by Susan Illene
Traffic slowed again. Conrad rolled down his window and peered out.
“There’s a bunch of cars stopped up there,” he said, ducking back inside. “Couldn’t see anything else.”
After going about another quarter mile, traffic came to a standstill. The flashing lights of a police car reflected through windows, though I couldn’t see the cop from our vantage point. A steady flow of vehicles drove onto the median, using a gap in the highway divider to turn around.
Then I noticed people walking along the interstate with shocked expressions on their faces. Others were hugging each other and crying. What the heck had happened up there?
Someone pounded on my window. I jerked in my seat.
“You’ve got to turn back,” a wild-eyed man said.
“Why?” I asked, not rolling down the glass.
“The road…it’s—there’s no way around it.” A woman yelled at him and he ran off toward her.
I considered what to do. My curiosity burned too much for me to leave without at least checking on what had people this upset, and we couldn’t go anywhere yet anyway. We’d have to wait until some of the cars ahead cleared out before we could get far enough up to turn around. I pulled the keys from the ignition and opened the door.
“Are you crazy?” Conrad shouted, giving me an incredulous look. “It could be dangerous.”
“If it was dangerous people would be running around screaming. They’re not, and the police are up there so it should be safe.”
“Fine,” he said, getting out as well.
We weaved our way through the cars, trucks, and campers filling the interstate. They seemed to go on forever, but eventually we saw a thick crowd of people gathered at the top of a rise. They filled a space between police cars that had been parked sideways across the road.
Whatever was beyond that I couldn’t tell. I squeezed my way through them, working to get closer to the front. When I finally made it to the spot where police had strung yellow tape across, my body turned cold.
“Um, I don’t think we’re making it to Texas today,” Conrad said over my shoulder.
Chapter 6
Bailey
I looked down, ignoring a growing sense of vertigo.
A giant chasm stretched before us, running east and west as far as the eye could see. There was no going across it. The other side had to be about a half-mile away and it was at least a few hundred feet deep. It was like Oklahoma had just gained their own Grand Canyon.
“How could this have happened?” I breathed out.
“At this point?” Conrad muttered behind me. “Why not?”
“The ground opened up during the last earthquake,” the woman standing next to me answered. “I saw it and barely stopped my car in time. Not everyone was so lucky.”
She wiped a tear from her eye. On the other side of her she held a little girl’s hand, probably her daughter if their similar features were anything to go by.
“This shouldn’t be possible,” a middle-aged man said. “That earthquake wasn’t big enough to cause something like this.”
In my shock over the chasm, I’d avoided the usual anxiety that came from being crowded near too many people. A problem I’d had since I was a child. It was starting to creep up on me now, but a few deep breaths helped keep it at bay a little longer. I looked at the chasm again and an idea began to form in my head. It took a moment to voice it out loud.
“What if it was caused by two dimensions colliding? The dragons have been popping out of the sky from nowhere and even more keep coming. Maybe they were just the beginning and now we’re going to see a lot more of this.” I waved my hand toward the ground.
Of course, all I had to go on was what Aidan told me, but it seemed logical enough.
I turned to find Conrad rubbing his chin. “Dimensions colliding? Why not throw that in one in the mix along with time travel and, hell, magic could have done it, too.”
“Why do you assume they’re coming from another dimension?” The question came from a guy in a black suit who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He’d been standing a few feet away, but moved closer to me. There was a vibe about him that made me think he worked for the government.
Everyone within hearing distance turned their gazes toward us.
I swallowed. “Where else would they have come from? I didn’t see any spaceships.”
No way was I going to point out that I’d had a conversation with a dragon. These people would never believe me and even if some of them did, they might react badly. Speaking my mind in front of a crowd was difficult enough. I wasn’t about to risk riling them up.
“You have a point,” the guy in the suit answered, giving me a doubtful look. “I’m not sure if that’s the answer, but one thing I do agree on is it’s going to get much worse before things settle down.”
Everyone cast their gazes at the chasm and then back at each other.
“How much worse?” the woman next to me asked.
His expression turned guarded. “Enough to reshape earth and life as we know it.”
Murmurs rose from the crowd. Seeing their attention had turned from me, I got out of there and fought my way through the throng of people.
“So where are we going?” Conrad asked, following close behind.
We reached the truck and I yanked the driver’s side door open.
“Back, I guess. Where else can we go?”
He hopped in and put on his seatbelt. “Well, definitely not Kansas. With our luck, a damned tornado would blow through and we both know how that would end.”
“At this point, Oz might be a better place to be than this.”
He snorted.
Up ahead, enough cars had moved off the shoulder to clear a path. I angled the truck around the vehicles in front of me and drove toward the highway divider, crossing through the opening. As soon as I was northbound I picked up speed. Traffic was lighter now that we didn’t have to deal with the congestion near the chasm.
