by RH Fox
“I see that’s going well,” Dreia said sarcastically, eyeing the angry mob behind the convoy.
“Right. Well, we weren’t given any supplies to distribute. We’ve told them repeatedly that we don’t have any food or water and asked them to focus on getting themselves home.”
A loud burst of machine gun fire suddenly split the air. Dreia instinctively dropped to a crouch, pulling Karen with her. The Marine spun around and retreated to his vehicle, rifle at the ready. When the noise stopped Dreia carefully peeked over the top of the concrete barrier. The crowd behind the hummer must have gotten braver, edging too close, where they were now lying on the ground covering their ears. When they realized the gunner had only shot over their heads in warning, a few fools at the front got up and started yelling again.
“I don’t envy those boys when that crowd decides they have numbers to their advantage,” Karen commented.
“Those poor kids will probably have to use those guns for real before the day’s over,” Dreia agreed, slowly standing when the Marines jumped back in the hummer. “Well, we need to move faster. With an EMP confirmed, the power is definitely not coming back on anytime soon. That crowd is tame compared to what’s coming.”
10
“How about one of those protein bars you promised before we get started again? I haven’t had anything to eat since I finished off the tic-tacs in my purse early this morning. I did find a butterscotch that fell out of its wrapper too, but it’s coated in repulsive purse dust and I’m saving it for dessert later.”
Dreia wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Gross! Please, make that a last resort. Here.”
Leaving the bag mostly zipped, she reached in and pulled out two of the snacks, handing one over. Karen eyed Dreia’s backpack curiously.
“Dreia, I’m not going to try to steal your supplies. It’s obvious you had an emergency plan. I wouldn’t do anything that might hinder another mother from reaching her children.”
Dreia met Karen’s eyes, seeing honesty clearly reflected.
“I’m sorry I’m being so weird. This isn’t exactly a situation where you can trust everyone you meet. I do believe you though.”
The two women were quiet, eating their snack as they resumed walking. The angry crowd’s clamor slowly faded behind them with each step. Dreia estimated they had about seven miles until the exit that would take her south again. The sun had been fully up for hours, without a cloud in the sky, so it was getting too warm for someone to be sheltering in their disabled vehicle. She still continued to scan every single one they passed as a safety measure though.
Frequently glancing over her shoulder, she also kept track of the people walking along the highway in both directions. So far, they all appeared to be ordinary commuters just trying to make it home like she’d figured. Most were wearing professional attire and tired expressions, but it didn’t matter how normal they looked. Dreia made sure there was always a sizable buffer whenever they passed someone.
Neither woman had much to say for the next several miles, having exhausted topics they might have in common and not seeing any point in normal small talk when there was nothing normal about their world any longer. Karen was slightly winded, but she didn’t complain about the more rigorous pace Dreia was setting. The sight of the United States military firing warning shots over the heads of their own citizens, on U.S. soil, had been more sobering than anything she’d seen yet.
About half a mile before Dreia’s exit, a man walking toward them stopped in front of a car directly in their path. Dreia nudged Karen to go around the opposite side.
“Hey, lady! Do you have any food in that bag?” the man called.
“No, sorry,” Dreia answered, not stopping.
“I think you’re lying!” he yelled, grabbing the attention of others nearby.
“Shit,” Dreia hissed. “Keep walking, don’t slow down.”
The man moved around the car and blocked their path.
“I haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. If you’ve got food, hand it over and I’ll let you keep the bag and the rest of your stuff.”
Dreia was forced to stop and study the new threat. He was wearing jeans and leather loafers, definitely not made for hiking. The insignia of a local car dealership was on the polo stretched across his protruding stomach.
“Look, I’ve got twenty miles ahead of me. You’re probably a lot closer to your home and won’t starve before you get there,” she finally said, hoping the man would respond to reason.
The man narrowed his eyes, and Dreia could tell he wasn’t going to give up and keep moving without some motivation. Curious onlookers had also moved in, closing off the opening behind them now. Dreia came to a decision and pulled her gun from its holster.
“Move out of our way, and I’ll let you keep living,” she commanded in a calm voice.
Karen didn’t blink an eye at the gun’s appearance, stepping up beside Dreia and brandishing her umbrella in solidarity. The man was caught completely off guard by two women willing to stand their ground, and they could see doubt cross his face.
“I’m not bluffing. I’ve already used this once since the power went out, and I hit what I was aiming at. Now, move!”
Several of the spectators around them hurried away. Dreia held the pistol steady and stared at the man blocking the path to her children. He finally held his hands out to the sides and his posture showed defeat. He backed up and went around the car, passing by on the other side.
Dreia kept the pistol out, but pointed it at the ground as she turned and watched him continue walking in the opposite direction.
“Brav-o,” Karen whispered. “You really looked like a force to be reckoned with! I’ll probably regret parting ways with you when I look back on this in the future.”
Dreia glanced at Karen and saw genuine respect. She nodded wordlessly, and finally replaced the pistol out of sight.
“Did you really have to use that?” the other woman asked hesitantly.
