Journey stood straight, threw her shoulders back and snapped off a perfect salute, “Yes sir!”
Willy frowned, “Hey, I didn’t ask for this job. You guys elected me, remember?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry, but…”
Willy held his hand up, “When we stop, we’ll discuss it. For now, let’s find something to put this stuff in, because if I have to smell it much longer, I’ll be sick.”
“And you want us to handle it and wash it?” Evelyn turned away. She stopped walking, “Journey, do we have any of that paracord handy? I have an idea. When Mark and I went on that sailing trip, we washed our clothes by dragging them through the water. We don’t have a net bag like we did then, but we could tie them in a bundle and pull it behind one of the horses.”
Journey scrunched her face in thought, “I think we do have some in the backpack with the food. There’s a ball of it.”
“Lord, how I miss bleach and hand sanitizer. I’ll get the cord if you want to lay everything out the same direction,” Evelyn said as she hurried back to where they’d left their things.
“And Vick’s Vapor-rub,” Journey murmured as she bent to line the clothes out. Lips pressed into a tight line, she held her breath as long as she could and used only two fingers to grab each piece and lay them out. Even without breathing, Journey could smell the stench rising from the clothing and wondered if they would ever be clean enough for them to wear. She decided right then that she would wear her own until they fell off her body in threads before she wore any of these. “Why don’t we have any gloves?”
As soon as all the clothing was laying the same direction, Journey tied all the shoelaces together and using the paracord Evelyn had given her, wrapped the bundle tightly and tied the boots to it. She hoped it was good enough because she was done messing with them.
Journey wiped her hands off on her thighs and hurried away from the stinking pile, and she wondered why the men couldn’t have smelled themselves. Then she thought about the jewelry and the women that had worn it. She shuddered when she realized what some of those women must have suffered at the hands of these guys. She realized how fortunate she, Gina and Lucy had been finding the people that they had. As she thought of Lucy, Journey felt her throat tighten, and her eyes began to burn. She hastily pushed the thought away. She and Gina would both have to deal with it sometime, but this wasn’t the time. It would be hard enough having to face Ben and Abby every day without being reminded that Lucy was no longer with them.
“Okay people, let’s move out,” Willy hollered to get everyone’s attention. Ben sat behind Joe on the quad, who for the time being and the water remaining shallow enough, would tow the bundle of clothing behind the quad.
Abby, Lucas, Matt, and Olivia would ride the four healthiest horses and herded the others along with the goats and cow. Sherry had fashioned a harness for each of the hens and rooster, that went under the wings and around their bodies, but they had refused to lead, and she had to put them back in the bag. They hung across the withers of Abby’s horse.
Everyone else would walk. The guns they had collected, were tied on top of the trunk behind Ben until Willy and Charlie had the chance to look them over and clean them. Charlie thought the men hadn’t had them long because they were in pretty good shape, unlike the ones they had collected during their last battle in front of the cave. Those had been pitted with rust, and some were even caked in dirt and excess grease.
The plan was to follow the river until they either came to highway twelve or Sam and Gina came back. No one had any idea how far it was to the highway, or how long it would take with them walking.
Walking beside Willy, Charlie asked, “Why didn’t we take both of the four-wheelers?”
“I thought about it, but we’ll be able to cover more ground with just the one. I figured we could go further with just one, rather than split the gas between the two of them. We’d run out sooner. This way, Ben can ride a further distance. Hopefully, he’ll be feeling better in a couple of days and can ride.”
“I don’t think a couple of days is going to make much of a difference to his injuries, but I guess we can at least be moving forward.”
“It’s sure better than the alternative. I hate to think that guy that got away will be coming and looking for us sometime in the future. Always having to look over our shoulder is going to get old fast.”
“That’s why Andy, Kenny, and Joe are following so far behind. They’re watching our back.” When Joe had approached him about keeping an eye on their backside, he realized just how in tune with their circumstances his son had become. He only wished that Jesse could be walking with them.
“Good thinking, but I don’t expect to see those guys anytime soon, but I have no doubt we’ll see them again, someday.”
Charlie laughed, “If not them, then someone just like them.”
“That is the one good thing about being this far north. Big towns are few and far between. I wouldn’t give us a chance in hell of surviving if we were in Seattle or even Spokane. Can you imagine the hell that rained down on L.A. or New York City?”
Willy nodded, “I don’t expect many survived the first six months, and it scares me to think about the ones that did.”
“Yeah, the same thing has crossed my mind. I can’t help but remember the Donner party and what they did to survive. I think through history, there have been several incidences where people have used cannibalism to survive, and many times since this began, I’ve wondered what I would do in the same circumstances.”
“In St. Regis before Sam and Gina came, I saw people who could have pooled their resources and helped each other, turn on their neighbors and were literally fighting over a loaf of bread.”
“You don’t want to hear about Sam’s neighbors or what happened to John and Mary when this first started, but I guess we all have stories. Me, I’d just like to live long enough to hold my first grandchild.”
“Well, I hope that you get to, and that it’s a few years from now. Myself, I’d just like to settle down with a nice woman somewhere safe.”
