Chuck made it back to the road, but when he looked in his rearview mirror he swore. At least part of the swarm was following him. He accelerated down the road as fast as the rough road would allow. “They sure are fast little buggers.” Chuck mumbled to himself as he watched them gain on him. If he had a straight, smooth stretch of road they would never catch him. Unfortunately he didn’t, and he was afraid if he pushed it too far he would either crash or something would break on the old truck. He went a little farther and decided to make a stand before they got too close. Chuck slammed on the brakes and parked the truck across the road at an angle. He jumped out with his shotgun and used the hood for cover.
The ones flying were the closest so he took aim at them first. He pretended their heads were clay pigeons and started blasting. Chuck figured shots to the body might not get the job done but pellets to the head would at least immobilize them. It seemed to be doing the trick as the first few dropped to the ground and started thrashing around. They didn’t even try to dodge and just came straight at him, which made his job a little easier. He had swatted all the nearest bugs out of the air and was now low on ammo. He quickly reloaded as the ones scurrying along the ground came into range. There were a lot so he decided to jump onto the hood to make it a little harder for them to get at him. He unloaded all his shells at them but there were still more coming. His last shot had taken down one that tried to fly at him from the ground. As he reloaded, he moved to the roof. Movement in the corner of his eye made him turn around and duck as a bug shot over his head. Cold sweat went down his back at the close call. “One of the bastards must have hitched a ride in the back of the truck.” He thought to himself and took a quick look to make sure it didn’t have any friends.
He finished reloading and cleared the ground of bugs. He was out of ammo in his pockets but it looked like he had got them all for now. He got back in and drove away from the site of the battle. He didn’t want the dead bugs attracting something from the forest. His ears were ringing since he forgot to put in his earplugs and his hands were shaking. He pulled over and sank back into the seat, feeling exhausted. The thought of having to go back through that hell again almost brought tears to his eyes. Chuck took some deep breaths and pulled himself together. He drank some water and decided to take stock of his situation. He had half a box of regular shells left and a nearly full box of slugs. Chuck didn’t want to waste slugs on the bugs though. He also didn’t think the .22 rifle would be of much use since it didn’t do enough damage.
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His truck was a mess. He used the gun barrel to carefully remove large pieces of bug off the grill guard. The tires were still up but a large chunk of the exhaust was ripped loose. The truck sounded even louder now. There were more dents of course and it was covered in greenish gore from the bug guts. Chuck used the water skin to help clean the front windshield off. It had cracks running down it and the passenger side wiper was missing. He also brushed the glass off the seat from the broken side window. “Let’s see if you’ve got one more in you.” Chuck said, patting the dash affectionately.
He was as ready as he would ever be. The plan was to come back as soon as he could to the same spot he had dropped them off. They would jump into the back, hopefully with Fol. Chuck would then escape back down the road toward the city. He didn’t have as much ammo, but with more help it should go easier. He turned the volume up on his stereo and drove off. As he passed the site of the battle, he could see some of the bugs were still twitching. He thought he saw something duck into the trees but he didn’t get a good look at it. Chuck drove carefully around the dead bugs, keeping an eye on the forest. He reached the clearing and stopped at the edge.
Some of the bugs were still flying around here and there but they had settled down for the most part. It looked like they were in the process of eating their dead brethren. Chuck revved the engine a couple times and sped off. He took a slightly different route this time. The bugs still crushed easily beneath his wheels but reacted faster this time since they were already active. More of them flew up in front of the truck and splattered themselves against the grill guard and windshield. His lone wiper couldn’t keep up and he could barely see where he was going. More cracks appeared all over the windshield which didn’t help his visibility. He swore and almost ran into the outpost wall but swerved just in time. He thought he was about where he was supposed to be so slowed down. He felt the truck vibrate and looked back to see Torj and Kyt. Torj seemed to be holding Fol but Chuck couldn’t tell if he was alive. A bug tried to climb through the broken window so Chuck swerved and scraped the truck against the wall. The bug was squished and fell away, taking the passenger side mirror with it. Chuck didn’t waste time and sped off again toward the road. Things were going well but they weren’t out of the woods yet.