“I know. I got it. But, Amanda, standing here arguing isn’t doing us any good. I’m ready. Let’s go search the trailer again and go,” he said, turning and awkwardly walking out the door on his booted foot.
She watched him leave, dreading the coming days. She’d made her decision, but what lay in front of them wasn’t going to be easy. What would have happened if she hadn’t seen him in the river? Would she still be on her own farm, or would she have already left, just the same—maybe even sooner, without Austin there. In reality, she knew her house would have been overrun, given some time. She felt capable of handling herself, but she wasn’t so naïve as to believe she was a superwoman able to fend off an army of looters. And she’d been a clear target. Eventually, her home would have been overrun, and she would have been on her own. Maybe without a horse, even, let alone two horses and a capable—well, mostly capable—companion.
She walked out the door, following Austin’s dusty trail back to his RV. He was the lesser of two evils, she supposed.
After tossing his trailer, she’d gathered a box of trash bags, soap, and a small bottle of bleach.
“Are you sure we need to keep pulling that cart along with us?” Austin asked as he saw the growing pile of supplies beside his RV. “It slows us down.”
“It isn’t like a covered wagon. It’s a small cart. Charlie can pull it fine as long as we keep it light, and barely notice it. There’s stuff that would be hard to carry without it—a pot for boiling water and extra blankets, to name a few.”
He cursed under his breath. “I get it,” he muttered, “but I wish we didn’t have to keep to the roads.”
“You don’t need a map to get us to Colorado,” she pointed out, remembering how excited he’d been to discover that Savannah hadn’t taken his road atlas.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” he grumbled, pushing open the door of his trailer and nearly falling down the metal steps.
She bit back a laugh, watching him hobble towards the barn. He had a way of swinging his left leg wide instead of just stepping forward. She was sure it was the bulk of the walking boot making him walk so awkwardly, but it provided a little entertainment for her. Once again, she trailed behind him, her stomach growling loudly.
Back at the barn, she studied the old cart they’d gotten from Daniel, noticing it was in rougher shape than she’d realized. At least, now that she was considering how well it would hold up if they asked it to go all the way to Colorado. Still, the wheels looked good, and that’s what really counted. “Do you think we could reinforce it a bit?” she asked.
Austin studied her, his blue eyes boring into hers. He finally let out a long sigh. “Yes, I can fix it up a little. There was some scrap wood in the barn.”
She smiled, loving that he had some handyman skills. He’d told her he had made a living as a handyman before the writing thing had really taken off for him. That was going to come in handy. At the very least, it certainly couldn’t hurt.
“Good. You do that, and I’ll go pack up the food we brought from my place. I’ll make those eggs we collected yesterday, too, and get some protein in our bellies before we set out.”
He nodded absently, his focus already back on the cart as he walked around it, kicking a tire with his good foot and evaluating the wood situation. She looked back and felt confident he could make it sturdier so that it wouldn’t slow them down a bit. It would also give him something to do while she made something to eat. She was starving.
19
Savannah’s heart pounded harder against her chest, her feet slamming against the pavement of the highway they were running down. They couldn’t stop. It was too dangerous. Tears continued streaming down her face as she did her best to keep up with Malachi, who ran just a few steps ahead of her. His long black hair was streaming behind him, giving her something to focus on.
Then, she made the mistake of turning to look back, and saw that the man with the gun was way too close.
“Malachi! He’s coming!” she screamed, infusing as much strength as she could into her muscles to carry her away from the danger.
“Run, Savannah! Don’t stop!” he yelled, not turning back.
She could hear the heavy breathing coming from Gretchen beside her, and glanced to her right and saw the woman’s terror-stricken face.
“Run,” Gretchen gasped out, “just run!”
Savannah pushed herself harder, veering off to the left and following Malachi into the trees when he made a sudden swerve. Branches slapped her in the face, scratched her bare arms, and threatened to trip her as she pushed through, not slowing down for a second.
