The soldiers walked out toward the trucks, chattering about all the excitement. It appeared to Bethany that no one had informed the newest soldiers of their leader’s assassination.
“Mark, I heard you got in trouble with the boss,” a new guy said, placing his hand on Bethany’s shoulder.
She kept her head down toward the ground. She couldn’t speak or she would instantly give herself away.
“Leave him alone, man,” Will said, coming to her aid. “He’s having a bad day. Would you like it if I started bothering you?”
“I’m sorry,” the new recruit said, getting into a truck.
Will pulled Bethany into the other truck and sat in the very back row. Once they were in motion, Will pretended to fall asleep, even fake snoring at regular intervals just to notify the other passengers that he didn’t want to be bothered. Bethany followed suit, fearful of how long her disguise would work.
Will was right about hiding in plain sight. She had no doubt that there were currently guards on duty patrolling the cars in the garage, along with guards around the perimeter, searching for a woman in street clothes.
The vehicle came to a stop at the scene of a car crash. Will and Bethany waited for the others to get out of the truck before exiting. The other soldiers immediately got to work examining the fatalities and bagging them up, while others wandered into the woods to check for survivors.
“Everyone, return to the truck in one hour,” the driver said. “If you’re not back by then, we’re leaving without you and you can find your own way back.”
Will smiled. He was just given permission to disappear without fear of anyone going looking for him. The officers’ plan to keep the new soldiers in the dark about their leadership shakeup was backfiring on the army. Bethany and Will could disappear, and no one would even notice they were gone until it was too late.
With this, Bethany and Will ran into the forest. Bethany could hardly run. Her legs were so shaky with adrenaline. She was finally free from the New Army’s grasp.
“I want to apologize to you,” she said to Will. “I wrote you off as being a dead weight, getting in my way of escaping that hellhole. As it turned out, you saved me.”
“I guess you’re right,” Will teased. “But you’d better keep moving. I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet.”
25
Alec, Melissa, and Bobby Dean were in good spirits as they drove through the night. As exhausted as they were from all the excitement, they refused to stop for even a brief moment. They had learned that stopping the vehicle only got them into trouble, and they had experienced enough trouble for a lifetime.
Bobby Dean sat in the back, doing terrible impressions of Callum. At first, Melissa felt uncomfortable because she had briefly fallen for the mayor’s good looks and charm. But after a while, she loosened up and allowed to let herself laugh at her folly. After all, she was the only soul who knew how much she’d wanted to kiss Callum for a short period. Thankfully, Callum’s behavior had erased any affection she’d ever felt for him.
“I daresay,” Bobby Dean said in a posh British accent, “if you three ruffians try to foil my sinister plot, I shall lock you up in the dungeon.”
“Boo!” Melissa joked. “That doesn’t even make any sense. He’s from Colorado, not nineteenth-century England.”
Alec chuckled. “Yeah, but I think he captures the overall spirit of Callum. Man, I’ve met a lot of tools in my day, but he takes the cake. What a miserable little prick.”
“I bet you anything the moment we got out of there, Ariel latched onto his side like a leech,” Bobby Dean said, kicking up his feet and resting them on the center console.
“If she is, good for her,” Melissa said. “He treated me like a queen until you guys showed up and ruined the party.”
“Oh, you say that like you’re upset,” Bobby Dean teased. “I’m pretty sure we rescued you in a roundabout way.”
“I guess you’re right. I’m sure the fairy tale wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”
Melissa hoped that she would soon be able to shake her embarrassment over her brief flings with both Bobby Dean and Callum. While no one really knew the extent of what happened, the image of Callum’s lips heading toward hers replayed in her head on a loop.
“We’ve got to be close to the border, right?” Melissa asked, trying to keep her mind busy.
“I should think so,” Alec replied. “We’ve been driving for a while. Safe Haven wasn’t that far from the border, if I remember correctly. Of course, the border could have moved in the past few days. I’ve seen stranger things happen.”
Just as the last words of that statement left Alec’s lips, they approached a sign warning all citizens to turn back or face prosecution.
“We’re here!” Bobby Dean cheered.
“I’m going to turn off the lights,” Alec said. “Be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”
They continued to drive slowly down the highway, looking out for border security. They were well covered in the dark, but it was hard to find weak points in the border without light. No doubt, there were agents on the other side with night vision gear. Finally, they approached a wire fence, making it difficult to go any further.
“Maybe we should get out and walk,” Melissa said. “I mean, if it’s really safe on the other side of the fence, then we don’t necessarily need a car right away. If all the infrastructure is still functioning over there, we can call Elaina. We could even get on a bus for New York if we wanted to.”
“Sure,” Alec said. “I don’t see what other choice we have. Besides, I see people up ahead. Maybe they’re going to allow healthy people to pass through.”
The three abandoned their vehicle and began walking toward the crowd. The rumblings in the group of people didn’t seem particularly positive. In fact, Alec wondered if they were about to riot. He kept hearing people talk about the government letting the citizens down. This made him nervous.
