I'll Take The Dirt Road Novels & Stories

Paula glared at me viciously and shouted, "What do you know? Those groceries aren't worth much, but these gift boxes definitely have good stuff inside. Hurry up and come grab some with us!" Paula snatched the heavy bags from my hands, set them on the ground, and pulled my hand to drag me along. I couldn't resist and stumbled forward several steps. Oliver walked over to me at that moment, carrying an armload of gift boxes, and chimed in, "Exactly! With this many people, Mom and I can't grab enough by ourselves! You need to help us!" He also pulled me toward the Christmas tree. The terror of being trampled to death in my previous life washed over me again.

We pile back in and hit the highway heading east towards the San Gabriel Mountains; it sounded private anyway. After following the dirt road as far as possible without bottoming out my rental, I stick the phone in my pocket, and we get out to look for a spot that speaks to me. A ping of excitement ripped through me as I found it. We go back to drag Joe Blow from the car; I pop the truck, grab a shit ton of rope, and shove it in Vicky's face; damn it's my last piece. "Here, take this!"

I mutter but my only focus is getting to Matt. We drive for another half an hour when I see someone step out of the forest and wave us down. Uncertain if this is a trick, I slow down cautiously. The individual comes around to my side of the vehicle. I put my window down a crack, “Just around the next bend take a left onto the dirt road. It will take you where you are going,” he says before he disappears back into the forest cover.

"It'll be a five-minute detour and then steaks and dessert are on Ridge for the inconvenience." Spencer turns when the GPS starts talking, and we drive for a few minutes before he turns right onto another dirt road. This one is almost invisible from the darkness that envelopes the trees this far away from civilization. The truck continues to bounce on the uneven road. My fingers tingle from the death grip I've maintained on the safety handle. The robotic voice warns our destination is ahead on the right, and Spencer leans forward in his seat, his eyes scanning the road before us. Out of the darkness, a mailbox takes shape.

Mia glared at Vivian as she barged in with her men. "You can't just do whatever you want here! What right do you have to take him?!" Vivian smiled coldly as she took a tiny recorder from her pocket and pressed play. Afton's low whisper from moments earlier came through the recording clearly. Mia's eyes widened as she turned to Afton, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Right where the lights give up and the trees take over, and if you wanted to lift a person and have it read like they just wandered off into the dark, you couldn't draw it up better than this. Somebody got taken here. I read ground the way some people read a face. Dad had me tracking before I could ride a bike, hours of it, deer then boar then the things that track you back, and dirt never learns to lie. This dirt is shouting. Scuffs at the lip of the lot, where the gravel quits and the soil starts. Heel marks. Somebody dug in. Somebody very much did not want to go. Then the heels stop digging and start dragging, two long parallel grooves headed into the trees, and that's the detail that tur

The door is open and I find the key in the storage compartment. The engine starts almost without a sound and I drive at a slow pace onto the main road of the pack. It is completely deserted, not a chicken on the road. I turn onto the dirt road to the west, just as the Beta had described. It is pitch dark and now that I am driving without lights I have to be extra careful. The road is new to me and I don't want to end up crashing into a tree. I finally reach the junction and breathe a sigh of relief.

Nodding, I hurry back to my room to prepare. ___________ It takes an entire day's drive to arrive at our destination, but soon, the end to the tarred streets and the beginning of the dirt road is in sight, the first hint at the vast difference in financial standing between Everdale and Red Ember. Tracker is at the wheel and we leave Everdale territory through the main roads which I did not dare do on my previous escape attempt, knowing it would have been certain death.

What are we supposed to do with dirt? We make a path, Sarah said, and tossed the dirt on the ground. Nothing. Just a patch of earth. No roots bursting up, no magic swirls. It’s just dirt, Mom! June shouted. The soldiers raised their weapons, closing in. Wait, Sarah whispered. Listen.

He has after all lived far longer than I, he might have learned how to forget and forgive such silly encounters. Finally, we drive onto the dirt road that leads up to the castle gates. The road is rough with giant potholes in many places, swerving out for the one barely makes you miss the other. It does not seem as if this area has seen any rain in ages, that perhaps does explain why everything is so grey and dead. I bet the same as the owner. But wait…