Dreia answered just as reluctantly, “Yes, when we were trying to get our students home.”
Karen didn’t press when Dreia left it at that.
“How much longer until you head south?” she asked instead.
“Up around that bend,” Dreia nodded at the curve in the highway ahead. “Look. I know you need to check on your kids, but if you ever decide you need to get out of the city, you’re welcome to head our way. We’re set-up really well to handle something like this, but I’ll lay it on the table. Most of our neighbors are on the older side. They may not be as helpful with what a community needs to do to survive this, and I’d feel good about having someone around who won’t back down when things get tough.”
“I appreciate that, Dreia, I really do. But I don’t think I could up and leave without knowing my other son and daughter are safe, too. What if they made it home only to find it empty? I’m kicking myself for not being more prepared for something like this. My husband occasionally talked about stocking up on emergency supplies whenever something crazy happened in the world, but neither of us ever followed through. It was too easy to forget the urgency once the media moved on to something else.”
“You’re no different from the vast majority of the population. Even my husband didn’t take the need for real preparedness very seriously. I was just telling my boss that once the conversation moved away from guns or vehicles, he lost interest pretty fast.”
“I bet he’s going to be glad you didn’t.”
“He’s too stubborn to admit something like that,” Dreia chuckled.
She looked over at Karen and stopped laughing when she saw the silent tears sliding down her new friend’s cheeks.
“Oh, Karen,” she said quietly, touching her arm in sympathy.
“Why didn’t I have a plan? Even if I tried to reach Kelly at college now, we could pass each other just one block apart and not even know it. It would have been so simple to talk about an emergency route we’d both know.”
They’d arrive
d at Dreia’s exit and stopped. Dreia pulled her backpack around and rummaged to the bottom for the baggie of wet wipes, handing one to Karen. After a few deep breaths, she wiped her face and put the used wipe in her pocket.
“Thank you. For the water, snack and company,” Karen finally said.
“Oh!” Dreia dug into her bag again and pulled out another protein bar and stick of beef jerky. “I promised you beef jerky, too! What kind of person welshes on jerky in an apocalypse?”
That got a small smile from Karen.
“I know you’re worried about your daughter, but you have to keep believing she’ll be okay. I bet you and your husband raised resourceful kids. Children migrate to their parents when they’re scared, no matter how old they are. I’m sure your daughter will be headed home eventually. It might take her a while, but you have to keep hoping there’s a chance she’ll walk in the door looking for you.”
Dreia knew it was just as possible she wouldn’t, but encouraging Karen’s hope was important. Sometimes hope alone kept someone motivated to survive. Feeling a little awkward about hugging a person she’d only known a few hours, Dreia held her hand out in farewell. Karen grasped it tightly with both hands, umbrella dangling from her wrist.
“And I’m not kidding about coming our way. If things get bad, or all your kids make it home and you need somewhere to go, we’re not far outside Sawyer Springs. It’s just over the state line.”
“I know where that is! We’ve gone that way to the Outer Banks before and filled up at Sawyer’s Garage lots of times. There’s a big statue of a bear in front, right?”
“That’s the place. If you turn right on Orchard Road, just past the library, our subdivision is about two miles out. You have to take a gravel road, River Drive, to get back to us. Think you can remember that? I don’t want to write it down and risk it being a map for someone else.”
“Head south to Sawyer Springs, turn right on Orchard after the library, and then find a gravel road called River Drive. How will I know which house?”
“There’s not many houses back there, and everyone knows everyone else. Just tell them you’re looking for Matt or Dreia Bennett.”
“Well, I’m not sure we’ll ever take you up on it, but thank you for the offer. I hope you have a speedy and uneventful trip home.”
“You too! And be careful even after you get home. The population is so big up here, it’s a certainty that things are going to get ugly. You and your son need to stock up on food and water as soon as you get home. Any way you can,” Dreia looked at Karen meaningfully.
Karen nodded, understanding that a simple swipe of plastic wouldn’t be exchanged for a full cart of groceries any longer.
“Also, you should consider having your daughter’s family move in with you, or vice versa. Strength in numbers.”
“I’ve already been thinking about that. Thank you again, Dreia, and good luck.”
“Bye, Karen.”
Karen stood and watched until Dreia disappeared around the corner of the heavily wooded exit. She whispered a short prayer for safe travels and then continued east along the highway.
Dreia decided against befriending any more travelers and made her way south alone. For the first several miles, abandoned cars completely clogged the road. It should have only taken an hour to cover that distance, but there were far more people in the area due to all the businesses and surrounding neighborhoods. Dreia’s progress was slow as she worked hard to avoid all interaction. She recognized what an advantage having another set of eyes had made all morning and missed Karen’s presence.
By the time she reached the intersection where she had another big decision to make, Dreia was feeling the stress of having her senses constantly on high alert. Standing on the corner, with her back against the metal pole supporting the signals, she kept a careful eye on movement down the side streets while weighing her options.
