Act 1 Finale

Chapter 37

Escape

The M40A3 was one of the most reliable sniper rifles in America, made for the military. A 24 inch barrel, weighing in at just over 16 pounds and with a range of 1000 yards. While it wasn't the newest M40, it was the one the Sniper was most accustomed too. It had been his weapon of choice ever since he started working for whoever needed him. The sniper was integrated with the balance of the rifle and the geometry of it all, allowing him to hit target nine times out of ten.

The Sniper had been paid half of the money in the morning, straight to his bank account. The phone call was simple. Eliminate Joshua Valentine who will be exiting Willingboro in a bus via the 295 heading southwest. Collateral damage accepted. The Sniper was never one to question his orders. And even if the rare circumstance happened that his morale's conflicted with his orders, he could easily send the money back to whoever sent it. It was a good way to make money as long as you weren't afraid to kill. Over the last five years he had killed over one hundred people from all walks of life. Politicians, foreigners, simple husbands and wives. Anyone who had a grudge and knew who to ask ended up with the Sniper as their own personal assassin.

The Sniper was currently lying down loosely on the top of a supermarket dressed completely in white fatigues to blend in with the white roof. The breeze whipped into his face, stinging his cheeks and chin. Whoever want Valentine killed was lucky the Sniper was even in the area, since whatever that thing was surrounding the township would have prevented him from eliminating his target. The Sniper continued to look up the road, waiting for the aforementioned bus to come driving down.

XXX

The bus station was hardly busy. Like most people, no-one was travelling because they would usually want to get out of Willingboro. The only people hanging around the station were the old and the injured; who wanted to get to different places in the township.

Joshua had walked down the path leading up to the waiting area with purpose, Lisa and Richard trailing behind. He passed the waiting areas and continued down a half-derelict path that ended at the main bus storing area where the off-duty buses were stored. Only one security guard was at the door, staring into a mug of coffee, bored as usual. He looked up at the sound of footsteps, surprised at the sight of civilians. He stood up, straightening his jacket to make himself look extra official and took a step towards Joshua.

Without losing a pace, Joshua snapped his fist straight above the nose, between the eyes. It was light enough to not injure, but hard enough to knock the security guard out with one blow. The guard stood heavy on his feet for a moment before falling back into his booth.

"Ouch…" Lisa muttered, watching Joshua's back. Richard remained silent, not exactly knowing why he was following Lisa or Joshua in the first place. The woman had leads to whoever caused the bridge accident that much was for sure. And if the woman knew the man, then perhaps the man had answers too.

Joshua went up to one of the large buses. They were cheap ones, with fabric peeling at the seats and flakes of painted metal falling from the poles that kept the roof from rattling. Digging his fingers into the door, Joshua pulled the folding door back and stepped up inside. Immediately he started to fiddle under the dashboard.

Lisa climbed in as well and put a hand on Joshua's back. She felt him stiffen slightly.

"Joshua. Can I at least ask why you're stealing a bus if you're not willing to actually acknowledge me?"

"I'm sure you eavesdropped." Joshua grunted. "I need to get out of here in less than two hours."

"Why?" Lisa asked. "I didn't catch the whole conversation."

"Way too complicated to explain."

A rumble of the engine caused Joshua to straighten up and smile. He settled in the driver's seat, putting his hands around the steering wheel experimentally.

"You can drive a bus?" Lisa asked, surprised.

"Nope. I can drive a car and I've drove a lorry before. A bus can't be too different." Joshua stretched his neck before looking to Lisa and Richard. "Look, if you want to survive, get on. If not, get the hell away from me."

Lisa climbed fully in, leaving Joshua to look at Richard.

"You?" Joshua asked dryly. "Not that I know who you are."

Richard turned slightly, as if to leave. He was confused and he didn't like being confused. Shrugging, Joshua started to reverse. Richard bit his lip and turned.

"Wait." Richard hopped onto the bus as it reversed. "What do you mean, if we want to survive?"

"Sit down and find out." Joshua replied, reversing and making a U-turn so he was facing the exit.

Lisa's eyes focused on Joshua's back again. "Can… can I help, Joshua?"

"Help?" Joshua spat the word as if it contained a disease. "Your 'help' is really not needed here, mother."

XXX

"I don't see Joshua." Jason glanced down to Miles. "Where is he?"

"I told you he'll be here soon. Be patient." Miles replied with his eyes trained on the entrance of the Motel parking lot.

Everyone had been drawn out of their rooms by Miles surprisingly easily and now they were all standing around in a group, shivering from the chill and trying not to let the rain bother them; despite the fact that it hadn't stopped raining since they had all come to Willingboro.

"We don't even know if you're Joshua's brother." Tyrone said, crouching down to Miles.

"He is."

Tyrone turned his head to Becca. "Oh? How would you know?"

"I've seen him with Joshua. At the very least they are acquainted." Becca said with Riley standing beside her.

"I don't need to prove I'm anyone's brother. You'll find that anything that needs to be proved will be proved when Joshua arrives." Miles clammed up after that.

