Escaping Darkness (Book 6): The Shadows

by Richards, E. S.

  “Maybe,” Mia replied with a shrug. “We’ll manage. Honestly, you’ve both done enough already for my family, just take the truck and get yourselves safely back to the city. You can’t exactly get there without it.”

  “Thank you,” Vic replied, answering for Blake as he could tell his companion was happy to protest until the sun came up—something Vic couldn’t remember happening for many days now. The world was blanketed by darkness now and sunlight was nothing more than a mere memory. The heavy snowfall didn’t help in that regard, making everywhere look muffled and different. No landscapes were familiar and everywhere seemed to have changed. It made Vic feel uncomfortable and only spurred him on about getting back to Houston. He was worried about his store and what could’ve happened to the city in the time he’d been away. “Come on, my friend,” he encouraged Blake. “Let’s get our gear loaded up and be on our way.”

  Eventually things were sorted out between the two men and they were ready to leave, with nothing more to do but say a few final words of goodbye to the Clarke family and the three college boys. Most of what they wanted to say had already been said, so it was a formality to say goodbye at the door, Mia, Chase, and Riley waving the two of them off. Leo also stood with the Clarkes, a decision weighing heavy on his heart.

  “Wait,” Leo remarked just before they left the house. “I want to come with you.”

  “What?” Chase blurted out, turning to his friend with a shocked expression on his face. “Seriously?”

  Leo paused and locked eyes with Chase, seeing the confusion in his friend’s gaze. The same look appeared on everyone else’s faces too, thanks to Leo previously making it clear that there was nothing left for him in Houston. Since being at the farmhouse, though, he had begun to doubt that decision. If he stayed with Chase and his family, he was effectively cutting all ties to his own and ruling out the possibility of finding his parents again. He still hadn’t told anyone about his house—finding it completely empty with no note or sign of his parents. At the time he had just assumed they were dead, but after seeing the emotional reunion between Chase, Riley, and their family, he had started to doubt his feelings. Staying at the farmhouse meant he was ruling out any possibility of having a family again. Going back to Houston didn’t guarantee he’d find one, but it was a chance he realized he couldn’t let pass him by.

  “Yeah,” he exhaled, feeling slightly ashamed that he had misled everyone when they’d shown him nothing save for kindness and support. “I’m sorry, it’s just…” he paused, trying to figure out the right words to say. “That’s my home, you know? I feel like I should go back there. I feel like I need to be there.”

  Chase looked at his friend for a second, seeing the pain behind his eyes and wishing he knew what was going on in Leo’s head. “I get it,” he nodded. “You don’t need to explain yourself.”

  “I really do wish I could stay,” Leo continued to rationalize his decision, hoping he hadn’t offended anyone. “I just have to do this. If…” he faltered and looked over at Blake and Vic. “If it’s all right with you guys?”

  “Of course, my friend,” Vic beamed immediately, walking over to Leo and throwing a hand around his shoulder. “The more the merrier. You’ll be good with us.”

  “All right then,” Blake commented, cognizant of the time and determined to get back to Houston before it was too dark. “We better be off. You guys take care of yourselves.”

  The six people looked at one another, no one really sure what to say. Chase and Riley were both still in shock over Leo’s decision. Everything was happening so quickly they didn’t really know how to get their emotions in order.

  “Well, good luck, I guess,” Chase spoke up eventually. “And thank you,” he added to Blake and Vic, “for getting us back here. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Our pleasure,” Blake smiled. “We’ll come back and visit you once all of this has blown over. Make sure you keep an eye on that roof.”

  “For sure,” Riley nodded with a smile, determined to hold herself together and fight back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. “Goodbye.”

  On the lingering farewell of a thirteen-year-old, Blake, Vic, and Leo gave one final wave and walked briskly outside to the cab of the truck. Leo had given the engine a once-over earlier that morning, making sure everything was still in working order and that the truck would be fit enough to get them back to Houston. The car enthusiast doubted it’d run for much longer, but following the quick clean he’d given it, he was confident it’d make it to the city. That was good enough for them and—like Mia had rightly pointed out—they didn’t really have another option.

  “Back in three hours?”

  “Four, I reckon,” Vic huffed in response, not liking the state of the roads as they were coated in snow and ice. “We need to be careful on these wheels.”

  “I know,” Blake nodded, turning the key in the ignition and smiling as the engine turned over without protest. “I will be, don’t worry.”

  Vic nodded and fastened his seatbelt, claiming the window seat while Leo was crammed in the middle. He turned to look out of the window and back at the farmhouse, just able to make out what he believed were the silhouettes of Riley and Mia standing by the door and watching them go. Lifting his arm, he waved to them and wondered if he would ever see them again. He had grown particularly fond of Riley and honestly wished her and her family all the best. What they had been through was horrific and he wouldn’t wish that on anyone. In a way, Vic believed he had it easier with his family being halfway around the world. At least because he couldn’t reach them, he couldn’t psych himself out with worry about what was happening to them and whether he could change it. He was powerless to help them and so he focused his efforts on people and places closer to home. Houston was his next stop and he dearly hoped his city was still there waiting for him.

