D. T.

H A N N A H

© D. T. Hannah, 1996
 The Ants
D. T. Hannah.

The end of a typical late September day. The area had been bursting with life
as the sun gradually sank lower, shooting a few last minute bolts of heat and light
through the atmosphere, tinting it a warm red. A burst of bright colours to fanfare the
days end and to announce the arrival of the night. The sun disappeared behind the
nearby hills at exactly 5:54pm.
Human time.

Bill Connor slid his hands along the top of the wheel. Damn, he was hoping to
get to the retreat before nightfall, driving at night was not one of his favourite pastimes
nor was he feeling up to it. The first day on their annual holiday hadn't been a
screaming success, not by a long shot, with Ben carsick and a flat tyre induced stop,
the other boys not helping at all, this was not a good start at all.
Sometimes he wished he could leave the kids with his mother for two weeks
and take Janine for a private holiday, just on their own. Unfortunately, the boy's only
surviving grandparent was in care, unable to look out for herself. He glanced across to
his sleeping wife and followed the beautiful smooth line of her face with his eyes
before returning back to the road. He was still madly in love with her, not that he had
said it to her recently, especially with the kids around wanting `this` and `that`. Still
there would be ample opportunity to be alone, the Heritage Country Retreat brochure
boasted of many `fully supervised activities for the kids`. The actual retreat had better
live up to that promise or he was packing up and going home. At six, Ben was pretty
happy about a week in the country but James and Don at twelve and nine had seemed
to form a conspiracy to hate every moment of the trip and let everyone else know
about it. At least they had each other to hate the trip together with.
`Dad, I'm hungry.` Ben leaned forward and whispered so he would not wake
his mother.
`Dinner is soon.` Bill whispered back, actually not for another hour but six
year olds had a poor conception of time.
Janine stirred. `What time is it?` She noticed the increasing darkness .
`Uh, six o`clock.` He reached over and massaged her arm as she nestled against
the door into a more comfortable sleeping position.
Bill flicked the lights onto high beam as the visibility lessened and the country
road neared the base of rearing, twilight shadowed hills.

If Ben rolls against me again I am going to hit him, hard. Don pushed his
sleeping brother away. God, he's so annoying. Don wished he would just give up on
sleep and sit up straight, maybe go bug James for the game boy. why couldn't they
have just gone to the beach for their holidays? Only an hours drive away instead they...
no wait, there was no 'they' in this at all, the parents made the decision independent of
anything the kids wanted. That was always the way though, parents make the choices
and kids have no say whatsoever.
Don continued to fix his gaze on the countryside, the dwindling light made it
increasingly harder to see anything, not that there was anything to see anyway, cows,
great. Probably some farmer chewing on some hay, cool. And ants. Don still felt sad
about the ants.
It had happened earlier on in the trip, hours ago it seemed, Ben was sick and
had been complaining for the last few minutes. Mum put a towel across Ben's lap and
told him to try and hold on (like it was possible to do that!) and a few minutes later it
happened. Ben leaned over, lifted the sides of his towel and threw up into his lap.
Suddenly the car was filled with loud shouts, Ben's sick whine and the putrid smell of
vomit. Don had to cover his mouth and hold his breath to stop from feeling sick
himself. Dad brought the car to a near skidding halt on the dirt roadside and got out.
He opened Don's door and Don gratefully got out, the smell was so bad he felt he
needed to brush it off his clothing. He needed to get away from the putrid vehicle.
Walking along the side of the road to stretch his tired legs he came to a mound
of red dirt which had been carefully stripped of vegetation. From a few metres away it
seemed lifeless, but on closer inspection Don saw tiny residents scurrying around on
their daily business. Not bull ants, not green ants, just some tiny black variety that
always seemed to get inside houses.
James, Don's elder by two and a half years, walked up to see what Don was up
to. Either that, or he was distancing himself from the car as well. He made a
disinterested face when he saw that it was only an ants nest, but stood around for want
of anything better to look at. Don pulled out a piece of grass, the type with the seed
pod dangling precariously at the top of a long thin stem. Growing out of the ground it
almost came to his waist. Once out, it made a handy whip for him to tease the ants. He
brushed it back and forward, poking ants as they tried to go about their work. James
had also picked a stalk of grass and was systematically pulling it apart, he dropped the
bits of grass and seed onto the nest like little bombs, they rained down on the little
black ants who probably couldn't work out what was hitting them.
Don collected gum tree pods for some more substantial ammo and began
bombing runs all over the surface of the nest, the ants were by now visibly agitated,
some were wandering around in confusion, others tried to get on with work only to be
hit on the head with a giant pod. It was quite fascinating. Suddenly James scrambled
across the nest, kicking up dust, skidding across the nest like that sent the ants into a
sudden frenzy and Don saw in James' footprints the tiny broken bodies of ants. Don
skidded across the nest in the same way, the thought of ants grabbing onto his shoes
and climbing up his legs sent a scary chill making it more thrilling and causing him to
kick his feet out more furiously. When he reached the other side he saw the "X" his
and James' feet tracks made across the nest, the ants were now climbing across the
new gouges on their home and the wrecked bodies of their friends.
James skidded across again but when he reached the centre he stamped
furiously for a second and then skipped out of reach. Suddenly the nest was dark with
ants pouring out from underneath, brought up by the earthquake like stamping of
James. Don felt like doing the same but he didn't fancy his chances of avoiding ants
crawling up his legs with them this numerous.
James jumped on the nest again, and again, kicking more dust up each time
and bringing a more frenzied response each time from the ants. Oh, what the hell, Don
skidded across the nest again, stamping and kicking with his older brother. Soon large
chunks of dirt began to kick loose and they kicked them away, revealing the tunnels
below the surface. This brought even more panic from the ants as they poured out
from the nest in even greater numbers than was seen before. James kicked at the
widening hole, exposing more of the nest, it felt like a treasure hunt, soon the earth
would reveal beautiful treasure, gems and gold doubloons, providing they battled their
way past the army of man eating insects.
Don felt a prick on his toe and he knew an ant had succeeded in biting him
back, inside his shoe. He jumped clear of the nest and stamped on his right foot with
his left, he sat down on the tall yellow grass and began to untie his shoe, wait, the pain
was gone, didn't ant bites hurt for a while? Suddenly Don realized that he had been
silly, it was just a tiny rock, no ant could bite your foot from inside your shoe! He was
just about to re-enter the fray when he realized just how tired he was from the car trip,
and how comfortable the chair of pushed back grass he had unwittingly made was. He
decided to rest.
James was still kicking at the nest and Don watched with decreasing interest,
the afternoon sun sapped strength as quickly as it evaporated water. The ants scurried
around at what they must imagine to be a catastrophe, then Don realized that this was
a catastrophe to them, their house had been destroyed, hundreds of their friends were
dead and dying, they were scrambling around trying to find their loved ones and the
force of destruction known as James and Don continued unabated.
Don saw a line of ants on the fringe of the nest near him, they were carrying
white lumps on their backs, trying to make an escape. Don remembered back to one of
many classes at school where they had learned about insects. He had seen this before,
on a video a line of ants carried white packages and the teacher on the video said they
were what the ants were before they were ants, larvae or eggs or something, and now
these ants were trying to carry these important parcels away from the disaster. They
were trying to save their children.
STAMP! James' foot came down on the line of ants and their white babies.
Shocked, Don looked up at his older brother who was stamping elsewhere. Didn't he
know? Suddenly Don felt sick, not throw up sick, different and worse. He felt horrible
because that was how he had acted. He didn't want to be part of this any more but the
deed was already done, he didn't want to see it happen at the hands of his brother but
he could not look away, he didn't want to think about it anymore but the thought
pushed it's way into his mind. They were trying to save their children.
'Boys!' James' wanton destruction was halted by the voice of their father, Don
sprang up and began to wade through the grass to the car, with James right behind,
James worked his way past Don and Don walked a bit faster to maintain his lead,
James sped up and Don sped up enormously. Suddenly it was a race and the two
brothers bounded over the grass in order to be considered better than the other rather
than plain eagerness to be back. The previous "adventure" forgotten by both young
minds, they dashed along the side of the road to the car now silhouetted by the orange
and red of the late afternoon sky.
But not now. Don watched the blue grey landscape glide past and remembered
everything that had happened. He still felt bad, the sight of tiny white parcels flitted
through his mind again and again. Don saw a light coming up from behind their car,
another car. With headlights on you couldn't even see what colour it was, Don
wondered if things were any better in that car and if so, how could he arrange a swap?
He had had enough of the inside of this car and its pathetic `country retreat`
destination.

In all his forty two years... Rob Travis slowed as the rear driving lights of
another car slipped into view ahead. In all his forty two years he had never thought
that this would happen. Not to his own daughter.
Rob looked through the rear view mirror to the sullen face of his daughter, but
it was too dark to see. Only seventeen, maybe not to herself but to the world she was a
baby. He only lingered a moment, just thinking about her made him involuntarily
grind his teeth. How could she do this to herself? In the tiny town they lived in, word
spread like a grass fire and this little bit of gossip would be red hot. It would be
impossible to keep a lid on since Jodie had been missing for half a year already, and
now... He had an important standing in such a small community, how could she do
this to herself?

