by Logan Keys
Bart chuckled. “We are, aren’t we? It’s not a coincidence. Dad’s always been a survivalist.”
Colton smiled. His father had been military. His father’s father had been military. But then his smile faltered as he wished his parents could have met Brittany.
They got into the SUV, and the kids were strapped in. The woman had a booster seat for her grandkids that she let Lily use. It was perfect but only so far as OKC, which for now, was good enough.
They started weaving through some of the thinning traffic and damaged roads.
“Looks like rain,” the woman said. “My name’s Rita. This here is Jake.”
Rufus gave all their names, and the woman smiled at him a little longer than necessary and turned back to face front. “Looks like rain,” she said again, and turned on the radio.
It fuzzed and buzzed but then something broke through. “Several cities have been overtaken by….” It fuzzed out. “Avoid major cities.”
The woman snapped off the radio before Colton could hear.
“What were they saying about major cities?” Bart asked.
“Nothing. Bunch of fear mongering. This is just a bit of weather. You’d think the world was ending the way people are acting. Look at these nuts. Can’t even drive.”
Colton glanced over at Rufus then back at Bart. They all frowned at her statement but when he faced front-ways, he smiled politely at her in the mirror to keep her from guessing his thoughts. He didn’t want to appear rude. Even in the apocalypse.
“You believe this?” she said lifting a hand at the gridlock traffic.
“They’re probably having to drive around the torn up areas after the tornado,” Bart offered.
The woman scoffed. “Little bit of wind,” Rita said. “A whole lot of nothin’ about nothin’. People getting all worked up over a few fires. Earthquakes happen all over the world and so now when we get some of them, the whole place panics. Not me. I’m not falling for it. You see how the military is on the move? Probably some new weapon or something used by the Chinese. The Russians, too. They have any love for us? I don’t think so.”
When no one answered, she snapped. “You fellas get my meaning?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” they all replied, even Rufus.
They drove in silence after that, and Colton wondered little why the woman’s son Jake seemed stuffed against the window pretending to be asleep. Probably to avoid his mother. He was hunched on that side of the car like a teenager, even his face and neck were covered by his sweater.
**
“How far are we from OKC?” Bart asked.
Colton woke up to hear his brother’s voice, he’d fallen asleep in the car. As had Rufus. Everyone, it seemed, except for Rita who was looking worse for the wear.
“Just a few more hours but I’m tired. Got held up. I need rest,” she answered.
“Maybe one of us can---”
“Nah,” Rita interrupted, guessing the rest of what he’d been about to say. “No one drives this baby but me and Jake.”
Colton thought that was fine. “Maybe he can drive?”
“He’s asleep. Can’t you see? For a youngin’ you sure have bad eyes.” Rita wheezed a laugh. “You need your rest, don’t you, Jakey?”
The man didn’t move. He couldn’t be that young as Rita seemed old enough to be Colton’s grandmother, but Jake was still in the same position as Colton had seen him before Colton had fallen asleep.
“Is he okay?” Rufus asked, his voice tight.
He had to be wondering the same as Colton was. Was the guy sick? Was the crazy lady hiding something?
“We better pull off here soon,” Rita said. Her head was drooping onto her chest and Colton watched in shock as the SUV swerved, just barely staying within the lines.
“Watch out!” They all yelled as one, when she careened off the side of the road and into a ditch.
The SUV bottomed out hard, and everyone rocked in their seatbelts.
“Is everyone okay?” Colton twisted in his seat, and the kids nodded but looked afraid.
“What about you?” Colton leaned forward and shook the shoulder of Rita’s son.
Surprised, Colton pulled his hand back and stared at Rita who’s face was red. “Don’t you touch him!” she shouted. “He’s fine! He’s just fine.”
Colton tried to look closer at Jake, but Rita was throwing the door open and shouting at them all. “It’s stuck. Come and help me.”
