Trucksong Read Online Free Page B

and reached down to pull up a hefty case, to find underneath was a creature that looked like a snake with dirty metal skin lying there against the ground. It was so still I didn’t see what it was until I was right up close. I siezed up. It glistened wet and nasty, ten hands long and thick like a root. Its tongue flicked. Its skin was black holes in the world. Its red eye glowed in the shadows and it made a shivering slivering whisper as it reared up on its back and looked right at me. I called out, me voice quivering.
    ‘Smoov... There’s some kind of snake.’
    Smoov looked up but he was slow in moving. Isa’s eyes flashed on the snake. She came closer to take a look.
    ‘Stay back,’ I said.
    She wouldn’t. She wanted to see and she wanted to get close to it, her eyes bright and burning to see the knowing of the new creature. She took another step forwards and bent down, reaching out her hand, the snake struck and bit her wrist. She cried out and that’s when Smoov came rushing over. The snake slivered off into the garbage. Smoov turned on me, eyes red and ruddy beard scraggling with rage.
    ‘What’ve you done, you fucken idjit? You stirred it up, didinya?’
    He pushed me rough out of the way, trying to get to Isa.
    ‘No I didn’t it wasn’t like that,’ I said.
    Sickening real fast, Isa paled and falled to the ground. She cried and whimpered.
    He gathered her up in his arms and took her rushing back to where we were camped, next to an old and rusted truck cab on its axles, its windows hung with tarps. Smoov ripped off a piece of cloth from his shirt and tied up her arm real tight. Laid her on the ground and said, ‘Don’t move, there there.’ Busted up a couple of sticks on his knee and tied them to her arm so she couldn’t move it.
    I watched him from behind. I didn’t want to get in the way but I wanted to see what I could do to help.
    The skin on her arm started to turn blue and scale up like the dirty metal scales from the snake thing, hard and cold. She was going into shock, sweating and shivering. The poison was spreading. She started to moan. Sunlight glinted off the sweat on her skin. I leaned in to touch her.
    ‘Git away,’ Smoov yelled.
    He swung the back of his hand and clipped me on the head. Like it was my fault Isa got bitten. I went down to the edge of the ruins and cried where the robos and the crows pecked over bones and circuit boards and I hoped Isa would be OK.

    I kept me eyes out for the snake but it was long gone. Isa snakebitten and no telling what would happen to her.
    Smoov glowering.
    ‘Fucken idjit,’ he said.
    ‘Fair go, Smoov. It weren’t my fault,’ I said.
    ‘Bullshit it weren’t. You stirred it up, you unco bludger. Everything you ever done turns to shit in yer hands.’
    ‘Na, it wasn’t like that, Smoov.’
    But there wasn’t no telling him. He was itching for a blue. He raised up his right hand to hit me. I shied away from it till the next thing he was swinging a big round blow with his left what caught me in the head.
    I put me hands up too late. The right came back around straight after, me head exploding from the shock and I lost me feet. I was on the ground with a screwed up face, hands clutching at the air, trying to get him off. He dropped the dead weight of his knees in me chest and puffed the wind out of me and those fists kept coming, arcing around like rocks on the ends of the chains of his arms. Three four five times, each one booming in me ears, louder than trucksong, lightning sheets of pain with each shock sending off red and black and blue colours in behind me tight closed eyes.
    He took his fill of me like he was drinking a draught, and when the anger left him he lifted up his knee and took to his feet. I laid on the ground. The blood flowed first then the tears came with the ache.
    ‘Yer a fucken waste of space,’ Smoov mumbled under his breath. He took off back to where Isa laid.
    It was over in just one or two minutes but the pain