The Jeep had the T-top off, and warm air rushed through my hair as I drove down the main road, which was mostly paved, but free of lines and shoulders like the ones we were used to back at home. There were a few cars lined up to get into Panama at the time of the taking, but we were able to maneuver around them with ease. I checked my watch and it was three PM, so we really only had a good three or so hours before the sun went down; less if we were in a mountain range by then.
Two hours passed by with nothing but the sound of Carey panting and the hum of the Jeep’s large tires on the road. “Dean, come in,” the radio crackled.
I grabbed it with my right hand, pressed the button, and brought it to my face. “Roger. I’m here. Over.”
“I think we better stop soon. I don’t think Vanessa is going to make it.” Mary sounded worried.
We were coming up to the entrance to the mountain range, and sunlight was limited. “Mary, can we see if we can just make a few more miles to get into the valley before dark? We need to get as far as we can. Over,” I said into the radio.
“Okay. She says to keep going too. See you in a little bit…Over.” The pause made me feel she had more to say, but maybe couldn’t under prying ears.
As I approached the foothills, I saw that there were no lanes cutting through the two peaks ahead. Instead, the road just started to elevate. “Mary, any chance that GPS shows a better road into the valley? I have a bad feeling this one just goes up and around the nearest mountain. Over.” I waited a moment, slowing down in case we had to make a turn soon – or turn around.
“Negative. This is the way. There’ll be a lot of switchbacks coming up. Just take your time. I think we’ll be through it with enough light, and then maybe we can stop for the night. Everything goes well tomorrow, and we get an early start, I think we’ll reach our destination tomorrow. Over.”
Tomorrow. I was so excited and nervous at the same time about getting to the device and deactivating it. What would happen? Would everyone go back to the place they were beamed up from? Would they all go to the center of Russia? I blinked and had a vision of half the population being transported back, but into the ocean by random draw.
“Okay. Follow me at a safe distance and let me know if the van is too tough to drive on these narrow roads. Over.”
Carey watched me as he lay down with his face between his paws on the front seat. I wondered if he thought of Susan, his mom, on this trip. Did he go to sleep picturing her rubbing his belly or feeding him a treat? I reached over and scratched his ear, and was rewarded with a soft groan.
I was really going to miss him when this was all over. Maybe I was being a little presumptuous about the end of whatever this invasion was being near, but I felt in my gut that we were almost done with it.
Turning my attention back to the road, I could feel the humidity rising as we rose in elevation; large green-leaved trees surrounded the narrow road. After ten minutes of driving at a high grade upwards, and two ear pops, I plateaued and came over a wooden bridge. Then it all opened up in front of me. I could see the winding road down the hill and into the valley. It looked like a hundred-mile asphalt snake, winding its way southwards, pointing me to my destination. It was beautiful.
The sun was behind the mountain range to the west and we would be out of light before we knew it. I kept driving, the van following behind, until I wound halfway down the mountain side road. There were no guard rails anywhere, and a few times I caught myself peeking down the ridge into oblivion as we went into the valley.
“We’d better stop. Light’s almost gone and not only do we not want headlights bringing attention to us, Ray doesn’t want to be driving this thing over the side. Over.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll pull over ahead.” I noticed they had already pulled to the side. I was watching the rear-view mirror and when I looked forward, there it was. A ship hovered there, a horrifying game of chicken in play. It was smaller than the ships we’d seen in New York and cutting up the world on the trip south, but mostly the same shape. I twitched and panicked. What to do? I saw the look on Mary’s face in the van. They hadn’t been moving, so more than likely, the ship had only seen me. Conflicting debate ran through my head faster than I’d have thought possible. I went with my gut. Seconds after I spotted the ship, I hit the gas, racing down the hill. It followed me.
