Removing one hand from the steering wheel his knuckles faded from bright white as the circulation was restored. Ahead at least for a small stretch of road, there appeared to be nothing to hinder them. Reaching up with his now free hand, Jack rubbed at his temples. He could feel his every heartbeat in his head. Right behind the eyes a sharp stabbing pain persisted. Radiation poisoning, is what the scientist had called it. It was causing his headaches. Their headaches. All of them were having them. All of them were dying, even little Will. Jack knew they needed to find medicine, but also knew it was likely that the only places to find it were with people, and so far that had not worked out so well.
Silently Jack wished he had paid more attention in history. He remembered a little about the A Bomb and Hiroshima. He knew radiation could weaken the immune system. He knew it led to people getting sick and losing their hair, but neither he nor his siblings had been sick or were losing hair. Maybe it wasn’t too bad yet. He remembered talking about mutations, and babies being born with deformities and stuff, but none of that applied here. The doc had told them that their DNA was degrading, whatever that meant. He supposed it meant that the very cells of his body were falling apart, but the only sign that anything was wrong was the stabbing pain in his brain. It was constant, and though aspirin seemed to dull it, it was never really gone. Lowering his hand he took the wheel again to switch hands and massage the other temple. It was an act of futility, but he tried nonetheless. He just wanted the pain to go away.
Looking out ahead of the truck, Jack strained his eyes through the yellow light produced by the antiquated headlights to see as far ahead as he was able. Between exhaustion, hunger, and the pounding in his head, the fringes of his vision seemed blurred. The harder he looked the more his head hurt, and seeing nothing but flat, straight road ahead, he didn’t hesitate to push down on the gas pedal as Ole Bessy coughed and sputtered, slowly gaining speed. Glancing up, as he couldn’t help but do every few seconds, Jack noted the headlights in the distance behind them once again. Blinking twice, he tried to clear his vision. Were the headlights closer? He shook his head and looked again.
“C’mon, Bessy,” Jack whispered to himself.
The headlights behind them were gaining. It wouldn’t be long before they caught up. They needed to find a better place to run and hide, rather than a flat straight road. There was no chance of getting away here. Jack began scanning the road ahead for signs of an escape. There had to be one.
* * * * *
Sam bounced violently in the seat once again as Jack plunged the truck through a series of potholes, swerving this way and that to miss the largest of the craters in the road. From time to time she would slide to one side or the other, crashing bodily into either Tammy or Jack, unable to hold herself in place with Will on her lap. Though she did her best to avoid the shifting lever and anything else that could thwart Jack’s driving, she found it hard to focus as her mind kept wandering. With a dull pain between her eyes, Samantha couldn’t help but smirk at the fact that they were basically right back where they were just a few days before. Sure, they were in a truck now, and sure the circumstances and scenery had changed slightly, but more or less it was the same. Here they were again, just her, Jack, Will, and Tammy, and they were running from some unknown pursuer, bent on catching them and dragging them to who knew what end. She couldn’t help but believe that if they had gotten away each time before, they would do the same again this time. She had faith that Jack would see them through.
Turning to look at her big brother, she noted the tension in his face. Though it was dark out he was squinting, his features strained. Whether it was pain or concentration she couldn’t tell, but knew there wasn’t a thing she could do to help him. Not now. They couldn’t stop. Jack jerked the wheel and Sam slid again, this time into Tammy. Looking to her only female companion, if she was female, Sam gave an apologetic smile as the truck jumped with a loud clang followed by a rhythmic thud, thud, thud as Ole Bessy swerved suddenly to the right only to be jerked back on course again by Jack. The truck vibrated, shaking violently with every thud emitted from somewhere outside their vehicle. Sam recognized the problem. She had heard and felt it before in Mom’s car on the interstate. Getting a flat tire, her mom had immediately pulled off the side of the road and stopped, but Jack didn’t. He kept on fighting the now crippled truck, and Sam watched the sweat bead on his head as he clenched his jaw. It was over and she knew it. Ole Bessy was as good as dead, and they were going to have to run.
