by Dave Bowman
“Yeah, like that,” Mia said. “Everyone should know how to defend themselves, right?”
“Right, Mia,” Liz said.
“My little sister learned to shoot when she was your age,” Matt said.
Liz smiled at Mia in the mirror, then brought her eyes back to the road. It was good that Mia was thinking of ways to help, but it still brought a lump to Liz’s throat.
She wished that Mia didn’t have to worry about things like defending herself from gang members. It seemed horribly unfair to the girl, not to mention a waste of her talents. A child prodigy like Mia should have been in a top-notch school with private tutors and access to big libraries and laboratories, if she wanted it. At the very least, Mia should have been allowed to remain a child. She was taking on responsibilities far too heavy for her young age.
Liz’s childhood had ended abruptly from tragedy. It saddened her that Mia’s seemed to be ending too soon as well.
The convoy traced the curving roads along the mountainside. They climbed higher and higher without guardrails or shoulders to give a buffer between the trucks and the thousand-foot drop below. With each blind corner, Liz gripped the steering wheel more tightly. Her empty stomach grew nauseous as they traveled among the highest altitudes they had reached yet.
After gaining in elevation for a while, they finally began to descend into a valley. Liz gasped as the emerald green valley spread before her.
Lime green grass carpeted the hills and pines dotted the slopes. She could see for miles out to the peaks to the north. Rows of fat, gray-bottomed clouds stretched over the distant range.
“Surely there must be a house up ahead,” Liz said. “It’s so gorgeous out here. I can just picture some celebrity or investor building their summer home in this valley.”
But as the road lowered into the desolate valley, she could see that there was nothing – no signs of humans at all. She pounded on her steering wheel in frustration.
Jessa’s brake lights came on, and she slowly came to a stop. Liz pulled up alongside the Forest Service Chevrolet, and Charlie lowered his window.
“Let’s stop here to rest,” Jessa said, killing her engine.
“We should just keep going,” Charlie muttered to Liz under his breath. “We can’t take so many breaks if we want to get anywhere before nightfall.”
She watched as Bethany hopped out first and stretched her legs. “Hopefully we won’t be here too long,” Liz said.
She looked again at the clouds on the horizon which seemed to be gathering together and getting darker. Then she opened her door and stepped out.
“Everything all right?” Nick asked as he parked the Ford behind them.
Jessa slammed her door shut and joined the rest of the group by Nick’s truck. “It’s fine,” she said. “Bethany needed to walk a little.”
“Sorry, y’all,” Bethany said as she put her hands behind her hips and arched her back. “I get leg cramps if I sit for too long.”
Nick stretched his arms overhead. His neck and shoulders were tight. He didn’t mind a break, as long as it was quick.
“I’m so hungry it hurts,” Trina complained. “I’m going to need to eat soon, and I know I’m not the only one.”
“Charlie and I were thinking we could maybe stop to hunt before it gets dark,” Liz said.
“Hunt?” Trina repeated. “Don’t you think we’ll find an empty house or store before too long? We can just load up on food there.”
“I’m sure we’ll run into something eventually,” Charlie said. “But what if everything’s already been cleared out?”
“Yeah, we might not find anything until tomorrow,” Liz said.
“But hunting could take a long time,” Trina said. “That will just slow us down.”
“I agree,” Matt said, looking at Nick. “I think we should try to get out of the state today. Hunting will take too long. It’s too dangerous to stay here any longer. We need to focus on putting as much distance between us and Denver as we can.”
“Wait, I thought we’d get to where we’re going today,” Bethany said, looking confused. “Is it going to take us two days to get to White Pine Falls?”
Everyone was quiet.
Nick ran a hand through his brown hair. He squinted his green eyes at the road that crossed the valley and continued to the north, the skin around his eyes crinkling as he strained to see the horizon. Like the others, his skin was red from spending long hours on guard duty in the high altitude sun.
He looked at the mountain peaks in the distance. Maybe those same peaks could be seen from Denver on the other side. They were getting too close for comfort.
“We’ll do the best we can,” he said, still looking off in the distance. “The priority is getting to safety. We’ll go as far as we can today.”
“The detour is taking longer than I thought,” Jessa said. “This terrain is so rugged that we can’t go very fast.”
Nick looked at the gear in the back of the trucks. He remembered how they had piled food into the Silverado back in Santa Fe days ago.
They were hungry already. If it took them two days to get to New Mexico, they’d need more food.
“We’ll have to find food somewhere along the way,” Nick said. “If we’re still in the mountains by dusk and we haven’t found food by then, we’ll have to see what we can shoot.”
Liz leaned against the tailgate of the Dodge. She was exhausted and queasy. She wondered how she would fare if she had to defend herself while weak with hunger.
“Moving on,” Nick said, looking at the others. “How’s everyone doing on gas?”
“Not great,” Liz said. It was yet another thing she was worried about. “I’ve got a bit under a half tank.”
“I’ve got just over a half tank,” Jessa said.
Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m down to a quarter tank.”
Jessa cringed. “That’s not good.”
