by D W McAliley
The windows stood out as dark black rectangles in the pale walls. Just enough early-evening light lingered to give good details in the open, even in the distance. Two large metal barrels sat on the flat deck behind the main boat house, and both had flames dancing out of the tops.
Mike could just make out three people moving in the shifting firelight.
Immediately, his heart jumped into Mike's throat and sweat beaded on his forehead. He sat frozen for a heartbeat then dropped the binoculars and motioned for Alyssa to move back the way they'd come. She walked as quietly as she could, but she still snapped twigs with every step and she stumbled twice. Mike moved up ahead of her and began picking a better path. When they were back among the trunks far enough, he motioned for Alyssa to come closer to him.
"There are people up there," Mike said softly. Alyssa's breath hissed in through her teeth, and her eyes went wide, but Mike put a hand softly on her shoulder. "Look, it's okay. They didn't see us. We'll make our way through the woods to the maintenance shed. Just try and be as quiet as you can when we're moving, okay?"
Alyssa nodded, and they set off again. Mike kept a wider berth from the edge of the trees as he moved this time, and he tried his best to pick a clear path while still staying close enough to keep his bearings against the fence. The light outside faded, and Mike made the most he could of it. After a time, though, the dimness deepened into darkness beneath the trees, and it was difficult for him to see where to put his feet.
Mike paused, and after a while and motioned for Alyssa to follow him. He moved carefully to the edge of the trees and checked with his binoculars. A few hundred yards to his right he could just make out the dark shape of a building that had to be a maintenance shed. Mike couldn't see any signs of movement at all, but it was dark and difficult to make out details in the distance.
Mike closed those last few hundred yards through the trees slowly and carefully. The trees ran right up to the back wall of the maintenance shed, and he almost walked into the aluminum sheeting in the dark. He crept quietly around the side of the building and checked the door on the side wall. The door opened easily, but Mike couldn't see anything inside. A few feet from the maintenance shed was a stand that held kayaks and oars. He pointed to the kayaks and motioned for Alyssa to follow him.
When they reached the stand of boats, Mike knelt and whispered close to her ear, "We need a canoe. You grab the other end of this one." Mike took an inflatable red and blue vinyl canoe off the rack and stuck two oars under the bench. The boat was heavier than it looked, but somehow lighter than Mike had expected it to be, and with Alyssa's help it was easy to carry.
Mike turned and there was a flashlight shining with painful brightness in his eyes. He dropped the canoe and his hands went to his M-4, but he froze when a stern voice said, "Don't give me a reason to shoot you. I already caught you takin shit that ain't yours, so don't give me a reason, got it?"
Mike nodded and released the M-4 slowly, but he kept his hands near the rifle. "Look, man, I'm sorry. We just need a boat, that's all."
"Yeah, I gathered that since you've got your hands on one," the stranger said. "Who are you? Do you know someone here?"
"Yeah," Mike said. "I knew a guy named Andrew. Worked here for years. He was a customer service manager or something."
"Drew, I know him." the stranger answered. "Drew ain't here, man." The man behind the flashlight pointed suddenly at Alyssa and said calmly, "Ma'am, I just want to let you know that if you pull that .38, I will shoot you dead. I don't want to, but I will put you down if you draw that gun."
Alyssa froze, and Mike grated his teeth. "Not very polite to threaten someone you just met."
The stranger barked a short chuckle. "I didn't threaten her; I just told her how not to get shot, that's all. Trying to be helpful 'cause I'm a helpful kind of guy. For instance, if you don't want to get shot, you shouldn't go around stealing other peoples' stuff."
"Like I said, all we wanted was a boat," Mike shrugged.
A long moment of silence stretched between them until finally the flashlight dropped as the man lowered the shotgun it was taped to and extended his hand. "I'm Alex. I was a weekend instructor here for two years. Me and Drew used to get stoned out here behind this shed."
Mike shook his head and chuckled nervously at the offered handshake. "Yeah, I guess some things never do change." Alyssa did the same, but her expression remained dark and suspicious.
