Sympatico Syndrome Trilogy Box Set

by McDonald, M. P.

  A series of quick replies confirmed he’d been heard. Sean simply said, ‘Okay’.

  He studied the approaching cars, now merely a quarter of a mile away. Were they slowing? It was hard to determine. If only he could communicate with them and decipher their intentions. What he wouldn’t give for a loudspeaker right about now. Cursing his lack of foresight for not obtaining a megaphone from somewhere, Cole drew a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel.

  He tried to tell himself that these were people just like them but he wasn’t sure he believed it. Everyone seemed to react to the worst case scenario differently. Had his own reaction been wrong? There hadn’t been much time to plan and then the focus had been on immediate survival, not keeping humans from going extinct. Now, it was foremost in his mind but that didn’t mean others felt the same way.

  It would have been easy to slip into and remain in short-term survival mode, living in the moment. They had been plunged into a free for all lifestyle with survival of the fittest the only law, but Cole refused to lose his conscience—his humanity. And now, he could only pray that the approaching car contained survivors who felt the same.

  How times had changed. How many thousands of people had he sped past in his lifetime without giving a second thought? Or parked near and walked into a store. It was crazy to think that now the prospect of meeting strangers sent his heart thumping so hard he could feel it all the way up into his throat.

  A trickle of sweat slid down his neck and he reached over and turned the air conditioning to max. Hadn’t the helicopter been enough of a challenge? All they wanted to do was find a new home in a mostly empty land. He wasn’t at all eager to engage with more strangers.

  The strangers were definitely slowing, and came to a stop a long stone’s throw away. That was something, anyway. Despite chasing them to the gas station, they didn’t seem to be in a hurry to charge at them. Then again, that could be due to the rifle barrels poking out of the windows of the cars in Cole’s caravan.

  There wasn’t enough room for them to stop three abreast. The best they could do was stagger their vehicles so none blocked the other completely. Cole hoped that was a good thing for them. He glanced at the vehicles in his group. All but the children were armed and ready. Hunter’s SUV was on his left, and he noted with approval that his son not only had his rifle ready, but the top part of his bow and arrow were visible, resting upright against the seat.

  The strangers remained facing them and Cole tried to count heads but with the shadows deepening it was difficult. At least that worked both ways. Plus, it had to be a good sign that nobody was shooting yet. After about thirty minutes of silence, Cole took a deep breath. Maybe the strangers were waiting for them to run out of gas as they idled.

  Cole looked at Hunter and Elly, on either side of him, glad to see they were focusing forward, but Sophie, in the passenger seat of Hunter’s car, looked to be in some distress. He didn’t know what it was and when he mouthed the question asking if she was okay, she nodded, flashing him a strained smile.

  That did it. They couldn’t just sit here all night. He had to find out what these people wanted. He handed Travis the radio. “If something happens, jump in Elly’s car, okay?” Elly was on the passenger side, and with the driver’s side rear door barricaded with boxes for protection, it would be the quickest escape for Travis.

  Wide-eyed, Travis nodded.

  Reluctantly, he left his rifle in the car. He was glad when Travis reached over the seat and steadied it. He’d be able to grab it quickly if he had to. He left the door open, slight protection if they decided to shoot, but it made him feel safer. He spread his arms, hands wide to show he was unarmed. The trickle of sweat turned into a stream and a few drops ran down from his brow and stung his eyes. He blinked, not daring to rub them.

  The cars opposite him were covered in dust, their colors impossible to discern. If he had to guess, he’d say the front car, a crossover vehicle, was a deep red. The next one was a quad cab pickup with a cap on the back. It was probably black beneath the reddish dust. The last one, on his right, Cole easily identified because of the round headlights and build of a Jeep.

  Each second seemed to last a year as he remained with arms outstretched and his shoulder muscles burned, but he ignored it just as he ignored Elly’s harsh whisper asking him what he was doing. He didn’t have an answer for her. He just knew the only way to end the standoff was to do something. This was preferable to opening fire, and since he hadn’t been shot immediately, his confidence grew. Whoever they were, they weren’t impulsive.

