by Joel Baker
Jesse looked over as Cole and Mark came into the shop in a hurry. He could tell from the looks on their faces that something was wrong.
“Dad, we got a problem,” Mark said.
“What?” Jesse asked.
“The scavengers,” Cole replied, “They’re back.”
“Are they the same ones as before?” Jesse asked.
“Yeah and there are more of them,” Cole said. “There’s a lot more.”
“Where are they at right now?” Jesse asked.
“They’re camped out at the old Ferguson place this time,” Cole said. “They got a real party going on.”
“How long do you think we have before they come after Liberty?” Jesse asked.
“Two days, maybe less,” Cole said. “We overheard some conversations. They’re waiting for more scavengers to show up in a day or two.”
Jesse studied Mark and Cole.
“Cole, go back and keep an eye on them,” Jesse said. “Let us know if they make a move in this direction. Just make sure you’re back at the house by sundown. Make sure no one sees you.”
“You got it,” Cole answered over his shoulder as he headed out the door.
Jesse waited a few moments and then turned to his sons.
“Guys, we’re leaving early tomorrow morning,” Jesse said. “Mark, I want you and Paul to visit everyone left in town. Tell them that the scavengers are back and it looks like they’re coming this way. They’ll know what they have to do. Do not, I repeat, do not mention we are leaving. This is important. Nobody needs to know. Do you understand?”
Both boys nodded, grabbed their weapons and headed out the door. Jesse felt a rush of excitement. The waiting was over, he thought as he headed home. Jesse walked into the house and set his rifle in the corner of the living room. Sarah came down the stairs and stopped, looking at Jesse.
“What’s wrong?” Sara asked.
“The scavengers are back with reinforcements,” Jesse said. “Cole thinks we have a couple of days. I want us out of Liberty by day break tomorrow. I think we’re ready, except for a few things I need to do to the truck.”
“We still have to pack the truck,” Sarah said.
“I know,” Jesse said. “But not until dark. There’s no sense announcing we are leaving.”
By sunset they were ready. Jesse looked up as Mark and Paul came out of the house carrying their clothes they’d packed for the trip. Cole came around the corner and walked up the drive and sat on the front step head down, looking at his hands in the gathering darkness.
“What’s wrong?” Jesse asked.
“Nothing,” Cole said. “I just got a little too close. One of the scavengers almost spotted me and I had to hide for quite a while.”
“What’d you find out?” Jesse asked.
“We do have a couple of days,” Cole said. “They are waiting for others to show up. From what I could tell, they’re definitely coming this way. The whole group has had a hard winter. Near as I could tell, most of them are sick with something.”
Jesse walked over and sat on the step next to Cole.
“Listen, Cole,” Jesse said. “We’re leaving first thing in the morning. We want you to come with us.”
Jesse watched Cole study his dirty hands in the darkness for several moments. He noticed tears in Cole’s eyes.
“I knew you were leaving,” Cole said. “I thought you were keeping the truck a secret from me. I figured you had a reason for all the secrets. Are you sure you want me with you, Mr. Colter?”
“Yes, son,” Jesse said, putting his arm around Cole. “We’re sure. You’re family now, Cole. We want you with us.”
Cole looked back at his hands, a tear now running down his cheek.
“Mr. Colter,” Cole said. “I done things. Things I wish…”
“I know Cole,” Jesse said. “We all have. That’s why we’re leaving. We’re going to find someplace where we can live in peace. Some place where we can all start over. But Cole, we’re not there yet. We still got some tough work ahead of us. Do you understand what I mean?”
Cole stood up and looked down at Jesse.
“I understand, Mr. Colter,” Cole said. “Now I’d like to go to the cemetery and say goodbye to my folks. I’ll meet you at the garage in an hour with my things.”
“That’s a good idea, Cole,” Jesse said, as he stood up and shook Cole’s hand.
“And Mr. Colter, I won’t let anything bad happen to this family,” Cole said.
