Stepping into the clear water, my clammy skin cooled in seconds. Resisting the urge for a full dunk, I vowed to take a quick swim with Hendrix on the way back.
Crossing the river was easier than expected, given the knee-deep water. Once on the other side, we stopped to plan.
“We made great time,” said Mike, and they are no more than a half mile ahead of us. It’s going to be dark in a few hours, so we need this done now, in the next 30 minutes.”
In a near run, we followed the trio, now in view.
At 100 yards out, one of the adults turned and pointed at us.
“Careful, Mike,” I told him. “We don’t know the situation yet, and I want my boy on our side if any shooting starts.”
Mike was now the one breathing heavy, like he might hyperventilate.
“We’re okay,” I told him. “It’s going to be okay.”
Using my binoculars for a quick scan, I saw an old man and woman with Hendrix. There were no weapons visible, except a walking stick he carried.
“Nice and easy,” I told Mike. “I think they are trying to help.”
We approached straight ahead, weapons pointed into the air but clearly visible.
Hendrix saw me at about 40 yards out and yelled “Daddy! Daddy!” He made a run for me, and I ran to meet him halfway, as I told Mike to cover me.
I had my eye on the man and woman, who slowly walked towards us.
Hendrix jumped into my arms, both crying and smiling. “Daddy, why did you leave me?!” he asked, now sobbing harder. “Was I bad?”
“No, son, you weren’t bad. I don’t know what happened, but I’m so sorry. It will never happen again, I promise.
“The people, did they hurt you?”
“No, Rada,” as he would call me sometimes. “They gave me water and snacks.”
Mike caught up to us, and I told him I wanted to talk to the adults. We met them minutes later, and I saw what appeared to be a harmless couple. Most likely, they were grandparents only a short time ago.
“How did you end up with my boy?” I asked calmly.
“Well,” replied the old man, “we were scouting out our property, which runs up to the highway back where you came from, and spotted this little boy crying on the side of the road. Said he got left behind somehow.”
“Just so you know,” the woman chimed in, “we didn’t just take him. He was all alone and could have quickly died out here. We don’t have much besides this land, but we agreed we would always take care of this sweet lost boy.”
“I am so grateful for your kindness,” I replied. “Thank you for helping him get back to us safely.”
I looked at Mike, hoping he wasn't going to draw on them and do something crazy. To my surprise, he was laughing out loud.
“I wasn’t expecting this good of an ending. I think they’re good people.” Reaching into his front jeans pocket, Mike pulled out two Silver Eagle coins. “Thank you both for taking good care of Lance’s boy here,” he added, handing the man the two coins.
The old woman had tears in her eyes. “You don’t know what these coins mean to us. Thank you. And Hendrix, we are so happy that you have found your family.”
“Let’s go,” Mike nodded to me. “I want to be back at the hospital before dark.”
Hendrix ran back to hug the old man and woman. “Thank you for helping me—and for the good snacks!” he said.
We walked back towards the truck without another word.
I was half expecting Mike to shoot them both in the back, but he was too busy talking with Hendrix about what happened.
“He’s going to be fine,” Mike told me, after asking Hendrix a series of cop-type questions.
We allowed ten minutes for a swim in the river for Hendrix and me.
“Yay, Daddy! It’s just like the river we swam in at Yellowstone,” referring to the RV trip we had taken as a family last summer to Yellowstone National Park, driving through Wyoming and Montana. Randomly pulling off the side of a picturesque Montana road, Joy, me and the kids with some grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles spent an entire afternoon playing in the river. It was honestly one of the best days of my life.
Mike opted to wait on the other side and scout the area.
The walk back to the truck was quick, even with the extra weight of Hendrix on my back. I only wished I could radio Joy and put her mind at ease, but we were too far out of range for that.
Mike had his binoculars out as we crested the last valley top.
“Down,” he whispered, pointing towards the truck. “There are some guys around the truck.
“Stay here and keep down. No movements from either of you,” he said. “I’m going to circle 90 degrees to the north. I want you two to be out of the line of fire if it goes wrong.
“Cover me,” he added, “but don’t shoot unless I go down, all right?”
“Mike, you don’t have to do this alone,” I told him.
“Yes, I do. Now protect your boy.”
I watched as Mike got within 100 yards of the truck undetected, crouching low and moving from bush to bush. I had an eye on him and the truck through my binoculars.
The men looked confused as to why the truck wouldn’t start. There was another old gray truck next to Lonnie’s, belonging to them, I assumed.
Every couple of minutes, one would grab a beer from the bed.
