Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“They hit us,” Judy hollers. “They’re going to—”
Jesse guns it hard and the car behind us merely bumps us. He swerves to the left and then to the right, attempting to lose the people giving chase, and damn near knocking my ass out when my head bangs against the window.
Boom!
Another explosion rocks the vehicle and a blinding light flashes around us. Jesse hoots in victory.
“Lightning got one of the cars!” Jesse yells. “Hang on. I’m going to lose the other one.”
I’m able to look between the front two seats and out the windshield. More abandoned cars litter the road ahead. They’re seemingly strategically placed. Those Stovepipe Wells pricks probably did it to slow down anyone who tries to pass by. Luckily for us, we have Jesse, and he’s surprisingly good at dodging obstacles in the large vehicle.
“Whoa!”
Jesse’s stunned voice has me scanning the road ahead in search of what has his attention. Ahead, the road has collapsed in a mini sinkhole probably fifty feet wide in diameter.
What are we going to do?
Instead of slowing down, Jesse guns it, thrusting us all back once more.
“Hang on,” Jesse yells.
I watch in abject horror as the sinkhole rapidly approaches. When we’re too close for comfort, Jesse brakes hard and jerks the wheel to the right.
And now we’re spinning.
Everything becomes disoriented as we spin around what feels like a hundred times but is realistically more like four or five times before screeching to a halt. My ears are ringing and it takes a moment before sound comes rushing back in.
Cheers.
The group is cheering even as thunder booms all around us.
Twisting around, I attempt to figure out what they’re all looking at. Then I see it. The car that had been in pursuit is now on fire, having not stopped quick enough to avoid the sinkhole. They crashed headfirst into the other side of the sinkhole.
Jesse starts driving again, everyone bouncing wildly as he maneuvers over rocky desert terrain until he makes it around the sinkhole and back onto the road again.
The adrenaline that was surging through me finally crashes once we’re out of immediate danger. I shift so I’m half-squatting on the floorboard, slumping against the back of Wayne’s seat. A wave of exhaustion has my lids drooping heavily.
I wake to the sound of a car door slamming. Before I can make out my surroundings, the door behind me opens and Wayne starts pulling us from the vehicle one by one. Shakily, I step away from the SUV to survey my surroundings. It’s no longer storming, or we’ve moved past the worst of it. The rain is chilly, but not the most terrible thing we’ve encountered thus far.
Squinting, I try to figure out where it is we’ve stopped. A rest area. Just beyond the parking lot, a small building sits, beckoning to me like a lighthouse. I start clomping along toward it, dizzied and still trying to shake away my daze. When I turn around, I see Wayne carrying a body.
Gerry’s body.
I don’t even make it to the building before I’m doubled over, dry heaving. Gerry was my friend. He was a good guy. I hate that he died so brutally. Everyone I know keeps getting taken away from me.
Tyler hands me a bottle of water, cap already removed. I take it from him and chug it down, washing away the acid on my tongue before muttering out my thanks.
“Come on,” Tyler grunts. “Let’s try to get some rest.”
He leads me into the dark building, his flashlight bouncing in front of us. There’s not much to the building aside from a set of restrooms that don’t appear to be working. But, to our surprise, there’s a row of untouched vending machines.
Finally, something’s going our way.
Dan and Jesse manage to break into the one with food first and divvy up the snacks they find. I’m grateful for a package of powdered donuts and some peanut butter crackers. Tyler chooses a package of cherry PopTarts that he clutches to his chest with a happy grin on his lips. Unable to stop myself, I lean forward and peck his lips.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “I just needed something good after the hell of a day this has been.”
Tyler leans his head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry about Gerry.”
A ball of emotion clogs my throat. “He was a good guy.”
“Yeah, he was.”
“Ty,” I say with a heavy sigh. “I’m tired.”
“I know, Kell, me too. This can’t last forever. We’ll go to Vegas and find some help. The whole world can’t be this way. It can’t.”
His voice sounds so small.
The whole world can’t be this way. It can’t.
I don’t dare squash what little hope he has left, but I don’t find much comfort in his words. They’ve only been harping about this our entire lives. That what Gerty did decades ago to the moon would eventually wreak havoc on Earth. It was always a hurry up and wait game.