The next day.
Brian's internal alarm clock at seven o'clock woke him from a deep sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, intending to stretch, but then realized he couldn't feel his left arm. Turning his head, he saw that Sarah was still using his arm as a pillow, her body clinging to him like an octopus.
With a resigned sigh, he carefully extracted his left arm from her grasp, wincing as the pins and needles sensation set in. His face contorted with discomfort as the feeling slowly returned. After a few minutes, the discomfort subsided, and he gently disentangled himself from Sarah's embrace, finally breathing a sigh of relief once he was free.
Standing up, he looked down at Sarah, who was still fast asleep. He squatted down and took out a map of Texas from the compartment of his backpack. He had picked it up from a bookstore the day before.
After a quick scan of the area around the car to make sure everything was in order, he quietly walked to the warehouse door, opened a narrow gap, and slipped outside. The bright morning sunlight hit his face, and he squinted until his eyes adjusted.
He walked over to the back of an abandoned car and spread the map out on its rear end. Locating Austin on the map, he traced his finger northward, passing through Round Rock, Temple, Waco, and finally stopping at Dallas.
Looking at the route ahead, Brian scratched his head and muttered to himself, "Wonder what kind of trouble we'll run into on this trip."
Boom!
As Brian was carefully planning their route, a loud explosion echoed from not too far away, followed by the sound of rifle fire and a human scream of disbelief. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly looked in the direction of the noise.
The surroundings were too obstructed to see what was happening, but a sense of foreboding washed over him. He quickly folded the map and put it away, then rushed back into the warehouse.
He pushed open the warehouse door and shouted inside, "Sarah, wake up! We need to get out of here, now!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sarah's figure hurriedly emerged from behind the car. Seeing that Brian was okay, she let out a sigh of relief and asked, puzzled, "What happened just now?"
The loud noise had jolted her awake, and seeing Brian gone, she had felt a pang of anxiety. Now that he was safe, she could relax a bit.
Brian quickly filled Sarah in on what had happened and then opened the driver's door of the car parked at the entrance. With a serious expression, he said, "Whatever's happening over there is none of our business. Grab your stuff and get in the car. We're leaving now."
"Okay!" Sarah nodded in agreement. Indeed, whatever was happening over there didn't matter to them anymore. She quickly grabbed the backpack from the warehouse and ran back to the car, getting into the passenger seat.
Vroom!
Seeing Sarah in the passenger seat, Brian didn't hesitate. He navigated the car out of the abandoned car factory, then floored the accelerator, kicking up a cloud of dust as they sped off down the road like a shot arrow.
Brian kept glancing in the rearview mirror, anxious about any potential trouble following them. After driving for a good distance, he finally began to relax. Spotting the sign for the highway exit, he turned the steering wheel.
"Shit!"
As soon as he turned, Brian saw a truck blocking the highway entrance, with several fully armed soldiers beside it. His heart sank, and he felt a strong urge to curse.
He had no idea why military soldiers would suddenly be here, but when they raised their guns at the sight of his car, he knew they meant business. Recalling the gunshots and screams from the town earlier, and his encounters with soldiers during the outbreak, he was certain these soldiers were not there to help.
Although this conclusion seemed hasty, Brian trusted his instincts. He was not the type to leave his fate in someone else's hands.
"How... how did they get here?" Sarah frowned, looking at the soldiers ahead. She had little patience for these so-called soldiers and was puzzled about their sudden appearance.
"No idea, but it's not good for us," Brian replied. Sarah understood their predicament. If this intersection was guarded, others likely were too. Even if they went back to the town to hide, they could still be found. She anxiously asked, "So, what do we do now?"
"Hold on tight and duck down. We're going through!"
Brian knew there was no turning back. He revved the engine, then floored it, charging towards the highway entrance.
On the other side, the soldiers guarding the highway entrance were taken aback by the sudden appearance of the car. They quickly raised their rifles, unsure of what to do. They had just arrived and hadn't expected a car to come barreling down the road.
The leader of the soldiers stepped forward, grabbed a megaphone from a supply box, and shouted at the approaching vehicle:
"Vehicle ahead, we are the National Disaster Relief Team. Please exit your vehicle for inspection. We will escort you to...."
But before he could finish, the car accelerated straight towards him. Realizing the drivers knew something, he dropped the pretense and shouted, "Fire!"
*Da-da-da*...
Bullets rained down on the car's exterior, sparks flying as they struck the metal, creating a cacophony of *crackling* sounds. The windshield shattered into a spiderweb pattern from the barrage.
Brian ducked low, feeling the bullets whizzing past. His heart pounded, his breathing quickened, and adrenaline surged through his veins.
As they closed in on the soldiers, Brian suddenly jerked the steering wheel, aiming for the supply crates stacked beside them.
Clang!
The force of the impact sent the crates flying, knocking the soldiers back and blocking some of the incoming bullets. The soldiers, caught off guard, instinctively stepped back and ceased firing.
With the soldiers momentarily stunned, Brian floored the accelerator, driving around the military truck, crashing through the barricades and the highway entrance's gate, and onto the highway.
"You two stay here. The rest of you, get in the truck and follow!" The leader of the soldiers, frustrated that the car had slipped past, ordered two soldiers to stay behind while the others piled into the truck. He quickly got in, started the engine, and began the pursuit, grabbing the radio to report to his superiors.
"Captain, a vehicle just broke through the blockade from the northern part of town and entered the highway. I'm in pursuit. I'll intercept them. Over!"
But the response that came through the radio was not his captain's voice. Instead, a stern, unfamiliar man's voice replied:
"Who authorized you to act on your own? Return to the northern blockade point immediately. I'll send someone else to deal with that vehicle. Remember, if anyone else escapes from your blockade, there will be consequences."
"Yes, sir! I'm on my way back!" The soldier's face drained of color, and he felt a wave of pressure. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he quickly stopped the truck, turned it around, and headed back to the highway entrance.
Meanwhile, in a military camp to the west of the town, the middle-aged man in combat gear handed the radio back to a captain standing beside him and said coldly, "You better get to the north and make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Yes, sir!" The captain saluted and quickly left the tent.
Watching the captain's retreating figure, the middle-aged man closed his eyes. A faint, pleased smile gradually spread across his face.
He had been troubled about how to subtly let some survivors escape, but it seemed that even God was on their side, helping them end this disaster in America.