by Bruno Miller
“Rita, I assume you and your husband have a vehicle here,” Ben asked.
She laughed sarcastically. “We did. I hate to think of what they did to our poor Cadillac, pulling it up the side of the mountain like that. It wasn’t meant for those kinds of roads. It probably isn’t worth much now.” She exhaled loudly.
“Well, there are plenty of vehicles out back. We’ll get you guys set up in something and help you get outfitted for the trip to your daughter’s.”
“You don’t—”
“Eh.” Ben held up his finger and stopped Rita from speaking. “There’s no debating it. Martin, too. There’s more here than we can carry, and I’m not leaving it behind for the other moonshiners.”
“Thank you.” Rita looked around at Sandy and the kids. “You all are welcome to join us at my daughter’s if you need a place to stop for a night or two. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
“I appreciate that, but we’ve got a destination in mind. Not too far from where you’re headed, if I’m not mistaken. A little place called Cloverdale.” The offer was appreciated, and he might have taken her up on it if it wasn’t for Cloverdale. He just hoped for her sake that her daughter’s place had survived.
“Do you know what vehicle belongs to Martin?” Ben asked.
“No, I’m afraid not.” Rita shook her head and went back to watching Bradley and Emma play with the dogs.
Ben approached Sandy and the older kids. “Joel, how about you and Allie figure out the vehicle situation for these guys? Drive whatever you decide on over here by the gear.” Ben glanced back at Rita to make sure she was still being entertained by the younger kids and the dogs. “Forget the Cadillac. Even if it runs, it’ll slow us down getting out of here, if it makes it down the mountain at all.”
“What about Martin?” Allie asked.
“Someone needs to find out what he’s driving and talk him into an upgrade if needed. Preferably something with a lot of cargo space and four-wheel drive. We’re going to have to get off the road at some point tonight and rest. I’m handing this off to you guys. It’s your call on the vehicles.” Ben waited until he got a nod from both Joel and Allie before continuing. “I’m going to start packing the trucks. I might not get it back together as well as we had it organized leaving Jack’s, but things will be where you can find them.”
“What can we do to help?” Emma asked. Ben hadn’t noticed his two younger kids come up from behind and join the group.
“I need you guys to keep the dogs under control and help your brother and Allie out if they need anything.”
“Got it,” Bradley reported back.
“Is Martin coming with us to Cloverdale?” Sandy asked.
“I don’t know. I guess I need to talk to him about that. He told me that he has no place to go, and Vince and the others could really use some of this stuff if he’s willing to drive it there. I’m sure they’d welcome him and a few thousand rounds of ammo with open arms,” Ben joked. “Actually, I guess I better do that now before I go making plans for the guy. Take the radio, Joel. I’ll let you know what Martin’s vehicle situation is.”
“I’ll go. I can stand watch at the gate and Martin can help you here and you guys can talk,” Sandy offered.
“Are you sure?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, no problem. I can do this.” Sandy picked up her AR-15 and began to peruse the ammunition pile.
“Any of those mags on top.” Ben pointed to a pile of thirty-round magazines loaded with .223-caliber rounds. Sandy took three of them and headed for the front of the compound to relieve Martin of his post.
“What do you want me to do?” Rita asked.
“I want you to drink plenty of water and rest. You’re probably going to have to drive you and your husband out of here.” That was one of the many things that worried Ben about leaving. Both Rita and her husband were seriously malnourished and dehydrated. It would take more than an MRE and a few bottles of water to bring them back from their weakened state. It would also take time—time they didn’t have. Ben hoped they could find the strength to be somewhat self-sufficient soon, because in a couple hours’ time, they were driving out through that gate and never looking back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rita reluctantly accepted her assignment and settled in with a blanket she’d spread out on the ground. The dogs were quick to join her, and so was Emma. Bradley was taking things seriously and seemed content to stand guard several feet away, where he could survey the compound from the higher elevation.