  The three men didn’t talk much during the drive, Blake forced to concentrate on the road, Leo lost in his own thoughts about what he was going to do when they made it back to Houston, and Vic watching the surroundings pass them by. He couldn’t see much, but what he could was all the same. Buildings destroyed and lying in ruins on the ground. Ash and snow mixing together to coat everything in a dirty gray powder. Death, destruction, and decay. The eruption had affected everything, and the closer they drove to civilization again the more obvious the effects became.

  Something else that didn’t go amiss the farther they drove was the sound of the truck’s engine. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Vic murmured, the sort of grinding sound echoing through the cab and gradually getting louder and louder. When they’d left the farmhouse, it had barely been noticeable; now it forced them to raise their voices when they spoke, dominating the drive.

  “I know,” Blake replied, “me neither. Not sure there’s much we can do about it, though. We’re still about forty minutes away from the city.”

  “Is it better or worse the faster you drive?” Leo asked, trying to figure out with his technical knowledge what was making the noise.

  Blake pushed his foot down on the gas pedal, demonstrating the answer to Leo’s question. Surprisingly as Blake sped up, the sound lessened somewhat. It was still loud, but much less ear-splitting than it was when they were driving slower.

  “What do you reckon?” Blake asked, slowing the truck again as he looked over at his companion and waited for an answer, allowing the grinding sound to crescendo once more.

  “Ugh, drive faster,” Vic winced in reply. “I’m not sure I can listen to that for another forty minutes.”

  “All right,” Blake rotated his grip on the steering wheel, pressing down on the gas again and watching the speedometer of the truck tick upwards. Vic had been right from the beginning; the roads were treacherous because of the snow. It made the asphalt slick and unpredictable, hiding any bumps or potholes and meaning his tires often struggled to maintain traction. In the dim twilight, it left Blake hunched over the steering wheel and conce
ntrating on the drive more than he ever had in the past. After everything they had already gone through, the last thing he wanted was for them to get in an accident on their way back into the city.

  “Hey,” he commented maybe twenty minutes later, the three of them tearing through the outskirts of the city and forced to once again drive at a slower—and louder—pace due to the number of abandoned cars on the roads. “You remember that from before?”

  Vic peered over the dash and out of his window as they passed what Blake was referring to, raising his eyebrows at the sight of several military vehicles all parked beside one another. “Definitely not,” he answered. “That is new.”

  “Do you think it’s legit?” Blake asked curiously, slowing down even more to take a sharp corner as they entered the city proper. “Do you think the military is actually here?”

  “I doubt it,” Vic shook his head. “I wouldn’t trust anything like that anymore.”

  “Me neither,” Blake replied, glad that Vic agreed with him. “That’s not a good thing though.”

  Vic pondered under his breath, wondering exactly what the line of military vehicles could mean. There was the possibility that they were both wrong and the government had sent the proper military into the city, but both men knew how unlikely that was. Unfortunately, that meant that someone more sinister had gotten a hold of the vehicles and both of them came to the same conclusion as to who that was. The Authority.

  “Get us to the office building,” Vic announced, a sense of dread creeping over him as they navigated through the city streets. They had no chance of returning unnoticed in the large truck, and so both men figured they might as well go for it. “Quick.”

  “Hold on,” Blake remarked as he yanked the steering wheel to the left, turning a sharp corner and speeding down one of the main roads in the city. Thankfully, the Authority had done one good thing in their earlier time in the city and cleared the main roads, meaning for once Blake didn’t have to worry about swerving around parked or abandoned vehicles. He raced down the street like he was part of a car chase, attacking the corner at the end and leaving a cloud of dust and smoke in his wake.

  “Left or right here?” Blake called out, his sense of direction failing him as he saw an approaching intersection ahead of him. Reluctant to slow the truck, he kept charging toward it, waiting for his friend to give him the bearing.

  “Right,” Vic replied, Blake starting to turn the truck before the word was even completely out of his mouth. “No,” he suddenly backtracked, recognizing where they were and realizing his mistake. “Left. Left!”

  Blake slammed his foot onto the brake and spun the wheel, trying to turn the truck back in time and make it around the corner. The combination of the speed of the vehicle and the weight of it took over nonetheless, the wheels starting to skid as the back kicked out almost separate from the cab. All three men knew what was going to happen before it did, looking over at one another and holding on to the doors and dash where they could. Blake struggled with the steering wheel for another second before he completely gave up, knowing the truck was going to fall. The wheels spun and the engine shuddered, the oversized construction truck teetering over and slamming violently into the side of a building with a loud crunch.

  The impact was sudden but long-lasting at the same time. Vic’s head was thrown back into the seat behind him as the truck hit the building, his seatbelt barely holding him in place as the whole vehicle tipped over and ended up on its side. The familiar metallic smell of blood filled the cab and Vic blinked through his daze, trying to determine where it was coming from.

  From his seat where he hung suspended above his friends, Leo just peered around and tried to shake the knock from his head, but Blake was completely out cold below the two of them. A large gash on the stuntman’s head proved to be the source of the bloody smell, the impact as the truck toppled over smashing the window next to Blake and the glass quite clearly causing some damage.

