The Genesis Project Prophecy of the Seven (3 page)

CHAPTER 4

We were heading
west on I-40 toward Texarkana.

I looked at the map again; nothing had changed in direction but for some reason looking at the map gave me comfort.

I thought of my iPhone again and groaned at the loss of technology that had been my great friend. I missed my GPS; I gave a little laugh thinking how silly I was being.

Grieving over technology as if it had been a person
. I shouldn’t think of things so trivial when we were literally fleeing for our lives. The longer we spent on the road and further west and south we traveled the fewer vehicles we saw on the road. A shiver passed through my body.

I didn’t know if that was a good sign or bad. I looked at my
mom still in the back resting… Well, attempting to rest if rest was possible. We’d have to stop soon. We needed to refuel. We had enough gas in gas cans in the back, but I wanted everyone alert before we stopped.

I could see the green of the sign I was approaching
. I squinted to see if I could read it. I knew it would be a town name or a sign gauging the distance to the next largest city. I was hoping for the latter. I had been driving all day and night and really wanted to switch spots with Mom and let Blaine drive.

I cringed a little thinking of someone else driving ‘Beatrice’ I bought her with my own money and restored her to her current glory myself.

From her motor to pulling dents to hand sanding her down and putting on her beautiful black gloss paint.

I loved my
Jeep; she was a reflection of sheer determination and will. I smiled, remembering all the books I’d read and tutorials I’d watched on YouTube to learn how to fix her. I wanted to do it myself and once I started, I was not going to allow anyone else to put their hands on her.

I blew out my breath, the sign was with in reading distance
:

TEXARKANA
- 5 MILES

Alright
, I thought,
time to gas and go
.

“Mom, Blaine…Hey
, it’s time to wake up. We need to put some gas in the Jeep and I need to switch with Blaine. I’m beyond exhausted.”

Blaine and
Mom both came awake more than alert and ready at the sound of my voice.

Mom jumped and tried standing
, hitting her head on the roof of my Jeep. I was glad I had opted for the soft top when I restored her or mom would have had a nice lump.

“Mom
, it’s okay. Nothing’s happening we just need gas and I’m tired.”

“Sorry
, love, I’ve been having some weird dreams. I think my imagination is getting the best of me,” Mom sighed, wiping her hands across her face.

“I’m going to find a good spot to pull over
. We can use the bathroom and fuel up. Is that okay for y’all?”

“Yeah
,” Mom said. Blaine just gave a nod.

I merged onto I-30 in
Hotsprings/Texarkana and hopped off on the first exit I came to. I down shifted, taking us to a low speed so we could take a look around. This also meant that if someone has fire power of any sort we could be putting ourselves in danger.

The coast seemed clear
. This town looked like it had been evacuated. It seemed so sad without people going about their business buying and selling.

I pulled up to the Shell station right off the highway
, just in case we needed to get out of there quickly. We could get back on the highway and not get lost in an area we didn’t know. I pulled up to the gas pump and thought how nice it would be if they worked.

“Alright
, out on three… Blaine, grab the can. I’ll hop out my side. Mom, do you need to go to the bathroom?”

“Yes
,” Mom said.

“Alright
, everyone on three. One, Two, Three.”

Blaine and I hopped out of the
Jeep at the same time taking in the area looking to see if anyone had been hiding I took deep breaths trying to find the core of my gifts in case I needed to use them.

It was scary thinking that I would have to use them for protection or to hurt another
person knew it was necessary now. I found my core feeling the tingle of power rushing through me like electricity waiting to be tapped into. I waited for Blaine to finish emptying the gas cans into the tank.

“Hey, should we see if they still work?” I asked Blaine nodding my head toward the gas pump.

“We can try but I doubt it. We would have better luck dipping a bucket into the fuel reserve tank.”

“Oh
, my god Blaine you are a genius. If you weren’t such a heartbreaker, I’d kiss ya,” I smiled and threw him a wink. I grabbed some empties putting them back in their spot.

“Hey
, let’s see if we can get inside. There might be a bucket we can use and I have rope in the Jeep and maybe we can use the bathroom inside.” I said to everyone.

“Alright, I’ll pull the
Jeep up in front of the store slowly just stay between the Jeep and the store just in case, and wait for me while I lock up don’t go in without me.” Blaine said.

We waited on the sidewalk for Blaine looking into the store we could see that it had been looted but there was still a lot left to be had.

I wasn’t complaining. We could do with a little restock. Blaine came around the side of the Jeep to stand next to us.

“We going in?”
he asked me.

I looked at mom,
When did I become the leader of this group?
I wondered.

“Let’s go
,” I said more to myself than anyone else.

I walked up to the doors trying them to see if they were locked. They were. I didn’t want to break the windows that would be too loud.

I didn’t want to alert anyone within hearing distance and announce our where abouts or intentions. I put my index finger up to the lock as if it were a key.

I felt my finger pulse as if it were conversing with the metal lock
. I pushed my will, telling the lock to open, to comply with my demand.

I felt the metal inside the lock seeing the tumblers
in my mind fall into place. I knew it was open when I heard an audible click. I smiled and pushed open the door bowing. Mom gave a little laugh and Blaine grinned.