“We seem to have a shortage of women right now. Especially our age.”
“You two sound like a couple of old men sitting in front of the store with a checkerboard between you. As soon as you get settled somewhere with these women, you’ll be bitching about not having enough quiet time,” Journey laughed. She had been standing, and both men had walked right past her without seeing her. “I sure hope the two of you use more awareness when you stand guard.”
“You just said the magic words, when I’m on guard duty I see and hear all. And besides that, I saw you. I was busy talking man talk to my friend here, and we weren’t playing checkers either.”
“Willy’s right. I saw you too, now what do you want?” Charlie laughed as he said it and raised one eyebrow up at Journey.
“Sounded like checkers to me, but you would be right. I did want something. I want to know how far we’re going today. Evelyn is getting tired, and so is Ben, and I have to admit that so are the rest of us.”
Willy looked at his wrist, “I sure do miss that old watch. How long have we been going?”
“Six, maybe seven hours is all,” Charlie told him.
Willy opened his eyes in shock, “That long? It feels like we only just started. I’m just finding my rhythm.”
“Your rhythm?” Journey scoffed and laughed, “the rest of us must be traveling to a different drummer then because we’re tired. I think we’re all still in shock from this morning and I’d like to lay those clothes out and see if they came clean. Ben’s wet and cold and my feet are killing me.”
“I was hoping to get as far as Sam and Gina did before they stopped. It would give us some idea how far in front of us they are.”
Journey laughed, “then you don’t know them as well as I do. They probably didn’t stop for long, if at all. I think they’ll keep going as long as the horses are okay. Remember, they think they’re finding and bringing any provision
s they do find, back to us.”
“So, I guess it doesn’t matter where we stop. I just don’t want those other guys sneaking up on us when we least expect it.”
“Least expect it? That’s not going to happen. I don’t think we’ll ever not expect trouble to find us, but we can’t just turn our backs and hope it goes away.”
“True, but at least now we can defend ourselves when it does. Or at least we will have the ability, once we get those guns cleaned.” Willy looked at Charlie, “I guess we can make camp anywhere then. What do you think old man?”
Charlie puffed his cheeks out, “Pfft! Don’t call me old man. It’s the young ones who are tired. I am just getting warmed up, but suit yourself. We can clean guns and do laundry.”
“And eat. All of us would benefit from a decent meal.”
Journey looked at Willy, “Isn’t that going to interfere with your rhythm? Sounds to me like a full belly would really throw a horseshoe into that rhythm.”
“I don’t think a full belly is going to happen anytime soon unless Sam and Gina hit the mother lode,” Evelyn said walking up. She sighed and used both hands to massage her lower back, “I sure am happy we don’t have too many hills to climb. This old body is about worn out.”
“Oh posh, there’s nothing wrong with your body, you just need a little fine-tuning.” As soon as the words were out of Charlie’s mouth, his face turned a bright shade of red accentuating his embarrassment.
Evelyn gave a belly laugh, “Oh posh? Just what is posh?” she wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes, “Posh! I guess that covers a lot of ground,” She looked down at her body as if reminded that she had one or that anyone had noticed. Gone was her middle-aged roll that she’d grown used to, and her feet stood solidly on the ground, “fine tuning, aye?”
Charlie turned and walked away, he waved back over his shoulder to show that he was finished with the conversation. He didn’t understand what the fuss was all about and right then he didn’t want to know. Charlie had thought he’d given Evelyn a compliment, but apparently, he hadn’t. He was going to have to either stay away from the woman or learn to keep his mouth shut. While he hadn’t known Evelyn well, just a handshake after church, he had come to admire her tenacity over the past months, and he had realized that Mark was a lucky man. “Yeah, really lucky,” Charlie grumbled. The man was dead and even though he’d died because of natural causes, he was still gone, and it had to weigh on Evelyn’s heart. Under normal circumstances, Mark and John would probably still be alive if they had received proper treatment from the doctors and their medicines. He knew it was only a matter of time before they all started having medical issues as they age. “Or died from lead poisoning,” he muttered.
Charlie had walked quite a way from their intended camp when he realized he’d almost stumbled over someone’s old fire ring. He knew it couldn’t be one that Sam or Gina had made, because, for one, it would have been too soon for them to have stopped and for another, they would have dismantled it before moving on. Resting one hand on his knee, Charlie ran his other hand over the black soot and rubbed the residue between his thumb and finger. It was still powdery, so he figured it had been put there after the snows had left. With a grunt, Charlie stood up and surveyed the area around the ring of stones. He looked for any visible tracks.
“What the heck,” Charlie bent over to see what he was looking at. Someone had obviously been trying to cover their tracks. He followed the scrape marks in the dirt until he found several yards away, a branch that had been used. Searching the ground, he saw three sets of tracks leading away from the river. Charlie wasn’t an expert when it came to tracking people, but he felt sure these were made by one adult and two smaller people, possibly children. He had no way to tell when they’d been made, but his gut told him they were recent, maybe they were left that morning or the night before.
He looked in the direction the tracks went and saw nothing but low brush, rocks, and a few leafless trees. He turned around and careful to not disturb the tracks, hurried back to where he’d left the others.
