Torn Apart (Book 1): Terror In Texas (32 page)

The sound of an engine in the distance interrupted his silent musing. Steve rose and looked toward the hill in the distance. The big truck with the roll bar and lights crested the hill.

The vehicle had been jacked up to allow room for the massive oversized wheels with thick tread, mud tires. The engine screamed as the truck vaulted over a distant hill with the tires leaving the road for a heartbeat.

Steve raised the scoped rifle to his eye and watched as the vehicle landed hard and the sound of its approach grew louder. He waited for the truck to climb the last hill before the trap. The truck raced to the top, caught air then landed with a bone-jarring thud, the engine screaming in protest. The driver struggled to control the vehicle but didn’t let up on the gas.

Steve aimed at the driver then moved the barrel to lead his target. He took a breath then let the air out and squeezed the trigger. The explosion of the shot was all but obliterated by the roar of the truck engine when the driver slumped forward.

Steve watched through the scope as the passenger jumped into action reaching the stirring wheel struggling to get control of the truck. The front tires hit the spike strips. Tires exploded. The vehicle swerved to the left and the tires lost any semblance of traction.

The truck tipped and began to roll. The two men in the bed clinging to the massive roll bar sailed over the side of the truck then disappeared under the crush of metal as the massive machine made the first rotation.

The second rotation took the truck into the two cars with the propane tank. The resulting explosion was deafening. A billowing mushroom of flames rose up from the twisted metal. One by one the gas tanks of each vehicle succumbed to the heat and exploded. Within seconds, the entire trio of vehicles burst into flames. Debris fell from the sky all around the crash site.

Steve pushed himself onto his blades. He picked up the bag and rifle. He turned to walk back to the truck where Della and Zack waited. He grimaced with each step. By the time he got within site of the truck, he was using the rifle to support his weight.

Zack jumped from the truck and raced to Steve’s side. He grabbed the bag and pulled the rifle from his hand. He slid his shoulder under Steve’s arm and took the weight off his right leg. They stumbled back to the vehicle. Della opened the passenger door and Zack eased Steve inside.

“How bad is it?” Della asked.

Steve grimaced as he eased the cuff from the stump. “Bad enough.”

Della pulled the blood filled silicone sock from the stump. The skin across the stumps was raw and angry red. Pressure sores had formed and opened. Blood seeped from the open eruptions.

“Oh my God.” She whispered.

“I guess it’s a little worse than I thought.” Steve rubbed at the skin above the stump.

Della pulled at the second prosthetic. When it was also removed she found the skin was red and angry, but not yet blistered or broken. “Well, at least it’s not as bad as the right leg.”

“We have to get out of here,” Steve advised.

“After I clean and bandage your leg,” Della replied as she pulled the canvas bag from the back seat. “And you will not be using the blades for a while.

“Is he going to be okay?” Sandy asked.

Della nodded. “He’ll be fine.”

She finished dressing the wound then allowed Steve to turn around in the truck seat. She poured water into the silicone sock and rinsed the blood from it. She wiped both out with alcohol wipes from the first aid kit. When she was finished she picked up the blades and handed them to Sandy to store on the floor in the back seat. She closed up the bag and passed it back as well.

“Zack, get behind the wheel. We need to find a place to hide out for a few days.” Steve ordered.

Della climbed in the back seat and slammed the door. “I second that.” She passed Steve two white pills from the medical kit.

Zack turned the extended-cab pickup around and steered the pickup back on the main road. He saw a sign advertising Utopia only twenty miles ahead.

“We’re heading to Utopia? It’s pretty far off the beaten path.” Steve downed a couple Tylenol. “I’m hoping so. Let’s see what it looks like.”

The End

About the Author

Charlotte Hoaks spent the last twenty years working as a Technical Writer for some of the largest companies in Houston, Texas.  Now retired, she is devoting her time and energy to a new kind of writing.

A life-long love of the written word has provided a solid foundation for her fiction writing.   She’s been involved in local writer’s groups for over 30 years and published a number of on-line articles, editorials and special interest newsletter.  As a founding member of the Houston Writer’s League, she organized and coordinated their first national writer’s conference.

Charlotte is now working on the second full length novel in the “Torn Apart” series. Check out book 2, “Dead Texas Road” online:
http://charlottehoaks.com
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