Page 15 (1/2)

15

11:34 PM

OUT OF GAS

As they crossed the county line, Rex kept his eyes locked on the road ahead "Are they giving up?"

Angie turned to stare through the back , then let out a string of curses "No, still with us And if they&039;re risking Bixby at this hour to catch us, that ripped the steering wheel, trying not to screa, it had never once occurred to him that the real Grayfoots would show up "How did they knoere ?"

"No one followed me, Rex, I&039;m positive"

"What about your phone?"

"They couldn&039;t have tapped it That nuht last week at the Tulsa Mall Never used it before you called, so they couldn&039;t have" Her voice turned cold "You didn&039;t call me from your house, did you?"

Rex didn&039;t answer for a few critical seconds, and by the tiht words, it was too late to lie

"Was I not supposed to?" he finally roan

"You mean, my phone is tapped?" he cried

"Only for the last two years Pinhead"

Rex drove on, waiting for the burning sensation of a knife slipping between his ribs, but all he heard was Angiebeneath her breath "Jesus Maybe you really are just a bunch of kids"

The pursuers drew closer, filling the old Ford with their headlights They were easing up on either side now, like wolves shepherding wounded prey away froround This abandoned stretch of the access road was probably just the sort of place they&039;d been waiting for Rex&039;s plan had brought theht I&039; the police"

"It won&039;t work out here," Rex said softly He and Dess had picked this route to ie couldn&039;t escape the blue tihway had been built, hardly anyone ever drove through Saddleback There were no cell phone towers, no houses, no cops - just rattlesnakes, slither burrows, and plenty of places to bury a couple of bodies

Rex checked his watch If Dess&039;s calculations were on target, they&039;d be sputtering to a halt in about threesoon or they were both dead

But what could he do, trapped on a road with no turnoffs, no choices but to keep driving straight?

Suddenly Rex felt so at his own paralysis Why was he thinking like prey? Why was he letting his pursuers dictate the territted his teeth and pulled the wheel sharply to the left The Ford slid from the road and onto the sandy shoulder, where it swerved like a sidewinder for a few seconds Then the tires gripped the hard-packed desert floor, and the car straightened, rattling like an old washing rass and ru headlights angled off into the distance behind the onto the desert in pursuit

"What are you doing?" Angie cried, her teeth snapping as the car shook

"Out here there&039;s a chance one of theetting a flat?" Rex only nodded, deciding not to explain that one way or another, the Ford was about to stop ot a better idea?"

"My better idea was not using a tapped phone!"

"You could have mentioned that in your note!"

"It was so obvious atching you! Jesus How did you people ever take control of a whole town?"

"That wasn&039;t us who" Rex&039;s words trailed off Up ahead was a cluster of glistening huht He sht If all three cars were disabled, he and Angieon foot

He ai co up as as, tires or no tires - once Melissa&039;s car got going, it took a while to co patch of rainbow cactus"

"What the hell? Are you trying to get us killed?"

"No But we&039;re about to run out of gas"

"What?"

"Long story This way at least we&039;ve got a chance"

"Of what? A quick death?"

His ansas cut off by a sudden bang beneath the car, a sound like a waterhtyout as each cactus struck The shock of the i Rex like a series of kicks in the butt

Behind theround to a halt, with either a tire burst or an axle busted As Rex watched in the shuddering rearview mirror, the car was overwhelo

Then, with a parting bang, the cactus patch fell behind theht-front tirewind But the engine kept ru underneath Rex, and the desert still flashed past in front of their headlights

"They&039;ll be getting nervous now," Angie said, looking back

"Nervous?"

"If they lose the other car, they&039;ll have no way to get out of the county in tiht up so they&039;d rather die than be in Bixby atfor tonight, would his insane, wildly ih a cactus patch be the one thing that actually worked? Inside hi half of hisabout running out of gas?"

"Well - " he started, but suddenly another explosion shook the car The steering wheel jerked out of his hands, and the car began to swerve out of control across the desert floor, swinging into a bootlegger&039;s reverse, tipping so far to the right that Rex thought it was going to roll over The horrible screeching of bareacross rocks and hard-packed sand filled his ears, and a cloud of dust rose up to s the world around them

Somehow the Ford didn&039;t roll over, but when they finally skidded to a halt, it was listing to one side like a sinking ship Rex was pretty sure that both right tires had been reduced to rubber confetti

The engine died then with a cough, finally realizing that it had run out of gas

Rex waited for a pair of headlights to lance through the dust swirling around them The other Mercedes couldn&039;t be far behind

The view gradually cleared, revealing a starry sky, the dark hts receding into the desert

"What the hell?" he said "They totally had us"

Angie took a while to catch her breath, her hands slowly releasing their grip on the upholstery "It&039;s too close to ht"

Rex looked at his watch "But they still had fifteen et to the county line"

"Yeah, but first they had to drive back around the cactus to pick up whoever was in the other car"

"What? They&039;re too nice to just leave them out here?"

"Those were all Grayfoots" She let out a snort "And they&039;d never leave faie nodded slowly "Justdust, the euess I&039;m screwed Your little mindcaster friend will be here soon, won&039;t she?"

The s Her hands were shaking now, as if she were evenher brain than of the Grayfoots catching her

Rex let out a slow breath, willing his thudding heart to cal the car, a hunting frenzy threatened to take over histo her

"Let ritted teeth "It was always ht That&039;s why I only had soto show up? And you cauts"

"Well, not exactly Things didn&039;t quite go the way I planned" He sighed "But listen, Angie, have you really been telling hters - " Rex&039;s voice choked off as his nose suddenly caught the sharp sie&039;s knife flashed in her hand "Hey, what the hell?"

"Listen, Rex, I know that in fifteenand stupid like your father, maybe turn me into your slave But that doesn&039;t ie! No one&039;s going to turn you into a vegetable!"

"Yeah, right" She snorted "So you lured me out here to stealthe truth!" The knife ca mind writhed at the s, we had to know for sure!"