Chapter 3: Rust Clouds

"What's a Feral? What's happening?" Lucas asked while frantically panning his head around, searching for the source of the screams, trying to catch a glimpse of anything out of place in their desolate surroundings. All he could see was crumbling buildings, barren roads mostly covered by red sand, and the occasional empty space where a house once stood. His search became more difficult as the car picked up speed, giving him less time to fucus on any specific location.

"Monsters." Vivi said. "Ugly ones. And they hunt in swarms."

She closed the black equipment case she was rummaging through and returned to her seat beside Lucas. In her hands was a rifle. No. A paintball gun? It had a medium-length black barrel and a polymer stock like an assault rifle, but it also had a small metal tank, presumably filled with compressed air, mounted below the trigger mechanism. The weapon even had a funnel-fed ammo tube above the barrel, but instead of the typical plastic associated with paintball guns, this tube was made of solid steel.

"How many seconds?" She asked her mother.

"Almost three. This must be a high-density area, several hives close together." Julie said.

Seconds? What are they timing?

While wondering this, Lucas began counting the seconds in his head. One...two...three... A few repetitions of this cycle gave him the answer. They were timing the intervals between screams. They weren't timing all of the screams though, just the loudest ones, those that sounded like they came from whichever building they were currently passing. These women were gauging the enemy presence and trying to figure out how deep in hostile territory they were.

Wow. That's really good. They've clearly done this before. And Vivi can't be more than twelve years old, how is she so calm in this situation? I'm low-key freaking out right now! What a badass little girl.

"Vivi, stand-by at the hatch. Their presence is only increasing. Not enough daylight left to turn back and find a different route out of the city. We need to push through and lose their attention." Julie said. She was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. This unconscious physical tension told Lucas they must be in a very dangerous situation.

"Yes ma'am!" Vivi sad as she passed the paintball gun into the front passenger seat. She crawled over the center console and spun around, placing her feet on the passenger seat where the gun lay. Retrieving the gun, she tucked the butt of it into her right shoulder and held it pointing diagonally downward across her chest. Her thin left arm reached up to the car's roof, toward a steel panel Lucas hadn't noticed until now. She took hold of the release latch and took a deep breath.

"Ready." And she really did look ready for whatever she was about to do. Her face was serious, eyebrows pinched slightly together, lips pursed in concentration as she observed the path ahead. She was awaiting orders, perfectly still, poised for action.

"Okay. We'll do it at the third upcoming 4-way intersection. Hit all four paths. We'll go left, move to the next 4-way, do the same thing but we'll go straight, repeat at the following crossing, and we'll finish by taking a right. Four maneuvers total. Eli, don't speak once the operation begins. We need to do this as silently as possible. Vivi, you forgot your mask." Julie laid out the plan with confidence and precision.

"Shit. Sorry mom." Vivi, looking a little embarrassed by her small oversight, opened the glovebox and pulled out a face mask with a clear eye-shield and an air filter mouthpiece, like a gas mask, but more compact. She pulled back the thick rubber strap of the mask and slipped it over her head. Now that her mask was securely in place, Vivi readied herself at the hatch once more.

"Almost there. On my mark. Three....two....one....go!" 

Julie gave the order and Vivi threw the roof hatch open. She stood up so fast she almost jumped, her feet on the seat, and her torso through the open roof. The wind whipped her hair around wildly. She quickly grabbed a carabiner attached to her belt just above her left hip and hooked it onto a metal loop welded to the roof near the hatch. 

She brought her gun up into firing position and squeezed the trigger. Three rapid bursts of compressed air launched three projectiles into the street beyond the upcoming intersection. The shots were spread out from each other, each impact further down the road than the last, a gap of about fifteen meters between shots. When the little red balls hit the road, they silently exploded into huge clouds of unbelievably dense smoke. Dense enough to completely block all visibility, not even sunlight could cut through the haze. Strangely, the smoke wasn't the whitish-gray of typical smoke grenades. These clouds were the same rusty red color as the god forsaken ocean of sand that used to be Little Rock. The projectiles hadn't even landed before Vivi twisted around and fired another burst of smoke balls behind them. 

Julie slowed down to a pace no faster than a jog when they rolled into the intersection. As soon as Vivi had clearance around the decayed buildings she fired a burst to the left, jerked around, and sent a volley of smoke balls to the right. All four directions were completely filled with red clouds. Before Julie even had time make a left turn, the smoke swept into the intersection with them, some of it creeping into the car through the open hatch. The interior wasn't filled with smoke, but it was enough to sting Lucas' eyes and throat.

