Eve looked him in the eye. “I’m scared, Nick.”
He went to put his arm around her, the same way he would whenever Deana was anxious, but he stopped himself, remembering that he barely knew the girl. “I’m scared, too,” he said, keeping his hands in his lap. “I’m scared that even if we get through this, things will never be the same for any of us. We’ve all lost too much.”
“Do you think terrorists did this?”
Nick hadn’t thought much about it, but he considered it a possibility. It could also be a dozen other things. “I don’t think it’s worth thinking about why this has happened, for now. Leave that to the experts. All we need to focus on right now is sticking together and getting through the rest of the day in one piece.”
“You think we’ll manage to?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I think we’re through the worst of it. This day can’t get any worse.”
At least I hope so, Nick thought to himself as he looked out the window at the passing trees. “Just try not to worry,” he said.
***
The bus came to a stop in a grassy picnic area that was surrounded by woods on all sides. No other vehicles were parked there.
“Well done,” Nick told Dave. “This place looks pretty deserted.”
Dave switched off the engine and leant back in his chair. He rubbed at his eyeballs with two meaty fists and then blinked them a few times. “I’m just glad to take a break from driving. I would have gone cross-eyed after much longer.”
“I’ll bet,” said Nick. “We all owe you for keeping us safe. I think we can stretch our legs for a little while now and take a breather. Then perhaps we can check out the surrounding area.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Dave pressed a button on the dashboard and the bus’s pneumatic doors opened. Everyone got to their feet and started piling out. There were multiple sighs of relief as they each stretched their muscles and took deep breaths of the crisp country air. The temperature was a little low for comfort, so Nick fastened his coat around himself before joining them outside. He winced as the garment brushed his various injuries.
“You okay?” Eve asked him. “Your face still looks pretty bad.”
“Just a little sore.” He prodding at the slick wound on his cheek. “But I’ll live.”
Mark limped off the bus behind Nick, his cast sinking into the mud as he landed awkwardly. “Hey,” he said. “Do we have any water or snack food? I’m starting to feel lightheaded, man.”
“Me too,” added one of the old ladies.
“We’ll just have to make do for now,” said Dave, taking on an air of authority that he probably felt was rightfully his as driver of the bus. “We can look to see if there are any shops around here later, once we’ve all had a rest.”
“Bad idea,” said Pauline. “We’re safer to just stay put.”
Mark hopped on his one good leg over to the side of the bus and leant up against a wheel arch. “We’ll need to eat something eventually, lady. So how long do we plan on staying here?”
“I don’t know,” said Dave.
“Well, don’t you think we should have a plan?” asked Pauline.
Dave huffed. “If you have one, then I’m all ears. Until then, just keep quiet.”
“Look,” said Nick. “For now, let’s just enjoy doing nothing. We don’t know enough to make any sort of plan, which is why we just need to take things one moment at a time. Let’s just be glad that we’re off the road.”