The driving was slow going, but an hour later he reached the outskirts of Manhattan. For the last twenty minutes he had been driving on the sidewalks that cut around the stalled traffic, and the further he had gotten out of the city the more he had found himself having to slow down and cut around the stalled traffic. He finally realized there was no way to drive out of the mess that Manhattan had become. He sat quietly for a few moments then got the car turned around and headed back for Park Avenue.
He wound slowly through the stalled traffic, going around where he had to, and he was close to Central Park when the car became hopelessly wedged as he tried to get around several vehicles blocking the road. It had been close before, but this time it was pushed tight against a building and the front of a truck that had ended up on the sidewalk, and there was no hope of getting the car freed. One of the cars he had been trying to squeeze past had slipped over onto the hood of the small car, pushing it both tighter into the building and the cement sidewalk.
Adam shut it off, and leaving the keys in the switch where he had found them, walked off toward the park.
On the Road: Billy and Beth
The name of the place was Tonopah Arizona. Billy had eased the truck up onto I-10 and that had waked Beth up, the tires bouncing over the broken asphalt.
“Not a big city... A town from the looks of it. Phoenix is close. Ten, fifteen miles maybe. Can't really tell from the map,” Billy said. A gas station loomed out of the early morning gray and Billy wheeled the truck under the roof that covered the pumps. He shut off the motor, and they both listened to the tick of the cooling motor for a few seconds.
“Coffee would be real nice,” Beth said. “No way do we want to go into Phoenix... Too dangerous.” She yawned and then covered her mouth and laughed. “Jesus... Morning breath.” She zipped open her knapsack, retrieved a bottle of water, her toothbrush and some toothpaste. She stepped from the truck.
Billy opened his door and settled his feet onto the pavement. It wasn't just old pavement, it was gray, there was no black left in it, like it was completely washed out, used up. When his eyes came up they settled on Beth who stood slightly in front of the truck, her gun in one hand the toothbrush working around her mouth on its own. It was the stance of her body that warned him, the set of her shoulders. Her other hand was reaching for the rifle which was just coming free of her shoulder. Billy shrugged his own rifle off his shoulder and into his hands before he even saw what had alarmed her. She spit out the toothbrush, holstered the gun and flicked the safety off the rifle. Three men stepped out of the shadows of the open garage bay.
They were kids, Billy saw. Or at least not much more than kids. They walked slowly forward.
Beth raised the rifle and pointed it at the lead kid. “That's it, right there.” She said.
She didn't scream it, softly spoke it, Billy thought later, but the kid stopped in his tracks.
“What's with the fuckin' guns?” The kid asked.
“Ours weren't aimed at you until you aimed yours at us,” Billy said. He hoped he sounded as cool as Beth had.
“Bullshit,” one of the other kids said. “You had it in your hands when I looked at you. That's why I got mine ready.”
“I don't want to kill anyone today,” Beth said.
“It don't really bother me,” The third kid said. His eyes were blood shot. They had interrupted him while he was sleeping, it seemed. He kept rubbing at his eyes, Beth saw.
“I think you're right, it can't matter if you're dead,” Beth said.
“Hey, “ the lead kid said, “Maybe all's we want is to party a little.”
“Well I don't know if Billy swings that way,” Beth said.
“Pretty funny,” the kid responded. “Look... It's our town. We ain't the only ones here. You shoot there will be twenty more here in seconds. Then everybody dies.”
“Oh... I guess I didn't see it right,” Beth said. “I can see where it might be preferable to get raped and then murdered instead of getting murdered outright.”
The one in the back, the one with the sleepy eyes, stiffed a yawn and reflexively raised one hand to his mouth as his eyes slipped shut for a split second. Beth shot the lead kid in that split second, Billy had the second guy a moment later. The third kid opened his eyes to a changed situation.
“Just give me a reason,” Beth said. “Any reason.” The kid released the rifle he held and it dropped from his hands to the pavement.
“Can't shoot me I ain't got no gun... Can't... Can't shoot me...” He spun and looked off toward a rag tag collection of trailers that lined a dirt road in back of the station. “Johnny!” he screamed. “Johnny! Killers!” he turned back to Billy and Beth. “Can't shoot me... I ain't armed... Can't...” Billy shot him.
A second later the truck roared to life and Billy spun the wheel hard heading back towards the drop off from the pavement the way they had come.
Beth bounced around the cab and smacked her head hard enough on the windshield to star the glass when the truck left the pavement at better than fifty miles an hour and hit the hard packed dirt that ran alongside I10. She finally got her balance, swept one hand across her forehead, looked at the blood and cursed lightly. Behind them three trucks had launched off the pavement and were running hard to catch them.
“Fuck me,” Billy said. He pushed the pedal to the floor, there was nothing else for it. The glass in the back window starred a second later as Beth rammed the rifle stock into it. Another hit and the glass fell out into the pickup bed area. She raised the rifle and began to fire back at the trucks. A second later a hole punched through the windshield to Billy's left. He mashed the pedal harder into the floorboard feeling the truck skate across the hardscrabble of the desert as the truck flew beside the highway.