Jodie looked out the window at the familiar landmarks gliding by, well known
since they had spent every holiday traveling the same highway to the city, constant
reminders of a happier childhood. All that was gone now and no small part of the
blame landed on her own lap.
Once she could sit an entire four hour journey, watching the scenery glide past,
letting her thoughts occupy her for the duration. Now she would give anything to have
her walkman back. It now lay in a pawn shop and her thoughts were no company she
wanted. She had ruined the relationship she used to have with her parents, not that
they helped the situation any. Her father probably would have kicked her out anyway,
her mother didn't seem to care anymore. It was all so unfair, but not to her, to someone
else...
She felt her swollen stomach as the baby kicked.

Pregnant at seventeen? and then running away? Maybe to her it seemed like a
good idea but had she come to her parents like she should have then, something could
have been done. Now it was too late. Had something been done then, no one would
find out, the damage would have been minimized Rob thought bitterly, how could she
do this to herself? to us? to the family? Since she had run out the family had been torn
apart, where once a pleasant and warm home stood, now a tense and moody building
brooded. Rob had been spending more time at the antique store he owned, the pleasant
and soothing lines of the old furniture took him back to better times when this thing
never happened.
Sometimes Rob wished dearly that he still lived in those better days, forget
CD's, plastic surgery, microcomputers, jet airlines, skyscrapers, he could live without
all of the wonderful technological breakthroughs if only he could live in a world where
society had not been corrupted by itself. Where the people he loved had not been
corrupted by it.
Well he wasn't living in the same times his antique furniture had been made
and complaining about it will do nothing whatsoever. He was the father and it was his
job to get things back to normal. Problem being the damage spread by rumors in the
township was nothing to that of the hurt inside the family.

She knew when the pregnancy kit showed positive what she had to do right
away. Run. She knew how her father would react, which was how he had reacted.
Jodie just wished that he could be more forgiving. What kind of father was so
condemning that his own children would sooner run away that bring him their
problems? Christian, her boyfriend suggested taking off since the beginning of their
relationship, because he hated the way her dad looked down upon her. To Christian,
running away was the perfect solution, get a job, rent a cheap flat and do whatever
they wanted. They soon learned how wrong he was, no job, no friends, no support,
steadily dwindling savings... Jodie was surprised she had lasted the time she had,
especially after Christian ran out on her.
For a while she survived, stubbornness keeping her from calling home, when
the last of her savings drained away she slept on the streets for a week. Soaked with
rain and starved, in a bus shelter she finally picked up the phone. It was a humiliating
feeling, she could remember the night she ran away with Christian, over a six pack
they vowed that death would be preferable to returning home. In some ways it was.
But for the child's sake it wasn't. She had run away to save her baby and she would see
this through. There was no other reason to go on. Now her father would never let her
forget it and that was fine, she had suffered because she couldn't handle his
unforgiving nature but now she promised herself that she could deal with it as she saw
this pregnancy through. Nothing he would say could cause her to make another
mistake and put the baby's life at risk.
What really hurt was that she sensed a feeling of shame from her father, not
because she had gotten herself into this mess but because she was his daughter. It hurt
a lot.

Rob didn't know what to think when Jodie called to be taken home, all this
time he had been wishing for her to do something, make contact at least, but when she
did call he felt odd. In a way he was happy that she was coming home, seventeen years
and you could get used to a person, but still, he couldn't fight down feelings that he
didn't want her back. He knew it was a terrible thing to think but that was the way the
felt about it. Now he was thinking about how these events would affect him, what
about his wife Carmen? She had cried the week Jodie ran away and again when she
called to come home, but apart from that she seemed to be bottling the emotion away.
Rob wasn't expressing his feelings much either but he knew it wasn't good for Carmen.
She seemed to be relying on the supposition that if you keep calm then nothing can go
wrong. Rob supposed it was some sort of denial process and hoped that it would soon
pass. Carmen had not spoken a complete sentence to her daughter and she wasn't like
that. When they met at the bus shelter less than two hours ago Carmen was silent and
let Rob do all the talking. It was Damn scary.

Why had Christian run out on her? He had eventually got a good job and they
had started to get things together and then the arguments started, at first it was just
small things like what to eat but then it was bigger things, money of which they now
had enough of was central to most of the fights. Jodie suspected that he didn't want the
baby either. It was his too but he didn't want it. If she had told him about the
pregnancy before they ran away then he might not have gone at all. Maybe he felt he
was getting trapped into something, but why trapped? They loved each other, didn't
they? this was what they wanted, to live together, forever... or maybe he had stopped
loving her...
Oh Stop it! why must she run over this in her head? It's over. The dream, the
love, her life with Christian was all gone and all that was left was her family. But did
her family want her anymore? Was the baby welcome at all? When it arrived would it
be the unwanted ignored child? It would be a lonely way to grow up. Her father was
always angry when she was around and her mother wouldn't even speak to her. Even
her younger brother seemed to be hesitant to approach her should he be accused of
`consorting with the enemy`. What had she done?

What were they going to do when they got home? Would they send Jodie to
finish school? In her present condition, Rob wasn't even sure the school would let her
in. A job? Out of the question. Rob just wished he could lock his daughter away from
the public eye at least until the term was up. It was all that punk Christian's fault, he
led her on, impregnated her, made her run away and then left her in a gutter to fend for
herself. Christian, he'd better make sure that Rob never sees him again. How could
Jodie, do such a thing with such slime? how could his own flesh and blood, be so
stupid?
Rob flicked the rearview mirror to 'night' as the headlights of a car behind
pulled into view.

'....Okay so he's handing over the money and in I walk, in full uniform looking
for some smokes cause the shift's almost over. The guy looks at me and says "Uh oh."
pretty calm like his car is missing a tail light or something. I didn't see the knife or
nothing, all I saw was some guy getting a bag of something and I wasn't really looking.
Anyway he gives the clerk a real dirty look like “say anything and I'll kill ya” right,
and he calmly, just walks right out the door, money and all.'
Lennie laughed 'Oh No!.'
'Yeah, so I say "Winfields," and this clerk is just looking at me like I was a
lunatic, all pale with eyes popping out of his head and all. I didn't notice of course, I
just thought he was weird looking or something, I only started to suspect something
when he wouldn't move to get the cigarettes for me. I looked around and the door
where the robber was long gone and said "What?"!'
'Truly, detective instincts there.' Lennie added.
'Yeah, right.' Mark agreed. 'After a few seconds he says: "the...the...that...was..
..a...robbery." I just stand there as the whole thing just dawns on me and then I run
outside, look around and he's gone, Gary's sitting on the bonnet there, I say "Where'de
go?" an Gary says "Where'd who go?".'
Lennie laughed out loud.
'So the crook is long gone, the sarge bites our head off and the local newspaper
thinks it's the funniest thing that ever happened.'
'Did you ever catch him?" Lennie asked.
'Oh, yeah,' Mark assured him. 'Fingerprints and all that but still that's why the
guys ask me if I want some smokes all the time.'
'Ah, I see.' Lennie grinned. He was beginning to fit in, after three weeks at the
small police station he really felt that he was getting along with the other guys.
Uncomfortable silence. Lennie wasn't so secure that he didn't experience these
anymore. 'So where is Gary?' He didn't recognize the name.
'Oh, transferred himself to Sydney somewhere when his wife got into a law
firm or something, didn't really keep tabs on him.' Mark chuckled to himself. 'Think
that poor bastard was right under the thumb. That's what marriage does to you Len,
stay right away.'
Lennie said nothing. He knew that Mark's wife had died in a car accident about
two years ago, for months afterward he was a shattered man and even now the signs of
pain were evident. Lennie knew that there were worse reasons not to get hitched but he
could still see himself settling down with someone. At the moment he was still living
at home.
Lennie looked across to Mark Skye. The Sergeant was silent, eyes seemingly
fixed on the car in front, he was a lonely man and all this talk about wife's had
saddened him. Although Lennie wanted to be a friend he knew he should avoid certain
topics until they were more familiar, Mark was very kind to drop him home, Len's car
had taken up permanent residence at the local garage.
'So you've moved to old Smith's house.' Mark broke the silence.
Taken by surprise Lennie said. 'Uh, yeah... yeah, only moved in two months
ago, my dad, anyway, I was still at the academy.'
'What, so you requested to be posted here?'
'No, I was sent here because there was space and I lived in the region,' Lennie
explained. 'Actually my dad had an accident at work, lost his leg, and got retired with
a big pension, when we found out where I was going he moved here.'
'Bet that ticked you off.' Mark suggested slyly.
Lennie laughed 'Yeah I did sorta think I was getting out of the house, but it's
ok. we get along.
'If he's one legged, how come he decided to live out here?' the officer asked,
peering out at the darkening countryside.
'That's what I said.' Lennie chuckled 'But he can get around, and he loves it he
says, actually I think he just got a shonky real estate dealer and won't admit it.'
Mark laughed.

