by Dave Conifer
Now Gygax weighed in. “I think they’ll look for us. They can’t do anything without us. None of them can even fish.”
“Yeah,” Robert said. “They were prisoners or something before they came here. They can’t even row a boat.”
“I thought they’d let it go,” Sarah said. “I didn’t think of this. Maybe we better get moving.” She was already thinking about the truck that she and Dewey had decided not to disable.
“It’s not just that,” Ethan said. “These guys are mean, and they don’t forget when you do something they don’t like. When it’s light out again, I’ll show you my bruises. I mouthed off to one of those dudes once. He knocks me around every day for it.” He snickered in the darkness. “He was the first one to go down tonight, too. Booyah!”
“But if we were trying to hide, they’ll never figure out where we went, right?” Gygax asked. He was sitting Indian style in the dirt with his little brother Benjie sleeping in his lap. “I mean, where we’re going right now?”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” Sarah said. “I never thought they’d follow us. If that truck runs, they can get over here in a hurry.”
“We should have wrecked it,” Dewey said.
“We found a cabin last week,” Sarah told the kids. “We were planning to go there tonight. It’s not very far away. Should we keep moving instead?”
“Well, if they have a truck, it doesn’t matter how far we go,” Dewey said. “We can’t, like, outrun them. I think it’s smarter to hide than run.”
“Me, too,” Sarah said. “How about everybody else? Agreed?”
When it was clear that they did, they moved on. A fleet of bikes of all sizes, including ones for some of the younger siblings, had been scavenged from the neighborhood and was waiting for them a few feet away. Ethan’s little sister Allie was big enough to ride alone. So was Benjie. Robert took his little brother Dallas on his bike, and Kelly did the same for Katie.
There was no sign of activity across the lake when the bicycle caravan moved out. Sarah took the lead, and Dewey rode behind them all. In five minutes they were back at McKeldin Road. They walked the bikes across the overgrown golf course, because it was too dark to ride, but rode the rest of the way including up the dirt road back to the cabin. By the time they’d hidden the bikes in the trees, there was a hint of sunup in the sky. The rest of the morning, and probably the entire day that was unfolding, would be spent indoors, with a few scouts hidden along the road watching for The Men.
Dewey and Albert volunteered for the first guard shift. After they’d left to go on duty, Sarah brought the stores of food over to the corner and spread it all across the surface of the stove. After dividing the water, venison, strips of dried fish and the hard tack crackers into rations, she estimated that there was enough to sustain the group for no more than three days. As far as she was concerned, that’s how long they had to get to Southampton Middle School. She sorted the ration packs into smaller bundles. In case of a bug out, she would instruct each teenager to grab one on the way out.
Now that the bubble of hope of finding her husband had burst, she couldn’t wait to get back to her daughters. There was no doubt in her mind that they were safe; Nick was there, and he’d make sure of it. But they needed their mother. By the time she’d packed up the rations, she’d decided that three days was too many. She’d do everything in her power to get back in two. While everybody was together she told them where the school was, made sure they understood that they were welcome to come with her and Dewey, but made sure they knew the pace along the way would be fast. Very fast.
Grover wouldn’t be happy that she was bringing back the teens and their younger siblings. All she could think about was how the Helliksons had been rejected, at least until there was no alternative. Grover would no doubt use words like “unproductive” and “mouths to feed.” That was a battle she’d have to be prepared to fight when the time came. But that time wasn’t now. There was a lot to do and a lot of ground to cover before that discussion would happen.
While packing the food back up she came across a wooden box that must have been in one of the bundles. She looked around, but nobody was watching. She flipped the latch and opened the box. When she saw what was inside, she gasped. It was filled with United States currency. Lots of it. Just like she’d done with the fish, she carefully spread it out in front of her as she counted it.
There was nothing but hundred dollar bills. Some were in stacks, some were in rolls, and some were loose. All told, there was over a hundred-thousand dollars in the box. This was something she’d have to get to the bottom of. Obviously the teenagers hadn’t told her everything. She slipped it back into one of the ration bundles as she decided what to do.
~~~
Talk about the money could wait. Everybody was tired after a long, tense night, but they were also hungry. Sarah shooed them inside, where they all had a few bites of venison. “That was just what I needed,” Gygax said. “What about Albert and the other dude? Should we bring them some food?”
“I think they’d appreciate that,” Sarah said. “And his name is Dewey. Don’t go alone, though. Buddy system, right?”
Gygax picked up some water and a few strips of meat, and grabbed Ethan on the way out the door. It was twenty minutes before they’d returned. “They saw the truck!” he reported breathlessly. “It was cruising real slow up the road, like they were looking for us!”
“Cool,” Robert said. “Bring it on!”
“In that case, we need to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice,” Sarah said. “Just in case. If we do,” she announced, raising her voice so everybody in the cabin could hear, “We go straight into the woods. Kelly, if this happens, you’ll be responsible for making sure we take all the ration packages I made. Make sure everybody knows to grab one. You can leave one for me if you need to.”
“We’ll take the next guard shift,” Ethan said. “Me and Robert.”
“Sounds good,” Sarah replied.
