“I must say, I was getting worried my friend.” Gael remarked.
“I was banking on people being more focused on immediate concerns. Besides the cold weather stuff is bulky.” Mac answered as he gave a sideways glance at another camo clad mannequin, with head covered by a ski mask and goggles.
Mac bent down and picked up a square of cardboard and examined it for a minute. Then suddenly flung it at the head of the mannequin. Gael was surprised when the mannequin instinctively ducked away from the projectile.
Mac raised his pistol and began talking with no menace, but yet firmly. “Step on down slow. Hands where I can see them. We are going to do this nice and easy. We are not here to cause you any trouble. My friend and I just need to gear up before heading north.”
A noise from behind them caused Gael to turn. Coming at a run was a teenaged girl, with a pistol in her hand. Gael raised his shotgun. “Put it down. No need to make trouble.”
The girl came to a stop. “El?”
A nod from the person in the ski mask, signaled her to lower her pistol, but she kept it unholstered.
The young man pulled off the goggles and ski mask and stuck out his hand. “Eldon Cripley.”
Mac holstered his pistol and shook his hand. “Mac”
“These are just children.” Gael stated incredulously.
Indignantly the girl replied. “News flash. I'm eighteen and El here is twenty one.
Mac grinned. “Duly noted. Is it just you two or are more of these mannequin's going to come to life?”
Eldon paused. “Lainie, call Grace up here.” Addressing Mac he continued. “You passed our friend on the way up. All our cards are on the table. As you can tell we are just dug in here, trying to ride this thing out. We've had people come in here before, mostly at the beginning, but a few since. I never felt I could risk exposing my sister or Grace to them. I am taking a gamble on you two and hoping I don't regret it. Why don't you start with, what it is you're looking for to the north?”
The distress was obvious in the young man's face and voice, causing Mac to proceed cautiously. “I take it you've been look out for the three of you for quite some time.”
“We've gotten into the habit of looking out for each other, that is for sure.” Eldon replied demonstrating a maturity beyond his years.
Grace arrived, lightly placed her hand on Eldon's arm and asked. “El are these the ones?”
Eldon a bit shyly pulled his arm out from under her hand. “Maybe, we were just getting to that. Mac and his friend are traveling north and he is telling us what he hopes to find when he gets there.”
“Grace, what do you mean, 'Are we the ones'?” Mac questioned.
Eldon answered for her. “The ones we can trust. The ones we can join with.”
“Yes, no, maybe. Gael and I have a lot to offer, but we are in a bit of a pickle right now. I have a town, just over the border in Nebraska. We had it all. Fences to keep out the dead, good people working hard to support each other. We even figured out how to lead the dead off, so we could help other survivors. We were actually growing” Mac began, with a mixture of pride, anger and remorse.
Lainie beamed her delight as Mac described Timshel. “El, Gracie, it is everything we wanted.”
“I'm afraid not Miss. I lost it all. A group of rogue soldiers came in, led by their maniac of a general and took it from me. My wife, my daughters, all my friends are living under a constant threat, if they do anything to ruffle this asshole.” The pain and worry, Mac had pushed to the side so long, hit him like a wave, forcing him to place his hand on Gael's shoulder for support.
Lainie's face dropped, her heart going out to this stranger. “I'm so sorry.”
Mac gave her a smile. “Thank you. I ran into a conflict with the General and would have died if my wife and friend hadn't been able to set me free. My wife sent me looking for some soldiers we started out with that had moved on to New Mexico. When I got to the White Sands base, it was crawling with the dead and my soldier friends had been killed, by the group that hold my town.”
Lainie gritted her teeth angrily. “That son of a bitch.”
Mac chuckled. “Son of a bitch indeed. I did find Gael and his friends and got a lead on a military group in Michigan. Gael offered to help me get to them and convince them, somehow, to come back to Nebraska and free my town.”
“We could give you directions to the Mission. My friends would take you, in trade for some warm clothes and boots.” Gael offered.
Mac nodded agreement. “They could use you. You've been real creative controlling who gets in here.”
Grace squeezed Eldon's hand, “That was Eldon's idea, he takes could care of us.”
Eldon shuffled his feet, uncomfortable with the praise. “We can hook you up. I worked the loading dock here. In the end days I made sure a lot of the good stuff stayed in storage. Every time someone came in here to loot, we would come back and restock. I figured if they could get something to take they wouldn't look to hard to find us.”
“You're to modest El. You ran the loading dock and you kept us safe when things got crazy.” Lainie praised.
Grace gave Eldon a little side hug of support, further increasing his embarrassment and causing him to stammer. “Mister Boyle was the dock supervisor.”
Lainie scoffed. “Dickie Boyle was a drunken bum, that would sleep off a bender while you did all the work.”
“Mister Boyle gave me a job when I was just eighteen, so I could petition to be your guardian. We owe him and he always did right by us.” Eldon retorted hotly.
“I can jot down a list of what we are looking for. If you could help us get it together, we got to be thinking of getting back on the road.” Mac interjected to get things back on track.
