Land

by Theresa Shaver

  “Sir, the only way I can confirm that is to show you my ID. If you would be willing to come forward unarmed, I would meet you halfway.” the man yelled back.

  After more whispered discussion between the boys, Quinn held his shot gun high in the air and set it down in the truck bed. Walking around the side of the truck, he kept his hands in the air and made his way to the side of the road closest to the jeep. He stopped halfway between the two vehicles and made sure he wasn’t blocking Coopers’ line of sight. The man who had been doing the yelling came around the jeep and walked towards Quinn. He was dressed in a camouflage outfit and had a gun in a holster at his side but had left his rifle in the jeep.

  When he reached a few feet from Quinn his faced showed surprise, “You’re just a kid!”

  Quinn was used to that response by now and shrugged it off. “Are you guys really from the Army?” he asked.

  “Air Force Son, there’s a difference. What are you doing out here? And where did you get two working vehicles? Are your parents with you?” the soldier questioned.

  “Sir, do you have any identification? We’re trying to be careful with who we give answers to.” Quinn evaded.

  “What? Oh sure. Hold on.”

  The soldier pulled out a billfold and handed Quinn a card with his picture and information on it. Major Tom Lewis was the name on the ID card. Quinn handed it back and asked “Isn’t a Major a little high up to be out on patrol, Sir?”

  The Major smiled, “I’m not really on patrol, son. I just wanted to get away from the airport and see what there is to see. I didn’t really expect to run into anyone out here. Now, can I ask again, who are you, what are you doing out here and are your parents over behind those trucks?”

  “My name is Quinn and I’m with some friends. We were on a class trip when everything stopped working. We are trying to get home and thought it would be easier if we stayed off the main highways. We helped an elderly man bury his wife and he gave us his truck and camper to help us get home.” He quickly summarized, “Do you know what happened Sir? Can you give me any information? We are headed north to Canada and anything you could tell us would be appreciated.”

  The soldier studied Quinn and seemed to reach a decision. “Do you know what an EMP is Quinn?” At his nod the soldier continued “It was set off somewhere above Kansas and it basically shut everything electrical down all over most of the continent. Northern Mexico and Southern Canada will have been affected. Europe was hit as well. I’m sure you’ve figured out, older mechanical things will still work but anything modern has been fried. Nothing touched down in North America but I can’t say the same for the Mid East. Not much left there that’s not glowing. We’ve got all our boys headed home but it’ll take a while to get them back. We can expect aid from some countries but a lot are out of business. Until then, things are going to be real ugly in this country. Why are you going to Canada?”

  It took a minute for Quinn to process all that the soldier had said and realise he had asked a question. “That’s where we’re from. We live in central Alberta.” was his distracted answer.

  “Central Alberta? That would be a good area to ride this out. Lots of farm land, cattle and not a lot of cities. Well you kids are lucky to have working trucks. Stay on the back roads as much as possible and watch out because those trucks will make you a big tempting target. I won’t hold you up. Get going and good luck Quinn. I hope you make home.” The Major said and he turned and walked back to his jeep.

  Quinn slowly walked back to the trucks thinking of nuclear war and all it might mean in the future.

  After he had shared the news with the rest of the group they got back on the road and travelled for a few more hours before stopping and setting up camp for the night. Sleeping in the camper was much more comfortable than sleeping on the ground and making meals on the stove was much faster and easier. Alex and Dara had stocked every spare inch of the camper with food supplies from Mr. Peterson’s basement and kitchen. They had plenty of baking supplies so she had made use of the camper’s small oven and baked buns so they would have bread.

  Staring out the window Alex was happy they were almost into Utah. She hoped the landscape would change. She was so bored and it made her think of all the things that used to fill a long road trip that wouldn’t work now. Portable DVD players to watch movies on, IPods for music, even a DS to play video games were all obsolete now. She wished she had a deck of cards. At least she could play solitaire on the camper’s small dining room table.

