Night of the Crane | By @WendyyWolfe

8. There Are No Friendlies

They ran as hard and fast as their legs would carry them. Macallan fairly dragged Lacy along as they headed in the direction of the police station.

He planned to get the truck and take the three of them straight out to the farm.

James was right behind them, well at least right behind Dylan. It had not taken him long to catch up because Dylan always lagged behind. James reached out and grabbed Dylan by the arm helping him to keep going.

When they neared the police station a gruesome scene greeted their eyes as many of the town people had gathered there to watch the unfolding events and had unfortunately perished as a result. Burnt and charred bodies littered the sidewalks, road and lawns.

The stark light of day erased any doubt that what had happened could have just been a dream as it became apparent it was a living nightmare.

The nearby buildings were burnt out and scorched, blackened by what ever was used to incinerate everything and random fires dotted the area with fizzling streams of smoke which rose in the air to create a hazy curtain in the sky.

Trash blew along the sidewalks and gathered in storefronts like autumn leaves while abandoned vehicles sat scattered about in complete disarray blocking Main Street like some kind of sad forgotten parade.

As they neared the side parking lot of the police station Lacy suddenly stopped stone cold jerking Macallan to a stand still. He whipped around, thinking she had tripped to find her staring out into the street where not a hundred feet away stood Deputy Storey.

Lacy cried out, an anguished sound, and Macallan grabbed her around the waist drawing her into his side. She struggled away, and he took hold of her arms to steady her. Then she was screaming.

"Daaaaad! Look Mac it's my dad! Let! me! GOOO!" She swung around slapping at Macallan's face and arms, furiously fighting against his steel grip. "Let me GO Macallan! You piece of shit can't you see that's my dad! DAAAD!"

In a fit of outrage Lacy kicked him hard in the shins and kept kicking until he had to release his hold causing her to stumble back and fall. She grunted as she landed hard on her ass, scrambling to get up in the loose pea gravel finally coming to her feet.

She turned toward where her dad stood taking off in his direction yelling as she went. "DAD! I'm coming! Oh my God! Dad!"

Macallan took off after her and then she just stopped.

Macallan watched in sheer disbelief as the Deputy raised his arms, his face expressionless, and aimed a gun right at them.

"Dad no," Lacy whimpered. "Dad it's me," she wailed stumbling on to where he stood in the middle of the road.

A shot rang out pinging off a car. Lacy screamed hunching down to her knees. She looked over her shoulder to see Macallan, down on one knee, holding the gun that had made the shot. "You idiot!" She screamed at him. "That's my dad! Macallan NO!"

Off to Macallan's right a figure darted by. It was James. He ran straight for Lacy scooping her up by the waist and throwing her over his shoulder. "GO!" He waved at Macallan. "GET TO YOUR TRUCK! I GOT HER! YOU JUST MEET ME AT MY TRUCK!" he shouted.

A strange blue beam of light appeared to stand next to the Deputy and as Dylan ran by after James he watched as Lacy's dad, or what used to be her dad, walked into the beam and disappeared. Dylan looked and looked again. A brand new kind of fear crawled under his skin resulting in a fresh boost of energy and he took off behind James.

Lacy was screaming bloody murder, pounding on James' back and kicking but he held fast to her. Finally she gave up as they reached the lawn where his truck was. He opened the door, dug in his pocket for the keys and threw Lacy over into the seat just as Dylan was climbing in the other door.

Macallan was already peeling his tires and sped out of the gate of the impound lot as James turned his truck around giving room for Macallan to barrel through the same lawn and get ahead of him.

He flashed his lights at James and the two trucks raced off into the brightening sun as it rose completely over the distant hills.

Dylan sat silent as he regarded what he had seen. It didn't seem possible that he had watched Deputy Storey aim a weapon in the direction of his own daughter and then walk into a beam of blue light. Their reality had faded into a blur of weirdness.

Lacy sat with her hands fisted. Her jaw was set stubbornly even as she refused to believe it possible that her dad held a gun on her.

James cast a side glance at her and seeing the rigidity in her expression he whistled low.

"What." She demanded. "Go ahead. Say it," she dared him.

James didn't mince words.

"Alright I will." James said with a curt nod. "Listen and listen good little girl. There are no Friendlies in this game. You better get your head on straight and make it happen quick."

Her chin jutted out defiantly causing James to laugh at her bull headedness. Damn. Macallan had a wild one, that was for sure.