinked. “Stay calm?” My voice got louder. “Stay calm?”

  “Yes, please,” Kellan said. “I’ll get us out of this. Just let me think.”

  “There is no amount of thinking that is going to help you figure this out,” I said trying to cover a gasp. “Unless we have a ladder in that backpack we’re screwed.”

  Kellan shook his head as he rubbed his hand across my shoulders. He was trying to calm me but it suddenly felt like he was too close.

  I took a quick step away and stood face to face with the wall. My head slowly tilted as I looked up.

  “Let me give you a boost,” Kellan said.

  “Even if that works, how will I get you out?” I asked.

  “Find a big branch or worst case you have to go back and get Peter,” Kellan said with a slight shrug. I couldn’t understand how he was staying so calm.

  I couldn’t hold my laugh in. “If I could find my way back, who knows if you’d still be here by the time we got back. Not that I’d even be able to find this random pit ever again.”

  “Okay, okay, ju—just stay calm,” Kellan said finally struggling to keep h
is cool. He was starting to understand the severity of the situation but it wasn’t making me feel any better.

  Kellan walked over and stood next to me. He was so close our shoulders touched. I looked over at him but he was looking up the wall just as I had been.

  “It’s too high,” I said but I was pretty sure he had already realized.

  “Let’s give it a shot,” he said crouching slightly. “Go on.”

  I stood on his knee and reached up the wall. Bits of dirt crumbled downward making their little scraping noises as they fell.

  “Can you reach?” Kellan grunted.

  I stretched as far as I could, willing my body to grow but I was a good ten inches from the top. “No. No, I can’t.”

  “Try harder,” Kellan said.

  “I’m trying as hard as I can but unless I hit a grown spurt right now, I’m a foot too short.”

  Kellan lowered me back down to the ground. He walked away from me and hit the dirt wall with both fists.

  “Shit!” he roared as he pressed his palms into the dirt.

  Kellan drew in a breath and turned to me. He opened his mouth but it made a soft pop as he snapped it shut and turned back to the wall.

  There was a brief hesitation before he started digging his fingers into the dirt. “Maybe I can make holes for our feet. We can climb our way out.”

  “Okay,” I said with a nod. I watched him as he worked quickly. Desperately.

  After he’d carved out a nice sized hole, he stuck his foot inside. He moved his shoe around packing the dirt.

  “Here goes nothing,” he said digging his fingertips into the dirt as he pulled his up his weight. He let out a small laugh. “Ha! It works!”

  “Okay,” I said looking up. Not sure how he was going to manage to dig the holes higher up. “Keep going. Let’s get out of this hell hole.”

  Eighteen

  I sat there watching Kellan work. Dirt crumbled to the ground making a tall mound around his feet that almost touched his ankles.

  It was nearly morning and he hadn’t made as much progress as either of us had hoped. I didn’t want to be the one to say it out loud but the plan didn’t seem to be working.

  Kellan wasn’t able to easily hold himself up and dig the holes higher on the wall. He’d get up, dig out a couple scoops and drop back down to the ground. I had to give him credit though because he didn’t give up even though I could tell by the look in his eyes that his hope had diminished too. If it had been me, I’d have given up hours ago.

  The sun came up but the temperature in the pit hadn’t changed much and neither had the lighting. It was a tiny bit brighter and now I could see Kellan a bit easier but the trees above have been blocking most of the sun from reaching us.

  Kellan climbed the wall testing out the two new holes he’d made. When he stuck his foot in the highest one, he hadn’t waited long enough to see if it would hold him. Kellan moved too quickly, putting his full weight down and it collapsed out from under his weight.

  He tried to dig his fingers into the wall to stop himself from falling, but his fingers didn’t have the strength to hold him up. Kellan crashed to the ground scraping his nails down the dirt wall as he fell. He landed with a hard thud that looked as though it had rattled his brain.

  “Are you okay?” I asked scooting myself closer to him.

  Kellan groaned as he shook his head. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

  He rested his forearms on his knees as his eyes studied the vertical wall in front of him. His fingers were coated with a thin layer of dirt, and there was so much dirt under his fingernails it looked like it might actually be causing him pain.

  “It’s just not going to hold my weight,” Kellan said.

  “Want me to give it a shot?” I asked.

  “Be my guest but I don’t think it’s going to hold you either,” Kellan said. “It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be to scale up a flat wall.”

  I stood up and placed my foot into the first hole. It felt like it was about to give out but if I moved fast enough from hole to hole maybe, I could get to the top.

  I dug my fingers into the wall and pulled myself up. The muscles in my arm vibrated so violently it felt like I was experiencing an earthquake.

  I reached higher but my arm felt as though it was made out of jelly. My teeth pressed together as I tried to summon up some extra strength but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have any extra strength to spare.

