by Holly Hook
I hit the gas once we got onto the road, making the truck engine roar. It might be old, but it was strong. Whatever the mechanics had done to it was amazing. It clunked every once in a while. I hoped the transmission wasn't ready to go out. We couldn't get a ton of speed, but it was a huge improvement.
"The radio," Alana said.
She messed with the truck dial and finally found the AM station, the only one out there that was still running. A different man was speaking now, one with a lower, more serious voice that I didn't like. The other guy must have gone home for some sleep if he even had one anymore. There was no telling where these people were broadcasting from.
I focused on the road ahead, but I couldn't help but focus on the words coming out of the radio. This one was only slightly better than the emergency one that Gina still had.
"The wildfire has spread over an unprecedented million acres. Avoid the Yellowstone area if you were planning on heading out that way..."
"That sounds nice," Gina shouted from the back. "What if it's like this all over?"
"We might be safer out here," I said.
"We can't stay in the desert," Alana said. "Food's going to run out. All that's out here in this part of the state are little towns. We need to find a city."
"We need to get through Colton first," I said.
The man on the radio moved on, talking about food shortages in the near future. Grocery stores had run out of food and armed guards had set up around others, keeping people away. The guy told people to avoid going to stores with armed guards. Hospitals were packed with those with radiation sickness. Some were recovering, others were dying. The morgues were packed.
And then he said something that chilled me to the bone.
"Scientists now estimate it will take about ten years for the ozone layer to return to its normal levels," he said. "In the meantime, the reddish smog in the air will remain, causing very acidic rain that will damage crops. It is recommended that all crops be grown indoors. All activities should be moved to indoors until further notice during the daytime. Scientists estimate about two-thirds of the ozone layer has been depleted globally, with more depletion on the side of the world that the gamma ray burst hit. Do not spend more than a couple of minutes outside at a time if you wish to remain safe. Try to avoid major cities if you are able. The government has given an estimate that perhaps five to ten percent of the world's population will survive the next ten years."
I slammed on the brakes, struggling to stop the truck from doing a one eighty right there in the road.
Alana and I stared at each other once we'd rolled to a stop.
"What's going on?" Gina asked from the back. "I can't hear."
I turned the radio up and opened the back window up a little more so she and Jerome could hear. Jerome was rubbing his forehead. "Sorry," I said.
The man was still spouting out the statistics.
Five to ten percent.
That meant ninety percent of the population would die. No, not ninety. A lot of people were already gone, so this might mean that only sixty or seventy percent of people that were left would die. I was guessing. Estimating. Hoping.
Three out of four of us, maybe.
I kept these thoughts to myself. Alana turned the radio off like she couldn't bear to listen to it anymore. Neither could I.
This wasn't looking good for Dad. He must have no idea I was coming for him. If he was still alive, he must be sure I had already died.
I wondered if he still clung onto life. If he still even wanted to live.
"Let's go," Alana said. "Please."
I hit the gas again. We drove in silence for a long time. At last, I spotted dark shapes ahead, distant and hugging the ground.
"Colton," I said.
The word used to make a fuzzy, warm feeling rise in me. I thought of things like our little park and the paintings outside the elementary school of happy flowers and bees along with the Ice Scream shop we all hung out in after school. Now I only thought of David, guns, and violence. Of bullying. Of pain and grief.
I turned the headlights off, which was a horrible idea as I couldn't see the road. They might have spotted us already. I slowed down and went into the dust, then steered back onto the road. Now I knew why they'd invented headlights in the first place.
"I guess now is the time to stay quiet," Jerome said.
"I wish there was a way around," I said. We could move faster than them. I imagined David and Eric and Tony standing there with clubs or guns. Maybe both. I hit the gas. Our chance was to get through there fast. The main road went right through town, cutting it in half. We'd go past the high school and then through downtown. Then out of town. The Cat wouldn't catch up with the truck.
"I think they must have seen us already," Alana said, echoing my thoughts. "We're the only light for miles and miles."
"I don't want to give them time to catch us," I said, speeding up a little more. My eyes were adjusting. There was a faint moon overhead, trying to shine through the smog. It was an even paler orb than the sun had been and it was full. Didn't a full moon make people act more crazy? "If they're waiting for us, they'll be on the main road."
A few more minutes up the road, we passed the Colton town limits sign. The green sign announced that we were the state champions of high school football about ten years ago. I'd always ignored that sign because sports weren't my thing, but something about it made my heart ache. Those dreams were gone now.
And then the outlines of dark buildings emerged from the darkness. The gas station on the edge of town that promised you cold drinks with a hand painted sign. The church, its tower intact and pointing into the sky.
"No one burned Colton," Alana said.
"Stay down," Jerome said from the back.
I had to slow down. The road curved and I nearly took out a light pole. Alana ducked next to me. I wished that I had that luxury. I had to remain exposed, driving into danger. I spotted no lights, no signs that David and the crew were around.
