The Dark Road Series Collection

by Bruno Miller

  He was impressed with what he’d seen so far this morning. Not only was Joel up early, but he was motivated as well—and Allie, too, apparently. Maybe Allie was a blessing in disguise for them. If this was any indication of how Joel would step up to more responsibility when she was around, then Ben was all for it.

  He decided right then that he needed to stop second-guessing himself about bringing her along. He felt guilty in some ways that he’d be exposing her to whatever they would find out in this new world. Joel was different. He was Ben’s child and he could live with his decision under the circumstances if something went wrong.

  But to risk the safety of someone else’s child was a completely different feeling. Of course, every time he had this argument with himself, it always came back around to simply not being able to leave her here. She might not be his kid, but she was someone’s daughter, and Ben would feel equally responsible if something happened to her here.

  He heard their voices outside on the deck and headed out. Gunner ran over to greet Ben as he came out onto the deck.

  “Morning, guys.” Ben tipped his cup in their direction. “Hope you don’t mind, but I took the last of it.”

  “That’s okay. We’ve already had some,” Joel answered.

  “Morning.” Allie brushed her hair from her face and offered him a little smile.

  Ben could see that her eyes were still a little puffy, but she looked much better than she had last night. “Morning. And thanks for carrying all that stuff up from the basement, Joel. We’ll move it out to the garage after breakfast.”

  “Allie helped me.” Joel shrugged like it was no big deal. “Just trying to help out a little.”

  Ben nodded at Allie. “Thanks.”

  “Sure,” she said.

  “How did everyone sleep?” Ben sipped his coffee and walked over to lean on the railing next to Joel.

  “Good,” Joel answered.

  “Really well. Gunner kept me warm all night.” Allie looked at Gunner down in the yard as he sniffed around.

  Normally, Ben enjoyed being out on the deck at this time of morning and taking in the first rays of sun as they crept over the mountain behind the house. But this morning, like yesterday morning, there was a heaviness to the sky, and the faint burnt smell that permeated the air dissolved any notion that this was anything but normal.

  He glanced at Joel and Allie. They seemed to be exchanging looks.

  Ben could take a hint. He pushed off the railing and stepped back, suddenly feeling like he had interrupted a deep conversation. “If you guys want to get cleaned up and get one more shower in, help yourselves. I’m gonna run the generator for a little while.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Davis.” Allie shot him that same little smile.

  Ben was halfway down the steps when he was intercepted by Gunner, who had been out in the yard and sniffing around in the relative safety of the morning light.

  “Hey, boy.” Ben scratched the dog’s head for a minute before moving on to the garage. He unlocked the door and opened it, checking quickly to be sure everything was the way he left it last night. Thankfully, it was.

  Once he got the generator started, he came right back out and locked the door behind him. No point in hanging out in there any more than he had to while it was running. Besides, he wanted to get a shower and fix himself something to eat.

  Knowing that they would be leaving in a few hours gave Ben a small amount of relief from his concerns about the noise of running the generator. He wasn’t worried about his closest neighbors; he hadn’t seen their cars either time they had passed their driveways over the last couple days.

  And if anyone were to pick up on the noise from farther away, it would take them a fair amount of time to triangulate the source in the mountains. By then, he, Joel, Allie, and Gunner would be gone.

  Ben went back inside, leaving Joel and Allie to their conversation. Finishing his coffee, he stared out the kitchen window for a minute before deciding to make them all a decent breakfast. The eggs, cheese, and butter would still be good, even after a few days without power to the fridge. Might as well eat like kings one last time. No telling how things would go on the road.

  “Making breakfast?” Joel, with Allie right behind him, entered the kitchen a few minutes later.

  “Yep, I figure we might as well use this stuff up.” Ben was cracking the eggs into a large bowl. “Grab the bread out of the pantry, will you, Joel?”

  “Sure.”

  “Need any help?” Allie stepped forward and leaned on the kitchen island countertop.

  “Nope, this is my way of saying thanks for saving my back this morning.” Ben nodded at the pile of gear they had carried up from the basement. “Why don’t you guys get your showers while I make breakfast?”

  With that, they were both off. Joel headed upstairs, Allie down. Gunner, too interested in the food he smelled, stayed put. It was not uncommon for Gunner to get scraps or leftovers in his bowl, and he knew it. The dog was smarter than some people Ben knew.

  He finished up cooking and left breakfast on the table for the kids. He gave Gunner a fried egg, then made a sandwich out of his portion of the omelet and wolfed it down on the way to his bedroom. He didn’t want to rush, but that didn’t mean he wanted to waste any more time here this morning than they had to, either. He took a quick shower and, after he got dressed, threw a few changes of clothes and some toiletries in a bag.

  Joel and Allie were just finishing up their food when he came back into the kitchen. Next stop for him was the garage.

  “Thanks for breakfast, Mr. Davis. It was really good.”

  “No problem.” Ben nodded.

  “What do you want us to do first?” Joel asked.

