by Ison, S. A.
“Did you drag this log over here?” Tomi laughed. It felt good to laugh after that morning. Christ, what a nightmare and he was sure it would haunt him. He didn’t know if he’d ever be a normal human being again. He’d seen so much death and killed people. Hated people. He knew that could change and mark him. He didn’t like the thought and so strove to find that center, that calm place. Thanks to Iris, he’d let the rage go. That hateful ugly beast.
“We made mud fish.” Liev grinned, pulling Tomi out of his thoughts.
“What?”
“Mud fish. We covered the gutted fish in mud, then we pulled the hot coals of the fire over them. They’re baking right now. Should be ready in a few. How cool is that?” Liev grinned, his brows bouncing up and down.
“Never heard of it.” Tomi admitted.
“I read it once, it’s like baking it in a clay pot. It takes the outer skin off when you open it, so all you have is flaky fish.” Dawn grinned, blushing prettily. The dark blue lines standing out on her face. Her hair was still braided, though some had come out. She looked like a happy Medusa and Tomi grinned.
“Linda and Perrin clean and gut the fish, then they cover’em up with mud and bring them here. We just shove more coals and fire over top of them. They’ve caught eight so far. We eat good tonight.” Liev crowed, his head rocking side to side. Tomi looked closely and realized his friends had lost weight. Not a lot, but with the continuous walking and leaner diet, they’d all dropped about ten pounds. The only one who hadn’t lost weight was Jack, because the man had chewed through the food. Tomi pulled away from those thoughts, they led nowhere good.
He’d been so caught up in getting them to his uncle, that things that would have caught his attention had not. He hoped his uncle wouldn’t mind the extra mouths. He’d seen the supplies that his uncle kept, it was damn near like one of those huge box stores. He had hidden caches, a chicken lot, the Crane Nest river behind the property, deer and turkey that roamed the property. He also had an acre of land dedicated to a large garden. No, they’d not lack for food. And without the walking, they’d all put the weight back on.
Perrin and Linda came over with six globs of lumpy mud. Perrin laid the globs on the ground and Liev took a large branch and raked coals over the lumps. Then he pulled out other dried and cracked lumps. Carefully, he cracked each and opened them to reveal steaming white fluffy fish. There were oohhs and aahhs.
“Wow, that is so cool babe. That looks so delish.” Liev grinned down at Dawn.
“Try it, see how it tastes.” She encouraged and everyone watched as Liev took a bite.
“Holy cow! This is freaking great.” He laughed and the lumps were shoved around so everyone had one. Tomi put his lump in his lap. It was hot, but helped warm his body. The fish was wonderful and Dawn had made a side of macaroni and cheese. Everyone took a bite out of the communal pot. All in all, it was a satisfying and filling meal. The puppies were given some of the fish, but Dawn blew on it to cool it down.
The birds around them began to settle. The frogs from the pond began to sing, though not as loud as before. The nights were getting colder and Tomi thought that perhaps they were reluctant to be out in the cold.
“I wish we had a guitar or something.” Dawn said dreamily.
“Do you play?” Tomi asked her and she snorted, grinning and shook her head.
“No, do you?”
Tomi laughed and shook his head, “I have no talent what so ever. I was told that I’m tone deaf. My uncle does however, have a guitar. He plays wonderfully. He sings pretty good as well.”
“I play, and not too bad.” Iris grinned, her brows going up and down.
“Well you’ll be our official minstrel.” Tomi grinned at her.
“It will be nice to get off the road and stop this walking.” Perrin said, shifting and getting comfortable. He leaned his back against the log, as did Liev, Dawn and Linda. Tomi and Iris sat across the fire and leaned against a tree.
“Amen brother. I’m not looking forward to getting near Elkhorn. I’m hoping we can get around it easily. I’m hoping most of the violence has died down.” Tomi said quietly.
“Christ, I hope so. Jesus, it’s like all the crazies were set free. I’m damn glad we’re loaded for bear. I’d hate to travel without weapons.” Dawn said.
“We’d have not gotten very far, I’m sure.” Perrin grunted. Tomi saw that Perrin was becoming heavy eyed.
“Sack out Perrin, get some rest. I’ll wake you later.” Tomi suggested.
