by J. R. Tate
Steve knelt beside it, his knee pushing down into the cold snow. He felt the wetness soak through his jeans – he’d kill for some winter clothing where he could stay outside and not shiver down to his bones. Until they killed more animals or were able to travel farther, wearing layers was about as good as it was going to get.
Taking a moment to let it all in, he looked around at everything covered in white. The tree branches, the ground, the hills, and the distant mountains. For a second, it felt like he was stuck in a Christmas card or a quaint village far away from the hustle of real life. The crackling in the snow pulled him from his fantasy and he turned to look behind him, not seeing anyone.
The hair on his neck stood up again, and he moved to a standing position, ready for anything. He had a gun on him and toyed with the idea of actually having to pull it out and use it on something other than an animal.
Hearing the footsteps again, Steve tried to gauge where they might be coming from. Turning on his heel, he did a complete three-sixty circle to look around him. And then he saw the same person, peering from around a tree, leery to come out, especially when they made eye contact again. Steve held his hand out, motioning that he had no intention of harming them… unless they made a move at him as well.
“Who are you?” He tried not to raise his voice but spoke loud so the person could hear him. “Do you need something?”
The man took it as an invitation to completely reveal himself. Steve didn’t recognize him and the man was dressed like he was prepared for the winter weather – his boots were in good shape, his jeans were covered with leather chaps, and he had a large bag that looked to be full of things to keep him alive for a long time. Judging by his long beard, he had been out in the balance for a while.
“You live in Harper Springs?” The stranger’s voice was deep and gruff, not matching his young face under all of the facial hair.
“Who wants to know?”
“No need to be hostile, mister. I’m just asking a question.”
Steve felt a pang of guilt and forced a smile, still trying to keep his defenses up until he could figure out what this man’s intentions were.
“I don’t take kindly to giving out information to looters.” It was an assumption but Steve couldn’t risk it.
“Looters? Who says I’m with looters?” Though the man looked young, he seemed wise. He wasn’t willing to give away too much information, just like Steve. It was another reason he couldn’t trust him – he couldn’t allow himself to be manipulated.
“What exactly do you want?” Steve took a step forward, the weight of the gun in his pocket a reminder that he might have to use it and do something he never had before – kill or injure a man.
“I’ve been wandering around this area for a few days now. Came down from Kansas. I know that you have no reason to believe me and I understand your hesitation in giving me any information.”
“Kansas, huh? How’s it look that way?” Steve asked.
“Not much different than this. Everything is leveled. Hardly anyone made it. Those who did are starving and dying of infections. I can’t believe it.” He shook his head and clicked his tongue as he looked down at the ground.
“What made you come to Texas?”
“To see if we could find something better. My family is all gone. They didn’t make it. All resources up there are wasted. But as I’ve traveled, I can only see that nothing is getting better. And I also saw something you might want to know. Just yesterday.”
Steve arched his eyebrow, reminding himself to take everything with a grain of salt. Everyone was losing their minds – it would’ve been easy for a man up to no good to concoct a story like this.
“What’s that?”
“Well, first, are you a resident of Harper Springs?”
“I am.” Steve nodded.
“I thought you might know that I saw a man that rode out of your town on horseback get taken at gunpoint.”
Steve’s heart skipped a beat, his eyes widened, and if he wanted to pretend the stranger’s story didn’t interest him, he was failing miserably.
“What’d he look like?”
“Tall, dark hair, about your age. The man who took him was a little older, mustache, heavier set.”
It wasn’t a thorough description but enough for Steve to figure that it was probably Ryan – and the description of his captor sounded a lot like Chief Rayburn. But why would he take Ryan hostage? That didn’t make any sense.
“Did you see which way they went?”
“West, toward the mountains. I couldn’t track for long, as I don’t have a horse and they were going pretty fast, considering the weather conditions.”
“How’d you know our town is called Harper Springs?” Steve was still hesitant, and it wasn’t like there were highway signs or mileage markers letting people know where they were.
“I’ve been through here before. I was a truck driver before the shit hit the fan. I’m somewhat familiar with the area and that’s why I decided to head this way. Figured the farther south I went, the more the frigid winter would let up but I was mistaken.”
Steve reached out to shake his hand. It was plausible enough that he couldn’t doubt it and he had his worries about why Ryan hadn’t made it back yet. “I appreciate the information. You’re welcome to come back to town with me if you’d like.” He omitted the news about killing the buck – he still didn’t want to give too much information out. Even if the stranger wasn’t part of the big looter group, desperation made people do crazy things.
“I don’t think I’ll dip into your supply. I’m headed further south.” The man tipped his hat to Steve and returned the handshake. “Be careful out there. And if that is someone you know who got taken, I hope it all works out.”
Steve went to say something else but the man walked past him, not giving him a chance to say anything. It was almost like a dream or a figment of his imagination. It took him a few seconds to snap out of it but his flight or fight response kicked in and he had to get back to town and let Darryl know what he had heard. Darryl’s nonchalant attitude about Ryan not making it back bothered him – maybe this would light a fire under him and kick him into gear about finding out exactly what had happened to Ryan.
