Problems of a Dead World

Chapter 15: On the Run

The wheels of the van rolled across the cracked concrete of the country-side as Earl and the group made their escape. The black-haired human behind the wheel scanned the sides of the road intently, searching for something that would help direct them home. After a few seconds, his face brightened up into a smile and he jolted the car to the left.

"There's the train tracks!" He said, excited.

"Train tracks?" Mac asked from the back seat.

"Yeah, when we were being driven in, I tried to find something that would get us back." Earl replied, looking over his shoulder to the blonde-haired man.

Earl looked back to the road and tightened his grip on the wheel, slightly nervous that he hadn't driven in over 7 years.

"We follow these tracks, we'll be home in no time." He said, staring at the metal and wood lining the side of the road.

Out of pure habit, he shifted his eyes up to the rear-view mirror and instantly went cold. Just barely in the distance, far behind them on the long country road, he could make out what looked to be a truck. A green truck. Jackson's truck.

"Shit..." Earl said under his breath, shifting his view between the mirror and the road nervously.

"What?" Twilight asked, nervousness slipping into her tone as well.

The black-haired man continued looking frantically between the two points of view before looking to his marefriend.

"I need you to take the wheel." He said, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Twilight froze in place and stared at him, a confused look on her face.

"W-What?! I've never-!"

"Turn the wheel left," Earl said, shifting the wheel left to demonstrate, causing the car to shift awkwardly. "to go left."

He shifted the wheel right to demonstrate again.

"Right, to go right. There's a pedal under the right foot to make us go, and the the left stops us."

Twilight simply stared in disbelief at the human as he stared back with an expectant expression on his face. He nervously glanced into the mirror once more. The truck was gaining on them.

"Twilight, please! Just take the wheel and give me your gun!" He shouted, trying to break the purple-haired human out of her trance.

She paused for a moment before reaching for her gun on the floor of the van and handed it to him.

"OK, ready?" He asked, preparing to leave the driver's seat.

"Why are we even doing this?!" She asked.

Earl narrowed his eyebrows and took one hand off the wheel to point behind them. Twilight raised an eyebrow in response and looked back, only to freeze yet again.

"Are those-?"

"We don't have time, switch!" Earl said, cutting her off.

Before Twilight could respond, Earl struggled out of the driver's seat and landed on the floor of the vehicle next to Shining as Twilight jumped into the seat, and grabbed the wheel firmly in both hands.

"What's... Going.... On...?" Shining asked, struggling to breath.

"Nothing... Nothing, man. We're getting you home." Earl said, trying to get to his feet.

"I can't.... I can't feel my legs..." Shining continued, his chest heaving painfully.

Earl paused for a moment and looked down to the bleeding man.

"What?" He asked.

"My legs... I... I can't feel them anymore..." Shining replied.

The black-haired man scanned Shining for a moment, nearly twitching in the anger coming over him.

"Twilight! Stomp on that pedal! We need to move!" Earl said, shooting to his feet and to the back of the moving van.

"What's going on?!" Mac asked as Earl neared the back window.

"Assholes on our back!" Earl replied. "Help me!"

As he struggled with putting down the seats in the back row, Macintosh shakily made his way over and began following Earl's instructions on putting the seat down to access the back door.

"Applejack, take care of Shining! Make sure nothing happens to him!" Earl shouted as the seat folded down into the floor of the vehicle.

Applejack nodded in response, but Twilight turned around, frantically shaking the wheel in both hands.

"Where do I go?!" She shouted.

"Follow the tracks!" Earl replied, reaching for the handle on the back door.

Twilight nodded nervously and turned around to face the road, whimpering slightly out of fear.

"Mac?" Earl asked, readying Twilight's pistol in his hand.

"Yeah?" Big Mac replied, readying his weapon as well.

"Are you ready for this?" Earl continued, the truck barreling towards them.

Mac narrowed his eyebrows and smiled.
"I was born ready." The man replied in a sinister tone.

Earl smiled in response and threw open the back door of the van as hard as his body would let him.

"Go, Give them everything we've got!" Earl shouted, aiming Twilight's pistol towards the advancing truck.

Instantly, shots began flying out of the back door of the van as it turned and shifted frantically on the country road. The large green truck swerved slightly and starting driving off to the side of the road, but quickly recovered and sped up.

"Open fire!" Jackson's voice sounded from the truck, followed by an extensive amount of gun fire from the bed of it.

Twilight shifted the wheel in her hands again as the van began taking fire. Her eyes widened in sheer terror as the wheel pulled her from side to side.

"What's going on back there?!" She asked, terrified.

"They're shooting at us!" Earl replied, still firing the pistol frantically at the large truck, painting the side of it in bullet-holes.

"Shoot back!"

"We're trying!"

