“I guess it’s like riding a bike.” She sipped the water and set the bottle back in the holder. The familiar action returned naturally once she was behind the wheel. “It still feels weird to be driving. I keep wanting to reach over to the radio and find a good station, you know?” She glanced at Joe, who nodded as he gazed to his right. She knew he wasn’t much of a talker but she hoped he’d be a little chattier within the confines of the car or she’d go nuts. The kids were looking at books and occasionally laughing at something. “I knew the roads would be bad after seeing the streets of Chicago, but I didn’t expect this.”
Elly stopped suddenly when Cole’s brake lights flashed. She rested her hands on the wheel as Cole opened his door and stepped out. He held up a hand and motioned something. She put the SUV in park and exited. “What’s wrong?”
“Just some debris ahead. I’m going to clean it up. It’ll only take a minute.” He waved towards a pile-up of vehicles blocking most of the highway. From where she stood, it appeared that there was enough room on the right to go around it.
“We can’t go around?”
He scratched the back of his neck as he threw a glance toward the pile of cars. “Um…not really.”
He was withholding something. She tilted her head and tried to read his expression, but he’d turned away and opened the back of his SUV and began rummaging around. He donned latex gloves, grabbed a shovel and a gallon of bleach.
This was no ordinary debris. She started forward, but Hunter and Sophie pulled up, followed by the rest of the caravan.
“Why are we stopping?” Hunter’s head popped out of the passenger side window, pulling himself up until he sat on the window ledge. He held the luggage rack with one hand while shading his eyes with the other.
“Your dad says there’s debris in the road.”
Hunter shrugged and pivoted, popping off the ledge as only a young person can before he jogged past Elly. “I’ll give him a hand.”
Elly returned to her seat and explained the delay to Joe and the kids.
“Maybe I should go help, too.” Joe opened his door when Hunter came back into view, his face ashen. He didn’t look at Elly or Joe, but grabbed another shovel from the back of Cole’s vehicle and tugged on a pair of gloves.
Gloves, shovels, Cole’s evasiveness, and Hunter’s suddenly sober demeanor clued Elly in. They must be dealing with a body—but why be secretive? Cole knew it wouldn’t be the first time she had dealt with death. As she puzzled out the mystery, both men returned, sans gloves, and doused both shovels with the bleach solution before sticking them back in the SUV.
Elly rolled down her window to ask Hunter about it as he walked back to his car, but head bowed, he passed by as though deep in thought as he returned to his vehicle. She glanced at Joe.
“Well, that was weird.”
Joe nodded. “Yep, but I imagine Cole did what he had to do. That’s what he does.”
She slanted Joe a look. “You know, I really like that Cole faces problems head on, but I really wish he wouldn’t try to spare everyone else the details. I’ve worked out in the field before. I traveled deep into the forest to find villages ravished by Ebola.” The scenes would stick in her mind forever. “Mothers died and their babies just lay there, crying and crying but nobody came because everyone else was too sick to take care of the baby.” Or too afraid. The fear and revulsion shown to the surviving babies and children had nearly broken her heart. Zoë laughed at something and she was reminded of her own fears when she and Zach, her colleague, had found the children. She couldn’t really blame the survivors of Ebola. At the time, the virus was in full-swing.
They drove for several hours before taking a lunch break on a long stretch of road that was one of the few sections they had come across that didn’t have countless abandoned vehicles. Cole was following county highways as much as he could, eschewing the major highways due to so many crashed and abandoned vehicles.
By then, Elly was chomping at the bit to get out and stretch her legs. Riding in a car for a long time was something she hadn’t done in almost a year. On the island, she had kept busy almost constantly.
The stretch Cole had chosen was in front of a farm that clearly looked uninhabited. A large tree limb had fallen from a big old oak tree and blocked a long, winding drive. Patches of snow still dotted the shaded areas, but most of the ground was covered by a thick mat of brown weeds, but a pasture along the edge of the road showed a few early shoots of grass. The horses, goats and even the chickens were given an hour to graze, and a hand pump on a trough at the far side of the pasture took only a few strong pumps by Jake to get water for the animals and themselves.
