The Dark Days: Dark Beginnings - Episode 4

by Ginger Gelsheimer

  “and workers. He’s looking for workers-plans to take them under his control.”

  “What like prisoners?” Janie asks.

  “I’d say more like slaves.”

  Chapter 2

  I’ve always had a killer gut instinct and I never go against it. Never. But this time I have no choice. I can feel the dark cloud forming over my head, something is wrong. After traveling west, pretty much sticking to the old I-70, we are just east of a town called Empire and only a couple of miles from where Kane, Elsie and the others should be. My stomach is tied in knots and I’m soaked in a cold sweat.

  Then I see it—a flatbed truck pulling into view in the distance. It’s carrying a large load of timber.

  “Hide!” Finch orders, pointing frantically at the trees to the south. In just seconds, he disappears into the forest with Janie in tow.

  I am riding with Skipper who turns and takes off so fast, I nearly fall out. “Hey!”

  “Sorry.” He offers an apologetic smile.

  Ben follows behind with Pug as his passenger.

  “Do you think they saw us?” I ask, gripping the edge of the seat to stay onboard. The off-road driving bounces us all over the cart.

  “Guess we’ll know soon enough.” Janie chomps down on a piece of bubble gum. She’d loaded an entire backpack full of the stuff at the convenient store.

  We watch, hidden in the trees as the truck creeps slowly closer to us. I wonder if it’s going to stop or pass on by.

  Boom, boom, boom. I can hear my heart pulsing inside my ears.

  The snow swirls hard in the blizzard, but I can tell now that the truck is closer that its windshield wipers are unable to remove enough for the driver to see much.

  My teeth chatter from the cold, and I hold my breath as if that will somehow keep me safe. The truck is about to approach us. Is it my imagination or is it slowing to a stop? I listen to the gears roar as they wind down.

  My nerves are shot and sweat rolls off my forehead, as I squat behind the trees, sinking as low as I can. Ben must see the worry on my face and mouths to me that we will be okay. I nod. Somehow this scrawny teenager has become my rock.

  The large engine roars and the driver continues to move east past us.

  Down the road, I see another flatbed approaching, loaded with more logs. The spot Kane marked is in the direction of where it is coming from.

  “Finch, we have to go that way.” I point toward the oncoming truck.

  “After this next one.” He motions behind his shoulder with his thumb. “We’ll move farther south into the trees. There should be another road down there.”

  We wait for the truck to pass and then we make a break for it. Maneuvering through the trees is difficult with the carts, but it’s not likely we’ll be seen. A couple of times I find myself wishing Edgar were here because we sure could use his ax. I hope he and Masaru are okay.

  I watch the snow spray off the top of the cart as Finch drives beneath the low hanging branches. We follow him through the forest and a sudden movement catches my eye. “Stop!”

  The tires grind into the snow as Finch pumps the brakes. “What is it?”

  “Up there.” I point to our left at the top of a small ridge. “I thought I saw someone.”

  I climb out of the cart and slowly make my way toward the incline of the ridge.

  “Claudia!” Ben is less than five feet behind me. “I’m coming with you.”

  “You two should stay here and let us check it out,” Finch whispers, motioning to Pug, Skipper and himself.

  It’s too late. I’m already on my way. There are enough branches and rocks to grab onto, so I can scale the incline and keep my footing. I manage to get halfway up without a hitch and I see him. He’s not alone. I pull myself up behind the trunk of a tree to get a better view.

  One of the men is pacing back and forth. “Dorian isn’t going to be happy about this! How could you let them get away?” he scolds.

  Dorian? Was this Aden? Someone had to get away? Finch was right-they are taking prisoners.

  I pull myself up further in hopes to hear him better and accidentally kick a rock loose. It crashes down below, making sure that I am noticed.

  “What was that?” one of them asks.

  “Over there.” The other guy points spot-on in my direction.

  The men run toward me and the only way I can go is down. I drop to a small ledge and part of it gives way as I land, causing me to lose my footing. Cold, muddy snow flies in my eyes, as I slide down the side of the cliff. I scrape my face on a protruding rock and it feels like blades of ice are clawing my skin off. Rolling down the slippery embankment out of control, I bang my head and land with a thud.

