Ferryman

by Jonathon Wise

  “Only one other time he told us about. He said he watched you burn down your house.”

  Brandt added enthusiastically, “Jason also says that it was you who took…” he paused for a moment as he tested his memory, “…I don’t remember her name but she was an old woman. Jason says that you took her soul back to Hades before he could cleanse it.”

  Chuck dropped his head as his entire body began to tingle. Brandt was talking about the woman tied to the car that he shot. The woman that he made the promise to—the promise to kill Jason.

  Cindy came around the table and squatted next to Chuck. Then as she slid her arms around him and rested her head against his arm, she softly said, “I’m so sorry.”

  For a long minute the only sound in the kitchen was Brandt scraping his plate clean and slurping down his tea. Once the slurping stopped, the boy spoke up. “Are you going to help the others get away?”

  “You mean the others staying up there with Jason?”

  “Them too…but there’s still others hiding in the city.”

  Cindy nodded as Chuck glanced at her. “That’s what Jason does. He hunts down survivors and then gives them the choice of either joining him or burning. I think he’s looking for someone.”

  Chuck lowered his eyes for a second and asked the boy, “You think we should help them?”

  “Of course…why wouldn’t we?”

  Chuck lost himself in thought, before asking, “Would you like to take a hot shower?”

  The boy’s eyes lit up. “Are you kidding!”

  “Take your plate over to the sink…then I’ll show you the bathroom.”

  A few minutes later Chuck rejoined Cindy at the kitchen table. She reached over and slid her hand on top of his. “I think we should go up for the others. You know Jason treats the children like slaves and pimps out the women to keep the men in line.”

  Chuck didn’t know how to respond. “I feel bad for them…but you know we don’t have enough supplies. If we try to save everyone, we could all end up starving. To be truthful, I don’t know if we even have enough for that boy to stay with us.”

  “We can’t just leave them up there.”

  Chuck stared at her in silence for several seconds. Trying to understand where she was coming from, he cocked his head and asked, “Is it the boy? Is he making you feel guilty or something?”

  Cindy’s mouth dropped open. “Why would you say that?”

  “It’s just that you’ve never mentioned wanting to save anyone else until now. I know this boy makes you feel like you have an obligation…but believe me, you don’t.”

  She pressed up against the table. “It’s not the boy and it’s not guilt. I’ve always wanted to go back and try to help the others.”

  He didn’t say a word.

  “Besides…what if it is…does that make it wrong? You saw him. You saw how starved he was. We have so much and they have so little. How can we live with ourselves if we don’t try?”

  Chuck settled into his chair. “Now let me get this straight. You’re saying that you’re willing to share your food with someone you don’t even know?”

  “Yeah…if it means saving the life of some poor kid, I’ll share my food. You would too. And don’t tell me you wouldn’t because you did with me. You didn’t know me yet you brought me in and shared your food and bed with me. You gave Brandt food and a hot shower…and I’ll tell you that means a hell of a lot to that kid.” While Chuck reflected on what she said, she ended with, “We can do it. We can make a difference.”

  Chuck sighed again as he settled further into his seat. “Well, I guess that water won’t be an issue—”

  “And we can plant more crops and expand our search for food,” she quickly added.

  “What about electricity, heat and gasoline; what if we don’t have enough.”

  She squeezed his hand. “You’ll figure something out, I know you will. And I’ll be right beside you to help. Besides, anybody who wants to stay with us will have to work too. We’re not offering a free ride—only a chance at something better. Hope.”

  Chuck rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “What if Jason finds out…you know…off limits or not, I’m sure we’ll have that crazy fucker to deal with.”

  “Well, we won’t take them all at once. If we take just a few at a time…maybe he’ll think that they just ran off.”

  He pondered the concept. After a moment he tested the sound of what he was thinking, “Okay,” he glanced in the direction of the shower, “if we’re going to do this…let’s get started. We’ll leave Brandt here and go up and take a look around tomorrow.” As he began to work over the strategy of how they would do it in his mind, she squeezed his hand and he knew that they were doing the right thing.

