THE COLLAPSE: Seeking Refuge

by Frank Kaminski

  Stephen knew right away what Ox was proposing. He was weighing options for himself and his family. The only problem was that Stephen didn’t know how Mac and Melanie Rudehouse would react to the extra people. As it already stood, Carrie was coming along with them. Ox, his wife and his son would add another three people.

  “The problem is,” Stephen began, “is that the invitation to where we are going was only extended to my family. And Fish, of course. We have an old family friend that owns property on the Skagit.”

  Ox smiled and rubbed his chin in thought. He then said to Stephen, “That sounds better than staying with Hitler and her hubby, wherever we end up.”

  “But like I said,” Stephen argued, “the invitation was only extended to us.”

  Ox made an offer, “You let me and family tag along, and you’ll have all the fuel you’ll need. Otherwise…not a drop.”

  Stephen debated with himself for a moment before answering, “I need to speak with Tarra about this, first.”

  “I can understand that,” Ox stated. “You have about an hour or two to decide. Hurry, Stephen. I’m not sure what time Claudine is circling the wagons.”

  As Stephen biked away, he wondered why Claudine hadn’t extended him and his family the same invitation (even though he would have declined it, regardless).

  *****

  Carrie rushed to site 199 with some interesting, yet disturbing news. Tarra was in the bed of Fish’s truck, organizing everything for transport. She saw Carrie hustling towards her and climbed down.

  “Tarra,” Carrie started as she walked up, “William and Trent were just at my trailer. They wanted to know if I would be joining their ‘new survivors’ group’ that would be leaving The Park today.”

  Tarra was surprised. Apparently, Stephen was right. They must have known about the possibility of a super quake in the near future as well. She asked Carrie, “Where are they going?”

  Carrie replied, “That hasn’t been determined yet. They are discussing options, but said that it would be somewhere out east. The main thing was that they wanted to make sure that I was still loyal to the Probsts, and that I would be joining them.”

  “What did you say?” Tarra asked, anxiously.

  Carrie shrugged her broad shoulders and said, “I told them that I was going with them! What else could I say without raising suspicion?”

  “Good point,” Tarra agreed.

  “We need to leave before they do,” Carrie warned. She didn’t mention it to Tarra at the time, but Trent had looked mighty nervous during her conversation with William that morning. She wondered what would have happened to her if she had declined the Probsts’ offer.

  Just then, Stephen returned from his trip to see the Oxnards. He said, “Good! Carrie, you’re here. I forgot to ask you last night if you had any gasoline left in your truck.”

  “Hardly,” Carrie stated. “I used most of it getting here.”

  “Shit,” Stephen cursed.

  “What’s wrong?” Tarra asked.

  “We have a problem,” Stephen began, “Ox won’t give us any fuel unless we allow him and his family to tag along with us to the Rudehouse property.”

  Tarra blurted, “So let them! Stephen, we need gas or we’re not going to make it!”

  Stephen nodded and said, “That’s what I figured. I just wanted to run it by you first. You know how paranoid Mac can be about folks he doesn’t know.”

  “Don’t worry,” Tarra laughed, “we’ll explain everything to the Rudehouses when we get there. We just need to get there, first!”

  Stephen looked around site 199 and then asked, “Fish isn’t back yet?”

  Carrie answered first, “I gave him two Excedrin and some water earlier. He said he was going to see Victor and Gerty after that.”

  “I know,” Stephen said. “I was just wondering if he was back yet.”

  *****

  Fish saw the same type of activity at the Probsts’ site that he witnessed at Victor and Gerty’s. It was pack-up time. Claudine and Alexis were loading the RV up with everything that had been outside. Fish didn’t see William anywhere, which seemed odd to him.

  Claudine had spotted Fish approaching and met him near the gravel driveway. Fish waved to her and she waved back, smiling. She said to Fish, “I’m glad you’re here. We have something to discuss with you.”

  Alexis stopped doing what she was doing and joined Claudine near the driveway. Fish noticed that something was “off” with Alexis. She looked overly serious and formal for some reason. But then again, she never really liked Fish much in the first place, so it could have been that.