“Where are the guns?” I asked, forgetting for a second that Mike was out of earshot. I counted five men and no visible weapons.
“Thanks for being quiet, buddy,” I said, looking down at Hendrix, who I now realized was fast asleep on Mike’s pack.
Mike yelled at the men without giving up his position. “Get away from my truck!” he said, loud enough for them to hear.
They were now all pointing in different directions and looked confused. I smiled as I saw two of the men holding what looked like kitchen knives. They’re in for one heck of a surprise, I said to myself, as I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Crack! Crack! Crack!” came the rapid-fire from Mike’s direction, as the back window of their truck exploded. Bullets riddled the roof and tailgate as I watched through my binoculars.
I scanned the area back and forth and watched the men pile into the truck when Mike stopped shooting. The driver stomped the gas, sending a dust cloud high into the air.
With one more binocular scan and Hendrix now wide awake, we headed toward the truck and met up with Mike.
“That was fun,” said Mike, giving Hendrix a wink. “Don’t worry, buddy. They’re all okay. Just a little scare is all.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t shoot out the tires,” I commented.
“Nah, they’re just scrounging around, like everyone else. I wanted to give them a chance to get away.
“Did you see the butter knives they had?” asked Mike, now laughing so hard he was doubled over.
“I bet they pooped their pants,” added Hendrix, laughing at his own joke.
Replacing the distributor wire, we headed north, back to the group. Mike took it a bit slower, at nearly 45 miles per hour, and that was fine by me.
Hendrix was asleep again, this time in my lap. I had us both buckled in.
“A couple of weeks ago, I would have pulled you over for no car seat,” said Mike with a grin.
“Yeah,” I agreed, and added, “thirty years ago, and I would be riding in that truck bed!”
* * * * * * *
Chapter Five ~
Headed to Amarillo, Texas
Lonnie and Jake ended up going into the hospital. Nancy gave them clear instructions on what to locate for Vlad’s leg.
They agreed to keep an eye out for any pain meds but knew it would be a long shot.
Entering the hospital, they kept their rifles pointed down but visible to the dozen or more people running around the halls.
Passing the pharmacy, pill bottles lay strewn across the floor. “We’re a bit late to the party,” Jake said aloud.
“It’s about what I expected,�
�� replied Lonnie. “Probably like this all across the country by now.
“Let’s find what we need and get out of here,” he suggested. Searching room by room, they were able to find most of the items on Nancy’s list.
Exiting the muggy hospital, Jake couldn’t help but wonder where the critical patients ended up after the power went out. He guessed there were a few still left inside somewhere.
Nancy carefully inspected the items they had found and agreed they would do for now.
“Here they come!” screamed out Joy, pointing towards the truck heading towards them.
Mike flashed the lights and gave two honks on the horn. I reached my right hand out the window and gave a thumbs-up.
Joy was sobbing. “Thank you, Lord, for hearing my prayers and bringing my sweet little boy back to me.”
Everyone in the group was smiling and cheering. I felt a little like a rock star coming out on stage to a cheering audience, but I knew it was Mike they owed their gratitude to, and so did I.
Hendrix was now wide awake as he jumped into his mother’s arms. He was the center of attention, talking a mile a minute about his experience, and loving it. Hudson and Jax ran to hug their brother. “We missed you!” they both kept saying.
I took the opportunity to pull Mike aside. “You saved my son,” I told him. “I’ll never forget that.”
“It turned out better than I expected,” he replied. “Glad I could help.
“Do you mind if I ride in the truck with you?” Mike asked Sheila, as she got in the passenger’s side. “This day keeps getting better,” Mike said to me, with a grin.
As we planned to head out again, Lonnie initiated what would now be known as the Hendrix Plan.
A headcount would be taken at the end of each stop and before we headed out each day by Joy and Lucy for the remainder of the trip.
My heart was full as we pulled out once again, heading north. Hendrix gave me the monocular look, and all seemed right with the world.
I made a mental note to call David tonight and tell him we were having some more delays.
“We won’t make Amarillo tonight,” I told Jake.
“Fine by me,” he replied. “I’m just glad you got your boy back safe.
“How was Mike?” he asked.
“Complicated” is all I could think to say. “But he really saved the day!”
It was late afternoon, and it felt like the day had been a week long.
“Hendrix isn’t going to be out of Joy’s sight anytime soon,” I told Jake.
“You can count on that!” he replied.
“We’ll head north for about an hour and find a suitable place to camp for the night,” Lonnie called out over the radio.
Looking at the map, Jake and I spotted a river about 30 miles north. I radioed Lonnie to keep a lookout for it, just in case it wasn’t too overrun yet.