“I know, Cole,” Jesse said. “I won’t either.”
Cole walked down the drive and headed in the direction of the cemetery. Jesse watched him go wondering if they’d done the right thing. He turned back to his sons still standing on the front porch.
“Here we go, boys,” Jesse said. “Make sure you got your things together. We’re going to pack the truck. I’ll get your Mom and Lily.”
****
When they reached the garage, there were two large duffel bags and four metal containers on the ground by the door. Jesse opened the top duffel bag. It was heavy and filled with weapons. The second bag was half full and contained mostly clothes. Laid on top of the clothes were some pictures of Cole’s mother and father.
One of the pictures had been taken during the grand opening of a gas station. The picture showed a couple with a small boy of three or four, standing in front of the shiny new gas pumps. The woman smiled proudly up at the man. The man was grinning from ear to ear with pride. The boy stood on the other side of the man. He had one arm tightly gripping the man’s leg. The little boy wasn’t smiling at all.
Jesse zipped up the duffel bags and turned his attention to the metal army surplus ammo canisters. Each was filled with rounds of ammunition of various calibers. Two contained nothing but shotgun shells. Jesse carried the duffel bags into the staging area by the truck. The boys lugged the canisters inside.
Sarah climbed on a step and looked inside the living area of the truck. She entered and sat on one of the four small bunks attached to the walls. Jesse came over and stuck his head in the door.
“What do you think?” Jesse asked.
“It’s a little claustrophobic at first,” Sarah said, “but I think we’ll get used to it. I hope we don’t have to spend twelve hours a day in this thing.”
“We’re going to be spending a lot of time inside,” Jesse said. “At least until we’re sure it’s safe.”
Sarah nodded as she climbed out of the middle area and took a walk around the truck examining the metal plates welded to the exterior.
“Where do you put the gas in,” Sarah asked a little sarcastically. “My guess is under the license plate?”
“Good one,” Jesse said. “Actually we have three fifty-gallon drums locked inside the back. Let me show you.”
Sarah and Jesse clambered in through the back door of the truck, and stood in the storage area. Sarah saw five steel drums.
“What are those other two drums?” Sarah asked.
“One’s for kerosene and the other for water,” Jesse said. “Let me show you how we transfer fuel. I disconnected the outside filler tube, and rerouted it inside. It’s right here by the first drum of diesel fuel. See that hose running into the floor?”
Sarah nodded.
“That’s how we transfer fuel into the truck's tank,” Jesse said. “We use the hand pump on the drum.”
Both Sarah and Jesse stood in the door of the storage section of the truck looking at the large pile of provisions sitting on the garage floor. Jesse climbed down and turned back to Sarah.
“You call out what you think we should take,” Jesse said. The boys and I will get it for you. You do the packing. That little door connects the storage with the living area.”
Sarah glanced over at the opening and nodded her head.
“Good,” Jesse said. “Load the supplies you think we’re most likely to need on the trip close to the little door. Anything we’re taking all the way to Haven should be loaded last.”
It
was nearly midnight when they finished packing. They went through the stack one more time and closed the rear doors on the truck. Just as they were finishing, Cole walked in the back of the building.
“Everybody into the truck,” Jesse said. “Mark, you ride shotgun.”
It struck Jesse as ironic that Mark would literally be riding shotgun.
“Cole,” Jesse said. “Once we head out, I’m going to need you up on the roof of the truck. You’ll be riding up top most of the time. You should be able to keep an eye out for trouble from up there.”
As Cole climbed in, Mark opened the large overhead door of the shop. Jesse took a final walk around the work area. He knew that this was probably the last time he would see this place. It was hard leaving.
Jesse climbed behind the wheel of the truck and turned the key. The diesel engine cranked and sprang into pounding life. The truck crept forward and out the big overhead door. Once on the street, Jesse dropped out of the cab and closed and carefully locked the big door of the garage. He knew there was little chance anyone would care if it was locked or not. He did it out of habit. It was the last reflection of his old way of life.
