Page 77 of Waves of Fury

The adrenaline that was surging through me finally crashes once we’re out of immediate danger. I shift so I’m half-squatting on the floorboard, slumping against the back of Wayne’s seat. A wave of exhaustion has my lids drooping heavily.

I wake to the sound of a car door slamming. Before I can make out my surroundings, the door behind me opens and Wayne starts pulling us from the vehicle one by one. Shakily, I step away from the SUV to survey my surroundings. It’s no longer storming, or we’ve moved past the worst of it. The rain is chilly, but not the most terrible thing we’ve encountered thus far.

Squinting, I try to figure out where it is we’ve stopped. A rest area. Just beyond the parking lot, a small building sits, beckoning to me like a lighthouse. I start clomping along toward it, dizzied and still trying to shake away my daze. When I turn around, I see Wayne carrying a body.

Gerry’s body.

I don’t even make it to the building before I’m doubled over, dry heaving. Gerry was my friend. He was a good guy. I hate that he died so brutally. Everyone I know keeps getting taken away from me.

Tyler hands me a bottle of water, cap already removed. I take it from him and chug it down, washing away the acid on my tongue before muttering out my thanks.

“Come on,” Tyler grunts. “Let’s try to get some rest.”

He leads me into the dark building, his flashlight bouncing in front of us. There’s not much to the building aside from a set of restrooms that don’t appear to be working. But, to our surprise, there’s a row of untouched vending machines.

Finally, something’s going our way.

Dan and Jesse manage to break into the one with food first and divvy up the snacks they find. I’m grateful for a package of powdered donuts and some peanut butter crackers. Tyler chooses a package of cherry PopTarts that he clutches to his chest with a happy grin on his lips. Unable to stop myself, I lean forward and peck his lips.

“Sorry,” I mutter. “I just needed something good after the hell of a day this has been.”

Tyler leans his head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry about Gerry.”

A ball of emotion clogs my throat. “He was a good guy.”

“Yeah, he was.”

“Ty,” I say with a heavy sigh. “I’m tired.”

“I know, Kell, me too. This can’t last forever. We’ll go to Vegas and find some help. The whole world can’t be this way. It can’t.”

His voice sounds so small.

The whole world can’t be this way. It can’t.

I don’t dare squash what little hope he has left, but I don’t find much comfort in his words. They’ve only been harping about this our entire lives. That what Gerty did decades ago to the moon would eventually wreak havoc on Earth. It was always a hurry up and wait game.

The wait is certainly over.

Tyler

Iwake to someone shaking me. Aaron is squatted beside me with the map. Dim light shines in through the few windows of the rest stop. We made it to morning.

Well, some of us did.

Gerry’s gone. This new life of ours just takes and takes and takes. It’s maddening and miserable. If I didn’t have my family and Kellen with me to endure this hell, I’d have given up long ago.

“We have to go to Vegas,” Aaron says with a sigh. “It’s the most populated city closest to us. There’s a significant chance we’ll find aid there.”

“Or more assholes,” Kellen grumbles. “Our luck with people is shitty at best.”

He’s not lying.

“What if it’s more of the same?” I ask my brother. “What if we have power-hungry militias just waiting for the vulnerable and unsuspecting?”

“We have to take the chance,” Aaron states firmly. “Hope agrees.”

I roll my eyes. When Aaron is getting laid, it’s amazing how much the woman sharing his bed influences him. Admittedly, Hope’s a good one. A helluva lot better than any other woman Aaron has stuck his dick into.

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