Drive (Time part 4)

Daddy made sure that I was fastened in safely, with a click of the belt into its buckle. Before he put the car into drive and pulled away. I was in shock at what I had just lived through. I had thought my time was up, now through a twist of fate I was here. I was Safe. Travelling with my father on this drive away from all I had ever known.

"It's ok sweetie." Daddy reassured me as he squeezed my hand that rested upon my knee. "I'm gong to take you somewhere that has walls and is protected from these monsters." I did not say anything, but as I looked into his eyes I noticed the blood on his face, the splatter from mum or auntie Allison, both who now lay dead for eternity in my home. Daddy did not tell me where we were going, I just had to trust him, which I did wholeheartedly.

It had started raining, the wipers on Daddy's car were working hard to clear the windscreen as we took the back roads. Daddy said that the main roads were blocked with abandoned cars with people desperate to escape.

This drive seemed like forever, Daddy tried to talk to me, about me. But I could not, I would never be that little girl again. I could only think of how life would never be the same again.

I looked out the window mindlessly at the dour emptiness around us, seemingly reflecting how I was feeling. Through the rain we would speed by the occasional broken down car or a monster stumbling along.

Daddy slammed on the brakes, instinctively I braced myself pressing my hands against the dashboard to save myself from getting hurt. I looked up as a man with a hood pulled over his head, stood in the road, with a gun aimed at us.

I could sense Daddy tense up, His eyes locked onto the man in the road. Daddy revved the engine trying to scare the man out of the way. Instead the man fired a shot into the air, to scare us instead and to show us he meant business.

"It will be ok sweetie." He assured me again as he unlocked the door and slid from the car.

I sat and watched as Daddy approached the man, rain falling harder now, the sound of the raindrops tapping on the roof of the car stopped me from hearing what was being said outside. Daddy sprung forward lunging at the gun in the man's hands taking him by surprise, the two of them tussled over it before he hit Daddy hard. Knocking him to the floor, pointing the gun at him.

I unclasped my hand from my mouth. I had to do something. Daddy had left the engine running on the car. Then the thought came to my mind. I did not have much time, I had to make sure Daddy was safe. I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed over to the drivers side. I roughly knew what I was doing, Daddy used to let me change the gears in his car when we were out on a drive before the monsters came. So I put my foot on the left hand pedal, Daddy always said he had to do that before I moved the stick into gear.

I felt it slide in, I looked up only just able to see out of the window, I was so small behind the wheel, the man was yelling at Daddy and kicking him in the ribs. I had to hurry. Next thing I needed was what Daddy called the go pedal, it was the right and side one. I pushed my foot as hard as I could, but the car stayed still making a loud noise as it tried to pull away. Why wasn't it working? Then I remembered the magic lever. I pressed the button, and dropped the lever, my foot still pressed on the go pedal. I screamed as I took off at great speed, startled at the sudden jolt forwards. I heard a thud as I hit something, I took my foot off of the go pedal and looked up in time to see the mans head crash against the window, forming a cobweb of cracks.

He bounced off the bonnet and back onto the road, where he lay unmoved. His blood trickled from the impact point on the window and onto the wipers that were still fighting against the rain and smearing the blood into a thin red film across the windscreen. Daddy opened the car door, and gathered me in his arms. His face was swollen from the fight.

Daddy made sure that I was fastened in safely, with a click of the belt into its buckle as we continued on our drive.

"It will be ok sweetie." He said softly, squeezing my hand.