Stone did. He stopped and carefully backed up and turned around. It didn’t take long to get out of that deep ash. I watched as Callie marked the map, shading in the area on the map we had just driven from.
The deep ash was closer than we anticipated. Which had me wondering how far north and east it really went.
NOTEBOOK – DAY TWENTY-ONE
Jana,
Well, right now we are sitting in the middle of a road. I don’t know if it’s a side street, major roadway or what. It is so dark. The ash has given everything sound proofing. It’s really weird. The two soldiers taking us are not very talkative. I guess they have––
Twenty-Two – Crushed
When there’s no power, no moon visible, there is nothing. The world becomes a void, an infinite blank space.
Stone wanted to push forward, but even I grew nervous. The headlights did nothing, and the spotlights didn’t help either. There were no white lines to follow, the light covering on the road made it impossible to tell which direction to drive. Which way the road turned.
“We have four miles to the next town,” Stone said. “We’ll take it slow and head there.”
I swear I held my breath those four miles. But there was no town right off the exit, only what I believed was a secondary road with the town another eight miles.
We had pushed it far longer than I would have. Hours beyond the moment it got dark. Stone claimed he used his instincts and the map to gauge the way of the road.
It was sheer luck until a deer darted out across the road. We skid on the ash trying to stop and nipped its hind end.
My heart pounded out of my chest.
“Shut it down,” Callie ordered. “We’ll bunk in the truck.”
“We have nearly ten hours until daylight. What the hell are we gonna do.”
“Eat, sleep, she can write in her notebook, I don’t care. We stop for the night.” Callie looked out the window.
“Want to set up camp?” Stone asked.
“Where?” Callie lifted her hands. “Do you see anything out there? Maybe if we stopped when I wanted to, two hours ago, when there was a hint of light, we could have. Right now… I can’t see if there’s even a fucking tree. No. it’s safer in the truck. We bunk in here.”
“Safer from what?” Stone asked.
She only shook her head in disgust.
I looked over at Madison. “These two fight like a married couple,” I whispered.
“Tell me about it. It’s entertaining,” Madison whispered as well.
“Are you guys thinking we can’t hear you?” Callie asked.
With four people in the Humvee, it was actually pretty warm. Stone kept the engine running for a little bit, then shut it off and told us to deal with it. We ate cold MRE’s and talked very little. Madison seemed to drift away in thought, then as the night wound down, I began to write in my notebook. I wrote a note to my son, then husband and finally my daughter.
‘Jana,’ I wrote to her. ‘Well, right now we are sitting in the middle of a road. I don’t know if it’s a side street, major roadway or what. It is so dark….’
“Hey,” Madison nudged me. “I have to go pee.”
“Okay, hold on, I’ll go with you.”
“No, I’m fine, I’ll be right outside the door.”
Callie mumbled. “Take the light.”
“I’m not nuts,” Madison said. “And I don’t feel like peeing on myself.”
She grabbed the small lantern and opened the door. I had been writing with the dim flashlight and my eyes had adjusted. When the interior light came on, I felt like it blinded me. I wished she would have left the door open, but she didn’t. I suppose she wanted privacy.
I returned to my writing. The glow from her lantern carried into the Humvee.
Back to Jana, ‘The ash has given everything a sound proofing. It’s really weird. The two soldiers taking us are not very talkative. I guess they have…’
I stopped because I couldn’t see. Was my flashlight growing even dimmer?
Just as I hit it against my hand, I realized, not only was my flashlight dying, Madison’s lantern was out. There was no light coming from outside.
“Shit,” I said and reached for the car door.
“What is it?” Callie asked.
“Her light went out.” I tried shining my flashlight through the window, but it only came back at me and then it died.
I reached again for the handle and opened the door slightly. I figured her lantern had burned out and there she was peeing in the dark. The interior light would help her.
“Madison,” I called out.
Nothing.
“Madison.”
Slam!
The Humvee door was shoved closed and I jumped back with a shriek.
“Oh my God.”
“Stay put,” Callie stated.
I could hear her and Stone grabbing weapons, they both opened the doors at the same time and jumped out.
Inside I could see their flashlight beams dancing against the black. My heart beat a million times a minute. Where was Madison? Fearful and alone, I opened the door and stepped out.
“I told you to stay in there,” Callie said.
It was cold and I folded my arms close to my body. “Why aren’t you calling for her?”
“Shh.” Callie instructed.
I inched closer to her, standing next to Callie. I wanted to see what she saw. She was facing the back end of the Humvee, Stone facing forward. Both of them scanned the darkness with their spotlights.
Then I heard it, I believe we all heard it. It sounded like a muffled grunt. Quickly, Callie pulled out her pistol, engaged the chamber and with it aimed outward and ready in one hand, she held the spot light in the other. Both hands close, she was focused.
She shifted the beam left and right. Even dark, I could see the intensity on her face, the glow in her eyes from the reflection of the beam. She didn’t blink.
Left, right, she moved it. It merely looked like she was shining the light on a black wall.
“Stone,” Callie said. “It’s coming from back here. Hit the big lights.”
“Roger that,” Stone said.
Left, Right.
Where was Madison? Why weren’t they calling out? What was taking the spotlights so long? He needed to just flip that switch on the dash.
Left, right, dark, nothing.
A man.
Just as she moved the light to the left again, the figure of a man was there and taking Callie by surprise he sailed in a punch that knocked the big woman off balance and flying back. Her spot light flew from her grip, shooting a stream of light over the ash. I heard the grunts, the struggles, and the sound of fist hitting flesh.
“Stone!” I called out.
He didn’t answer. What happened to Stone? With Madison missing, Callie attacked, it made sense something happened with him, as well.
A wave of panic smacked me, and I had to get it together. Think. Think. I moved back quickly, felt for the vehicle and whipped open the back door for light.
Immediately, I saw Callie and a man entangled in a fight. He was on top of her and although she fought back, she couldn’t break free. She pushed with one hand while desperately extending the other.
Her gun.
She was reaching for her pistol.
The interior light illuminated the weapon and I charged forth for it, snatching it from the ash. It was still engaged.
Even with my hands shaking, I aimed outward, but they rolled in their battle, from the golden hue of the interior light into blackness.
The spotlight. The interior light only lit up so much, the big lights on the Humvee would brighten a circumference.
I hurriedly, back up for the Humvee, turned and reached for the driver’s door. When I did, my foot hit against something.