by Harley Tate
She hoisted the last of the supplies into the back of the car and everyone divided up into the vehicles. Colt took the sedan with the Wilkinses and Larkin motioned for Melody to join him, Doug, and Dani in the Humvee. Colt pulled out of the parking spot and Larkin followed.
Melody watched out the window while they turned onto the road. The rain pelted the car in a million little goodbyes. She was leaving her hometown behind for good.
Chapter Nine
COLT
Streets of Eugene, Oregon
9:00 a.m.
He spotted the wreckage a few seconds before anyone else. Colt slowed the car. The windshield wipers sloshed the rain, but did nothing to hide the obvious.
“Jarvis blew all the bridges.”
Colt nodded in Harvey’s direction. “That’s why no one from Springfield is coming to Eugene. They can’t get through.”
After finding the small bridge blown to bits, with not even the foundation left as evidence, Colt’s optimism had faded. He backtracked to Highway 569, expecting the worst. Finding the highway’s bridge shorn in two turned any thoughts of an easy passage out of Eugene to dust. They would either have to drive all the way around like Melody suggested in the first place, or find another way across.
Colt sat in the car, listening to the raindrops and windshield wipers, lost in his own frustrated thoughts. No one said a word. Not even teenaged Will in the backseat.
Ever since the ambush and the fires, the boy had been quiet. Docile, even. Colt couldn’t tell if it was a good sign. The kid had lived a pretty sheltered life before the power went out. Did the last week of gunshots and fires and ambushes kill Will’s spirit or awaken something new?
Colt turned to Harvey at last. “Is there another way across?”
“Not a man-made one.” Harvey caught his wife’s attention. “Gloria, do you remember that cut-through we used to use up by the Harralson farm?”
“That old thing? No one’s used it for years. And we’re in a car. We would never make it.”
Harvey reached for the map and pointed to a curve in the river. “If we follow the frontage road for about a mile, there used to be a family farm tucked in the bend. In the low-rain months, we crossed the river on four-wheelers. There was a sand bar on this side and the river broke into smaller tributaries we could jump.”
Colt peered out at the rain. It had been coming down thick for hours and had rained on and off for the last few days. Good for catching rain water, bad for crossing a river. “What’s the chance it’s passable now?”
“I don’t even know if it’s still there.” Harvey handed the map back to Colt. “But it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”
After a moment, Colt nodded. “Can’t hurt to look.” He rolled down the car window, stuck his hand out, and whirled it in the air, signaling a turn-around to Larkin.
They rolled in their two-vehicle caravan down the frontage road, Colt on the lookout for a bend in the river or any place low enough to cross. Harvey thumped the window on his side of the car. “This is it.”
Colt parked and climbed out. What used to be a sand bar was now a shallow widening of the river. Water lapped at the bank, spreading all the way to the other side. It appeared passable in the shallows, but the middle ran swift and deep. The car would never make it.
He swiped the rain out of his eyes as Larkin came to stand beside him. “This is the best shot, isn’t it?”
“Afraid so. Can the Humvee make it?”
“It’s got a deep water kit. Assuming there’s not a chasm ten feet deep, yeah. We can get across.” Larkin leaned back to look at the little car. “But that thing doesn’t stand a chance.”
Colt rubbed the beard on his chin. “It’s already mid-morning. If we circle back around town to the west, we’ll be hours from anywhere when the sun sets.”
“We’ll run out of diesel long before then.” Larkin glanced up to the sky, calculating in his head. “It’s lower than I thought. We’ve got a hundred miles if we’re lucky. Eighty is more likely.”
Shit. That would barely get them out of Eugene.
“Even if we had enough diesel, the Humvee will never fit all of us and the gear.”
Colt glanced at the vehicle. It was an old army Humvee, designed to seat four with room for gear in the back. “We can make it work for a few miles until we find another car.”
Larkin squinted at Colt. “That blow to the head must have scrambled your brains. Even if the girls sit on the floor, what do we do with all the gear?”
