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Modern Day Devils - Chapter 25
By Snake - Mark
The mini-bus started right up as Mr. Dennington turned the ignition key. He pressed down on the gas peddle gently once, listening to the purr of the engine. Straightening himself driver’s seat, he looked up into the rearview mirror and watched as the group of survivors packed themselves into the small bus. John smiled to himself, glad that he was smart enough to rush onto the bus to take the only seat that couldn’t be doubled up.
The diner manager had taken the front seat, and when the rest of the bus had finally filled up, he had offered his lap to one of the younger female patrons that had escaped the diner with him, John Dennington’s wife. From what John could see, the manager did not mind having the young lady on his lap. Outside of Henrietta, not many others were forced to take their seats on top of another person.
John Dennington looked down from the mirror and gazed outside through the windshield of the vehicle. His eyes caught sight of two figures walking down the road he would soon drive down, their pace rather hurried. John recognized the two figures as being the two freaks that went off to clear the road up ahead; and sure enough, as he stared past the two teenagers, he saw that there was nothing in his way at the road’s corner.
John’s eyes quickly jumped over the remaining three freakish teenagers as they talked amongst themselves. He did not trust them in the least. In fact, he did not trust anything that was in the least bit inhuman. Growing impatient, he turned around in his seat to talk to his wife.
“This is fucking bullshit, you know.” John whispered to his wife, his nostrils flaring.
“You wanted the driver’s seat, darling. In fact, you rushed onto the bus just to get it.” Henrietta leaned in towards her husband, her butt pressing down on the diner manager’s lap. She could hear the manager groan slightly behind her, but did her best to ignore it.
“Not that; the fact that we’re taking orders from a group of adolescents.” John’s tone became harsh towards his wife.
“Why can’t you just trust them? They kept us alive this long; if they were going to slaughter us, I think they would have done it back in the school.” Henrietta grew defensive for the small group of teenage hybrids.
“I don’t trust them because their not human.” John leaned in even closer, his eyes shifting as he spoke. “Now, there’s only the three of them left here. Their standing in a group; I could run them down with the bus and get everyone here to safety.”
“John, will you just drop it. They’re going to help us, despite what your beliefs are.” Henrietta snapped, her voice raising from the whisper it was.
Growing tired of her husband’s paranoia, Henrietta leaned back and turned her head from John. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were settled teenagers outside of the mini bus.
John slumped back into the driver’s seat, his eyes rolling as he mumbled curses directed towards the entire situation. Looking up into the rearview mirror one last time, John surveyed the passengers of the bus.
“They’re all blinded by their own stupidity.” John whispered to himself as his hand slowly reached for the shifter.
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Jared stood up from the ground when he noticed Alyssa and Mark coming down from their victorious brawl. He smiled to himself as he noticed how close the two were walking together.
“Might as well go for it, man, it’s the only piece of ass anyone of our kind would get.” Jared’s smile faded, though, when the roar of an engine came to his ears. “I told you to wait for me, pussbucket.”
Jared shook his head and brought his attention to Mark, who stepped up to him and nodded his head towards the bus.
“He in a hurry?” Mark’s voice was void of any humor.
Jared shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t trust that guy.”
“You don’t have to worry about trusting anyone,” Mark’s emotionless face changed when a small smile crossed his lips, “you’ve got the power.”
Alyssa laughed softly, her head shaking slowly. “Please, don’t break out into song.”
Mark turned his attention to Alyssa, his eyes wide, a hurt look on his face. “I’ll tell you, I have a great singing voice.”
“Fuckin’ hell, man, I haven’t heard a good song since this whole situation started.” Jared chimed, a disappointing sigh escaping his lips.
“I’m sure it is pretty hard to play music when all hell is breaking loose.” Mark smirked.
Jared shook his head and let out a deep sigh. “Woo… time to get back to the situation at hand.”
Mark’s mood went from lightened to complete seriousness in no longer than a second. His eyes became plain again as his mind focused on what was to be done. “Follow them to the shelter. Alyssa and I will make sure the area is cleared before you guys get there.”
Jared nodded and turned in his place to make his way back to the bus full of survivors. When he turned around, though, he was greeted with the sight of the bus driving towards him.
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John jerked the shifter into first gear and did not hesitate on the gas petal; his foot pressed down hard, pressing the petal down to the floor of the vehicle. The bus’s back tires spun against the concrete, causing a loud screeching noise before the mini bus started moving.
The passengers were jerked around in their seats. Unaware of what was truly happening, they cheered as they thought they were heading off to the shelter.
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“This fucker is gonna run me over.” Jared seemed insulted as he spoke.
“Alyssa, take him out.” Mark spoke dryly, his eyes staring blankly at the oncoming heap of metal.
“Mark...” Alyssa protested despite the fact that she had the shotgun in her hand, ready to be fired.
Mark turned his head to Alyssa, his eyes pleading with her. “Take him out, please.”
Alyssa sighed and raised her shotgun, the barrel pointing directly at the bus’s windshield.
