Chapter 5

Buck and Wilma followed the creek downstream for over two hours in relative silence except for the wildlife in the forest. Buck mentioned that at least they didn't have to walk uphill now, which was no consolation to Wilma.

Suddenly they both saw a flash of light ahead of them and a brief sound of a powerful engine. They exchanged unknowing glances. Buck broke into a sprint forward with Wilma close behind. In a moment they broke into an opening of the forest. Fifty yards ahead of them the forest continued, but in between the two sections of forest was a straight, hard-topped road. Buck stepped onto the road and looked in both directions. A slight smile crossed his face as he returned to the side of the road.

"I guess we found some sign of civilization."

"Does this mean we don't have to populate the planet?" Wilma asked with a smirk.

Buck chuckled. "Come along, Eve. We can discuss that later!"

Once more they headed west, this time along the side of the road. When the road curved slightly, the sound of another engine reached their ears. A pickup truck whizzed by them heading east. Buck watched as the truck disappeared around the turn.

"What the…?"

"What's wrong?" Wilma asked.

He shook his head. "That looked like a Chevy! A Chevy S-10!"

"A what?" she asked with a bewildered look.

He stared around the turn for another few moments before returning Wilma's gaze. "Nothing. Maybe it's just my imagination. Let's keep walking."

They walked for half an hour before they heard another engine coming toward them. This time the vehicle in question was coming toward them in the same direction that they were walking. Instinctively Buck turned around, stuck his thumb up, and began to walk backwards slowly.

"What are you doing?"

"Hitchhiking. Trust me."

The compact car flew by without even looking. Buck watched intently as the old model car passed by. "That was an old Dart!"

"Huh?"

Buck shook his head. "What in the world is going on here? Where are we?"

Just then they heard another car engine coming toward them. "Wilma, do what I just did there. Put your thumb up like this…yeah, that's it."

"What am I doing?"

"We're looking for a ride. People are more likely to stop for a woman than they are for a man."

Buck stepped further off the side of the road. A blue pickup sped by the two, then quickly began to slow. It pulled off the road and came to a stop. Buck tapped Wilma on the shoulder and smiled.

"It worked! Let's go!"

They sprinted toward the blue pickup. Buck quickly inspected the make and model. "Ford F-150?" he muttered. "Where are we?"

He opened the door to see a heavyset older man behind the wheel. "Where ya headed?" he asked.

"Just to the nearest town," Buck offered.

The old man motioned for them to come into the cab. Buck helped Wilma up into the seat, and then jumped in behind her. The door closed and the old man took off once more onto the road.

"Where you folks from?"

"New Chicago." Wilma replied.

The old man shook his head. "Not familiar with that town. Where's that? Is that anywhere near Chicago?"

Buck placed his hand on Wilma's arm. "Nowhere near it. It's in Indiana."

The old man whistled. "You're a long way from home, ain't ya? What'cha doing in these parts?"

"We were on vacation when our car broke down. We're trying to get to town now so we can maybe find a tow truck."

"Then you are in luck! I got a friend in town who runs a gas station. He moonlights as a tow truck driver."

"Great!" Buck said, trying to sound excited.

"How long you been walking?"

Buck shrugged. "Most of the day."

He chuckled. "I believe that. You picked the wrong place to have a breakdown. Oh, where is my manners? My name's Darryl."

He extended a hand which Buck quickly met. "Buck."

"Wilma," she said after shaking the old man's hand.

Darryl looked at them for a moment before looking back down the road. "Good looking couple!"

"Oh we're not-"

"Thank you," Buck interrupted.

She looked at Buck and began to say something, but he merely winked at her. She took the hint and remained quiet. They drove for about ten miles, exchanging small talk with Darryl.

Finally they could see the outskirts of a tiny town in the distance. Buck noticed a brown sign along the side of the road that read, "Leaving Alleghany National Forest." Shortly after that sign, small houses began to appear along the road. They drove for a few more minutes before Darryl pulled into a gas station.

"Well, we're here. Bobby should be in the office there," he said, pointing to the small building. "I need to get home to the wife before she thinks I'm having an affair!"

"Thanks for the ride, Darryl," Buck said in appreciation.

"No problem. There's a motel just down the road here if you need to stay. It's getting late. It'll be dark soon."

"Thanks for all the help."

"Sure thing. Good luck, folks. Oh, just tell Bobby I sent you. He'll take real good care of ya."

Slowly the blue Ford entered the road and disappeared into town. Wilma turned to Buck. "Now what?"
Buck headed for the office. He tried to open the door but it was locked. It was then that he noticed a tiny sign in the window that read, "Be back in ten minutes." He noticed a newspaper dispenser on the little sidewalk. As he neared the dispenser, he suddenly froze in his tracks. He stopped so quickly that Wilma ran right into his back.

"Buck, what is it?"

He didn't answer. Instead he rushed straight for the dispenser, reached in and grabbed a paper. His jaw dropped in amazement and his body froze.

"Buck?" Wilma asked concernedly. "What is it?"

He held the paper up for Wilma to see. "Check out the date."

She quickly scanned the front page of the paper. Buck pointed to the date at the top of the page. Her eyes widened as she turned slowly to face Buck.

"May 12, 1987? Is that possible?"
Buck let his hand fall to his side. He looked around him in a new light. "It would explain the forest and the cars."

"But how did we get here?"

Buck took a couple steps toward the road. "May 12, 1987," he repeated.

Wilma approached him and placed her hands on his arm. "What happened on May 12, 1987?"
Buck shrugged. "I don't know." Suddenly his eyes lit up as he turned to face Wilma. "May, 1987! Do you know what this means?"
She cocked her head. "No," she replied slowly. "What does it mean?"

"It means that the holocaust hasn't happened yet!" he answered excitedly. "It means that I have a chance to stop it from happening!"

Wilma grasped his arm tighter. "Is that really a good idea?"
"What do you mean? Stopping the death of six billion people? Yeah, it's a good idea! Why wouldn't it?"

"It would change the history of the Earth."

"If you had the chance to save six billion lives, wouldn't you at least want to try?"
She thought for a moment, then nodded. "So what do you have in mind?"

He shook his head. "I don't. First things first, though. It's getting dark. We need to find that motel Darryl told us about. Then we can come up with some kind of game plan." He started to walk down the road. Wilma hesitated. "Are you coming?" he called.

She paused for another moment before hurrying to catch up. "But we have no idea how the holocaust even started? Or where it started."

Buck nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"Then how do we stop it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. We have four days to figure it out."

"Why only four days?"

He looked at her blankly. "That's when my shuttle launches. We're here four days before the final shuttle launch in human history. I have to make sure it's not the last, if it's the last thing I do. I vow to stop the holocaust from happening."