Hope Survives

by Harley Tate

  “No. We got one of the shooters. Big guy, early twenties. Looked like he’d been in the mountains a while.”

  “You said there were two.”

  Larkin nodded. “Thought it was better to get Daniel back here instead of hunting the other one down.”

  “What about the pharmacy?”

  “It’s as secure as we could manage. The fire doors were holding. We barricaded the door in the morgue.” He glanced behind him as Ben and Craig carried Daniel’s unconscious form away from the truck and toward the medical building. Brianna and Heather followed.

  Tracy rushed toward Walter.

  He wrapped his arms around her. “Thank God you’re all right.”

  “I wish I could say the same for John and Daniel.”

  “Larkin filled me in.” Walter pulled back. “You’re sure it was only two?”

  His wife nodded. “But they must have come from a group. Well-running vehicles and plenty of fat around the middle.” She shuddered. “They were strong, too.”

  Walter didn’t like the look on her face. Based on her grimace, he was even more thankful she made it out of there alive. This changed everything about the pharmacy discussion. “Ben will have to see reason.”

  “About what?”

  “Moving the drugs. This attack combined with the radio transmission—he’ll have no choice.”

  Tracy’s eyebrows lifted. “What radio transmission?”

  Walter exhaled. He forgot his wife and Larkin didn’t know. In as few words as possible, he laid out what it said.

  Larkin bristled. “‘Unified States’ my ass. No way are any supposed census workers taking a step on our turf.”

  “I’m sure Anne and Barry will see it that way, but Ben might not agree.” Walter looked toward the medical building. “Ben’s been waiting all this time for the government to stitch itself back together. If he thinks this is it, he might welcome these workers in.”

  “And get rounded up like everyone in Eugene?” Larkin almost spat on the ground. “You know what happened there. So many good people died because of Jarvis and his quest for control. If they do the same thing here, we’ll all be turned into glorified slaves or taken out back and shot.”

  He ran a hand over his sandy-blond hair and turned around in a circle as if he could find the answer on the ground. “If the Jacobsons roll over, can we trust them not to rat us out? For all we know they’ll lead these people right to us.”

  Tracy spoke up. “We can’t worry about that now. What matters is the pharmacy. That man will be back. And the next time, he’ll be ready.”

  Walter exhaled. They had to convince Ben to move the drugs if it wasn’t already too late.

  Chapter Ten

  TRACY

  Jacobson Farm

  5:00 p.m.

  The icy winter wind dried the sweat and dirt on Tracy’s face into a gritty paste. She wiped at her eyes as she turned to face her husband. “We have to convince Ben to move the pharmacy now.”

  Walter nodded. “I know. But first, we have to tell him his nephew is dead.”

  Larkin groaned. “If they don’t move the pharmacy, then his death and the countless man-hours spent guarding the place will all be for nothing.”

  As Tracy opened her mouth to agree, Ben emerged from the medical building. He hunched against the weather as he made his way to their group huddled by the F-150. Tracy held her breath, preparing to break the terrible news.

  “How is Daniel?” She managed a small smile.

  “Heather kicked me out. Said I was too big to help.” Ben rubbed at his beard. “We won’t know for a while.”

  “I know you’re not ready to hear this, but I have more bad news.”

  Ben stilled. “About the men who did this?”

  She shook her head. “About John. There’s no good way to say this.”

  Larkin stepped up. “He’s dead.”

  “What?” Ben took a step back. “How?”

  “Gunshot wound to the gut.”

  Ben closed his eyes. After a moment, he turned to Larkin. “Walk me through it.”

  Larkin relayed what happened from first seeing the two men, to John losing visual, to the one attacking Tracy’s door, and John radioing for help. When he reached the part of the story where they found John, he faltered.

  Tracy continued. “Larkin shot one of the scouts—not the man who attacked my door, but the other one. Probably the shooter. He died instantly.”

  “Good.” Ben snuffed back wave of snot and emotion. “What about Daniel?”

  “We found him behind a vehicle in the parking deck. He was unconscious, but still alive. We rushed him to the truck and drove straight here.”

  “So who’s watching the pharmacy?”

  “At the moment? No one.”

  Ben cursed. “That goes against every protocol we have! If I knew your group would be this sloppy—”

  Larkin cut him off. “Would you rather us bring you two dead nephews or one? Tracy had to apply pressure to Daniel’s wound and I had to drive. It was leave the pharmacy and try to save him, or watch him die and wait for the shift change.”

  Walter held out his hands. “It was a high-stress moment. I’m sure they did the best they could, John and Daniel included.”

  Ben began to pace, striding back and forth in a ten-foot strip of slushy gravel. After a few moments, he came back to the group. “What about the other man?”

  Tracy winced as she broke the news. “He’s loose. For all we know he’s back at his camp, assembling a crew to break in.”

  Ben turned as the door to the medical building opened and Brianna and Craig stepped out. “We need someone out there.”

  “We need to move the medicine.” Tracy spoke as calmly as she could manage. “If we don’t move it, we’ll lose more people. The barricades won’t hold against a coordinated attack.”

