“Dad!” he called out across the room.
“There he is,” he said with excitement to the soldier.
“Thank god,” the man replied with relief.
Liam walked fast, but not too fast, toward the front door of the restaurant. He let people get in his way and he struggled to get around tables of men chowing on grub.
“Dad, over here!” he cried out when he thought he couldn't wait another second to keep the deception working.
Liam kept moving toward the front and reached the stream of men walking in and out the front doors. Those entering all had that look of ecstasy when they got hit in the face by the pleasant aroma of the food, while those on the way out carried more sour expressions. Unfortunately, he needed one of those on the way out.
“Dad,” he said as he reached a man he'd picked out because he had the same dark hair as his. Liam tapped him on the shoulder before he could get out the front door.
The man spun around and Liam faked being surprised.
“Yah?” the man said in a neutral voice.
“Oh, sorry, I thought you were my dad.”
The man looked at Liam for a half-second and the soldier for a fraction longer, then spun around and walked out.
Liam turned to the soldier. “I really thought that was him.” He banged his head. “Sorry, I'm not really awake, yet.”
The soldier seemed unimpressed.
“Let's go check the bathroom. I bet that's where he is.” Liam pointed where he was going to go.
“I'm getting tired of this. If he's not there I'm just going to take you to the guard station and get rid of you. Get it?”
Liam gulped.
“I do.”
5
From over at the front door Liam thought he saw Dave head into the restroom. If Sabella told him to go in there and pretend to be his dad, he figured that was bound to fail. Dave was nowhere near old enough to be a fake dad to a teenager. Maybe Dave took a gun in with him and was going to do something violent to save him from the soldier.
Liam was conflicted because he didn't want to hurt the guy if he didn't have to. All in all, the soldier had treated him with respect, and he didn't deserve to die for that.
He walked toward the restrooms like a man on death row.
After a few paces, the soldier poked him in the side. “Hurry it up.”
Liam reached the men's room and allowed a couple guys to walk out the door, but then he went inside. Whatever the reason Dave went in there, Liam had committed himself to ending the game in the bathroom. The last chapter of his story wasn't going to be as glorious as he'd hoped.
“Dad?” Liam said once he was inside. His voice wasn't loud enough to be heard, but part of that was because he was uncertain what had happened to Dave. He wasn't there.
“Son is that you?” someone called out from inside one of the stalls.
“Yeah, dad, it's me,” Liam replied, sounding defeated. “I got in trouble.”
“Son of a bitch!” Dave replied as he played the part. “What did you do, now?
“Sir, can you come out, so I can hand him over to you?” the soldier said.
Many of the men at the sinks started to clear out. A couple of guys came in through the door and then went right back out. Liam secretly hoped a revolution would begin inside the restroom but knew that was far-fetched. If Dave was telling the truth, most of these drivers were working on government contracts. While Liam had no doubt about their individual patriotism, putting food on the table while the world crumbled away would give them little incentive to rise up against the men paying for their survival.
There would be no magic rescue from them.
“I'm uh, sorry. I've got a bad case of the diarrhea. I'm in the middle of something important right now, if you know what I mean.”
“And you've got hemorrhoids,” Liam said with a sheepish glance at the soldier.
Dave sighed heavily inside the stall. “I'd not like to make that public, son, but thanks. Yes, I've got a lot going on in here and I don't need a son acting up on the outside.”
“Great. I should have just let you take the damned picture.” The soldier was now visibly upset at how long Liam had bothered him.
“Just give me your driver number and I'll consider the case closed,” he said to the stall door.
Dave was quiet for a long moment but then grunted loudly. “2522! Oh, god, what a mess!”
Liam wanted to laugh at Dave's performance, but the soldier wasn't impressed. He shuffled back and forth for a moment as if thinking, then turned to Liam and curled his lip in disgust.
“Consider yourself disposed of,” the man said as he pushed aside an incoming trucker before going out the door.
“Thanks,” Liam said to be polite.
He didn't even realize his heart rate had gone off the charts the past several minutes and now he let out a long exhale as he tried to control his pulse.
“Are you ready to go, son?” Dave asked timidly from inside the stall.
“Yeah, we have to get out of here,” Liam replied. Some of the other men washing their hands in the sinks looked at him, but most kept their eyes on their business.
Dave came out of the stall holding his camera. “That was awesome, son,” he said with a huge grin.
“What are you doing with that?” Liam asked with surprise.
“Live streaming our escape,” he said in a conspiratorial voice.
Liam cringed like a vampire faced with garlic as the camera pointed in his direction. He wanted to yell at Dave but decided the only course of action he could take was to get back to the truck as quick as possible.
He stormed out the door.
Sabella met him a moment later.
“Victoria and my girls are waiting in the truck,” she said quietly. “Did he help you? That was brilliant telling me your plan,” she added.
“It would have all been awesome if he hadn't filmed the whole thing,” he said while pointing his thumb at Dave coming out the bathroom door.
Sabella put her hands on her hips in a “I'm going to kick his butt,” stance, but he kind of pushed her back so she'd start walking.
