by Nathan Combs
“Why don’t you kill her?”
“I would but I don’t know how.”
Sara smiled a wan smile. “Yeah. That is a problem.”
Nina said, “What are you going to do, Sara? Anna doesn’t want to hurt you. But I have no problem with it. Anna will let you live. I want to kill you. Your call.”
“And if Anna doesn’t want to kill me?”
“Actually, she has no say in the matter. I’m leaving. Make a decision.”
Sara took a step forward and said, “Anna. You’re a good person. You have a great man. Don’t let this bitch take your life away from you.”
“Knock off the shit, Sara. Since we both live inside the same body, so to speak, neither of us has a life… at least not here.”
Without warning, Nina pulled her Glock and shoved Sara to the floor. She placed the barrel of the gun in her mouth and said, “Shame I have to destroy such a beautiful mouth. Especially after the hours of pleasure it gave me.”
Anna’s face was gaunt. Her eyes wide. Her voice trembled. She said, “Sara, Stormy and I are going out that window. I’m sorry.” She pulled the gun out of her mouth and smashed the butt into her temple, then checked to see that she was breathing and moved quickly to lock the door. Gathering her baby, she wiggled through the window and disappeared into the cold, dark night.
After the prerequisite time, Maggie tried to enter the room. Damn, it’s locked. She knocked.
There was no answer.
She knocked again and called out, “Sara? Anna?”
Fort Hope’s doctor had insisted certain supplies be kept in every closet throughout the hospital. Among them were tools. Maggie grabbed a pry-bar and, returning to Anna’s room, knocked one last time. When there was no answer, she placed the crowbar between the door and the jamb and pushed. The jamb splintered and the door opened. Sara was sitting on the floor, blood trickling from a wound on her head.
There was no need to ask what happened. She rushed to her side and knelt. “Are you okay?”
Sara nodded. “She knows who she is, Maggie. She was going to kill me, but Anna stopped her. She took the baby and went out the window.”
“Oh God. What have I done?”
“You didn’t do anything, Maggie. I did. I hope Nina dies. I’d like Anna to live, though.”
“You know that’s not possible. But we have to find the baby.”
Anna was going home. Nina knew they didn’t know about her and Noah’s house. She also knew Noah would be incapable of harming her. But first she had to get out.
The subconscious is a strange and wonderful thing, Nina thought. She remembered hiding a wire cutter near the fence, a hundred yards north of the main gate, but at the time, didn’t know why she did it. Anna wrapped the baby’s blanket around her waist and shoulder, making it into a sling for Stormy, freeing both of her hands. She hustled to the hiding spot a few yards away, retrieved the nipper, and cut through the fence. She pushed through the small opening and moved as quickly as she could to the safety of the trees fifty yards away. With the cover of the trees, she stopped and looked back. Fort Hope was bathed in light, and a convoy of trucks led by a snowplow was slowly approaching the main gate. She worried they could follow her footprints. And they have those damned dogs.
Nina wondered if they still had horse patrols out. It was a hell of a long walk to the house and she needed a horse. When the last truck in the convoy neared the gates, she left the trees and headed for the plowed road.
She guessed she had five minutes before someone, probably Maggie, sounded the alarm. She hustled to the open gate. The guard, who she knew, looked at her oddly as she came through. “Anna? What the hell?”
Nina pulled the Glock. “I need your horse, Jerry. Your weapon too, please. Take off your jacket and get on your knees. Over here.” She pointed to the area behind the guard hut and herded him there at gunpoint as she spoke. “Quickly.” She couldn’t shoot him. The shot would bring swift and fatal retribution. As Anna did with Sara, Nina cold-cocked him, mounted his horse, and rode down the plowed road.
Once out of sight of Fort Hope she urged the horse to run. Now she had to throw the dogs off the scent. Thank God it’s snowing again.
The thought startled her. It must have come from Anna. Nina definitely did not believe in God. Any God.
