D. T. Hannah - The Ants

8/9/2019 D. T. Hannah - The Ants

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D. T. H A N N A H

D. T. Hannah, 1996


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silly, it was just a tiny rock, no ant could bite your foot from inside your shoe! He wasjust about to re-enter the fray when he realized just how tired he was from the car trip,and how comfortable the chair of pushed back grass he had unwittingly made was. Hedecided to rest.

James was still kicking at the nest and Don watched with decreasing interest,

the afternoon sun sapped strength as quickly as it evaporated water. The ants scurriedaround at what they must imagine to be a catastrophe, then Don realized that this wasa catastrophe to them, their house had been destroyed, hundreds of their friends weredead and dying, they were scrambling around trying to find their loved ones and theforce of destruction known as James and Don continued unabated.

Don saw a line of ants on the fringe of the nest near him, they were carryingwhite lumps on their backs, trying to make an escape. Don remembered back to one ofmany classes at school where they had learned about insects. He had seen this before,on a video a line of ants carried white packages and the teacher on the video said theywere what the ants were before they were ants, larvae or eggs or something, and nowthese ants were trying to carry these important parcels away from the disaster. They

were trying to save their children.STAMP! James' foot came down on the line of ants and their white babies.

Shocked, Don looked up at his older brother who was stamping elsewhere. Didn't heknow? Suddenly Don felt sick, not throw up sick, different and worse. He felt horrible

because that was how he had acted. He didn't want to be part of this any more but thedeed was already done, he didn't want to see it happen at the hands of his brother buthe could not look away, he didn't want to think about it anymore but the thought

pushed it's way into his mind. They were trying to save their children.'Boys!' James' wanton destruction was halted by the voice of their father, Don

sprang up and began to wade through the grass to the car, with James right behind,James worked his way past Don and Don walked a bit faster to maintain his lead,

James sped up and Don sped up enormously. Suddenly it was a race and the twobrothers bounded over the grass in order to be considered better than the other ratherthan plain eagerness to be back. The previous "adventure" forgotten by both youngminds, they dashed along the side of the road to the car now silhouetted by the orangeand red of the late afternoon sky.

But not now. Don watched the blue grey landscape glide past and rememberedeverything that had happened. He still felt bad, the sight of tiny white parcels flittedthrough his mind again and again. Don saw a light coming up from behind their car,another car. With headlights on you couldn't even see what colour it was, Donwondered if things were any better in that car and if so, how could he arrange a swap?He had had enough of the inside of this car and its pathetic `country retreat

destination.

In all his forty two years... Rob Travis slowed as the rear driving lights ofanother car slipped into view ahead. In all his forty two years he had never thoughtthat this would happen. Not to his own daughter.

Rob looked through the rear view mirror to the sullen face of his daughter, butit was too dark to see. Only seventeen, maybe not to herself but to the world she was a

baby. He only lingered a moment, just thinking about her made him involuntarily

grind his teeth. How could she do this to herself? In the tiny town they lived in, wordspread like a grass fire and this little bit of gossip would be red hot. It would be


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impossible to keep a lid on since Jodie had been missing for half a year already, andnow... He had an important standing in such a small community, how could she dothis to herself?

Jodie looked out the window at the familiar landmarks gliding by, well known

since they had spent every holiday traveling the same highway to the city, constantreminders of a happier childhood. All that was gone now and no small part of the

blame landed on her own lap.Once she could sit an entire four hour journey, watching the scenery glide past,

letting her thoughts occupy her for the duration. Now she would give anything to haveher walkman back. It now lay in a pawn shop and her thoughts were no company shewanted. She had ruined the relationship she used to have with her parents, not thatthey helped the situation any. Her father probably would have kicked her out anyway,her mother didn't seem to care anymore. It was all so unfair, but not to her, to someoneelse...

She felt her swollen stomach as the baby kicked.

Pregnant at seventeen? and then running away? Maybe to her it seemed like agood idea but had she come to her parents like she should have then, something couldhave been done. Now it was too late. Had something been done then, no one wouldfind out, the damage would have been minimized Rob thought bitterly, how could shedo this to herself? to us? to the family? Since she had run out the family had been tornapart, where once a pleasant and warm home stood, now a tense and moody building

brooded. Rob had been spending more time at the antique store he owned, the pleasantand soothing lines of the old furniture took him back to better times when this thingnever happened.

Sometimes Rob wished dearly that he still lived in those better days, forget

CD's, plastic surgery, microcomputers, jet airlines, skyscrapers, he could live withoutall of the wonderful technological breakthroughs if only he could live in a world wheresociety had not been corrupted by itself. Where the people he loved had not beencorrupted by it.

Well he wasn't living in the same times his antique furniture had been madeand complaining about it will do nothing whatsoever. He was the father and it was his

job to get things back to normal. Problem being the damage spread by rumors in thetownship was nothing to that of the hurt inside the family.

She knew when the pregnancy kit showed positive what she had to do rightaway. Run. She knew how her father would react, which was how he had reacted.

Jodie just wished that he could be more forgiving. What kind of father was socondemning that his own children would sooner run away that bring him theirproblems? Christian, her boyfriend suggested taking off since the beginning of theirrelationship, because he hated the way her dad looked down upon her. To Christian,running away was the perfect solution, get a job, rent a cheap flat and do whateverthey wanted. They soon learned how wrong he was, no job, no friends, no support,steadily dwindling savings... Jodie was surprised she had lasted the time she had,especially after Christian ran out on her.

For a while she survived, stubbornness keeping her from calling home, whenthe last of her savings drained away she slept on the streets for a week. Soaked withrain and starved, in a bus shelter she finally picked up the phone. It was a humiliating

feeling, she could remember the night she ran away with Christian, over a six packthey vowed that death would be preferable to returning home. In some ways it was.


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But for the child's sake it wasn't. She had run away to save her baby and she would seethis through. There was no other reason to go on. Now her father would never let herforget it and that was fine, she had suffered because she couldn't handle hisunforgiving nature but now she promised herself that she could deal with it as she sawthis pregnancy through. Nothing he would say could cause her to make another

mistake and put the baby's life at risk.What really hurt was that she sensed a feeling of shame from her father, not

because she had gotten herself into this mess but because she was his daughter. It hurta lot.

Rob didn't know what to think when Jodie called to be taken home, all thistime he had been wishing for her to do something, make contact at least, but when shedid call he felt odd. In a way he was happy that she was coming home, seventeen yearsand you could get used to a person, but still, he couldn't fight down feelings that hedidn't want her back. He knew it was a terrible thing to think but that was the way thefelt about it. Now he was thinking about how these events would affect him, what

about his wife Carmen? She had cried the week Jodie ran away and again when shecalled to come home, but apart from that she seemed to be bottling the emotion away.Rob wasn't expressing his feelings much either but he knew it wasn't good for Carmen.She seemed to be relying on the supposition that if you keep calm then nothing can gowrong. Rob supposed it was some sort of denial process and hoped that it would soon

pass. Carmen had not spoken a complete sentence to her daughter and she wasn't likethat. When they met at the bus shelter less than two hours ago Carmen was silent andlet Rob do all the talking. It was Damn scary.

Why had Christian run out on her? He had eventually got a good job and theyhad started to get things together and then the arguments started, at first it was just

small things like what to eat but then it was bigger things, money of which they nowhad enough of was central to most of the fights. Jodie suspected that he didn't want thebaby either. It was his too but he didn't want it. If she had told him about thepregnancy before they ran away then he might not have gone at all. Maybe he felt hewas getting trapped into something, but why trapped? They loved each other, didn'tthey? this was what they wanted, to live together, forever... or maybe he had stoppedloving her...

Oh Stop it! why must she run over this in her head? It's over. The dream, thelove, her life with Christian was all gone and all that was left was her family. But didher family want her anymore? Was the baby welcome at all? When it arrived would it

be the unwanted ignored child? It would be a lonely way to grow up. Her father was

always angry when she was around and her mother wouldn't even speak to her. Evenher younger brother seemed to be hesitant to approach her should he be accused of`consorting with the enemy`. What had she done?

