Apocalypsis: Book 4 (Haven) (12 page)

We got off our bikes and laid them down.

“Now what?” asked Rob, staring at the truck.

“Now we sneak up on the driver and see what he’s all about.” I grabbed my weapon and moved down into the ditch on the side of the road.  It wasn’t very deep, and if the guy driving bothered to look in our direction he’d probably be able to see us without any problem.  It was for that reason that we all carried a gun in the backs of our pants.

When we were about fifty yards back, we shifted our course so that we’d be behind a bunch of high, scruffy bushes when we got even with the truck.

“Can you see anything yet?” asked Winky, coming up behind me.

I had stopped and was looking through the bushes, wishing I had eagle eyes.  “I need some binoculars or something.  I can’t see crap from here.”  There was no movement coming from the cab and no people were visible.

“Your wish is my command,” said Rob, handing me a pair of mini field glasses.

“What the hell?” I took them from him, waiting for an explanation.

Rob shrugged.  “Peter.  He put them in my bag.  He said I’m the tallest, so the most likely to get the best use out of them.”

I shook my head.  “That boy scares me sometimes with his efficiency.”

“For serious,” said Winky.  “But I’m glad for it.  Especially on this trip.”

I turned to the truck again, raising the glasses to my eyes.

At first I saw nothing.  But then a movement near the front of the truck caught my attention.

“I see someone,” I whispered, excitedly.

“Who?  Is it anyone we know?” asked Winky.

“No.  No one I know at least.  And he’s wearing regular clothes, so I don’t think he’s from a tribe.”

I watched as the guy, about my age from the look of him but much bigger, climbed up into the cab of the truck.

“What’s he doing?” asked Rob.

“He just got into the truck.”

The engine revved a few times and the truck jerked forward.

“He’s driving it again!”  I pulled the binoculars away from my face.  “Should we stop him?”

“Hell yeah, we should stop him!” said Rob, already moving to leave the cover of the bushes.

“Wait!” Bodo said.  “We needt a plan.  Don’t go out dare and get shot.”

“Okay, fine, what’s the plan?”  Rob was practically jumping up and down, raring to go after the guy.

“Two of us on the right side, three on the left,” I said, trying to remember what George’s journal said about attacking a moving enemy from behind.  “Expect gunfire.  Stay behind the truck or as close to it as you can.   I don’t think his side mirrors will catch you if you stay low or directly behind the back of the trailer.”

“Let’s hope not,” said Paci.  “Who’s on the right and who’s on the left?”

“I’m on the left with Bodo and Rob.  You and Winky on the right.”

“What’s the goal?” asked Winky.  “You want to take him out?”

“No.  No one takes anyone out.  He could be a really good guy.  Assume he’s bad until we know otherwise, but don’t shoot unless he shoots first, okay?”

I looked around and made sure I had everyone’s assent.  There was no time for any more discussion.  The truck was moving forward again and though it was slowed by its car bashing, it wasn’t stopping.  My friends nodded, and we all put our hands up for a team high-five.  The sound of our hands smacking together was drowned out by the revving of the diesel engine nearby.

“Let’s go,” I said, a little louder than I’d meant to.  But I didn’t worry because there was no way the driver could hear us.  His engine was whining out really high, and the banging noises coming from the jerking cab section were probably too distracting.  Whoever this guy was, he definitely wasn’t a trained truck driver.

We ran as fast as we could down the side of the road until we were nearly parallel with the truck.  Then we angled in sharply to get behind the trailer.

Bodo and Rob came with me and hung out at the back left corner of the trailer.  Winky and Paci went to the right tail light.  We jogged slowly, easily keeping pace with the jerking truck, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it picked up speed and left us behind.

I was staring at the back of the trailer doors, trying to see a way to jump up and hold onto it in case we weren’t able to get to the cab in time, when a terrifying scream came from inside.

***

“Holy crap, did you hear that?” asked Rob in a high-pitched and breathless voice.

The truck was picking up speed, which made running up to the cab area no longer an option.  Cars were being knocked away, and some of them scraped the side of the truck as it went by.  We risked getting smooshed if we tried to run alongside.

