The girl was not on the bus! When the road was wide enough for Adam to overtake the bus without using the horn, He signaled to Carlisle to stop the bus. The search was quick and the result was disheartening. The kid was not on the bus! A wild guess made them check the van as well but she was not there. Instead, something more shocking was discovered. The skin tone of Nina and the man was changing. It is more grayish than fair at the moment. They were both snapping and snarling as the van door was opened. There was no longer any doubt about their fates. “Tough luck,” Layla said as she stared at Nina. “Mind your fucking business!” Adam snapped at her. He shut the van door tightly and turned away from her. “I was not being a bitch, you know. She was nice to me,” she said as she followed Adam to where the others were. They had seen a drive-in rest area right after Carlisle confirmed that the girl was not in the bus. The rest area was deserted yet it looked intact. At least

Ryan and Carlisle did the honours.Adam couldn’t bring himself to shoot Nina, even though he knew there was nothing of her left in the snarling beast eager to claw his brains out.Ryan did the shooting.Together with Carlisle, he organized men to dig graves on the patch of land behind the rest areas.The two bodies were buried there.It was long past midnight before they finished.The rest area was as quiet as a graveyard when they came in.Though a few people, mostly kids, were asleep, nobody could muster enough energy and enthusiasm to say anything.Lisa and Layla were sitting away from the others. Layla’s arms were wrapped around Lisa’s as she shuddered lightly from time to time.Caleb had a faraway look on his face as he held his unconscious wife.Marriane was out for most of the night.Just as dawn was approaching, she woke up groggily.The first thing she said was, “It wasn’t a dream, was it?”Caleb shook his head dejectedly.Marriane looked over at Lisa, who was staring listle

A scream pierced through the night. “Everybody, get the hell out!" Adam heard a commanding voice yell from the front. The van had stopped. “Get down now or I swear I would shoot your fucking head off!" “What?! What is going on? Are they here? Oh my God, Nina,” Marriane cried in a disoriented state as the noise woke her up. That pissed Adam off more than the uncertainty of what was happening. “Calm down, mom. They are not here.” “Well, someone certainly is!” Marriane snapped. She looked from side to side in wide-eyed terror as a high beam of torches pierced through the surroundings, illuminating the three vehicles. Another gunshot rang out before Adam could react. Marriane screamed. “They are coming for us! They took my daughter and now they are coming for us!” “Dad, please calm her down. Just stay here. Let me check this out," Adam said as he wondered who the bastards outside are. “No! No! No!” Marriane clung to his arm just as he was about to get out of the car. “No, s

He looked at Layla “You are one mean bitch, you know.”“You want another demonstration?” Layla asked calmly.“You will speak properly to the lady, Dixon,” Adam said without raising his voice.“Oh yeah?” Dixon sneered as he turned towards Adam.He reconsidered his initial intention when he saw the guns that Layla and Ryan pointed at him.Still, he said, “Who made you the captain of the ship, boy?”“You will find out soon enough if you don’t keep a decent tongue in your head, Dixon,” Adam said emphatically.When Dixon finally understood that the dynamics of power had changed, he shut his mouth.Adam then asked, “What was your plan for getting these people out of here? Just staying around and attacking others who just want to survive like you?”Dixon’s face was twisted in derision.He was about to make a derogatory comment when Layla cleared her throat and adjusted the gun in her hand with a meaningful look pinned at him.“You wouldn’t shoot me,” he bluffed.“Wanna bet?” Layla asnwered s

Dixon proved difficult right from the beginning of the journey. First, he argued that it was only common sense that they should go with the van. “I know you are eager to go to your grave but no, sir. I am not,” he said adamantly when Adam told him that the Jeep would be a better option. “I still say we leave his ass back here. We don’t need him on the road anyway, mr Ranger." “Now you look here…” “No, you look here!” Adam said as he shut the door loudly and faced the belligerent man. “None of us have the time for this bullshit! I will suggest you just do your part and let’s get this over and done with. That way, we can all get out of each other’s hair and never meet again.” “By that, he means you... I will love to never..." Adam’s stormy look stopped Layla’s snarky comment. She raised her hands in surrender and moved over to the passenger seat. She had barely entered when Dixon said “Now she gets to ride a shotgun?” “Seriously, dude. What is your problem?” Carlisle said testi