What were they going to do when they got home? Would they send Jodie tofinish school? In her present condition, Rob wasn't even sure the school would let herin. A job? Out of the question. Rob just wished he could lock his daughter away fromthe public eye at least until the term was up. It was all that punk Christian's fault, heled her on, impregnated her, made her run away and then left her in a gutter to fend forherself. Christian, he'd better make sure that Rob never sees him again. How couldJodie, do such a thing with such slime? how could his own flesh and blood, be so

stupid? Rob flicked the rearview mirror to 'night' as the headlights of a car behind


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pulled into view.

'....Okay so he's handing over the money and in I walk, in full uniform looking

for some smokes cause the shift's almost over. The guy looks at me and says "Uh oh."pretty calm like his car is missing a tail light or something. I didn't see the knife ornothing, all I saw was some guy getting a bag of something and I wasn't really looking.Anyway he gives the clerk a real dirty look like say anything and I'll kill ya right,and he calmly, just walks right out the door, money and all.'

Lennie laughed 'Oh No!.''Yeah, so I say "Winfields," and this clerk is just looking at me like I was a

lunatic, all pale with eyes popping out of his head and all. I didn't notice of course, Ijust thought he was weird looking or something, I only started to suspect somethingwhen he wouldn't move to get the cigarettes for me. I looked around and the doorwhere the robber was long gone and said "What?"!'

'Truly, detective instincts there.' Lennie added.'Yeah, right.' Mark agreed. 'After a few seconds he says: "the...the...that...was..

..a...robbery." I just stand there as the whole thing just dawns on me and then I runoutside, look around and he's gone, Gary's sitting on the bonnet there, I say "Where'dego?" an Gary says "Where'd who go?".'

Lennie laughed out loud.'So the crook is long gone, the sarge bites our head off and the local newspaper

thinks it's the funniest thing that ever happened.''Did you ever catch him?" Lennie asked.'Oh, yeah,' Mark assured him. 'Fingerprints and all that but still that's why the

guys ask me if I want some smokes all the time.'

'Ah, I see.' Lennie grinned. He was beginning to fit in, after three weeks at thesmall police station he really felt that he was getting along with the other guys.

Uncomfortable silence. Lennie wasn't so secure that he didn't experience theseanymore. 'So where is Gary?' He didn't recognize the name.

'Oh, transferred himself to Sydney somewhere when his wife got into a lawfirm or something, didn't really keep tabs on him.' Mark chuckled to himself. 'Thinkthat poor bastard was right under the thumb. That's what marriage does to you Len,stay right away.'

Lennie said nothing. He knew that Mark's wife had died in a car accident abouttwo years ago, for months afterward he was a shattered man and even now the signs of

pain were evident. Lennie knew that there were worse reasons not to get hitched but he

could still see himself settling down with someone. At the moment he was still livingat home.Lennie looked across to Mark Skye. The Sergeant was silent, eyes seemingly

fixed on the car in front, he was a lonely man and all this talk about wife's hadsaddened him. Although Lennie wanted to be a friend he knew he should avoid certaintopics until they were more familiar, Mark was very kind to drop him home, Len's carhad taken up permanent residence at the local garage.

'So you've moved to old Smith's house.' Mark broke the silence.Taken by surprise Lennie said. 'Uh, yeah... yeah, only moved in two months

ago, my dad, anyway, I was still at the academy.''What, so you requested to be posted here?'

'No, I was sent here because there was space and I lived in the region,' Lennieexplained. 'Actually my dad had an accident at work, lost his leg, and got retired with


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a big pension, when we found out where I was going he moved here.''Bet that ticked you off.' Mark suggested slyly.Lennie laughed 'Yeah I did sorta think I was getting out of the house, but it's

ok. we get along.'If he's one legged, how come he decided to live out here?' the officer asked,

peering out at the darkening countryside.'That's what I said.' Lennie chuckled 'But he can get around, and he loves it he

says, actually I think he just got a shonky real estate dealer and won't admit it.'Mark laughed.

Jake Smith yawned out loud, he resisted the habitual urge to take one handfrom the wheel to cover his mouth since he was the only person in the cabin of thetruck. He eased up behind a line of cars and shifted position so he could stretch his

back. All day driving and still behind schedule, another hour and a half if he wanted to

make the delivery. When the recession hit, it had hit hard, now Jake's partly ownedprivate hauling business was down to two trucks and three investors, right now he waspulling a half truck load of baby prams and bassinets for a country baby productsstore. Unless more business was drummed up in the next couple of weeks, Jake would

be looking for a new job and that was why he was going to drive all night if necessary.Oh Shit, the cops. Jakes pulse went up involuntarily even though he hadn't

done anything- well recently anyway. What was a cop car doing out here? This roadwasn't even well travelled.

He felt around in the ash tray, since quitting, the ash tray had become a homefor loose change (although semi trailers rarely parked in areas requiring parking metermoney), and bits of chocolate bar wrappers among other things. Jake felt around until

his fingers felt a smooth round object. He put the wake up pill into his mouth withoutwater. God, he needed some sleep.

That's odd, that light off to the left had not moved. It just seemed to hover therein the one spot. That light gave him the creeps... Oh, what am I saying? a Light? Ireally must be tired to be thinking this, Jake considered pulling over and taking a muchneeded rest. No. The business was failing and he really needed to get this one throughon time. He steeled himself and concentrated on the road ahead.

The cars ahead turned a wide corner and Jake followed suit, three pairs ofblood red eyes stared back at him. Nearly unmoving in relation to each other the carsfollowed a simple dance lay down by traffic laws of speed and direction, havingnothing to do with each other or even knowing who they were, they automatically

banded into a convoy and travelled into the night.

The convoy of four sped along the highway, a train of movement and light inan otherwise black and empty countryside. At least that's how it would look fromseveral thousand metres up.

Bill peered into the gloom ahead. All he could see were the white lines painteddown the centre of the road and the red and white reflectors on each side. He hopedthat the Retreat had a good sign out the front, the notion of driving back and forth in

the middle of the night didn't appeal to him. A chill struck him as he realized he mayhave already passed by. No, they shouldn't reach the retreat for another half hour yet,


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but he would concentrate on reading every sign from here on just to be sure. The roadwas beginning to twist as it gained altitude, the retreat would most likely be after thesehills. Hopefully.

Ben leaned forward again, probably to ask when dinner was due, the six yearold didn't eat as much as his brothers but snacked with the best of them. They all, Bill

guessed would be feeling the pinch of hunger by now.`Dad, what's that light? Is it a star?`Bill stole a moment from the road and looked out Janine`s window to see a

blurry orange glow hanging halfway up the canopy of stars. `No Its not a star.` Headmitted.

`Then what is it?` Ben asked.À plane.` What else could it be?Òh yeah.` He obviously hadn't thought of that.`But don't planes have flashing red lights?' Ben asked. ànd aren't they

supposed to move?`Ìt's not moving?` Bill asked his son incredulously, he didn't want to tear his

eyes away from the road too long to look for himself, the road was too windy by now.`Yeah, I've been watching it for ages now and it's still in the same place.` Ben

insisted. It's not moving at all.``We're moving too you know,` Bill told him, `maybe it's moving the same way

as us.`Ben grimaced as if he was thinking hard Ì guess so.`Janine stirred, stretching into complete wakefulness. How much longer.`Bill smiled, that was a phrase normally uttered by one of the kids, Àbout

twenty five minutes.`Ben jumped forward and pointed out the window. `Look Mummy, there's a

light and we don't even know what it is.`

Janine looked first out the window at the hazy orange glow and then to Bill. Heshrugged his shoulders, Ì don't know.``Maybe it's a weather balloon being launched.` she suggested.Òh Mummy.` Ben sighed at the mundane idea. Ìn the middle of the night?``What then? Janine laughed.Ìt has to be a helicopter!` the boy said excitedly, as the idea occurred to him.