"Why don't you two leave the boat for now and come up to the main building?" Alex asked with an easy smile. "One of the other guys up there got two geese this afternoon and we're cooking them now. Should be more than enough for you two to have some with us."
Mike took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He glanced back at Alyssa and raised his eyebrows. Alyssa hesitated for a moment, then shrugged, and Mike turned back to Alex. "I don't know. We were really just thinking about grabbing a boat and going on our way."
"You can do that if you want," Alex said, "but I wouldn't really recommend it. There are guys who know that river a lot better than you do who don't run it at night. There aren't any rapids, but there are some strong current channels and more than one tree or rock pile hidden beneath the surface. You rip a hole in the bottom of that boat in the wrong spot, and even with life jackets on you'll be in trouble. If you stick around, you get a hot meal and you might be able to talk someone into taking you down river to make sure you actually make it."
Mike still hesitated, so Alex shrugged. He turned and started heading around the narrow dirt road that led up to the main buildings. "I'm not going to force you, though. Whatever you decide, good luck. Don't try walking up to the fires once I'm there, though. The other guys might take it wrong, and I'd hate for there to be some kind of misunderstanding."
Mike leaned over close to Alyssa and whispered, "Look, if he'd wanted us dead he could have shot us when our backs were turned. I never heard him or anything until he had that light on me. Scared the crap out of me to be honest."
"You think we should trust him?" Alyssa hissed.
Mike shrugged. "We've got to start trusting at some point, right? Otherwise what's the point of staying alive? You decided to trust me, and that worked out okay. This could too."
Alyssa sighed heavily through her nose and rolled her eyes. "Fine. But if someone shoots you, I'm running. I ain't gonna stand there and get shot just because you want some nasty roasted duck or whatever."
"Goose," Mike corrected, "And we'd better hurry if we want to catch up."
Mike ran around the edge of the neighboring storage shed with Alyssa close on his heels, and almost barreled into Alex. The young man stood patiently just out of sight of the rack of boats with a smile on his face in the dim moonlight.
"How did you know we'd change our minds and come back?" Mike asked.
Alex shrugged. "I didn't, but I figured I'd at least wait until you had talked it out and decided one way or the other. Being alone....it's not easy right now, but sometimes it's the best choice. I get that. But like you said, man, we gotta start trusting someone at some point."
Mike stuck his hand out. "I'm Mike, by the way."
Alex didn't hesitate. He took Mike's hand and shook it firmly.
Ch.22
Footprints In The Sand
Joe knelt just inside the tree line at the edge of the road with Chris kneeling in the deep shadows on the other side. Joe pointed to his eyes, and then held up four fingers. Chris nodded, and they set themselves. Joe could hear the sound of footsteps on the road coming closer. He carefully controlled his breathing to try and make as little noise as possible. The breeze shifted from the left side of his face to the right, and the footsteps stopped.
"I know you're there, Joe," Beth called with an edge on her voice. "You've been gallivanting through the woods all day and you stink. I could just about smell you from the big road."
Joe ground his teeth to keep from cursing the wind, and stepped out into the road. "What do you think you're doing going ou
t on your own?"
Beth crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one foot, fixing Joe with a level glare as she did. "I wasn't by myself, thank you very much. I had Christina, Beth-Anne, and Imogene with me. And a shotgun."
Joe glanced down at the pump action .410 in her hands and raised an eyebrow. "That only holds three rounds in the tube and one in the chamber, honey. What do you do if there's more than four people, or if you miss."
"Reload." Beth said with an air of finality.
The other three women tried to edge their way past Beth, but she snapped a sudden glare at them too. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked.
"Well, we're gettin eat up by mosquitoes," Imogene said sweetly, "and we were thinking we'd head to the house while you two talk this out."
"Oh, it won't take long," Beth replied.
"It's dangerous out there, Beth," Joe said in a much calmer voice. "I was worried."