Jake Smith yawned out loud, he resisted the habitual urge to take one hand
from the wheel to cover his mouth since he was the only person in the cabin of the
truck. He eased up behind a line of cars and shifted position so he could stretch his
back. All day driving and still behind schedule, another hour and a half if he wanted to
make the delivery. When the recession hit, it had hit hard, now Jake's partly owned
private hauling business was down to two trucks and three investors, right now he was
pulling a half truck load of baby prams and bassinets for a country baby products
store. Unless more business was drummed up in the next couple of weeks, Jake would
be looking for a new job and that was why he was going to drive all night if necessary.
Oh Shit, the cops. Jakes pulse went up involuntarily even though he hadn't
done anything- well recently anyway. What was a cop car doing out here? This road
wasn't even well travelled.
He felt around in the ash tray, since quitting, the ash tray had become a home
for loose change (although semi trailers rarely parked in areas requiring parking meter
money), and bits of chocolate bar wrappers among other things. Jake felt around until
his fingers felt a smooth round object. He put the wake up pill into his mouth without
water. God, he needed some sleep.
That's odd, that light off to the left had not moved. It just seemed to hover there
in the one spot. That light gave him the creeps... Oh, what am I saying? a Light? I
really must be tired to be thinking this, Jake considered pulling over and taking a much
needed rest. No. The business was failing and he really needed to get this one through
on time. He steeled himself and concentrated on the road ahead.
The cars ahead turned a wide corner and Jake followed suit, three pairs of
blood red eyes stared back at him. Nearly unmoving in relation to each other the cars
followed a simple dance lay down by traffic laws of speed and direction, having
nothing to do with each other or even knowing who they were, they automatically
banded into a convoy and travelled into the night.

The convoy of four sped along the highway, a train of movement and light in
an otherwise black and empty countryside. At least that's how it would look from
several thousand metres up.

Bill peered into the gloom ahead. All he could see were the white lines painted
down the centre of the road and the red and white reflectors on each side. He hoped
that the Retreat had a good sign out the front, the notion of driving back and forth in
the middle of the night didn't appeal to him. A chill struck him as he realized he may
have already passed by. No, they shouldn't reach the retreat for another half hour yet,
but he would concentrate on reading every sign from here on just to be sure. The road
was beginning to twist as it gained altitude, the retreat would most likely be after these
hills. Hopefully.
Ben leaned forward again, probably to ask when dinner was due, the six year
old didn't eat as much as his brothers but snacked with the best of them. They all, Bill
guessed would be feeling the pinch of hunger by now.
`Dad, what's that light? Is it a star?`
Bill stole a moment from the road and looked out Janine`s window to see a
blurry orange glow hanging halfway up the canopy of stars. `No Its not a star.` He
admitted.
`Then what is it?` Ben asked.
`A plane.` What else could it be?
`Oh yeah.` He obviously hadn't thought of that.
`But don't planes have flashing red lights?' Ben asked. `and aren't they
supposed to move?`
`It's not moving?` Bill asked his son incredulously, he didn't want to tear his
eyes away from the road too long to look for himself, the road was too windy by now.
`Yeah, I've been watching it for ages now and it's still in the same place.` Ben
insisted. `It's not moving at all.`
`We're moving too you know,` Bill told him, `maybe it's moving the same way
as us.`
Ben grimaced as if he was thinking hard `I guess so.`
Janine stirred, stretching into complete wakefulness. `How much longer.`
Bill smiled, that was a phrase normally uttered by one of the kids, `About
twenty five minutes.`
Ben jumped forward and pointed out the window. `Look Mummy, there's a
light and we don't even know what it is.`
Janine looked first out the window at the hazy orange glow and then to Bill. He
shrugged his shoulders, `I don't know.`
`Maybe it's a weather balloon being launched.` she suggested.
`Oh Mummy.` Ben sighed at the mundane idea. `In the middle of the night?`
`What then? `Janine laughed.
`It has to be a helicopter!` the boy said excitedly, as the idea occurred to him.
`With a search light... Looking for spies!`
Janine and Bill both laughed. Ben sat back in his seat huffing. Janine's eyes
met Bills and she silently mouthed `What do you think?`
`I don't know, chopper looking for spies.` he guessed.
`You know, it could be...` She implied.
`Oh no.` He disagreed strait away, `none of that unexplained mystery stuff in
this car please.` Then he saw that she was reaching down in front of her feet and
reaching inside the carry bag there. `Oh no, you are not serious!`
`Yup.` She pulled out the handycam and aimed at the mysterious light. `We
could get on Unsolved Mysteries with this.
`Oh great.` Bill's voice was heavy with sarcasm, though behind all this joking
with his wife a small doubt lurked, maybe the weird orange glow wasn't as mundane
as it he would prefer it. Maybe Janine and Ben's imagination were set off by the light
but it set of Bills fears for his family's safety. He concentrated on the road with
renewed vigor, the sooner they were at the retreat the better.
 Jodie stared out the window at the bright orange glow, wondering with idle
curiosity what it was. She didn't know and to be perfectly honest she didn't really care.
Maybe she was a bit wrapped up in her own problems, maybe when the trip is over
and they are back home everything could go back to normal. Home. Her room. She
hadn't been in her own room in months, it would be good to be in her own bed
surrounded by her own things, her old clothes, her posters, her bears, stuff collected
throughout a childhood... Jodie knew that she could never really return to that
childhood innocence, everything had changed.
Could the strange orange light be a plane? No, planes weren't fuzzy orange
glows unless... Could that be a plane on fire? About to crash? But how has it managed
to stay up in the air for so long, and why? A dozen possibilities occurred at once. The
plane is circling an airfield waiting to use all of its fuel reserves to make an emergency
landing, but while on fire? Maybe it is having troubles with it's landing gear. Maybe
the fire is under control but can't be put out until they have landed. It could be
anything. Maybe it's not a fire at all, it could be some sort of super powerful spotlight.
One thing it was. Weird.

About five minutes driving, and the old Smith place would be in view, Mark
Skye thought to himself, living out in the scrub certainly did not suit him, he preferred
his simple flat in town. Lennie seemed to be showing no signs of tiring, that's the
young for you, boundless energy, everything changes once you hit the big `three-oh`
you stop growing at each end and start growing in the middle...
`Now what do you think that is?` Lennie asked breaking the silence, he
indicated nothing but had been looking out the window for the last few minutes.
Mark craned his neck to see what it was and saw it was just a light. `Its a
plane.` He wondered what was bugging the young man.
`But don't planes have red flashing lights?` Lennie insisted.
`An illegal plane then.` Mark said but now his curiosity was aroused, the
orange light seemed to hang there in the sky, and Mark got a really weird feeling that
he was being watched. Then he felt foolish for thinking such things. `Its nothing.`
`We could still call it in.` Lennie suggested. Reaching for the radio.
`Yeah Ok.` Why not? Mark thought.
`Dispatch,` Lennie spoke into the mic with a gruffer voice than usual, they both
knew that Julie was rostered onto radio duty and she was the best looking cop at the
station, maybe even in the region. No answer, a Monday night was usually pretty quiet
and Julie drank coffee like there was no tomorrow while on dispatch, she was probably
making all the pots herself so that nobody would really know how much she really
drank.
`Dispatch, come in.` Lennie repeated. Although the station wasn't nearly big
enough to have a 'dispatch' the others called it that, probably some in joke.
Nothing.
`Dispatch.` Lennie lost his gruff voice and took in a weary one, he would give
Julie heaps when she finally returned. `If any one's there...... JULIE!`
Still nothing.
`Dispatch?` Lennie sounded worried.
But the only answer was a quiet static hiss.
 If the wake up pills were working then they certainly weren't working very
hard. Jake Smith yawned again. The orange light hovered around the edge of the wide
windscreen providing another distraction in a situation where Jake would have
rathered as few distractions as possible. What was it anyway? It had remained fixed in
the same position far too long to be anything he could come up with and to be honest it
was beginning to worry him. Now Jake was a big man, never in a situation where a
little brute strength was necessary, be it loading the truck or even when he had once
walked into a brawl, had his body failed him, never. But somehow he got the feeling
that his physical strength was useless, he didn't know what it was that he was getting a
bad feeling about but he was nevertheless worried, and that scared him.
The three cars were still in front was that where the danger lay? No, it was
unlikely, it was the light that made Jake suspicious, the other cars were just other
travellers, an unusual large number of cars for this road at any one time but not out of
the ordinary.
Jake felt slightly relieved that he was driving a semi trailer rather than a car.
The impressive bulk of the truck that made maneuvering so difficult carried a feeling
at least of safety that after driving a truck for so long, Jake never felt in even a large
car anymore. Well, whether the feeling of danger was emanating from the orange light
above or the three vehicles in front, he was going to be wary.
Still tired he switched on the radio, it wasn't a substitute for real sleep he knew
that, just as the tablets wouldn't work for much longer but it helped.
Nothing. He was tuned into the local station, he had passed a sign proclaiming
good music and a community spirit five minutes ago, he couldn't be out of the
broadcasting area already, there must be something else. Jake felt for the search
button, on his new digital radio, it went around several times without picking up
anything decent, oh well, no radio stations. Jake switched the radio off.
Apart from the roar of the engine there was nothing. The lifeless noise worked
on Jake's nerves until the tension had his knuckles white and sweat beaded on the back
of his neck. Why was he strung so tight? Could it be the tiredness was fooling him into
thinking that something dangerous was out there? It was the logical explanation but
Jake had never been subject to fits of fear due to tiredness before and he had been
driving tired many times in the past. The fact that there were no radio stations within
range was just a coincidence but it had only served to increase his suspicions to an
unhealthy level of fear. Jake Smith realized that there were no foundations to the fear
he felt at all.
All the same he eased up on the accelerator pedal to let the three cars drift
away, shouldn't be travelling so fast in a semi anyway.