“Attention, citizens,” a voice said through a loud speaker. “This is a closed border. Anyone who attempts to cross the border without permission will be stopped using deadly force. This is your warning. Do not attempt to cross the border without our express permission.”
Alec looked toward the small brick building where the sound was coming from. In response to the announcement, he heard loud jeers and profanities.
“I guess everyone’s been right about how dangerous it is to cross the border,” Melissa said. “How does anyone get permission?”
“I bet it’s just something they say to give people hope,” Bobby Dean said. “Otherwise, everyone will lose their minds.”
“I’m sure it’s not easy to get permission,” Alec said.
As they walked, they saw small tents set up along the path, some filled with weary travelers. It was horrifying to see how many displaced survivors existed, unable to get to safety.
“I’d like to try to speak with a border agent,” Alec decided. “We were originally cleared to travel to New York with Elaina before we got separated. If I just explain what happened and they are able to corroborate our story, then they might let us try to get to Elaina on our own. I don’t even care if they don’t take us themselves. I just promised her I would get there as soon as possible. If these are reasonable people, then they’ll understand where I’m coming from.”
“What are the chances they’re reasonable people?” Bobby Dean asked.
That question answered itself when a man jumped onto a fencepost in an attempt to cross the border. The crowd cheered him on as he hopped from post to post, searching for a soft spot to land on the other side. He took a leap but was shot dead by border security before he even landed on the ground. His body lay crumpled, bleeding for all the refugees to see.
The crowd buzzed like a swarm of angry hornets. Some screamed at the sight of the dead man while others yelled out in anger at how they were being treated for simply trying to survive. Melissa looked straight up into the sky, trying to avoid the sight of
the carnage altogether.
“Still think we’ve got a shot?” Bobby Dean asked quietly before all hell broke loose.
Thinking that security couldn’t possibly shoot everyone who tried to cross, large throngs of people began to hurl themselves over the fence. The military proved the people wrong, picking them off one by one. Some were shot as they ran for cover while others were gunned down just for climbing partway up the fence. This sent the message the border guards were trying to convey and the crowd eventually dissipated.
“Come on, let’s get back to the truck,” Alec said. He took off in a run, the other two following close behind him. Once everyone was settled in, he backed down the road, looking for a safe place to regroup.
“So, Plan A is completely out the window,” Alec said, trying to stay calm. “What other ideas do we have?”
A hand pounded on Melissa’s window, causing her to scream. She clutched her chest in an attempt to keep her heart from leaping out of her body.
“Please,” a man said, pounding on the window. “Take me with you. I need to get to my family.”
“No,” Melissa screamed back. “Leave us alone.”
Alec started the car. In any other circumstance, he would be eager to help. Ever since the last shift he worked, he was continuously picking up strangers and adding them to his group of travel companions. But now, something was different. It didn’t feel safe to pick up new strangers. He just wanted to get to Elaina. His priorities had shifted. It was every man for himself now. He would continue on with Melissa and Bobby Dean, but that was only because they had helped him get to the point he was currently at. He didn’t have the time or the energy for anyone else. He knew that made him a bad public servant, but the government that employed him was dissolving. He didn’t owe anyone anything.
It didn’t take long before the entire truck was surrounded by desperate people. People pounded on the windows, stating their cases as to why they needed to get into the truck. It felt so wasteful to only have three passengers when the truck could hold so many more bodies, but it was not a risk they could take.
“Just drive, Alec,” Melissa pleaded. “I don’t think it’s safe to take them. If you open the door for one, then everyone is going to pile in.”
“I don’t know how to get through them,” Alec said. “If I drive, I’m going to run someone over. It’s bad enough that I’m not helping—I can’t commit vehicular homicide too.”
A gunshot went off in the distance. The car started shaking as people fought to get in.
“I don’t think you have a choice, man,” Bobby Dean said apprehensively. “These people are pretty much harmless. But once you get someone with a gun, you’re in trouble. We’re going to get carjacked if we don’t get the hell out of here.”
Bobby Dean was right. Alec put the car into reverse and slowly started backing down the road, much to the chagrin of the refugees. They cried, cursed him, and spat at the vehicle as it backed away from the border. Once he was clear of people, Alec whipped around and sped off down the road.
“That wasn’t what I hoped the border would be,” Alec said, not sure where to drive. He hated backtracking when they had been through so much to get to the border in the first place.
“I know,” Melissa said, disappointment in her voice. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. If we keep driving to the next road that intersects the border, we’re going to run into trouble again.”
“We’re going to have to go off-roading,” Bobby Dean said. “I think this thing can handle it.”
“Maybe we can find a weak spot in the border,” Alec suggested. “I’m sure others have tried it, but I don’t know what other choice we have right now. You saw how serious the guards are. I just don’t know how far this car will go. We don’t have a ton of gas left. This thing is basically a delivery truck. What we need is a four-wheeler.”
“This is a nightmare,” Melissa groaned as they tried to find a better place to cross. Every time they thought they might have an opportunity, they found people wandering around, looking lost.