SIXTEEN
Gravel spun under my tires and flung behind me as I tore down the mountain. Carey was sitting up, scared by the movement and noises. The ship, silent as ever, followed me effortlessly. I knew I either had to hide somehow, or just keep driving until this thing blew me up. Either way, I hoped I’d been able to give my friends time to get away and keep themselves safe so they could complete the mission. Vanessa would probably be dead soon, so that left Mary and Ray to do the task. I had faith they could do it.
I must have driven two miles, my knuckles bright white as I clenched the steering wheel, racing in and out of corners, trying to keep on the road. The ship was there still, staying just behind and above me, always visible in my mirrors. No green lights shone out of it, and thankfully no red ones either.
The sun was going down, and I knew my chance was going to be in a few minutes. I saw a waterfall ahead to the southeast and made my stupid plan. If anything, I was sure I could at least distract them from the others for a while. I heard my radio crackle, but no voices came through. The radios were only good for a couple miles, and out here, surrounded by mountains, it was probably less than that.
We whirred around another bend and the Jeep drifted on the gravel, so close to the edge I almost crapped myself. With a pounding heart, I saved it and kept going down the road, end in sight. As the last rays of light crossed over the mountains, I killed the lights and threw the e-brake on, turning to the waterfall. Before the car stopped, I opened the door and ran for the water. I could hear Carey growling and following me. He soon passed me and we both jumped the ten-foot ridge into the cool water. With a glance back, I saw the ship stop and turn. There was no time to watch them. We swam, me quietly urging Carey forward. We only had thirty yards to cross before we hit the falls, and there I felt some rocks under my feet and planted them, picking up Carey and sliding us beside, then behind the falls.
Just as I hoped, there was a cavern behind them. I had visions of huge snakes twisting towards us in the water, ready to asphyxiate us before swallowing us whole. How much worse could that be than alien death? Lucky for us, no snakes came out to greet us. The cavern was damp and muddy, but we clambered up and into it, Carey shaking off wildly and no doubt wondering what the hell I was doing to him.
My breathing was heavy and my heart banged in my ears, a real life tell-tale heart that I was sure the aliens could hear. Carey whimpered as we walked slowly into the dark space, where God knew what was hiding to devour us. I heard a voice calling out.
“Dean, don’t be afraid. We need to talk,” it said.
I crouched and moved toward the entrance, telling Carey to stay back. He seemed happy to listen. From here, I would have sworn that was the exact same man Vanessa had killed already. Did they all look the same? Maybe their human forms did. And why did they even look human? What did they really look like?
“You can’t turn the device off. It means the end of everything if you do. Come out and I’ll explain it to you,” he called. Damn right he’d explain it to me. With a laser to the head.
I sneaked back to where Carey was waiting, sure the alien hadn’t seen me, and walked deeper into the cavern. The man kept calling to me as I found a narrow passageway in the dark dirt-covered wall near the back of the cave. There was just enough room for me to squeeze through. There was light a little way away and where there was light, there was freedom. With a little coercion I wasn’t proud of, I tricked Carey into following me with the promise of a bone that I didn’t have.
The voice was getting harder and harder to hear as we neared the opening back to outside. We would be on the other side of this small rock outcropping.
I picked Carey up, pushed him out the hole, then jumped up, grabbed the edges of the opening, and hauled myself through. Carey rolled around, trying to get the mud off his body. We were both soaked, stinky, and covered in grime, but we had evaded him for the time being. I headed east by foot, and hopefully away from capture; the canopy of trees would cover us from above. I only hoped that my crazy stunt had allowed the others to go unnoticed by the ships, especially if there were more than one around.
I kept looking back and to the sky for signs of pursuit but relaxed a little bit when I didn’t see any. I really wished that I’d had the common sense to bring my knapsack into the Jeep with me. I had nothing with me. For a time, I wondered if I should head back to the Jeep and see if I could find the group again, but for all I knew, the aliens were waiting for me to come back. So instead, I kept walking in the humid night, my shirt not getting any drier as we went. It felt like rain wasn’t far off, so I looked for some sort of shelter to stay under for a few hours.