`Oh no!` Janine's voice had the tone of someone who had made a mistake and
had no one other to blame. Bill remained silent, if it involved the camera then fine, he
was not too hot on the idea of filming the hazy orange light, which still hung off to the
left where it had always been. He didn't like the light and although it sounded stupid,
Janine's filming of the thing seemed like an open invitation for danger.
`Look.` Janine held out the camera. `I didn't even press record, I've been sitting
here just watching the light through the viewfinder.` she sighed through her own
stupidity. Bill smirked, hoping the darkness would hide it from his wife.
Bill checked the three boys in the back, all asleep. Somehow it seemed that by
filming the light, Janine was unnecessarily placing them in danger, their own kids.
`Janine...` he began. `I don't think you should be filming that light.`
 `Why not?` She asked, it was a normal enough question and to be honest there
was no real reasoning to Bill's fears, just bad feelings. Bill turned as he tried to put into
words what he was having trouble understanding himself, and he saw his wife's eyes.
She seemed to be searching for a hint of fear in his, as if she felt the same chills that he
did, her soft beautiful face was marked with tension. He looked back at the boys, they
were shifting uncomfortably even while asleep, a chill of a new kind struck Bill, the
oppressive fear he had been feeling was being felt by everyone in the car. The tension
was in the very air, or was it just in his mind?
Bill was about to say something but he didn't, Janine looked back to the
oncoming road and was lost in her own thoughts her own fears. Bill still said nothing
even something comforting seemed hard to put into words and finally he gave up and
concentrated on finding the entrance to the retreat, he had never been right next to his
wife and felt so alone before, ever.
Janine had stopped trying to film the orange light but still fiddled with the
camera, evidently something was more wrong than just having forgotten to press
record, or maybe she needed something to do with her hands. She never was a good
repair woman but Bill let her tinker anyway. It was easier than speaking to her. He had
never been short of words around Janine in years, ever since they had been dating for a
while and had grown relaxed around each other Bill could talk for hours on end and
Janine could hold up her own conversation by herself as well. But now, he could not
even muster a few words of comfort, even a discussion on the weather. It made him
feel all the more alone.
Janine looked through the view finder at the road ahead and tested the zoom
buttons, she turned the lens by hand, pushing it from one extreme of focus to another.
She released the battery pack and it slid free, no resistance there, no broken contacts.
She pressed eject and the door opened, she removed the tape exposing the electronic
parts within the heart of the machine, she checked the tape, it was not twisted inside,
the reels rolled without resistance, as far as she could see there was nothing wrong
with the tape....
`Oh my God.` Janine breathed. Bill looked across to see what was wrong and
she was looking inside the machine.
`What?` He said finally.
She tipped the camera up and into her lap poured a mixture of smashed
electronic parts and severed wires, the camera was destroyed utterly and irreversibly,
but only the recording section. Anyone could, as Janine had, quite easily look through
the viewfinder and think that they were recording and never realizing that the insides
had been mangled.
Janine looked at her husband with horror, the question in her eyes, who could
have done this? Why? They glanced back, the car behind had been there for most of
the journey, Bill had only been annoyed at the headlights that had burned into his eyes
until he flipped the rear view mirror to night, since then he had never given the
following vehicle a second thought. Now the only thoughts were fear.
Bill gently pressed down on the accelerator until he was ten kilometres over
the limit and saw the lights of the other car grow dimmer in the rear vision mirror, he
knew he couldn't hold it a this speed for much longer, the road was getting more and
more mountainous.

Rob Travis watched in silence as the car in front suddenly pulled away. A
tension had built up in the car, not the feelings between himself and his daughter
Jodie, but something different, something unknown, something terrible. Rob had been
hovering on the speed limit behind this car for quite a distance, he was in no hurry, so
felt no need to go any faster, even when the road was not so hilly, nor overtake to get
out into the open. But suddenly seeing the car accelerate for no apparent reason was
disconcerting at the very least, particularly with a highway patrol car so close behind.
Rob was not concerned about the police presence as he may have been as a
teenager. He was a law abiding citizen even then but a much worse driver. Now he had
no worries about his abilities as a driver and so was unconcerned about the vehicle
behind.
Well he shouldn't be. He was.
Something about that particular police car sent shivers down his spine, for one
thing it wasn't doing anything, it just hung back as if it was waiting for something to
happen, the normal course of action for a highway patrol is to drive up and down the
highway and book speeders or other traffic offence committers, not zero in on a car
and wait for it to do something. For one thing not many tickets would get written and
then only if someone was foolish enough not to peek out through the rear view mirror
once in a while. The actions of this cop was weird.
It was possible that the police car didn't notice the speeder in front of Rob's car,
but that explained little, it was as if the police car was travelling to a specific place and
wasn't concerned with the goings on around it. Was it some sort of country cop I'm off
duty so bugger the rest of the world attitude or something worse? Rob hoped not, he
got the feeling he may be needing a cop or two soon, maybe not these but somebody,
and he didn't know why he got that feeling, and it scared him.

Jodie tore her eyes away from the blurry orange light still glowing outside her
window, it was an almost mesmerizing sight and deeply frightening. Was it the light or
was it something else at the root of her irrational seeming fear. She glanced across to
her thirteen year old brother Jim. He had been silent since she had left, maybe he was
just keeping out of the crossfire between herself and her father. She could recall some
fiery telephone calls during her self imposed exile, most ending with her hanging up
while he was halfway through a sentence. After Christian left she did not attempt
contact at all, convinced herself that it was better for both. Jodie felt sorry for her
brother, dad must have made life at home for anyone else miserable. Jim was normally
deep within the strains of heavy metal delivered via his prized possession, a CD
walkman, at this stage of the journey. But this time the walkman lay on his lap, the
earplugs and cord carefully coiled around and a far away expression on the boys face.
He was waiting for something to happen, or did he feel the fear too?
Jodie turned her attention to the light. It couldn't be a distressed plane, not still.
It had to be something and Jodie was caught between two feelings: curiosity, she
wanted to know what the light was and where these feelings of fear were coming from;
and fear, she was scared she would find out, deathly afraid.
The armrest that pulled out of the middle seat was down and Jim's arm was in
its usual position, his hand however, gripped the rest at the front and his knuckles were
white as death.

Rob Travis concentrated on driving. Of course the odd bad vibes he was
feeling were nothing, no scientific evidence to back it all up but... trust your instincts,
he had told himself many times during business transactions. The well honed ability to
out guess a competitor may prove more useful than just in the pursuit of profit and a
well built up business in a small town, it could save Rob and his family.
Planning. That was the key, not just a strategy for what was expected to
happen, but backup plans to deal with unexpected events, that was how Rob became
the businessman he was: planning, with a broadness that encompassed all possible
outcomes and with enough detail to know that the plan was right.
Rob's brows furrowed, but how was he to plan in detail concerning things that
he didn't even know? Some things he only felt. And what kind of broadness should he
consider? A killer in one of the cars? A conspiracy involving the cops? A military
cover up, or a search for a fugitive still at large? He smiled, Getting too caught up in
suspense novels? Rob glanced at the mysterious orange light. Aliens? Rob admitted he
didn't know very much about his current situation, all he knew was that there was
danger lurking about, a certainty, and that he had to protect his family, even Jodie who
hated him. Especially Jodie.
Plan 1: Ride it out. Rob wasn't even certain the danger involved him or his
family, it was quite possible that if they continue driving then they may avoid
involving themselves completely. A comforting thought but not as comforting as it
should be.
Plan 2: Run. A three quarter tank of fuel, enough to make it home by a long
way, making an escape was the best bet should trouble arise.
Plan 3: Fight. The car was a family Volvo station wagon, plenty of bulk and as
the advertisement proclaimed, had many safety features built in, it was however the
only weapon.
Plan 4: Call for help. Rob looked down at the mobile phone mounted next to
the handbrake.
The display said: NO SERVICE.

`Hills?` Lennie suggested.

