Slatepocalypse: Unlocked Arcanum

After several hours of walking, they decided to take a break. The children were complaining about being tired so for the last hour they rode the recently acquired bicycles. Their parents held them up since the bikes were a tad larger than they were ready for. Some grumblings started when one boy got stuck with the pink bike. He was mollified by the fact that Monty was in the basket.

“Do we even know how to get there?” asked Tommy.

“Well, to be honest, no. I just figured I’d follow the path of cars pushed out of the center of the road. My guess is that fire truck came through here. We’ll either find the truck after it ran out of gas or another clue that points us in the right direction. Either way, it’s better than being eaten by that flying snake,” responded CJ.

“Hey guys, can we take a break? The kids need to rest. I wouldn’t mind sitting down for five minutes myself,” asked Cynthia.

Tommy shot CJ a scowl. A look that all but said, I told you so. They hadn’t seen anyone else since they got on the road. CJ didn’t know where all the other people went off too, but it’s been a while so there was anyone walking behind them. He turned back to the family and nodded his consent. They were between a black sedan and a more elaborately colored compact SUV. It was mostly lime green with orange trim.

Walking down this two lane highway they could see thickly grown green leaf trees on either side of the road. A concrete divider split the turnpike into north and south. Each with two lanes for traffic. They were approaching one of the many hills along the path toward the Delaware water gap. There weren’t many exits left this far south in New Jersey. No rest stops either. Just dirt road spaces for police cars to set up speed traps. The nearest one lead up to an overpass for local traffic but no on or off ramp. It was more like a utility road.

“We should probably take our breakup there. The sun will be at its zenith soon and it will give us good sight lines in either direction. Besides the number of cars out here are getting pretty scarce,” called out CJ.

They all headed off the road onto the dirt path. Once they settled in at the top of the embankment, the kids both flopped down. Their mom took out two water bottles for them while Redmond walked over to CJ and Tommy.

“So, what’s the plan?” asked Redmond.

“This is the plan. We look for those guys from last night. What did you think we were doing?” CJ asked back.

“I know, I know, but after that? What kind of people do you think they are? Will they be trustworthy?” fretted Redmond.

“Don’t come apart on my bud. Have you noticed there are no planes in the sky? I haven’t heard a single siren or even one of those old emergency snow day air horns. The cops aren’t coming. If the government is still intact, we haven’t heard anything about it. We’re on our own. Our best bet is to find those guys and get some more answers. They were surprisingly more organized than anyone I’ve seen since this all went down,” explained Tommy before the pain in his arm made him wince.

“Can I take a look at your arm? I have… some medical training,” inquired Redmond.

“I guess so. All CJ did was clean and bandage it,” said Tommy.

“You’re welcome,” said CJ smugly.

Redmond unwrapped the gauze and peeked before his face twitched. He gestured for Tommy to follow him over to their duffle bag. CJ walked over to Cynthia and kids. Little Riley was trying to get Monty out of the basket while Ed sat on the ground looking miserable next to his mother. After lifting Monty out of the basket and placing him on the ground, Riley proceeded to chase the rabbit in circles. This knocked the kickstand out of position allowing the bike to crash to the ground.

“Please stop running around!” shouted Cynthia with her hair sprouting between her fingers.

CJ froze in place. As did Riley. Monty stood up on his hind legs and looked right at her in shock. Redmond headed across the small area they inhabited to put his arm around his wife.

“Uh… hey kids. Want to see a magic trick?” asked CJ as he raised his palms in the air flaring his fingers.

Both boys sat down in front of their parents and crisscrossed their legs. CJ slid a magic wand out of his right sleeve. It was the traditional wand with white tips. He waived it around before pointing it at them.

“Abracadabra,” he said before a bouquet of flowers sprouted from one end. The kids seemed mildly amused but that all changed when CJ pointed it to the side before the flowers burst into a ball of flames. They were annihilated by the blaze leaving only the wand in his hand. That earned him a round of applause from the kids.

“Alright youngsters, if you’re good for your mommy and daddy I’ll show you another trick later,” said CJ with a bow.

The kids continued to hoot and holler. Then Monty hopped up and drop kicked CJ in the back of the leg. That forced CJ to stumble and turn towards Monty eyebrows furrowed. Monty’s ears were both standing straight up, and the black rabbit was staring back the way they came. Tommy was closest to the overpass and CJ pointed to it then back at Monty. Tommy looked confused for a second but after CJ pointed to the rabbit it clicked.

Tommy ran up the short distance to look back out over the highway. In the far distance he could see some people running. Then one of them abruptly disappeared. Tommy didn’t see what it was before another fell out of sight between the cars.

“We gotta go. Now,” Tommy said pointing to the opposite side of the hill leading further south.

“What is it?” asked Redmond standing up with his wife.

“Can’t see it from here but something is… making people disappear,” replied Tommy editing what he was going to say on the fly.

“This feels like a kids on bikes moment, what do you think Redmond?” asked CJ.

“That’s a fine idea. Also, that trick explains the tuxedo. Didn’t know how to bring that up,” answered Redmond as he got one of his kids situated.

Monty took off down the hill on his own with Tommy hot on his bunny heels. The parents decided to ride the bikes with the kids in their laps. Redmond that a bit more difficult seeing his bike was designed with a racer in mind. Cynthia had her own troubles.

“But it’s a girl bike mom,” complained Ed squirming in Cynthia’s lap.

They didn’t get more than five minutes up the long hill before the sounds of screaming could be heard behind them. Once the screaming stopped, they began to hear scratching noises. Those scratches were the precursors to loud banging against vehicles. CJ stopped running to look back only to see odd shapes slamming back and forth between parked cars. Halfway up the hill the number of cars was exceedingly rare. Less cover for those things to hide behind. That’s when CJ got a good look. They looked like short haired rats. Only they were the size of great Danes with much sharper teeth. He knew at once they couldn’t outrun them on open ground. He looked left and right. Over the divider was a Ford Bronco with its hood up. Whoever owned it during the event must have tried to fix it before abandoning it. He needed to buy the others some time.

“CJ, let’s go,” huffed Tommy who was further up the hill.

“Keep going. I have an idea,” shouted CJ who immediately regretted it.

One of the beasts poked its head up from sniffing at the ground at the sound of all shouting. By the time it saw CJ he had already vaulted over the concreate barrier. It picked up its pace as it galloped up the hill. CJ only had time to unscrew the oil cap off and stuff in his extra-long handkerchief. The knotted rope of multiple colors trailed over toward CJ’s feet. His preparations were done just as the monster slammed down on the hood of the vehicle bending the rod holding it up. It was now V shaped obstruction keeping the hood from latching. Drool dripped from the monster’s maw as several of his friends clambered on top of the vehicle ready to pounce on CJ. That’s when he thrust his hand down toward the ground before speaking to his would be killers.

“Abracadabra, bitch!”

The flint in his fireball gadget sparked as a jet of fuel spurted at the handkerchief rope. The material the handkerchief was made of was woven with flash paper. CJ knew the never ending handkerchief was an old gag, so he updated it for modern times. The multicolored line of knots went up in a cascading burst of flashes before it slipped through the cracked open hood. CJ expected a plume of fire to scare the creatures off. What he didn’t know was over twenty four hours ago the original owner had flooded the engine trying to get it started again. This resulted in an actual explosion that blew CJ back and up the hill another fifty feet. Straight into a pickup truck’s bed that was moving furniture. He slammed down between two sofas arranged sideways and strapped to the vehicle. Only problem was the coffee table between them. It was a hard landing with cushions on either side.