On the Road: Book Two

by Angela White

  She pulled around him to take the lead, trying not to react to the Santa hat that blew by her windshield as she looked for a marker or a name. They were driving over glass and jewelry, passing downed telephone poles. The signs that they could see, they couldn’t read because the paint was too faded. “Sturdy though,” she finally answered.

  The four-story garage sloped gently upward in circles and they were surprised to see only half a dozen cars in the whole place as they did a drive through check first. The vehicles were dusty, a couple with notes still taped to the inside of the windows and there was a lot of garbage cluttering the lanes, including broken neon bulbs and the shredded exit sign on the first level.

  Marc didn’t like it that they couldn’t see out once they were inside, but although there were bodies all over this town, there were none in here. The smell of them however, was under the salty, smoky rain.

  “Up here should be okay for tonight, right?” Angela turned to face the exit and backed in, frowned when he didn’t answer. “Brady?”

  Silence, and she looked to see him gesturing at his mic, and then the ceiling, and understood they had no radio in here.

  Angela put her vehicle in park, but didn’t turn it off as Brady backed in next to her. She’d put them in a far corner, like he would have, but the rain was still dusting the hood and front windows and the wind was strong, rocking both Blazers.

  Marc stepped out and disappeared, securing the perimeter with Dog at his side as Angela watched the darkness around them, gun in her tense hand. She knew the open area wasn’t to his liking as he moved back toward her and waited to see if he would override her decision. If so, she’d go along with his choice. He’d been surviving out in the world a lot longer than she had.

  Whammmm!

  They both ducked as something heavy slammed against an outside wall. When he opened her door, his face was relaxing, “Probably the best place we can be, as long as nothing collapses. We can go up two more floors if we have to.”

  Angela nodded, reaching back in for her duffle bag. The wind gusted against her door, and only Marc’s quick reflexes kept it from hitting her leg.

  “Damn. We need to get out of this wind. We’ll make camp over by the elevators, in that hallway.”

  Marc grabbed each item as she removed it from the back seat of the blazer, and when she closed the door, empty-handed, he gestured toward the dark hallway he had already checked over.

  “Light and gun. Let’s go.”

  Angela started to tell him this was no time for a lesson and then stopped, realizing this was the perfect time. “Okay.”

  Dog now alertly at her side, she tried to concentrate as he’d shown her, tuning out all the distractions. She slipped quietly through the loud darkness and Marc’s sharp eyes watched their rear…and hers.

  A short time later, Angela was unpacking just what they needed, preparing to hunker down and wait out the storm while he went back for his things, thinking she wasn’t as nervous as she had been just nine days ago. Killing had definitely changed things, changed her. She was suddenly a much harder person than she’d ever been before.

  Angela set the heater against the wall and made up one large sleeping area between it, and the cooler and boxes, creating a wall to block the wind. She started getting settled as he came back with his arms full, the wolf at his heels.

  “Great idea.”

  Angela took off her sweater, listening to the wind howl, as he added his own items to the barricade.

  “Hungry?”

  She shook her head, setting up the stove. “Not really. You?”

  Marc dropped his trench coat on top of a box and pretended not to see how her eyes went to his chest, lingered there. “No, but we should eat.”

  She nodded, but only put on water, and he left her alone. “I’m gonna mark the water levels. Be right back.”

  She pushed off her shoes and sat down against her pillows - journal, pen, and cup on one side, gun and ashtray on the other. She was calm. She had already seen them, safe and sound, in this very spot as dawn broke, preparing to leave. They had seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, but she hadn’t sensed any real danger and was able to relax. Trusting the Witch inside was a lot easier since Versailles.

  Brady wasn’t as confident, using a can of waterproof chalk to mark where the water was, and then every ten feet, all the way to their Blazers. A quick look would now tell him how fast it was rising.