"So worried you didn't send anyone off to check on us?" Beth shot back.
Joe shook his head calmly. "Wouldn't have done any good to send someone out to wander around the Run and see if they happened to cross your path. Better to wait for you to come back to us."
"Mmhumm," Beth grunted and began to walk around Joe. "Everyone is coming tomorrow, by the way."
"How are they?" Joe asked, thankful for the change in subject.
"As good as they can be," Beth replied. "Betsy's the only one who's lost anyone so far. But that won't last long. Four people on the Run take blood pressure pills four times a day. They've got enough to last maybe another three weeks."
Joe listened and ran a weary hand through his hair when Beth was done. He glanced at the other women and then back at his wife. "Ladies, if it's okay with my missus here, could you head on back to the house and give us a minute? We have some things we need to discuss."
Beth arched an eyebrow in the dim moonlight and nodded curtly. "It's okay, ladies. I'll be fine."
The three women mumbled thanks and something that sounded like they were saying good bye, and then they were hurrying down the driveway, heads together and whispering to each other. Joe turned to tell Chris he could leave too, only to find that his backup had already made a hasty and quiet retreat.
When the others were gone, Joe took two steps and put his arms around his wife, pulling her close to him. She was stiff and reluctant at first, but she soon melted into the embrace and clung to him as tightly as he clung to her. They stood like that for a long moment, each holding up the other. Finally, Joe kissed the top of Beth's head and took a step back.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you," he said. "I was worried and scared and maybe a little pissed off, and I'm sorry."
Beth shrugged slightly. "I know. Me too. And I'm sorry I didn't let you know what I was planning. That wasn't really very smart, and I realized it about halfway around the road. It was too late to go back at that point, though. How did you know we were gone, anyway? We only told Bill and the ladies at the house that we were going for a walk."
Joe smiled and pointed at the line of deep footprints on the road. "Footprints in the sand, baby. Didn't take much to put two and two together to get four once I saw them."
Joe reached down and picked up the spool of barbed wire next to the massive sentry pine. He wrapped the fencing around the trunk and strung it across the road. He repeated the process four or five times until the point where the driveway came out of the overgrown cutover was criss-crossed with a makeshift barricade of barbed wire. He clipped the wire with a pair of tin snips in his back pocket, wrapped the end in a tight knot around the tree, and tested it a few times to make certain the web of steel would hold.
"Should someone keep watch?" Beth asked.
Joe shook his head. "We're exhausted as it is, babe. We've been stretching ourselves thin, and we need to make some of that up. Tomorrow is going to be a long and busy day, and we could all use the rest. Besides, if anyone is serious about getting past the fence, the gate, and the dogs, I don't know how much good another twenty seconds of warning is going to do."
Beth shrugged. "I guess God's gotten us this far, and He can get us through another night." She took Joe's arm and they walked across the broad front yard in silence. The stars turned overhead in their slow dance, and the moon was high enough and filling to the point where it drove most of the dimmer stars into obscurity. They reached the steps to the front porch and Beth went up first. Joe put his foot on the first step to the front porch and two gunshots echoed in the distance toward the Thompson's ranch.
Joe froze, one foot on the ground, and the other on the step. He shared a brief but intense look with Beth, and shook his head very slightly. We can't save everyone, Beth, and for now those boys are on their own. They know where we are, and they know how long they have to come to us."
Beth took a deep breath and let it out slowly as her jaw clenched rhythmically. Finally, she asked, "What happened out there, Joe?"
Joe returned her glare for glare. "I told you all that I could, and this isn't the first time you've asked me. The answer is the same. If Brant doesn't show up here by the time the sun rises two days from tomorrow, I'll tell you then. Otherwise, it's his story to tell and not mine."
Beth heaved another sigh and started to shake her head. "Sometimes I think all you men put value on is your stories."
Joe gave a wry chuckle. "I suppose you may be right about that. Then again, the way things are now, the only thing some people are going to have left is their story. And that story should be theirs as long as possible."