Mark shook his head. 'I've been along this road hundreds of times and there
was no loss of signal that I could remember.'
'Something back at the station? fire next door? something like that?' It wasn't a
comforting thought.
'Maybe the radio is broken.' Mark suggested a more likely problem. 'We're
almost at your house so I'll drop you off and head back.'
Lennie frowned and nodded at the same time, Mark guessed that he was
curious about what was going on and would not mind going back for a little
excitement. Not much out of the ordinary happened in a small town. Still something
said to him that this wasn't a problem at the station, that it was here, in this area, on
this road. Didn't know how he knew, it was just cop's instinct or something like what
you saw on the TV shows.
Mark glanced down at the butt of his service revolver, a reassuring sight for the
first time. Normally he was afraid of what the weapon could do, it could kill so easily,
by accident, even in trained hands such as his and Lennie's. Innocent bystanders were
so vulnerable to missed shots and ricochet. Mark knew that this fear may cause a split
second hesitation in firing should the occasion arise but he knew that more lives would
be saved by this hesitation in the long run. Now it was different, there was no fear in
the gun save that of not having it when he needed it, he was glad that he asked Lennie
to remain "on duty" while they were travelling. Lennie had his piece and two cops
were better than one.
 A drop of sweat drew an icy line down Jake's side, he pressed his arm against
his side so his loose shirt would soak it up. The cabin of the truck was too cold to
sweat.
Something else was wrong, there were some weird sounds emanating from
behind Jake, not from the sleeper but below. Mechanical problem? the thought sent
chills down his spine. This is not a good time to break down. This is not a good place.
He would have to check it, possibly fix it or even find out if he would need to
look for a place to stop, at best his fears that there would be a problem would be
allayed, hopefully this would be the case.
Jake spotted a 'BBQ Area' sign with "2km on Left" below it, loom out of the
darkness and flash past. He prepared to stop, thinking about the shotgun stored below
the passenger side of the seat. How long would it take to load?
The headlights revealed a cramped area enclosed by the road and a thin fence
in a semi-circle shape, Jake was forced to narrowly miss the fence on each side to fit
the truck inside, getting out the opening at the other end may be difficult but he was
committed. Jake left the engine running and felt under the seat for a heavy wooden
box. He loaded the weapon and got a long handled flashlight not unlike those used by
the police. Slowly he slid across to the passenger side and opened the door, he swept
the area with the flashlight before getting out. It was a small barbecue area, small
metal barbecue, pile of chopped wood lying near, a table and chair set with a roof all
made out of long logs, an Apex initiative sign nailed to one of the posts.
Deserted.
Jake stepped down and the gravel crunched under his feet, why would anyone
want to have a family picnic here? out past the fence there was blackness, but there
was probably a nice view of the valley during the day.
He ducked below the vehicle, directing the small spot of light at key points
under the chassis revealed nothing, under these conditions there was next to no chance
of discovering a problem. No branches caught up in the wheels, no oil or brake fluid
leaks, as far as he could see, no cracks, no vital parts missing, no partridge, no pear
tree. He had to make a decision, either stop here or press on hoping that it was nothing.
Jake looked around at the black picnic area, his business was declining, he would press
on.
Still wary, he walked back to the open door and climbed in, once back behind
the wheel, he realized that he would have never before taken the shotgun to investigate
an odd noise, and yet at the time he had never considered otherwise. Something about
this place rang untrue. Jake looked up into the sky and saw the orange light. 'It must be
you.' he said to the light.
The light made no reply.
He navigated out of the area and back onto the road. The shotgun lay fully
loaded on the seat next to him. He had put a shell into the breech so he could load an
extra into the magazine tube. Jake knew he did not do this sort of thing on a bad
feeling.

...And that was nearly brand new too. The handicam was purchased for the
April holidays, not even an entire tape had been used yet and this had happened. This...
this something. Bill couldn't even describe what had happened, vandalism? too strong,
accident? could it be? If it wasn't an accident then who? Janine? No, it was basically
her toy. One of the boys? No, they wished it was their toy. An accident then, someone
mishandled the bag, a lot. The bag was one of those heavily padded deals which came
with the camera and stored the power module, a spare battery and other accessories in
outside pockets. There would have to be some serious mishandling to damage the
camera to the extent in which mangled pieces fell out.
The blurry orange glow caught Bill's eye again, he refused to believe that some
alien life form was watching them from above, destroying their proof and creating a
suspicious feeling among them all. It was simply superstitious nonsense supported by
people who didn't want to look for real answers. He glanced across to his wife. Or
maybe those whose imagination's were fired up by the thought of the unknown.
It may excite Janine but it gave him the creeps.

Where is that Damn retreat? He was starting to get irritated about the whole
place. If he missed it because they failed to put up proper signs, he promised himself
not to spend all night looking for it. He would head for the next town, put up in a
motel and complain at the retreat the next morning, if he still felt inclined to even go.
He was too tired to drive more than he had to tonight.
He looked back at his sleeping children, he suddenly had the premonition that
they were in danger tonight, terrible danger, the feeling came as fast as it was strong
and he felt jarred, unhinged. A surge of adrenaline passed through him right to the
extremities, suddenly he was awake, wide awake, prepared for battle. Were the
paternal protective instincts so strong in him?
Or somehow was he also sensing his own danger?

The tension was so great he had begun to sweat, Rob looked across to Carmen,
her arm was resting lightly on the passenger door armrest and she seemed
comfortable, except for one thing, she was awake and silent. Normally she strove to
either sleep the trip away or talk, now she was watching the road with a fierce
intensity. Oh, maybe it was all the trouble with Jodie, she had never been able to talk
about it, blaming herself, but Rob knew that it was something else. Something outside
the family, something malevolent.
Something in the car in front.

Fearful, Jodie genuinely felt fear for her own life and that of the tiny, helpless
life she carried. Why? there was no basis for this fear her father visibly controlled his
anger with her but would never let himself harm her she hoped, was he what made her
so scared? Could it be something else?

Why the car in front? Rob wanted to know but whatever gave him the idea that
it was this particular vehicle didn't care to divulge anything else. He wished it was
light enough to see what type of car it was, no one he knew about would be travelling
along this road. As far as he was concerned they were perfect strangers, he was sure
that they were dangerous however.
What could he do about it? They weren't following him at all being in front,
could it be something they might do? No, Rob was no psychic, it wasn't a sixth sense
thing, something about that vehicle set off alarm bells. Subconsciously at least he
knew why they were dangerous. The vehicle behind? not so much since it had dropped
away. Rob knew that he needed to keep the car that was striking so much fear in him
in sight. He knew nothing about it and to lose sight of it would only increase the
possible danger, by knowing at all times what it was doing the chance that it would
surprise him was decreased. Knowledge really was power.
 Keep the car in sight. If it leaves the highway, don't follow, but gun it out of
there, the same if it slows to let him pass. But until it does something odd, do nothing.
It was up to him to protect his family, Carmen, Jim, and Jodie, his daughter.

The countryside had once felt very safe to Mark Skye, familiar, he had lived in
these parts nearly his entire life. Now? now he didn't know, know what was wrong
with anything, the radio, the cars, the truck, his life, his cops instinct, it was all just a
mess. He was so keyed up he was about to draw his gun and start shooting at trees.
The two cars had drifted on ahead and were way out of sight, the truck
following had disappeared, probably stopping for the night, the police car now carved
it's own way along the highway. Good, suddenly Mark was not so certain of his
abilities as a cop to recognize danger, it was better that any innocents were out of
reach should he make a bad decision.
If they were innocents.

Alone. And he felt that he was not physically alone, just alone in the sense that
if he was in danger, it would be up to him and him alone to save his life. He still had
the 12 gauge and one of the most bulky road machines on the highway.
If pushed, he would use both.

At least the boys were asleep. This was not a good trip and Bill was beginning
to wonder if this whole area was making him feel like jelly, it wasn't the usual things
you would expect from someone who lived their whole life in the suburbs, no. He
could get used to the quietness, the lack of streetlights outside his bedroom, even the
solitude of a country road, this was not any of those things it was something else. The
people? he hadn't met any as of yet and they were reputed to be "all friendly like" it
could be he was just nervous about being in a new place with new people.
Always they had holidayed in the same place, nice place, on the coast. Was it
such a good idea not to adhere to tradition? By habit Bill glanced down at the dash
and realized he was doing ten over the speed limit. Almost guiltily he eased up, it was
getting windy again.
Bill still hadn't seen any sign of the retreat, he searched the black roadside for
any sort of light. The only lights were the two from the following car, it had been
behind him for many kilometres now and had not budged from it's position just
behind. Close, too close.
Yet it still followed, he had slowed down by ten km per hour and it refused to
overtake him, why would it do that? Was it following him? that was the only
explanation Bill could think of. There was only one way to find out.
Bill accelerated the falcon very slowly.
The other car remained fixed in position, adjusting it's speed to match Bill's.
Bill went faster.
So did the other car.
 The car in front was behaving very oddly. Slowly gaining speed and slowing
down suddenly, now it was going faster and faster, the road was getting more and
more treacherous at these speeds. Rob wasn't going to go any faster than what he was
right now and if the car in front accelerated any more he would let it go. Before he had
decided to keep it in sight but at this speed, driving was more of a danger than any
threat in that car could pose. The car in front began to gain distance.

Jodie felt the change in speed, something was very wrong. They were going
faster than was safe on this road, as was the car in front. What was her father doing?
Trying to get them all killed?

Now Rob would have to re-evaluate his plan, the car in front out of sight, the
police car behind gone also. He was alone, all he could do was to continue on and
hope that nothing would go wrong, that he would get home safely with his newly
reformed family and this night would be just an unpleasant memory. But before at
least he was doing something, following the dangerous car. Now he was merely
driving along, trying to look inconspicuous, and stay out of harms way. It was the most
helpless feeling in the world.
Then it got worse.
With a screech the car in front turned to face him.

The car behind hung on, Bill realized that he was going faster and faster to try
and escape. The boys were still asleep but Janine wouldn't take her eyes off the road.
She said nothing about Bill's increase in speed, did she feel something bad about the
other car too?
Another tight turn, Bill wasn't sure about the falcon's turning limit. He had no
real driving training except a few lessons when learning and simple driving experience
of years. He was a careful driver and virtually had no experience at aggressive driving.
All he knew was that he had to get away.
The car behind began to fall back, slowly. Was it giving up the chase? Bill felt
a mix of elation and relief. Could it be that they had outrun the other car? or was it
simply biding it's time? or were there more up ahead? Bill could only watch the
withdrawing car through his rear vision mirror.
He didn't see the corner approaching until too late. The corner was wide but he
was going way too fast. He jumped on the brakes and pulled at the wheel, thank God
the car had anti lock brakes. The car was not slowing down quick enough and the edge
of the road was nearing fast, beyond were fields and sparse gum trees. He pulled the
wheel even further around, too far, the back of the car was coming around and they
were going into a spin. Travelling sideways the wheels screeched until the road was no
longer beneath them. Gravel scattered as the car slid along the side of the road. They
had now turned right around and were going backwards but Bill's foot was still
tramped down on the brake and they were slowing, it looked like they weren't going to
hit anything.
The car behind rounded the corner.