They burst through to the clearing within seconds of one another. Jim Loveridge was standing over the campfire, his eyes going wide when he saw them, and Gretchen skidding in just behind them.
“What happened?” he called out at the same time that the man following them broke through the trees.
Malachi had already lunged into the makeshift tent they’d made with two blankets and emerged a second later, holding the gun Bill had brought along.
“Get out of here!” Malachi shouted at their pursuer, holding the gun up and aiming at the stranger.
Savannah rushed in behind Malachi. Her lungs burned as she struggled to pull in a breath. Gretchen came to stand beside her, bending over with her hands on her knees, sucking in air. Everyone was silent but for their thundering breath—even the man who’d pursued them was fighting to catch his breath and speak now that he’d caught up to them. Malachi stood staring down the stranger, closer than any of them to the man’s gun, up until his father stepped forward.
“Whoa, there, what’s going on?” Jim asked, holding his hands up as he moved to stand between his son and the man who had chased them into camp.
“Dad! He’s trying to kill us!” Malachi warned, gesturing for his father to stand back.
“Everyone, put the guns away,” Jim said calmly.
The man with the gun waved it back and forth angrily. “Are you kidding? No way! We want you out of here!”
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Let’s everyone put the guns down and have a chat,” Jim tried again.
Savannah watched the scene, her eyes wide with real fear and her legs still shaking from the running and the terror she had felt earlier. She felt like she was going to throw up, and was fighting to keep it together.
“Dad, they tried to kill us,” Malachi said, a touch too loudly to sound calm. “They blame us for what’s happening,” Malachi finished.
Savannah nodded her support, but it wasn’t as if anyone was paying attention to her.
Jim took a small step towards the lunatic waving the gun. “Sir, let’s talk, shall we?”
“Get away from me! You’re one of them! The revivalists we heard about!” the man screamed, stepping forward instead of back, so that he was only ten feet away from Jim Loveridge, and his son with Savannah and Gretchen behind him.
Jim stopped moving, his arms up in the air. “Okay, alright, I’ll stay right here. Can you tell me what’s going on? What is it you think we’ve done?” he asked in a soothing tone.
Savannah watched the man visibly relax a little. “People like you, we don’t want you around here.”
“People like us?” Jim asked.
“They burnt all the churches, Dad!” Malachi interrupted.
“Because there is no God!” the man shouted back, erupting again and pointing his gun at Jim. “We have to eradicate all of you if we want to survive! Your crazy beliefs are what’s going to kill us all!” the man finished, his gun veering sideways to aim directly at Malachi.
“Son, I need you to keep quiet and let me handle this,” Jim said quietly.
Savannah agreed with Malachi’s father. It had been Malachi who’d incited the mob in the street, getting upset over the church burnings. Malachi had opened his big mouth and nearly gotten them all killed.
“That boy, he called us blasphemous!” the man spit out. “But how can you love a God w
ho does this? How can you still believe there is some higher power? We’re all going to die, and it’s because your God is letting it happen! And here he comes, telling us we’re sinning and blasphemous. But he’s wrong. There’s a new law, where those who obey will be taken care of. How dare he! It’s not us, man. It’s people like you, you’re all going to die,” the man raved. “It’s that simple, we know it, and there’s no room for religion here.”
Jim turned to look at his son, scowling before turning back to the mad man with the gun. “I’m sorry my son said such horrible things. We believe in a kind, loving God. Could we maybe talk about what the Bible says about this time of trouble we’re in?”
The man’s eyes went wider, and he screamed his answer, “No! I don’t want to hear another word about the Bible or your God!” He stared around the group, and then his eyes went back to Jim Loveridge. When he spoke again, he was hoarse from shouting, and looked as wide-eyed as he ever had, the gun still firm in his hand. “I was a good man. I lived a good life. I attended church almost every Sunday. But my family is dead! My baby girl, dead! What kind of God kills a man’s family? I have no love for your God. None of us want to hear it. Get out of here, and take your preaching with you. I’m going to let you live because I don’t believe in killing, but you better watch your back. There are others out there who are not so kind. We’ve been given a choice, us or you people,” he warned. “And if your boy comes back to our town, it’ll be him who’s responsible for whatever happens. If he weren’t so young, he’d already be dead.”
