The Final Rule (26 page)

“You can’t.”

“I wish it could be different.”

“I don’t.” There was only sincerity in Rudy’s eyes. That and something impossible. Happiness. “Everything was perfect. The good, the bad, all of it. I wouldn’t trade a single second.” Rudy nodded at Ellis’s body lying beside the overturned dirt bike. “Now go.”

George drove the larger tractor up alongside of the pickup Jon drove. “Jon?”

He jerked his attention off the wood line where Ellis had disappeared. “Yeah?”

“You’ve got ten barrels left. Make the most of it.”

Jon followed the man’s gaze. The pecan trees were black marks across the scenery.

“Yes, sir.” Jon leaned out the window. Leon and Chunk stood at the end of the trailer, hands on a blue barrel.

“You ready for another?”

“George says we need to head for the trees.”

The two men exchanged a look. Leon made the sign of the cross over his chest. Jon had a feeling they were going to need a lot more than prayers.

He cut a half circle. Up ahead, the second fertilizer tractor made another pass over the opposite side.

“You guys ready?”

Leon gave a thumbs up.

Jon said, “Two, one, then two. The others we’ll dump on the perimeter.” Leon nodded.

Jon turned back around.

His brother stood in front of the truck. Jon slammed on the breaks. The bumper dipped low enough to scrape the ground. Metal on metal echoed from the rear of the truck. The trailer connected with the bumper.

One of the two men on the back cursed, but Jon couldn’t tell who.

“Jon?”

He was pretty sure it was Chunk.

“What’s going on up there?”

The rear of the pickup dipped and footsteps came from the bed behind Jon.

“Jon?” Leon knocked on rear window.

Jon couldn’t take his eyes off his brother.

“Jon?”

“Do you see him?”

“What are you—”

“You see him, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“We gotta turn back. Something bad is going to—” The ground in front of the truck swelled. “Oh shit.” Jon threw it in reverse. “Hang on to something.”

Leon yelled at Chunk but Jon didn’t have time to make sure he’d heard.

The Big and Terrible
had lost interest in their distraction. Or maybe it didn’t and…”Ellis, you better be okay.”

The wheels of the truck slid for a moment.

Jon picked up speed.

Leon leaned around the side. “Chunk is gonna drop the trailer.”

“If we drop the trailer, we leave behind the fuel.”

“And if we don’t, you’ll never out-run this thing.”

A large thud came from under the carriage. Then the tires were rolling on air. Everything listed sideways as the vehicle slid down the swollen patch of earth.

Chunk yelled for Leon.

Jon glanced back, but the image was burned into his head as if he’d watched it for hours.

The trailer tipped farther than the truck, and the unsecured barrels rolled over the edge disappearing into a wall of black. Chunk clamored up the side, using the loose straps for hand-holds.

Fear sucked the color from his cheeks.

Leon reached out to him; their fingers brushed.

Another swell shoved the trailer up in the opposite direction, turning the man’s forward motion against him. Chunk went airborne and his long legs were tossed over his head. He hit the ground a few yards from the bubble earth.

“Jon.” Leon beat on the hood of the truck.

“I see him, I see him, hang on!”

Jon turned the wheels into the direction of their slide and put it into drive.

Grass slapped the wheel well. Jon gave the pickup as much gas as he dared and it shot over the uneven ground. Every bump tossed Jon against the roof.

The mound of earth followed the circle he made.

Jon leaned toward the window. “Is he alive?” Leon continued to look back at his partner. “Leon, is Chunk alive?”

“I don’t know. He’s smart. He could be. If he isn’t moving, that thing may not notice him.”

“Yeah.” Jon didn’t doubt the man’s ability to survive, but with the way he’d landed he more likely snapped his neck.

“I’m going to go wide. We’ll cut back by him.”

Leon said exactly what Jon feared. “Jon, if he isn’t alive then that thing is baiting us.”

“I know.”

“It’ll take us down.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” The truck hit another rut and Leon was knocked over. Jon couldn’t slow down, so he tried to keep the wheel straight. Leon regained his hold and leaned toward the windows. “Go for the trees.”

“What?”

“The trees. Go for the trees. I’ll cut the rest of the barrels loose and we’ll drop the trailer.”