  That night he had the dream of Cindy standing strong at the edge of the cliff of white rock again. Only this time he felt more a part of it. He could feel the tension in her muscles as she held her stance against the misty chill blowing in off the ocean.

  Chapter 33

  Chuck dropped his breakfast plate off at the sink. Without saying a word, he grabbed a baseball bat out of the hall closet and walked out the front door. Cindy and Brandt were still eating and didn’t give his actions much thought until they heard the front door close.

  Chuck was already at the pickup and preparing for the first swing when Cindy yelled, “What are you doing?”

  He noticed Brandt pushing between her and the door. The boy jumped off the porch like he was chasing an ice cream truck and pulled up to watch halfway down the stone walkway. Something about little boys and tearing up stuff—they can smell it coming for miles. Brandt was no exception. Chuck shot him a devilish grin as he shifted his weight. “If we’re going to go up to Indy…we need to blend in.” With a grunt, he brought the hickory bat down across the hood of his old Chevy as hard as he could. A dull clang echoed through the street as the sheet metal gave in and bowed under the force of the blow.

  Cindy yelled, “Wait a second!” and ran out to the street. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Chuck leaned against the truck while shouldering the bat. “I’m going to give the old girl some good dents, shatter the windshield, spray some graffiti on it and then torch part of it.”

  Cindy wasn’t as quick to jump on board as Brandt. She shook her head and raised her shoulders. “I don’t understand?”

  Chuck looked his Chevy over. “You know how cars look up there. They’ve been abused and abandoned. The truck needs to look just like them, like it belongs up there. We need to blend in. That’ll go just as far to saving our hides as any gun will.”

  She thought…and nodded. “You’re right. Is there anything I can do?”

  He stepped away from the truck and raised the bat over his head. “You can grab a can of gas from the carriage house and find a blanket or something that we can use to put the fire out with.” He grunted again and threw his weight into denting the left front fender.

  Brandt stopped him before his next swing. “You’re crazy, aren’t you mister?”

