Maybe it was Cole’s question—asking for help—or maybe it was his non-threatening demeanor, but the boy rose slowly from behind the bush. His dark skin stretched taut over sharp cheekbones. He had scrawny shoulders and a neck so skinny it looked as if it could barely hold his head, but his eyes were large and clear and when he spoke, his teeth gleamed. “I’d just keep on going, mister.”
Cole studied the boy looking for any signs of the virus but saw only a child who looked frightened, hungry, and yet resolute. “Are they sick there?”
The boy shook his head. “No. They’re too mean to be sick. They’ve been shooting anyone who comes near and stealing their stuff. I saw them kill four or five folks who was just passing by.””
His answer eased Cole’s worry about the virus but ignited a worry about other survivors. This kid seemed to know a thing or two and it wasn’t just luck that he was still alive. Cole took in the gaunt cheeks and the way the clothes hung on the kid. He may have been lucky to survive so far, but he wasn’t thriving. Softening his tone, Cole said, “I meant it when I said we have food. Are you hungry?”
The kid stared at Cole for a long moment, then his eyes flicked to the line of cars stretched out behind Cole’s SUV. An expression of wariness tinged with hope flashed over his face before he nodded, licking his lips.
Cole did a mental check of what kind of food he had stored in his car. Most of their provisions were with Piper since she did the majority of the cooking, but every car had an emergency stash, plus there was his Go bag, but he couldn’t touch any of that. It was only for emergencies.
He had a few cakes of their own pemmican made from the last deer they had shot. It was easy to eat and nutritious but he wasn’t sure the boy would recognize it as food. While their meals were filling, they had to be cooked. Ready to eat food was harder to come by and he had already eaten some of today’s supply to tide him over until dinner. The MREs they had found in the prepper’s house were packed away for a rainy day. He thought he might have a few sticks of beef jerky in his center console left from a few days ago when they’d scavenged from a remote gas station. He’d stuffed them in the console and had forgotten about them.
He backed to his vehicle. “I’m just going to get some food I have in here.”
Opening the console, he dug around until he found the sticks. The pemmican was in a bag there too, and he took one out to offer if the boy didn’t want to travel with them. Just because the kid was alone now didn’t mean he might not have friends somewhere.
The sticks were wrapped in the heavy plastic from when they had been commercially packaged and could have stood up to being tossed to the ground near the boy, but Cole held them out in front of him and took a few steps closer to the bush. “Here.”
The boy eyed the caravan once again before narrowing his eyes at Cole. “How do I know you don’t have the sickness?”
Cole pulled a mask out of his pocket but didn’t put it on, intending to get more information first. “You’re smart to be asking that question, and I can’t promise for certain, but I can say that we haven’t been around anyone who has had it since last summer. Have you?” Even though he was almost positive the kid was healthy, he wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Nope. Almost everyone around here died before winter. The ones who are left took most of the food into their camp.” He tilted his head indicating down the road where Cole had intended to camp.
“How come you’re not with them?”
“They don’t want me.” His head dipped as he scuffed a toe in the gravel on the side of the road but he didn’t offer any more details.
Why would someone not want a kid around? Especially now, when every life was precious. “Do you have friends around here?” Cole almost added ‘still’, but didn’t. It sounded too cold phrased that way.
The boy blinked hard a few times then just shook his head, unable or unwilling to voice his answer.
“I’m sorry to hear it.” Cole sighed. Poor kid. He was all alone in the world.
The boy shrugged then bit his lip as his gaze slid to the beef sticks. Cole gave himself a mental shake. The kid was starving and here he was asking questions when the child needed food. “Here.”
When the boy hesitated, Cole wiggled the beef jerky. “It’s okay. Take them.”
He finally moved toward Cole, snatched the food and retreated to the bush as though it offered some sort of protection. He tore the first stick open with his teeth and devoured half of it in the space of a few breaths.
