by Sage du Toit
Sherry and Bonnie were in the kitchen making breakfast and told them to join them. Sam explained that they wanted to get an early start, but Tom interrupted her and suggested they put everything in the truck and come back for a filling breakfast and coffee. Tom knew Sam wouldn’t pass up coffee. They quickly loaded everything and made sure everything was secure. They still needed to get the chicks, but everything else was set.
When they went back into the kitchen, Sherry and Bonnie already had breakfast cooked for them. Eggs, sliced tomato, hash browns, toast and fried spam. There was also coffee and juice. They all sat down to eat and Sherry and Bonnie asked them questions about their families in Texas. They also asked them to show them on the map where they were going. Sherry said that they had been talking and were considering going to check on Bonnie’s family. She was from Mobile, Alabama, which was directly south of where they currently were. She said they were thinking of coming Texas afterward.
Sam and Tom were both flabbergasted. Had these women not listened to the stories they told or even considered that there might be more convicts out there like the ones they had already encountered? They would be putting themselves in danger going to Mobile, much less continuing on to Texas. Sam looked at Tom and realized that they were just talking about doing the same thing that the two of them were doing.
Sam looked at Tom and shrugged, it wouldn’t be right to do anything but support them. Sam asked for a piece of paper and pen and she wrote out a note giving the names of her family and their address. She told them to keep that safe and if they made it to Texas and encountered anyone in her town, they would know where to go by giving them that note.
The four of them went out to the chicken coop and worked together to get the six chicks loaded into their box. They had a small bucket of chick feed and a bag of shavings they were bringing. They already had several gallons of clean water loaded in the truck. They loaded the last of the items in the truck and several people came out of the house to say goodbye. Maya came running out of the house and gave Sam a big hug. She whispered in her ear, “Thank you, I think we are all going to be great now, you gave Meagan some great advice last night and she told us. We are all going to be a family now!”
Sam smiled at Maya’s excitement about being included in their family and hugged her back. They said goodbye to everyone and climbed into the truck. They pulled around to the front and waited as Mitchell unlocked and opened the gates. They pulled out into the street and looked back at the crowd that had gathered to wave goodbye to them. They both waved goodbye as Tom pulled away.
They were heading south out of town and knew that the road was clear until their first turn off. The Centerville group knew their state better than they did, so they took any suggestions that anyone made. There were parts of their route that went far out and around any large cities. They were nervous about driving, since the last time they tried to travel in their Jeep, it ended in disaster. Sam was just thankful they were able to get away from that accident and not get captured. Since then they had learned a lot. When they first set out, they thought they were prepared for anything. Now they knew that it was almost impossible to prepare for everything! However, they had a better idea of what to look out for. They also knew that sticking to the back roads and avoiding any major highways would keep them away from the worst of the broken-down cars and traffic accidents that were left over from N-day. Less traveled roads meant they wouldn’t have to stop as much to move vehicles out of the way, so even if they had to drive further, they would get there faster.
They settled in for the drive and Sam topped off their travel mugs with coffee from the large thermos that Sherry had given them. They also had a basket sitting between them that was full of fresh vegetables and sandwiches to eat while traveling. They would still have to stop to give the cats a break and stretch their legs, but they didn’t have to find anything along the way. They had ten five-gallon cans of fuel in the back, so quick stops to refuel and stretch. At least that was their plan.
After about two hours of driving, they passed over the Alabama-Mississippi state line. Sam was hoping to make it until they needed to stop for more fuel but she was already in need of a pit stop to relieve her bowels. They started looking for a secure place to stop, they were in an area where they hadn’t seen many buildings or businesses and were considering pulling off into the woods when they came upon a truck stop. They slowly pulled up and didn’t see any movement. There were a few trucks parked in the truck parking area and a few cars next to the fuel pumps. They were hoping the other vehicles parked there would help to hide their own truck. Tom pulled up to the side of the building where they were hoping their truck would blend in.
There were several decaying bodies laying on the ground outside, so they felt pretty confident there wouldn’t be any one alive here. They both put on their gas masks and exited the truck, making sure the doors were locked behind them. They both had their pistols out and Sam suddenly felt at ease as they carefully cleared the building together. It felt good to her to fall back on these safety measures they had established while traveling. Once the building was cleared and Tom checked it for lingering nerve gas, Sam went into the women’s restroom, hoping it would at least be clean. She had to use her headlamp, because the room was completely dark. Luckily it was clean and even had toilet paper.
Tom remained in the front room, where he was looking through the shelves to see if there was anything they could use. When Sam came out of the restroom, Tom handed her a bag full of snacks and said it was his turn. Sam was glad that she wasn’t the only reason they had stopped. She continued looking through the shelves and took a few more candy bars. She looked in the bag to see what Tom had taken and then back at the shelves. There were obvious empty spots that looked like someone else had done the same thing they were doing. That meant someone had been through the store before them but had only taken a few items.