  Chuck teased the boy by raising his eyebrows and pretending to ponder the question for a second. “Sometimes I wonder about that very question myself.”

  ~~~

  They parked the Chevy among the derelict cars a few blocks inside the bypass around Indianapolis and proceeded on foot. Chuck kept them close to the buildings and out of the streets as they pushed slowly into downtown. The fact that it was eerily quiet heightened their tension. They knew the slightest miscue could give away their position.

  Half an hour in, he showed her through a broken entry door and guided her to the shadows at the rear of the building. In a soft whisper he asked, “Now you’re confident that if you see someone you know, you’ll be able to get them to come with us without giving us away?”

  “I think so…”

  “You sure? We can always turn back if you want to.”

  She squeezed his hand.

  “Okay…okay…just stay behind me an
d keep quiet. We’ll head up to where I found you.”

  He saw her nod in the shadows. They left the building as quietly as they came in.

  Chuck came to an abrupt stop two blocks up and quickly, and calmly, pressed himself and Cindy up against the brick face of the building. He put his finger to his lips and motioned for her to be quiet. For over five minutes they were one with the wall. Cindy found an object to focus on while she concentrated on breathing calmly.

  When he finally took his hand off her stomach, he gave her a quick nod for her effort and they started moving again. As they crept past the broken brick façade two buildings down, he discreetly grabbed a piece of mortar about the size of a golf ball. With it clenched in his fist, they made it one more block before he stopped again and pressed up against the wall. This time he whispered, “We’re being followed.”

  Cindy stayed calm as she mouthed, “Where?”

  Chuck slowly motioned across the street to a spot a half a block back. He whispered again. “Only one I think…been with us for the last three blocks.”

  She slowly turned her head and looked to where he indicated. There was a rusted out car and a pile of rubbish along the corner of a building where the brick had broken free. “I don’t see anybody.”

  “Left side of the brick pile next to the pipe sticking up. Keep looking. You’ll see him when he moves.”

  She located the pipes and splintered wood protruding from one of the brick piles. About three minutes later she spotted the eyes staring at them through the pile of rubbish when they blinked. She squeezed Chuck’s hand.

  He asked, “Can you tell who he is?”

  “No.”

  “Get ready. Keep your eyes on him and be ready to run if we have to.” He put his hand on her stomach and held her there as he turned his eyes from the stalker and slowly started to edge along the building again. With the goal of hoping to catch their stalker off guard, he abruptly spun around and fired the chunk of mortar at the pile of rubble. The stalker beat him to the punch and shot off running as soon as Chuck spun around. He hurdled over two piles of brick, slid across the hood of a burnt out car and disappeared among the buildings a block ahead of them. It happened so fast they barely got a chance to see him. Chuck whipped around to Cindy and pressed her back up against the storefront. “Did you recognize him!”

  “I don’t know…he moved so fast. But I don’t think so.”

  Chuck grimaced as he thought of the blown opportunity.

  “What do you think he was doing?”

  “He was just watching, probably trying to get a feel for whether we were friends or enemies.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “We’re going to show him that we’re friends.” She gave him an uneasy look; he nodded and mouthed that it would be alright as he un-shouldered his rifle. He scanned the street in both directions and quietly stepped over to the curb where he set the rifle on the road a few feet out from the sidewalk. When he was done, he retraced his steps back to her side, and they both stood and waited while holding each other’s hand.

  Their palms were getting sweaty and their backs beginning to cramp when Cindy gave in and asked, “How long are we going to wait?”

  He scanned the area again. “I’m sure he’s watching us…just a few more minutes.” Chuck wanted to give it every chance he could, but he also didn’t like the thought of being so far away from his rifle. Not that he felt they were in any danger from the stalker. Whoever it was seemed to be more curious than harmful. Based on how fast the man sprinted through the debris, he could have charged the two of them before Chuck could have drawn his rifle. No…the figure was only checking them out. But Jason and his followers were a different matter. Even though he and Cindy hadn’t heard any sounds of riot, gunfire or squealing tires, that didn’t mean that Jason and his mob weren’t out there, ready to speed down the street at any second. The thought of that happening made him mighty uneasy about being so far away from his rifle.

  The tension kept mounting until Chuck bit down on his lip and finally shook his head. “That’s it,” he gasped softly. He saw the relief in her face as he let go of her hand and quietly stepped away from the storefront. He reached down and picked up his rifle. As he started to turn around, he froze with his body half-twisted. The stalker was standing in the shadows right behind Cindy, holding a three-foot section of steel pipe and quietly smacking it against his open palm. Only a cracked plate glass window stood between them. Somehow the stalker had gotten behind them and found a back entrance to the store.