Rufus, Bart, and Colton got out and started pushing on the back of the SUV. The front tires were in soft sand. The back ones were light, hovering just above the ground. “We need a tow,” Colton said after they pushed as long and as hard as they could.
Rita yawned. “I’m gonna take a nap. You boys see what you can do.” She left them standing there and went and got into the driver seat. She carefully put her keys into her pocket and slumped down, much like her “son”, and closed her eyes.
“Hey,” Bart said. “I think she’s got a screw loose or something. Let’s find another ride.”
“She’s all we got. Let’s get to the city, then we can find someone else.”
“What’s up with her son?” Bart crept closer to the passenger seat. He tapped gently on the window but Jake didn’t move.
“I uh…I’m not sure he’s alive.”
“What!” Bart shouted.
“Shhhh,” Colton hissed. “Will you shut up?”
“Wouldn’t he stink or something?” Bart asked, horrified.
Colton shrugged. “He felt weird. Stiff.”
Rufus frowned. “You really think he’s dead or something?”
“Maybe in a coma?” Colton offered. “I hate letting her drive us anywhere but do we have a choice?”
Rufus sighed. “Well, we aren’t going anywhere without someone towing us out of this ditch.
“Let’s let her rest anyway. The kids can stretch their legs. The dog, too. I don’t want her crashing again. We don’t have much choice but to at least make it to the city with her.”
“You can’t be serious?” Bart demanded. “What if that’s a dead body in the front seat!”
“It could be a dummy. Ya know? Maybe she lost her kids or something and he’s replaced them. I’ve heard about this. Comfort dummies.”
Rufus and Bart were looking at Colton like he was crazy. He was starting to feel crazy.
Rufus shook his head. “The world’s crazy enough as it is, and that just tops it all, doesn’t it? He didn’t wake up when we wrecked. I vote he’s dead.”
Bart looked like he was about to grab the kids and run. “I say we hitch a ride with someone else. Ditch her while he sleeps. Maybe she murdered him. Did you think of that?”
Rufus scratched his head. “Kid’s got a point. She might be packing, too. You just never know. She seems tough.”
“I’m not going to leave her here alone.”
“Aha!” Bart yelled. “So you do think it’s a dead guy. You said alone!”
“I don’t know what it---or he---is and would you keep your voice down?”
“Man, mark my words. We’re gonna wake up next time to that lady pointing a gun at us and having us put on ole Jakey’s clothing or something and pretend to be him until she puts two in us.”
“That’s ridiculous. We won’t sleep anymore. Got it? Just don’t trust her then. If you’re that worried.”
Bart shook his head grumbling.
Colton took the kids to the bathroom out on a dirt path. They seemed to be better rested and were quickly playing tag and giggling like kids their age should. The further south they went, the better the weather was. It was nice not to be running from tornadoes for once, or completely freezing.
He glanced at a sign by the nearest exit. They were in Oklahoma already. Not too far to go. He’d slept through Missouri, then, at least five hours. It was the most he’d slept in forever. For that blessing, he owed it to the crazy lady not to leave her ditched on the side of the road. He’d try to get her a tow.
C
olton went to the roadside and asked Benton and Lily to come with him. Rex sat obediently next to him, too. People passed by, but they didn’t even slow down. Rex whined and then sat up on his hind legs.
“Look,” Benton said, “he’s doing a trick.”
Colton chuckled. “Seems like.”
“I’m cold,” Lily said. “It’s getting dark.”
“It is. You can go back to the car with Bart.”
It was just Colton and Benton who waited. With night, the temperature suddenly dipped. Their breath was fogging out and the headlights shined in their faces but were becoming fewer and fewer as time went on.
“My dad’s dead. Isn’t he,” Benton said.
Colton was so caught off guard by the question that he froze. He didn’t want to say the truth but for some reason felt like a lie was one too many to the young boy. “Yes,” he said quietly.
“My mother, too, probably,” Benton said, though he was less upset about the latter from the sound of it.