Lukas was standing further away from the group. To be perfectly honest, he didn't particularly feel 'part' of the group. Nobody wanted to talk with him, and well, he didn't mind too much. But he would have liked some kind of recognition at the least. No-one spared him a glance or a word. Crossing his arms he leaned against a lamppost wondering when Joshua would arrive, just like everyone else was wondering. Looking at the entrance, a shadow bloomed out before a figure turned the corner. Everybody looked expectant but most looked away at the sight of the woman, figuring her to be one of the other motel residents.

The woman herself looked to the group in slight interest before her eyes latched onto Lukas.

"Lukas!" The woman exclaimed, running the last few steps and latching her arms around Lukas. Lukas stumbled back, half-surprised. He looked down to work out who the woman was and as the features registered, Lukas couldn't help but smile in relief.

"Dominika?" Lukas felt as if a huge weight had lifted from his chest. Unlike everyone else, he wasn't too worried about Death. It was Dominika who had gone missing which had been forward in his mind. But she was here now. "Dominika, where were you? What happened? Did they do anything to you?"

"Ya byl tak napugan…" Dominika choked in her native language, tears streaming down her face. "I was so scared," she repeated in English. "They tied me up and kept me in a room in that awful school."

"You were at the school? How long?" Lukas' eyes widened slightly.

"I don't know, ever since those ublyudki took us." Dominika spat the insult before shaking her head. "But I thought you had to work for them, what happened?"

"Complicated stuff." Lukas sighed. "But I can't believe you were in the school all that time… Me and Joshua were in there looking for you."

"You came looking for me?"

"Of course." Lukas rubbed the back of his head. "I wasn't going to let them do anything to you but I failed… I couldn't find you. How did you get out?"

"Some woman came and saved me. She was like the spies you see in the movies. Long hair, beautiful… said her name was Lisa Valentine."

In front of the two, Miles turned around, the name penetrating his concentration. He opened his mouth to ask Dominika to repeat the name when a bus turned into the park with Joshua at the wheel.

"Why the hell is he driving a bus?" David questioned as he lightly held Dorothy next to him.

"Can he drive a bus?" Jason looked to Miles.

"No." Miles replied before lightly jogging to the bus. He took in Richard sitting at the front and then Lisa sitting at the far back. Miles blinked as if not sure if she was real.

"Yes, yes, that is mother, and no, I have no idea where she's been or why she's here." Joshua answered Miles' unasked question. "But I'm sure we don't have enough time to converse." Joshua unwound the window and leaned his head out. "Everyone, get in."

"Why?" David called out.

"Because I need to get you out of here. Just get in and don't ask questions, please. We don't have much time."

With a bit of grumbling from David, eventually everyone climbed into the bus. Nick was last on the bus and he looked to Joshua, confused.

"I told you I'm not getting anyone killed." Joshua said before pressing the button to close the doors. He wound the windows up before reversing out of the motel lot and started driving down the roads.

XXX

The Sniper was completely focused on his task at hand. He had spent the better part of an hour clearing his mind and getting his heartbeat steady so the rifle wouldn't waver. This was one of the harder shots he had taken, but he should be able to manage it. A moving vehicle, at an angle no less, but it was possible. Far down the Interstate, he caught a bus turning onto the far away cloverleaf. Looking away, he focused the barrel between a section of trees exactly where Joshua's head would be in around thirty minute's time.

XXX

As Joshua turned around the cloverleaf, he glanced behind him nervously. He was fine with the survivors staying alive. The sense that Tyrone would be under threat in two days was still there, which meant that the list was still active. Death was just planning on overriding it. No, the problem was the civilians. Lisa sat at the far back, Dominika was next to Lukas, Richard sat at the front and Miles sat across the aisle. Four civilians who weren't part of the list were under threat of dying soon.

He wasn't too concerned about Miles or Lisa, since he knew them and knew that they could do all the right things to survive. Richard and Dominika though… Richard looked like a cop, so he might know how to react. Joshua shook his head and concentrated on pressing his foot down on the accelerator.

"All right guys," Joshua called back over his shoulder. "Hold on to your seats, because I am not stopping!" Joshua kept his eyes on the road, but the relative curve wasn't a threat to his driving. No cars were on the interstate since there was no use for it at the moment because of the shield surrounding Willingboro. It wouldn't be used after the shield was gone, either. Well, it wouldn't be there.

The speedometer climbed from 30 miles per hour up to 40, 50, and 60 in a steady climb. The bus started to groan in protest, the windows rattling in their frames and the engine rumbling. He ticked over 70 half way to the river. The bus screamed over the road as Joshua kept his hands firm on the wheel, concentrating and nervous. He was sure none of the people on the list would die, but injuries were very possible. The bus was not going to hold up which means what happened after would be unexpected and random.

The bridge they were heading for was one that was parallel to the one that was destroyed in the explosion. Joshua glanced up as they passed under an overpass from another cloverleaf. The white walls of a supermarket could be seen as the bus got closer and closer with increasing speed.

Joshua glanced over his shoulder again. "All-right, everything is about to be ripped from under you. My advice, duck down low and keep huddled up. Now, hold on to your hats!"

XXX

The Sniper's trained ears heard the bus and his finger tightened ever so slightly on the trigger of the rifle. Unblinking, he continued to stare at the spot; his tongue slightly clamped between his teeth.

