The Elementals

The gas is almost empty when a moose lumbers across the road. I had begun to relax just a bit because no one but us was out. It was just the endless black highway, then suddenly bam! there’s a tower of hulking fur and horns.

I slam on the brakes but I know it’s too late. I’m bracing for the impact when the truck is yanked to the side by some invisible force. We careen straight through the guardrails and grass and dirt spray the windshield as we nose dive into the side of the road.

I see the trees coming head on and then suddenly their gone. Something is surrounding me in a giant bubble. The thing runs into a tree and it clangs metallically. Steel. The ball of metal rolls to a stop and I kick at it until a rip appears. I race out and gasp.

The truck is smoking and mangled. A chunk of the hood has been ripped off, revealing the dented engine. The moose is long gone. I look around and see Steel emerging from a pile of dirt. His face is smudged and he has a cut on his jaw.

“I guess I can control the truck by moving the metal in the wheels.” He says.

“Might’ve helped if you had guessed that before.” I mutter.

Steel shrugs guiltily. I wait for Coal to make another sarcastic comment. I look around. He’s not next to me, like I had thought.

“Where’s Coal?” I demand.

“I could only save one of you.” Steel says.

I get a bad feeling in stomach. I start frantically searching through the wreckage. “Why didn’t you save him instead of me?”

Steel is silent. I race around the damage. Coal isn’t here. I’m starting to freak out. I look into the woods. Maybe he got thrown somewhere. I see a glimpse of a red shirt through the leaves and I dash over. He looks like he got trampled by a herd of buffalo.

“Coal?” I nudge him. “Hello?” No answer. “Coal?”

He coughs. “Did we hit the moose?” He chokes out.

"That’s what you’re worried about?”

“My dying question and you make fun of it. What a way to go.”

I want to punch him, but instead lift him up to his feet. “We have to keep moving.”

Coal winces when he takes a step. He needs to rest but we do need to get at least some distance from the crash. I walk next to him, just in case.

“You’re bleeding.” Steel says from my left.

“What?” I check myself. My arm, below my shoulder has a gash along it. Now that he’s pointed it out, I realize my arm feels like it’s on fire. “It’s fine.”

Steel looks at me and I know he knows I’m lying. It doesn’t matter. We have to keep going.

After about half an hour, Coal is almost completely relying on me to stay on his feet. I see a cave a little ways down in the ravine we’ve been traveling along. My arm is throbbing. I use this as an excuse to stop.

“We need food.” Steel says and I wish he wasn’t so right.

“Go look for some berries or something.” I tell him. After a slight pause, he obeys.

I pretty much drag Coal into the cave. It’s musty, and whatever lived here probably died here, but it’s warm and sheltered.

“I think Steel is plotting to kill me.” Coal coughs.

“He is not. Shut up and rest.” I deny. “And don’t you dare try and use your powers.”

“Yes mother.” He mumbles and I’m thisclose to hitting him.

I sit by the entrance to the cave, hidden in the shadows. Steel wouldn’t try to kill Coal, would he? The scariest part is that I’m not sure.

After an hour or so I hear a rustling. Footsteps. Oh no. Voices. Not again. The sound of men trying to track three kids through a forest. I see them appear over the ravine. Six, seven, eight heads, then bodies. One of them spots the cave and motions to the other men. I glance behind me. Coal is asleep, and even if he was awake, he’s in no condition to do anything.

I step out of the cave.