They began to cover fewer miles in a day, simply because of their side trips off the trail. But that was okay. They no longer felt an urgency to get “somewhere”. Where they were at any given moment was where they needed to be. They were happy. They could honestly say that they were the happiest they had ever been.
And then the rains and the winds came. The weather had worried us for awhile, so when the mega-storm finally hit, it was almost anti-climactic. The resulting set of circumstances, however, was something we hadn’t anticipated.
It crept up with very little warning. They had just set up their tent and were making a fire pit when they felt raindrops. The night sky had hidden the approaching clouds. With the raindrops came the wind. They quickly moved their backpacks into the tent—this one had a little more room than their first tent—and closed the flap.
“I guess it’s a can of nuts for dinner,” said Lila, rummaging in her pack.
As usual, the lightning and thunder were intense, and it went on all night. By morning, Ben was starting to worry. None of the storms had lasted anywhere this long, and it showed no signs of letting up. They decided to get comfortable. What could have been a romantic time in a tent in the rain, however, was spoiled by the viciousness of the storm.
The storm lasted three days, with no let-up. Late on the second day, the wind suddenly picked up to a ferocious roar.
“What is that?” yelled Lila.
“Sounds like an engine. A plane or a train,” Ben shouted back.
They looked at each other, terrified. The minute Ben said the word ‘train’, they both knew what it was. They had heard enough news reports of tornados where witnesses said it sounded like a freight train.
“Hold on!” yelled Ben.
He barely got it out of his mouth when the tornado struck. The whole tent was uprooted and thrown a hundred feet down a hill into a batch of scrub brush. The small, hard branches ripped the tent to shreds. They continued to tumble down the steep slope, finally coming to rest in six inches of water in a small grove of trees. The tornado disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, but the fury of the rainstorm continued.
Ben saw blood in the water, and heard Lila scream, “Omigod, Ben. You’re hurt.”
He looked down and saw one of his crossbow bolts stuck deeply in his thigh. He hadn’t even felt it go in. Now he did. The pain was excruciating. Lila tried to locate the first aid kit in all the mess. It was nowhere to be found.
“The first aid kit is gone,” she shouted. It was hard to be heard above the roar of the storm. She rummaged through Ben’s pack and found a reasonably clean t-shirt. “I can try to use this as a bandage,” she said.
The pain was so unbearable, Ben felt like he was going to pass out. “You’ve gotta get the bolt out.”
Lila quickly assessed the situation. Luckily, Ben had chosen tips that were smooth as they came to a point, rather than the flared kind, so she was able to pull the bolt out the way it went in. She told Ben what she was planning.
“Go for it,” he said through clenched teeth. She pulled and he screamed. It came out accompanied by some soft tissue and a lot of blood. Lila put his t-shirt on the wound and pressed down hard. Ben passed out. Lila kept her weight on the wound, in some ways happy that Ben had lost consciousness so he wouldn’t feel it. It eventually clotted and Lila found a second t-shirt to replace the first one.
Meanwhile, the rain continued to come down in buckets, but Lila was able to pull what was left of the tent over them for a little protection. Ben regained consciousness and they found a somewhat comfortable position, where they stayed until the rain finally stopped the next day.
Everything was a mess. The woods further down the hill had become a swamp from the rain. While Ben sat against a tree, Lila searched for their belongings. Luckily, all of their weapons survived the deluge, as did their packs and canteens. The contents of the packs, however, weren’t so lucky. She recovered bits and pieces, including a few cans of food, and some she found as far as a quarter of a mile into the woods. But many of their possessions had been lost.
“A lot of the missing stuff we can eventually replace,” said Lila, after taking an inventory. “What concerns me the most is the loss of the antibiotics. We took them exactly for a situation like this. We thought ahead. And now we don’t have them. I could kick myself for not closing and tying my pack.”
“We didn’t know,” replied Ben. “Maybe it won’t get infected.”
It did. The next day, the wound had turned red, with pus oozing out.
“We’ve got to get you some antibiotics,” said Lila in alarm when she pulled up the bandage. “Can you walk at all?”
“I can try.” Lila helped him up and he used his rifle as a crutch. Immediately, he felt dizzy, and when he set his foot down, he almost collapsed from the pain. “No way,” he said.
“Maybe I can make a stretcher or one of those Indian things … a travois.”
“We don’t have anything to tie it all together,” said Ben. “Plus, you’d have to get me up the hill first.” He held her hands and looked into her eyes. “Lila, we have a choice. We can wait this out and see if it heals on its own, or you will have to go find some by yourself.”
“Do you remember where we are?” asked Lila.
“The map is gone, but I think we’re near a place called New Kingstown. I have no idea how big it is, but I think Mechanicsburg and Harrisburg aren’t too far from it.”
“Okay,” said Lila. “I think I should go.”
“This will be the first time we’ve been separated,” said Ben.
“That’s okay,” replied Lila, smiling. “I was getting kind of sick of you anyway.”
“Take your weapons, just in case,” said Ben.
