by Harley Tate
“Cancer, right?”
Dorris nodded.
Colt hated to ask, but he pressed on. “Is it in remission?”
She stayed silent for a moment, staring at him. Her wrinkled skin pinched around her lips. “It was for a while, but it came back earlier this year.” Dorris glanced up at the door. “Don’t tell Dani, she doesn’t know.”
“How bad?”
Dorris smiled. “I won’t be leaving this bed even if the whole building falls down around me.”
Colt nodded. The minute he’d seen her frail body, propped up on pillows to seem larger and more substantial, he’d known. Her skin hung on her bones like a ninety-five-year-old, loose and crepe paper thin. A breeze would knock her over.
Dorris was holding on for Dani, but there would come a time when she wouldn’t wake up. He wondered how Dani would survive when her grandmother was gone. He dropped his voice a bit lower. “Do you know how she’s been living these last few years?”
Dorris closed her eyes. “Not well.”
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
“When she stopped coming to visit, I feared the worst. But I’m an old woman who can’t walk more than five steps at a time. I couldn’t help her.”
Colt spared Dorris the details. The woman had enough guilt heaped on her hunched shoulders, she didn’t need any more. He pushed himself up to stand. “If it’s all right with you, I’m going to find an empty room and get some sleep.”
Dorris nodded. “That’s what Dani does, too. Will you be here in the morning?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The old woman smiled and beneath the wrinkles and the pain, he could see her beauty. She’d been a stunner, once. “Sleep well, Colt.”
“You too, Dorris.”
He grabbed his things and eased the door open. The place managed to stay cool at night thanks to the drop in temperature outside, but Colt wondered how long the facility could keep going. Whatever fuel source they were using to keep the critical patients alive, it had to run out soon. Dorris told him the orderlies came to her room once a day with a bucket of water and flushed the toilet.
They were still working, but for how long? That any staff showed up at all amazed Colt. If the place kept going much longer, other people would notice. People who lacked the same moral framework as Colt. People who wanted the path of least resistance.
Maybe Eugene was one of those towns that would escape the worst of the fallout and rebuild quickly, but Colt didn’t know. From what he’d seen, only portions of the college and this little nursing home had power. If the army really had figured out how to use nearby wind turbines, then the power they supplied along with the string of port-a-potties outside the stadium could keep the army going for a long time.
What about everyone else? Would the National Guard turn the stadium into a camp? Would everyone from town be rounded up and turned into cattle? If that happened, Dani could say goodbye to Dorris. Dani would be processed, assigned a number and a cot and given an MRE a day to survive.
What would happen after that? What would happen to her when the aid ran out? He’d seen it in Haiti and Africa. Aid would flood the area in the beginning, bringing water and tents and a bunch of shiny new supplies.
But a month later? The water source would be spreading disease, the tents would be cesspools of filth, and the aid workers would be gone. On to the next crisis. The victims would be worse off than before anyone showed up.
Colt shook his head. The National Guard might be the only reason the town hadn’t descended into chaos. But why were they there? What was the point?
Even after two weeks of living in the confines of the university dorms, he didn’t have any answers. Sure, a few of the soldiers had shared some rumors: cities burned nationwide and the president hiding underground. But what did it mean for the future of the country? Who was leading this unit? Where were the orders coming from?
Colt wouldn’t sleep easy until he left Eugene, Oregon far, far behind.
As he walked down the hall, he peered into every room, checking to see if he could claim one as his own. He found Dani four doors away.
She slept on the bed, curled up in a tight little ball, looking every bit the little girl. Her arms wrapped around something soft and furry. A stuffed animal?
Colt ached for her. The hell she’d been through in only fifteen years. Tomorrow he would get up and take her out of the nursing home and show her a few things to survive. When he left, he wanted Dani to be prepared to make it on her own.
He didn’t think Dorris would last too much longer.
DAY SEVENTEEN
Chapter Twelve
COLT
Downtown
Eugene, Oregon
6:00 a.m.
“I don’t understand why we’re here. It’s not like we need printer paper.” Dani stood with her back to Colt, on lookout.
“No one’s thought to break in yet. These places have tons of stuff we can use.” Things that might get you through while I’m gone. Colt kept the last bit to himself. He’d been crouched in front of the rear door to the office supply store for at least ten minutes, fiddling with the lock.
He hated doing things the hard way, but there hadn’t been another way in and if he wanted to keep their find a secret, he needed to be tidy.
And a hell of a lot faster.
With a deep breath he went back to work, holding down the one little screwdriver while he jammed the other one in the lock. At least the nursing home had plenty of random tools like eyeglass kits. He’d been able to pilfer a couple tiny screwdrivers without any trouble.
They worked better than paper clips, but picking a commercial lock was a slow process. One that required more patience than Colt usually possessed. But Dani would need access to food and water and anything else they could find. He couldn’t leave her with nothing.
After another few minutes of agonizing scraping, the lock finally clicked. “Bingo.”
“Took you long enough. I thought you were supposed to be an expert or something.”