“Not at all,” he said. “Chasing after those thieves this morning didn’t help matters.”
“Could we fit everything in two trucks?” Mia asked from where she leaned against the Dodge, mirroring Liz’s posture. “You could drain the gas from the Ford and put it in the other trucks.”
Nick smiled at her, appreciating the girl’s cleverness. “Yeah, I was thinking that’s what we might have to do. It would get us a little farther, anyway. It would be a tight squeeze, though, since the back of the Ford is packed pretty full.”
“A tight squeeze?” Charlie repeated. “Where are we going to put all the gear? We can’t leave any of that stuff behind. All the tools and stuff we saved from the lodge we’ll need to build something in White Pine Falls.”
Nick walked to Jessa’s truck and looked in the cargo bed. “With some rearranging, we could fit some more stuff back here.”
“But not everything,” Jessa said.
“No, not everything.” Nick’s eyes went to the roof of the truck. “We’ll just have to go up. Tie some to the roof.”
Liz twisted around and glanced at the back seat of Jessa’s truck. She knew she’d probably get stuck back there since she was the smallest adult. It looked like it would be an uncomfortable ride, especially sharing it with Trina. She imagined being cramped in the claustrophobic space on all the twisty roads, being jostled from side to side.
“Should we drive a bit farther with all three trucks?” Liz asked hopefully. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a vehicle to siphon gas from in a few miles.”
Nick opened his mouth to answer, but a flash of movement on the slope opposite them caught his eye.
Before he could locate what it was, a gunshot rang out. The sound echoed around the valley like thunder.
14
Earlier, Daniel had tested the well water out in small increments, the way his mother had shown him to test an unknown plant to determine its edibility.
He had started with a drop of the boiled water and waited for any side effects. When there were none, he increased the dose and wa
ited. When he had no reaction after several hours, he drank even more.
According to his mother, the testing process should take days or even weeks. The dose should be increased slowly, watching for any kind of negative response to the substance in question.
Now, though, Daniel didn’t have days to wait for any reaction to the water to appear, so he went ahead and drank a cup at lunch.
It wasn’t pathogens that worried him, since he had sterilized the water. It was fear of contamination from heavy metals or agricultural chemical runoff from the alfalfa field nearby. He had the feeling that things hadn’t been maintained properly for years in the house – or the entire town. He didn’t want to take any chances, especially with his mother ill.
In the afternoon, he felt normal, so he drank another glass before venturing outside. It was time to look for more game. They still weren’t ready to leave their quarantine, and they’d be spending another night there. Anne was still ill.
She never complained, so he wasn’t sure how bad she felt. But he saw it in the way she moved – she was stiff and in pain. Her skin tone was still normal, though, and that gave him hope. There was nothing they could do but continue to wait.
He and Anne had a small supply of food, but he needed to make it stretch out as long as possible. Besides, his mom needed fresh food to fight off whatever infection she had.
He took the long way to the alfalfa field, avoiding crossing through the center of town where the rest of the houses were situated. Today, he was able to bag two rabbits. It was a good sign.
He walked along the tree line and came to a low place where water would collect after a rain. Some knee-high plants grew there, and he brushed his hand against some of the leaves. He felt the familiar sharp prickling on his skin, and he knew he had found stinging nettles.
He put on some work gloves and removed his knife from its sheath he wore on his belt. He cut a bunch of the plants to take home, careful not to brush his arms up against the stingers on the leaves.
Nettles would be good in the stew he planned to make. They were rich in minerals like iron and calcium, important when their diet had become so limited. With a boil, the protective stinging hairs on the plants would be neutralized, and the plant would taste like spinach.
He put the greens and tools away and set out, taking the longer route back to his temporary home. He wanted to avoid the center of the town where he had felt the strange sensation of being watched. If there were other survivors in the town, it was best to leave them alone and not bother them.
He had often wondered how Nick and his friends were doing. It had been a few days since Daniel’s family had left the Jemez Mountains. The young man didn’t doubt the warnings of the tribal elders. He was sure a forest fire had ravaged the land.
Daniel knew that Nick had wanted to wait to see if Jessa would return, but Nick wouldn’t have wanted to endanger the lives of the rest of the group. They must have gotten out in time to avoid the fire.
But why hadn’t Nick passed through this sleepy town that Daniel now found himself in? The map Daniel drew for him was complete with directions that ran through the road he now walked on.
It was possible Nick had decided not to go to White Pine Falls. But Nick was a sensible man. He knew that joining the rest of the Los Gatos community would provide the most security and the best chance of survival.
That left only two possibilities. Nick had taken a different route, or there was something terribly wrong.
The worry gnawed at Daniel’s insides. Something told him it was the latter possibility. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. They could have run into trouble on the road. Someone could have gotten sick or had an accident.
Wherever Nick and his friends were, Daniel hoped they were safe.
He thought of the rest of his family in White Pine Falls, getting settled. He knew the spot well. It was at a similar elevation to Los Gatos, so the livestock and seeds would be adapted to the climate well. Springs from deep underground would provide water, and there were abundant streams for fishing. The water was good there, he remembered. He couldn’t wait to leave the questionable water he was now drinking, as well as the eerie feeling in this isolated town, behind.
