Contents
Title Page
One: Preface
Two: Wedding
Three: Balcony
Four: Drive
Five: Crisis
Six: Recovery
Seven: Visitation
Eight: Plan
Nine: Trapped
Ten: Darkness
Eleven: Turn
Twelve: Fight
Thirteen: Dawn
Fourteen: Escape
About
More - Until the Sun Goes Down
More - Accidental Evil
More - Migrators
UNTIL DAWN
BY
IKE HAMILL
WWW.IKEHAMILL.COM
Dedication:
For the BAM crew — you all keep me (relatively) social.
Special Thanks:
Thanks to Lynne, as always, for the edits.
Copyright © 2019 Ike Hamill
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events have been fabricated only to entertain. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of Ike Hamill.
One: Preface
“You have to be kidding me,” Nick said.
Riley’s face was lit by the car’s dashboard and the flashing red lights of the railroad crossing sign.
“What?” Riley asked.
Nick leaned forward, looking left and right down the tracks. The woods encroached on the tracks, but they were close enough that he could see that nothing was coming from either direction.
“Just go,” Nick said. “It’s starting to snow and there’s no train coming. The lights must be broken.”
“I’m not stopping because of the lights. I gotta take a piss,” Riley said. He shut off the engine and opened the door. Cold air blew in. When the door opened, the radio shut off. The ringing of the railroad crossing’s bell was echoing out into the night.
“Hurry up,” Nick said.
The only answer was Riley slamming the door shut.
Nick slumped back into his seat and sighed. Riley’s keys were swinging from the ignition switch.
Riley didn’t go very far. He stopped at the far side of the road and settled into a wide-legged stance before he unzipped.
Nick unfolded his arms long enough to turn the key so the radio would come back on.
A woman was talking over the intro of a Van Halen song.
“Here at the Mountain of Pure Rock, we have a saying for cold November nights: when the avalanche comes, you better go with the flow. Otherwise, it’s gonna…”
Nick shut off the radio, cutting her off mid-sentence. He left the engine running for the heat.
He leaned forward again and peered at the railroad crossing sign. The lights were flashing and the bell ringing, but the gates were still pointed straight up at the sky. It was like half of the crossing was malfunctioning and the other half wasn’t. Nick shook his head and flopped back into his seat.
After a couple of seconds, his eyes drifted shut.
# # #
BANG. BANG.
Nick’s eyes flew open and his hand went to his chest.
“Unlock the doors,” Riley said through the window.
“I didn’t lock them.”
“You started the engine. They lock a few seconds after you start the engine. That’s why I turned it… Just unlock them.”
Nick looked down at the armrest. The buttons had been used a lot. The little pictures were practically worn off. None of them made any sense. He pressed one button and his window started to descend.
“The other one,” Riley said.
“Thanks.”
When Nick hit the other button, the window descended another inch. Nick shook his head.
BANG. BANG.
Nick sighed.
“Just do the one on my side. It’s that one.”
Riley was gesturing down at the whole panel of buttons on the driver’s armrest. Nick leaned over. The pictures on those buttons were completely erased by a billion presses.
“Which one?” Nick asked.
He looked up. Riley wasn’t looking down through the window anymore. His back was to the car. He was staring off down the train tracks in the direction of the blurry moon. The snow was falling harder now. The clouds were beginning to blot out the night sky.
“Hey,” Nick said. “Which button is it?”
He pressed one. This time, his own window went up. The button next to it made the driver’s window go down part way. Nick shook his head and tried another button.
“Hey!” Nick called. “What are you doing?”
Riley was walking away from the vehicle. He moved to the center of the train tracks and raised a hand like he was trying to block the moonlight from his eyes.
Nick shouted again. Outside the vehicle, his voice was barely audible over the sound of the ringing bell.
“Damn it,” Nick said under his breath. His hand found the seatbelt release. He pressed the button but held the buckle in place, not committing to removing it. After a second, he clicked it back down. Instead of getting out, he slapped a hand against the steering wheel and the horn blasted.
Riley didn’t even look back. He started walking down the tracks.
Two: Wedding
Earlier that day…
Below the drape of the tablecloth, Jennifer’s fingers gripped Aaron’s so tight that they both had white knuckles. Jennifer jumped when a gentle hand touched her shoulder.
It was Liz—a woman from work.
“You look like you could use a breath of fresh air,” Liz said. She gestured with her eyes towards the door with the glowing Exit sign. Jennifer had eyed the sign earlier. Now that it was Liz’s idea, it seemed appropriate to make an escape.
“I’ll be back,” Jennifer whispered into her husband’s ear.
Liz helped her gather her gown so she could stand without incident.
Jennifer walked by all the smiles and attempted conversations from the guests.
Pushing the door open and standing aside, Liz let Jennifer go first. The air in the hall was so cool and clean. Jennifer felt like she could breathe for the first time in hours.
“I hope nobody thinks I’m being rude,” Jennifer said. Her face knotted up as nervous panic flooded through her again.
“Relax,” Liz said with an easy smile. “They’ll blame me.”
Jennifer nodded as she realized that it was true. As far as most of the guests were concerned, Liz was a powerful lawyer who probably thought that she was everyone’s boss. They probably all thought that Jennifer had been forced to invite Liz by office politics.
The two of them leaned back against the cool glass of the windows that overlooked the deck.
“Thank you so much for inviting me and Alan,” Liz said. “It’s an honor to be a part of your special day.”
After a pause, they both laughed. The two of them had bonded over making fun of stuffy sentiments like that.
Jennifer
