“We were just stopping by to check on Jack and the kids. How’s he doing?” Charlie asked.
Ben looked at Alice and then back at Charlie as he shook his head. “Yesterday.” Ben stepped aside and looked across the yard toward the magnolia tree.
“Oh dear.” Alice teared up as Charlie pulled her close.
He sighed. “We knew it wouldn’t be long, but that’s a lot sooner than I expected.”
Alice sniffed. “Poor Jack. He was a good man. It’s a good thing you got here when you did, for the kids’ sake. We offered to have the kids come stay with us. Jack, too, for that matter, but he wouldn’t have it.”
“He had a feeling you’d be coming for the kids. When did you get in?” Charlie asked.
“Couple days ago,” Ben answered.
“Colorado, right?” Charlie began walking toward the magnolia tree.
“Yeah, it took longer than I wanted to get here, but as you can imagine, we ran into our share of trouble on the way here.” Ben followed Charlie and Alice as they made their way to Jack’s grave.
Joel appeared on the deck. “Everything okay out here?” He held the KSG loosely at his side.
“Yeah, it’s the Smiths. They’re friends of your grandpa’s.”
“And you must be Joel. We’ve heard a lot about you.” Alice changed course and started for the deck.
Charlie followed and shook Joel’s hand as he came down the steps. “You’re a lot bigger than the pictures your grandfather showed us. He talked about you a lot. Your grandfather was a good man and a close friend of ours.”
One by one, the others filed out of the house and onto the deck. Everyone introduced themselves, and eventually, they wound up back inside and sitting around the kitchen table. Ben was pleased to see that Alice was carrying eggs in the basket and invited them to stay for breakfast. It would delay their departure by a few minutes, but it was the least he could do for the couple.
They were nice people, and that was a rare commodity these days. Besides, they were partially responsible for the welfare of Bradley and Emma. Through the course of the conversation, Ben learned that Charlie and Alice had stopped in to check on Jack and the kids every couple of days, bringing them eggs and occasionally baked goods when they could. They had risked their safety and shared their limited resources to ensure that the kids were well-fed and taken care of.
Ben was more than happy to give the Smiths the remainder of the venison from the chest freezer. It did his heart good to know that the meat wouldn’t go to waste. He also made sure to give Charlie the hunting rifle that Jack wanted him to have, and he encouraged them to take whatever else they thought they could use from the house or garage.
After breakfast, they made their way out to the grave—all except Emma, who still refused to go anywhere near it. Charlie and Alice paid their respects to Jack and promised to keep an eye out for Casey if she returned. That seemed to make the kids happy and maybe made the possibility of their mother being all right more believable.
They talked for a while longer as Ben helped Charlie load his truck with the remaining deer meat and a few other things he thought they could use from the garage. They said their goodbyes and wished Ben and the others safe travels.
The encounter with the Smiths was bittersweet and left Ben feeling a little guilty. Here was a couple that was willing to go out of their way to help them, and all he could offer them in exchange were a few meager supplies. They weren’t young by any means and long past their prime. How much longer would this kind couple be able to hold out against the trials and hardships that surely lay ahead?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ben checked his watch as the old Dodge pulled onto the paved road and disappeared out of sight. It was 6:30, and although he hoped to be on the road by now, he had no regrets about taking the extra time with the Smiths. He hoped they could hang on until things improved or help arrived in some form or another.
Everyone sprung into action as soon as they were gone. There wasn’t much left to do except pack up their personal bags and a few odds and ends. Joel helped Ben move the trucks onto the gravel parking area in front of the outbuilding while the others did a last-minute walk-through of the house.
The kids took a few minutes to write personal notes for their mother and put them up on the refrigerator next to Ben’s. Emma also insisted that they leave a small bag of groceries filled with nonperishable items on the counter for their mother’s sake. Ben knew it was a waste of valuable resources and would most likely end up in the hands of the next looters who came through, but it wasn’t worth the argument. Right now, Emma needed all the hope he could give her.
She still hadn’t been out to the grave, and Ben was worried that she would regret that somewhere down the road when they were too far away to do anything about it. He didn’t want to push too much, though. They had all been through a lot, and it was hard knowing what was going through the kids’ minds right now. The journey ahead was going to be long and grueling; being on bad terms with his daughter wasn’t how he wanted to start the trip.
Somehow, Joel found time to fashion a rough wooden cross from a couple of wood scraps he found in the outbuilding. All the kids wrote something small on the cross to honor Jack’s memory, and Ben was relieved to see Emma at least participate in that.
She’d come around on her own when she was ready. At least that was what he told himself. It wasn’t for his lack of trying to get through to her. On more than one occasion since Jack died, he’d tried to no avail to get her to open up and talk. Allie and Sandy had even given it a shot, too, but she seemed content to keep to herself for now.