`With a search light... Looking for spies!`Janine and Bill both laughed. Ben sat back in his seat huffing. Janine's eyes

met Bills and she silently mouthed `What do you think?Ì don't know, chopper looking for spies.` he guessed.`You know, it could be...` She implied.

Òh no.` He disagreed strait away, `none of that unexplained mystery stuff inthis car please.` Then he saw that she was reaching down in front of her feet andreaching inside the carry bag there. Òh no, you are not serious!`

`Yup.` She pulled out the handycam and aimed at the mysterious light. `Wecould get on Unsolved Mysteries with this.

Òh great.` Bill's voice was heavy with sarcasm, though behind all this jokingwith his wife a small doubt lurked, maybe the weird orange glow wasn't as mundaneas it he would prefer it. Maybe Janine and Ben's imagination were set off by the light

but it set of Bills fears for his family's safety. He concentrated on the road withrenewed vigor, the sooner they were at the retreat the better.


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Jodie stared out the window at the bright orange glow, wondering with idlecuriosity what it was. She didn't know and to be perfectly honest she didn't really care.Maybe she was a bit wrapped up in her own problems, maybe when the trip is overand they are back home everything could go back to normal. Home. Her room. Shehadn't been in her own room in months, it would be good to be in her own bed

surrounded by her own things, her old clothes, her posters, her bears, stuff collectedthroughout a childhood... Jodie knew that she could never really return to thatchildhood innocence, everything had changed.

Could the strange orange light be a plane? No, planes weren't fuzzy orangeglows unless... Could that be a plane on fire? About to crash? But how has it managedto stay up in the air for so long, and why? A dozen possibilities occurred at once. The

plane is circling an airfield waiting to use all of its fuel reserves to make an emergencylanding, but while on fire? Maybe it is having troubles with it's landing gear. Maybethe fire is under control but can't be put out until they have landed. It could beanything. Maybe it's not a fire at all, it could be some sort of super powerful spotlight.

One thing it was. Weird.

About five minutes driving, and the old Smith place would be in view, MarkSkye thought to himself, living out in the scrub certainly did not suit him, he preferredhis simple flat in town. Lennie seemed to be showing no signs of tiring, that's theyoung for you, boundless energy, everything changes once you hit the big `three-oh`you stop growing at each end and start growing in the middle...

`Now what do you think that is?` Lennie asked breaking the silence, heindicated nothing but had been looking out the window for the last few minutes.

Mark craned his neck to see what it was and saw it was just a light. Ìts a

plane.` He wondered what was bugging the young man.`But don't planes have red flashing lights?` Lennie insisted.Àn illegal plane then. Mark said but now his curiosity was aroused, the

orange light seemed to hang there in the sky, and Mark got a really weird feeling thathe was being watched. Then he felt foolish for thinking such things. Ìts nothing.`

`We could still call it in.` Lennie suggested. Reaching for the radio.`Yeah Ok.` Why not? Mark thought.`Dispatch,` Lennie spoke into the mic with a gruffer voice than usual, they both

knew that Julie was rostered onto radio duty and she was the best looking cop at thestation, maybe even in the region. No answer, a Monday night was usually pretty quietand Julie drank coffee like there was no tomorrow while on dispatch, she was probably

making all the pots herself so that nobody would really know how much she reallydrank.`Dispatch, come in.` Lennie repeated. Although the station wasn't nearly big

enough to have a 'dispatch' the others called it that, probably some in joke.Nothing.`Dispatch.` Lennie lost his gruff voice and took in a weary one, he would give

Julie heaps when she finally returned. Ìf any one's there...... JULIE!`Still nothing.`Dispatch?` Lennie sounded worried.But the only answer was a quiet static hiss.


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If the wake up pills were working then they certainly weren't working veryhard. Jake Smith yawned again. The orange light hovered around the edge of the widewindscreen providing another distraction in a situation where Jake would haverathered as few distractions as possible. What was it anyway? It had remained fixed inthe same position far too long to be anything he could come up with and to be honest it

was beginning to worry him. Now Jake was a big man, never in a situation where alittle brute strength was necessary, be it loading the truck or even when he had oncewalked into a brawl, had his body failed him, never. But somehow he got the feelingthat his physical strength was useless, he didn't know what it was that he was getting a

bad feeling about but he was nevertheless worried, and that scared him.The three cars were still in front was that where the danger lay? No, it was

unlikely, it was the light that made Jake suspicious, the other cars were just othertravellers, an unusual large number of cars for this road at any one time but not out ofthe ordinary.

Jake felt slightly relieved that he was driving a semi trailer rather than a car.The impressive bulk of the truck that made maneuvering so difficult carried a feeling

at least of safety that after driving a truck for so long, Jake never felt in even a largecar anymore. Well, whether the feeling of danger was emanating from the orange lightabove or the three vehicles in front, he was going to be wary.

Still tired he switched on the radio, it wasn't a substitute for real sleep he knewthat, just as the tablets wouldn't work for much longer but it helped.

Nothing. He was tuned into the local station, he had passed a sign proclaiminggood music and a community spirit five minutes ago, he couldn't be out of the

broadcasting area already, there must be something else. Jake felt for the searchbutton, on his new digital radio, it went around several times without picking upanything decent, oh well, no radio stations. Jake switched the radio off.

Apart from the roar of the engine there was nothing. The lifeless noise worked

on Jake's nerves until the tension had his knuckles white and sweat beaded on the backof his neck. Why was he strung so tight? Could it be the tiredness was fooling him intothinking that something dangerous was out there? It was the logical explanation butJake had never been subject to fits of fear due to tiredness before and he had beendriving tired many times in the past. The fact that there were no radio stations withinrange was just a coincidence but it had only served to increase his suspicions to anunhealthy level of fear. Jake Smith realized that there were no foundations to the fearhe felt at all.

All the same he eased up on the accelerator pedal to let the three cars driftaway, shouldn't be travelling so fast in a semi anyway.

Òh no!` Janine's voice had the tone of someone who had made a mistake andhad no one other to blame. Bill remained silent, if it involved the camera then fine, hewas not too hot on the idea of filming the hazy orange light, which still hung off to theleft where it had always been. He didn't like the light and although it sounded stupid,Janine's filming of the thing seemed like an open invitation for danger.

`Look.` Janine held out the camera. Ì didn't even press record, I've been sittinghere just watching the light through the viewfinder.` she sighed through her ownstupidity. Bill smirked, hoping the darkness would hide it from his wife.

Bill checked the three boys in the back, all asleep. Somehow it seemed that by

filming the light, Janine was unnecessarily placing them in danger, their own kids.`Janine...` he began. Ì don't think you should be filming that light.`


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`Why not?` She asked, it was a normal enough question and to be honest therewas no real reasoning to Bill's fears, just bad feelings. Bill turned as he tried to put intowords what he was having trouble understanding himself, and he saw his wife's eyes.She seemed to be searching for a hint of fear in his, as if she felt the same chills that hedid, her soft beautiful face was marked with tension. He looked back at the boys, they

were shifting uncomfortably even while asleep, a chill of a new kind struck Bill, theoppressive fear he had been feeling was being felt by everyone in the car. The tensionwas in the very air, or was it just in his mind?

Bill was about to say something but he didn't, Janine looked back to theoncoming road and was lost in her own thoughts her own fears. Bill still said nothingeven something comforting seemed hard to put into words and finally he gave up andconcentrated on finding the entrance to the retreat, he had never been right next to hiswife and felt so alone before, ever.

Janine had stopped trying to film the orange light but still fiddled with thecamera, evidently something was more wrong than just having forgotten to pressrecord, or maybe she needed something to do with her hands. She never was a good

repair woman but Bill let her tinker anyway. It was easier than speaking to her. He hadnever been short of words around Janine in years, ever since they had been dating for awhile and had grown relaxed around each other Bill could talk for hours on end andJanine could hold up her own conversation by herself as well. But now, he could noteven muster a few words of comfort, even a discussion on the weather. It made himfeel all the more alone.