I can't see anything in all this smoke. How is Julie still driving in all this? We're turning as planned, but how does she know she's not driving off the road and straight into the side of a building? Dammit, my throat is starting to get itchy because of the smoke now. Damn. Can't cough. Julie said to be silent. Don't cough. Stay quiet. Breath in through the nose, out through the mouth. Lucas pulled the collar of his shirt up over his nose to act as an air filter, blocking the smoke as best he could.

Julie accelerated hard, racing to the next intersection. Three more times this process repeated. Vivi filled the area ahead and behind with rust clouds and Julie navigated with zero visibility, slowing down at the crossings and rocketing off after Vivi finished shooting down the side roads. Seriously, how the hell is she driving in this? I can't see more than a few inches through this smoke. I'm practically blinded back here and she's up there pushing this car to its limits.

They took the right turn that Julie sad would mark the end of the operation. Vivi detached the carabiner at her hip and descended into the passenger seat, slowly closing the hatch as she moved, making al little noise as possible. Their surroundings were quiet. No more new screams chasing them through the streets. 

The car emerged form the smoke and Julie rolled the windows down a fraction of an inch, enough to release the smoke trapped inside. When the air seemed breathable again, Lucas lowered his shirt away from his face, and Vivi removed her mask. After the interior became a smoke-free zone, and the windows were all rolled up, Julie spoke to her children in a quiet, raspy voice.

"I think that worked. Stay quiet though, there may be more hives nearby. There's probably an hour and a half before dark. We need to find shelter, secure it, run inventory of our gear and supplies, and attempt contact with Lancaster HQ before nightfall."

Vivi nodded her head in reply to her mother. Lucas remained silent and still.

They continued their southward journey in silence. Tensions remained heightened, everyone listening carefully for any more of those nightmarish screams, hoping the silence would continue unbroken until they found refuge for the night. The whole time, Lucas' thought ran a mile a minute. Every question he tried to answer only raised more questions. All of his internal theories made him feel crazier than an old lady with too many cats and no children, or those nutjobs online that believed all birds were actually government spy drones. He floated the idea that this might all be a dream.

Pfft. No way. Only a child would think this could be a dream. The pain is real, I have a sense of smell, time is passing continuously at the correct speed, and people's actions serve a purpose, even if I don't necessarily know what that purpose is. Nothing happening right now suggests this is a dream.

Lucas also ruled out severe hallucinations for similar reasons. He massaged his jaw the whole time he was lost in thought, his nervous habit on full display.

*haaaaaahh* He let out a soft, long sigh and relaxed, releasing some of the tension from his shoulders.

Just stop thinking for now dumbass. I'm not gaining any clarity here, just unnecessarily stressing myself out. I'll try to get some answers from Julie and Vivi when we stop. "Patience is the measure of a man", right old man? "Know when to be patient, but recognize when patience is a hinderance", wasn't that what you said? Well, I guess I can wait patiently for now. Don't have much choice, really.

A few minutes later Julie broke the silence in a hushed tone.

"That looks like our best option. You two stay in the roller when we stop, I'll clear the building. Don't give me that sad look Vivi, I'm not saying you aren't good enough to help clear the place, but I need you here protecting your brother. I need to know he's safe with you so I can focus on the job without worrying about him. I'm trusting you here."

"Yeah, I get it. I won't let him out of my sight. Never again." Vivi said, a look of remorseful determination on her face.

"Good, thank you. And Eli? Please listen to your sister while I'm away, she's more reliable than she looks." Julie's beautiful smile was reflected in the mirror when Lucas looked up to meet he eyes as she spoke to him.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm exactly as reliable as I look, thank you very much." Vivi huffed in mild irritation at her mother's teasing. Her ill-thought refute earned a laugh from Julie.

"Sweetie, I don't think you made the point you meant to there." Motherly love was evident in her smile as she chuckled about their playful banter. "Alright. This is the place. Our home for the night." She said as they pulled to a stop.

The building was a rectangular box of a structure, with a set of glass double doors, minus the glass of course, and a roll up garage door on the right end of the structure. The four cement slabs out front lay under a large awning that spanned the parking area in it's entirety. Although nothing sat on the slabs, Lucas could tell what purpose they originally served. The gas pumps that should have been there were long gone, judging from the apparent deterioration of the cement.

A gas station convenience store, huh? I wonder if there's any beers left, or those tiny bottles of cheap vodka. I could sure use a drink after all the crazy shit that's been happening.