Serafina looked at her phone. It was just 8:21, and Daniel still wasn’t home. She didn’t want to bother him with a call, in the likely case that he was driving, but she figured a text would suffice, just to find out how much longer he’d be.
B home soon? About to cook dinner. Luv U
Clicking send, she set the phone down and took a long drink of her iced coffee. The girls were sitting at the newly relocated dining table, looking at her expectantly.
“Did my Dad text you?” Ashley asked.
“Not since the last message. I’m sure he’s busy driving. I sent him a text to see how much longer he’ll be since I’m about to start cooking. Hopefully he or Paul will text me back.”
Brenna came over. “Need help cooking?”
“Sure. Why don’t you start by sautéing the onions?”
Ashley stood up. “I’ll get the bedding for all the mattresses.”
Serafina smiled, grateful that the girls were so involved and ready to help. “Thanks.”
Over the next forty minutes, they worked together getting the front rooms situated, taking turns showering, and cooking a massive feast.
With everything done, Serafina and the girls each had just a small bit of the food, wanting to wait to eat with Daniel and Paul when they arrived.
Serafina decided they should keep an eye out the front window, upstairs window, and the back sliding glass door. They didn’t need anymore surprises, and now that it was fully dark, trouble could show up at any second. Brenna offered to watch the front window again, and Ashley agreed to watch from upstairs. That left Serafina with watching the back, so she sat there, waiting and watching. Colossus came over and rubbed against her leg, then jumped up on the table to be close to her. She was too tired and too distracted to yell at the cat about being on the dining table.
She just wanted Daniel to get home.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Seeing the headlights heading up the ramp, Daniel whispered, “Get down!” He turned off the engine of the car quickly, then pulled the lever on the side of his seat and pushed back hard, laying the seat back as far as it could go. He realized he’d still be visible, so he slid down in the seat until his head was below the edge of the door. He looked over and saw Paul in the same position, his face once again white with fear.
“Slow, deep breaths. We’ll get through this.”
The headlights of the approaching vehicle illuminated the embankment to their right before swinging around and heading towards them. It sounded like an old model truck. If they were lucky, the driver and passengers would think the Prius was abandoned. The windows, which they’d left open, would hopefully help sell the ruse.
The big vehicle stopped on the ramp across from them, about ten feet away, the newly-built two-foot wide center divider the only thing separating them, something Daniel was grateful for. If not for the divide, the vehicle might have come right up next to them, where they’d be easily able to see inside the Prius.
Daniel heard a window lowering. “Da fuck is that?” He wasn’t sure, but it sure sounded like Earl, the man they’d been stopped by earlier on their way to the sporting goods store.
“Looks abandoned” another voice offered.
“Hey Earl, ain’t that the faggot car we stopped earlier?” Recognizing the voice as the skinny guy the fat one had called Jamie (and who preferred “Jimmy”) Daniel wanted to curse aloud.
This was not good.
The driver snorted. “Yeah, I think so. Looks like the little Jap motor musta ran out of corn oil or whatever the fuck it runs on.” The men laughed at that, loud and raucous.
The second man spoke up afterward. “Alright, let’s go, Earl. The party’s lookin’ good up there, and I wanna get me a girl!”
The skinny guy chimed in again. “Yeah, me too. I wanna get laid!”
“Only way you’re getting laid is with yourself, Jamie, so shut the fuck up.”
“Man, come on. It’s Jimmy.”
“Shut up. We sure this thing is abandoned?”
Another voice spoke up. “Sure looks like it. It’s all dark and shit. Don’t see no one in it.”
Daniel and Paul breathed softly inside the vehicle, waiting and hoping that the truck would just move along.
‘A few more seconds, at most, and they’ll get bored.’ Daniel thought, looking towards the sound of their voices. ‘Come on, you redneck fucks, move along.’
Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes can be deadly. For Daniel and Paul, Daniel’s mistake nearly proved fatal.
Slouched in his chair, waiting and looking towards the voices, Daniel saw his phone, sitting on the dash, light up in his peripheral vision as it received a text. He always kept it on silent, but didn’t think about how the screen would light up as a notification when a message was received.
“What the fuck was that?!” The fat man’s voice rose in intensity.
“What is it, Bob?” The second voice asked.
“I saw a light in that car, and when it lit up, I’m pretty sure I saw someone in the passenger seat!”
“They hidin’ hunh?”
“I think so. Let’s swing around.” The truck’s engine roared as the vehicle accelerated up to the top of the ramp, about fifty yards away, where it would be able to make a u-turn.
Daniel popped up in his seat, starting the engine and pulling the lever to return the seat to its upright position. “Shit!”
Paul sat up as well, also pulling the lever for his seat. “What are we gonna do?”
“We’re gonna get the fuck out of here, that’s what we’re gonna do!”
Daniel slammed his foot down on the gas, peeling out as the truck reached the top of the ramp. Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to outrun the big truck in the small car, Daniel kept the lights off, hoping they’d find the opportunity to turn off onto a side street, where they’d have a chance of losing the men in the truck.