Nina covered two miles, then stopped. She dismounted, and Anna gently laid the baby on the roadway. Using the LMF-II, Nina cut Jerry’s jacket in four one-foot square pieces. She cut a sleeve into long strips, and tied the cloths to the horses’ hoofs.
Anna picked up Stormy, tucked her inside her jacket and refastened the sling.
Nina mounted and continued down the road.
Maggie burst into the ops center. The door banged loudly against the wall and Wade, Randal, Chris, and Noah stared at her. “Wade. Oh my God. It’s Sara. Anna. She… she’s gone. She… she… ”
Wade went to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Slow down, Honey. Take a deep breath.”
Noah and Chris didn’t wait. They bolted out the door, running toward the medical center.
“It’s Anna, Wade. She’s Nina. She knocked Sara out. She took the baby and went out the window.”
Noah and Chris approached the double doors just as Sara staggered through. Chris caught her before she fell. Noah never stopped. He hit the door running, burst through, and ran to Anna’s room.
Maggie was beside herself and between sobs took a full minute to relay what happened. “Except for a splitting headache and a probable concussion, Sara is okay.”
Sara told them of her conversation with Anna. And her encounter with Nina. “God help us. She’s both of them. She’s good and evil in one body.”
Randal was looking out the window of Anna’s recovery room and turned back to Noah. “I thought you said you were married to her before the shit hit the fan, Noah.”
“Yeah. Obviously that wasn’t true.”
Hot, accusatory stares from Randal and Wade knifed through him like he was made of butter. They burned his eyes. He told them what really happened, but omitted the information about his father’s house and his and Anna’s home.
“She had no idea who she was. She damned sure didn’t think she was Nina. And I didn’t even know Nina existed. We just thought it would be better if we said we were married before the collapse. No real reason. I don’t believe she’s capable of what you say she’s done. I—it’s… it’s just not possible.”
Sara said, “No, Noah. She admitted it to me before she knocked me out. Trust me. I like Anna a lot. We all do. In fact, Anna kept Nina from killing me just now.” She shook her head. “Anna is a beautiful person, Noah, but Nina is pure evil. And she’s out there with your daughter.”
Noah looked as though he was going to fall to the floor, and Maggie pushed him gently into a chair as Randal went out the window.
Wade said, “Where would she head, Noah?”
“I don’t know,” he lied. “Maybe to the house we stayed at in Chattanooga. She can’t walk that far. She just had a baby a few hours ago. And Stormy… she’ll freeze to death.”
“Randal will find her. She won’t get out of the fort. We’ll get Stormy back.”
“What about Anna?”
Wade’s face was granite-hard. He shook his head from side to side but didn’t reply.
Randal followed the vague footprints to the fence line, squeezed through the cut, and continued south along the edge of the woods. When he got to the plowed snow berm, he could see evidence she had clambered over and onto the road, but in the dark and without footprints to follow, the trail ended. There was only one way for her to go. Away from the fort.
If she leaves the highway, we can see her tracks.
He headed back to Fort Hope’s main gate. It took him a minute to find
the unconscious but alive guard around the side of the guard shack. His horse and weapon were missing. Son-of-a-bitch. He dragged the man inside the hut, out of the cold, then hustled to the ops center.
“Dad. She knocked out the gate guard and took his horse. I’m going after her. Maggie, check the guard. He’s alive. In the hut.”
Ten minutes later, Randal, Chris, Noah, and Shiloh, Chris’s huge chocolate Lab, were at the spot where Nina crossed the berm of piled up snow. Shiloh sniffed the roadway. His head came up and he looked expectantly at the men.
Chris waved his arm and said, “Go.”
The dog, nose to the ground, headed down the highway.
Randal said, “Chris, shine your light on the left berm in case she leaves the road. Noah, keep yours on the right. She can’t go too far. We’ll catch her.”
Two miles down the road, Shiloh stopped. He ran back and forth across the road, sniffing. They watched him search for scent for almost a minute.
