Crow - The Awakening

by Michael J. Vanecek

  Even their rude interruption of his thoughts didn't bother him. Steven mainly just wanted to get away from where his pursuers were searching and find some safe place to sit back and collect his wits. Lacking a car, the bus seemed to be the next best candidate, provided he was not noticed when he got on. No one seemed to be chasing him or even paying much attention to him, so he was hopeful that he had finally escaped.

  He needed to get to Brandon but was still fighting nausea from seeing that kid die. His heart hurt for the kid and he felt extremely guilty. Who was he that someone would die for him? Especially someone as outgoing as that kid, who took the time to help him. Steven looked out the window as the bus pulled up to another stop, and looked at all the people around him. Any one of them would be more important than him. And yet these guys were after him because he could play on computers. Steven failed to comprehend why that was so significant as to kill someone over.

  Another bus stop jostled Steven and he looked up. An elderly black lady got on very slowly. The bus was packed and she looked for a place to sit. Everywhere she looked, the passengers looked the other way, pretending not to notice her. Steven shook his head and was suddenly very angry. He waved at the lady over to where he was sitting. "Here, ma'am. You can have my seat," he offered, stepping forward to grab her arm as the bus lurched forward suddenly, nearly causing her to lose her balance.

  The group of young men had continued playing and wrestling loudly, laughing and carrying on boisterously and bumping Steven, until he suddenly got up. Now they all were silent, staring at Steven. Steven helped the woman to his seat as she gave him her heartfelt appreciation. He shrugged modestly and stood up in the aisle. It was still strangely quiet and he looked down at the others who had been so noisy just a moment ago. One gave him a thumbs up and winked. Steven smiled and grabbed onto the rail as the bus lurched again as it went to the next stop. He heard them start to chatter again and felt relieved to fade back into obscurity again.

  Suddenly the bus slammed on its brakes as a vehicle suddenly swerved in front of it and stopped, blocking its path. Steven lost his grip from the slippery rail and fell to the floor. One of the young men grabbed his arm and helped him to his knees just as he saw heavily armed agents storm onto the bus commanding everyone to remain seated. One pointed at him and his legs grew numb. He looked around for a way out. The door near the rear of the bus was open too, but an agent entered that way and lunged at him. Steven got up and tried to evade his grasp only to fall into the grasp of the other agent who slammed him to the ground hard enough to rattle his teeth.

  The youths suddenly started yelling at them and before Steven knew it they were engaged with the agents, beating them with steel pipes. The agent that had tackled him and was trying to get his arms behind him to put zip-ties on fell limp and Steven pushed out from under him. One of the gang members grabbed his arm and pulled him off the bus. "Run, dude." Steven looked back as the fight spilled out of the bus, occupying the agents who did not notice him sneaking around the back of the bus. The youth that pulled him out clocked an agent that tried to point out Steven with a steel pipe, knocking him to the ground.

  Steven looked around and saw one of the SUVs still idling. No one was at the wheel and Steven rushed to it and climbed in. Putting the vehicle in reverse, he spun out, jumping the curb as he tried to get the vehicle turned around. The rear window suddenly spidered at some impact and Steven looked to see agents taking aim at him with their assault rifles. He had not considered that the vehicle was bullet-proof but was immensely thankful that it was. Putting the SUV into drive, he floored it and sped away while trying to remember his drivers lessons from a year ago.

  He saw another vehicle jump the curb and go around the bus to give chase. Steven swerved at the next intersection, overcorrecting as he tried to control the vehicle. It was a lot heavier than he was expecting and he figured it was from the armor. But he didn't stop and kept pushing forward, barreling down the street and dodging traffic as he tried to lose his pursuers. But they stayed close to him as they tried to herd him. Suddenly they pulled back and Steven looked around, wondering what was going on. He saw a side street and turned to go down it, just in time to see part of his front quarter panel fragment to pieces. He flinched as pieces of it bounced off the windshield.

