Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

unless he shoots first, okay?”
    I looked around and made sure I had everyone’s assent. There was no time for any more discussion. The truck was moving forward again and though it was slowed by its car bashing, it wasn’t stopping. My friends nodded, and we all put our hands up for a team high-five. The sound of our hands smacking together was drowned out by the revving of the diesel engine nearby.
    “Let’s go,” I said, a little louder than I’d meant to. But I didn’t worry because there was no way the driver could hear us. His engine was whining out really high, and the banging noises coming from the jerking cab section were probably too distracting. Whoever this guy was, he definitely wasn’t a trained truck driver.
    We ran as fast as we could down the side of the road until we were nearly parallel with the truck. Then we angled in sharply to get behind the trailer.
    Bodo and Rob came with me and hung out at the back left corner of the trailer. Winky and Paci went to the right tail light. We jogged slowly, easily keeping pace with the jerking truck, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it picked up speed and left us behind.
    I was staring at the back of the trailer doors, trying to see a way to jump up and hold onto it in case we weren’t able to get to the cab in time, when a terrifying scream came from inside.
    ***
    “Holy crap, did you hear that?” asked Rob in a high-pitched and breathless voice.
    The truck was picking up speed, which made running up to the cab area no longer an option. Cars were being knocked away, and some of them scraped the side of the truck as it went by. We risked getting smooshed if we tried to run alongside.
    “We need to get up on there!” I yelled, looking left and right at my friends running next to me.
    All of us surged forward, grabbing onto different parts of the truck’s back end. I was able to get a grip first on a metal step affixed to the back of the bumper and then on a vertical bar that ran down the length of the doors. Once I pulled myself up on the step, I could hold onto the big latch that held the doors shut.
    When I had a good hold on it and my feet were firmly planted, I dropped my free hand down, reaching out for Winky. We grabbed each other’s wrists, and I hauled her towards me.
    For one terrifying moment, Winky was hanging free with only me holding her aloft. I grunted with the effort, worried I’d drop her to the pavement and at the very least give her a serious road rash.
    But just when I thought I would lose her, she found the ledge my feet were resting on and steadied herself, grabbing hold of another metal bar running down from the top of the door.
    I let go of her wrist when I knew she no longer needed me. Now it was just the two of us on the back, the guys still trying to grab onto something.
    Paci got up next, using a tail light and a door hinge, but Bodo and Rob weren’t able to find an available spot.
    “What should we do?!” shouted Rob, dropping back a little.
    “Try to follow us!” I yelled. I couldn’t worry about them now. We had to get into that cab and stop this truck.
    Another scream rent the air. Whoever was in the back of this trailer was either in pain or very afraid - maybe both. It gave me goosebumps as it trailed off into a weird keening.
    I turned to face Winky. “I’m going to climb up over the top and get into the cab.”
    “What?! Are you nuts?! You’ll die! You’ll fall and die! You’re not a stuntwoman, Bryn!” She sounded angry.
    “He’s not going fast enough for me to fall,” I said, not waiting for her approval. Stuntwoman or not, I had to do this. I was fixated not only on stopping that terrible moaning coming from inside, but also using this bad boy to transport goods for Haven. I was betting I could even put cows in it. We were so going to be on easy street, if only I could pull a Bruce Willis and kick the driver’s head in.
    I stretched my foot up and rested it on the latch where my hand had been. Now I was holding another vertical bar, similar to the one Winky had, but on the other door.
    “I’m coming too,” she said.
    I looked down and saw her measuring her options. “No!” I yelled, sounding angrier than I was. I was panicking, thinking of her falling off. “Just wait. I’ll get up there and stop him and then you can open these doors.”
    “There’s a kid in there,” she said, obviously as sick about it as I was.
    “Yeah, I know. I don’t even want to know why. I