The Divide

by Scott B. Williams

  “She’s not here.”

  “Are you sure? Maybe she didn’t get entered into the system.”

  “No, if she was inside, there would be a record on her, whether she was in the free refugee section or among the detainees,” Tonya said, with a tone of finality that suggested there were no further options.

  “Maybe she was here and left? Maybe she decided to go someplace else, or even try to make it home somehow?”

  “No, that’s impossible. If she was ever here at all, it would be in here. If someone leaves, dies or their status changes in any way, we have to update it.”

  “And you’re sure you have everybody? I mean, she was a student on the university and living in an apartment right by the campus before all this was established. Wouldn’t there be a chance that some of the students who were already here just stayed and didn’t get entered into the system?”

  “The entire campus was under lockdown and there was a room to room search in every building after the riots, including all the apartment complexes. It was absolutely secured, believe me. They had to do a clean sweep to get the situation back under control.”

  “What was the reason for the riots? What happened?” Jonathan asked.

  “Who can list all the reasons? It started with protests that became violent. The police intervened of course, and people got hurt. Others were killed as the situation escalated; police, students and other non-participants caught up in it.”

  Shauna felt a wave of panic upon hearing this. Tonya could see what she was thinking.

  “I already scanned the list of the deceased as we were talking. Megan Branson’s name doesn’t show up there either. All I can tell you is that she’s not here and never was.”

  “What about her roommate? Can you check that for me? Her name is Vicky Singleton? Is she in your database?

  Shauna looked at Jonathan while they waited for the new search to complete. When Tonya said Vicky’s name didn’t show up either, Shauna felt the knots twisting tighter.

  “You said she might have a boyfriend out here,” Jonathan said.

  “I don’t know if he was a boyfriend, but she mentioned this Gareth guy a few times during her first semester. I don’t remember if she ever told me his last name though. There was another girlfriend she talked about a lot though.” Shauna turned back to Tonya. “Can you try the name, Jena Adams? I think she lived in the apartment next door to Megan and Vicky.”

  “Ah yes. Got it! I do have a Jena Adams, age 19, in the system. It shows she is in the detention section, charged with rioting. Not surprising, really. Like I said, there were a lot of them. Mostly university students, but a few faculty members as well.”

  “I’ve got to talk to her!” Shauna said. “Jena may know why Megan and Vicky aren’t here. Maybe she knows where they went.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that’s not allowed. Unless you’re a family member or her attorney, you can’t visit with a detainee in lockup.”

  This was the answer Shauna was afraid she would hear as soon as she learned that Jena was indeed in that section of the refugee center. Shauna didn’t know anything about this girl, other than that Megan had said she was cool and that they were hanging out a lot. She had to speak with her though because right now she was the only connection to her daughter that Shauna could think of. Looking at Jonathan and then back at Tonya, Shauna realized the one thing she had to her advantage was that the three of them were alone together in Tonya’s office. This woman alone was the deciding factor on whether or not Shauna got to see Jena.

  “Please! Just give me ten minutes with her. Can’t you put down that I am family? Her aunt maybe? Who will know the difference? It’s your decision, right?”

  “Yes, it is, and my job is to make sure everyone entering this facility is properly identified and vetted. If your daughter was inside, I could get you in. If you were from Boulder County, I could get you in through refugee status. As it is, you’re neither local nor immediate family to anyone inside who is.”

  “I understand your job must be tough,” Shauna said. “I understand that just living here must have its share of hardships with no immediate end in sight. Do you have a family? Children of your own?”

  Tonya looked back at Shauna, hesitating at first, before saying that she did. “We are all doing the best we can here.”

  “Wouldn’t this help you out? Something with which to barter for some extra little luxuries, maybe?” Shauna slid a half-Krugerrand across the desk, leaving it in front of her. “This is a half-ounce of gold. It’s a lot better than cash. I only need a few minutes. Five or ten at the most. You can tell the guards that I’m Jena’s aunt and that we’re passing through and just wanted to check on her and make sure she was okay.”

