Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

bruised. I think he got a little stunned when he hit the pavement.”
    “Yeah. I’ll have to apologize for that.”
    “How the hell’d you get that beast to stop so hard like that?”
    “I’m not sure. I might have messed up the air brakes or whatever.”
    “Are we going to be able to use the truck?”
    I climbed up onto the back of the trailer. “I have no idea.”
    I lifted up the big latch that held the doors together. Moving it first up and then one-hundred-and-eighty degrees to the right, I unlocked the mechanism keeping the trailer closed.
    Jumping down, I looked at my friends. “Here goes nothing.” I pulled the right door open first, shoving it so it would swing open all the way.
    The three of us stood in the opening and just stared.

    ***
    There were about ten kids inside, all in various states of disarray, from their clothing to their hair to their expressions.
    One of them came forward, a girl. She was trembling but she held her chin high.
    “Hi,” I said, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.
    “Friend or foe?” she said simply.
    “Friend.” I smiled. “We stopped the truck and want to help.”
    “That’s what the driver said to us, too.”
    I frowned, looking at Bodo and Rob.
    “What do you mean?” asked Bodo. “Why are you in da truck and why wass he driving it?”
    She sighed, not so much with fatigue as hopelessness from the sound of it. My heart went out to all of them, they looked so pitiful. Their clothes were rags and a few of them were curled up on the floor of the filthy trailer. I wasn’t even sure they were still alive.
    “We were taken prisoner by a few guys, and they were going to trade us.”
    “Trade you for what?” asked Rob.
    “Food. Fuel. Whatever. But then this other guy, the one who was just driving, jumped them when it was dark and told us he was going to help us get away.”
    I was so confused now, I didn’t know what to say. Thankfully, Rob wasn’t suffering the same problem.
    “So you’re saying the driver is a good guy? That we interfered in his little rescue plan?”
    She shrugged. “At this point, I have no idea who’s good and who’s bad. All I know is, he’s still driving towards the market, and if we get there, we’ll all be dead soon. So thank you.” She moved towards the entrance. “Thank you for stopping the truck.” She reached the edge and looked out at the highway for a little while. Then she turned back to the people behind her. “You guys ready to get out of here?”
    Another girl standing said, “But where are we going to go?”
    A guy lying on the ground sat up, rubbing his face with weak motions. “Where are we? How far are we from the market?”
    “What’s this market you guys keep talking about?” I asked. I was picturing a big slave auction like they had in Roman times, but that couldn’t possibly be right.
    “The market is where stuff is traded or exchanged. At the old casino property in Hollywood, north of here, I hope.” The girl leaned out and looked around. The light glinted off her hair, causing some amber highlights to come out. In another time, she would have been considered really pretty - like prom queen material. “Where are we? Do you know?” she asked Rob.
    Rob must have caught on to her beauty too, because he was momentarily unable to speak or something. His mouth was moving around but no sound was coming out.
    Bodo answered for him. “You are north of Miami, but not to Hollywood yet. You are close, dough.”
    “Then we need to leave.” She grabbed the edge of the door, her arms trembling as she tried to lower herself out.
    I stepped over to the side of the truck as the guys helped the damsel in distress get down.
    “Winky!” I shouted.
    “Yeah!” she responded, not looking back.
    “Bring that guy over here!”
    Paci came limping up to join us. He had an angry red road burn on his forearm that had to be really painful.
    I winced. “Sorry, Paci. That looks bad.”
    “It stings a little.” He gave me a slight smile. He spared only a glance for the girl who was now standing next to Rob before looking back at me. “So what’s the deal?”
    “Well, we’re trying to figure this out. This girl …” I pointed to her and waited for her to introduce herself.
    “Chantal.”
    “… Chantal … told us that there’s some sort of market up in Hollywood were people trade kids for stuff, and she and her friends were being taken there by some other people when this guy stopped them and