“I can get what you need.”
“Where?”
“In town.”
“You didn’t hear what I said was going on?”
“Flu goes away with warm weather. Three months would be a long time to man the barricades.”
“Good luck.”
“I was hoping you’d come with me.”
Karla laughed. “Despite what you’ve heard, I don’t have a death wish.”
“Neither do I. That’s why I’d like backup.”
“What exactly are you planning?”
“See what’s going on out there mostly. And pick up some things we need.”
“I’ll go,” Caitlin said.
“Settled.” Karla stepped away. She stooped with a short handled hoe to clear weeds from a row of beans.
The girls wandered deeper into the meadow in search of wildflowers. Caitlin waited for Ray to move on then touched Karla’s arm. “What happened in Del Norte?”
“You really want to hear this?”
Catlin nodded.
Karla slammed the hoe blade into the ground. “A charming group of men said I couldn’t go into town, but they’d tell me how to get around it. They directed us the long way. I recognized the road they described and drove straight to it, pretty fast ’cause we’d lost time. We caught sight of a truck we’d seen earlier, stopped in the road ahead. I held up, just a bit suspicious.
The townies had dropped a fake box of food in the road and set up in a blind fifty feet away. A couple stepped out of the truck thinking it was their lucky day. They were dead in ten seconds. The men killed the two children later—a boy maybe twelve, a girl younger than Brittany. I’d guess they’d killed more than a hundred people that way.”
“How’d you get away?”
“We got lucky.”
“Did you tell Ray what happened?”
“Only that we were set up. Didn’t see a reason to go into the details.”
“Is that where Jessie was shot?”
“No. Something more direct a couple days before.” Karla brushed hair from her face and stared at Caitlin. “What you need to know is that men with rifles could be waiting around any corner.”
“And Ray wants you along, because you lived to tell the tale.”
Karla nodded. “He seems to value combat experience.”
“I shot a man when we first got here,” Caitlin said.
“I’m pleased to know you can. You go to town, you’ll likely be called on to do it again.”
“He took Brittany three times last fall. I’ve always stayed behind to watch our things.”
“You know he called me?”
Caitlin nodded. “I didn’t like it. But Ray’s honest. That’s how I knew you might come.”
“Did he ever tell you the story of Cheryl?”
“He said he was travelling with a woman and she was killed.”
“He didn’t say how?”
“Just it was his fault.”
“He gets some credit, but not all.”
“You were there?”
“I’d been gone ten days. Got home late, found them camping in my living room. The light wasn’t good. He rolled to get a gun. She died in his place. I never saw her.”
“He stayed with you after that?”
“In the barn. He had a load of gear and no way to haul it.”
“Till he got his truck back the day we left.”
Karla nodded.
“He seems to have forgiven you.”
“More like he doesn’t feel a need to protect me. I take a bullet; he’s not going to lose any sleep.”
“What else don’t I know?”
“Shit, you’ve slept with him. I haven’t.”
Caitlin smiled. “I really wasn’t sure.”
* * *
“Caitlin and I are going,” Karla announced.
“You won’t go with me, but it’s okay with Caitlin?”
“If something happens, you’ll look after the girls.”
“You don’t think Caitlin could?”
“In a word, no.” Karla paused. “Not through winter. Not yet. You all weren’t much more than getting by with you out hunting.”
“You’re forgetting Brittany. She can take down a deer.”
“And dress it and haul it home?”
“Not yet.”
“There you have it. Either you or I have to stay. You don’t want Caitlin backing you. I think two women are more likely to be underestimated if we run into trouble.”
“Or run into a whole different kind of trouble.”
“Only if they’re into necrophilia. ‘Drop your weapons’ is not a command I’m likely to take seriously.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I don’t either. We leave in the morning, and we’re taking your truck. Might be people who remember mine.”
Chapter 71
Karla locked the gate at the end of the fire road then opened the truck’s passenger side door. “I’ll ride the rest of the way in back.”
Caitlin frowned. “Leaves me kind of a sitting duck.”
“What good do you think I could do in here?” Karla swung the Mini-14 around the cab. Too many things in the way. And it’s a lot harder to shoot out through a windshield than in. From the bed I have surprise and a full field of fire.”
“Were you Army, too? You sound an awful lot like Ray.”
“Skills learned in engineering lend themselves to a lot of disciplines.”
Karla opened the rear window. “Call out the details if you see anything funny . . . three men with rocket launchers left of the road a quarter mile ahead. Anything at all out of place.”
“I’m suddenly nervous.”
Karla gave Caitlin a hug then hefted the rifle.
“I wish you had been in the Army.”
“I’ve got your back. Just like if I was.”
* * *
Caitlin picked up speed on US 160. Karla had only driven the roads with snow. Distances seemed much shorter now.
“House ahead on right. No one in sight . . . settlement on the left.” A minute of silence. “A motel on right, no cars. South Fork. Businesses both sides. Set back. No people. No cars.” Another brief pause. “More businesses. Not many houses. I don’t think anyone lives here.”
