Exchange Rate

by Bonnie R. Paulson

  I chewed my inner bottom lip, placing the fork back on the tabletop slowly. The rat poison hadn’t been moved out of reach but those kids had known better than to get into things they’d been told to stay away from.

  Those little kids...

  I left the table how I’d found it, rushing up the stairs. Panic set in. I had to get out of there. We couldn’t stay.

  John turned out of a room at the end of the hallway, buttoning up a new-to-him flannel. He took in my distress and grabbed my arm as I tried to dart past. “What’s going on?”

  Yet still the tears didn’t come. I wanted to choke on my sadness and the chaos in my chest, but the tears refused to make themselves known. As stressed as I was, my voice didn’t tremble as I spoke. “Can we get out of here tonight? There’s something wrong here. Mike and Mary are crazy. Their kids...” I met his gaze, my eyes wide and dry.

  “Yeah, I hoped you wouldn’t sense anything.” He searched my face then glanced down the hall. Running his hands through his hair, he blew a gust of air from circled lips. He paused a moment, always so cautious and well thought out. “Okay, grab Bodey and make sure he’s packed. We’ll see if we can reach Bayview before sunset.”

  We had half a day left before dark crept in.

  I jerked my head in what I hoped was a nod. My hands shook. Thank goodness I hadn’t cried. Certainly I would start and not stop.

  In the room we’d claimed, Bodey clicked a top pocket shut on a new hiking pack. He smiled, his half-smile that weakened my knees and caused parts of me to remember we were married and he was mine and I was his.

  John’s voice carried up the stairs. “You two ready to go? We have a lot of ground to cover.” He thumped his hand on the railing twice.

  Bodey quirked his eyebrow at me. “I thought we weren’t going until tomorrow.”

  I looked at his collar, smoothing the material of his shirt over his chest. “I can’t stay here. Things are... not right.” I didn’t want to talk about my suspicions of the Scoggins. What if I was wrong? John had kind of agreed with me, but hadn’t gone into detail. I wasn’t a detective, but come on, the evidence was pretty grotesque.

  Bodey nodded, swooping his pack from the bed and pulling the straps on. “Let’s go then. If you’re not comfortable, we’re not staying.”

  How lucky was I? A man loved me enough to leave a safe house for the wild. I’m not sure what I had done to deserve him, but I’d keep him for as long as the world would let me.

  We tromped down the stairs to where John waited by the front door. He tapped his forefinger on the door frame. “We’re going to take Highway Fifty-four across to Bayview, but we’re not going to be on the road. We’ll run parallel to it in the woods. No reason to be in plain sight, right?”

  He looked out the window, left and right. His finger continued tapping.

  “What happened?” I’d seen him that agitated before when we’d worked on escaping Charlie’s group by Rathdrum in autumn.

  John didn’t take his eyes off the scenery. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Something shifted. It...” He shook his head, a line formed over the bridge of his nose. “It feels like someone is out there, but I can’t be certain.”

  I stepped back. John’s instincts hadn’t let us down yet. How did I make myself go outside knowing they waited for us? Was it Shane? Had Charlie survived?

  “Let’s go out the back and use Mike and Mary’s logging trail to get out of here.” Bodey’s suggestion didn’t make me feel like we were going to die any second.

  Crossing my fingers, I hoped John went with the plan.

  John pushed his lips out and nodded. “Yeah, that could work. Okay, let’s go.” He followed us to the backdoor which led into the garage. A choice of three doors faced us. We would go out the most rear and into the logging run Mike had made for Mary so she could get logs in the winter without getting bombarded by snow and wind.

  We moved as silently as possible. My new boots squeaked slightly when I shifted my left foot to move forward. Out the backdoor – I avoided looking in the direction of the table – we stepped over fallen branches and abandoned bark. The log run led us out into the woods.

  Once there, we hiked into the forest until John pointed out the road he planned on following. Cresting a hill, we glanced back.

