Ryan Westfield - Getting Out

“What’s going on, Mom?” said James from the back, waking up.

“I’m trying to sleep!” said Sadie, waking up briefly and speaking sleepily before settling back down to sleep. Sadie had always been a good sleeper. Sure, things could wake her up, but she always went right back to her dreams.

“I need your help, James,” said Georgia.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s no need to keep waking up your sister. Get out of the car and I’ll explain it to you.”

They both got out of the truck, which was turned off.

“We might be running low on gas,” said Georgia.

“You didn’t fill it up?”

“I didn’t exactly have a chance,” said Georgia.

“Sorry,” said James.

“I’m going to pour in the gas that you got from the McKinneys’ shed. That way we won’t run out when we aren’t expecting it. I don’t really trust the gas gauge on this old truck any more. And I’ll feel better knowing we have plenty of gas.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You watch,” said Georgia. “Keep a lookout.”

She reached into the bed of the truck and took a loaded rifle. She handed it to James. She was glad that at least one of her kids actually knew how to use a gun.

“Got it,” said James.

The night was black, and despite the light from her flashlight, Georgia could barely see James’s face. If she could have, she would have liked to imagine that James wore an expression of grim determination. Good, she thought, it was time her kids grew up. Sadie was already getting there—she never would have guessed that she could have pulled off that stunt with the gun back at the McKinneys. She had a ways to go, sure, but she’d get there. The situation would force them all to evolve, to change, to do what was necessary in order to survive.

With her flashlight, Georgia got the plastic jugs of gas out and set them down on the pavement. She removed the gas cap from the truck. Next, she found a funnel that had been lying in the bed of the truck for as long as she could remember. She didn’t remember why she had it but she was glad she did.

She had some brief worry as she tipped the gas jug up, letting it flow into the truck, but a second later it was gone from her mind. She couldn’t remember what it was. Maybe she was more tired than she’d thought.

“OK,” she said. “I got it. It’s all in there.”

She tightened the gas cap back on, and slapped the truck’s side for good measure.

She and James clamored back into the truck.

“Let’s hope that’s enough to get us there,” she said, as she cranked the engine.

Immediately upon turning the key, she knew something was wrong.

The engine started making a horribly loud churning noise.

“Turn it off!” shouted James.

“What’s going on?” said Sadie, waking up again.

Georgia kept the engine on. And it kept making the horrible sound. The truck was shaking.

“What’s happening?” said James.

The smell was horrible, like burned oil mixed with something else.

“The gas must have been for the lawnmower.”

“So what? It’s still gas.”

“Some lawnmowers take oil right in the tank…” She couldn’t believe James didn’t know that. Hadn’t she taught him anything?

“What’s going to happen?” said Sadie. She sounded scared.

“Maybe it’ll be OK,” said Georgia, as she continued to listen to the horrible sounds the truck was making. But she knew intuitively that it wouldn’t be OK. She had poured a lot of gas into the engine. “Normally I’d turn it off and drain the tank, to save the engine. But it looks like we don’t have any choice but to try to drive it and see what happens. It doesn’t have to work after we get there… we just have to get there.”

She put the truck in gear and pressed the accelerator gingerly.

The truck made an even worse series of sounds.

It lurched forward a few feet, as if its driver was someone who was just learning how to drive a stick shift car.

“Shit,” muttered Georgia, as the truck lurched to a complete and sudden stop. No matter how much she pressed the accelerator, nothing happened. It made one last loud noise and Georgia cut the engine. She didn’t think it would cause a fire, but she couldn’t risk it, considering that all their possessions were in the truck.

Georgia got out of the cab to open the hood. Oily black smoke billowed up at her. She started coughing.

“Mom!” said James, putting his arms around her and pulling her away from the engine.

“Shit,” said Georgia, again.

There were tears in her eyes, and she wasn’t the type of woman who cried. But she was so worried about James and Sadie. The three of them needed to get to the hunting cabin. Once people started really freaking out, they’d be trying to get out to this area, to the less inhabited places, where there were animals you could hunt and places you could grow food. And a lot of those people would become ruthless and cutthroat. Georgia shuddered to think what might happen to James, and Sadie… especially Sadie. Sadie was at the age where Georgia had to argue with her to make her put on less revealing clothing. Men were always checking her out when they were out in public. Georgia usually just said something scathing to the men, who turned red from embarrassment. But if society collapsed, the rules would be different.

But if they were in the hunting cabin, they’d be far removed from everything. It was an area that was difficult to access without a truck. On foot? It would take forever. Georgia could defend her family from there. But it also meant that there wasn’t much of a chance of them getting there without a truck or an SUV.

Georgia was feeling anxious. She didn’t normally feel anxious. It felt like she couldn’t breathe. It felt like the world was crashing down around her.

She sat down on the side of the road, on a rock. She put her head in her hands and wished that everything would go away. She wished it was yesterday. She wished that this had never happened.

“It’s going to be OK, Mom,” said Sadie, sitting down next to Georgia and putting her arm around her.

“We’ll figure a way out of this,” said James, sitting down on the other side of her.

But Georgia knew it wouldn’t be OK. They had all their gear in the truck. They wouldn’t survive without it. But she had no way of carrying it without the truck. She didn’t have backpacks designed to carry a lot of gear. And there was no way they could hike that far anyway… Well, maybe…

But Georgia knew that they needed another vehicle, one that could traverse the tough terrain on the way to the hunting cabin.

And the only way to get another vehicle?

Steal one.

“Who are you with?” said the stranger’s voice.

Max didn’t dare to even move his mouth to speak. He didn’t need to give this guy an excuse to shoot him.

If only they’d taken the long way around that town… But it was too late now.

Max hoped that Mandy and especially Chad would have enough sense not to speak.

“Who are you with?” screamed the man. “Answer me!”

“It’s just us,” said Max, not really understanding the question.

His eyes were fixed ahead towards the strange barrier on the entrance to the town. Behind it, on either side of the road, he could see two squat buildings. One looked like It was some kind of general store, and the other might have been a bar.

Despite the intensity of the situation, Max’s mind was again on practical matters: he was burning a lot of fuel just sitting here idly. He knew he had to ask if it was OK to kill the engine. If they got out of this situation, they needed to have all the gas they could.