Life and Death Decisions in 'THE VALLEY'
- gretsch2102
- Aug 25, 2023
- 3 min read
THE VALLEY is a story of full of people thrown into circumstances they never dreamed of and having to make decisions they never imagined. Skye Hartford is a young woman whose only decision mere weeks ago had been trying to decide who to date from Stanley Falls's limited pool of eligible teenagers. She never dreamed she'd find herself guarding a mountain trail to prevent potentially infected refugees from entering their valley sanctuary on foot.
Here’s a preview of Skye’s introduction to her new world.
"Entry into the Stanley Valley is prohibited. Access to the valley may be applied for in special circumstances at the Stanley Valley Security Corps Checkpoints on Route Twelve at Kebler Pass or Highway 135 at Truman Crossing."
The man's face showed anger. He had a bead on Skye's rough location now and peered up in the general direction of the hide.
"Route Twelve?" he yelled in anger. "That's fifty miles back the way we came. We've already been there!"
His female companion was pawing at his arm and trying to speak to him. The man pushed her hand away and ignored her.
Skye yelled out again.
"You are directed to turn around and retrace your route. You will not be permitted to enter the valley along this route."
Sky watched the man's anger blossom into a rage.
"Says who?" he yelled back, shaking a fist towards Skye's location. "Who are you to tell us we can't walk down a public trail? Come out where I can see you."
Skye felt the anxiety building inside and felt sick to her stomach. The man quivered behind the scope’s crosshairs as her hands shook with the adrenalin. They had workshopped this a hundred times. She knew what she had to do, but that wasn't making it any easier. Where the hell was Tyler?
"You're by yourself, aren't you?" came the yell from below. "Just a girl, by the sounds of it." The confidence in his voice climbed when Skye didn't immediately respond. He laughed and began to walk further down the trail towards her, the child and woman following behind. "We ain't walking back over that fucking mountain."
Skye placed the crosshairs on the trail a few feet in front of the slowly advancing man, clicked off the safety, took a breath, and then stroked the trigger. The crash of the rifle filled the forest, and she felt the butt slam back painfully into her shoulder. The round landed where she aimed, sending a fountain of dirt and rock into the air three feet in front of the small group. There was a scream from the woman and a yelp from the man. The kid was strangely silent. All three stopped in their tracks. Skye yelled again, more confidence in her voice this time.
"There will be no further warning shots. If you continue to try and enter the valley, I will fire on you."
The woman forced her way in front of her male companion and howled at Skye, hidden above.
"You fucking bitch!" A wracking cough followed the outburst. "There's a fucking kid down here. You can't close a whole damn valley!"
Skye noticed the woman's pallid, dirty complexion for the first time. Focussing on her face through the rifle scope, she could see a smear of red under her nostrils and what looked like beads of bloody tears at the corner of her eyes."
"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck," she hissed. "She's sick!"
…The adventure continues in THE VALLEY! - Pick up a copy in the links provided.
留言