  Black smoke poured into the sky from the Scoggins’ house. Flames licked the sky above the trees. I grabbed Bodey’s hand and watched as the propane tank must have caught fire. An explosion ripped through the forest, but the heat didn’t reach us. Just the percussion of the blast as branches rippled and trees bent with the force.

  John’s jaw tensed. He slapped his thigh. “Why are these idiots burning up such valuable resources? They want to hunt us, fine. It’s creepy but fine, as long as they stop wasting stuff.” He hung his head, sighing.

  Someone – whether it was Shane or not – was hunting us. I hadn’t been able to place such a stark label on it, but there it was. And the obviousness of our predicament occurred to us all at John’s words.

  We were prey. They wouldn’t stop until they found us.

  I swallowed my whimper, gripping Bodey’s hand with a fierce determination to hang on. “John, let’s jog partway, okay?”

  He patted the double pack on his back, glancing at the path ahead of us and once more at the black cloud. “Okay, but I can’t go too far. I’m carrying food and a supplies pack.”

  “We can take turns. Let’s go.” Bodey took my elbow and prodded me along ahead of them. I was the slowest runner out of the group so they paced along behind me which increased their duration, but made me worry the whole time I wasn’t keeping up a good speed.

  A slight breeze delivered the acrid scent of burning plastic and wood. I broke into a jog, clutching the straps of my bag while bounding over the smoothed route. There weren’t many rocks or wood chunks in the way. Two tire trails suggested people used the path for recreational purposes. Or used to anyway.

  “Bayview is only about fifteen minutes by car from here, so at a steady pace we should be able to reach the center of town in less than three hours, burdens and all.” John’s optimism never failed to amaze me. If we weren’t loaded down, we would have a higher chance of making that distance in under an hour.

  Were the people after us loaded down? Would they know which direction to head? How did they know we were at the Scoggins? Would they destroy every camp they came across? If so, would it be wise to approach anyone from then on out? The questions begged to be answered, but I had nothing to offer.

