Tomorrow's Dawn (Book 3): Escape and Evade

by Wohlrab, Jeff

  So he walked. Onward.

  He passed the Humvee he’d been driving and gave it a pat, too. That machine had helped save their lives. He let his hand run along the smooth metal, warmed by the sun. It, too, was dead. It was solid, whole, but the electronics were dead. The body was fine, but the spirit was gone. That was what mattered. The spirit.

  Half a mile further, he passed by the electric cars. They’d gotten his tribe away from the Atlanta fires, which had spread almost to Dahlonega. They’d gotten his friends away from the mountain before the nuclear explosion. They got a pat, too. A thanks for what they’d done. Maybe they’d remain here in the road for years. Maybe they’d be pushed aside soon to make way for more traffic up and down the asphalt.

  There were fewer trees down as he walked forward. The green carpet was less pronounced. Brent could see clouds gathering up ahead and felt thankful. It wasn’t exactly hot, but he would relish a nice breeze if it would come. Or some shade. If he had been sitting on his deck with a beer, it would be perfect. Or maybe out fishing. Walking, it was a little warm.

  To his left, he could see a worn brown sign for something called Warwoman Dell. It seemed everything in this area was named Warwoman. The road. The fire department. This dell. There had to be a story behind it, but he didn’t know it. He pictured a Viking woman with a sword. Or maybe a Cherokee woman with a spear. One thing was certain, she had to be badass to have everything named after her.

  But it wasn’t her name. She was nameless. A war woman. Not Beth, Helga, or Awinita. Just war woman. The dell looked inviting, so he turned down the dirt road into the trees for a little bit. He had time. Everything immediately felt cooler. The shade from the tall trees was welcoming. Some of them had colorful bits of ribbon tied around them. Mostly a light green color. He didn’t know what they meant. Maybe it was for a cause, like the pink ribbons for breast cancer.

  Grass was starting to poke through on the road. This place had probably been almost deserted since late the previous year. Maybe six months. People were either rebuilding or hiding. Or walking, in his case. Everything looked old, as though the caretakers had let maintenance lapse long before the virus.

  To his left, a small stream ran along the road. It seemed almost joyful as it whispered to him. Behind it was an old building with open walls and a stone fireplace. It looked ancient, but appropriate for the shaded area. The only jarring note was yellow caution tape strung across the front of the building.

  Brent walked past a small stone structure in the stream to his right. The purpose for it wasn’t clear. It wasn’t a dam. Maybe it was once used as a wash tub? If he hadn’t spent so much time in a stream the day before, he would probably try to use it as one himself. The road ended in a circular area which could be used for vehicles to turn around, but another rose to a second open-sided building beyond a wooden bridge.

  He walked up the short incline and to the bridge. It was old. Some of the boards had started to warp and sag. People had carved or painted names and dates on the handrail. Behind him was a small building with a metal door, held closed by a padlock. It had no windows, so the contents were a mystery. Maybe it held supplies or something. Brent had no way to tell. All he had were his clothes and Nate’s 9mm pistol. He certainly wasn’t going to try to shoot the padlock and destroy the quiet. He liked it.

  Brent crossed the bridge to the building. It was extremely old. He recognized it as a Civilian Conservation Corps structure. It had been built sometime in the 1930s. That made it about a hundred years old. It had been almost half a century old when he was born, and he felt like he was a hundred years old himself. He sat at the picnic table to just appreciate what humans could do when they worked with the land and not against it. A cool breeze gently brushed his face. He had time.

  Chapter 24

  “Do you think we should go after him?” Marcy asked. It was the first time anyone had spoken other than warnings of ‘tree’ or ‘be careful’ in hours.

  Daniel looked at her. “Who, Doug or Snead?”

  She glared at him. “Brent! Do you think we should go after him?”

  Daniel looked ashamed. “Sorry, I was thinking about going after Snead. I sort of thought you were asking that question, not about Brent.”

  That made everyone stop. Jessica turned back. “You want to go after Snead? The man who just sent squads of highly trained killers after us, used nukes on us, and hopefully thinks we’re dead?”