  Alex looked towards the front of the camper where Josh was driving and Dara was sitting in the passenger seat. Dara’s hair looked great. Before leaving Mr. Peterson’s house they had played beauty shop and colored out all the blue streaks. The dark chestnut color really made her grey eyes stand out. Having plenty of water from the pump on the well, they had all gotten to clean up and wash out their clothes properly. The tanks on the camper were filled with water but they were being very careful with how much they used so for now it was back to baby wipes and wash cloth baths. With a sigh, Alex turned back around in her seat and looked out the side window, “I’m soooo bored!” she thought to herself and was jumping in shock as a gun shot went off and the camper jerked towards the middle of the road.

  “Hold on and get your guns ready!” Josh yelled at them as he brought the camper back into the right lane.

  Alex was trying to see what was going on out the window when a pair of motorcycles came up beside them. Another two were on either side of the old truck that Quinn and Cooper were in ahead of them. All of the motorcycle riders were rough looking men in dirty jeans and leather jackets. They also all had sawed off shot guns and while one of the riders waved Josh over to stop, the other one pointed the gun at the front tire. Alex looked ahead and saw that Quinn and Cooper were being threatened the same way.

  “What do we do Josh? Should I open the window and shoot at them?” Alex yelled.

  “Damn it, no! It’s too late; they got us covered from behind as well. Quinn`s pulling over. FUCK! FUCK! Dara, get in the back. Hide the guns and find a knife and put it in your boot, Alex you too. Hurry, I have to pull over.” Josh yelled, frantic.

  Dara scrambled into the back with Alex and they both started to reach for the kitchen cutlery drawer at the same time, wrenching it all the way out and spilling utensils all over the floor. Dara`s hiking boots were higher than Alex`s so she grabbed a paring knife out of the mess and slid it down the side of her boot. Alex was franticly searching for the red handled Swiss army knife she knew was in the drawer before she finally found it under the table. She stuck it down the inside of her boot and quickly started to scoop up the utensils back into the drawer and slammed it back into the cupboard just as Josh came to an abrupt stop, sending her back down to the floor. Beside her head was a small door that gave access to the stove and oven mechanics and Alex quickly stuffed her gun in it as far back as possible. She scrambled back onto her feet and rushed to the front to see what was happening, almost crashing into Dara, who was frozen stiff behind Josh in the driver’s seat.

  “What’s going on?” she asked with a note of hysteria in her voice.

  “Don’t move Alex. They have a gun pointed at Josh’s head.” Dara whispered.

  Alex looked ahead and saw both Quinn and Cooper kneeling on the road behind the truck with two of the bikers covering them with shot guns. Just as she was about to say something, there was a banging on the side door of the camper that made her jump. Dara turned to her slowly and with a blank face and flat tone said, “Open the door Alex. We have no choice.”

  Alex’s heart was pounding with the need to do something. Fight or flight and it took her a moment to realize that Dara was right. With all the boys covered, there was nothing to do but follow along and see what happens. She stepped back towards the side door and reached out to open the door. As soon as the latch clicked open, the door was ripped open and a stubby shot gun barrel was pointed up at her. The man holding it was rough looking with greasy hair a
nd had tattoos covering both of his arms, all the way up the sides of his neck. He looked Alex up and down and with a sleazy sneer, motioned her out with the barrel of his gun.

  “Hello princess. Come on out of there and join our little party.” he looked past Alex and saw Dara. “You too, sweet cheeks. Nothing funny or your prom dates will be minus their heads.” he told them with a hard look as he backed up to let them out.

  Alex felt Dara put a hand on her shoulder and squeeze it before giving a small push to get her moving. As soon as they stepped down, another ugly man grabbed them by the arms and started to pull them towards the front of the camper. He was squeezing Alex’s upper arm so hard she expected to have finger print bruises. As they came closer to the kneeling boys, he let go and gave them a big push, sending both the girls staggering towards Quinn and Cooper. Both the boys had blank faces but when Alex stumbled into Cooper, he reached out to steady her and received a shot gun stock to his ribs.