  Just danger around every corner. And all this on my wedding day and my birthday. How lucky could I get?

  ~~~

  The trees blurred around us, passing faster than the excruciating minutes.

  We hadn’t slept in the beds we’d been offered. We hadn’t had a chance to eat more protein or drink more water. But that paled to the fact that we’d lost the Scoggins their home, even if they never returned. Their babies had died there. The children’s graves should have been safe, but we’d lost them that decency.

  Our pace had fallen to a long-stride. I walked between John and Bodey, my forehead scrunched. After what could’ve been hours of silence, I glanced at John. “Do you think they really did it?”

  “Did what?” Bodey’s open innocence endured me to him further.

  John didn’t look at me, but watched the road ahead of us and every few seconds behind us. Finally, he answered, his words mournful. “Yes, I think so. Mike said more than once that the community they wanted to find and join didn’t allow children. That would be a terrific motivator to do something terrible.”

  Bodey held up a hand, bringing us to a halt when he stopped. “Wait a minute, are you saying Mike and Mary killed their kids? Is that even possible?”

  Startled at Bodey’s disbelief, I considered his question. Was it possible? Was killing your children really the best exchange for you to get into a community that may or may not be real?

  Shooting his gaze between Bodey and me, John
tilted his head. “Do you really think it’s that unimaginable? What does this world offer a child? An infant? Their children couldn’t do much at their ages. What if something happened to Mike or Mary and they couldn’t take care of the kids anymore? Was it right? No, but sometimes people are backed into a corner, and something snaps. Mary has been close to snapping for quite a while.”

  Being objective to a situation when children were involved wasn’t easy. I’m not sure how John did it, but I couldn’t. The circumstances seemed so cut and dry – children were killed by their parents so the mother and father could join a community. What more needed to be said?

  John pushed past us, brushing off the conversation. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

  I glanced at Bodey as we resumed our pace. His mouth hadn’t closed completely yet and his eyes misted. He’d been very close to the Scoggins kids and had wrestled with them every visit and colored with them, as well.

  Pointing ahead of us before looking back at Bodey and me to make sure we followed close, John said, “Look, the roundabout.”

  And there it was. The huge roundabout leading to Bayview, like some kind of finish line.

  We trekked north, around the curve, our footsteps more foot-drags by then. Tired or just down in spirits, we didn’t seem to have the energy to be stealthy about anything.

  A shot rang out. The dirt by our feet danced under a fast barrage of bullets intended to warn, not harm.

  Our sluggish reactions disappeared. Bodey and I ducked into the forest line.

  John joined us at a slower pace, stopping to pull off his packs and drop them beside Bodey. “If that’s who I think it is, you’re better off staying here.” He embraced us and squeezed tight. “I’ll be back. Stay here, and stay quiet.”

  He moved out onto the road with his hands splayed by his side.

  He’d left his weapons on top of his pack.

  Chapter 7

  I wiggled my toes in the new boots. We hadn’t sat, choosing instead to stand beside the trees and wait for John.

  Okay, who was I kidding? We were freaking out. John had disappeared and we huddled together like a couple rabbits in the woods.

  I’m not sure how long we stood there. Long enough my legs hurt and I had to squat a few times to loosen up my muscles.

  “Kelly, you should warm up before stretching like that.” John startled me and I spun, a hand pressed to my chest.

  “John. Oh my gosh, you’re okay. Where’d you go?” I sighed in relief, my breath catching when I saw the man behind him. I glanced from John to Bodey then back to John’s companion.

  “This is Captain Simon Phahn from the Naval base.” John introduced us.

  His Mexican heritage threw me off with the Laos origin to his last name. I’d expected someone with a more Asian appearance. He towered above me by a good foot, not that being taller than me was hard. He offered his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  Bodey moved up beside me and shook Captain Phahn’s hand. His palm swallowed Bodey’s in his grip. Captain Phahn’s cheeks had a healthy round appearance with full color.

  The last time we’d had rounded cheeks was long enough in the past I couldn’t remember what it looked like on us. I spoke up. “You eat well.” The fact needed to be acknowledged.

  John shot me a sharp glance, a tiny shake of his head.

  Captain Phahn laughed, turning his handshake my way and engulfing my fingers in his. “I eat very well. The Navy has a very detailed mess storage and I benefit from it.” He met my gaze. “I’m sorry you don’t. I did bring a bag of MREs and some water for you.”

  Food. He’d been thoughtful enough to share his rations. “We eat well enough.” My lie was glaringly obvious – our collarbones alone had deep enough shadows to suggest starvation. I shrugged, taking my hand from his, embarrassed by my tactlessness. “I shouldn’t have spoken that way. I’m sorry.” Especially when he’d brought food for us.

  He captured my gaze again. “Never apologize for speaking your mind. That’s a freedom this country fought to protect.”

  Bodey snorted, glancing to the side. His normally affable features hardened with scorn. “What country?”

  His chin rose and he pierced us all with a commandeering gaze. “This country may be fallen but she’ll get back up. That’s what America does. We rise.” I couldn’t look away from the captain.

