The next morning Yue got serious about making sure they didn’t manage to get caught out in the dark again. She had her alarm sound setup to be an audio file she’d recorded during her turn on watch. It simply announced it was getting dark over and over again. She’d had one set before but had gotten used to just ignoring it. At some point she’d turned it off without ever reactivating it. She took each of their phones and setup a similar alarm at staggered times. LeBron couldn’t help but bring up that it’d be really ironic if the alarm going off actually alerted the infected that they were in the area. Yue considered that then set them all up to vibrate instead of using the initial audio files she’d painstakingly recorded for each device.
Alarm situation figured out they drove out of the field they’d spent the night in. They drove back to the interstate and took the onramp just in time to stop and watch three big rigs roll by. The trailers were covered in apocalypse inspired graffiti. Grinning skulls and the flames of hell seeming to be the most popular. Warnings to anyone who may try to interfere with the truckers was written all over it too.
“Beware of the dog?” LeBron questioned one of the odder warnings.
“That must be a pretty badass dog.” Yue responded trying to take in all the other warnings and images that were cruising by at a high rate of speed.
The fronts of the trucks were Mad Max masterpieces. Wooden lances stuck out all around them making them look like balding porcupines. The windows had been knocked out and replaced with chain link fencing. The quick peeks they got of the people driving made it look like they’d dressed to match their trucks. Goggles and shiny blood red football helmets prevailed. The truckers looked down on the bright yellow Hummer as they drove by. One of them gave them the bird. Drew gave it right back until Yue slapped his hand down.
“You trying to piss off the crazy looking people in the big trucks?” She hissed.
“They flipped us off first.” Drew mumbled feeling like an eight-year-old even as the words left his lips. The look on Yue’s face corroborated his self-assessment.
“We going to sit here and wait for the surgers to show up or get moving?” LeBron asked looking back and forth between his brother and sister.
Drew was happy to break off the fight with his sister since he knew he’d been the idiot in that scenario. He turned around in his seat and gassed the engine. The big toy truck accelerated easily up the rest of the onramp. They got back on the interstate and drove about a mile before seeing the big trucks had stopped up ahead. They were parked at an angle to block the road. Drew could just make out the people standing behind the trailers. He braked the Hummer and looked over at Yue.
“What are you looking at me for! Get us out of here!” She yelled.
A dozen giant hornets were buzzing their way towards them. The high-pitched whine of the dirt bikes the ambushers were riding started up out of nowhere. The trucks must have stopped and let out the riders then driven another mile down the road to setup the ambush. An army of the bikers were headed right for them from the opposite side of the interstate. Drew spun the wheel while flooring the accelerator and drove right through them. Miraculously the dirt bike riding troop all managed to dodge the oversized Tonka truck Drew was trying to kill them with.
Completing the turn in the grassy median Drew accelerated slinging a rooster tail of mud into the air behind them. The dirt bikers were on top of them almost immediately riding one handed while pointing pistols and sawed-off shotguns at them from every side. Drew ignored them and kept driving. If they could just pick up a little more speed, they should be able to outrun the dirt bikes. The riders must have sensed that Drew wasn’t planning to stop for anything. The bikers rode away from the doors. Drew was feeling pretty good about that until the lead rider started shooting at their front tire.
Drew yanked the wheel to the right sending the bikers on that side spinning off into the median. The leader did a wheelie and rode right in front of them. Drew felt the moment the guy finally scored a hit on the tire. The Hummer pulled hard to the left and he found himself driving on a rim. The bikers were circling them now like great whites circling a dying whale. They’d streak in and take their pound of flesh then dart off before they could retaliate. Once they ran out of gas it’d just be a matter of time before they were forced away from the Hummer to be taken prisoner or killed. Most likely these freaks would leave their dead bodies in a ditch while they rode away with their stuff.
Screw that.
Instead of continuing down the interstate Drew turned the wheel to aim for the trees. They smashed over the edge of the road bouncing into the wooded area below. Drew wrenched the wheel to the left as they side swiped a big pine tree. He was yelling for everyone to get out and make a run for it when they ran headfirst into a much bigger tree. He was bouncing off the console when the air bag deployed as he was trying to pull his pistol out. Everything went black.
LeBron was the only one who didn’t lose consciousness.