  “She’s right, Ben.” Walter nodded at his wife. “Even if my whole group sets up a line of defense, we can’t protect the pharmacy from a military-style attack. It’s too risky.”

  Ben’s shoulders sagged. It took him a minute to answer. “I don’t like it, but I see your point. Let’s head back to the barn and draw up plans.” He turned to Brianna and Craig as they joined the group. “We’re moving the pharmacy.”

  “It’s about time.” Brianna crossed her arms.

  “We need people out there covering it until we’re ready.”

  “I’ll go.” Brianna reached into her pocket and pulled out the Jeep’s keys.

  “So will I.” Craig reached out and gave his uncle’s shoulder a squeeze. “We’ll protect it until you get there.”

  “We’ll head out first thing in the morning.” Ben turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s get in and figure out what to do. Now.”

  * * *

  Clifton Compound

  9:00 p.m.

  Tracy wrapped the flannel tighter around her shoulders as she stood on the porch to the sleeping cabin. Walter eased the door shut behind him before handing her a mug of steaming tea. She took it with a sad smile.

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  “I don’t like Ben’s plan.” She blew on the hot liquid before taking a sip. “First Brianna goes to the pharmacy, now Colt and Madison. The kids should have stayed here.”

  “What if that guy comes back? They need the firepower at the hospital.”

  “I should be there.”

  “No. You pulled a twenty-four-hour shift and almost got yourself killed. You need rest.” Walter sipped his own tea. “If anyone should be there, it should be me.”

  “You have to go with Ben. He listens to you.”

  “About the medicine or the radio broadcast?”

  “Both. That medicine is important not just to the Jacobsons, but to us, too. I know they’ve been protecting it, but we have just as much of a right to it as they do. It’s not theirs.”

  “But it’s not ours, either.”

  Tracy sighed. “That doesn’t mean we should let some guy cla
iming to represent the government take it. Or leave it in the pharmacy where these new people can break in and steal it.”

  “Agreed.”

  “We have to stand up for ourselves.”

  Walter wrapped an arm around his wife. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

  She smiled. “I never get tired of hearing it.” She sipped her tea again and leaned against the comfort and solidity of her husband’s body. “No matter what happens, we have to keep our family safe. That’s the priority.”

  “And the Jacobsons?”

  “God willing, they’ll be safe, too.” She thought about Madison and her brush with death. The crisis and panic Tracy felt inside as she searched for a rabies vaccine and came up empty was overwhelming. Grace and luck brought her to the hospital and the Jacobsons made it possible to save her daughter. They couldn’t give it all away now or let it fall into the wrong hands. She snuggled closer. “We need that medicine, Walter.”

  “Madison will be okay, even if we lose the pharmacy.”

  “But what kind of a future will she have?” John wasn’t much older than Madison and he was dead. Daniel clung to life thanks to Heather and their medical supplies. Any one of them could come face-to-face with death at any moment.

  Walter tightened his embrace. “She’ll have the best future we can give her.”

  “I hope that’s enough.”

  Her husband exhaled. “Do you remember the first day we dropped Madison off at kindergarten?”

  Tracy leaned back to catch her husband’s face. “Of course. I remember walking up to the trailer and thinking we had to be lost. I couldn’t believe they would put the kindergartners in a rundown mobile home because of overcrowding.”

  The school had been redistricted that summer and found itself over capacity with no means to house all the elementary classes. The temporary classroom trailers borrowed from another school weren’t fit to house farm animals, let alone children.

  “But what happened when we picked her up?”

  Tracy smiled. “We couldn’t get her to leave. Madison was gluing drawings the class made to the wall because she wanted to make her teachers smile.”

  “Exactly. If anyone can find the good in dark times, it’s our daughter.”

  “What if a positive outlook isn’t enough? If Ben agrees to hand everything over to the Unified States of America or whatever it is, then everything we’ve worked for these past nine months might be lost.”

  “We’ll convince him not to, but first, we have to move the medicine. That’s the priority.”

  Tracy kissed her husband and watched him head back inside to the warmth of wool blankets and sound construction. As the door shut, she turned back around to look out over the Clifton property. She couldn’t see much in the dark, but she knew the layout.

  They had turned a vacation spot into a home for not just one family, but three. Ten people working and living and surviving without anyone to answer to but themselves. Nine months without a government imposing its own rules and regulations. No police, no firefighters, no taxes. Nothing but the effort of their bodies and their minds and the strength of their convictions to keep them alive.

  How would Madison, Brianna, and the rest of the young people react to a new government imposing itself on their freedom? They were so independent now. Tracy thought back to life before the EMP. Teachers and coaches and bosses and police. Everyone telling them what to do every second of the day.

  It wouldn’t be easy to integrate back into a working nation. But if it meant safety and security and a chance to go back to life before, would they concede? She thought about all they had lost. Music, art, and movies. Great restaurants and beautiful gardens. Electricity and running water.

  In a way she was happier with this simpler way of life, but they gave up so much to have it. With a deep breath she turned to head inside. This couldn’t be the best it would ever get. Life had to improve, even if it took a few sacrifices to achieve it.