We passed the high school and its dark sign. I couldn't read anything on it anymore. As I drove, I slowed more around the curve and couldn't help but search all the windows for a candle or for some sign that someone might still be alive. Alana's house was two streets away. The trailer park Gina lived in was on the other side of town. We'd drive past it. I wasn't sure which house was Jerome's, but we didn't have time to go searching.
"We have to stop," Alana said at last.
"We can't," I told her. "David might be around." So far, so good.
"I need to see my house just one last time. It doesn't look like he's here."
"They can hear a truck motor," I said.
"Please," Alana said. "I've changed my mind. I have to see my house."
I slowed at a stop sign, which was a dark octagon. There was no sign of life. I turned the low beams on. A terrible stench hit me as we idled there at the intersection of Main and Strawberry. The houses stayed dark around us, reflecting our headlights. There was just as much death here as there had been in the other town.
"David lives on the other side of town," Alana said. "He would have gone to his house. It's the big one. They're all over there if they're still here. Please, just let me see it really quick. This might be the last time."
She was close to tears.
I couldn't tell her no. It was like me, standing outside of the funeral home and afraid to go in...but at the same time, I couldn't turn away. Alana needed to pay her last respects and so did Jerome and Gina, even though the two of them weren't saying anything.
So I clicked on the left turn signal (what was the point of that?) and turned down Strawberry. Small shrubs and cacti emerged from the dark as we passed, like strange troll guards from another world. The death smell got to be a little less. I wondered how many people had died in their yards. How many had managed to crawl outside, trying to find help versus how many crawled to their beds. I knew this was stupid, with David around and armed, but Colton wasn't nearly as small as the o
ther town and there was more room to move around without getting spotted. I tried to calm myself down with reason, but reason didn't exist anymore.
We were still in danger.
But Alana was my best friend.
"I'm sorry," Alana said. "I just have to see. Just for a second. And then we can go."
"It's fine," I said. "I get it. I really do. You don't want to, but you have to or it's going to haunt you forever."
I pulled up to Alana's house, which was just as dark as the others. The death smell was still there, just a little, like a cloud of it had spread over all of Colton. We were in a town of bodies, all right. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"Please hurry," Gina said. "We don't know when David's going to look for us."
I checked up and down the street as Alana got out. Her mother's SUV was parked in the driveway, half on and half off a bunch of pink decorative rocks. Her mother hadn't done the best parking job, almost like someone who was half-conscious. My stomach clenched and I wanted to throw up. Alana stood there, staring at the SUV and the open driver side door. A foot in a bright yellow and orange sneaker hung out.
"I think this is going to be bad," Jerome said.
Alana stood for what felt like forever and walked towards the SUV. She motioned for me to turn on the brighter headlights. Our engine still idled, so I did, hating that I was shining a spotlight on the thing that would ruin her.
She looked inside of the SUV. First the front, then the back, standing on her toes to do so. It took her a long time to look in the back. Alana tapped on the window, over and over and over again, trying to get the attention of someone inside.
My best friend took a step away from the SUV.
Sank to her knees.
I got out of the truck, forgetting all about David and the others. It was all just Alana now, staring at the SUV. I could only see her face from the side, but even from there I could tell that something inside of her had died. The full truth had hit and it took no prisoners.
I wrapped my arms around her, not caring that no one in my world hugged for a happy reason.
And Alana lost it all right there on my shoulder.
Chapter Fourteen
It turned out Alana's mom had gone to pick up her little brother after the pulse hit because he was in the backseat. She had driven home, sick, with him in tow. She might have lost consciousness right after parking here. They both died in this SUV as the sky above turned red and promised doom.
I could tell that much from peeking in the SUV to a sight that no one should have to see. Alana sat on the pink rocks now, silent. I wondered if she would ever speak again.
I closed the driver side door. This would have to be a grave for now until we could come back and take care of things later.
"Do you want to go inside?" I asked Alana, sitting down next to her.
She got up. "We're leaving," she said. "There's nothing left here."
Her words were hollow. There was nothing to them. I would have rather heard her screaming at me and calling me everything she could. But instead, she turned away and like a robot, climbed into the passenger seat of the truck.
"David might be coming," Jerome reminded me. "I don't think we should hang around here any longer than we have to."
"Come on," Gina begged. "We know everyone's gone."
They were right. Maybe Alana's experience had scared them off from wanting to see their own homes. I got back into the driver's seat and backed the truck out of the driveway.
Next to me, Alana stared straight ahead. It was as if someone had come down and scooped out her entire, bubbly personality. I wondered what she would do for an outlet. How she would cope. If she would cope.
I really, really hated the universe.
I turned back onto Strawberry and then drove towards Main. I made a left there, heading north, turning in the direction that would take us to the expressway.
Jerome swore as we rounded another curve.
We had made a mistake.