Colt snorted out a laugh. “I’m not addled, just desperate.” He wiped his mouth and leaned closer. “We can’t be on the road with everyone into the night. We’ll be sitting ducks. Anyone with half a brain and scruples to match would ambush us.”
Larkin turned his attention back to the river. “It’ll be a wet crossing, assuming we make it.”
Colt figured as much. “Don’t tell them. It’ll only make them more resistant. We’ve got to find a place to hole up that’s dry and has a good, defensible perimeter. We can do that if we head into Springfield. It’ll have gas and diesel.”
“And another car.”
Colt nodded. “The other way is just forest.”
Larkin wiped the rain from his eyes and stared out at the river. “The lowest point is up there, where it bends. We’ll be halfway into the river before the water comes in. Even if we get across, it won’t be easy.”
“It never is.” Colt clapped him on the back and headed to the car to break the news.
“This is never going to work.” Gloria sat in the back with Lottie on her lap and her grandson at her feet. Harvey sat on the other side with Doug wedged into the footwell and Colt crouched on the corrugated divider in the middle. Not the most comfortable Humvee ride, that was for damn sure.
Melody shifted in the front where she shared a seat with Dani. “I can’t feel my feet.”
Dani laughed. “I can’t see my feet.”
Colt shook his head. “If we can get across this river, then we’ll be able to find another car.”
Larkin eased the Humvee into the water. It bounced and slipped on the sand and Larkin slowed even more. The water lapped at the hood and the doors. The river was swallowing them whole.
“Hold your valuables up, everybody.” Larkin clipped each word with tension. “It’s deeper than I thought.”
“What’s that mean?” Dani twisted around as the Humvee plunged ahead into the river. “Colt?”
He opened his mouth, but Melody’s scream filled the silence. “My feet! They’re getting wet!”
Will jumped up from the floor and clambered up on top of his grandmother’s lap. “Water’s coming in. Everywhere!”
Doug scrambled to half-stand, practically on top of Harvey. Lottie let out a frantic bark and jumped at Colt, clawing her way up onto the divider. Water sloshed against the floorboards, first a little puddle, then more and more, until it threatened to spill over laps and bags.
Colt thrust his backpack up in the air. Others followed suit. They looked like a bad sitcom come to life. Only there wouldn’t be a soundstage and a wardrobe trailer when they reached the other side. The vehicle lurched into a dip in the river bed and the water crested over Gloria’s knees.
Melody shrieked.
“It’s okay, everyone. I know what I’m doing.” Larkin steered the Humvee through the water, over and down rocks hidden beneath the surface of the water. “We could drive this thing deeper than I am tall and the engine would keep running.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better!” Melody clutched the door while Dani held onto the seat back.
Most of the color had drained from Gloria’s face as she clutched her grandson to her chest. Doug gripped the back of Larkin’s seat with a grimace. Even Harvey had grown pensive and still.
The river splashed over the hood and Larkin slowed. “It’s going to get a little dicey now. Hang on.”
He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and Colt took a deep breath. So far, Lar
kin proved himself to be an excellent driver, although Colt knew at this point in his career he probably never sat behind the wheel. Majors didn’t drive anymore.
The front of the Humvee disappeared beneath the water and a torrent rushed inside.
“We’re going to drown in this stupid tin can!”
Melody’s shout pierced through the grinding of the gears and the rain, but Larkin grinned. He leaned toward the passenger seat. “Steel and aluminum, to be accurate. Not tin.”
She cursed at him and he eased down on the accelerator. The Humvee lurched and for the first time since entering the river, began its ascent. The vehicle gained momentum, rumbling up and over a chunk of rocky river bottom.
Colt exhaled. They might just make it.
Everyone fell silent. Harvey closed his eyes as he clutched the door. Gloria held onto her grandson like he would drag her to safety. Even Melody stopped mumbling. The Humvee rocked and skidded up the muddy bank, but Larkin did it. Water poured out of the floorboards and the tires crunched over the sandy shore of the river.
