Exposed

by RJ Crayton

  “It’s fine,” Josh said.

  He stepped out of view of the camera and returned a moment later with two hundred-dollar bills. “Where to?” Josh asked.

  “Opposite of where you just went,” the faceless voice told them.

  Josh set out first, with Elaan following behind as he turned the corner of the brick building. They saw a Plexiglas window fixture, the kind Elaan had seen at the post office. It was a thick plastic door with a handle. The door opened vertically. Behind the door was a slot, maybe about two feet deep and two feet wide. On the other side was another Plexiglas door. If it was like the one she’d seen at the post office, only one door could be open at a time. Once Elaan and Josh opened their door, the store owner wouldn’t be able to open his until they closed theirs. And vice versa. They wouldn’t be able to open their door if the store owner had his open.

  Next to the Plexiglas chamber was a mail slot labeled, “Deposit money here.”

  This man had it all worked out. If he was worried about getting sick, he had less to worry about. He wasn’t touching the public at all. The real issue was the Plexiglas chamber. Did he disinfect it after each use, or was it trapped with virus germs?

  Josh and Elaan waited silently for a couple of minutes. Then, on the other side of the Plexiglas chamber appeared a rotund man carrying a shotgun in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other. “Put your money in the slot,” he said.

  “Show us you have everything first,” Josh said, sounding firm and no-nonsense. It was tougher than Elaan had ever heard him sound, and she was surprised he pulled it off so well. She’d always viewed him as easygoing and friendly.

  The man laughed a little. “I’m not trying to cheat you, but fine.” He pulled the items out of the paper sack one by one and held them up to the thick glass. It was hard to make out all the lettering, but it appeared to be everything Josh and Elaan had asked for. On the bright side, the man took cash, rather than gold. So, at least one thing Willie had told them had been wrong. Cash wasn’t completely useless.

  “You show me the bills before you put ’em in,” the man said.

  Josh smiled, and held up the bills to the Plexiglas. The man nodded in response, and Josh slipped the money in the deposit slot. After the money was deposited, the man disappeared from view, alarming them slightly. But he came back soon enough and opened his door, putting the groceries in. “Once I close my side,” he said, sliding the bag forward, “you can open your side.”

  The man closed his side. Josh opened their side and grabbed the bag. Elaan said, “Thank you,” to the store owner, more out of habit than actual appreciation, though she was glad his store was open.

  Josh and Elaan walked over to the bike and put the sack in the basket. They dumped a few empty water bottles in the store’s trash can to make room for the new ones.

  “Should we eat here?” Elaan asked, as they stood in front of the store.

  Josh said no, tipping his head toward the camera. “Let’s ride a little bit further, first.”

  She didn’t want to ride anywhere else. She was tired and hungry, but she knew Josh’s suggestion was best. “Sure.”

  Chapter 19

  They rode about a mile down the road and pulled over at a park with a small wooden pavilion that had two picnic tables beneath it. They carried the bike over the gravel pathway so as not the damage the tires, and then rested it against one of the pavilion’s posts.

  It felt good to sit at a real table. This seemed like a nice area. Elaan could imagine children playing here, mothers sitting at the tables, watching them frolic as they chatted with each other. She could remember normal life, if she tried. But then, of course, reality came slamming back at her. There was no one here.

  “Do you think most people are dead?” she asked as Josh handed her a can of pork and beans from the bag.

  He just pulled out a bottle of water and set it down.

  He must not have heard her. “Josh,” she said. “Do you think —”

  “I don’t think we should speculate about that,” Josh said, cutting her off. “Let’s just eat our food. It’s good stuff. Lots of protein. Let’s just enjoy this for right now.”

  She was surprised at his testiness. He’d been so level during the trip. But maybe this was his fear, the one he didn’t want to tell her. That too many people had died. That maybe they weren’t getting supplies in the scientist housing because too many people uptop had died. That living down there was going to become a tomb if they were relying on the uptop for help. That the uptop was a goner.

