The Conveyance

by Brian Matthews

  Shock wave, I thought. Frank's done it.

  Another wave hit the car. The back end lifted off the ground.

  I grabbed the steering wheel. "Hang on!"

  A third wave hit, and the 4Runner flipped. Toni screamed. I held tight to the steering wheel. The car tumbled off the side of the road, rolling, jarring us, and came to a stop when it hit a tree.

  Toni and I hung upside down, suspended by our safety harnesses. I could hear her breathing heavily.

  The dolls emitted a high-pitched shriek that hurt my ears and fell limp. Smoke rose from several. The bitter stench of ozone filled the air.

  "Toni, honey. Are you all right?"

  "I don't know," she said. "The door, it's jammed up against me. I can't move my arm."

  I fumbled for the harness release, found it, and dropped heavily to the roof. I barely acknowledged the pain. I found Toni's harness release and let her down slowly. Soon we were standing on the road. Smoke could be seen rising from the distance.

  “The dolls,” Toni said, her voice shaking.

  “Whatever Frank did must have destroyed them.” Either the locks or the alien minds residing within them.

  I pulled out my cell. We barely had a signal. I reported our accident. We were told to stay put, that an ambulance would be there as quickly as possible.

  I hung up with the dispatcher. "Let's find a place for you to sit. This may take a while."

  We found a patch of grass beneath a large oak. We had been sitting for perhaps a dozen minutes when Toni stiffened. "Brad, something's wrong."

  I froze. "What?"

  "I'm bleeding."

  I scrambled around to face her. "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt? How bad is it?"

  "That's just it," she said, and began to cry. "I think I'm miscarrying."

  The End