The Sixth Seal

Ana kept her foot pressed firmly on the gas pedal, guiding the van swiftly down the long, narrow road that connected the hospital to the highway. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Lee making furtive glances out the back window.

“Are we being followed already?”

“Not yet, but they’ll be coming.” He returned his attention to the front of the van and started fiddling with the radio.

“The police?”

He didn’t look at her when he replied. He just kept messing with the radio. “Not likely.”

“Then who--”

“Shhh.” He turned up the volume.

A nasally voice crackled out of the speakers announcing a 211 on Fourth and Main.

“What is that? Is that the police dispatch?” She looked to Lee, but he just motioned for her to keep driving.

He flipped through several channels, pausing briefly to pick up the details. Someone had robbed a convenience store in a county she had never heard of, somewhere a young boy was missing and in another, a dispatcher was giving an officer directions to a crime in progress.

“Do you hear that?” He finally looked up at her.

“All I hear is a bunch of stuff about other people.” She had allowed the van to drift a little and it brushed the curb. She quickly returned her attention to the road.

He didn’t even flinch. “Exactly, nothing about us. There’s nothing about officers being dispatched to Hillcrest even though I just broke you out and you drove a van through a security gate.”

“So what does that mean? That we’re safe?”

“It means that the Horsemen will be handling this problem themselves. No law enforcement.” He pointed to a stop sign ahead.

She hit the brakes with both feet, bringing the van skittering to a stop at the edge of the access road. An old man in a red truck shook a fist at them as he drove by.

“Who are the Horsemen?”

“Turn right here and try to get on the highway as soon as possible.” He climbed out of his seat and into the back of the van.

She pulled the van out onto the access road and quickly brought the big vehicle up to speed. She pulled the visor down to block out the rays of the setting sun. Glancing in the rearview mirror she watched him open a black duffel bag.

“So are you going to answer my question?”

He pulled a handgun out of the bag and slid a clip into it. He pulled back on the gun, loading a round into the chamber. She had seen it done before on TV, but she also recognized it from somewhere else.

“The Horsemen are the others, Ana. You know them, but not by name yet.”

“They’re the ones the book has warned me about?” She looked over her shoulder to Lee. He pointed back toward the road.

“We can discuss the book and the others later. For now, take that ramp and get up on the highway. We need to put some distance between us and the hospital.”

She turned the van sharply causing the tires to squeal. She heard Lee mutter under his breath as he lost his balance and hit the wall. Ignoring him, she stomped on the gas and charged up the on ramp. The engine grew louder and louder until they were on the highway. The wooded countryside rushed past them blurring into nothingness.

“Are you alright?” She glanced up in the rearview mirror.

He nodded. “I’m fine, but watch your speed. We don’t need to draw the attention of the highway patrol.”

She eased off the gas and returned her eyes to the road. The hospital was in a fairly remote area, but she was surprised at the lack of cars on the highway. Everything had changed since the last time she had been on this road. Of course, at the time she was a pissed off teenager who had been betrayed by her family. She chalked it up to a change in perspective. Going in she was headed for lock up, now the road was the path to freedom.

“Where are we going?” She could hear Lee going through the bag, unzipping compartments and loading another gun.

“In another three miles or so you should see an old red barn. Just past it I want you to turn right onto a gravel road.”

He hadn’t answered her question. She decided not to press him further. He appeared to be intent on the task at hand, and he didn’t seem to be a man of many words. She concentrated on keeping the van at an even seventy miles per hour and in between the lines. The road stretched out for miles, drawing her forward. She felt exhilarated, free for the first time in ages.

She didn’t know how far they had gone when the black dots appeared in the rearview mirror. There were two of them and they were getting larger.

“Lee?”

“What?”

“I think there might be someone following us.” She pointed at the rearview mirror.

He slid to the back of the van and peered out the broken rear window. “Damn, they’re coming up fast.” He moved the gun to his right hand and steadied himself against the wall with his other. “Forget what I said about watching your speed.”

She stomped on the gas. The van lagged for a second before lurching forward. “I don’t think I can control it at anything over ninety.”

“Just try to go as fast as you can while keeping it steady.” He knocked the rest of the glass out of the window with the butt of his gun.

She could see the black vehicles looming larger. How fast were they going? They were close enough now that she could tell they were SUV’s with tinted windows.

She looked back to Lee in a panic. “What do we do? They’re going to catch up with us.”

“Just keep driving and let me worry about it.”

She swerved to the left, narrowly missing the little blue station wagon she had seen earlier. She heard the trailing wail of their horn as she overtook them. The black SUV’s changed lanes with her.

“Keep it steady.” Lee’s command echoed through the van.

The wheel felt slippery beneath her hands. She gripped it tighter doing her best to maintain a straight course. “I can see the barn.”

“Don’t stop!”

“But--”

The gunfire drowned out her words. She heard three shots before the SUV closest to them veered off the roadway and into the grass median. She saw it flip and roll out of the corner of her eye. She screamed.

“One down. The other one is coming up fast.” He crawled back to the passenger seat. “They’re going to come up alongside us.”

She checked the rearview mirror again. The little blue car had pulled off the roadway, but there was no sign of the SUV.