I wandered for a while, and as the rain began to fall, I found a thick copse of trees with a large canopy of leaves above it. With no choice but to hope no wild animals had us on the menu, we hunkered down by a large tree trunk, only a small amount of rain creeping through to splash us. Carey snuggled in close, and I could feel his stress. I’m sure he was picking up on mine; it was probably radiating from me in waves. At some point, I dozed off, and when I came to, Carey was almost on top of me snoring away, and the first bits of light were showing to the east. It was time to keep going, and hopefully, meet up with Mary, Ray, and Vanessa along the way.
We stretched and got to our feet, both taking the time to relieve ourselves by a tree. Two wild animals in the jungle. Carey looked up at me, no doubt wondering why I wasn’t feeding him. My stomach growled at the thought of food, and we set off looking for the road and some fruit if we were lucky. I used the rising sun to direct me south. I was never the best outdoorsman, but I could build a decent fire and find basic directions. We walked through the morning mist for a mile or so before we meandered to the road.
Just as I’d given up on finding any sort of food source nearby, there stood a huge mango tree, heavy with fruit. I laughed out loud and ran over to the great tree, squeezed one of the mangoes and plucked a ripe one. I used my teeth to peel the first bit, then went into it with my somewhat clean hands. Carey sat by me, instantly knowing it was food in my possession. He took the first piece hesitantly and dropped it a couple times before deciding it was palatable enough. I almost forgot what I was even doing here, but with some food in my belly, it became clear again. I snagged as many mangoes as I could hold and we headed down the road at a brisk pace. I was sure we would come across a car soon. This area seemed to be sparsely populated, but there would be a village somewhere nearby. And where there was a village, there would be cars.
The sun was over the mountain peaks when we came upon a beat-up truck. The black paint was rusted through around the wheel wells and the windshield looked like it was held together by luck alone. I got into the truck and fired it up; the engine came to life and sounded better than I thought it would. Carey sniffed around the seats like a hound on a mission. I understood. The cab smelled quite bad, like rotten onions, but when I couldn’t quickly find the source, I rolled the windows down and took off. My first mission was to go back and see if there was any chance the group was still at the top of the valley. I kept a close eye on the sky for ships as I made my way back. Time was pressing and I hated having to backtrack. I really dreaded the idea that I might have to finish this task all alone. I was more than a little worried about Mary and Ray, and wondered if Vanessa was still with us.
When I got to the top, the tour van was still there, but devoid of my friends. I grabbed the few supplies they’d left behind: a knife in the glove box, a bottle of water under the driver’s seat, Carey’s food. After giving the dog some food and water, I took a swig myself and decided to keep going with the truck. It had far more fuel and I had no siphoning gear with me. What had happened to them?
Did they stay hidden, then walk to get another car? Or did the ship come back and find them? With a heavy heart, I headed back down the road I had raced down last night, racing from the ship following. I passed the waterfall spot and saw the Jeep off to the side. I kept driving. It was just before nine as I moved down the mountain road, now leveled off and smooth going. I knew there had to be some ships looking for me, but I had no choice but to keep moving. Colombia was a large country, and I was still close to four hundred miles from the Peru border. At that moment, it felt really far, and going to it alone was devastating. I tried to see if I could spot any dust on the road ahead but couldn’t see any sign of another vehicle from here.
The roads were empty, and I pushed the hunk of junk truck to its limits. I had it up to fifty-five miles an hour as Carey and I cruised down the road. We kept that pace for an hour or so before we came up to a roadside village. I slowed as we approached a little one-pump gas station. The pump was an ancient-looking guy, and when I tested it, gas flowed out. Some of these towns were off the grid, so they would have things to accommodate that. I filled the truck, and after pilfering something to eat and some water from the tiny shop, we were back heading south. I didn’t have a map with me, but I knew the general direction and was confident I wasn’t going to get lost.