  “Well, I guess get your personal bags together and organized. Just the necessities now. Shouldn’t need more than a few changes of clothes, maybe extra socks, toiletries, and whatever else you can’t live without. After that, you can start going through the kitchen. Grab any dry goods we can take with us. Pretty much grab anything that will keep, like rice, oatmeal, pasta, that kind of stuff. I’m not sure if we’ll have room, but we should take what we can.”

  “Okay,” Joel and Allie replied almost in unison.

  “Oh, and one more thing. Bring your phones and chargers. They could restore power and cell service in the not too distant future, or maybe some parts of the country still have it. Who knows?”

  “That’s a good idea,” Allie agreed.

  “You never know,” Joel chimed in.

  “Would you give me a hand getting the ammo cans to the garage first, though, Joel? I want to start with them.”

  Joel got up to help.

  After they brought the last of the ammo out to the garage and stacked it once again, Ben sent Joel inside to pack his own bag and help Allie go through the kitchen.

  “You sure you don’t want more help?” Joel asked.

  “Thanks, buddy. I can get the rest of it.”

  As Joel went upstairs, Ben turned the generator off and closed the gas supply valve that came through the wall from the big natural gas tank outside. Not knowing when or if they would be back here, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to secure things.

  He would do a thorough walkthrough of the place and make sure everything was locked up and turned off before they left. If the power grid came back on while they were gone, he didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

  If someone wanted to break in and use the house while they were gone, there was nothing he could do about it. But like the shop, he didn’t see the need to make it easy for someone to take advantage.

  He held fast to the hope that they would eventually make it back home.

  Chapter Seven

  Looking now at the piles of supplies they had accumulated, Ben tried to visualize how all of it would fit into the truck.

  “Ammo cans first, I guess.” Ben sighed as he reached for the first one.

  He began to meticulously load the truck.
Stacking the ammo cans in the center of the rear cargo area, he built around them with the other supplies. Next, he focused on getting the guns and primary ammo stashed away, being careful to make sure both were still easily accessible.

  After a few trips back and forth from the house, he had everything from the basement sorted out and in its place. He was pleased with how the truck packing had started to come together. The Blazer would be full, but it would be well organized.

  After Joel and Allie brought him their bags from inside, he was able to fit their personal things and all the camping gear—along with a few other random items like fly rods and tackle, a hatchet, and a shovel to name a few—in the rooftop carrier. Thanks to the cargo box, he found that they had enough room left inside the truck for Gunner and one person to be reasonably comfortable in the back seat.

  “How much stuff did you round up from the kitchen?” Ben asked Joel as he headed back into the house from one of his trips out to the garage.

  “We came up with a few bags of food. Not a whole lot.” Joel shrugged.

  “That’s fine. Bring out what you have and let’s get it packed.” Ben went back out and heaved the old cooler, now loaded with a long section of garden hose, hand pump, funnel, and other miscellaneous tools, onto the rear hitch rack.

  He latched the cooler down next to the jerry cans with a couple bungee cords. He had emptied the two gas cans into the Blazer’s fuel tank last night. They had about half a tank currently, and he hoped they could get a couple good hours of driving in before they had to stop for more. Of course, if an easy, safe opportunity to get gas presented itself sooner, they wouldn’t pass it up.

  Carrying a few bags filled with food from the kitchen, Joel and Allie walked through the garage door.

  “Where do you want us to put the food?” Allie asked.

  “Anywhere you can find a spot. We’re running a little tight on space.” Ben looked down at his watch. It was approaching eight o’clock. At this point, he didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t be on the road in half an hour or so.

  Joel and Allie started stuffing the contents of their bags in with the other gear anywhere they could find a crevice.

  “While you two are doing that, I’m going to do a quick walkthrough of the house.” Ben headed inside.

  He originally planned to unplug all the electronics in the house but realized he could simply secure everything at the panel box. Opening the cover to the electrical panel, he threw the main breaker, then slammed the thin metal door shut.

  After that, he began making his way around the house and checking to make sure all the doors and windows were locked and that the curtains and blinds were drawn. Finally satisfied that the house was as secure as it could be, he ended his walkthrough and went back to the kitchen.

  Standing in front of the fridge, he pulled down the kids’ latest school pictures. He lingered on each one before tucking them into his wallet. He thought about how quickly they were growing up and found it remarkable how fast time had gone by.

  And about how much he wanted to see them.

  He sent up a little prayer that they were safe from all this chaos and that they would stay that way until he could get to them.

  “Anything else?” Joel interrupted Ben’s thoughts as he barged into the kitchen from outside.

  “Ah, yeah, actually.” Ben turned, caught off guard by Joel’s sudden entrance. “You guys want to grab a few pillows and blankets? Might be nice to have them. Plus, they’ll work well for covering stuff up in the truck. We should be able to squeeze them in.”

  “Oh, I hope it’s okay, me adding my .308 to the gear?” Joel asked.

  “Yeah, right, I noticed that. No, it’s fine. Probably not a bad idea,” Ben answered, still slightly preoccupied with his thoughts about the kids.

  “Cool, thanks.” Joel headed off to gather the rest of the stuff.

  Alone again, Ben looked around as he went through his mental checklist.