“It’s still light out, for Christ’s sakes.” Perrin laughed, but Tomi noted that he was sliding down inside his sleeping bag.
“That’s cause you’re an old man.” Liev sniggered, which earned him a one finger salute, causing a ripple of laughter through the group. It wasn’t two minutes before soft snoring came from the bag. Tomi looked over at Linda, who was staring into the fire. He worried about her. He hoped she’d be okay.
=
There was a warm breeze blowing from the south. They’d been walking for about six hours and making good time. They were on highway 197 and roughly eight miles from Elkhorn City. The road was crowded with abandoned cars and trucks. More than they’d encounter before. When the wind shifted, there was a heavy stench that clung to their nostrils. So much so, that the group had pulled their shirts up over their noses.
“I don’t think it’s healthy breathing that crap in.” Liev said in a muffled voice.
“Don’t know about that, but it really does stink. Jesus. I can’t even imagine what it must be like there.” Perrin said, he had a hard time not gagging. The thoughts of the young girls kept coming to mind. He looked over at Linda, but she said not a word. Lost in her own thoughts. Christ, he hoped she’d be okay. She talked and discussed things, but it was like she really wasn’t there. Her body was on automatic but her mind was someplace else. Unless anyone directly spoke to Linda, she never said a word.
He looked back at Tomi and Iris, who brought up the rear. He wanted to laugh, he’d known there was something there, for them both. Danger and possible loss of life kind of accelerated things these days, he thought. It brought the most unlikely people together. Iris was looking a lot better, her face was now only slightly discolored, most of the greens and yellows fading away. There was a couple of places on her lower jaw, but other than that, her fair skin was clear.
Tomi had a soft smile on his face as he listened to something, she was saying to him. Good, he needed that. Perrin had seen the nearly insane hate and rage that had filled Tomi’s face when he was trying to kick that bastard to death. His friend had been shaken to his core yesterday, they all had. Iris had a healing touch, when it came to Tomi and he was glad.
Perrin turned, looking around, checking the forests for threats. They also checked the cars, though most had nothing of value in them. He heard a shout from Liev and saw that Liev had found a guitar in one of the cars. Perrin laughed and shook his head. At least they’d have music tonight. The two puppies were growing big and they were clumsy. They were now allowed off the leashes and ran around the group, but never straying far. When something spooked them, they ran back to their parents.
He was glad that they had the puppies. Both had reacted to the incident yesterday. They’d make a great early warning system and also, when bigger, perhaps an active protection. He remembered the parents of the puppies and their very big teeth. They’d rechecked their food supplies last night. They were beginning to run low now. But the game and fish that they ate, extended the food. Nothing was wasted.
The group turned south east now, and Perrin thought that perhaps another couple of days and they’d be at the cabin. His heart fluttered at the thought. Sanctuary. A place to lay his head. He was pretty sure they’d have to always be on guard, but once the puppies got older, he was sure that they’d at least have the ability to sleep at night.
He slowed down and waited for Tomi to catch up.
“You know if your uncle has that property wired for intruders?�
� Perrin asked.
“No, not sure. He might have started though. He’s pretty darn keen when it comes to that. There aren’t a lot of people that live near him though. Some that have places along the Cranes Nest river. There might be a few farms around him.”
“Sounds nice. I guess by the time we get there, he’ll have sorted out any problems.”
“Yeah, it isn’t an overly populated area. Those that live there are pretty self-sufficient, hunting and farming.”
“It sounds like a nice place.” Iris put in.
“It is. My uncle bought it years ago, dirt cheap. He’d been approached to sell it, but refused. I also think that there are a few cabins on the property. Not sure how many. He rented them out a couple times, not sure if he kept that up. But he’d rent to hunters, letting them hunt their quotas. That paid for the property taxes he said.”
“So, we might have a place to live, I mean other than crowding into your uncle’s cabin?” Perrin asked, liking the idea.
“Yeah, but not sure how good they are now. He keeps things pretty tight there, so I don’t think the cabins will be too bad. They were properties that were absorbed over time, so when my uncle bought the two hundred acres, he ended up with a couple of places.” Tomi grinned.