The next two hours were much of the same thing. Beautiful countryside, tropical plants everywhere. The humid heat kept my shirt plastered to my skin and Carey panting almost non-stop. I made sure to keep us hydrated. We shared a mango; this time, I had a knife to cut it as I drove. Carey now had a taste for the smooth juicy fruit, and he eyed me as I handed him a piece of it. When I checked the time, it was two in the afternoon and I figured I was still a hundred or so miles from the border.
The mountains were more like foothills now, and it had been a while since those dramatic elevation changes that caused my ears to pop. Carey and I were making good time, but I had to wonder if I would catch up to Mary soon. Unless they were cruising down at seventy, I should have found a sign of them by now. Then it dawned on me that they might have backtracked and taken a less direct way in order to avoid the ships detecting them. That’s if they weren’t caught when I raced down the hillside road like a lunatic. Maybe if I’d just stayed with them...no, I knew that would have just gotten us all caught or killed.
Machu Picchu was seven hundred miles or so away, with some potentially rough terrain ahead. Peru was another tropical and bumpy sort of country. Not only that, I didn’t have the GPS with me and was going from memory for the most part. I would stop at a gas station somewhere and hope they had a map of the country or something to help me along if I needed it. I tried to do the math and figure it out. Seven hundred miles, at an average of fifty miles an hour, would put me at fourteen more hours. I had about five hours of driving light left today, so if I started out at five in the morning, I could be there tomorrow at two in the afternoon. That said, I knew I would have to take surprises into account. Any number of things could happen to me between now and then: tire blowout, road block, ships attacking me.
Since I was just driving and getting a little unsettled, I needed something to occupy my racing brain. I knocked off the average speed to thirty miles an hour and calculated the time to Machu then. Twenty-three odd hours, with five today and a five AM start tomorrow, put me arriving there in the dark. Not only that, but Machu was a way up from the town. There was going to be some all-terraining combined with some serious hiking to get there. Best case, I was walking up the hill there tomorrow night. More likely, I was still a day and a half from reaching the device to turn it off. My palm itched at the thought, but I didn’t scratch it. There was nothing I wanted more than ending this crap, but the closer I got, the farther away it felt.
Carey stuck his head to the window crack I’d left open and his drool strung out behind us. I laughed and he seemed to think it was funny too, judging by the dog smile he showed me. It was hot; had to be over n
inety degrees as the sun beat down on the roof of the rust-bucket I was driving. Gas was getting low as we cruised to the Peru border. As soon as I saw a “Twenty Miles from Peru” border sign, the engine made an awful noise, one of those sounds you know there’s no coming back from. Black smoke rose as the engine sputtered to non-functioning. By instinct, I pulled to the side of the road, even though I wasn’t going to impede anyone’s driving.
“Well, there’s another setback, Carey.” He looked at me sideways. “First we lose our friends, sleep under a tree, and then I blow up a truck. I bet this thing hasn’t hit fifty-five in a long time, and I ran it pretty hard today. Probably hasn’t had an oil change since the eighties.” I didn’t even bother opening the hood. Not only did I hardly know my way around under there, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get it going again. I did dump one of my water bottles on the engine to cool it, but quickly stopped as I realized it was making more smoke and wasting my hydration.
I grabbed our supplies, throwing a portion of Carey’s food into my sack, and we left the truck on the road, smoldering in the heat.
SEVENTEEN
The heat was getting to be too much for both of us, and after walking for fifteen minutes in the middle of the road, I moved us to the side of the road where the large-leafed trees shaded us. We had to find a vehicle soon. This road wasn’t a super-used one, obviously, but someone had to be out here.
I wondered about how the ships dealt with isolated places like this. I bet there were people in the world who had no idea the ships were even here until they were being whisked away, green light summoning them into the sky. It would have been so frightening, almost worse than knowing. I also was sure that more than a handful of people had died of heart attacks when they were taken. What a horrible way to go. And what about the people in hospitals, or the ones whose lives depended on medical equipment or pills?
The Event Page 11