  “I guess that’s it,” Ben said. There was nothing more to do or pack from the house. Well, there was one more thing.

  He grabbed his hefty U.S. road atlas from the kitchen counter and, glad he’d kept the old thing now, flipped at the pages with his thumb. He hadn’t used it in a while, instead relying on his phone for directions when needed. With all the USGS maps available through an app on his phone, there was no reason to lug this monstrosity around. It was heavy and quite bulky, but it contained a complete and detailed U.S. road atlas. In the back was a good-sized collection of topographical maps that Ben had accumulated through the years on his many backpacking trips.

  Carrying pillows and a neatly stacked assortment of blankets, Joel and Allie reappeared in the kitchen.

  “Here, let me get the door for you.” Ben opened the mudroom door, allowing them to pass by freely since their arms were full. Of course, not before Gunner could squeeze out in front of them, nearly tripping Joel.

  “Dog! Really?” Joel shook his head, caught himself on the doorframe, and almost dropped the blankets.

  Gunner knew they were going somewhere and could barely contain his excitement.

  “I guess that’s it then.” Ben followed them onto the deck and locked the door behind him, the moment bittersweet. He hoped to see the old homestead again, but this new world didn’t offer those kinds of guarantees.

  They laid the blankets across the cargo area of the truck and covered over all the gear, stuffing the pillows on top. Because of the almost completely blacked-out windows and the blankets, Ben couldn’t see into the back from the outside. He was good with that.

  Allie climbed into the back seat and was immediately joined by an exuberant Gunner. She gave him a kiss and a good scratch on the head.

  “You know the drill.” Ben tossed the garage keys to Joel and slid behind the wheel.

  “Got it.” Joel stood by, ready to close the door as the Blazer rolled out from the shade of the garage and into the sun.

  Ben stopped the truck and put it in park while he waited for Joel to lock up and rejoin them.

  God, please give us safe passage to Bradley and Emma, Ben thought to himself as he squinted against the glare of the sun through the windshield. It had been a long time since he had asked God for anything, but he was asking now. He lowered his sunglasses as Joel climbed into the passenger seat.

  “Well, guys, here we go.” Ben glanced around the vehicle, giving everyone the most reassuring smile he could muster before putting the truck in gear and heading out.

  Chapter Eight

  Not much had changed since they had last been out on the road. The car wrecks they passed seemed to be putting off less smoke as the fires began to smolder and die. This wasn’t necessarily a good thing, though, as now Ben could plainly see the unfortunate people who had been trapped in the wrecks and burned alive.

  Allie had slept on the way back from town on the first trip and been spared the horrific scenes that littered the roads. But not now.

  Ben noticed her in the rearview mirror. The blank, vacant look on her face as they passed wreck after gruesome wreck said it all. She was in shock, and Ben couldn’t blame her. There was nothing he could say or do. This was their new reality. The sooner they accepted that, the sooner they could move past it. The shock and awe would eventually wear off and they would learn to cope with it over time.

  There was total silence in the truck for what felt like a long time before Joel broke it with a question. “How long do you think it will take us to get there?”

  “I really don’t know. If the roads are like this the whole way, it could be a while.” Ben remained focused on the road ahead.

  “I wonder if the whole country is like this or if it’s isolated to certain areas?” Allie scratched Gunner’s head as he lay sprawled across the rear seat.

  “Gunner, don’t be a seat hog.” Joel looked back at them and shook his head. “Sorry. He really likes you, I guess.”

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind him at all. He’s like a big teddy bear.
” Allie smiled.

  They made light conversation for a while, and it was a welcome distraction from the scenery outside. Ben was glad the kids had each other to talk to, and once again he felt validated in his decision to bring her with them.

  The big V-8 was using fuel at a faster rate than Ben had anticipated. He watched the needle steadily fall toward the big red E on the gauge. They had only been on the road for a little over two hours and already their half tank of gas had dwindled to just a quarter.

  It was all the slowing down and accelerating they were being forced to do as they navigated the sea of accidents and debris. They hadn’t even made Pagosa Springs yet, which was only 60 miles away.

  He and Joel had been skiing and snowboarding many times at Wolf Creek, just outside the town, and it usually took them an hour or so to make that trip. He really hoped the roads improved, but common sense told him otherwise. The main roads and interstates would most likely be worse, specifically I-70. There was bound to have been more traffic on those roads when the bombs detonated.

  This trip was going to take a lot longer than expected, and they were going to have to stop for fuel more frequently, just to add to the fun.

  “We’re going to need to find a spot to get gas soon,” Ben announced. “You guys want to keep an eye out for a place?”

  “Okay, are we looking for a gas station or cars to siphon it from?” Joel asked.

  “Let’s try our luck at a gas station and see what we can figure out with the hand pump.”

  Ben didn’t like the idea of siphoning gas out of someone’s car. Most of the cars they saw were burned-out wrecks. The intact vehicles they had seen were parked at residences, and he wasn’t about to steal gas from someone else’s car in their own driveway. He wasn’t sure what kind of situation they would find at a gas station, but it was their best bet.