Janine looked through the view finder at the road ahead and tested the zoombuttons, she turned the lens by hand, pushing it from one extreme of focus to another.She released the battery pack and it slid free, no resistance there, no broken contacts.She pressed eject and the door opened, she removed the tape exposing the electronic

parts within the heart of the machine, she checked the tape, it was not twisted inside,

the reels rolled without resistance, as far as she could see there was nothing wrongwith the tape....`Oh my God.` Janine breathed. Bill looked across to see what was wrong and

she was looking inside the machine.`What?` He said finally.She tipped the camera up and into her lap poured a mixture of smashed

electronic parts and severed wires, the camera was destroyed utterly and irreversibly,but only the recording section. Anyone could, as Janine had, quite easily look throughthe viewfinder and think that they were recording and never realizing that the insideshad been mangled.

Janine looked at her husband with horror, the question in her eyes, who could

have done this? Why? They glanced back, the car behind had been there for most ofthe journey, Bill had only been annoyed at the headlights that had burned into his eyesuntil he flipped the rear view mirror to night, since then he had never given thefollowing vehicle a second thought. Now the only thoughts were fear.

Bill gently pressed down on the accelerator until he was ten kilometres overthe limit and saw the lights of the other car grow dimmer in the rear vision mirror, heknew he couldn't hold it a this speed for much longer, the road was getting more andmore mountainous.

Rob Travis watched in silence as the car in front suddenly pulled away. Atension had built up in the car, not the feelings between himself and his daughter


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Jodie, but something different, something unknown, something terrible. Rob had beenhovering on the speed limit behind this car for quite a distance, he was in no hurry, sofelt no need to go any faster, even when the road was not so hilly, nor overtake to getout into the open. But suddenly seeing the car accelerate for no apparent reason wasdisconcerting at the very least, particularly with a highway patrol car so close behind.

Rob was not concerned about the police presence as he may have been as ateenager. He was a law abiding citizen even then but a much worse driver. Now he hadno worries about his abilities as a driver and so was unconcerned about the vehicle

behind.Well he shouldn't be. He was.Something about that particular police car sent shivers down his spine, for one

thing it wasn't doing anything, it just hung back as if it was waiting for something tohappen, the normal course of action for a highway patrol is to drive up and down thehighway and book speeders or other traffic offence committers, not zero in on a carand wait for it to do something. For one thing not many tickets would get written andthen only if someone was foolish enough not to peek out through the rear view mirror

once in a while. The actions of this cop was weird.It was possible that the police car didn't notice the speeder in front of Rob's car,

but that explained little, it was as if the police car was travelling to a specific place andwasn't concerned with the goings on around it. Was it some sort of country cop I'm offduty so bugger the rest of the world attitude or something worse? Rob hoped not, hegot the feeling he may be needing a cop or two soon, maybe not these but somebody,and he didn't know why he got that feeling, and it scared him.

Jodie tore her eyes away from the blurry orange light still glowing outside herwindow, it was an almost mesmerizing sight and deeply frightening. Was it the light orwas it something else at the root of her irrational seeming fear. She glanced across to

her thirteen year old brother Jim. He had been silent since she had left, maybe he wasjust keeping out of the crossfire between herself and her father. She could recall somefiery telephone calls during her self imposed exile, most ending with her hanging upwhile he was halfway through a sentence. After Christian left she did not attemptcontact at all, convinced herself that it was better for both. Jodie felt sorry for her

brother, dad must have made life at home for anyone else miserable. Jim was normallydeep within the strains of heavy metal delivered via his prized possession, a CDwalkman, at this stage of the journey. But this time the walkman lay on his lap, theearplugs and cord carefully coiled around and a far away expression on the boys face.He was waiting for something to happen, or did he feel the fear too?

Jodie turned her attention to the light. It couldn't be a distressed plane, not still.

It had to be something and Jodie was caught between two feelings: curiosity, shewanted to know what the light was and where these feelings of fear were coming from;and fear, she was scared she would find out, deathly afraid.

The armrest that pulled out of the middle seat was down and Jim's arm was inits usual position, his hand however, gripped the rest at the front and his knuckles werewhite as death.

Rob Travis concentrated on driving. Of course the odd bad vibes he wasfeeling were nothing, no scientific evidence to back it all up but... trust your instincts,he had told himself many times during business transactions. The well honed ability toout guess a competitor may prove more useful than just in the pursuit of profit and a

well built up business in a small town, it could save Rob and his family.Planning. That was the key, not just a strategy for what was expected to


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A drop of sweat drew an icy line down Jake's side, he pressed his arm againsthis side so his loose shirt would soak it up. The cabin of the truck was too cold tosweat.

Something else was wrong, there were some weird sounds emanating frombehind Jake, not from the sleeper but below. Mechanical problem? the thought sent

chills down his spine. This is not a good time to break down. This is not a good place.He would have to check it, possibly fix it or even find out if he would need to

look for a place to stop, at best his fears that there would be a problem would beallayed, hopefully this would be the case.

Jake spotted a 'BBQ Area' sign with "2km on Left" below it, loom out of thedarkness and flash past. He prepared to stop, thinking about the shotgun stored belowthe passenger side of the seat. How long would it take to load?

The headlights revealed a cramped area enclosed by the road and a thin fencein a semi-circle shape, Jake was forced to narrowly miss the fence on each side to fitthe truck inside, getting out the opening at the other end may be difficult but he wascommitted. Jake left the engine running and felt under the seat for a heavy wooden

box. He loaded the weapon and got a long handled flashlight not unlike those used bythe police. Slowly he slid across to the passenger side and opened the door, he sweptthe area with the flashlight before getting out. It was a small barbecue area, smallmetal barbecue, pile of chopped wood lying near, a table and chair set with a roof allmade out of long logs, an Apex initiative sign nailed to one of the posts.

Deserted.Jake stepped down and the gravel crunched under his feet, why would anyone

want to have a family picnic here? out past the fence there was blackness, but therewas probably a nice view of the valley during the day.

He ducked below the vehicle, directing the small spot of light at key pointsunder the chassis revealed nothing, under these conditions there was next to no chance

of discovering a problem. No branches caught up in the wheels, no oil or brake fluidleaks, as far as he could see, no cracks, no vital parts missing, no partridge, no peartree. He had to make a decision, either stop here or press on hoping that it was nothing.Jake looked around at the black picnic area, his business was declining, he would presson.

Still wary, he walked back to the open door and climbed in, once back behindthe wheel, he realized that he would have never before taken the shotgun to investigatean odd noise, and yet at the time he had never considered otherwise. Something aboutthis place rang untrue. Jake looked up into the sky and saw the orange light. 'It must beyou.' he said to the light.

The light made no reply.

He navigated out of the area and back onto the road. The shotgun lay fullyloaded on the seat next to him. He had put a shell into the breech so he could load anextra into the magazine tube. Jake knew he did not do this sort of thing on a badfeeling.

...And that was nearly brand new too. The handicam was purchased for theApril holidays, not even an entire tape had been used yet and this had happened. This...this something. Bill couldn't even describe what had happened, vandalism? too strong,accident? could it be? If it wasn't an accident then who? Janine? No, it was basically

her toy. One of the boys? No, they wished it was their toy. An accident then, someonemishandled the bag, a lot. The bag was one of those heavily padded deals which came


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with the camera and stored the power module, a spare battery and other accessories inoutside pockets. There would have to be some serious mishandling to damage thecamera to the extent in which mangled pieces fell out.

The blurry orange glow caught Bill's eye again, he refused to believe that somealien life form was watching them from above, destroying their proof and creating a

suspicious feeling among them all. It was simply superstitious nonsense supported bypeople who didn't want to look for real answers. He glanced across to his wife. Ormaybe those whose imagination's were fired up by the thought of the unknown.