“We need to get up on there!” I yelled, looking left and right at my friends running next to me.

All of us surged forward, grabbing onto different parts of the truck’s back end.  I was able to get a grip first on a metal step affixed to the back of the bumper and then on a vertical bar that ran down the length of the doors.  Once I pulled myself up on the step, I could hold onto the big latch that held the doors shut.

When I had a good hold on it and my feet were firmly planted, I dropped my free hand down, reaching out for Winky.  We grabbed each other’s wrists, and I hauled her towards me.

For one terrifying moment, Winky was hanging free with only me holding her aloft.  I grunted with the effort, worried I’d drop her to the pavement and at the very least give her a serious road rash.

But just when I thought I would lose her, she found the ledge my feet were resting on and steadied herself, grabbing hold of another metal bar running down from the top of the door.

I let go of her wrist when I knew she no longer needed me.  Now it was just the two of us on the back, the guys still trying to grab onto something.

Paci got up next, using a tail light and a door hinge, but Bodo and Rob weren’t able to find an available spot.

“What should we do?!” shouted Rob, dropping back a little.

“Try to follow us!” I yelled. I couldn’t worry about them now.  We had to get into that cab and stop this truck.

Another scream rent the air.  Whoever was in the back of this trailer was either in pain or very afraid - maybe both.  It gave me goosebumps as it trailed off into a weird keening.

I turned to face Winky.  “I’m going to climb up over the top and get into the cab.”

“What?!  Are you nuts?!  You’ll die!  You’ll fall and die!  You’re not a stuntwoman, Bryn!”  She sounded angry.

“He’s not going fast enough for me to fall,” I said, not waiting for her approval.  Stuntwoman or not, I had to do this.  I was fixated not only on stopping that terrible moaning coming from inside, but also using this bad boy to transport goods for Haven.  I was betting I could even put cows in it.  We were so going to be on easy street, if only I could pull a Bruce Willis and kick the driver’s head in.

I stretched my foot up and rested it on the latch where my hand had been.  Now I was holding another vertical bar, similar to the one Winky had, but on the other door.

“I’m coming too,” she said.

I looked down and saw her measuring her options.  “No!” I yelled, sounding angrier than I was.  I was panicking, thinking of her falling off.  “Just wait.  I’ll get up there and stop him and then you can open these doors.”

“There’s a kid in there,” she said, obviously as sick about it as I was.

“Yeah, I know.  I don’t even want to know why.  I don’t think it can be any good.”  I was huffing my breaths out with the effort of holding on.  The bar I had a grip on was thin, and my knuckles were getting bruised being jammed in between it and the big door.

“Me neither.  It’s going to be awful.” She raised her voice.  “Don’t worry, whoever’s in there!  We’re going to get you out!”

The moaning stopped.

“What are we doing?” asked Paci.  He was holding onto the corner of the back of the trailer for dear life, his knuckles white he was gripping the metal hinge so tightly.

“I’m going up.  Get ready to jump off this thing and punch the driver’s face off.”

“I thought we were going to assume he was a good guy.”

“That went out the window when I heard that scream.”

“Who’s there?” came a voice from inside the trailer.  It was someone half-talking and half-crying.

“We’re friends.  We’re going to get you out,” said Winky.

I used my upper body strength to heft myself up about four feet, my feet scrabbling around until they both found the latch that held the doors closed.  I balanced on my toes, my arms stretched out high above me, holding onto a bar that ran near the top of the trailer.

“You have to stop the truck!” came the voice from inside.  It was a girl.  “Before we get there!”

“Get where?” asked Winky.

I lifted myself up again, shifting my feet to a small bracket that held the vertical bars upright on the back of the door.  It was less than an inch of metal for my entire bodyweight, and the arch of my foot was cramping from the effort almost immediately.

“To the exchange!  To the exchange!”

I’d heard enough.  The fear alone in her voice told me that this truck had to stop and the driver had to be taken down.  I lifted my foot almost up to my chest, searching for something to hook it on so I could get higher.

“Be careful!” yelled Paci.  And then I felt his hand on my lower foot.  “I’m right here, below you!  Use my hand if you need to!”

