FUTURITY

CHASE

Leon led the way to a white Ford truck parked in front. Still unsure, if he'd made the right decision, Jason stopped and looked back at the Bar door.

"I forgot my backpack."

Leon shrugged. "I'll get it." Then he ran inside the building. Jason leaned against the truck and close his swollen, tired eyes. I hope this is a good idea. 

Suddenly, sirens rang in the distance, making Jason's body tense.

A flicker of movement caught his attention. Two men were walking toward him, dressed in black coats and wearing masks.

One wore a white mask, the other black. The man who wore the white mask lumbered like a caveman and the other slunk behind him, the shape of a string-bean. When the two men were twenty feet away, Caveman aimed a gun at Jason.

"You're coming with us, Jason Sorn," Caveman said in a deep voice while grabbing Jason's shoulder.

"Why? Who are you?" Caveman shoved the gun against Jason's ribs and pulled him away from the truck. 

"Come on." String-Bean grabbed his other shoulder.

Jason panicked. Everything about this situation screamed ANO. His pulse raced as he looked, frantic, for help. The lot lay silent except for the muffled voices inside the bar. And the sirens were getting closer.

Leon suddenly stepped out from between two trucks, holding Jason's backpack. Caveman gripped Jason's shoulder while his partner pulled out another gun and pointed it at Leon. Leon dropped the pack and raised his hands.

"Get out of the way," String-Bean said in a high-pitched voice.

"I'd leave if I were you," Leon said.

String-Bean snorted. "We are—with him."

Leon smirked. "He's not going anywhere." He leaped forward and punched String-Bean in the face. The other man fired his gun, but he must have missed because Leon never slowed. Jason gaped as Leon kicked String-Bean in the groin and then slammed his elbow in Caveman's face.

Both men lay on the ground. Jason blinked, not sure he believed what he had just witnessed. Leon looked up. 

"Run to the truck. The keys are in the ignition," he said.

Jason caught flashes of red and blue lights from down the street. He turned and ran. The sirens screamed in his ears, forcing his wobbly legs to move faster. He sprinted to the truck and slid into the driver's seat. Frantic, he brought the vehicle to life.

Leon jumped in with Jason's backpack in hand. "Slam it, kid!"

Jason did. The truck flew into a side street—out of sight—just as the cops drove up to the bar. "Get us out of town," Leon ordered.

"All right." Jason buckled his seat belt and looked at Leon. "You going to buckle?"

"No, thanks, Grandma. It's not my style."

Jason rolled his eyes and turned onto the town's main street. He was grateful the roads were clear. He took a deep breath and relaxed his grip on the steering wheel.

CRASH!

The truck's back window shattered. Jason yelled and ducked.

The sound of gunfire filled the air.

Jason's and Leon's eyes met for a moment. Fear clouded Jason's senses. The van must be ANO. The two men back at the bar must have had backup.

Jason hit the accelerator, and the truck began to roar, the pedal vibrating under his foot. Bullets whizzed. Empty buildings swished by them.

A steady hand grabbed his shoulder. Leon gestured toward the passenger seat. "Move."

"What?"

Leon shouted. "Move your butt!"

"Why?"

"You drive like a grandma. Now, move over." 

Jason waited to let go of the steering wheel until Leon had grabbed it with one hand and scooted past him. Now Leon sat behind the wheel, and Jason grudgingly buckled his seat belt on the passenger side. Leon gunned the engine and kept his head down. Then he glanced at Jason. 

"Get your head down." 

Jason obeyed.

Once they rounded the bend, Jason looked back. The van didn't check its speed fast enough. It turned too sharply, and the vehicle wobbled. The left tires left the ground. The car tipped over and rolled off the road and against a tree.

Jason's eyes grew wide. Weston grunted with satisfaction and hit the accelerator. The truck lurched forward.

With a sigh of relief, Jason turned his head just as the truck rounded the next bend in the road. Cold fear flowed over his body.

There, on the road ahead of them loomed a blockade.

More than twenty black cars formed a line across the road. Numerous dark figures waited. Jason could make out AK-47s and Uzis in the figures' hands.

Leon cursed and slammed on the brakes again. The vehicle skidded with a terrifying speed.

Jason's terror, thoughts, and sensations swelled and mixed as the left side of the vehicle left contact with the asphalt.

BOOM!

The sense of falling was cut short the second the truck slammed on its side and began to roll.

BOOM!

Shattered glass flew in the air and cut Jason's face. The truck didn't slow. It rolled over and over again. Tree branches snapped.

BOOM!

Flashes of Jason's life slammed into his head with each crash.

BOOM!

His parents' smiling faces.

BOOM!

Yellow eyes gleamed.

BOOM!

BOOM!