“Cool trick
, Gremlin,” Blaine said as he passed me making my smile all the greater.

“Let’s find a bathroom first. We’ll do our business while you guard
and vice versa,” I called out to Blaine who was making his way through the “employees” area to make sure the building was clear.

Blaine came back out giving us the all clear
. We hurried back to the bathroom, almost coming out as quick as we went.

“I found some bags we can use
,” I called out to Blaine as Mom and I made our way back to the front. I stopped short and pushed Mom behind me as I entered the front and took a step back.

“Who are you
? What do you want?! Leave him alone, we don’t want any trouble!” I called out at the two strangers standing with their back to us.

How could this have happened?!
I screamed in my head. We hadn’t been gone that long… just a minute or two.

“Reigh
, stay there. Don’t move,” Blaine called out to me. I looked at him wondering why he hadn’t tried to use his gift. He could shock things and sent electrical currents through anything so why wasn’t he using his gift?

My heart skipped beats standing there for what was seconds but seemed like a lifetime.

I squeezed my mom’s hands trying to reassure her that everything would be alright and let her hands go.

I let my hands fall at my sides reaching for my core once again.

“Let him go or else,” I called out to the strangers

The female turned her head to look at me and then back to the male she was there with and whispered something.

He said something back and glanced at me. He did a double take to stare at me. I stared at him right back reaching deep within myself to feel the depth of my power knowing I had to concentrate if I wanted this to go right.

I had never tried anything on this grand of a scale opening locks any day of the week but I haven’t done anything like this.

I never had to defend someone, but I knew I could hurt someone who intended to cause bodily harm to someone I loved. I wouldn’t let them hurt my mom or Blaine. No freaking way.

“Lady, you best back down now, hear? My sister is a shield got that? You can’t hurt us; she can block anything you do. Now sit down and sit on your hands there.”

He pointed to the front of the counter.

“Both of you sit down now or charming here is gonna feel roasted in two seconds.” With that threat hanging in the air my mom instantly sat hoping they’d move on.

I knew better though they’d take all out supplies. I couldn’t let them take my Mom or Blaine, I couldn’t let them take Beatrice or our supplies and leave us here with nothing.

I couldn’t. No, I refused. I started walking toward this strange pair.

“We just want to go about our business here. There’s plenty for everyone. We don’t want any trouble. Please release my friend from whatever you’re doing to him. Let him down and we’ll be on our way. No harm done.”

I slowly stepped forward again. My heart was pounding in my ears so loud I couldn’t hear what he was saying to the girl.

Butterflies shot off in my stomach.

What the? Why did it matter if it was his girlfriend or his sister? She was holding Blaine captive in a shield of some kind.

He looked at me again and had begun walking toward me speaking.

I shook my head chastising myself for getting so caught up in my head again.

“What?” I asked him

“I said where are you going?” he asked.

“South
,” I replied, glancing at Mom and back to Blaine. Had Blaine told him already and he was just trying to get me to confirm it now?

Would we not make it there now or would they kill us and take our safe haven
for themselves? A thousand things began to run through my head and I almost missed his next question.

“Heading to Texas?”
he repeated make sure I had heard him correctly.

“South, we’re heading south. That’s all I’m going to say. We don’t know you, nor do we know your intentions. Here you are showing up making our quick clean stop into a beacon
, screaming to every militia member or wanna-be to come hither. Are you Militia? Is that what this is?” I was freaking out.

I reached for my core instead of waiting on him to answer we weren’t going out like this. We were getting out of there. I brought my hands together to clap them right in front of me with my fingers pointing at the strangers. I heard someone yell, but I had no idea who
. I was within myself focusing on bringing forth wind to push them aside.

I grabbed at Blaine and my
mom mentally bringing them forth and pushing them past the strangers and out the door safely next to the Jeep.

The girl was strong. Shield...huh
?
We’ll see what she can shield
, I thought. I felt much better seeing that Blaine grabbed my mom, shoving her into the Jeep. I knew he would protect her. He wouldn’t leave me either.

The girl
grabbed her brother bringing him with in her shield bubble.

I gasped
, seeing him clear for the first time. Butterflies. Why was this happening? I longed to reach out to him.

I rejected those thoughts and feelings. They weren’t friendly.

I kept pushing against the girl’s shield, walking toward the door when he burst into action.

The girl shielded him as he le
apt to the top of the closest shelf that still held a few bags of chips jumping into a spin that surely defied gravity and put him within an inch of me.

I was so stunned I froze
, losing focus of my core. I could feel his breath on my face.

The heat from his body absorbed into mine
. Who is he? I stared hard at him. A noise alerted me to movement. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Blaine coming toward the building, obviously to my aid.

“What do you want from us?” I whispered so quietly I wondered if he had even heard it.

I’d meant to scream in his face. Something about this dark man made everything inside of me confused.

“Let her go!” Blaine roared from the doors.

I could hear the sizzle and hum of the electrical currents running over his body waiting to be forced out to do his will.

I gasped
, my eyes going wide as this dark mysterious stranger jerked me closer to him, pressing my body to his.

Without thinking
, my arms wrapped around him pulling him closer, the stranger looked down at me, his eyes locked with mine, searching.