Duck for Cover (Nuclear Survival: Northern Exposure Book 2)

by Harley Tate

  Bubba whistled and walked over. “Well, I’ll be. Guess that Guard armory’s got more than rocket, don’t it?” He wiped a towel across his face and grinned. “Can’t wait to try it out!”

  Midge turned and stared at Danny, eyes wide. She jerked her head toward the vehicle and he nodded. One way or another, that enormous thing would be theirs.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  DANNY

  Friday, 7:00 pm CST

  Ludington, Michigan

  The jagged metal nicked his skin again and Danny bit down on his tongue to stifle a cry. The folding chair they lashed him to had seen better days, with a dent in the seat rail and a puncture near the rear fold. It barely held his weight, let alone that of any of the other men.

  Running his wrists back and forth across the gash in the back, he’d made a bit of progress on the zip tie, but nowhere near enough. The stench of sweat and dried lake water clung to his skin and his stomach grumbled every time one of the beefcakes walked by chugging a beer.

  Apart from two women—one clearly attached to Bubba and one on her own—the group holding them prisoner was comprised of only men. Big, burly men who drank a case of a beer at every tailgate and chopped their own wood and stacked it by the cord. He couldn’t compete with a single one in a fight, let alone the eight or nine gathered around the fire pit.

  Thankfully, they didn’t seem to care about Midge. After the altercation with DuBois and Big G, Danny didn’t know how many more men with evil intentions she could take. He glanced behind him at the M-ATV. A few years ago he’d toyed with the idea of enlisting in the army to piss his father off and he’d contacted a recruiter. They spent the day touring the closest base and he’d been lucky enough to climb inside an M-ATV that day. Built like a Humvee, but armored like a tank, they were almost impenetrable. If he could escape and somehow commandeer the vehicle, they would be unstoppable.

  “Hey Joe, you got any more beer in that cooler?” One of the men closest to him flopped into an empty chair.

  “Yeah, I got a few.”

  “Toss me one, would’ya?”

  Joe reached into a beat-up Igloo and pulled out a can of Natural Light. He tossed it across the fire pit and it landed in the gravel at the other man’s feet.

  “Aw, come on. Now it’s gonna foam all over.”

  “Sorry, Dave. Guess my aim’s not as good as it used to be.”

  “That’s all right. We can’t all play quarterback.”

  “Shoot, man that was almost twenty years ago.” Joe popped the top on his own beer. “I bet you can’t throw for shit now.”

  Dave cracked open the beer and foam oozed onto the gravel. As it slowed he took a sip. “I might resemble that remark.”

  The two settled into laughter and easy banter and Danny kept rubbing the zip tie across the metal. More members of the group joined the circle and as the night progressed, they fell into drunken bouts of one-upmanship and off-key singalongs.

  Every few minutes, Danny risked a glance at Midge. She sat a few feet away, boots planted on the ground and a scowl on her face. From what he could tell, she wasn’t having any luck working free. As the sun set, he redoubled his efforts, risking more cuts to his skin to saw through the plastic.

  At last, the zip tie snapped.

  Danny fought the urge to relax his arms, pretending for the time being he still couldn’t move. He watched the group, calculating odds against each man. The hours ticked by. Joe passed out in his chair. Dave stumbled into the woods to take a piss. Bubba lounged atop a cooler with one of the woman perched on his knee.

  “Hey, Ted!” Bubba roused the rocket launcher extraordinaire from a drunken slumber. “Start a fire, will ’ya?”

  “Why me?”

  “’Cause I told you to, moron.”

  Ted hauled himself up and the hint of a gun stuck out from the top of his pants. Danny waited until the fire crackled to make his move. One, two, three. He launched out of the chair, legs still zip-tied to the metal and crashed into Ted with all his might. The bigger man fell forward toward the pit.

  A scream ripped the night apart as the flames leapt over Ted’s hands. Danny wrestled the gun from his waistband and twisted around. The woman who’d been sitting on Bubba’s knee reached for Ted, the fire lighting up her horror-stricken face.