“I will,” answered Lila. “But that’s all I’m taking. I can move faster that way. I’ve left you a canteen and a couple of cans of beef stew, in case you get hungry. I guess you’d have to eat it cold, but I won’t be long, so I don’t think you’ll have to worry about it. Do you need anything before I leave?”
“Nope. Just hurry back to me. I love you.”
“I love you too.” They kissed. “I should be back in a few hours at most.”
Famous last words.
Chapter 11
(Lila)
Lila climbed the hill and found her way back to the trail. She took out her knife and made some large notches in a tree to remind herself where to find Ben. “Just my luck,” she said to herself. “I’d come back with the medicine and spend the next month looking for him.”
She headed down the trail at a run. She had gotten so used to traveling with the heavy backpack, she had forgotten the freedom of being unencumbered. However, the thought of Ben, sitting all alone deep in the woods in debilitating pain, was all too sobering. An hour later, at what looked like the most appropriate spot, she got off the trail and made her way toward town. A number of buildings had burned, including the first drugstore she came to, but the next block down was intact, and she saw another large drugstore.
“Nice thing about this country,” she said aloud. “No shortage of drugstores.”
For the first time on their trip, the store she entered was a mess and had been heavily looted. Her heart sank. She headed for the pharmacy and started sifting through piles of medicines. The good ones had all been taken. She was left with prescription mouthwashes and hemorrhoid suppositories. She kicked a pile in anger, and bottles and tubes went flying. As she turned to leave, she noticed the bags of filled prescriptions. They were unopened. She let out a little scream of joy and started to rip open the bags. In no time she found the antibiotics she was looking for.
She ran through the store, out the door, and smack into someone standing there. She hit the ground hard, her rifle bouncing back into the store opening.
“Well what have we here?”
He was tall and blonde, carrying an M-16, and wearing Army fatigues. Lila looked around. There were three others, all sitting in an old convertible looking at her l
ying on the pavement.
“You a junkie?” asked the blonde man, in a slight southern accent. “Looking for a fix in the drugstore?”
Keep cool, Lila thought to herself.
“Sorry I ran into you,” she replied to the man, as she stood up. “My boyfriend is hurt and I was getting him some antibiotics.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
She dug into her pocket and held out the drug. “See? He really is hurt. I need to get back to him quickly. Nice to meet you, but I’ve gotta go.”
“Hold on there,” he said. He had sergeant stripes on his uniform, and seemed to be in charge. “You can’t be out here all by yourself. You should come with us. We have a camp set up with a lot of people. You’ll be safe there.”
“I appreciate the offer,” said Lila, who was growing increasingly uncomfortable, “but I’m okay, thanks.”
“Hey, look. We’ll pick up your boyfriend along the way. We’re not going to hurt you. We’re the good guys. We have a doctor at the camp.”
I was torn. They made me nervous, but there might have been something sincere about their motives. I wasn’t sure. I wanted to be back with Ben—just the two of us—but was that the best thing for Ben? Would he be better off being seen by a doctor?
“Okay,” she said hesitantly. “Can we go now, though?”
“Sure can. We even have a car. Climb in.”
It was strange for Lila to be in a car again. It looked like it was from the 1950s. Phil had been right about the pre-computer cars. They took off in the direction she had come from. Too late, she thought of her rifle in the doorway of the drugstore.
“This is Mike, Brian, and Ray,” said the blonde man. “My name is Walt. We belong to a camp about ten miles down the road. It’s organized and safe. The head honcho is Major Wells. You’ll like him. So where’s your boyfriend?”
“He’s a few miles up the Appalachian Trail. In fact, there’s the entrance over there. That’s where I came out. Stop. Stop!”
The car kept driving. The four men looked at each other.
“Oh, sorry,” said Walt. “We’re not allowed to go on the trail. I’m afraid we won’t be able to pick him up. I thought he was in a house or something.”
“Then let me out. Please! I’ll take him the medicine myself.”
“Well, I’m afraid we can’t do that either,” replied Walt. “We’re under strict orders to bring everyone that we find back to the camp. I’d be really punished if it got out that I let you go. I’m sorry.”
Lila started crying and screaming, “Let me go! Please! He’s hurt. He’s going to die if I don’t get to him.” She tried to jump out of the moving car, but one of the others grabbed her.
“We’re doing this for your own good. You have to trust us,” he said, holding her in place.
I watched with horror as the entrance to the trail got further and further away, picturing Ben’s face as he started to wonder if I’d ever come back, and what could have happened to me. I saw him three days from now, looking at his leg as it developed gangrene, the realization hitting him that he was going to die alone in the woods. My heart was breaking. My whole world was ending.
And yet—and maybe this was the survival mode that Ben and I had so strongly embraced—I had to start planning my escape. This wasn’t going to be how my life ended. But I couldn’t read these guys. Were they taking me somewhere for a rerun of the Tank incident, or was there really a camp? On one hand, they seemed like they thought they were really saving me from something. But on the other, there was a sort of cult-like feeling about them—people doing bad things with good intentions.
And through it all was the thought: “I’m sorry Ben. I’m sorry I let you down.”
