12 September 2017
????
1520 hours_
"Where in the world are we?" Paige asks.
We've been driving around nowhere for 3 days now. Its hot and the air conditioner broke down. Just our luck. And to top it off, I have a painful bulge on my head. Why?
Well, when Paige woke up from her beauty sleep, she sort of freaked out and kept saying "ARE YOU TRYING TO KIDNAP ME?!" So she took an umbrella from the backseat and whacked me with it. On the head.
I don't blame her because the medication did actually describe possible hallucinations when woken up. I had to pull over the car and calm her down by reassuring her that it was me. Well it didnt work for the first few minutes and she started threatening me with the pointed end of the umbrella fencing-style.
"Um... I'm not too sure. Do you want to pull over at that gas station?" I ask.
"Yes. I need to get out of this enclosed space. Its so stuffy."
We pull over to the gas station just in time when our petrol tank went dry. Perfect timing. Things are looking up. She hops off the vehicle and takes a huge breath of air. I take a quick glance at her then walk to the gas station's counter.
A man with a thick beard leans on the counter table. His beard look like it could nest a flock of birds. Im pretty sure I saw a few bugs in it too.
"What will it be, boy?" The bearded man asks.
"A full tank. And where exactly are we? We've lost our way." I reply while tossing out a few bills on the counter table.
"Well, we're about 70 kilometres southwest from the heart of Belgium. What bring you here lad?" He asks with a suspicious tone.
"Me and my bestfriend are going on a road trip." I say smiling.
"I can see it in ya eyes lad. Don't act all innocent. Ask her out lad. You know you want to..."
No, I don't want to ask her out because I don't have the bond with her. She's just a friend. And even if I did like her, I would put her as another target. Sacrifices have to be made.
I walk away from the counter. I see the bearded man snicker from the corner of my eye. He does have a point. I gotta have some gut. Wait what? See? This is the fault of every human. Your heart tells you YES but your brain says NO. A game of tug-of-war has begun.
I swiftly walk towards the petrol dispenser. I fill the car's tank to full. Paige is sitting on the edge of the road. Its wierd how it's not blazing hot anymore because the sun is starting to descend. I calmly walk over to Paige and sit down next to her.
"Its never going to end isn't it?"she asks without looking at me.
I open my mouth to protest then quickly close it. She's right. As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. It won't end. Not now, not yet.
After sitting down in silence for a few minutes, we both shuffle back to the car. We drive and sit in silence. I break the awkwardness.
"Paige. Um... There's something I need to tell you." I start.
She looks at me with a concerned look. She cocks her brow.
"What is it?"
"I..."
The car gets slammed at its side. We both are abruptly shaken. Its them. They found us. Three of them. They're driving a pickup truck with a mounted turret.
I reach for my rifle which rested on the passenger seat. I pass it to Paige. We look at each other and nod. Its a matter of life or death.
She takes aim on the driver. One of them mounts the turret and starts shooting the tyres. Why would they be shooting the tyres and not us? Not a good time to reason right now. I grab a throwing knife that I crafted from the things from the hardware store. I chuck it at the turret guy. It hits him dead centre on the head. He stumbles on the moving vehicle and falls off, shrieking as he falls to a sickening crunch. I was glad the roar of the engine covered up the sound.
Paige fires, breaking the windshield and penetrating both the driver and its passenger, splattering blood and gore inside the pickup truck.
Projectile Penetration . I perfected the bullets but had only one flaw, it left a tracer line.
The truck goes sprawling and eventually flips and explodes. They were attempting a suicide mission.
We were close to death. Paige looks traumatized by what she did but she smiles. She's used to it. Why? I step on the gas, breaking speed limits, into the heart of Belgium, Brussels. We are on someone's hitlist. But who?...
