by Bruno Miller
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They each carried a bottle of water back with them, and Joel brought an extra one to leave outside his dad’s tent. They looked around camp one more time to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. Then Joel double-checked that the truck was locked up.
“Looks good to me.” Joel glanced around.
Allie approached her tent and unzipped the flap before she sat down inside and began taking off her hiking boots outside the doorway. Gunner sauntered over to where she was sitting and stood motionless in front of her, only a few inches away, making it impossible for Allie to get to her shoes.
“Um, excuse me,” Allie protested. “Do you know what this is all about?” She peered around Gunner to look at Joel, who was now sitting halfway in his tent a couple feet away.
“Oh, he thinks he’s sleeping with you tonight. I’m surprised he’s being so polite about it.” Joel snorted.
“Is that what you want, boy?” Allie rubbed Gunner’s neck. “Come on then.”
“I guess I’m not good enough anymore.” Joel looked at Gunner, but he was gone, already through the opening Allie had made for him in the tent.
“Well then, good night, you two. Sleep tight.” Joel smiled and pulled his legs into his tent.
“Good night, Joel.” Allie smiled back and joined Gunner in her tent. He had made himself comfortable at the foot of her bag and was curled up in a tight ball. She got into her bag and worked her legs around the dog as best as she could without disturbing him. She found some warm spots from where he had been lying already and pushed her cold feet into those areas, enjoying the warmth.
As tired as she was, her mind was racing from one thing to the next. So much had happened within such a small amount of time that it was overwhelming. The feelings she had right now were bittersweet. Out of all the bad things that had happened, she still couldn’t get over how Joel and his dad had taken her in and treated her with such kindness.
On top of all of that, she knew she was beginning to have strong feelings for Joel. How was she going to balance these different emotions?
And what would she do if they did or didn’t find her father? She knew he was a hardcore city dweller and worked in IT. He was as far removed from the outdoor self-sustaining type as a person could probably be. Nothing like Ben or Joel. She tried to stop herself from dwelling on that as her thoughts began to drift to the possibility that her dad was not okay. What were the odds that he’d found a way to survive?
No. She couldn’t let herself think like that. She tried to focus on other things—about how the only sure things she had going in her life right now were the people in this little riverside camp, and she was thankful for them.
Eventually the need for sleep overcame her, and the soothing sounds of the river lulled her into a deep sleep with better hopes for tomorrow.
Chapter Twenty
Ben felt like he hadn’t been asleep for very long when he heard Gunner’s low growl from outside his tent. He sat up slowly and checked his watch: a little after five in the morning. He scrubbed a hand over his face. What was going on?
Then he heard a noise that sounded like paper rustling or like someone was trying to open a bag of potato chips. Was it the wind? No, there it was again. It was too deliberate. Ben heard Gunner grunt, followed by a whine; he must have been stuck in somebody’s tent.
Ben felt around in his makeshift pillow until he found the familiar shape of his gun. He pulled it out before he unzipped his tent fly as quietly as he could. As soon as he had it open enough, he peeked through and spotted their intruder. A big blue and white magpie was busy shoving his head into the empty food bags from last night’s dinner.
Ben finished unzipping his tent, sat up with his legs crossed, and stretched his upper body for a minute. The bird was oblivious to his presence and was fully engrossed in picking the bags clean of whatever food scraps he could find.
“Shoo, go on,” Ben whispered as loud as he dared, not wanting to wake anyone, just enough to scare the bird. It took off instantly with a jump and was gone.
He heard Gunner give off a pitiful whine from what sounded like Allie’s tent. Ben got dressed quickly and threw his shoes on without tying them. He shuffled over to Allie’s tent and unzipped her door from the side closest to the tent’s end, where he figured Gunner had slept. Sure enough, as soon as there was a small opening, a brown nose thrust out into the morning air, followed by the rest of the dog pushing the zipper open as he slid out.
“Okay, easy there, boy. I see you.”
Gunner was happy to be free from the tent and quickly went about his investigation of the noise he had heard. Ben picked up the empty food bags and stuffed them into the cooler on the back of the truck before Gunner could get into them.
Well, he was up now. Might as well make some coffee. He considered lying back down for a little while, but he knew how that would go and decided not to give in. He was happy to see the truck locked and things tidied up from last night—except the food bags of course, but he could let that slide.
Joel and Allie were both giving it their best effort, and he could tell. The fresh water they left him outside his tent more than made up for it, though, and he was using it to make his coffee.
When the coffee was done, he poured himself a fresh cup and savored the smell before taking a sip. Already, he felt more human.
Wandering down to the river, he found a suitable rock and took a seat. He smiled when he noticed the water bottles bobbing around in their little pool surrounded by rocks. That was pretty good thinking on Joel’s part, he had to admit. With his coffee in hand, he surveyed the rest of his surroundings in the predawn light.
He was glad that he’d remembered this place and that it had worked out so well for them last night. It was a peaceful setting, and from here all seemed well with the world. He would have never guessed that life, as he knew it, was falling apart just beyond this stand of cottonwoods.