Concerned, Cole lifted a hand and took a couple of steps closer. “Whoa. Slow down. You might choke.”
The boy shrank back, but continued to wolf the food down.
There was the creak of a car door opening behind Cole, and the boy backpedaled until he was almost hidden in the bushes again.
Elly approached Cole and whispered, “Is he okay?”
“I’m almost certain he doesn’t have the virus, if that’s what you’re talking about. If he did, he’d be running to us instead of hiding, but he’s half-starved. It appears that he’s been on his own for a while. Probably since the fall. He said almost everyone around here had died of the virus by then.”
Her eyes softened as she glanced towards the bush. He knew that look. It was the same one she got when she spoke about Luke and Zoë. “Do you think he’d come with us?”
The idea had already entered Cole’s mind. “I don’t know, but he seems like a smart kid and he’s got survivor instincts. In fact, he warned us away from the campground. Something about survivors being there. Mean survivors, according to him.”
Elly inched closer to the bush. “Hey there. My name is Elly.”
His cheek bulging, the boy stared at her.
With a quick glance at Cole, who nodded encouragement, she turned back to the boy. “What’s your name?”
He swallowed. “Travis.”
“Nice to meet you, Travis. Like I said, I’m Elly, and this is Cole.”
“I know. He told me his name. Is he your husband?”
Cole grinned. He couldn’t help it. He stepped alongside Elly. “Officially, no, but only because there are no officials.” He put an arm around Elly’s shoulders. “My son, Hunter, is a few cars back. We have a few kids with us who were orphaned by the sickness. We’re their family now.”
A look of naked longing darted through Travis’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything. Cole had hoped he’d ask to come with them, but then he saw the boy square his shoulders as he tucked the last beef stick into his back pocket. “I gotta get going. I have to be settled before dark.”
Cole had an idea. “Hey, do you think you could do me a favor? I’ll trade a hot dinner in exchange.”
Suspicious, Travis said, “What do I gotta do?”
“Just show us a safe place to camp for the night. We’re from Wisconsin and don’t know this area like you do. We definitely don’t want to mess with the folks at the campground.”
Travis thought for a minute, then nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Awesome.” Cole waved to the caravan to let everyone know things were fine, then gestured to his vehicle. “If you can stand the smell of chickens, you can ride with me to show me where to go.”
“You got chickens in there?” Travis’s voice was equal parts curiosity and revulsion.
“Sure do!”
After settling in, laughing as Travis waved his hand in front of his face a few times, Cole let the others know via radio of the change of plans and that they had a guest. Then he turned to Travis. “Point the way.”
19
Travis directed Cole to get off the highway at the next exit. “The guys at the camp cleared this road before the first snow but now they use another road most of the time. I think we can get through.”
Cole wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that, and sent a message to the others to be ready for visitors. That was the word they had decided upon when encountering others. It could mean someone friendly as well as hostile, but ca
ution was implied in both cases.
“How come they don’t come this way anymore?”
Travis shrugged. “The town is on the other side of the campground. There’s not much out here but more highway. They already cleaned out all the houses and stores this way.”
It made sense. Cole followed directions to turn off another road, this one turned back west. It was a half mile south, but roughly seemed to run parallel to the highway, so they weren’t getting too far off track.
After driving for about a mile, Travis had Cole make one more turn, and this time, the road was gravel and ended at a small lake. Perfect. Water wouldn’t be an issue. “And the people at the campground don’t come here?” Cole looked around the small beach and a couple of swing sets, but no homes. It looked like a park.
“No, there’s a bigger lake at the camp and cabins and stuff. There’s nothing here but some toilets and a water pump.” He pointed to a small building. “That used to have a concession stand. It’s where I sleep now. I lock myself in the storeroom.”
“Aren’t you worried someone might come looking for the food?”
“Naw. They cleaned it out before winter.”
“What have you been living on?”
