by Dave Bowman
He made a wide arc through the woods. He was counting on Nick to play it safe. Nick wasn’t the type to get up and run as soon as the shooting stopped. Nick was the type to wait.
Bobby’s wager turned out to be correct. When Bobby circled back in the direction of Nick’s position, he saw his enemy waiting. Nick had no idea that Bobby had snuck up behind him. He didn’t hear Bobby raise his rifle and aim.
Revenge is so sweet.
“Don’t move,” the voice had said to Charlie moments before as he carried Nick’s food.
Charlie froze.
“Walk into the woods,” the man muttered in a low voice. He pressed the pistol into Charlie’s back, urging him forward. They disappeared under the cover of the forest.
“Stop here,” the man ordered.
Charlie froze for just a second. It was just long enough to make his attacker think he was giving in.
With explosive force, Charlie twisted to the side, knocking the man’s hand back with his elbow. The pistol and rifle fell to the ground.
As he twisted, Charlie tossed the scalding soup in the man’s face. Burned, the man grunted and recoiled.
Still holding the ceramic bowl, Charlie smashed it over the man’s face. The man stumbled backward, his hands covering his head in a protective gesture.
Charlie’s eyes flashed at the handgun and the rifle. Both weapons had fallen to the ground behind the attacker.
Charlie had no time to reach for them.
Instead, he pulled his fixed blade knife from the sheath he wore at his belt. He leapt at the man and drove the sharp blade into his belly. The man grunted in pain, and Charlie withdrew the knife.
The man lunged at Charlie, but Charlie jumped out of the way. Before the man could spin around, Charlie drove the knife into his throat and dragged it across his neck.
The man fell to his knees. He died quickly.
Charlie picked up his rifle and ran through the woods just as someone opened fire near Nick. He had to hurry.
His legs were burning, but Charlie pushed himself forward. As he neared the end of the small road and the intersection near Nick’s station, the shooting stopped.
Was that a good or bad sign?
Charlie’s heart beat like a drum.
He ducked into the woods. He had to take cover. Out on the road anyone could spot him easily.
He tore through the forest, ignoring the pain of his injured shoulder or the scrapes and gashes he got on his arms from the stray branches that he brushed up against as he moved.
The only thing that mattered was getting there in time.
As he rounded a large ponderosa, he came upon a scene that made him stop in his tracks. Nick was lying on the ground up ahead, and a few yards behind him a man raised a gun and aimed at his back.
Without pausing, Charlie pulled his rifle up and switched off the safety in one seamless motion. The man must have heard him, because he turned to look in Charlie’s direction. His eyes were wide. His shoulder jerked frantically as he tried to turn his gun around on Charlie.
But it was too late for the guy.
Charlie took him down with one shot. His rifle fell to the ground beside him.
Nick whipped around and took in the scene as he sprang to his feet. He looked at the man lying on the forest floor, drawing in his last breaths. The dying man’s eyes stared straight up into the night. His lips moved soundlessly, trying to form words.
Nick shot the man once more to put him out of his misery.
He looked at Charlie.
“We’ve got to get to the cabin.”
35
Bullets were soaring over Jessa’s head. She returned the fire relentlessly until the figure fell to a heap on the ground.
But the shooting continued. She couldn’t see this one, but she shot in his direction. She held her breath, her muscles tight from tension.
The deafening noise of more rifles being shot added to the confusion. They were shooting guns without muzzle flash, so she couldn’t see where they were. She pulled the trigger yet again, but this time nothing happened.
Her rifle wouldn’t fire. The gun was jammed, she realized as terror took her over.
Her breath came in frantic gasps. She stayed low to the ground and retreated through the woods, her heart pounding in her chest. She feared this would be her end.
As she moved quickly away in a low crouch, she heard someone nearby. She cringed and took what she knew would be her last breath.
Instead of shooting her, though, the person to her side fired at her enemy. She turned to look, the muzzle flash blinding her.
Her target fell, shot dead by one of her friends. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness again, she saw Nick looking at her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Nick didn’t give her a chance to ask if he was okay. He was already running toward the front porch.
Someone was shooting in the cabin.
“What was that?”
Liz’s eyes were struck with terror as she turned to Trina. They heard first one shot outside, then more. Suddenly, it sounded like a war outside the cabin.
“They found us!” Trina cried. Her hands flew to her mouth as she looked at the other women.
Bethany didn’t respond. Her eyes were closed as she struggled through another surge of pain.
“Get down,” Liz said quickly.
Bethany was already low to the ground. She was laboring on her hands and knees. Trina dropped to her side and helped Bethany move away from the window. Mia followed.
Liz grabbed her pistol and peered out the bedroom window. She couldn’t see anything.
“Stay here,” Liz said before she ducked out of the room.
She ran from the bedroom down the hall. As she rounded the corner into the front living space, she stopped, paralyzed with fear.
Someone was turning the doorknob.
The boards on the front porch groaned under a heavy weight as someone moved outside. The door creaked as it swung open.