Macintosh continued shooting, but flinched and shifted his position as bullets hit the bumper just in front of him.

"Gah! Shit! They're gettin' close!" The blonde-haired man said reloading his weapon.

Earl cursed under his breath as the weapon in his hand clicked, and retreated into the vehicle further with Mac. He searched frantically for ammo, but quickly discarded the thought as his shotgun came into view. The weapon was lying next to Shining as Applejack hovered over his nearly unconscious body.

"Applejack! Hand me that!" Earl shouted, pointing to his weapon.

The blonde-haired girl looked in the direction of his point and took the weapon in her hands before tossing it to him. As Earl caught it, he fished around in his pocket and was relieved to find several shells still burrowed within.

Click-Click!

"Aim for them this time, not the truck!" Earl shouted over the roar of gunfire as the bullets hit the road just behind them.

Macintosh nodded as the truck began moving closer to the van, almost close enough to collide with it. After a quick silent confirmation between the two, Earl and Macintosh moved to the back of the van once more and frantically opened fire. Within moments, a few of the soldiers lining the bed of the truck fell from it and collided harshly with the cement below, their bodies becoming a mangled mess of blood and bone as they flailed helplessly across the road.

"Keep pouring it on!" Earl said, pausing momentarily to shove more shells into the bottom of his weapon.

As the two vehicles continued barreling down the road, more soldiers fell from the back of the large truck. Small shards of broken glass flew across the floor of the van as gunshots hit the windows, shattering them completely.

"There's a turn coming up!" Twilight shouted nervously.

"Just like I said, babe! Turn the wheel and hit the left pedal!" Earl replied, stopping his fire for a moment.

As the turn in the road came closer, Twilight held her breath and closed her eyes. The purple-haired girl stomped on the pedal beneath her, sending the car sliding across the pavement with an ear-shattering screech. She panicked at the sound and frantically threw the wheel to her left, sending the car drifting sideways and into the grass next to the road as she screamed in terror. The truck continued down the road however, not able to make the abrupt turn that Twilight had attempted. Naturally, Earl and Macintosh rolled backwards and slammed against the side door of the van.

"I... I did it!" Twilight shouted happily as she opened her eyes.

Earl shook his head, slightly dazed by the rough turn, and looked out of the window nearest to him. The truck pursuing them had just stopped down the road and was beginning to turn around.

"Awesome! Great job babe! Now go! We're almost there!" He shouted, readying his weapon again.

Twilight nodded and took a deep breath before stomping on the pedal beneath her right foot. Instantly, the car darted forwards and back onto the road, train tracks closely following the side of it. Macintosh and Earl watched as the truck began shrinking as they pulled away. After a few moments however, it became a constant. Not growing larger, not getting smaller, but following them at the same speed.

"They're still coming..." Macintosh said, gazing at the green vehicle on the road far behind them.

"It's alright, we're almost there." Earl said reassuringly.

After several more minutes of travel, the truck stayed far behind them on the road as they neared Earl's old neighborhood. The human breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the familiar houses from long ago came into view.

"We'll be long gone by the time they reach the house." Earl said, reaching out to shut the back door of the van, which was littered with bullet holes.

He quickly noticed however, they weren't slowing down.

"Twilight?" He asked nervously as they continued flying through his neighborhood at intense speeds.

"Yes?" She asked, staring intently at the road.

"Twilight... Slow down, we're going to miss the turn." He said.

"What?" Twilight asked, still going at her top speed.

Earl looked forward to the windshield and saw the turn to his street rapidly approaching. He cursed under his breath and quickly jumped to his feet, and began making his way to the driver's seat, careful to avoid Shining Armor.

"Twilight, you're going to miss the turn!" Earl shouted, pointing to the road. "We miss it, they'll catch up!"

Twilight's eyes went wide as Earl pointed to the road frantically. Without a thought, she threw the wheel to the right without hitting the brakes, causing it to slide across the road again. As the car turned onto the street, Twilight fought the wheel to bring it straight, but ended up jolting it to the left instead, then back to the right. Soon enough, the car was rocking back and forth, teetering on two wheels each time. Earl could sense the inevitable, and quickly grabbed Twilight from her seat.

"Brace yourselves!" He shouted, holding Twilight tightly.

Within seconds, the van flipped onto it's side and began sliding across the pavement with an ear-shattering screech. After a few feet, the car flipped once more and broke into a series of barrel rolls before colliding with the house at the end of the street.

Earl's house.

The wood of the worn-down house immediately gave way to the fast-moving steel, and the car flew into the living room, sending pieces of wood, glass, and other various debris across the room. A few short seconds later, the debris fell to the floor, and the car stopped rolling, placed roughly upside down and covered in a layer of debris.

Followed by silence.