Chapter Nineteen
“What do you mean, someone took him?” Cecilia felt her heart race, impatient to wait for Steve to continue. He had come back to the shelter flustered, the first words out of his mouth informing them that Ryan was possibly kidnapped.
“Exactly what I mean, Cecilia. I went back to the spot where I shot the deer and this guy was there. He said he saw someone take Ryan at gunpoint.”
“Where? What direction?” She was trying hard not to lose her cool but her husband was in immediate danger and they were standing around.
“Calm down, Cecilia. How do we know what Steve was told is credible?” Darryl stepped forward, putting his hand on her arm. She fought the urge to jerk it away from him, gritting her teeth at her father-in-law.
“Does that even matter? The longer we stand around here the worse off he could be or the farther they will get away.”
“The guy described the captor like Chief Rayburn,” Steve replied with a shrug.
“That right there tells me whoever told you this information is full of shit.” Darryl threw his hand in the air and walked away, circling as he paced. “Chief Rayburn and Ryan worked together. Why would he take him hostage? That doesn’t make any sense!”
“That’s what I thought.” Steve agreed, his lips pursed as he tried to figure it all out.
Ryan’s recent conversation with Cecilia crept up in her memory and though he didn’t want too many to know about it, now was the time to let everyone know about his suspicions. Too much was happening now to be coincidental and if it meant his safety, she didn’t care if the whole world knew about his assumptions.
“Actually, there’s more to this than y’all know.” Cecilia steadied her voice, double checking to make sure that Ty was out
of earshot. He wasn’t stupid – just from how they were acting, he knew something was going on, but keeping the details to a minimum might help him not realize how much danger his father was actually in.
“What is going on?” Steve genuinely seemed concerned, much more than Darryl, which made Cecilia even angrier.
Taking a deep breath, Cecilia tried to think of away to explain it without it taking too much time. She didn’t know who the mysterious stranger was who had informed Steve that Ryan was taken but considering the back story, it was plausible to her.
“Ryan has suspected that Chief Rayburn might be up to something. When he left yesterday to gather supplies, he was actually going to see what he could find out.”
“What could Chief possibly be up to?” Darryl asked, his tone sarcastic as if Ryan had lost his mind.
“That’s what he was trying to go figure out. His main suspicion was that he was working with the looters. He wanted to make sure we were protected and that he wasn’t giving them information that could help them attack us.”
“So, if that’s true and Chief Rayburn is the one who actually took him, where do we need to start looking?” Steve showed interest which was refreshing compared to how Darryl was acting. Cecilia had to fight her anger, desperately attempting to not blow up at her father-in-law.
“Where are the looters staying? Where is their main area?” Cecilia inquired, looking to both men for answers.
“They’re drifters, I think. Mindy might know.” Steve motioned toward Mindy who was across the room. Joining them, Steve kept his voice low, asking, “Did the looter group have a home base that they would meet at?”
“Not when they had me. We were over in New Mexico and base camp was usually wherever we stopped for the night. We never stayed in one place for more than twenty four hours.”
“Well, we know their focus has been on Harper Springs. Maybe they won’t be too far away.”
Cecilia felt the heat rise to her face, the anger coursing through her. “I don’t think we can go on maybe’s. He came through for us. We have to do something about this.” Her hands shook and she raked them through her hair to try and calm herself down. No matter what she did, she couldn’t get herself to come down off of the emotional roller coaster long enough to think up a rational thought.
“Cecilia… I...” Darryl began to speak, but she cut him off almost instantly.
“He’s your son, Darryl. And I’m telling you right now, he suspected that Chief Rayburn was up to something. And you know better than anyone that when Ryan senses something, you can rely on it. Now, what he thinks he might be up to, I wish I could tell you. That is what he was trying to figure out.” Cecilia scoffed and checked on Ty. Thank goodness he seemed oblivious to everything. “I mean, Ryan couldn’t even call him Chief anymore. That seems pretty intense.”
Steve patted her on the arm. “I believe it. If Ryan thought he was up to something, chances are, he probably was. And we can sit and speculate the why all day but that still won’t get us closer to finding him.”
“So, what do we do?” Darryl asked, his demeanor changing completely from reluctant, to ready to set out to help find Ryan.
“We go out and look for him. The last place the guy saw him was at Rayburn’s ranch. How far could they have gotten in all of this snow? We should probably get a move on and head that way. Tracking them won’t be hard since there will be footprints and hoof prints everywhere.” Steve motioned toward Mindy, pulling her in for a side hug. “I’ll let everyone know. Some of the guys from the firehouse will probably want to go but we need some of them to stay here in case this is a trap. They know Ryan is important to a lot of people here – if we all set off to look for him, they might do a sneak attack when there aren’t enough of us here to defend Harper Springs.”
“Good thinking, Steve.” Darryl pulled a gun from under the pillow on his cot. “I’ll go with you. You don’t need to be out there by yourself in case they get you too.”