Jim nodded, his lips tight. “Thank you. We appreciate your kindness. I understand your fear. We won’t bother you anymore.”
Savannah wanted to rage and scream. The man had not been kind. He had nearly shot her! The mob had chased them out of town, screaming ugly things at them, chasing them with shovels and bats and throwing rocks at them. She kept her mouth shut now, though, watching the man disappear into the trees.
Malachi lowered the gun, his hand shaking so badly that Savannah worried he was going to accidentally shoot himself in the foot.
“Where’s Mom and the others?” Malachi asked, his eyes darting around their makeshift camp.
“They went down to the stream to collect some water,” Jim answered.
“We have to get out of here—now!” Malachi near-shouted, panic slipping back into his voice.
Jim reached out and put his hands on his son’s shoulders. “Relax. Tell me what happened.”
Malachi sucked in a deep breath. “We went to the first church we saw, just like you told us to. It was burned to the ground, Dad. Actually, the whole block was burned. We found out a plane had fallen from the sky and landed right on the church. We kept walking and found another church, but it had also been burned to the ground. Every church we found was burned. There was a little old lady, kneeling in the ashes at the Baptist church. I asked her what happened, and she told me… it’s so horrible…” Malachi choked on his own words, breaking off, and Savannah had to turn her eyes away, facing back to the trees in case the man changed his mind.
“What is it, Mal?” Jim urged him on.
Malachi shook his head, overcome with emotion, and finally Savannah cleared her throat and took over the storytelling. “The woman said, when the plane dropped out of the sky, it killed a lot of people. It landed right on top of a bunch of houses. At first, they thought it was a freak accident. The woman said they started to believe it was some kind of sign because the plane landed on the church. She said the people lost their minds and started blaming God. There are a lot of rumors out there.”
“What kind of rumors?” Jim asked.
Savannah looked at Malachi. She couldn’t quite bring herself to tell him.
“Dad, they’re killing people who are caught worshipping,” Malachi whispered.
Jim flinched. “What? Why?”
“I don’t know. The old woman said there was a group of about ten men who stormed into her church and began beating the people who were inside. Then, they burned it to the ground. They said they had to do it, or they would be killed by the men in the black uniforms.”
Jim finally seemed shaken, more so than when he’d confronted the stranger a few minutes before. He shook his head and then asked, “I don’t understand. There’s a group actually telling these good people to do this?”
Savannah nodded. “Yes. That’s what’s so weird. Didn’t you hear that man? There was a poster on a light pole. There was a bunch of stuff about following the ‘New World Order.’ Those who did would be saved, but they couldn’t worship anyone else.”
Jim looked stricken. “It’s just like the Bible said,” he whispered.
“We have to go, Dad. They’re crazy! They’re going to kill us all,” Malachi said, his eyes pleading with his father.
Jim closed his eyes before meeting Malachi’s again. “You’re right, we must go. It isn’t safe for us here. Gather up the blankets and supplies. We need to move while there is still light.”
“Why are they doing it?” Malachi cried out.
Jim hugged his son before stepping back. “The people are mad and angry. They’re lashing out. They have to blame someone, but what’s happening is nothing new. Refer to your Bible, son. How many times have God’s people been blamed for famine and death? Whoever is spreading such filth must have a hidden agenda. We know better. We know the truth and will not be misled.”
Malachi stared at him for a moment, and then turned away to do as told. “You’re right. I should have realized. I’ll fold the blankets and gather our things,” he said.
Savannah breathed a huge sigh of relief. She wanted to get as far away from the city as possible. She had never seen anything so crazy. She’d seen riots on TV, yeah, but never realized how dangerous an angry mob could be. She had truly thought she was going to be murdered in the street for traveling with people who were staunch believers in God.