The car had skidded to the side of the road and now was facing them. Why?
Rob wracked his brains were they attacking or just stopping? No one stopped like that.
What could Rob do? try and pass by? Rob knew that the best defense is an offence.
There was only one thing he could do.

Her father seemed to be accelerating, and into a corner, there was a car in front
of them, facing them, and her father was driving strait for it.
'DAD!' she yelled.

The Volvo station wagon crashed into the falcon, with a crunch Rob's view
exploded when the bonnets of both cars crumpled up and glass burst over him. There
was a second crash and all was quiet. They had stopped moving.
It had all happened so quickly. Rob turned to his wife, Carmen was slumped
against her seatbelt unmoving, he pushed her back against the seat and she coughed
for a few seconds. Rob looked to the back of the car, Jodie was alright but Jim looked
asleep, unconscious? The corner of Rob's eye caught movement in the other car. With
sudden horror Rob realized that his car was damaged beyond drivability, escape was
cut off and the people in the other car were conscious. There was only one thing that
he could do. See who they were.
He pulled at the door latch, the door was only partially damaged and it opened
with only a squeak. His legs shook, shock from the crash or fear of what may come
next? He walked over to the dark blue falcon, it was much more damaged than his own
Volvo because sometime after the first collision it had turned so that the Volvo was T-
boning it when the second crash happened. The second crash, a gum tree. Sliding
sideways when hitting, the falcon hit the tree on it's left side passenger door almost
wrapping all the way around. If anyone was sitting there, they would be seriously
injured.
Rob made his way, stumbling for his shaky legs, to the driver side door. He
looked in the windows, in the back seat, three young boys. A family was in the car.
Rob's stomach dropped to the ground, these were not dangerous people, this was a
family. He had attacked a family.
He opened the driver's door to see if he could help.
He was struck in the face.

Dazed, Bill knew that someone from the other car had opened his door so he
punched the unknown assailant as hard as he could in the face. As quickly as he could
he undid his seatbelt and got out. The other man was holding his face and backing off,
Bill was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness from the crash and getting up too fast and
he nearly fell over. Someone was screaming, it sounded like his wife.

Rob had been attacked, who was this guy? Some wacko? If he was he was a
great danger to Rob and his family no matter who he travelled with. The other man
was younger than himself and had attacked him with astonishing speed for someone
who had just been in a car wreck, for someone who was a simple father.
The younger man was coming for a second swing, he wouldn't get it. Rob
jumped back and the fist swung short. Rob hit back but his fist glanced off the other's
side. The other swung again too quickly for Rob to stop and he was hit in the chest.
Slightly winded he gave ground but the other was coming again. Rob needed to win
this quickly because he was not going to last as long as the younger man would in a
fight. He lunged. The sudden attack caught the other by surprise and they grappled
together. Losing balance they both toppled against the side of the car, the other's head
hitting first and Rob forcing him down. Rob realized that he was on top of the other
and had the upper hand. He raised his fist to hit again when a bright light was shined at
him and a siren brought him to a halt.
A police siren.

Lennie saw it first, Mark had his eyes on the road and didn't see the partially
blocked lights of two pairs of headlights, still on despite the damage. It was without
doubt a bad crash, fatalities most likely and some very bad injuries. Mark slowed the
patrol vehicle and traversed the five or so metres of roadside gravel to the site of the
crash.
Two cars, one, a blue falcon was wrapped sideways around a tree and the
second, a Volvo wagon, seemed to be holding it there. At first it looked like the driver
of the Volvo caused the crash but experience told Mark that anything could be
possible. On a night like this, for certain. As they drew to a halt the headlights revealed
two figures fighting. They toppled against the side of the Volvo and the one who fell
backwards hit his head against the side of the car, the other who seemed to Mark to be
older raised his hand to strike. Mark reached down to the controls, switched on the
flashing lights and chirped the siren to get their attention. The older man paused with
his fist in mid air and looked over. Fear was in his eyes. Anger too.
Mark and Lennie stepped out of the patrol car and exchanged glances over it's
roof, Mark had seen anger after crashes between drivers but never in serious accidents.
The older man's grip on the other had relaxed somewhat as he regarded the
policemen's approach, the younger man struggled away and tried to stand.
'Hey!' Thinking the fight would start again Mark yelled and ran over to the two
assailants, they did not fight. The younger one sat against the car's side and held his
head, he had hit his head fairly hard, the older one stood and faced the two newcomers
silently, there was something desperately menacing about his face. Someone inside the
falcon was screaming, a woman. Screaming for "her James".

Jodie's neck ached, and her seatbelt had cut into her shoulder. She sat on a
grassy bank away from the wreck where her father had left her. He had helped her out
shortly after the crash. Her brother was unconscious with a bloody cut on his forehead,
Mum? Dazed. They stayed in the car waiting for help to arrive. Her baby she didn't
know, she had seen pamphlets about making sure a seatbelt was across her hips rather
than her waist or stomach but she could not remember where it was at the time of the
crash. It was scary.
So were those policemen, they had arrived so quickly without being called or
anything, they seemed more ready to shoot someone than to help, someone in the other
car was dead and the injuries were pretty bad and they seemed very... uncaring. Like
they had an ulterior motive or something.
A small boy from the other car walked over and sat nearby, he looked lost and
afraid. Jodie didn't want to engage him in conversation. She didn't know what to say.
She hugged herself, the night was getting cool.

Mark was overwhelmed. He needed to clear his thoughts but there was too
much to think about, there was so much happening all too fast. One dead, the blue
falcon hit the tree on it's rear left side door and wrapped around killing the twelve or
so year old boy sitting there and pinning the six year old next to him. It may take hours
to get either of them out. The father was dazed or concussed from his fight with the
other driver. Mark looked across to the driver of the Volvo, had he caused the
accident? or was it just an accident?
'Ready?' the large man said, Rob was his name, Mark recalled.
'Yes.' Lennie answered.
'Ok. One, two, three...' Together the three of them pulled at the rear door of the
falcon trying to free the six year old.
A few seconds of pulling and nothing, the three of them released breathing
heavily.
'We need those ambulances. Now.' Mark decided.
'I'll try to get him out through the front.' Lennie said.
Mark followed. 'I'm going to try the radio again, if there's still nothing I'm
going to drive to the next town or to wherever the radio comes back on.' Lennie
nodded agreement even though being left here was not an enviable position. 'Won't be
long.' Mark turned and went to the police car.
Lennie and Rob went to the front seat of the blue falcon to try and squeeze the
boy Don out through the small hole between the two front seats and the buckled roof.
As far as Mark could tell, Rob had caused the accident. By looking at the crash it
seemed that way and he was working very hard to do what he could for the other
family, trying to redeem himself? It was a common reaction from people who were at
fault, even if "fault" meant simply running a stop sign.
Rob's family had fared well in respect, his daughter was Ok. now sitting alone
on a grassy embankment, the son was dazed but was being looked after by his mother.
Mark sat in the police car and grabbed the radio mike. By the clock they had been at
the accident site only three or four minutes but it had seemed much longer than that.
And there was something else pushing at the back of his mind telling him that this was
no ordinary crash, nor was it so much an accident.

Jake wiped at sweat as he dropped down a gear. Drive Drive Drive Drive to
stay alive. Stop for nothing, nothing.
Light ahead, around the next bend. Jake expected the worst, an ambush? what
else could it be? He was scared. But there was only him to look out for himself and to
succumb to fear would be losing in the end anyway. He would take action to protect
himself. He would take steps.
Around the bend and the source of the light became apparent, more than one
car, two or three at least, and at the front a police car, lights flashing and all. It was
clear that they wanted him to stop. They were parked off the road in a line, he could
stay on the road and just drive past but there would be a pursuit or more waiting up the
road. It was just a matter of time. He was going to have to take steps. Action.
There was only one thing he could do.

'Damnit!' Still no radio, Mark would have to drive off for help. He hooked the
radio mike and started the engine. A new light shone through the rear view mirror,
maybe he could send this new car for help. For being parked on a turn the newcomer's
headlights remained pointed at his mirror for a while longer than necessary. Good,
they were stopping. The roar of a powerful engine became audible, a large diesel
engine, being put through it's paces, not slowing down... but accelerating?
'What the Hell?' Mark turned in his seat.
The headlights came closer. Unstoppable.
'Oh God.'

The truck connected with the rear of the police car at eighty kilometres per
hour. Rob only had enough time to grab the youthful policeman's arm and jump clear.
The combined weight of truck and semi trailer pushed the crumpled police car
into the back of the white Volvo The trailer's rear wheels skidded as the three other
vehicles caught between it and the solid gum tree.
Each car crumpled as it was crushed first the damaged falcon, the Volvo and
the police car. Each with their helpless occupants trapped within.