“Check your cell phone,” I said after a few minutes. “Maybe it will work better this time.”
Conrad pulled it from his pocket.
“Nothing.” He tossed it on the floorboard.
“Then check the radio.”
He scanned the stations. This time one of them came up.
“I’m sorry for the interruption in our broadcasting, folks. This has been one hell of a day, but we are back now,” the announcer said. “And we have updates I’m sure you’ll want to hear.”
I turned the volume up.
“More dragons have arrived and are swarming all over Oklahoma City. They have managed to burn nearly all of the buildings in downtown to ash—which shouldn’t even be possible, but that tells you how hot their flames must be. We even had a brief scare at our own station. Troops and helicopters were sighted in the city less than an hour ago. The last I heard, they’re gearing up for a counterattack. Stay inside, people, and let them handle this.”
Conrad and I exchanged looks.
“Maybe they’ll take care of the dragon problem,” I said, hopefully.
“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes upward. “If they don’t get burned to death first.”
He had a point. And as far as I knew, I was the only one immune to their fire.
As if reading my thoughts, he glanced down at my legs. “How did you manage not to go up in smoke?”
“I got lucky, I guess.” I stared at the road.
He snorted. “Sure looks like you came close. Like, really close.”
I didn’t say anything.
“What was with that dimension theory you proposed back there?” he asked, staring at me. “You sounded sure of yourself.”
I hadn’t meant to, but it had come out that way.
“It’s just an idea that came to me.” I shrugged. “Maybe I watch too many movies, but it sounded good.”
“Wish I got farther in college before this happened. I was studying for a physics degree, but none of the basics I took my first year do me m
uch good in this situation. No idea when I’ll finish now.” Conrad sighed.
Poor guy. I had to remember it wasn’t just my future that may have gotten ruined today.
“So I’m thinking we head back to campus,” I said, changing the subject.
“If that’s what you want. I ain’t got no place else to go.”
“Me, either.” Which left me with an unsettled feeling.
We couldn’t risk driving around for days trying to find a way to Texas. Who knew how far that chasm stretched or if another earthquake would hit? Not to mention I could only go so far before I’d run out of gas. Maybe some service stations would be open, but then again maybe not. Also, if life on a ranch had taught me anything, it was that predators were more active at night. We needed to get to safety before the sun set—which was just over an hour away.
***
It was a lot easier getting back to the city than it was leaving. Less traffic and fewer wrecked cars to get in the way. Seeing the exit for Highway 9 up ahead, I breathed a sigh of relief. The sun was going down just over the trees and it was starting to get dark. I’d worried we wouldn’t make it back to Norman in time.
“Is it me,” Conrad said, leaning forward, “or are those mountains up ahead?”
As soon as I lifted my gaze to follow his line of sight, I let out a gasp.
“Uh, yeah, those are definitely mountains. Big ones.”
If I hadn’t been watching the road so closely for cracks and buckles, I would have noticed them sooner. There was a haze over the peaks, but I estimated they started about ten miles away. Probably just south of Lake Thunderbird. They didn’t appear to be a wide range of mountains, rather just several jagged peaks. As if they’d popped out of the ground in the midst of the mostly flat landscape that made up the Southern Great Plains.
“Looks like the earthquake did more than open up a giant chasm,” Conrad observed. “If they can get rid of the dragons, this state might actually get more tourists.”
“Think the mountains are high enough for skiing?” I asked, playing along. We needed something to break up the tension.
“Maybe,” he said, then his gaze ran past me and he cursed. “Stop the truck!”
I hit the brakes and pulled over. “What?”
“Look.” He pointed to the northeast.
Dreading what I’d find, I turned my head. Though the sky was getting darker, I could make out the shape of two green dragons blowing streams of fire at a neighborhood. It was maybe a mile away. And now that I was paying attention, I heard gunshots as well. Were people there shooting at them?
A moment later an explosion rocked the area. Flames shot upward, obscuring the dragons for a moment before they flew through it.
“What the heck?”
Conrad leaned closer toward me so he could get a better view out of the driver’s side window. “All these earthquakes probably ruptured some of the gas lines. Their flames might have ignited the fumes.”
“Oh, that’s just great.” I hadn’t even thought of that.
“You hear that?” he asked.
“The gunfire?” It had been coming from several locations, though there was a break after the explosion.
“No.” He shook his head. “Listen closer.”
I rolled down the window an inch. “Oh, yeah. Helicopters.”
A moment later two of them came into view. They headed straight for the dragons, who’d moved on to the next neighborhood. I could only guess the military had put troops there to defend the place because it sounded like machine guns were going off on the ground again.
“Those are Apaches. They must have sent them from Fort Riley for them to get here this fast,” Conrad said.
I gave him a surprised look. “How do you know that?”
“My parents are in the army.”
“Huh.” I wouldn’t have guessed.
