all god's orphans

For five hours, the other SUV hung back, like an apex predator stalking a dying meal. Millie was tempted to try and shoot out their radiator again, but she didn’t want to risk retaliation and if they just wanted stay back, then she was fine letting them do that. Brian was keeping an eye on the slowly falling gas needle. He knew those SUVs had absurd fuel tanks to make up for their hilarious gas mileage, but how in the Hell were they still going? Every time they passed under a bridge, he feared that more soldiers would appear and attack them. At least the hills and curves had straightened themselves out as they headed north through Kentucky. That meant he didn’t have to worry about rounding a bend and finding several buses blocking the way forward.

Every once in a while, he would check the atlas. They were still about an hour away from I-70, which would take them west to Kansas. If Wes was right, the general’s troops wouldn’t follow them that far, but he wasn’t so sure. Whoever was driving that car behind them was certainly tenacious. Another glance at the gas needle and he couldn’t tell if it was falling faster or only looked that way. It wouldn’t be long before they had to stop to re-fuel. If he went until they ran out of gas, even if they’d lost their pursuers, they’d still be screwed. He had already noticed that there were far fewer gas stations out here than he was used to. Around his town, there was somewhere to get fuel every mile or so. Here, it was more like thirty miles.

They passed a sign proclaiming a truck stop in twenty-three miles. They could make it that far, he decided.

“Grey!” Called Brian over the low roar of the road. “Tell Lily to get up here.” Grey was confused for a second.

“Do you mean Millie?”

“Is Millie the deaf one?” Asked Brian.

“Yes.”

“Then that’s who I mean.” Millie pressed her face against the grate and Brian made sure to turn his head so she could see him speak. “We’re almost out of gas.” He told her and her eyes went to the gas needle to see how bad it was. The warning light wasn’t on, but it would be soon. “There’s a truck stop coming up, but we have got to lose these guys before then. Do you think you can make that shot from here?” Millie shook her head. “You don’t have to kill them, just shoot out a tire or hit the grill again.” She shook ‘no’ again. Brian sighed. He knew he could make the shot but he was stuck in the driver’s seat. The grating prevented him from moving into the back without first stopping the vehicle and getting out. “Okay so how close do you need?” He asked her. Millie seemed to perform some calculations in her head and then she pointed at the speedometer. Brian saw what she meant. “One-hundred?” He asked. “One-hundred yards?” Please god let it be yards and not feet, he thought to himself. Millie nodded. “Okay.” He was slightly relieved. “I’ll start slowing down. Hopefully they’ll think we’re running out of fuel. As soon as they get close enough, you take that vehicle out, understand?” Millie nodded and slid back towards the open door.

Carla huddled in the passenger seat. She was terrified. There was entirely too much noise and danger for her taste. Kite sat behind her, wanting to reassure her, but she didn’t really know what to say. Grey watched Kite and felt a great love for her. She was just as scared as the rest of them, but she was spending her energy comforting a frightened stranger rather than focus on herself.

Millie stretched out and lay prone on the floor of the van. She took one of the tool bags and rested her rifle on top of it, aiming straight at the black SUV. Every time they hit a bump, her crosshairs would jump thirty feet in the air and it would take her several seconds to line up again. She couldn’t hear the engine getting quieter, but she could tell they were slowing down. She honestly didn’t know exactly how far one hundred yards was, but she knew when they were close enough for her to make the shot.

Brian watched the speedometer drop from sixty, to fifty, and then down to forty. He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed in the mirror that the SUV was also slowing down, maintaining a safe distance. Brian cursed under his breath. Millie had the shot. She needed to take it. They were getting closer to the last chance for gas every minute she waited. He wanted to scream at her, but he knew that wouldn’t work. He glanced back through the van and saw her in position. To his eyes, the target looked so big that there was no way she could possible miss, but Millie disagreed. They were still too far away for her.

The van had dropped to twenty MPH now and they were going so slow that it almost felt like she could just get out and walk. Brian was on the verge of losing his mind. How long was she going to wait?

“Millie!” He shouted, more to make himself feel better than anything else. “Shoot! Fucking shoot now!!” He stomped on the floor repeatedly. Millie felt the strange vibrations and wondered what was going on. She turned to see Brian’s livid visage screaming at her. “Shoot!” She turned back to the rifle and steadied herself. She put her aim directly on the hood ornament and closed her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath, tried to relax the muscles in her arm, and gingerly squeezed the trigger. The slam of the rifle into her shoulder caught her by surprise. She saw the round hit just above the driver’s head. The only damage it had done was puncturing the windshield. Through the scope she could see the panic in the man’s face as the passenger ducked behind the dashboard, expecting more shots.

Brian steadily increased his speed up to forty and the SUV kept pace. The next sign said the truck stop was five miles away. If they didn’t stop here, he didn’t have a plan ‘B’. He abruptly stopped in the middle of the highway and the SUV went another few feet before they realized they were driving right towards Millie’s rifle. Brian threw it into park, jumped out, and bounded into the back. Before the driver and passenger could exit their truck with their weapons, Brian snatched the rifle from a bewildered Millie and put a round straight the middle of the windshield. He then put his crosshairs right where the driver’s head would be if he was stupid enough to stick it up again.

Wisely, the SUV started moving backwards. When it was sufficiently far away, it turned into the median, crested the rise to the other side of the highway and tore off back east. Brian’s shoulders slumped in relief. He watched them go until they were out of sight and then slid back against the wall of the van. He could see that Carla was petrified.

“It’s okay.” He told her. “They’re gone now.”

“Did you kill them?” Carla asked. Brian shook his head.

“No. Just scared them.” Carla thought this over.

“That’s good.” She decided. “I don’t like when people die.”

“Neither do I.” Kite said. Brian slid wearily into the driver’s seat. Adrenaline crash was hitting him hard and he felt like he’d just driven the length of the entire country. He just wanted to sleep and he figured the truck stop would be the best place for that. The sun would be down soon anyway. He put the van in gear and rolled slowly towards the next exit hoping that this place was so far out of the way that they would still have candy. Or something with caffeine. Or really any food that hadn’t been mass prepared in a camp full of fundamentalists. If he found a cold energy drink there, he decided he might give god another shot. Maybe.