G-Force (Book 1): G-Force

by Nye, Laine

  There. There it was. Without Brad even knowing how it was happening, Albert knew he was feeling stronger again after Albert had sent him the energy. It was amazing how connected he was with Brad.

  It hadn't been that way with the few others he had taken to the hole. But since the beginning, since he had taken Brad to the hole, he had been able to sense a lot about what was going on in his life without being anywhere near him. He had known the very first time that Brad had used the energy during the tornado that swept young Shaw away. Then he had known again when Shaw was using his ability to defend himself from the bully. He never knew the details of these incidents, but he always knew just how much g-force Brad used.

  Brad was sure he would never make it back to the surface in time. He was almost out of air. He surfaced finally. He was feet first in the roiling stream after his underwater tumbling. Just for three or four seconds he was up. Enough to let him breathe in and out a couple times then he held his breath again and was pulled under. Still feet first in the rushing stream, he wanted to flip around to be head first so he could try to swim or grab something on the shore of the canal.

  When he bobbed up one more time he could see that he was about to be drawn into a corrugated, galvanized aluminum culvert. He pulled his arms out of the water and grabbed the top of the round tube after his feet and body were swept into the culvert. He held on but the power of the water pushing against him was too much. He knew he could not hold on long. The muddied water began rushing over him nearly burying his head.

  Wait a minute, the power of the water could not be any stronger than the power of the tornado had been. His gravity control ability had been stronger than that and now that he thought about it, he could feel the energy restoring to his body again. He began to pull himself higher up in the water. He could use the gravity above him over the culvert to pull him up and the ground below him at the bottom of the raging torrent to push him as well.

  Then he saw Sherman Greene rushing toward him. Brad was looking at him upside down as Greene was of course behind him and Brad was prone in the water. Greene was about 60 feet away with a wicked grin on his face. Brad could almost hear his thoughts from that expression. “I've got you now punk!”

  Brad took two deep breaths then held the second one and let go of the pipe. He was immediately swept into absolute darkness. Seeing in the dark was useless because the thickness of the muddy water prevented any vision. The culvert was very long. How long Brad could not guess. Maybe just enough to go under a road then Brad would be out of the pitch-black tube he hoped. His air was running out. He was swept along near the top of the water now from the change in currents that occurred when the water was forced into the culvert.

  Brad raised his head up as high as he could, hoping there might be some air to breathe. His head started banging against each and every one of the corrugated ribs nearly knocking him unconscious. But there was some air and he sucked it in. The culvert looked to be much longer than he had estimated. Than he had hoped for. His air ran low again. He was still near the top. He raised his head with his eyes tightly shut in anticipation of the corrugations banging his head again. Bam! Bam! Bam! Over and over again his head rapidly slammed into the ribs.

  This time there was no air. He let his head go under then tried again. The bouncing of his head off the corrugated ribs caused him to see stars but at least he finally got some more air in. He felt his forehead beginning to swell up from the repeated blows.

  Then he felt the culvert narrowing down to a smaller size. The sides were closer and there was even greater pressure in the water making it go faster. The tube got so small that he was sure he was going to get stuck. How could he use his g-force now? He could not think of a way. He tried sending the energy beyond his feet into some corner or object in the blackness to help pull him through even faster but it did not work. There were no angles in the culvert yet, no turns that he could use the gravity on the outer corner of the turn.

  Then he saw light! The water was getting lighter. He was coming to the end of the long dark passage. But his time was up. His breath was no longer sustaining him. He felt the edges of unconsciousness overtaking him. He burst free of the pipe. He saw plenty of daylight again just over his head.

  He raised his head, exhaled and grabbed a quick breath then used his g-force to launch himself high in the air above the canal. But he was so longer in the canal. He was in a smaller and much shallower ditch. He let himself fall back into the water with his feet under him then launched up again and pulled himself to the side with additional gravity control. He landed heavily on the side of the ditch. He lay there stunned, breathing hard before finally, weakly raising his head to look for Greene. Brad was in a pasture. The ditch was part of the irrigation system still used by some people in the area.

  He could not see Greene and he was shocked to find out how far he had come. His car had to be about a mile away from him now, maybe slamming up against the culvert he had been sucked into and creating a dam. No way could Greene have followed him that far, that fast. He knew he could not lay here resting for too long or Greene might catch up to him. But he gave himself just a few minutes. He tried his water-logged cell phone while he rested. There was nothing.

  “We're sorry, you are out of range for cell phone service.” Brad said to himself whimsically. He knew the phone was completely dead after the soaking it just endured. He also knew that from here he was no more than a third of a mile from his home where his parents would give him protection. He slowly got to his feet and stumbled across the pasture he was in away from the ditch where he had almost drowned.

  When Brad reached his home, he ran into the house and found his parents doing the last of the organizing since their move. They turned and looked at Brad. “What happened to you?” His mother asked. “Did somebody beat you up? You're all wet and your face is bleeding. What happened to your forehead?”