  My head hurts so much I can’t open my eyes, but I wave the rest of my group on. “Go!” I jump to my feet and run toward them even though my body feels broken. Looking around for Ben, I see he is heading my way.

  I wave him back to the cart. “Hurry, they saw me!” I jump in next to Skipper and he drives us into the forest.

  Pow! A rifle fires from somewhere behind us.

  I hear it hit the back of Ben’s cart. He smiles and keeps going, disappearing into the trees in front of us. We follow close behind, racing through the branches, knocking huge clumps of snow loose as we go.

  After several minutes, the gunshots have ceased and the blessed sound of silence lets us know we are safe.

  “So, who’s this Kane guy anyway?” Janie asks with a wide, insinuating grin. “You must want to find him pretty bad.”

  I feel my cheeks flush. “Kane? He rescued Elsie and me when we were searching for medical supplies.”

  “Sooooo, he’s your knight in shining armor.” She blows a bubble that covers her entire face before it pops. I see Pug snicker from out of the corner of my eye.

  I don’t even get a chance to respond before Skipper runs over a deep hole and almost flips the cart. We wobble onto two wheels, but he manages to regain control.

  Janie giggles and points to Skipper. “Looks like you could use your hero now!”

  Unfortunately, the bad guys know we’re here. Now, I will have to find my hero with someone else hunting for me.

  ***

  The sun is about to say its goodnight and the air cuts into our bones with its icy chill. Exhausted and starving, we look for a place to stop for the night. We come across an overhang jutting out of a cliff and decide to make camp.

  Finch helps Pug and Skipper secure one of the tarps across the entrance to the overhang to block the cold wind. Meanwhile, Ben manages to build a fire within seconds using some flint he found along the way.

  While the boys are busy, Janie and I pull out a few cans of soup we took from the gas station to heat up over the fire for dinner.

  “Are there any crackers?” I ask. I love crackers in my soup—makes it seem more like a meal.

  Janie rummages down deep in the food supplies. “Here you go.” She tosses the saltines to me.

  The box is crushed and a little mushy from getting wet at some point along the way. I snarl at first but figure I’m going to crush them anyway. “Thanks!” Janie’s still smacking that gum. I’m surprised she’s hungry at all.

  I pull a stainless steel dog bowl out of the stash and hand it to her.

  “What do you want me to do with this?”

  “Thought you could use it to cook the soup.”

  “But it’s a dog bowl,” she says turning up her nose.

  “Well, it’s never been used by a dog. They didn’t have pots and pans at Texaco.” I like Janie, but she’s a little airheaded at times.

  “True that.” She takes the bowl from me. “What are we going to eat with?”

  I dig out a box of plastic spoons and toss them into the bowl and leave her to finish with the soup. I find several airplane blankets in the other cart and spread them on the ground inside the shelter.

  “We’ll have to put the fire out after we eat,” Pug says.

  “But we’ll freeze,” Janie arg
ues, stirring the soup.

  Ben places a few more small logs onto the fire. “They can find us by the smoke. The bed of coals will give us enough heat. “Hey,” he points to Janie, “can I have the lids to those cans when you’re done? Actually, just give me the whole cans.”

  “You sure like to collect a lot of junk.” Janie hands him the two empty cans.

  Skipper plops down on a large rock close to the fire. “I’ll keep first watch.”

  “I’ll take second,” Pug offers as he ducks inside the shelter. “I’m gonna try to sleep now, so wake me when it’s my turn.”

  Skipper nods. “Will do. Sweet dreams, pal.”

  Finch drags a log from a fallen tree over by the fire. It’s long enough for three of us to sit on.

  “I can take the third shift, and then we should head out before the morning light.” Finch sits down and kicks his feet out in front.

  We enjoy the warmth of the fire as we eat our dinner. It’s the best soup I’ve ever tasted thanks to the long journey in the snow.