Tom came out of the bathroom and she pointed out the empty areas on the shelves and he said he had noticed, he said there were also foot prints in the dust on the floor showing that two other people had been through the store before them. But they hadn’t done any major looting, he said it looked like they only took what they could carry, and it was mostly food and water.
They went back out to the truck and checked on the cats and chicks. They were all settled down, still sleeping, so they decided not to disturb them. Tom top off the tanks since they were stopped and then they were back out on the road. So far, the road had been very clear, they only had to go around the occasional car or truck that was stalled in the road, and they hadn’t seen any accidents.
Tom was still driving and Sam was navigating, she took out the map to check the distance they had traveled and to see what roads were coming up. She measured the distance and determined they had gone about a hundred miles. There was a big city coming up, that they were going to skirt around on some back roads, so they were going to have to keep an eye out for road signs. They found their turn, which took them almost directly south. The road crossed over a major highway, and as they were going over the overpass, Sam looked down and saw what looked like a major accident where a big truck that had been hauling cars had turned over in the road. Luckily it hadn’t damaged the overpass.
They drove for about two more hours, with Sam carefully giving directions and turns whenever they reached a town they needed to go around. They talked quietly as they traveled, discussing their family and their hopes to find them alive and thriving like the groups they had passed through. They were both uncertain of what they would find. They saw a lot of death along the way and on the sides of the roads. The likelihood of their families still being fine and thriving were low, but they had to have hope.
Sam was checking the map; they were on a bypass that went around a small town when Tom started slowing down. He adjusted his speed according to how far ahead he could see. He didn’t want to come up on something and not be able to stop or turn around quickly if needed. Sam had glanced at t
he speedometer occasionally and saw that he maintained a speed of 50 to 60 mph. So, when he slowed down, it was unexpected. When she looked up at the road, she could see several cars blocking the roadway ahead. It didn’t look like a road block, just an accident left over from N-day.
There was a dirt road crossing over the median that they had just passed, so Tom backed up and took the cross over. The other side of the road appeared to be clear, but Sam was reminded of the start of the trip when they first left Ford Jackson, where they had to switch over to the opposite side of the road because of an accident blocking the way and how it lead to a trap. She mentioned it to Tom and stopped the truck in the road…idling while he thought. He said it was still bright daylight and he could see a good distance, so they would take the chance.
The road was clear on this side, and they passed the accident on the other side and then passed over a bridge. As they crossed the bridge, Sam looked over at the bride on the other side and saw that a portion of it had collapsed. She realized if they hadn’t crossed over to this side of the road, they might have hit the collapsed bridge. It would have been hard to see from that side. She pointed it out to Tom, he grinned and said, “Lucky!”. To which they both looked back at the cats in the carrier. Lucky heard her name so she was holding her head up, looking at both of them which made them laugh.
Sam reached back and opened the door on the traveling crate. Lucky stretched and carefully stepped over the sleeping kittens and out of the crate. She jumped up on the center console that was in the center of the front seats and then climbed into Sam’s lap for scratches. Sam shut the door to the crate, Lucky would be fine loss, even if they had to jump out and run for some reason, Lucky would follow them.
There was a litter box in the back and Sam gave Lucky a shallow bowl of water to drink as they drove. The road stayed fairly clear, with just a few accidents they had to go around. They were in a few businesses and homes on the road side, but mostly it was just trees. The highway was a four-lane road with a wide median between, so if the lane was blocked on one side, they were able to cross over to the other to bypass it. After the first time, Sam realized she was just being paranoid and quit worrying that each accident was a trap. They still kept a careful look out for anything suspicious when they passed the accidents.
They had seen a few signs of other survivors and about an hour ago they noticed a large cloud of smoke in the far distance, north of them. They knew it had to be a big fire in order for them to see such a large smoke cloud. Something that big would just have to burn until it ran out of material. There was no one left to stop it. Sam hoped it didn’t head toward Centerville. That would be bad. Tom said if it hit any river’s it should stop, and he was pretty sure there were a few rivers between the fire and Centerville.
They were coming up on an underpass and Tom slowed down to take a careful look. There weren’t any cars blocking the roadway but when Lucky suddenly lifted her head from where she was sleeping on Sam’s lap and then stretched out and put her feet on the dashboard, they decided to take a closer look before going forward. They both had binoculars and they scanned all around the overpass and didn’t see anything moving. Lucky was slowly switching her tail back and forth, but they had no idea what she was seeing that they didn’t see.
Tom slowly moved the truck closer to the underpass, all the while watching Lucky to see where she was looking and following her eyes to see what she was seeing. As they got closer, Sam saw something move in the deep shadow of the underpass. A man was coming down the steep sloop under the bridge. He was holding his hands up in the air like he was surrendering.
Tom said, “What the hell! What’s the chance of him being here?”
Sam looked closer at the man and realized it was Oscar. She was just as surprised. What was the likelihood of him being here, in the middle of nowhere on their route to Texas?
