by Payne, T. L.
Walker stared down at the writing. “That was smart thinking.”
Savanah looked back, making sure they weren’t being followed. They’d need to hurry to catch up with the others who had at least a thirty-minute head start according to Isabella. She hadn’t wanted to discuss what had happened between the time the man had captured her and when she and Walker had rescued her. Her focus was on catching up with the group but Savanah knew that eventually, she would need to talk about and process it. She was all too familiar with such trauma. Hopefully, she could help Isabella once they reached the shelter. There may even be counselors there. Lord knew they all could use some therapy after everything they’d been through.
They walked in silence for several miles as Savanah thought about life in Texarkana. She wasn’t looking forward to giving up her freedoms to be taken care of by the government, but the alternative was giving up all her freedom and being held prisoner inside a Chinese camp. The two did not even compare.
“How long do you think it will take Will, Jason, and the others to catch up?” Isabella said, breaking the silence.
“Not long,” Walker said. “Once they take care of their business, they’ll come to Roseville and see Kylie’s chalk drawing. They’ll move quickly to Kurthwood.”
Take care of their business? Their business involved confronting a foreign army. Savanah had tried her best not to think about her brother and Jason fighting against well-armed soldiers. Although she’d disapproved of the plan, she understood their motivation, hating the thought of the country being taken over by the communist regime. Even if they were to restore the electricity and reopen stores and provide food, she didn’t want to live under communism. She didn’t want that for her children either.
Even before they attacked the nation with the electromagnetic pulse, there’d been a push by some in the country toward socialism. She’d never understood how those for it couldn’t see that it was only a gateway towards communism. The system had never worked in any other country it had been tried. It was foolish to her that anyone could believe that Americans would thrive under such a system.
They turned north and made their way along the outskirts of town, at times crossing through residential yards or business parking lots to avoid being seen. Eventually, they reached the Lake Charles Highway and moved as fast as they could in the north-bound lanes, though Savanah was disappointed when they reached the highway and didn’t see anyone waiting for them there. She understood, and she would have pushed the group on as well. She just needed to know that all her children were safe and together. She marched in front of Walker and Isabella, pushing herself harder and harder to reach them. Sweat poured down her face. Savanah wiped it away on the sleeve of her shirt. She was feeling a little lightheaded. She needed water, but they didn’t have time to go searching for it. She pushed on, ignoring all the signs of dehydration.
As they approached an RV park, Walker veered off the highway and strode toward the office.
“Where are you going, Walker?” Savanah asked.
“Wait there. I’m going to see if I can find water.”
“You shouldn’t go alone,” Isabella called after him.
“I’ll be careful.”
“I have my water filter, Walker. You don’t have to take the risk. We can find a water source up ahead,” Savanah said. All she had was a small water bottle though. They needed to be able to carry much more water, so they didn’t have to keep stopping.
“I think we need something now,” he said as he kept going.
She stopped and crossed over a ditch to the cover of some trees along the road, resting against the trunk of a tree as she watched Walker disappear inside the building. He was right. She was so dehydrated that she couldn’t go much farther.
Isabella sat cross-legged on the ground with her back against a tree. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. They were both spent. Savanah realized that they wouldn’t have the energy to catch up with the others and that she may not see her children until in the morning. They might have to walk all night to catch up to them. She was surprised that they’d been able to move so quickly with all the children. Her mind started to imagine that they had been captured by the marauders. The thought grew and took on a life of its own to the point she was in a near panic.
“What if the others didn’t escape after all?” she asked.
Isabella opened her eyes. “I saw them running away, Savanah. They’re safe. They made it out of town.”
“But we should have caught up with them by now. They couldn’t have moved so quickly with the kids.”
“They were trying to get away. How fast would you have moved if you’d been leading the group?”
She considered it. The other parents would have dug deep to find the physical resources to save their children. Isabella was right. They would have moved away from town as quickly as they could, not stopping until they felt it was safe.
“We’ll catch up with them soon. They’ll stop and let the children rest as soon as they feel safe,” Isabella said.
Savanah thought she saw movement near one of the RVs. She shifted and stared in that direction. “Did you see that?” She pointed.
“What?” Isabella twisted and stared off that direction.
“I thought I saw someone over there.”
“Maybe it’s Walker looking for water,” Isabella said, turning back to face her.
“It wasn’t Walker. They weren’t wearing a cowboy hat.”
Isabella got to her feet and crouched behind the tree. “Should we go warn him?”
“I don’t know. If we move from here, we could alert people to our presence and cause more trouble for him,” Savanah said.
“I wish he’d hurry up.”
“Me too. I hate waiting out here feeling exposed.”
A few minutes later, Savanah spotted Walker pressed up against the back of the office building. He must have seen the person as well. He waited there for a few more seconds before sprinting to the cover of the trees then disappeared from view for a moment before reemerging next to them.
“We need to go,” he said, heading toward the highway.
“Do you think they saw you?” Savanah asked, taking off after him.