  As soon as Cindy saw Chuck’s face, she started trembling. Chuck forced himself to think quickly as he stared eye-to-eye with the young man. Cindy wouldn’t hold still much longer. The twitches in her face made her look on the verge of exploding. He could yell at her to move and swing the rifle around and probably get off a shot before the young man could react. That was what his instincts were telling him to do.

  But they weren’t there to kill anyone. He forced down a swallow. He slowly bent over and laid the rifle on the sidewalk while maintaining his stare on the young man. Cindy closed her eyes and started shaking as Chuck backed up without their protection. By the time his weight was back on his heels the man behind the glass had moved to the door. Chuck flinched at his instinct to grab the gun. He didn’t and in a matter of seconds the man was on the sidewalk with them.

  That’s when Chuck got his first clear look. The young man stood without a shirt, wearing only jeans and tennis shoes as he kept the steel pipe reared back past his long, black hair. He was lean and sinewy, with the tanned skin of someone always in the sun. Although he probably wasn’t much more than a boy, he had the strong facial features of a man. His brown eyes were clear and focused, and set within a long face that carried a strong jaw line and a sharp-ridged nose. The boy’s chest rose as he demanded, “Who are you?”

  Chuck held his ground, and quickly glanced at Cindy to make sure she was okay before he answered. “We’ve come here to offer a safe place to stay for those who want it.”

  “Then what’s with the rifle?”

  Chuck thought before answering. Was he sure this young man wasn’t part of Jason’s mob? He could be a scout. Chuck glanced back at Cindy. Her shoulders were pulled forward and her arms pinched close to her sides out of fear, nonetheless she was still observing the man. It didn’t look like she thought he was part of Jason’s gang. Chucked cleared his throat. “To protect ourselves.”

  The young man pumped his chin and prompted, “From who?”

  “From Jason and the mob that follows him.”

  The young man continued to stare at him like he was sizing him up—getting a feel for whether Chuck was telling the truth or not.

  Chuck added, “Jason ties people to cars and sets them on fire.”

  The young man looked down and swallowed. “I don’t believe in what Jason preaches.” He looked over at Cindy cowering against the window and asked, “What’s your story?”

  Cindy had trouble voicing a response through the tension in her face, but managed to sputter out, “Like he says…we want to help.”

  The man turned back to Chuck and, with the pipe still reared back, he walked over to within an arms’ reach and stood face-to-face with him. Chuck held his ground and onto his hope that the young man didn’t mean any harm. A second later the man slowly kneeled down while keeping his eyes on him, and picked up the rifle. He rose back up just as slowly. He then did the unexpected—he handed the rifle back to Chuck. As surprising as that was, he topped it a moment later when he turned his back and walked halfway over to the front of the store. He stopped, dropped the pipe and just stood there with his back to Chuck.

  Chuck opened up his arms as Cindy ran over to him. They both understood what the man was doing. He was tired of hiding and was giving his trust to them. Still they needed a moment to themselves. Chuck cradled her face against his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. After she nodded that she was okay, he shouldered the rifle and walked over to the man
. “I’m Chuck Bain…she’s Cindy McKay…and we are here to help.”

  The young man let out his own sigh of relief as he dropped his shoulders. “Thank God…” He swallowed and while struggling to force a smile, he said, “I’m Andy Jones.”

  Chuck offered his hand and said, “Nice to meet you Andy. How long have you been here?”

  Cindy joined them as Andy said, “Since it happened…I was a senior at Chatard one day…next day I was alone.”

  She asked, “You know about Jason?”

  Andy stopped her with his hand. “Let’s get out of the open.” After all three disappeared into the shadowed safety of the store, Andy said, “Yeah…I know who you’re talking about.” He dropped his head and stared at the floor. “I’ve seen what that son-of-a-bitch does. What they all do.” He filled his chest with fresh air. “Where’s the place you’re talking about…place where we’ll all be safe?”

  “We’ll take you there if you want to go.” Chuck wasn’t going to disclose the location until they were on the road—just in case.

  “Hey I can’t live like this any longer. If you’re offering, I’m accepting.”

  “Good!” Chuck said as he started to make his way back to the door.

  “Aren’t you guys going to look for any others?”

  Chuck looked over at Cindy. It was easy to tell that she had taken all she could for one day. “Not today,” he answered. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for now. We’ll see how things go…then maybe. But I’m not making any promises.”

  Andy strutted after them and said, “I hope we do! I can’t think of anything I’d like more than saving some kids from that mother-fucker.”

  A moment later they slipped out of the store and worked their way back toward the truck. As Andy brought up the rear he asked, “Hey…how’d you see me?”

  Chuck motioned with his head, “Back there…”

  “Yeah.”

  “You moved.”

  “No I didn’t”

  “Yes…you did…enough for me to see you.”

  “How?”

  “Years of hunting…staring at the bush…waiting for a deer to flinch and give away its position.”