Earlier, Charlie had said a small prayer for all of them when they gathered around the Dodge to say farewell, and Ben recalled some of the words. In addition to asking for traveling mercies as they crossed the country, Charlie said something that resonated with Ben. He asked that they all be given strength to face down whatever obstacles they might encounter along the way. Ben wondered if knowing when to be silent and letting the kids work things out in their own time was part of that strength.
Bradley seemed to be taking things in stride and was content to follow his big brother around, helping wherever he could. Joel was eager to play the role and appeared happy, considering the situation. He enthusiastically took Bradley under his wing.
It was good to have the kids together again, and in a way, Ben felt that, regardless of what happened from here on out, he had already succeeded in some small way as far as the kids were concerned. They would draw strength from each other, and that would do a great deal when it came to maintaining morale in the tough moments they would certainly encounter.
In that moment, Ben was overcome with the feeling that if he could get them back home to Durango, life would be okay again. Maybe not right away, and probably not in a way any of them would consider normal, but it would be better. It was something to focus on right now, and that was all the reason he needed to keep moving forward, no matter what obstacles lay ahead.
On one of Joel’s trips out of the house to the Jeep, Ben noticed he had a small bundle made of a bathroom towel. He caught his dad looking and pulled a piece of the towel back to reveal Jack’s ornate .45 and leather holster.
Ben expected to see him wearing the gun, but Joel said he wanted to make sure it stayed in good condition. He was worried about scratching it and gently tucked it under the Jeep’s front driver’s seat, along with a few boxes of ammunition, just in case.
The trip would be different this time with two vehicles. He didn’t like the idea of being separated from Joel and Allie, but there was no way around it. They had the two-way radios, but Ben thought it would be wise to establish some basic hand signals.
He planned on always being close enough that a hand signal out the window could be easily seen between the Blazer and the Jeep. Plus, they could avoid using the battery-powered radios for basic communication and save them for emergencies and times when they needed to talk in detail.
He went over the signals with everyone and made sure they all understood what they meant. It was important that they all knew how to communicate, not just the people who would be driving. A closed fist meant that Ben was stopping the truck. Holding his hand flat with the palm down meant that he was preparing to slow down. A wave of the hand with a forward motion meant he wanted Joel to pull up alongside him. Two fingers pointing forward indicated that there was something ahead. If Ben put his arm out the window and tapped the door with his hand, that would be the signal to let them know they needed to stop for fuel soon. Last but not least, a closed fist with the thumb and pinky extended in the shape of a phone would be the cue to use the two-way radio. After that, they could use their fingers to indicate which channel to use if channel six, the one they agreed to leave the radios on, wasn’t clear.
With the packing complete and all things triple-checked, there was nothing more they could do to prepare. It was time to go. Ben hesitated as he closed the door to the house, taking a second to look back inside. There was a good chance they would never be here again. The bag of food on the counter caught his eye, and he thought about Casey. He really did hope she was okay and that she would make it back.
Everyone gathered around the trucks, and Gunner was the first to load up. He was anxious to go for a ride and blissfully unaware of the many miles ahead of them. He had obviously forgotten about all the long hours spent cooped up in the Blazer just a couple of short days ago. Ben did a quick headcount and realized that Emma and Sam were missing. His heart skipped a beat as he searched the yard. Was she still inside? Maybe he’d missed her when he did his last walk-through of the house. How did he not notice she wasn’t among them? He’d been too preoccupied with making sure the trucks were well-packed and ready.
“Where’s Emma?” Ben asked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around.
“There she is.” Bradley pointed. Ben was surprised to see his daughter kneeling next to the grave. Sam was sitting next to her in the shadow of the magnolia tree; she had her arm around the dog as they sat there in silence.
“Do you want me to go and get her?” Joel asked.
“No, let her be.” Ben was proud of her for being brave, and even though he was anxious to leave, he would have waited all day if that was what it took to make her happy. But they didn’t have to wait long. Within a few minutes, Emma rose to her feet. At first, she headed away from them, and Ben started to grow nervous until he realized that she was picking a few weeds that resembled flowers. She laid them near the cross marker that Joel had made and then headed back toward the group. Sam lingered for a few seconds longer and finally followed after Emma called out to her. Ben wondered if the old dog somehow understood the finality of the moment.
Emma walked over to her dad and forced a crooked smile. “I’m ready to go now.” She gave him a quick hug and matter-of-factly headed for the Blazer.
The time had come to leave Jack’s behind, and as everyone loaded up and prepared to pull out, Ben found it hard to believe that they were actually leaving after fighting so hard to get here. There was a lot of road between them and Durango, but he took comfort in the fact that they were finally heading home.
* * *
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About the Author
Bruno Miller is the author of the Dark Road series. He’s a military vet who likes to spend his downtime hanging out with his wife and kids, or getting in some range time. He believes in being prepared for any situation.
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The Dark Road series:
Breakdown
Escape
Resistance
Fallout
Extraction
Reckoning
Cloverdale series:
Impact
Survival
Endurance
Dark Road (Book 6): Reckoning Page 13