We were once again making good time. My mind wandered from my boy to Mike and back again.
I wondered if Sheila was going to ask Mike what happened to her boyfriend. Or did she already know?
Just over an hour later, Lonnie stopped the caravan. We could see the river off to the east a few miles. Mike and Jim were tasked with scouting out a safe spot for the night.
With Sheila back in the car with Joy and the other ladies, the conversation was anything but tame. Men were the topic of choice today. Some discussion was in code and other words having to be spelled out in front of the kids.
It was clear to Joy that Sheila was moving on with her life, and Mike would somehow be a part of it. She couldn’t wait to talk to Lance about it tonight and get his input, having spent most of the day alone with Mike.
The guys came back 15 minutes later with a thumbs-up on the river campsite.
It wasn’t as good as the lake, Joy told me, but it was better than the open terrain, like the first night.
With the tents set up, Jim was trying to get hold of David on the radio. After an hour with no response, he scanned the channels for any government updates. Although there was nothing official at the moment, there was a lot of radio chatter to be heard.
The religious nut from earlier was gaining followers and picking up steam. They seemed to be marching across the countryside, giving honest folks the choice to join them or die.
I’m sure most decided to join the cause, being promised the basics of food, water, safety and shelter, and the rest only wanting to live one more day, I thought.
“It’s hard to amass a large group of followers quickly who share your ideology, but I think that guy just recruited a few killers and the rest are given no choice,” I told Steve.
I sat with Jim for over an hour, listening to the preaching of this man. “Sooner or later,” I told Jim, “they are going to come up against a FEMA camp or the military, and it’s going to be a defining moment for one side or the other.”
“You’ve got that right,” replied Jim. “The only difference now is that the military has air support, training and superior firepower.”
Thirty minutes later, Jim made contact with Raton, New Mexico. Beatrice was on the line.
“Hi, Beatrice,” I said, in a jovial voice. “It’s been a long time. How’s the family?”
There was a long pause when she finally answered. “Lance, we’ve had some bad things happen here today, and David can’t talk right now.
“We are still expecting your group and will make the necessary accommodations when you all arrive. When can we expect you?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to my old buddy’s mom, not having any details but fearing something terrible had happened.
“We have been delayed,” I told her, “and are still three to four days out, as far as I can tell.”
“Let us know when you are a day out,” she said soberly. “I have to let you go,” she added.
“I will, Beatrice, and I hope everything with your family…”
“She’s off-air,” said Jim, before I could finish.
I said a quick prayer for David, hoping Mark was okay.
Supper tonight was leftovers. “Fish and venison again,” I told my boys. “I know it may not seem like it,” I added, “but we’ve got it much better than most other folks around this great country now.”
“We know, Daddy,” replied Hudson. “You keep telling us that. Can we try to catch some fish tonight?”
Yo-yo river fishing wasn’t quite as easy as lake fishing, I learned. We set ten reels and caught two small sucker fish that no one was willing to eat. Even Ringo passed on these little guys.
Joy and the other ladies kept an eye on Sheila after what had happened to Kelly just a couple nights ago. A couple of hours after dinner, she disappeared into Mike’s tent.
“I guess that settles it,” said Joy. “Nothing more to see here.”
Settling in for the night, Joy had a slew of questions about what happened with Hendrix, and of course my day with Mike.
I decided it best to keep confidential what he had told me, not even telling my wife, and new best friend Jake.
These things can spread quickly, even in close confidence, I thought, and with a group this small, it could only take a matter of hours to filter through. Besides, I had plenty to tell about our story finding Hendrix.
That night was the best sleep I had had since everything went dark.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!” called Lonnie early the next morning, as he ran around, shaking each tent.
“Lance, Jake, Mike and Steve. I need you out here now!” he shouted.
I jumped out of my sleeping bag, nearly tripping over Jax as I stumbled out of the tent.
“What’s going on?” I asked, realizing that I was the last guy out.
Lonnie, Steve and Mike were all pointing back down the road we drove up just a day ago.
“What the hell is that?” I asked, just as the answer hit me like a ton of bricks.
“It’s them, right Steve?” I asked.
“Them who?” asked Jake.
“Th
at guy we’ve been following on the radio,” said Steve. “It’s him or something like it.”
I was in shock, not believing what I was seeing.
Hundreds of people were walking on the road, still a few miles away but consuming the distance like locusts. Joy, overhearing us, handed me my binoculars and my stomach dropped as I saw men, women and children marching behind two men riding in a jeep.
Next World Series (Vol. 2): Families First [The Road] Page 6