“That’s great. I’m sure we can stick Liev in one of those.” Perrin laughed, causing Iris and Tomi to laugh as well. On que, Liev turned and looked back at them, causing them to laugh harder. Liev narrowed his eyes and shot them the bird and turned back around, pointedly ignoring them. Dawn turned her head, laughing and looked back and winked.
“That poor boy’s gonna be paranoid by the end of this trip.” Perrin laughed.
“With Moon living at another cabin, we’ll have a spread-out alarm system too.” Tomi grinned.
“Maybe see about stringing fishing line out, you know, put tin cans with rocks in them. It’s a thought.” He shrugged.
“Yeah, at least until it starts snowing. I don’t think anyone will venture up there in the middle of winter. Hopefully, the puppies will be old enough to let us know if someone is near.” Tomi said.
Ahead, Liev stopped and Dawn looked back at them, her face worried.
“What’s going on?” Perrin asked when they reached them. Liev pointed, pulling his eyes from the binoculars. About a mile down the road, just beyond the curve, was a road block, with men and guns standing around.
“Shit. Guess we’re going off road. Let’s get into the woods and head southeast. We’ll go around. It will take longer, but I don’t want to get mixed up in what ever that is.” Tomi suggested. Perrin nodded, he agreed, he didn’t want to face some faction that had their own territory. He was sure there were small pockets now, people who limited access to their area.
The group left the road and headed into the forest; they began the walk uphill. There was a rise in terrain on the road, but now they had to climb the low hills. Twenty minutes later, they crested the hill and started the down slope at a shuffle. Working through the forest with the packs wasn’t easy.
“Maybe once we go a couple miles, let’s try to get back out on the road again. This could become a serious pain in the ass.” Perrin said, looking at the map and compass.
“Not to mention making our legs hurt like hell.” Tomi laughed.
“I was never really out of shape, you know, since leaving the army and being use to training. But holy hell, this is beating the hell out of my body.”
“Preaching to the choir buddy. Preaching to the choir.” Tomi puffed.
They stopped talking, saving their efforts for breathing. Perrin was sure they’d be crawling with ticks by tonight. He bit down on his frustration. No one wanted to have an altercation and it would seem that the survivors were dividing up their own territories. It made sense he guessed. You protected your little part, keeping women, kids and food safe.
Once to Tomi’s uncle’s cabin, they’d have their own, territory to guard and patrol as well. It only made sense. Once at the cabin, they’d all have to walk the property to get to know it. Also, to know their neighbors, so they didn’t intrude. The thing now, was you didn’t know if the other guy would shoot you on sight. No one in this group wanted to take that chance. Like the crazy religious group, you never knew just how crazy people would get. Now, with no laws or governments in place, people made their own laws to suit their needs.
Perrin was sure that admitting strangers into their fold, wasn’t high on their list and he could well understand. With limited resources, you didn’t just let anyone in. He speculated that if one of them were a doctor, he was sure that person would be welcome. But, two ex-cons, two ex-corrections officers, a lawyer and a store owner weren’t high on anyone’s list. So far, they’d not done too badly in the doctor department and thanks to Nell, they were all checked out.
They finally made it to a road. Perrin looked at the map and then the compass and pointed the way. The group began to walk once more, relieved to be out of the woods.
“Stop assholes.” Someone yelled and the group froze. Perrin’s hand went to the Sig Sauer tucked into his waist and pulled it out, hiding his hand. The group turned slowly and saw two men, just inside the tree line.
“Where do you think you’re a goin?” A man in camo gear stood behind two rusted out barrels. Another man stood behind him, behind a tree. Tomi stepped forward, his hands up, he also blocked the men’s view of Perrin, who brought his weapon up. Perrin caught the movement of Dawn, who’d pulled her service weapon out.
“We’re just passing through. We don’t want anything from you, we’re just heading home.” Tomi said in a reasonable voice. Tomi had a way of bringing calm to a situation. Except yesterday morning, they’d had to drag him back from that one. Perrin’s eyes searched the forest behind the men, but he saw nothing and no movement.
“Well, this is our town, our road and you’re trespassing.” The man behind the barrel said and spit a long stream of tobacco to the side.