  “Keep your hands up Romeo!” barked the biker who was watching him. “You don’t have to worry about your girlfriend. We’ll take real good care of her.” he sneered. “On the ground girlies!” he waved them down.

  Alex and Dara lowered themselves to their knees beside the two boys and put their hands up. Josh was pulled out of the camper and shoved their way as well. The man behind him was prodding him along with the barrel of the shot gun. As he was pushed into a stumble again, Josh growled and made to turn around and fight but before he could, one of the men grabbed him and shoved him down beside Dara with a, “Don’t get brave boy,” comment.

  The kids were all lined up on their knees between the two vehicles with two of the armed men watching them and the other four searching through the camper and truck. They were all silent and Alex took a quick look at Quinn but he stared straight ahead with a grim face. The four men came together in front of the camper and had a conference. Alex couldn’t hear what they were saying but they kept looking over at the line of kids and with a big laugh they stared their way.

  The biggest biker of the bunch came forward and stood in front of them. He walked back and forth looking the kids over one by one. He was well over six feet tall with muscular arms and a barrel chest. His shaved head gleamed in the dessert sun and when he walked past, Alex saw that he had a skull tattoo covering the back of his head. He finally stopped his inspection and gave them an amused look.

  “Well if it isn’t the cast of High School fucking Musical. So nice of you all to bring these goodies into my territory.” his wave took in the two vehicles full of supplies. “So what do you think I should do with you boys? The girls will be coming with us for a little recreation time but I don’t really see a need for you three,” he paused menacingly. “Then again, it does get boring now so we could use you boys for a little game I came up with to entertain the troops. Yup I think we can have some fun with these three. Where were you kids headed to?” he asked.

  When no one answered him, his face darkened and he lifted a huge boot and planted it in Josh’s stomach. Josh crumpled to the road with a groan and he lay in a fetal position, trying to get a breath. Dara made a small gasp when he had kicked Josh and that made him turn his attention towards her.

  “Let’s try that again. You look like you want to spare your boyfriend some hurt, so why don’t you answer my question.”

  He reached down and seemed to tenderly tuck a lock of Dara’s hair behind her ear. With a soft smile on his face he completed the move by grabbing a bunch of her hair and wrenched her head back, making her face up towards him. Tears sprang to her eyes and started flowing down her face. With a shaking voice she told him, “North. We were headed north into Utah!”

  With her answer, he shoved her backwards making her fall on her butt. “That wasn’t so hard now was it?” he beamed a smile at her. He looked to the rest of the kids and told them, “Listen up! My name is Skull and I run this outfit. When I ask a question, I get an answer! You lot are in for a world of hurt but it’s up to you just how bad it gets.” Skull turned to his men and ordered “Search them and get them loaded up into that camper. Let’s get back to the base. I need a beer!” With that, he turned and walked over to a huge motorcycle and lit up a cigarette.

  His men pulled each of the kids to their feet and patted them down. The girls were groped and Alex fought hard not to make a sound and give them the satisfaction they wanted. The men didn’t find the knives that the girls had in their boots and Alex took a bit of hope away that they might get a chance to use them in the future. After they had been searched, all of their hands were zip tied behind their backs and they were roughly shoved and pushed back over and into the camper. The bikers made them all sit on the floor and it was extremely uncomfortable with their hands tied. The camper was driven by one of the men and another was sitting at the dinette keeping his gun trained on them. All Alex could see was the two barrel holes of the shot gun pointing at her face and she couldn’t help but think that she would never complain again, because sometimes being bored is good.

  Chapter 11

  Quinn sat next to his Grandfather on the wide tractor seat. He kept his head down and eyes on the ground that moved past as they drove to the back fields. His Grandpa had insisted he come out to the fields with him today, even though all Quinn wanted to do was stay in the room they had given him and stare up at the ceiling. It’s where he had spent every day since his parent’s funeral.