Alternating between trying to see what was ahead in the dark and watching the approaching truck in the mirror, he spoke to Paul. “Get your gun ready. You may need to use it.”
“Okay.” He heard Paul take the gun from the door compartment and check it, making sure the safety was off.
“Just point and shoot, right?”
“That’s about the only lesson I can give you right now, kid, just wait until I tell you to do so.” Daniel kept the pedal pressed to the floor as the little car accelerated up the hill. The wind howled through the open windows as the trees in the center divide flew by. How they’d get out of this, he had no idea. If the men in the truck saw the treasure trove of stuff they’d gotten from the sporting goods store, they’d insist on taking it, which would make the whole trip a waste of time.
That was unacceptable. They’d gone through too much, survived too many challenges to turn over their supplies. The family needed everything in the car, and Daniel wasn’t about to give it up.
‘At least I’ve got the shotgun this time,’ he thought, wishing he’d loaded the AR-15. It was the perfect gun for this type of situation: lightweight, rapid firing, and minimal recoil. ‘Damn it.’
The truck was coming up fast behind them, it’s headlights and light rack casting the interior of the Prius in a white light, illuminating everything. The truck was within three car lengths as they went over a massive dip in the road, forcing Daniel to take his foot off the gas in order to maintain control of the car. The truck swung to the right , trying to come up on the passenger side. Daniel edged the car over, striking a cone left by the construction crew. The cone smashed into the car’s headlight, destroying it, before it flipped up, bouncing behind them and colliding with the truck’s grill. The damage was superficial at best, but it was enough to make them swerve.
It cut sideways across the road, sliding behind them and coming up the driver’s side. Daniel tried to bring the car to his left to prevent their approach, but the truck’s bumper was already there. The two vehicles impacted, the big truck barely affected by the smaller car�
��s contact. The Prius took the brunt of the impact as the rear lights shattered and the bumper dislodged on that side. It fell partially off, the plastic piece dragging on the pavement as they sped on.
The truck continued to accelerate as it began to pull even with the car. At 70 miles an hour, the knuckles on Daniel’s left hand were white as he maintained control of the vehicle with one hand while he brought up the shotgun with the other. “Paul, I’m gonna need you to take hold of the wheel when I shoot, got it?”
“Yeah! I got it.” The kid’s voice had a shrill but determined sound to it as he shouted, trying to be heard over the whine of the little car’s engine and the roar of the truck that was pulling up alongside them.
“Listen, when I shoot, I’m going to need you to - ”
Daniel heard the crack of the gun a split second before the window behind his head burst inward in an explosion of glass. A mist of blood plumed from Paul’s head as he fell forward, striking his face on the dash.
“Shit!” Daniel eased up on the gas, letting the truck catch up. He’d have to pull this off on his own, and it was gonna be tough.
As the truck roared up next to him, he saw the passenger leaning out the window, trying to steady his pistol as the truck bounced. The men in the back were holding on for dear life.
Daniel aimed the big gun towards the truck, holding it with his right hand and resting it on the window. He glanced ahead and saw the road even out for the slightest bit before the intersection and he knew it was his only chance.
‘Now or never,’ he thought. Letting go of the steering wheel for a second, he took his foot off the gas and brought it to the left, keeping it right above the brake pedal. His left hand came up to steady the shotgun as he brought the gun up to his shoulder and fired, trusting the shotgun’s spray pattern to do the trick. As the gun roared, he braked for a split second, then slammed on the gas again as he pulled the car to the left, slamming into the back end of the truck, shattering the lights on the driver’s side, smashing the bumper, and denting the hood. He pressed down on the brake as hard as he could as he grabbed hold of the wheel again with his left hand. He felt the vehicle spin to right in a circle before coming to a stop, glass dropping off it onto the asphalt.
The shotgun pellets shredded the front tire of the truck, flattening it instantly, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. He swerved to the left, struggling to straighten the vehicle, when the Prius hit the back end of the truck, forcing the truck sideways.
The truck’s steering wheel spun out of the driver’s hands, rotating around as the vehicle lost its grip on the pavement. It rolled sideways, sending the men in the back flying high in the air before they landed with a thud on the sidewalk and street. The truck’s occupants didn’t fare much better, as neither of them chose to wear seatbelts. The passenger, who had been hanging halfway out of the window when the impact occurred, was thrown back towards the interior of his car, slamming the side of his head on the frame of the door and breaking his neck. The driver took the first impact on his side of the vehicle, throwing him towards the passenger with his legs trapped on his side of the cabin, the truck rolled over, throwing him back against his side of the truck. As he was flung side to side, he felt his spine twist, the vertebrae crunching like a twisted stalk of celery. The truck rolled over once more before crashing to a stop against a bus stop bench with two pictures of a realtor, one where he had a full head of hair and one where he had none.
Daniel sat there, breathless. “Holy fuck.” He said aloud, looking at the truck for any signs of life, knowing there would be none.
Seeing no threat, he set the shotgun back in its place before he leaned over to check for any signs of life from Paul. The kid wasn’t moving. “Shit.” He moved his hand up and felt for a pulse. It was there, weak.
