The Long Road Home

Chapter Five

     She been in the middle of reading a romance novel she had found under the register, when the banging on the gate stopped. The three monsters went silent. Pig frowned setting down the book and peeked over the counter. The three were standing in silence staring toward the back of the building. She frowned and listened for what they had heard.

       Some where off in the woods there was a buzzing sound. It almost sounded like a chainsaw. Why would anyone be dumb enough to use a chainsaw when sound drew the monsters like flies to honey?

     The three let out their ear piercing scream and ran at the back of the rest stop. The sound of their bodies slamming into the glass doors, was enough to turn her stomach. If she had done that she was sure she would have broken bones. A moment later the glass shattered and she knew the three were gone to find the source of the noise.

      Pig took no chances however. She made no noise as she moved to the gate and peeked out. The door's leading to the patio were broken outward. Glass lay everywhere and there was no sign of the three at all. Before she raised the gate to leave, there was something she needed to do. She went to her pack and dragged it to the display of snacks and candy. She stuffed everything into her pack before adding all the water from the drink cooler. Pig avoided the soda and energy drinks knowing they would just make her feel thirsty. The water and sports drinks however would come in handy.

        After putting on her pack and grabbing her bow, she peeked out the gate again. There was still no sign of the three and she could still hear the chainsaw. She lifted the gate and went out through the front of the building. There was no sign of life for as far as she could see.

        The dark green ford focus was at the end of the row of cars. The dome light came on when she opened the driver's door and she took that as a good sign. Pig put her pack and the bow in the passenger's seat for easy access if she had to abandon the car fast. Sitting down she put the key into the ignition and said a silent prayer before turning it. The engine groaned and protested, but then to her great relief, roared to life. She closed the door and fastened her seat belt before she threw the car into reverse and backed out of the space. Pig drove from the rest stop as fast as she could wanting to put as much space between her and the three monsters.

       She glanced to the fuel gauge and saw she had just under a full tank. That would serve her for now, but she would have to figure out how to get more gas later. Maybe she would stop at the next gas station and see how hard it would be to get gas out of the underground tanks. She saw a video on the internet of these kids who had stolen gas from a station by breaking into the tanks ports and pulling the gas up with some kind of hose and pump. Maybe she could find one and keep the tank full. With a car she could be in NY in a few days.

     Movement in the rear view mirror caught her eye. Pig felt cold seeing monsters pouring from the woods behind her, chasing after the car. She knew they could never catch up as long as she kept moving. If she had to stop however, they would swarm her and it would be game over. Pig cursed out loud knowing she would have to ditch the car.

      She glanced at the clock. It had been less then an hour since she left the rest stop which was not good enough. If she kept going however and ran into a road block up ahead there would be now way to escape her pursuers. Pig put the accelerator to the floor glancing into the rear view mirror. As soon as the road behind her was clear, and she was next to a patch of woods, she pulled the car over.

     Grabbing her bag and bow, she ran as fast as she could to the nearest tree and climbed as high as she could hiding herself in the thick branches. She had been lucky enough to find a fork in the tree where two massive branches met and made herself comfortable.