DISCONTINUED

Chapter 69

*** A/N: Chapter / scene song from playlist - NOT GONNA DIE (Skillet) ***

The engine roared and Luna immediately almost completely lost control of the car as its tires squealed to life and sent them fishtailing back and forth across the road towards the border, closing the gap much faster than she had expected. Adrenaline pumped through her as she somehow managed to gain control of the car and her impossibly wide-open eyes began frantically searching the crossing for any sign of movement.

They'd already covered almost half of the distance from the forest to the border when she finally saw first one then another figure emerge from a small building up ahead, presumably some sort of guardhouse. The two guards stood and pointed, first at the fast approaching car then at each other, before one of them ran back inside. Almost immediately a siren sounded, and Luna saw sparks begin to fly from several large objects that were mounted on top of the fence on either side of the crossing. She half expected the car to stop dead in its tracks but it continued on, seemingly unaffected by the pulses, and they raced ever closer to the border and to the two guards who were now close enough for Luna to see their surprised and confused young faces.

Her hands ached, her knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel as she did her best to simply keep the car on the road. At some point she also realized that she was yelling at the top of her lungs and that she couldn't seem to stop, as if somehow it was her that was willing the car forward.

What took only seconds passed as if in slow motion, and the whole thing felt like she was watching it happen to someone else. She saw one of the guards clumsily reach for his weapon, as if he'd never done so before, just as the car smashed through the first lowered wooden barrier. She kept the gas pedal to the floor as the barrier exploded around and up and over the car. The other guard - the one not fumbling with his sidearm - ran out in front of them, his hand raised high. But he barely even stopped his momentum before obviously thinking better of the idea and diving headfirst for the far side of the road just as they slammed into the second barrier, a large piece of debris smashing into the windshield, cracking it badly and causing Luna to duck instinctively. As they now hurtled towards the fence itself, she did her best to keep the car in the middle of the road, aiming for the weakest part where the two hinged gates met. Unlike the wooden barriers, which hadn't seemed to deter the car whatsoever, when they crashed into the gate, they came to almost a complete stop, lurching violently to the side. As the car struggled against the gate, Luna's eyes flicked up briefly to the rear view mirror to see the first guard now standing in the middle of their debris path, flashes emitting from his outstretched arms that coincided with muted popping sounds that were barely noticeable over the roar of the engine and the squealing of tires. She turned her focus back to the scene in front of her, trying her best not to dwell on the very real possibility of being shot in the back of the head. She started to panic as it seemed for a moment that the gate might hold, then suddenly it let go, the fence's metal claws no longer able to contain the relentlessly surging car. In a cloud of smoke and burning rubber they shot through the small opening they'd created, a hideous metal on metal scraping sound raking down each side of the car heralding their departure.

The screaming siren and the sound of gunshots quickly faded as the car exploded down the open road, like a cornered animal suddenly freed.

She couldn't believe it.

They were out.