by Maxey, Phil
“It took her…” said Landon repeating the teenager’s words. “What took her?”
Arlo glanced at him. “I don’t know…”
“Landon?” said Jess from the radio. “I heard what he said… I don’t think I’m far behind you. Over.”
“We just left the city. Over.”
“I’m just going through it now. Over.”
“We’ll keep going. You’ll probably catch up with us. Over.”
“What the hell did he mean, it took her? Landon? What did it mean?”
The panic was obvious in his wife’s voice. “We’ll find Lachlan soon. I’ll let you know as soon as we find something… just be careful in this weather. Over.” There was no reply.
Landon tried to reach Lachlan again without success.
Arlo looked at the ice flakes hitting the windshield. “I think… it’s lightening up… Yeah, definitely. I can see more of the road.”
Landon looked back at his map, his flashlight illuminating a truck-stop roughly ten miles out. He relayed the information to Arlo and then his wife who acknowledged the plan and despite traveling at a crawl, the abandoned trucks and trailers soon came into view.
They drove up a slope and came to a stop, slightly skidding as they bumped up against the curb. Both men immediately saw the destruction in front of the headlights.
“That’s fresh… the glass is on top of the snow,” said Landon.
Where there was once double doors was now a jagged hole.
He clicked on his radio. “Jess. We just arrived. It’s the one just after where the highway crosses the creek. Over.”
“I’m thirty minutes out. What do you see? Over.”
Landon unfastened his seatbelt, looking to the left and right of the entrance, but only shadow existed beyond the car’s lights. “Not sure… We’re going inside. Over.”
“Please be careful. Over.”
“Will do. Over.” He looked at Arlo. “You...”
The older man’s eyes were large and concentrated on the entrance. He pulled his seatbelt off as Landon looked in the same direction. Lachlan was staggering towards them. Both men jumped out into the snow flurry and made it to him just as he fell to one knee, blood from his mouth staining the ground.
As they held him, Landon looked back to the diner. “Is anything still here?” Lachlan shook his head, his eyes barely open. “Let’s get him inside!”
They carried him over the fragments of glass, then again through the intact interior doors and placed him carefully on one of the padded seats, which was against the right wall. Landon swore, realizing he left his light. “Wait here, I’ll get the flashlight and tell Jess,” he said to Arlo who nodded.
As Landon scurried back outside, Arlo looked at the upturned chairs and remains of tables and bottles, then back to the teen. “Where you hurt, buddy?”
Lachlan, his head bobbing, lifted a heavy arm and pointed to his back.
“Okay, I’m going to take a look. It’s going to hurt, but I need to see. You ready?”
Lachlan uttered something which sounded in the positive, and with Arlo’s help shifted his weight to his left side, groaning in pain while doing so.
The light from the car outside was minimal but it was enough for Arlo to see the shredded clothes, drenched in blood. He leaned forward, carefully lifting what was left of the fabric… He felt sick, dropping the coat back down.
“How… how does…” said Lachlan, forcing the words out between breaths.
“Yeah, it’s fine. You’re… be fine.”
A beam of light sweeping across the room heralded Landon’s return, but before he came all the way across the room, Arlo jumped up, jogging over to him. Landon stopped as Arlo leaned closer. “The… his… He’s injured… real bad…” Arlo gestured to his own back. “I don’t get how’s he’s still alive…”
Landon looked at the counter, then the corridor to the left, all covered in broken pieces of framed photos. “Can you have a look in the other rooms. See what you can see? I’ll attend to the kid, then I’ll join you.” Arlo nodded then Landon walked to the young man, opening his backpack and pulling out some water and a towel. “I’m going to look at your injury. Okay?”
Lachlan nodded beneath his hood then rolled to the side again.
Landon peeled the strips of vinyl away, his reaction similar to Arlo’s, but he hid it better. The plan had been to clean the wound, but the gaping tear, revealing ribs was too extensive to even try. He placed his hand on Lachlan’s neck.
Strong pulse…
It made no sense. He had seen similar wounds in car accidents. He should be dead.
Lachlan gestured towards the bottle, which Landon opened then gave to him. The young man drank a little, the weight of the bottle being too much, then handed it back.
Landon figured Lachlan had minutes of life left, but he needed to know what happened to his daughter. “Lachlan. What happened? What took Sam?”
“Jo… Joan…” he said, breathlessly.
“Landon?”
Landon turned to the corridor and Arlo standing with a flashlight and torn backpack in his hands. “I found this just outside the window in the back office. It’s been trashed. I think it’s—” He looked to the broken double doors and the sound of an engine mingling with the blustery wind. “I think your wife’s here.”
“Stay with him,” said Landon, getting up and running to the entrance. He covered his eyes as the double beams struck him, then walked out into the few feet of snow.
The door on Jess’s pickup sprung open. “Have you found her? Is Lachlan here?” said Jess, getting out.
“Sam’s not here, just Lachlan, he’s badly injured.” They both ran back inside. On seeing Lachlan’s eyes closed Landon expected the worse, but they promptly opened and to his surprise he lifted his hand, waving to the newcomer.
