by John Freitas
Carter nodded. “We can talk about all that later some time.”
Grant pointed up. “Holden, do you think this rock can fly like the other stuff from the magic? Do you think? It would hurt, if it fell on us.”
Holden turned away and looked back in the direction of the campsite where they had left their mom. He didn’t want to be out there anymore.
19
Michael Strove and Roman Nikitin – Russia
They were moving from tree to tree. Michael left one trunk and reached out to brace his weight on the next one. The trees were getting further apart and fewer of them were standing as cover grew thin.
Michael did not trust the darkness to protect them either. Search lights from the jeeps on the road running parallel to their path swept through the scant woods around them. That suggested that they weren’t relying on night vision, but it seemed scant comfort at best.
Michael wasn’t sure who was supporting who any longer as he and Roman wobbled forward through the darkness in the wilderness.
Roman stopped and pulled Michael back the other direction. “Wait.”
“What is it? Do you hear something?”
“Need to find the way.”
Michael bowed his head and heaved for air. “You said we were close.”
“We are. It just feels far because we are hurt and the Russian army is chasing us.”
Michael nodded his head and blinked on sweat rolling into his eyes making it even harder to see in the dark. Michael thought that Roman’s statement would be quite funny under other circumstances. He imagined himself telling it to other pilots in a mess hall as a funny piece about his harrowing adventure after crashing in Russia. He realized the image felt like an unreal fantasy. Getting out alive to tell his story felt more far-fetched than the strange changes in gravity that brought him there in the first place.
As Roman oriented himself, Michael realized he could not even picture telling the story to his brother. Arkansas felt so far away in that moment. It felt farther than Alaska or an American hospital or embassy. It felt farther than the other side of the world even. A conversation with Carter about how he had survived this moment in Russia felt like something in another dimension or an alternate reality. It seemed like something that could not possibly happen in this universe.
Michael whispered. “You can’t get there from here.”
Roman pointed with the edge of his hand like he was chopping at the few trees that were still standing ahead of them. “No, it is this way. We are almost there. Almost. Almost. Let’s go.”
Michael staggered forward along the direction of Roman’s chop with Roman still at his side.
Michael had resolved himself before he ever crashed over land that the mission was going to end in his death. He had prepared himself to ditch in the ocean to avoid this very thing. He hadn’t had much time to contemplate life, death, gravity, or the universe in that moment, but he had mentally said his goodbyes to his brother then.
Gravity had shifted again out there over the ocean and turned his plans in another direction. He still had not allowed himself to contemplate seeing his brother again. Now the thought bothered him deeply as he still couldn’t picture it, but had time to think about it.
His father had taken Carter and Grant to a conference in Atlanta back when the man was still a preacher and was giving a talk to other preachers. He couldn’t remember the name of the hotel, but they had been on the fortieth floor and it was open in the middle. The balconies along the edges that lined the doors for the rooms overlooked the emptiness in the middle all the way to the lobby floor hundreds of feet down. It had been a vast abyss that left Michael feeling sick to his stomach and dizzy. He had walked close to the wall every time they approached the elevator. Carter had made fun of Michael about it. Michael had flown experimental planes at supersonic speeds near the top edge of the atmosphere, but sometimes he still had bad dreams about that empty centered hotel.
He imagined falling through the middle. The fall would have taken a few seconds and it would have ended in darkness. Michael imagined the moments of that fall. The end would come and there would be no memories, but he would think about things as the floor rushed toward him. Those thoughts would vanish in that final darkness like they had never existed even though he would have thought them. He had trouble wrapping his mind around that.
As he and Roman moved forward step by step, Michael felt like he was in the final seconds of that fall that had haunted his thoughts since he was little. He was still thinking, but the darkness would come shortly from a Russian bullet or a tree being crushed to Earth by the force Roman kept calling the invisible tiger.
It was as good a name as any for the final seconds of being pushed down by gravity into the darkness. The world did not seem real around him.
He realized he wanted to see Carter again. The thought made him feel sad and isolated.
“There.” Roman pointed with a chop again.
Up the open slope, he saw the fence and a colorless metal building. A clothes line ran from one corner out to the tower of the transmitter. That did not strike Michael as promising for getting a message out or for this ending in anything but that final darkness. A listening station with no one to listen, he thought.
“I think gravity is going to win this time, Roman.”
He laughed on Michael’s shoulder. “It usually does, but you fly planes for the American heroes, right?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You beat gravity all the time even though you should know better. Let’s try one more time.”
Michael took a deep breath and nodded.
20
Sean Grayson and Jenny Restrepo – Arkansas
Sean whipped around the side of the roadblock and cut a dark tire track through the dirt on the side. The jeep bucked as he ran back up onto the road. He raced forward as the lights and siren of one patrol vehicle pursued behind him.
“Sean, that’s the police. You need to stop.”
