Crashing Down - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (The Ravaged Land Series Book 3) (15 page)

I
f an arrow could actually penetrate
a windshield, there was little chance they’d miss their target. I was already trying to plan how I’d get us away if they shot Dominick. I’d probably have to open the door and try to shove his dead body out of the truck so I could attempt to drive us to safety. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. Before I even got him outside of the truck, I’d be dead.

I wiped my hands on my pants to dry them just in case I needed to work fast. I wanted to turn around and look at Dean but I didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that there were people in the back. But they probably already knew.

One of the men from this unusual tribe stepped forward and raised up his palm. It seemed like he was trying to tell us to stop, but we were already stopped. I was considering whether or not I should tell Dominick to floor it and drive through them. Maybe we could get away before they could accurately aim an arrow at the moving vehicle. They hadn’t hit any of us yet.

“Who are you and where are you going?” the tribesman who I assumed was in charge shouted. He stared at Dominick and didn’t blink.

I could actually feel the tension radiating from Dominick. Suddenly, the whole atmosphere in the cab shifted. He was turning back into his normal self. The one that didn’t put up with anything. The one that would act first and ask questions later.

“Just passing through,” Dominick shouted through his half-rolled-down window. It wasn’t like any of us were about to tell them where we were going. Not that I had any idea really, but even if I did, I wouldn’t have revealed it to them.

“This is our land and there is only one way to pass.”

“And that is?” Dominick said sneering at the man.

“With my permission and my permission only,” the tribe’s leader shouted. His voice was oddly calm. In fact, everything about him was rather relaxed, considering someone could just pull a gun and shoot him. I was surprised that thought hadn’t already occurred to Dominick. But maybe he didn’t think he could get them all down before one of them hit him with an arrow between the eyes.

I shook the mental image out of my head and looked out at the hills surrounding us. The closer I looked the easier it was for me to spot the men hiding around the area. They were peppered about the shrubs, branches and random patches of tall grass. There were so many of them. And probably even more than I had found. They blended in so well with the scenery, which was maybe why they had the markings.

“There are so many of them,” I muttered. Dominick didn’t look away from the men in front of us.

“How many?” he asked.

“Too many to count.”

“I’ll ask you once again. Who are you and where are you going?” the tribesman asked, sounding far less patient than he had the first time he asked.

“Just lie,” I whispered to Dominick, trying hard not to move my lips. Just then an arrow hit the truck making a loud crunching noise. Sienna and I both screamed, even though I quickly realized that they had only taken out one of the headlights. “Tell them!” I said trying to get my head down below the dash, even though it wouldn’t matter. If they wanted to they could just walk up to the truck.

Right as Dominick opened his mouth to answer, we all heard a bloodcurdling scream in the distance. I looked up over the dash to see the four men looking up towards one of the hills. It almost seemed as though they recognized the voice by the pained look on their faces.

Then there was another scream, a different voice. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. Whatever was happening sounded like death. It was a scream that filled my body with dread and fear. Absolute terror. And then I heard the noises I heard many times before. The horrendous barking and howls of the dog-beasts.

I peeked up and looked out the side window and noticed Dominick’s anxious expression. It didn’t take long to spot who was causing the ruckus.

Parked on top of one of the hills was a HOME delivery truck. The same as the ones that had been parked outside of Dominick’s camp. The same ones that took out half of his camp.

Just like before, the back door of the truck was pulled open and the dog-beasts rushed out as they had that day at the resistance camp. Only this time they weren’t confined within the camp walls, they were everywhere. And they were taking out anyone in their path. Which soon would include Dean, Penn and Dezzie. I wasn’t even one hundred percent sure we would be safe inside the truck if they all climbed on. I could see the windows cracking underneath their weight and them clawing their way inside.

The men launched their arrows at the dogs that were rushing down the hill. Arrows whizzed by in every direction but it wasn’t working to stop them. The dogs moved faster than the remaining tribesman were at reloading their bows and aiming their arrows at them. Every so often a dog-beast would squeal and roll down the hill but it wasn’t enough.