“Not at this. Give me a nighttime assault on a compound just off the coast and I’m your guy. Picking the lock of a store in the States? Not so much.” He pulled the door open and held it wide. “After you.”
Dani ducked inside the dark store and Colt followed, making sure to lock it again immediately. As long as they kept their light use to a minimum, they should be able to case the place uninterrupted.
“Now what?” Dani stood beside Colt, her thumbs tucked into her pockets, waiting.
“We raid.”
Colt headed straight toward the rear of the store, eyes constantly scanning for a hidden threat. Breaking into an office store wasn’t the same as urban warfare—not by a long shot—but the premise was the same. Get in, secure the target, get out. That’s all they were doing today.
Dani stayed close to his heels, never more than a step or two behind. At the far wall he stopped and flicked on a flashlight. “What do you see?”
She glanced up at the wall. “A bunch of cleaning supplies.”
“Look harder.” Colt waited while Dani stared straight ahead. The second she saw it, she smiled. “First aid kits.”
“Good. What else?”
“Hand sanitizer. Wipes.” She rushed over to the next shelving area past a section of clearance stickers. “Toilet paper and paper towels and cups and silverware.” She turned to him. “How did you know all of this would be here?”
“I’m observant.” He motioned toward the middle of the store. “Let’s go find some backpacks and we can put a few things together.”
Twenty minutes later, they had backpacks filled with first aid kits and sanitizer. Dani could barely zip hers shut. “I wish this place sold luggage.”
Colt hadn’t thought of it before, but Dani had a good point. “They do, sort of. Come on.” He found the aisle after a few minutes of searching. “Grab one of those, we can find a box cutter in the packing supplies to get it open.”
Dani pulle
d a black hunk of plastic off the shelf as Colt retraced his steps to the packing supplies. He grabbed a couple rolls of duct tape and two box cutters before heading back. With a few swipes of the knife, he cut the zip ties keeping the black crate flat and popped it open.
Dani nodded in recognition. “One of my teachers used to have something like this. She would wheel it in full of supplies or graded papers every Monday morning.”
Colt nodded. “They’ll come in handy for transporting water.”
“The nursing home has water. Why would we need any more?”
“At some point it’s going to run out and you’ll need to find some on your own. This store has a ton.”
“I saw the refrigerated cases up front, but there can’t be more than fifty bottles between them.”
“Not those.” Colt led Dani to the other corner of the store and stopped in front of the office cooler section. “Fifteen five-gallon water containers right here. That’s enough water for one person for two and a half months. Longer if you conserve.”
Dani stared up in wonder and Colt couldn’t help but smile. It didn’t take much to impress the kid, but he gave himself a small pat on the back all the same. If even a portion of all he showed her sank in, she might have a chance to make it after he left.
“Do you really think we should be doing this?”
“What?”
Dani hesitated. “Stealing.”
Colt wondered if she would ever ask. “I don’t have a good answer, to be honest. At some point, it comes down to survival. Would you rather steal and survive or not and die?”
“Survive.” She said it with so much conviction in her slight voice.
“Then we don’t have a choice.” He flicked off his light and the pair of them stood in semidarkness, the only light coming in from the morning sun outside. “Do you have a lot of friends here in Eugene?’
Dani jerked at the question. “Not really.” She glanced at the floor. “I had a few at the old school when I lived with Gran, but once I moved back in with my mom… None of the kids really liked me at the new one.”
Colt nodded. “That’s good.”
“It is?” She lifted her head, confusion marring her young brow. “How is being a loner good?”
“It means you’re already a survivor. If you can handle going to school everyday where no one likes you, then you can survive when food and water are scarce and you can’t trust anyone.”
He could see her thinking over the idea that she was somehow more prepared for this new world than the popular girls who probably shunned her. Colt hoped it gave her courage and strength. The girl would need it.
“Let’s go see what food they have up front. I saw a bunch of trail mix and some Slim Jims.”
Dani groaned. “I thought Twinkies would be the thing that survived after all the people died, but I was wrong. It’ll be Slim Jims.”
Colt laughed. “I take it you’re not a fan.”
Dani shook her head. “Have you eaten three or four in a row?” When he shook his head, she made a gross face. “Don’t or you’ll be stinking up the place for days.”
“Only one Slim Jim per meal. Got it.”
Dani laughed and the pair of them walked toward the front of the store, each one with a backpack stuffed full of supplies and a rolling cart with a five-gallon bottle of water inside. When they reached the front, Dani paused. “What about flashlights?”
She pointed at a display of little LED flashlights and batteries and Colt nodded. “Definitely. Good catch.” They opened a few packages and tested which gave off the brightest beam before adding them to their stash.
“Now grab as many packages of nuts as you can fit in your pack and let’s get out of here.”
Dani did as Colt instructed, grabbing bags of pecans and pistachios and shoving them into every little crevice of her backpack. “If we know this place is here, why bother taking more than we need? We can always come back.”
“We don’t know that for sure. The National Guard could mobilize tomorrow and demand everyone move to the university campus or someone else could find this place and do a smash and grab. There’s so much uncertainty out here now, it’s always better to be prepared.”