She lifted her pistol with her arms stretched out in front of her. She bent her knees slightly and steadied her hands.
Liz’s heart jumped into her throat as she saw a huge man step inside with his rifle raised.
She fired three times.
The second and third rounds hit him. He staggered back outside the door and fell, lying in a pool of his own blood.
Liz peered down at him. It was dark, and she could barely see his face. She had killed again.
Bethany’s screams from within the bedroom roused her from her moment’s pause. Liz raced back to the bedroom. She found Trina and Bethany where she had left them.
To Liz’s relief, no one had attacked from the window as she had feared. It was Bethany’s labor pains that made her cry out.
“The baby’s coming fast now,” Trina whispered to Liz. “Usually stress like this would make labor stall. But the baby’s so close that we’re past the point of no return. I’m going to need your help.”
Liz watched for a moment, stunned. She jumped when she heard someone running up the front porch steps.
“It’s me. Don’t shoot!” a familiar voice said.
Nick entered the cabin. He met Liz at the doorway of the bedroom, glancing inside to get a headcount. Jessa and Charlie staggered in the front door of the cabin breathlessly.
“We’re missing Matt,” Nick said as he turned and set off toward the door.
“He was going to get water when all this started,” Charlie said.
“Keep down and stay away from the windows,” Nick said before he stepped over the dead man in the entrance. “We don’t know if there are more or not.”
Jessa picked up Trina’s rifle that was leaning in the corner. “I’ll stand guard in here.”
Charlie ran off after Nick. “I’m going with you.”
From the bedroom, Bethany’s moans grew louder as another contraction began.
The two men stepped out into the darkness. They split up, fir
st sweeping the area in front of the cabin, then moving to the back. So far, it seemed like the gang members had all fallen.
There was no one at the water spring. Nick and Charlie pushed onward, skirting around the meadow and cutting back toward the road.
To Nick’s great relief, they found Matt alive. He was tied up in the back of a Lexus. When he saw Nick and Charlie, he grinned.
“I heard all the gunfire,” he said. “At first I was scared that I had blown everything by getting captured. But I knew you guys would win.”
As they untied him, he told them about his capture.
“He was a huge guy with a red beard,” Matt said. “He had tattoos all over his neck.”
“Sounds like the guy Liz shot as he was trying to come in the front door,” Nick said. “We’re lucky he didn’t hurt you, Matt.”
Matt nodded vigorously. “Their leader told them not to kill the children.”
“How thoughtful of them,” Charlie said sarcastically.
“Did he say how many of them there were?” Nick asked.
“Six,” Matt answered.
Charlie exhaled. “Then we got them all. I got two, Nick got two, and Liz and Jessa got one each.”
Nick felt like he could finally breathe again. The immediate threat was over.
“The guy said something about Bobby being out here,” Matt said. “It sounded like he was the boss.”
Nick thought back to the spy they had caught at Chris’s cabin in Idaho Springs.
“Bobby was the one calling all the shots,” Nick said. “He was in charge of the whole BSC. And if he was out here, and we got all six guys. . .”
Charlie lifted his eyebrows. “You mean we just took out the head of the gang?”
Nick rubbed at his jaw. “It seems like it.”
Charlie let out a whoop as they walked back to the cabin. “So we’re in the clear now. They won’t be bothering us anymore.”
Nick could hardly believe it. Were they finally free of the BSC? Was this really the end of it?
“I hope so,” Nick said.
The faint glow of the candles from the cabin windows came into view as they approached the house.
“I can’t wait to tell them the good news,” Charlie said. “They’re not going to believe –”
He broke off midsentence. He turned to look at Nick and Matt.
A baby was crying.
Mia watched as Trina and Liz cleaned the newborn. Jessa brought in fresh water.
Using the midwife supplies that Bethany had been carrying in a suitcase for days, the women had been able to help Bethany deliver the baby and cut the cord. Trina’s help had been key during the entire process. Her calm reassurances had helped Bethany focus and not give in to fear during the labor. Now, Trina’s experience as a mother gave Bethany confidence with her newborn.
Trina wrapped the infant in a baby blanket and handed him back to Bethany, who now lay in bed.
Bethany’s eyes gleamed as she looked down at her son.
“He’s so beautiful,” she said. She marveled at the tiny new being she had brought into the world.
The baby was a healthy pink color all over and responsive to stimulation. Trina had checked his pulse and breathing. He was a perfectly healthy newborn.
Jessa ducked out of the room when she heard the guys walk up the front porch steps. Mia heard their voices, then Jessa’s footsteps as she returned to the bedroom.
“It’s all over,” Jessa said. “I don’t think the BSC will be bothering us again.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Trina said.
Liz breathed a sigh of relief and sat in the chair at Bethany’s bedside. “It’s finally over. No more fighting.”
Liz brushed the hair out of Bethany’s face. “Now we can get you and the baby back home where it’s safe. We don’t have anything else to worry about.”
Bethany bit her lip and looked up.
“But there’s still something,” she began.
Mia felt herself tense up. “What is it?”