  Angela was lighting a joint when he came back, and he smiled as he saw his own side of the big bed had been set up identical to hers. Even Dog’s quilt was lined with a bowl of food and water. Neat and organized. He put his gun next to the ashtray on his side of the makeshift bed. When she casually held the joint out, not looking up from her writing, their fingers brushed, sparked.

  Angela pulled back without looking up, but Marc saw her nostrils flare and his heart pounded, wishing she’d meet his eye. That hadn’t felt like fear to him, and if she wasn’t scared anymore, then it was proof he had made some progress by being her friend; by waiting and holding back all the things his heart still longed to say.

  They were traveling well together now, starting their days with a quiet meal and then a workout, where he taught her things, like how to breathe and read the ground. Afterwards they would do a training session; first, hand-to-hand and then weapons, which would put them on the road around 10 a.m. They traveled until it was too dark to see, and then he would pick a place…if she told him it was okay. Her magic was something they usually shied away from, Marc having no experience with the subject, but her gifts were used when they made camp. He wasn’t taking any more chances with her life.

  “So tell me about him.”

  Angela’s eyes immediately met his, before she realized who he meant.

  “Charlie’s a great kid, warm, funny.” Sadness was in her face. “Probably looks different now, older.”

  Knowing he wanted more, Angela let her worried mother’s heart speak, and the father felt it in his gut, how much she loved her child.

  “He’s smart. So much that it makes me ashamed I’m so dumb, and I’m a doctor. He’s loyal, hardworking, and cares about things like saving the whales. It’s agony for me to not be with him after all that’s happened. Sometimes a boy needs his mom, and sometimes a mom needs her boy.”

  Not wanting to let emotions get the best of her, Angela dug through her bag and tossed a yellow packet onto the blanket by his leg. “These are from his first birthday. I still love the clown outfit.”

  Marc looked up. “He was born on Halloween?”

  “Yes, on 10/31, at 10:31 in the morning.”

  Her voice was rough, sexy, and he let his eyes go where they wanted while she wrote in her journal. “Is he special too?”

  She tensed before giving a quick nod. She could trust Marc. “Yes. He’ll be stronger than me.”

  “Is it because of being born on Halloween?” He inhaled as she shrugged, passed it back to her.

  “I assume because he’s male. Fate controls, not the moon and stars.” She inhaled deeply again, closing her eyes against a sharp curl of smoke.

  Marc thought about how erotic it would be to give her a shotgun. “You still believe in destiny and the great plan?”

  Angela hesitated, not wanting to stir up that old argument, still not sure who would survive the encounter with her Marine. Marc was good, she’d seen that, but so was Kenny and her fear of that reunion was great.

  “Yes and no. It’s not a set plan. People miss their purpose in life and have to spend an eternity repeating it, looking for that one moment they’ve missed.”

  “And do they find it? Does fate give second chances?”

  The implication was clear and while she didn’t want to encourage him, she couldn’t help it, couldn’t lie. “Yes, almost always. Fate wants the world to be perfect, and each correct or corrected life, is a step on that road.”

  He met her eye, taking the joint back. “You know that for sure?”

  She shook
her head at his question. “No, but I look at the world around me and get my answer there. Everything on this planet dies, ends, and usually violently. If not war, maybe it would have been the plague or an asteroid. For some reason, it was all fated to die.”

  “But why everyone? Why not just the bad?”

  Angela shrugged again, tone resigned. “That’s a question I can’t answer yet.”

  Marc held up the pictures as she eased down. “You want these back?”

  “No. I’ve got the memories.” She closed her eyes, covering herself up to her neck. “Goodnight, Brady. See you in the morning.”

  “Yes, you will. Sweet dreams, Honey.”

  Not likely, she thought, the nightmares a lot of the reason she smoked just before bed. Her heart whispered again about his arms. She couldn’t help thinking about it, but there was no way she could accept that comfort this time. She already had a fear that Kenny would sense it if she even touched the line, let alone crossed it, and try to kill her. In her dreams, he succeeded.

