Now, if only he could find something to eat.
He left the gas station quickly and continued on his way. The streetlights were out and when he looked up, he was surprised at how many stars he could see. Soon, he came upon a second bigger gas station. This one seemed to still be somewhat operational, even though the insides were dark and lit by flashlights and candles. When he walked inside, he saw some people picking out items and scoffing at the high prices. He doubted his roll of quarters would go very far.
But at least there was food there.
He meandered up and down the aisles, trying to look frustrated and innocent—as if he couldn’t find what he was looking for and his hopes had been dashed. He scooped up a bag of beef jerky and trail mix and then tossed the remaining Snickers bars from the aisle end cap into his half-opened bag that he had slung over one shoulder. The candy felt misshapen in his hands, as though the chocolate had melted and re-hardened. He began to ease his way toward the drinks when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
His breath caught in his chest. Had someone recognized him? The grip on his shoulder tightened and then whipped him around. His worst fears were confirmed as he stood face to face with the guard he’d betrayed. Eric.
In the dim glow of the candles and flashlights, Eric’s black eyes narrowed in rage. Dark purple and blue bruises covered one side of his forehead. “Is this what you do with your freedom?” Eric hissed. “You piece of convict scum, you nearly give me a concussion and this is what you do? Steal?”
“I’m so sorry,” Max blurted out. He could still hear Eric talking about his son and felt shame redden his cheeks.
“I got fired because of you,” Eric snarled and dropped the shopping basket he held. Candlelight flickered over his cheeks. “I don’t have a way to feed my family because of you.”
“I’m so sorry,” Max repeated. Fear seeped inside of him. “I had to get out. I was going to be killed in there if I didn’t.”
“Then you should have been!” Eric yelled. He lifted his closed fist and cocked his elbow back.
Endless beatings from Colin had made Max no stranger to violence. Eric was going to punch the living daylights out of him. He knew the look. As Eric swung his arm back, Max wrenched sharply back and used his weight to throw off Eric’s punch. Eric’s fist barely grazed Max’s cheek before Max twisted to the side and dislodged the grip Eric had on his shoulder. Dodging a second punch, Max leapt backwards and shoved a display case advertising healthy kale chip options at Eric. Flashlights clattered to the floor. Max snatched one up.
Eric looked thunderous and tried to follow him. “I was trying to be nice to you. What did I get in return? My face smashed in!”
Max backpedaled, and pushed over another display case full of chips. As he did so, he grabbed a package and stuffed it in his bag. It looked like Eric was going to come after him no matter what. If they were going to destroy the store in this fight, he might as well take what he could get. All of his morals had been tossed to the winds, but if Eric got the upper hand, Max would be beaten unconscious and dragged back to prison. He couldn’t let that happen. Stealing food seemed like a drop in the bucket compared to all the bad things he’d done so far. In for a penny, he thought and dodged when Eric lunged for him.
He grabbed a handful of tins displaying salted almonds and threw them at Eric, while stuffing a few in his bag. Eric snarled and tried to ram into him, but Max bolted under his reaching arms and skittered into another aisle. He tried to blind Eric with the flashlight.
“You’re worthless,” Eric shouted as he failed again to grab Max. “Your family must be so ashamed of you.”
That hurt more than Max cared to admit. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” he called out to Eric as they played keep-away around a display of bottled water. “I couldn’t let myself die. The rest of the guards were disappearing. I had to get out.” He threw a bottle of water at Eric and piled some into his backpack.
“It’s no wonder you were in prison. Once I drag your sorry ass back, I hope Colin beats you senseless,” Eric said, nearly grabbing Max’s wrist. “At first I thought you were a good guy who’d gotten in way over his head, but now I see you’re just another deadbeat stabbing everyone in the back.”
Max shoved over another display case. A candle caught and guttered out on a candy wrapping. Other customers cried out in surprise at what he’d done. At this point, his bag was becoming really heavy. He darted into another aisle, and realized he’d danced himself into a trap.
