On their way to driving towards Davenport, they avoided going through any of the cities. Instead they opted for taking the longer routes that went around them.
Even if the smaller cities were supposed to be safe from the triceratops creatures, there was no sense in taking unnecessary extra risks.
The further they got, the fewer fleeing cars they saw. But it made sense after all. Anyone who hadn't been in a city where one of the triceratops creatures appeared, didn't have anything to run away from. It was also unlikely that those people even knew much about what was going on.
Maybe some of them did know, but thought they were safe inside of their homes. Kaden wasn't so sure. Actually, he wasn't sure that there was a safe place left anywhere in the country.
He looked out of the window, falling into deep thought as he considered the current situation.
The sun had set long ago, it was getting late and also very dark.
By the time they arrived at Davenport it was pitch black outside and just past midnight.
Even in the darkness, it was immediately apparent that things weren't as they should be in the city.
For starters, the road was blocked off and a checkpoint had been put in place.
Giant spotlights shone on them and military personnel called out for them to stop.
The car rolled to a stop right in front of a stop sign that had been hastily put up. It wouldn't do much to deter anyone who wanted to force their way through.
Two soldiers walked up to the car window and signaled for them to roll it down.
After the old man rolled down the window, one of the soldiers leaned in and questioned them "What's your business in Davenport?"
"We seek refuge, we've come from Chicago," The old man told the soldier.
"Chicago?" The soldier who'd asked them looked in shock to his partner, "You're the only ones who've come from there. Did you see the leviathan?"
"The leviathan?" The old man looked puzzled before an idea struck him, "Do you mean the giant triceratops like thing?"
"Yeah that," The soldier nodded, "The military has officially dubbed them leviathans,"
"Oh," The old man shared a look with Kaden, both of them were wondering just how the military had officially done anything, "Yes, we saw it."
"Right, well before I can let you in, I'm going to need to see some ID. The city has been put under martial law. There's a lack of military personnel, all healthy males between 18-40 are being drafted into service," The soldier was eying Kaden who sat in the passenger seat.
"I have some ID, but he's just 15," The old man gestured towards Kaden.
"He sure look a lot older than that. I'll need to confirm or we can't let you in."
"Will this do?" Kaden had dug out his student ID and presented it to the soldier. As a minor, it was the only ID that he had.
The soldier took the ID and inspected it carefully, making sure that it really did belong to this person before him.
Finally the soldier relented and gave back the ID, he was clearly disappointed, "You're good, you can drive right on through."
"Thank you. Do you know if there's any hotel or some sort of place we could stay?" The old man asked, it would be a lot better if they didn't have to stay in the car.
"None, everything has already been filled up hours ago," The soldier shook his head, "You're the only ones to come here from Chicago, but people have been arriving from all over for a while now." The soldier was a bit anxious, he knew that space was already starting to become an issue.
The soldier waved them on and they drove through the checkpoint, entering the city.
Inside a scene was taking place very different to the usual American city. Tanks, machinery, and soldiers were out on the streets, busily moving around to set things up. Things were changing fast.
The old man insisted on checking to make sure, so they spent an hour going to various hotels to check for vacancy.
But it was a wasted hour. Place after place turned them down, saying they had absolutely no space left at all.
With nothing else to do, they went to a fast food diner that was open late and had a meal. Kaden had brought some food in his backpack, but it was better to use that later when they had no other option.
Besides, they really didn't know just how long money would still hold a value. If the U.S Government couldn't get a grip on the situation fast, society would start to collapse.
The thought made Kaden wonder how things were going in other places around the world. There was no doubt that the United States wasn't the only place that was currently experiencing this.
But were other countries doing better or worse? He lamented the fact that he had no way to find out.
He pulled out his smartphone and tried to go on the internet, but as expected, there was reception at all. It wasn't one or two bars, just nothing at all. No signal whatsoever.
Davenport as a city was doing just fine, none of their infrastructure had taken any damage. Power, water, everything was working perfectly.
It made Kaden question why the network was even down for him right now. Was it Mr. Beetleface and his cohort of aliens? Had they shut it down to prevent the spread of information, and make it harder for countries to communicate and collaborate?
Oh well, it wasn't his job to worry about that and he couldn't do anything about it. For now he needed to just prioritize his own survival, everything else could wait until later.
After their meal, Kaden and the old man retired to their car. The old man drove around until he found a nice quiet place that they could sleep.
Kaden reclined his seat as far as it could go, but it was still quite cramped. It certainly wasn't a luxury bed, but it would have to do. He'd slept on worse.
He shut his eyes and started counting sheep. This time he knew he needed a distraction to fall asleep. There was simply too much noise outside as the military hurried to set up a perimeter of defense.
Slowly but surely, sleep came to him, whisking him away to a familiar place. One that he was now looking forward to visiting every time he laid down to sleep.
Soon the black haze started to spread out around him, enveloping him from all around. It brought a sort of comfort with it, like he was back in the place he belonged.
But it had only barely begun when it started shrinking on him like it always did when it was time to leave. Just as soon as he arrived, he felt himself being pulled out and waking up.
"Wake up Kaden! Wake up!" Kaden came face to face with the old man who was shaking him and yelling.
His vision was a bit blurry after having just suddenly woken up, but then out of nowhere he heard a gunshot. And right after came another, and suddenly it was like it just didn't stop, like a hail of unending gunfire.
Immediately he was wide awake and alert, feeling tensed up by the sudden situation.
"What's going on?" He asked the old man, who was just as confused as him.
"I'm not sure," The old man creased his brows, looking outside, "I woke up when it started a little while ago."
Outside the ring of gunfire continued. Whatever the soldiers were shooting at, a lot of bullets were needed to take it out.