by Dirk Patton
As she waited, the wind picked up until strong gusts tore at her clothing. This not only began leaching away her body heat, it picked up dust from the desert. Within less than a minute, she was no longer able to differentiate what was thrown up by the tires of the approaching vehicle from what was being blown across the terrain.
She lay there for several minutes, hoping the wind would subside, but if anything, it grew stronger. Trying the rifle scope, she gave up in frustration. It was a simple holographic sight, with no magnification. Perfect for use in CQB, or close quarters battle, where your enemy was typically inside twenty yards, but useless at long-range across the open desert.
Trying to decide what to do, she caught her breath and leapt to her feet when the import of the situation struck her. If she couldn’t see the dust trail of her pursuer, he couldn’t see hers! She had an opportunity to escape, which in her mind was preferable to taking on an attacker, or attackers, single handed.
Running across the flat surface of the mesa, she thought about where she would go, but dismissed the line of thinking as soon as she had it. At the moment, the highest priority was to lose William, or whomever it was tracking her. Once she didn’t have a psychopath breathing down her neck, she’d take the time to try and come up with an option.
Racing around the outcropping she’d left the Humvee behind, she skidded to a stop in surprise when she saw three figures standing near its rear bumper. They were dressed in rough, dun colored clothing that closely matched the surrounding desert. Scarves covered their heads, wrapped around their lower faces for protection from the weather.
She’d seen the Special Forces guys heading out with shemaghs worn in the same fashion when she’d been stationed in Iraq. Each of the people facing her also wore large goggles, completely obscuring their features. Small packs were on their backs, pistols holstered at their waists and rifles in their hands.
She snapped her rifle up, clicking the safety lever to fire in the same motion. The figure closest to her raised empty hands, but the other two remained stock still. Anna held aim on the person’s chest, determined to pull the trigger if any of them lifted their rifle or reached for a pistol.
They all remained motionless for several seconds, staring at each other. Slowly, the closest one, who Anna had already pegged as the leader, reached up and carefully unwound the scarf. As it came free, long blonde hair was released to blow in the freshening wind.
“We aren’t here to harm you!”
The figure said in a woman’s voice as she removed her goggles. Anna, squinting against the wind-blown dust, stepped closer but didn’t allow the muzzle of her weapon to waver. The woman standing in front of her was younger than she was by at least a decade, with the sharp features of someone who hasn’t had many calories to eat for an extended time.
“What do you want?” Anna called.
“Maybe we can help each other,” the woman answered. “But first, who’s chasing you?”
Anna’s eyes widened in surprise and she barely resisted the urge to look over her shoulder towards the approaching vehicle.
“A bad man who kidnapped me,” she finally said. “I managed to escape and I don’t intend to let him catch me again.”
The woman looked at her for a moment before glancing over her shoulder at her companions.
“We can help each other,” she called. “We were separated from our group several days ago. We’re trying to get home, but it’s a long way and we’re on foot. You have a vehicle, but you’re by yourself. We can fight. If the man catches up, we can help you.”
Anna liked what the woman was saying, but couldn’t help but flashback to what had happened when she escaped the cabin during SERE training. Just when she thought she was safe, she was tricked again. She wanted to trust the woman, accept her at face value, but…
“No,” she said after several seconds of conflicted thought. “I don’t know you. We should just go our separate ways.”
“Look,” the woman said, stepping closer until Anna wiggled the rifle. “If we’d wanted to hurt you, or steal from you, we had plenty of opportunity while you were lying on the edge of the bluff, watching the truck that’s coming. It would have been easy to put a bullet in your back and take your Hummer. But we didn’t.”
Anna held the woman’s eyes, thinking about what she’d just said. Argued with herself as she acknowledged the truth of the statement.
“So, why didn’t you? Shoot me, that is?”
“That’s not who we are,” the woman answered. “The world is in trouble, but that doesn’t give us an excuse to not follow God’s word. We will defend ourselves if attacked, but we won’t murder or steal.”
Anna was surprised at the response. And concerned. She was all too aware of how unstable people liked to use religion to gain and control followers. That was part of the hold William had held over the members of the militia. Or at least some of them.
“We’re not what you’re thinking,” the woman said with a sad smile. “We’re not some end of the world cult.”
“Who are they?” Anna asked, gesturing at the other two figures as she tried to buy some time to think.
The woman turned her head and nodded. The scarves and goggles were quickly removed to reveal two more women, close in age to their leader.
“Look,” the woman said. “My name is Elizabeth. That’s Mary and Paula. We’re from a compound in Utah where members of our church sheltered from the apocalypse. We were on a scavenging mission with four others and were attacked by infected. They didn’t make it, and we lost our vehicle. We just want to get home, and it looks like you need a safe place. Help us, we’ll help you. If not, we need to start moving before whoever that is on your trail gets here. So, what’s it going to be?”
Anna looked at the woman for a long time, her eyes finally shifting to check out her companions. The muzzle of her rifle slowly lowered to point at the ground as she made a decision she hoped she wouldn’t regret.
“Get in,” she said, hurrying for the driver’s door of the Hummer.
