A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead Novels & Stories

POV RUBY The road to the Wicklow Mountains was a winding ribbon of asphalt that bled into the thick, Irish mist. The rain wasn't falling; it was hovering, a grey shroud that turned the world into a series of jagged silhouettes and ghostly light. Silas was at the wheel of the nondescript sedan, his eyes fixed on the narrow path ahead, while Nevan and I sat in the back, the blue glow of the Sovereign’s core illuminating our tired faces like a digital heartbeat.

“Everything’s fine. Just take me there.” “…Okay, sir.” He shifted gears. The tires rolled smoother now, quieter. I knew that road was far out of the city, where trees pressed against both sides and the silence stretched long. It was a road meant for speed, not reflection. But I needed to go back. Even if I couldn’t see it, I needed to feel it. The place where everything in my life had changed. The truth was waiting for me there. And I was ready to meet it—blind or not.

“You should.” I looked out the window again, avoiding his eyes. The road was dark ahead, stretching farther than I expected. “You said up the road,” I murmured. “You didn’t say how far.” He smiled faintly. “We’ll be there soon.” The city lights behind us kept fading, swallowed by the rain. I pressed my hand against the cold glass, watching the water slide down it. Something about the quiet felt wrong. Too calm, maybe. Or maybe I was just used to chaos.

So she stayed quiet, one hand resting lightly on his arm as he drove into the night, the rhythm of his breath shallow but certain. But the silence didn’t ease her. Each mile stretched longer, darker, as if the road itself might never end. She leaned her forehead against the cold glass, watching the blur of trees and scrub slide past. Every shadow seemed sharper than the last. Every bend in the road felt like it might hide another ambush, another gun waiting, another test of how far Ethan could push himself before his body failed him.

That's how people on the edge of divorce should act. Worried Prof. Dalloz might go in harder, I leaned close. "Prof. Dalloz, we're on his plane. Maybe ease up a little?" Another cold snort. But he didn't say a word. Just stared out the window. "I'm gonna rest for a bit," he said, eyes drifting shut. That was the last time he did. He looked the same—head high, back straight. Even in death, he still carried that quiet pride.

Wild It's quiet when I start to regain consciousness and I wonder if I'm dead. I've never been in a place that's been this quiet before. Back home there was always the sounds of the road. The house sat so close to the state route, sometimes semis would cause the piece of shit shack to shake. There were times, when I'd get a hair up my ass and take off on my bike, that I would sleep on the streets. Never fully asleep, it wasn't safe to let slumber take you into its depths. As quick as you allowed your body to relax, someone would be there stealing what was rightfully yours. Then my grandpa died and I never heard peace again. Always his words of what I should have done with my life rang in my

I wanted to say something but he stooped for a while and djust continued flying down the express in supersonic speed. The car didn’t stop till we got to that really lonely road you know the kind in the movies with nothing but silence and then a shot from far away that makes it look like someone’s watching from afar. The car stopped and he alighted after specifically telling me to stay in the car. I went back into his car like that morning when I was meeting his friends but I didn’t go too down so I would be able to see Beck as he was standing on guard with his gun in his hand looking over and all about the lonely road of route 17

Chapter 7 Midnight Static Adrian POV I remain motionless,listening as the last squeal of my tire disappears into a suffocating silence of the deserted road. The air inside the car suddenly felt thin, tasting faintly of iron and the cold river fog that pressed against the glass. My breath caught,fogging the windshield in a jagged half moon as my trembling fingers inched upward, gripping the rearview mirror and tilting it down just enough to catch the dark, wet stretch of road behind me.

Always the grave, waiting for me at the end of this road if I could not change things. I turned onto a quiet road where the trees were closer together and there were no houses. It was the old highway that people hardly used since the new one was built. It was the perfect place to think or to scream if I wanted to. That is when I heard it. What? A sound is coming from somewhere behind me. At first, I thought the noise was part of the song on the radio. It was too steady and clear. I turned up the music, but the sound kept going beneath it.

The translucent green holographic grid appeared across her vision. “Take the left on 4th Street,” Ara murmured, following the glowing lines. “There’s construction blocking the main avenue, but the service alley behind the old theater is clear. It’ll save us a few minutes.” Ronan turned the wheel without answering, tires squealing softly on the damp road. Silas leaned forward from the backseat, wedging his head between them, and twisted the old radio knob. Static crackled before a clear news voice came through.