  She pulled the tab to open the can of beans and wieners.

  “Hey, check it out,” Josh said. He smiled as he held out a plastic knife, fork, napkin set. She thought she’d have to scoop out the food with her fingers. “He must have had them lying around still. There are two sets in here. We should keep them, to reuse.”

  Elaan nodded as she took the packet from him. “Yeah.” She smiled. It was nice to have utensils. She ate quietly and quickly. It tasted wonderful. Might it have tasted better hot? Maybe, but it was so much better than granola and those crappy prepackaged PB&Js. The meal lifted her spirits. They ate another granola bar for good measure, then finished off their dinner with shortbread cookies.

  Elaan gazed west at the setting sun. “There’s no way we’re going to get there before nightfall,” she said, sighing.

  “Yeah, I know,” Josh agreed.

  “How much further do you want to ride before we search for a place to sleep?”

  Josh eyed the horizon and said, “I don’t know. Maybe a couple of miles. Hopefully, it won’t be so hilly.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “No more hills, please.” It had taken longer to ride through this area than they’d anticipated. Illinois was known for being flat, but the last twenty or so miles had been up and down hills. Not typical of the rest of the state. Josh thought it was because the river cut through the region. Part of it reminded her of the rolling hills of Virginia that they used to drive through on road trips.

  She threw their trash in a can that was about half full and a big, mushy blob. It had been rained on and then dried. As it was a metal mesh can, the ground beneath it was discolored from all the mushy runoff that had settled there. It had clearly been a while since anyone had collected the trash. Another sign of the lack of population.

  She sighed and walked over to the bike, where Josh was squatting and staring at the rear tire.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “It’s flat.”

  “What? How?” She walked over to the bike. The rear tire bulged out from the rim. Josh lifted the bike and pointed to the head of a silver screw sticking out from bottom of the tire.

  “We must have run over it right before we got here,” he said. “Shit.” Josh took a step back, gritting his teeth. “I can’t fucking believe this. I thought things were finally starting to go right for us.”

  “I know,” Elaan said softly.

  He shook his head and muttered another curse. Josh stomped toward a different pavilion beam and kicked it. His hands were balled into fists and he grunted as he walked toward her, his frustration evident. She was glad to see him finally let it out. Maybe he’d talk to her, open up about what he was feeling. She was about to say something consoling, when she heard the crunch of tires on the gravel. A pickup truck pulled off the road and onto the path to the park. She stared as it rolled up to them slowly.

  The old truck’s engine rattled and sputtered as it pulled nearer. The truck was driven by an older black man wearing a baseball cap. He rolled down the window. Josh approached the vehicle to talk to the man, but the driver looked past him, focusing squarely on Elaan.

  “Can we help you?” Josh asked.

  “Just sit tight where you are you, young man,” the older man said. He turned to Elaan. “Are you alright?”

  Elaan watched the man. “Umm, me?” she said, pointing to herself and raising an eyebrow.

  He nodded.

  “Yeah, I’m f
ine.”

  The man eyed Josh with suspicion. “I know it’s a tough world now, but that don’t mean you have to stay with someone who’s hitting you. You can get in the car, and I’ll take you someplace safe, if you want.”

  She looked at the man, confused. Josh wouldn’t hit her. She wondered what the man was thinking, then realized he may have just seen Josh’s one and only airing of frustration during this entire trip.

  “I haven’t hit her,” Josh said, his voice irritated, defensive.

  “He hasn’t,” Elaan said loudly, adamantly, stepping forward. “He’s just upset about the bike. It has a flat. We just realized.”

  The driver looked past them at the bike and shrugged. “But you’re alright?” he asked Elaan. He seemed genuinely concerned.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “But you wouldn’t happen to have something that could fix a tire, would you?”

  The man peered at her and then Josh. “I actually have some stuff back at my house,” he said. “It’s in Brimfield, a couple miles up that way.” He pointed due west. “I can take you up there, if you want.”