“We have to get north, the other side of the highway. If they squeeze us south we'll be in the goddamn desert,” Beth yelled above the scream of the engine.
“There are cars up there,” Billy yelled back. “On the highway!”
“There are bullets down here and they're gaining on us,” Beth yelled back.
“Better sit down,” Billy yelled.
“Just do it, Billy!” She continued to fire out the back window.
Billy turned the wheel hard right and the truck lurched hard to the left, threatening to roll over as the center of gravity changed. It nearly rolled before it hit the edge of the pavement, broke over, and then became airborne. It came within ten feet of a wrecked semi and trailer and then it plunged off the other side of the highway so smoothly that billy couldn't believe it had actually landed.
“Nearly broke my neck slamming it into the ceiling,” Beth yelled. She fell silent. “I...” She started, but an explosion from the highway stopped her words.
“Hit that fucking truck,” Billy screamed. “Has to be.”
“Keep it floored though, Billy. Keep it floored.” She stayed where she was, staring out the back window, knees driven into the seat top. Billy's eyes strayed to her ass, and then snapped back to the road. He watched the hard packed earth fly by.
“Roads coming up... Like, dirt roads,” Billy said. He had no sooner said it than the truck hit the slight rise and flew across it.
“Like back roads, looks like,” Beth said. “Nothing on the map.” She was trying her best to read the map as the truck bounced and tilted. One hand clutching against the seat back held her in a somewhat stable position as she looked at the roads. “Looks like all dirt roads, back roads and then it falls away to nothing. Just keep it pointed at the mountains in the distance.” She turned completely around and sat down with the map in her lap. “Must have hit the truck or each other. Whatever it was I don't think they feel like coming after us again... Billy, we can't fuck up like that again. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking letting my guard down like that.”
Billy said nothing. Beth went back to reading the map.
“Start breaking left, Billy. There's a river... No, maybe some sort of waterway, not a river, too stra
ight. It ends and then picks up again a few miles later. We can get through and into the desert from there.” She looked at the map for a few more minutes, “Maybe twenty miles or so. Just run right by I10 and we should be good.” She turned and peeked over the back seat once more. “We're leaving a lot of dust, Billy.”
He looked over at her.
“We gotta figure this out too. I mean, we're going backwards, back to where we came from,” Beth said.
“I could loop out deep and then swing back,” Billy said.
“Yeah, except I'm thinking in this desert you can see dust for miles... The dust is the problem.” She leaned over and looked at the gas gauge. “Less than a half tank, so gas is a problem too.” She frowned.
“We've got gas in the back,” Billy threw in.
“I'm thinking this. We hit that river, or an out building, has to be something around here that will hide the truck. We crash, sleep the day away, and then tonight we run across the desert to the other side of Phoenix. What do you think?”
“Sounds like a plan... I'm shot,” Billy agreed.
“Okay, so take the next road that crosses, slow down to keep the dust down and let's start looking for a place to hide for the day... We've got enough gas in the back we can get a long way before we need to find a station if we don't burn it up running in circles and backtracking.”
Billy slowed the truck and began heading to the right, the east. “One of those towers will do... High voltage lines? Something like that. Just scrap metal now, but that will hide us if we drive right up to it...”
They drove to the tower on a dirt service road that circled it, and then continued to the north. Billy pulled the truck up close to the tower and shut it down. The silence held for a few moments, he fisted his hands into his eyes. “Jesus, I'm shot.”
“Come here,” Beth said. She pulled him down to the seat and laid his head in her lap. She began to rub lightly at his temples.
“God, don't do that It'll put me to sleep,” Billy told her half jokingly.
'Which is why I'm doing it.” She stretched her legs, angled them across to the drivers side floorboard, and leaned back into the door. The last thing she remembered was smoothing the hair out of his eyes and then she spiraled away into a series of dreams.
New York: Conner and Katie
Everyone was up early and ready to go before the sun was barely above the horizon.
“Yesterday,” Jake said to no one in particular. “Thirty two hours long.” Silence greeted his remark. Katie checked her own watch.
“So, like, that means things are slowing down?” Lydia asked.
“You think?” Jake asked unkindly.
“Well, something like that,” Lydia shot back defensively.
“Why would it go backwards,” James asked?
“Yeah. Wasn’t it supposed to stop, reverse and then start up again?” Lydia asked.
“Maybe,” Conner agreed. “But that was all based on theory. No facts involved at all... Let me correct that, I think they had some evidence that the poles had reversed at a few points in history before. Maybe because of asteroid impacts, but no real proof to join the event with the results they found in the layers of rock. And some Native American legends that spoke about the Earth standing still for a day, something like that, but even so, most of what they said would happen was all theory, not fact.”
“Yeah,” Jake chimed in. “It’s like an asshole. Everyone’s got one.”
“Don’t you mean opinion?” Lydia asked sweetly.
“Whatever. We ready to go, or what?” Jake asked. Everyone followed him outside in the uncomfortable silence that fell.
~
“What’s up with those two,” Katie whispered as she followed Conner outside.
