Out of Place

by Scollins, Shane

  She swung her leg over the back, gripped around his waist, and he tore off down the highway.

  Emily had never been more happy to see someone get run over by a speeding ATV. When she was a little girl, she always thought she wanted to be scooped up by a prince on a horse. This was close enough.

  They zoomed along for several miles. She looked back a few times, wondering how long it would be before Harry got after them again. She was way too cynical to think he was dead.

  Zack slowed a great deal and turned off the highway down a dirt road. “We’re almost out of gas.”

  “That seems to be a common theme tonight.”

  “We need to get off the highway.” Zack pulled up a hill, turned around, and stopped the engine. The darkness enveloped them. She could let go now, but she didn’t. Her arms remained locked around him. How thankful she was just to have this moment. It spoke to Zack’s understanding that he hadn’t asked her to let go.

  After a few more moments, she finally let her arms loose, he twisted around, and looked at her. “Sorry I took so long.”

  She grabbed the back of his head and kissed him, long and hard. There was a moment where she just felt like the world had gone away and there was nothing but his lips, his hands on her body, and her fingers on his muscles. A nuclear bomb could be dropping right now and she couldn’t have cared less.

  Chapter 27

  Zack took a deep breath and tried not to let it look like he was just blown away. He’d never been kissed like that. Not even by the divorced thirty-year-old he dated briefly last year, and she had about ten years of pent-up frustration to take out on him. But amazing as it might have been, they were still far from being out of danger.

  He slid off the machine and tried to hide the fact his legs were rubber. No doubt if Rick was looking down on this right now, he was making fun of Zack for letting an eighteen year old chick make him feel all out of sorts.

  As he stood on the crest of the hill looking out towards the roadway, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made a mistake by not jumping off that ATV, finding a gun, and killing that son of a bitch. But he just wanted to get Emily out of there as quickly as possible.

  Emily came up behind him and put her hand on his back. “You smell like fire. How’d you get out of there alive?”

  Zack shook his head slightly. “I’m hard to kill.” He smiled at her. “Actually, there were a few sketchy moments, but I just put my head down and ran through the flames. I knew that car would be running out of gas, so I had to get after you.”

  “You did something to the car?”

  “I yanked the gas line loose. I couldn’t get it off, but it was leaking. I just hoped he’d run out of gas before the ATV did.”

  She kissed him on the cheek with a big smack. “You’re a genius.”

  “I’m just the luckiest SOB on the planet. We’ve been very lucky. We’re going to run out of it eventually.” He motioned to the ATV. “I figure we only have about twenty miles left in that gas tank.”

  Emily smiled. “Well, I happen to know there’s a station about twenty miles away.”

  “Yeah?

  “Harry looked on his phone when we ran out.”

  Zack blew out an audible breath. “It would be a risk.”

  “But better to risk it at night, right? At least then we can see the headlights coming.”

  Zack nodded. “True. But there might be more traffic in the morning. I dunno, I have no idea how busy this road might be during the day.”

  “I don’t think it’s very busy.”

  “You’re probably right. Maybe we should go for it now, maybe while he’s still down and out.”

  “Maybe he’s not down or out anymore.”

  “And you’re sure that station is up ahead?”

  “I’m almost positive. Unless he was lying for some reason.”

  They could wait it out, maybe hide and hope he passed them by. But that would be another risky move. Zack again was upset he didn’t kill him. He should have.

  “Hey.” Emily touched his arm. “Don’t beat yourself up.”

  She surprised him. His face didn’t usually give away his emotion, but she was so very perceptive that she’s surprised him over and over with the way she just got things. “I’m not, too much.”

  “You only had a split second to make the choices you made and we’re here, we’re alive to talk about them. So you’ve done great.”

  “So’ve you.”

  She shrugged. “I haven’t really done anything.”

  “Are you kidding me?” He turned to face her. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

  Zack looked back at the ATV. “Okay. Maybe we should get on the road now.” As he climbed on the machine, he wondered if he should have stopped at all. It would have been fine to just keep going until they ran out of gas.

  He fired up the engine and waited for Emily to wrap her arms around him. Then he took off down the trail, leaving the lights off to draw less attention.

  The highway was still deserted. Zack pushed the throttle about three-quarters to the stops and used almost all the speed the ATV had while still trying to use the least amount of gasoline. A good balance of speed and fuel economy was the prudent measure.

  The machine didn’t have mirrors, so he had to rely on Emily looking backwards periodically to make sure they weren’t being followed. Navigating just by moonlight was easier than he thought it would be. The speedometer said he was going fifty miles per hour. If Harry was in a car, he could go much faster. But if Emily saw him coming, they could pull off the highway undetected.

  As they crested a slight hill, Zack saw lights off in the distance. Hopefully, it was the gas station or another place they could find help. He looked down at the gas gauge on the top of the tank and it was on empty, but the ATV was still chugging and he hadn’t even switched the tank to reserve yet. But as he was thinking it, the machine started sinking into a fuel-starved sputter.

  Zack reached down to the left side of the gas tank on the Honda and switched the dial to reserve. The engine stumbled momentarily and caught up again, as it got a new burst of gas. He knew from experience that these reserve switches would give you several miles of fuel. And as the lights grew closer, he knew they were going to make it.