Chunk was barely visible in the grass now. If they didn’t get him on this pass they may never get the chance. Jon couldn’t leave the man to
The Big and Terrible
. If there was any chance that he was alive, Jon had to take it.

“Jon.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Listen to me. Chunk knew what he was getting into. If he’s gone he’s gone, if he’s alive he’ll wait.”

How could Leon say that? Chunk was his friend. No, he was more than a friend, Leon loved Chunk like Jon loved Ellis. Maybe more in some ways.

Leon reached around through the window and gripped Jon’s arm. “If we don’t drop the load we won’t stand a chance. You know that. If we get rid of it we’ll be able to move faster. It might even give us another distraction.”

Jon slammed his hand against the steering wheel. His vision wavered and he wiped his eyes. Leon’s grief reflected back at Jon from the side mirror.

“Okay,” Jon said. “Okay, hang on.” He veered out of his circle and headed for the trees.

“We won’t be able to make a good drop.” Leon said. “As soon as I undo the hitch, you hit the gas. That should be enough to bounce any stray barrels off along with the trailer.”

“You’ll get shredded.” One wrong move and Leon could lose a hand.

“We don’t have any other choice.”

It seemed like there were never any real choices in life. Just moments that some survived and some didn’t.

“Jon?”

“Yeah?”

“You can’t hesitate. No matter what. You don’t have a second. You don’t have half a second. Do you hear me? As soon as that trailer is loose, you gun it.”

Jon didn’t want to, but he nodded.

Without the tailgate, the bumper and hitch were right there in easy reach. Unfortunately, so was the ground. There was no room for error. If Jon hit a hard dip, Leon would be tossed off into the gap between the truck and trailer and crushed. He might still fall off when the truck accelerated. Jon needed to slow down but they were already at a disadvantage and they couldn’t afford to lose even a few feet.

He glanced back at Leon every few seconds. The man lay on his stomach, hands over the back of the truck, working to release the hitch.

A swell rose up near Chunk like maybe
The Big and Terrible
was confused by their change in direction.

Leon took out a pocketknife and cut the straps bracing the remaining barrels. As they passed between the first two pecan trees, the truck hit a bump and a barrel rolled off. It bounced and a line of fuel slopped out the open cap and all over the grass. Another went, then another, until there were only four more.

A high-pitched cry bored into Jon’s skull. The rush of static shoved him against the seat and the truck veered to the side, heading right for one of the trees. Jon jerked the wheel.

The bumper carved a line through the bark, jarring the entire pickup. A loud clatter echoed from the trailer and the massive pecan trees blurred as they passed.

Wet warmth slid down Jon’s cheek. He wiped his face and his fingers came away bloody. The painful cry emanating around them seemed farther away now, muting the static in Jon’s mind.

He glanced up in the mirror terrified of what he would see. Leon sat braced against the side of the truck, one hand gripping the edge. Streaks of crimson made lines down his neck.

“Leon?” He didn’t respond. “Leon?”

The trailer swung to the side and launched off a mound of roots. When it came down the entire truck jumped. Jon’s head hit the ceiling and Leon was tossed on his side. His right leg slid off the end of the bed.

Whatever daze he’d been in broke. Another hard bounce sent him into a slide. He stopped himself with a foot against the edge of the trailer, but all it would take is another hard rut to knock him off.

Jon slammed on the brakes and Leon rolled to the front of the truck bed. “Goddamn it, boy, I told you not to stop.”

Wads of earth and chunks of grass erupted at the end of the trailer. It dropped and the remaining barrels slid off, rolling in all directions, vomiting fuel. Dirt washed over the plastic shells pulling them under. Then a geyser of pink gasoline burst from the ground.

“Go, Jon!”

Jon hit the gas. The truck lurched forward but stopped when the rear of the trailer dropped lower. Mutilated grass and blue smoke pumped from under the spinning rear wheels.

Leon crawled on his stomach to the end of the truck. He reached over the edge. There was a loud pop and the trailer flipped backwards. With the weight gone the truck found traction.

Swells in the earth made the pickup tip to the side. Rock and soil boiled up as tendrils of black followed blades of grass crawling over the barrels. One by one
The Big and Terrible
consumed them.