“Trust me, we have to get out of here right this instant. It might already be too late.”
“Really? Why? Are you in the clear?” She asked the questions but walked alongside him through the crowd at the front counter. He went straight for the side doors where he came in.
“I'm kind of wanted by the police,” he said to the brunette mother of three. “I'll explain later.”
He imagined the soldier was waiting for him behind every group of drivers. Liam tried to find him while at the same time making himself as hard to see as possible. He couldn't afford more questions and there would be no second chance at using his fake dad. No one would believe the man had to spend so much time on the can.
When he reached the glass doors, Liam hesitated. No one was going in or out at that second, but he still wasn't able to see the soldier.
Dave talked while he walked up behind Liam.
“Liam is looking out at Angela where his girlfriend Victoria is undoubtedly pining for him. Hoping for his safety. But I, the awesome Truckaduck, rescued him, right Internet? Please leave your message for Liam in the comments. Let him know how I did playing as his dad.”
Dave chuckled nervously, and Liam hoped he was properly scared at what they were doing, but he doubted the man had any idea who might be watching his live broadcast.
“And for the record,” Dave said while looking into his camera lens as he went out the doors, “I do not have hemorrhoids, right guys? That was 100% acting!”
When the doors opened, Liam was hit in the face by the loud 80s music again. It wasn't the classic rock he enjoyed but was crap he always avoided when it came on the radio. Not only was it ungodly loud, but whoever thought he needed to, “ce-le-brate good times, c'mon,” obviously didn't know an apocalypse was in progress.
Dave walked briskly and held his hands over his ears as i
f he was in the rain.
Liam followed, wondering what Dave's problem was. Not only was the fool worried about his image to a non-existent audience, and seemingly couldn't tolerate loud 80s jams, but he was broadcasting their very uncertain escape. If he didn't get to the truck in the next few moments, he feared he'd punch Dave square in the face for being so reckless.
He hasn't really met the apocalypse. I'm going to bring it to him.
Liam felt bad for the thought because he always seemed to ruin things for each new person he encountered. Other than grandma, and Victoria, he tended to make things worse for everyone he met. Even his parents got caught up in the intrigue shading his life right now.
Sabella caught up to him. “Is that why you called yourself Sam back in that room? Or is this something different?”
“I can't explain, now. This is different, I think.”
“Mmm hmm,” she said in a pitch he recognized as full of doubt.
He sped up a little to catch Dave just before he reached the truck he'd named after his mother.
“Sorry, Dave,” he said in a voice only loud enough for him to hear. “For getting you mixed up in my problems, but also, thanks for coming to get me.”
“We'll get some great feedback on this broadcast, I promise,” Dave said as if he was having fun. “Now, let's get out of the 80's.”
They boarded the truck and got back to their seats. It took far too long for Dave to get them moving again, but once the tires started to roll, Liam let out the breath caught in his throat.
“We made it,” he whispered to Victoria sitting next to him on the rear seat.
He noticed they were a man short.
“Hey, wait! Where's Russ?” he asked.
Elise whipped her head in his direction. “You scared him off.”
“Now, now,” her mom said with calm. “He didn't want to get too far from home. Said he has family around here.”
“Hmm,” Liam said to himself. Then to Victoria: “Did he tell you he was leaving?”
“No, he was fine when I last saw him.”
“Dave, what did he say to you?” Liam asked. He didn't much care for the other boy, but he didn't like abandoning anyone without cause.
“Just what Sabella said. He saw the cops all over you and didn't want anything to do with my plan to help you out. Said he'd rather take his chances with family. Then he ran off.”
Liam was torn. Part of him was happy to see Russ go, but his conscience argued that he should try to talk him into staying. Whatever else he was, the boy was an extra gun.
The truck rolled through the parking area while he tried to figure out the right thing to do. Once they were on the highway, there was no going back.
“I, uh ... ” he mumbled.
The decision was made for him when the sirens began.
“He'll be safer here,” Liam said with sudden confidence. “We have to go.”
6
Several Humvees came whipping around the fuel pumps along with a Missouri Highway Patrol car with its sirens blaring.
“Floor it!” Liam shouted when it was clear who they were after.
Dave looked over his shoulder very briefly. “You haven't driven a truck, have you? Flooring it isn't even a thing.”
Liam strained to look out the side windows, sure the police were going to be right alongside them. After giving Russ the benefit of the doubt just seconds ago, he wondered if the boy had turned them in. His blood pressure reached third stage separation up in the atmosphere and his tension went into freefall.
“What are we going to do?” he said anxiously to Victoria. “I think I blew this.”
“What did you do?” Elise asked. She had the whole front seat to herself since Russ was gone. “Cuz I'm not getting in trouble for you.”
“Are you really wanted by the police?” Sabella asked. She might have been considering whether her debt to Liam for saving her girls once had already been paid. Liam wouldn't blame her.
“Not exactly.” He handed over the picture of Victoria. Even with one half missing, the list of crimes in small print was extensive.
