Endure Series (Book 2): Enduring The Journey:

by Kinney, K. D.

  32

  Tammy

  Early morning sunlight woke Tammy even though the sun wasn’t visible yet. The mountain on the east side of the Suburban blocked it from view.

  She peeled the hair strands off her face that had dried stuck to her skin. She wasn’t feverish anymore but she was cold. Her leg still throbbed where the infection was. She could hardly remember what had happened since she’d been sick but she could remember some of her realistic dreams. Their location had changed but she couldn’t tell how far the girls had pushed them from where they had stopped before her fever kicked in.

  Tammy really needed a drink of water. Her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton. She was probably dehydrated from the fever and how out of it she had been. Her sweatpants were muddy around the ankles and she didn’t know why. She had changed after rescuing and bathing Tyson. After that, she had fallen ill so quickly that it bothered her that she didn’t know why her sweats were dirty when all she could remember was that she slept a lot.

  When she stretched her legs, she had to stop when her feet bumped against her sleeping daughter. She needed to sit up anyway. Her muscles told her they weren’t ready for that and she wilted against the seat.

  The morning went by painfully slow. Tammy’s body still wasn’t wanting to cooperate and yet all she wanted to do was get to the cabin. She’d had enough roughing it. Finally, she figured out it had been eight days since the grid went down.

  When the girls woke up, they were complaining that they could hardly move because of sore muscles. None of them wanted to get out to pee. She couldn’t blame them. It was the coldest morning they’d had since they left. The four older girls were comparing and competing over who had the worst sore muscles. Because it was so cold and they were so whiny, she told them all to knock it off or go back to sleep.

  The girls chose to sleep.

  She watched the river for some time and kept an eye out for animals on the mountains around them. It was a mostly clear sky that morning but she felt like she was in a fog. For some reason, she remembered some talk about wolves while she was sick. At first, she wasn’t sure if that had been a dream. The more she thought about it, the more she remembered and realized that they were, in fact, real. She sat up a little higher in her seat and was more vigilant searching for movement on the mountains around them.

  Other than watching for phantom critters and being entertained by the movement of the occasional cloud that passed by overhead, the time went by slowly. The sun warmed up the inside of the Suburban and soon it was tolerable outside as well.

  Everyone woke up when military jets shook and rattled Old Betsy as they flew over. They were flying slow and low as if they were scouting out what was on the road. The rumbling went on and on long after they passed overhead.

  “Where do you think those planes came from? They had to be from someplace far from here. I haven’t seen or heard a plane in days,” Amanda asked.

  “Yeah, I was scared like maybe we were about to be bombed,” Zoe said.

  “I’m sure our military all around the world has been called home. They’d be here by now. I’m sure we have less to worry about out here. We aren’t one of the biggest cities in the U.S. and we aren’t close to the ocean either. I’m hoping they were scouting to send relief here soon.” Tammy didn’t want to mention that her heart nearly stopped as they flew over because those same fears struck her until she spotted an American flag painted on the side. They were that close.

  Once the jets were long gone and they had recovered from the scare, Tammy was finally able to motivate the girls to get moving.

  She slowly walked the dogs around the Suburban while checking on how well she could walk on her infected leg. Tyson held her hand tight as he stayed close to her side. He still wouldn’t say anything and his eyes were always sad. But he was warming up to her and the girls. He would seek out whoever was closest when he would start crying all over again. His sadness made Tammy’s heart ache for him. They really needed to get him off the road and out of a car for good.

  Once they had eaten breakfast, the girls let it be known that they were done dealing with Old Betsy.

  “We’re done pushing this whole beast of a thing. It’s heavy and taking too long. It’d be different if the road was clear or if there were at least two more of us that could push. It’s going to take us two more days if we keep at it like this. That is if we can get our muscles to cooperate.” Charlie looked at each one of her sisters waiting for them to nod in agreement and they did.

  “Look, I’m ready to leave this Old Betsy behind too. Not the trailer. The thing is, I’m not sure how long I can walk.” She sighed and stretched her legs while she thought about it some more. “I totally agree, though. It’s time. We need to clean everything out of the Suburban and load it in the trailer. There’s plenty of room. Mae can pull the chickens in the wagon. Maybe Tyson can walk with her and that will help Mitsi. Well, we will see how that goes. If we have to, we can all take turns carrying him.” Tammy ran her hands through her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail again. She would probably do that all day. Her greasy hair was bothering her. What she really needed was a shower or a bath. The sweat that had dried all over her body made her feel itchy and sticky everywhere and she thought for sure she smelled bad. That was just more motivation to get to the cabin as fast as they could.

  It took some time for the girls to clear out Old Betsy, put it all in the back of the trailer, and set up the trailer to be pulled down the road.

  They attached the long metal bar handle that went through the tongue and each of the older girls competed to see who could lift it by themselves. They discovered that it was heavier than they thought. The girls were serious as they paired up to see how well they could lift it as teams. It became apparent that lifting it would wear on their already overtaxed back muscles.

