Obsidian

Chapter Seven

The plan has taken me almost a month to perfect. The first forty-eight hours after the campgrounds where I witnessed events that were hard to form into coherent sentences, were spent briefly in a Henrikson Pharmaceuticals van, until getting to an Enterprise and renting a luxury sedan. I didn't say a word until we had switched cars and were headed to the state border. The paranoia in me felt there may have been some sort of listening device in the branded vehicle. Switching to the Lexus sedan, I immediately spent the next forty minutes unleashing a horrifying tale to Carl and Tori. The air in the vehicle was full of tension, anger, confusion, and despair as I recounted the events as they unfolded to me after waking from an innocent afternoon nap. A few times I caught glances that told me maybe I shouldn't have been so forthcoming with the truth.

Following the switch, we each emptied as much cash as we could from our bank accounts in hope of avoiding a trail once we put distance between us and the site. It was across from the first ATM that I made an anonymous call to WXAP Oakridge news recommending they drive out to Highway 143 and check out the new Henrikson Pharmaceutical construction zone. I know the uni-host advised me not to get humanity involved, as it was already too late. I knew the mess would already be cleaned up. I knew there would be nothing to report. I just wanted to let the creature know that I was not to be underestimated, and would not go down quietly. We continued across state lines and didn't stop until we were a good three hundred miles from the campgrounds in Oakridge.

After topping off our gas, the second half of the drive in the rental car was filtering questions and allowing outbursts, as Denial was usually the first step in the grieving process. I stayed as quiet as I could, allowing Tori and Carl to vent and scream and worry. When it got to the point where Tori started to think about her outside world, primarily her son, Kyle, that is where she started to sob crocodile tears. That is when I had to intervene and explain my thoughts and the plan that I knew in my heart could work.

I am ashamed to say it but for the majority of the car ride, I was not one hundred percent sure that my friends were who they claimed to be. I was vague in my game plan, enough to calm the masses, but not too detailed in case the uni-host was listening via another human walkie-talkie like it had turned Amy and Henrikson into on-site. The information I had given them sufficed and following that, the last hour was again silent among conversation but we allowed the radio to drown out the haunting silence that I had endured more of in recent days than I ever wanted to again. To conserve money, while it would have been more appropriate to rent two rooms, we pulled into a Heaven's Cloud Hotel right before midnight and got a two-queen bedroom with an extra cot. I was not sure if any of us had any urge to be alone after the ordeal we had gone through.

"Doc, where do we go from here?" Carl asked while sitting on the small cot, and knocking out a massive double burger from the fast food place across the street we drove through right before checking in.

I wanted to believe Carl and Tori were who they say they are but if I was wrong, humanity would pay for it. "I need to speak to someone that can help."

"Who?" Tori asked as she stepped out of the bathroom area in clean clothes and a towel wrapped around her wet hair.

We all needed a shower, badly. There was no debate that Tori was willing to let her chicken sandwich and fries get a little cold as long as she was clean and comfortable in the pillowtop, memory-foamed Queen-sized bed.

"I think it's safer if you don't know."

She tilted her head as she looked up from the greasy fast-food bag, "We are safer? Or, you don't trust us?"

Tori was not a dumb person. I tried to think of a retort but after a second of hesitation, Carl came to my rescue, "Bossman, we are good. We are on your side, you do what you need to and let us know when we can help, dude."