by Patrick Shea
Karl was now dumbfounded, and the beer was getting in the way of thinking straight. He got defensive and his voice got louder and louder as he said, “That was you in that little red car. You were out there blocking traffic. I thought you were going to wreck me. You shouldn’t have been on the road you little bitch; this entire mess is your fault. If it wasn’t for you that trucker wouldn’t have wrecked me.”
As he finished he reached back under his shirt and pulled a handgun out of the waistband of his trousers. He pointed the gun at Heather and Jack and yelled with spittle flying from his mouth, “You, Jack, get back in your RV and drive straight ahead past that ramp and keep going. Bitch, you’re coming with me. We’ll leave your RV right here; you won’t need it anymore. You and I are going to make a great couple.”
He looked at Jack again and said, “Hold on a minute. Maybe I don’t want you out there trying to find me. Let’s all walk back to my RV, I’ve got some duct tape, so I think I’ll tape you up and leave you here.”
Jack said, “That’s a death sentence for me Karl. You know if you truss me up I’d have to be lucky to get out of it. Surely you don’t want my death on your conscience.”
“I could care less about my conscience or your life to tell you the truth. I’ve been taken advantage of my entire life and it’s now my turn.”
Heather started crying and said, “I’m so sorry I got you into this, I didn’t know it was him, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know he had a gun or anything.”
Jack looked at her and with a small smile on his face said, “Heather, you didn’t do anything wrong. This is Karl’s fault, not yours.”
With a smirk Karl said, “Yeah, that’s right. This is my fault, I’m the one in control here, and I’m going to teach you to enjoy being in the company of a real man, not some wimp like Jack here.”
The three of them had been standing between Heather’s and Jack’s RVs with Jack and Heather together on the driver’s side and Karl standing near the middle of the windshield with his gun pointing at Jack and Heather.
The look on his face was total shock when the bullet hit him in the back. He dropped to his knees and stayed there as he tried to lift the gun back up. Jack took one step forward and grabbed the gun by the slide and held the barrel away from him as he twisted it from Karl’s grip. Karl fell forward onto his face.
Jane walked around the corner of her RV with a dazed expression on her face. “Jack, are you okay? Did I do the right thing? Is he going to be okay?”
Jack put the gun in his waistband and pulled Jane to him. Heather joined the two of them and Jack put his arms around them both. He said, “Jane, you did the right thing. We’re both fine but only because of you. Try to settle down, I have to look at Karl.”
Jack felt for a pulse but couldn’t find one. He said, “He’s dead.
“Heather, I need you to be strong and pull your RV forward next to Jane’s after she has moved up. Jane I want you to pull your RV forward about fifty yards, just to the top of that ramp. I’ll meet both of you there. I’m going to pull his RV on top of him and we are going to leave him here. There are millions of good people who we have not been able to bury, and we aren’t going to waste our time burying scum like him.”
Heather and Jane were both in shock but Jack wanted to keep them busy. Both of them walked to their own RVs. Jack walked back to Karl’s RV. The keys were still in the ignition and Jack waited for the other RVs to move, and then pulled the RV forward over Karl.
He walked up the road and told Heather to follow him. He got in Jane’s RV and pulled onto the ramp to I-64. He knew he needed to get both Heather and Jane away from the site as quickly as he could. He intended to spend the night back in the park.
He started by explaining to Jane everything that had happened. She had only heard the last part of the conversation. Jack was thankful that she had taken him at his word and put on the shoulder holster before she left the RV.
After about fifteen minutes he called Heather and said, “I’m about to stop and I want you to join Jane and I while we talk about what we’ll do next. Stop behind us and walk up.”
The three of them sat in the living area, Jack in the arm chair and the other two on the sofa, again holding on to each other.
Jack said, “I’m going to ask both of you to do something that will be really hard. I want to talk briefly about what just happened, and then I want both of you to forget about it. Each time you find yourself starting to think about it, force yourself to think about something else. If you can’t then talk to me and I’ll help you. Heather I want you to call me after we get started again. I’ll put my cell on speaker and the three of us will talk about our future, but not our past. Okay?”
They both nodded but looked unsure of themselves. Jack said, “Look, that was a really unfortunate thing, but he was one of the bad guys. Heather, if you had not spoken up he would have been with us and we would have been thinking good things about him. Sooner or later he would’ve ended up hurting or killing someone. We should all be glad it’s over with now.
“Jane, I’m really sorry you had to do that, but I want you to know I’m really proud of you. You saved my life, Heather’s life, and your own life. You did exactly what I asked you to do. You didn’t hesitate. I know how hard that is. I also know how hard it is to kill someone, and how hard it is to forget about it. I can’t tell you how to do it, but I’ll help you through it as much as I can.”
“Please, let me know if either of you have any questions or anything you want to say.” He noticed both of them were holding hands and were noticeably shaking. He knew the feeling but didn’t know what else he could do to help them.
Jane said, “I’m not sure what I can or should say. I just killed a man and I feel terrible, but I feel like I did the right thing. Especially after knowing that he tried to kill Heather the other day, and that he was going to kill Jack today. I don’t feel very Christian about this at all, but I think I’m going to be okay.”