She usually turned east, where the business highway eventually merged with the new expressway and crossed the Elizabeth River drawbridge. It was the longer way, but even with heavy rush hour traffic it had always been the faster way home because of the higher speed limit. Her other choice was to continue south, where an ancient drawbridge crossed an old shipping canal that branched off the Elizabeth River. Dreia had driven that way a few times, since it shaved five miles off her commute. However, the curvy, old highway with no median had a much lower speed limit and never saved her any time. Only locals continued to use it after the expressway opened.
The choice seemed obvious since five miles would make a big difference on foot, but the old highway curved through a few neighborhoods, as well as a long stretch of thick forest. Dreia knew she wouldn’t be able to see what was ahead for much of that distance, which made her uneasy. But, the tradeoff was that she’d be less visible as well. The deciding factor ended up being the time it would save.
Mind made up, she pulled her backpack around and got her marker out to initial the signal box in case Matt was still on the road behind her. After replacing it in the bag, she turned and had just stepped off the curb when a teenager on a bike came flying out of a driveway two houses ahead. Dreia had her gun out before she realized he was headed in the opposite direction. She quickly reholstered the pistol and, heart pounding, looked around to see if anyone had noticed. No one was close enough to pay her any mind, so she cautiously continued south, feeling relieved when the teen veered off on a side street.
The sun’s position signaled dark would be descending in few hours. Dreia’s goal was to cross the old drawbridge and find a spot to rest a bit before walking all night. If she calculated it right she could be home before lunch, even with a lengthy break. The thought of sitting at their kitchen island with Abbie and Chase brought a calming sense of normalcy from which she drew strength for the next hour. Dreia felt some of the tension in her shoulders ease a bit more when she finally left the neighborhoods behind, but she kept her head on a swivel as she covered the final few miles to the bridge. It was a major checkpoint on her journey. Once she crossed it, the most heavily populated areas would be behind her and she could relax quite a bit. Her feet ached, and she looked forward to resting them.
Upon entering the wooded stretch, she only passed two other people on foot. About a mile before the turnoff for the bridge, the sound of an approaching vehicle startled her. The once normal sound was loud in the vast silence, and she hugged the shoulder as it passed. The lone person in the old, blue sedan didn’t even turn his head in her direction. She didn’t blame him and wondered how many people had already appealed for help at the sight of his running car. If it was even his. Working vehicles were going to paint big targets on people. She thought about Abbie’s Jeep as she kept moving forward, and hoped her hardheaded daughter was following the instructions from the binder and staying in their neighborhood.
Dreia was startled out of her thoughts by gunshots echoing from somewhere ahead of her. She quickly abandoned the highway to cautiously approach the bridge through the woods. Picking her way through the dense underbrush. she heard boisterous laughter coming from the old canal. She stopped far enough back that the trees gave her plenty of cover and watched two heavily armed men hooting and hollering as they rummaged through the car that had passed her only minutes ago.
The driver was nowhere to be seen. Dreia wasn’t naïve and realized the trip home had just hit a dangerous roadblock. It would be a costly mistake to continue without knowing exactly what was going on at the bridge she was desperate to cross, and daylight was working against her.
The sun had finally dipped below the horizon and deep shadows filled the space between trees. Dreia waited until the men drove the car out of sight before she found an oak with low, sturdy branches and pulled herself up off the forest floor. Climbing to a height with secure seating and a decent view of the bridge, she carefully removed her pack and pulled out the length of paracord. Once she’d secured herself to the trunk, she attached the bag to the cord with a carabiner as an extra precaution. Th
e .38’s holster dug uncomfortably into her back when she leaned back against the rough bark, so she carefully slid it around to her side, afraid to remove it completely. Settling back again, she pulled out her small binoculars and trained them on the bridge where she could make out two men in the waning light. Both had large rifles slung over their shoulders.
Dreia rested her head against the trunk and tried to focus on making a plan. She pulled the light jacket tighter around herself as the temperature dropped with the sun. Walking twenty miles in one day had taken its toll, though, and she wished she had a hot cup of coffee to clear the cobwebs. It soon became impossible to keep her eyes open at all and her mind cleared as she unintentionally dozed off.
11
Saturday, March 11th
The next day Dreia crouched under the thick foliage at the edge of the canal, watching a man and woman forced out of their car at gunpoint. The words being exchanged were muffled from her distance across the water. She had a good idea what was being said, though. Gunshots rang out twice during the night and interrupted what restless sleep she was able to get lashed to a tree trunk high in the air. Then, she’d spent all morning watching the men terrorize people trying to cross the bridge. Her grip on the .38 tightened reflexively at the sight of a child emerging from the backseat of this newest vehicle.
“Do what they say. Walk away. Just walk away,” she whispered.
The small boy looked about the same age as her students when he wrapped his arms around the woman, hiding his face in her side. His mom was middle-aged and slightly overweight, which had probably been the family’s saving grace so far. Dreia had watched this play out enough times throughout the morning to recognize a pattern. The men wanted young, pretty females. A few less than desirable women had been allowed to walk away with their families, trading their vehicle and all the supplies they carried for their lives as long as no one put up a fight.