Her Name is Beth: Alone: Book 5

by Darrell Maloney

  “Out here a lot of people want my vehicle. But I do a lot of good for them. Every couple of days I’ll drive a few miles outside of town to where the trucks still haven’t been picked through very much. And I load up on food and bottled water, and I bring it back for everybody. So they like me. And don’t forget, a lot of these people in the camps need my drugs too. They help protect me.”

  “Are there a lot of camps?”

  “All over. Just outside the city limits in every direction. Where are you camping out? I’ll take you there.”

  “I’m not camping anywhere. I’ve been walking down the highway. I typically crash in one of the abandoned big rigs on the interstate.”

  “Okay. I’ll take you back there, then.”

  “When are we setting out tomorrow?”

  “I can’t go earlier than ten o’clock or so.” He looked at the Rolex on his arm. “That’ll give you a chance to stay up and mingle with these guys and still get a good night’s sleep if you want. Still want to go back to the highway?”

  “Yes. I’m beat. I’ll use this chance to catch up on the sleep I’ve been missing.”

  “Say no more.”

  Dave said, “I’m curious about the Rolex. Another gift from your prepper friend?”

  “Not the watch, just the batteries. I already had the watch, but it didn’t have a battery in it. That’s why it didn’t get destroyed. My prepper buddy saved several watch batteries for his own watch, and they just happened to match. For the price I paid him for three stinkin’ batteries, I could almost have bought a brand new watch. But it’s worth it to know what time it is.”

  They drove onto the highway and Dave pointed the way to the truck he’d selected to sleep in.

  “Look for me around ten, eleven o’clock. I won’t be ready to leave before then because I have to meet with one of my manufacturers. I’d take you with me, but I never let anybody meet my cooks. If they met my cooks they’d have no more use for me. Then I’d go bye-bye. I hope you understand.”

  “Of course.”

  Dave didn’t really want to meet them anyway, so it was no major problem to him.

  “Okay, then. See you late morning.”

  Dave nodded, hopped off the Polaris, and watched Tony as he drove off.

  He wasn’t sure whether he trusted Tony yet or not.

  But just in case, he decided to spend the night at a different rig he could see at the top of the hill.

  Just in case someone riddled the other sleeper with bullets overnight and tried to steal his bag of gold.

  Chapter 51

  Hi, honey.

  At last, the time I’ve been rather impatiently waiting for is almost here. I’m on the outskirts of Albuquerque and chomping at the bits to go in.

  By this time tomorrow, God willing, I’ll not only find Beth, but I’ll have her back as well. Pray for me to win whatever battles are coming my way, and pray that Beth comes through everything unscathed.

  I had a dream a couple of days ago about what life will be like when we reconcile. It’s possible, maybe even probable, that she’ll have emotional problems. We’ll have to give her lots of tender loving care to help her get through it.

  One thing I didn’t discuss with you, because there just wasn’t any time, was where you wanted to live when this is all over.

  I promised some good friends that we would return to San Antonio. When I made that promise I fully meant to live up to it. But I know you’ve gotten used to living with Karen and her group. I shouldn’t have made that promise without checking with you first.

  I’m willing to break that promise if you want me to. To stay in Kansas and start afresh. Not on Karen’s farm. It will hold too many bad memories for you and the girls. But maybe we can find an abandoned farm and relocate there. I’m willing if you are. And of course Karen and her kids can move in with us.

  Frank and Eva will be saddened, but I can contact them by ham radio and explain why and apologize to them. They’ll understand. They’re good people.

  Of course, if you’d rather go back to San Antonio with Karen and her family we can do that too. Remember the Castro family? The ones who moved in next door? The ones we intentionally didn’t want to get to know in case a disaster struck? We didn’t want them to mooch off of us because we were preparing and they weren’t.

  It turned out they were nice people. When the power went out I saw them leave their house, carrying backpacks and suitcases down the street. Their little kids were even pulling a wagon with their bags and some toys in it.

  Anyway, they left a note on their kitchen counter. It said they were leaving to stay with relatives and they wouldn’t be back.

  They said in their note that anyone who needed it was welcome to their home and whatever was in it.

  I thought I could use some building materials from the Hanson house I demolished and could build a walkway to link the Castro house with our own. And Karen and her family could move into it.

  Of course, I’d have to fortify it. But San Antonio isn’t as dangerous as it once was. Most of the bad people have been killed. It’s a damn sight safer, in my opinion, than Kansas. At least there aren’t escaped convicts all over the place.

  Anyway, think about it and let me know.

  I’m going into Albuquerque tomorrow. It’s under siege by some very bad men. Don’t worry. I’ve found a man who I believe will keep me safe and introduce me to the people who can help me find our baby girl.

  I won’t bore you with the details, and I want to wrap this up so I can get some sleep. I’m going to make my way to the Explorer after it gets dark and hide this under the seat. If for some reason I’m wrong… if I’m not as safe as I think I am and get killed… perhaps you will find the Explorer some day and learn what happened to me.