  “You’d take us to your house and fix our bike?” Josh asked, skeptical.

  “I’d take her in a minute,” the man said. “She reminds me of my daughter, Natalie. Sweetest girl you ever met, but kept picking the wrong guy. You, I’d take because I don’t think she’d go without you.”

  Josh scoffed, clearly offended. “And you think I’d let her go anywhere alone with you?”

  The old man shook his head and gave a slight harrumph. “I don’t think you would, because abusers don’t like to let their victims out of their sight. So, you wouldn’t want to let her go at all.”

  Josh took a step back and crossed his arms. “I didn’t hit her. I wouldn’t do that,” he told the driver. “And I wouldn’t let her go with you because we have no idea who you are. You could be sick. You could have Helnoan. Or you could just be some dirty old man who likes young girls.”

  The man breathed in deep and took another long look at Josh. “I guess we both have ideas about how bad the other one could be. You tell me you haven’t hit her. I’ll have to take you at your word. And you can take me at my word. I’m not sick. Not now. I’ve already been sick. I’m one of those four percent who survived the virus. Three months clean and I been around people since, sick or healthy, and I don’t get sick. So I ain’t sick, and I don’t care if you are.” The older man’s voice turned wistful as he focused in on Elaan. “I hope she ain’t, though. World don’t need to lose no one else young and healthy too soon. We done already lost too many people. If you two need help, I’m willing to offer it. But if you don’t want my help, I’ll go.”

  “Don’t go,” Elaan blurted out. She grabbed Josh’s arm and said to the man, “Can we talk about it for just a second?”

  The older man nodded and turned off the truck’s engine.

  Elaan and Josh walked back toward the bike and spoke to each other in whispers.

  “You’re not really considering going with him, are you?” Josh said.

  “Yes,” said Elaan. “He seems like a nice guy. He just wants to help.”

  “Boxcar Willie,” Josh said. “Did that experience teach you nothing?”

  Elaan shook her head. “That man is nothing like Boxcar Willie. He came over here because he thought you were going to hurt me.”

  “Have you thought that maybe he just used that as an excuse to get you to trust him? Given how few people we’ve seen, maybe he figures he can just take us to his house, kill me, and do God knows what to you.”

  Elaan understood what he was saying. Logically speaking, she should probably agree with him. But her gut told her to trust this guy. Willie instantly and immediately gave her a terrifying vibe. This guy didn’t. She believed him when he said he wanted to help. She didn’t think he’d hurt them. “Let’s go,” she said. “Just long enough to fix the bike and then we’ll leave.”

  “I don’t like this, Elaan,” he said.

  She glanced back at the man. “Come on, trust me. We’ll stick together and leave as soon as the bike is fixed.” Josh was still gritting his teeth. “Come on, biking was bad, but walking was worse. We’re so close, and if we can just have the bike for a bit more, we’ll get there faster. And,” she paused, not sure she wanted to admit her fear. “If for some reason, my mom isn’t there, we may need a backup plan. We may need to go somewhere else. If we can fix the bike, rather than ditch it, it would be better.”

  Josh bit his lip as he scrutinized the man in the truck. “This is a bad idea, Elaan,” he said. “We don’t know anything about him.”

  Josh wasn’t budging. She wasn’t sure what to say. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Josh,” she said. “This is the first place in a long while where we’ve seen anything open. And this guy stopped for us, too. Maybe this area is different. Maybe there are more people around, and maybe this is the kind of place with heavy patrols after dark. I don’t want to be out at night when we don’t know much about this place. Let’s just get a ride with him get the bike fixed, and get on the road.”

  He didn’t speak, his face frozen with a scowl, as he seemed to ponder her words. Finally, he said, “Fine. But we stick together. We don’t separate at all while we’re with this guy.”

  “I promise,” she said, beaming. “I won’t leave your side.”

  Elaan started toward the truck, but Josh put out a hand to stop her. “I’ll talk to him, alright?”

  She thought the driver would prefer to hear the news from her, but the fact that Josh had agreed meant she should probably defer to him.

