The Road to Nowhere

Chapter 18: Waiting

Chapter 18

The engine of the van silences as Robbie turns the key. We're in front of the White House, in all its glory. Well... it's not how it used to be. Half of the roof is missing. The beautiful garden that was in front of it, is completely dead. Oh, and the whole thing is surrounded by infected, hundreds of them are inside the fence that encloses the huge property.

We see the jeeps parked outside the fence, tucked away where it's safe. Soldiers clump around them, holding bags and equipment. They're packing up four utility vehicles. They each take turns shoving stuff inside them.

We see a group of young girls handcuffed and kneeling on the ground. There are about seven of them, all under the age of fifteen. Brianna and Phoebe sit next to each other, their mouths are both covered up with duct tape.

Seeing Brianna held against her will really stirs anger in me. I look at the soldiers through the tears streaming down my face with hatred. I feel my heartbeat fast, faster than anytime before. My blood begins to boil as I think of all the horrible things they could do to them. I will do anything to get my sister back.

"Why are they all so young, and girls?" Linda asks.

"I don't know, but I know we have to get them out of there, fast," Scooter says.

One of the soldiers branches off from the rest, and goes over to the group of girls. He yanks one of them to their feet, drags her to a truck, and pushes her in the back. The other girls scramble off the ground, and one by one get into the truck. My throats drops into my stomach when my sister's turn comes. She steps in, leaving me not able to see her anymore.

"They're taking them somewhere," Layke says.

"Maybe to that compound in Richmond?" Cameron says as he lets go of my hand to get a better look through the windshield.

"Shit." Robbie curses. "We're going to have to follow them all the way there."

"What if we ambush them down the road?" Scooter asks.

"Dude, we have like five guns with barely any ammo. They would kill us all." Layke scoffs. "We're just going to have to follow them."

The soldiers enter their vehicles. The engines sound like a lion's roar as they come alive in sync with each other. The trucks form a single file line before they turn off the road and towards the highway ramp. Robbie quickly turns on the car and tries to catch up to them, driving around some infected that have now gotten out of the fence. Once he does, he makes sure to follow at a distance.

...

The two hours of driving was long, and honestly horrible. Most of the time I was crying. I've rubbed them raw, which makes crying even more painful. Cameron held me close and comforted me. It really made me happy. I don't know what I'm more upset about, my father dying or my sister being taken. A part of me hated my dad because of his past, but he was still my father. I can't change anything that happened, but I do know one thing. Brianna is still alive. We can save her. I just hope it's not too late.

Robbie parks the car up a hill on the edge of woods about a mile away from the soldiers. We can see the jeeps and utility cars from here. They pulled up to a huge compound with big fences and patrols. The place looks like a military base. Multiple concrete buildings connect by winding sidewalks, and in the middle is the biggest building. It isn't big vertically. It's one story but it's spacious. A helicopter pad lies behind the building, and a huge metal garage is in the back of the compound. It has all different types of vehicles parked in it.

The fence is pretty high, probably about fifteen or twenty feet. The fence is made of long wood planks that connect to huge metal poles. About ten feet before the main fence is a smaller one but laced with electrical wires. Men stand on the walkway that's on top of the bigger fence with huge guns. Guns that could disintegrate an infected's head with just one shot.