“I find stuff now and then in cars and offices. You just have to avoid the dead people. I once found a whole vending machine full of chips in a back hallway of an office building. I think it was forgotten.”
His matter-of-fact advice to avoid the bodies sounded so wrong coming from one so young, but he was right. “You’re resourceful, that’s for sure.”
“What’s that mean?”
Cole smiled. “It means you’re smart.”
After the rest of the cars pulled in, everyone crowded around to meet the guest, unintentionally overwhelming Travis. He edged towards the concession stand, looking ready to flee.
The kid had shown them his home, and it occurred to Cole that he was now having second thoughts. Cole waved everyone back. “Listen up, guys. Travis is understandably a bit nervous to be around a bunch of strangers. Let’s give him a little room. Everyone get to setting up camp. I promised Travis a good meal in exchange for leading us to this fantastic camping site.”
The adults all began their duties and Cole checked on the chickens and the eggs. They were almost ready to hatch. Travis stood beside him, offering suggestions and asking a few questions. He quieted when Luke and Zoë approached. Luke started talking about the chickens and Travis lost his shyness, showing he knew a lot about them, mentioning something about his grandma having chickens in her backyard.
Cole excused himself saying he needed to check on something else and let the kids talk. If anyone could get Travis to trust them, it would be Luke. He’d been in Travis’s shoes not long ago. Cole didn’t want to let the kids out of his sight though. He didn’t think Travis would do anything, but he wasn’t ready to trust him around the younger kids just yet.
After he had unloaded and was setting it up his tent, Luke ran up to him. “Cole, can I show Travis how to fish?”
Cole glanced at the sky. It was almost completely dark outside the glow of the two fires they had going already. While warm during the day, the nights were still cold. The lake was only a few steps away though, so Cole got the poles out and handed them, plus a can of worms, to Luke. “Stay right there on the beach where I can see you. Zoë, you stay here.”
The little girl jutted out her lip, crestfallen, but only for a moment because Elly came up and asked her to help her spread the sleeping bags out. The little girl loved how they puffed up, and would pounce on them, squeezing the air out.
A little while later, Luke raced up to Cole, shouting that Travis had caught a fish. Travis trailed behind, a nice sized fish hanging from a stringer. He acted like it was no big deal, but Cole felt his eyes watching him intently as Cole inspected the small mouth bass. “This has to be almost two pounds. Nice catch, Travis.”
Then he saw it. A smile. The first he’d seen from the boy. He shrugged as the corner of his mouth turned up. “I never fished before.”
“No way! You must be a natural like Luke here.” Cole rested a hand on Luke’s head, tousling his hair. “I think this kid must have been born with a fishing pole in his hand.”
“Maybe I can catch dinner for myself now and then—if I can find a pole.”
Cole didn’t say anything then, not until he’d had a chance to talk to the others. He was hoping Travis would stay with them tonight, at least. “Travis, I know you have a nice set-up in the store room over there, but I was wondering if you’d want to bunk with Luke tonight? It’s been a long time since he had a kid near his age to hang out with.”
Before the words were even out of his mouth, Luke was jumping to his feet. “Yes! Let’s go get your sleeping bag, Travis!”
Travis was less enthusiastic. “I…uh…my sleeping bag is kind of a mess right now.” He bent his head and avoided looking at Cole. Was he embarrassed?
To put him at ease, Cole said, “Travis, we have extra bedding. You can use what we have tonight, if you want.”
His head shot up, his eyes wide. “Really?”
“Of course.” Cole pointed to Luke. “Get the green sleeping bag out of the backseat of my car.”
About an hour later after a hot meal that featured Travis’s fish, another that Luke had caught, a hearty potato soup and sourdough biscuits, the kids were all sleeping. Cole looked around the fire. Everyone had gathered, except Sophie, who had gone to bed already. Cole worried about her. This pregnancy seemed to be taking a toll on the young woman. Elly, on the other hand, seemed to be thriving, but she was just beginning her second trimester while Sophie was in her third.