“I’m not sure.”
“Well. So that’s it then. Brittany’s dead, too, probably.” Benton started to cry, and Colton leaned down and pulled him into a hug.
The boy sobbed and sobbed until he couldn’t cry anymore. He was still hiccuping when he pulled back and stared right into Colton’s eyes before saying, “Don’t tell Lily. She’s not ready.”
“Okay.”
A truck pulled up and the window rolled down. “Your car stuck? You need help? I don’t have room for giving y’all a ride, but I can pull you and your son out.”
Colton didn’t correct the gentleman. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Chapter 4
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Paige broke down crying not once, but twice. They were alone in a room, their feet and hands bound and Brittany couldn’t help but feel a fresh wave of fear to see Paige so upset. But even the strongest had a weakness. With Achilles, it has been his heel. With Paige, it was Chuck.
Paige couldn’t bear the thought of him hurt or worse. The not-knowing was driving her insane.
Brittany was sort of jealous Paige had something like that until she realized that she did. She had Colton and the children. Even though she’d only known the kids and Colton a short while, she had broken down over them time and again. They were her Achilles heel.
“Paige,” Brittany said firmly. “We need a plan.” Brittany knew if she couldn’t get Paige out of her head that they’d be stuck and that she, herself, wasn’t going to be the escape plan leader.
“I know. I’m sorry. What if they’re hurting him?” Paige blinked, obviously imagining it all, and her eyes turned wild.
“Stop it,” Brittany interrupted her. “Stop focusing on that. Chuck can take care of himself. And he’s probably thinking that his only saving grace is that you’re free, but you’re not free. So let’s get free.”
“Right.” Paige breathed through her nose. “Okay.” She glanced around the room.
They were inside of a trailer on a construction site. Or had been. Every movement the entire thing rocked.
For now, it was just the two of them. The one who ran this little operation had come in to check on them only once. He was very sure of himself.
Paige motioned with her chin. “See if you can stand up.”
Brittany could. The metal tube she was chained around went from floor to ceiling and she couldn’t get loose, but she could stand.
“Have you tried to pull free higher, like in the middle?”
“No. Let me….gah!” Brittany yanked with everything in ,her and all that did was cause the plastic ties around her wrists to cut deeper into the grooves they’d made from her struggling. “I can’t.”
“Try again,” Paige said desperately. “I know, put your foot behind you onto the wall. There. Like that. Can you do both feet?”
“Not without cutting off my hands.”
Paige tisked. “Don’t be a baby. Try it.”
“Why don’t you try it?” Brittany huffed.
“Because they chained me to the floor.”
Brittany tried, but sure enough, the ties merely sawed new, deep wounds into her hands and she was bleeding all over the place now.
Paige got to her feet in a crouch and pulled up as hard as she could. Until veins were popping out on her forehead. “I think I’ve…dammit!” She struggled against her tethers until blood dripped from her wrists as well.
They both slumped back down, huffing and puffing from the effort. “Brittany,” Paige said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because I wasn’t going to leave Chuck. We could have left. We could have gone around. I could have given you the truck and you could have gone on without me.”
Brittany rolled her eyes. “Like I’d be able to sleep at night doing that. Look, Paige, I’ve already lost one group of people I care about in this. I’m not losing another. If you go down, I go down. Got it?”
Paige smiled. “Got it.”
The door opened and they both sat taller. The man’s boots thudded across the floor until he stood over Brittany. His handsome face twisted into a sadistic smile. Brittany spat on his jeans.
“Whoa, now.” He backed up a step. “You do have some guts. I’ll give you that.” He turned to Paige. “What about you? You got some guts?”
Paige made an awful sound to work up some spit, and he chuckled. “Well, the apocalypse has certainly made you two lady-like, hasn’t it?”
“What do you want with us?” Brittany asked. “How could we possibly be of any use?”