  “I could end up in there myself if this got out,” Tonya said.

  “It won’t. I won’t say anything to anyone. I just want to see if Jena knows where Megan went.”

  Tonya picked up the coin, turning it in her fingers to look at both sides. “Is it really worth so much to you just to talk to a girl who may not have the answers you want?”

  “Wouldn’t it be to you, if your daughter was the one missing? That gold is just a means to an end, like any other form of currency. My husband brought it when he returned to the United States because he knew we’d probably need it. So yes, it’s absolutely worth it to me, and I know you can put it to good use buying things you need for your family. Do we have a deal?”

  “It’s too risky to try to get him in too,” she said, nodding at Jonathan. “You’ll have to go alone. It’ll raise fewer questions that way.”

  “That’s fine. If Jonathan can wait here for me. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

  “Yeah, I’m totally good with it,” Jonathan said. “I don’t really want to go inside a place like this anyway. Fences and guards and stuff creep me out. It feels too much like a prison to me. You go. I’ll be waiting when you get back.”

  While she waited for Tonya to make the necessary call, Shauna asked to use the restroom and while inside she quickly removed her socks and the remaining gold coins hidden on her person, putting the coins into one of them and passing it off to Jonathan when Tonya wasn’t watching. She assumed she would be thoroughly searched for weapons and contraband before she was admitted through the gates, and she couldn’t afford to lose the last of her bargaining power. Jonathan gave her a surprised but knowing look when he felt the weight of the sock before slipping it into a pocket. Once she was inside, Shauna was met by a security officer from the detainment sector, and he drove her to the building used for that purpose in an open-topped Jeep Wrangler. Along the short drive, Shauna saw very few of the ‘free’ inhabitants of the converted campus, and when she asked the guard where everybody was, he just said most of them spent their time indoors. Shauna couldn’t imagine what it was like for those who had no other choice but to seek out a place like this in order to survive, but she knew she and Daniel and Andrew would have been facing the same fate in Florida if not for Bart’s place on the Caloosahatchee River. She was certain that the ‘detainment sector’ of this place would be far bleaker, but the guard told her that the ones being held here weren’t the worst offenders. Those were in another facility off-site. Tonya hadn’t mentioned that, and now Shauna had something else to worry about. Could Megan possibly be there instead? She put the thought out of her mind for now. First, she had to talk to Jena. When they arrived and went inside the converted building, Shauna was taken to a small office near the front where a guard stood watch outside the door. Through the glass, Shauna saw a young woman seated inside and she easily recognized her from the pictures Megan had texted months before. She was allowed inside alone with her, while her escort waited outside with the other guard.

  “Jena Adams? I’m Shauna Hartfield. Megan Branson’s mom.”

  “Really? You’re Megan’s mom? Oh wow, I thought you lived like way far away. Florida, right?”

  “Yes, I did, but I’ve been trying to reach Megan since bef
ore the beginning of summer. I haven’t talked to her at all since the cell networks went down. Please tell me you know where she is, Jena! When is the last time you saw her?”

  Jena looked back at her, lost in thought as if she were trying to remember. “It wasn’t long before they put me in here. A week maybe? I don’t know, everything was crazy on campus for a while. It was just one big riot, day and night. I didn’t want to leave, because I thought it would stop, but Megan said she wasn’t staying.”

  “Where was she going? Did she say? She didn’t leave alone did she?”

  “No, she was with Gareth, and her roommate, Vicky. There were some other people with them too. They were going to get the hell out of here and go to some ranch way out in the mountains. It’s where Vicky’s grandparents live. She said it would be safe there, and Gareth said it would be better to get out of the cities and towns too, so that’s what they did. They asked me to go with them, but Toby wouldn’t do it, and I wasn’t about to leave him. He was so awesome!”

  Shauna noticed tears forming in Jena’s eyes.