  “They shot Allen and Brent,” Brad blurted out.

  “What? Who did?” Demanded his father.

  Mack Rowley, Sherman Greene and some other guy. They chased us up the canyon trying to shoot us and finally hit Brent and Allen!”

  “Sherman Greene was involved?” Steve asked his son while his wife stood there with her hand over her mouth in shock.

  “Yes!” It was him alright. He had his uniform on.”

  Steve stood there quickly calculating what needed to be done.

  “My car is upside down in deep water. Greene was shooting at me and I swerved away from and got too close to the canal. My car slid in while I was getting away.”

  Kate had her hand over her open mouth. She was dumbfounded, shocked at what had happened to her son. “Oh no. Brad. I am so sorry this happened to you.

  “I think I killed Mack Rowley.” Brad stated flatly.

  “What? How?” His father asked.

  “When they shot Brent and Allen, I threw a heavy load of gravity under them to drop them to the ground and a boulder broke loose, came down and hit him. It was huge!”

  Steve took in this new information, and then all of his training and experience as a former intelligence officer kicked in gear. “Son, you have to leave home right now. Take a shower. Change your clothes. Take my car and go down to the 7-Eleven on Washington Boulevard. Hide behind the store in the car and wait for us. We will be there in one hour with everything you are going to need.”

  “Steve, what are you talking about?” Kate asked, alarmed.

  “Brad is leaving home, right now!” He responded in a way that stopped all argument or objections from his son and wife. “We have to get him away from the house immediately. That is where they will come looking for him first.”

  Steve stepped forward, hugged his son and said, “Get going. Now!”

  Brad hugged his mom real tight and held on. “I have to tend to his forehead before he leaves.” She said. Steve nodded.

  Steve demanded. “Get going now. We'll see you within one hour after you leave here with the supplies you will need.
I'll explain everything to you then. Go!”

  Brad went with his mom into the bathroom where she tended to his wound. Then he quickly rinsed off in a hot shower and dived into clean clothes. He felt shaky from the new injuries to his head and all the exertion he had been through.

  Brad said a temporary goodbye to his parents as he went out the door numb from everything that was happening to him in such a short period of time. He mechanically got in his dad's car and drove down to the store his dad had ordered him to go to. He parked the car on the backside of the store. Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he waited anxiously for his parents to show up. He had the heat on high to continue to warm up from the cold water he had been in. He worried about Brent and Allen. Again, he felt energy trickling into his body. He thought he must be getting better and better at restoring the gravity control ability. With the energy flowing back, he was feeling a little better.

  Chapter Ten

  Albert was further up the canyon when he felt Brad weaken again He pulled off the narrow road into another small neighborhood that was tucked up against the canyon wall. He tried one more time. It worked. He sent Brad even more desperately needed, but depleting energy. Tonight, he would go back to the hole and then after charging up he would go looking for Brad who still seemed to be in some kind of peril.

  Tim Brady crouched down next to Brent and Allen trying to comfort them. One other person was there with him. The others had gone looking for Brad and that cop who was chasing him. Tim assured them that an ambulance would be there for them shortly. In fact, he could already hear the sirens close by. He noticed that the one with the head injury was unconscious again. He kept talking with the one who was shot in the arm. He had taken off his coat and given it to Brent when he first got there. The other guy with him had laid his coat over Allen who had at the time been conscious and thanked his first-grade teacher for covering him with a blanket.

  The first ambulance turned onto the jeep path with its back end swinging around almost sideways. It continued down the road after adjusting. A police car came shortly behind it, then two more. Another ambulance followed the first along with two paramedic trucks. In just a few short minutes both boys were in the two ambulances. Their wet clothes were cut off of them and blankets thrown over them while the paramedics hooked them up to IV lines and the ambulance drivers hooked them up to monitors. The paramedics treated their wounds, jumped out of the ambulances shutting the doors and the ambulances did quick Y turns and sped for the hospital. They were out of harm's way at last. Finally, two more ambulances came for Mack Rowley and Simon Holmes. Holmes was barely conscious as they lifted him into the ambulance. Mack was of course dead.

  “Hello, Mrs. Rowley?”

  “Yes?”

  “This is Officer Sherman Greene from North Ogden Police. I need to talk with you.” He called from his cell phone after reaching his car.

  “Is my husband okay?”

  “Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “He is deceased Ma'am.”

  “Oh No! No! What happened to him?”

  “He was crushed under a boulder near the North Ogden Divide.”

  Rage and hurt raced through her heart. “Was Brad Shaw involved?”

  Silence.

  “Look Officer, I know my husband was going after Brad Shaw, and I know he was taking some cop with him. You have to be the cop. Was Brad Shaw involved?”

  “Yes. He was.”

  “Did he do it?”

  “Yes, he did cause the boulder to fall.”

  “You go get that boy, Officer. He has injured all three of my children this week, and now my husband is dead! You go get him!”

  “I'm working on it ma'am.”

