“Fuck,” I gasp as some of the smaller plants begin taking flight immediately, and then the red lightning begins streaking down to the earth to emphasize the wrath of the storm. “It’s picking up too quickly. We won’t make it.”
“How far out are we, Sir?” the driver says with anxiety rumbling around.
“Not far, just give it all you’ve got,” Hale answers briskly, a roughness in his tone.
“I assume you’re calling to tell me you’ve already detoured to Hilbrook?” Clay says as he answers.
“I’m glad we think alike,” Hale murmurs while staring up at the growing strength of the funnel.
“I didn’t get to be commander based on my looks alone,” Clay jokes. “I’ve already called ahead, and they’re taking cover now. We’ll have to ram our way through their gates, but it shouldn’t be too hard to do.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Hale asserts, and then he tosses the phone on my lap while ushering the driver to move.
He keeps his foot on the pedal until Hale can fully relieve him of his duties.
“I can open them with my gift… if I can find the damn compound by then,” I murmur while staring through the stirring dust being pulled into the vacuuming sky.
“It’s too risky. If you don’t have a visual, you could rip the side of the wall out. It’d be too easy for you to rip out a place where people are. I’d rather we not make any sacrificial offerings to the beast above. I can line up with the gates easier than you can control your gifts blindly.”
Good point.
I just nod instead of agreeing with him, and he squints into the sandstorm growing more vicious ahead of us.
“Tell the others to hold the fuck on and fasten themselves anyway they can,” Hale murmurs to the driver.
“Yes, Sir.”
I pull my seatbelt on tighter just as Brazen sticks his head in. The sky has been tinted by nature now, so he doesn’t have to worry about flames consuming him.
“Where the fuck did this come from?” he growls.
“I don’t know, but it’s stage five. We’re going to have to ram the gates, so you might want to hold onto something,” Hale murmurs while fastening his own seatbelt.
“A little wreck isn’t going to kill me,” Brazen says casually while pulling out a rifle from overhead.
“No, but it’s sure as hell going to hurt, and we’ll have to move quick once we get inside,” Hale counters, and I can feel the exhaustion of the engine from his hellacious driving as it whines for mercy.
“I’ll give you a little less resistance,” Brazen says while opening the door.
A suffocating burst of sand fills the front. The small grains scratch against my eyes and accumulate in disgusting heaps in my mouth, ears, and nose. I grab a mask to wrap over my face, and then I pull one over Hale’s as well to help free him from the grainy assault. He coughs on the fresh air once I turn on the filter, and then I plop back down to pull my seatbelt back into place.
My head moves so I can see Brazen lining up the shot into the cloud of dust destroying all views to anything in front of us. His eyes can’t be that damn good. I’d sure as hell be impressed if they were.
More and more shit begins surging to the sky as the funnel continues to grow. It’ll have a fifteen mile stretch in less than five minutes at this rate. It’ll have all the power of a black hole as it tries to turn the world inside out, mercilessly carrying away all the souls it can collect.
I hear the shot ring out from behind me, stinging my ears from the close, unguarded proximity, and then I hear the snapping of a chain I can’t see. Well, I’m impressed. I hear another shot and another snap before Brazen reappears in the front with us.
“I collapsed the exposed chains holding it shut, so you should be able to break through without it breaking this thing too badly.”
“Thanks, now buckle up because it can’t be far away.”
“You can’t see?” Brazen gasps.
“This damn dust is every-fucking-where.”
Brazen pulls me out of my seatbelt while lifting me just enough for him to shimmy underneath me. His cold touch presses against my back, and then I feel the seatbelt snapping around us, forcing my body even closer to his.
Hale starts to scold him for his crude maneuver, but Brazen’s eyes scour the land in front of us instead of me.