  Once I get her back safely, the same man who is taking me into the city will take me to a man with a ham radio. I will call you so you can hear little Beth’s voice. And I promise you, honey, once I have her back I will protect her from further harm with my life. I won’t let anything else happen to her. God knows she’s been through enough.

  Pray for my success tomorrow, and in the days ahead.

  I love you honey, with all my heart.

  -Dave-

  Dave felt many things as he waited to fall asleep. A sense of dread, for one. A sense of foreboding. Excitement. Anticipation.

  One thing he didn’t feel, though, was fear.

  Perhaps he should have.

  Chapter 52

  Dave awoke just after midnight and stole down the deserted highway to the Explorer. He shoved his journal under the driver’s seat.

  He knew he’d feel naked without it. It had been his constant companion for a year. But if something happened to him and Sarah somehow made it this far, he wanted to let her know he’d tried. He didn’t die in vain. He died trying to save his baby.

  An hour later he was asleep again, and awoke just after dawn.

  He killed two cans of Spam and some stale crackers. It wasn’t exactly the breakfast of champions, but was very filling. It would keep him from getting hungry for awhile.

  He found a new razor and a can of shaving cream in the sleeper cab’s medicine chest and treated himself to a shave. It was the first time in over a month, and he was starting to look like a mountain man. In the small shaving mirror he examined a face which had been through hell in previous months. He looked scary even without the beard, and certainly didn’t want to scare Beth the first time she laid eyes on him.

  Beth had never seen him with a beard. Maybe some stubble on a long weekend, but nothing more than that.

  She’d never seen him with gray hair either, but as he examined himself in the mirror he noticed a lot of them he’d never seen before.

  Dave was not a vain man by any means. And he’d certainly never win any beauty pageants. But he was alarmed that a couple of dozen gray hairs would make him appear to be an old man.

  Then he sat back and laughed.

  “You crazy old
fool,” he muttered to the image before him. “You’re going on a mission today that may well kill you. And you’re not worried about that at all. Instead you’re worried about a few damn hairs on your head.”

  He stepped back out onto the highway and paced back and forth for awhile.

  Went over to the encampment and mingled with some of its residents. Found a couple of boys, about ten years of age or so, and spent some time throwing a football back and forth to them.

  Dave was antsy. He’d gotten out of the habit of having leisure time. He’d had damn little of it in the past year. He just wasn’t used to having nothing to do.

  And he decided he didn’t like it.

  By ten a.m. he was going nuts.

  At ten fifty he was sitting on the highway, his back against the huge front tire of the semi who’d hosted him the previous night. Watching the shadow of the truck get shorter and shorter as the sun rose higher into the sky.

  Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a Polaris Ranger driving up the highway and he smiled.

  He stood up and watched as the vehicle came into view.

  He wasn’t the only one who’d heard the sound. Several people appeared out of the crowd, including the man who’d offered Dave his place at the water pipe the day before.

  Tony stopped his vehicle a hundred yards short of Dave and dealt his customers their favorite poison.

  As Dave walked over, he considered the irony of the situation. Not much more than a year before Tony was considered an outcast. An evil monster who lived on the fringes of society and who dealt his drugs in secret. For fear of going to jail.

  Now, all the lawmen who were once chasing him were gone. Dead or dispersed like dust in the wind. No longer interested in what Tony did to earn his pay.

  In a way Tony had won. Over the law, over the justice system, over society which once so harshly judged him.

  Now Tony was a mover and a shaker. He owned nice things, and people looked up to him. He could now ply his chosen trade with impunity, no longer afraid of the law.

  Tony was a walking, talking metaphor of just how screwed up the world had become.

  And Dave, who’d once despised drug dealers for the threat they posed to his daughters, now sought out such a man.

  Sought him out and solicited his help.

  To find and save one of those very same daughters.

  The irony wasn’t wasted on Dave.

  And there was something else, too.

  He’d only spent a short time with Tony the day before.

  And he still wasn’t sure he trusted him. But there was something about Tony. His easy going manner, his easy laugh. He seemed quite intelligent for someone who did what he did, and had a sharp wit.

  Dave didn’t realize it before now, but he was a lot like Dave himself.

  And Dave couldn’t help himself.

  He liked the guy.

  That was a good thing, because for better or worse, they were now partners.

  Dave was depending on Tony to take him straight into the fiery pits of hell.

  And to bring him, and little Beth, back out again.

  He arrived at the Polaris as Tony was weighing gold given him by his last customer. The others were disappearing back into the crowd, content that had enough dope for another day.

  Despite the changes that had befallen the world, it was still rather odd to Dave that a drug dealer could operate in the open without fear of arrest. And not only that, he seemed to be a very popular man.

  Perhaps the stigma attached to drug dealers in the past had worn away. Perhaps drug dealers were no longer considered so bad, in the grand scheme of things.