“Oh, shit,” the mother said while the scene outside continued to play out.
Liam believed the sirens were coming for him, but they passed Dave's truck and blocked off a rig a few positions in front of them.
“Are they stopping us all?” Victoria asked while straining to see over the dashboard.
Dave downshifted and put his foot on the break to wait and see.
“It says you destroyed samples of the cure. You killed government agents. You aided and abetted the Patriot Snowball leadership. Trespassing into restricted zones. Murder?” Sabella still read the print beneath Victoria's picture and Liam suddenly regretted revealing it. “Geez, and this is only half of the crimes listed. What was on the other half?”
Now Sabella held out the paper like it was dripping with blood.
“None of it is true, exactly,” he said in a soothing voice.
“What is not exact about this? I do appreciate you helping my family survive, but I can't travel with someone who commits crimes against the federal government. Not like this.”
“Liam is telling the truth,” Victoria said. “I've been with him since the beginning and he's been attacked by the government because they wanted to test on his great-grandma.”
“Does that mean you fought back against the people wanting to find the cure?” Sabella replied.
“Now this is interesting, am I right, Internet?” Dave leaned toward his camera that he stuck back on his dashboard.
“Dave, please turn that off,” Liam said in an even voice.
“Internet, should I turn you off? I think not.” Dave smiled and shook his head at the tiny camera.
“They're moving!” Elise said with relief. “We're going to make it.”
The line of trucks leaving the truck stop was being directed around the one stopped by the police and soldiers. Dave interrupted his own discussion with his audience, so he could put the truck in gear and keep up with the hauler in front of him.
“Dave. Please. You have to turn that off.” Liam was feeling a combination of anxiety and anger because of the danger he'd put them in, and the extra hazards now being created by Dave and his connection with his fans.
“Just a minute. When we get on the road I'll pause it.”
Liam was deflated. He couldn't blurt out why it had to be turned off without giving himself away. He accepted that if he was patient for a few minutes, it would eventually be turned off.
“Here we go,” Dave said to his camera. “We're getting out of this dumpy town and back onto the safety of the highway. I promise I'll tell you everything that happened to us back there when I get this thing jammed onto cruise control. Right? Yep. 100% top grade right-on!”
Liam sat higher in his seat to try to watch the scene out the window. The military had surrounded the target truck, and had their guns pointed up to the driver. Just as Dave drove by, Liam caught a glimpse of the man behind the wheel of the other truck. He appeared ready for a fight.
“Oh, God!” Liam shouted.
Hell broke open as guns started firing back and forth right outside their window.
“Hang on!” Dave did his best to stomp on the gas and turn to the right out of the truck stop and onto the connector road.
The unmistakable sound of buckshot rattled off metal from somewhere behind.
Several bursts of machine guns followed. It wasn't the uneven shooting from semi-automatic rifles like the AK or AR, but more methodical and longer-lasting volleys of gunfire. The military-grade full-auto hardware was put to good use against the rogue driver.
As they put some distance between them and the targeted trucker, the sound of gunshots faded away.
Dave turned toward the entrance ramp for the interstate and solemnly worked through the gears while his passengers sat in stunned silence.
“Mommy are they going to shoot us like that?” little Susan asked her mom.
“No, dear, they aren't. I promise.”
Dave had them onto the empty highway before anyone spoke again.
“Sweet Jesus. I did that.” Dave spoke with a ton of remorse.
“What do you mean?” Victoria asked.
Dave shut off his camera.
“When we drove by that stopped rig I noticed the driver number we all have plastered on our doors. It's the same one I told that soldier who was holding Liam. 2252.”
Everyone in the cab turned to Liam.
He cleared his throat. “I, uh, needed you to turn off the camera so I could tell you. If I had any idea you'd be doing a live broadcast I would have mentioned my background earlier, but this all took me by surprise, too. First the zombies chased Victoria and me into that farmhouse. Then we got attacked. Then the fireball happened. Those, um, small zombies. I've not had a lick of proper sleep so I'm not at peak Liam right this minute.”
“And this? What of it is true, exactly?” Sabella showed him the wanted poster.
“It isn't black or white, but we've only done good things. You have to believe that. We aren't terrorists, or murderers, or treasonists, or whatever.” He took a deep breath and steadied his nerves.
“But I should tell you the government does think Victoria and I are criminals because of how we've behaved while protecting my great-grandma from them.”
He exhaled like he'd just bared his soul.
Then he waited for them to toss him out.
Seeing the Waters of Creation
On the Mississippi River, south of Cairo. While Liam is leaving the farmhouse in Dave's truck.
Lana double-blinked in amazement at her dead husband lying in the shallow water. He was a zombie when they fell overboard the previous day, and they floated together all night in the swift current of the Mississippi River. Now, in the first light of dawn, he'd spoken to her.
She'd just pulled a big knife out of his side.
“I love you, Lana,” the zombie said while still face down at the edge of the shore.
She looked around for a brief second, wondering if she was part of a terrible prank.
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