  Zack slowed and pulled into the parking lot of the small two-pump Gulf gas station. He was about to jump for joy, but realized the place was closed. He wasn’t happy. But he also knew he might be able to get a little bit of gas out of the pumps even though they were off.

  Stopping the engine, they got off and looked around. “Crap,” Emily said. “Can you believe this?”

  Zack pulled off the gas cap and plucked the hose off the pump. He was able to trickle a few ounces of gas out of the pump. The other hoses had a couple ounces in them as well. One of them had even more than he expected, but it wasn’t enough to get the gauge to move.

  Emily walked up to the doors of the auto shop, and cupped her hands to look inside the garage. “Pretty dark, looks abandoned.”

  Zack walked over to a large gravel area and picked up the biggest rock. He pushed Emily to the side and heaved it through the glass. He hoped it would sound an alarm, but nothing happened. “Great, we find the only place in America not guarded with security alarms.”

  Emily used her elbow and knocked out enough glass to walk through, Zack followed. It was your basic waiting room. A long desk spanned the rear of the room, a few old steel chairs sat against the glass of the opposite wall. Zack walked through the door into the shop, which had two empty bays. The place looked like it had been deserted for a while. He didn’t see a toolbox or any other current supplies.

  Zack went back into the office and looked around for a phone. He found one and picked it up, but there was no dial tone. With a slam, he threw the phone back down. It was another setback. But when he saw the lights of an approaching car turn into the station, he knew their good luck had run out again.

  Chapter 28

  Emily swallowed ha
rd as she watched Zack’s reaction to the car that pulled into the lot. She knew the car too, but for some reason her panic-level was not reaching the level it should. It was as if she was just a little worn out of worry.

  There was no chance to get to the ATV. Harry parked the stolen red Toyota right in front of it. Even if he wasn’t heavily armed, it would be a risky proposition. She saw his face, it was bloodied and bruised and he was limping. The hit from the ATV clearly did some damage.

  Zack touched her shoulder to get her moving and pulled her out the back door, which led past a blacktop lane and up a hill towards a cropping of woods.

  The last thing she wanted to do was go back into the woods, but here they were, going in again. They stopped at the top and looked back towards the pumps. Harry wasn’t there. He must have gone inside the shop.

  There was a strange noise off in the distance. “You hear that?” Zack whispered to her and she nodded.

  It sounded like big trucks, that noise they make to slow down when they go down a big hill. She didn’t know what it was called, but it was loud and distinctive. The chorus of trucks seemed to carry up over the hill they stood on.

  Zack motioned with his head and they headed towards the sounds. The trees were growing thick the deeper they got into the woods. Tall pines blocked out any moonlight and plunged them into a pitch-black situation.

  Zack must have stopped because she ran into him. He turned and whispered, “Give me your hand so we don’t get separated.”

  She obliged and they slinked through the tight trees hand-in-hand. They took slow, measured steps. They reached the top of the hill, then came into a small clearing of light and looked down.

  Below them stretched a large valley, in the center glowed the tall lights of a large four-lane highway. A big rig came into view and several cars moved up and down the roadway.

  Emily felt a little bloom of excitement as they moved forward towards the lights. But in the next second it all turned wrong when the earth broke free from beneath them. They both lost their footing, slipped and fell.

  They tumbled, plunging back into the moonlight and down the edge of a steep cliff into the air.

  They bounced off a short ledge, rolled down, and slammed into another ledge. She came to a rest on a narrow piece of earth. Zack didn’t stop and bounced down one more shelf below her, disappearing from sight.

  Emily felt soreness all over her body start to radiate, but she was able to move everything. After a few seconds, she started to come around.

  “Zack?” She looked over the edge to the next platform. He moaned and started rolling side to side in pain. “No!” she screamed. “Don’t move!” He was right near the edge, another roll and he’d plummet into a long fall that looked too far to survive from her perspective. “Zack, can you hear me? Are you okay?”

  He opened his eyes and looked up at her. With a forced smile through a moan, he said, “Hey there, good-looking. Do you come here often?”

  She cracked a reluctant smile. “Are you okay?”

  He moaned. “Ugh, did anyone get the license plate on that truck? I’m a little hurt. I may’ve put another crack in my ass.”

  “Just don’t move to your right, you’re literally on the edge.” She pushed herself to her feet, looking for a way down this cliff without falling. There had to be a way down to that highway, she had to flag down a car.

  She looked up. There was no way to get back up there even if she wanted to. Looking down, she could see a series of jagged ledges to her right. The area they were on bowed out, so she couldn’t see all the way to the ground and what was directly below them.

  The highway was out there, within reach. It was just a few hundred yards away,yet it may as well have been ten miles. Emily couldn’t see enough by moonlight to know where she was walking, but she eased off to the right towards the next ledge. There was no way. The ledge was disappearing under her feet. She would have to jump down to Zack’s location. It was the only way to get down there.

  It wasn’t that far, maybe ten feet or so, but she had to be precise. A little too far to the right, or a little too much momentum and she’d fall into the unknown.