Beth's face softened slightly as she listened, and at last she shrugged and opened the front door. "You're tired and you smell bad," she said, holding Joe's gaze. "And you're not making good sense anymore. Time for bed, Mister."
Joe smiled and kissed her cheek as he passed, "Yes, ma'am." he said with a wink, and he stepped into the dark farmhouse.
Ch.23
A Bird In The Hand
Mike sat with his back against the warm concrete wall of the main office building, a smile on his greasy face. The goose was richer and oilier than a chicken or turkey would have been, but it was still tasty. The men had slow roasted it over oak and hickory embers and they even shared a warm beer with the welcomed meal. For a moment, Mike could forget about the reality of why they were eating fire-roasted wild goose with strangers rather than a cheeseburger at their coffee table.
He glanced over at Alyssa who had barely picked at her goose. She wore a suspicious frown but drank her beer slowly and tried to hide her face with each half-hearted sip.
"Here," Alex said as he dropped a plastic pouch with a napkin and plastic flatware inside, "there's a little pack of salt and pepper inside. It makes the meat ten times better."
"Thanks," Alyssa said, but she didn't open the packet.
Mike leaned over and whispered. "Look, if they were going to do us harm, I don't think they'd feed us first."
Alyssa shook her head. "It isn't that. I just wonder where this bird's been and how clean it is."
Mike took another bite of his dark breast meat. "Clean enough," he mumbled as he chewed.
Taking Alex's advice, Alyssa dusted the meat with the salt and pepper and tried it again. To her surprise, it really did taste a lot better. She was hungrier than she had thought and devoured the meat quickly, licking her fingers afterward, a satisfied smile crossing her lips.
Alex sat a few feet away with five other young men. Four of the group wore staff uniforms and seemed to have a familiarity with the grounds and the facilities. They hadn't come right out and said they were former employees the way Alex had, though. Alex waited until both of them were finished with their meal before breaking the silence between the two groups.
"Where are you guys headed?" Alex asked. "Upriver, or downriver?"
Mike shared a look with Alyssa, but neither said anything for a moment.
"Look, if you want us to let you take a boat," Alex said finally, "You need to tell us why we should, okay?"
"You've
got dozens of boats here," Mike replied. "Heck, you might have hundreds, I don't know. Do you really think you'll miss one little inflatable canoe?"
"We might, but that ain't the point," Alex said. "So where are you going, and why?"
Mike glanced at Alyssa and shrugged slightly. "We're heading down river. Into Lake Wylie and down to the southern end. Trying to find a way past the airport to get Alyssa to her sister's place."
"You two a couple?" Alex asked, one eyebrow arched.
Before Mike could answer, Alyssa snorted loudly and shook her head. "Ew! No!" she said, shaking her head again. "Definitely not a couple."
Mike frowned at her and so did Alex. After a moment, she settled down and Mike scratched his ear uncomfortably. "Well, uh...no, we're not a couple," he said. "I knew her mother before the blackout. We worked together at Crowder's Mountain."
Alex nodded his head thoughtfully, then turned and put his head together with his companions as they spoke in muffled voices. Finally, Alex straightened again and looked at Mike, then Alyssa. "If you want, you can sleep here tonight. Tomorrow morning you can take your canoe, and I'll go with you in my kayak. I've been up and down this river my whole life fishing, hunting, camping, and just plain goofin off. I know it pretty well and I can keep you out of trouble spots. Or you can just take your boat and go now. But if you go now, you're on your own. We aren't sending anyone to help you or bail you out if you get jammed up."
Mike didn't hesitate, and he didn't glance over at Alyssa this time. "I don't know about you, Alyssa," he said, glancing down at his shoes, "but I'm exhausted. I'd be glad to take you up on that."
"Alyssa?" Alex asked hesitantly.
Alyssa rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Well, I can't very well row a boat by myself at night, can I? I guess I'm staying here too."
Mike leaned over toward Alex and winked. "That's her way of saying, 'Thank you.'"