“We absolutely understand. We’ve seen a hell of a lot of violence and bad things. All we want to do is get our women to safety. We don’t want anything from you, except to let us pass in peace.” Tomi said. Perrin hoped that these idiots would just let them go.
“So, what you got to trade?” The man behind the tree asked, rocking back on his heels.
“Not a lot. We’re damn near out of food. Please, we just want to get home.”
“Well, hell, you’re not useful.” The man said, eyeing the women. Perrin didn’t like the way he was looking at them. The man lifted a walky-talky, apparently, they had communications. He wished now that they’d picked up a couple at Linda’s store. A deafening shot jerked Perrin from his thoughts and the man with the walky-talky fell like a stone. Perrin saw the other man step out and raised his gun. Perrin lifted his sig, but the man got off a shot before he could fire. Then Perrin shot the man twice in the chest and he went down.
Stunned, he looked around but saw that the others were stunned as well. Who had shot the first bullet? Their eyes eventually landed on Linda, who was pale.
“I couldn’t let him call the others. They’d have not let us leave. They’d have taken our food and I saw how they were looking at Dawn and Iris. They’d have taken them.” She said, shaking. Then Perrin saw that blood was blossoming in her gut.
“Jesus Christ, you’ve been shot Linda!” Perrin cried.
“Oh my god. Jesus, let me see.” Tomi said.
“No, no, get out of here. Now! Take my pack, you don’t want them getting our supplies. Go, get down the road. I’ll keep them off you for as long as I can.” Linda said, a stubborn slant to her bloodless mouth, her eyes bright with rage.
“We can’t leave you Linda.” Iris said, her hands out.
“I’m dead. There’s nothing you can do to help me and you’re wasting time. Tomi, get these people out of here. Perrin, take me to those barrels and I’ll use that jackass’s weapon. Go, now.” She hissed and her legs began to buckle. Dawn grabbed her arm and Perrin got to the othe
r side of Linda. They helped Linda over and sat her gently beside the dead man. Christ.
Dawn pulled Linda’s backpack off and took Linda’s weapon. They handed Linda the man’s gun, a .38 like her own.
“Go now. I’m sure someone heard the shots and will come and investigate. Get as far as you can, then go to ground. You’ll have to travel at night for a couple days maybe.” She panted. Dawn squatted down and kissed Linda, weeping softly. Perrin kissed her and backed away. Iris and Liev also said their goodbyes quickly. Tomi squatted down. He pulled Linda’s bloody hands into his own and kissed them and then her cheek.
“You’ll be with your son, husband and Norman. Give them our best, Linda. Thank you.” He said softly and got up, turned and began to run. Perrin squatted down, Linda was blurry, tears obstructing his vision.
“You wanted to die, didn’t you?” He asked, softly accusing her. She smiled sadly and nodded. Perrin heard the crackle of the walky-talky. He kissed her and got up and ran to catch up to the others. He didn’t look back.
=
Tomi could feel the weight of Sakura in the backpack. He was sure she was awake now, but there wasn’t much help for it. They had to run to get out of the vicinity of the dead men. He understood why Linda had shot the man, if he’d reached someone, they’d have known how many people were there. They’d have known about the other women and the supplies as well as the guns. For now, there would be one woman and two dead men. He was sure, Linda wasn’t going to tell. He also knew Linda wanted to die. He’d seen the peace of it in her eyes. Almost a joy.
He jerked when he heard a gunshot. It was far away, but he knew it was Linda, fending off whoever came to check on the earlier gunfight. He checked his watch, that had been fifteen minutes ago. So, who ever she just shot at, they’d walked? So, it was possibly a small town, with check points, like the one that they’d avoided. He looked ahead and saw that the group was picking up speed. They needed to get the hell away.
Moon was bouncing up and down and looked ridiculous but he knew Sakura was the same. He’d be surprised if the pup didn’t puke with all the jarring. Right now, they didn’t have time to grieve. But they would. He heard a double report of a gun. Was that her or them? Did they hit her? Another shot. She was keeping them at bay. He smiled. She had the dead man and the barrels and a blockade. He knew she must be in terrible pain, a gut shot. Christ, she was a brave woman.