There was a camp. It appeared to Lila to be a long abandoned armory. It was in an open field about a half a mile in diameter; a few smaller buildings grouped around a much larger one. The important feature, at least to Lila, was the tall fence with barbed wire at the top. They had picked their spot well. There was one entrance, with two guards manning the gate. Lila could see a few other vintage cars and trucks parked outside the compound. Inside the fences were close to a hundred people. They had set up makeshift shelters throughout the compound. She tried to guess the number of guards without luck. But there didn’t seem to be too many.
The car pulled up to the gate. “We have a new guest,” said Walt.
“Welcome,” the guard said to Lila. “Major Wells will be happy to meet you.”
“If I could meet him soon, I would appreciate it,” said Lila, trying her best not to create any animosity.
“In due time,” answered the guard. “We have to process you in first.”
Her traveling companions climbed out of the car and moved her along toward one of the buildings. She had the thought that if she could get away even for a moment, she would start shooting at her captors, regardless of the result. As if reading her mind, the one called Ray slipped her Sig from its holster as they walked.
“We’ll keep this for you,” he said. “Don’t worry. We won’t lose it.”
Lila looked around. Many of the “residents” had come over to check out the new person. Suddenly, she saw Dan, Gordon, and the rest of their group. One of the women put her hand over her mouth in surprise. Dan whispered to the man next to him, who whispered to the people around him. Soon they were all murmuring. She heard the names “Lila” and “Ben” more than a few times. That made her walk with more of a swagger. She and Ben had somehow made a positive impression on folks who had heard their names. Lila felt that it would be good to keep up the image. Somewhere down the line, it might turn out to be one of the smarter things she’d done. These people looked trapped. Whatever power the guards wielded, it was enough to keep everyone in submission. They would need a leader. Lila already had the reputation. If she could build on it, maybe she could get them to follow her in an uprising.
Meanwhile, her heart ached. She thought of Ben every minute. If only she had looked before running out of the drugstore. If only she had pulled out her gun the minute she met the men. If only…
However, she needed to stay focused. Ben would expect her to stay focused. If she could escape tomorrow and steal a car, she could still make it to Ben in time. A big if. As they walked, she slipped her right hand into her pocket and halfway pulled out a tiny Swiss Army Knife, the kind used on a keychain. She slipped it into the small watch pocket in her jeans.
They entered the building. It consisted of one large, drab room, with some long tables set up in the shape of a square, and one table at the door with a file cabinet, obviously the check-in point. A very officious-looking man, dressed the same way as all the other guards, asked for her name.
She thought of using a fictitious name, but then realized that her real name would eventually come up with the “residents,” which would make its way back to the guards. That could have a negative backlash on her.
“Lila Martin.”
“Home?”
“None in particular.”
The guard frowned. “Where are you from?”
“Massachusetts.”
The guards looked at each other.
“How’d you get here?”
“I walked with my boyfriend. He’s hurt on the Appalachian Trail. Could someone go with me to pick him up? He needs a doctor.”
“Sorry, we don’t go on the trail.”
“Why not?”
“Too dangerous. The possibility of ambush is too great. Other groups have died. It’s just not worth the risk. I’m sorry about your boyfriend.”
They had heard the stories! They just hadn’t put Lila’s name to them … yet.
“Please take that knife off your leg and empty your pockets.”
“Why?”
“To keep order here, there mustn’t be any weapons.”
“But you have weapons.” Lila suddenly didn’t care what they thought of her. This unemotional little toad was getting to her. “I don’t even want to be here. I’
d like to leave.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t allow that. It’s for your own good.”
She lost it.
“My own good? Listen, you insignificant little pissant. It’s a good thing you’re taking this knife, because if you didn’t, I would shove it up through your nostril and out the back of your head.”
The man turned pale and the other three laughed. “Oh, we have a feisty one here,” said Ray. “The major is going to like her.”
She emptied her pockets, making sure not to touch her watch pocket. Ray patted her down, but was not particularly thorough and missed the knife.
“You will be in shelter number 32,” said the toad stiffly. “The others can tell you about the meal schedule and bathing privileges. Through that door. Pick up a pillow, a blanket, and a bag of personal items on your way out.”
She grabbed the items he mentioned and walked out the door into the compound.
“Ben, if you can hear me,” she whispered, “please stay alive. I’m so sorry.”
What was this place? Why were we here? Did they have a purpose in mind? I looked out at the residents, who were all watching me. They were scared. No doubt about it. Something terrified them. At first glance, the men looked weak. The women had retreated into themselves. It was going to take a Herculean effort to get this group to do something. Emotionally, they had already been beaten down.
The first one to approach her was Dan.
“Lila, I’m sorry you’re here. Where’s Ben?”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. She was trying hard to hold it together.
“He’s sitting under a tree far off the trail, waiting for me to return with antibiotics,” she answered, her voice catching as she talked. “His leg is infected. I know he’s wondering what happened to me.”
Eden Rising (Eden Rising Trilogy Book 1) Page 10