He looked in the mirror and saw the other officers standing near the roadblock. He saw a cinderblock building close to the right of the roadblock with the metal door hanging open. He turned his eyes back forward.
“We’ll be fine, Jenny. Trust me.”
She looked back and spoke to Sean over the siren. “The police are chasing us. Stop and tell them why we need to go. He’ll understand.”
“He won’t, but it doesn’t matter.”
“You’re scaring me, Sean.”
Sean felt his chest growing tight. This felt familiar. He had never run from the cops before. He had never been arrested either. He had been living his life like he was running away before and he knew the fear he had put in people during those times. He heard that fear in Jenny’s voice then over the pursuing siren.
“We need to get to the boys. I know what I’m doing.”
“Explain it to me then,” Jenny said. “Trust me enough to tell me what you think will happen here.”
“He’ll stop chasing us soon,” Sean said.
Jenny looked back at the police car and then at Sean. “He won’t. Police chase until they catch. You can’t get away, Sean. Just talk to him while we still have a chance.”
Sean shook his head. “He’ll give up this time and soon. I know it.”
“How do you know?”
The siren cut off and the police car made a U turn in the street. Jenny stared as Sean let off the gas a little, but not much.
“We’re fine. We’ll make it,” he said. “You said so. Right?”
“How did you know he would turn around like that?”
“The gravity wave is coming. They don’t want to be out here anymore than we do. He’s going back to where they are going to hide when this hits.”
Jenny nodded. “Brilliant.”
Sean licked his lips. He did not feel brilliant. He thought about the mother and the two girls back at the store. He wondered if those were the last people he got to save. Maybe that
was his last victory and time was not going to allow him another win.
Sean weaved through neighborhoods and shopping centers. Cars sat with doors hanging open. No one was outside and there were no other cars on the road. Everyone had taken the safe choice.
Sean looked to the right side of the road. He wanted to barrel forward, but he didn’t want to miss the turn.
“Do you know exactly where they are?” Jenny asked.
Sean squinted as he looked out Jenny’s side of the jeep. “The turn is up here. I went with Carter out here on survival training. He came out here a lot on his own over the years.”
“Is it big?”
“Very big,” Sean said.
“How will we find them?”
He swallowed. “There is a lake. I’m betting they are out there. Hoping.”
Sean made the turn and raced up a dirt road. A drop off on one side hung very close to the wheels, but Sean couldn’t bring himself to slow down.
He swerved just in time to dodge a sign that warned there was no camping and to stay on the trail.
Sean shifted into a lower gear and had to slow as the jeep climbed the rocky slope of the trail. A pine tree scraped the driver’s side of the jeep. The glass from the side mirror popped loose and spun into the air off the trail behind him. Seeing it fall made him feel better. He did not understand why at first, but then Sean realized he had half expected the broken mirror to stay in the air spinning forever and ever like the balloon cup had tried to do in the smoke. If that had happened, it might have meant he was too late. Close, but no dice, Sean, he thought to himself. But there was still time apparently. It did not mean they were going to make it, but there was still some time at least.
The jeep bottomed out as they went down the back slope. They splashed through a low creek in a muddy slosh before climbing again.
Sean narrowed his eyes. The jeep was struggling and Carter had been driving his hatchback. He had trouble picturing Carter making this trail in that little car. If he hadn’t parked back in the last parking area, maybe Sean had come to the wrong spot. There was no time to backtrack, if he had guessed wrong. This was their one shot.
Sean made the next curve and spotted Carter’s hatchback. His heart leaped, but he knew they were still far away from success.
“Is that them?” Jenny asked.
Sean drove wide around the side. “That’s where they parked.”
He swerved back over to avoid the sign that said there were no vehicles allowed past this point. He shifted to an even lower gear and climbed the sides of smooth rocks looming large in the path as they bounded up one painful yard after another.
Sean lifted the jeep high on the passenger’s side as they threaded between two boulders. He knew they were going to tip, but then the undercarriage scraped hard and the vehicle jammed to a stop. He shifted up and down spinning the wheels like he had done in the mud off the highway. The axels made harsh grinding noises as opposed to wet sprays of mud. The jeep did not budge either way.
“We have to run it, Sean.”
They got out and jogged up between the rocks fighting their way up the trail. Sean started grabbing the thin pines along the trail to keep his footing and to pull himself forward. He was fit from training, but had been involved in multiple fires over the last few days without much sleep. The weariness started to set into his muscle where they met the bone.
For her part, Jenny kept a strong pace which encouraged him forward.
With the addition of fear and despair, Sean’s feet felt heavy and his legs burned under him. He thought of his sons’ faces and he redoubled his run. He felt heavier, but he was determined to drive forward. If he was still alive, then there was still time and he could not afford to give in to exhaustion. Holden’s and Grant’s lives depended on him reaching them. He had let them down too often before to let this moment be the last and final failure.