Chris said, “What the hell?”
They dismounted and examined the road. An inch of fresh snow had eliminated any telltales. Randal said, “I don’t get it, but for whatever reason, the trail ends here. She didn’t just disappear. Mount up. She has to be on the road. Keep your lights on the berm on both sides.”
They continued for another five miles. Shiloh had no scent to follow and there was no evidence she’d left the roadway. Randal called a halt. “That’s it. We’re going back.”
Noah looked pleadingly at Randal. “Randal, I have to find her. Please! The baby!”
Randal rode up to him and, quiet enough to keep it between the two of them, said, “When we get back to the fort, take the gear you need and go find her, Noah. When you do, don’t trust her or believe a word she says. Nina will kill you if she needs to. You need to understand that. You have no idea who she is. She is one tough, psychotic bitch. She’s smart and knows her shit, including warfare tactics and weaponry. I have no clue how she’ll react to your knowledge of who she is. I have no idea what she feels for the baby. But since she took Stormy with her, I’m guessing she cares. Or maybe Anna’s in control of that emotion. Regardless, if you survive the encounter, you and the baby are welcome in Florida. You know where we’ll be.”
Fifteen minutes later, Randal stood silently in Noah’s apartment watching him pack his gear. Closing the flap on a rucksack, Noah turned and asked if he could take an extra horse and supplies.
Randal placed his hands on his shoulders. “Noah, listen to me. You’re my bud. I know you’re fucked up right now. I would be too. But I also know you don’t really understand what’s going on. I… you had to have been there. If you saw the things she did, you’d realize what she’s capable of. I’m not stupid, Noah. Neither is Dad. We know you know where she’s going.” Noah opened his mouth to speak, but Randal held up his hand. “No. Don’t. It’s okay. I understand. When you find her— Goddammit, look at me.”
Noah had tears in his eyes and wiped them away with the palms of his hands, then looked directly into Randal’s eyes.
“When you find her, she won’t deny who she is. She’ll do one of two things. She’ll either use you to survive or she’ll kill your ass and eat you. Try and comprehend that. It’s easy for me to say because I’m not in love with her, but if it was me, I’d blow her brains out.”
Noah nodded, his face devoid of emotion. “Duly noted. Can I take the extra horse and supplies or not?”
Randal stared at his friend for a long moment, nodded, turned, and left.
Chapter Nineteen
Exodus
The feeble light of dawn cowered behind lowering clouds. Ice crystals masquerading as snowflakes churned between the medical center and the ops center, resting briefly against the tires of the parked cargo trucks before escaping through the opened gate. The eerie whistling of the wind hovered over Fort Hope like a banshee as it bounced from building to building. Deep, bone-numbing cold descended like a shroud and ate at the exposed faces of the residents struggling to load the remainder of gear into the gaping rear doors of the cargo trucks.
Randal was in the barren ops center, going over final preparations. “I just came from the tech center. The weather station’s packed. Here’s the latest. It’s nineteen degrees and dropping. Winds are west northwest at twenty-four, gusting to forty. We received four inches of new snow since midnight. What’s the new estimated time of departure?”
Wade wasn’t optimistic. “Starting to look like noon. Maybe later.”
After Maggie treated Sara for the head wound, she, Chris and Sara headed to the ops center to help Wade and Randal. The door swung open and they entered with Hope wrapped up like a baby Eskimo. Chris closed the door behind them and nodded to his father and brother.
Sara had been strangely subdued since her encounter with Nina. She hesitantly asked Randal, “Has Noah left yet?”
“Yeah. Twenty minutes ago.”
“If he finds her, he could end up dead.”
Wade said, “He knows where she’s headed. He’s on his own. We have other fish to fry.”
The wind rattled the windows violently, screeching mournfully away.