If Ben knew his son, he’d say that Bradley was enjoying this to some degree, or maybe it was the responsibility Ben had given him to protect his sister. Either way, he was glad to see his son adapting to the situation.
“Bradley, get some rest. It’s okay.”
“No thanks. I’m good.” Bradley took a few steps toward Ben. “Dad, can you just call me Brad from now on? I’m getting older now.”
Ben tried to hide his smile by picking up a can of ammunition and shoving it into the back of the Blazer. “Yeah, buddy. Sure thing. Say, if you’re not going to rest, you mind handing me some stuff and saving your old dad a few trips up and down? You can manage that and still keep an eye on things, right, Brad?”
“Yeah.” His son smiled and leaned his gun against the Jeep. They worked at packing for a while before Martin showed up. Carlos was with him, and Ben’s first concern was Sandy being alone at the gate. Not that Carlos was capable of much if she needed help, but he was an extra set of eyes. Maybe when Joel and Allie returned with the vehicles, Allie could join her mother. Ben couldn’t help but think Sandy might want some alone time with her daughter after all they’d been through.
“Hey, Carlos, you and Rita should pick out a couple weapons you think you can handle.” It felt odd saying that to a man who looked too weak to do much beyond walking.
Carlos studied the pile of weapons. “I’ve never had a gun before. It was always too much trouble to own one in New York.”
“Anything there is fine with me.” Ben had already pulled their personal guns out of the pile and stowed them back in their usual spots inside the Blazer and Jeep. But he saw the confused look on Carlos’s face as he eyed the pile of weapons, and Ben figured he better make a suggestion.
He took a break from packing and pulled an AR-15 from the pile of rifles lying on the ground. There were at least a dozen different styles of AR-15s, as well as a few AK-47s and SKS variants. But Ben thought it best to keep it simple. The magazines on the SKSs were too cumbersome for a beginner to operate efficiently, and the AK knockoffs were chambered in 7.62, a little too much for Carlos or Rita to handle, in his opinion. He pulled two basic ARs from the pile, one with a half-decent optic affixed to it. Ben took one of the loaded magazines and showed Carlos how it went into the gun.
“Yeah, then all you do is pull that T-thing back and it’s ready to go.” Brad stepped up and showed Carlos the charging handle. “And that’s the safety.”
“Got it?” Ben asked.
“Got it, and thank you, young man.” Carlos smiled at Brad.
Ben dragged a full ammunition can over to the blanket Rita was sitting on and dropped a handful of empty twenty- and thirty-round magazines next to it. “Something to keep you busy while you relax,” he joked before returning to loading the trucks with Brad and Martin. But first, he found the couple something small they could carry as well. He chose a 9mm pistol similar to Joel’s original Smith & Wesson, then grabbed a few boxes of ammunition to go with it.
“You should take this, too. I can go over them with you later, but for right now, just focus on getting those magazines loaded if you can. If you have any questions, Emma knows more about those guns than she lets on.” Ben winked at his daughter. His motives weren’t entirely focused on making sure the couple was armed. The extra magazines would come in handy if the other moonshiners attacked, and if they weren’t needed, Rita and her husband would be all set for their trip. Satisfied that he’d done what he could for now
to help the older couple better prepare themselves, Ben rejoined the packing effort.
As it turned out, Martin didn’t have a vehicle here. Ben raised Joel on the radio right away and let him know that he and Allie would need to commandeer one for Martin to use. Joel reported back that they were working on it and would return soon. Ben wished they had another radio. For peace of mind, it would have been nice to check in with Sandy.
As they worked, Martin explained how he and his wife were captured. Their car broke down before they were able to make it to their destination, and they were attempting to walk the rest of the way to Treasure Lake. But they never made it and instead were picked up by a group of moonshiners from another camp. They brought him and his wife here and traded them to this camp for supplies.