  Claudine continued by explaining, “We’re forming a new survivors’ group. I would like to officially present my personal invitation to you at this time, Fish.”

  “What?” Fish asked, confused.

  Claudine smiled, looked at Alexis, then plainly stated to him, “We’re leaving. Today, in fact. We want you to join us, Fish.”

  Fish thought about the offer for a moment, then he asked, “What about Stephen and his family? Are they invited, too?”

  Claudine looked at Alexis again, almost as if she knew the question was coming. She said to Fish, “I’m sorry, but the invitation is for you alone. The times ahead will be dangerous. Dangerous…indeed. Although Stephen has been an extremely valued resource manager up until this point, his young daughters will make him more of a liability than an asset in the new world ahead.”

  “I’m sorry, then,” Fish told Claudine without hesitation. “I can’t leave my friends.”

  Claudine looked at Alexis one more time, nodded, and then said, “No, Fish…I’m sorry.”

  At that moment, Alexis drew her service pistol from her holster with blinding speed. She pointed the barrel at Fish’s chest.

  “Whoa! What the hell?” Fish cried, putting his hands in the air.

  Alexis commanded, “Put your guns on the ground, Fish. Both of them.”

  Fish’s mind began dreaming up options, but Alexis had him dead in her sights. She had been a cop back in the real world, and would unlikely make a mistake that would allow Fish an opportunity to turn the tables. So, he complied. Slowly, he placed his rifle down first, then even more slowly removed his 9mm and set it down in the gravel, gently.

  Alexis ordered him to step backward away from the weapons on the ground. She knew that Fish was a volatile soul. He also had the skill and capacity for resistance, should she error during his apprehension.

  Claudine told Fish as Alexis tossed her handcuffs to him, “Like I said, I’m sorry, but we’re going to need to take those guns with us.”

  After Fish handcuffed himself, Alexis had him walk over to the PODS container at the site next door to the Probsts’. She opened the door and marched him in, keeping herself at a decent distance from him. Even though he was in handcuffs, she still didn’t trust the big fella.

  Claudine said to Fish through the barred window, “Because of your loyal service to me and William, we won’t be killing you today. Try any funny business…and I might change my mind.”

  Fish just glared at her, saying nothing. He was furious, but he also knew that his buddy Stephen would soon be looking for him. Until then, he’d just comply with Claudine and be a good little boy.

  The truth was, however, that the women were too afraid to try to kill him without a gun. Hand-to-hand combat with Fish, even for an ex-cop, was suicide. And they certainly couldn’t shoot him…not with all the plans that had already been set in motion. Gunfire would bring residents, questions, blah, blah, blah. Claudine didn’t have time for all that. Even one single gunshot could instantly spur total anarchy within The Park. Everyone was on edge from all the quakes and evictions.

  “Keep an eye on him until it’s time to leave. Make sure he stays quiet in there,” Claudine said to Alexis while pointing at Fish’s face in the window.

  Once Claudine was gone, Fish watched Alexis study his M-4 with an awestruck expression on her face. After a few moments, she diabolica
lly grinned at Fish as she slung the weapon onto her back with satisfaction. She paced about in the driveway with her new toy, getting used to the feel of it.

  Fish contemptuously said to her as she walked, “Don’t get too comfortable with that thing. I’ll be getting it back soon enough.”

  *****

  Ox provided Stephen with two five-gallon red jerry cans of unleaded. He had joked with Stephen that he was “pretty sure” that they were both unleaded. Ox was such a damn joker that Stephen didn’t know if he was serious or not, and a doubt had been planted in Stephen’s head. He decided to unscrew the spouts and smell them both. Neither one of the cans had the distinct, oily smell of diesel, so Stephen was satisfied and marched away with his prizes.

  Stephen had felt many eyes upon him as he hurriedly power-walked from Ox’s campsite to his own. An uneasy feeling had come over him. While holding a heavy jerry can in each hand, he would not be unable to unstrap his M-4 should any of the residents decide that they needed the fuel more than he did.