It may excite Janine but it gave him the creeps.

Where is that Damn retreat? He was starting to get irritated about the wholeplace. If he missed it because they failed to put up proper signs, he promised himselfnot to spend all night looking for it. He would head for the next town, put up in amotel and complain at the retreat the next morning, if he still felt inclined to even go.He was too tired to drive more than he had to tonight.

He looked back at his sleeping children, he suddenly had the premonition that

they were in danger tonight, terrible danger, the feeling came as fast as it was strongand he felt jarred, unhinged. A surge of adrenaline passed through him right to theextremities, suddenly he was awake, wide awake, prepared for battle. Were the

paternal protective instincts so strong in him?Or somehow was he also sensing his own danger?

The tension was so great he had begun to sweat, Rob looked across to Carmen,her arm was resting lightly on the passenger door armrest and she seemedcomfortable, except for one thing, she was awake and silent. Normally she strove to

either sleep the trip away or talk, now she was watching the road with a fierceintensity. Oh, maybe it was all the trouble with Jodie, she had never been able to talkabout it, blaming herself, but Rob knew that it was something else. Something outsidethe family, something malevolent.

Something in the car in front.

Fearful, Jodie genuinely felt fear for her own life and that of the tiny, helplesslife she carried. Why? there was no basis for this fear her father visibly controlled hisanger with her but would never let himself harm her she hoped, was he what made herso scared? Could it be something else?

Why the car in front? Rob wanted to know but whatever gave him the idea thatit was this particular vehicle didn't care to divulge anything else. He wished it waslight enough to see what type of car it was, no one he knew about would be travellingalong this road. As far as he was concerned they were perfect strangers, he was surethat they were dangerous however.

What could he do about it? They weren't following him at all being in front,could it be something they might do? No, Rob was no psychic, it wasn't a sixth sensething, something about that vehicle set off alarm bells. Subconsciously at least heknew why they were dangerous. The vehicle behind? not so much since it had droppedaway. Rob knew that he needed to keep the car that was striking so much fear in himin sight. He knew nothing about it and to lose sight of it would only increase the

possible danger, by knowing at all times what it was doing the chance that it wouldsurprise him was decreased. Knowledge really was power.


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Keep the car in sight. If it leaves the highway, don't follow, but gun it out ofthere, the same if it slows to let him pass. But until it does something odd, do nothing.It was up to him to protect his family, Carmen, Jim, and Jodie, his daughter.

The countryside had once felt very safe to Mark Skye, familiar, he had lived inthese parts nearly his entire life. Now? now he didn't know, know what was wrongwith anything, the radio, the cars, the truck, his life, his cops instinct, it was all just amess. He was so keyed up he was about to draw his gun and start shooting at trees.

The two cars had drifted on ahead and were way out of sight, the truckfollowing had disappeared, probably stopping for the night, the police car now carvedit's own way along the highway. Good, suddenly Mark was not so certain of hisabilities as a cop to recognize danger, it was better that any innocents were out ofreach should he make a bad decision.

If they were innocents.

Alone. And he felt that he was not physically alone, just alone in the sense thatif he was in danger, it would be up to him and him alone to save his life. He still hadthe 12 gauge and one of the most bulky road machines on the highway.

If pushed, he would use both.

At least the boys were asleep. This was not a good trip and Bill was beginning

to wonder if this whole area was making him feel like jelly, it wasn't the usual thingsyou would expect from someone who lived their whole life in the suburbs, no. Hecould get used to the quietness, the lack of streetlights outside his bedroom, even thesolitude of a country road, this was not any of those things it was something else. The

people? he hadn't met any as of yet and they were reputed to be "all friendly like" itcould be he was just nervous about being in a new place with new people.

Always they had holidayed in the same place, nice place, on the coast. Was itsuch a good idea not to adhere to tradition? By habit Bill glanced down at the dashand realized he was doing ten over the speed limit. Almost guiltily he eased up, it wasgetting windy again.

Bill still hadn't seen any sign of the retreat, he searched the black roadside for

any sort of light. The only lights were the two from the following car, it had beenbehind him for many kilometres now and had not budged from it's position justbehind. Close, too close.

Yet it still followed, he had slowed down by ten km per hour and it refused toovertake him, why would it do that? Was it following him? that was the onlyexplanation Bill could think of. There was only one way to find out.

Bill accelerated the falcon very slowly.The other car remained fixed in position, adjusting it's speed to match Bill's.Bill went faster.So did the other car.


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The car in front was behaving very oddly. Slowly gaining speed and slowingdown suddenly, now it was going faster and faster, the road was getting more andmore treacherous at these speeds. Rob wasn't going to go any faster than what he wasright now and if the car in front accelerated any more he would let it go. Before he haddecided to keep it in sight but at this speed, driving was more of a danger than any

threat in that car could pose. The car in front began to gain distance.

Jodie felt the change in speed, something was very wrong. They were goingfaster than was safe on this road, as was the car in front. What was her father doing?Trying to get them all killed?

Now Rob would have to re-evaluate his plan, the car in front out of sight, thepolice car behind gone also. He was alone, all he could do was to continue on andhope that nothing would go wrong, that he would get home safely with his newlyreformed family and this night would be just an unpleasant memory. But before atleast he was doing something, following the dangerous car. Now he was merely

driving along, trying to look inconspicuous, and stay out of harms way. It was the mosthelpless feeling in the world.

Then it got worse.With a screech the car in front turned to face him.

The car behind hung on, Bill realized that he was going faster and faster to tryand escape. The boys were still asleep but Janine wouldn't take her eyes off the road.She said nothing about Bill's increase in speed, did she feel something bad about theother car too?

Another tight turn, Bill wasn't sure about the falcon's turning limit. He had noreal driving training except a few lessons when learning and simple driving experienceof years. He was a careful driver and virtually had no experience at aggressive driving.All he knew was that he had to get away.

The car behind began to fall back, slowly. Was it giving up the chase? Bill felta mix of elation and relief. Could it be that they had outrun the other car? or was itsimply biding it's time? or were there more up ahead? Bill could only watch thewithdrawing car through his rear vision mirror.

He didn't see the corner approaching until too late. The corner was wide but hewas going way too fast. He jumped on the brakes and pulled at the wheel, thank Godthe car had anti lock brakes. The car was not slowing down quick enough and the edge

of the road was nearing fast, beyond were fields and sparse gum trees. He pulled thewheel even further around, too far, the back of the car was coming around and theywere going into a spin. Travelling sideways the wheels screeched until the road was nolonger beneath them. Gravel scattered as the car slid along the side of the road. Theyhad now turned right around and were going backwards but Bill's foot was stilltramped down on the brake and they were slowing, it looked like they weren't going tohit anything.

The car behind rounded the corner.

The car had skidded to the side of the road and now was facing them. Why?Rob wracked his brains were they attacking or just stopping? No one stopped like that.


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What could Rob do? try and pass by? Rob knew that the best defense is an offence.There was only one thing he could do.

Her father seemed to be accelerating, and into a corner, there was a car in frontof them, facing them, and her father was driving strait for it.

'DAD!' she yelled.

The Volvo station wagon crashed into the falcon, with a crunch Rob's viewexploded when the bonnets of both cars crumpled up and glass burst over him. Therewas a second crash and all was quiet. They had stopped moving.

It had all happened so quickly. Rob turned to his wife, Carmen was slumpedagainst her seatbelt unmoving, he pushed her back against the seat and she coughedfor a few seconds. Rob looked to the back of the car, Jodie was alright but Jim lookedasleep, unconscious? The corner of Rob's eye caught movement in the other car. Withsudden horror Rob realized that his car was damaged beyond drivability, escape wascut off and the people in the other car were conscious. There was only one thing that

he could do. See who they were.He pulled at the door latch, the door was only partially damaged and it opened

with only a squeak. His legs shook, shock from the crash or fear of what may comenext? He walked over to the dark blue falcon, it was much more damaged than his ownVolvo because sometime after the first collision it had turned so that the Volvo was T-

boning it when the second crash happened. The second crash, a gum tree. Slidingsideways when hitting, the falcon hit the tree on it's left side passenger door almostwrapping all the way around. If anyone was sitting there, they would be seriouslyinjured.

