Open Roads by Zach Bohannon Page B

somehow.”
    “Terrorist attack,” Will said. He nodded in agreement and said, “Makes a lot of sense.”
    And in a way, it really did. Only Will knew that ISIS wasn’t behind the attack, but that instead it was some sort of supernatural being.
    “So is that why you’re headed to D.C.?” Claire asked. “To see if they have any answers there?”
    “Kinda,” Will said. “We’re mainly going because that’s where Gabriel and Dylan are from. Gabriel’s the one who wanted to shoot Charlie.”
    A nervous laugh came from Charlie. “Yeah, well, glad he didn’t. That his son?”
    “Dylan? No. They were in a plane when The Fall happened. It crashed. They were the only two survivors.”
    “Damn,” Claire said. “They survived a plane crash?”
    Will nodded.
    “You said ‘The Fall’,” Charlie said. “What do you mean?”
    “Yeah, that’s what we call it. I was sleeping when it happened, but apparently everyone who was initially infected just randomly fell to the ground. So, we started referring to it as ‘The Fall’ in our group.”
    Charlie had enough awareness to turn on his turn signal before exiting off the interstate, or perhaps it was just an old habit he’d held onto. Will looked outside and saw the sign that said ‘Campgrounds’ and had an arrow pointing to the left, the same direction that Charlie headed at the end of the ramp, again applying his turn signal as a courteous gesture to Gabriel, still driving the van behind them.
    Cars were vacant, scattered across the bridge. A truck had even driven into the concrete barrier, its front tires now hanging off the edge, looking down onto Interstate 40. Will had one of those rare moments where he reminded himself that each one of the vehicles he saw along the road represented a life. He’d put himself past thinking about such things, but occasionally the thought snuck up on him. And for just a moment, he wondered if the person who’d been driving the truck had wrecked because they fell Empty, or wrecked in sheer confusion at the chaos around them.
    Charlie navigated through the vehicles as if he could have done it with his eyes shut, and about another mile down the road, he pointed to a large billboard.
    “That’s where we’re headed.”
    The billboard showed your typical asshole American family, complete with a happy husband and wife, a son and a daughter — all white, of course — and a yellow Labrador Retriever. The parents stood in an embrace on the front porch of a log cabin, looking out into the yard as the two children played with Old Yeller, little Timmy rearing back to throw the dog a tennis ball. The top of the billboard read, in big yellow letters, ‘Visit Point View Cabins - Where North Carolina Vacations’. The sign also informed those passing by that they were 15 miles out.
    “Looks quaint,” Will said.
    Charlie chuckled. “Yeah, it might be just a little different than that now.”
    Will noticed how quiet Claire had been. Considering everything that had gone down in the store, he couldn’t blame her for being unsure about him and his group.
    “So, how do you two know each other?” Will asked. “Friends? Couple? Brother and sister?”
    The last suggestion got a small laugh out of the two, considering Charlie’s light chocolate skin and Claire’s a-typical suburban white girl appearance, complete with the blonde hair and blue eyes.
    “New friends,” Claire said.
    “So, you guys met after The Fall?” Will asked.
    Charlie peeked at Will through the rearview mirror, and replied with a very shortened, “Yes.”
    Pain lay behind those eyes in the mirror, and Will felt as if he might be stepping over the line, prying too much. Just like he didn’t want them doing to him. Charlie clearly had his own newly acquired memories that he was trying to block out.
    “Sorry,” Will said. “Wasn’t trying to get too personal.”
    Charlie sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “No, it’s okay, man.”
    Claire reached over and