“Who knows,” Conner whispered back. James met his eyes and raised his eyebrows. Conner shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as if to say I don’t know.
“We may as well take all three trucks,” James suggested. “That way if we find the stuff we want it’ll save us driving back to get them.”
“Easier if we get stuck also,” Katie suggested.
Jake shrugged his shoulders. “Fine by me,” he said. He headed for the Suburban with Lydia right behind him. Jan and Katie headed for the pickup truck. James broke into a laugh and grinned at Conner. “Guess that leaves me and you in the old dinosaur. Want to drive?”
“After you,” Conner said laughing. James started the truck and pulled out last in line, following the other two trucks as they picked their way along the edge of the ruined road.
~
“It was me that asked Jan to go with Katie,” James said as they followed slowly along behind the other trucks.
Conner nodded. His eyes following the sides of the road as James drove along. “I thought it was something like that,” he said. “What’s on your mind, James?”
“Well… A lot,” James said after a second or two. He hesitated a little longer. “I guess mainly to say Jan and I would like to go with you when you leave... And Katie, I assume.”
“Yeah,” Conner agreed. “I know that probably seemed kind of quick.”
“It’s a…”
“Quick world,” Conner finished. “Katie said the same thing. I don’t know how much better off we’ll be leaving as opposed to staying, but we’d be glad to have you two with us if you want to come.”
“We would. Jan and I talked it over. We talked all night long last night. I got nothing personal against Jake; he did alright by us, but he’s a little too…”
“Demanding? Aggressive?” Conner supplied.
James looked thoughtful. “I don’t know… Something like that. I just don’t see him being able to see this through. I feel like if we came back here in ten years we’d find him still holed up in that factory. He’s… I don’t know... too immature to talk to about it. He has only one way of looking at things. That can’t work.”
“You’re probably right. He’d still be here with Lydia, probably with a couple of babies running around, but maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Maybe that’s a good thing.” He shrugged. “The immaturity… I don’t know… It’s there though. Maybe he’ll move out of that. Maybe it’s just the situation.”
“Maybe,” James agreed. “But that’s exactly the time he should be mature, isn’t it?”
Conner nodded. James continued.
“So maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it’s not, but not for me. I don’t want to stay here. Nor Jan either. I wouldn’t want to quit this unless I knew this was all there was. I mean, this couldn’t be worldwide, could it?”
“I don’t know,” Conner said softly. “But I agree. I know what you mean. Katie and I talked about it last night too and came to the same opinion. It could be better elsewhere, and whatever is right for Jake or Lydia isn’t necessarily right for us. I was for going from the start. I have to know if this is really the end. If there’s anything else. If it is the end then I’ll deal with it; find a place to settle down. Thank God I have Katie, you and Jan. Maybe we’ll meet others on the way to... Well, wherever.”
“I think so,” James said. “I mean I think there are people, other people around. We've just got to find them. Or them us.”
“Yeah, we've got to remember rifles and pistols too. I hate to say it, James, but we may need them.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Yeah.”
They continued on in silence as the small caravan made its way past a collapsed building partially blocking what was left of the road.
“I think… It’s not my business,” James said, “But I think you made an enemy of Lydia. She was thinking you would be with her.”
“Yeah, I could see that, James. I don’t think Jake was any too pleased either.”
James nodded. “Nope, none too. Him I wouldn’t worry about though. Her, she’s pretty spiteful. I’ve only known her for a week, but it’s enough. That child did pretty much what she wanted to, I’ll bet. Used to having her own way, getting what she wants when she wants i
t.”
“Yeah, I can see that, but last night we talked about the journals; I’m keeping one. Katie is too. Lydia said she would. Something to leave when we leave.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” James agreed. “I’m not much for writing myself, but Jan might like it.”
Conner nodded. “Well, Lydia liked the idea. She didn’t say she’d go, but she might. So hate me or not, she might be with us.”
“Oh,” James said. “I see that. Maybe she’ll be okay. She’s a kid; maybe she’ll change.”
“Guess we’ll have to see,” Conner agreed. “Guess we’ll have to see.”
James worked the truck up and over a huge slab of up-tilted asphalt and followed along behind the other two trucks as they made their way down Arsenal Street.
“What did you think of the idea that Jake had of fixing up one of the new trucks?” Conner ventured after a few minutes.
“Won’t work. Or at least it won’t work without a lot of trouble. The new engines are computer dependent. We could probably find ourselves another motor, maybe even a new crate motor at a parts store somewhere around here,” James said.
“What’s a crate motor?” Conner asked.
“It just means a new motor, all crated up when it was sent from the factory. They sell them. Race cars, old rebuilds, like that, but even if we couldn’t find a crate motor, we could find enough parts to rebuild anything we would need to rebuild on nearly any vehicle. So really, when we’re done, we’d have what amounted to a new vehicle. Jake wants to oversimplify that. He thinks we can just find the parts and swap them out on the motor that’s in the truck. Maybe we can. I’m not that good though, and I don’t think he is. I think we should stick to what we can do for sure, utilize what we have - the new parts.”
“That what you think we should do? Build a vehicle?”
Earth's Survivors: box set Page 23