Animorphs Primal: Invasion

Chapter 2

"So, how's it going with Melissa?" Rachel asked me.

We were in Jake's car driving home on the freeway. Tobias and Marco sat in the middle talking about some family situations while Cassie sat in front with Jake trying to keep him focused on the road. Rachel and I sat all the way in the back of the van though. The radio was set on MyFM on low sound. So things were pretty calm right now. Save for the occasional speeding car.

"Things are good I guess."

"What's wrong? I know something's wrong. She's stopped talking to me lately and I want to know why. And you're the only person with her right now that can tell me."

"It's her parents. She feels like they don't care about her anymore. They rarely give her any attention anymore and with the university accepting her, she feels as if leaving would be best for her right now. She's even talked about seeing other people," It was true, Melissa had mentioned breaking up with me but I'll try and be there for her for as long as I could.

"I wish I could say that I can convince her to stay with you, but she won't talk to me right now. You're a good man Daniel. She's lucky to have you," Rachel smiled.

A loud pop rang out followed by the sound of burning tired and the violent shaking of the van as it swerved to a stop. Everyone lurched forward as the van crashed into a ditch. I shot my hand in front of Rachel to stop her from being launched to the front. My face flushed as my arm could feel her chest try to push past me.

"That's why you should wear a seat-belt Rache," I said out of breath.

"Thanks. Now get your hand off me," she growled as she pushed my hand away.

"Is everyone okay?" I heard Jake's voice.

Dust floated around in the air smothering my sight. I could barely make out the outlines of Marco and Jake as they moved around. Jake opened his door as he coughed turning on the lights inside. The dust became illuminated and gave off a white glow.

"Rachel! Are you okay?" Cassie's impatience made her repeat the question -this time only to one person- before anyone could answer.

"Yeah. I'm fine Cassie. Thanks to Danny."

"Everyone. Out! We need to get out of the van," Jake ordered.

Marco and Tobias opened their sliding doors to get out and turned back to move the seats out of the way for Rachel and me. Dust and smoke spilt out after us and floated into the night sky. The dead light post on the road flickered to life-giving us permission to see. Jake rushed to the other side to help Cassie out while Marco began to investigate the problem.

"My mom is so gonna kill me," Jake groaned once the gravity of the situation lessened.

"Jake, I think I found the problem," Marco held up a piece of metal that he found stuck in the tire.

"Tobias, you okay?" Rachel asked.

Unlike us, Tobias was completely covered in dust. Each movement he made sent the dirt swarming into the air.

"I'm fine. Just a little shaken up."

It was a good thing that no cars were on the freeway because what followed could be described as apocalyptic. The streetlight's bulb burst, starting a domino effect with the other street lights further down the road. Then the city lost power and everything went black for a second. And like magic, the sky lit up with the universe.

"Guys? You should take a look at this," I was about to tell Tobias that the night sky wasn't that interesting to interrupting their inspections, but then I noticed that he was talking about something else.