  When some dirt hit her head, she looked up, and saw Harry standing there. He raised his pistol and pointed it right at Zack.

  “No!” She stepped in the line of fire. “Don’t do it, Harry.”

  “I’m putting him out of his misery.”

  “Stop it! Stop this right now! It’s over.”

  “I say when it’s over.”

  “We’re done, Harry. You’ve run your course, old man. I’ll never be with you. You blew it.”

  She was pushing him, a new tactic, but it was just a guttural hate for this man that she could no longer fake. She’d rather jump off this cliff to her death than give him one more second of her life. If he wanted a war, here it was.

  “I’ll shoot you!” he said.

  She stared down the barrel of the gun and raised her arms to her side. “Go ahead. You’ve taken everything away from me, Harry. And I’ll never give you what you want. So just kill me now.”

  Harry nodded. “Fine, have it your way.” He pulled the trigger.

  Emily felt the blow crush into her like she was hit with a bat. She wasn’t even sure where she was shot, but the impact knocked her off the ledge. She landed briefly on the ledge next to Zack, but then she felt herself falling again.

  When she stopped falling, she realized Zack had her by the arm. She looked up and couldn’t see Harry from here. She wasn’t feeling well. Nausea and dizziness hit her hard. Zack looked down at her. She met his eyes. They were sliding.

  “Let go of me,” she said through considerable pain. They slid a bit more.

  “Never.” Rocks from the edge broke off and rained down on her head.

  Her body was buzzing with numbness. It was so intense she almost couldn’t see. All her strength was fading and then her body went completely limp. She could barely get out the words, “Let go, you’re going to fall.”

  He gave her one last smile. “I already have.”

  A second later, the dirt broke free, and they fell.

  Chapter 29

  Zack opened his eyes. It took him a few moments to realize where he was, and what had happened, but it all came back. He realized he was still holding hands with Emily, who was face-down next to him in the water.

  Adrenaline hit him and he immediately turned her over. Thank God, she was breathing. Her face had been resting on the edge of the grass and wasn’t full in the water. He had no idea how long they’d been down here, but it was a miracle she hadn’t drowned.

  “Emily, can you hear me?” She didn’t respond. He could see from the lights of the highway in the distance that she was bleeding badly from the abdominal area. “Oh, Emily.” He felt a gut-wrenching pain in his chest. “This isn’t how this was supposed to end. It can’t end like this.” He made a fist and punched the ground, but quickly got it together.

  Blowing a calming breath, he took her pulse, it was slow and very weak and he knew what that meant. Her blood pressure was dropping because she was losing so much blood. She was dying. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her body to slow the blood loss. What he really needed to do was put pressure on the wound, but he had to find help. He looked around and found a fist-sized rock in the water. It was better than nothing. It might not stay there, but it was worth a shot.

  Zack put his lips near her ear. “Hang on, Emily, please. Fight it, please, keep fighting. You can do this.” He kissed her on the forehead and got to his feet. All the pain he was feeling suddenly went away as he looked up in the distance at that highway.

  He trudged through the swampy area they’d fallen into and climbed up onto more solid ground. Tall weeds and thick grass slowed his progress but he started running as fast as he could. It was only a few hundred feet to the highway and he was going to make it.

  Feet finally touched solid ground and he was able to hurry into a good run. He was within a few s
teps of the highway when he felt the punch to the back, followed by another.

  The impact knocked him off his feet. Falling forward, he felt his body going numb as he slammed into the ground. But he didn’t care. He wasn’t letting Emily down, he was getting to that highway if it was the last thing he ever did. Hand over hand, on his knees he crawled to the edge of the roadway. He felt the sure asphalt under his hands and it boosted him forward into the lane of the highway. On pure determination, he raised his head up, hoping the oncoming cars would stop. The first one didn’t, it just sped by his head, missing him by inches.

  Now his entire body was in the slow lane, it was do-or-die. A car was approaching. With his last bit of strength, he raised his head, waved his arm and screamed. The car was approaching, bearing down on him at a rapid rate. It was either going to kill him or stop. There was no other option.

  The sound of screeching tires and blaring horns was the sweetest music he’d ever heard. He started to laugh to himself as delirium set in, and time seemed to click by in staggered buffering moments. It felt like time couldn’t handle the traffic on it’s own bandwidth.

  Click, someone stood over him. “Oh man—hang on buddy—calling for help.”

  Zack tried to speak, but his voice had no power. His breath wheezed in and out. He wanted to roll over to his back, but couldn’t manage the strength. He said, “Emily, Emily.” But he didn’t think anyone was hearing him.

  Another freeze and buffer, time jumped forward and the next second he was on a backboard. He heard the EMTs talking about him. He knew what they were saying wasn’t good. He heard words like multiple gunshot wounds, and losing blood, and shock trauma. He said it again, “Emily, Emily’s in the water by the cliff.”

  No one was hearing him. Finally, one of the EMTs leaned close to him. “Hey buddy, do you know your name?”

  “Emily—”

  “Your name is Emily?”

  “Emily, she’s by the cliffs in the water, she’s been shot.” He pointed.