The Chase

The van surged forward, tires finding purchase on the slick tarmac. Iris was thrown against the partition, her shoulder colliding with metal. The engine roared, a mechanical scream that drowned out her own gasp of pain.

She scrambled up, ignoring the burning in her limbs. She looked through the small, mesh-covered window into the cab.

The guard was driving, his face set in a grim line. Julian was in the passenger seat, shouting into his phone.

They were heading for the gate. Not the main entrance, but the service exit.

She looked back at Elias and Marcus. They were sprawled on the floor, dazed but conscious.

"We have to stop them," Iris said.

"How?" Marcus asked, rubbing his head. "We're locked in a steel box."

Iris looked around the interior. It was a transport van, designed to move people who didn't want to be moved. Smooth walls. Bolted benches. No handles on the inside.

But there was a fire extinguisher mounted near the wheel well.

"Marcus," she said. "The extinguisher."

He saw it. He crawled over, bracing himself against the lurching motion of the van. He pulled the pin.

"What are you going to do?" Elias asked, his voice trembling.

"Create a distraction," Iris said.

She pointed to the partition. "Spray it through the mesh. Blind the driver."

"We'll crash," Marcus said.

"Better a crash than the ocean," Iris countered.

The van took a sharp turn, throwing them sideways. They were off the tarmac now, bouncing on the gravel road that led to the service gate.

"Do it!" Iris yelled.

Marcus aimed the nozzle at the mesh. He squeezed the handle.

A cloud of white powder exploded into the cab.

The driver shouted, swerving. The van fishtailed, tires skidding on wet gravel.

Julian screamed, "Watch out!"

The van slammed into something—a fence post, maybe a tree. The impact threw Iris forward. She hit the partition hard, stars bursting in her vision.

The engine stalled. Silence, except for the hissing of the radiator.

"Are you okay?" Marcus coughed, waving away the white dust.

"I'm fine," Iris wheezed. "Elias?"

"I'm okay," he said from the floor.

Outside, doors slammed. Voices shouting.

"Get them out!" Julian's voice. Panicked. "Move them to the SUV!"

The back doors flew open.

The guard reached in, grabbing Marcus by the collar. He hauled him out, throwing him onto the muddy ground.

Then he reached for Iris.

She kicked him. It was a weak blow, but it caught him in the shin. He grunted, stumbling back.

Iris jumped out of the van. She didn't run away. She ran toward the driver's side door.

The keys were still in the ignition.

She shoved the guard aside and scrambled into the driver's seat.

"What are you doing?" Julian screamed, running toward her.

"Ending this," Iris said.

She turned the key. The engine sputtered, then roared to life.

She slammed the van into reverse.

The open doors swung wildly. One of them hit the guard, knocking him into the ditch.

Iris spun the wheel, swinging the van around. She aimed it at the black SUV parked behind them.

Julian dove out of the way.

The van smashed into the SUV, crunching metal and shattering glass.

The SUV was disabled. Their ride to the coast was gone.

Iris killed the engine. She jumped out.

Marcus was helping Elias up from the mud. The guard was groaning in the ditch.

Julian stood in the middle of the road, covered in mud and white powder. He looked at the wrecked cars. He looked at Iris.

The facade was gone. The calm, collected patriarch was gone. There was only a desperate, ruined man.

"You stupid girl," he whispered. "You've killed us all."

"No," Iris said. "Just you."

She heard sirens. Real ones this time. Close.

Julian heard them too. He looked at the woods. He looked at the road.

He ran.

He scrambled up the embankment, disappearing into the trees.

"Let him go," Marcus said, coming up beside her. "The cops will find him."

"No," Iris said. "He knows these woods. He owns these woods. He has a bunker somewhere. Or a boat. If he gets away now, we'll never see him again."

She looked at Marcus. "Stay with Elias. Wait for the police."

"Iris, don't."

"I have to," she said.

She climbed the embankment. Her ankle was fire, her lungs were burning, but she didn't stop. She pushed through the wet branches, following the sound of crashing footsteps.

She ran into the dark.

The van ran a red light. Iris slammed the gas.