  Outside, the storm showed no signs of letting up, and they were up until well after midnight before finally lying down. Marc set his watch and checked on the water every half hour, and each time his footsteps faded into the darkness, red and black-eared wolf at his side, Angela knew it.

  Around 2 a.m., Marc and Dog went to check the markers again, and Angela snuggled deeper into the thick blankets, trying to ignore the heart crying for her to move into his spot. She sighed sadly, feeling guilty that hairy legs and maybe bad breath were the only things stopping her from sleeping in Marc’s big arms. Being attacked and not only surviving it, but also killing the man responsible for hurting her, had unlocked the last of the old chains, freeing the young girl who feared nothing. Slowly, Kenny’s timid mouse was disappearing.

  How was she ever going to face her Marine after being with Brady again? Kenny would use her up quickly in this new world, and she would die young. With Marc though, the Witch said there was a chance for the love and future that had been stolen from them. She wanted to talk about it, to ask and tell, but didn’t encourage him. It didn’t matter that she was falling...

  Angela stopped herself, trying to imagine telling him how she was feeling. "I can’t stop thinking about you, about us and how good we were together, and I may want another chance with you once I get my boy back and find a way to ditch my man."

  Never in a million years.

  Even if Kenny was out of the picture - and he wasn’t, not by a long shot - there were other walls between them. Still, the young girl who had believed in the dreams began to whisper and it was hard to ignore as sleep refused to come. They were still a great match, and she still cared, still wanted the life he had promised her so long ago. Soon, he would figure that out and do something about it. Then, they would all be doomed.

  Marc returned to his side of their bed, thinking they were getting closer despite her trying not to let it happen. She was so strong! Any other woman would have still been crying over being attacked, but not his Angie. She not only recovered quickly, she grew stronger and more confident from each encounter.

  She wasn’t afraid to meet his eyes now, to walk close to him, and when he wasn’t looking. He could feel her watching, thinking about him and their past. She felt it too; he could read it on her pretty face. She felt the... What? Love? Maybe. Lust? You bet that sweet ass, he thought, slipping his belt and buckle loose. For him anyway.

  He had never lit up around a woman the way he did with Angie. He had no doubts about his feelings, but he would accept nothing less than all of her. He had roughly four weeks left to convince her that giving into her man’s will wasn’t her only choice anymore.

  2

  Waking with a feeling of revulsion, Angela brushed at her arms as she sat up, eyes still closed in the damp morning air. Her skin prickled with tiny irritations, and her hair seemed to be moving on its own…she was so tired!

  “What the hell?”

  It was the sound of Marc’s voice that got her eyes open, and Angela couldn’t stop the yelp of disgust that echoed off the concrete.

  “Spiders or crickets; trying to get out of the water. Not sure which. Come over here and let me brush you off.”

  His tone was soothing, and Angela stood still while Marc rid her of the black and brown, nickel-sized spiders that had legs twice as long as their bodies, that were bent over them like grasshoppers.

  “They’re under my clothes!” she moaned, horrified.

  Marc immediately grabbed the edges of her shirt and yanked it over her head. He shook it out and gave it back, eyes watching Dog avoid the mutations instead of snapping at them as he did with normal insects.

  “Do under your pants and I’ll get our stuff loaded.”

  “It’ll all have spiders in it.”

  Marc listened to the storm still rumbling overhead, sure they should stay, but the water was rising again and they couldn’t share their shelter with mutations. He had to get her out of here. “Yeah. When you put those back on, tuck the cuffs into your socks and come get what you really want. We’ll leave the rest.”

  As he stepped past her with the heater and their duffle bags, it occurred to Marc that she hadn’t jumped when he’d reached for her shirt, and his heart stirred. Things were changing.

  Half an hour later, they were passing through Matenea, Missouri, and Angela listened to the voices in her head as the wind pushed them along, little black balls of hail (acid balls) pinging off their roofs and hoods.

  “I think we should take cover.”

  “What’s...? Oh, shit! Stay on my ass!”