  Steven looked around, trying to see what shot him. It felt like he was hit by a tank, but all his pursuers were keeping their distance now. He steered quickly down another street just as he saw bits of pavement explode beside the SUV. He leaned forward and looked up, wondering if someone was in a helicopter shooting at him. But he didn't see anything in the night sky, until suddenly he saw what looked like a beam of light erupt from what looked like empty sky. Part of his hood fragmented as dozens of projectiles smashed into it and Steven sat back in surprise, swerving as he tried to regain control of the vehicle. "What was that?" He skidded down another street and started looking for cover. He saw more pieces of pavement explode as he turned and he realized that they had anticipated him going straight. He continued turning down side streets and swerving down the road, trying to present a more challenging target.

  As he neared another intersection the pavement exploded in front of him to his left and Steven instinctively turned onto yet another side street. He spotted a couple of SUVs up ahead and realized he had been herded. Gritting his teeth, he yanked the vehicle onto a driveway and smashed through a fence, bumping hard through a backyard and narrowly missing an above ground pool. He smashed through another fence and emerged onto an alley and sped down it as fast as he could, smashing trashcans as he went. He grimaced at the thought of the homeowners having to deal with the mess he just made of their backyard but was jolted from that thought when he burst out onto a regular street, sideswiping a speeding SUV and forcing it into gasoline pumps at a gas station across the street.

  Steven didn't look back as he saw an orange glow light up the cab and kept the pedal floored hoping that would be enough of a distraction to let him get away. He kept looking for something to duck under, like a covered garage or something. But that would limit his escape paths if he got blocked in.

  As he was pulling up behind a vehicle, he flinched when it was hit by a hail of bullets that looked like beams of light coming down from above. It exploded in a raging fireball. Steven put the SUV in reverse when the vehicle behind him suffered the same fate. They were trying to box him in by destroying the vehicles around him. He screamed as the vehicle next to him erupted in flames as its roof shattered and shrapnel bounced off the SUV. He had briefly locked eyes with the passenger and she looked so terrified. Now she was dead and he cried as he put the SUV in drive and slammed into the wreckage in front of him and pushed through it. All of these people were dying because of him he didn't even know why.

  Steven slammed the pedal down, running a red light and narrowly missing a police car that spun out in the intersection. The SUV behind him slowed and turned off the street, avoiding the police that had already put on its lights and started pursuing him. Steven kept the accelerator pinned to the floor, not trusting the police to be any different from the agents who were chasing him. After all, Brandon said that one of them interrogated him at the police department. And now people were dying all around him. His godparents did mention that they left a trail of bodies where ever they went and he could never have imagined it. The look on the woman's face before her car was hit broke his heart and he wretched on the seat as he tried to keep control of the SUV.

  He approached an intersection onto a larger thoroughfare and braked just enough to slide around the curve, riding the brakes until he was nearly through then hitting the gas again, fishtailing the vehicle before regaining control and speeding off. The police maintained its pursuit, however, and when they emerged into an office district that had little traffic they pulled up to his side and moved in, ramming his rear quarter panel. The SUV's rear tires lost traction and the SUV started spinning, forcing Steven to turn the wheel in an attempt to keep the vehicle f
rom spinning out altogether. An over pass was coming up very rapidly and Steven suddenly found himself airborne then landing and bouncing down the embankment between the two bridges. The vehicle slammed into the supports of one of the bridges just short of the highway going underneath them. Airbags deployed as he hit, bouncing Steven back, then deflated, leaving him dazed and with a bit of an abrasion burn on his cheek and forehead.

  He stumbled out of the SUV and fell to the ground and while trying to get back up, Steven fell face down again. He saw stars for a moment but tried desperately to keep trying to escape. From what he had seen he was very fearful for Brandon and needed desperately to warn his friend. A police officer scrambled down to him and pinned him to the ground as he pulled his arms back behind him before binding his hands with zip-ties. "Please. They're trying to kill me, sir," Steven tried to explain as the police officer patted him down.