“Hello… Mrs. K.”
She ran and kneeled in front of him. “Where is she? What happened?”
“Joan… but, not Joan… she… changed… became… something… a creature… Sam ran… I… I tried to stop it… but it got me good… I…” He coughed. “I… thought I was dead… but I woke up… and searched… followed… tracks in snow… Joan’s… car gone.”
Jess looked at her husband then back to Lachlan. “Thank you… you did what you could… rest now…” The young man leaned back while she got up, walking away a little into the shadows with Landon.
“Where—”
Landon threw his arm around her, the pain jolted through the other but he didn’t care and held her tight, she doing the same. “I thought I lost you…”
“That will—” She choked back tears. “— Never happen. They took me, but I found my way back. I’ll always find my way back. Now we have to find our daughter.”
They pulled away, both wiping the wetness from their cheeks.
“I didn’t want to leave Josh… how is he?” said Landon.
“He’s fine. Meg’s looking after him…” She looked away, trying to make sense of what Lachlan had said.
“Do you understand that? Joan changed? But even if she had… creatures don’t drive… cars…”
He was wrong. A monster had just driven a pickup to the entrance. She looked at her husband. “I don’t know what Joan is… but… I’ve changed, Landon…” She glanced across the room at Arlo who was talking to Lachlan, who was now sitting more upright on the seat. She looked back to her husband. It was obvious he already knew. She looked away. “I’m not the same—”
He held her again. “You’re my Jess… You’re still you…” He could feel her sobs. “Anything else, we’ll figure out in two days, once this nightmare is finished. We’ll be a family again.”
She pulled away, nodding, wiping her eyes again. “Sam’s different too. The change did something to both of us. We’re stronger… we can see better in the dark… and other things… It’s hard to explain… but maybe Joan is like us, somehow?”
“She’s not like us,” shouted Lachlan a
cross the room. Jess and Landon turned, surprised by his vigor then walked to him. Color was returning to his face. “I… thought she was. I told Sam that, but I was wrong… she’s something else… she became one of those things… her face…” He swallowed, the memories coming back to him.
Jess leaned down, placing her around him, gently hugging him, then stood back up. “Do you have any idea which way they went?”
“I think the tire marks continued along the highway.”
“West,” said Arlo.
A chill ran through Jess, but she did not want to confront the thought shouting at the back of her mind.
She’s being taken to Denver, to him…
“We have to go back.”
“Back to Rockston?” said Landon. “You know where this Joan creature is taking her?”
Jess shook her head. “Not Rockston. Denver… to Biochron.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
12: 17 a.m.
Sam was swimming in a sea of oil, with nothing but a void above. Her hands paddled at the thick liquid as she fought to stay above the undulating waves but it smothered her regardless, painting her face and hair black. She tried to shout for help but her throat stung as the substance seeped inside her, burning as it traveled. In the distance was a light. A sparkle. She waved, shouted then used what energy she had to fight the restraint the oil placed on her limbs and slowly moved towards…
No…
A flame was rushing towards her. She turned in panic, flapping her arms, pushing her legs, her mind caught in terror, trying to escape certain death but the heat was building, she could feel it on her back.
No, please no…
Sam opened her eyes. She was in the car. She turned to her left and froze.
Joan glanced at her with a smile. “Ah, you’re awake. You’re okay. You’re head wasn’t hurt too bad. I patched up more than a few of my team in Iraq.”
“No… no…” Sam grabbed at the door handle, not caring what speed they were moving at, but her pull, despite the strength she applied, had no effect.
“The child locks are on. Please don’t break the door.”
Sam felt sick and the back of her head was screaming at her, a pain which spread down her neck, but none of that mattered, she just needed a way out. Maybe she could force her off the road… they would crash, but… yeah… she had no choice, it was the only way to—
A clawed hand on an arm that shouldn’t be that long clamped her neck to the side window, her face pressed up against the glass. She tried to scream but no air was escaping from her throat. “Now don’t you even think of running, or doing anything crazy, like causing me to crash. You won’t die. You’re stronger now. You’ll just end up badly injured and I’ll have to put you back together, and next time I won’t do as good a job as before. Maybe I’ll leave your brain leaking out of your skull. Because I can do that! Just remember, I can do that!”
The thing driving let go and Sam retched, but there was nothing in her stomach, so she just bent over, heaving.
“I found some food in that truck stop. It’s in the back. You’re welcome to eat what you want.”
“You… you’re not… human…” She labored her words between heavy breaths.
“Yeah well, neither are you.”
“I’m not like you…”
“No… well, not yet. Now, you gonna behave?”
“Yes…”
“Good! Because we still have some ways to go, and I would rather you caused me no more fuss. I’m late as it is.”
Sam stayed bent over, not wanting to sit up straight to look or be any closer to whatever the hell Joan was. “Late? Why are you doing this…”
“If that buffoon had done his part, I wouldn’t have to. And for that, I’m sorry. I really am. But your mom did a good job on him, and now… here we are. Your mom’s real smart, but that’s not what’s special about her and… He… He wants what he wants. I don’t know why. It’s not for us to ask.”