The Apache helicopters opened fire on the dragons. The creatures jerked wildly as the bullets tore through their bodies and wings, but neither of them fell. Lifting their heads, they roared out thick red and orange flames into the sky. One helicopter swerved to avoid the fire, but the other one didn’t move in time. Its rotary blades were incinerated, sending them plummeting. I winced as it crashed and burned into the ground. Those were our troops we’d just lost.
“Now I really want to see those fuckers die,” Conrad said.
We both leaned closer to the window as we watched. Please, God, let the other helicopter hang in there and do some damage. I wasn’t sure if it would stay in the fight as it sped away, flying faster than the dragons could follow.
Then it turned back, letting loose a missile before banking away again. I held my breath as the missile sailed toward the dragons. It struck one. The light from the explosion was almost blinding in the dark sky, but there was no missing the fall of a large body.
Conrad pumped his hand in the air. “Take that, you fucking bastards.”
“Why didn’t they do that in the first place?” I was still mourning the loss of the first helicopter.
He gave me a grim look. “On such short notice, I doubt they have more than a few missiles to use. They were probably ordered to try bullets first.”
A chorus of roars filled the air. Four more dragons entered the scene, coming from the north. The Apache sent missiles out toward them, but this time its targets were ready. They blew flames in front of them, incinerating the projectiles before they could do any damage. There wasn’t even an explosion.
They spread out to surround the helicopter. It didn’t have a chance to get away before one of the dragons got close. I dug my fingernails into the door panel as I watched it let out a stream of fire that engulfed the body of the helicopter. When it was done, only the blades were left to fall to the ground. I clenched my eyes shut, wishing I could wipe the memory of what I’d just seen away. The men in there had to have died instantly, but it must have demoralized their comrades on the ground. The shooting had stopped.
After giving myself a mental shake, I opened my eyes again.
“Damn. I thought that helicopter had them,” Conrad said, settling back in his seat.
“At least they got one dragon before they went down,” I said, rubbing my face.
“Yeah, but you saw what happened. It only took one time for them to see how a missile works before they figured out how to defend against it. They’re smart and there’s nothing that can get around that fire.” He balled his fist. “We’re up shit creek without a paddle.”
The dragons flew off, heading to another part of town. “Maybe the military will find another way to take them down.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” He gave me a pitying look.
I started the engine and continued toward campus.
“You’d think a new mountain range would have caused more damage to the surrounding area.” Conrad said a few minutes later after we got on Berry Road.
“Maybe not if it’s two dimensions coming together,” I pointed out.
“I think I’m gonna go with the magic theory. It’s growing on me,” he said, pasting a serious expression on his face.
I let it go and concentrated on driving through the dark neighborhood. There’d been no sign of electricity returning since we’d gotten back into Norman. I had to resist the urge to turn on my headlights. So far we hadn’t seen any more dragons, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any around. I wasn’t taking any chances after what we’d just seen. For once, having a late 90s model truck where the daytime running lights had stopped working came in handy. I could drive through the streets without attracting too much attention.
We moved toward the university at a snail’s pace. Conrad kept a lookout while I watched the road. When we reached the intersection of Berry and Lindsey, I eyed a gas station at the corner. It was shut down and all the lights were off. No one was around to stop us if we just walked inside and grabbed what we wanted.
Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. We’d need food and suppl
ies to survive and while a gas station might not have much, it was better than nothing. Too bad we couldn’t get fuel, too, but the electricity had to be on for the pumps to work.
I pulled into the parking lot. “Let’s grab as much as we can.”
“Good idea.” Conrad took a look around. “This place will probably be emptied out in another day or two.”
I stopped the truck right next to the entrance and we got out. Our shoes crunched on broken glass when we reached the door. Both of us peered through the dark to see if anyone was in there, but nothing moved or made a sound.
Conrad and I exchanged glances before going inside. The place had been trashed, but there was still a lot of stuff left. Whoever had been here before must not have stuck around long. Maybe the dragons hitting the nearby neighborhood had scared them off.
I moved behind the counter and took a handful of plastic bags, handing them over to Conrad. “Fill these up with drinks. I’ll grab food.”
He nodded.
We spent the next ten minutes clearing out everything we could and transferring it to the truck. All I could think about was that the library would have a lot of people inside and they’d need to eat. The more supplies we had, the better. I also grabbed soap and tampons. No one ever considered feminine hygiene products during apocalypses in the movies, but the last thing we needed was a bunch of PMSing females running around without the basic necessities.
By the time we finished, my truck bed was almost full and the store half-empty. I wished we could take even more, but we couldn’t stick around any longer. It had been risky to stay as long as we did. Just as I was pulling out, a group of young men entered the parking lot on foot carrying bats.
“Hey!” one of them called out.
I headed for the street.
“Stop!” they yelled and began running toward us.
“Get us the hell out of here,” Conrad urged.