  The rest of the night is uneventful. Pug snores so loud that we can hear him from outside the shelter. Janie giggles and imitates him, as she pushes remnants of the fire into the center with a long stick to stoke the blaze one last time.

  Ben tinkers with an umbrella with a determined look on his face. He presses the release button and the umbrella flies open, scaring me out of my daze. I watch, curious, as he closes it and opens it several times, inspecting the metal arms and hinges.

  “Sorry guys, it’s time.” Finch pours a little water on the fire.

  I zone in on the deep, red glow emitting from the coals that remain. It makes my eyes heavy and I drift off. I feel myself falling off the log and it jars me out of my sleep.

  “You must be exhausted, Claudia. Get some sleep,” Ben says. “I’ve got this.”

  “You should go, too,” Finch says. “I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

  He has no idea.

  Chapter 3

  I wake to the most wonderful smell. Is that coffee?

  It’s still dark when I crawl out of the shelter. I’ve barely opened my eyes and Ben hands me a steaming Styrofoam cup full of the gift of the gods.

  “Good morning, Claudia. Would you like some creamer?” Ben smiles at me as if it’s any old day.

  “Oh, you are my hero, Ben!” I flash my eyelashes at him. “Do we have any?” The hot cup feels soothing in my hands.

  “Do you want hazelnut, French vanilla or plain?” He holds out a hand full of small liquid creamers.

  I take two of the hazelnuts from him, hesitate and then grab one more. “Thanks!”

  “I know how you love your coffee.”

  I set my cup on a flat spot outside the shelter so I can open the creamers and pour them in. “More like I love coffee with my cream.”

  He chuckles as he pours a second cup for himself. “I like it black.”

  Finch appears from behind nearby trees. “Mornin’. How’d you sleep?”

  The truth is my back aches and my neck is killing me. That tumble down the cliff did quite a job on me. “As good as can be expected.” What I would give for another night at the Brown Palace in a big comfy bed with gigantic pillows—another night with Kane. I wonder if I will ever see him again.

  “We should wake everyone else. It’s about time to get going,” Finch says.

  I indulge in a few sips of my coffee and crawl into the shelter to rouse the others. “Janie,” I whisper, shaking her by the arm.

  Groggy, she opens her eyes. “Mom?”

  “No, Janie, it’s me, Claudia. We need to go.”

  She rolls over and goes back to sleep.

  “Janie,” I say again, only louder this time. “Skipper, Pug. Come on. It’s time to go.”

  Pug is already awake. He grabs one of his boots and slides his foot inside. “Where to today?”

  “Not sure exactly. We need to see if Kane and Elsie and the others are here.” I have no idea where to start. There must be a main camp somewhere if they’re holding slaves.

  Skipper rubs his eyes and sits up. “Is that coffee?”

  “Isn’t Ben wonderful! He has more outside.”

  “I’m there.” Skipper is wide awake. He grabs his overstuffed duffle bag and exits the shelter.

  “Janie, come on girl. Time to wake up.” I shake her again.

  “Okay, okay. I’m up.” She slowly lifts up onto her elbows.

  I wait for her to sit up all the way before joining the others outside. They’re huddled around Ben, looking at the map.

  “Claudia,” Ben waves me over. “We think we should start at Clear Creek. If they made a camp, they probably did it around a water source,” he says pointing to the map as I walk up.

  Seems as good a place as any to start, since we have no idea where they are, or if Kane and Elsie ever made it here in the first place. “Makes sense.”

  “We should keep to the eastern side of the creek. We can hide behind the tree line and should have a good view of them before they spot us.” Finch draws his finger over the route.

  “Looks like we can take this county road here and probably stay completely out of their view. They’ll be sticking to the main road with those huge trucks.” Skipper rubs his chin with his thumb and forefinger, still contemplating. “Mmmmm…yep.”

  Janie finally wanders out of the tent. “Good morning, family.”

  “Mornin’, sleepyhead,” Pug says, stepping away from the map.

  “Janie, are you all packed up?” Ben asks. “We’re about ready to head out.”