  Josh walked half the distance to the truck and spoke loudly. “We’ve thought it over and if you’re still offering, we’d be glad to accept your help. We just need to make sure we’ve got everything.”

  The old man leaned out the window and spit into the dirt. “That’ll be fine,” he said. “You can put the bike in the truck bed when you’re ready, and then you two can ride up front with me.” The man spoke to Elaan. “My name is Lee. Lee Payton.”

  “I’m Priya,” Elaan called out. Even though she thought Lee was harmless, she thought it was better to use her fake name.

  “Good to meet you,” Lee said.

  Josh didn’t offer a name, choosing to simply walk back to the picnic table and start rummaging in his backpack. Elaan was pretty sure they’d packed everything, but then she saw Josh pull a gun from the bottom of the pack and move it to the pack’s outside zipper pocket. She looked back to see if Lee had noticed. He was looking in their direction, but Josh’s back was to him, so she doubt he’d seen.

  She edged closer to Josh and whispered, “You think we’ll need that?”

  “I don’t trust him,” he said, as he turned and smiled at Lee. Josh slung the pack over his back, walked over to the bike, and grabbed the handlebars. Elaan helped Josh carry the bike to the truck, but then Lee hopped out and helped Josh lift the bike up into the truck bed.

  After the guys had finished maneuvering the bike in, Lee went over to the driver’s side door and held it open for Elaan. “You can take the middle seat and your friend, who didn’t give his name and thinks it’s a good idea for ladies to carry a bike when able-bodied men are nearby, can ride in the passenger’s seat.”

  Josh gave Lee a cold stare but headed toward the passenger door. Elaan got in, sliding past the steering wheel and stopping in the center. Then Lee got in and started the car. Elaan found a lap belt and buckled it. Josh strapped himself in as well. Like Elaan, he’d put his backpack in his lap, but Josh’s hand rested firmly on the opening of the front pocket. Elaan tried not to stare.

  She smiled at the old man, who backed the vehicle up and turned west. At least they were heading in the right direction, even if Josh thought it was with the wrong man.

  Chapter 20

  Lee’s definition of a couple of miles up the road was different from everyone else’s. Or perhaps just loose language. The good news was they were heading due west,
the direction they needed to go. Eventually, they turned right down a long driveway and stopped at a little brick house with an attached garage. About fifty yards to the right of the house was a barn.

  “This is it,” Lee said, climbing out of the pickup. “Come on in the house for a minute, first.”

  Josh gave her an “I told you so” look. Lee was standing at the open driver’s side door waiting for her. She glanced up at the house. It was a cute two-story, colonial. It didn’t seem like the lair of a depraved man, but Josh had spooked her a bit by mentioning Willie. Her gut said Lee was fine, but she was on alert as she slid across the seat and hopped out.

  Lee shuffled to the front door, and Elaan followed slowly, waiting for Josh to catch up. He’d said they should stay together. After a moment, he was beside her, threading his fingers through hers. His backpack hung from his shoulder. They stood on the steps to the front door, behind Lee as the old man searched for his key. Once he found it, Lee opened the door, let them in, and flicked a switch turning on the lights.

  Elaan’s insides sang. Power. He had power. It seemed so glorious to have lights on. She wondered if Lee was actually the norm, rather than the nothingness they had seen in their walk and bike ride. Were there other people living with power, in homes, happy people with cars who’d survived and were willing to help?

  Lee shuffled in and set the baseball cap he’d been wearing on a hook near the door. Without the hat, you could see Lee’s gray hair and a bald spot on the top of his head.

  “Come on in,” he said, and he waived them inside. Elaan walked over to the middle of the living room, standing in front of a sofa, but not sitting. The room had a fireplace on the rear wall, and on the mantle were several photos. Her eyes gravitated toward a large picture of a girl on the mantle. The girl was older, but she bore a striking resemblance to Elaan.

  Without meaning to, Elaan took a step toward the picture.