Tom told her to stay in the truck and to switch over to the driver’s seat. He was going to get out and see what was going on but wanted her to be ready to pick him up if this was some sort of trap. He got out and she quickly switched over to the driver’s seat and adjusted the seat as he walked forward.
Oscar’s face was just as surprised as theirs had been when he recognized Tom. He lowered his hands and started talking earnestly to Tom. Sam couldn’t hear what he was saying but he was gesturing back toward the bridge urgently and Sam swore that his eyes looked watery and tearful. Between the tattoos and his Hispanic heritage that gave him a dark complexion, Oscar had an outward tough appearance, but right now he looked like a lost little boy that didn’t know what to do.
Tom said something to him and then came back to the passenger side of the truck and jumped in. He told Sam to pull the truck up under the overpass to the far side where Oscar was heading. He said that Oscar told him that Craig was injured very badly, he had him tucked up under the overpass, they were hiding from anyone that came along, but Oscar said that when he saw the single truck, he knew he had to take a chance to keep Craig from dying.
Tom grabbed his medical bag and while Sam put Lucky back in the carrier with the kittens. She then grabbed one of their lanterns and followed Tom to see if she could help. The slope was steep going up under the bridge of the overpass. Between the support struts at the top, there was a small flat space where Craig was stretched out on a single blanket with another one covering him. Sam turned the lantern on and saw that Craig’s face was pale and sweaty.
Tom asked Oscar where Craig was hurt and he said it was his left arm. He explained that after they were exiled, they went to Jackson, Mississippi, hoping to find another group of survivors to join. The city had survivors, but they were not friendly. He said as soon as they entered the city, they were attacked. They didn’t have any guns or anyway to defend themselves, so they ran. The people had chased them and they thought they were going to get away when they ran into another group. The first group caught up to them and then the two groups started firing at each other. They thought again that they were going to get away while the two groups fought but a stray bullet hit Craig in arm. They had run as far as they could and then stopped and wrapped the wound up to stop the bleeding before continuing on. He said that was five days ago. Tom asked him what they treated the wound with, and the said they poured hydrogen peroxide over it, but they didn’t have anything else.
Tom unwrapped the wound and they all grimaced at the smell. The wound looked terrible, there was yellow puss coming out of the bullet hole, and the area around the hole was dark red and black around the edges. Tom said the wound was necrotic and would need to be cleaned and debrided. He pushed around the edges of the wound and puss started flowing from the hole. Craig moaned in pain as Tom felt around the edges of the wound. His eyes fluttered open briefly and he looked at Sam and then passed back out. Tom removed some gauze from his bag and started rewrapping the wound. He told Oscar that they would need to move Craig to a better location. He couldn’t do it here, the area was dirty and would just cause further infection. Tom finished wrapping up the wound and the two men carefully carried him down the steep slope to the truck. The question was where to put him in the truck. They decided to open the cover on the back and remove the gas cans, they could hide them under the overpass. While the men removed the gas cans, Sam looked over the map for the closest hospital. Tom said he didn’t have all of the tools he would need to debride the wound and Oscar said they hadn’t seen any movement in this area at all. Luckily there was a hospital less than two miles away.
Sam told Tom how close the hospital was and they quickly loaded Craig in the back with Oscar sitting with him. Tom had Sam drive so he could jump out as soon as they got there. She turned the truck around and went back to the off ramp and exited toward the hospital. When Sam saw the red sign that said “Emergency” she had to look twice to make sure they were at the right place. The building didn’t look like a hospital, but this was a small town.
Chapter 24
----------------------------------------------------
-
She followed the signs for the Emergency room and pulled up next to a small covered area with a wheelchair ramp. Tom already had his gas mask on and he jumped out of the truck, heading for the building. Sam locked the doors to the truck told Oscar to wait while they checked the building, she put on her gas mask and followed Tom inside. They quickly checked the area and determined that no one had been in the building since N-day. There were the usual decaying bodies and dust accumulating everywhere. Tom checked the area for nerve gas and determined it was clear. They both removed their gas masks and looked through the hospital for an empty surgery room. Tom found the surgery, and luckily it was empty. There was a clean bed in the room and he unlocked the wheels and they rolled it out to the door.
Oscar was still sitting in the back of the truck with Craig. He seemed calmer now but he still looked worried. They loaded Craig on the stretcher and Tom wheeled him inside. Sam unlocked the truck and removed their lanterns and Tom’s medical bag. She decided she would come right back to get the cats and chicks. She went in and set the lanterns up for Tom and made sure Oscar was going to stay with him to assist. The site of the wound didn’t seem to bother Oscar and Tom was already having him wash up to help him. She told Tom she was going to go take care of the cats and chicks and then would be back to help if he needed her. He told her that they should be fine, there was fully packed surgical cart already in the room. He had already pulled out an iv set and was inserting the iv catheter in Craig’s uninjured arm to give him fluids. As she was leaving the room, he asked her to find the pharmacy and get some antibiotics. She asked Oscar if he knew if Craig was allergic to anything and he said he didn’t know.