“So do you think we’ll cross the Mississippi today?” Elly took a sip of water to wash down the last of her lunch. She sat on the lowered tailgate of Sean’s truck, her legs swinging.. Cole had the remains of his meal balanced on the tailgate beside her, but he stood, watching the animals in the pasture.
He shook his head. “No. Not even close, I’m afraid. We’ve barely gone ninety miles east to west. If you factor in the detours we took due to blocked roads, we’ve gone probably well over a hundred and ten miles, but we’re not going as quickly as I’d hoped.”
“But look on the bright side—no traffic.” She smiled and Cole’s mouth turned up as if he was trying to return it, but his eyes were troubled. “What is it?”
“I’m just worried about crossing the river. We have no clue what to expect there.”
“What do you mean?” There were dozens of bridges crossing the river. Sure, it was a wide river, but the bridges should be fine. It wasn’t as if there had been a natural disaster in the physical sense. Just a lot of cars and trucks to navigate around on the roads. That would probably present a problem on the bridge as well, but they had plenty of strong backs to muscle the vehicles out of the way.
“I’m probably just worried over nothing. Forget I mentioned it. It’s not like we can do anything until we reach the river anyway.” He sent her a half-hearted smile as he pushed off the truck and headed towards the pasture, whistling for the horses.
It took another quarter hour to get the animals back in their trailers and get everyone settled and ready to go. It was Joe’s turn to drive, so Elly settled in for a nap, a blanket pulled up to her shoulders. The kids had fallen asleep within minutes of hitting the road. They had been so excited to leave this morning that they had been racing up and down the line of vehicles as last-minute items were packed, getting in everyone’s way. She smiled as she recalled the good-natured way everyone had treated the children’s excitement.
While she felt she and Cole had become surrogate parents to the kids, everyone else had also come to love them as well.
The caravan snaked its way across the state in a roundabout way as they detoured when needed, and the massive vehicle pile-ups reminded Elly of Cole’s worries. As she drifted to sleep, they crossed a bridge over a small creek and the roiling water surging just feet below the bridge had her wondering if Cole was right to worry after all.
Their first night on the road they spent at a dealership lot that had sold recreational vehicles. Most of the stock was gone, no doubt taken by people looking to escape the virus, but several campers at the back of the lot had been left. They were older and used but perfect for what Cole wanted. They had beds and from all appearances, hadn’t been touched in over a year. It only took them a few minutes to find the keys in the office. The dealership had been abandoned before anyone had died there, but precautions were still taken. Every surface of the interior of the camper was washed down with a weak bleach solution. If nothing else, it got rid of any mold and dust.
Cole and Elly got a queen sized bed at the back of one while the kids and Jake slept in a loft on the other end. Joe took the bench that converted to a bed when the table was removed.
There was still propane in two of the campers’ tanks, and dinner was beans and rice. Piper had been so excited to find real ovens that she had baked four loaves
of bread for their breakfast in the morning. She’d burned the first one—a small trial loaf—but she found a pizza stone in one of the campers and it seemed to help even out the heat.
While Elly, Joe, and Piper got the campers aired and cleaned, Cole, Sean, and Hunter had partially unloaded one of the pickup trucks and explored the area for foodstuffs. They could never have enough as far as Cole was concerned. If they had to get another vehicle to transport it, then so be it. Steve, Mike, and Jake took another truck in the other direction. They agreed to meet back at the campers in ninety minutes.
Cole stopped in front of a strip mall, dismissing the convenience store and gas station at the far end. Even from a quarter of a mile away it was easy to see the caved in roof, soot, and twisted wreckage around the gas station. It looked like an explosion had occurred and most of the windows in the stores on that end had been blown out. But, at this end of the mall was a garden center. Tools were always a great find, plus fertilizer, seeds, hoses, and other items.