Lurching to the side again, the rapid succession of thuds ceased as Bessy jumped upwards slightly once before settling again with a spine-tingling hiss. Like fingernails on a chalkboard, the old truck careened onward into the night as sparks exploded from out of the front passenger wheel well. Sam had seen it a hundred times on those cop shows where a car lost a tire and continued on with just steel wheels. She never imagined that it would be this scary inside the vehicle, however, and wrapped one hand around Will’s waist, pulling him tightly to her while raising her other hand to the dash in an attempt to brace herself for the impact she was sure was coming.
Again the tires screamed as the hiss was suddenly lost, and Sam was thrown into Jack hard as they tore around a corner she hadn’t even noticed. The lights reflected by the mirrors from behind them vanished. For more than an hour the land had been nothing but fields and old charred farm houses reduced to skeletal structures and wild growth, but now Sam noticed a change as she tried to scoot herself and Will back to the center of the bench seat. Trees. There were trees, and trees meant they could hide. Jack had led them to some sort of safety no matter how temporary, but even so he didn’t stop. With sparks flying and the truck shaking more violently by the second he struggled to keep them going, pushing Ole Bessy to cough and sputter as black smoke began wafting up through the vents in the dash. Though she couldn’t hear him over the failing truck, Sam felt Will cough as the smoke began growing thicker in the cab. Time was up. They couldn’t risk another asthma attack.
Releasing her death grip on the dash, Sam tugged at Jack’s sleeve.
“We gotta get outta here!” she yelled over the clamor.
With nothing more than a nod and a determined look, Jack swerved around an abandoned car just as headlights reappeared behind them. Whoever followed had found where they had turned off the road just a couple miles back. Without warning, Sam was thrown forward with Will as they slammed into the dash, the truck’s tires screeching in protest as Jack locked up the brakes. Uprighting herself and assuring herself that Will was uninjured, Sam turned as Jack yanked on the shift lever and shoved open his door. She vaguely noted that Tammy opened her door as well, and helped Will off her lap, and he climbed free from the truck as she followed. Without warning, Jack jumped back into the truck and as he threw the shift lever forward, Sam watched with open mouth as the tires tore free from the pavement, squealing for a second, before Ole Bessy raced forward, directly towards a pair of abandoned vehicles ahead. There wasn’t room to get around them, nor between them. Sam watched on in horror as Jack sped towards what could only be one outcome.
* * * * *
The whole night had been awesome, minus the bad parts. Will felt like he was in an action movie. Escaping a cage, thwarting the enemy and taking their truck, followed by a high speed chase in the dark. What more could you ask for? Well, beside some chicken nuggets and a candy bar. He realized they were running again and it was dangerous. He wasn’t stupid, but both Mom and Dad had told him not to focus on the negative. If you thought positive, you got positive, and he had to admit—they were right. Holy awesome-sauce, it was like being in a movie, and Will watched on as Jack dove out of Bessy’s driver door just before the old truck crashed with two more cars and his big brother rolled to his feet just like an action hero. What was better, Will knew what to do next. He’d seen it a hundred times and it was perfect.
Watching Jack come running back towards them, Will took Sam and Tammy’s hands as both of the girls exchanged surp
rised looks at Jack’s awesome display of superheroism.
“They can’t get through with their car now so they’ll have to follow us on foot,” Jack announced as he neared.
Will knew he was right. There was no way a car could get down the road now. With trees hugging the road on either side and the trio of smashed vehicles taking up the whole road, it was a dead end.
“C’mon. If we keep going we can get a head start,” Jack said, turning back the way they had been traveling.
“Wait,” Will said urgently.
He knew time was short but this was important, not to mention better than what Jack was planning.
“What would you do if you came up to this?” Will asked his bigger brother, waving his hands frantically.
