ALL IS SILENCE

by Robert L. Slater

  Duke laughed. “Running into you back there? Pure dumb luck. But your friend in La Grande said more by not saying anything… You didn’t cover your tracks and you stayed close to the main road. Then the guy at Guns and Buns told me you’d been through and said he didn’t think you’d go far. That information cost me a buck.”

  “A buck?” Lizzie asked, incredulous.

  “A deer. I’d bagged two. Now they’re both gone. Oh, well. You’re safe.”

  “Thanks for saving my life,” Lizzie said softly. “Not sure I said it.”

  “Yeah.” He flashed her a wry smile. “You’re welcome.”

  28

  LIZZIE HAD A CRICK IN her neck from looking over her shoulder. Duke’s trick seemed to have worked; nobody followed them. She pulled her fingers away from her mouth. Don’t chew your nails. She could hear Mama’s exasperated voice. Duke pulled into a Wal-Mart. “Car seat?”

  Inside Lizzie and Rachael searched for baby snacks, teething biscuits, bottled water, formula and baby food. She picked out a new car seat. Duke waited outside with a shotgun. Strange that this was a relief to her now.

  After getting Saj settled into the new seat, they continued on, rejoining I-84 on the outskirts of Nampa. Lizzie kept glancing back, but no one seemed to be following.

  Rachael’s hand shot forward from the back seat. She jerked Duke’s shoulder. “Hey, take this exit. Away from Boise.”

  Duke slammed the brakes and squirreled onto the off-ramp. “What the hell?”

  “We don’t want to go to Boise.” Rachael’s head shook. “They’ve got more people in Boise. Just like Caldwell. I bet they contacted them.”

  “Okay. Next time give me some warning.” Duke tapped the GPS and a new map appeared. “Looks like a lot of back roads, but I expect they’ll be emptier.”

  Rachael fed Saj, and Lizzie stared at the mountains—so close to Salt Lake City, to seeing her father, but still so far.

  Soon Rachael and Saj had both fallen asleep but Lizzie was still staring out the window.

  The silence was palpable and Duke said finally, “So, you want to tell me about C.J.?”

  Lizzie shook her head.

  “Fine,” Duke said; his jaw tightened. “Not like I can’t put it together. Girls don’t shoot guys in the...there without a reason where I come from.”

  “Girls shoot guys a lot where you come from?”

  He chopped off the laugh that escaped his mouth and they settled into silence again.

  After a while, she said, “He was drinking. Stupid cheap beer. Whiskey.”

  Duke nodded, like he knew this story.

  “He...wouldn’t stop. I warned him. I begged him. I tried...before I pulled that trigger.” There were tears in her eyes. “I never killed anything before, not even spiders.” She wiped her eyes. “Sometimes I wish I’d let him. I’d rather have been raped than live with this for the rest of my life.”

  “Damn, Lizzie.”

  Lizzie dug the heels of her hands into her eyes as if she could drive out the image of CJ lying on her bathroom floor in a pool of blood. Strange. She hadn’t been able to talk about it like this before. Not to the others. Was it her that was different or was it Duke?

  They drove a way before Duke spoke again. “CJ was a stubborn, little fucker.” He laughed bitterly. “When you wrote on his shirt…” He stared on down the road. “I didn’t believe it at first. Then as I drove I thought maybe. Now, after meeting you and hearing your side of the story, I know I made the right call back there at the bridge.”

  Tiny white flakes floated to the ground, Lizzie stuck a hand out to catch the cold crystals. “Snow.” They had pulled off for lunch where they could see the highway, but not be seen from it. For a second the snow raised her spirits, but the thought of her friends and father brought them back down.

  “Thanks,” Duke said as Rachael offered him a sandwich. He popped the cap off a beer and offered it to Rachael.

  Rachael shook her head. “No, thanks. You got anything else?”

  Duke dug in the back. “Coke? Mountain Dew. Maybe some others.”

  “Coke’s fine.” Rachael handed Lizzie a sandwich.

  “None of it’s really cold. Lizzie, beer?”

  “I don’t know.” Lizzie shrugged and took it. “Looks dark.” It didn’t smell like Doug’s piss beer. She sipped, tasting a thick, coffee-like flavor. “Not bad.” The label said Double Chocolate Stout, somehow it didn’t seem like a Duke kind of beer. “Chocolate!” Maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought. She swallowed another draught. It tasted good, she’d never drunk for the taste.

