Arc 2 - Chapter 24: Four Men And A Van

(Quintiles 29, 59 / 8:16PM)

“Where are we going exactly?”

“We just have to listen to the coms. If we use it, we could track down those two maniacs with ease.”

Paving the eight lane highway, was a brown van gleaming its high beams. Looking all around the freeway, the four men took in the vast emptiness of the lanes, as no trucks or cars shared the highway.

Glass littered all around the asphalt, keeping Jack to peel his eyes for any debris. For the longest time, Jack swerved around countless dropped suitcases, leaving him to make very sharp turns that flung the men around like ragdolls.

“Can you not do a sharp turn for one minute!” Yelled Stan.

“Hey, I’m doing my best here!”

“Have you guys found anything yet about both Harold and Ryan?” Questioned Luke.

“No … just a bunch of transmissions from some unlucky soldiers…”

Miles glanced down at the radio box he held in his hands, while wearing black headphones. Being in the passenger seat, he had control of the radio, as he turned the knob slowly to unveil any messages. Luke and Stan saw through the center hole of the van, and took note of Miles’ quivering hands.

Glancing at one another, both of them let out sighs before sitting back down to their seats. Feeling the cushions softening their butts, they turned toward the windows that overlooked the city skyline.

—And we still haven’t found both of them…

Luke folded his arms as he saw the night sky. Feeling the humidity swell his body, he hunched his back more, leaving him to narrow his eyes at the highest tower he saw.

—Why do they want to kill us so badly? Are they brainwashed to do so? Are they doing it for revenge?

Meanwhile, Stan placed his hand onto his right eye, and stared down at the metallic floor. Slowly taking a breath in, he held it in, and ballooned his chest to expand outwards. Pushing it all out, the tips of his fingers trickled onto his forehead and cheek, making him push his face down.

‘I came all this way … and for what…’

Miles’ eyes widened exponentially, as he raised both his hands up high.

“Hey, I’m getting an incoming transmission! It’s talking about Harold and Ryan!”

“Oh shit! Take off the headphones so we can listen!”

Miles took off his headphones with his right hand, and placed them on his lap. Using his left hand, he unplugged the wire that connected his headphones to the radio, all the while he turned up the volume by the knob.

Static clearing up immediately, Luke and Stan got out of their thought trance, and pushed their bodies up from their seats. Walking up to the center hole of the van, all of them lean their heads close to the box, while their faces are plastered with sweat.

“We got two wackos going through the downtown district! I repeat! We got two wackos going through the downtown district!”

Everyone returned their attention to Jack, who finally had a normal handle on the wheels. Placing his hand on Miles’ shoulder, Miles tugged him once, and his strength made him loosen his grip on the wheel slowly.

“What highway are we on?”

“Sorry, but I rarely know the streets names, let alone districts.”

“And you’re the best driver…”

“Driver, not navigator.”

Miles pulled back his hand, and clenched his hands tightly but not that tightly. His attention away from Jack, he looked at the darkened skyline, which glowed an orangish hell.

Luke however leaned his face close to the hole, and directed his voice toward miles.

“Hey Miles, I think there’s a map from the glove department.”

“On it!”

He settled the radio box underneath his seat, and brought his hands to flick open the lid. Soon, a flood of papers poured onto his seat, making it look like he was trying to find a piece of lint within the mountain.

‘Just how disorganized is Gwen!?’

Struggling to look for the map of Lagefor, he grinded his teeth together while brushing his fingers against the papers. Meanwhile, Luke watched with squinted eyes, as he gave Miles a confused stare.

“Do you need help?”

“I don’t know how you can help, but do you know exactly where the map is?”

“Uh, Miles … the map is at the bottom…”

His breath froze in his throat, as he slowly turned to look at Luke. Twisting his head toward the stack of flooded papers again, he looked at the ones that were at the bottom. And immediately, he found a large brown paper, causing his face to darken and his hand to tremble.

‘God damn it…’

“Here…”

Luke extended his hand out from the hole, as Miles placed the brown paper onto the butt of his palm. Turning around, he kept his eyes on the highway, and slumped his body like a potato.

Opening the map, Luke saw the layout of the entire city. As both him and Stan’s eyes sparkled, they took note of the many districts around the city, and some key noticeable features on the brown paper.

“We came out of that bar from the south side of the city. Judging from the reports, Benn and Hope are at the southern side of downtown, Fred, Gary, and Diego are at the military complex, Gwen and Luna are at the Zirardge tower, and David and the others are at the industrial complex.”

Sticking his finger out, he caressed the lining of the map with the tip of it. Pointing to each district in the city, he let his eyes wander the endless key features, including the hilly terrain to the North.

“Wait, why is Lagefor considered hilly when there are no hills?” Questioned Jack.

“The hills are on the north side of the city, where the rich live. The hills sort of curve at the western and eastern outskirts, making the city look accessible to the South.”

Both of them paused as they scoured their eyes at the map. Trying to find the highway they were in, Luke moved his finger to trail the key features, and glanced from the window to check on the geography. Nodding at the location, he moved his finger one last time, as a droplet of sweat ran down his right temple.

“We’re on the northern highway, meaning the hills are to the left of us, and the skyline is to our right.”

“So then they’re close by…”

The grip on the steering wheel tightened, as Jack glanced around the clouded city full of smoke. Pushing in the button for high beams, it blazed through the beginning night, leaving the asphalt to glitter.

Miles kept his watchful eye on the skyline, followed by placing his hand onto his left cheek. Analyzing the high rising buildings, with the tops enveloped by an orangish smoke, he didn’t see anything unusual.

But as for Stan, he kept his watchful eye on the back of the van, and he saw…

“Hey uh … is that normal for wolves to do that?”

Luke looked up from the brown map, and saw Stan focused on the windows like it was a show’s finale.

“Let me see.”

Walking up the back windows, he pressed his head near, and noticed an abundance of wolves rushing out to them. Squinting through the darkness, all of the wolves had drool mustering their nuzzles, leaving Luke to take a step back.

“Uh no…”

“What?”

“Those aren’t normal wolves…”

“““Ah shit.”””

Miles glanced at the right edge mirror to his side, followed by Jack using the left one. Continuing to eye the wolf pack, which began to multiply, both Stan and Luke noticed a figure was absent…

—Wait, where’s Harold—

—The back doors suddenly opened.—

Being the nearest one to the doors, Luke was immediately sucked out, until he was grabbed by Stan. Grabbing onto his hand, Luke held on by a thread. Pushing his head into the hole, Miles saw the commotion unfolding, putting his face in a mountain of sweat.

“Holy shit!”

“Things can’t get any worse—”

They all heard footsteps from the roof, leaving all of them to gulp loudly with pale ridden faces.