Around 2 pm Liz was starting to drift off, so I took over driving again. We were probably half way to the observatory at this point. We had encountered maybe two cars the entire time. The first pulled off the road as soon as they sighted us, the other flew by.
Jesse hadn't really seen all of the supplies we rounded up so he was going through the bags as it was getting close to dusk. He was so bored he was putting anything with a battery or food into waterproof bags.
"Hey, where'd you get this ninja sword?" He asked me
"That's a machete," I replied "It's called a Kukri."
"No, it's called a bad ass ninja sword," He said laughing and making karate sounds.
"You're gonna hurt yourself, put that away" Liz said, cracking up.
"You killed my brother, prepare to die!" He said mouthing randomly as if he were in a poorly dubbed movie.
"You're gonna make me crash if you don’t stop making me laugh so hard" I said almost in tears.
"Holy shit, look there's someone else out here," Jesse said pointing behind us at a car looming closer and closer.
"How the hell did they manage to catch up to us?" Liz said sounding worried, "I haven't seen a cross road for at least an hour."
"Oh shit, Connor they're coming up fast," Jesse yelled," Something's wrong, why are they coming up so quickly?"
As I looked back in the rear-view mirror, squinting to see the vehicle better, I realized it was a green jeep. It looked a lot like a military vehicle.
"Mother fucker," I said. "Look, when we take this curve ahead try to see what symbol is on the side of the jeep. If it's not a big star we're in for some serious shit."
The curve was about a half mile ahead, we'd have to slow down to around 45 mph to make it safely. Well that's what the sign said anyways, this was a rally car after all. As I whipped around the curve at 55 I could see Jesse craning his neck to see.
"FUCK! GO GO GO!" he yelled, "they’ve got a fucking machine gun on that bitch!."
We were in luck, the roads curved every few hundred yards and jeeps are top heavy. We had a huge advantage in making head way.
"Hold on," I said as I slammed the gas pedal hard. "I'll try to shake them."
55 mph.
I accelerated, anticipating the next turn. 35 mph, I took it at 60. The tires screamed as we slung around. The jeep couldn't keep up, it would flip if they tried.
68 mph
"Someone's climbing on top!" Jesse yelled.
"Connor they're going to try and shoot us!" Liz screamed.
77 mph
The next curve was 50, I didn't slow down at all.
the soldier was trying to draw a line on us, but we were taking the corners too fast for them keep up. If the road opened up, he would have a chance. We were coming up on a 25 mph curve. I hit it at 50 and felt the rear end starting to slide. This car was damn good, but I was pushing it. We were going to wind up in a ditch if I wasn't more careful.
The GPS was showing the road would open up in just over 3 miles. A few more curves then completely open for at least half an hour.
"I’m going to put some distance between us." I said. "Jesse I need your help."
"What?" he said shocked.
"Get a belt of grenades and climb into the hatch part."
"Wh-why?" he said terrified.
"Trust me," I told him. "we've got maybe 2 minutes before this road is wide open. I’m going to slow way down around the last curve. They won't expect us to be there. You'll need to open the hatch just enough to throw them. When I tell you, yank a few pins and toss them."
"But won't that hit us?"
"No, as soon as you let go I’m gonna to floor it." I said, unsure if I was right or not. "just close the hatch and get down."
"Ok, don't get me killed man." he said climbing into the back.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Liz asked.
"I haven't been wrong yet, just trust me." I may have been wrong though, I had no clue if this was going to work, but I knew we only had one shot.
50 mph around the next to last curve, they had started firing but were too far behind to do any good.
"Almost there Jesse" I said as I started slowing down around the last turn. God, I hope this works... "Open it, get ready"
23 mph.
I heard their breaks screech as they realized they might hit us. They were caught totally off guard. The soldier on top started firing, but his gun was pointed to the side. He was panicking.
"Do it!!!!", I roared.
"oh fuck, oh fuck" Jesse screamed, as he tossed the grenades.
I slammed hard on the accelerator.
43 mph.
Shifting frantically as we came out into the open. I saw an explosion in the rear view, it was huge. the flash almost blinded me.
64 mph.
"Hell yeah!" Jesse yelled, "Choke on that bitches!"
"How many did you throw?" I asked in amazement.
"I don't know," he said "The entire strip?"
"That's like 20 grenades, Jesus." I said laughing.
"They landed right on their fucking hood!" He yelled "I think I saw the guy on top go flying off."
79 mph
"Why are you going so fast honey?" Liz asked.
"We've got to make room in case there are more behind them."
84 mph
The engine was roaring, this car was built for performance.
"Wow, this is the fastest I've ever seen a car go!" Jesse exclaimed.
"The governor will probably kick in around 120 or 130" I said.
"The who?"
“Governor, it turns off the engine at a certain speed. I doubt this car's was disabled." I replied.
99 mph
The engine was purring, it could probably run a hundred miles per hour all day. I needed to buy one of these cars someday.
115 mph
It was time to hold, no sense in tripping the governor.
"How far are we from the observatory?" I asked, I had only been there once.
"Just about an hour or so." Liz said, "Maybe five minutes if you don’t slow down."
"Ok good," I replied, "we've got a few miles to go until the roads not straight anymore. Let's take advantage of it."
"Ok just watch the temperature," she said pointing to the dash, "It looks like it's getting a little higher."
113 mph
It was time to start slowing down. I could still see smoke billowing from miles behind us. The road was probably destroyed and so was everything within 20 yards of where the grenades landed. They must have had explosives in the truck as well.
"Jesse, how many grenades are left?"
"Ummm, hold on" He said as he rummaged through the gear "Looks like three belts full."
"Ok, good."
75 mph.
We were coming up to the first turn, a sign showed the observatory at just over 30 miles. Good, we were close. Hopefully the park rangers were still there. We might be able to spend the night safely.
56 mph and holding.
Chapter 7