He kept looking up into the trees, hoping to see what he couldn’t hear. Once, he thought he saw something moving, but it was simply part of the canopy, blowing in the wind. Buck wished he had kept up with his pack and his books. He could thumb through and find out what kind of animals to expect and what to look for; but, somewhere along the way, it had gotten left behind.
As he continued along the creek bank, he felt a tremor in the ground. Similar to what he felt the night before, but different. This didn’t feel like it came from deep in the earth…this felt like it came across the top of the ground. Almost like the ground moved. Buck stopped and looked around. Surely, if there had been any birds in the area, they would have taken flight.
Then it happened. The earth shifted violently. It heaved and rippled as a sound, unlike anything he had ever heard before, violently blew the treetops to the side like a giant sneeze. The action knocked him to his knees and he fell, rolling down the steep embankment and into the creek.
Buck hit the water, and the briskness of it took his breath away. He immediately shot his legs under him to gain purchase, only to realize that the water was much deeper than he would have guessed. The current was stronger than he thought, and he could only guess that the steeper hill he had been climbing had caused the water to increase in speed.
It swept his feet out from under him and carried him farther from his intended destination. Buck fought to keep his head above water and the swirling currents kept pulling him back towards the middle of the running waters. He bobbed to the surface, gulped a mouthful of air, and was swallowed by the water once more. As he came up again for air, he felt his hope vanish when he saw the same hillside with the station pass by…rapidly. He had no idea that the waters were that deep or moving that rapidly.
Buck continued to fight the currents as they carried him farther and farther away, eventually depositing him along the bank, soaked, exhausted, and chilled to the bone. Buck pulled himself half out of the water and lay in the mud, wondering what in the world had just happened.
Again.
*****
“I’m not signing a non-disclosure statement,” Candy said. “You saw what they were going to do to those people!”
“Shh!” Hatcher held a finger to his lips. “Look, I don’t disagree with you, I’m just telling you what liver lips told me.”
“Well, I’m not going to do it.” She pulled Skeeter closer.
“I don’t think I will, either,” Hatcher said, thinking of Shelly. “Which means, we need to get the hell out of here.”
Candy sat down and pulled Skeeter next to her. “How are we supposed to do that?”
“We steal a car. Or a truck. Or…”
“If you say a helicopter, then I’ll sign the damned paper.” Candy’s mouth pulled into a tight line. “I doubt you can fly one of those things.”
Hatcher threw her a go-to-hell look. “We get out of here. We just need some kind of distraction.”
“I guess you could shoot old liver lips,” Candy said dryly.
Hatcher chose to ignore her. “Or we could wait for them to start going in after the bombing. Maybe afterward, they’ll be so busy they won’t notice?”
“I’m sure they’ll be wanting to use all of their cars and trucks and other vehicles. You know, to transport all of the survivors.”
The ground shook slightly and Hatcher and Candy’s eyes met. Skeeter pulled away and whimpered Buck’s name. Hatcher stepped out of the tent they were in and looked in the direction of the ranger station. Off to the side, he could see a column of dirt rising into the air. A cheer went up from the majority of the military troops and Hatcher turned to Candy. “I think we may have found our distraction.”
“We’d better be quick about it then.”
The three of them snuck out of the tent and headed back toward the road where the majority of vehicles were parked. Staying low, Hatcher went from vehicle to vehicle looking for something that might be easy to steal. “None of them have keys.”
“They’re military vehicles, Hatch. They don’t use keys.”
“They don’t?” Hatcher gave her a stupid look.
“The heavy-duty ones don’t,” Candy said. “At least, that’s what my brother said.” She pulled him farther down the line. “But we want something fast and nimble.”
She pulled him to a camouflaged Suburban. “Check this one.” She pulled Skeeter aside. Hatcher opened the door and checked.
“Bingo,” he whispered.
Candy opened the back door and scooted Skeeter in, then climbed into the front passenger seat. “Why were you whispering?”
Hatcher shrugged. “I don’t know.” He turned the key and brought the big V-8 to life. He pulled the transmission lever to DRIVE and floored it, throwing gravel as he pulled the huge truck out onto the road and driving away from the staging area. “It just seemed like the thing to do when stealing a car.”
Candy laughed as she craned her neck to look behind them. She couldn’t see much through the dust of the dirt road. She finally relaxed a bit and settled into the seat. “Just take me home, James.”
“The further the better.”
*****
Vickers and Dr. LaRue were walking quickly toward the helicopter landing area when a young lieutenant approached. “Colonel!” he called. “Somebody just took one of the Suburbans without proper access. Should we pursue, sir?”
Vickers paused and thought for a moment. He chuckled and shook his head. “Fucking Ranger Rick and the cow.”
“Sir?” the young officer asked.
“Never mind, lieutenant. Negative. Just continue with the OP as planned,” Vickers said. “I have to escort Dr. LaRue to Washington on a matter of national security. Major Chappell is now in charge.”
The young officer snapped a salute that Vickers ignored. He quickly boarded the chopper with Dr. LaRue and took off away