“If I was chasing us?” Jack asked.
Will nodded animatedly.
“I’d get out and see if they… we… were still in the truck.”
“Exactly!” Will shouted. “Instead of running, let’s hide here and when they get out, we’ll just take their car.”
“I like the way you think, little man,” Jack grinned after a moment’s hesitation.
“Me too,” Sam smiled wickedly.
Without another word Jack was headed off the road and Will followed with the girls. Already the sound of the approaching car was growing, but well before the lights fell upon him, Will was ducked down with his siblings and Tammy, hidden at the road’s edge behind a thick clump of brush and fallen limbs. Moments later, just as Will had anticipated, the small car slowed to a stop directly in front of them. It was an older thing that looked to have been pieced together from lots of different cars. Though the majority of the car was a reddish-orange color, the front door was green and back door blue. Not only that, but it looked to Will like the front tire was too small, and back tire too big, but that was of little importance to his plan.
Two doors on the car opened and Will expected to see Grant, the leader of the resistance and the crazy scientist, Dr. Darvski. Instead, out stepped Tom, the large boy who had helped capture Tammy, and Cole, the scientist’s son. Even better. Holding his breath, Will watched them leave the car, engine running, and doors open. He couldn’t have planned it more perfectly himself. Within seconds the two boys had strayed more than half the distance between their parked car and Ole Bessy, the headlights of their car beaming brightly on their backs. It was time to move.
Following Jack, just as before, Will watched him climb carefully free from the brush as he scrambled nearly on all fours back up to the road. Next was Tammy, and Will was careful to stay right on her heels, leaving Sam to take up the rear. Everything was going flawlessly. Looking ahead, Will watched as Jack ducked into the driver’s seat as Tammy carefully opened the back door and climbed in, scooting across the seat for him to join.
“Hey, theys takin’ the car!” Will heard the familiar voice of Tom shout into the darkness.
Freezing in his tracks, Will looked towards the direction of the shout and witnessed as Tom and Cole began rushing towards them. There was nothing he could do, and as such Will simply acted upon instinct.
“Don’t move!” Will shouted at the boys as he rushed once again towards the welcoming open door of the car.
Much to his surprise the two boys froze in their tracks. Whether it was because they were blinded now with the headlights in their faces and feared rushing into the unknown, he couldn’t tell, but it didn’t matter. Not now, anyhow. Diving into the back seat of the car, Will tore his eyes from the boys and pulled the door closed as two more doors echoed his own. On the two pursuers came once more, revealing for the first time that Tom was armed with a baseball bat.
Clicking his seatbelt into place as Jack shifted the car into reverse, Will knew it was action movie time again. For just a moment the car’s engine whined as they shot backwards a short stretch down the road with both of the Resistance’s boys chasing. Then, like a slingshot, the car whipped around as the tires screeched in complaint before shooting off again, this time racing forward in the direction they had come just a short time ago. Looking down to his feet, Will could see a small duffel bag only half closed and stuffed with meager supplies. He knew that they could use the supplies but it didn’t feel right to leave the other boys stranded with nothing to eat or drink. Reaching across to the door, he hand cranked the window down before pulling the zipper to the bag closed. Hefting it from his feet, Will stuffed the bag out the window as Tammy smiled at him knowingly. Superheroes always did the right thing, even if it meant sacrificing something they needed.
* * * * *
Riding in the back seat, Tammy grinned into the darkness of their newly acquired car. She had followed her instincts and been right. Though her parents had cautioned against trusting anyone, she had put her faith in Jack, Sam, and Will and they had not let her down. For the first time in a long time she felt good. Not only about herself, but about the future. Sure she had lost a lot, but so too had she gained. In this world, far from the home of her people, she had found a place where she fit. It wasn’t easy by any means, nor was it without obstacles, but she had high hopes as she looked about the car at her companions.