  The agreement with Ox was to leave at eleven AM that morning. The two caravans would rendezvous at the intersection near wood station #1, then proceed to the main gate. Ox had warned Stephen that Hal Hollingsworth wasn’t aware of the Probsts’ plan for a “new survivors’ group”, since small children were not desired in their new outfit. Claudine knew that Hal would never abandon Dakota, so he wasn’t invited. Ox also said that he wasn’t sure of how Hal would react once he found out the truth, but felt as though he owed him the explanation, at least.

  Stephen disagreed, saying that what Hal didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. But, Ox had known Hal a lot longer than Stephen, and demanded that they stop at the gate to inform Hal of what was going on (on their way out of The Park, of course).

  Once Stephen was close enough to see his own site in the distance, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He could see Tarra and Carrie talking with each other near Fish’s truck. The danger was over.

  Or was it?

  Stephen saw his wife suddenly start sprinting toward him. She put her hands to her mouth and shouted, “Stephen…behind you!”

  He turned around in just enough time to see the golf club coming toward his head. It was Terry the damn golf-club-dude and two of his buddies! Stephen twisted and ducked at the same time to dodge the blow, and the golfer’s swing went errant. Stephen had dropped both jerry cans, and in the process of avoiding the golfer’s second swing, he fell over one of the cans and down to the road. Unfortunately, he had used his left hand to break his fall, and had heard a snapping sound as he crashed down. A bolt of lightning had lit up his wrist, and the pain even shot up his arm to the elbow. It was definitely broke!

  The two men with Terry quickly went to grab each one of the gas cans, but while still on the ground, Stephen had withdrawn Eddie’s .38 special from his shoulder holster and pointed it at them.

  “Touch those cans…and die,” Stephen warned, trying to block out the pain and remain coherent. “I honestly don’t have time for games.”

  Terry and one of the men had put their hands in the air, but the third one was slowly reaching behind himself. Stephen had seen this action so many times in the cop-drama TV shows that his next move came naturally, without thinking. He pointed the revolver at the moving man and said, “You…stop reaching for the gun behind your back and get your hands in the air.”

  The man stopped moving, but didn’t put his hands up. Stephen cocked the hammer back on the revolver and shouted, “NOW!”

  Stephen had successfully frightened the man enough, because he put his hands up. Soon, Tarra and Carrie were on the scene. Stephen, still on the ground, said, “Tarra, I broke my wrist.”

  Carrie, without hesitation, snatched the golf club from Terry’s raised hand and violently smashed it against her knee, bending it in half. As she tossed it to the ground as if it were a piece of trash, Terry’s body slumped with disappointment and his bottom lip quivered. He appeared as though he was about to cry.

  Stephen pointed his gun again at the man that had been reaching behind his back and in a painful voice said to Carrie, “This one has a gun…take it from him.”

  Carrie went behind the man, and sure enough, between the man’s jeans and the small of his back was a pistol. She took the weapon and spun the man around, then pushed him forward in the opposite direction of site 199.

  “Walk,” she commanded, spinning the other two men around as well and pushing them in the same fashion.

  As the defeated men walked away, Stephen called out as he stood up, “If I see any of you again, in any type of capacity, I will kill you. No second chances, fellas!”

  Tarra and Carrie both looked at Stephen’s wrist. Carrie quickly diagnosed that it was definitely broke, and that Stephen should follow her to site 72 so she could wrap it up as best she could. He needed a cast, but that was never going to happen. Not during The Collapse.

  Stephen called out to his wife as he walked away with Carrie, “You will need to drive today, babe.”

  “That’s fine,” Tarra said, “you know I love driving Fish’s truck, anyway.”

  Chapter 14

  After Stephen’s wrist was wrapped tightly with Ace bandages, Carrie wanted him to wear a sling to prevent him from using his hand as much as possible. Stephen had adamantly refused, citing that he’d rather suffer through more pain or even another break if it meant being able to use his arm to protect his family during the journey out to the Rudehouse property.