Cole motioned for Hunter to stay behind him as he entered the store, his flashlight shining the way. Sean was staying with the truck this time. They had brought the handheld radios and checked them before entering the building. If Cole needed help, or Sean saw someone approaching, they could communicate quickly.
He kicked aside a mound of debris from an overturned shelf near the doorway, at first worried the mess heralded what they would find within the rest of the store, but he was happily surprised.
“Come on in, Hunter. It looks as though gardening wasn’t foremost in people’s minds when the virus hit.”
Hunter, gloves and mask in place like Cole’s, grabbed a red plastic shopping cart that lay on its side, blocking the aisle. “I don’t even smell death in here.” Hunter righted the cart and used it to push other debris out of the way.
His son was right. Cole only smelled a dank odor that reminded him of going into a garden shed that had been closed all winter. It was the scent of molding leaves and grass clippings, the acrid scent of various chemicals and fertilizers, and wet wood. Most of the mess was confined to the areas where candy and snacks were usually kept. There was nothing left there, not even a bag of peanuts, but after pausing to listen and not hearing anything, they made their way through the store, stopping to grab items they could use, quickly passing those they didn’t.
They collected every package of seeds they could find. Even flower seeds were kept because some varieties were useful for medicinal qualities. Plastic bins to store everything were a great find, and when they found one with wheels and a handle, like a cooler, but for tools and storage, Cole loaded it up like a second cart. A corner of the garden center was set up with animal feed. Most of it was spoiled by rodent droppings, but Hunter found two forty pound bags buried beneath the mess that had been protected by the torn bags of the feed above and beside them.
After loading up their finds, Sean slammed the tailgate and leaned against it. “How about the pub?” He pointed across the parking lot.
Cole looked at the building and joked, “What? You feel like a beer?”
Sean laughed. “Don’t you know it. But, I was thinking maybe there’s something in there we can use. Even some big industrial sized pots or kettles might be good. We have a big group now.”
“Good idea.” He glanced at Hunter.
“Sounds fine to me. And maybe we’ll find a little booze, too.” Hunter grinned.
Cole nodded. “That would be great.” It was the one thing they hadn’t found much of anywhere. It seemed the world had ended in a drunken party.
With that thought in his mind, he didn’t have high hopes for finding any. The front of the pub was exactly how he feared. A putrid stench wafted through the door as soon as they opened it—it wasn’t even locked. A quick peek was enough for Cole. Overturned tables, what was left of bodies, broken glass, and enough rodent droppings to make it appear that the floor was a carpet of them.
Cole backed out. “I say we look for a backdoor. I don’t want to cross that room.”
Hunter agreed with him, and while Sean looked indecisive for a moment, he reluctantly followed Cole around to the back.
The kitchen was nearly empty. Even the cooks must have decided to join the fun—or had fled for their lives. A metal garbage can next to what had been a contraption to roll out pizza dough contained a twenty-pound sack of cornmeal. The cornmeal had probably been used in the pizza pans prior to baking. They took a stack of pizza pans and a huge vat that appeared to have been used to mix up soup or sauces.
In addition to the cornmeal, they found huge cans of tomato sauce and bags of spices used to season the sauce for pizza. “Oh wow, Dad. What I wouldn’t give for a hot slice of pizza right now.” Hunter carried an armload of the bags of spices out to the truck.
“I hit the motherlode!” Sean’s voice boomed from inside a steel walk in cooler. Cole had avoided it because of the stench of rotting produce and whatever else had been inside it when the power had died.
Cole picked through the garbage on the floor to find Sean holding up a case of Jack Daniels. “What the hell? How did that escape the people in the front?”
Hunter came up behind Cole and gave a low whistle.
Sean carefully brought the crate out of the cooler. “Best guess is someone stashed it there intending to come back later. Maybe the owner? He or she had to have seen what was going on out front.”
