Chase Hatter's Origin of Pangaea

Chapter Twelve

Somewhere along the way, even in the cramped backseat of the Jeep, Carl and Ethan had managed to doze off. Axel had joined them and left Cole, Elijah, and Jack wide awake as they continued their journey to the library. The Jeep was silent. Cole thought this might be how Jack liked it, so he did very little to interrupt the quiet before what was always a storm.

In moments like this, Cole liked to daydream and sometimes let his mind wander. He was daydreaming about coffee this time, about how he hadn't had a cup since they'd left the base camp in Maine. It was hard to stay focused without it.

As Cole reminisced about his caffeine-rich days, his eyes veered off to his right and he found a troubling sight. Elijah Grant's hands were shaking. Startled by this, Cole asked Elijah, "Are you okay?"

Elijah's tremors seemed to intensify, but he answered Cole. "It's just really quiet." He explained shakily. "And during our travels through these wastelands, my brother and I have discovered that silence is often the realtor of depression."

Cole looked towards the center rear view mirror and noticed Jack's eyes still firmly trained on the road, but Cole knew that Jack had heard every word. Moments later, seemingly without provocation, Jack flipped on the stereo and turned up the volume. Axel's old music began to play and the sudden spike in volume woke the three sleeping passengers. Axel turned to Jack as he turned down the volume by a few decibels.

"Something on your mind, Jack?" Axel asked Jack. Jack never responded. Cole noticed quickly that Elijah's tremors had calmed.

When the Jeep came to a stop beside the library entrance, the Grant twins and Carl hopped out and raced to the doors like children at a candy store.

"Wait!" Jack demanded. The intensity of his voice stopped the three scholars in their tracks. "Just because it's abandoned doesn't mean it's empty. Cole, clear it first."

Cole sighed and hopped out of the backseat.

"Axel, will you be joining us?" Carl asked.

"Believe it or not, I'm not a big fan of books." Axel said. "The best ones are the shortest. They get right to the point. Have fun, but do be quick. We still have plenty of ground to cover."

Cole led the way for Carl and the Grant twins to the library door. He did his normal scans of the building and found no signs of life. It made sense. Libraries didn't have food or medicine, so there was no sense in anyone making this their home. Cole let the scientists wander the library at their own will.

For a while, the four of them dug through the archives and filtered for the circuitry books that Carl insisted would be the most useful for their purposes. However, about a half hour into their search, Cole began to hear what sounded like...

Helicopter blades?

Cole demanded that Carl and the twins stay put as he made his way outside. Once he breached the library doors, Cole was blinded by the searchlight coming from the helicopter in the sky. The soldier started receiving commands from Jack before he could regain his vision.

"Take cover and return fire!"

Cole did just that behind a collapsed pillar right before three or four men onboard the helicopter started firing. Why was this happening? Who were these people?

When the men onboard stopped firing to reload their weapons, Cole and Jack emerged from their cover and opened fire in the direction of the helicopter's cockpit, attempting to hit the pilot. And as far as they could tell, they were successful. A bullet pierced the cockpit's glass and the pilot of the helicopter veered away from the grounded soldiers. He pulled up and circled before he bolted North, as if nothing had happened.

Carl and the Grant twins slowly emerged from inside the library with handfuls of books. Cole heard the rustling of gravel and dirt somewhere near the Jeep and quickly swiveled his entire body, but he only found Axel rolling out from under their vehicle. Axel stood up and started dusting himself off.

"Jack, I don't mean to keep reminding you of your wartime crimes," Axel said, "but the company that makes these suits is no longer in business... or standing. The few of their products that I own could be museum-worthy someday, if only we could stop finding new ways to ruin them." Jack didn't respond. He seemed deep in thought.

"Does this happen often?" Ethan asked Cole.

"Someone's been following us." Cole said.

"Now," Elijah began, "I'm not saying that we don't trust you-"

"And we do!" Ethan said.

"Very much so." Elijah agreed. "But from what we can gather from our short time together, it seems like this group of trustworthy men is prone to..."

"Certain death." Ethan continued.

"Yes!" Elijah agreed. "Certain death. And this barrier you speak of-"

"This doesn't happen at the barriers." Jack interrupted. "So, you'll be safe there. And that's where you're going."

"That sounds like one idea." Elijah commented. "Are there other options?"

"No." Jack said.

"Well, maybe we could brainstorm-"

"No!" Jack interrupted.

"Jack!" Axel called out. Jack bothered himself to make eye contact with Axel. "Do we need to take a moment to replan this trip? I could revisit the map and contact more barrier captains if that would keep us alive."

"We don't need a new plan." Jack decided. "It doesn't matter where we go. This library wasn't on the way, but they still found us. The path isn't the problem."

Suddenly, a day late and a dollar short, a Jeep came rolling around the corner filled with Pangaean soldiers armed to the teeth with assault weapons. The tires of the vehicle dragged on the asphalt as the driver stomped on the brakes. Out of the Jeep, three soldiers sprung out with guns in hand.

"We heard gunfire. Was there an attack?" The Cincinnati Barrier Captain asked, gun aimed towards the sky.

"There was," Jack began, "but they got scared off. Before they come back, I need you to take these two to the barrier." He pointed to Ethan and Elijah who lightly waved at the armed soldier. He put down his weapon and saluted. "Okay, you two, go." Jack ordered.

"...Now?" Elijah asked.

"Yes, now." Jack demanded.

"...So," Ethan began, "should we exchange cell phone numbers or..."

"What?" Jack asked.

"So we can see you again." Ethan explained. "I mean, under better circumstances. Maybe when no one is trying to kill you?"

"Especially when no one is trying to kill you." Elijah added. "That'd be ideal. Don't call us until that's the situation."

"You can meet us back in Maine." Carl said. "Though, if we're successful, it will be called Pangaea by then. The three of us can work together to build your trademark name!"

In unison, the three circled up and put their hands out. They reached up and screamed, "Grant & Grant Industries!"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Nerds."

The twins followed the Cincinnati Barrier Captain to his Jeep. "Don't forget to look us up!" Elijah called back. "We're going to make beautiful technology together!"

"What do you think this is?" Cole asked Jack. "They're following us, right?"

"No." Jack concluded. "A helicopter isn't good for tailing someone out here. Something else is going on, but I don't know what it is yet."