The tires dug into the road’s shoulder and Larkin eased it up onto the asphalt before shifting to park. They had crossed the river.
Melody reached out the second he let go of the steering wheel and swatted Larkin on the arm. “That’s for making fun of me.” She hit him harder. “That’s for driving straight into that dip in the river.” She curled her hand in a fist and tried to punch him, but he caught her swing with his open palm.
“What’s that one for?”
“Getting my shoes all wet, you jerk.”
Larkin let her hand go and laughed so hard it shook the back seat. “What’s a little river crossing if there’s not an element of surprise.” He turned to Colt. “Am I right?”
Colt shook his head and tried to contain his own laughter. “Just find us another car, will you?”
“Yes, sir.” Larkin winked before turning his attention back to the road.
Chapter Ten
DANI
Streets of Springfield, Oregon
11:00 a.m.
Larkin drove the Humvee through the streets of Springfield just above a crawl. The town reminded Dani of pictures of war zones she’d seen in history class. Blown-apart buildings reduced to rubble, trash in the streets, a car turned black from soot.
Thirty days without power and the residents of Springfield had torn the town apart. For all that she hated Colonel Jarvis and what he did to her and her grandmother, his men kept Eugene orderly. She frowned as she stared out the tinted windows. They passed a row of shops and Larkin slowed to get a better look.
A restaurant with overturned tables and a burned and blackened kitchen. A grocery store with nothing left but broken glass and destroyed shelves. A massive freezer unit sat on its side, door hanging open and empty. It was all so senseless.
Dani pulled her sweatshirt closer around her body and tucked her hands inside her sleeves. No one inside the Humvee said a word. Not even Will. They all stared, open-mouthed and confused, at the remains of the town.
Melody shifted on the seat they shared and Dani risked a glance in the woman’s direction. No color in her cheeks, no fire in her eyes. Nothing but shock and dismay. Just like Dani.
Only Colt and Larkin didn’t seem fazed. Maybe they had seen it all before in another country halfway around the world. Dani turned back to the window and caught the glimpse of a body sprawled out on the sidewalk, dead and decomposing.
Every block held more of the same, but the farther they drove, the more life Dani spotted. A face peering out from a gaping window. A flash of light in an apartment three stories off the ground. A blur of movement in a shop cordoned off with steel security bars.
The town wasn’t empty. Not by a long shot. She twisted around. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
Colt kept his eyes on the road. “We don’t have a choice. We need another car and fuel. A city is the best place to find both.”
The Humvee slowed and Dani shifted her gaze. A massive dumpster blocked three quarters of the street. Larkin straightened up in the driver’s seat. “I’ll need to jump the curb. Hold on.”
He eased the Humvee up onto the sidewalk and eased toward the dumpster.
Melody shouted, “Watch out!”
A woman jumped in front of the vehicle and Larkin slammed on the brakes. Everyone flew forward in their seats. Dani hit the dash and Melody fell on top of her. The Humvee swayed with the aftershocks.
“Help me! You’ve got to help me!” The woman rushed forward, arms thrust up in the air as she came around to Larkin’s window. Her palms landed smack on the glass. “Please! I need to get out of here!”
Larkin eased the Humvee forward a foot and the woman scrabbled at the door.
“Stop! You’ll run her over!” Melody twisted around and Dani almost lost purchase on the seat. “She needs help!”
“Not ours.” Larkin eased the vehicle forward another foot, but the woman kept hanging on.
“I’ve got a daughter. She’s sick and needs medicine. Please!”
Melody spun around to the back. “We can’t ignore her.”
“Yes we can. And we will.” Colt kept his voice even, but Dani could hear the tension in it. He was worried.
She glanced out the window and her stomach hit the floor. “More are coming from the right. I count four from the storefront on the corner.” Dani squinted to get a better view. “Two men and two women. No weapons that I can see.”