  While I respected his valor and passion, the reality of America or any other country recovering from the devastation didn’t seem likely. Turning to John, I tried to hold off the excitement and hope. Someone so certain about recovery had to have a secure holding place. “Are we going in? To Bayview?”

  John looked at Captain Phahn and then at Bodey and me. He slowly shook his head. “No. Captain Phahn is aware of a struggle for leadership in the town. They aren’t taking on anymore citizens at this point. We agreed adding more dependents right now would be a potential for more strain on an already stressed situation.”

  My shoulders slumped. I rubbed at my face and couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. “Okay, so now what? We were planning on coming here.” I didn’t apologize for my biting tone. I didn’t care anymore.

  Shadows stretched long across the road. Tucked into the forest edge, we weren’t in a position to stand there for long, doing nothing.

  “You know, there’s supposed to be a community down by Fourth of July pass.” Captain Phahn raised his eyebrows. “I would love to have you guys come inside and if I was still inarguably the leader, you would be members faster than you know. But with the way things are right now, I don’t want to put you in danger. I’m certain I’ll have the group in hand soon. Maybe you could check out the other community. If things work out here and I’m back in the front, we could work together and have the communities establish trade and an alliance of sorts.”

  John cocked his head. “You’re not the first person to tell us about the community. I wonder if the rumors are true.”

  “True or not, the idea behind what everyone is saying is amazing. Even if there isn’t electricity or food resources, the possibility that there is safety and protection is pretty appealing. Even to me.” The captain glanced over his shoulder, scanning the woods for something. His gun angled over his shoulder. What could be happening in a Naval town to set an officer on edge?

  Snapping his fingers, Captain Phahn turned back to John. “I forgot to tell you. A group of men stopped by here not long ago, day or two maybe. Asking about you. I hadn’t seen you around, John, and I said as much. The lead guy wasn’t too happy with my answer, but there’s not much he could do about it, even with as many men as he had with him.”

  Bodey and I shot glances at each other and then at John. Had Shane gotten ahead of us and then backtracked? No other scenario made sense. Who else would set fire to a house we were in, unless they knew we were there? Like smoking rabbits out of a hole.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” John patted the captain’s shoulder.

  Captain Phahn shook his head. “Regrettably, not right now. I miss working with you, John.”

  Replacing his weapons into the holsters and various pockets he used, John half-grinned. “I know you’re working on things here, but you could join us, if you wanted. We’re gonna head to the fabled community. See for ourselves.”

  I hadn’t made up my mind about the good captain. But seeing as how much John trusted his friend and I trusted John, I would have to make the decision at some point to trust Captain Phahn. Especially if the communities ever reformed into a co-operative.

  From John’s perspective an extra person as we traveled only made things safer, especially a man with his experience in the military and the northwest.

  “Thank you, but I’ve been with the base for twenty years. I can’t give up yet, you know? There are a lot of good people in there. A few bad eggs just need to be scrambled.” He searched John’s face, then shifted his feet. “If you didn’t have dependents, I’d consider having you come with me, shake things up. Remember that one tim
e in Mexico?” Captain Phahn glanced at Bodey, his smile fading. “But yeah, if things don’t work out the way they should, I’ll head that way.” They shook hands, the parting filled with melancholy.

  The captain turned, abandoning the duffel bag of food and faded into the forest lines headed toward Bayview. I watched John. “What do we do now?”

  Pulling on his packs, John shrugged. He motioned toward the newer bag and Bodey bent, adding it to his load. John faced south. “We head toward the pass. Simon gave me a map. We’ll do our best. After dark, we’ll stop and make camp.” He muttered under his breath, “Without a fire.”

  Without a fire, because what he wasn’t saying was we would continue dodging Shane and his group until we either outran them or reached the community first. Or another option, I didn’t want to consider.

  Or they caught up to us and got me.

  I tried not to be mad that we couldn’t at least stay the night at Bayview. Just a couple hours where we didn’t need to be on guard and could all sleep at the same time would be welcomed. But we couldn’t stop. We were being hunted.

  Would we ever feel safe enough to breathe normally?

  Chapter 8

  We hadn’t eaten anything more than a spoonful or two of peanut butter since the beans and rice at the Scoggins. When John passed back an MRE of crackers and jelly, I almost tripped in anticipation. Another package with more jerky reached my hands. We ate while hiking.

  We didn’t stay long in any one spot. I had the creepy crawly sensation we were being followed, which we were, but how far behind us were they? Miles? Days? Hours? Minutes? Feet?

  Stepping over rocks, under branches, avoiding dirt paths, and stopping at multiple creeks for water, consumed our minutes and hours. The only thing which broke up our long trek was sleep.

  We needed to rest and we needed to eat a solid meal. Since we could only stop for short periods of time, our lack of solid sleep and nothing more substantial than a snack or condiment took its toll and we kept our mouths shut.