Chapter 8

Edd stopped his van near an abandon rest stop after driving for hours from the collapsed mountain and into the desert. He got out from the driver's seat and inspected the damage. He kicked the front bumper to make sure it was secure because their earlier escape might damage the front bumper. The bumper fell down just after Edd had kicked it. Guess I underestimate my van...

"Edd! Get in here!" Eddy called at Edd. Edd looked around and found no one, as if the sound was part of his imagination. When Eddy called him again, he could see Eddy's shadow was inside the rest stop.

"Eddy! What are you doing in there?" Edd called at him as he walked toward the rest stop. Inside was chaotic: plates, paper, cooking utensils and drinks were all over the ground. The television displayed a screen of static. The room was dark although the morning sun was shining outside. What do you expect me to look for?

"Double D, look at this." Eddy said when he produced an AK-47 from a nearby cupboard.

"Where did you get that?" Edd asked.
"I found it at the nearby cupboard. Maybe it can come in handy."

"Got any ammo?"

"There is tons of it!"

Eddy opened the cupboard and a wave of bullets poured down on him. Edd pulled Eddy out from the bullet pile until they heard a loud sound of cracking glass. Edd picked up the AK-47, loaded it as much ammo as he can and scanned around him for any sign of intruder. He looked around; he only saw the outline of his van outside, broken glass and traces of beer on the ground.

"Something tells me that this is not an ordinary rest stop." Edd said.

"What should we do?" Eddy asked.

"We must get out from here, of course!"

They slowly walked toward the door, not getting a huge bag full of bullets for Edd's AK-47. As they walked out from the rest stop, they heard the sound of crunching glass again. This time, a shadow of an armed man appeared where Eddy found the AK-47. The man was dark, hulking and with glowing-goggle-like eyes.

At first, Edd was stunned but as adrenalin was pumping in his veins; he took aim at the shadow and pulled the trigger. The AK-47 roared as bullets was firing out from the barrel and flying through the air. Hitting whatever Edd was targeting. However, the shadow dodged all Edd's shots and hid under a countertop. This is my chance!

They burst out from the rest stop and returned to the van. Sarah and the others were wondering where Edd got an AK-47. Edd seems did not care about everyone's reaction. His mind only told him one thing: RUN!

Edd was too late. Way late.

The gunman was in front of the van when Edd tried desperately to restart his van. Under the desert sunlight, Edd could saw the body armour on the gunman's body. On his right shoulder was a sticker, labelled US Army Corps. He took aim of his SVX100 Minigun at Edd and ready to fire. On the other hand, Edd tried to coax the gunman not to shoot him. He walked down from his van toward the gunman with both of his arms up.

Inside, Sarah and Eddy were watching in horror as Edd was subjecting himself to death. Sarah closed her eyes with her hands on fear. Jimmy was at the verge of breaking down as he was expecting hard and loud sound fire and Edd's scream of death. The atmosphere inside the van was tense as they waited for the verdict

***

Edd was standing a meter in front of the gunman as he pointed his Minigun at Edd's heart. Even Edd was just a seventeen year old teenage boy yet that was not softening the gunman's heart. As the US Army corps. He was been taught to trust no one, kill anyone that you think is suspicious but he never did what he had taught until the Invasion of Bagdad when a child almost killed him when he was patrolling the streets.

"Please don't shoot." Edd began.

"Why should I?" The gunman replied.

"I just try to protect myself."

"I think you are lying."

"This is true. Trust me."

A sudden thud hit him. The boy was right. I should trust anyone just follow the context of the situation. He lowered the Minigun and started. "I am Ronald A. Weather. US Army Corps. Private."

"I am Edward (Edd) Hawkins."

"Very nice to meet you."

"Why are you here?"

"I am here because my helicopter crashed nearby and all my men were dead during the crash. I am the only one left."

"This is terrible."

This is the not the first time he heard about this. It was mid-winter in Canada where Edd and his family were skiing at the mountains until they heard a loud bam near where they ski. His older brother went to look out what happened, by the time he got there, he saw a helicopter, with its engines still running, lying on its side.

"Edd, you better take a look at this!" Edd's brother yelled.
"It is a US Army Blackhawk!" Edd yelled.

"Look, I think there are survivors!"

"Let's check it out!"

They ran down the valley. In the same time, snow started to fall and intensify in a matter of minutes. Edd kicked a rock and fell face down as the result.

"Are you alright?" Edd's brother asked, tried to make Edd stand on his two feet again.

"I am fine." Edd replied, "Get the survivors!"

When Edd went back to his two feet, his brother was far at the downed Blackhawk. He followed his brother's track until he stopped dead when he felt a sudden shaking. He turned around and saw the snow above a nearby mountain was tumbling down due to the spinning motion of the helicopter blade had caused an avalanche that was speeding down the mountain.

"Hawks! There is an avalanche!" Edd yelled in fear.

"I am coming!" Hawks said while pull a survivor out from the wreck.

They started to run toward safety but they were too late. Before Edd's brother could get back toward high ground, the avalanche swept Hawks and the soldier down the valley. After that horrifying 10 minutes, it stopped. Edd's parents rushed to the scene and saw their youngest son lying there, motionlessly. They could not understand what happened until the forest rangers found the bodies of Hawks and the soldier from the downed Blackhawk. The avalanche killed them.

Edd broke down and ran out from the room as if a he had seen a ghost. From that day since, the incident had haunted him for the rest of his life, for now.

Therefore, you are the only survivor of the crash. Edd thought as Eddy and Jimmy walked out from the van. The only one who survived the crash?

As the minutes passed, the sky began to darken as dark storm clouds began to appear in the sky. The wind began to pick up. Sand and other smaller pieces of gravel and stuff began to fly about. It was about to rain, not just any rain, a rain will flood the whole region in less than 3 hours.

"Get into the van!" Ronald ordered, "I will take you to a secure location."

Ronald started the engine of the van and speeded down the highway toward Texas.

Somewhere in New York City, the 400-meter high tsunami had already hit the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, talking away a thousand souls in the process. For the New Yorkers, this was just only the beginning—after the great flood; the earth began to shake as a magnitude 9.8 earthquake shook the metropolitan area. Now, the buildings that had survived The Flood now were facing with destruction from a different kind-- Earthquake.