Pushing his worries for Sophie aside for now, Cole cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention, then asked, “So, what do you guys think of Travis?”
Elly leaned against Cole, letting her head rest on his shoulder. “I’m already half in love with him. He’s so quiet but he seems kind. He helped Zoë after she scraped her knee earlier. Got her smiling in no time.”
Hunter joined in with, “He seemed pretty proud of his fish, but like he didn’t want anyone to know he was proud of it. He also showed us where the best firewood was. That’s pretty generous. He could have saved it for himself.”
“Good point, Hunter.”
Cole did a double take at Sean’s comment. He’d be kidding himself if he hadn’t expected an argument against inviting Travis to stay with them. Sean was the cantankerous one; the person who was always the voice of dissent. He noticed the surprise on Cole’s face and shrugged. “I like the kid. He…well, he doesn’t really remind me of Trent…I mean, because he’s a lot quieter, but it was nice having another kid around and there’s something about him.”
“There’s hope for you yet, Sean.” Cole grinned.
Jenna wrapped her arms around her husband and repeated Cole’s words. “There’s hope, Sean. You’re not a completely lost cause.”
“Jeez, guys. You’re making me sound like an ogre.”
Everyone laughed, throwing out comments. Cole rubbed a hand up and down Elly’s arm, bending to whisper, “Looks like we have another member of the family.”
Elly snuggled closer. “If he agrees, that is.”
Cole nodded, but then wondered. What if Travis didn’t want them? They couldn’t force the boy to join them, but he sure hoped he would.
In the morning, after a meal of pancakes, eggs made with a combination of what the chickens had laid and powdered egg picked up in a school cafeteria, they loaded up their gear to head out.
Travis sat on a log, watching the activity as he traced lines in the dirt with a long stick. When Cole had his car packed, he sat on the log beside Travis.
“First, I want to thank you again for sharing your home with us.”
Travis nodded, drawing wobbly Xs in the dirt as the stick stuttered over the ground.
“And I have a question for you.”
The end of the stick hovered a few inches in
the air.
“We talked it over last night and wondered if you would like to join us?” Before Travis replied, Cole added, “We really like you, and I’m not sure I would feel good leaving you here, always wondering how you did.”
The stick dropped and instead of Xs, started tracing crescents. “Where y’all headed?” He sounded casual, but Cole wasn’t fooled. The boy was definitely interested.
“West…Las Vegas area, most likely. It’s too cold in Wisconsin in the winter. Plus, we think there might be electricity still in Vegas.”
Travis’s eyes shot to Cole’s. “Really?”
“It’s a theory. We have no proof. But even if not, it’ll be warmer. Maybe we’ll find other survivors.”
Pushing up from the log, Travis jabbed the stick into the dead ashes from last night’s fire and shook his head. “I don’t want to meet other survivors.” He stared at the stick as it quivered.
Cole watched Travis and how his hands curled into fists, his shoulders stiff. After a few moments, he stood beside the boy. “I’m a little nervous about meeting others too. Who wouldn’t be?”
Arms crossed, eyebrow raised, Travis asked, “You’re nervous?”
“Absolutely. Like you, we’ve run into some not so nice people. People who feel that they can take what they want.”
Travis nodded and swiped a hand across his eyes. Cole pretended not to notice as he went on, “I don’t agree with that, but on the other hand, someone has to stand up to them. We can’t let people like that take over the world.”
“But they have guns and control the food.” He paused. “They chase me sometimes and holler that they’ll throw me in the stew pot.” He took a deep breath then turned to face Cole. “Do you think they’d do that?”
Anger, red and hot, surged through Cole. Anger at what this kid had gone through and anger that he’d had to face it alone. It was more than anyone should ever have to deal with, let alone a kid. If he ever met those monsters…
Sympatico Syndrome Trilogy Box Set Page 70