  Once Tammy cranked down the trailer jack that Ben had fitted with a small wheel, it helped hold the trailer level and stabilized it so it was much easier to move. But it would be slow.

  “Okay, I think we can handle this. You have to remember, this has no brakes like the Suburban. If we go downhill at all, it’s going to be a problem and if we are going uphill, we shouldn’t stop until we are at the top.”

  Amanda and Charlie insisted on pulling first.

  “You still aren’t healthy enough to do this, mom.” Charlie made sure Tammy stayed away from the handles.

  “Can you girls do this alone?” She had a hard time letting them do the hard work without her help.

  “Make sure Holly and Zoe are ready to help or step in if we need a break. Don’t you think they should walk behind the trailer in case we need a push or they need to act as our brakes from rolling backward down a hill?”

  Tammy agreed and the younger two took their positions in the rear.

  Mae pulled the wagon up beside where her sisters were about to pull the trailer. “We are just like the pioneers that pulled handcarts across the west.”

  “Yes, we are.” Tammy nodded. “At least we are pulling it on paved roads and not up a steep hill like that one.” She pointed at the mountain beside them.

  “Yeah, I think they also packed a little lighter than we have,” Amanda said as she worked on figuring out the best way to position herself.

  “Are you too sore to pull?” Tammy asked.

  “I’m very sore. I think once we get moving, it will ease up. I’m not counting on it, though.” She grimaced as she pulled with Charlie to get it going. “I just want to be in a house where there’s a toilet and not stuck out here anymore so I’ll deal with it.”

  “You girls in the back, help push to get it going.” Tammy was feeling useless but she also knew she couldn’t afford to get hit with falling ill again so she forced herself to supervise. Walking was already a chore.

  Once all four girls were working together, it took no time for them to keep moving at a steady pace. The girls easily maneuvered the trailer around the abandoned and wrecked cars and they
were making progress. They turned the corner and could see that they were about to reach Banks which wasn’t really much of a town at all. More like an intersection where there was a store and café log cabin with a huge parking lot they would have to pass first. After that, around the corner was the intersection where the turnoff to Garden Valley and Lowman was. If they went straight, they would eventually get to Donnelly, then Cascade, and McCall was even farther after that.

  Banks was also one of the locations where people would start white water rafting the Payette in the summer. They had done that many times in the summer over the years when Ben was home. So she was very familiar with the big parking area and public restrooms on the other side of the river close to the bridge. When she could hear people off in the distance, she realized that whole area would be an ideal area where the stranded travelers would be able to camp.

  Tammy tensed up as they got closer to the store. There were people. Lots of them. Far more than she expected to see in an area that wasn’t all that populated. Some looked like they were in rough shape. Not unlike themselves but the road refugees had been roughing it longer than Tammy and her girls. Others were preoccupied with the fire in a burn barrel. It smelled like they were cooking something but it didn’t smell good. The girls hardly said a word and they were wary while they kept pulling and walking. Tammy motioned for Mae to move to the other side of the trailer so the dogs wouldn’t start barking when they caught sight of all the people. She also didn’t want the refugees to see the chickens.

  A semi that had crashed into a pickup truck was taking up the southbound lane. They were able to use it to their advantage when they passed on the other side of it without the road refugees taking notice.

  Farther down the road there were even more people milling around in the rafting parking area on the other side of the river. It looked like a campground with a few tents, some cars, pickups, and a couple of campers lined up in one area. Quite a few stranded people were gathered near the river’s edge. Some of them were fishing while others were washing clothes.

  That group didn’t miss the movement of the white trailer as they approached. There was a lot of pointing as the refugees spoke to one another as more fixated their gaze on Tammy and her family. Before long all the residents of tent city had stopped what they were doing to watch as they kept going.

  “Mom, they are staring at us. Every single one of them. Should we get our guns?” Zoe asked.

  “No, not yet.”

  “Mom, we need our guns.” Charlie stopped pulling and left Amanda to control the trailer alone.

  The trailer turned halfway around by the time she was able to stop. “Seriously, Charlie!”

  Charlie waved at Mae to come closer to her. Tammy was stunned as she watched her daughter pull out their guns from underneath the chickens’ cage in the wagon. She proceeded to hand them out to Amanda, Zoe, and Holly.

  “When did you do that? What do you think you’re doing?” Tammy checked under her cardigan for her gun. It was still there in her holster. “Why are you so sure you need to be armed?” She wished she hadn’t asked that question when she realized there were more people in another parking area alongside the road right where they needed to turn at the intersection.

  The refugees there were waiting for them to finish crossing the bridge on the main road. They started gathering on the pavement right where Tammy and her family needed to turn.

  Tammy didn’t want the girls to stop but they were outnumbered. The girls couldn’t pull the trailer and protect it at the same time. The last thing she wanted was to have an altercation involving firearms with the size of the crowd that was gathering.