“Probably. Why don’t you take that to the truck while Hunter and I will take one more look around?”
Cole found an unopened jar of yeast. He didn’t know if it was still good, but he took it while Hunter found bottles of mustard and ketchup. They were still sealed also, so they went in one of the vats.
Sean had a grin from ear to ear on the drive back to the campers. “Wait until I tell Jenna. “
That evening, they broke open a bottle of the whiskey around a bonfire. The campers were comfortable but none of them were large enough for all of them to fit inside at once without feeling like sardines, so they dragged desk chairs from the RV dealer’s office, unpacked a few lawn chairs, and sat on the bumpers of the trucks.
“Cheers, Cole.” Elly raised a mug to clink against the plastic tumbler Cole used.
“Cheers.” He sipped his whiskey, savoring the heat as the liquid slid down his throat. The only people not partaking in the alcohol were Sophie and the kids. It didn’t even occur to Cole until after Sean had poured for everyone else that neither Piper nor Jake were old enough to drink if they went by the laws prior to the virus. As far as he was concerned, they did the work of adults so they should be treated like one. He took another sip and put his arm around Elly as she leaned against him.
“Mmm… this is good.” She grinned up at him. “But here, have the rest of mine.”
“What? You’ve only had a sip!” He blocked her mug.
“That’s all I wanted.”
Cole studied her smile. Her eyes danced in the firelight. “Of course you don’t have to drink if you don’t want to, but I remember once we went out to get drinks before we headed to Africa, and your drink of choice was Jack Daniels and a Coke.”
“You remember that?”
“I remember everything about you.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back.
“I was waiting for the right time to tell you, and tonight, with the festivities, so to speak, seems like a good time.”
His arm stilled halfway to his mouth. “To tell me what?”
“Remember those pregnancy tests you brought back from the first scavenging expedition?”
His mind whirled with images of the devastated store, but her reason for asking the question took up most of his thought processes. “Yes…”
He searched her eyes, hope curling up from his stomach and burning in his chest. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? His face must have shown his question because she grinned and nodded.
The explosion of emotion rendered him speechless.
“Cole? Are you …okay with
it? I know we didn’t talk about it—”
The explosion radiated out and he gave her a hug, wishing he had the words to say what he was feeling. “Shhh—of course I’m all right with it. More than all right. I’m…” He gave his head a quick shake, snapping himself out of his shock. “Oh my God, Elly! This is the best news I’ve had since…” He wracked his mind. “Well, since Brenda told me she was pregnant with Hunter.” He pulled her close again, but this time, he dipped his head for a quick kiss, but he was so excited, he felt like he had to see her face and make sure this wasn’t some kind of crazy joke. He was in his forties, had a grown son and was about to be a grandfather. And now he was going to be a dad again? It was confusing but in the best possible way.
He smoothed his hand up, smoothing back her hair. “I am…I’m beyond thrilled, Elly. I love you and I think I’ve loved you almost as soon as I met you years ago.”
Tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes as she laughed and smiled up at him. “Me too.” She raised her face to him, closing her eyes as he leaned in for another kiss. Longer this time. One fitting the occasion.
Nobody had been paying them any attention. The younger group had gathered on the other side of the fire, and Sean was telling some story to the other adults, the alcohol having relaxed him until he was almost jovial. This was the Sean that Cole remembered from before the pandemic. Before Trent died. Cole bent his head. “Can we announce it? Is it too soon?”
“I’m a little more than three months along. I think we should plan on the baby arriving around early fall. And yes, I’d love to announce it. I’ve been keeping quiet, worried I’d lose him or her. I had a miscarriage a long time ago and the doctor told me then I’d probably never have a baby, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”
Cole drew her against him, burying his face in her hair.
Elly hugged him in return, her hands rubbing his back through his coat.
Sean chose that moment to ask if anyone needed a refill. Cole, one arm holding Elly close, stood, bringing her with him. “I believe I do.”
Sympatico Syndrome Trilogy Box Set Page 66