  “That pretty much sums it up.”

  Jess smirked. “Just checkin’. I was thinking the same thing.”

  Daniel brightened up. “Awesome! I think we should kill the fucker.” He looked at Jensen, “Don’t you?”

  Jensen was slow to respond. He was thinking about the pain on his back and the pain in his knee. He was thinking about their long walk just to try to find food or water and to get away from their last known location in case Snead realized they were alive.

  He was thinking about just trying to find somewhere quiet to recover and rebuild. Jensen sighed, “I don’t know. If he thinks we’re dead, maybe we should ‘be dead’ for now.”

  Daniel rebutted. “But if he thinks we’re dead, maybe it’s the perfect time to go after him!”

  Marcy seemed to agree with Jensen. “Maybe we should just lie low. We don’t even have what we need to survive right now, much less take on a guy with his own special forces.”

  Daniel wasn’t convinced. “I think we need to kill him. I mean, the guy did murder most of the world.” He was met with blank faces. “Oh, I thought you realized. Snead was the guy that started the virus.” He waited while they mulled the idea over in their heads. “Really? You didn’t pick that up?” He waited but didn’t get a response. “He had the only working vaccine in the world. He nuked the place where he made the killer vaccine. He made it out of D.C. while most of the government got cooked. He has his own private army. He’s building a new capitol building in Georgia.”

  Jensen stopped him. “Wait, the only working vaccine? What do you mean?”

  Daniel looked at him. “Do you remember Rob saying the senator got them all vaccinated and none of them got sick? That means he had a working vaccine. It also means he had this private army last year, before the virus and before the nukes, otherwise how could he have vaccinated them to keep them from getting sick?

  “That’s why the power is on down south. That’s why they have warehouses full of food and ration wagons. That’s why he tried to kill us, because we might be the only ones that know. Senator Snead murdered most of humanity.” He squinted a little bit. “You really didn’t know? Are you fucking with me?”

  Jensen shook his head. “No, it seems pretty obvious, but I wasn’t even thinking like that. I didn’t even associate the senator with the college. I feel really stupid.”

  Daniel smiled. “You should.”

  Marcy jabbed him with an elbow. “Am I stupid, too?”

  The big man rubbed his ribs and shook his head. “Not you, just him. He’s Army. He’s scrawny and stupid, while you are beautiful, intelligent, and exceptional in every way. The world is a better place with you in it. You are a glowing angel, and the rest of us mere shadows in your presence.”

  Marcy snorted. “You are so full of shit. I didn’t even know they could stack it that high.” She smiled a little bit. “Sorry for the elbow.”

  Daniel was quick to respond. “No, no, you were right to do so. I should have been more specific.” He pointed at Jensen, “HE is stupid. Just him. The Army guy. Stupid.”

  She leaned in close to give him a hug and whispered in his ear, “Angel huh? I’ll remember that.” She paused for a second and then leaned in again. “But a little devil, too. I’ll introduce you to that later.”

  Daniel’s reaction was instantaneous. His heartbeat rocketed and goosebumps broke out on his arms. “That’s not even fair,” he complained. “So not fair.” He reached toward Marcy as she pulled away. “Is now later? When is later?”

  She laughed and pushed his arm away.
“Later is later. You’ll know.”

  Daniel looked confused. “Now is later than then. It’s already later. How much later is later?”

  To the side, Jessica looked on with a bemused expression. She didn’t know what Marcy had said, but she had a pretty good idea. It’s not like she hadn’t used her feminine charms in a similar fashion. As much as men appeared to be the dominant gender, they could be so easily turned into mush with the right phrase or look. She had to look away so she didn’t laugh at Daniel’s wounded expression.

  Marcy giggled and danced backward. She mimicked Daniel. “When will then be now? Soon.”

  Daniel stopped as though he’d been struck by a bolt of lightning. “Spaceballs? OMG. You are so hot right now.”

  She stopped and jutted out her hip just so. “Just now?”