It had only taken moments to retrace the way they had come and turn back onto the main highway that ran west, away from the Resistance. It was only minutes after making that turn that they realized something was amiss as the car smelled strongly of gasoline. Bringing the car to a stop, Tammy joined all of her companions outside the car, each of them looking under it for leaks, though none of them was able to locate one. It wasn’t until Jack opened the trunk that Tammy realized just how lucky they were as Jack literally began jumping up and down.
Inside the trunk were half a dozen five-gallon gas cans, five of which were completely full. The sixth had tipped over and leaked about half a gallon into the trunk, causing the strong scent to pervade the entire car. It made sense, Tammy supposed, for the boys to have brought extra fuel. After all, they could have only assumed that she and her companions would have driven the pickup until it was out of fuel and they would need it to return to their camp with both vehicles. What it meant now, though, was that they could travel hundreds of miles without needing to walk. Hundreds. Closing the trunk after securing the gas cans in place, Jack turned to them with a serious expression on his face.
“This is an opportunity that we haven’t had since we came out of the vault. I’m guessing we have a good six to nine hundred miles worth of gas, which means we could go just about anywhere,” he said, before turning to look directly at Tammy.
Tammy nodded to his words. They had the fuel to travel and get away from the Resistance. She hadn’t, however, expected what he asked next.
“Tammy, you have been out here longer than we have. Do you know if there is any place left that is safe?” Jack asked.
She knew that Jack understood the difference of safe for him, versus safe for her, but it didn’t matter. She had spent months in hiding, first with her family and then alone. She knew just as little about the current state of their world as they did. The only difference being that she had seen more of the invasion than they had. She shook her head, revealing an obvious look of disappointment on Jack’s face. She was sorry she couldn’t give them news that would make them happy, but she didn’t have any to give.
“I guess any direction is as good as another then. I say we keep going west. Most people looking for answers will head to the coasts, where the big cities used to be, but that also means that those places will be where the most conflict is. Not only will there be more people, but likely more creatures… I mean, other species… as well.”
Tammy grinned at his attempt to correct himself. She also thought that most of the other species were monsters, though had once thought much the same about the humans until she had read their histories. Running her fingers through her short, blonde hair, she listened as Jack continued speaking.
“I think the further we are from everything the safer we’ll be. We can stop and look for supplies along
the way, and just keep going until we find a place we like where there are people who are more understanding, or a place to hide until everything calms down.”
“Sounds good to me,” Sam added.
“Dinner sounds good to me,” Will said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Nodding her agreement, Tammy climbed back in the car with her friends, who began pulling supplies out of their packs for a quick meal before they hit the road again. She was glad to finally be able to quiet her growling tummy.
Chapter Two
Jack watched the miles pass one after another beneath the beams of his headlights as the night progressed into ever deeper depths of darkness. They had passed through several small towns over the past hours, or at least what had been left of them, but had decided that scavenging in the darkness was not a risk that any of them wanted to take. Instead, he drove them onward, ever to the west, in hopes of finding some place safe to call home, at least for a little while. Jack knew that both of his siblings needed some stability. The constant running and never knowing what would happen next had been a drain on all of them. Without any medication left, he knew that they were just one asthma attack away from catastrophe. Hope was no longer enough.
He already knew that there were pockets of people out here in the world, but those people didn’t necessarily mean safety or stability. People had become just as dangerous as the invaders. He couldn’t help but wonder if any place was safe anymore. Not only that, but what they had learned while guests with the Resistance, was equally disturbing. They had no idea what the invaders wanted. They came in several species. Everything had been chaos from day one. And no one even knew what happened to all the people that vanished in the initial attack. Jack hoped Davski wasn’t right in his idea that these waves of invading creatures were actually the genetically altered people that vanished initially. Though he knew there had to be answers out there somewhere, and wanted them terribly, he knew in his heart that answers were no longer his priority. No. Instead he had to do what he promised and just keep his siblings safe. Tammy too, of course.
Children of the After: The Complete Series Page 25