  A movement from the Jeep caused Cole’s breath to quicken. Maybe he’d given them too much credit too soon. Cole rested his right hand on the roof of the car and his left on the doorframe. They could still see his hands, but if he needed to, he could dive back in the car.

  The door on the passenger side of the Jeep eased open and a woman stepped out. She wore sunglasses, as he did, so he wasn’t able to see her eyes. Like him, she held her arms wide, and seeing as she faced almost a dozen weapons aimed at her, he had to give her credit for guts if nothing else. After a moment, as if giving them time to judge if she was a threat, she folded her arms on the top of the door frame. She was probably only a few inches shorter than his own six foot two inches. She wore her dark hair pulled back from her face, and when she turned to say something to her driver, he saw it lay in a flat braid down her back.

  She turned back to face them, and her head cocked. After a moment, she said, “Hey, Cheesehead, what are you doing so far from home?”

  Her comment caught him off guard and he laughed. The corners of her mouth turned up for an instant, but then flattened. Cole sobered. He shouldn’t have laughed—not when inappropriate laughter was one sign of Sympatico Syndrome. He raised his hands once again. “Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you to call me a cheesehead. I’m guessing you noticed our license plates.”

  From the slight shake of her head, he imagined she was rolling her eyes at him. He’d forgotten that the plates would identify them as outsiders right off the bat. They should have removed them, but he hadn’t given it a thought. There were so many things to think about when an apocalypse hit

  “Nothing gets by you, does it?” Her attitude screamed confidence, but he saw her head turn a fraction towards Sean’s truck, behind and to the right of Cole, parked at an angle due to its length and the gas pumps. His brother sat a bit higher than the rest of them and his weapon was a semi-automatic. The distinctive barrel poked out of his window. Jenna sat with her body through the window; her weapon steadied on the roof of the cab.

  “So, you didn’t answer me. Nevada is a long way from Wisconsin. Why are you here?”

  Cole tilted his head, scanned the opposing vehicles for signs of movement, noting the glint of metal jutting from the windows. He’d expected them to be armed, so it didn’t come as a surprise. With a tiny shrug, not wanting them to take it for more than it was and shoot him, he said, “It’s a free country.” At least, he hoped it still was. Wanting to get the upper hand and not comfortable being on the receiving end of questioning, he threw one back at her. “Why do you care?”

  “This is our land. You don’t belong here. Go on back to Wisconsin.”

  “Your land?” He made a show of looking around at the barren landscape. “You own all of this?”

  “Pretty much. Me and my family.”

  Cole gave a tight smile. “Really? You must have a helluva big family to need this much land to yourselves.”

  From this distance, it was difficult to tell, but he could have sworn she flinched at his comment. Taking a different tact, sensing she wasn’t as tough as she tried to appear, he stepped out from behind the door, lowering his arms to his side after making sure that it was obvious he was unarmed. “I’m going to come a little closer.”

  After letting his comment sink in, he took about eight deliberate steps forward, making sure he was still far enough back that he wouldn’t be in any of his own people’s line of fire
. It made him uneasy that he couldn’t see her face clearly enough to read her expressions and the shouting made it almost impossible to detect nuances in the other’s voice. And right now, he wanted nuance—he needed it if he was to read the situation correctly.

  She straightened, her back ramrod straight before she turned to her driver and spoke something he couldn’t make out, but her tone sounded scolding. Then she, too, came around her door, her arms held out momentarily before she eased them to her sides.

  With the gas station in deep shadow, he took another chance, and removed his sunglasses. Not only did it allow him to see her better, but he also wanted them to see him.

  It took steeling every nerve in his body to stand unprotected with who knew how many guns pointed at him, but he remained still, forcing his shoulders to relax.