“I heard you talking with Garrison,” Bethany said to Mia. “It’s something I’ve been worrying about ever since the outbreak. I never said anything because I was scared. I guess I just tried not to think about it.”
“About what?” Jessa asked.
Bethany took a breath, then looked down at her son. She blinked away tears as she spoke in a whisper.
“What if he gets sick from the Hosta virus? His dad wasn’t immune. Can the virus somehow get activated in his system now that he’s out in the world?”
Liz and Trina looked at each other, then at Jessa.
“And even if he’s immune, what if he’s a carrier of the virus?” Bethany asked anxiously. “You said your Native American friends haven’t been exposed to the virus.”
Mia took a deep breath, then spoke up.
“I think I have something that can help us find out,” she said.
She began to take several items out of Garrison’s backpack. She spread her supplies out on a table.
“What are you doing?” Bethany asked nervously.
“I saw in Garrison’s notes that they had developed a simple test for Hosta virus antibodies,” Mia said. “I found the supplies to do the test in his office, and I have them here. I just need to swab the baby’s mouth for a saliva sample.”
Retrieving a small plastic package, she walked to Bethany’s side.
“Do you want me to do it?” Mia asked gently.
Bethany looked at the sterile saliva swab.
“Okay,” she said, cringing.
Bethany pulled the baby away from her breast and held his mouth open while Mia moved the swab over his gums. The baby began to fuss from the interruption in his feeding.
“That should be enough,” Mia said as she returned back to her supplies on the table. “Now I have to put some drops of this chemical reagent on the swab. Then we wait twenty minutes.”
“Then what?” Bethany asked as she helped her son begin to feed again.
Mia looked at Garrison’s notes. “If the baby has been infected with the Hosta virus, the sample will turn blue. If not, it stays white.”
“So blue means he would be a carrier?” Jessa asked.
“Or that he’s . . . not immune?” Liz asked quietly.
“Yes,” Mia said, looking down. “To both questions.”
Mia set the swab on the table and turned to face the others. Bethany looked down nervously at her son.
Outside the bedroom, the guys awaited the results of the test. Charlie kept himself busy bringing fresh water from the spring while Nick dragged the dead body off the front porch. He found the keys to the Land Rover in the victim’s pocket.
As Nick was washing his hands, he heard a sudden chorus of excited voices in the bedroom. He knocked on the door. Jessa let him in with a grin on her face.
“I take it there’s good news?” he asked.
Mia nodded. “The baby is fine. He’s not sick with the virus, and he can’t get anyone else sick either.”
Charlie and Matt appeared in the doorway, eager to join in the celebration.
“Come in,” Bethany said, smiling. “He’s just finishing eating. Do you want to hold him, Nick?”
“Sure.”
It had been years since Nick had held a baby. He felt the sharp pain over losing his own family come rushing back. But as he took the little bundle in his arms and stared down into his clear, blue eyes, he sensed a new kind of hope that he hadn’t felt in weeks.
“Meet Nathan, Jr.,” Bethany said.
36
The group opted to siphon the gas from the vehicles left by the BSC. Preferring not to travel in the vehicles used by the gang members that had attacked them, they left the cars behind. Besides, they knew they would find new vehicles eventually.
They made it out of the mountains without incident. The roads were deserted. They took Interstate 25 south and left the BSC territory behind.
Nick swapped out Garrison’s GMC for a red Ford F
-150 they found in southern Colorado. Matt smiled when his uncle selected the vehicle. It was just like his dad’s truck.
Gasoline wasn’t much of a concern on the interstate, either. With all the abandoned cars in every small town and city, they were able to siphon and refuel easily. The convoy headed south, making good time on the empty roads.
In Trinidad, near the New Mexico line, they found a handful of abandoned homes. They spent a few hours cleaning out pantries. Finally, their food supply was starting to be replenished. It wasn’t enough to last through the winter, but it was a good start.
When the three-vehicle convoy got to Chama, they stopped to look for more food in the small supermarket. Nick and Jessa went in to search the shelves for any leftover items. They found a few items among the rubble left by the chaos of the Hosta virus: mostly things overlooked by looters or shoppers in their final days.
“This is nowhere near the food supplies we had back at your grandfather’s lodge,” Jessa said as they pushed a couple of half-full shopping carts out of the store. “But hopefully we’ll get there eventually.”
Nick looked at the items they had found by combing through the store’s destroyed aisles. The packages and cans of shelf-stable food might make all the difference to them. It might keep them from starving.
“Yeah, we’ll have to hit up more empty houses along the way,” he said. “We’ll find enough one way or another.”
Jessa nodded. “If we survived the BSC, we can survive the winter.”
They pushed the carts to the Ford truck, where Liz and Charlie helped them unload.
Charlie nodded in approval. “Nice work, guys. You found beef stew and canned tuna fish.”
Liz’s face lit up. “And you even found some cereal!” she exclaimed. “I could use a break from oatmeal.”
“And there was a bunch of baby food,” Jessa called over to Bethany. “For when little Nathan is ready for it.”