Chapter 95:
Search
"Holy shit, would you look at
that!" pointed Zac excitedly, yanking on the car door handle, jumping out
before their small truck had even stopped. Bringing his hand up to shield his face
from the stinging rain, Zac motioned for his friend to hurry up, then began
scrambling down the small, muddy embankment in a rush to get a closer look.
Turning around, Zac caught sight of his friend, half-slipping, half-sliding
behind him, trying hard not to lose his balance.
Zac reached out, catching his friend's
hand to steady his wobbly descent. "You okay, Matt?" shouted Zac,
flashing him a smile when he saw a thumb's up sign.
"Hey, it's the same bus that cut us
off a while ago!" cried out Matt, stunned. "I'm positive!"
Zac nodded in agreement, remembering how
the gigantic bus had appeared out of nowhere, nearly colliding with them when
it suddenly swerved onto the freeway during the dust storm. With a yell of
"come on", Zac carefully wove his way towards the toppled bus, the
feeble glow from the bus's interior lights the only illumination helping to
guide the way. He grimaced as his hand came in contact with a needle sharp bush
and wisely raised his hands above his head, thankful that he was wearing a
long-sleeved shirt and denim jeans.
The underbelly of the bus appeared before
them, effectively blocking Zac and Matt from any kind of a view inside, so Zac
signaled to his friend to split up and they separated, circling the enormous
bus from opposite ends. Trying to keep the driving rain from pelting their
faces, Zac and Matt bent their heads, their hands carefully outstretched as
they traced the perimeter of the bus, hunting for any sign of an opening.
Rounding the left side of the fallen bus, Zac's fingers came in contact with an immense windshield.
Excited, he began rubbing the mud-smeared window with the back of his sleeve in
a wide, circular motion, hoping for a better look. Finally clearing a large
enough section to see through, Zac pressed his face against the window, gazing
in. With a dissatisfied grunt, Zac scooted over to the other side of the
windshield, vigorously wiping in a different spot, unable to see anything on
the first try. Another circular hole, another attempt to peer through…oh, shit!
Zac stumbled backwards into the muddy brush, screaming in horror as the
grotesquely mangled and bloodied face of the driver stared lifelessly back at
him.
Turning his head, Zac knelt on one knee
and breathed in deep gulps of air, trying desperately to suppress the urge to
vomit. Careful not to glance at the windshield again, Zac struggled upright and
began to curve around the corner of the bus, still searching for an opening.
Hands pressed upon the bus's exterior, it took him only a second to recognize
that he was touching the roof. Zac stood there in frustration, thwarted in his
attempt to reach any occupants inside, knowing that the bus's side door was
inaccessible to him. Wondering what to do next, Zac froze for a moment, not
sure if he heard his name being called out. The rain and wind had lessened in
its intensity and he cocked his head to one side, straining to listen. There!
Hearing the muted but excited cries of his name being shouted, Zac struggled in
the muddy soil to locate Matt. He found his friend at the bus's rear section,
pointing animatedly at the back window, watching with fascinated alarm as the
window shook again and again from repeated forceful blows.
Before Zac could get closer, the window
cracked then shattered as a heavy boot smashed through. Once, twice more the
boot lashed out, kicking the remaining shards away. An arm, then shoulder, and
finally a head popped out, the bloody face almost unrecognizable. Swallowing
down his nausea once more, Zac hurried over to him, yelling for Matt to come
help. With great difficulty they managed to ease the wounded man out, all three
panting from the exertion.
Stepping back a moment to wipe the rain
from his brow, Zac was startled to see Matt frantically struggling with the
injured person, a huge, brute of a man who was shaking
Matt like a rag doll. Horrified, Zac rushed near to help his friend, only to be
backhanded viciously across the face.
"Where, where?" Zac heard the
man scream, watching as Matt pointed up towards the road. "Give me the keys,
now!" roared the obviously insane man, his demand terrifying by the way
his massive hand was wrapped around Matt's throat. Gagging, Matt fished wildly
into his pocket, dropping to his knees as the bloodied man released him to
snatch up the offered keys.
Incensed, Zac lunged at him, only to be
shoved violently backwards. Zac tumbled into Matt and they both crashed to the
ground in a tangled heap. Helping his friend back up, Matt watched in disbelief
as the injured man made a mad scramble up the embankment, disappearing from
view.
"He's stealing our truck!"
rasped Matt hoarsely, trying to shake free from Zac's
grip in order to give chase.
"No! Matt, no! Are you crazy? He's
twice as big as you!"
Zac yanked hard on his friend's shoulder.
"Forget it! Let him go!" Remembering the busted rear window, Zac
glanced back at it and then faced Matt. With one hand he reached out to grab a
hold of Matt's sleeve, dragging him towards the bus. "Come on, come on, we
gotta help!"
Sliding one leg in, then another, Zac carefully
maneuvered himself through the exposed window, turning to help haul Matt in.
Stepping on some overturned object, Matt nearly lost his footing and reached
out to grab Zac before he stumbled. Righting himself, he didn't hear the sharp
intake of breath coming from Zac, nor heard what Zac said, his own words
drowning out Zac's.
"Holy Mother of God," Matt
breathed, viewing the scene before him.
***