  “He’s your boyfriend?”

  “He was,” she said, staring off into space as if lost for a moment. “But he’s dead now. He got shot by those soldiers they sent here. A lot of people did, and then the rest of us were arrested. They brought us here later after they turned our campus into a prison!” She glared at the two guards outside the door.

  Shauna didn’t know what to say. It was a huge relief to know that Megan had left before all that happened, but that didn’t mean she was safe. Shauna had to find out where that ranch was, and then get there with Jonathan as soon as possible.

  “They were going to hike there,” Jena said, when Shauna asked her how they planned to reach the ranch. “Gareth knows the mountains around here better than any of our friends. He said there were trails that were shortcuts and that it would be a lot safer than being on the roads. He knows what he’s doing. I’m sure they made it just fine,” Jena said, but it’s been a long time now. I can’t see Gareth just hanging out at some ranch, doing nothing, with all that’s going on everywhere.”

  “What do mean? I thought you just said he wanted to go there because it was away from everything.”

  “He did, I think. But Gareth isn’t the type to just hide out and not get involved. He wants to help people. He saw that it wasn’t going to work to stay here and fight, but that doesn’t mean he’s given up the fight.”

  Shauna considered this for a minute, trying to understand. Was this Gareth some kind of activist who’d been in the middle of the trouble that landed Jena in here and got her boyfriend killed? Was Megan involved in it too? She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer to that right now, but she definitely wanted directions to that ranch. Jena had never been there, of course, but she knew some of the nearby mountain towns and she knew the name of the valley where the ranch was located, as well as the name of the ranch itself.

  “Vicky’s grandparents have lived there like forever, I think. She said they have horses there. It’s pretty far from any main roads. I think it’s just a gravel road for a long way before you get there, but it’s close to the Continental Divide Trail, and that’s the way Gareth planned to go.”

  The guards opening the door was their sign that Shauna’s brief visitation time was up. It was just as well. She had about all the information that Jena could give her. As she rode back to the front gate with the security officer, she wondered what the odds were that Megan was still at that ranch, if she had gotten there at all. There were still as many questions as answers, but at least she had something—a new goal to reach that might or might not be the end of her search. Jonathan was going to see his mountains all right—the very heart of the Rockies as they crossed the Continental Divide. When she was taken back to Tonya’s office, he jumped up from the chair, wanting to know what she’d learned from Jena, but she put him off for a moment, whispering for him to give her the sock and give her a few more minutes while he waited outside.

  “Thank you so much for what you did. It means the world to me,” Shauna told Tonya when Jonathan left. “At least I know where to start looking, but I have one more favor to ask before I go.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything else I can do to help you today. You should probably just leave now while you’re ahead.”

  “It’s not much. All I need is a piece of paper and an envelope. I need to leave a message with you in case someone else shows up here looking for my daughter. It’s a slim chance, but it’s possible her father will find his way here later if he’s still alive. He would have no idea where to go other than here to the campus, and he doesn’t even know the names of Megan’s friends like I did.”

  “There’s no guarantee that I’ll even be assigned here when and if he comes. You can leave the letter, I suppose, but don’t expect me to actually get it to him. It’s unlikely to happen.”

  “I understand, but if you can try, I would really appreciate it, and it will be worth your while. Shauna put another half-Krugerrand coin in Tonya’s hand, surely incentive enough for her to pay attention to anyone who might come here inquiring about Megan Branson. It was a lot to give her, but Shauna’s brief visit with Jena had been more than worth it already. “Eric, my husband, has more of those, and I’m sure he’ll be happy to reward you as well for giving him the letter after you tell him that Jonathan and I were here.”

  Tonya put the coin away quickly and gave Shauna the pen and paper she requested. When Shauna finished and sealed the brief one-page letter in the envelope, she handed it over and thanked the woman again.

  “I will do my best to watch for your husband. Good luck to you.”

  Shauna left the office and found Jonathan waiting outside the door.