The noise of the crash stopped. Although it was only a few seconds in
execution it had seemed like days to Lennie. Silence, not even noises from the
surrounding bush. He raised his head.
The truck appeared undamaged. It had driven right on top of the police car and
looked like it was attempting to climb over all three of the now barely recognizable
cars. Rob moved beside him, he was alright. That made two. Lennie looked at the
police car, a giant had picked up that car and rolled it into a ball with Mark Skye
inside. The car was now so small there couldn't be any room for Lennie's friend.
Movement inside the truck cab.
Something was terribly wrong with this night, fear, paranoia, senseless
unprovoked violence. Something had caused these two crashes. One of the drivers of
the cars knew, and so did the driver of that truck. Lennie did not understand why the
two drivers had fought so vehemently, but he knew that the driver of the truck could
possibly be carrying those feelings.
Lennie drew his service revolver. No-one had tried to leave the cab but he
could hear someone moving around inside. He moved to the nearest door, the
passenger side, his head came way below the level of the window and it looked like he
would have to climb up to get in. One hand would not be free.
He stood on a piece of metal that looked like it came from the police car, and
stepped up to the foot ledge that was used to climb up into the cab. It felt solid, he
didn't want his weight to tip the truck off an unsteady perch. He grabbed the door
handle with his one free hand and pulled the door open.
The interior light came on and Lennie pointed his gun at the lone occupant. It
was a large man in a faded shirt, he had a deep cut on his forehead which was bleeding
freely. He looked dazed.
There was a shotgun on the seat between them.
`Freeze!` Yelled Lennie as loud as he could.
The truck driver went for the shotgun with both hands.
Lennie's footing slipped and he had to grab for the chrome handrail with his
gun hand. Luckily he didn't let the weapon go. He regained his footing and re-aimed
the gun, letting his other hand go of the door to steady the shot. The driver now had the
shotgun and was aiming. One shot was all Lennie had. He squeezed off a round.
The sound of the gun deafened in the small space. The truck driver's chest was
hit and he was pushed against the driver door. He slumped onto the steering wheel,
dead. A bright red stain was left on the door wall. Lennie fell into the cab.

The police car was demolished, Lennie couldn't even see the body of Mark
Skye but he knew he was dead. So many were dead Mark; the falcon driver who was
simply lying dazed on the ground; another of his children who was too injured to
move; two of the Volvo occupants... It would be easier to account for the survivors,
himself and the Volvo driver Rob had jumped clear of the collision; Robs daughter
and one of the falcon children they had freed weren't anywhere near the crash; and the
woman in the falcon had miraculously avoided death in exchange for heavy injuries,
they had just pulled her from the wreck. Lennie thought that may injure her more but
none of them wanted to keep her inside the car if they could get her out.
But why? Why all this carnage? It wasn't normal human behaviour. Even the
kid, Don, said he was scared all night but didn't know why. Now the young lad was
trying to wake up his unconscious mother. He didn't cry, it was as if he thought that
crying may be dangerous. It seemed like he was being brave to protect himself and his
mother, at least he still trusted someone else, even if she was unconscious.
`We have to leave.` Rob Travis declared. He seemed like someone who got his
own way all the time, head of the household, probably boss at work.
`No, not until we figure out what is wrong.` Travis' daughter Jodie argued.
`We could be in danger just sitting here, we have to move.` Travis would
require sound reason to get him to agree to anything contrary to what he decides
initially.
`But we could be in danger by moving.` Constable Lennie entered the
argument.
`No.` Travis turned to Lennie more forcefully than expected. `Something is out
there and we're in danger. If we stay here then we are fools.`
`How do you know: "Something is out there" ` Jodie broke in. `There is nothing
out there that we know about. These accidents weren't caused by something "out
there".`
Travis turned to his daughter angrily `Are you implying that I caused these
accidents?`
`I know that you caused one.` She stated.
`Lets wait a minute....` Lennie came in between them trying to avoid a fight,
`We don't know yet what caused these accidents.` Jodie mumbled something under her
breath and turned away. Lennie continued. `I think that there is something else having
an effect on all of us, something that contributed to the accidents.` He looked at Travis.
`..and I think that it would be unwise for us to run when we are still under these effects.
We have to be careful not to do anything too aggressive because of what has happened
so far.`
Silence. Suspicious and distrustful. They caused suspicious feelings in Lennie
himself, he knew that this was partially due to this 'other effect' but, he would be
stupid to ignore it completely. The Travis's, this father and daughter pair acted like
relatives who couldn't stand to be around each other. It was strange how they would
even be living in the same town, let alone be travelling in the same car. They seemed
to be in need of going at each other's throats.

And what of this policeman? Rob Travis thought to himself. What were his
motives in promoting this crack-ball theory of "some other force" having an effect on
everyone's behaviour? What was this, the X-files? Travis couldn't explain what was
going in his mind when he slammed his foot down right into the blue falcon, he was
scared, the Goddamn car turned around, what was he supposed to think? That all was
good and well? No, he was acting in self defence, of him and his family. Ok. he
admitted that it was the wrong reaction. Rob thought to himself: what would have
happened if he had simply continued on? would the falcon have been in a position to
follow him? Yes. Would it have? Rob would never know because the driver of that car
was dead. So was half of Rob's family.
That truck driver was involved, or was he? He had done the same thing as Rob
himself and been shot dead by the young constable. The constable, Rob was still
deciding if he was involved.
Rob's suspicion of the cop extends not just from the act of slaying the truckie,
but from other things. How had the police shown up so quickly? They had been
following all the way. Not only that, they had approached the crash site with suspicion
rather than concern for the victims. They knew something.
The young cop was trying to pass a naturally and rightfully held suspicion of
himself off as some "other force". Rob wasn't fooled. He saw the way the cop
approached the truck, gun in one hand, ready to kill at a second. he just climbed up
there and opened fire on the poor man. Rob couldn't see in but that story about the
truckie picking up a shotgun just wasn't true. How could a man, dazed and most likely
injured from just being in an accident, think to pick up a shotgun when a policeman
opens the door? It was stupid.
Sure his partner had been killed in the accident, and even Rob was attacked
after his own crash but to go up and kill a man with a gun is something completely
different. Something almost evil.
Rob Travis knew that if anyone left were involved with any malevolent goings
on, it would be the young cop. He was right, if they all packed up and ran the danger
would not be left behind.

Jodie did not like her father. Jodie did not like the suspicious cop who's hand
had not strayed too far from the butt of his gun. Jodie did not even like the
unconscious woman or the boy that held her without any noise or tears, but she knew
that they all posed a threat to her and why.
They, as she was, all were under the influence of some strange effect that
caused paranoia and aggression, any stronger and they would be physically fighting.
She didn't care whether anyone else escaped, but she was going to make sure that she
and her baby survived. She had to plan.
`I still think we need to run.` Her father continued arguing with the cop.
`No, not until we can stop whatever it is making us feel this way.` The cop
returned.
`But we don't know what 'it' is, and we aren't going to find it just sitting here.`
`It's too dangerous to get on the road.`
`Are you saying that we cannot stop ourselves from doing something
dangerous?` her father asked incredulously.
`Yes I am.` The young cop was certain.
`But we know about it now, we can think thing's though...` Rob continued to
argue.
`I still don't think we should go until we know what it is we are dealing with.`
`Excuse me.` A small voice interrupted them. It was the boy, Don. `I think I
know what is scaring us.` He looked up.
They all looked up.
The soft orange glow hung silently overhead. Watching. Waiting.
 But now it was only a few hundred metres up.

There was no discussion. They all wanted to run. The orange glow was closer
now but still hazy. It was three light sources joined closely together in a triangle shape.
It rotated slowly but there was no other movement. No other sound.
Lennie jumped up into the truck cab, if any vehicle was drivable it would be
this. He pulled the dead truck driver out and sat in the driver seat. The steering wheel
was sticky with blood but he ignored it, his main fear was that the engine had been
damaged in the collision. He felt for the keys. The truck was diesel so he had to warm
the engine before turning it on, all of the dash warning lights came on, Lennie hoped
this was normal.
After a few seconds he turned the starter motor, it turned over a few times and
died. `No.` He whispered to himself, and tried again. This time the engine sprang to
life and Lennie breathed a sigh of relief.
Now the difficult part, could he simply drive off the top of the piled up cars?
The rear wheels were on the ground but the trailer would impede any movement, that
was if the truck was mechanically able to drive. He put the truck in reverse, the gears
on trucks were a bit more complicated than normal cars but he had seen it done before.
Slowly he eased off on the clutch and increased power to the rumbling engine. A jerk,
movement, good. He increased the power and shakily the truck began to pull itself off
the wreck. There was a tremendous shrieking of metal and yells from the others
outside. Lennie stopped immediately but it was too late, he realized that the shrieking
metal noise came not from below but from behind, the trailer. The cab tipped up and
Lennie realized that the trailer must have tipped over and was going to pull the tractor
over with it. A sudden crash and the trailer let go, the cab slammed down to earth, the
right way up.
Lennie breathed deeply with relief and climbed out, everyone was Ok, the
trailer was indeed lying on it's side. Lennie was no mechanic but to him the separation
didn't seem to have damaged the back of the rig.
`Let`s go.` He yelled to the others and climbed back into the cab.