  “No! Ted!” She tugged on Ted’s leg and dragged him away from the fire. He ran toward the lake, hands a charred disaster. Before the woman could follow, Danny snatched her by the arm and hauled her against his chest.

  As he staggered back, chair bouncing against his legs, he brought the gun up to her temple and dug the steel into her skin.

  Bubba stood on the other side of the flames, too far away to help.

  Danny raised his voice over the shouts of the other members of the group. “Get someone to free my friend or I’ll shoot her in the head.”

  “No, you won’t.”

  Danny held his ground. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.” He pressed the gun tighter and the woman whimpered. “Set her free or you’ll find out.”

  “Please, Bubba, do it.” The woman in Danny’s arms pleaded for mercy. Her frizzy hair stuck to Danny’s face and he spit it away.

  “Better listen to your woman, Bubba. She’s got some sense.”

  He motioned toward one of the only men coherent enough to take orders. “Go do it.”

  The man scrambled up and hurried over to Midge. He bent at her feet and behind her back and within moments, Midge was free. She raced across the gravel to Danny and yanked the chair until the zip ties stretched enough to pull his feet free.

  Danny took a step back. “Give me the keys to the vehicle.”

  Bubba laughed. “Now who’s the moron?” He jerked his head at the M-ATV. “You think they outfit those with keys?”

  Danny’s cheeks heated as he turned to Midge. He didn’t think to look at the ignition when he’d taken the tour. “Get in. We’ll figure it out once we’re inside.”

  “What if they start shooting?”

  “It’s armored. Go.”

  Danny waited until Midge figured out how to open the massive door before walking backward with the woman toward the vehicle. She blubbered and clawed at his hands and begged him not to shoot or take her with them.

  Bubba stayed where he was.

  As he reached the open door, Danny shoved the hysterical woman forward and leapt inside. A shot rang out almost instantly. He reached for the massive door. A bullet pinged off the metal above his head. He tugged with all his strength as another shot clipped the frame.

  The door slammed shut and a volley of bullets cascaded over the metal.

  Midge sat in the driver’s seat, panting and out of breath. “We have to go.”

  “I don’t know how to turn it on.” Danny stared at a bank of controls. Fire suppression system, fuel gauge, something that looked like a stubby joystick. “Where’s the start?”

  Midge leaned forward and flipped a switch. The engine sputtered to life.

  Danny stared at her and she shrugged. “Lucky guess.” She shoved the shifter into gear and pushed down on the gas. The vehicle lurched forward.

  “How fast do you think this thing will go?”

  “We’re about to find out.” Midge pressed down on the accelerator and the M-ATV sped up. They bounced over the gravel and onto the road as something massive whizzed past the windshield. An explosion rocked the vehicle and Midge eased up on the gas as a tree on the edge of the grass burst into flames.

  She rose up in the driver’s seat like a child in her mother’s car and peered over the steering wheel. “Guess they’ve got a few rockets left. Will this thing survive a rocket?”

  “Let’s not stick around to find out.”

  Midge punched the gas and the rolling giant tore down the road. It didn’t take long to put Bubba and his crew behind them.

  “We did it.” Danny sat back in the passenger seat, amazed at the two of them. “We actually did it.”

  “Thanks for rescui
ng me. Again.”

  “Thank you for driving the getaway vehicle.”

  Midge sat a little straighter in the seat. “We should be able to get to Suttons Bay no problem now. No one can stop us and try to steal it, no one can shoot us, no gangs can tell us to go a different way and lose time or run into someone even worse.”

  Danny couldn’t agree more. “We’re actually in a good position for once. If our luck holds out, we should get there in no time.”

  Midge smiled and turned back toward the road.

  As long as they had the M-ATV, everything was going to be fine.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  MIDGE

  Saturday, 6:00 am CST

  Suttons Bay, Michigan

  Midge blinked away the water building up in her eyes from staring at a dark road all night. Under normal circumstances, they would have arrived in Suttons Bay hours ago, but thanks to abandoned vehicles littering the roadways, the going had been slow. She turned off Race Street, M-ATV tires bounding over the curb, and onto St. Mary’s Avenue.