Sam knew the thing in the other seat was insane. It was the only explanation. Somehow she could control how she changed… she could become one of the things, could control how her body, her arms and hands changed… and that had driven her crazy. Sam was stronger than before, heightened senses, but Joan… she was something else. She glanced at her captor. “Where are we going?”
“West. That’s all I’m allowed to say.”
*****
12: 25 a.m. Highway 70. Parkwood truck stop.
“You going through or around?”
“Definitely around,” said Arlo to Landon’s question. Both men and Jess were standing inside the interior doors of the diner. “Not risking that main route again.” He looked outside. “Not in that old thing, at least.” He looked back to Landon. “You couldn’t have chosen something a little less antiquated?”
Landon feigned insult. “Hey, don’t diss my car. It got us this far.” He smiled then looked outside. “Looks like the snows stopping. Should help.”
Arlo smiled with a nod.
“Um,” said Jess as he pushed open the door. “Tell Josh we love him. We’re thinking of him, and we’re going to get his sister. Then we’ll be right back. A day at the most. Tell him… Just tell him that.”
“I will.” Arlo glanced at Lachlan who was sitting on the counter, shook his head then pushed the door all the way, pulling his collar up and walked outside. They watched him get in the car and slowly turn around, then pull back onto the highway.
Landon looked at the young man. “I don’t know how this healing thing works, but I would take it easy, you don’t want to push your luck.”
Lachlan jumped down. “I’m fine. Lets get that fuel.”
After a short delay in siphoning gas from some of the parked cars in the lot, they were on the road, heading west, the snow turning to sleet.
“And… I killed him…” Jess didn’t want to look at her husband. It was the final part of her story for the previous twenty-four hours, but she still left out the bits that made no sense to her.
Landon looked at his wife, then away sliding a hand over his burgeoning beard. “You did what you had to.”
“Was Colm like Joan? Did he change?” said Lachlan from the back.
“No… or if he did, I didn’t see it.” Since learning of what Lachlan had seen, Jess had avoided drawing any conclusions as to what this woman was, or how she did what she did. She couldn’t face the answers and she had to stay focused on getting Sam back. “Rackham is at the heart of all of this, I’m sure of it… I just… don’t know how or why, or…” She let out a breath in frustration. She glanced at her husband. “What do you make of all of this? Why did he take me? He said before that they wanted me to work for them, but…” she shook her head. “I think there’s more to it.”
Landon tried to arrange everything his wife had told him in his mind, just like he would when working on a case. “Stick to the basics.” He looked at Jess. “It’s what Ben always told me. What’s this Rackham’s guy motive for all of this? For killing millions of people and his obsession with you? With us? With our family?” He looked back out into the night. “If we understand his motive, we might be able to get out in front of this for once…”
Jess looked in the rear mirror. Lachlan was looking down at something. “What you reading?”
He looked up, startled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” He tried pushing the old photo album back into the backpack.
She sighed. “It’s okay. I don’t mind you looking. It’s just old photos from my parents and grandparents’ time. My father worked for the airforce. He was involved with research into pilots dealing with extreme G-forces… or something. My mother and I never were too sure what he did.”
Lachlan leaned forward, the album opened, holding it so she could see. “Which one is he?”
Jess glanced to her right at the faded photo. “Second from the right. He...” Her hand froze on the wheel as her eyes looked beyond the highway. Distant voices were shouting at her as the seat she was on
began to shudder.
“Jess!” shouted Landon grabbing the wheel, bringing them back to the road.
She blinked, her mind returning to the cabin. She almost didn’t want to look at the old photo again, but she did. She applied the brakes.
“Are you okay? What’s going on?” said Landon.
The car came to a halt and she abruptly turned in her seat reaching out for the album. “Give it to me!” He quickly handed it over and she flicked on the cabin light, holding the glossy pages beneath it. She shook her head. “It… it can’t be… I’ve… I’ve looked at this photo my whole life…”
“What Jess? What is it? What do you see?”
She looked at her husband, placing a finger on the young man almost out of focus behind her father. “That’s Charles Rackham.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
12: 46 a.m. Highway 70.
Landon looked between his wife and the photo. “Are you sure?”
She pulled it back, bringing it closer to her once again. “Yes… that’s him, and he’s… with my father.”
“When was that photo taken?”
“Late 80s I think… it was in a bar, near the facility where he worked… Rackham looks so young there, that’s why I never recognized him…”
“So. Your dad knew the guy who ended the world?” said Lachlan. Landon threw him an angry look. “I’m just asking…”
Jess’s eyes remained on the photo. “I had no idea…” She flicked through the other pages, scouring the other photos, but Biochron’s chief scientist was only in that one.
“So… what does that mean?” said Lachlan.
She looked at her husband. “What, does it mean?”
He wanted to give her answers, but he was as perplexed as she was.
“Maybe… that tells us something about—” Lachlan looked at Landon. “— That motive thing you were talking about?”