The women quickly piled in, Elizabeth taking the front passenger seat. Anna started the engine and shifted into drive.
“That way,” Elizabeth said, indicating a narrow break in the rocks. “It’s a trail down to the next valley.”
Anna hesitated briefly. But she had taken them into her vehicle and it was a little too late to not trust them. With a nod, she released the brake and steered where the woman had pointed. As they slowly bounced across the rocky terrain, the two women in the back seat began softly muttering to themselves. It took her a moment to realize they were praying.
“Utah?” Anna asked, steering around a large boulder.
Elizabeth looked at her and smiled.
“Yes, we’re Latter-Day Saints, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Mormon,” Anna said.
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
Anna noticed that the prayers in the back seat had stopped. Maybe they’d finished, or then maybe they were concerned over what her answer would be.
“Not for me,” Anna said. “I was simply thinking that being Mormon explains how you’ve survived so long. Isn’t it one of your requirements to be prepared?”
“Yes, it is,” Elizabeth said, still smiling. “And we were. We had over a year’s worth of supplies at our compound, but we took in more people than we expected. For a while, our men were able to supply us with fresh meat by hunting. Deer and elk. But the wildlife seems to have moved on. Our hunters are coming back empty handed, so we had to venture closer to towns and cities in search of food. We send out scavenging parties.”
“How have you survived without becoming infected?” Anna asked.
“At first, the doctor we had was treating everyone with anti-virals. We were making routine raids to get more, but they didn’t work. Or didn’t work well. Nearly every day, someone would turn.”
“What did you do with them?”
“At first, our men tried a Priesthood blessing.
But it didn’t work. We began to see fractures within our community as the less devout turned away from our teachings. For a while, we simply restrained those that turned, but very quickly that became untenable.
“So, we put them outside our wall. But they never left, and the noise they made drew others. Our leader finally decided that we had no choice other than to put them down,” Elizabeth said, shrugging as she paused to take a drink from a bottle of water.
“It was hard at first,” she continued. “Very nearly tore us apart. But there was nothing else we could do. We lost almost a third of our population in the first few weeks, then things got better.”
“Better? How?” Anna asked.
“There is an old woman in our group that spent most of her life in China. She went there on a mission as a young girl, fell in love with the people and decided to stay. She became fascinated with natural healing and studied under several masters while she was there. Fortunately for us, she was home, visiting an elderly relative when the attacks occurred. She evacuated to the compound with us and brought several boxes of herbs with her. Once it was apparent the treatment our doctor was using wasn’t effective, she began blending teas that were a mix of elderberry, licorice root and a few other things I don’t remember.
“Not everyone was convinced it would help. There’s a healthy distrust of Asian medicines amongst the faithful and over half of the group wouldn’t partake. Within a week, ten more people turned, but none of them were the ones who were drinking the tea. That was what it took to convince the doubters, and we haven’t had an infection since. What about you? How have you survived?”
“I was in a bunker,” Anna said. “I’ve been underground since the day of the attacks.”
Elizabeth nodded, looking at Anna like she wanted to know more, but didn’t push the issue.
“So, what happened that left you stranded out here?” Anna asked, changing the topic.
“We were part of a scavenging party, working our way west out of Utah into Nevada. Passed through several small towns and were finding very little. Only enough to keep us going. Our team leader, Robert, decided we needed to try Las Vegas. Not into the city, mind you, but the northern suburbs. We were looking for canned and dried food that would still be good.
“There were no infected in sight when we arrived in North Las Vegas and we stopped at a Costco. It was locked up tight, so we thought we’d hit the motherlode. We forced the door, but the building was full of infected. I think a large group of people had taken refuge, but they turned and were trapped inside.
“During the fight, a stray bullet damaged our truck’s radiator. It probably wouldn’t have mattered as we were already cut off. We ran, but the sounds of the fight had drawn other infected.”
“How did you escape?” Anna asked.
“One of the men was able to lift a manhole cover. We were the first ones in, waiting for the rest. From below ground, I couldn’t see what happened, but it sounded like another group of infected attacked. He dropped the cover back into place and we listened to them fight for a few minutes until they were overwhelmed.
“We followed the sewer for most of a day, finally reaching a water treatment plant. That was very fortunate. We couldn’t reach the ceiling, and even if we could, I don’t believe we would have been able to raise one of the covers. We’ve been walking for four days, trying to get home.”
Anna glanced at her passenger, impressed with how calmly the woman had related the horror she had experienced.
“What have you been eating?” she asked.
“We had some food in our packs,” Elizabeth said. “Not much, but it’s been enough to keep us going. Also, the good Lord guided us to a small town where we found two cans of beef stew in a garage. But it has been two days since we’ve had more than water.”
Anna looked up in the mirror, seeing the gaunt faces on the two women behind her.
“There’s a pack behind your seat,” she said to them. “Inside are some MREs. Help yourself.”
The women’s eyes lit up and they turned to reach for her pack. One of them paused, then stretched closer to the rear window for a better view.
“He’s close!” she said in a frightened voice.
40
Elizabeth whirled around in her seat, trying to see through the rear window as Anna looked at each mirror.
“I don’t see anything,” Anna said.