Rob made his way, stumbling for his shaky legs, to the driver side door. Helooked in the windows, in the back seat, three young boys. A family was in the car.

Rob's stomach dropped to the ground, these were not dangerous people, this was afamily. He had attacked a family.He opened the driver's door to see if he could help.He was struck in the face.

Dazed, Bill knew that someone from the other car had opened his door so hepunched the unknown assailant as hard as he could in the face. As quickly as he couldhe undid his seatbelt and got out. The other man was holding his face and backing off,Bill was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness from the crash and getting up too fast and

he nearly fell over. Someone was screaming, it sounded like his wife.

Rob had been attacked, who was this guy? Some wacko? If he was he was agreat danger to Rob and his family no matter who he travelled with. The other manwas younger than himself and had attacked him with astonishing speed for someonewho had just been in a car wreck, for someone who was a simple father.

The younger man was coming for a second swing, he wouldn't get it. Robjumped back and the fist swung short. Rob hit back but his fist glanced off the other'sside. The other swung again too quickly for Rob to stop and he was hit in the chest.Slightly winded he gave ground but the other was coming again. Rob needed to winthis quickly because he was not going to last as long as the younger man would in a

fight. He lunged. The sudden attack caught the other by surprise and they grappledtogether. Losing balance they both toppled against the side of the car, the other's head


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much to think about, there was so much happening all too fast. One dead, the bluefalcon hit the tree on it's rear left side door and wrapped around killing the twelve orso year old boy sitting there and pinning the six year old next to him. It may take hoursto get either of them out. The father was dazed or concussed from his fight with theother driver. Mark looked across to the driver of the Volvo, had he caused the

accident? or was it just an accident?'Ready?' the large man said, Rob was his name, Mark recalled.'Yes.' Lennie answered.'Ok. One, two, three...' Together the three of them pulled at the rear door of the

falcon trying to free the six year old.A few seconds of pulling and nothing, the three of them released breathing

heavily.'We need those ambulances. Now.' Mark decided.'I'll try to get him out through the front.' Lennie said.Mark followed. 'I'm going to try the radio again, if there's still nothing I'm

going to drive to the next town or to wherever the radio comes back on.' Lennie

nodded agreement even though being left here was not an enviable position. 'Won't belong.' Mark turned and went to the police car.

Lennie and Rob went to the front seat of the blue falcon to try and squeeze theboy Don out through the small hole between the two front seats and the buckled roof.As far as Mark could tell, Rob had caused the accident. By looking at the crash itseemed that way and he was working very hard to do what he could for the otherfamily, trying to redeem himself? It was a common reaction from people who were atfault, even if "fault" meant simply running a stop sign.

Rob's family had fared well in respect, his daughter was Ok. now sitting aloneon a grassy embankment, the son was dazed but was being looked after by his mother.Mark sat in the police car and grabbed the radio mike. By the clock they had been at

the accident site only three or four minutes but it had seemed much longer than that.And there was something else pushing at the back of his mind telling him that this wasno ordinary crash, nor was it so much an accident.

Jake wiped at sweat as he dropped down a gear. Drive Drive Drive Drive tostay alive. Stop for nothing, nothing.

Light ahead, around the next bend. Jake expected the worst, an ambush? whatelse could it be? He was scared. But there was only him to look out for himself and tosuccumb to fear would be losing in the end anyway. He would take action to protect

himself. He would take steps.Around the bend and the source of the light became apparent, more than onecar, two or three at least, and at the front a police car, lights flashing and all. It wasclear that they wanted him to stop. They were parked off the road in a line, he couldstay on the road and just drive past but there would be a pursuit or more waiting up theroad. It was just a matter of time. He was going to have to take steps. Action.

There was only one thing he could do.

'Damnit!' Still no radio, Mark would have to drive off for help. He hooked the

radio mike and started the engine. A new light shone through the rear view mirror,maybe he could send this new car for help. For being parked on a turn the newcomer's


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headlights remained pointed at his mirror for a while longer than necessary. Good,they were stopping. The roar of a powerful engine became audible, a large dieselengine, being put through it's paces, not slowing down... but accelerating?

'What the Hell?' Mark turned in his seat.The headlights came closer. Unstoppable.

'Oh God.'

The truck connected with the rear of the police car at eighty kilometres perhour. Rob only had enough time to grab the youthful policeman's arm and jump clear.

The combined weight of truck and semi trailer pushed the crumpled police carinto the back of the white Volvo The trailer's rear wheels skidded as the three othervehicles caught between it and the solid gum tree.

Each car crumpled as it was crushed first the damaged falcon, the Volvo andthe police car. Each with their helpless occupants trapped within.

The noise of the crash stopped. Although it was only a few seconds inexecution it had seemed like days to Lennie. Silence, not even noises from thesurrounding bush. He raised his head.

The truck appeared undamaged. It had driven right on top of the police car andlooked like it was attempting to climb over all three of the now barely recognizablecars. Rob moved beside him, he was alright. That made two. Lennie looked at the

police car, a giant had picked up that car and rolled it into a ball with Mark Skyeinside. The car was now so small there couldn't be any room for Lennie's friend.

Movement inside the truck cab.Something was terribly wrong with this night, fear, paranoia, senseless

unprovoked violence. Something had caused these two crashes. One of the drivers ofthe cars knew, and so did the driver of that truck. Lennie did not understand why thetwo drivers had fought so vehemently, but he knew that the driver of the truck could

possibly be carrying those feelings.Lennie drew his service revolver. No-one had tried to leave the cab but he

could hear someone moving around inside. He moved to the nearest door, thepassenger side, his head came way below the level of the window and it looked like hewould have to climb up to get in. One hand would not be free.

He stood on a piece of metal that looked like it came from the police car, andstepped up to the foot ledge that was used to climb up into the cab. It felt solid, hedidn't want his weight to tip the truck off an unsteady perch. He grabbed the door

handle with his one free hand and pulled the door open.The interior light came on and Lennie pointed his gun at the lone occupant. Itwas a large man in a faded shirt, he had a deep cut on his forehead which was bleedingfreely. He looked dazed.

There was a shotgun on the seat between them.`Freeze!` Yelled Lennie as loud as he could.The truck driver went for the shotgun with both hands.Lennie's footing slipped and he had to grab for the chrome handrail with his

gun hand. Luckily he didn't let the weapon go. He regained his footing and re-aimedthe gun, letting his other hand go of the door to steady the shot. The driver now had theshotgun and was aiming. One shot was all Lennie had. He squeezed off a round.

The sound of the gun deafened in the small space. The truck driver's chest washit and he was pushed against the driver door. He slumped onto the steering wheel,


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dead. A bright red stain was left on the door wall. Lennie fell into the cab.

The police car was demolished, Lennie couldn't even see the body of Mark

Skye but he knew he was dead. So many were dead Mark; the falcon driver who wassimply lying dazed on the ground; another of his children who was too injured tomove; two of the Volvo occupants... It would be easier to account for the survivors,himself and the Volvo driver Rob had jumped clear of the collision; Robs daughterand one of the falcon children they had freed weren't anywhere near the crash; and thewoman in the falcon had miraculously avoided death in exchange for heavy injuries,they had just pulled her from the wreck. Lennie thought that may injure her more butnone of them wanted to keep her inside the car if they could get her out.

But why? Why all this carnage? It wasn't normal human behaviour. Even thekid, Don, said he was scared all night but didn't know why. Now the young lad wastrying to wake up his unconscious mother. He didn't cry, it was as if he thought that

crying may be dangerous. It seemed like he was being brave to protect himself and hismother, at least he still trusted someone else, even if she was unconscious.