  She pulled the door open and eased into the comfort of the cabin. In the morning, they would head to the pharmacy and hope her daughter and the rest of their makeshift family were still safe inside the hospital walls.

  301 Days Without Power

  Chapter Eleven

  WALTER

  Mountain Lake Road

  8:00 a.m.

  “Can’t you hold it?” Walter careened into the U-Haul’s passenger door and grunted.

  “You want to swap?” Larkin gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles. “’Cause I’m happy to give you the reins.”

  Walter rubbed his shoulder where it slammed into the window. “Just slow down. If we end up in a ditch, there’s no way to dig it out.”

  “We should never have agreed to this plan.” Larkin kept his eyes on the road as the back tires of the fourteen-foot truck spun in the snow. “It would have taken more trips, but four-by-fours were the way to go.”

  “It would take too long. For all we know, those guys are on their way with guns and ammo and eager trigger fingers.”

  “Or we took out fifty percent of their crew and the one guy left standing isn’t eager for a repeat.”

  The rear tires slipped and the U-Haul drifted sideways. Larkin cursed and took his foot off the pedals. He eased the steering wheel to the left, turning the tires against the skid. The truck slowed as its right tire edged into the thicker snow bank and Larkin regained control.

  “At this rate, it’ll take all day to get there.”

  “We don’t have a choice.”

  “Sure we do. We can put it in a ditch, go get the Cliftons’ pickup, and tell Ben there’s a new plan.”

  Walter exhaled. He understood Larkin’s frustration, but loading up all the medicine in one vehicle made the most sense. They could drive it straight into the Jacobson’s barn and secure it without trouble. If the worst happened and the farm was compromised, someone could hop in the driver’s seat and get away with the medicine before it was taken.

  “Ben’s plan is a good one. We just need to take our time and we’ll get there.”

  “Easy for you to say.” Larkin’s shoulders bunched as the road dipped into a gradual descent. The hospital sat in a small commercial district just above Interstate 80 at the base of the foothills, nearly two thousand feet lower in elevation than the Cliftons’ place.

  Once they reached Northwoods Boulevard, Walter hoped the truck would gain traction from the better asphalt of a major road. He checked his watch. Just after eight in the morning. Ben expected them by nine. If Larkin kept the truck on the road, they should make it.

  Larkin slowed to turn onto Northwoods and the U-Haul slid. Walter reached for the armrest built into the door. The back of the truck kept sliding, twisting the cab in slow motion toward the south and a tall curb.

  “Hold on!” Larkin twisted the steering wheel in the opposite direction, trying to angle the front wheels away from the concrete and back onto the road. “I might not save it!”

  Walter braced himself. The U-Haul shimmied. The rear tires were spinning, completely tractionless in the melting snow and ice. Walter held his breath. They were going to hit the curb. He didn’t think the truck would clear it. If they popped a tire, they would be stranded. Ben would be waiting for hours. Madison, Brianna, and Colt would be vulnerable.

  They had to do something. Walter shouted. “Try the brakes!”

  “I did!” Larkin cranked the steering wheel back in the other direction and the entire truck shuddered. A rear wheel came off the ground and they tipped toward the west. It wasn’t enough.

  The U-Haul hit the curb and jumped it one wheel at a time. Thud, thud. The back ones followed. Thud, thud. The truck’s worn-out shocks squealed and the cab bounced up and down before the whole thing came to rest in the front yard of what used to be a ski-themed restaurant.

  Larkin shoved the gear shift into park and threw off his seat belt before stepping out of the cab. He stalked across the snow-dusted weeds and stopped on the edge of the road. Walter
gave him a few minutes before getting out and joining him.

  “Thanks for not killing us back there.”

  “We’re never going to get this thing back up the mountain.”

  “Ben’s got his F-150 rigged up with some sort of a snowplow, remember? He’s going to lead the way. If we can get to the hospital, we can make it to the Jacobson’s place.”

  Larkin pinched the back of his neck. “What if that radio transmission you heard is true? If America is no more and we’ve got some Unified States thing in its place, what are we going to do?”

  “Take it one day at a time, I suppose.”

  “I’m not risking my life in this truck just for Ben to turn over the medicine to the first guy he sees wearing an official uniform.”

  “It may never come to that.”

  Larkin looked over at Walter. “If it does, I’m telling you right now, all deals with the Jacobsons are off.”

  Walter exhaled. “Understood. Want me to take a turn trying to steer that thing?”

  “Knock yourself out.”

  Two hours later, Walter pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, exhausted from using all his strength to keep the truck on the road. Sweat dripped into his eyes as he backed into a clearing made by Ben’s truck at the front doors.

  He glanced over at Larkin. “Remind me never to offer to drive again.”

  The younger man chuckled. “Told you so.” He climbed down from the passenger side as Colt and Brianna appeared in the hospital entry.

  “About time you two showed up.” Colt reached out and gripped Walter’s hand before pulling him in for a quick hug. He lowered his voice. “Too much longer and I’d have had to duct tape blondie’s mouth shut. She’s not exactly a fan of this plan.”

  “Neither am I.” Larkin joined them and Colt leaned over to shake his hand. “I didn’t survive this long to die in a U-Haul on the side of the road.”