Intervention | NaNoWriMo 2018

Chapter 12 - Discovered

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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By the time Lincoln and Marie reached the city she had visited in her teen years, it was late. Marie had fallen asleep and was snoring quietly, her head resting against the door frame, a blanket around her. They had been driving in the dark for several hours, their progress impeded by the unknown terrain and debris that littered the road into the city. Lincoln's right leg had begun cramping on and off as his foot danced between the brake and gas pedal as he navigated around the obstacle-ridden roadway.

Since street lights were a mere historical footnote, Lincoln gave up trying to find a descent place to shelter. With complete darkness, the light banks on the truck were only so useful in identifying useful structures. Marie remembered a parking garage that, despite the decades it had stood unused, should still be functional as a shelter. Lincoln had parked on the bottom floor to ensure an easy escape should they need it. After a quick stretch, they had settled in for the night in their respective seats, covered by blankets to keep them warm.

Five hours later, Lincoln woke up with a gasp. Marie was still sleeping and in front of the car. Up ahead, by the ramp leading back up to street level, the rays of the rising sun were finding their way in through the various openings of the concrete structure, dust dancing in its rays like fireflies at night.

Lincoln slipped out of the truck a quietly as possible and walked up the ramps of the garage to the third floor, which also happened to be the top floor. He sucked in a few deep breaths of the cool morning air as he gazed over the crumbling structures around him. As he stretched, he took in the crumbling church across the street, it's stone steeple collapsed on the ground, the roof long ago imploded on the sanctuary inside. Various stone buildings on either side in various states of decay likely had been office buildings at one point or another. Next to the parking garage, the ruins of what Lincoln recognized to be a mall lay bare, it's steel skeleton still standing among the rubble that once had been a thriving hub of the city.

He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw a familiar cloud of dust on the horizon. His brain told him to turn and run to the car without delay but he had to know, he had to see. Was it moving?

It only took about a minute for him to be certain. The dust cloud was moving. He couldn't tell whether it was heading in his direction or not but it could only mean one thing. Colonel Hastings was on the move and somehow he knew exactly where they were going.

Lincoln turned and ran back down the ramps as he racked his brain for an answer. They had been so careful, driving into the night, putting distance between themselves and Hastings. How had he found them?

As he rounded a pillar and saw the truck, he froze as it dawned on him. He sprinted to the truck and ripped open the door. Marie, still asleep, woke up with a start at the unexpected commotion.

"What are you doing?" she said, squinting while she yawned and stretched.

"They've found us again," Lincoln said as he tapped through the menus of the nav system.

Marie, eyes wide open, sat straight up and looked around. "Where? They're here?"

"No, not yet but I saw the dust cloud on the horizon. They're approaching and somehow they know we're here."

"How is that possible?"

"It has to be some sort of satellite tracking. Yes, here," he said and pointed towards the screen. "I should have realized that they would have some sort of tracking mechanism of these trucks." With a few clicks, Lincoln disabled the tracking unit and then sat back in his seat and exhaled forcefully.