He drove home and the truck lumbered up their driveway. Everybody spilled out of the back. They stood staring at the truck.
“Jesse, it’s going to be a very long trip,” Sarah said with obvious concern. “The living area is stuffy and loud. Those diesel fumes from the storage area are going to probably kill us. Lily almost passed out and I have a headache.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Jesse replied. Maybe I can seal the little door with some duct tape. We’ll trade places now and then up in the cab.”
“Duct tape,” Sarah said under her breath. “I’m sure that will work.”
Sarah headed towards the house. Cole announced he would sleep up on the roof of the truck for the whole trip. Jesse was left with the impression that they might have to talk him down off of the roof once they got to Haven.
The dawn broke with the promise of rain. The warm southerly breeze remained. Everyone was a little grumpy as they climbed in the truck. Jesse and Sarah walked through the house one more time. Everything looked like the family was going to return in a week. As Jesse walked into the kitchen, he noticed the dishes neatly washed and stacked to dry.
They stood at the front door and looked around. Sarah cried softly and then disappeared back into the house sniffling, and returned with the embroidery piece that read “God bless this home” in an old fashioned picture frame.
“This goes wherever we go,” Sarah said near tears.
She marched past Jesse to the truck and climbed in. Jesse looked around one more time. He noticed the old grandfather clock in the corner had stopped at twelve o’clock and wondered if it had stopped at noon or midnight? Had it stop yesterday or a week ago? It was funny how time didn’t really matter anymore. With a lump in his throat, Jesse closed the door and walked away.
Chapter 6
Jesse drove the truck south out of Liberty. The road led directly to Utley, the next town over. Sarah and Jesse had studied the maps and laid out a route that circumvented main roads and cities. They suspected all the bridges were clogged with deserted cars. They still needed to find a place where they could cross the Ohio River.
The old road the y followed now sprouted weeds through broken bits of asphalt. Jesse noticed a small maple sapling pushing its way out of an especially nasty pothole. In spite of the road conditions, they were able to maintain a slow, but steady speed most of the way to Utley. It had been months since Cole or Jesse had made it this far from Liberty. They approached the outskirts of the town and Jesse stopped on a hill overlooking the village. Sarah stuck her head out of the back area into the cab.
“Are we there yet, Daddy?” Sarah said in her best Betty Boop voice.
“Sarah,” Jesse said. “Look at this place.”
The town of Utley was a shambles. It had been burnt to the ground. The high school was now four brick walls surrounding a vast pile of rubble where the roof collapsed. The other structures in the town were piles of charred boards and ashes. Jesse drove slowly and stopped only to make sure that rubble in the road didn’t puncture the truck tires.
They proceeded southeast towards the next town, Middletown. About half way there, Jesse again stopped. Three cars blocked the road. One was upside down, the other two locked together in the embrace of the crash. A wooded area was close on the left side of the road. Paul’s head popped through the opening this time.
“Get your Mom,” Jesse said.
Sarah’s head appeared through the window behind the front seat.
“Come up and drive,” Jesse said. “I’m going to walk down through the woods on the left and make sure this is what it appears to be.”
“Good,” Sarah said. “It’s time for a break anyway.”
Jesse climbed out of the cab, dragging his shotgun out from behind the seat. He disappeared into the trees on the left. Sarah got into the cab and waited.
After several minutes, Jesse appeared from the trees by the wreck on the side of the road. He climbed on top of the overturned car and motioned for Sarah to pull forward. As the truck approached, Jesse jumped down and stood by the side of the road. Sarah pulled to a stop. Jesse saw Cole on the roof of the truck rise up and study the tree line through his scope. Jesse walked up to the driver’s window.
“Put the truck in creeper gear,” Jesse said. “Gently push the car on its top off the road. This was a bad wreck. What’s left of a body is still in the overturned car. Be gentle. I don't want to hurt the truck.”