“Look in the glove compartment for a map,” Alec suggested.
Melissa dug around until she found a map with the central part of the United States. “Will this work?”
“Perfect,” Alec said. He found a secluded spot to pull over and turned off the engine. Spreading the map over the front of the car, Alec and Melissa studied it, trying to figure out exactly where they were.
“This is old-school.” Bobby Dean laughed. “When was the last time you used a paper map?”
“I’m glad it’s in here,” Alec said. “I’m sure there are some satellites that are being restricted right now. If no one else knows where they are or where they’re going, then we’re at an advantage.”
After a little searching, they pinpointed the area where they were currently sitting. They tried to estimate where the border was based on current location and everything they had heard during their travels. The pushed that line back a little, accounting for the slow creeping of the border. Finally, they agreed upon a logical entry point which, due to geographical considerations, would be possible to breach.
“It looks like this is all the planning we can do,” Alec said, handing the map back over to his copilot. “Should we give it a try?”
Bobby Dean grinned. “If we manage to pull this off, we’re going to be legends. They’re going to be writing about us in history books.”
Alec couldn’t help but smile at his excitement. He was a wild card, but his positivity in dark times helped Alec power through. He had worked so hard to get to the border and it was right in front of their faces. All they needed to do now was cross the line.
26
A stiff breeze rolled through the air as Will and Bethany pretended to be part of the search crew. The walked quickly but tried not to move too fast for fear that the others would spot the deserters and try to stop them.
But after a while, Bethany could no longer hear the footsteps of the others crunching on the dead leaves and twigs.
“It’s been a while,” she said, removing her cap and letting her hair fall past her shoulders. “I almost forgot what fresh air feels like.”
“You act like you’ve been away for weeks.” Will snorted. “How long has it been since you arrived at base?”
“Just a few days,” she said. “But it felt like much longer. Our new society has a way of making time slow down and speed up all at once. When I’m running, I feel like time flies by. But when I’m trapped in a cage, time couldn’t drag on any slower. I left my home nearly two months ago. I said goodbye to my family and friends and watched many of them die. In normal circumstances, I’d still be mourning them. But now, I’ve made it halfway across the country, mostly on foot. It’s insane.”
Will nodded. “It is pretty crazy when you think about how many miles we’ve walked to get to this point. But we still have such a long way to go. Where do you want to go?”
Bethany shrugged. “No idea. I used to think that I wanted to go to Maine or Massachusetts or somewhere on the coast where I could taste the salt water in the air. Even New York City was appealing. I can’t imagine being around so many people again, though. But I wouldn’t mind experiencing culture and art again. Do you think there are any big cities left? The last I heard, things were really changing.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if people have spread out. I bet you could find a cheap apartment in the city, though. If I were in a big city, I would go rural.”
“That’s the other thing,” she said. “How are we supposed to restart our lives when we have nothing? Who knows what the banking systems are like now? I don’t know if I have any money to my name. We’ve probably both inherited some assets, but who is going to help me find the paperwork to transfer it? Let’s face it, the government won’t be kind to those who illegally crossed the border. We can’t go to them for help. This is a really scary time.”
Will hadn’t even thought about that. He’d still relied on his p
arents to make doctor’s appointments. How could he find his way in a world that he didn’t really understand the ins and outs of? He could shoot a gun and survive off plants in the forest, but he didn’t know how to take out a loan or buy a house.
Even if he did manage to survive the virus, he would have to take on a return to society next. As one horror ended, another one would begin. He was overwhelmed and afraid.
“I don’t mean to unload on you like that,” Bethany apologized. “I’ve been holding in a lot of feelings for a long time.”
“I know how that is,” he said. “You’re probably right to let them out now. I think that my denial of the gravity of my situation put me in this mess. I got so tightly wound that I just snapped. I might be across the border now if I had found a way to deal with my issues.”
Bethany put her hand on his shoulder. “Well, thanks for listening. I really do feel a little better.”
“Anytime,” he replied.
She smiled. “Honestly, I should be grateful that I managed to escape the militia again. I don’t know why I worry about where I’m going and what I’ll do when I get there. If I get as far away from the New Army as I can, then I’m off to a good start. After that, I think I can start over. After all, I’ve accomplished things that few women my age have done. I’ll be okay once I put enough space between me and the psychos in the New Army. How about you?”
Will kicked a rock, sending it skidding into a bush. “Who knows?” he scoffed. “I’ll keep moving, I guess. I’ll wait until I’m caught again or I’m attacked, whichever comes first.”
“What about New York and your friends?” Bethany asked. “What about all that stuff you said earlier?”
He shrugged. “You seemed discouraged. I thought it would help. I do feel guilty about how bad things were when I left the others, but who knows if they’re even alive now? To be honest, I don’t really care what happens anymore. If I can make it to the other side and start a new life, great. If I don’t, then it’s not such a shocker.”
Last Man Standing (Book 3): Zombie Decimation Page 19