His wife, Dana, was unable to work, and because of that, the moonshiners refused to give her adequate food or water. Martin pleaded her case, but his requests fell on deaf ears. She passed away on the second day here, and as hard as that was for him to deal with, he took consolation in the fact that she wouldn’t have to endure this world or the moonshiners’ treatment anymore.
The more Ben heard about Martin and his wife’s ordeal, the more he understood the man’s lust for revenge. There was no doubt that Ben could rely on Martin in a firefight. He just hoped that if it came to that, the guy wouldn’t be overzealous and get himself killed. Revenge could be a dangerous emotion and cause a man to make brash decisions in the heat of the moment. Only time would tell if Martin was able to wrangle those feelings and rise above all this.
The good news, though, was that Martin was game to follow them to Cloverdale. He even seemed relieved to have a plan in place and a destination in mind. Ben was happy to be able to provide that for him, and he hoped he wasn’t overselling Cloverdale. What if Cloverdale wasn’t even there anymore? Ben hadn’t thought beyond that much, not because he didn’t care but because he didn’t want to.
If Vince and the others had been overrun by looters, they’d have to make a new plan and find somewhere else to regroup. It wasn’t a pleasant thought, but it was a reality they might have to accept. Ben thought about the little spot where they’d found water after the Blazer broke down. He’d marked it on the road atlas as a water source. But that was Plan B, and thoughts like this were exactly why he did his best to avoid dwelling on things he had no control over.
This post-apocalyptic world had a way of forcing a person to speculate about the worst-case scenario, and while that could sometimes be a good thing and help them prepare, it was also exhausting.
Ben hoped Vince and the others were fine and that Cloverdale would still provide them refuge. The end goal remained Colorado, and regardless of what they found when they reached Cloverdale, it wouldn’t change their plan. Vince would be excited by their return and probably do his best to talk them into staying, like he did last time. Knowing that someone had your back at night was comforting. It was the first good rest Ben had on the road since they left Colorado, other than the early-morning attack they experienced while there.
Even at Jack’s, Ben was on edge and never fully let his guard down. Being part of a like-minded group had its merits and certainly provided a sense of security they would never feel when it was just them. But he had concerns about the long-term sustainability of a place like Cloverdale. There was strength in numbers, but with that strength came responsibility and mouths to feed as well.
Ben had noticed a lot of dead livestock in their travels. The pastures were littered with carcasses of cows and horses that had either starved or died of dehydration. At least that was what he assumed. He thought back to Jack’s place and the smell of the chicken farm next door. That was happening all across the country. The amount of resources that were lost simultaneously would be a staggering number to swallow, he was sure.
Would the country as a whole even be able to feed itself anymore? Maybe that was the plan. If North Korea and Syria were responsible, would they invade U.S. soil at some point? That was a hard scenario to imagine, but it was possible.
It would make sense for a foreign invader to wait until the country was weakened even further by an interrupted supply chain. Even if the countries responsible for the attack didn’t invade, he was sure that some regime out there would be eager to take advantage of the situation. There was no shortage of hatred for America around the world, much of it he’d witnessed firsthand.
Ben loved his country, but its political machine had run amuck long ago. The lack of progress and loss of empathy for the everyday citizen became harder to defend as the years went by, and Ben found himself questioning the very system he’d risked his life for. It had gotten harder to distinguish between the two parties anymore, and a government that was supposed to be by the people and for the people now seemed more like a system rigged to keep the elite in power.
As a whole, he felt like the government could no longer effectively run the country, and that was when things were good for those in power. Politicians were less credible than ever, and it had become commonplace for them to accuse each other of collaborating with foreign governments for financial gain. In a cumbersome, heavily influenced system where the line between big corporations and government was blurred beyond distinction, who knew the truth anymore?
No, the government, or what was left of it, wouldn’t be concerned with people like them. The more Ben thought about it, the more sure he was that things were going to remain in this state of chaos for some time to come. And although he wouldn’t share these thoughts with the kids or anyone else right now, he wondered how long it would be before foreign parachutes dotted the sky.
