Chapter 8 The Jailbreak

Peter awoke suddenly, "What was that? Sounds like an airplane going thru the house, but that's impossible!" Then, just as suddenly, reality struck him,"Oh, it's just my parents snoring. Cool!" He rushed out of bed and tiptoed very quietly and slowly down the hallway to Leah's room. "How is it possible that they don't hear me? My heart is poiunding so loudly, I can barely think!" Peter thought to himself. He snuck into leah's room and tapped her gently on the shoulder. She awoke with a start. When she remembered where she was, she got up and followed Peter stealthily to the kitchen, being careful to not breathe a sound. They each grabbed a cooler and tiptoed outside to their bikes. They attached the cooler to their bike racks and then took off as fast as they could go. Peter opened the gate and biked thru. The street was as empty as the Sahara dessert. Perfect. He locked the gate behind them, and they took off to the RV as full speed.

Peter and Leah stowed the bikes on back of the RV and covered them with the vinyl cover. Leah took the coolers and started emptying the bags of food into another bag. The fruit and bottles of water they ate on the way to the lake. They tossed the remnants of this back into the cooler, unhooked their bikes and took off to their "Private" beach. This beach was a few feet from the main beach and was rarely used by anyone. The parked their bikes, put the coolers on the beach and made a 6' by 6' sand castle. They disturbed as much dirt as they could on the beach and in the water. Leaving their clothes behind on a flat rock that stuck out over the water, they swam back to the other beach. Leah climbed up on Peter's back. Peter than stepped up on the grass and walked them back to the RV. Leah climbed inside and Peter climbed in afterwards. Off they went, with Peter confidently driving towards highway 80 with the plan to go to highway 81 and up to Canada. Several police cars had passed him and exited. Not a one looked his way. Leah slept peacefully buckled in the passenger seat beside him. On the radio, the song N.W.O.(New World Order) by Ministry, blasted thru the speakers. Peter bobbed his head up and down a little so that he wouldn't interfere with his driving. He didn't want to take any chances by driving stupidly and getting pulled over. They didn't come this far to give him license for such stupidity. In the far distance, he saw a black shadow that seemed to move closer to him.

"I wonder what that is? Cars are darting left and right. The shadow is coming steadily towards me. That's funny. No lights. I wonder if that's a bear?" Peter thought to himself.

"Leah! Wake up now! Cars are on my left and right. I'm stuck! What's that thing coming at us?"

"I don't no."

"Just make your body as relax as possible. I will look for an opening."

Peter layed on his horn and slowed way down. He was still trapped. The dark shadow started coming into focus. Peter felt like his heart was in his throat. Peter gave himself encouragement talks."Relax, Peter. Think! Watch! Over there, an opening. Now step on the gas hard! Now, pull your steering wheel hard to the right, straighten out."

The dark shadow became a car, barreling down on him in his lane. Peter swerved hard to the right. The RV swayed left and right as if it were thinking about rolling over as the RV drove into the ditch. He kept right on going. Soon, he was able to drive back up onto the road. He didn't dare stop. The drunk had missed the back of the RV by a scant one inch. They saw him come to a stop when his car hit the fence. Peter looked down at his knuckles and noticed that they were white with fright. Behind him in the distance, flashing lights came barreling down upon the accident scene. No other car was hit to his knowledge. If a car was hit, he'd see it up ahead. There was no car pulled over. Drivers gave Peter the thumbs up as they past him. It was only now, that he realized Leah was praying the whole time.

"We...who...what are you doing?" Peter asked.

"Peter, we should have died! The RV should have tipped over! You aren't a stunt driver. There must be a higher being up there. Didn't you notice that the drunks car stopped frozen in time for a short moment. That moment is how long it took for us to pass him!"

"Whoa! This is serious. Think you could drive?"

"I think I should hide in case a cop pulls us over to give our take on the drunk. I look too young."

"His blood-alcohol test has convicted him already. 81 is just ahead. Go right - uh, north or east."

"Okay."

Peter and Leah carefully changed places while still driving down the road. The song Tourniquet by Evanescence blasted through the speakers.

"How odd that particular song just happens to come on the radio now," thought Leah.

"...my God, my tourniquet, my suicide."

"Suicide...that drunk was definately suicidal. His car hitting that fence is like a tourniquet. It squeezes oxygen out of your brain and keeps you from thinking clearly. Okay, so it doesn't exactly work that way, but it has been proven to kill brain cells. But God? God isn't exactly my God. At least not yet. Is he? I mean, I was never raised believing in a God. But then again, my parents have been wrong before. They can certainly be wrong here. Why was I praying to someone I don't even know? God, I don't even know you but I know you are real. We should have been at least injured. But why? Why did he miss us? He kept aiming for us. I guess we were the only large object he could see. I want to know you. Your moral values probably are like mine. If you are going to drink, at least don't drive. I mean, it's common sense!"

The radio announcer interrupted the song. "This just in. A drunken driver drove the wrong way on 80, going southbound in the northbound lane. He narrowly missed several cars. Unfortunately, he hit the car that was said to be behind an RV, killing instantly a bride, her parents, and her infant neice. They didn't have a prayer. The drunken driver was clocked at 110 MPH before he finally hit a fence and stopped. Please! Please! Please! If you drink, DO NOT DRIVE! Innocent lives were lost. The groom is now without his bride! The drunken driver was said to have a clean driving record until now. He is 21 years old and survived. He will face charges of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. " "Whoa! Why were we spared?" Peter asked Leah in a hollow voice.

"I guess God isn't thru with us yet."

"I guess we'll have to find out who God is."

"Yeah."