“I can’t say. If they did, they didn’t seem to want trouble any more than I did.”
Isabella flanked his other side. “Did you find water?”
He reached in and pulled out a one-liter plastic thermos. “No one had drained the hot water heater yet.”
“Really?” Savanah said. “We could have used that water. Too bad there were people back there.”
“Yeah. I will probably be kicking myself for not grabbing another container full.”
Walker handed the thermos to Isabella, and she unscrewed the lid and took a long drink. “Maybe we’ll find another building or house with water nearby then.”
“I don’t think we should risk it. Not this close to people. For all we know, the marauders could be staying there,” Walker said.
They walked for thirty minutes before stopping again. Savanah’s legs and her feet were killing her. The water Walker had found had helped immensely, but it was gone now. They would need to find more; that and food. They needed the energy to keep pushing on. This time, they would all go together to have each other’s backs. They had to assume that every building was occupied and proceed with stealth.
“What about there?” Isabella nodded toward a small group of homes just off the highway.
Walker stopped in the middle of the highway and looked in that direction. “Might be worth checking out.”
Savanah’s stomach flip-flopped. They needed food and water, but she had no idea what kind of trouble they might run into by going into homes. They could find people just like themselves or like the takers they’d just encountered back at the store.
“Let’s do it,” Isabella said. She exited the highway and turned down a side road.
Savanah followed with Walker several feet away, staying n
ear the edge of the road. His pistol was drawn, and he held it in both hands. Savanah held her bat down at her side. She ran her left hand over the outside of the pocket of her jeans and fingered her pocketknife. She’d practiced with Jason stabbing a man-sized scarecrow, but the thought of actually having to use it turned her stomach. The image of the man she’d bashed with her bat flashed briefly through her mind but she pushed the thought away and focused on the homes ahead.
“Which one?” she asked.
“Let’s start with the closest one and work our way through the neighborhood and back to this one on the left,” Walker said.
“Maybe we should go around to the back. It might be best not to be seen on the street,” Savanah suggested.
Walker shrugged.
“We can do that. If anyone is occupying these homes, though, we’ll eventually run into them.”
“I hope not.” Isabella crossed her arms over her chest. She was as nervous about their plan as Savanah.
Walker led them around to the back of the first house on their right. Savanah peered inside the large kitchen window as they headed toward the door. Walker pulled open the storm door and then stopped. “You ready?” he asked. Savanah swallowed hard and nodded. She wasn’t. She wasn’t ready at all to see dead bodies or run into people who might harm them. But, ready or not, they were there.
The door eased open, and the stench assaulted her nostrils immediately. She knew instantly that no one was inside. Not living anyway. There was no way anyone would have remained in there with that smell without opening all the windows.
Walker retrieved his handkerchief from his back pocket and buried his face in it. Savanah covered her mouth and nose with the crook of her arm and followed him inside. He stopped in the kitchen and opened a pantry door. There was nothing but empty canning jars inside. The occupants had eaten every bit of food before they died. Isabella opened all the cabinets. They too were devoid of food. Savanah found a Brita filtering water bottle in one of the cupboards and handed it to Isabella then opened the dishwasher and located a plastic water bottle with a small handle. That would give them twenty-four ounces of water. She pumped her fist up and down in the air.
After failing to find even a cracker in the kitchen, the trio moved farther into the house in search of the hot water heater to fill their newfound bottles. If they were able to get enough water for the rest of the trip, the risk they were taking now would be worth it.
They turned down a short, dark hall and past a bedroom where the door was partially cracked. Two bodies were visible on the bed. Savanah rushed past. She didn’t want to see them.
Walker opened the small door in the laundry room and stared at the hose attached to the drain valve at the bottom. He knelt and turned the valve. Nothing happened. No water flowed from the tank. Someone had beaten them to it.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Isabella said, making a beeline for the front door.
Savanah wanted to stop her, but she too could no longer take the smell of the rotting corpses. She gasped for air as soon as she stepped outside, wondering if the smell would stay on her clothes and in her hair. She may never get the memory of it out of her mind.
“Next door?” Isabella asked.
Walker said nothing and headed straight for the front door of the next home. He waited for them to catch up before entering. When he eased open the door, Savanah was pleasantly surprised to not smell rotting flesh. It was very dark inside. Heavy blackout curtains hung over the living room windows. Walker bumped into a piece of furniture and cursed.
“You okay?” Savanah asked him.
“Yeah. I just hit my knee on a stool or something.”
“Let’s open the curtains, so we don’t kill ourselves,” Isabella said.
Walker flicked on a small flashlight. It wasn’t very bright, certainly not enough to illuminate the room, but it shone enough to light their path toward the kitchen.
Opened cans lined the counter. Whoever had eaten the contents hadn’t bothered to throw them out. Empty water bottles were strewn everywhere as well. Savanah doubted that they’d find anything edible there.