  “Cheers.” Duke smiled. His eyes twinkled at her over his sandwich.

  “Cheers.” Lizzie took another swig. “If we can get onto the Internet I can get a hold of someone by e-mail or Facebook. If there’s Internet access.”

  “No Internet or phone service here. We’ll have better luck in towns.”

  “Shit. Just my luck.” She kicked herself for not memorizing phone numbers.

  “Hey, Lizzie.” Duke squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll figure it out.” The contact sent a shiver through Lizzie. He jerked his hand back. No, she wanted to say. Hug me. But she couldn’t. She tried to offer a smile, but she was sure it came out as a grimace.

  His eyes seemed sad and he looked away. “Well, let’s hit the road.” He picked up the empties and tossed them back in his truck. “Did you pick a spot in Salt Lake City to meet your dad?”

  Lizzie got in the passenger seat. “Didn’t figure it would be necessary. Shit.”

  An hour later they exited I-84 for Twin Falls, Idaho; Lizzie hoped there was power and cell service. But they found neither. They got gas by siphoning from a big van and raided a mini-mart for batteries and flashlights.

  “Let’s push on through to Utah,” Duke suggested. “We get close to Ogden, there’s a better chance for signal.”

  The consistently monotonous view of the road put Lizzie to sleep. She woke when the truck slowed down at a sign that said ‘900 No St.’

  “Lizzie, I got signal.” Duke handed her his phone.

  “Lemme see if there’s Internet.” Her fingers were shaking. “No!” She jumped out of the truck, weaving around like the cell phone was a divining rod for signal instead of water. For a moment the Internet icon flashed. Her hand steadied as she pressed the Facebook icon. “Jessie, please have your phone listed.” The screen went blank. Cannot connect to network. “Dammit.”

  Lizzie scanned the area. There was nothing nearby. She climbed back in the truck. “Can you keep driving and I’ll tell you when to stop?”

  “Can do.” Duke said. The truck pulled forward, accelerating slowly.

  Lizzie stared at the signal bars, willing them to increase. The original signal had disappeared. Part of her wanted to go back, but she knew she should go forward.

  “You want me to take this exit?”

  “Sure,” Lizzie said. Probably wouldn’t make any difference.

  They pulled into a truck stop. Lizzie hopped out again and walked around trying to find a stronger signal. She spotted a ladder going up one of the metal tubes of the giant sign that lit up the snowy ground. She ran to it and started climbing.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” Duke asked.

  Lizzie glanced back at him. “Who knows?”

  Rachael climbed out of the truck and set Saj down. He wandered around in the light of the gas sign.

  Lizzie neared the top and got two bars of signal. She thumbed the Facebook app again and this time it opened.

  Her fingers flew across the screen logging in. Then she waited. It took forever to load. She climbed up a few more steps but the signal went back to one bar. She climbed back down. When it loaded she went to Jess’s profile. “Dammit.” Jess had no number listed. Lizzie scrolled back to Jess’ feed. The last comment was from before Lizzie’s dad had picked her up.

  Lizzie slid to Friends. “Zach? Come on. YES!” His number was listed. She double tapped on the phone number. It
was ringing. It connected. “The number you have dialed is no longer in service or is not connected to the network.”

  “Update your number, Zach. Shit!” Her fingers ran through her hair: twisting, tugging, pulling. She typed into the What’s on your mind? box. Im alive. Call. She hollered down to Duke. “What’s your number?”

  Duke repeated it slowly twice, while Lizzie typed it in. No one’s checking their feed.

  Who else could she reach? “Glen. What the hell is your last name?” She typed: Glen La Grande, OR into the search bar. Five choices showed up. Three had photos that were obviously not Glen. She clicked Glen number four. There was a phone number. She called and left a frantic message, not even knowing if she had the right Glen. Then she clicked on Glen number five. The profile said something about geek god. And there was an e-mail address. “Shit. Duke,” she muttered, “you better have e-mail on this.”

  She clicked on the address and slid the keyboard out. A blank e-mail opened. She typed: Its Lizzie. Please. Life and death! We got separated and I need Zach and Nevs #s! Send.

  The wind whipped her hair as she clung to the sign, staring at the phone. Down below, she heard Rachael and Duke speaking in low tones while Saj wandered around sucking his thumb. They must think she was losing it.