  Danny roused from sleep. “Where are we?”

  “A few blocks from Dottie’s house.” Excitement tipped the ends of Midge’s words higher and she scooted forward on the seat. “I can’t believe I remembered the way. I haven’t been here since high school.”

  “Dottie and your mom are close?”

  “Best friends since they were eighteen. Dottie’s the reason my mom moved to Chicago when I left for college. She planned to find a place in Suttons Bay after she retired, but—” Midge cut herself off. “Guess that’s not going to happen now.”

  Midge slowed the vehicle and came to a stop outside a small stone cottage with a glass front door and a pot of red geraniums on the front step. Before Danny could say a word, she threw the driver’s door open and jumped down. I’m here, Mom! Midge almost shouted out her welcome, biting back the words as she bounded up the front steps.

  Her knock rattled the glass. She bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet as Danny joined her on the front step. Midge knocked again.

  No answer.

  “Maybe they’re asleep. It’s really early.” She bent down and lifted the flower pot to reveal a brass key. “Still the same Dottie.” She stuck the key in the lock, turned, and pushed the door open.

  “Hello? Dottie? Mom?” Midge stepped into the foyer and frowned. “The bedrooms are upstairs.”

  “We should be careful.”

  Midge chewed on her lip. She didn’t want to be careful. She wanted to find her mother. “You search down here, I’m going up.”

  Her foot landed on the first step when Danny grabbed her by the arm. “Slow down.” He eased close enough to whisper. “We just broke into someone else’s house. I don’t want a repeat of the old man with the shotgun.”

  Midge shoved him off. “Dottie’s not like that. Besides, she knows me.” Midge refused to wait any longer. She took the steps two at a time, reaching the upstairs landing before Danny even climbed a single step. Racing to the guest bedroom, she threw the door open.

  Eyelet coverlet. Embroidered pillows. Dried hydrangeas in a vase on the bedside table. Everything just as she’d expected it except for one thing. Her mother wasn’t there.

  A faint layer of dust coated the glass tabletop and when Midge reached forward to pull back the covers, her hand caught a spiderweb. All the hope and excitement and promise she’d held onto for days vanished.

  Based on the state of the room, no one had slept there in quite some time. She pulled her hand back and pressed her fingers against her lips. Maybe they were staying in a neighbor’s cellar or evacuated to the community center. The church a few blocks away was designated an evacuation point if she remembered right. Maybe they slept there.

  She spun around and froze. Across the hall from the guest room, the master bedroom’s door stood wide open. Danny leaned over the bed. A frail hand rose up into the air. Midge swallowed down the rising dread and entered the room.

  “Oh, Dottie.” One look and Midge’s worst fears were confirmed. Dottie lay in the bed, pale and gaunt. Sores pocked her arms. Patches of hair littered the pillow.

  Midge leaned close as the older woman reached for her. “What happened to you?”

  Dottie smiled as she recognized Midge. “My dear, what brings you here with this nice young man? Did your mother send you?”

  Midge swallowed. “I was hoping she was here.”

  Dottie’s blue eyes clouded over. “Why would she be here?”

  “Because I told her to come.” Midge wrapped her fingers in Dottie’s bedsheet. “You haven’t seen her?”

  “No, my child, I haven’t seen anyone in a few days.”

  “Then why are you so sick?”

  Dottie smiled. “I went shopping in Green Bay last week. There’s an antique market the first weekend of every month that I never miss.”

  Midge closed her eyes and tried to remember the geography. It didn’t make sense. “I don’t understand.”

  “The winds, my dear. They blew straight over from Minneapolis. When the power went out, everyone thought it was local. The market kept going with checks and cash. I thought nothing of it.” She motioned toward a glass of water. Danny picked it up and helped her drink.

