“You didn’t have a choice. It was either them or us,” Sam stated. “We now live in a do or die society. Myself, I am happy that you chose to save us. It could have easily gone much differently, and they could have been walking away the victors.”
They sat in silence for several minutes. Birds began to chirp again as if telling them that life would go on. Gina looked up when she heard an eagle shriek from somewhere above them. The sun was lost behind gray clouds, casting a pall over the pasture. The clouds sat low on the hilltops across the valley. They were too black to be snow clouds, and it didn’t feel like rain either.
“Well, damn! I sure never thought I would ever take a life on American soil.”
“None of us did, Ben. But you can bet they weren’t going to think twice about taking ours. Gina, that was one stupid, brave thing you did. You took their attention away from us and gave us the opportunity we needed.”
Gina looked at Sam, “What is wrong with those people? They were really going to kill us, and for what? A jeep that probably won’t run and a stock trailer?”
“You forget they were going to let you live.”
“Ben, did you think I was going to sit by and let them kill you? I would rather be dead than align myself with people like that. Did you look at them...they didn't look any different than we do.”
“Except now they’re dead, and we aren’t thanks to you. Now, we need to do something with them and finish what we started.” He looked at Ben, “In the back of the jeep is a shovel, if you go get it, we’ll bury them.”
“Don’t we need to report it or something. Can we just bury them and forget about what happened or what? Tell me what we’re doing.”
Ben rose to get the shovel and Sam looked at her. His face was filled with sadness, “Honey, there is no one to report it to. I think this is going to be the new normal. We are each in charge of our own destiny. We didn’t ask those people to do what they did. They made a conscious decision to attack us, and we reacted. Not even God would judge us harshly for what we did.”
Gina looked at him in disbelief, “God? Didn’t God cause this? Isn’t his fault this all happened in the first place?”
“I don’t want to get into an argument about God right now, but I think he also gave us a brain to figure it out. I’m sure he didn’t plan on us having to kill to survive, but he didn’t plan on people killing us to survive either. We did what we had to do. We probably saved the lives of an untold amount of good people today. They probably weren’t going to stop with only killing us.”
Sam rose, to go and help Ben while Gina sat by her tree. She didn’t want to see the dead guys and she sure didn’t want to have to look at the woman again. She knew Sam was right. Their lives had taken a drastic turn from what she had envisioned when she and her friends had started their pack trip.
Gina felt the first tears rolling down her face. She wiped them off, but they continued to fall. Instead of fighting them, she let the come. She cried for everything that had happened to them, for the people who had died in the car accidents, for the people who had died in hospitals and for her friends back home. She cried and released the tensions built up over the past few weeks.
When she was done, Gina sat up, wiped her face on her shirt, and looked around. The eagle screeched again, and she saw him against the gray clouds. The sight of him soaring high and free above, lifted something heavy from her shoulders.
Finally, she saw Sam and Ben heading back toward her. Ben dragged the shovel on the ground behind him. He looked as bad as she felt.
They stopped and looked up when the eagle called out again. Gina looked up too, and saw the buildup of thick black clouds settling lower on the hills to the north of them.
Ben hurried to her, “Sam says we need to get it in gear. There’s not much time.”
“Not much time for what?” She looked where Sam was trying to pry the bent fender with the shovel. It snapped off where the wood attached to the metal spade, but the fender was now away from the tire.
Ben pointed, “That…Sam thinks those clouds are fallout from Yellowstone and if the wind doesn’t change it’s going to cover everything down here.”
“Like St. Helens did back in 84? Maybe it won’t come this far?”
“We need to go!” Sam hollered, “Come on you two.”
“Does the jeep even run now?”
“There was nothing wrong with the motor. The frame is bent, but it should still run. As long as the driveline is fine, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
“Have you had the chance to ask Sam how we’re supposed to get a loaded trailer back up that hill?”
As if it had just occurred to him, Ben looked at the way they had come down. “I don’t think it’s possible, but you can bet he has something in mind.”
“God, I hope so,” Gina spoke softly for Ben’s ears only. “I hate to think we went through this all for nothing.”
Sam had pulled the canvas off the jeep exposing the roll cage. Ben was right. The Jeep started easily and seemed to move just fine. The ride through the pasture, across the creek to the hay barn brought no more surprises. Ben and Gina sat with their rifles cradled out the open framework.
The hay shed, open on three sides was stacked to the rafters with large bales of alfalfa and grass hay. On the fourth side, a long, narrow building ran the whole length of the barn. Half was open-fronted with two tractors, haying equipment already stored for the winter. Another of the bays held a flat trailer with three snowmobiles on it. A couple four-wheelers lined up down the side of the trailer. The other half was enclosed, the front side having two doors. Neither appeared to have been tampered with.
Someone had tried to pry the doors open, the metal was scarred and dented but still locked tight. Sam wiped his hand over the marks and laughed, “John gave me a hard time about the steel doors, but it looks like they did the trick. It doesn’t look like anyone got through them.”