Karla sat up and scanned the town as they left it: Resort community with no visitors. Restaurants, motels, outfitters, all closed, some with windows broken and doors ajar. They barreled on. Caitlin kept up the monologue.
Karla felt the truck slow. “Del Norte,” Caitlin called out. “Cars blocking the road. Don’t see anyone.”
“Stop and let’s have a look,” Karla said. “If we’re closer than a quarter mile, back away from the roadblock.”
Caitlin braked hard then backed slowly. Karla chanced a peek through the back window with binoculars. Four vehicles sat in the road. Two end to end crossing the centerline from the left. Just beyond, two more lined from the right. Vehicles could pass between them, but very slowly. The streets were empty. No one visible in the building’s windows. Karla remembered the blind on the farm.
“We’re going around.” Karla gave directions, not seeking to bypass Del Norte, just the obstruction. It would be the point of greatest danger. As they looped south they approached a hospital.
“Pull in,” Karla said.
The hospital was single story, new, but tiny by any standards. A somewhat larger structure next door appeared to be a related clinic. Caitlin circled the buildings. Seventeen cars sat in the lot in front. A generator hummed out back. She stopped at the front doors of both buildings. No one visible at reception.
Karla figured there were people inside, but she wasn’t inclined to walk into what could be the most contaminated building in the county. “Let’s look the town over.”
* * *
Caitlin rejoined 160 downtown and turned slowly east. Karla peered through the back window. A
young man carrying an assault rifle stepped from a restaurant on the left. His black hair was long, his beard scraggly. His jeans and shirt lived in. Outside the gun, he resembled a street person. He aimed the weapon at the truck. Caitlin squealed to a stop. Karla slumped out of sight.
“Let him know you’re a woman. Ask why the town’s so quiet. If he acts hostile, say the word ‘Iowa’ and duck.”
“Hey,” Caitlin yelled. “What happened here?” She rested her hands on the windowsill.
The man stood across the street and stared at her.
“You don’t need to point the gun at me.” She waved her hands. “I’m not armed.”
“Where you from?” he asked.
“The mountains up north. Haven’t been to a town in a while. Seems like everyone left.”
“Flu. Most of who’s not sick or starved are holed up at home.”
“Is the restaurant open? I was hoping to eat.”
“We ain’t got food for sale. Nobody has round here. How long you been away?”
“Last September. It wasn’t like this then.”
“All alone.”
“Four of us split up, looking for food.”
“They’re not going to find none. Even the crows hereabouts go hungry.”
“Well thanks, I’ll keep looking.” Caitlin put the truck in gear.
“Hold up. Didn’t say I couldn’t get you a bag of peanuts. Come on in. We’ll rustle something up.”
“No offense, but the gun’s pretty scary. Think I’d rather go on down the road.”
“I think you should get out of the truck and c’mon over.”
“You make me nervous pointing the gun.”
Karla listened to Caitlin’s message.
“Please don’t come any closer.”
The truck began backing.
“Shut it down.”
Caitlin stepped on the accelerator. The man fired. Karla rose as he fired again at the truck. He swung the rifle toward Caitlin and Karla pulled the trigger three times. The man staggered into a trash can and fell. Karla jumped from the truck and ran to him. He was hit in the stomach and chest, but still breathing.
“How many people in town?”
“Hell if I know,” he gasped.
“Anyone in the restaurant?”
He spit, feebly.
“Suit yourself.” She frisked him and came up with a Glock. She collected his rifle and walked to the truck, spotting the flat tire. She checked his rifle and handed it to Caitlin.
“Pull the truck around the corner, then keep me covered while I change the tire.”
* * *
The man was dead by the time Karla finished with the tire.
Caitlin looked at his body and turned away. “Maybe we shouldn’t have killed him.”
“We could channel his spirit and see what he had in mind for you.”
“It seems so cold.”
“’Cause it is.” Karla pointed at the police station down the block. “If there was law in this town they’d be here. They’re not, so we deal with what we find. He didn’t take that shot, he’d be alive.”
“You killed him because he shot the tire?”
“And for what it signaled. You want me to wait next time until someone shoots you?”
Karla put on gloves and ventured into the restaurant. Caitlin stood guard in the doorway. The man had been sleeping on a mattress behind a barricade in a corner. He, or someone, had eaten most of what food had been there. Karla boxed a few cans of soup, cellophaned packs of crackers, cold cereal, and the nuts the man had mentioned.
On the way out of town, Karla had Caitlin stop behind a Chevy pickup in a church parking lot. Karla removed the spare tire and secured it under their truck. Then they moved on.
They saw no cars or people in Monte Vista. Karla ventured into a Safeway without food. She tried two convenience stores with the same result.
“Guy in Del Norte was right. Whatever food was in stores is gone. Might explain why no one is out. Nothing left to scavenge,” Caitlin said.
In Alamosa, they spotted a lumber yard—framing materials stored in outside racks, untouched. They loaded the truck with what they came for. The store itself had been broken into. Karla considered what might be inside—useful and threatening. She stepped into the darkened building, carrying a flashlight and a rifle.