  Carrie had taken Stephen’s M-4 rifle, since he wouldn’t be able to use it effectively anyway. Now she was doubly armed. She had the pistol from the attempted gasoline heist and now, the M-4. On their way back to site 199, Stephen asked her if she knew how to use the automatic rifle, and she was forced to admit that she only knew of what she saw on television. So, Stephen gave her a quick crash course on the safety selector switch, charging handle, and magazine release button. That was all she needed to know…for now.

  Once back at site 199, Stephen was upset to learn from Tarra that Fish was still AWOL. He had yet to return from his supply mission. What the hell? Stephen had specifically told him NOT to lollygag, and Fish had acknowledged. He knew that they were leaving, so something had to be wrong. Very wrong.

  Stephen gathered Tarra and Carrie and moved away from the Kays, who were playing with Pharaoh. The dog was still tied to the truck.

  Stephen said to the two women, “I think we should go looking for Fish. My suggestion is that two of us head out, and one of us stays with the Kays. We’ll split up and meet near wood station #1 to rally and compare notes.”

  “WE will?” Tarra laughed, “you aren’t going anywhere with that wrist.”

  Stephen argued, “Babe, I can use my right hand just fine.” With that, he withdrew the .38 special from his jacket and held it up, demonstrating that he could operate the gun just fine.

  Tarra grimaced and took the revolver from him. She popped the cylinder open and let all six bullets hit the ground.

  “Hey!” Stephen shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Tarra handed the weapon back to Stephen and said, “Okay, tough guy, now reload it.”

  Stephen frowned at the bullets on the ground. His wife was right, he couldn’t do it. Not with only one hand, anyway. So he surrendered, saying, “You win, you win. I’ll stay here with the Kays. Could you please reload my pistol before you leave?”

  Tarra retrieved her shotgun from the picnic table and moved toward the road, ready to depart.

  “Wait!” Carrie suddenly shouted. She had been watching the Kays play with the dog. She turned to Tarra and continued with, “I don’t think we need to split up, I have an idea.”

  Tarra and Stephen watched as Carrie untied Pharaoh from the truck and led him to Fish’s little tent. She reached inside and pulled out what looked like a dirty shirt. She put it to Pharaoh’s face and yelled, “Go find Fish, buddy! Go find your master!”

  Pharaoh excitedly barked twice in acknowledgment
and pulled Carrie by his long leash toward the road.

  “Yeah! It’s working!” Tarra cheered.

  Stephen smacked himself on the forehead with his good hand and said, “Why didn’t I think of that!”

  *****

  Pharaoh tugged the women directly towards the jail next to the Probsts’ site. When they were close enough, Tarra caught a glimpse of Alexis pacing near the PODS container in the distance. The fact that the former cop had taken Fish’s rifle was her folly, because Tarra had spotted it right away. Alexis should have known better. Cocky bitch.

  Carrie and Tarra tried to stop the dog, but Pharaoh continued to tug and bark. Carrie had to forcefully pull the dog off the road and behind some small trees in order not to be seen by Alexis, who was nervously scanning the area now that she had heard a dog.

  Tarra ordered Pharaoh to sit, but after a few moments he began whining anxiously.

  Carrie said quietly to Tarra, “We need to take Alexis out.”

  “I know,” Tarra replied, “but I don’t think Pharaoh is going to let us sneak up on her.”

  Carrie sighed and said, “I’ll have to do it myself. Here, take Stephen’s rifle.”

  Tarra had a confused look on her face as she took the gun from Carrie. Then Carrie continued explaining, “Take the dog down the road a bit. Alexis still thinks that I’m onboard with the Probsts. I should be able to walk right up to her, but not with the rifle or the dog.”

  “Are you sure?” Tarra asked.

  “Pretty sure,” Carrie answered, but her voice wasn’t confident.

  “I think we should do it together, we both have guns,” Tarra argued.

  Carrie shook her head and said, “No, Alexis knows the relationship you have with Fish. But…she doesn’t know the relationship that I have with him. Just go, I’ll be alright.”

  Pharaoh’s whining turned into barking again. Carrie motioned with her hand toward the road and whisper-shouted, “Now! Get out of here!”