The Outlands

Chatper 5: Fields of Fear

                       Luke
    His body sent chills down his spine as the broadcast continued. He looked around the room, his family locked their eyes onto the small box t.v. His dad suddenly gets up in disbelief, turning up the stairs to the master bedroom, shaking his head as he led step by step to the room.
    To avoid anymore confusion in the room, Luke got up and turned the television off, creating a dead silence afterward as he snatched the keys to his vehicle off the granite counter and headed out the front door, slamming it behind him. While turning the keys to his car, what startled him the most was the mile-long line of cars crowding the dirt road in front of his house. He got out, analyzing the situation, deciding to head towards the trafficking of vehicles.
Knocking on one of the cars windows, a man with a truck hat answered to Luke's curiosity, "Son you need to get away from town as soon as you can-"
"Whats happening?" Luke said, cutting off the driver, but as soon as the driver could answer, something in the back of the truck grabbed him violently, pulling him away. Luke already traumatized enough, the personage cruelly attacked the driver, biting into the chubby neck with its distorted face hanging out from the passenger seat. A handful of citizens stepped out of their cars to assist the unfortunate man, some of whom hesitant to the rescue, but Luke was too afraid to help.
He ran right back into the house out of fear, gunshots booming in the distance, when an alarm from the nearby city went off, echoing over the hills and through the entire valley. He found himself in the middle of the kitchen, his dad packing all supplies and taking it into the rusty white truck.    
     Piles of snacks and clothes strapped to the bed of the truck, while guns were scattered across the seats. His dad swiftly caught up to Luke, grabbing his shoulder until they met eye-to-eye. "Son..this is the only time i'm going to say this; pack your stuff, we're all leaving in less than 10 minutes." His dad said, his labored breathing finally catching up to him.
    Luke nodded in agreement, without question, as if he understood the task to grab any valuables, but he still didn't quite catch on to what was going to happen to them. After packing the bags to the truck, the family settled in, one after the other until they said one last goodbye to their home, saying grace before they headed out.
   A drop of a tear rolled down his cheek, sending tingles down his body.

                       Steele
   They finally pulled out of the driveway before meeting the blockage in the road. His dad looked down, hand on the wheel, trying to think of a solution to the situation they were in. He pulled off the road, off-roading in the thick grass and weeds. Dust and debris flew off from left to right as the Chevrolet drove through alongside the traffic.
    Steele could see everyone was on edge, holding hands as they passed along a stressed-out tension between each of the siblings. Jackson seemed to be peering off into the powdery trees, clenching his mom's hands in the front passenger seat.
    Confusion and emotional feelings suddenly turned to an extreme anguish amongst them. As the truck sped up over divots and the rocky terrain, it finally reached the road, where they were faced with a military blockage, restricting the end of the road. The soldiers walked up to the vehicle, greeting the family in heavily equipped hazmat suits until what seemed to be the officer of the camp appeared, "All civilians are required to stay in the city at this time due to security reasons," he explained with
a heavy southern accent, with almost complete disregard to the situation they were in. "So I recommend you and your family head back to where you came from before things start getting serious."
   His dad looked at the officer in absolute turmoil, as if he had gotten offended during the conversation. Steele hadn't paid much attention to the argument, only listening to the sound of tension between them.
   Sounds of gunshots going on behind the vehicle startled everyone, turning their attention to where the sound had come from. The officer pulled out his rifle, yelling at the truck to leave immediately. As the car drove off, Steele looked behind them, scanning the chaos happening behind them as the crowded city got smaller and smaller off into the distance.
   Deja vu finally hit him, giving the feeling that he had already experienced this, but he couldn't quite put the pieces together as he had a concussion a while ago and forgot almost anything he experienced before it affected him.
   The compass on the console indicated they were heading north, where safety was supposedly provided for them during the broadcast.
A few hours later, when the sun reached dusk, pink clouds coated the sky, creating almost an illusion of cotton candy. The trip was exhausting for the family, just getting back from one only a week ago, except this one wasn't of joy and excitement, only being of fear and panic.
   He could hear Lexi sniffling and crying, Jackson later joining in to the somberness. The truck slowed to a stop, sputtering away its last bit of gas off the highway as his dad mumbled in frustration due to the situation of having no more gas left.
What seemed to be the middle of night, they all decided to wait the night out before heading out to scout for gas the next morning, using one of the dirt bikes in the back of the truck.
   Dark red rays from the sun blinded Steele as he squinted to see if anyone else was awake. He unlocked the door to the truck and headed out to wake himself up for the day until his dad met outside with him.
   Steele could smell the aroma of a small burning campfire and the scent of cigarette smoke around the area. A tin can overflowed with soup sat next to his dad's chair, steam emitting outSteele could see his chilling breath in front of him puff out as he took a bowl of the canned concoction, almost looking like some type of soup, but it didn't seem to bother him at this point. 
   His dad instructed him to scout out for gas for the truck, signifying there was a station only a few miles away from where they were at.
   He finished the soup and did as his dad told him; unstrapping the bike from the back of the truck and heading down the now occupied highway with what seemed to have a few abandoned vehicles blocking the way onward to the station. In the corner of his eye down the road, Steele found the station in hope of having enough fuel for the truck.
   The thundering engine came to a halt as he pulled into the parking lot, using all his force to open the glass doors until using a broken metal pipe to smash them open, revealing a strong stench of something rotting inside, waking him up.
    Looking around the food aisles, he got distracted, taking any tempting snacks he always wanted to try someday. After filling his backpack up with junk food and drinks, he then set off to find any gasoline in the tanks outside, and to his luck he found a half full jerry can sitting on the ground, but another thought occurred to him, because this seemed too suspicious to be lying around on the ground, easy to acquire.
   He took a quick scan around the area before seizing the container as quickly as he could. Walking towards the bike, a black covering quickly restrained his sight, limiting his ability to move when he was dragged onto the ground, soon blacking out due to the lack of oxygen.