She scooted a cart down the aisles, collecting rolls of plastic sheeting, nails and a staple gun. She felt like a child in a toy store and kept throwing things in. As she transferred the goods to the truck, she noticed a trailer across the lot with a faded “Rent Me” sign. She moved it to the racks, laid sheets of plywood on the bottom and piled on more lumber.
“You think you can haul that up the mountain?” Caitlin asked.
“Worst case, we get it within a couple miles and go back with the truck. Safer than coming all the way here.”
“What do we need all that for?”
Karla smiled. “I’m building a house.”
They left the trailer for later collection and drove through town. Two men on motorbikes, both with rifles, swerved up a side street and took off fast. Later, shadows moved inside an obviously trashed Wendy’s. There were people in town, and they were skittish. Karla considered the many reasons to fear strangers.
Caitlin stopped at a Wal-Mart, parking on the sidewalk next to the smashed glass doors. “Think it’s okay?”
Karla stared at the windowless structure. “What do you have in mind?”
“Clothes for Brittany, towels, more water buckets, Tampons, and some things from the pharmacy.”
“You shouldn’t go in alone, and I don’t like leaving the truck for very long.”
“I’ll be quick.”
Broken glass crunched under their shoes. “A good alarm,” Karla whispered, as they moved quickly out of the light. They ducked behind a register and listened.
“We stay together,” Karla said. “What do you need worst?”
The pharmacy had been gone through several times, but Caitlin came up with twenty-four packages of birth control pills—obviously not in demand. They filled a cart with underwear, socks, jeans, and tops.
“Shoes,” Caitlin said.
Karla frowned and followed Caitlin deeper into the store. Caitlin selected a few pairs of sneakers.
“Okay.”
A faint sound to their left. Karla dropped to a squat and raised the rifle. She scanned with the flashlight, saw motion, and a foot slide away.
“It’s okay,” Karla said. “We’re just here shopping. Nobody is going to hurt you.”
No response.
“We have a little food if you’re interested. It’s outside, in the truck we came in.”
Karla waited.
“We’re going to pick up a few more things, then we’re gone. Think about the food. We’d like to talk, find out how things are around here.”
They wheeled the cart away, found three large trash cans, and headed for the door. Karla moved into the foyer, let her eyes adjust, and swung outside. “All clear.”
Caitlin pushed out the cart, and they loaded the truck. A woman slunk into the doorway, early twenties, unwashed hair, dirty jeans, just this side of starvation. With everything inside, she had not been concerned with her appearance.
Caitlin tossed her a bag of nuts and a box of cold cereal. The woman devoured the nuts then drank from a water bottle.
“There food where you come from?” the woman asked.
“It’s hard times everywhere I’ve been,” Karla said.
“You don’t look like you’re suffering.”
“What’s happened here?” Karla asked.
“Food got low. People got sick. The town shut down.”
“You been sick?” Caitlin asked.
The woman shook her head and tore open the cereal. “Do you have anything else?”
Caitlin tossed her a package of crackers. “We’ve seen other people. Any idea
how many are still here?”
“Why does it matter?”
“We’ve been travelling. We see hardly anyone. Don’t know if they’re all dead or hiding.”
“Both. At least here. Men come sometimes. They take what they want. They shoot people.”
“How many men?”
“Two trucks. Ten men.”
“How often?”
The woman shrugged. “Sometimes.”
“Is the Army ever here?”
“No Army, no police. Every person for themselves.”
“Has anyone been sick lately?” Karla asked.
The woman stepped outside. “You’re not immune, are you?”
“No. We need to be careful.”
“I’ve never been sick. Take me with you.”
“You could still carry the disease and give it to us.”
The woman took a step. “I won’t come any closer if you toss over that box of food.”
Karla sighted the rifle on the woman’s head. “You won’t if I kill you, either.”
“I’m going to die soon anyway.”
“Unless you want it to be in the next five seconds, back away.”
The woman returned to the store entrance. “Stay out there, and we’ll see how long before they find you.”
Chapter 72
They built the greenhouse facing south on the opposite side of the meadow from the cave. Then Karla selected a spot for her home, very near the tent she and Jessie now occupied on the edge of the forest.
Karla made a dozen trips to South Fork, spending a day at a time scouring the tiny community for her building needs. She took Jessie sometimes, Caitlin others, never Ray. Still, some items eluded her. Karla believed they were waiting in Alamosa. But so were the men in trucks. She knew one other place that had most of it. But it was a trip she would have to make alone.
Karla said goodbye to Jessie and left at first light. She circled north of Del Norte, stayed to county roads, and eventually crossed an open field to end at the Rio Grande. She left the truck and trailer on the north side of the river and crossed a rickety wooden bridge on foot, pretty sure it wouldn’t support the truck.
Unease filled her as she walked the mostly open ground to the farm. The windbreak screened her from the farmhouse itself. But she was visible from three other farmsteads, any of which could be occupied by hostiles. Any escape would be slow without the truck handy. Still, she thought it better to approach the buildings in stealth.
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