  The line went dead before he could say anything else.

  “Hello. Sherry?”

  “Yes? Mom. What is the matter. You're crying!”

  “Are you still at your friend’s place in North Ogden?”

  “Yes, I'm with Bill Sorenson and a couple of the girls.”

  “Your father is dead.”

  “What? What happened to him?”

  “Brad Shaw killed him Sherry. He killed him!”

  “Mom, are you sure he's dead?”

  “The police just called to tell me. Yes, he's dead. Brad somehow caused a boulder to fall on him.”

  “The gravity control!”

  “Sherry, you go find that boy! You take your friends and go find him. Do whatever you want to him! You are not too far away from where he lives, so get your friends and go find him. If you guys don't kill him, bring him up here to me. I want to see him! Tell your friends to get guns to defend themselves against this monster.”

  “I'll do it Mom. I'll call everyone right now!”

  The line went dead as Sherry heard her mother sobbing.

  Sherry called her other friends; She even called the ones that her brother Jeff did not like her hanging out with because he thought they were not good for her. She contacted each of them and got three carloads of them all heading to North Ogden to help her find Brad. Sherry and her new boyfriend Bill, were in his four-wheel drive truck. The first place they went to find Brad was at his home. They were hoping to catch him alone, so they could deal with him.

  As they approached the house Shaws lived in, they saw Brad just as he was pulling out of his driveway and heading down the street right past them. Sherry ducked down, so Brad wouldn't see her. He drove on by, so Bill Sorenson pulled into a driveway, backed out the opposite way and started following Brad.

  At a stop sign, Brad was able to pull away long before they were able because of heavy cross traffic. Finally, they could go, and they rushed to catch up to Brad. They saw him in the distance as they approached Washington Boulevard. He turned left at a break in traffic, and once again they were forced to wait. By the time they had pulled out on Washington, he was nowhere in sight. They began driving slowly up and down the streets looking for him. Soon one carload of their friends joined in the search. Others were coming!

  One hour later, true to his word, Brad's father and mother pulled up next to him behind the 7-Eleven. His parents jumped out of the car and ran over to Brad. “Listen carefully son. We don't have a lot of time.” His Dad told him in an urgent manner. “Mom has packed your things in a couple of suitcases. Kate, could you go get them and transfer them to Brad's trunk? Brad I'm going to contact some of my old associates in Intelligence. I have a couple of good men who owe me a couple of favors. They are going to provide you with a new identity. You have to disappear Brad. No one in this state can know where you are going but us.”

  Brad was trying to absorb all this while his Mother put his belongings in the trunk.

  “Listen carefully Brad,” his dad continued. “I have bought you a couple “pay as you go” cell phones, so you can contact us in an emergency while you are traveling. Once you call us on it, throw it away and use the next one. I don’t want anyone to be able to triangulate your position or track you. Here's nine hundred dollars to get you started.”

  “Where am I going?” Brad asked woodenly.

  “To my brother's house in California. He will help you get set up out there, so you can continue school. You won't be able to stay at his place very long, or you could be found with him. So, he will set you up in a rental and move you in since you are too young to rent a place yourself. You with me so far?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Brad, pay close attention to everything I'm telling you. It will save you from being caught or even killed. There is a bad cop gunning for you. You know that. Police have nearly unlimited resources to track people down. That's why you will get a new identity. I want you to drive out to Elko Nevada and stay in Stockman's Hotel and Casino. We will have a room reserved and paid there for you. You'll have to convince the front desk clerk that you are just picking up the key to the room for your parents. Go in the hotel late at night. The night clerks are less concerned with following th
e rules because no one is there to watch over them. Within two days, you will receive an express mail package from me. It will have new license plates for my car, a new driver's license for California under a different name and more cash, so you can afford to get a place in California and still pay for the first month of living there. We'll arrange your budget for you after that first month later on.”

  “How will I find my way?”

  “I have bought you a GPS navigator. You will be able to find your way from here to California and to my brother's place with no problem. Here is his address.”

  “Can they track me on it?” Brad asked as he took the GPS and address.

  “No. I paid cash for it so it will not show up on my credit card bill. They will never know if you even have one. Any other questions?”

  “When will I see you and Mom again?”

  “As soon as we are able to come out. That won't be until after they stop putting us under surveillance and investigating us. I’ll have my associates dream up ways to throw them off.”

  “Were you able to get an ambulance rolling for Brent and Allen?” Brad asked his father.

  “It had already been done by passersby. Apparently, someone on the Divide witnessed part of what was going on and called it in.” His father informed him. “At this point, Sherman Greene may be running from justice as well as looking for you. You have to leave because we don't know how much is known about you. We have to assume that a lot of people know and the police will want to question you about all of this. It can't end well for you Brad. Do you understand? That is why we are having you leave.”

  “Yeah.” Brad said nodding. “I know.”

  There was a long pause. Brad's mom was crying. His father had tears in his eyes. “Be careful son. We trust you and love you.”