  She studied him so long that Cole had to stifle the urge to squirm. He felt naked. Vulnerable. He wasn’t wearing a mask, not having anticipated leaving the safety of his car. Dammit. On the bright side, it was apparent he wasn’t hiding anything, not even his expressions, but he had to think about the virus. It was another reason he wanted a closer look, though. To see if she, or any of them, displayed symptoms.

  Removing her glasses, her gaze swept over the vehicles behind Cole, pausing briefly on Sean’s, as she raised her hands wiggling her fingers. “I’m coming out there. My mom always said that shouting isn’t ladylike.”

  Cole couldn’t stop the smile that cracked his face and she caught it, flashing one of her own before dipping her head slightly, as if embarrassed. His smile widened. As she moved closer, he realized she was younger than he’d thought. Probably mid-twenties at the most.

  She halted about a dozen feet from him which he reasoned was a safe buffer from the virus since they were out in the open. Plus, the wind had picked up a little and came out of the west and blew their breath away from them.

  When she didn’t speak right away, Cole crossed his arms and decided to be direct. “Look, we’re here and we’re not leaving on your say so. It’s been a long trip and we’re not turning around now. We don’t want trouble, but we’re ready for it if it comes our way.”

  “So you say.” She crossed her arms as well.

  “Excuse me?”

  She waved an arm wide, causing Cole to tense but her gesture was just to emphasize her words. “Your group isn’t the first to come here. I bet you’re hoping the power is on, aren’t you?”

  Cole schooled his expression to remain neutral and didn’t reply.

  “Yeah…I thought so. Everyone thinks the Hoover Dam is still supplying us with electricity, but—”

  “It’s not?” He cut to the chase.

  Eyes narrowing, she said, “It is but probably not for long. The intake pipes are clogging. So, while it’s working, we get first dibs. It’s ours. My family and a few others grew up here, and now people are wandering in from all over, thinking they can force the rest of us out.”

  Cole shook his head. “Hold on. We have no intention of trying to force anyone out. If anything, even more of a draw than the possibility of electricity was the hope that other survivors would also arrive. The only way we can get some kind of civilization up and running again is with old-fashioned manpower.”

  Amanda’s stiff posture eased slightly, but her mouth was still set in a firm line before she said, “Well, that’s not how others see it. I sometimes wish we could blow up the damn…dam.” For one brief moment, her expression softened as she seemed to fight a smile at her word choice.

  “Listen, I get that having strangers flood the area has to be frustrating, but if you have electricity, it would be in everyone’s best interest to keep it running and to get basic services back in place.”

  Her arms tightened, her lips compressing again. “It would be great if the people coming to use the electricity wanted to share it with us, but all there’s been is fighting. We tried to stay out of it and just take care of our livestock and farm.”

  “Do you have anything up and running? Water? Fuel? What about a hospital?”

  Her eyes slid away and she shrugged. “We don’t have anyone to work at the hospital. They mostly died right away, I guess. Got a veterinarian though.”

  “So, let me get this straight—you don’t have enough people to staff even a clinic, but you’re chasing people from the area? Where’s the logic in that?”

  She blinked. “Um…well…we don’t need or want anyone else to come around here, spreading the virus and who knows what all.”

  Ah, so that was it. Her group was understandably worried about getting sick. “I get it. We isolated our group since the virus hit and all winter long. We haven’t seen anyone with it since last summer. But, if you’re so worried about it, why are you here talking to me without any protection at all?”

  She bit her lip. “I’m not supposed to …but…”

  “But…what?”

  After a long moment when she remained silent, Cole said, “If it makes you feel any better, I was an epidemiologist and another person in our party was as well. Diseases and transmission of them was our thing. We think, at least for now, the virus has gone dormant.”

  He didn’t mention that he might carry the cure right in his own veins. Electricity meant computers would work. He and Elly had access to whatever was stored on hard drives. He was certain with their science backgrounds they could try to come up with some kind of treatment. He’d loved microbiology and had taken more hard science classes than his degree had required.

  But that was a goal down the road. Right now, he’d settle for a working hospital so Sophie and Elly and their babies would be able to get care. With any luck, he might find some childhood vaccines still in a working fridge somewhere.