The Cat stood in the middle of Main, right between the stores, blocking the road with its massive form. Several people stood around it and the headlights fell on Eric, who held a pistol in his hand. It dangled by his pocket and Tony stood next to him, armed with another.
I stopped the truck and we sat there. David hopped down from the Cat and pushed past Christina, who held a shotgun, and walked towards us. He cut his finger across his throat. Turn off the engine, it meant.
"Turn around!" Alana yelled.
"Duck," Gina said to Jerome.
She broke my trance. Sheer panic took over. I turned the truck around and gunned it.
A light post swung into my view and the truck lurched over a boulder, then made a horrible crunch as the hood did a face-plant with it and the other huge rocks that surrounded it. The truck bed angled up behind me as I buried our tires into the miniature canyon.
"Turn off the truck!" David shouted. "Whoever you are, turn it off. We're armed. Give us your food and water and we'll let you go."
So this was how David planned on running Colton. By catching people who were just trying to pass through. The western half of the country was going to be full of places like this.
I looked at Alana and turned off the truck. We weren't moving off these boulders.
David had us.
We wouldn't have made it out even if we hadn't stopped at Alana's.
It didn't matter now. I could only sit there and wait. Alana stared straight ahead. She muttered something.
My best friend had given up on life. I hadn't even gotten that far yet. I couldn't let her just give up. Me, that was one thing. But I hated seeing this in another person. Was this how I looked to her for the past year?
"Don't you have enough food already?" I asked when David appeared outside my door. I still had the window rolled down. "You have an entire towns' worth to last you for months."
"Laney," David said in shock. His mouth fell open. "I didn't think it was you." He backed up, almost as if I were someone risen from the dead.
"Who is it?" Christina asked, drawing up next to David. She was standing close enough to him to tell me that the two might be becoming an item. That was fine. She could have him.
"Back up," David told her. "Go back with the others."
And she could deal with the treatment, too.
Christina did as she was told, just like the rest of the gang, and stood back by the Cat. I stared at the ignition again, mind spinning.
I wanted to survive.
And I wanted my friends to survive with me. I realized just how much I never wanted to abandon them. I wanted to confide in them and have people to talk to. I wanted to make Alana feel better and become more of herself again. And now David was going to take all of that away. We had driven right into his trap.
"Get out," David said. "We need your food and water. The market doesn't have as much as you think."
"You can raid houses," I said.
"Your supplies!" David shouted, holding up the gun.
"Take them," I said. "Then we'll leave and you'll never have to see us again. I promise. We were never trying to do anything to you in the first place." Jerome and Gina remained hidden in the back. The blanket was over them both. I could see that in the rearview mirror. I hoped they stayed down.
David's face remained hard. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He looked like a fish.
We had bruised his ego. That was offense enough.
I hopped out of the truck and stood there like a lady on a game show, pointing out the food and water in the back. "All yours," I said. "Go ahead. Take it. Then we'll leave you alone. I'm sorry if we did anything to offend you." I sounded so sarcastic.
David peeked into the truck, but kept the gun raised. People shifted over by the Cat. Everyone was uncomfortable. Jerome and Gina stayed down in the truck bed. It was angled up. Out of sight. David might not know they were in there yet. We still had a secret. "You know," I said. "It was hard getting across that desert.
Jerome and Gina died, David. We had to leave them. They were never trying to do anything to you, either."
Alana got out of the other side of the truck and waited there. She could run if she wanted. The truck was blocking David's view of her. He'd have to go around to get a shot. Why wouldn't she go already? I caught a glimpse of her through the glass. The truck's headlights still worked, lighting up the night.
"They died!" I shouted.
"How did you make it out here?" David asked. "How did you and Alana get out here?"
"We found the truck." My mind scrambled. "Jerome and Gina got caught in a fire."
"The Marlon one?" David asked. I was distracting him. "The whole town was on fire when I got there. I bet you set it." He waved me away from the truck and into the middle of the street. I followed. Alana still wasn't running. He raised his voice so the others could all hear. "You burned that town down, didn't you, Laney? I told you all they're trying to sabotage us!"
Five other faces stared me down as I stood there in the middle of the street. David still had the gun. No one made an expression. Jasmine was the only one unarmed. She stood at the side of the Cat, quiet and unmoving. I wasn't sure what to make of that.
"You were ahead of us, David," I explained, fighting to keep my voice level. If I could get everyone to realize what David was, there might be a chance. "We couldn't have set the town on fire before you got there. So I must have laser vision?"
Someone laughed, but David turned his glare on his minions. They silenced. Alana hung back by the truck, hollow.
I had to get her back. I missed her already. I hadn't realized how much I loved her optimism, how much darkness it chased away. I'd been too sunk in my own despair to see that there was still some light left.
She needed me to get it back.
"I think someone else set it on fire," I said. "It wasn't me. I'm not trying to take food from you guys."