Liz could see the problem, though. They were in a remote forest road. There had not been an exit or turnoff for miles. It might be many more miles before they saw another one. As it was, it would be painfully easy to track them.
The Special Unit agents would know their direction and would have maps of the area. They would also be able to call helicopters. It would not take them long to find a single van on a nearly empty road at night.
Then something caught her eye as they passed. 'There,' she said, pointing. 'Max, stop.'
Without hesitating, Max pulled over. 'What?' Michael said.
'Just back up,' Liz said, and Max did so.
'Stop,' Liz said when they reached the road she had seen. Actually, road was a strong word for it… it was more like a path, covered by years of leaves and brush. Liz had to struggle to see in the fading light, but she could see that although it was narrow, it was paved.
'What is it?' Kyle asked.
'Some kind of road. Maybe an old logging road,' Max said.
'It looks like it hasn't been used in years. It could be blocked, washed out… who knows?' Michael said.
'If we stay on the main road, they'll have us in a couple of hours at most,' Liz said.
'What's the word, Maxwell?' Michael asked.
'I say we try it,' Max answered.
'That's it, then,' Michael said.
'No,' Max said. 'I won't make this decision for all of us.'
'We don't have a lot of time here, Max,' Michael said.
'We vote first,' Max said, his voice firm. He turned to Liz and said, 'What do you say?'
'We have to get off the highway,' she said.
'I'm with you,' Michael said. Then he turned to the back and said, 'What about the rest of you?'
Isabel, Kyle, and Maria all agreed.
'It's unanimous, Max. Can we go now?' Michael said, his voice impatient.
Liz understood Michael. Everyone was still getting used to the idea that Max refused to take charge of the group
anymore. She understood. He still blamed himself for everything.
Michael started to open the side door and said, 'Hang on, let me blast the chain.'
'No,' Max said. 'I'll do it.' He turned to Liz and said, 'Drive through. I'll meet you on the other side.'
Max jumped out and Liz slid over. She watched him touch the chain on one end. There was a flash, then the chain separated and one side fell to the ground. As she drove over the chain, she watched Max use his powers to put the chain back together. Then he waved her forward and kicked up the brush and leaves behind the van to hide the fact that they had been there. Max jumped back into the van as Liz moved over to her seat. The first thing he did was turn off the headlights. Then he started driving.
Liz was amazed. Max's actions might have given them the extra time they needed to get away. He might well have just saved their lives, but he still doubted himself. Now he was driving in nearly complete darkness on a narrow forest road. Whether or not he thought he could handle it, Liz had no doubt that all of their lives were resting on his shoulders. And Liz knew she wouldn't want it any other way.
It was almost completely dark when Max made his first turn onto a gravel road that Liz herself had missed. The rain was coming down heavily now, and Liz didn't see how Max was even staying to the road.
Finally, he turned on the headlights… just in time to see the large tree that had fallen across their path. The van came to a jerky stop.
'I'll get it,' Max said, reaching for the door.
Liz didn't want to see him go outside again. It was pouring rain, and he was wet enough from his last trip out of the van. If only the tree would just get out of our way, she thought idly, Max wouldn't have to go outside and move it.
Then, by itself, the trunk of the tree slid quickly across their path to the left as the upper branches scraped against the brush and trees in the woods next to them. Liz let out a surprised 'Oh,' and the tree came to an abrupt stop.
Amazingly, there was just enough room for the van to get by on the right-hand side of the road.
'I didn't do that,' Max said.
'Neither did I,' Michael said.
'It wasn't me,' said Isabel.
'I think it was me,' Liz said, turning to see that Max was already looking at her.
He studied her face for a moment and then smiled and said, 'Remind me not to get you mad, Parker.'
Before she could react, he was on the move again. The van drove slowly, rocking back and forth on the uneven gravel road. Max made two more turns, apparently at random, and then they came to a branch that was lying in front of them.
'Liz?' Max said.
She concentrated and tried to move the branch with her powers, but it just sat there. She shook her head and shrugged.
Max opened his window and leaned out for a moment. He waved his hand, and the branch slid out of their way. He continued driving, and Liz realized they were traveling gradually uphill.
There was also a glow up ahead, in the distance.
'That must be a town, or something,' Liz said.
'The Special Unit could be waiting there,' Michael said.
'But we have a better chance of getting lost in a bunch of people than we do out here in the open,' Kyle said.
Another vote had Max, Liz, Kyle, and Isabel for heading for the town, or whatever it was, with only Michael and Maria for staying away. They headed toward the glow. After that vote, no one spoke for a long time. Liz stopped checking her watch, but she guessed that at least two hours had passed. The whole time, Max kept a hyper-alert stare on the road. He stopped for obstructions, using his powers to move them aside when necessary.
He also made a number of turns when the road they were on ended. They began to see large parcels of land that were only low brush and tree stumps. Well, we're on a logging road, it makes sense, Liz thought.
She tried to occupy herself by experimenting with her own powers to see if she could move anything with her mind, but they wouldn't work. It might be because she could not concentrate, but until the tree on the road she had not been able to summon her powers to move things since Stonewall. There, she had been able to hold the ship with her powers until Max and Michael could escape. After that, those powers had seemed to have deserted her, at least until she had moved the tree. The only ability that appeared with any frequency was her limited future sight… and more often than not, the visions it gave her were frightening.
Behind all of her musings were a single thought that she could not shake: Someone had tracked them. Someone had known who and where they were. It should not
have been possible, but there it was. And that was the most frightening part of all of this. Their future depended on being able to disappear into the country, to become anonymous. They knew the Special Unit would be looking for them, but she had been confident they would never find Liz and her friends.
But they had found them, and less than two weeks into the trip. If that was possible, then how would they keep themselves alive? How would she and Max ever get married? What kind of life would they have, and how long would it last?
And who had called the Special Unit?
Unable to shake those questions, Liz watched rain fall and the forest go by in the dim, almost nonexistent light of the evening. The monotony made it hard to avoid those questions and to think of anything else.
She was relieved when a bright flash of light and loud clap of thunder sounded. For a second, her heart pounded faster and she forgot her worries. Then it was back to the dull monotony of the drive inside the rocking of the van on the old gravel road.
Another boom. Michael counted off in his head, one one-thousand, then the flash. That one was closer, less than a mile, he thought. The lightning was moving closer to them, or they to it. Either way, it pretty much summed up the day for them. It also summed up the trip so far, for that matter.
