The Chosen Ones: Book 3: The War

14

Jenna stayed a car length behind. Her stomach was in knots thinking about confronting her father. Did he really expect her to be okay if he intended to harm her friends? Even worse, what did he plan to do with Tyler? A five year old boy. Time would tell.

Phil reached up from the back and plugged in the aux cord. He put on "Thunderstruck," the ACDC classic rock song. Shannon groaned from the seat next to him.

"This song sucks." She complained.
"We need to get in the zone. This is the perfect song. Sorry, no Taylor Swift in here." Phil joked.
"You know I'm a country girl, put on Luke Combs or Zach Bryan." She replied. "You know Matt loves Taylor Swift."
"Don't remind me." Phil replied.

Jenna let Phil's song play, even turning it up. She decided to push the thoughts of her father aside for now and enjoy the ride with her friends. Although part of her had the feeling she was riding to her death.

Matt looked in the rear view mirror at Jenna's Bronco.
"What's wrong?" Casey asked.
"Jenna's riding my ass." He said.
"Speed up." She suggested.

Matt pressed down on the gas. The Black Mamba could still turn it up when it needed to.
"Faster dad!" Tyler yelled.
He pushed down a little more with Jenna keeping up easily. His truck was ten years old, it would never out run a new SUV. Still, he liked the challenge.

Jenna played along and pulled along side him. Shaun pressed his bare ass up against the window.
"That's perfect." Casey groaned. She couldn't help but laugh.
"C,mom, man!" Matt jokingly yelled at Shaun out the window.
Sam shielded Tyler's eyes but the little guy was already cracking up.

Matt slowed down to the speed limit, that was enough fun for the moment. Jenna faded back behind him.
"Maybe we should save dying for when we get to the Nest and not on the highway." Sam suggested.

"Dad, I gotta pee!" Tyler yelled.
"Again bud?" This would be their second stop in the last two hours. He pulled over to the shoulder and Jenna glided to a stop behind him. Tyler stood next to the rear passenger side door.

"Hey Ty." Jenna called. "You have any special powers where you don't have to take a piss every fifteen minutes?"
"No." He yelled back.
"Just checking." Jenna replied.

Everyone got out to stretch their legs again. There wasn't much traffic on the road. There was nothing for miles to come on either side of the highway, just a barren landscape.

"Shouldn't be long now." Jenna said.
"My stomach feels sick." Sam said.
"That's cause we're getting close. Mine too." Casey told her.

Tyler finished up and they were back on the road. Now, Shaun drove the Bronco and Casey drove Matt's truck. They were a few hours away and it gave Jenna and Matt a much needed break.

The ride was longer than Casey remembered. Maybe because she was in such a hurry when they escaped a few days ago it just seemed shorter. She yawned.
"Want me to drive?" Matt asked.

"No I'm good. Anyone else hungry though?" She asked them.
"Starving." Sam replied.
Matt called Phil and asked him if they wanted to stop anywhere. He said Jenna told him there was a diner a mile from the woods line, where the Nest sat a mile in.

It would be a kind of last supper for the group.
Tyler looked up at Sam.
"Are you scared?" He asked her.
"A little bit." She replied honestly.
"I'm scared." He said. Sam took his little hand.
"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." She told him.

If for no other reason, she had been trained every day for two years to make sure Tyler was protected. You don't just forget that. As fate would have it, she was in the position now to do exactly what she was trained for. The only one of the trainees left alive to help save him.

Matt looked out of the front windshield and looked up as a large shadow flew overhead. He assumed it was a plane but didn't hear anything. Casey followed his gaze, she had seen it too.

Suddenly they heard a loud screaming sound, almost like a large bird screeching. Even with the windows up it was deafening. Again the shadow flew back across and was followed by a loud crash. Matt looked in the rear view mirror just in time to see Jenna's Bronco get knocked off the road.

He looked on in horror as the SUV flipped five times before it came to an upside down stop in the dirt field.