  "Are you injured?" The officer asked as he patted Steven down.

  "I don't think so," Steven responded, trying to get his breath back as the officer got off of him.

  The officer helped him to his feet and took him to a waiting police car. Steven looked around trying to find the others that were chasing him but they were nowhere to be seen. He could hear the drone of an aircraft overhead and wondered if that was the airplane being used to thwart his escape attempt. He strained his eyes in the darkness looking for it, but the officer held his head down as he was pushed into the back seat of the car. Steven turned around looking at him while he was talking on his shoulder radio. "Sir, there are people after me and they're trying to kill me." The officer looked at him for a moment then closed the door.

  After a few minutes, other police cars came to process the scene and the officer pulled the car away, heading toward the police station. Steven wondered if the agents that were after him would catch up to him now that they had pulled away from the rest of the squad cars. He was convinced if they did, it would be all over.

  "You've got to believe me. They shot at me and I have bullet holes in my pants," Steven insisted.

  "You can explain all of that when you are arraigned, sir," the officer said curtly.

  Steven groaned and sat back. What was he going to do now? "I haven't done anything. They think I'm something I'm not!" He kicked the back of the seat in frustration.

  "Listen, if you don't stop that I'll have to restrain your feet..." The police officer started, but that was as far as he got before the ceiling of the car seemed to explode inward and Steven watched parts of the officer's skull explode. Before the skull fragments and blood finished splattering, the officer's right side seemed blow up throwing his arm violently against the passenger door, then the steering wheel and dash fragmented into pieces as the path of destruction migrated down the front of the car. It was ripped apart by hundreds of explosive impacts that nearly split the front of the car in half. Everything happened so fast that it was over before Steven fully registered the officer's gruesome demise.

  Steven jerked back in response to that as more of the car was shredded explosively with parts of the front flying off altogether. Shortly after the shells chewed up the car he could hear the distinct sound of a loud foghorn pulsing in the air far above him. The car swerved out of control off the street, down an embankment, and crashed over the concrete barrier onto the highway before coming to a screeching stop in the middle of the median.

  Steven found himself on the floor of the car and tried to pick himself up. The door had come off and he saw the lights of an oncoming semi truck. He didn't have a chance to react other than to wince as the front of the car was hit by the truck, ripping the car in half and throwing him out onto the pavement. The semi jackknifed and rolled over on its side down the highway as Steven slid to a excruciating stop on the pavement. He looked and could see smoke coming from the semi and the driver climbing out the passenger window. Agonizingly, Steven looked around for any more oncoming vehicles then scooted to the side of the highway. A piece of sharp metal cut his arm as he slid on the concrete and he flinched from the sting. He looked down at a sharp piece of the police car and started sawing his zip-tie cuffs on the metal. After slipping painfully a couple of times, cutting himself, he was able to get the zip-tie cut and freed up his hands.

  He looked back at what used to be the police car. It was now nearly unrecognizable as a car. The rear of the car was actually relatively untouched but the front was torn up and crushed up from whatever was shooting at them and the resulting wreck, with pieces scattered all over the highway. The devastation stunned him. More vehicles were coming and Steven heard the sound of an aircraft up overhead so he decided now was time to disappear. The semi caught fire and one of the tanks exploded, and Steven felt the heat wave wash over him.

  Looking around to make sure no one saw him, he scrambled along the concrete barrier then hopped over it and crossed the highway, narrowly avoiding being hit by a car that swerved then spun out down the highway, coming to a rest on the side. A pickup truck pulled up behind it, braking to avoid rear-ending the car. Seeing an opportunity, Steven decided to run over to the pickup in the dark and he snuck into the truck's bed. He heard the driver yelling at the other driver, asking if she was okay. She answered yes and they both pulled back out onto the highway, slowing as they stared at the wreckage. Steven did his best to keep his head down so they wouldn't notice him. He found some bags of compost in the bed and hid behind them, feeling better about his decision.