In the Sniper's eyes it was slow motion. The bus appeared in the gap of trees and he could see Joshua at the wheel and each of the passengers. Joshua's head turned towards the supermarket at just the right moment, just before it went in front of the sight. It was going to be an even better shot than the Sniper expected. The Sniper squeezed the trigger, certain that he had killed his target before the shot even got there.

The bullet burst out of the scope smoothly and zoomed down above the car park and between the gap of trees. It hit the window first, sending cracks spanning up the window. Less than a second later it his Joshua in his right eye before bursting out of the back of his head sending blood and gore splattering over the dashboard.

The Sniper watched through the scope as Joshua's hand twisted on the wheel and the bus was thrust sideways too hard and too fast.

XXX

It took the bus three seconds to tip to its side after the wheel was wrenched. The left side lifted first before momentum took over and the bus was sent into a heavy smash to the floor. The back spun out and caught the shield of wind.

The effect was immediate. As if caught in a current underwater the buses end was pulled out and lifted up. The whole bus soon followed and hung in the air for a brief moment before it was flung around the circle. In five seconds it had already spanned two miles down the river before the metal ripped open like paper down the middle.

One half was sent forward further while the back half exited the other side of the shield, smashing into a large corps of trees. It came to a sudden stop as it hit a strong trunk of a tree. The front half of the bus whirled through the air for another two miles before being thrown out like a slingshot. It stayed in the air for a further five seconds before crashing down into farmland, rolling over and over, carving a trail through the wheat. It came to a rest as it smashed into the side of a barn.

As it came to a stop, all was silent.

XXX

The second half of the bus was much more active than the first that was two miles away. The first person to stir was Lisa, who was feeling very dazed and had blood running down into her left eye. She had scanned the wreckage of the bus quickly, taking in everyone who had sat on the back half of the bus. Jeremy was unconscious, draped over Chloe as if trying to protect her. Riley was groaning with a gash down his cheek while Becca was clutching an obvious broken arm in pain. Tyrone was stirring with his shirt split open on his chest, blood seeping into the fabric. Alexander held his left wrist in pain while looking around fruitlessly for Jay and Josie. Lisa's eyes last landed on Lukas who was staring over an inert Dominika in worry and pain.

Lisa pulled herself to her feet and suddenly noticed the pulsing just above her ear. Putting her hand towards the pulse she found a large gash from her left ear ending just before her eye. It wasn't a bad injury, since head injuries always bled more. Instead she went straight over to Lukas and Dominika.

Lukas looked up as Lisa approached. His eyes were wide and he was obviously in shock. He almost sounded as if he had taken morphine. "Is she okay… she's okay? Right?"

Wincing as she knelt down, Lisa pressed two fingers to Dominika's neck. Lisa closed her eyes causing Lukas to shake his head slightly in denial. He was quickly relieved when Lisa nodded. "She's alive. But she's injured badly. Keep an eye on her; tell me if she stops breathing." Lisa stood up again and stood at the edge of the river, looking down the river, trying to guess where the front half of the bus would have landed.

Her gaze was quickly drawn to the sky as a huge rumble overtook her ears. It was like normal thunder magnified by a thousand. It burrowed into her ears and caused her to clamp on hand over her good ear in pain. The sky was somehow even more extraordinary. It was completely black over Willingboro, a giant disk of black clouds. Then the clouds descended.

Lisa could only stand as the clouds hit the tallest building in Willingboro, sending it tumbling to the ground. Then the clouds hit trees and other buildings and structures. Everything the cloud hit caused whatever it was to collapse and splinter. In continued until the cloud hit the floor, smashing everything in Willingboro with no trouble at all. It was eery. There was no sound, no screams, no nothing as the clouds rolled around the floor.

"What… what is that…"

Lisa heard someone say, but didn't register who it was. She watching the clouds disperse leaving only light coloured earth. There was no green, no buildings, no people. Just a flat expanse, like a desert. Everything had simply been crushed into dirt. She felt a sudden wrench in her chest as she realised that was why Joshua had seemed so alert. He had saved them. The weight must be huge on his shoulders. The fact that he had fled Willingboro saving those that he had to. The mental weight on his head… No doubt everyone in Willingboro was dead. There was no movement in the expanse of wasteland.

"Joshua…" Lisa whispered, hoping against all hope Joshua was okay.

A/N: Thanks to Cenobia100, Gabe's-Girl-Forever and LocalTalent53 for the reviews.

Okay, Act 1 is finished! I've definitely enjoyed it and this chapter has been one of my favourites. The next chapter will be updated normally, but in the story timeline will be two weeks later.

So, who is currently unaccounted for? That would be: Dorothy, Jason, David, Jennifer, Nick, Jay, Miles, Richard and Joshua. What injuries did they sustain? Did anyone die? And what of Joshua? Cliffhangers, yay!

How did you like Act 1 for what is to come for the next three acts (They likely won't be as long since, y'know, this one in itself was 60,000 words. What has been your favourite death so far, your favourite character, or well, anything you liked. I'd love your opinions for how the story has been so far.

'Till next time!