“Retreat!” the tribe leader shouted as he ran in the opposite direction of the dogs. I saw a couple men climb up into the trees, but mostly the men were trying to outrun the dog-beasts. I knew it wasn’t going to work. Eventually the dogs would find them. Maybe some of the men would survive, but I didn’t think so at this rate. Right now, all I wanted to do was to make sure we survived.

Dominick sat up when he was certain none of tribesmen were still aiming their arrows at us. Everyone was running for their lives. He shifted the truck into drive and pressed his foot down as hard as he could on the gas pedal. The truck didn’t move immediately. The wheels screamed at the pavement and then thrust the truck forward.

Dominick hadn’t really been paying attention because he just wanted to get away. I saw a tribesman run out into the road, but I couldn’t say anything in time to stop Dominick from hitting him. It was too late. The truck had been going too fast and the man just stepped out at the wrong time.

The man hit the ground hard, and I felt the truck bounce upward as it drove over him. For a split second I was reminded of how our SUV had rolled over not that long ago. I worried it was going to happen again. But the truck steadied and remained on all four wheels.

I spun around to see the man behind us laying on the ground. He was howling in pain, but he was alive. His leg was so mangled I knew he wouldn’t be able to get up and run to safety. Dominick chuckled annoyingly as if he was happy about what had happened. I turned to glare at him and saw him holding up his middle finger at the man.

I looked back to see him and while I couldn’t hear the man I could tell he was screaming and likely shouting various obscenities meant for us. But it didn’t last long. A dog-beast kicked up his back legs and leapt on top of the man. I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to see what was going to happen to him. The dog would change him and the man with the mangled leg would be stuck on the side of the road until the moment he died.

As we barreled down the road a few of the dogs-beasts tried to chase after us. I spun around and watched helplessly as they attempted to jump up into the back of the truck.

“No!” I hollered when one of the dog-beasts managed to get half of himself up on the back of the tailgate. I could just imagine his back legs kicking and scratching to get on the bumper. The dog was holding on with his front paws while saliva dripped down out of his mouth.

“What’s going on?” Dominick said not bothering to slow down the truck, but he knew something was happening. There wasn’t anything that would cause him to stop the truck. Dezzie could be falling out and he’d leave him behind. I was certain of it.

“One of them is almost in the back,” I said so quickly my words blended together. I pounded my fist on the window as if I was trying to knock him out of the truck.

Dezzie got himself into a half-kneeling position and pulled out his gun. Penn quickly followed Dezzie’s lead and shot the dog. It howled and fell off the truck. I watched as it rolled down the highway until it came to an abrupt stop.

I wasn’t the least bit surprised when the two ex-HOME members expertly took out the remaining dogs. They worked methodically as a team. Not a single wasted bullet. Penn tucked his gun back into his waistband and nodded at Dezzie.

“Yeah that definitely wasn’t HOME,” I said, my voice probably much louder than it needed to be. “What do you think they wanted?”

“I don’t know. And I’m glad we didn’t have to find out,” Dominick said and I felt the truck speed up just a bit more.

“How much longer?” I asked as I turned back around to face the road ahead. I was worried about all three of them sitting in the back just in the wide open. They seemed like easy targets. Who knew if we would run into more of those tribesmen?

What if an arrow would have hit one of them? There wouldn’t be anything we could do about it. There weren’t any doctors out here. We didn’t have any medicine or bandages. I sure didn’t know how to remove an arrow, but it wouldn’t have to have been an arrow either. They were just as vulnerable to bullets.

“About two hours,” Dominick said as he sniffed and wiped at this nose. He looked at his speed and then back out at the road ahead. It almost seemed as if he was getting anxious, but maybe he just wanted to be done with this trip.

He probably thought the sooner we got to the next resistance camp, the safer we’d be. Although I wasn’t sure I felt the same. I wanted to be off the road, but I didn’t want to be in another resistance camp either.