  I crumpled to the ground feeling like a pathetic failure. My eyes closed as I buried my face into my dirty hands.

  “Sorry,” I muttered.

  “Don’t worry,” Kellan said placing his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. It’s just going to take more work. A different strategy.”

  I shook my head. “That translates to more time. We don’t have time.”

  “Down here we have too much time. There isn’t anything else to do but to keep digging.” Kellan looked up. “And I’m not ready to stop. I’ll carve out a staircase with my bare hands before I give up.”

  There was a long silence between us. I stared at the dirt that had managed to coat my hands and arms. It felt like it had even sprinkled inside of my clothes making me feel like I need to itch every inch of my body at the same time.

  I cleared my throat. “Maybe it won’t be long before Peter comes this way with the others. As long as they get here before whoever dug this, we’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah,” Kellan said but he didn’t sound even a little hopeful.

  “You said you always take this route, didn’t you?” I asked.

  Kellan nodded flashing me a weak smile. “Yeah, always.”

  “Well, then they’ll find us,” I said.

  “Sure, but who knows how long it’ll take for Molly’s ankle to heal?”

  “Days?” I asked. “We’ve got enough with us to last days if we ration it.”

  Kellan nodded. He bounced his leg up and down

  “What is it? You don’t think they’ll find us?” I asked feeling my pulse quicken.

  “They will, I just worry about how long it will take,” Kellan said looking at me over his shoulder. “It’s going to be fine.”

  * * *

  Over the next two days we kept trying to dig our way out but everything we tried failed. The dirt was too dry and no matter what we tried, it wouldn’t hold a shape.

  I was sitting with my back against the wall staring at the holes we’d created in the opposite wall. Kellan was lying on the floor facing upward with his eyes closed. His chest rose and fell with each long breath.

  He’d been working so hard to get us out that he was exhausted. Kellan had tried everything but nothing worked. Not that he was about to give up. Not even close.

  I tipped my head back resting it in the dirt. There were so many bits of dirt in my hair they shook out at the slightest movement sprinkling down around me like rain.

  My eyelids fluttered as I fought off sleep. The muscles in my shoulders relaxed and I started to fall into darkness just as I heard a noise above.

  Every inch of my being shuddered and I looked around the pit expecting to see someone standing there. I must have imagined the noise. Dreamed it.

  I was just about to let myself relax when I heard it again. My breath caught in my throat as I pushed myself back against the wall.

  I didn’t know if I should scream, calling for help. It could have been Peter… Nick. I didn’t want them to keep going.

  My lips trembled as I opened them but nothing would come out from between my lips. I crawled across the dirt looking like a centipede as I made my way to Kellan.

  “Kellan!” I said softly as I shook his shoulder.

  His eyes popped open and I lightly placed my hand over his mouth while I tapped my index finger over my lips. Kellan’s eyes widened, overflowing with questions.

  I bit my lip as I pulled my hand away from his mouth. My voice was like winter’s first snowflake falling to the ground. “Someone’s up there.”

&n
bsp; “Peter?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No idea. Maybe?”

  Kellan stood and brushed himself off. He looked up as he listened to the soft crunches above us.

  “Do I call out for them?” Kellan asked.

  “What choice do we have? They don’t know we’re down here. If it’s them, they’ll keep going and we’ll miss our chance.”

  “And if it’s not them?” Kellan asked.

  I swallowed hard. “Then they’re coming for us anyway.”

  “Good point.”

  Kellan scratched the back of his neck and sighed. He gave me a final glance before looking up again.

  “Hello?” he called out. “Is someone up there?”

  There was no response.

  “Maybe it’s an animal,” I whispered.

  “Maybe.” Kellan hesitated. His voice was louder. “Hello? Who’s up there?”

  Still no answer.

  Kellan looked at me and I could see the worry oozing from his eyes. We both turned to look back up at the same time.

  I almost fell over when I saw the faces looking back down at us.

  Nineteen

  Kellan wrapped his arm around me protectively. The unfamiliar faces staring down at us sent my blood surging so quickly through my veins that it felt like my head was filling with helium and it was about to drift away.

  “Hello down there,” the man said in a rather chipper voice. The other two faces staring at us belonged to women that both wore the same concerned expression. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, we’re fine,” Kellan said.

  “That’s good. Looks like a mighty long fall,” he said.

  Kellan drew in a breath. “Can you help us out of here?”

  “It’s your lucky day,” the man said with a raised brow.

  Kellan blew out a soft puff of disbelief from between his lips.

  “Hang on now. Don’t go anywhere,” the man said with a chuckle as he and the women disappeared out of sight like turtles going back into their shells.

  It was only a few minutes before a rope dropped down between Kellan and I. I swallowed hard and chewed my fingernail. The dirt from underneath the nail crunched against my tooth in a way that made me cringe at both the taste and the sensation.