by Holly Hook
I swung the truck over, exposing her side to the wind, and pulled up beside her. The front lurched as I drove over the curb and settled.
It was that motion that might have saved me from going over. The sand beat against the side window now and for a few seconds, Mina did nothing. Then she detached herself from the pole and yanked at the door. It refused to open. The wind was keeping it closed, but she held on, because letting go might not offer a third chance. She beat at the window and motioned down.
The window crank.
I had forgotten that vehicles used to have them.
But if I opened her window, the wind would invade. It would push against the inside of the truck and knock it over in a heartbeat.
So I cranked my window down first, making the roar loud even with the scarf over my face. Then I leaned over and cranked down the passenger window. Mina must be screaming.
The storm blasted in, turning everything beyond my goggles to fuzzy brown apocalypse. Mina slapped me on the arm. She was in the truck. A loud slamming sound followed and the wind died as she rolled the window up. “Go!” she yelled at me.
I didn't bother with my window. The truck tilted again, then righted. I reversed it off the curb and gunned it down Main Street in the direction of the school. At first I was confused, not sure which direction I was going, but then the sign for the school came out of the storm and welcomed us.
The back end rose, almost tilting me forward. Mina screamed. I might have, too, but then the back of the truck fell again and sent a shock wave through my body.
“Park on the other side of the school,” Mina yelled. “Out of the wind.”
I gunned it across the parking lot, narrowly missing a bunch of dead peoples' cars. Eventually we rolled across grass and I tried to remember where the storage room doors were. The wind was much better here and I could actually think. The roar was less. Above, the dust made a detour over us as it blasted off the school roof, leaving us in a tiny bubble of safety. We might not even need the armor right here.
A pair of double doors came out of the darkness, buried in brick. We were here.
“We'll stop here,” I said.
I put the truck in park and turned if off.
Total darkness fell. I still had the flashlight in here, right? Yes. I felt around. I'd thrown it onto the dash in my panic, not remembering it. The two of us sat there, breathing and just trying to get our wits back.
“Laney, thanks.”
I faced Mina. It wasn't like I could see her in the dark, though.
“I thought I was never going to see Tony again,” she said. “That I was going to spend the rest of my life here with David crawling around.”
“It was no problem,” I said. “I wasn't going to leave you there if I could save you.”
“You almost lost the truck doing that,” Mina said.
“I'm not David,” I said. “David would have left us there. I couldn't do it. You could actually be saved. It's just...if there's a chance you can live, you take it.” I wished she would stop talking to me. It was making me want to let my shield down. But chance had been Mom's philosophy after the doctors gave her the bad news. And now, maybe mine.
“You shouldn't have,” Mina said. I could tell she was close to tears. “We really need to get inside and get the others.”
I was glad for the subject change. “And find a way to cover everyone in the back of the truck,” I added. “We can fit two people in the front. This antique won't allow any more. Must be some old couple had this.”
“People will have to lay on each other,” Mina said. “That's going to be awkward.”
“Well, if you don't want the front, maybe you can lay with Tony,” I said. I really really wanted out.
I couldn't see her, but I was sure she was smiling. “I just might,” she said. “We've been thinking about, you know, taking it to the next level.”
There was something different about Mina now. She was full of something that had been gone before. “I'd wait until he's feeling better,” I said. “With his skin and all.”
We got out. The wind wasn't as bad, but there was a backwash of dust and sand close to the door and a small mound that we had to step around. A little sand tornado kept forming there and disappearing every few seconds. We stepped around that, too, and found that the doors were unlocked.
“This is the art hall,” I said. “I've never gone in through here.” Some people entered the school this way if they didn't want to be caught late. Or had.
I did my ritual of taking three deep breaths, holding it, and opening the door. We had parked by a different set than I thought. I clicked the flashlight on again. Mina and I ran through the art hall, not daring to breathe and not daring to lower our scarves from our noses. There were a lot of lumps in this hall, even more than in the others, as if everyone were trying to sneak out the back way to go die. I caught a glimpse of someone's Hello Kitty backpack and bright orange socks, both on the floor and lying in a heap of other students. We turned the corner and my lungs began to burn. I couldn't afford to throw up again. I was already thirsty. Another round might make me pass out in this hall. I might land on one of these bodies and contract some horrible disease...
At last we came to the band hall. “Strikeout!” Mina shouted, pounding on the door. “Hurry!”
Someone shuffled on the other side and opened up.
Tony. He was holding a music stand in one hand as if expecting David.
“Tony!” Mina forgot that his skin was still on fire and launched herself into his arms. He dropped the music stand and hugged her back, eyes widening in pain. “Tony! We almost didn't make it back.”
I closed the door behind me, casting light on the band room for what might be the first time in almost an hour. Everyone was still here. Alana got up and stood there as if she wasn't sure what to do.