“Yes sorry. We haven't had other people to talk with in a while. Lainie go along with Mac and show him the way to the loading dock. Gael, come with Grace and I. We've blocked the way with some Semi's and I'll need help getting them moved.” Eldon directed.
Lainie followed behind Mac keeping a running dialogue the whole way. By the time they had the front doors sealed again, Mac knew two things about Lainie. First she utterly idolized her big brother and second the months of isolation have left her with a thirst to hear anything new. The torrent of questions she had for Mac didn't end until he had backed his car and trailer into the bay next to the SUV, Eldon was outfitting for them.
Mac placed a hand on the SUV. “Well, this answers one question. You have transportation.”
Eldon hung his head. “Yeah, I've been struggling to figure out what we need to bring with us. We got some basics loaded. Food. Water. Guns. It's just we've had some pretty rough customers come in here. The stuff they would talk about. Hell, joke about. I couldn't let that happen to Grace and my sister. How do you prepare for all of that.”
Mac patted Eldon on the shoulder. “You've been carrying a load Son. Trust me, you are doing alright by those two. There aren't many people, let alone your age, that could have accomplished what you did.”
Eldon gave Mac a wan smile. “I'm all they got. It was bad enough, before everything fell apart, now every decision is life or death.”
Mac gave Eldon's shoulder a light shake. “Let's button this place up, put our heads together on what we each need to take with us. They are a good group at the Mission. You won't be alone in this anymore.”
A few hours later and Gael was helping Grace and Lainie to make a dinner of freeze dried food. Eldon and Mac were back in the bay loading up the cars. Eldon had come up with some expedition quality clothing for Gael and Mac. In addition he provided, backpacks, sleeping bags, snowshoes, camping gear and more. Mac in turn, gave Eldon a fair share of the gas they had left.
As they packed Mac felt compelled to reach out to Eldon in a fatherly manner. “Eldon, I take it you've been looking out for Grace and Lainie for quite some time.”
Eldon pursed his lips and nodded. “We lost our Mom when Lainie was pretty young. My Dad needed help making sure she wa
s looked after, we didn't have extra money for a sitter. Grace, she didn't have a very good home life and when she and Lainie got to be friends, she seemed to be always around. It wasn't a big deal to keep an eye on her too.”
Mac shook his head. “There ain't many young men who would be willing to babysit there little sister.”
Eldon shrugged. “Dad always made sure I had time for my friends and baseball. He never missed one of my games or one of Lainie's recitals.”
“Sounds like a good man your Dad.” Mac acknowledged.
“He was the best.” Eldon said sadly.
“You know, I think Grace has reasons other than rough times at home, to be around so much.” Mac stated, changing the subject.
Eldon did a double take. “What do you mean?”
“She's got her eye set on you.” Mac replied.
Eldon's voice all but squeaked. “Really?”
Mac smiled and nodded. “I got two teenage daughters, I know all the signs.”
Eldon stammered. “Wh...what do I do?”
“Be yourself. Talk to her. Be honest.” Mac answered.
Eldon smiled shyly. “OK.”
“If you don't mind me prying a bit more? How long have you three been on your own?” Mac questioned.
Eldon hung his head, took a deep breath and then looked up at Mac. “You know when I was sixteen, just starting my sophomore year. I had pitched my last game of the season, my tenth no-hitter that year. College scouts were at the game already checking me out. Dad took Lainie, Grace and I out for Chinese, to celebrate. Grace was already pretty much a fixture in our family. The next morning I woke up to the smell of breakfast being cooked. Normally, Dad was gone to work. Over breakfast he told me he was taking the day off. He was going to see a specialist. He told me not to worry, they just needed to run some tests.”
Mac could see Eldon struggling to go ahead and waited for Eldon to pick up his story.
Eldon looked up at a spot on the ceiling. “Dad didn't get home until Lainie and I were back from school. He had brought a pizza home for dinner. After we ate, he put Lainie to work cleaning up and took me outside to play catch. The doctor told him he had cancer and there was little that could be done. Dad had already setup to see someone else for a second opinion. The second opinion wasn't a lot better, they gave him three months, but recommended a course of chemo and radiation to buy some time. Two days later they started the chemo. Every injection left Dad so sick, he would spend a couple of days puking his guts out. The aggressive treatment, bought him time, but mostly Dad refused to give up. He fought every day to have another day with Lainie and me.”
Eldon paused again, looked at Mac with relief to finally let this out. “I started missing a lot of school, so I started homeschooling and could be at home to take care of my Dad. About six months before I turned eighteen, Child Protective Services showed up. The lady told my Dad, for the good of his children, Lainie and I needed to go into foster care, while he went to hospice. Dad was walking with a cane by then, he slammed that cane on the coffee table and told that witch, 'Get the fuck out of my house. You want to take my kids you better come with more than a piece of paper'.”
“Alright Dad. I like this man.” Mac interjected.
