The truck hit the ditch and shuddered before popping out of it and going airborne. It was a big truck to go off the ground like that. The chrome grill caught a crawler on the scalp as it jumped at them. Drew never even saw the one that left it’s hair and part of its skull stuck between the chrome fender pieces. The truck landed in the outfield of the final field hard and bounced again before digging deep into the mud. The wheels spun and their momentum carried them forward at a breakneck pace.
Drew flipped on the high beams and saw a man shape running at them from the left. He was more interested in the hedges up ahead. He ignored the shape darting towards them and focused on hitting the hedges in the same spot he’d hit them on the way in. He didn’t want to find out now that there were concrete barriers, or anything else hidden by the innocent looking shrubbery. Ignoring all the other distractions he kept the truck pointed at the hole in the hedges he wanted to hit. Directly behind him he heard shots fired. He hoped that meant the shape he’d seen had gotten close enough to be taken out.
They ripped through the hedge and bounced again as Drew drove like a maniac to get them back on the main road. He didn’t want to have to slow down to turn left onto the road, so he angled them to go up through the median again instead. The shocks were sorely tested but his gamble paid off as they transitioned semi-smoothly onto the main road with no need to slow down. With the tires gripping the concrete Drew continued to drive it like he stole it.
“I think we lost them!” LeBron yelled. His statement followed by the grotesque sound of a human body sliding out of a broken window. It fell to the road below to be left behind like an oversized bag of fast food wrappers tossed out the window.
A human shaped shadow slammed into the front grill of the Expedition where it splattered like a water balloon filled with chunky red sauce. Drew got the wipers going after swerving all over the road and almost crashing. It had taken him a second to realize the person yelling in fear was himself.
“There’s more coming! Drive!” LeBron screamed at him.
Drew took off again. His hands were shaking so bad it was hard for him to hold the wheel. Yue was asking if they should turn off the lights. He put on the high beams instead.
“This isn’t the time to be an obstinate ass!” Yue yelled at him. It was one of her favorite things to call him. The familiarity of being called an obstinate ass actually relieved some of his shaking.
“Trying to find county road 48. It’ll take us back to the toll road. If we miss it then we end up in Leesburg where we’ll probably end up not good.” Drew replied. It was annoying being underestimated all the time. Just because he was a jock didn’t mean he was dumb.
They tore along a long stretch of road surrounded by the woods again. They were all really starting to love the middle of nowhere. Yue was thinking she’d love to transport them all to BFE right now. Wherever that formerly derogatory phrase ended up dropping them off at. Drew was driving at least seventy even when there were cars and crap in the road he had to dodge. Crawlerz were still popping out of the woods and giving chase fairly frequently.
“How are they so fast?” LeBron asked as one almost caught up to them after sprinting across the median to try to get at them. The things limbs were a blur as it galloped behind striving to catch up. It’s hands seeming to hit the ground as often as it’s feet. It’s eyes glowing red in the brake lights behind them. LeBron stared in fascinated horror.
“You’re the one who showed us all of those videos.” Yue said. The videos had shown the phenomenal physical capabilities of the crawlerz. It’d been like one of those got talent shows but featuring demon possessed people instead of janitors who could sing really good. They’d watched disbelievingly as crawlerz scurried straight up telephone poles and easily leapt onto the tops of one-story homes.
Somehow those videos had served to make the threat seem less real. Watching something like that on TV filmed somewhere like Sweden didn’t inspire Americans to pack their bags and load their guns. The bulk of the citizens of the good old USA had done what they typically did when a threat was reported on the news. They’d watched and waited assuming the news people were overreacting. Even if something like that was happening in Sweden it’d never make it across the whole world to impact them.
It was the same reason the media shouldn’t report the little storms off the coast of Africa that were going to turn into hurricanes. After hearing so often of storms coming to destroy them most people in the standard hurricane zones learned to only half-listen to the news reporters. The men in the yellow slickers standing beside the beach trying to look like the sprinkles they were getting hit by justified the full-on foul weather gear from head to toe. It becomes obvious they’re hamming it up for the ratings when you see a kid on a tricycle ride by behind them on the street.
Unfortunately, this time no one had been crying wolf. The threat was a million times worse than anyone had imagined. The price of complacency in this case was a very steep one. One that Drew was determined his family wouldn’t pay. Losing their mom had been