Ben watched as his youngest son carried some of the camping gear to the truck, and he was scared for his future—for all the kids’ futures. He’d hide in the mountains of Colorado forever if that was what it took to keep his kids safe. It wouldn’t be much of a life for them, but it was better than the alternative. He’d rather die fighting than live on his knees.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ben was startled by the sound of vehicles approaching until he remembered that Joel and Allie were bringing a pair of cars over from the far side of the compound. It was a good excuse to stop working and take five minutes to have a drink. Ben wiped his face down with a rag from his back pocket as he waited for Joel and Allie.
Allie led the procession in a half yellow, half primer gray International Harvester Scout. Ben hadn’t seen one of those in a while, and he hoped it ran better than it looked. Like the Blazer, it had oversized tires mounted on what looked like expensive rims. With any luck, the previous owner had spent money on mechanical upgrades as well.
Joel was right behind her in a less flashy dark-blue Toyota extended cab pickup truck. Ben was happy with Joel’s choice. The Toyota should be reliable for whoever took it. If the pickup had a cap, he would have pushed Martin toward it, but the Scout had more lockable storage, and Ben suspected the old International would be too much for Rita to handle anyway. Old trucks with lift kits could be temperamental on the highway when it came to steering and braking. They didn’t need to add any more challenges to the trip.
Joel and Allie backed up the new vehicles next to the other trucks. Ben went to the Scout and dropped the tailgate before Allie even had the chance to turn it off.
“Oh, I guess our Cadillac didn’t make it,” Rita asked.
“No, I couldn’t get it to start.” Joel shot Ben a look. “The Toyota runs really nice, though, if you can drive a stick.”
Rita smiled. “I learned to drive on a manual, sweetie.”
Joel looked at Ben. “Is that all right?”
“Yeah, Martin can drive this.” Ben surveyed the cargo space inside the Scout and liked what he saw. They’d have no problem fitting the rest of the gear inside of this truck. Of course, Ben was planning on giving Rita and Carlos plenty, but he felt justified in taking the lion’s share. And with Martin joining them, that was no problem now.
“Heck yeah I can.” Martin came over to ad
mire the Scout. “Is this my truck?”
“It is now.”
A slight grin crept over Martin’s face as he circled the truck and admired the exterior. Allie slid out of the driver’s seat and left the door open for him.
“It’s a little bigger than my Honda,” he joked, eying the distance from the door sill to the ground. He pulled himself up into the driver’s seat, and his smile grew when he gripped the wheel and looked out over the hood.
Ben made his way around to the front. “Pop the hood, will ya?”
“Sure.” Martin fumbled around for a moment, then hit the release. Ben was pleased to find a clean and organized engine bay with several upgraded parts. Nothing too flashy, but that was okay with him.
“It’s in good shape, I think. They both seem to be,” Joel interjected. Just then, Ben thought about Sandy and the fact that she was alone at the gate.
“Allie, your mom is at the gate. How about checking in on her? You can take her the radio while you’re at it. Maybe take her some coffee, too,” Ben suggested.
“Okay.”
“I’ll go with her.” Joel started walking with her.
“I need you here, Joel. We’ve got two more vehicles to get ready, and I want to wrap this up in the next half hour or so.”
Joel stopped and hung his head for a second. “Fine, whatever.”
He let out a sigh and handed the radio to Allie. Ben ignored the attitude and chalked it up to fatigue. They were all well beyond exhausted, and he had been asking a lot of them. Not that he had a choice. The moonshiners didn’t care if they were tired. And complaining about it wouldn’t change anything.
“Allie, let your mom know we’ll be ready to leave in less than an hour.”
She nodded. “Will do.”
“I’m just trying to get us out of here before the other moonshiners show up.” Ben directed his comment at Joel once Allie was out of earshot.
“Ah, to be young and in love,” Martin teased.