Eldon gave Mac a small smile of appreciation. “On the morning of my eighteenth birthday, my Dad woke me up. He was dressed in his best suit, he was so skeletal by then, the suit hung loosely on him, but it was important to him to make a statement. Dad was in so much pain, he was getting through each day with a regimen of pain meds. I don't know how he did it, but he stayed off the meds all that day. First he took me here to meet with Mister Boyle. Dad called on an old favor to get Mister Boyle to hire me. Next we went to a lawyer's office. The lawyer, Dad had scheduled to meet was called out of the office and had arranged for a subordinate to take care of us. Dad told the receptionist he would wait. We sat in that waiting room for five hours completely ignored. I know my Dad was in intolerable pain and I urged him to let me talk to the receptionist. Dad shook his head and merely said we would wait. The moment the lawyer walked in Dad stood up, ignoring everyone clamoring for the man's attention, my Dad greeted the man. 'Mister Goldstein, Elmer Cripley, we had an appointment today.' We spent the next two hours completing paperwork to turn everything over to me, when my Dad passed. We went home Dad went to bed and never woke up.”
Eldon broke down into sobs, causing Mac to hug the young man into his shoulder.
Eventually Eldon gathered himself, but was still very emotional as he finished. “When we cleaned Dad's room we found a calendar. He marked off each day, leading up to my birthday. Somehow he clung to life long enough, to make sure Lainie and I would stay together. He trusted me to do the best by my sister. Who am I to let him down?”
Mac gave Eldon's shoulder a squeeze. “Son, I thank you for sharing that with me. You've got your Father's strength and tenacity, you've proved it both before and after, this outbreak. I know your Dad is damned proud of you.”
“I'm a little nervous making this trip to New Mexico, anything could happen. I wanted someone else to know our story, to know how special my Dad was.” Eldon confessed.
Mac clasped a hand on Eldon's shoulder. “Trust me, I believe you are going to do just fine.”
The following morning Mac and Gael were pulling out at sun up, heading north and east. Eldon and the girls were putting the final touches on their packing, with their destination south and west. As Mac slowly pulled out of the drive he watched Eldon and Grace in the rear view mirror. Suddenly Grace was hugging Eldon and he tipped up her chin and brushed her lips with a kiss.
Mac turned his attention forward. “Gael old Buddy, we did some good here.”
Gael pulled his new coat tight. “We are ready for winter.”
“Well yeah, but I was talking about those kids. They know they are not alone. They have a community to go to now. You and me got about seven hundred miles to go, I'm guessing, before our radio can pull in that group from Michigan. I'm not going to kid you that it is going to be easy, but if I was a gamblin man, I'd say lady luck is smiling on us.” Mac said confidently.
“Mac, I am thinking you make your own luck. I know you think the odds are against you, but you keep beating those odds.” Gael stated.
“I hope your right. We need to hope the snow stays light enough until we can trade in this car for some snowmobiles.” Mac replied.
Gael pulled out the map. “Where are you hoping to do that?”
“I'm thinking we cross the Amelia Earhart bridge over to St. Joseph, crossing the Missouri river. I know I've been keeping us away from the big towns, for the most part, but a place the size of St. Joseph has got to have a number of outdoor equipment stores.” Mac answered.
Gael traced the route on the map. “We'll be able to drive there?”
Mac shrugged. “Even at the speed we are creeping along at it is way faster than walking. Right now the snow is so spotty, the sleds we made up, would be hell to drag. Snowmobiles need snow to, we'll stick with the car until it makes sense not to.”
Four hours later Mac and Gael stopped for lunch, having made it about a third of the way to Atchison Kansas and the Amelia Earhart bridge. The snow chains handled the ice and sparse snow well, however, they kept running into drifts to deep for the car. Sometimes, they could drive around, others they had to stop and dig a way through. Until they came to a dip in the road that had completely blown in with snow about a foot deep. It was deceptive at first and Mac had plowed in until he was completely stuck.
After a quick meal, Mac exclaimed. “No time like the present for you to learn how to use snowshoes. We'll hike ahead and see how far this goes.”
Gael was a quick study and rapidly got the hang of the snowshoes. About a hundred yards up, the road rose again and was clear of snow. Spotting ahead, the way seemed reasonably clear.
“We dig?” Gael asked.
“Yep. This shit is pretty crusty. It's not going to be easy.” Mac answered.
The day was in the low thirties, sunny and little wind. When Mac got to the car he exchanged his coat for a vest and his winter gloves for canvas work gloves. Gael, checked to make sure his coat was closed tight and pulled his hat down over his ears. A little under two hours later they had cleared thirty yards. Mac paused to unzip his vest and put his hat into a pocket.
Gael uncomfortably flexed his hands and with sweat streaming down his face looked at Mac. “Wh...wh...wh..y arrrre you not freezing?”
“Being cold is one thing, being cold and wet is totally different. Your drenched in sweat. Go back to the car, pull everything off and get some dry stuff on. Warm up for a bit in the car, drink some water and get something to eat. When you get back, make sure you have layers you can peel off.” Mac said.
Dead States | Year Zero | Nebraska Page 38