Colt leaned forward. “Speed it up, Larkin. We don’t need a mob.”
Larkin hit the gas and the woman still scrabbling against the door shrieked as she lost her grip.
“What are you doing? She needs us.” Melody turned to Dani. “Open the door, I want to get out.”
Dani’s eyes went wide. “Are you crazy? You’re going to get us all killed.”
“No, I’m not. That woman needs help. We can do something.”
“It’s called driving.” Dani pointed out the window. “Look around you, Melody. These people aren’t coming out of the ashes because they want to invite us home for a glass of iced tea and a piece of pie. They want to take advantage.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
Colt chimed in. “Dani’s right. We’re a giant moving target in this thing. People see it and they think we’re military come to save them. When they find out we’re not, they’ll be furious. It won’t end well for anyone.”
Melody shook her head. “I don’t believe you. It’s only been a month. Good people wouldn’t turn bad in a month.” She reached past Dani for the door, but Dani grabbed her by the shoulders.
She pinned her to the seat back. “You’re not listening. We stop this car and it’s over. A mob will be on us before you can get five words out. You think Jarvis was bad? He’ll seem like a piece of cake compared to a horde of angry, starving people.”
Melody scrunched up her face. “How would you know?”
“Have you ever been so hungry you stole? Have you ever been consumed by the need for food so bad, you’d do anything, say anything, to get it?”
Melody stilled.
Dani almost spat. “I have. And it’s a real bitch. So don’t you sit there on your high horse and tell me to open the door. I know what those people are going through. Only they have it worse.”
Harvey spoke up from the back. “As much as it hurts, Melody, Danielle is right. We can’t stop here. It’s too dangerous. We have to think about our own survival. We have to put the needs of the people inside this vehicle first.”
Doug added his own voice to the mix. “I don’t like it either, Mel, but Harvey’s right. We have to think about all of us right now.”
Melody’s brows dipped low as she focused on her brother. “It’s not right.”
“Nothing is going to be right in this town again.” Larkin accelerated down a clear section of the street and left the gaggle of people behind. He turned south and headed toward state road 58 and La
ke Tahoe. “If we don’t find a place to hole up for the night and some damn fuel for this beast of a vehicle, we won’t be any better off. Hell, we’ll be worse.”
Dani let Melody go and she sagged against the seat. It had to be hard for a woman like her, who had taken food and shelter and basic necessities for granted, to transition to this new way of life. For once Dani was thankful she’d had a terrible time of it. At least she didn’t mind the hunger pains and the dirty hair.
Colt spoke up from the back. “Everyone keep your eyes out for other people on the streets and a place that could work to make camp. It needs to be secure and unobtrusive.”
They drove around Springfield for what seemed like hours, finding nothing but more strangers desperate for hope they couldn’t deliver. No diesel. No shelter. No food.
Larkin kept glancing down at the dash every minute or so. They were going to run out of fuel. Dani chewed on her lip and stared out at the town. After driving through most of downtown, they transitioned into a residential area where the houses were more or less intact.
“Maybe we could find an empty house and use it.”
“No fuel in a house.” Larkin shifted up front. “Pretty soon no fuel in this Humvee, either.”
Colt leaned forward. “Let’s find a restaurant. Fast food or quick service.”
“I hate to break it to you, but the drive-thru won’t be open.”
Colt cracked a smile. “That’s what I’m hoping for.” He made eye contact with Dani and something in the way he looked at her made her pause. He was optimistic.
It didn’t make sense. She turned to look out the window and watch. A few miles down the road she tapped on the glass. “There’s a Chili’s there on the corner.” She couldn’t keep the excitement out of her voice. “The windows are boarded up. I don’t see a car.”
Larkin turned the corner and eased the Humvee over toward the restaurant. “I always liked their southwestern egg rolls. Weird, but good.” He drove around to the service entrance and parked in between a dumpster and the back door. “I hope you’ve got more than just a craving for comfort food.”