Sam unlocked the door and pushed the door in. He stood off to the side, in case he was wrong. Heavy silence greeted him, waving his hand at them to stay, he stepped into the room.
Stepping back to take in their surroundings, Gina noticed an antenna sitting on top of the barn. It was tall and had what looked like a copper or metal coil around the bottom near the base of it. She wondered if it was for a C.B. radio.
“You coming?” Ben asked from the open doorway.
Gina shook her head. “I’ll keep a watch out here. We don’t know those were the only people here.”
Ben said something to Sam and then answered her, “Come on in. Sam says if there were others at the house we would have known by now.”
As much as she wanted to believe him, she would rather continue keeping her eyes on the house.The creek meandered in snake fashion through the pasture, and they would have to cross it again if they were going to the log house. Bare trees, she wasn’t sure what kind without their foliage, lined the creek bed. She saw a gap in them and hoped it was a bridge of some sort. She had already decided that she would walk the rest of the way.
She couldn’t help but watch the cloud cover. Gina turned her face into the wind. While she didn’t have a compass, she did know the highway ran east and west. There was no way of telling how the wind was blowing at the top of the hills, but she thought in the valley, it was blowing from the west. If Sam was right and they were made up of volcanic ash, like St. Helens, it would destroy everything the gray powder covered. The first rain would turn it into hard cement unless the snowfall covered it first.
With a growl of protest Gina’s stomach reminded her they hadn’t eaten since early that morning. There were food packets behind the seat in the jeep, but without a fire to heat the water, they couldn’t eat them. Maybe she should have stayed behind at the cabin. They had so much to do before the snow fell. With the cave-in, they no longer had the option of using it for shelter. The cabin was too small to hold them all if that was even an option for them.
“Well, damn! Of course!” Gina jogge
d back to the hay barn and stopped in front of the biggest tractor. It was backed in so she had to climb behind it to see. “Yes!” she crowded.
“What are you so excited about?”
Gina jumped and grabbed her rifle until she realized Sam and Ben were standing at the front of the tractor.
“This tractor…it’s old right?”
“Old yes, but not dead,” Sam replied. Then he began to grin. “Damn girl…You’re right.”
Ben stood, looking puzzled. It was obvious that Sam and Gina were on the same wavelength, but he had no idea what they were excited about. “Want to let me in on it?”
“The tractor should still run. It has no electronic ignition or computers. We can use it to pull the trailer once we get it loaded.”
“I was thinking more like using it to go and get my horse trailer. This thing has a ball on it, and my trailer is a pull…so we can move it up to the cabin.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“I’m thinking of somewhere for Journey, Lucy and me to sleep, and then there is Ben and Abby. We can’t all fit in the cabin, and it would save time over fixing up the other cabin.”
“Not a bad idea, but I’m thinking we could all move down here to the shed. There’s a wood stove in the man-cave, and the floor is carpeted, and it’s insulated.”
“That’s a good idea Sam, but I think it’s too soon.”
Sam looked at Ben and frowned, “Why is it too soon? Too soon for what?”
Gina held her hands up to stop the conversation. She wanted to hear what Ben’s thoughts were, but they also needed to check out the main house before it got dark. She thought they would be spending the night somewhere and they could talk then.
“Why don’t we finish what we started and discuss our options tonight. If there is still food in the root cellar, maybe we should just get it loaded or whatever. We can talk this evening.”
“Good idea,” Sam said and left Gina and Ben standing beside the tractor.
Gina didn’t walk, but she dropped the tailgate and sat in the small open bed of the jeep. Ben rode up front with Sam.
The house was in far worse shape than they had thought seeing it from a distance. The inside was blackened and gutted of all furnishings. What was still identifiable through the missing front wall and door area was burned beyond use. The metal roof sagged in the middle as if the heat from the flames had weakened it. The house reeked of charred wood, and a sickeningly sweet odor clung to the house.
Sam pulled the kerchief from around his neck and tied it over his nose and mouth. “Stay here,” he said and removed some debris from the doorway. “The back rooms may be in better shape.”
“Who set the fire and how could it have burned inside so completely?”
Ben seemed as puzzled as she did. He pointed to a plastic gas can, almost concealed by what used to be a hedge around the front of the house. “Gasoline?
“But why? Why would someone waste gas to burn someone out? I don’t understand that mentality.”
“I forgot you didn’t hear the whole story. The quick version is the people stuck on the highway came seeking food and shelter. Mary and John provided what they could, and when it became too much, they said there would be no more help. They were running out of food for themselves. Some of the people understood and left, but then these guys showed up, waving guns around, drunk and belligerent. They wanted John and his family to get out and give them the house and everything they had,” he paused and scanned their surroundings as if trying to put his thoughts in order. He sighed, “I can’t help but wonder if it wasn’t part of that bunch I was with. They had an unlimited supply of booze with the still the old man kept out back and this is exactly something I think they are capable of.”
