She reached a flooded bridge and stopped, worried the car would wash away if she tried to cross it. The bridge stood about a foot underwater, so she turned the car off, deciding not to risk it. She stopped on the road for two hours, waiting for the rain to lessen. But even when it did taper off for a while, the river seemed to rise even higher, washing rain down from some other point. Finally she decided to drive across the bridge when the water level had lowered a little.
She crept onto it slowly, opening the driver’s door to check the depth. Water gushed by just below the undercarriage of the car, her tires halfway submerged. She drove without stopping, closing the door as the current sprayed up on both sides. Gripping the wheel, she steered the car across the bridge, feeling the pressure of the water pushing against the car. She let out a “Whoop!” when she made it across. She couldn’t remember feeling this accomplished before in New Atlantic. That life might have been safe until the day she left, but there was no thrill, no joy, no sense of greater purpose.
She drove on, at times feeling brave at the thought of what lay ahead, and others feeling lonelier than she ever thought possible. The night road went on and on, but the lightning kept her entertained. She wondered where the nearest human was. Or the nearest opossum, for that matter. She felt like she was the only living thing for miles . . .
The moon made a brief appearance, rising above a bank of storm clouds. It was full, a gleaming bright light, the clouds below it a magical shelf of silver. She was enchanted by the sight. Then she saw another flash of light some way down the road.
She squinted, trying to make out what it was. Then it vanished. A few seconds later it reappeared, flashing ahead of her. Two circles of white light, then two more, then two more. They disappeared, and she slowed down. Then they came back.
Three vehicles, speeding toward her.
Chapter 16
Spotting some bushes on the side of the road, she switched off her headlights and pulled over. She remembered what Rowan had said about how she didn’t want to run into anyone out here. Moving off the road and onto a grassy area, she aimed for the bushes in the dark. She could barely make them out now.
Taking cover, she wondered if she should stay in the car or not. Finally she decided to. She could make a faster escape that way, even though she probably wouldn’t get as good a look at whoever it was from behind the scrub.
The headlights were still a long way off down the road, but she hoped they hadn’t seen her. Her heart thudded. If she’d seen their headlights . . .
She rolled down the window slightly, listening to the hum of their engines. Their cars certainly weren’t electric. They buzzed loudly. Soon the lights grew brighter, illuminating the bushes. Her heart beat a little faster. Was she covered enough? She glanced around for a space of deeper cover, but couldn’t make out anything. She couldn’t risk turning the headlights on again, so she decided to stay put.
Now she could really hear their motors, droning toward her. The lights laid bare the section of road she’d just left. All three cars drew close. She could see dark forms inside, but couldn’t make out any details.
The driver of the lead car stuck his head out, searching the side of the road. She held her breath. They passed her location, driving on slowly.
Relief flooded over her as she saw their taillights. But her blood froze again when the lead car stopped a short way down the road. The other two followed suit. She turned around in the driver’s seat, kneeling so she could see over the back of it.
The driver of the first car got out, directing the car behind him to angle its headlights into the brush off-road.
“What do you see?” she heard a man ask from the second car.
“I’m not sure,” the driver responded. He stepped closer to the shoulder, then held back. He waved for the third car to angle its lights, too. They stood backlit, and she couldn’t tell what direction they were looking in. “It’s a car,” said the driver, and H124’s breath caught in her chest.
Someone got out from the passenger side of the second car and joined the driver. He had long, greasy black hair. He bent down, peering into the bushes. “You’re right! I knew I saw headlights!”
The long-haired man forged into the brush, the driver yelling after him, “Arch, are you crazy? This is prime night stalker territory! Get back to the road!”
She could see that the man named Arch was raking through the thick brush toward a dark shape there. As he parted some branches, she saw a reflection off a taillight. It was a car.
“We can come back in the day with more guys,” the driver told him.
“The car I saw was moving. The driver could leave by then! We need another working vehicle.” Arch pressed on, trying to reach the car in the dense bushes.
Broken-down cars littered the sides of this road, and she doubted they would have given this one a second look if they hadn’t seen her headlights.
“It’s old,” Arch called back to his friend. “This couldn’t have been the one I saw.”
Suddenly three dark shapes came streaking through the bushes, and she heard the unmistakable hissing of the prowlers.
“Get back in the car!” shouted the driver. A couple of people who had gotten out to watch jumped back in. The driver started running back to his own car, then saw that his companion wasn’t doing the same.
“I’m