Leon crawled toward the cab of the truck. Blood soaked the sleeve of his left arm.

“Are you okay?” Jon said.

“Boy…” He hooked his arm over the side. “If you ever disobey a direct order from me again I will beat the ever-living shit out of you.” He slumped in the corner.

“That’s not an answer, Leon. If you don’t answer me, I’m gonna pull over.”

“The hell you will.” He wiped his face. Ribbons of skin hung where his pinky finger should have been.

“Jesus, your hand.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, you’re hurt.”

“It’s just a finger.” The man pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand. “No big deal. Got nine more. Never used that one anyhow.” He gave Jon a tired smile. “Now head back. We need to see if Chunk is still with us.”

Just beyond Chunk, the dump truck was on its side with Terrence perched on the cab. There was no sign of Dave. The ground rolled and churned, swallowing the vehicle inch by inch.

“I think it’s catching on.” Leon said.

The Big and Terrible
was more than just catching on. More crevices opened in the field. The tractor George drove jerked to a halt when the sprayer was swallowed up by a wave of dirt. Grass slithered up the sides.

“Is it me or is that thing moving slower?”

“Where the hell have you been for the past ten minutes?”

“But it’s not chasing us anymore.”

Leon looked.

The dump truck dropped lower, then the grass crawled higher on the tractor. One movement after the other but never at the same time.

Jon stopped the truck beside Chunk. Leon was already kneeling beside Chunk with his fingers on the man’s pulse, when Jon got around to the back.

“Is he alive?”

Tears on Leon’s face gave Jon the answer. Leon went back to the truck.

Jon followed. “We can’t leave him.”

“We don’t have time for the dead, not when there are people who can be helped.”

“This isn’t right, Leon.” Jon opened the driver’s side door.

“We ain’t got time for what’s right. Now, get in.”

A geyser of dirt shoved the rear of the truck into the air. Leon was knocked aside and the door smashed into Jon’s shoulder. The pickup came down on its nose, buckling the hood. A crack spider-webbed the windshield and the driver’s side window shattered. Bits of glass rained down on Jon.

The truck fell back on all four tires, bounced twice and landed right side up with the engine still running.

Ripples in the ground rose around them. In the distance, men screamed.

“C’mon, Jon.” Leon pulled Jon to his feet. “We gotta go.”

But where?

The trembling in Leon’s body traveled to Jon where the man gripped his arm. “Do you believe in God, Jon?”

“No.”

Leon nodded. “Pray anyways.”

The nasal whine of a small engine grew in intensity. It wavered, going from one side of the circle to the other, then slowed to a putter.

The dirt wall quit growing.

Even on his toes, Jon couldn’t see over the top. “Ellis?”

“Yeah.”

“What the hell are you doing? Get out of here.”

“Not yet.”

“What do you mean, not yet?”

The dirt bike engine revved. A wave crawled up the edged of the wall and it sank into the ground. Mounds of dirt swallowing up the vehicles receded.

Then together they moved in a new direction. Toward Ellis.

“Ellis!” Leon locked his arm around Jon’s ribs. “Let go of me.”

“You gotta let him do his thing, Jon. Remember. You gotta let him.”

Ellis met Jon’s gaze. Everything condensed into those few seconds and Jon memorized every detail of the man he loved right down to the dirt on his face, the cut above his eyes, and his torn shirt.

Nothing existed for Jon until Ellis looked away.

The Big and Terrible
converged and a wash of black launched out of the ground. Ellis hit the gas and the dirt bike propelled him out of range. The arc of oily fluid disappeared back into the soil. Multiple hills made chase.

“Jon.” Leon shoved him toward the truck. “We gotta go.”

Because they needed to save whomever they could.

And Ellis couldn’t be saved.

Ellis sped across the field.

The wind flattened the grass in front of him. Overhead, dangerous clouds pumped out of the blue sky.

That had been close. Another few seconds and Jon would have been gone. But seeing
The Big and Terrible
cripple the operation revealed a weakness. The farther it had to reach, the slower it became. That meant they’d forced it to make its move toward an epidemic sooner than it was ready.

Leaving the nest to spread had taxed its resources. Whatever they were. Now it was hungry and with all its soldiers out of commission it had no one to feed it.