Heather added, “To be honest, until the gun went off I had forgotten that Jane was in the RV. The first thing I felt after I realized what had happened was relief. I feel like Jane does, I feel terrible about what she had to do but I don’t feel bad for Karl at all. I can’t even imagine what he was planning on doing to me. I think I’m going to be okay also, especially since I know the two of you will be with me.”
Jack felt relieved. He knew that people were often stronger than they thought they were, especially in a crisis, and he was pleased to realize that underneath everything else these were too strong women he was dealing with. He felt worse for Heather than for Jane though. Heather had just given up the rest of her teenage years. She was as grown-up now as she needed to be, even if she didn’t realize it yet.
Jack said, “I’m relieved you both feel that way. Let’s continue the drive. Jane why don’t you drive for a bit since you haven’t driven an RV yet, and in a half hour or so we’ll stop and I’ll ride with Heather, she’s been driving alone all day.
After they were moving again Jane said, “Are you going to tell her you aren’t a survivor? I think she is prepared to let you fill the void her father left.”
“That’s what I’m planning on. I thought the same thing so I think I need to give her the bad news now. What do you think?”
“We’ll I think you’re probably right, but she might have an easier time of it if I told her. I don’t mind doing that if you agree with me.”
“I hadn’t thought about that, but I think you’re right about her hearing it from you. You don’t think that will leave her with the impression I’m wimping out on this?”
Jane smiled about anyone thinking Jack was a wimp. He was famous in his office for his accomplishments in the field, and Harry had shared some of those stories with her. She said, “No, don’t worry about that, I’ll make sure she understands why I’m the one telling her. I think she’ll appreciate the thoughtfulness behind us making this decision.”
Chapter Twenty Three
: Let’s Organize
Sunday evening: Shenandoah State Park and West Yellowstone, Montana
The three of them were back in the Shenandoah State Park and had found a suitable turnoff near the southern end of the park. Jack had decided that they needed to relax a little after their problems. They would get an early start in the morning and head west on the Blue Ridge Parkway. They would end up somewhere in Tennessee this evening if all went well.
During part of the afternoon drive Jane had joined Heather and told her about Jack. They were now sitting in Jane’s RV and every time Heather looked at Jack it appeared she was on the verge of tears. Jack decided they needed to talk about it.
He started by asking “Heather, when did you find out you were going to survive and the others weren’t?”
“I guess it was only a week ago that I finally became convinced. My parents were convinced on the second day I didn’t show symptoms.”
“How did you feel about it?
“Well, at first I didn’t know what to say or do. But then my parents were so relieved that one of us would survive I started to feel better. My surviving kept my folks excited about life all the way to the end. We spent a lot of hours as a family trying to guess what the future would be. And they tried to tell me everything they had not yet passed on to me, from stories of our family to advice on growing up. The last ten days were really full for us.”
“I know exactly how your folks felt. I have been one of the luckiest people in the country these past weeks. I’ve been able to concentrate on helping a lot of survivors and their families prepare for the next steps. I was able to help communities get involved in the process and I’d like to think that at least some of the work I’ve done gave families a little more hope than they might otherwise have had.”
“I think that’s an understatement. You did a lot just for our family. I can’t tell you what a good feeling I had when I found out that I was going to meet you and that you were going to help me.”
Jane realized where the conversation was going and looked at Heather and said, “And do you think Jack should stop now, since the only ones left are him and the survivors?”
“Oh, I hope not. He still has a lot of things to do from what you and he said earlier.”
Jack said, “Then I think you need to be prepared to help me, as Jane has promised to do. But you aren’t going to be much help if all you can think about is the fact that I’m going to die before you. I know I’ve had more time to adjust to the thought than you have, but you need to come to grips with this now. I can forget about my death a lot easier if I don’t see it reflected in your face each time you look at me.” Jack smiled as he finished the statement. He didn’t want to hurt Heather, but he did want her to come to grips with reality.
Heather thought for a second and said, “I understand what you’re saying, I just don’t know how to do that. I thought I was done with this when I left home.”
“I know you did. And you are done with the worst of the death and dying. I’m only going to be with you and Jane until we get you settled into a larger group that we can trust. And after I leave I’ll hope that you and Jane remember me for the good that I’ve done, not the death that I’ve died. That would be the largest wish you could grant me.
“I’ll try. And I’ll try to ignore the fact that you’re dying. I did better with my parents as time went along. I guess I can do it again.”
“Okay. I’m glad we have that behind us. My hope is for the three of us to work closely together over the next few days. So, no regrets for me, and no looking back, we have a future to plan.
“Let’s start by getting out the maps and figuring out a route for tomorrow. We have three people and two RVs, so we’ll share the driving equally so we’re each alone about the same amount of time. I think I’ll start by driving Heather’s RV and you guys can follow in Jane’s. Let’s leave the CB radios on so we can talk whenever we want to. These Mountains aren’t the best for cell phone coverage anyway.
