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Trying Our Best

Hell had been raised for the group, and it wasn't over yet.

After the neighborhood, no one spoke about it again. Somehow, they had all done things they regretted that day.

All of them.

Ah had put Hershey in charge of driving the car with Min in it while she took a nap in Matrix and Beta's car. They were both against it but said nothing as they understood Hershey was the only one she trusted at that moment.

Now they were on their way to Elias, which Matrix kept graciously connecting to the word "Alias" as if it were some big, governmental, secret.

"Snack break!" Beta announced and Matrix groaned, putting the laptop under the seat.

"Oh thank God," Ah spoke—the first time in hours—as Beta parked in front of the rest stop off the highway. "I'm really craving some pizza man."

Matrix looked back at her with a furrowed eyebrow. Sleepily, she shook her head. "Sorry, I mean pizza...minus the man. It's the Syncs—"

"You don't have to explain," Beta said, stretching his feet on top of the dashboard.

Ah left the car and went jogging to the vending machines. Matrix followed her hastily, and Hershey parked the other car and ran off after them.

Beta sighed as he saw Hershey run away, leaving Min asleep in the car. "And that would be illegal," Beta muttered. Beta pulled out a book and began to read. Matrix, coming back to the car, leaned against Beta's slightly ajar window. "Did you know Elias, in Urban Dictionary terms, means 'one damn sexy mother fucker?' This guy has sex with moms...think about that," Matrix said before hurrying off after Hershey. Beta smiled, not being able to help himself.

As he read, the book started to shake, and soon he realized that his book wasn't shaking, his hand was. And then he realized his hand wasn't shaking, but the car was. And the car wasn't shaking, but the ground definitely was. Beta closed his book as the shaking became more intense. He tried to open the door, but it was on child lock. He leaned over to press the unlock button, but it was broken when they had bought the car, and it was still broken now. Beta hit it aggravatedly. "Are you joking?" He was pretending to be calm, but in reality, the shaking was putting him on edge.

"Fine," Beta exhaled, putting his hand on the door.

But nothing happened.

Beta froze, trying again. His powers weren't working. "No no no," Beta whispered, starting to panic. "You've got to be kidding me." Beta knocked on the window lightly. "Hey. Guys?" Beta sighed when he realized they were nowhere near him.

He climbed over the seats of the car and stared out the back window. There was a forest behind him, and he could see the trees shaking in the distance. Whatever was about to come out of that forest was something he didn't want to tangle with. And on top of that, it was heading straight for him.

Beta's heart sped up and he stumbled to the back seat. He yanked on all the door's but none would open. It didn't make any sense to him; everything about the car was fine until then. He pounded, frequently looking back to see how close the giant moving object was to crushing him. He pounded until his hands started to ache, finally stopping to search for something to break the glass. All he found was an umbrella in the back. He grabbed it, went to the front, and pounded the windshield with it. He managed to make a few cracks before the umbrella's cap broke off. Beta screamed in frustration as he dropped the useless umbrella. He searched for something else.