  Angela spotted the funnel cloud by following his line of sight and for a second, couldn’t move. The twister wasn’t very wide, but it was moving incredibly fast and closing in, like it had sensed the presence of humans and dropped out of the sky - just for them.

  “Come on!”

  His shout startled her, Dog’s piercing bark through the radio breaking her daze, and Angela hit the gas, heart pounding. It was a real tornado and moving their way!

  “Thought this only happened in the movies,” she whispered, scared as she caught up to Marc’s bumper, but the raw fury of something they had no chance of controlling was beautiful too, and Angela knew she would never forget it if they got away.

  Marc turned them into a large, mostly empty parking lot, speeding up. When he sent his Blazer crashing through the front glass windows of the theater, plastic and glass flying, she followed.

  Behind them, the tornado churned across the small city, smashing through anything in its way as it headed for the enemy: Man.

  “Get as far in as you can!”

  Angela swerved in next to him, lobby props tumbling, and they both ducked down as the tornado hit the theater.

  The building shuddered, and both Blazers lunged forward with the wind, bashing into the concession stand’s high wall. Glass sprayed as the display shelves caved in, large chunks of debris banging off them as the roar grew louder.

  A blast of straight-line winds swept through the cinema on the twister’s heels, grabbing and spinning Angela’s Blazer in dizzying circles before shoving it into a line of heavy arcade machines. Marc watched helplessly as the big games were sent flying into the air and each other from the hard impact, glass and coins erupting like tiny, silver volcanoes.

  Bouncing back with a jarring thud, her muddy Blazer slid the length of the lobby before coming to a tire-squealing halt just inches from his front bumper.

  A second later, it was over except for the rain, and Marc was scrambling over wet debris to open her door, help her out. “Are you hurt? Are you all right?”

  “I don’t remember asking for the tour,” she joked breathlessly, eyes wide, and he grinned at her.

  “Me either. You’re okay?”

  Angela trembled, a bit shook up, and didn’t tense when he surrounded her with his arms, just buried her head against his hard, comforting body and held on tight. She couldn’t stop herself from trembling.

&n
bsp; Marc rubbed her arms to warm her, knowing it was the shock of being woken so abruptly and forced to deal with the fury of their environment before she’d even had a cup of coffee that had shaken her, made her a bit vulnerable.

  “Dog, up. Sshhh... It’s okay, Honey.”

  Angela kept her arms locked around his waist as the wolf went to the roof of his 4x4. Marc held her close, watching the drumming rain continue as his body tried hard to ignore hers. It was still a perfect fit.

  “Are we safe here?”

  Marc recognized the moment. If she could ask him that, and be prepared to believe it, things really had changed. “I think so. I need to do a quick check.”

  Angela shivered when he stepped back, immediately feeling colder as he disappeared into the dim shadows. The wind blew her hair back, and her heart whispered this storm was headed northwest, toward her boy. She had to send Kenny another message, had to warn him again. Heart thumping, she gathered herself quickly, doing it before the fear could make her change her mind.

  Marc could feel the waves of energy humming through the cinema. Without knowing he could or that he was going to try, he stepped directly in front of her and closed his eyes, concentrating.

  He was blocked at first by a wall of crumbling mental bricks, but he sent his want ahead of him and it fell easily enough. Angela’s lashes fluttered, but she didn’t protest, and then he was in and frowning.

  “Where are you?” The man’s voice was loud, intimidating, and familiar somehow?

  “You have to take cover. Bad storms headed your way.”

  “One more time, Bitch! Where are you?”

  It was a struggle for Marc to remain silent, but he did.

  “A lot closer. How’s my boy?”

  “Happy with me. How close?”

  The barely-controlled anger was clear and Angela forced herself to stand, emboldened a little by Brady’s presence, “I’m coming for my son just as fast as I can.”

  “You’ll never get him back. Not unless you do what I say.”

  Searing rage filled Marc, but it was nothing compared to the fury coming off Angela in clouds of heat he could actually feel.