“I’m going to check email and look through the databases to see who else has come on line. After you finish picking a route for us let me know. I could use your help organizing the survivors into groups based on where they are headed.”
As Jack logged on Heather asked, “How many survivors are there?”
“Jane and I just talked about that yesterday. My best guess was that we would have maybe three thousand U.S. survivors. Hold on just a second until I get this database open and I’ll tell you how many have registered.
“Got it. So far 2,621 survivors were registered on the web site as they picked up RVs. I would guess there are more who for some reason or another didn’t get registered, but probably not a lot more. And of course we know of one who isn’t around anymore. I think I’ll add an entry showing him as deceased.”
After a couple of hours Jack looked up and said, “I don’t know how many people are willing to help me but I’m ready to make at least one call now. I’ll call Sam who is in Montana. I think it might be too late in the evening to call anyone in the Eastern Time zones.”
Jack dialed Sam’s number and she answered with a brief, “Hello.”
“Hi Sam, this is Jack Sweeney. I’m checking back in to see how you’re doing, and to ask you a favor. Where are you now?”
“Hi Jack. We’re in West Yellowstone, Montana. There were absolutely no other vehicles that we saw at all. We were able to move right along. The roads were clear from home to I-90 with no snow, which was about a third of the trip. The Interstate was wide open for us, which was also about a third of the trip. We saw a couple of abandoned cars or trucks along the way, and some vehicles that had obviously been in accidents, but nothing on the roadway. We didn’t stop for anything, except for lunch when Ben got hungry. We ran into snow south of the Interstate but nothing the RVs couldn’t handle. The roads had mostly been cleared from an earlier snow and there are only a couple of inches of new snow. We were really lucky.
“So anyway, we just got to West Yellowstone. We’re going to do some scouting around before it gets dark, which will be soon now. I’m hoping to find some snow removal equipment still today, but if not we’ll find it in the morning. This is a mountain town and I know it’s here somewhere.
“If we’re really lucky we’ll be able to get through the snow all the way to Old Faithful, but if not I want to have the plow with us. We’ll just have to take our time and drive back and forth as we move the plow up with us.
“My hope is to leave a plow or grader at the entrance to the Park for the next ones to come along. And we’ll take at least one with us of course. If nothing else we’ll need it in the spring.
“The town itself is kind of eerie. I know it usually sort of shuts down for the winter, but while there are lights burning, there isn’t a car moving or a sound coming from anywhere. Thankfully there are no visible signs of disaster but it’s eerie because I know the people are still in their houses.
“Anyway, what favor do you want me to do?”
“Well, so far we have 2,621 registered survivors country wide. I don’t think I can contact everyone so I’m wondering if you would mind taking the lead on contacting those in your part of the country”?
“I wouldn’t mind doing that. I don’t think I can do too much until we get to the big lodge, but if the weather holds for one more day we could be there tomorrow. It’s only about twenty five miles and I can start then. On the other hand, the road into the park hasn’t been cleared at all so it may take us a couple of days to get to the lodge.”
“That’s great Sam. I really appreciate it. I’ll email the list to you tonight. I’ve sorted out the country by region, and I’m trying to find responsible people who will help me with the contacts. I don’t want anyone thinking they’re going to be alone through the winter. If we do this right we should be able to help survivors get together; hopefully at the early stage of their journeys.”
“Okay, I can do that. What do you want me to do if someone refuses?”
“That’s easy. Everyone makes their own choices in the new world. If they insist on being alone so be it. The only qualifier I’ll throw out is that if you talk to someone who you think is overcome by grief, and isn’t thinking clearly, please make a follow up call within a couple of days, and maybe send your phone number to them via email. I’m trying to be as sensitive as I can to the impact this will have on people. Everyone will respond differently.”
“That’s good advice and I’ll do that. I’ll copy you on any emails I send to anyone.”
“Good Sam, but don’t worry about sending me the emails. It won’t do too much good in the near term.”
“Oh Jack, I’m so sorry, I forgot you aren’t going to stay with us. I can’t believe I did that.”
Jack smiled as he said, “Please, no apologies needed, I know you wouldn’t do something like that intentionally.”
“Thanks, I sure wouldn’t. By the way, when we stopped for lunch near Bozeman today I looked at the chat room and made a couple of calls to folks on the road. Just to see what others were going through. I talked to a lady named Charlotte White from Atlanta that seems to have her stuff together. You might want to think about asking her for help as well. She called me back about an hour ago just to let me know where she was spending the night.”
“Thanks, I just made a note and I’ll do that. I need a lot of help and I don’t know anyone out there. Anyone else you can recommend?”
“No, not really. I got a call a little while ago from a man named Noah Yellowbird. He sounded like a typical western man. Didn’t have too many words to waste, was a little gruff, was very confident and he was very polite. I do like that combination.
“He’s starting his journey in the morning and he was thinking about coming to Yellowstone for the same reasons as Ben and I. He was more concerned about wintering his two horses in a decent place than anything else. He had never been south so he didn’t want to head in that direction. He wanted to know if we minded if he showed up in the Park in the next couple of days. He ensured me that if that was a problem he’d winter elsewhere.