  “Yeah, I just want to brush my teeth.” She smiles wide to show us her pearly whites. I’ve never noticed how white they actually are. Funny, how I don’t notice anything normal anymore, or maybe it’s just the pink hair always distracting me. Her roots are growing out and her real hair is almost black.

  Ben checks his watch. “Okay, we leave at o-five-hundred. That’s fifteen minutes.”

  I look over to Finch, who’s hardly able to contain the laughter about to bust out of him. Skipper grins and Pug is somewhere behind the trees. I chuckle to myself. If I ever need an army, I will have Ben lead it.

  I grab a toothbrush from our supplies and brush my teeth. I can’t stand morning slime or coffee breath in my previous life, and it’s been at least a week since I was last able to brush. I scrub the minty paste around in my mouth for a good five minutes. It’s the only thing I can do to feel somewhat clean. I’d kill for a hot shower. Then, it occurs to me that I may never have one of those again. As I put my toothbrush away and load my stuff into one of the carts, I notice Pug coming out of the trees. Even in the dark, I can see that he’s pulling his zipper up. Why can’t he do that before he rejoins the rest of us?

  “The john’s open,” Pug says with a grin.

  Not a bad idea. I was so excited about my coffee and the map reading that I never gave into nature. I quickly make my way into the trees. When I return, everything is packed up and ready. This time, I decide to ride with Ben.

  “I’ll ride with you, Skippy,” Janie says, hopping in next to him.

  “Guess, it’s you and me in this love affair,” Pug says to Finch as he climbs into the cart.

  And with that we are off.

  ***

  Still deep with snow, the road we take south of the highway is difficult to travel, so it takes us twice as long to get to Clear Creek. We come across a spot in the road blocked by a fallen tree and all the snow that came down with it.

  Finch pulls his cart to the side and steps out. “It’s going to take all of us to move it. Let’s try and put it over there,” he says, pointing to the left side of the road.

  The tree is heavy, even for six of us, but we finally manage to move it out of our way. Now, we just have to tackle the mound of snow left behind.

  “We’ll have to dig ourselves a path,” Finch says. He looks to Janie and me who are plopped down on the ground, panting and exhausted. He shakes his head with a ghost
of a grin.

  It’s below-freezing and my bones are screaming. Morning is rising, but the sky is still dark and grey and snow is coming down. I miss Florida—oh yeah, that place that isn’t there anymore.

  Finch grabs a shovel out of the cart and I exhale a sigh of relief. I thought our hands were going to be our shovels. He grabs two more and hands them to Pug and Skipper.

  “Got another one? I can help,” Ben offers.

  “Yep, one more.” He looks to us again. “You ladies are in luck. Just take a breather.”

  Finch pulls the last shovel out and hands it to Ben. The four of them have our path cleared in no time. I jump in with Ben and we are on our way again.

  We turn off onto a sharp turn leading down Moose Holler Road and Skipper gets too close to the edge. The snowy ground beneath the back wheel of the cart’s trailer crumbles and pulls the weight down the embankment.

  Janie jumps out and tries to hold the cart with all her might. Pug and Finch race over to help and Ben and I are fast behind. We get there just in time to help Janie, grabbing the other side of the cart and keeping the entire thing from toppling over on Skipper and sliding down the cliff.

  We pull it safely onto the road and all of us collapse to the ground. The day has barely started and we’re already in the middle of disaster.

  No one says a word until Ben begins to snicker. He points to Skipper. “You should have seen your face.”

  “It was pretty funny,” Finch chimes in.

  Skipper blushes.

  “He never could drive worth a shit.” Pugs jabs him in the shoulder.

  Skipper shoves him back by his arm.

  We take another few minutes to rest. I’m parched and finish off an entire bottle of water.

  “Ben, may I see the map?” Finch asks.

  Ben stands up and takes it out of his inside coat pocket. He joins Finch, who is standing by his cart.

  Spreading the map out on the front hood, Finch studies the map for a second and turns to look at us. “Guys, this is about as far as we can go with these carts. We’re going to have to make the rest of the way on foot.”