He crossed the front yard to the adobe house where he and his mother were staying. The day was sunny and brisk, with the air lightly scented of pine. He stopped in front of the door and gave one last look at the empty streets surrounding the house before opening the creaky old door. He stepped inside, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dark interior.
Daniel heard something as soon as he closed the door. He froze, listening, then dropped his gear. He followed the sound to the bedroom, where he stood outside the closed door.
His mother was crying.
“Are you all right, Mom?” he asked, knocking on the door.
She sniffed. “Come in, Daniel.”
He opened the door and walked over to stand beside her bed. Anne was sitting on the edge of the mattress with her head in her hands.
His stomach seized up. He braced himself for the worst.
But when she looked up at him, her face was red and tear-stained. He still saw no traces of gray.
There’s still hope.
“I’m so sorry, Daniel,” she said between sobs.
He sat down beside her. “Mom, what’s wrong? Do you feel any different today? Any change in symptoms?”
He held his breath.
She shook her head. “No, I feel the same.”
He exhaled. At least she didn’t feel worse.
“It’s not my health. It’s this town,” she said. “This place. We shouldn’t be here. And we got stuck here all because of me.”
Her shoulders shook as she broke down in tears again.
“Mom, I don’t understand,” Daniel said, putting his arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong with this town?”
She looked up at him again through glistening eyes. “Bad spirits.”
Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle. He felt a wave of relief.
It was just his mother’s superstitious nature that had gotten to her. Maybe it was even a good sign that she was recovering her health. If she was worrying about ghosts, she was getting back to her old self.
“Oh, is that all?” he asked, smiling at her. “You had me worried there was something wrong. Like something real.”
“It is real, Daniel,” she insisted. “There’s something bad in this place. I saw it in my dream. And I made you stop here so I could get better.”
“I don’t believe in that spirit stuff, you know.”
“I know you don’t. But we need to leave here.”
Daniel sighed. “We can’t go to White Pine Falls yet because you’re still sick.”
“We’ll have to go somewhere else,” she said. “We can find some other town before White Pine Falls, but we can’t stay here. It’s not safe, Daniel.”
She grabbed his arm, gripping it with strength he didn’t know his mother had. She looked at him with such intensity in her eyes that he couldn’t refuse.
“Okay, we’ll go anywhere you want,” Daniel said, standing up. “But can I cook some food first? I’m starving, and I don’t want the rabbits I brought home to go to waste.”
Anne paused for a moment, thinking. Then she nodded. “Yes, but please make it fast. I’ll gather up my things while you cook.”
Daniel gave her another squeeze. “Don’t worry, Mom, we’ll get out of here. Everything will be fine.”
She sniffed and wiped at her tears. Managing a smile, she looked at him and nodded.
Daniel couldn’t help but laugh to himself as he went back outside to draw up some water from the well. His mother’s fear of bad spirits was a recurring joke among his family. She often grew frightened of something based on a dream or a bad feeling.
But Daniel was much more realistic. He didn’t believe in spirits. He acted on what he could see and hear, not on feelings. Which was why he had ignored the feeling of
being watched the other day. If he didn’t actually see other people, he couldn’t trust a feeling that they were somewhere in this town.
It had probably just been the stress and worry. Daniel was in a tense situation, hiding out in quarantine with his mother sick. The fate of their entire family and village was at stake. If Anne had the Hosta, it meant the rest of the tribe could fall ill as well.
Yes, there was no doubt that the tension had gotten to him, cropping up as fear when he walked through the town. There was nothing more to it.
He removed the big lid covering the well and began to tug on the pulley that drew up the plastic bucket full of water. He’d make a quick meal and they’d be on the road within an hour. He didn’t mind that his mother wanted to leave. If she would be happier somewhere else, maybe that would make her recover from whatever illness she was fighting.
Please, please let it be the flu. The flu or just a bad cold. Something she can recover from. Make her well again.
He found himself repeating the plea over and over through the days. It was all he could do.
The water sloshed out of the bucket as he carried it inside, splashing on the front stoop. He carried it to the stove and set it on the counter. Arranging the kindling, he got a quick fire going.
He pulled the big, empty pot toward him. Lifting the bucket, he began to pour the water into the pot, but a strange smell stopped him.
It was a noxious scent that made his throat scratch. A strange, unfamiliar odor. He had only faintly perceived it outside as he drew the water up, but it hadn’t been strong enough to make much of an impact, and his focus had been on other things. Now, with the water right in front of him, the odor was undeniable.
He peered into the bucket. At first glance, the water seemed normal. But on closer inspection, he could see tiny bits of debris floating in the liquid.
His stomach clenched again.
He crossed the distance to the door and walked back outside to the well. Throwing off the plastic lid, he leaned over to look inside. It was dark, though, and he couldn’t see much. He dug his flashlight from his pocket and switched it on, moving the beam over the dark, deep space below.