“We’ll have a guard here at the cabin, too, right?” Robert asked. “And you’ll have the gun ready?”
“We’ll be safe here,” Sarah told him. “Don’t worry.”
“I just think you should have the gun ready,” Robert repeated.
He must be worried about his baby brother, Sarah decided. “I’ll have it on me,” she said. “Guaranteed.”
Once Robert and Ethan were gone, Sarah went outside and found Gygax sitting by the fireplace. She’d left the money in one of the ration bags, figuring he’d know what it was without seeing it. “What’s up with the box of money?” she asked him. “What’s going on here?”
His expression didn’t change. “Was that in there?” he asked. “Robert wanted to bring it. We told him to leave it. It was too heavy to bother with.” He shrugged. “I guess he didn’t listen.”
“But what is it?” Sarah asked.
“It was the Men’s,” he said. “They didn’t know we’d ever seen it. They kept it hidden away. At least they thought they did. I don’t know how they got it, but, I doubt they, like, earned it fair and square.”
“Will they know you took it?” Sarah asked.
“I’m sure they will, if they don’t already,” Gygax replied. “Who cares? It’s worthless now.”
“You know it, and I know it,” Sarah said. “But what worries me is do they know it? Otherwise, you’ve pretty much guaranteed that they’re going to come after us now. This was a huge mistake.”
~~~
Dewey had been back from guard duty for a few hours and was stretched out on the mattress when he heard the truck. Even before he poked his head out the door, he knew what he’d see. Through the leaves he could see occasional flashes of the truck as it approached slowly along the dirt road through the woods. They’d been found.
Sarah heard it, too, from where she was sitting outside. “Bug out!” she yelled. Dewey turned around and yelled the same thing into the cabin. They all moved at the same time, funneling toward the door. Once
they were out, Sarah directed them into the woods.
Ethan and Robert were completely unprotected at their roadside guard post. Sarah hoped they’d had the sense to simply stay out of sight and let the truck pass, but it was too late to do anything about it. In retrospect, since there was no way to communicate, it hadn’t made any sense to post guards at the road, but it didn’t matter now.
On the other hand, she thought as she rushed around grabbing whatever she thought they’d need, it was surprising that The Men had turned up the tiny dirt road at all, especially so soon after the escape. It happened shortly after the two boys who were the most anxious for a confrontation had gone on guard duty along the road. Was it a coincidence? She thought not.
She was debating whether or not to stand her ground and shoot a few more of them. Based on what the teenagers had told her, there couldn’t be more than six or seven of them left. It might be fun. Until very recently, firing a weapon, especially at another human being, wasn’t something she’d ever thought she’d enjoy. In recent months, however, she’d encountered so many deserving villains that she almost thought she was learning to like it. This time she knew she would.
Then again, it made more sense to leave emotion out of it and follow the rest of them into the woods. Why waste their scarce ammunition when the path for escape was open? They might lose the bikes, though, unless it was safe to go back for them later. That would hurt. The decision was made for her, she knew, when the truck stopped just out of her direct line of sight. Instead of barreling all the way to the cabin into an ambush, could they be planning to spread out and surprise her from different directions on foot?
She wasn’t going to wait around to find out. Instead, she tucked the gun away and disappeared into the woods. Ethan and Robert were still unaccounted for, but at least she knew where everybody else was.
Twenty-two
Having been apprised by satellite phone, Roethke was waiting in front of the school along with several security men when the US Army Humvee rolled to a stop in the driveway at the front door. Two soldiers leaped out from the back and quickly assessed the situation, their assault rifles at the ready. One of them barked “Drop your weapons!” at the armed men behind Roethke. The security men bristled, and pointed their rifles directly back at the soldiers. By then Colonel Stan Quigley had stepped out from the passenger seat in the front and come around. “They’re okay, guys,” he told his men. “Please, chill.”
The soldiers looked at each other warily, but followed orders from their superior and stood down. Roethke walked over to Quigley and shook his hand. “Welcome to the nuthouse,” he said. “Why are you here, again?”
“Come on, Doc,” Quigley said. “Are you telling me you’re not glad to see me?”
“Did I say that?” Roethke asked.
“I’m here because I want to be,” Quigley said. “I never stay in the office for more than a few days at a time, but there aren’t too many places to go anymore. After you told me about what you were up to, I just had to see it for myself.”
“How was the trip up?” Roethke asked. “Did you come all the way from Fort Dietrich today?”
“Sure did,” Quigley answered. “It wasn’t like there was a Holiday Inn to stop in along the way. We made good time, too.” He waved at his soldiers. A third man had now slipped out from behind the wheel and joined his partners. “Unfortunately, they had a lot of target practice along the way. I’m surprised they have any ammo left. I hate it when they do that. I tried not to watch.”
“We dropped a few unfriendlies on the side of the road,” one of them acknowledged. The other soldiers snickered.
Roethke looked Quigley over. Just as the Major had told him that day back at the bridge, he was as unorthodox a military man as he’d ever seen. His hair was longish and unkempt, his face covered with stubble and his ragged fatigues hanging sloppily from his portly body. It appeared that the buttons of his tunic were mismatched with corresponding holes. He looked at Quigley’s feet, remembering the Major’s description, and was not disappointed. Sandals. All this way through what amounted to a combat zone, and the man was wearing sandals.