  He had just had his eighth birthday and his Dad and Mom had promised him a trip to the Calgary Stampede for his present. He was so excited to make the trip down to the city and could hardly wait the month and a half until they were going. He had been having a sleep over at a friend’s house when his Grandpa had shown up and taken him home. It was really weird because his Grandparents lived an hour away and they didn’t babysit him normally. When they had gotten home he was surprised that his parents weren’t there waiting for him.

  It was then that Grandpa had sat him down and explained about the car accident and that his Mom and Dad would not be coming home. He had run through the house, checking every room for them, unable to believe that they were gone. His Grandpa had finally caught up to him and tried to hold him but Quinn had hammered at him with his small fists and screamed that he was a liar. It wasn’t until he saw the tears streaming down the older man’s face, that the fight drained out of him and he collapsed.

  After that, everything was a blur and Quinn felt like a zombie. He was frozen all through his extended family members gathering and through the funeral and burial. He didn’t want to think or feel. All the things he would no longer have in his life with his parents gone was too much for him to process, so he locked it all deep inside and went through the motions and did what he was told.

  After the funeral, his grandparents sat him down and explained that he would be coming to live with them and his home would have to be sold. It was that final thing that finally broke through his paralysis. Not only had he lost his family but now he was losing his home and moving away from everything he knew and it broke him. He didn’t have many memories of what happened after that but it was a blur of screaming and crying. He remembered clearly looking over his Grandpa’s shoulder, back at his home as he was carried away to the truck but that was all. It had been five days since then and Quinn had not spoken a word since.

  “I love this view. There’s nothing more satisfying than looking out over my plowed and planted fields, knowing that I’m providing for my family with my own hard work. One day this will all be yours Quinn. I hope you will come to love it as well.” his Grandpa told him.

  Quinn looked up from the passing field and scanned ahead. The plowed field ran ahead in rows that looked like they had fuzzy green moss growing on them and Quinn realized that it was the crop just starting to grow. Further in the distance the field ended at a forest that went as far as he could see. White topped mountains rose against the horizon. It was pretty and the air smelled sweet with the scent of freshly turned earth. Looking out in the distance,
Quinn felt the beginnings of a peace settle into him.

  “You know, your father used to run through these fields like a banshee. He was always up to some project or adventure. He went camping by himself back in those trees and would have his friends over for all kinds of games. You could be happy here, Quinn. I know it doesn’t feel like you will ever be happy now but in time you will. Your Mom and Dad wanted everything for you. They would want you to enjoy life and not grieve forever. I know your Dad would be happy to see you running the same fields he did. Just give it a chance, son.”

  Quinn felt tears fill his eyes and quickly blinked them away. He thought about his Dad camping in the woods as a boy and wished they could do it together. He was lost in thought when his Grandpa said “Now who do we have here?”

  Quinn’s head came up and he saw four kids standing at the fence line waiting for them. There were three girls and one stocky boy. As they got closer one of the girls yelled out a greeting. She had red gold hair that gleamed in the sun. “Hey Mr. D. Who you got with you there?”

  Quinn’s Grandpa stopped the tractor beside the group and shut it down so they didn’t have to yell. “Hey yourself, Alex. This here is my grandson, Quinn. He’s come to live with us. What are you kids up to today?” he smiled down at her fondly.

  The kids all studied Quinn with interest and curiosity. It wasn’t often that a new potential playmate moved into their area. They all knew what had happened to Quinn’s parents and the meet was a set up by the adults to try to draw Quinn out.

  It was Alex who answered him. “We’re headed back into the forest to build a club house. We got hammers and nails and a hatchet. It’s going to be our home base for the summer.” She looked to Quinn again and then to her friends. “Hey Quinn, do you want to come with us? We could really use someone else to help us build.”