“We might have a problem up ahead,” He told Willy.
“What? Sam and Gina? Do we have trouble?”
“No. No sign of them, but I found the remains of a campfire and tracks leading away from it. They tried to disguise them, but they’re there if you look.”
Charlie led Willy, Journey, and Joe, to where he’d found the evidence, and pointed to the footprints. “It looks like they’re headed that way,” he said and pointed to the east.
“Do you want me and Kenny to investigate? Maybe make sure they don’t stop and circle behind us?”
Willy chuckled, “I’m not sure that’s necessary, Joe, because it looks to me like it might be a woman from the size of the foot and maybe children. Unless they’re born killers, I don’t think we have to worry about them.”
“Well, nothing would surprise me today, but I think someone needs to track them to make sure. I’m not so much worried about them, I’m worried for them. What if they need help? I think it would be a good idea to check them out just in case.”
“I’m going to agree with Joe. There is no way I could live with myself if we didn’t try to help them if we can. If they’re okay, then at least we’ll sleep with a clear conscience,” Journey stared in the direction the footprints went. “What would a woman and two kids be doing out here alone?”
Willy shrugged, “Maybe they’re some of those preppers, and they’re out here by choice.”
“And what if they’re not? You know how bad it is for us, are you just going to leave them out here? It can’t hurt to see. We don’t have to show ourselves if it looks like they’re okay.”
Willy scrunched his mouth and frowned, “There’s still a couple hours of daylight so I guess we may as well make use of the time. Journey, how about you, Andy and Joe do it? The rest of us can slave over cleaning the guns and getting something fixed to eat.”
“Set those kids up with the guns. They all know what needs to be done. That way, we know they won’t be following us.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Journey, Andy, and Joe crouched behind a boulder and watched the three people. They’d been surprised to see the three people hadn’t made it far from the camp. The second time the last person in line stumbled and fell, the tallest person removed the backpack they wore and helped the third person put it on. It must have been heavy, because the person staggered as it was set on their back. With it fastened, the tall person knelt, and the smallest person climbed on their back. The two staggered until they regained their balance and head down, began to walk.
There was no way to tell if they were male or female from their dress, but Journey and the two men felt it was a woman and possibly her children. It was obvious it was someone who cared about the smaller people.
The person wearing the backpack staggered and fell, the pack pulling them onto her back. The woman, stopped and dropped to her knees, she hung her head, and the one on her back slid to the ground.
The woman, and they were sure it was a woman, by the sounds of her grief, didn’t move. She buried her face in her hands and wept. The child she’d been carrying stepped around in front of her and tried to console her.
The woman looked up at the sky, “I can’t do this anymore. Why did you make my burden so heavy?” she wailed.
The child wearing the backpack undid the buckles while lying on the ground and crawled to the woman. She flung her arms around the woman, and it was easy to see and hear them all crying.
“That’s it. I’m going down.” Joe declared.
Journey grabbed his arm, “Wait, Joe. If you go storming in there, it may not end well. Let me go.”
“She’s right. As much as I hate to let her, a woman wouldn’t be as threatening as you or I would.” Andy nodded at Journey, “Keep your hand on your gun and don’t take it for granted they aren’t dangerous.”
“Got it,” Journey said and stood up. She walked closer, “Hello? Hello…do you
need help?”
As if someone had pushed them from behind the two smaller people flung themselves into the brush as the woman screamed at them, “Run!”
The woman grabbed for something in her pocket and scooted backward in the dirt, “Don’t come any closer. I’ve got a gun, and I’ll shoot.” She stood up, and her body language said she was prepared to run.
Journey read the desperation on the woman’s face and knew that she would if provoked. Journey held both hands out from her body to show they were empty, “I have no weapon. I only want to help.” She could hear Andy hiss at her, “Dammit Journey, don’t be stupid.” She shrugged his words off and stepped one step closer to the woman. “I really mean you no harm. You look like you could use some help.”
The woman’s brown eyes met Journey’s and whether she saw something in Journey’s that upheld her words, or she was too tired and hungry to care anymore, she let her hands fall to her sides. They were both empty. “Please, do what you want to me, but they’re just children. They’ve already…please don’t hurt them.” She dropped her chin and tears made tracks through the dirt on her cheeks.
Journey stepped closer, “We only want to help you.”
“We?” Her head swung back and forth trying to see behind Journey.
“My husband Andy, and a friend. We saw where you’d camped, and we haven’t seen anyone else for months and thought we’d see how you were doing and if you needed help.”
“Not me, but the children are so hungry. Can you feed them?”
Journey stared at the woman. What Journey saw, was a walking skeleton. It was apparent the woman hadn’t had anything to eat in a very long time. Her clothing was tattered and worn, but clean and it was obvious her jacket had been repaired more than once by the odd colored patches on it. Her shoes that may have been tennis-shoes, were wrapped in duct-tape.
The woman studied Journey with the same intent that Journey was using on her. “It seems to me that your life has been easier than ours. Did you have to trade yourself for food?’
Beyond the New Horizon: The Last Sun, Page 22