`We have to leave.` Rob Travis declared. He seemed like someone who got hisown way all the time, head of the household, probably boss at work.

`No, not until we figure out what is wrong.` Travis' daughter Jodie argued.`We could be in danger just sitting here, we have to move.` Travis would

require sound reason to get him to agree to anything contrary to what he decidesinitially.

`But we could be in danger by moving.` Constable Lennie entered theargument.

`No. Travis turned to Lennie more forcefully than expected. `Something is out

there and we're in danger. If we stay here then we are fools.``How do you know: "Something is out there" ` Jodie broke in. `There is nothing

out there that we know about. These accidents weren't caused by something "outthere".`

Travis turned to his daughter angrily Àre you implying that I caused theseaccidents?`

Ì know that you caused one.` She stated.`Lets wait a minute....` Lennie came in between them trying to avoid a fight,

`We don't know yet what caused these accidents.` Jodie mumbled something under herbreath and turned away. Lennie continued. Ì think that there is something else havingan effect on all of us, something that contributed to the accidents.` He looked at Travis.

`..and I think that it would be unwise for us to run when we are still under these effects.We have to be careful not to do anything too aggressive because of what has happenedso far.`

Silence. Suspicious and distrustful. They caused suspicious feelings in Lenniehimself, he knew that this was partially due to this 'other effect' but, he would bestupid to ignore it completely. The Travis's, this father and daughter pair acted likerelatives who couldn't stand to be around each other. It was strange how they wouldeven be living in the same town, let alone be travelling in the same car. They seemedto be in need of going at each other's throats.

And what of this policeman? Rob Travis thought to himself. What were his

motives in promoting this crack-ball theory of "some other force" having an effect oneveryone's behaviour? What was this, the X-files? Travis couldn't explain what was


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going in his mind when he slammed his foot down right into the blue falcon, he wasscared, the Goddamn car turned around, what was he supposed to think? That all wasgood and well? No, he was acting in self defence, of him and his family. Ok. headmitted that it was the wrong reaction. Rob thought to himself: what would havehappened if he had simply continued on? would the falcon have been in a position to

follow him? Yes. Would it have? Rob would never know because the driver of that carwas dead. So was half of Rob's family.

That truck driver was involved, or was he? He had done the same thing as Robhimself and been shot dead by the young constable. The constable, Rob was stilldeciding if he was involved.

Rob's suspicion of the cop extends not just from the act of slaying the truckie,but from other things. How had the police shown up so quickly? They had beenfollowing all the way. Not only that, they had approached the crash site with suspicionrather than concern for the victims. They knew something.

The young cop was trying to pass a naturally and rightfully held suspicion ofhimself off as some "other force". Rob wasn't fooled. He saw the way the cop

approached the truck, gun in one hand, ready to kill at a second. he just climbed upthere and opened fire on the poor man. Rob couldn't see in but that story about thetruckie picking up a shotgun just wasn't true. How could a man, dazed and most likelyinjured from just being in an accident, think to pick up a shotgun when a policemanopens the door? It was stupid.

Sure his partner had been killed in the accident, and even Rob was attackedafter his own crash but to go up and kill a man with a gun is something completelydifferent. Something almost evil.

Rob Travis knew that if anyone left were involved with any malevolent goingson, it would be the young cop. He was right, if they all packed up and ran the dangerwould not be left behind.

Jodie did not like her father. Jodie did not like the suspicious cop who's handhad not strayed too far from the butt of his gun. Jodie did not even like theunconscious woman or the boy that held her without any noise or tears, but she knewthat they all posed a threat to her and why.

They, as she was, all were under the influence of some strange effect thatcaused paranoia and aggression, any stronger and they would be physically fighting.She didn't care whether anyone else escaped, but she was going to make sure that sheand her baby survived. She had to plan.

Ì still think we need to run.` Her father continued arguing with the cop.`No, not until we can stop whatever it is making us feel this way.` The cop

returned.`But we don't know what 'it' is, and we aren't going to find it just sitting here.`Ìt's too dangerous to get on the road.`Àre you saying that we cannot stop ourselves from doing something

dangerous?` her father asked incredulously.`Yes I am.` The young cop was certain.`But we know about it now, we can think thing's though...` Rob continued to

argue.Ì still don't think we should go until we know what it is we are dealing with.`Èxcuse me.` A small voice interrupted them. It was the boy, Don. Ì think I

know what is scaring us.` He looked up.

They all looked up.The soft orange glow hung silently overhead. Watching. Waiting.


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But now it was only a few hundred metres up.

There was no discussion. They all wanted to run. The orange glow was closer

now but still hazy. It was three light sources joined closely together in a triangle shape.It rotated slowly but there was no other movement. No other sound.

Lennie jumped up into the truck cab, if any vehicle was drivable it would bethis. He pulled the dead truck driver out and sat in the driver seat. The steering wheelwas sticky with blood but he ignored it, his main fear was that the engine had beendamaged in the collision. He felt for the keys. The truck was diesel so he had to warmthe engine before turning it on, all of the dash warning lights came on, Lennie hopedthis was normal.

After a few seconds he turned the starter motor, it turned over a few times anddied. `No.` He whispered to himself, and tried again. This time the engine sprang tolife and Lennie breathed a sigh of relief.

Now the difficult part, could he simply drive off the top of the piled up cars?The rear wheels were on the ground but the trailer would impede any movement, thatwas if the truck was mechanically able to drive. He put the truck in reverse, the gearson trucks were a bit more complicated than normal cars but he had seen it done before.Slowly he eased off on the clutch and increased power to the rumbling engine. A jerk,movement, good. He increased the power and shakily the truck began to pull itself offthe wreck. There was a tremendous shrieking of metal and yells from the othersoutside. Lennie stopped immediately but it was too late, he realized that the shriekingmetal noise came not from below but from behind, the trailer. The cab tipped up andLennie realized that the trailer must have tipped over and was going to pull the tractorover with it. A sudden crash and the trailer let go, the cab slammed down to earth, the

right way up.Lennie breathed deeply with relief and climbed out, everyone was Ok, the

trailer was indeed lying on it's side. Lennie was no mechanic but to him the separationdidn't seem to have damaged the back of the rig.

`Let`s go.` He yelled to the others and climbed back into the cab.

Jodie and her father picked up the unconscious woman and carried her to thetruck. Don trailed behind looking lost and scared. They all were.

The cop helped them get the woman inside and they put her and the boy in thecramped living quarters. Jodie got in last an sat on the passenger seat.

`Are you sure this thing can get us out of here?` Jodie's dad asked. There was

the slightest tinge of fear in his voice.`I don't know.` The cop said. He left it there.The moment of truth. The cop put the truck in a low gear and they slowly

moved out onto the road. Jodie felt a surge of elation, they had a hope.Once out on the road the cop shifted through the gears, although there was no

load on the back the acceleration was fairly slow. Jodie looked out the window andsaw the orange light, if it saw them trying to escape, it made no sign. Jodie knew that itsaw them, it had been watching all night and it was watching them now.

They drove for a few minutes the constant drone of the engine was all theyheard, they didn't talk. The road was becoming tighter with more corners, they wereskirting the side of a hill, with a high wall on the right and empty space save a thin

fence on the left. The cop was really gunning the engine, Jodie hoped that he couldhandle such an unwieldy vehicle at such speeds.


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Jodie chanced a look out the window again.The orange light was still there.It was following.

`It's still there. It's following us.` Jodie exclaimed. `We can't escape.`Lennie and Rob exchanged quick glances, they both knew that there was only

one option. Faster.Lennie drove even faster, using the entire road like a racer, but this was no

racing car, this was a semi trailer tractor, it had neither the speed, nor agility for such aroad. Still Lennie drove faster, pushing the rig to the limit.

Jodie looked out the window again and said: `It's closer.`The truck sped along the deserted road, coming closer to the rock wall and

perimeter fence each time but all of the occupants wanted to go faster. Fear waspropelling that vehicle, fear of the unknown, fear of the strange orange lights.