  “Holly, Zoe, you girls take over pulling the trailer. Charlie, and Amanda, don’t stop pulling until they are set or they may not be able to get the thing moving again. The younger girls need to be on the inside so you older girls can step away and protect the trailer with me. Mae, walk on this side now, away from that parking area and all those people. I don’t want them to see the chickens. Carry Mitsi.” Tammy took off her cardigan and grabbed the sheet Charlie had used to cover the guns in the wagon. She swung Tyson onto her back and had Mae help her adjust the sheet as she tied it on so she could carry him. Once she had adjusted her makeshift child carrier and he was on tight, she kept walking and was in front as the people started closing in around them.

  “What you got? Is that thing full of food?” a woman asked as Tammy kept walking.

  Tammy held onto the part of the sheet that was around her waist so she could grab her gun if needed. Her heart was pounding so hard she had to control her breathing so she wouldn’t panic. She kept an eye on her girls. The mob didn’t seem to care that they were armed. “No, sorry. We are stranded too. It’s household stuff. We are trying to get home.” She averted her gaze and tried not to see all the desperate women and children in the group. Tammy was aware that her daughters were waiting for her to tell them what to do.

  “We haven’t had real food for a few days. That group down the road raided the store days ago and now there’s nothing but fish and what we can find in the woods. It’s not much. Do you have anything you can give us?” another woman asked.

  Tension was growing and the girls weren’t able to keep going because of the gathering crowd. They had tried to turn the corner but had been forced closer to the mountain. They couldn’t move over anymore or they’d force Mae and her wagon into the fallen rocks on the shoulder of the road. At least they wouldn’t be completely surrounded.

  “Will you please move?” Charlie asked, waving at the people in front of them to get out of the way.

  “We’ve been here for days waiting for relief. Some of us have walked for miles with no clean water or access to food and then you show up. I want to see what you got in there.” The man stepped closer to Charlie and looked like he was going to remove her from her post. She was the first to draw her gun.

  “Sorry, but we aren’t the local food truck.” She pointed her handgun at the man.

  “Now see, you aren’t the only armed person out here.” He reached inside his vest and before he could pull out a gun, Amanda sprayed his face with pepper spray. She accidentally got the man standing next to him too.

  The two men screamed in agony while chaos erupted. The solemn group of survivors was rapidly turning into an angry mob that was going to take what she and her girls had worked so hard to get that far.

  Tammy and her oldest four daughters fanned out around the trailer with their guns drawn. Everyone stopped and it was eerily quiet.

  “Look, I know you’re desperate. I see your children. You also see mine and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to protect them and what little we have.” Tammy motioned for the mob near the back of the trailer to back away. Several did but one man tried to go for her gun. Tammy turned out of the way and shoved the guy away. Tyson screamed and started crying as he clung to the back of Tammy’s shirt.

  Buddy bounded out from behind the trailer where he had been with Mae and got between Tammy and the man when he tried to lunge for her again. Her dog bared his teeth and growled as he stood guard over the family with all his hair standing up all the way down his spine. The man backed away a few steps and held up his hands. She pointed her gun at his chest and tilted her head to the side waiting for him to walk away. He stayed put and she could tell he was contemplating if it was worth it to try again. Like he was about to test Tammy to see if she or any of the girls would shoot. Shooting him could be their downfall. They were so outnumbered and there was no way to stop an angry mob. Her breath quickened. She sure didn’t want to shoot at all with so many people standing around when she wasn’t a skilled shooter by any means.

  Tyson kept crying and soon a few of the other small children joined him in wailing as the tension climbed.

  “Back off,” Charlie yelled and there was a scuffle at the front of the trailer.

  Tammy couldn’t go see what was happening until the man challenging her backed down and she couldn’t
shoot with so many children standing around. She was distracted when Buddy headed for Charlie. That’s when the guy went for her.

  Her reflexes were good as she positioned herself perfectly using her fingers to jab at his throat. He instantly backed away as he struggled to recover and gasped for air.

  “Get him, Buddy.” She pointed at the man as her dog came bounding back to her. Tyson was inconsolable.

  Her dog barked and growled at him looking like he was going to attack. The man scrambled away. When he was finally a safe distance away, Tammy grabbed Buddy’s leash and pulled him back to her side. She couldn’t console Tyson though. He buried his face in between her shoulder blades and sobbed.

  Before Tammy could see what was going on in front of the trailer, one of the guns went off and her already pounding heart nearly stopped. She was scared to look but when she did, all her girls were still standing and so was every person surrounding them.

  Charlie had the metal pipe handle they’d been using to pull the trailer and she was spinning and swinging it at everyone in front of the trailer. There were two men walking away, rubbing their wounds. There was no blood. Some of the mothers were taking their young sobbing children away. The rest of the people were backing off but weren’t leaving. They were surrounded by mostly men and a few teenage boys at that point.

  It took Tammy a minute to realize it was Zoe who had fired the shot. Her back was pressed against the trailer as she examined her gun.

  “What happened?” Tammy didn’t dare leave her post at the back end of the trailer.

  “I tried to scare them away.” Tears streamed down Zoe’s face. She shook her head. “I realize now that was a bad idea.”

  “You didn’t shoot anyone, did you?” She still didn’t see signs of a gunshot wound on anyone.