“Any more news for us on how bad the damage is?” Roethke asked. “Last time you made it sound rather bleak.”
“We can’t confirm anything,” Quigley said. “But nothing’s changed. Everything I told you that day stands. We still believe it.”
“So whatever happened with all those submarines you spotted off the coast?” Roethke asked.
“Oh, those,” Quigley replied. “No change. They don’t move much. A lot of folks don’t think there’s anything out there but stray electrons. I can’t tell you either way.” He put his arms over his head and stretched out his body. “Hey, are you going to invite us in or what? We’re pretty beat.”
“Of course,” Roethke told him. “We need to stop by the office on the way in, though. I didn’t realize there’d be so many of you,” he said as he looked Quigley’s escorts up and down. “We’ll have to take a couple extra rooms.”
“We’re easy to please,” Quigley said. “You don’t have to give us the penthouse. So long as we can order room service. And we can get movies in our room, right?”
Twenty-three
Unsure what was happening, Sarah slipped from the cabin doorway and into the woods before the truck or any of its inhabitants had a chance to get any closer. As she passed the bicycles she decided they were hidden well enough that it wasn’t likely that they’d be found. Even if they were, she doubted that The Men would be interested. If this blew over, maybe they could come back for them. She could hear the rest of the group ahead of her, crashing through the brush and talking too loudly. When she caught up she’d have to educate them about the value of stealth.
After she’d walked for five minutes, trying to move parallel to Dixontown road in order to keep her bearings, she stopped to take stock. Mostly she was listening for the others; she didn’t expect The Men to follow them into the woods. When she heard the crying of a small child, he knew she wasn’t as far behind as she’d thought.
It didn’t take long for her to find the source of the crying. After walking no more than fifty yards deeper into the woods she saw Ethan. So he’d caught up with the rest of them after all. She assumed that Robert had, as well. He was standing over his little sister, Allie, who was lying on the ground at his feet. “What’s wrong?” Sarah asked.
“She’s just scared,” Ethan said. “I was carrying her, but I had to take a breather. I can’t get her to walk. The rest of them kept going without us.”
The sound of men shouting interrupted them. They were coming from the cabin after all. “They’re catching up!” Ethan said. “Let’s go! Allie, get up!”
“It’s too late!” Sarah said. “We can’t outrun them!” She pulled out the gun. “We still have the same advantage we had before, don’t we?” She moved twenty paces toward the advancing men and hid behind a tree. All the while, Allie continued to cry.
When she saw the two men approaching, her heart sank. Both of them carried rifles. Sarah thought they were shotguns, although identifying guns wasn’t something she had much experience with. She hadn’t seen anything like this back at the lake, that was for sure. What was going on? She waved frantically at Ethan and Allie, trying to get them to hide, but neither of them saw her.
“The one that ran out of that little house back there was a chick,” he heard one of them say when they were within earshot. “When we catch ‘em, she’s mine.”
“Yeah, but you’re gonna’ share, right?” the other asked before their grunted conversation ended in sick, evil laughter.
That’s it, Sarah thought. Taking somebody’s life had come hard for her, but that was all she needed to hear to prepare her to kill again. She’d already known her personal safety was at stake, but now she knew these two weren’t fit to live. It chilled her to think that people with thoughts like that in their heads had been around her all along, but she hadn’t realized it. The break
down of society allowed creeps like these to show what was inside them. At least she had the opportunity now to do the new, broken world a favor.
But before she had a chance to take aim they’d already taken two shots of their own. The crying stopped. Sarah went down on a knee and dropped both of them quickly with the pistol before they fired again. They hadn’t even known she was there. Sure that the two riflemen were no longer a threat, she scampered back over to Ethan and Allie, expecting the worst.
Ethan was dead. He’d died horribly, but at least it’d been fast. His chest had taken the brunt of the blast and had been ripped apart, his blood already seeping into the dirt. Based on what she knew from her husband, this was definitely a shotgun wound.
He was lying on his back a few feet from his little sister, who hadn’t moved. She looked unharmed, still flat on her stomach with her face in the dirt. Sarah could see her back rising and falling as she breathed, and her heart broke. It was too much for a four year-old girl who’d already lost both of her parents just weeks before. And it would get a lot worse if she caught a glimpse of what had just happened to her big brother.
These men were good shooters, she now understood. Eli had told her that shotguns were among the least accurate of weapons. Yet they’d nailed Ethan at a pretty good distance. She knew she’d been lucky they hadn’t known she was there. Maybe there was a lesson here, though. It wasn’t a random advantage. Not completely. She’d made that luck by splitting off from Ethan and his sister as soon as she’d seen what was coming. She’d remember this, and try to make more luck next time she needed it.
Ignoring the searing pain in her side, she grabbed Allie around the waist and pulled her to her feet, making sure to shield her from the sight of her brother’s body. “Allie, we have to go. Did you ever ride piggy-back?”