Colt didn’t elaborate on all the potential pitfalls that awaited a girl like Dani. She was so young to be out on her own with no one to protect her. He frowned. “Do you know how to use a gun?”
Her eyes went wide as she glanced up at his face. “No.”
“Then I should teach you. I don’t know how easy it will be to find you a weapon around here, but that should be one of the first things we do. The more prepared you are to defend yourself the better.”
“You make it sound like it’s the Wild West out there, but I haven’t seen any of that. Those military guys seemed to be all over the place. No one is going to try anything with them around.”
Colt exhaled. The more he thought about the military presence in the little town, the more it didn’t make sense. Whatever they were doing there, it couldn’t just be law and order. There were other places that needed the help more.
All the more reason to get out of Eugene as quickly as possible. “Come on, let’s get out of here before we run into one of them.”
Colt and Dani wheeled their carts to the back door and after he unlocked it, they both slipped outside. Colt crouched and shoved a shim beneath the door. It wouldn’t keep many people out, but at least he’d know if someone else found the place.
As he stood up, he realized Dani had gone on without him. Shit. She should have known by now not to leave first. What was she thinking? Colt hustled to the end of the store, but froze when a voice cut the silence.
“Well lookie what we’ve got here, boys. Mmm. I bet you clean up real nice.”
Oh, no. Colt eased the cart back to an upright position and slipped his backpack off his shoulders. He unholstered the Sig and checked to ensure it was ready to fire. With a deep breath, he calmed his nerves and found that place he always went to right before a battle.
Whatever predator was out there talking to Dani wouldn’t leave the area alive.
Chapter Thirteen
DANI
Downtown
Eugene, Oregon
7:30 a.m.
Oh, crap. Dani stood frozen in place, too afraid to move a muscle. Four men loitered in front of her, all looking like the sort of guy her mother liked to date. The one who spoke to her stroked his goatee, rubbing his fingers down his chin and leering.
They all wore black vests, and from the look of them had to be in a gang. Dani had seen them before in the area her mom lived, riding massive bikes with those crazy handlebars that stretched toward the sky. A motorcycle club, her mother called them.
Her mother had been fascinated by them, thought maybe they would take care of her and keep her high. The only time her mom went out with one, she’d come home with a black eye and an empty wallet. That incident told Dani all she needed to know about the men in front of her. They were bad and all staring at her like she would be their next meal.
One on the far left stepped forward. He carried a baseball bat in his right hand and as he walked, he swung it in an arc. “How about you wheel that cart over here and let me get a better look at you? Jimmy thinks you’re a fine piece, but I’m on the fence. I don’t do scrawny girls and you look kinda scrawny to me.”
I should have waited for Colt. Thoughts of the man who’d saved her once already gave her hope. He had to be coming, didn’t he? He wouldn’t leave her there in the middle of the road to fend off these thugs alone.
Dani tugged her sweatshirt closer around her body.
“Aw, looks like she ain’t gonna do what you want, Steve. Whatcha gonna do ’bout it, huh?”
The guy named Steve sneered at the one who’d called him out. “Shut up, Jimmy.” A scar ran across his cheek and into his upper lip and every time he spoke, it curved like a sick grin. He swung the bat again.
One of the guys holding back spoke up. “Let’s just t
ake her loot and go. Those army guys gotta be headed this way.” He wore his hair cut short and his black vest looked newer than the others. A new recruit, maybe. Not that it mattered. Even if he stood on the sidelines, Dani couldn’t get away from four of them.
She glanced behind her. Colt wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“Aw, you tryin’ to find a place to hide, baby?” Jimmy stepped forward, stopping when he stood next to Steve. “Don’t you know you can’t run from the Ryder MC? We’re all over these streets. And we get what we ask for.” He grabbed his crotch and Dani looked away.
A chill rushed through her despite the sun. I have to run. She swallowed and pushed the rolling basket in front of her. “Here, you can have this.”
“Aw, ain’t she sweet.” Jimmy put his hand over his heart and mock-swooned. “Givin’ me her water like it’s what I wanted.” His smile slipped into a sneer. “It ain’t what I want girlie, and you know it. Now get your ass over here and give me a kiss.”
Dani’s fingers shook and heart beat so loud she didn’t know how no one else heard it. Jimmy took another step toward her and that was it. Something inside Dani snapped. Snapshot memories popped into her mind. Greasy palms and dirty hair. Rough fingers and violent words. Tin foil burning and her mom’s scratchy laugh.
No one awake to tuck her in or read her a story. No one who cared enough to feed her dinner or wash her hair. She’d been so little.
Fear smothered her like a wet blanket. She knew she needed to run, but her feet stuck to the asphalt like they’d been baked into it. Where was Colt when she needed him? Why wasn’t he coming to her rescue?
She’d survived these past few years with her mom by making herself scarce whenever the drugs came out. The fire escape had been her safety net. Every knock on the door meant Dani had thirty seconds to run. She’d gotten good at predicting the type of man by the way his knuckles hit the wood.
Hard meant a hothead. Insistent, a drug addict. Soft was dangerous and Dani had to run like hell. These men were dangerous and her time was running out.