He would never wish for something this extreme to happen, of course, but a part of him couldn’t help but wonder if this is what had been inevitable.
In his opinion, America as a whole had gone astray years ago and seemed to be getting worse with every passing day. Society, as of late, seemed to be lacking a moral compass and there was really nothing in the news or online that surprised him anymore.
He felt like Americans had gone overboard in their attempt to include, congratulate, and accept everyone for everything regardless of actual effort. Both political parties at this point were complete frauds and sellouts to the highest corporate bidders. It was pretty much common knowledge to the average American citizen that politics were bought and sold. And power was traded like a commodity. The vote Americans cast come election time was merely for show at this point. Not that it mattered, as the candidates to choose from seemed to be getting worse, too.
This disaster was a reckoning for this country. People would be forced to get back to basics. Some would survive and eventually learn to thrive in this new world, and some just wouldn’t make it. This would be the great equalizer, and money would no longer matter. One thing would still remain, though, and that would be the battle between good and evil in this world. They had seen this struggle firsthand and been up close and personal with it a few times yesterday. That wasn’t about to change anytime soon, either.
Ben was optimistic for the day, however, and really felt like once the roads opened up it would be smoother sailing. They would try to gas up at more remote service stations not so close to towns or more inhabited areas.
They were self-sufficient, and as far as he was concerned, there was no need to interact with anyone at this point, although he would love to get some information about what was going on. He was going to have to look at the map tonight, but he knew there were some large cities along the route, and based on their experiences so far, it would be best to avoid them. If there was a reasonable way around that wouldn’t add days to the trip, it would be worth the effort. The places they had been thro
ugh had been small rural towns, and they had all been in rough shape.
He could only imagine the chaos that was taking place in the big cities right now. Getting Allie into Pittsburgh and finding her dad was going to be tougher than he thought. He tried to put it out of his mind for the time being; they had a lot more miles to cover before they had to deal with Pittsburgh.
Even so, it was hard not to think about it. Most of those people would only have a few days of food on hand, if even that, and without modern conveniences, they would be lost and desperate. Ben knew what desperate people were capable of, and it wasn’t pretty. The big cities would be extremely dangerous, especially in the ones that had enacted strict gun laws. Outside of law enforcement, the only people that would have weapons in those places would be criminals and the worst elements of society. He was sure it would be gang rule in the inner cities for a while, at least until the government intervened.
At some point, the U.S. government would bring home all of its assets from abroad. In fact, Ben didn’t doubt it was already in the works. He imagined somewhere along their journey they would encounter some National Guard troops—or at least he hoped they would.
He had read some articles about the new administration ramping up efforts to deal with a potential EMP threat. The military was supposed to start implementing some defense mechanisms against an attack of that nature, but that was a recent development and he had no idea what had been done so far. What percentage of the military, or the government for that matter, was even operational?
Someone was going to have to maintain law and order to keep society from a total meltdown, if it wasn’t too late in some parts already. Regardless of when or if that happened, he knew it would be every man for himself until things settled down.
He was glad the ex lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in a fairly rural area. But still, they would have to get by D.C. and straight through Baltimore. Ben wasn’t fond of either city and hoped they could stick to the expressway, maybe make a late-night or early-morning run through both places. What he’d seen and read about Baltimore before the attack was enough to know it would be a lawless wasteland now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ben was deep in thought and didn’t notice Allie walking up behind him until she was only a few feet away.
“Good morning.” She smiled and sipped from her mug.
“Morning,” Ben replied.
“Thanks for making coffee. Hope you don’t mind,” she said.
Ben shook his head. “No, of course not. Help yourself.”
Allie found a small rock a few feet away and sat, staring out over the river as the rising sun sparkled off the water. “It’s so peaceful here.”
“Yes, it is,” Ben agreed.
Just then, Joel strolled down the bank with Gunner close behind. Joel had his fly rod in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. “Good morning!”
“You’re in a good mood and up early. I didn’t realize we were expecting snow today,” Ben joked.
“Very funny. I’m just glad I get to do a little fishing.” Joel smiled as he walked past Ben and sat his coffee on a rock next to Allie.
“Do you mind watching that while I catch our breakfast?” he asked Allie.
“Nope.”
“Thanks.” He waded into the river up to his knees before stopping to get his fly ready. He pulled a little line off the reel and started casting as he slowly worked his way upstream, picking his steps carefully from rock to rock.
Gunner waded along, parallel to Joel, a few feet off the shoreline in chest-high water and watched the boy intently.
A few minutes in and one of Joel’s casts resulted in a hooked trout that jumped with a splash some 20 yards from where Joel stood. He struggled against the fish for a few minutes before bringing it to his hand. Carefully making his way back in over the slippery rocks, he carried the trout to the bank.
“Nice Brown.” Ben gave him a thumbs-up.
“Good job. Yay.” Allie clapped softly.
Joel dispatched the fish quickly with a rock and laid it on the gravel.