  The phone buzzed—a reply with a phone number. She double-clicked it. The line picked up but all she heard was breathing.

  “Glen?”

  “Yeah,” he whispered.

  “Shit, are you sick?”

  “I wish.” Glen’s breath wheezed out. “I’m hiding. People are looking for me.”

  “Shit, I bet that’s my fault. I told the people in Caldwell about you. I’m sorry. We got interrogated.”

  “What people?” Glen’s voice grew louder.

  “I’ll tell you later, please. My phones destroyed. Zach and Nev think I’m dead. And my dad. I need their numbers.”

  “Okay. But I want answers. Numbers on their way... now.”

  The phone buzzed. “Thanks, Glen.”

  “Gotta go. Don’t call me,” he hissed. “I’ll call you back when I’m clear.”

  Could Glen handle the breeders? Could he take care of anything but computers? Still, he’d kept her and Zach at arm’s length as long as he wanted. She cursed herself again for her flapping lips. Her fingers clicked through to Zach’s number. “Come on answer, dammit. Please.”

  “What?” Zach sounded tired. “Who is this?”

  “Zach, oh my god, I love you! I’m not dead. This is Lizzie. I’m not dead.” She scrambled through all she had to say: how she’d rescued Saj and lost her phone.

  “Whoa, Lizzie! LIZ! Shut up!” Zach shouted over her babbling.

  Lizzie stopped.

  “Where are you? I saw a body. You scared the shit out of us, Lizzie.”

  “I’m sorry, Zach. It wasn’t me. Saj and Rachael are safe, too.”

  “Oh, my God, Lizzie. I told your dad you were dead.”

  Her brain spun. “Give me his number.”

  “Okay.” Zach’s voice continued, calm again, “Just a minute.”

  Lizzie called down. “I need somebody to take down a number.

  “Yeah?” Duke produced a pen and a piece of paper. “Repeat it. I’ll write.”

  “Okay, here they are,” Zach said.

  Lizzie repeated the numbers. Duke wrote them down.

  “Okay, thanks, Zach.” Her heart was pounding.

  “Wait. Lizzie. Where are you?”

  “I don’t know.” She called to Duke. “Where are we?”

  “Utah. Near Brigham City.”

  “Who the hell is that?” Zach had heard Duke’s voice.

  “Not important.” She wasn’t sure she could explain.

  Zach made an frustrated sound, but didn’t press her. “We came through there about 20 minutes ago.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Ogden. The Hoagies Corner Conoco station. Liz, call your dad. I don’t think he took the news so good.”

  Lizzie hung up, her hands shook as she dialed again. It kept ringing. Eventually voice-mail answered. “Dad. It’s me. Lizzie. I’m not dead. Call me on this number.” She ended the call and descended the ladder.

  “What do you want to do?” asked Duke.

  Lizzie collapsed into her seat. “Drive south.”

  Lizzie watched Duke staring at the roadway, speeding south, pushing triple digits on the speedometer. Snow fell outside. The new flakes stuck immediately to the frozen ground and the ice and snow from other recent weather. Why was he helping her? And more importantly why did she trust him? Her brain made the logical connection again—he didn’t feel like C.J.

  Glen called back and Lizzie gave him a thumbnail sketch of the last few days. He was hiding out in a janitor’s closet with a bunch of computers monitoring the campus cameras. But no food. He was grumpy and hungry, but not that angry. He had planned for this contingency and made it look like he headed north when the campus was invaded. Maybe they would give up and move on.

  About 15 minutes later, Duke and Lizzie pulled into the Hoagies Corner station. Lizzie jumped out before the truck stopped. Zach and Nev ran out to meet her, mashing her into one giant hug. Rachael and Saj, Charley and Spike came out, standing in the light dusting of snow. Everyone talked at once as they reunited.

  Duke came around the side of the truck and the conversation died. Spike spotted him and dove for him, going for his throat. Rachael screamed.

  Lizzie jumped on Spike’s back. “NO, Spike. He’s okay. Zach, help!” With Zach’s help they pulled Spike off Duke. Charley was hugging Spike’s leg. Saj howled.

  Duke jerked his handgun out.

  “Please, Duke, no! He’s protecting me.” Lizzie hollered. To Spike she spoke in a soothing voice, “Hey, big man. It’s okay. Lizzie’s okay.”