  Daniel stuck out his lip. “Just because you’re beautiful and perfect, it’s made you conceited.”

  She stopped, pretending to be stunned.

  Daniel paused, fearing he’d gone too far; maybe she didn’t know the quote.

  Then she answered, “Inconceivable!”

  Daniel turned to Jensen. “Go, now. Fetch us a priest. I have just discovered the perfect woman.”

  Jensen turned to Jessica. “Do you get this?”

  She shook her head. “No idea. It sounds like nerd love.”

  “That’s what I thought. Nerd love. It’s disgusting.” Jensen turned back toward the west. “Should we leave them?”

  Jessica turned with him. “They can catch up.”

  Marcy caught up with them seconds later. “Later is not now. It’s later. First we need to get somewhere with food, water, and maybe a shower.” She turned back to Daniel. “Come along, Westley!”

  They heard a faint reply from behind them. “As you wish.”

  Jensen looked toward the west as a low rumble of thunder crossed the sky. “That shower might be sooner than you expected.”

  They watched from the ridge of the mountain as dark sheets fell below even darker clouds. It was calming watching the clouds approach, dropping what was probably hundreds of thousands of gallons of water on the landscape. The small group seemed entranced as they watched nature’s beauty.

  It was only a distant flash of light which made Daniel comment, “We probably shouldn’t be up here when the lightning arrives.” He indicated their height above the surrounding landscape. “It’s not good to be the tallest thing in a storm.” Then he looked at Jensen. “You probably don’t have to worry.”

  “You’re an asshole, but at least the lightning will take you first.”

  That shut Daniel up for a second. “Yeah, you’re right on both counts. We should probably move.” He looked at Marcy. “Do you really want to try to go after Brent?” He pointed off to the southwest. “He’s out there somewhere.”

  It took Marcy a moment to decide.

  “No. He needs to follow his own path, whatever that may be.”

  Chapter 25

  Brent’s path had taken him through Clayton and westward along what appeared to be highway 76. The going was easy this far away from the blast. Twenty miles behind him, a mountain lay blackened and pitted by the blast. Here, it was like nothing had ever happened.

  As he passed along the edge of town, he could see frightened eyes peering from windows of homes. The residents hadn’t missed the huge nuclear blast east of town, and a lone man walking along the road the next day definitely drew their attention.

  He didn’t feel threatened. He knew they were scared. Life wasn’t what it had been. For these folks, life had become frightening. Everything they had known was gone. Their way of life was gone. There was no more going to work in the morning, putting in eight hours, and coming home to dinner.

  Electricity was a rare commodity. Stores weren’t open. Nobody went to jobs. The infrastructure and way of life they’d grown comfortable with had disappeared. This was a new experience. Change is scary. And here he was, a stranger walking along the road through their safe space. No wonder they were watching him with fear. He could be a threat.

  He didn’t feel threatening. In fact, he felt supportive. He wished he could help these people. Provide them with some sort of calm. Instead, he walked a solitary path. He walked through the large raindrops as they soaked his skin. He wasn’t feeling them. Brent was thinking about Tallulah Gorge and his honeymoon.

  Rebecca had been simply breathtaking. Even now, his heart skipped a beat just thinking about that week. They’d laughed and held each other as they descended what felt like a thousand steps to the lower waterfall. He couldn’t remember what it was called. It didn’t matter. Her long legs stuck out from beneath her shorts.

  She had seemed self-conscious then because she wasn’t tanned; her legs were alabaster white. Like she’d been carved out of pure ivory. He had lagged several steps behind her on the way back out of the gorge just so he could watch her walk up the stairs. Not to put too fine of a point on it, he’d rather enjoyed watching her posterior, thighs, and calves as she’d struggled up the stairs.

  Neither of them had been in phenomenal shape. He’d weighed more than he did now, months after the collapse. Yet he’d been much younger and thought himself in great shape. He spent his days building. He had well-developed shoulders and arms. His core was strong. But those stairs kicked his ass. He was content to take his time as they climbed, pausing frequently.

