Page 13 of Almost There
Five….
She couldn’t think of something for five and the panic attack threatened to rear its ugly head again.
A pig-like snore tore from Robin’s nose as she smashed her face against the passenger door. “Are we stopping?” she asked, half awake.
“No.” Tessa laughed softly as she shifted into drive. Five. You’re not alone. You’ll be okay. “Go back to sleep. I’ve got this.”
Stay asleep. Stay asleep. Tessa urged Old Blue faster even as she tried to maintain a state of calm and keep the drive smooth so her babies wouldn’t stir. She pulled the map from the floorboard where she’d dropped it to double check the exit they were supposed to take. It was just a short stretch on the freeway in the middle of nowhere, a road that connected two cities no one had ever heard of, and yet there were hundreds of travelers on foot reaching out at the cars who sped by them without a backwards glance.
Her heart hardened as she realized she was one of them. A vehicle escaping to somewhere safe and leaving the less unfortunate in the dust. Hands reached out as she drove past, weakly grasping at the air as if they could make her stop. But they stayed off the center of the road and away from the remains of those who had taken that path. She maintained a steady speed and forced the foot travelers’ faces to blur into something unhuman and unrecognizable as thick smoked choked the desert around them, pouring down from the mountains in the distance.
The travelers moved both north and south, frantically escaping each direction with no method to the exodus and it was terrifying. She touched the glass of the window. It may be hot in here, but it was ten times worse out there.
And the San Bernadino Mountain range was licked with fire casting black plumes of smoke that darkened the sky.
The exit was just ahead. Tessa slowed down to move across the road, eyeing the group of travelers closest to them. No, not kids.
Tears sprung to her eyes as she saw the women in the center of the crowd pushing baby strollers. She hesitated with indecision and the truck coasted to a stop. It was enough to send the group racing towards them, screaming and waving their arms, begging her to wait. And then a larger group who was past the exit turned at the commotion and started heading in her direction.
She focused on the road ahead, blocking out all their pain, as she gunned Old Blue off the freeway and down the offramp.
“Are we in hell?” Robin whispered, startling Tessa and making her want to scream.
“Not yet.” Tessa bit her lip so hard she drew blood as she headed closer to the raging inferno that had claimed the mountains and prayed that wasn’t where they were heading.