He stood in a corner between a line of refrigerated drinks and a room marked “Employees Only.” The front door seemed miles away. He realized he’d somehow gotten farther into the store instead of closer to the front and freedom. The same feeling of being a dog caught in a too-small cage filled him. Eric gave him a smug smile and lunged for him.
Max whipped around and yanked on the Employees Only door, discovering it was actually a back room exit. He could smell the scents of an alleyway and old garbage. The smells of freedom. He frantically slipped outside even as Eric grabbed at his bag, caught one of the loops, and yanked back hard. Max pulled on his bag for a moment, stuck in a new game of tug-of-war, and then slammed the door against Eric’s wrists. Eric howled in pain. The arm retreated. Max shut the door and tried wedging a metal bar through the handle before taking off into the night.
He ran for dear life. His backpack thumped against his shoulders. His breath came in wheezes. He knew he was fast, but he didn’t know who else could be with Eric or who else might be chasing him. He wanted to put as much space between him and the store as possible.
Max leapt around a series of cars and headed toward the interstate, running until his legs finally gave out. He collapsed against a silver Mazda next to the interstate’s on-ramp. Crouching against the car, he tried to slow his breathing. Fear nearly paralyzed him. He listened hard, dreading to hear someone following him. Soon, his breathing became steadier and his lungs didn’t burn as much. Closing his eyes, he wished he had a drink of water and then remembered all the stolen goods in his bag.
He yanked out one of the plastic bottles and downed half of it in one go. Then he pulled out the map and traced the route he needed to take with his finger. He figured it would be a hundred and fifty miles to walk. Not ideal, but it wasn’t outside the realm of imagination. Max could do it. He’d kept himself fit, and while walking would take him some time, he would be trying to put as much ground as possible between himself, the cartel and the guards.
He looked up into the night sky again and wondered what Kathleen would think when he showed up on her doorstep. She’d been furious at him when she learned about his crimes, but after her last visit, he had started to feel that there was a connection between them again. He almost felt as though he had his sister back. She wouldn’t shun him. This was a special circumstance. He’s be able to explain everything.
His family would welcome him with open arms. That, he would take to the bank.
11
Matthew stood up with a groan and stretched his aching muscles. Placing his hammer and nails on the ground, he tore off the work gloves that he’d found in the cellar and flexed his stiff fingers. He looked back toward the hotel and felt a surge of pride followed by another wave of fatigue.
The last few days had been exhausting as the Riley family fortified their hotel. Matthew had worked from dawn until dusk on a myriad of projects around the property, from reinforcing the existing fence to inspecting moldy wallpaper to rebuilding the front door. Each night, he would collapse in bed next to Kathleen and immediately fall into a dreamless sleep. Then he would wake up disoriented and groggy to see Kathleen standing next to the window, staring at the property line. Even though it had taken several back-breaking days of hard labor, the hotel was starting to benefit from their attention. It seemed as though the project list was never-ending, but Matthew was determined to tick off as many items as he could.
He looked down at his fence. It was his first attempt, and while some of the boards we
ren’t straight, they were at least sturdy. He could tell Kathleen that she wouldn’t have to worry about intruders entering their property. Maybe then, she’d start to relax and get some rest.
He picked up his tools and turned to head back toward the hotel. His mouth was dry. He was eager for a bottle of water and a small break in the shade. The sun beat down on the nape of his neck, blistering an already tender sunburn. As he walked, he could feel every muscle cry out with fatigue. His mind already echoed with the empty drone of exhaustion, driving out any other thoughts. He walked up the porch and into the hotel, grabbed a bottle of water and headed back outside. Even though his body cried out for a sit on the porch steps, he figured he needed to inspect what everyone else was doing first. He downed half of the bottle of water. It didn’t refresh him as much as he’d hoped it would.