The Lights came closer, a hundred meters away and slightly behind. Now Jodiecould see it as three spheres, just touching and slowly rotating, in linear motion itseemed to outstrip the truck easily. A foggy atmosphere surrounded each sphere whichmade the light look blurry and left a thin trail as the thing travelled. It was gettingcloser for a reason, but what? Was it going to attack them? Why hadn't it done so

before? Was it intentionally causing the paranoia and fear or was it someelectrochemical response humans had to it's presence? If that was the case it's

proximity would cause even worse feelings.The light did nothing. It hung there.A break in the trees ahead and tiny white lights winked through for a second,

they had topped the hills and the next town was in sight. A few more minutes and the

lights overhead would have to do something or they would have escaped to a morepopulated region. Would that matter to this entity? Would they still be pursuedregardless of where they ran? Would whatever it was that caused the fear and paranoiaaffect the entire town, plunging it too into anarchy? They knew that there must be areason behind it's attack in the middle of nowhere, they hoped.

Suddenly a brilliant flash of orange ahead. A flame of the same colour asabove, about the size of a bonfire flared up and appeared to be burning nothing, in themiddle of the road. Lennie had to slow down a little to steer around it. Another flashand another orange bonfire sprang up out of nothing. Lennie avoided that onenarrowly. Another, just up ahead, too late to avoid. Instead of hitting the brakes,Lennie plunged straight through. The flames washed against the grill and windscreen.

For a second they felt intense heat but no other damage was done.Other flames burst up around them and Lennie tried to avoid them as best hecould but now and then they had to plunge though one directly. The cab was beginningto heat up. So too, they supposed was the engine.

Jodie heard a voice in the back, it was Don, he was crying. `Help us God, Saveus Please.` Jodie didn't believe in God, not since about third grade when they stoppedgoing to Sunday school. Right now she found it so hard to believe in any god, with allthese strange goings on. She still felt glad that someone was speaking for them. Just incase.

Don became less coherent as he cried harder, it sounded like: ` I now knowhow they felt, I'm sorry, now that we are the ants.`

The firebombing stopped and for a second Lennie thought that they may be let


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go. Another fire sprang up further ahead but it was off the road. As they got closer theyrealized that the fire was planted at the base of a giant gum tree, natural coloured firewas creeping up the trunk but the orange fire was doing the damage.

The tree fell over. Onto the road, blocking it entirely.`Ram it!` Jodie and Rob shouted in unison and Lennie had full intention of

carrying out that order. He planted his foot and aimed at the tree where it began tobreak into the first few branches. He wanted to catch it where it was thinning butwhere there weren't too many branches to get caught in.

The still burning tree loomed up and Lennie braced himself as they hit.The Truck's right wheel hit a branch that was close to the ground and rode up,

the left wheel slammed straight into the main trunk. The truck spun slightly as the leftbumper was pushed back but it continued over the main part of the tree and at thespeed they were travelling jumped into the air. The rear wheels rode up over the treeand they were airborne for a second. With horror Lennie realized the uneven collisionhad turned the truck so that when it hit it would be pointing a little out over the cliffside. The front wheels hit the ground with a violent crunch and a splash of sparks.

Lennie pulled the steering wheel hard to the left to try and correct the direction theywere travelling. The truck turned too far and the rear wheels skidded out, slammingagainst the fence. Lennie pulled the wheel back and the rear fishtailed back the otherway. He tried to correct the steering but they were still going to fast. Too fast also forthe tight corner that was ahead. Lennie hadn't seen it behind the burning tree but nowhe could. He slammed on the brakes. Nothing, there were no brakes, they must have

been taken out when they hit the tree. Fighting for control of the rig, Lennie pulled thewheel to take the corner, they were still going too fast and the fence hit them. Fence

posts slammed against the front grill and the wire mesh bunched up and flew over thetop of the cab. They were still going too fast for the corner and the cliff edgedisappeared beneath them.

Silence. They fell.Slam! The truck connected with the ground only about ten or so metres belowthe road edge but it was steep and they rolled. The truck rolled over nearly ten times,violently throwing around it's occupants inside. Coming to a sliding stop when thehillside bottomed out.

Petrol. Jodie could smell petrol. She was lying on top of her father. The entirecab lay on it's side. There was no sound except for her own breathing. Her father wasnot moving. A cough, the boy, Don, he must be conscious too. Jodie noticed that the

windscreen was smashed and half pushed out from it's frame. She kicked it away andclimbed out. A sudden pain shot up her leg, it was bleeding and bruised.The night was silent. The light was nowhere in sight. Jodie limped around the

front of the truck and saw the light, it had stopped following them when they pitchedover the cliff and now hovered above the road. Maybe it believed them dead.

Jodie heard a faint trickle. The petrol. She had to get away from the truck, itcould explode at any second, she had to protect herself and her baby. She looked back.The others, her father, the cop, the boy and his mum were still inside. The light hadlaboured to have them all killed, she would not let that happen.

Jodie kicked the rest of the windshield away, her father lay on top of the cop,unconscious. She pulled at him he started to move and she tried to get under him as he

fell out of the cab. Staggering she half carried, half dragged her father from the wreck.A reasonable distance from the truck she lay him on the ground. He still made no sign


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of life but she didn't have time to check, there were others in greater danger than her.The light was moving towards them.She ran back, ignoring her wounded leg. Inside Don was conscious but he was

stuck beneath his mother. Jodie dragged the woman out of the cab, Don called out thathe was stuck. Jodie carried Don's mum back to where she had left her own father.

The light arrived it hovered a hundred metres away. Would it attack the truck?Jodie ran back anyway.

Don was stuck. His leg had punched through the door of a cabinet below thebed before they stopped rolling and was now twisted. Jodie tried to pull it free but theboy yelled in pain. Jodie ripped at the thin fake wood paneling with her pare hands,tearing a bigger hole so that Don could get his wounded leg out easier. Outside had litup with the eerie orange glow, the light was overhead. Jodie pulled Don's leg free andshe helped him over the cop and outside. They were bathed in the orange light. Itshone down. It was attacking.

Suddenly an orange flame sprang up inside the cab. The orange light had set afire up inside the cab. Jodie nearly pulled Don off his feet as they ran. The petrol

caught and the truck exploded. The blast blew Jodie and Don off their feet, landingheadfirst into the ground.

Covered in scratches and blood, Jodie looked up at the burning truck. Thelight, the plane, the alien spaceship or whatever the hell they were hovered muchhigher up, watching the destruction. Jodie's anger welled up. It wasn't that she was still

being affected by their presence or their weapon or whatever, she was angry. They hadcaused the destruction of eight people, destroyed lives, caused unrepairable scarringon those that survived. If they survived.

`You Bastards! She yelled at the trio of lights, not even sure if they can hearher, let alone understand.

`You Assholes!` She yelled again. `Come down here! I'm not afraid anymore!

Come down here and I'll fight you!.`There was no answer.`Come down here you cowards!` Her voice caught in her throat. Ì'm not

running anywhere!`She stood up. At wits end. She screamed her rage. Ì'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!`

She broke down. Fell to the ground weeping. Ì'll kill you all...` All she wanted to dowas to save her baby. She wanted to give it the chance that she had thrown away, andnow life itself would be denied.

She no longer cared about herself, she just wanted her baby to live.Jodie felt a hand on her shoulder. Don. She looked up into his face, he was not

afraid. She looked up.

The light was gone.A cool breeze sifted over the hillside, blowing the smell of the burning wreckaway from them, the air smelled fresh and new, alive.

Ìs it over?` Don asked. Àre they going to come back?`Jodie looked up at the clear night sky. Thousands upon thousands of stars

winked back at her knowingly, any one of those stars, any one...She looked at the little boy. `They've gone home now. It's over.`

D. T. Hannah - The Ants

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Transcript of D. T. Hannah - The Ants