Unseen - part 71
Part 1

Come on, just one car; any car. He continued watching out the windows, and waited.

* * *

Time seemed not to pass at all for Eric as they headed north towards the Army base. He wasn't thinking about Rachel, or the situation they were in, or even what Carl was up to; he was just sitting there with a clear head, waiting to get where they were going. The drawn out wait didn't even particularly bother him; this was how things were, so it was what he had to deal with.

The truck drove over a bump - it could have been anything - and continued plodding along. With nothing else to do, and nobody else talking, he made a decision: I'm going to take a nap.

* * *

Carl watched the road ahe...

Unseen - part 71
Part 1

Come on, just one car; any car. He continued watching out the windows, and waited.

* * *

Time seemed not to pass at all for Eric as they headed north towards the Army base. He wasn't thinking about Rachel, or the situation they were in, or even what Carl was up to; he was just sitting there with a clear head, waiting to get where they were going. The drawn out wait didn't even particularly bother him; this was how things were, so it was what he had to deal with.

The truck drove over a bump - it could have been anything - and continued plodding along. With nothing else to do, and nobody else talking, he made a decision: I'm going to take a nap.

* * *

Carl watched the road ahead of him, constantly looking for some sign of light or movement. His mind was going a mile a minute, trying to think ahead to what they'd do when they reached the base - and what he'd do about Eric when they got there. If I can dump Steven, and Catherine stays out of the game, that leaves me and Amando to deal with the blind man and his woman; easy money.

He didn't know where Steven's girlfriend lived - Steven had said east, but that could mean almost anything - but he could hardly wait to send him off on his fool's errand. If anyone in the truck could actually see him, they'd think he was dancing in his chair.

He looked to his right, and saw the moon finally starting to creep up over the shorter buildings. It made it a little easier to see shapes, but it still wasn't enough to catch anything really clearly out there. The moon disappeared back behind one of the taller buildings, and he went back to watching the road.

* * *

Steven was starting to get antsy. He'd been sitting in the back seat for what felt like hours now, and they still hadn't come across any vehicles that looked even remotely like they might be usable to him. His head was turning so much he thought he might give himself whiplash, but still he continued on, scanning everywhere for any sign of life in a vehicle.

He turned around in his seat to stretch his back, and saw more of the black nothingness behind them. He closed his eyes in the stretch, then opened them as the moon popped its head out from behind a building, and he saw something. It took a moment for his head to register what it might be, while he stared stupidly at where it had been, now gone as the moon hid once again.

Finally he clued in to what he might have just seen, and shouted "Stop, turn around!"

He heard everyone around him jump, clearly startled by his sudden outburst. After a brief moment Rachel said "I can't turn around, I can't see anything."

"Then stop and back up; I saw something, we need to see what it was."

He kept his eyes fixed on where he'd seen what he saw, and heard Rachel ask Carl if she should stop.

"Yes," Carl said calmly, "I think you should. This is important to him."

The car pulled to a stop, and then Rachel changed gears and they started moving in reverse. Steven kept his eyes wide open looking out the side of the truck where he'd seen it, waiting for it to appear again. As more time passed backing up and he continued to only see black out the side of the truck, he started getting discouraged. Did I imagine it? Am I so desperate to go find Candice that I'm hallucinating ways to do it?

He opened his mouth to tell her to go ahead forward again, but as he was about to speak they reached the point where the moon had peeked out, and he saw it again; a glint, small and faint. "Stop!" he shouted, and they abruptly came to a halt. He tried to focus on the glint, but he couldn't make out what it was. Without another word he moved around Catherine to exit the rear driver side of the truck, and moved towards it, drawn like a moth to a flame.

As he got closer, his suspicions were confirmed: he had seen a glint, and that glint was a reflection from the moon on a set of keys in the ignition. I don't know what made you leave your keys here, but thank you. He approached the car quickly, but slowed down as he got near, remembering the trap that they'd seen the night before. Rather than do anything foolish, he announced "This car has keys in it."

He waited for anyone else to say something, but nobody did. In their absence, he stepped right next to the car, and raised his hand to the driver side window. If I open the door, the dome light might come on; if the window's down... He pushed his hand forward, and let out a huge sigh of relief as it passed right through where the glass would be.

Not wanting to startle anyone, he said "I'm going to get in and try the engine." He felt for the edges of the window, and maneuvered himself feet-first into the car through it. He felt around in front of him for the keys and steering wheel, but hesitated before starting the car. What happens when this engine turns over? Let's see, lots of noise; headlights maybe; dashboard lights- That was no good. He felt around behind him for something to jam in the dashboard to block any lights, but he couldn't find anything. Without any other choices, he pulled off his shirt and forced it in place.

Once he was happy with his protection, he grabbed the key and took a deep breath. This is it. He turned the key, and heard the engine start to go, but it never quite got there. Shit. He tried it again, and got the same result. Oh man, this isn't happening!