Allison had opted to help Jade construct a composting toilet. Essentially, they were digging two holes in the ground. One for solids and the other for liquids, but also in case multiple people had to use the facilities at once. Just beyond them, David walked the perimeter of wood planks set into a square. He was inspecting a possible location for their compost bin for their food waste. Yesterday, his father had measured the space and cut the wood, and now he was mulling over the size and placement. Matthew chuckled. He would expect nothing less from his meticulous father.
In one of the holes, he saw the top of Jade’s dark head as she flung dirt up and out of the hole she was digging. Next to her, he noticed the blonde gleam of Allison’s head as she moved her own shovel much slower in a second hole. Jade seemed to share Matthew’s zeal for fortifying the hotel as quickly as possible, but Allison seemed to be struggling with her tasks. He moved closer to her and peered inside the hole, pleased to see it was much deeper than he thought it would be.
Jade had told them they’d need to construct a box over the hole once it was completed that would act as their toilet seat. Then, they could enclose it like an outhouse. Matthew had already begun to take apart the toilet seats from the bathrooms inside the hotel and planned to nail them down to whatever they ended up constructing out here. A melding of the rustic and modern, he thought with another chuckle.
“Looking good,” he said and he waved at Allison, who peered up at him and shaded her eyes. Dirt covered her face. Her blonde hair was tied up high in a ponytail. She stuck her shovel in the dirt and waved back. She looked too thin, Matthew noted.
“Thanks.” Allison swayed back and forth, and she gave him a weak ghost of a smile. He held his hand out to her, which she gratefully accepted. He helped her climb out of the hole.
Her hand trembled in his. He tried to hide his concern for her by offering her the rest of his bottle of water. As she reached for it, her body suddenly seemed to seize up. Then, as if all her strings had been cut, her swaying intensified and she collapsed halfway into his arms. The bottle of water flew out of his hand and landed on the ground, darkening the soil.
“Allison!” Matthew cried out. She was dead weight in his arms. “Honey, can you hear me? Allison, wake up!”
Jade popped her head out of her hole and looked at Allison with horror. David had abandoned his project and sprinted toward them. Jade clambered out and helped Matthew ease his daughter onto the grass. “What happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Matthew said, hating that he sounded so panicked. “She just fainted.”
Allison’s eyes fluttered weakly and then rolled up into the back of her head. David knelt beside her. Matthew reached out and put his hand on her forehead, looking for the tell-tale signs of a fever. She felt hot, but it seemed to be more from the sun than anything.
“Sunstroke?” David asked, peering into Matthew’s face.
“It’s got to be,” Matthew said. It had been a hot couple of days, and they’d all been working hard to make the hotel and its surrounding property as safe as possible. He gathered his daughter into his arms. She felt rail thin. Her jawline seemed sharp as a blade. Picking her up, he sprinted as best as he could toward the hotel with David hot on his heels.
“I hope she’s okay!” Jade called out from behind them. “Let me know if I can do anything to help!”
We don’t need you, Matthew thought and buried the wish that Jade had been the one to collapse. The thought was vindictive, but he was just so tired of seeing his family hurt.
Allison had most likely overexerted herself. It sounded like a rationalization, even to him.
Once inside the hotel, Matthew called out for his mother. Ruth bolted into the room. She held a towel and was wiping her hands with it. As soon as she saw Allison limp in Matthew’s arms, her eyes widened with fear and she said, “Oh my goodness, what happened?”
“She fainted,” Matthew said. “I think it’s sunstroke.”
Ruth’s eyes flickered to David. “Put her on the sofa,” Ruth commanded.
Matthew obeyed, laying his daughter gently on the worn couch in the lounge. He propped her feet up on a pillow and brushed stray blonde hairs off her forehead. Ruth appeared at his side with a clean, damp rag and a bottle of water. Placing the rag over Allison’s forehead, she tutted in worry. Matthew remembered that sound from his childhood—usually after he’d done something foolish that had ended up with him needing to go to the doctor.