  As his adrenaline started to calm down, the recent events came back to him and he turned over and wretched. The death of the police officer was still imprinted on his mind and he cried as the incident replayed itself almost in slow motion. The face of the woman in the car merged with that memory and he saw both of them, alive one moment and dead the next. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block the memory.

  Part of him wondered where Asherah was in all of this. Normally she's in his head yelling at him to run or giving him opinions and advice but the voice has been quiet for some time now. As distracting as it was, he couldn’t help but miss the voice because it gave him something else to think about other than the horror that was occurring around him.

  After several minutes of driving, the truck pulled off the highway and onto a road that was lined with restaurants and parks. It pulled into one of the restaurants and parked and Steven ducked down as the occupants got out and went into the establishment. Once he was sure they were gone he climbed out of the truck and looked around. There was a park nearby with a lot of trees and a jogging trail. It was nice and dark except for lights on the trail and he rushed to it, relieved to finally find a place where he felt safe. After retreating deeper into the park he found a tree and climbed it until he was far up off the ground and in the comfort of its canopy. He hugged the trunk of the tree, overcome by emotion again. All he wanted to do now was sleep but he was still too keyed up to drift off.

  Laurence was on the phone with the techs, trying to work out the satellite tracker. The drone had to be brought back in for refueling and rearming and he watched as the big black aircraft sank gracefully to the ground. It had two large turbines that rotated on its short wingtips and provided most of the lift and propulsion of the aircraft. Since it was remotely piloted, it had room for a lot of heavy armament and still maintained a small size that didn't show up on most radars. A Vulcan tank-buster cannon was its primary assault weapon, though it could be equipped with missiles and bombs. He patted the fuselage of the aircraft as men rushed out with hoses and a cart of replacement shells. The shells were huge. Firing at the cars with that cannon was way overkill. It was designed to eat through tank armor like butter. But they were still able to target the exact part of the car and avoid killing their precious quarry.

  Even though the collection team was upon the wreckage almost immediately, the passenger still eluded them and they were having to adjust and recast their net. The fire from the truck had confounded the drone's infrared cameras and they lost sight of Steven almost right away. The satel
lites tracking the chip were getting low and he had to wait for another one to be tasked for the job, which gave their target time to find a place to hide. Laurence hoped that Steven didn't go underground or in a metal building or some other structure that would block the signal. An easy acquisition was all he asked for but the kid was proving to be an extremely difficult objective even with all the tech they were using to track him. Laurence couldn't help but feel impressed.

  The tech came back on the phone to confirm the tasking of the satellite and Laurence looked as the signal on his tracker refreshed. Steven had made it nearly across town. "Okay folks, the target is stationary. Set the perimeter and let's bag him already," he said into his phone to his team commanders. He was ready for a break and really wanted to end this chase. The drone’s engines spooled back up and with little hesitation it lifted off and zoomed away into the night. Laurence grinned, really loving that part of his job - the neat toys he got to play with.

  Chapter 17

  Steven started from a doze and sat up, looking around. The park was quiet except for the sound of an aircraft flying high overhead. His head was buzzing, however, and the back of his skull hurt. He massaged his neck, remembering the wreck he was recently in. Looking down, he made sure he wasn't bleeding anymore from his numerous scrapes and scratches. It would be ridiculous to escape the people chasing him only to perish from blood loss, so he double checked to be sure. His arms were caked with blood from the sharp metal of the police car but they had long since stopped bleeding. His bullet wounds were throbbing but likewise not bleeding freely. Most of the blood was caked and drying.

  He leaned back on the branch, looking at the trees around him in the dim light of the tall restaurant sign, wondering what he had done to deserve such violence. And because of him the trail of bodies kept getting longer and longer, and he had no idea why he was so important. "I'm nobody," he whispered into the night. He was so used to hiding, from his godparents, from those seeking to track him on the internet and now from those trying to capture him that he had gotten used to being nobody. But now he was being made into somebody and it disturbed him.