He turned on the interior light, removed his seatbelt, and stretched upward to evaluate the injury on the young man’s head. Gently moving Paul’s hair out of the way, he was relieved to see that the bullet hadn’t penetrated his skull, only grazed it, leaving a long, bright red groove along his head. Blood was flowing steadily from it, though, and it needed to be dealt with.
“Paul?” The kid moaned, moving slightly. Daniel pulled the coat from the center display, folded it, and placed it against the seat. Reaching over, he pulled the kid back and leaned him back in his seat. The color was completely gone from his face.
“Sorry about this.” Daniel slapped him, hard.
“Unnhhh!!!!”
“Paul, wake up. I need you to hold that jacket against your head to stop the bleeding.”
“Unnhhh…”
Daniel slapped him again, this time on the other side of his face.
“Ow!”
“Hold the jacket against your head. I’m getting us home as fast as possible.”
Paul’s eyes opened and he looked over at Daniel, confused. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you when we get home. Hold that jacket.”
“OK.”
Daniel put the car in gear and turned the vehicle to continue into the intersection, where he turned left, heading home. Even if he’d wanted to, he’d be unable to turn on the headlights, having destroyed both in the battle with the truck. The hood was dented back and upward, but somehow it still remained shut. He hoped it would remain that way.
With the rear bumper dragging behind him, he sped towards home, no longer worried about silence. The vehicle was making a loud clanking sound now, and he wasn’t sure how long it would last.
“Just get us there, little guy.” He told the car.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
A whispered voice called out from the front room. “Auntie, I see something!! Come quick!”
Serafina grabbed the cat and moved it off of her lap and onto the floor before running to the front of the house. The house was being intentionally kept dark to avoid attention, and she nearly ran into the entryway table as she made her way to where her stepdaughter was.
A dark, slow-moving vehicle was approaching from the left, creeping its way up the hill, its headlights off.
“What the hell?” Serafina said aloud.
The car slowed.
“Shit! Get down!”
The two of them fell to the floor, hiding from view.
In the kitchen, she heard her phone buzz. She and Brenna looked at each other, confused. “Stay here.” Serafina crawled out of the room, staying low, then got to her feet and rushed over to the counter, where her phone was.
Here. Need to offload into the garage quickly, then dump car. Boy has head injury, needs help.
Relief flooded through her. She wanted to collapse against the counter, but knew there wasn’t time for that.
OK.
Setting down the phone, she called out, “He’s here!”
She heard Ashley pounding down the stairs. “You sure?”
Brenna appeared from the front. “That’s him?”
“Yeah. Come on.”
The girls followed her to the garage, where she pushed the button to raise the door. As the car sputtered its way backwards into the driveway, Serafina wondered what the hell it had been through. The bumper was hanging off on the left side, fluid was leaking from underneath, and as far as she could tell, only the rear lights on the passenger side were working.
Ashley’s eyes were wide with shock as she looked at the state of the car that she was supposed to own in the fall.
“Ashley, you’re going to help your dad unload into the garage as quickly as possible. Brenna and I are going to help Paul. Apparently he’s hurt.”
The girls nodded in understanding.
The car stopped and the hatchback opened, followed by the driver side door. Daniel jumped out and opened the rear driver’s side door before running to the passenger side to open the door and help Paul up and out of the vehicle. Serafina and Brenna rushed over and took him from Daniel. When Daniel saw the bruising on Serafina’s face, his eyes went wide. He looked to the girls, his face
sagging as he saw the bruising on Ashley’s neck and the lump on Brenna’s head.
Looking back at Serafina, his voice cracked as he asked. “What happened?”
Serafina put on a brave face, forcing a half smile. “We had some trouble, too, but we’re okay.”
She put the kid’s arm over her shoulder, helping him walk.
Daniel reached out and touched the side of her face. His eyes met hers and held them as he said, simply, “I love you.”
Serafina turned away, overcome with emotion. She fought to hold back tears as she and Brenna helped the teenage boy inside, where they ushered him into the girls’ bathroom.
As Serafina and Brenna helped Paul inside, Daniel turned to Ashley, who was already starting to take things from the back of the car. Seeing her father looking at her out of the corner of her eye, she looked up at him and smiled. “What the heck happened to my car?”
Daniel grimaced and put his hands up defensively. “Sorry….” Grabbing the guns from the back seat, he looked the car over. He shook his head. “I don’t think insurance will cover this, but on the bright side, I think the radio still works.”
Ashley laughed, warming his heart instantly. After nearly six hours of stress and violence, he needed something to cheer him up, and her laughter was a great start.
Together they worked quickly and efficiently, unloading the car and stacking things in the garage. He could tell things would be tight in the Jeep, and he was glad he had the rooftop cargo carrier.
With the Prius emptied out, Daniel became conscious about having the garage open. He also didn’t know if anyone from the party he’d seen would try to come looking for the little silver car that had somehow gotten the best of the armed men in the big truck. He picked up the gun Paul had been holding from the floor of the passenger side, made sure the chamber was clear, popped out the magazine, and handed the gun and magazine to Ashley. “Give this to Auntie.”
Surviving Rage | Book 1 Page 23