We’d only been driving for about an hour when I saw the dark clouds in the distance rolling towards us. They were so black and ominous it looked like day was turning into night as the clouds blanketed the sky.

“Looks like a bad storm,” I said, noticing the eerie feel in the air. Several thick, yellow bolts of lightning flashed down and snapped against the earth. I could hear the rumble of thunder even at our distance.

“Is it a storm or is it another one of HOME’s weapons?” Dominick muttered, as another bolt of lightning struck closer. It was as if I could feel the electricity of the jolt radiating through my body.

The lightning was so bright and vivid it almost seemed unnatural. Maybe Dominick was right. What if it was another one of HOME’s weapons? I couldn’t take my eyes off of the web-like bolts.

“Should we find somewhere to wait while it passes?” I asked, assuming Dominick would want to drive through. I couldn’t help but wonder if HOME was responsible. If this was another weapon we wouldn’t be safe in the truck or anywhere, and it would be the end of the road for us. We’d barely survived the first one. Surely we wouldn’t be that lucky twice. And if this wasn’t a weapon, I doubted the guys would be safe in the back of the truck.

“How about that one… maybe?” Sienna said pointing towards a small ranch style home. It looked sufficiently abandoned, but that didn’t mean it was. If no one was there it might be the perfect place to hide out, unless of course the storm was accompanied by tornadoes. In that case we wouldn’t have a chance in hell at survival.

Dominick pulled up to the house and parked the truck. He looked around before he gestured for us to get out. Sienna and I walked towards Penn and Dean while Dominick whispered something to Dezzie.

We all stared at the deadly lightning strikes in the distance. It was almost as if it was too fascinating to look away. But if we stayed out here any longer we’d risk getting struck by one of the root-like electrical sprouts.

The wind picked up and felt warm against my face. It was so strong it blew me back a step. My hair whipped up and around my face and I grabbed Sienna’s hand as if that would somehow keep me on the ground. If the wind was going to blow us away, at least we weren’t going to fly through the air alone.

“Let’s go inside,” Penn said as he grabbed onto both of us. It was as if he believed he was strong enough to stop the wind from taking us. But if the wind was any stronger it would take Dean and Penn with it too, considering how underweight we all were. It probably wouldn’t take much more.

We carefully entered the quaint house following behind Dezzie and Dominick. They both had their guns drawn and methodically cleared the house while we waited near the front door huddled together.

It was like someone flipped an ON switch when the rain started to fall hard against the roof. The noise from the storm was almost deafening. Each boom of thunder was louder than any other thunder I’d ever heard before.

The howling wind was frightening. It reminded me of the tornadoes that zipped around when everything first started. I was imagining them outside right now dancing and twirling around the house, just barely missing us.

“I hate this,” I whispered to Dean, and he put his arm around me. Sienna and Dean were probably having similar thoughts to mine. They remembered what it had been like for us when the big storm ravaged the earth.

Dominick sank down into the recliner against the wall and mostly stared out the window. I wondered what his experience had been like when the first storms hit. He probably wouldn’t have shared it with me even if I asked him, so I didn’t bother.

It was pitch black outside the window, all except for the frequent fiery bolts of lightning. They’d crack, and when they hit the ground the thunder would crash out and rumble for nearly a minute afterward. One boom blended into the next. It was a constant cacophony of noises from the storm.

Dean, Sienna, Penn and I all sat squished together on the small sofa while Dezzie paced back and forth in front of us. He looked like he was guarding the door. If the wind blew it open, I didn’t doubt for a second he’d be there pushing it back into place. But even though it rattled and shifted in the door frame occasionally, it didn’t burst open.

CRACK!

A bolt of lightning hit so close to the window that I was temporarily blinded. I blinked over and over, rubbing frantically at my eyes trying to bring back my sight. All I could see were bright lines and dark shadows around the edges of my vision. “I can’t see!” I shouted, almost ready to panic.