“I don’t see them, where are they? Where did they go?”

“They’re in your blind spot.” Lee was facing backwards with his left arm on the door as a brace for his right arm. “If they hit us, steer toward the shoulder and hit the brakes.”

She couldn’t get any words out; she just nodded, gripping the wheel tightly.

“Look at me, Ana.”

She looked into his eyes.

“You can do this. I’ve been a witness to your skill against many a foe. Trust me.” He returned his attention to their pursuers.

She let his words sink in. He was right, she was a protector. She could feel her heartbeat returning to a normal rhythm. She let out a deep breath and loosened her grip on the steering wheel just as the SUV made contact with their rear fender.

To her, everything after seemed to happen in a vacuum. There was nothing, but Lee, their pursuers and the road. She saw a cartridge eject from Lee’s gun, but she didn’t hear the shot. She turned the wheel toward the shoulder and put firm, even pressure on the brake. When she felt the two vehicles clear each other, she turned the wheel a quarter of a turn and moved the van back onto the roadway. A black blur zipped past them. A second later she accelerated, bringing the vehicle up rapidly behind the SUV. Lee unleashed a torrent of bullets into the SUV’s back window. They were so close that bits of glass rained down onto the hood of the van.

She could see the men inside the SUV. One was slumped over the middle seat, blood soaking through the back of his white shirt, and another aimed a machine gun at them.

“Overtake them!” Lee shouted.

Before she could maneuver the van from behind the SUV, the man with the machine gun laid down a barrage of gunfire, stippling the grill and left fender. Ana turned the wheel sharply and clipped the SUV’s right quarter panel. She gunned the engine, but the van sputtered. The heavy odor of burning oil permeated the cabin and the pressure gauge dropped rapidly. The temperature light came on just as the first wisps of smoke arose from under the hood. She glanced at Lee for guidance, but he was busy reloading his gun.

They were almost even with the SUV when the back passenger window came down. The man with the machine gun took aim at their tires and unleashed another barrage. The front tire exploded. She cranked the wheel back hard to the left and rammed the SUV with all of the force the van had left. Lee fell into her, slamming her against the door. She lost her grip on the wheel.

The man with the machine gun lurched forward and nearly fell out the window. The back end of the SUV went out in a wide arc. It pivoted around the hood of the van, continuing its arc until it was almost completely turned around. Lee pushed off of Ana and leapt back to the passenger seat and peppered the front windshield of the SUV with bullets. The van’s tires squealed as it swerved off the shoulder and into the median. She lurched forward as the blown tire dug into the soft soil. The van pitched upward and tipped on its side. She slammed hard into the door.

She heard Lee grunt as he hit the wall at the back of the van.

The van slid on its side for a while longer before coming to a stop on the opposite edge of the median. The engine died and she could hear the right front tire, now above her head, still spinning in a twisted elliptical orbit, rubber brushing against metal. Her left arm was pinned under her body. She braced her right hand against the door in an attempt to push herself up. The pain buckled her arm and she fell back down on the door.

“Are you hurt?” She could hear Lee climbing back toward the front of the van. The strain in his voice told her that he wasn’t feeling much better than she was.

“I might have broken my left arm, but other than that I feel alright.” She squirmed onto her back and kicked her right leg up over the side of the seat.

Lee leaned over the seat and stared down, studying her. His expression didn’t betray his condition. A spot on his forehead looked like it had been rubbed raw and a thin line of blood was widening just under his right cheek.

“Can you move that arm?” He repositioned himself so that his upper body was almost completely over her.

She raised her left arm up. She winced, but tried to bend it to see if anything was broken. “I think it’s just severely bruised.” She winced again. A tear escaped her eye and ran down into her ear.

“Give me your right hand. I’m going to pull you up. We need to get out of here.”

Lee took her right hand in his and pulled her upward. When she was closer to him, he put his left hand in the middle of her back and guided her up and around the seat back. They stood on the left wall of the van. He left her leaning against the seat while he gathered up the duffel bag and its ejected contents.

“I think one of the guns flew out the window.” He checked the magazine in the remaining gun. “Looks like we have about four shots left in this one and another two clips in the bag.”

Lee peered out the back window.

“I can’t see the black Suburban from here.” Lee pressed against the back door. It didn’t move. “We’re sitting ducks in here.” He backed up and kicked at the door. Because of the limited space, he had to crouch, which seemed to keep him from getting enough force behind his kicks.

“Who are these guys and why do they want to kill us?”

“They’re the Horsemen’s private security detail, and for the record, I don’t think they want to kill you, just me.” He threw his right shoulder into the doors. They splayed outward, but the top one came swinging back down, narrowly missing Lee’s head.

“Why would they want to kill you and not me?”

“They need you alive. They don’t need me.” He palmed the gun and pointed toward the duffel bag. “Get the bag and stay behind me.”

She bent down and grabbed the duffel bag and threw it over her right shoulder. Lee started to step out the back then stopped and turned toward her.

“Do you remember anything about the Eye of Jupiter?”

“The Eye of Jupiter? What’s--”

“Never mind. Let’s finish these bastards.”