Intervention | NaNoWriMo 2018

Chapter 9 - The Getaway

Disclaimer: The following chapter is the non-edited draft of what was written during NaNoWriMo 2018. My apologies in advance for plot holes and other inconsistencies. I know they're there.

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Lincoln stood up and raced to the door but then paused. He returned to the terminal and printed a couple of hardcopies of surrounding area maps. Since they had to leave immediately, he had least wanted some idea of what was around them.

He collected the papers as the spit out of the printer and then raced back down the garage, slamming the door to the garage wide open as he burst through it.

"Marie, Marie," he shouted, "We've got to go."

Marie's head appeared from inside a door towards the back of the garage.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"We don't have three hours to get ready anymore," Lincoln said in between breaths as he bent over and rested his hands on his knees. "There was a message on the terminal from the commander of the convoy. They'll be here in twenty minutes."

Marie's eyes grew and she grabbed Lincoln's shoulder. "Twenty minutes? How? Why?"

"Something about an approaching storm moved up their schedule. Come on, we've got to go." Lincoln walked over to the vehicle and jumped into the driver's seat. He stuffed the maps into a slot into the mid-console as Marie climbed in the passenger side. "Is there enough back there?" he said and nodded towards the supplies in the back of the vehicle.

"It'll have to be, won't it? I found some more gear that may be suitable for outside but otherwise, it's pretty well stocked."

"Alright, we better get going then," Lincoln said and turned the key. The engine roared back to life and as he reached for the gear shifter to put the car in gear, he froze. "The garage door," he said, frantically scanning the dashboard for any kind of indication of a button to open the outside door. "I don't see it, Marie, I don't see it."

"How about this one?" Marie reached and tapped a small button just above the rear-view mirror. The motors that opened the garage door came to life with a whine and the door in front of them began to open. Swirling dust immediately entered the garage as a gray landscape appeared in front of them. The sun shone down on them through an orange layer of dust in the atmosphere, creating an eerie atmosphere.

"Ok, let's go, Lincoln," Marie said and tapped him on the arm. "We're running out of time."

"Marie, can you see if this thing has a nav system? I printed out some map copies but I'd rather not have to rely on paper."

Marie nodded and started to fiddle with the large touchscreen display in the center console. Meanwhile, as the doors had opened all the way, Lincoln pressed the accelerator and the truck jumped forward, throwing both him and Marie backward into their seats.

"Take it easy, ok?" Marie said with a sideways look. "It can't be that different from Earth, can it?"

Lincoln chuckled at her mention of her timeline as Earth. As the truck rolled out into the swirling sand, he couldn't help but wonder if it wouldn't be appropriate to call this planet hell.

He pulled out one of the maps from the center console as he rolled away from the garage, trying to get his bearings. The compass on the dash showed that due north was to his right. That meant west was straight ahead. He traced a line with his finger due west on the map from the facility.

Mountains and deserts. Great.

"All right, here we go," he mumbled and eased the foot onto the accelerator again. The truck picked up speed and it didn't take long before the landing facility had disappeared in a cloud of dust behind them.