After a thorough check of the cabinets and pantry, which confirmed her suspicions, they moved to a small utility room where the hot water heater sat. Walker turned the valve, and a small amount of water trickled out. He immediately shut the valve. “Give me your bottles.”
Savanah rushed over and dropped down next to him. He placed the opened bottle under the valve and turned it as Savanah grinned from ear to ear at the sound of the water trickling into the bottle. Walker filled it, then Isabella’s, and lastly, the one he’d taken from the RV park. They now each had full water bottles. They could make it last until they reached the rally point and could push harder, knowing they had the means to stay hydrated. She would need to fight the urge to down the whole thing. As parched as she felt, she wondered if she would ever drink enough to be well hydrated again.
“Should we just call it good and get back on the highway?” Savanah asked.
“I really could use something to eat,” Isabella said. “I have zero energy left.”
She’d been through a harrowing experience that morning and had likely spent a great deal of energy fighting with her attacker. As much as Savanah wanted to cut their losses and get going, she had to respect the needs of Walker and Isabella.
Walker took a sip from his water bottle before screwing on the lid. “Let’s try a few more houses. We’ll move in and out quickly now that we won’t be looking for water.
“Okay,” Savanah said.
The next two houses were a bust. There wasn’t so much as a bread crumb in either one. The fourth house on the block looked like it had been recently occupied. There was a path worn from the driveway to the front door through the overgrown grass. Savanah stopped and looked at the house. The curtains were drawn. There was no way to know if anyone was inside.
“Maybe we should look somewhere else,” Savanah said.
“There could be food inside,” Isabella said.
Walker was at the door. His hand was on the knob. “We just need a little something.”
Savanah felt uneasy as they entered the small brick house. This home had heavy curtains over the window. Walker flicked on his flashlight, and they rushed toward the kitchen. Isabella pulled open a pantry door and gasped.
“Peanut butter and crackers!”
“What? Really?” Savanah said, rushing over. Walker stood behind her, and they all stared into the closet.
“Someone must be staying here,” Savanah said, her mouth salivating at the sight of three jars of the protein-rich spread.
Isabella grabbed a box of crackers and then a jar of peanut butter. She thrust them at Savanah and turned for another.
“This doesn’t feel right,” Savanah said. “This belongs to someone.”
“We need it, Savanah,” Walker said.
Isabella handed a jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers to Walker. “I need it. I can’t go on without it.”
She was right. They needed nourishment to get to the rally point and her children. This was about survival. She had to think of her kids.
“The kids are going to freak when they see this,” Isabella said gleefully. They would. None of them had tasted anything like it for such a long time.
Twenty-Five
Isabella
Just north of Leesville, Vernon Parish, Louisiana
Isabella scooped peanut butter from the jar and spread it on her cracker. She could feel the carbohydrates, proteins, and sugars energizing her body. Endorphins flooded her brain, and she felt hope return. They were going to make it. She was going to get to Cayden, and Will would find them. Somehow, they would all make it to Texarkana. They were strong and resilient. They’d made it through so many things already. She just needed to remain positive and everything would work itself out.
It was difficult to push away the imagery of the man’s hands on her body and his breath on her neck. Every time the t
houghts came, she wanted to kill the man all over again. She hated that part of survival. She hated all the faces that haunted her sleep now—the faces of the people she’d killed or who had tried to harm them. Would she ever be free from them? She knew she would never be the same person she was before the lights went out. How could she be? She had so much blood on her hands.
As Walker stuffed their haul into his pack, Isabella searched the drawers for a knife. She was hoping for a strong, sharp knife with which to defend herself. She opened the next drawer and was greeted by a whole array of knives. She selected one and felt the edge of the blade. It was sharp enough. She gripped it in her hand and shuddered at the thought of having to use it. From the way things had gone so far, it was almost a certainty that she would. She looked forward to the day when life wasn’t a kill-or-be-killed world.
Walker stuffed the jar he held into his pack and reached for Isabella’s and then Savanah’s jars. Walker slung his pack over his back as Isabella and Savanah followed him toward the door. As they turned to leave, a door shut. Isabella’s heart leaped into her throat. “Walker.”
He exited the kitchen, gun drawn. Isabella heard him gasp and froze.
Savanah moved back behind Walker who stepped forward and trained his pistol on the end of the hall.
“Stop!” a male voice yelled. “Drop the pack!”
Walker stepped back. He raised the pistol, but before he could fire, a child yelled, “Dad!”
Savanah grabbed Walker’s forearm, pushing the weapon towards the floor. “Walker. He’s got a kid.”
Walker edged back into the kitchen. His pistol was now pointed halfway between the floor and the door.
“We’re leaving,” Savanah said, holding her hands out, palms facing toward the man. “We were just looking for food. We’re going now.”
“I can’t let you do that. I got a kid to feed. I can’t let you take our food,” the man said, stepping toward her.
“Don’t,” Walker said in a low tone. “Step back. Don’t make me drop you.”