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“Hang on there, Jason. I’ll be right back.” Dianne bolted for the truck and threw the gear into the back before running back. She pulled Jason up, feeling him struggle with every muscle in his body to keep from collapsing again. They walked back toward the truck with Dianne grunting under Jason’s weight as she held him upright. When they arrived Tina opened the door and got inside, then helped pull Jason in while Dianne pushed from the outside.
As they were finishing up getting him maneuvered into a lying position in the backseat Dianne heard a distant shout. She turned and saw the bouncing beams of half a dozen flashlights on the far side of the field. Wielded by six running figures the lights were drawing closer to the truck. Dianne swore under her breath and finished pushing Jason into the back before looking at Tina.
“Do what you can for him. We have to get out of here.”
Tina nodded, not bothering to look up at Dianne as she flicked on the overhead dome light in the truck. “Just try not to get shot, okay?”
Dianne closed the door and hopped into the driver’s seat. She twisted the key and cringed as the engine roared to life, signaling their exact location to all who were near. With no choice but to continue on she flicked on the lights, put the truck into gear and hit the gas. The truck lurched forward across the rough terrain, tree branches and overgrown bushes lashing at the sides and top of the vehicle. Dianne tried valiantly to keep the truck from bouncing around as they drove across a field away from the six men but as gunshots started to ring out she abandoned any hope of a smooth drive and focused on getting away as quickly as possible.
A total of four shots happened to connect with the truck but the worst of the damage was from the last one which took out one of the taillights. The rest embedded in the rear and side paneling, hitting nothing of importance and merely adding accents to the truck that Dianne hoped Jason would soon be able to fume and fuss about.
“How’s he doing?” Dianne glanced in the rearview mirror to see Tina bent over Jason with blood on her gloved hands as she worked on his side.
“Not good! Get us to wherever we’re going as fast as you can!”
***
As the white truck pulled away and vanished into the distance, the six men stopped giving chase and stood still in the field, panting as they tried to catch their collective breath. The first one to speak was tall, broad-shouldered and wearing a red shirt.
“Find them.” The statement was short and to the point.
“How are—” One of the other men started to ask a question when the man in the red shirt turned and stared him down.
“I don’t care how or how much trouble or anything else. I want solutions, not excuses. Find. Them.”
“It could take days… maybe weeks.”
“They have a truck. That means they have a place where they’re living. Maybe fuel and stockpiles of food, too.” He turned to look at the other five. “Which is kind of important now that we lost all of our shit!” Flecks of spit shot from the man’s mouth as he screamed, his face turning a similar shade of red as his shirt.
The other five men nodded and turned to head back toward the compound to salvage what they could. Preparations would be made to leave at dawn to start searching for the people in the white truck and the hours of darkness left were going to be filled with a great deal of toil.
The man in the red shirt stayed in the field for a moment, watching off into t
he distance in the direction where the white truck had disappeared. His mind was devoid of thoughts about the truck and its occupants; the only thing that passed through was the anticipation of his satisfaction when they caught the truck and its occupants and made them pay for what they had done.
It wouldn’t just be wonderful. It would be glorious.
Chapter 5
Near the Kansas/Missouri Border
With an uneventful drive across the Kansas plains behind them, Rick and his two companions drew closer to the border of Kansas and Missouri and the massive sprawling metropolis of Kansas City. With a population of nearly one million people the technology and oil boom of the last few years had nearly doubled the city’s residents overnight, putting enormous strain on infrastructure and support systems.
The selection of Kansas City as one of three worldwide test centers for a new type of solar cell meant there was excess cheap power for residents and businesses alike. This, in turn, fueled the growth of massive datacenters as internet-based companies added new datacenters in the area to take advantage of nearly zero power costs and attractive tax cut incentives. The discovery of a new source of oil less than thirty miles north of the city merely added to the boom as drilling, pipeline and other associated equipment was brought in and built to support the new industry.
Not one to turn down the influx of new commerce into the area the mayor of Kansas City worked with the governors of both states to aggressively expand the area, adding new office parks, power stations, oil refineries and more. Not everyone was happy with the changes to the area, though. Small businesses and residents suffered the most, enduring bumper-to-bumper traffic at all hours of the day, an increase in competition from newly built big-box retailers and a loss of unique character and charm as the population grew and changed in such a short span of time.
The seventeen massive, newly-built skyscrapers near the center of Kansas City were famous across the country as testaments to the rapid changes that had taken place. As Rick, Jane and Dr. Evans neared the city though, Rick cocked his head in confusion. “Aren’t there supposed to be seventeen of those?”
“The skyscrapers?” Jane opened her eyes and leaned up in the back seat, peering through the windshield. “Uh… where are they?”
“I count seven. Not seventeen.” Dr. Evans rubbed his eyes and looked again, wondering if he had somehow miscounted. “Yes. Definitely seven. What on earth could have happened to the others?”
Rick shook his head, a feeling of dread rising in his gut. “I don’t know. Should we just go around?”
“That will add a significant delay to our journey.” Dr. Evans scrolled through the map built into the car’s central display. “If this is anywhere close to a recent version of the layout of the area then most of the roads will pass through the greater Kansas City metropolitan area no matter what. We’d need to backtrack a hundred miles to find a fast route to go around.” Dr. Evans shook his head. “No, we must press on through the city and out on the other side.”
“Great.” Rick swallowed hard and sighed. “Find me the best way through the city.”