  It was as if his words lifted a weight from her shoulders as she blew out a deep breath, visibly relaxing. “I want to believe you. Really, I do. But the last time we trusted some newcomers, we lost our farm to them. Now, we’re trying to start over on a new farm, but irrigation there isn’t as good. And we lost most of our livestock.”

  He didn’t know who ‘them’ was but he could guess. He also had no answers for her, just a gut instinct that if they knew each other, they could help each other. “Listen, my name is Cole Evans. Most of the people in the cars behind me are family. My son, his wife, my brother, and his family. Plus a few folks we met along the way. Every single newcomer has been a valuable addition to our group. I don’t know if we could have survived without them.”

  It was the truth. Even the children had supplied much needed joy and laughter. It would have been a long winter without them to light up the house.

  Scuffing a booted toe along the dusty pavement, she squinted at him, the lights from his car becoming brighter in the deepening dusk. “I’m Amanda Glenn. The people in the cars behind me are my family, too.”

  She didn’t elaborate and Cole didn’t push. “Nice to meet you, Amanda.”

  He surveyed the cars behind her. It was impossible to tell how many of her family members filled them. She looked beyond him at the vehicles facing her as well. Cole took a small step forward and offered, “So, here’s what I propose…you and your family let us out of here and we go on the way we were.”

  “See, here’s the thing, Cole, like I’ve said, we’ve heard this spiel before, or one like it. We won’t fall for it again.” She bit her lip then she cocked her head. “I hear Flagstaff is doing okay. Maybe y’all could go there?”

  Cole stared at her. Maybe his gut instinct was wrong. “Let’s get one thing straight. Where we go is our business. I don’t need your permission nor am I seeking it. I know that we will be an asset to whatever community we decide to join.” He ticked off his group’s talents and professions. “We have a nurse, an electrician, a machinist, hunters, scientists, and more. If you don’t want us here, you’ll have to fight us.” He paused, holding her gaze. “Now, you can try fighting us, but I don’t advise it.”

  Her chin lifted. “I didn’t hear soldier in any of your group
’s specialties. We have a couple of guys from Nellis.”

  “The Air Force Base? Well, that’s great. I’m glad some military survived.”

  It wasn’t the response she expected and she looked indecisive for a second before her expression hardened again. His gaze never wavered. Hers did.

  He didn’t take her for a killer and could only hope the rest of her family was like her, but he knew if pushed, he would do whatever it took to keep his family safe. He assumed she would respond in kind. “Now, you have two choices— you can get your cars out of the way and so we can pass, or we can fight this out. We’re prepared either way.”

  She took a step back. “Ah, well, I gotta go talk to my family.”

  “You do that, and while you’re talking, let them know that if we combined our groups, we would be a lot stronger than we are individually.”

  She nodded and crossed the gap back to her vehicle faster than she’d approached. Cole didn’t feel good about scaring her, and in reality, knew they didn’t have nearly the fire power they probably needed. They had armed themselves for deer, not humans. The few assault weapons they had were a drop in the bucket compared to what other groups probably possessed.

  Cole waited until her door shut, then turned and, forcing a leisurely pace, returned to his car.

  The second he shut the door, Elly’s voice came over the radio. “So, what’s going on?”

  Taking a long sip of his water, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before replying, knowing his answer would be heard by everyone.

  “I guess we’ll see. I think they’re just a small family group. She tried to be tough, but I think she’s scared.”

  “How many are there? Can we take them?”

  Cole sighed. “I didn’t ask because I’m assuming she wouldn’t have told me. However, I doubt there are more than a dozen of them judging by the size of their vehicles.”

  “But you don’t know if there are more of them hiding somewhere?”

  “You’re right, I don’t, Sean. I didn’t ask for numbers, just as I didn’t give any. I wanted to play up our strengths and how we could benefit any community because that’s what I want. Our goal should be to join a community so we can rebuild.”