Right after the truck left the parking lot, we were all worried if we could even make it to the highway which was about a mile from there because at almost every one to two minutes we could hear loud explosion and faint screams – we could even barely distinguish whether it was from the townspeople or from the alien.
It only made us felt more tense and frightened since we have not met any survivors yet up until that moment. Nevertheless, Jonathan on the steering wheel kept the truck going on a stable pace. As we passed each destroyed houses, public facilities, and other buildings, I could feel my own heartbeat pounded faster because not only we could not find any traces of life, but it seemed like the end of the world on all across the street and neighborhood.
It was not that frightening and scary until we heard some weak groans coming from a gas station ahead of us which was located just before the entrance to the highway straight from there. It was when we were passing the gas station that we clearly saw two people dying while being burned alive and stuck beneath the ruins of the gas station and some vehicles.
Both of them tried to reach out their hands right towards our vehicle, and groaning. I wanted to help, but there was not even a single fire hydrant nearby to put down the fire in the first place. They groaned weakly, while the fire that kept getting larger and wider burned them and made their groans getting weaker and weaker.
Not long after, a large explosion took place at the gas station, and everything there was nothing but huge flames. After that, I saw Jonathan tightening his grip and clenching his teeth behind his closed mouth with a furious stare towards the road and Ryan trying his hardest not to let out any tears while forcing out his straight expression.
We could still saw the tall fiery flames of the gas station clearly behind us as we finally reached and passed the highway entrance. The scary thought of the possibility in ending up like those two people at the gas station sent some chills down my spine.
"Ryan..." said Jonathan while he kept steering sharply, "Come on, get a hold of yourself..."
"Yeah… I should be..." replied Ryan followed by a nod.
I really wished that the scenery before our eyes changed, and I immediately had my wish granted, in a bad way. As we just passed the highway entrance and moved straight along the road for a few minutes, we could clearly see what seemed to be a twelve story apartment building at the road side being completely engulfed in flame and slowly collapsing towards the building next to it. The same thing happened again towards the next building.
The destruction was exactly that of the domino effect, and it had not stopped at all. Instead, it was getting worse as the destroyed building had more height.
"Okay… we really need to go way faster now." said Jonathan, as we realized that the domino effect was heading to a skyscraper quite some distance away ahead. There were also several vehicles speeding up right behind us, most likely because they realized of what was going to happen.
Jonathan stepped on the gas hard, and switched the gear as the destruction had already reached the skyscraper. I know full well that all three of us had our heart beating very hard as we desperately try to evade the collapsing skyscraper.
As the building fell, our pickup truck was already covered in its widening shades, heightening our despair. Eventually, a massive boom noise stricken our eardrums, and the noise was also accompanied by a great quake, as well as broken glass and metallic clinging sounds.
To our surprise and relieve, we made it through the collapsing skyscraper. I took a peek towards the back of the truck, and not even a single vehicle still followed us. The ruins of the fallen skyscraper behind us were nothing but an enormous fiery flame roadblock.
As I looked back into the other 2 persons, Jonathan let out a restless yet relieved panting, and Ryan were completely drenched in his sweat. I cannot stop my hands from trembling either, but they eventually subside slowly as I managed to calm myself down.
As if the tragedy that had almost took our lives was not enough, the road ahead of us was also in complete disarray. It was full of many other vehicles speeding up further away from the town, or idle and burning. We even saw a couple of times where some vehicles were robbed by some other ones, fighting for gas supplies and foods, so we were not surprised at all that most of the vehicles ended up crashing each other, or lost their controls and rolled upside down.
We managed to evade crashing with any of the vehicles in the ensuing chaos. Then, all of a sudden, one vehicle, a sedan, rammed us towards a stopping van ahead of us from the right side. Another vehicle, a mini SUV, also rammed us from behind.
"Hey!" yelled the hooded man inside the sedan driver seat as he also kept his steer, "Pull over, now! Or we will crash you towards that van!"
Had there were still one round left in my submachine gun, I would have fired it towards the sedan driver on the right side. With no doubt, Ryan gave out a panicked expression again, but Jonathan just keep on holding the steer, not budged by the continuous hit from the right side.
We were getting closer towards the stopping van in front of us, and the sedan suddenly pulled out to its right side, giving us an opening to escape. But instead, Jonathan pulled the handbrake, hitting the mini SUV pretty hard behind us.
The sedan was clearly unprepared for the sudden move, as it pushed back to the left side and crashed hard towards the highway concrete barriers, seriously deforming its front and left sides. Jonathan drove the truck forward again, and this time the mini SUV did not follow us anymore.
The night did not seem to give our senses a slack, as a tanker headed directly towards us from the opposite direction at a very high speed. The driver must have carried the tanker on at least 150km/h, as it was indeed too late if he attempted to pull the brake.
"Shit, not again!" yelled Jonathan as he rotated the steer hard to avoid the incoming tanker.
Thanks to his firm and excellent steering, we were all still in one piece, although it was indeed a near miss from the tanker.
As we drove away from the tanker, we heard a very loud explosion from behind us. As we expected, it was no other from the tanker just now. However, I noticed something strange as a line of fire seemed to emerge and getting closer towards our direction.
"Wait…" as I noticed the emerging line of fire, "Why is there a line of fire?"
And then, Ryan also started to speak up
"Did you guys smell it? Something like the smell of gasoline?" Ryan said
We were determining where could the gasoline smell came from when a large, and obviously operational gas station started to be seen by us. That was when it made me immediately realized, that the smell of the gasoline came from the spilling gas that the tanker brought, which was from the large gas station.
"Jon! The Gas Sta-" I said as I was about to finish my sentences, trying to make him realize the ongoing danger.
"Yeah! I know what you are going to say!" he said, cutting my sentences off as he immediately sped up the truck.
I clearly saw him stepping on the gas, hitting no less than 160 km/h on the road and the gas station was becoming more visible, yet the line of fire behind us did not seem to slow down, but instead getting wider as it was closing in on us.
"You guys might want to close the window." Jonathan said as he held on the steer while closing the right window.
Of course, without any hesitation, I closed the left window.
The line of fire kept on closing in on us, and I was very sure that it was no less than half a foot from our truck until we finally reached and passed through the gas station when its direction suddenly turned towards the gas station, resulting in a massive explosion with a tall fiery flame of burning gas.
Compared to the gas station we first saw before entering the highway, this gas station must be at least three times larger. This gas station had more than ten gas pumps, while the previous one only had four. This gas station also had a pretty large car workshop, a facility which was not in the previous gas station. If left not extinguished, the fire will most likely last until morning for the very least.
It was a relief for me, and undoubtedly for Jonathan and Ryan too, that the series of incidents that could cost us our lives ended by the fire of the large gas station. By the time I looked at my watch, the time already showed 2:50 a.m., and I realized that we had traveled for at least around fourteen miles – about a third of our needed journey.