It was all so unreal. She glanced around the little camp they had set up yesterday afternoon. Jim had insisted they stop, and they had. He’d been in the mood to preach, and said he felt the calling to speak to the people in the city. They’d had some success in a small town they’d stayed in a few nights back. The people had been kind and open to hearing his sermons. They had been provided food and given some to take with them. Jim had claimed it was God providing for them, and nobody had questioned stopping again to try for the same results.
But the city people were clearly not of the same beliefs. Jim had once again claimed God had told him the people in the city needed to hear his words. Now, Savannah cringed at the memory of that conversation. Either God was trying to get them killed, or Jim needed to check his frequency, because somewhere along the line, the message had gotten screwed up.
The Loveridge family had thought they could set up a camp and hold one of their revival meetings here, hoping to earn more followers to strengthen their group while getting more supplies. And it had nearly gotten them killed. Savannah, Malachi, and Gretchen had gone into the city to invite people to the meeting just like they had in other places they’d stayed over. They had assumed the people in the city who chose to come to the revival would bring a potluck meal like the last camp they had set up. That plan had seriously backfired, and Savannah could only hope Jim Loveridge would remember it when he next wanted to stop and give a sermon.
“Can I help?” Savannah asked Malachi.
He looked at her, his eyes still wild from their experience. “I’ve got it.”
“Malachi… are you okay?” she asked him.
He looked around, but he didn’t meet her eyes. “I’m fine.”
She nodded sadly, not really surprised by his aloofness. He’d barely said a few words to her in the past couple of weeks. He went out of his way to avoid her, it seemed. The only thing keeping her going was the fact that she knew they were close to her uncle’s house. At this point, she couldn’t wait to be rid of Malachi and his crazy family. They were going to get her killed if she wasn’t careful.
20
Austin wasn’t thrilled with the slow progress they were making. The cart had been one thing when they’d only been going to his trailer and Amanda had felt the need to bring along some things for that short trip, not knowing what might happen to her farm after she left, but now? Now, it was really holding them back. It was a cumbersome burden that required wide paths and made it impossible for them to cut through steep, narrow trails that would have shortened their journey. Amanda insisted it was a necessity, and that they had to stick close enough to roads to know where they were going anyway, but he couldn’t help being frustrated.
“Seriously, I’m going to cut this thing loose!” he growled when the cart bumped its way through a rocky ditch, their gear bouncing and threatening to fall out yet again.
“If you tied the stuff down better, it wouldn’t fall out!” she argued. “You’re the one who’s always in such a hurry that it’s a haphazard job.”
“I used all the rope I had!”
She ignored his rebuttal and kept trudging along up the hill. They had moved out of the mountains and were heading into the Midwest, but the journey was tiring for them and the horses.
Austin let Raven come to a stop beneath him and took a deep breath. The hill they’d just crested gave them a nice view of the valley below, though. It felt like the first real milestone they had reached.
Amanda stopped beside him atop Charlie, and gestured down toward a town further down the hillside. “We can try and trade for some food down there,” she commented.
“Fine.”
They continued on in silence, the only sounds being the horses clip-clopping feet and the cart squeaking as it bounced along behind them. The sound of the horses’ shoed feet slapping against the hard ground had become his constant companion, filling the gaps of silence. Though he knew he should be grateful to her, Amanda had actually been on Austin’s last nerve for some time. He was sure he was riding hers, as well. The latest argument had been about using the paved highway to travel. She refused. The highway was too hot, according to Amanda. It was one of the many complaints she had about their journey west, but using roads while avoiding the highway meant a lot of zig-zagging, and many more chances to run into people who might mean them harm. It was a catch-22 that she didn’t seem to acknowledge, and yet she hadn’t stopped complaining about how dangerous it was since they’d left the farm over a week ago.
Survive the Chaos (Small Town EMP Book 1) Page 14