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John’s eyes grew wide when he realized he was driving straight towards a loaded shotgun. In a panic, he jerked the wheel, causing the bus to make a sharp turn. In the middle of the turn, over the screams of the passengers and the screeching of tires, he heard a bullet slam into the metal of the bus. Immediately following the sound, a sharp pain struck his arm at his elbow.
John pulled his hands from the wheel and held his arm where the bullet at hit him. As he worried more about the gunshot, the back of his mind told him that he should take hold of the steering wheel again. The pain started to drift towards the back of his mind as he looked out the front windowpane and realized that the entire world had gone crooked.
“Everyone move to the right of the bus!” John called back to the frantic passengers as he lifted his foot off of the gas and pushed himself to the other side of the mini bus.
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“Should we help them or something?” Jared looked over his shoulder to Mark and pointed towards the tilted bus that was still in the midst of turning.
When he received no answer, Jared turned completely to see Mark standing tall, a fearless look on his eyes. His attention was directed towards the tipping bus, but he seemed to have no concern of the bus tipping over. Jared moved towards Mark slowly, waving his hand in front of his eyes.
“They can handle it.” Mark’s voice was monotone.
Shrugging, Jared nodded his head and turned back around to watch the scene unfold. “Yeah, they’re doing a hell of a job.”
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John started to feel a bit relieved as the bus slammed back down onto all four tires, rocking everybody in the vehicle. He was about to let out a deep sigh when he realized that nobody was controlling the bus. His heart raced as he quick looked to see where the bus was heading, and found that if he didn’t move quickly, the school’s concrete wall would definitely do a number on the moving mini bus.
Reacting instantly to what he saw, John threw himself back into the driver’s seat and slammed his foot down onto the break petal. The bus went into a skidding stop, sending everybody on the bus to fly forward and hit the seat in front of them. Unfortunately for John, this sudden stop sent him against the dashboard hard, his ribs connecting with the hard plastic.
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Jared let out a grateful sigh when the bus had stopped just before hitting the wall. Once the bus stopped, Mark, Alyssa, and himself moved to check on the passengers.
“Do you think that was his plan?” John asked sarcastically as they all approached the bus slowly.
“I say we still kill him.” Mark grumbled.
“Now, now, positive thoughts Mr. Laurence.” Jared lightly smacked Mark’s shoulder.
Alyssa shook her head. “I think the gunshot should set him straight, Mark.”
As Jared approached the front of the bus, he looked in through the windshield and smiled at John, his hands waving frantically as if he were a little kid waving to his parents.
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John sat back in his seat and ignored the teen outside. His hand was pressed tightly to his wound, and when he looked down to it, he watched as blood seeped through his fingers and down his arm.
“What the fuck were you thinking, John?” Henrietta moved quickly to her husband, her hand replacing his. “You could have killed us all!”
“I just don’t…” John’s voice trailed off as he noticed one of the teen’s stepping onto the bus. He shut himself up quickly and looked down to the ground.
“Here we are trying to save your ass, and you try to run us over.” Jared stepped up behind Henrietta and stood there, his eyes staring down at John. “We don’t appreciate that.”
“Look, I…” John’s voice trailed off as the other two hybrids stepped onto the bus.
“Continue, Mr. Dennington. Let’s hear the reason why you decided to put the lives of 24 passengers at risk.” Mark's voice remained calm.
John glimpsed around the bus and realized everyone had their attention on him. He swallowed and let it all out. “Since the start of this all, I wasn’t sure who could be trusted. Our own neighbor tried to kill my wife and me. He had this look of hatred in his eyes when he came at us.”
“That wasn’t your neighbor. These things can mimic anyone they kill.” Mark butted in, pushing his way past Jared to talk directly to John. “You can trust us, John. We were created to ensure your safety, understand? We’re not going to turn on you now.”
John’s eyebrows lifted at the sincerity in the teenager’s voice. He was at a loss for words, so instead he nodded, signifying that he understood. For the first time since the start of this situation, John felt his unease of being around other people slowly drift away.
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Mark looked around the bus and saw that the eyes of every passenger had fallen upon him. It seemed he was the leader of this expedition, and so he would do anything he needed to ensure everyone made it out alive.
“We’ll get you all going now.” Mark spoke to the passengers, then turned his head towards Jared. “We’ll meet you at the safe-house.”
Jared nodded and patted Mark on the back. “Best of luck.”
With a simple nod, Mark exited the bus, Alyssa moving out in front of him. He sighed to himself as he crossed the front of the bus. “I hope they’re doing okay.”
Alyssa slowed down till she was side by side with Mark. “Denis and Romeo? Please, I’m sure you don’t have to worry about them.”
“You’re probably right.” Mark shook his head. “Anyway, we’ll get to the shelter before them and clear it of anything that should not be there.”
“I’m ready for anything.”
“Good. We haven’t seen half of what is out there.
© Copyright 2004 Mark LoProto. All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.
1/14/2004 9:51:43 PM
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