  “Are you gonna tell me what you found out now?”

  “Yes. Let’s just get on our bikes and ride back to that park. We’ll talk on our way there. We’ve got another journey ahead of us, Jonathan, and it’s going to take us that way.” Shauna pointed west, to the rugged peaks rising up against the skyline. By the time they’d retrieved the Glock and its magazines, along with the junk pistol taken off the dead gang member, she had told the kid everything she knew.

  “So, this Gareth dude, her boyfriend I guess, figured out they’d better get out of town before they got arrested?”

  “I don’t know if he’s actually a boyfriend. If he was, Jena didn’t say.”

  “Even if he wasn’t back then, they might have hooked up once all the riots started. Sounds like that dude was a troublemaker to me.”

  “Maybe, but maybe not. At least he seemed to have enough sense to get out of here while they still could. If they were going to a remote ranch, there’s probably not a lot of trouble they could get into out there. I think the real troublemakers stuck around the cities and college campuses because that’s where the action was. I don’t think Megan would get involved in any of that, certainly not the violence. I know her well enough to know that she would never intentionally hurt someone unless it was self-defense.”

  “So how are we supposed to get to this place? Is it like a real deal cowboy ranch with horses and stuff?”

  “I don’t know, but probably. This is ranch country out here, Jonathan, at least outside of the urban areas.”

  “Do you know how far away it is?”

  “Not exactly. I know they were planning on hiking there on a series of trails that would keep them off the roads, including The Continental Divide Trail. Jena told me that if we head west on Highway 119 we will come to where it crosses. If we follow it south it’s a shortcut to the valley where the ranch is. We’ll have to turn off on a gravel forest service road that the trail intersects and follow it west. That’s about all she could tell me, that and the name of Vicky’s grandparents that are the owners of the ranch.”

  “Can we ride our bikes down that trail?”

  “I don’t think so. Jena said it’s a hiking trail. That usually means steep and difficult going even on foot. We ca
n ride to it though. Or we can try and find our way to the road the long way around, but Jena said it’s much farther because there’s no pass for a road unless you go way to the south first and then double back.”

  “I say we hike it then. I’m up for it if you are.”

  “I’m up for whatever it takes. You should know that by now, but I might be hesitant to try and hike a trail like that all alone, so I’m glad you’re going too. I don’t think it’ll be easy, but after what happened today on the road, I think I’d rather be out in the wilderness, wouldn’t you? If we can get out of town without running into more trouble, we’ll probably be fine in the mountains.”

  “Unless we run into a freakin’ bear or mountain lion,” Jonathan said.

  “Don’t let that worry you. Animals aren’t nearly as likely to bother us as people are. I’ll take my chances with them any day. The main thing we need to worry about up there is the weather. The sooner we get to that ranch, the better, because every day that passes, gets us closer to winter, and like I said before, winter comes early out here. You don’t want to be caught in the high country in a snowstorm.”

  Thirteen

  ERIC AND SERGEANT CONNELLY were locked up alone together in a shared cell, but several other prisoners in Sheriff Morgan’s jail were close enough to converse with, and the two of them learned that most of their fellow inmates were in there for minor infractions rather than real crimes.

  “Nobody gets a trial anymore, and there’s no bail or nothing. The sheriff decides what the sentence is, and there’s only two ways out of here: Either he figures you’ve done your time and he gives you a second chance, or it straight out back to the hangman’s noose.”

  Eric wasn’t sure if the man was yanking his chain or being serious, but he didn’t dismiss the latter possibility either. “You’ve seen this?” he asked.

  “Everybody around here has. It’s been going on since about the middle of summer when all the trouble started. Most people they lock up aren’t in here but a couple of days if they’re in for a hanging offense. The rest of us are just waiting for our time to be up, but as far as I know, the only ones that have been let loose are local folks, like me. Strangers usually don’t get a second chance. I don’t think your prospects are looking too good, if you get my drift.”