Noon came and went, and the convoy was only seventy-five percent loaded. The new departure time was moved to 1600. Three more inches of snow had fallen and the unofficial temperature was seventeen degrees. Estimated wind chill, however, was minus ten. Faces covered with ski masks, bodies bundled against the penetrating cold, the residents struggled to finish loading the trucks. At 1615 the reactor was shut down, and by 1800, Fort Hope was buttoned up. Wade knew the cold and snow would take its toll on the 778 people walking, but there was no recourse. At 1810 hours, the exodus to Florida entered the final phase as Chris led the convoy through the gates and into the future.
At the rear of the column, Wade and Randal cleared the main gate and reined their horses in. They looked back. Fort Hope was dark and barren. They decided to leave the gates open in case some human straggler needed shelter. As they watched, the right side of the gate flapped to and fro in the wind, banging against the restraining post before rebounding to center. Father and son exchanged looks, nodded, and urged their mounts forward.
The trek south to Chattanooga was long and harsh. The 112 mile journey took twenty-six hours. Six cargo trucks were converted to personnel carriers and Maggie shuffled between them, treating dozens of walkers for frostbite. They entered the outskirts of Chattanooga the next evening at 2030 hours. It was still snowing.
The expression on Maggie’s face said as much as her words. “Wade, we have a ton of frostbite victims. We need to refigure the acceptable exposure time. Change the walk times from a half hour to fifteen minutes. These people have to rest and get warm more often.”
With the snowplow leading the way, Randal and Chris took turns riding point behind it. A Hummer followed and the mile-long convoy stretched behind. Wade radioed a stop. The vehicles idled, heaters spewing warm air, exhaust plumes wafting away in the wind.
“We’re taking a short break, Randal. Cram as many of the walkers into the vehicles as possible. How are the horses?”
He shook his head. “We’re going to lose some soon unless we can shelter.”
Wade pulled a map. “We’re here”—he tapped the map of Chattanooga. “Hamilton Place Mall is about two miles south. Send someone ahead. We’ll put the horses inside, build fires, and bivy for the night.”
The plow cleared a path within feet of the mall entrance and the horses were led inside, fed, watered, and covered with blankets. Bonfires burned in the expansive parking lot and the convoy hunkered down for the night. Daylight found them back on the road. The snow had stopped but it was colder. Fifteen degrees.
Playing “catcher” in case anyone faltered, Randal and Wade rode at the rear of the column. Randal said, “On the trip up, we hit snow just north of Atlanta. If th
e snowline hasn’t migrated south, at this speed we’ll be snow-free in another twenty-four hours.”
Wade shook his head. “This is taking way longer than I anticipated. We’ll push as far as we can and hole up again during the night. If we’re not out of the snow by tomorrow night, we’re going to start losing animals. I’m going to call Bill and have him send the cargo trucks and the diesel pickups north. We should be able to hook up with them south of the city.”
By noon, less than eight inches of snow covered the roadway and the pace picked up. At dusk, they were forty-five miles north of central Atlanta. The depth of the snow was down to three inches and, in exposed areas, the windswept roads were clear.
Randal sent Chris ahead to find a suitable location for a break. At 2000, the convoy parked at a shopping center near Acworth and the horses were sheltered. Bonfires blazed.
Randal grinned at Chris. “That was the longest three days of my life, brother. My teeth are still rattling. I don’t think I’ll ever get warm again.”
Chris chuckled. “Yeah. Well, this is just another winter day in Wisconsin.”
“The Ice Bowl! How the hell did they play in that?”
Chris laughed. “How the hell did the fans sit through it?”
“They’re Cheese Heads.”
Chris chuckled.
Wade approached his sons and told them the people were exhausted. “We’re gonna hunker down here for the night.”
Randal said, “I know they’re fatigued, Dad. They’ve had four hours. It’s eight o’clock. Let’s give ’em four more. If we get on the road by midnight, we can be south of Atlanta by dawn. We’ll hook up with Bill and everybody can ride. We can string the horses, giving them a break.”
Wade said, “Why didn’t I think of that, Randal?”