  Duke breathed heavy, his cheek bloodied and dripping where Spike had scraped him. “I’m okay.” He wiped his cheek and glared at Spike. He got back in his truck without another word.

  “Duke!? That’s Duke?” Zach flipped out. “What are you doing with Duke? This is the guy hunting you down for revenge? Half the reason we left Bellingham. And now you are all cozy?”

  Nev put a placating hand on his arm, but she looked as hurt and confused as Zach.

  “It’s not what you think.” Lizzie blushed. “He saved our lives.”

  “You almost got me killed, Lizzie.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Zach’s phone rang. He glared at it and handed it to Lizzie.

  Lizzie grabbed it. The screen said Jess. “Jess?”

  “Oh, my god, Lizzie. We thought you were dead.”

  Her friend’s voice made her happy. “I almost was.” Lizzie laughed. “How’s my dad?”

  “Uh. He’s sort of passed out. I don’t think he’d had a drink in a really long time. Kind of overdid it when he heard.”

  Oh, god, Mama was right. “Where are you?” Lizzie asked.

  “Just north of Provo, northbound on the highway.” Jess gave her the mile marker number.

  “Okay. We’re on our way.”

  Lizzie helped Spike back into the Tank. She wanted to ride with Zach and Nev to explain, but she didn’t want Duke to feel deserted. She gave Nev and Zach hugs. “Please don’t judge me. At least not yet. We can talk. Right now, I’ll ride with Duke.”

  “Whatever,” Zach said and turned away.

  It hurt to see Zach so angry with her.

  Nev gave her another hug. “Let’s go get your dad.”

  Lizzie nodded, knowing that if she spoke she would probably break out in tears. Saj and Rachael were already in the truck when she climbed in.

  “You all right?” she asked Duke.

  “Yeah.” He dabbed his face with a red handkerchief. “Guess he owed me one. Sure is protective of you.”

  “Zach or Spike?”

  “Both.”

  Zach pulled out and Duke shoved the truck into gear and followed him. They hit the freewa
y headed south.

  “You okay to drive?” Lizzie asked. The snow spinning, flying at the windshield was hypnotic.

  “Yeah, I’m not going to fall asleep.”

  Duke’s eyes pulled away from Lizzie and returned to the road. What was he thinking? His scruffy beard made him look younger than she thought he was. He must be about 25. Would they have ever connected back in the day? Lizzie shook off the direction her brain was going.

  “What you said back there. It wasn’t the whole truth. When I saw you at the house, I wanted to hurt you. When I started following you from Bellingham… Well, my dad…” He stopped talking again and drove, staring ahead into the night. “Came a lot of miles with only my own thoughts for company.”

  “So when did you decide you didn’t want to hurt me?”

  He laughed, a quiet single chuckle. “When that guy had his gun pointed at you. If anybody was going to kill you, I was.”

  Lizzie couldn’t decide how she felt, so she sat and pondered, watching the snowflakes spin. Duke wasn’t the villain she imagined. But she hardly knew him. “So, what about you? What did you do before the uh…? What do we call it, the plague? Sounds stupid.”

  “I dunno. Plague sounds good to me. Pandemic sounds too quiet.”

  “Yeah, too quiet. That’s it. ‘The Quieting.’ I didn’t even know the word pandemic a year ago.”

  “Well, before the plague, ‘The Quieting.’” He smiled over at her. “I took classes at Whatcom Community College. Wanted to be an electrical engineer, but we didn’t have the money. My part-time job as an electrician’s assistant got in the way of the classes. I was stupid.” He smiled at her. “Not ‘cause I couldn’t do the schoolwork, but the pay was good for a poor kid, so I stopped going to classes.” He sighed.

  “I skipped a lot of classes for no good reason.”

  “Yeah, well, high school’s free. After a while, the job sucked; I could hardly stand the guy I worked for. He was a friend of my dad’s. Not that I liked my dad, either. He was a lot like C.J.”

  “I’ve never seen my dad. Not since I remember. Mom kicked him out when I was three.” Lizzie couldn’t believe she was telling him about her dad. She hadn’t talked much about her dad with Zach or Nev or Jess. “I hope he’s worth this trip. Better not be the asshole mom said he was.” The trip had seemed like the most logical thing to do.