“That’s got to be at least 20 inches. And look how fat! That should be enough for everybody!” Joel beamed.
“I guess I better do my part and get breakfast going.” Allie slid off the rock she was sitting on and strolled over to get a better look at the trout.
“We can help. I was thinking about making a little more coffee anyway.” Ben hopped down from his spot and headed for camp.
Once Gunner realized everyone was leaving, he leapt out of the water with a splash and darted up the small pebble beach, only slowing down briefly to shake off. He went to sit under his empty food bowl that was hung upside down from a small branch where Joel had left it after rinsing it out last night. He whined anxiously.
“I’m coming, boy. Hang on.” Ben, with Allie close behind, crested the river bank as it leveled out near their campsite. Joel was still down at the water’s edge, cleaning the fish and getting it ready to cook.
Ben tossed Gunner’s bowl on the ground and poured it half full of dry food before he started to work on boiling the water for more coffee.
Allie sorted through the food bags for a breakfast meal packet. She finally held up a bag from the back of the truck. “I’ve never had freeze-dried scrambled eggs before.”
“Oh, well you haven’t really lived until you’ve had freeze-dried scrambled eggs with fresh trout.” Ben smiled as he walked over to the truck and looked around in the back for a second before grabbing an onion they had brought from their pantry, a small bottle of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
“Better use it while it’s good.” Ben put the ingredients in a small pan, then headed for the stove.
A few seconds later, Joel strolled into camp with the freshly cleaned fish.
“You can put that right in here.” Ben held out the now empty and oiled pan.
“So what’s the plan for today?” Joel picked up the pot of boiling water by the rubber-coated handle and poured it into the freeze-dried egg pouch that Allie had ready for him.
That freed up the little stove for the pan.
Ben got the trout cooking before he answered. “I’d love to get at least halfway across Kansas. Don’t know if that’s realistic or not, but that’s my goal.” He cut the onion up into small chunks as he held it in his hand, throwing them in the pan as he went.
“It took my mom and me three days when we drove out from Pittsburgh.” Allie unzipped her fleece. “But we stopped a lot, and of course it wasn’t…you know.” She looked around.
“Yeah.” Joel nodded. They all understood what she meant.
The fierce Colorado sun was in full glory and already warming things up. By the time they were finishing breakfast, it was actually starting to get hot, and everyone had shed a layer or two of clothing.
“After we clean up and get the gear packed, we should top off the water before we leave.” Ben stood and drained the rest of the water out of his Nalgene with one gulp. “Like your little setup with the water, by the way.” Ben nodded at Joel.
“Thanks.” Joel smiled.
It didn’t take long to break down camp with everyone pitching in and packing up. It was all loaded back in the truck within 15 minutes, and they were just about ready to leave except for a few odds and ends.
Joel and Allie walked down to the river to retrieve the water bottles and top off the empty ones. Gunner ran after them as if he knew this was his last chance to sneak in a quick swim.
Ben shook his head and called after them. “Better keep him dry. I don’t think Allie wants to ride next to a wet dog, and I know I don’t want to be stuck in the truck with one.”
“Definitely not. We’ll watch him.” Joel nodded and turned back around to join Allie as they walked.
Ben leaned against the truck with his arms crossed. He tilted his head back and looked at the sky while he waited for them to return. The air seemed to be a little cleaner today and the sky actually looked a semi-normal s
hade of blue. The lack of jet trails and small planes flying overhead was noticeable, though, and it was almost too quiet. It would have been more enjoyable if the reason behind the empty skies and quietness wasn’t so calamitous.
Ben saw Gunner galloping toward the truck as he crested the sand and gravel berm between the river and the campsite. Joel and Allie followed close behind.
“Load up.” Ben opened the passenger door on the truck. Gunner launched himself into the truck without breaking stride, then sat on the front seat and waited for Joel and Allie to catch up.
“Come on, boy, all the way back.” Ben sternly pointed toward the back of the truck until Gunner gave in and hopped over the console, taking his place on the rear bench seat. Ben climbed in next and joined Gunner on the rear seat. He’d decided to let Joel drive for a while this morning.
He was somewhat familiar with the next few hours’ worth of road and didn’t expect much trouble this early in the morning. Most of the road was a lot of long straight stretches in farmland and open range down through the foothills. Other than the scattered wrecks on the road, with any luck it should be a pretty boring drive. Besides, this would give him a chance to fool with the radio a bit more and study the map a little.
After the next couple of hours, the road ahead would be unknown territory to him, and he had no real knowledge of the places they would be traveling through. He’d only made the drive once before, and in a hurry to get to Maryland, he hadn’t paid much attention to the places they passed through.
Being in unfamiliar territory would put them at a disadvantage, so he figured the least he could do was go over the map and get to know the route a little. Maybe he could even plan some alternatives in case they ran into trouble. He would mainly focus on finding a route around Kansas City. That would be the first major city they would have to deal with, and he was determined to find a way around that wouldn’t add a lot of time to the trip.