“You should know better, Matthew,” Ruth said to him as she unscrewed the water bottle and tried to coax some down Allison’s throat.
“How is this my fault?” Matthew demanded and took the bottle from his mother.
“You’ve been working all of us to death. I don’t even understand how she’s been able to go on as long as she has when all she’s been eating is Lucky Charms. That girl is running on nothing but sugar.”
“What are you talking about?” Matthew asked, but the question went unanswered when Allison began to moan and toss her head back and forth. Her eyes opened a sliver. Matthew nearly jumped for joy when he saw those blue orbs sharpen with recognition. She smiled sheepishly at him. “Hi Dad,” she said, “what happened?”
“You passed out,” Matthew said and then paused, feeling his throat tighten with guilt he didn’t want to admit to. “Grandma tells me you’ve haven’t been eating. Honey, tell me the truth. Have you really just been eating cereal?”
Allison shrugged and tried to prop herself up. Her arms trembled. She didn’t respond.
“Answer the question,” Matthew urged her. “You’re not in trouble, but I need to know if you’ve been keeping yourself healthy by eating any of Grandma’s canned veggies or the dehydrated meat.”
Allison touched the damp rag on her forehead and looked guilty herself. “Lucky Charms is comfort food,” she admitted. “It feels like the world has ended and they’re the last things existing of what life was like before everything fell apart.”
“You’ve been stress eating,” Ruth said softly.
Allison clasped her hands and studied them as if they were the most interesting thing in the room. “I guess.”
“The world hasn’t ended,” Matthew said and put his hand over hers. He cursed his own negativity. He’d been treating the world as though it had ended, and that mindset had obviously infected his children. He didn’t want them to feel terrified and suspicious of their world and regret not having the old one. He wanted them to still find some kind of wonder in it. “It’s simply a changing world,” he continued. “It’s a world we never saw ourselves living in, and yet here we are. At least we have each other and are together as a family. I promise you, things might look bleak, but we need to be grateful for what we have.”
“It just all feels so hopeless,” Allison finally said.
“I know,” Matthew said. “It shouldn’t feel that way, though. We’ll get through this. I promise.”
Allison let out a shuddering breath, but didn’t respond.
“Can I get you anything?” Matthew asked anxiously, trying to read the distress on her face. “Even if it is Lucky Charms?”
Allison shook her head. “No, thank
you. I should get back to work.”
“Out of the question,” David finally chimed in. He moved closer to the couch. “You’ll stay inside and rest up. Your father will help us put the finishing touches on the composting toilet.”
Allison’s brow furrowed as though she was ready to disagree, but Matthew shook his head at her. “Your grandfather is right,” he said. “Stay here. Take a breather.”
Allison paused, as if trying to figure out how she could fight back, but then finally gave in and sank back onto the couch. Her eyes closed and she let out a sigh.
Matthew watched her for a moment and felt his heart twist. He hated that she’d felt so distraught and he still didn’t quite understand why. Even though the world had changed, it wasn’t enough reason for her to act this way. He looked up at his father, and David motioned for Matthew to follow him. Together, they walked outside and stood on the porch.
Matthew put his hands on his hips. He could feel the heat radiate off the wood. The sunlight shone on the leaves that lay lank without a breeze, and saw the blinding small bursts of light reflect off of them.
“Matt, don’t take this the wrong way,” David began.
“It’s never anything good when you start off like that,” Matthew said, feeling suddenly defensive.
“Why are you so insistent that we get all of the hotel’s reconstruction projects done right away?” David asked.
Matthew bristled at the question. “I’m only trying to make the hotel a safe place for our family. Isn’t that what we all want?”
“It’s not just that,” David said. “We’ve all been trying to keep up with the tasks you’ve assigned us, but it seems like you have a one-track mind. Your kids are worried they’ll appear weak if they ask for a break. I feel like I’ll disappoint you if I don’t keep up with you.”
EMP Catastrophe | Book 2 | Erupting Danger Page 9