A step in the right direction made Cecilia calm down some but she wouldn’t fully relax until she saw Ryan back in the shelter, safe and sound. Until then, she’d have to put on a brave front for Ty. It was going to be the hardest thing she ever had to do.
~~
Ryan hadn’t slept a wink all night. Mike had no problem and he was left watching his captor enjoy sleeping bliss. Even if he wasn’t tied up, the cold temperatures were unbearable and he wondered how Mike was able to. With a fire going, it made it a little more comfortable, but the flames had died down, the embers flickering a bright orange against the night sky.
Shifting his weight, he felt the ropes dig into his skin. The cold metal of the hand cuffs were frigid against his raw wrists and he immediately regretted trying to move. Mike had secured him well and there was no way he’d get free – he’d have to be a contortionist to have a fighting chance.
The chain clanked when he tried to get back into his original position, causing Mike to stir from the echo. It wasn’t a loud sound but in the dense air, sound traveled well, heightening the sense of sound. His eyebrows raised and he opened his eyes for a split second, not registering what was going on around him before he drifted back to sleep.
Ryan’s body shivered and even if there were blankets available, there was no staying comfortable. Sleet began to fall, bouncing off of his jeans before hitting the ground next to him. It was a nice form of entertainment, but the precipitation got heavier, transitioning to freezing rain. If he stayed where he was for too long, he’d die from hypothermia. His toes and fingers were beginning to feel numb and frostbite would set in within a matter of a few minutes if the situation didn’t change.
Rather than try and keep Mike asleep, he began to move more, making the chains rattle. Kicking his feet out, he sloshed the snow underneath, attempting to make as much noise as possible to get him to wake up.
How in the hell was he sleeping through this? Ice was accumulating on them and there was no way what was left of the fire was keeping Mike warm. Ryan’s movements weren’t enough to wake him so he yelled out, willing to accept the consequences. If he didn’t wake him up he’d die. If he woke him up and pissed him off, at least it’d be a quicker death.
“Mike!”
The wind began to howl and Ryan yelled louder.
“Mike! Wake up!”
Mike lifted his head, his eyes widening when he finally realized what was transpiring around them. Sitting up, he wiped the wet from his water resistant slicker that Ryan envied.
“Well, hell, looks like we have us a situation.”
Ambling toward his horse, he pulled out a matching slicker and tossed it to Ryan, hitting him in the chest. Due to the restraints, there was no chance he’d be able to put it on, so he stared up at Mike, waiting for the next move. His body was shivering so bad that his muscles were tense, making it feel like he had just endured an hour long workout.
“I guess you need me to untie you so you can get that on.”
Mike laughed and took his time. Ryan feared frostbite was already setting in, so he continuously moved his toes in his boots and his hands, keeping the blood flow moving just in case. His teeth chattered and Mike looked at him, his grin so snide that Ryan wished he could deck him. This wasn’t a joking matter and if he moved any slower, his hostage would become a dead man.
“Whats… so funny?” Ryan asked, his words coming out in short pants as his body temperature fluctuated like a person who had fallen into a frozen lake.
“Your lips are blue.”
“You go any slower, Mike, and your kidnapping charge will be upgraded to murder.”
Mike arched his eyebrow and finished the last rope, keeping Ryan’s legs restrained. He aided in helping Ryan get the coat on and it was warm, but still not helping the damage that was already setting in.
“You really think we have law and order going on right now? It’s every man for himself. Anarchy. You should know that. How many men have you killed through all of this? Isn’t it up to four?”
“Really? I could swear it’s more – but even with two, you’ve killed more than I have.”
“Self defense, and we really don’t have time to argue this right now.” Ryan looked up at the sky. The freezing rain had now transitioned into heavy snow. “If we don’t get moving, we’ll lose the horses too.” Where would they go? They weren’t close to Mike’s cellar anymore and were right at the foot of the mountains.
As if Mike could read Ryan’s mind, he pointed up the side of the mountain. “I have a cave set up about a quarter mile up. It’ll at least get us out of the heavy snowfall.”
“And the horses? Can they make it up there with all the powder on the ground?”
“There’s a thin layer of ice underneath. They can get traction from that. But there isn’t room in the cave for them. We’ll have to leave them out in the weather.”
“A death sentence for them. And then how will we travel? You haven’t even told me how far we are going but we sure as hell won’t be able to make it over these mountains on foot, especially in winter conditions. It doesn’t sound like you’ve thought this through very well.”
Mike balled his fist and reared back, punching Ryan in the face. He fell backward, tasting copper flavor and thick liquid on his tongue. Mike stood over him, his fist still ready for another blow but backed away. Neither man spoke as he helped Ryan up, freeing him from the ropes as he got him on the horse. They still tied together like pack horses and even though it was dangerous to travel that way considering the situation, Ryan wouldn’t be able to convince Mike to free him. It was a prime time to escape but Mike would never believe he had no intention of fleeing – it was best to stick together, even if they were against each other and Mike was up to something that was apparently killing off all living existence from earth.