  “Didn’t you go inside? Shelter from the fallout?”

  “I didn’t know. I was far enough away from the cities that I had no idea anything was wrong.” She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “It wasn’t until I tried to take the ferry across the lake that I overheard someone talking. By then,” she held up her wounded arm. “It was too late.”

  Midge looked at Danny. Was it too late? Would she die from exposure?

  He smiled at Dottie. “Is there anyone around here who might be able to help you? A doctor or someone we can go find?”

  Dottie patted his hand. “What a nice young man you are. I’ve enjoyed our little talk. And studying to be a doctor, too.” She smiled. “Dr. Gleason lives across the street. He’s a veterinarian, but I’d hate to bother him. I’m sure he’s busy with his animals.”

  “I bet he’ll make a little time for you.” Danny eased down onto the edge of the bed and kept talking to Dottie in soothing, gentle tones.

  The words wafted over Midge’s head like a cloud of gnats. She didn’t know what to do or say or think. Her mother wasn’t there. She’d never made it.

  Stumbling out of the bedroom and back down the stairs, Midge caught herself on the bannister. Pain doubled up inside her chest.

  For the past week, the only image keeping her moving was that of her mother and Dottie sitting on the back porch sipping tea and reminiscing, waiting for Midge to reach them at last.

  It had all been a lie.

  She slid to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees. The whole time she’d been fighting to leave the city and reach Suttons Bay, her mother had been where?

  Dying in Chicago? Trapped in traffic? All the wrong turns and poor decisions of the past week piled up like bricks bashing against her heart: leaving the airport and heading south with Jessica, agreeing to plow ahead with the horses around the tip of the lake, staying on the backroads instead of the highway.

  Her mother could be anywhere. Stalled out on the side of the road with no food or water. Starving to death. A sob rolled up from the depths of her belly and burst from her mouth.

  All at once, Danny’s arms slid over her shoulders. He tucked her shaking form against his chest. “Shh, shh. It’s okay.”

  She beat a fist into his bicep. “No, it’s not. It’ll never be okay again. My mom’s not here, Dottie’s about to die, and it’s all my fault.”

  He pulled back and took her by the chin, turning her tearstained face up to look her in the eye. “If you want to blame someone, blame whoever’s responsible for the bombs, but don’t blame yourself.”

  “I knew, Danny. I knew and I didn’t do anything except run.” She beat her fist against her own sternum as the tears flowed in rivers. “I could have saved her. I could ha
ve saved Dottie and my sister and—” She broke off sobbing.

  Danny smoothed her hair. “You told your sister about the threat. We don’t know what she did with that knowledge. She could have alerted all of the West Coast. She could have hidden somewhere safe.”

  “Why isn’t my mother here?”

  “I don’t know. But we’re not giving up.”

  Midge snuffed. “It’s impossible.”

  “No, it’s not. But first, we have to help Dottie.” He reached out and wiped away Midge’s tears. “She’s frail, but she’s not as bad off as Barbara. If we can get her some medicine and treatment, I think she’ll pull through.”

  Ever fiber in Midge’s body screamed at her to coil up in a ball and give up, but Danny was right. If she left Dottie upstairs to die, her mother would never forgive her. She struggled upright and used her hoodie to wipe off her face. “Where’s this vet again?”

  Danny smiled in admiration. “Atta girl.” He sideways hugged her and pointed toward the front door. “Dottie says he’s right across the street.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  DANNY

  Saturday, 8:00 am CST

  Suttons Bay, Michigan

  Danny peered at Midge out of the corner of his eye as he knocked on the door to the house across the street. On the outside she appeared functional, but on the inside she must have been falling apart. The second they pulled up to the cottage and didn’t see a car, Danny had feared the worst.

  He hoped focusing on a task would help her process the disappointment. From everything Dottie told him, Dr. Lloyd Gleason was their best bet.

  The door to the house opened and an older man lifted a pair of bushy eyebrows. “Can I help you?”

  “Dr. Gleason?” Danny asked.