“You said they were moving west. Why would they come in this direction, and this had to have happened before you left them, didn’t it?”
Ben thought about what Gina said, “Maybe. John never said how many men there were, but our group had over forty guys. They went out in groups of five or six to the surrounding places. I don’t know that they would have come this far, but it’s possible. You have to remember they all had quads or ATV’s of some kind.”
“I guess my timeline is all screwed up. For me, this shit became real the day we found out the pickup wouldn’t start. It’s hard to think that it actually happened when we were out camping. I would like to go back to that place in time when life seemed real, and we were uninformed.”
“Three weeks give or take. The days all run together, but Abby and I were at the other camp over a week before you ladies showed up.” Ben sighed, “I would like to be uninformed right now. I’d like to be sitting on a beach somewhere warm, with a cold beer and my toes in the sand.”
They heard a crashing sound from inside the house, but before Ben or Gina could rush inside, Sam stumbled out. His arms were full of blankets and some clothing. He dropped the bundle on the ground at their feet and stumbled a few feet away, turned his back to them, pulled the kerchief up and bent over his hands on his knees. He gagged, but it was only dry heaves.
“You okay, Sam?”
Sam shook his head, his eyes shone, either from the strain of vomiting or tears, it was hard to say, but the gray pallor of his skin spoke volumes.
“What?” Ben asked and turned toward the house.
“No! Don’t go in there. There’s nothing more we need in there. Gina, if you can put that stuff in the trailer, Ben and I will check around back. That’s where the cellar is.”
Gina eyeballed the pile and realized she would have to make two trips. Sam had balled blankets, jackets and sheets together. Some of the blankets were folded, and Gina thought they must have been in a trunk or closet. The clothing appeared to have been hanging somewhere, some still hung from hangers. She took the stack of blankets and laid them in the bed of the jeep. The jackets and clothes, she laid on the passenger seat. The stench of smoke clung to everything.
When Sam and Ben hadn’t returned by the time she the stuff to the trailer, she went looking for them. She didn’t go barreling around the corner of the house, but stopped and listened. Never again would she take their safety for granted. The bullet that had grazed Ben’s forehead could very well have taken his life. If they had all been diligent about their safety, the other group would never have gotten close.
Gina had a tendency to blame herself when things went wrong, it was always what could she have done differently, but she knew this was on all of them. The guys were as responsible for their safety as she was.
Gina stopped at the corner of the building and crouched down. She figured if someone were watching they would be watching where someone's head would be, not where their feet were. She peeked around the corner, but there was no one there. Cocking her head to the side, she listened. The soft murmur of two distinct voices told her they were from Sam and Ben.
Rising from her crouch, Gina walked toward where the voices were coming from. Between two Junipers she saw what appeared to be metal doors opened up from the ground. Closer, she saw cement stairs leading down.
“Sam?” she spoke softly. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, come on down, but watch where you step. There’s broken glass all over the floor.”
At the bottom of the stairs, Gina saw a moving glow of light emitted from the lantern Sam was holding above his head. Ben was picking through a bin of something.
White powder covered most of the floor in piles and spread out by footprints. It looked like the white stuff had come from a blue barrel lying on its side. Several more had been tipped over and their lids removed. The contents spilled out on the cement floor. Beans, rice, and she thought flour had been kicked all over.
“What happened?”
“Those son’s a bitches found the cellar. What they couldn’t carry, they destroyed.” Sam was pushing his words out from between clenched teeth. His hands were in fists at his sides. His eyes met hers, and she saw how hopeless he found the situation.
“Stew,” she said looking around. “All the fixings for a good stew.”
Sam glared, but she knew it wasn’t directed at her. His feelings which shone so clearly on his face were for the people who had done this. The ones who had destroyed his family’s winter food supply.
“Sam, were any of the pots in the house salvageable? Can we use any of them to cook in?”
“Cook in?” he asked with a frown, then the light came on. “I’ll be right back,” he said, hung the lantern from a nail protruding from an overhead beam and left.
“We need something to put this stuff in,” Gina said and began the delicate task of putting the clean flour back into the barrel. “Help me stand this backup.”
With the aid of a clean, unbroken mason jar, Gina scooped flour from the tops of the piles that hadn’t been walked on. Ben slammed the lid back on it and rolled it to the foot of the stairs. They did the same to the second barrel. The beans, they separated as much debris as they could from them and put them into the smaller barrels they had come from. The rice was harder as they couldn’t pick all of it up and separate the dirt. They took what they could and closed the barrel.
“We need room to work in. Can we get the barrels up the steps?”
Ben tried to lift the smaller barrel holding the beans, “Yeah, I think I can move this and probably the other too, but the flour barrels are going to be impossible.”
“Then we empty them until we can lift them. We need something to put the vegetables in.”
Beyond the New Horizon Page 21