  Or perhaps drug use itself was more accepted now. Maybe people who sought drugs to escape the reality of the new world weren’t judged so harshly now.

  “You shaved,” Tony told him.

  “Yes. I was getting pretty shaggy.”

  “I wish you hadn’t. You looked tougher with the beard.”

  Dave was a bit surprised.

  “Is that important?”

  “Not really. It just would have made it easier for them to accept you. Nearly everybody in there stopped bothering to shave a long time ago.”

  Dave reached up and rubbed his baby-smooth cheek. He suddenly felt naked, out of place.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it,” Tony said. “We’ve got a pretty good cover story. They’ve been wanting somebody to deliver liquor to them for awhile. They’ll be happy to see you, trust me.”

  His last customer walked away, a big smile on his face despite his pocket being emptied of its gold.

  “You ready?” Tony asked.

  Dave took a deep breath.

  “Yes. Let’s get this show on the road.”

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  Thank you for reading

  ALONE, Part 5: Her Name is Beth

  Please enjoy this preview of

  ALONE, Part 6: On Desert Sands

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  Dave was a social guy by nature. He normally prided himself on being able to get along with anybody. And to get himself out of any sticky situation.

  But this guy just wasn’t having any of it.

  He stood up from behind the desk. Dave could tell he was a big man, even when he was sitting. The broad shoulders and the fact he had to lean forward to place his elbows on the desk told him that much.

  It wasn’t until he stood, though, that Dave was able to tell he was more mountain than he was a man. A full six-six, probably two hundred eighty pounds.

  All of it muscle.

  The man sprayed spittle as he spoke in more of a growl than anything else.

  “I don’t like gringos,” he snarled. The look on his face when he said the word “gringos” was probably the same face he made when he bit into something very bitter.

  “I don’t trust them. In my experience, most gringos who just show up and start asking questions are cops. Or snitches trying to lighten their sentence.”

  Dave struggled a bit, but the men holding his arms had good grips. And the knife at his throat kept him from putting any real effort into it.

  “What’s the matter, bolillo? You getting a little bit nervous?”

  Dave tried to hide his fear. He got the sense that was what the man was looking for.

  “In case you haven’t heard, my big friend, there are no more cops. They all ran away like cowards, or died and went straight to hell where they belonged. And I’m exactly what Tony said I was. Just a guy trying to make a buck by hauling liquor for him.”

  “Then why you asking so many damn questions, gringo?”

  “I just like to know who I’m dealing with. If I’m going to be drinking tequila with you, playing cards with you, sharing women with you, I want to know you’re a good hombre. As for the horse drawn pickup I’m looking for, I talked to someone who said it was headed for Albuquerque. I can use it to bring your tequila. That’s all, my friend.”

  “You want to be my friend, gringo? Or are you just trying to save your ass, so you don’t find out what I did with the last guy who came in here asking questions?”

  Dave fell silent. He suspected the man was fishing, but didn’t want to take his bait.

  “Well, gringo? Aren’t you just a little bit curious about what I did to the last curious gato who came through that door?”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t light up a joint and cook him a steak dinner?”

  The man laughed, and Dave thought he was making headway.

  Then he stopped laughing, placed his face inches from Dave’s and yelled at him.

  “I cut off his head and hung it on my wall. We made a dartboard out of it until it started to stink. The eyes were the bullseyes. Fifty points apiece. It was a lot of fun, until it started to rot.”

  He turned his head from side to side, talking to the henchmen who held Dave in place.

  “What about it, boys? You up for a few more games of darts?

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>   ALONE, Part 6: On Desert Sands, will be available worldwide in October, 2016

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  If you enjoyed

  ALONE, Part 5: Her Name is Beth

  You might also enjoy

  RED: The Adventure Begins

  RED: The Adventure Begins, is available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble Booksellers, selected Hastings Bookstores, and through darrellmaloney@yahoo.com

  Here’s a preview…

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  Red had a worried look on her face.

  And Red never worried about anything.

  “Dad, I don’t like this. This isn’t just a typical blackout. This is something worse. Much worse.”

  “Now, honey, don’t jump to conclusions. It’s only been a little more than a day. We’ve had blackouts that lasted longer than this before.

  “Look at it like an unearned vacation. We didn’t ask for it, but it’s here. Let’s take a day off and go fishing. Heck, we can’t do anything here anyway.”

  But Red was adamant.

  “No, Dad. You aren’t listening. Haven’t you noticed we haven’t had any traffic since the power went out? I mean, none. In a day and a half we haven’t had a single car roll into town. You know why? Because the cars are all dead, that’s why.

  “Bonnie and I rode up to the highway this morning. I wanted to see if I could find which transformer blew, and whether they had a crew out there replacing it.

  “What I found instead were abandoned cars, as far as the eye could see, in either direction. Many of them had their hoods up, like their owners had been trying to get them running again.