Page 11 of Into the Mist

“I’m a good camper,” said Jenny, who hauled two more suitcases behind her.

“You can pitch a tent?” Mercury asked Jenny as she handed Stella the first of the luggage.

“Yep. I can even start a fire with sticks, but it’s a lot harder than the movies make it look. Basically, it takes a lot of time.”

Stella lifted another suitcase, grunted, and then replied. “No need to worry about stick rubbing. I bought a new lighter at the Portland airport.”

Mercury raised a brow at her best friend. “Before or after you bought those pre-rolled joints?”

“During.” Stella said, and Mercury lifted another suitcase up to her, which her friend didn’t grab because she was staring over her head toward the once scenic view.

Before Mercury could ask what was going on, she heard a weird rustle that came from somewhere behind her. It was like a group of kids were wading through piles of fall leaves. She turned just as the first deer ran past her. The doe’s brown eyes were huge and panicked as it raced by. Behind the doe, squirrels, rabbits, several more deer, a fox and a whole cluster of chipmunks poured up over the lip of the mountain, as well as from the tree line on either side of them. The creatures darted past the vehicles, completely ignoring the humans.

“What level of Jumanji are we on?” As each moment unfolded, Mercury felt more and more like she’d been trapped in a video game where everyone dies over and over again.

“Get the rest of the suitcases and grab Karen. We need to go—now!” Stella said.

Mercury and Jenny sprinted back to the SUV. Jenny grabbed the last two suitcases while Mercury climbed up on the side of the vehicle and pulled open the back door. Immensely relieved, she snagged her giant purse, Stella’s Louis Vuitton knockoff, and Jenny’s backpack before she jumped to the ground, dodged a panicked raccoon, and raced to the pickup. They tossed everything to Stella, who hastily tucked tarps over their things before she jumped from the bed and got behind the wheel. Jenny slid quickly in beside Stella.

Before Mercury joined them, she spotted Karen Gay. The history teacher stood over what was left of Coach Davis’s body. Her hands were folded and her head bowed. She seemed utterly oblivious to the woodland creatures who fled past her and through mounds of strangely overgrown grass. Mercury rubbed her eyes, sure her vision was messed up. She blinked and refocused on the weird grass not far from Mrs. Gay, and with a jolt she realized two things. One—her eyes weren’t messed up. The grass was taller and brighter green than it had been just moments ago. And two—the clumps where the long grass had grown were in the same spots where she and Stella had been knocked to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

“Mercury Elizabeth Rhodes! Pull your head out of your ass and get in this truck!” Stella’s voice cut through her focus.

“Sorry, yeah, okay.” Mercury cupped her hands around her mouth and called, “Mrs. Gay! We need to go—now!”

Karen turned her head to glance over her shoulder at Mercury. Her brow was furrowed in irritation. She opened her mouth, clearly to shout back at Mercury that she wasn’t done, but before she could speak, the ground began to shudder like a horse trying to rid itself of flies.

Stella pushed in the clutch and wrestled the old gearshift into first. She shouted, “Mercury! If Karen wants to stay,leave her!”

“Mrs. Gay!” Mercury shouted as she moved to the passenger side of the truck, holding onto the hood to stay on her feet while the ground pitched and rolled and the trees that still stood swayed ominously and made sounds like gunshots as more of them splintered and broke. “Now or we leave you!”

“Coming! I’m coming!” Karen called while she jogged toward them, but the earth quaked too hard. She stumbled—fell—struggled to her feet and started forward again only to get knocked to her knees once more. Behind her the mountainside began to crumble.

Fuck! She’s not going to make it!

Mercury couldn’t bear to lose any more of them—not even someone who was a major pain in the ass. She bent at the waist and put out her arms to try and help her balance, then sprinted toward the history teacher.

“Shit, Mercury! No!” Stella shouted behind her.

Mercury ignored her friend.I can save her. I have to save her.She reached Mrs. Gay, who had fallen to the grass again. Mercury yanked on her hand, lifted her to her feet, wrapped her arm around the older woman’s round waist and propelled both of them forward.

“Hurry!Shit! Shit! Shit!Hurry!” Stella screamed.

Mercury didn’t look behind them, but she could hear the horrendous ripping sound the earth made as it shook apart and became an avalanche of dirt and trees and snow and rocks. Jenny had the passenger door open, and Mercury half threw, half pushed Mrs. Gay into the cab and then leaped in behind her. Before she’d even closed the door, Stella floored the truck and they fishtailed, throwing gravel everywhere. Mercury stared through the rectangular rear window as they shot out of the turnout and onto the highway in time to see the bench that held what was left of the congealed corpse of their principal get swallowed into nothingness.

CHAPTER

4

STELLA HANDLED THEold truck like a Hollywood stunt driver. The earth convulsed under them while more of the mountainside disintegrated, taking the westbound two-lane highway with it. The Chevy’s engine roared as they raced across the interstate divide to the opposite lane. Stella yanked the wheel to the right and headed the wrong way down the highway while she dodged around fallen trees and gaps in the asphalt. The four women held onto the dash, the back of the bench seat, and each other while they were tossed about the cab.

It reminds me of the old Star Trek—with The Shat—and how the crew used to get thrown around the bridge of the Enterprise.The bizarre comparison flashed through Mercury’s mind, which almost caused her to giggle.This is hysteria and shock. Get it together, woman!she told herself sternly as the earth continued to shudder and more and more of the mountain—and highway—on their right sloughed off.

Mercury noticed one car stalled in the left lane, facing them, but Stella sped by too fast for her to see if anyone was inside. A little farther down the interstate, they whizzed past an SUV that had rear-ended a car. Both were fully engulfed in flames.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” Stella repeated as she steered the old truck past the fireball and around an abrupt curve in the highway, where she almost ran headlong into a jackknifed eighteen-wheeler that was being sucked into a raw crevasse newly torn in the asphalt.

Mercury felt more than saw Jenny cover her eyes with her hands. Beside her Mrs. Gay panted like she was sprinting next to the pickup.A deer darted in front of them. Stella cursed again and somehow managed to miss it.