Jodie and her father picked up the unconscious woman and carried her to the
truck. Don trailed behind looking lost and scared. They all were.
The cop helped them get the woman inside and they put her and the boy in the
cramped living quarters. Jodie got in last an sat on the passenger seat.
`Are you sure this thing can get us out of here?` Jodie's dad asked. There was
the slightest tinge of fear in his voice.
`I don't know.` The cop said. He left it there.
The moment of truth. The cop put the truck in a low gear and they slowly
moved out onto the road. Jodie felt a surge of elation, they had a hope.
Once out on the road the cop shifted through the gears, although there was no
load on the back the acceleration was fairly slow. Jodie looked out the window and
saw the orange light, if it saw them trying to escape, it made no sign. Jodie knew that it
saw them, it had been watching all night and it was watching them now.
They drove for a few minutes the constant drone of the engine was all they
heard, they didn't talk. The road was becoming tighter with more corners, they were
skirting the side of a hill, with a high wall on the right and empty space save a thin
fence on the left. The cop was really gunning the engine, Jodie hoped that he could
handle such an unwieldy vehicle at such speeds.
 Jodie chanced a look out the window again.
The orange light was still there.
It was following.

`It's still there. It's following us.` Jodie exclaimed. `We can't escape.`
Lennie and Rob exchanged quick glances, they both knew that there was only
one option. Faster.
Lennie drove even faster, using the entire road like a racer, but this was no
racing car, this was a semi trailer tractor, it had neither the speed, nor agility for such a
road. Still Lennie drove faster, pushing the rig to the limit.
Jodie looked out the window again and said: `It's closer.`
The truck sped along the deserted road, coming closer to the rock wall and
perimeter fence each time but all of the occupants wanted to go faster. Fear was
propelling that vehicle, fear of the unknown, fear of the strange orange lights.
The Lights came closer, a hundred meters away and slightly behind. Now Jodie
could see it as three spheres, just touching and slowly rotating, in linear motion it
seemed to outstrip the truck easily. A foggy atmosphere surrounded each sphere which
made the light look blurry and left a thin trail as the thing travelled. It was getting
closer for a reason, but what? Was it going to attack them? Why hadn't it done so
before? Was it intentionally causing the paranoia and fear or was it some
electrochemical response humans had to it's presence? If that was the case it's
proximity would cause even worse feelings.
The light did nothing. It hung there.
A break in the trees ahead and tiny white lights winked through for a second,
they had topped the hills and the next town was in sight. A few more minutes and the
lights overhead would have to do something or they would have escaped to a more
populated region. Would that matter to this entity? Would they still be pursued
regardless of where they ran? Would whatever it was that caused the fear and paranoia
affect the entire town, plunging it too into anarchy? They knew that there must be a
reason behind it's attack in the middle of nowhere, they hoped.
Suddenly a brilliant flash of orange ahead. A flame of the same colour as
above, about the size of a bonfire flared up and appeared to be burning nothing, in the
middle of the road. Lennie had to slow down a little to steer around it. Another flash
and another orange bonfire sprang up out of nothing. Lennie avoided that one
narrowly. Another, just up ahead, too late to avoid. Instead of hitting the brakes,
Lennie plunged straight through. The flames washed against the grill and windscreen.
For a second they felt intense heat but no other damage was done.
Other flames burst up around them and Lennie tried to avoid them as best he
could but now and then they had to plunge though one directly. The cab was beginning
to heat up. So too, they supposed was the engine.
Jodie heard a voice in the back, it was Don, he was crying. `Help us God, Save
us Please.` Jodie didn't believe in God, not since about third grade when they stopped
going to Sunday school. Right now she found it so hard to believe in any god, with all
these strange goings on. She still felt glad that someone was speaking for them. Just in
case.
Don became less coherent as he cried harder, it sounded like: ` I now know
how they felt, I'm sorry, now that we are the ants.`

The firebombing stopped and for a second Lennie thought that they may be let
go. Another fire sprang up further ahead but it was off the road. As they got closer they
realized that the fire was planted at the base of a giant gum tree, natural coloured fire
was creeping up the trunk but the orange fire was doing the damage.
The tree fell over. Onto the road, blocking it entirely.
`Ram it!` Jodie and Rob shouted in unison and Lennie had full intention of
carrying out that order. He planted his foot and aimed at the tree where it began to
break into the first few branches. He wanted to catch it where it was thinning but
where there weren't too many branches to get caught in.
The still burning tree loomed up and Lennie braced himself as they hit.
The Truck's right wheel hit a branch that was close to the ground and rode up,
the left wheel slammed straight into the main trunk. The truck spun slightly as the left
bumper was pushed back but it continued over the main part of the tree and at the
speed they were travelling jumped into the air. The rear wheels rode up over the tree
and they were airborne for a second. With horror Lennie realized the uneven collision
had turned the truck so that when it hit it would be pointing a little out over the cliff
side. The front wheels hit the ground with a violent crunch and a splash of sparks.
Lennie pulled the steering wheel hard to the left to try and correct the direction they
were travelling. The truck turned too far and the rear wheels skidded out, slamming
against the fence. Lennie pulled the wheel back and the rear fishtailed back the other
way. He tried to correct the steering but they were still going to fast. Too fast also for
the tight corner that was ahead. Lennie hadn't seen it behind the burning tree but now
he could. He slammed on the brakes. Nothing, there were no brakes, they must have
been taken out when they hit the tree. Fighting for control of the rig, Lennie pulled the
wheel to take the corner, they were still going too fast and the fence hit them. Fence
posts slammed against the front grill and the wire mesh bunched up and flew over the
top of the cab. They were still going too fast for the corner and the cliff edge
disappeared beneath them.
Silence. They fell.
Slam! The truck connected with the ground only about ten or so metres below
the road edge but it was steep and they rolled. The truck rolled over nearly ten times,
violently throwing around it's occupants inside. Coming to a sliding stop when the
hillside bottomed out.

Petrol. Jodie could smell petrol. She was lying on top of her father. The entire
cab lay on it's side. There was no sound except for her own breathing. Her father was
not moving. A cough, the boy, Don, he must be conscious too. Jodie noticed that the
windscreen was smashed and half pushed out from it's frame. She kicked it away and
climbed out. A sudden pain shot up her leg, it was bleeding and bruised.
The night was silent. The light was nowhere in sight. Jodie limped around the
front of the truck and saw the light, it had stopped following them when they pitched
over the cliff and now hovered above the road. Maybe it believed them dead.
Jodie heard a faint trickle. The petrol. She had to get away from the truck, it
could explode at any second, she had to protect herself and her baby. She looked back.
The others, her father, the cop, the boy and his mum were still inside. The light had
laboured to have them all killed, she would not let that happen.
Jodie kicked the rest of the windshield away, her father lay on top of the cop,
unconscious. She pulled at him he started to move and she tried to get under him as he
fell out of the cab. Staggering she half carried, half dragged her father from the wreck.
A reasonable distance from the truck she lay him on the ground. He still made no sign
of life but she didn't have time to check, there were others in greater danger than her.
The light was moving towards them.
She ran back, ignoring her wounded leg. Inside Don was conscious but he was
stuck beneath his mother. Jodie dragged the woman out of the cab, Don called out that
he was stuck. Jodie carried Don's mum back to where she had left her own father.
The light arrived it hovered a hundred metres away. Would it attack the truck?
Jodie ran back anyway.
Don was stuck. His leg had punched through the door of a cabinet below the
bed before they stopped rolling and was now twisted. Jodie tried to pull it free but the
boy yelled in pain. Jodie ripped at the thin fake wood paneling with her pare hands,
tearing a bigger hole so that Don could get his wounded leg out easier. Outside had lit
up with the eerie orange glow, the light was overhead. Jodie pulled Don's leg free and
she helped him over the cop and outside. They were bathed in the orange light. It
shone down. It was attacking.
Suddenly an orange flame sprang up inside the cab. The orange light had set a
fire up inside the cab. Jodie nearly pulled Don off his feet as they ran. The petrol
caught and the truck exploded. The blast blew Jodie and Don off their feet, landing
headfirst into the ground.
Covered in scratches and blood, Jodie looked up at the burning truck. The
light, the plane, the alien spaceship or whatever the hell they were hovered much
higher up, watching the destruction. Jodie's anger welled up. It wasn't that she was still
being affected by their presence or their weapon or whatever, she was angry. They had
caused the destruction of eight people, destroyed lives, caused unrepairable scarring
on those that survived. If they survived.
`You Bastards!` She yelled at the trio of lights, not even sure if they can hear
her, let alone understand.
`You Assholes!` She yelled again. `Come down here! I'm not afraid anymore!
Come down here and I'll fight you!.`
There was no answer.
`Come down here you cowards!` Her voice caught in her throat. `I'm not
running anywhere!`
She stood up. At wits end. She screamed her rage. `I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!`
She broke down. Fell to the ground weeping. `I'll kill you all...` All she wanted to do
was to save her baby. She wanted to give it the chance that she had thrown away, and
now life itself would be denied.
She no longer cared about herself, she just wanted her baby to live.
Jodie felt a hand on her shoulder. Don. She looked up into his face, he was not
afraid. She looked up.
The light was gone.
A cool breeze sifted over the hillside, blowing the smell of the burning wreck
away from them, the air smelled fresh and new, alive.
`Is it over?` Don asked. `Are they going to come back?`
Jodie looked up at the clear night sky. Thousands upon thousands of stars
winked back at her knowingly, any one of those stars, any one...
She looked at the little boy. `They've gone home now. It's over.`