Part Two

The dark road disappeared beneath Sean's family sedan as the occasional bug skittered over the roof leaving a trail of guts behind in the windscreen. The noise of the wheels rolling on the bitumen provided a background soundtrack to his family's playful banter. His wife of seven years sat twisted on the chair beside him, Sam's blond curls falling around her shoulders and framing her soft face perfectly. She had won him over quickly, not with her figure or assets but with that face and he never tired of looking at it when she was in this kind of mood. She sung songs before playing eye spy with their two children until the clouds had rolled in as the sun had set. They watched the dark unusual clouds roll and billow across the sky with awe, it was an unusual occurrence on the Nullarbor and quite a display. He had worried when he had taken a position in such a remote area that the family might not adjust and it had proved hard on Ben, their oldest. He had to leave friends behind to start a whole new life and at nine that was a big thing. Hell at thirty seven it was a big deal, it made him feel guilty (and more than a little selfish) that they had to uproot and follow him out here to the asshole of the world so that he could do something that didn't make him feel like he was wasting his life. He had taken the position at the park because he felt like he was stagnating in a job that was going nowhere, away for nine hours a day pulling in just the bare minimum to keep them on the track. (and the track to what?) He didn't want his two sons to grow up into the city, in the same kind of jobs he was doing. They weren't happy with the school they was in, sure Ben had friends (and Jacob was starting to make some at kindy) but the learning standards were right down and the schools focus was on getting them just educated enough to shuffle them through with a pass to let the high school worry about their further education. He told himself they deserved better, hell he could do it better himself. So when this job as a park ranger presented itself, he slowly talked himself into it, it was all the little things, like more money. Sure it wasn't much but an extra fifty bucks a week was still fifty a week and the rent was cheap. The house was an old stone building larger than their old place, comfortable too and the yard gave the boys the space he had always wanted them to have. Between the extra money and the cheaper rent he was over a hundred dollars better off, with the company car and travel allowance he was a lot better off. It was days like today that made him feel like he had made the right decision, the weekend trip had done them all the world of good and bought them closer together as a family. The stress of being a mum as well as a part time teacher for the boys was wearing Sam down and the eradication program his job had hired him to do was very important to their future, he spent long days in the park tackling invasive species. If it all went well he would have a permeant position and they could make trips like this one a regular thing. He gave his wife a sidewards glance and she smiled at him. Jacob was asleep peacefully in his car seat and Ben had just finished playing a word game they had devised to try and get some schooling done on the long drive.

The long dark road twinkled with oncoming headlights and Sean dipped his own lights in response. Ben laughed at something Sam said and she hushed him with a grin pointing animatedly at Jacob still sleeping. The lights got brighter as what was starting to look like a road train got closer, the speed limit was a hundred and ten on the highway and they were fast approaching the lights. The truck still hadn't dipped its own lights making it hard to see anything but the brilliant beam lighting up the plains, Sam turned her head commenting on the light as it was clear he wasn't going to dip them, it was the last thing to leave her lips.

Jacob stirred slightly as a bright light lit up the car and disturbed his slumber, before he could open his eyes he was thrown forward with such force it broke his collar bones and caused his brain to rupture as it collided with the inside of his skull. For that fleeting second Ben too began to realized the lights were too high up and bright but it was short lived as the car stopped and he flew forwards. It happened so fast he didn't feel any pain as he slipped past the shoulder part of his seat belt and plowed into the seat in front of him. Instead there was a sickening crunch, accompanied with a lot of force, he lost his vision, as his brain bled out inside his skull. He felt a terrifying feeling that something was terribly wrong but it faded quickly as the life ebbed out of him. In the front passengers seat Sam was thrown forward with such violence that it tore her neck muscles, snapped vertebrae and severed her spinal cord. He face crashed into the encroaching dash with enough force to shatter the bones in her face and send shards into her brain. She was dead on impact, the dash and engine bay crushing her corpse as the car filled the space where she sat. Sean had the most warning that something was wrong as the truck got closer it seemed to be too far over, his heart had enough time to leap into his throat and adrenaline made his hair stand up on end. He braced for the impact without thinking about it and tried to swerve but it was too late, everything was happening in slow motion. The truck hit them square and time seemed to resume its normal speed, the impact was over in seconds. Sean's last thoughts were of his boys in the back as twisted metal pierced his legs, shattering his tibia and sending enough force up his thigh to dislocate his hip. The steering wheel plunged into his chest crushing his ribs and expelling the gas from his lungs before rupturing them. In that instant he felt the thud into the back of his seat and he knew it was his son as he slipped from consciousness and finally from life as well.

Looking down on Troy he was even more pathetic in death than he had been in life, he lay on the hard road which had taken his face from him. He had gone through the trucks windshield with ease, once his weight was moving it wasn't going to stop without help. (Which he got.) He had bounced on the back of the sedan before skimming off and sliding on the bitumen. The road tore at his face each little jag taking another small piece before he came to rest a few meters from the back of the car. His neck had snapped during one of the impacts and bones jutted from his arm. Blood pooled from the many cuts he sustained as Lilith glanced at his undone zipper. Smiling manically she left it open and went to investigate the car. The bonnet was folded almost in half and the front of the roof had buckled in as the supports holding it up were torn in two. The two people in the front had become part of the twisted, mangled machine they drove, Lilith couldn't see them but the blood that ran from the bottom of the vehicle was satisfying to her. The children dead in the back seat were more delightful, both had died from head trauma, one head was smashed in completely, the other looked almost peaceful with the exception of the blood still dripping from his mouth and nose, soaking into the clothes his parents had lovingly dressed him in that morning. Nights like this with the smell of blood satisfying her cravings, she felt like walking, losing the clothes she had donned to complete the illusion she walked naked down the road smiling to herself in the dark.

The light from Jeff's truck picked up something in his beam that he had hoped never to see. The smash up ahead looked worse and worse the closer he got. He prayed to god that it wasn't as bad as it looked but the body by the back of the car glaringly told him otherwise. He pulled up leaving the hazards and headlights on and climbed down to give assistance to anyone. He pulled his mobile from his pocket, dialing triple zero as he walked, by the time they had picked up he found himself unable to speak and had to vomit so much he fell to his knees. The sight that greeted him haunted him for the rest of his life and every now and then he would dream of it. His faith had been waning of late, this however was too much for the frailty of it all. How could a god, any god allow such a thing to happen?

And sometimes when he dreamed of the night he found five dead souls in the desert, with the details never getting any duller, there would be a woman laughing.

****** Please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. Is it too graphic? Is it too predictable? Do the characters have enough detail. Would love to hear your thoughts. *********