Sean stumbled and struck his cheek on a rock. His head spun and he saw blood pasted on the side as he raised his face again. Jenny took hold of his shoulders and pulled him upward. He staggered to his feet and ran forward again. He heard her footfalls behind him, but did not look back as they ran forward together.
He topped the hill and Jenny ran up to his side. Spots danced in his vision giving the world a feel of surreal abstraction. Sean heaved for breath as he looked out across the lake. There was the dock, but no car. They weren’t here. No, he thought, they parked back at the last clearing before I got the jeep stuck. There is no car up here. They are out there without the car. Look again, stupid.
Sean looked down and saw the tent. There was gray smoke crawling up from a tendril off a dosed fire. Someone was here.
He spotted Holden and then Grant. Carter was standing between them, but facing away. Tabby was sitting on a folding, camping chair near the tent. They weren’t looking his way, but they were there.
He still hadn’t reached them. And when he did, he still had to convince them that he was telling the truth about the danger. Then, he had to figure out a way to save them. There was no time for all of that, but he had to try.
Sean started to run again.
21
Michael Strove and Roman Nikitin -- Russia
It was getting dark. The final stretch of hill opened up to a grassy slope between them and the flat gray wall on the listening station. Even though it was dark, Michael still didn’t like the idea of running in the open. The tanks rolled along behind them plowing down medium-sized trees in their paths. With so many patches of forest brought down from the strange gravitational effect, Michael was surprised that there was much left in their path.
To their right a few miles in the distance to the north, jeeps looped around a logging trail between stumps of trees cut down by the hands of man and collapsed timber from the forces of the universe sweeping over Earth from some unknown force and source.
Michael heard gunfire, but could not place the direction and did not see where the shots hit.
“You need to let me go, Michael,” Roman heaved for breath as he leaned on Michael’s shoulder. “You can make it to the station without me pulling you down.”
“Don’t be silly, Roman. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you helping me along. We’ll make it together.”
“You’re going to get us both shot, Mister Hero Man.”
“Will they pass you by, if I let you go?”
Roman shook his head. “You mean not shoot me for helping you? No, I think that ship has flown the chicken coop.”
“Then, we get there together, Roman.”
“Okay, your funeral, man.”
They topped the hill and Michael stopped short of the break in the fence. He looked through at the station and then up at the sky.
Roman slid off Michael’s shoulder and dropped to his knees. “What’s wrong?”
“Can those tanks hit the station from there, Roman?”
Roman looked back over his shoulder and the tanks weaved between the larger trees. “Not yet, but soon.”
“If we go inside, they’ll fill it full of bullets and blast us with the tanks’ big guns.”
Roman nodded. “We stay out here and they probably still use the bullets, Michael.”
“There’s no message I can send out that gets me rescued in the heart of Russia before they kill me, if at all. If we go in, they will either blow the place up around us or another of those gravity waves will crush it around us like what happened to you in the tower.”
“So we keep running?” Roman held out his hands.
“I think I need to surrender.”
“I don’t like that much, Michael.”
“I’ll tell them that I took you and forced you to help me, but you convinced me to give up.”
Roman sighed. “Aside from not being true, they will not believe you, but I’ll go along with your story if …”
Roman noticed a falling star crossing the sky. If Roman had looked at it with a telescope he would have seen the International Space Stati
on breaking up into small pieces as it entered the atmosphere.
Michael turned and looked at Roman when he stopped talking. Roman was still staring at the night sky and whispered. “Look at the stars.”
Michael looked up. Many stars were dancing sideways, up and down as if their lights were being distorted by an invisible, fast growing gelatinous circular substance that was rapidly taking over the dark skies. A star in the center of the anomaly was getting brighter every second, illuminating the forest around them.
Roman clutched his stomach and folded to the ground. Michael felt the weight too and laid down. The pressure hit his back harder than any of the times before. He groaned in pain and then couldn’t fill his lungs back again.
The remaining fence around the station crumpled flat. The station itself folded inward and crunched flat. Every tree Michael could see bent and snapped to the ground leaving only sky. A couple trees shattered spraying bark out which instantly fired toward the ground like hundreds of sharp bullets.
Michael heard explosions and screaming behind him.
Their bodies pressed into the ground cutting pits into the loose soil. As he blacked out, Michael thought, We can’t survive this one. We can’t survive this one. We can’t.
22
Sean Grayson and Carter Strove – Black Fork Mountain Wilderness, Arkansas
Sean’s lungs and legs were on fire as he charged down through the tangles toward the lake. The thorns tore at his skin, but he continued to run toward his sons. Jenny was right by his side.
He saw Holden point up at him. Holden was always the observant one. He saw everything first and early. Carter stood up and walked away from the shore. He squared himself between Sean and Tabitha. The boys took a couple steps toward Sean, but Tabby held them back.
He wasn’t even mad. He was terrified.
“Sean?” Carter yelled. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“We’re in danger,” Sean coughed over the phlegm built up in his throat. “We have to get to shelter now. Something is coming.”