“What do you see, Paula?” Elizabeth asked.
“That last hill we just crested. For a second, I got a glimpse of a vehicle. It’s really dark, but there’s enough moonlight.”
“How close?” Anna asked, still trying to spot the pursuer in the mirrors.
“Half a mile. Maybe less. It’s hard to tell.”
Anna pressed harder on the accelerator, the big Humvee bucking worse as they blasted across the rough ground.
“Easy,” Elizabeth said. “It won’t help us if you break the vehicle.”
“We’ve got to open up some distance!” Anna protested, keeping their speed up.
“Tell me about this guy,” Elizabeth said, her voice unnaturally calm.
“His name is William. He was the leader of a militia group that ran up against some military guys. Most of them got wiped out, but he survived. I was in a helicopter crash and passed out. When I came to, he had taken me and I was tied up. It took me a few days to escape.”
The Humvee roared over a rise, the front tires briefly going airborne before crashing to the ground with a bone jarring thud.
“Why is he chasing you? What did you do to him?”
“Nothing!” Anna cried.
“How did you escape?”
Anna was quiet for a moment before answering.
“I killed two of his men.”
“That would do it,” Mary said from the back seat, earning a nod from Paula.
“So, he’s out for revenge and isn’t going to stop. Fair to say?” Elizabeth asked.
Anna nodded, starting to glance at her but had to keep her eyes on the dark terrain.
“Then we need to stop him,” Elizabeth said, matter-of-factly.
“How?”
“Ambush is the best way I know of,” Elizabeth said, turning in her seat. “Paula, any sense for what kind of vehicle he’s driving?”
“No. I saw a vague shape. That’s the best I can tell you.”
“Okay,” she said, turning back to Anna and pausing. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Anna.”
“Okay, Anna. The next time we come to a low spot and you have to slow before starting to climb, stop and let us out. We’ll take care of things.”
Despite the breakneck speed and darkness, Anna took her eyes off the windshield long enough to shoot a look at Elizabeth.
“I thought you said you don’t kill?”
“I said murder. And I also said we will defend ourselves. Killing in self-defense, or to protect others, isn’t the same. A man who has already kidnapped one woman is chasing us. I don’t think he wants to exchange apple pie recipes. God will understand that we have to protect ourselves and remove those that intend us harm.”
Anna glanced at her again, then cursed when the whole Humvee went airborne. It crashed back to the ground, bouncing wildly for a few seconds. They roared down a slope into a narrow valley and she jammed on the brakes as they reached an incline leading back to higher terrain.
Elizabeth and the other two women were out of the vehicle in a flash, immediately disappearing into the darkness. Anna gunned the engine and the tires spit sand as she climbed the steep slope. Reaching the top, she slowed and circled to the right, coming to a stop facing the path she’d just followed at a ninety-degree angle.
The Hummer was hidden from the valley below. She jumped out and ran to the edge, looking down as William’s Humvee crested the ridge on the far side of the valley. It was coming fast, engine bellowing as he pushed it hard. Charging down the slope, it slipped back and forth a couple of times, threatening to go sideways on the l
oose scree. If that happened, it would roll over, but he somehow maintained a degree of control.
As the Humvee drew closer, Anna realized they had a problem. It was an up-armored version. The rifles the women had wouldn’t even put a dent in it. All their ambush would accomplish would be to alert William to their presence. She began screaming, trying to alert them, but the strong wind whipped her words away.
The heavy vehicle kept coming, reaching the lowest part of the ravine and spitting sand and rocks as it clawed its way across. Faint pops of rifle fire reached Anna’s ears a moment later. The Hummer didn’t slow or deviate from its path and she couldn’t tell if the bullets were finding their target.
Impervious to the small arms fire, it reached the incline, bounced hard and began climbing. Fear of being captured again coursed through Anna, but a second later it turned to anger. Boiling, searing anger, and she was blinded to anything other than stopping William.
Racing to her idling Hummer, Anna threw herself behind the wheel and jerked the transmission into gear. Keeping her left foot firmly on the brake, she pressed the accelerator to the floor. The engine roared and the vehicle shook in protest. Within seconds, the rear brakes were no longer able to withstand the force of the motor and the tires began spinning, throwing up massive clouds of dust that were immediately whipped away by the wind.
A moment later, she saw the nose of William’s Humvee appear. She’d known he would have no choice other than to slow as he crested the top of the grade. There was a deep rut where infrequent but violent rainstorms had washed out the sandy soil. As he negotiated the obstacle, his vehicle was still fully on the slope, fighting against gravity to reach the top.
Anna released the brake, accelerator still pressed firmly to the floor. Free of restraint, her Hummer rocketed forward. The heavy push bar slammed directly into the right, front corner of William’s with a rending crash. At the moment of impact, Anna steered to the right, away from the drop to the ravine below.
The armored Humvee lost all forward momentum as the nose was lifted and pushed violently to the side. For a long moment, it teetered on the downslope set of tires. Perhaps it would have stayed in place if William hadn’t tried to reach the safety of the top of the incline. He accelerated, and the lower tires dug into the soft ground, changing the entire vehicle’s balance.