  They’d laughed about how there were more stairs up than there were down. The stairs had multiplied while they held each other and gazed at the falls. The raindrops fell on his skin and drenched his clothes, but he didn’t feel them. Instead, he felt the warm sun as they finally reached the south rim of the gorge and gasped for breath.

  Winded and warm, they had hugged and kissed like young lovers in the light. Which they had been. Decades later, under the clouded sky with his wet clothes sticking to his skin marred with scratches from tree branches, he felt vibrant and young as he reminisced. He barely saw the road as his feet moved forward, one in front of the other.

  As he moved further away from the location of the best days of his life, he moved closer and closer to Rebecca. Those moments weren’t the best of his life, just the most memorable. The best days had been lying under a blanket watching Netflix or making her chicken noodle soup from scratch when she’d been feeling unwell.

  No, the best moments of his life had come when he wasn’t expecting them, and he didn’t realize how wonderful they were until they were gone. Sharing coffee in the morning on their back deck, both deciding to skip a social event to stay home with each other, working long hours and feeling relief to just be with her, even if they had little to say to each other.

  God, how he missed her. Without knowing, warm tears flowed down his face under the cold rain, mixing with the water from above. It was the second time in two days he’d cried. The second time in two days, and only once in the decades before. When Rebecca had finally succumbed to the sickness. He’d lost her for the remaining days of his mortal life.

  He’d cried then, cried as though he’d never stop. He had been ashamed of his tears then. He was a strong man. Strong men don’t cry. But he’d cried. Brent had lost a part of him that day, the part which made him what he was. After that day, he hadn’t been whole again. Soon he’d be whole again. Soon he’d be with Rebecca again. Forever.

  Brent went left on a road called Davis Gap. He struggled up the steep incline as the thunder roared around him. The sound was deafening, but he didn’t hear it. He was lost in the sounds of his wife as she scolded him for using curse words away from work, or told him how much she loved him in the quiet comfort of their home.

  As he reached the summit and descended the other side, he could still hear her as she told him, “You’re my everything. Don’t you ever break my heart.” He hadn’t. She had broken his when she left him, but he’d never broken her heart. Rebecca had been everything to him. Somehow, she was even more precious to him now.

  As the light faded, he saw a church
at the intersection at the bottom of the hill. It was a Baptist church, and he was a Catholic, but God didn’t care what building you were in, or even if you were in a church. God was everywhere, comforting, warming, consoling. Brent yearned for some consolation at that moment, so he walked through the broken door and sat quietly in a pew, looking through the dim light at Jesus on the cross as he thought fondly of his reason for living.

  Brent twirled his wedding ring around his finger as he sat there. It was looser than before. He’d lost a lot of weight over the past few months. He could picture Rebecca scolding him, telling him he needed to eat, as she’d done after some of his longer workdays when he hadn’t managed to break away from the construction site due to some emergency.

  As the light slipped quietly away, he thought of Rebecca. Then he stretched out on the hard pew. He slept. He dreamt of better days.

  Chapter 26

  The small group was exhausted and weak after climbing for most of the day and going almost two days without food. From where they stood on a ridgeline, they felt exposed. Jensen unconsciously scanned the skies over and over again, watching for a little dot that could be a drone. To their right, the mountain continued to ascend to a nearby peak. Beyond the peak were more mountains, even taller.

  Behind them were more mountains and a seemingly unbroken forest. They didn’t want to go that way, at least, not yet. They needed supplies if they were going to try to live in the forest. Supplies were to the west. Jensen looked at their options. Directly to the west was another peak. It was lower, but he didn’t have the energy to climb another mountain. And his knee still hurt.

  Whichever way they went would have to be down. It wouldn’t be hard; they were close to the highest point around already. The only way up was immediately to their right; everything else was down. To the southwest, he could see a small town in a valley between the mountains. To the northwest appeared to be fields surrounded by homes. It was closer.

  He swept his arm up toward the northwest, which appeared to be the easiest path. “Does anyone not want to take the easiest route down from this mountain before we get struck by lightning?” He looked around. “All in favor?”