I had expected her to squeal and embrace me like she always did if we didn't see each other for a while. But instead, she just stared. I wasn't sure if it was the goggles and the scarf which made me look like a visitor from some slum planet, so I took those off.
“I'm here,” I told her as Mina and Tony practically made out in the corner. Kissing sounds filled the silence.
“I'm glad you made it back,” Alana said. She sounded like a robot.
“Just glad?” I asked. “We almost didn't make it back.”
And then she slapped me.
I recoiled from the blow, even though it wasn't very hard, and raised my hand to my cheek.
“Why did you have to go out there?” she asked. “Why didn't you have someone else go instead?”
“I wasn't making Jerome or Tony do it. They're both beat.”
“You could have had Christina or Jasmine do it,” she whispered, glancing around to make sure neither one of them was in earshot. “Why did you go out there? You're the only thing I have left.”
Whoa.
I had just done a crappy, crappy thing. Alana had been my best friend since the first grade. I'd had no other best friend.
“It was logical,” I said. “I'm the only one who's driven that truck before.” I wanted to add I was confident I'd come back, but Mina had shattered that already. She was still making out with Tony in the corner. I hoped she enjoyed her time with him. It wouldn't last too much longer. Sooner or later, one of them would die.
“You can't go risking yourself all the time,” Alana said. “You already ventured out there where David turned out he might be. You promised me and Gina and Jerome that you would stick with us. That's the way we're going to get out of this.”
I struggled to find something to say, but there was nothing. “I don't know if we're going to get out of this,” I said.
Alana rolled her eyes. She was getting to be more normal now. “You're right. We don't know. But things will be worse if we keep doing this to each other.”
For the first time I spotted Gina and Jerome standing against the wall as if they were waiting to see how this turned out.
&n
bsp; I had let three people down, then. “Someone had to get the truck,” I said. “I just didn't want to be responsible if something happened to another person. Would you want that over your head?”
"It's not easy," Jerome said. He was defending me.
Alana's stare softened. “No. Laney, I'm sorry I did that.”
“I don't care about that,” I said. She'd had every right to hit me. “There was no good choice here.”
“You're right. There wasn't,” Jerome said. “I wouldn't want to send someone out there, either.” There was something more subdued about him lately.
“We need to figure out how to get out of here,” I said, raising my voice so much that Mina and Tony stopped making out in the corner. “Only two people can fit in the front of the truck.”
“You get the front, Laney,” Christina said.
It shocked me, having her say that. Christina and I had been mortal enemies up until now.
"You went out there and grabbed the truck for us," she said. "You went through all those bodies. You should get the front," she continued.
I was gaining more respect here. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It made me uneasy that these people were looking up to me, relying on me to make these decisions. I could mess this up big time. I could end up screwing everyone over.
“Who gets the passenger?” I asked. “Mina. You do.”
She peeled away from Tony, an inner glow practically glowing inside of her. “I'll take the back,” she said.
“Okay," I said. "The point is, we need to protect everyone in the back of the truck from the wind. The wind's coming from the north right now. We'll be driving into it so that will help. Plus with weight in the back of the truck that'll help keep the back end down. Won't it?” I faced Mina.
“It will,” she said. "We should have put something in there in the first place."
"There was no time," I said.
"True," Mina said. "If we could have, we should have. Hopefully, we'll be out of the storm by time we get to the open freeway, or things will get really ugly."
Chapter Seven
We found a blue tarp in the supply closet next to the band room. I imagined it was used for something outdoors because it was a pretty big tarp but it could easily cover everyone lying in the truck. I wished we had the van and we could still move, but there was no way the Cat would pull it all the way to the expressway and beyond. Getting everyone back out there would be too difficult and dangerous. I wasn't sure where the Cat even was. It might still be out by the ditch, fresh grave dirt on its blade. That was outside of town, where the winds were the worst. Where Eric might still be lying. There was no way.
So I put my goggles back on and Mina gave Alana her insulation armor. It took her a while to get into it. It was even worse than the radiation suits and three times as time consuming. The wind had gone into a lull outside, but it was false hope like so much else. We had only a matter of time before it battered Colton again.
We might even have to get out of the desert to be safe.
If we reached the expressway, it would take us into Oklahoma. It was supposed to stretch across the country if I remembered right.
The sheer terror of having to drive in the storm weighed down on me. People were depending on me now and if something happened, I would be responsible. I couldn't bear it. I wanted to be sick all over the place and had to force myself to drink some water that Jerome offered me. "Thanks," I muttered, adjusting the goggles again.
"I can tell you're scared," he said. "I can take over. Really. You shouldn't have to have everyone's lives in your hands. Just remember that it's not your fault if something happens."
It wasn't my fault. "But it is," I said. "You don't have to take over." Something was paining him. It was there in his big brown eyes. I wasn't going to pass any more hell over to him.
