No Straight Roads 2 Novels & Stories

“We’re on a highway, I think. There’s a mile marker sign coming up. Says 120. Lots of trees. Sun is setting on my left over some mountains. Oh, I see that peak that looks like a baby’s bottle.” “A baby’s bottle?” I could hear James muffling the mouthpiece and shouting at someone in the background. “Okay, good, Addie. Can you make out another peak to the left? Looks kind of like a scythe?” I looked. “Yeah, I think so. Hey, James? The road is really curvy. Does that help?” “Yeah, Addie, it does. I think you’re on the old Spiral Highway. We’re heading your way.”

He turned away from the main street, however. “Where are we going, daddy?” She wondered, surprised by the sudden direction change. “To confirm a suspicion of mine,” Talen replied. “The NES are coming in from Rideten.” “I guess, because the other entries into the town cross the river.” “There are only three roads that cross the mountain and forest. The Old Main Road which was the original road in and out of the region, Fraser’s Pass, and the underpass which I paid a hefty amount of money to build fifty years ago,” he added ruefully.

My heart races, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I navigate this doom - The Gauntlet. This second obstacle lap loomed before me, a sinister stretch of track lined with hidden death. I gunned the engine and roared into the first turn, tires squealing against the damp asphalt. So far so good, no arrows yet. I pushed the pedal to the floor, racing around the second bend and into a long straightaway.

The endless blaring of car horns from rush hour rang in my ears. My father, Michael Stern, was already unconscious, laying in the lap of my mother, Edith Christian. We were stuck at an intersection. Outside the car window, my husband's colleague, Francis Light, in a police uniform, was looking at me icily. He said, "Everyone is stuck here. If I were to clear a path just for you, others would call it a misuse of power. Daphne, are you just trying to get me in trouble?"

I let go of the map and watched as the path before us quickly moved and the leaves rustled then stopped abruptly. The straight path we were following had branched into four different roads and I started to say something but Aisling nudged me, pointing at the map excitedly. “That’s us,” she said and showed me two black spots on the map. I stared at it in astonishment as the roads which had appeared before us suddenly appeared on the map but seemed to branch into other paths. I moved two steps forward and the spot that represented me moved as well, Aisling moved closer to me and her spot followed suit. “What do you think we should do?” She whispered and I shook my head.

He adjusted his grip on the steering wheel, the annoyance at meeting his father coursing through his veins. The voice continued its guidance, providing clear and concise directions. "Proceed straight for the next two miles, then take a right turn at the large oak tree." Noah continued. He couldn't help but feel like he was walking into a trap, he readjusted his earpiece, sending the directions to Zack through his phone. If his mother was truly taken by his father then there was no better time to apprehend the twisted man . The road stretched before him, its twists and turns a testament to the covert nature of the journey. He navigated each curve with precision, his skills as a driver honed t

I wondered if Matthew was getting updates from Colin. I drove as far as the pack house and was met by one of the pack, someone I didn’t recognize, who jogged up to the car and bent down to the window. “Keep going along that little road north,” he said without preamble. “They’re waiting for you up there.” He stepped back, and I hit the gas and followed his directions. The ‘road’ was generously named, even with the ‘little’ qualifier, and the Honda jolted and jounced over more potholes than I could count. Tree branches scraped the sides of the car.

Including the Duke, although he doesn't speak his expression clearly says that he was extremely nervous. It was a great day here in Fantasma, the driving here was quite good, unlike my drive from Drachma Forest to the Keep, the drive from keep towards Merrina Town was much faster and less jumpy because there's a big dirt road here. Tri-Nation Road, it's a big road that connected three nations, traveling peddlers and merchants frequently use these roads. "It was quite comfortable in here, the seat was quite soft and the air was cold…..who would've thought the Black Box beast was a pleasant mount…and quite fast….". (Duke Merrica)

The road was pitted, full of treacherous curves, flanked by dark embankments that dropped into nothingness. Cassius didn’t know that terrain. I did. I had studied every inch of those roads on the plane. Every bridge, every detour, every possible escape route. Mateo and Zahir had mapped the entire region, turning every kilometer into a calculated battlefield. I accelerated again. The sedan was less than five hundred meters away. “He’s trying to lose you on the next curve,” Zahir warned over the earpiece, voice calm, methodical. “The drone shows a fork ahead. The left road leads to the city. The right one, to nowhere.”

The open landscape atop the cliffs is far too exposed—if I’m to have any hope of traveling safely, I need to head north along the edge of the woods, if not through them. As I near the trees, I see a two-lane road running along the base of the hills. My recent geography lessons tell me it must be Highway 1, a road I can follow all the way to San Francisco—if I can stay alive, that is. The road is empty, of course. It must be years and years since any vehicles drove upon it. That doesn’t mean it’s not used by walkers…or crawlers…or slithering things.