“I’m good,” I grunted out.  I could see the top of the trailer and was almost ready to grab it when the truck jerked especially hard.

“Aahhh!” I screamed, as my foot slipped off the bracket and left me dangling free.

I kicked for a few seconds, trying to get my body back against the trailer.  My fingers were slipping and my back was on fire as my muscles strained to keep me from falling.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the pavement going by a lot faster than it had been before.  The jerking had apparently been him shifting so he could increase his speed.

“Dammit!” I was getting desperate, unable to get a foothold.

Paci grabbed my ankle.  “Step here!  Push!”

The warmth coming from his hand and up into my moccasin instantly gave me a small measure of peace. 
I can do this.  Firm grip.  Solid core.  Pull-up motion.  Go!

I tensed my biceps and shoulder muscles, slowly drawing my entire body up towards my hands.  I walked my feet up the trailer doors, ignoring the swaying of the truck and the jerking motions, letting them flow right through me.  I was one with the machine.  A flea on a dog’s back.  No way was this canner asshole going to shake me loose.  I wasn’t sure he was a canner, but it inspired me to concentrate, thinking of him that way.

My right foot found another bracket.  I lifted my left foot over my head so I was almost doing a split on the back of the trailer.  Turning my toes around just a bit allowed me to hook them over the top.

“Be careful, Bryn!” shouted Winky.  “You’re going to fall!”

No I’m not
.  I couldn’t say it out loud because I had to use every ounce of energy I had into getting my arm up to join my foot.

Using the vertical bar and the top of the trailer as my leverage, I slowly pushed and pulled myself up.  I walked my hands up the bar, gripping it with everything I had.  My hands were trembling with the effort of not letting go.

As my entire leg finally got over the top of the trailer and my arm joined it, I felt the danger lessening.  I used my other hand that was still down on the back of the trailer to push the rest of my body up.

Now I was lying on my stomach, balanced on the edge of the back of the truck, looking down at my friends.

“What are you going to do?” said Winky, sounding a little desperate.  I could see she had a good grip on the truck, but that didn’t stop all this dare-deviling from being scary as hell.

“I’m going to crawl across the top of this trailer and get on the cab.  As soon as it’s steady, I’ll get into the cab.  The window is open on the driver’s side.”

“Are you just going to flip in there like in the movies?” asked Paci.  “That’s not going to work!”

I knew his anger was worry in disguise, so I let it go.  “No, I’m going to climb down just behind it and then open the door from outside and punch him in the head.”

Winky and Paci looked at each other.

“That could work,” said Winky.

“Maybe,” said Paci, sounding defeated.

I grinned evilly at them.  “Wish me luck.”  I winked at my friends and wiggled my way back from the edge.

***

A quick glance out at the highway behind me showed Rob and Bodo jogging at a fast clip.  They were losing ground rapidly.  Pretty soon I was going to be all alone with this guy if I didn’t hurry the hell up.

I spun around on my belly so I’d be facing the front of the truck.  I was too far back to see the road ahead of it, but too afraid to stand up and increase my viewing range.

I quickly made my way up to the cab, army-crawling across the filthy surface covered not only in dirt and grime of every kind but bird turds, too.  As I got closer, I was finally able to see the highway in front of us better.

The semi was approaching abandoned cars and bashing right into them, not slowing down in the least.  They were piling up on the shoulders of the road, victims of the smash-em-up derby this guy was causing.  I didn’t know how much longer the front of this truck would be able to take that kind of abuse.

Getting up on my knees, I scrambled the last several feet up the trailer until I reached the space between it and the cab.  It was wide enough for me to fit down in it, but tons of cables and junk were running all over the place, and different parts were moving, not necessarily in tandem with the motion of the truck.  I could easily lose a foot or leg if I wasn’t careful.

The cab was just ahead of me, and the place where I wanted to go to my left.  There was a smoke stack thingy that looked like it might get hot from the engine exhaust, a place to step up from the ground to get inside, and a couple of vertical handles I could grab onto while reaching into the cab.

I wasn’t sure whether I was going to go in through the window or actually open the door, but I did know that I was going to use the driver’s side.  The quicker I could incapacitate this maniac and get him off the accelerator, the faster we could end this crazy run.