Jerome joined the others. Everyone except me and Alana gathered in a tight group and wrapped the tarp around themselves. It reminded me of an old Garfield comic strip where a bunch of people got caught in a window blind. As they walked, more and more people would fall into the trap until finally a little kid got Garfield and the others out. I was glad that I wasn't in there. My claustrophobia wasn't as bad as before, but that sort of thing would get it going again in no time.
"Okay," I said, facing everyone who was wrapped in the tarp. No one was laughing. "How are we going to make sure that stays together once we're in the truck?"
"People will have to lie on it," Alana said. "The storm isn't bad right now. We can get out there and get everyone in a good spot. There might be time."
"Do I smell smoke?" Christina asked.
I faced her, shining the flashlight on her T-shirt with the cartoon monkey on it. She was sniffing, standing close to the band room door.
"I think I do," Jasmine said. She turned. "There's some coming in through the cracks in the door!"
It was panic. People scrambled out of the tarp and backed away from the door. Jasmine and Christina were right. Silvery vapor seeped in through the top of the closed band room doors. Already the air smelled of the toxic fumes. There was the stench of burning paper, wood...and even something more disgusting than I wanted to name.
David.
He had lit something on fire. There was no other explanation unless this dust storm included lightning strikes, which I hadn't seen.
"Everyone," I said. "Wrap up. Hold your breath. We're heading out the band doors and to the truck now. We'll need to walk along the side of the building and around the corner, but we'll get there." It might take a while to crank the engine. David could still be around here. There was no telling what he would do to us all in his rage.
Everyone piled back into the tarp the best they could. People sucked in valuable air. I did the same, glad I'd had the practice. There was nothing to stop any fire. No sprinkler system worked anymore.
And I pointed to the double doors to say now.
I had had experience with smoke before. David's specialty was fires and slow, trapped death. It was his trademark the way serial killers had special ways of killing their victims.
And I opened the door, ducking down.
The smoke billowed in. The fire had been going for some time. It tried to invade my nostrils, snake its way into my lungs, but I kept my breath held tight and led the way, holding the flashlight up as a beacon. Alana grabbed my arm and someone coughed. Swore. Jerome was freaking out. The scene in the gas station was returning and sheer panic shot through me.
I had to stay with the group.
I held the flashlight high like a torch and felt around for the band storage entrance. I found it, fumbled around for the knob, and yanked it open.
We all piled through. Alana shoved into me and the group behind her, almost knocking us over. I lowered the flashlight and ran past metal things, instruments and drums and who knew what, and then out into the dust.
It wasn't as bad right now. The dust blew against my goggles, but I could see. I could breathe a little. The world was still a black and brown blur, but I could make out the side of the school building, a building I would never see again. A light flickered somewhere. A window. A classroom was on fire. I held the torch up and ran past as the tarp shuffled and moved behind us. Band equipment shifted and fell as everyone squeezed through.
"Go," Alana begged. "Faster, everyone!" She pulled on the tarp, guiding them outside.
I broke into a run and bolted past the window, going backwards to make sure the others were keeping up. It might be the old art room, the one used for storage where they had lots of paints and cleaners and things that could--
A thunderous boom sounded as the window blasted out behind the moving tarp. Heat washed against me. People screamed and hurried. The flames vanished as I slid through fresh dust and sand and ran past the small tornado that kept coming and going.
Tony swore and Christina yelled something, but the wind swept it away. I turned the corner. The others followed. Alana held my arm like a small child trying to f
ind her way.
Something zipped past my face. Bits of brick and stone shot off the wall next to me.
I paused and Alana crashed into me. Then everyone in the moving tarp blob did too.
"Why are we stopping?" Gina asked.
It came to me in a heartbeat.
David was shooting at us.
I eyed the bus garage, which was across the parking lot. I could barely see it. It was the only building he could be hiding in. I couldn't make out the windows or the doors, but I didn't need to.
"We're being shot at!" I shouted. "Run!"
Alana screamed and babbled. Tarp shifted again and another shot fired. It cut through my hair, a fast angry demon, and struck the school.
And I bolted.
The survival instinct kicked in. Every detail popped. The truck. The way the flashlight shined off of it. Every grain of dust and the whistling of the wind. People screamed. The dust blew harder and thickened. Now that I think about it, it might have saved my life.
Alana climbed into the passenger seat and the storm whipped against us. A flash of blue scrambled into the truck bed as everyone piled in and ducked, falling over each other. They were shielded in there from David's rage.
I had to crank the motor.
I popped the hood, found the handle, and cranked away.
Seconds turned into what felt like hours. Another shot fired, shrill like a pin through the dust, and landed somewhere to my left. David must have known where the truck was. I might have seconds to live. If I went down out here, Alana would jump out, crank the engine, and put herself in danger. I wasn't going to have her die because of me.
"Come on!" I shouted, cranking harder. My arms burned. It was hard to move in the insulation armor. My goggles fogged. I was sweating.
But at last, the engine roared to life.
"Yes!" I shouted, and tore open the door to the drivers' seat.