  “You all right, my friend?”

  “Yeah,” Leo nodded, “I think so. We need to get him out.”

  “Agreed,” Vic replied, already wrestling with his seatbelt so he could free himself and go to Blake’s aid. As Leo unfastened himself from his seat and managed to get the passenger door open so there was a way outside, Vic dropped down to his friend, stopping himself just in time. Using all his strength, he unbuckled Blake and started to heave the man out of the cab, pushing his heavy body up through the passenger door while Leo pulled, the pair of them working together to free Blake from the doomed vehicle.

  “Come on, my friend,” Vic murmured to Blake as he started to stir, his head lolling around on Vic’s shoulder as the Ukrainian man tried to orchestrate the escape by himself. “Help me out a little here.”

  With a stroke of luck, Blake seemed to be lucid enough to understand what Vic needed from him, lifting his arm up and latching on to Leo with enough strength for the teenager to pull him completely out of the cab and get him down to the ground. Vic followed the pair of them and quickly placed an arm around Blake’s shoulder, supporting his weight and letting his friend rest on him.

  “Easy does it,” Vic encouraged him. “We need to get off of the streets.”

  “Ugh,” Blake groaned. “Where?”

  The question was a veiled one, all three men aware that the building they had just crashed into was the office building where Jackson’s rebel faction had previously been located. The fact that no one had emerged from the building following the crash told them that it was now empty—the rebels had moved on and found somewhere new. None of them were surprised, but it left them at a bit of a loss about where to turn to next.

  “This way,” Vic announced, taking the lead and helping to steer Blake away from the truck and down a side street. “Follow me.”

  With the rebel faction nowhere to be seen and the Authority potentially aware of their location following their rather loud and unavoidable arrival, Vic knew they all needed to get out of sight as quickly as possible. There was only one place in the city that Vic knew was definitely safe and no matter how far away from it he was, something always managed to guide him back. His store. The key to his beloved little corner store hung on a chain around his neck like it always did. Vic was never without it, so he was never without a place to call his own. His store had saved him and Blake when everything began; now it would have to do the same again. Supporting one side of his friend’s body while Leo took the other, Vic fought his way there, confident that if they could make it to the store, they could make it through anything.

  Chapter 15

  “Please give me some good news,” Jackson urged, starting to feel an itch of worry snaking around his beating heart. “Is there a clear way out?”

  “I wouldn’t call it clear.” Joel shook his head, disappointed that he couldn’t give the rebel leader better news. He and Rylan had been up to the roof of the office building under Jackson’s orders, scoping out the nearby streets and the fire escapes to see if there was a way down and out of the surrounded building. There was, but it wouldn’t be without causalities. And it wouldn’t be easy.

  “There’s a walkway over to the next building,” Rylan started to explain, still determined to try and impress his father and make the man proud of him. “If we can get over that unseen, we can get down a fire escape on the other side. There are fewer people in the streets below that way. They might still spot us crossing over the building. All it takes is someone looking up at the wrong time.”

  “A walkway?” Jackson asked, running a hand through his stubble as he thought about it. “Have you been over?”

  Rylan and Joel both nodded in unison. “Yeah,” Rylan answered, “it’s easy. So long as you don’t look down.”

  “Okay.” Jackson thought for a second longer, considering his options quickly. Unfortunately, it seemed like going up and over onto the neighboring building’s roof sounded like the best bet. They might have defended the second floor through the night, however they were still n
o closer to getting out of the office building and with several people now injured, Jackson knew they needed to move fast. The Authority would only get stronger the more time they had to regroup down below. Letting them overpower the building and take everyone prisoner—or worse—was just not an option.

  “Okay,” he repeated. “Let’s do it. Spread the word. Everyone who can move is going over the roof. Leave the injured to me; I’ll deal with them. Tell people to start gathering their belongings—only take what they absolutely need—and head up to the top floor. I’ll come up and give the word when it’s time to actually head outside. No one goes without my command. Got it?”

  Rylan and Joel looked at each other, then back to Jackson, nodding again in confirmation. “Got it,” they echoed, before turning on their heels and jogging off to do exactly what Jackson had asked of them. As a leader he was firm but fair and he had earned everyone’s respect one by one, rather than just expecting the new arrivals to treat him that way because everyone else did. That was why he was so rarely questioned: the whole rebel faction knew that he was working to everyone’s best interests and didn’t have any kind of hidden agenda.

  Watching his second son walk away, Rylan really coming into his own since his older brother left, Jackson allowed himself to pause briefly and think about Mike. He had been back inside the pit for a few days now, and while Jackson had only received one status update, he was confident his eldest son would be holding his own in there. He was incredibly proud of Mike for going in, and despite how much rested on his task, Jackson knew he wouldn’t have been able to hold it against his son if he refused the request. He could only imagine what it had been like in the pit for the children at first, and returning to a place like that showed an immense amount of bravery on Mike’s part.

  “For Mike,” Jackson muttered to himself, knowing that he had to keep fighting against the Authority to get his son back again. He’d already lost his wife to them; he wouldn’t let the same thing happen to anyone else.