Sarah nodded and looked intently at the gearshift as she searched for the creeper position. It ground a little as she engaged it. Easing out the clutch, the truck crept forward. The overturned car protested with a high-pitched screech as the truck nudged the car across the asphalt and onto the shoulder of the road. Once they cleared the wreck site Sarah opened the driver’s door. Jesse ran up.
“No Sarah, you drive,” Jesse said. “You drive this thing as well as I can. I’ll ride in back for a while.”
“No problem,” Sarah said. “I wouldn’t mind breathing something besides diesel fumes for a while.”
Jesse climbed into the back as Sarah eased the truck forward. For much of the six miles to Middletown, Jesse kept popping his head through the window to see what was going on.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Sara said. “Sit back and relax. I’ll yell if I see anything.”
“Okay,” Jesse said. “But stop before you get into Middletown proper.”
Sarah pulled to a stop as the truck rounded the last curve before entering the town. She and Jesse traded places. Jesse drove slowly past the outskirts.
The houses appeared recently abandoned but at least were still standing. Trash was everywhere. It looked like someone had systematically ransacked the homes. Windows were broken, and curtains fluttered silently from the gapping frames. Somewhere a screen door banged. No smoke rose from the houses. Someone’s ugly green sofa sat in the middle of the main street. Jesse pulled into a gas station after several blocks and stopped.
“It’s almost noon, Sarah,” Jesse said. “I think we should rest a while. Anybody want some lunch?”
“How far have we come?” Paul asked.
“Well it was twelve miles to Utley, and another fourteen miles to Middletown. So we’ve made about twenty five miles. We’re about eight miles from the interstate, and I want to be well clear of that place by dark. We should leave in about an hour or so,” Jesse said.
Cole threw down the rope ladder from the top of the truck and joined everyone else. Sarah passed out sandwiches and glasses of water mixed with Tang. Lily appeared to Jesse to be a little green around the gills. She began to recover nicely once she was out of the truck for a while.
As soon as Cole finished eating, he went back to the truck’s roof and resumed his vigil. Suddenly, Jesse saw Cole tense. He was pointing back towards town. At the same time Jesse heard a noise he couldn�
�t place.
“Everybody, back in the truck,” Jesse said.
He grabbed his shotgun, ran to the building next to gas station, and waited. The noise began as a nest of angry hornets. As it grew in volume, it sounded to Jesse like a bunch of chain saws. Then it hit him, motorcycles!
As he peeked around the corner of the building, three motorcycles came around the curve of the road. The lead cycle held a single rider. The other two cycles carried two passengers, two men on one, and a man and girl on the other. The three cycles roared to a stop next to the sofa in the middle of the street. They revved their engines and shut them off.
The men climbed off the cycles. It was hard to tell from three blocks away, but Jesse thought the girl’s hands were tied behind her to the upright on the back of the seat. She was definitely gagged.
The men were standing in a circle around the girl. They were laughing and passing a bottle around. The girl had no coat; her thin dress afforded her little protection from the cold. Her dress was pulled up exposing white thighs. She looked terrified, even from this distance.
Jesse crouched and ran back to the truck.
“Cole, come down,” Jesse whispered. “Mark, get your shotgun. The rest of you lock the doors and stay quiet.”
The boys crouched down by Jesse. Both looked concerned, their eyes round with attention.
“It looks like we’ve got some scavengers,” Jesse said.
They nodded their heads.
“We can’t get across the street,” Jesse said. “So we need to watch our line of fire.”
Jesse drew a quick map with his finger in the dirt.
“Cole, you get to this point here,” Jesse said. “Do not fire until I do. Mark you go with me. When I point, you stay. Make sure they don’t see you. I counted four bad guys. I’ll take out the big guy with the first shot. Mark, you try for the one with the leather vest. Cole, you and I will clean up the other two. Got it?”