He glanced at her with a thoughtful expression. “You’re very pretty, you know that?” He stepped over and grimaced at the blood running down her arms. “Not too bright, though. If that thing rips your wrist deep enough you could bleed out, you know?”
Brittany shrank away when he tried to touch her face. “Sounds like I’d be better off dead.”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure you’re wrong.”
Paige snorted. “At least you’re honest. That bad in bed, eh? Your girlfriends often kill themselves to get out of it?”
“What’s your name?” he asked but Paige didn’t answer. “Don’t be shy. My name’s Dusty. And it’s not my bed you have to worry about, ladies.” He squatted down. “See, the place is running dry. Goods. Wares. All of it.” He snapped his fingers. “Going up in smoke. Everyone will be at each other’s throats until there is nothing left. The weather’s doing its job of getting rid of more than half anyway…”
“Where’s my brother, you asshole,” Paige demanded and Dusty turned to face her.
“We have your brother? Which one is he?”
She shut her mouth with an audible snap.
“Let me guess. The really nice guy. The leader of the group? That would make sense. Does he know you’re here? Bet not.” Dusty grinned. “This should be interesting then.”
Brittany wondered why he hadn’t put them with the group. Some nefarious reason she’d bet. She could feel it in her gut. They were set aside, and it wasn’t for a good purpose.
“Just let us go,” she said, knowing it was futile.
“And ruin the night’s entertainment? I think not.”
Brittany felt the world shift. “Entertainment?”
“Don’t listen to him, Brittany. He’s just trying to scare you.”
It was working. “What are you talking about?” Brittany asked. She couldn’t help it. She had to know.
Dusty smiled. “Tonight, we celebrate. This is us, reclaiming our independence. All this time we’ve played by their rules. We’ve done it by the book. Well, not anymore.”
Brittany saw the maniacal gleam in his eye now. She’d only seen a handsome man who didn’t fit the bill before, but now she saw the touch of madness. Strangely, she pushed beyond the fear to ask, “What were you? I mean before this. What did you do?”
He tilted a glance at her. “Pretty and observant. I wasn’t always a rough and tumble person. No. If
that’s what you’re getting at. I was straight laced. An accountant for a big firm. I mean, I worked out. Pushed my body to the limits that one could in the same gym at the same hours after work, coming home to the same pre-made meals, and the same empty apartment that I’d fill bimonthly with an easy lay. But look at me now? Surrounded by people who were tired of that exact vicious cycle.” He punctuated the last words by pushing a finger into Brittany’s forehead.
He pushed that finger in between her brows until her head thudded softly against the wall in a rhythm. “And you, my dear, are part of the change.” Dusty stood, holding his hands wide by his sides. “The weak merely survive. The strong thrive. We beat you all fair and square. We take what’s ours now. No regrets.”
Paige looked angry enough to spit nails. “What about my brother? What about the rest of the group?”
“Haven’t decided. A few of them seem eager to embrace our ways. Once we separate wheat from the chaff…” he lifted his rifle and aimed it Paige’s head. “Bang.”
**
Night came so swiftly Brittany wasn’t sure that she’d be able to hold it together. The anxiety she felt made her heart pound in her ears. Dusty’s group was outside, firing guns off and it sounded like the fourth of July out there. They had music, and people were loudly shouting their excitement and arguments.
“It sounds like a lot of people have joined that maniac,” Paige said.
“The easy road.”
“I guess. I mean, he’s blowing up their homes, maybe they’re too afraid to go against him. He has tanks for crying out loud.”
But Paige shuddered when Brittany reminded her of their supposed purpose. “He said we were entertainment. Did he mean…”
Paige swallowed. “Yeah. I think so. I’d rather die.”
Brittany stared hard at Paige.
“I mean it,” the other woman said. “If it comes down to it, I’ll find a way.”
“What about your brother?” Brittany asked.
“You think he could live with himself if he knew that they…abused me like that?”
But what about me? Brittany thought.
Chapter 5