by Tate, Harley
Chapter Fifteen
COLT
Unidentified Farm
Near Truckee, CA
4:30 p.m.
“I say we blow it all up like in Eugene.” Dani sat on a cleared spot of ground, sheltering Lottie from the cold.
Larkin shook his head. “And lose the potential? No way. It’s a working farm. It might have animals, seeds, a bunch of food stored. If we go in there and light it up, we’ll lose all that.”
“Larkin’s right. We need to conserve and focus on getting Walter out with the least amount of damage. Who knows, maybe at some point we can launch an attack and take it over.”
“Or they could chase us down and kill everyone.”
“I love your optimism.”
Dani stuck her tongue out and Colt laughed. “They’ve got grain silos, Dani. They could be full of enough grain to feed an entire town.”
“Then we should do it now. Take everyone out and claim it.”
“We don’t have the bodies.” Larkin stood beside an open door to the Jeep, inventorying their weapons. “With only three of us, we have a good chance to get Walter out, but that’s all. Focus on what we can do, not what we want to do later.”
Dani turned a lighter over in her hands. “If we can’t burn them out, how about smoke?”
Colt perked up. “What do you have in mind?”
“We could draw them out with the threat of fire. Then at least we could scout the place out and see what’s there. We might get a handle on their numbers, too.”
Larkin nodded. “I like the sound of that. There’s plenty of wet wood around here. If we can get some lit, there will be tons of smoke. Set it up on the edge of the farm and they’ll have to put it out.”
Dani flicked the lighter on and watched the flame. “While they’re busy, we swoop in.”
Colt thought it over. “Not a bad plan, but what do we do with her?” He motioned to Lottie.
“We can fill up the hot water bottle and build her a sleeping bag nest like last time.” Dani lifted her thumb and set the lighter on the Jeep’s bumper. “But we need to leave a window open.” She glanced at Colt. “In case we don’t come back.”
“Agreed.” Larkin pulled out the readied weapons one by one: three rifles, six backup handguns, spare magazines. He set them all on the tailgate and shut the driver’s door. “We can lower this window and muffle some of the cold with a fabric drape. She’ll be able to get out if she has to, but the water bottle should keep her warm overnight.”
They talked over the strategy of how to approach and where to go first and a backup plan in case something went wrong. After everyone agreed on the best course of action, they broke up.
Larkin and Colt set to harvesting wood. Thanks to a kit they kept in the Jeep at all times, they had everything they needed. Taking turns with a shovel, the men dug out enough fallen branches to burn for hours and laid them on a tarp. Using paracord and a multi-tool, Colt fashioned a set of pull-lines and gave them a tug.
It would be hard work dragging the load down the mountainside and into position. He glanced in the direction of the farm. They had retreated to a spot completely invisible from the valley for safety’s sake. While it meant ease of planning, it left them a long road of rocks and close-knit trees to navigate.
The closer they came to the farm, the more exposed they would be. Darkness would be critical. With the tree canopy and slow, fluid movements, they might stay concealed. It was a gamble, but what other choice did they have.
Colt wedged a dry and brittle branch he found lodged in a tree beneath the wetter limbs. “Dani can light this one. It’ll burn while the others smoke.”
Larkin nodded. “Let’s use some of our supplies, too. The beeswax tinder should stay burning for a while.”
Colt left Larkin to finish up and found Dani prepping a space for Lottie in the back seat. With two sleeping bags and a hot-to-the-touch water bottle, she had rigged up a cozy nest. Colt smiled at her handiwork. It would have to do. With any luck, four people would be coming back to the small dog in not too long. He refused to think about her future if they never made it home.
When everything was ready, he crouched in the snow-covered leaves and went over the plan. Colt and Larkin would pull the wood into position. Dani would light it up. Then each person was on their own, heading into the farm and convening at the barn door.
Larkin rose up and held out a bag of jerky and dehydrated fruit leather. “Let’s eat. Once it’s dark, we’ll head in.”
It didn’t take long. As soon as dusk darkened into the calm of early night, Colt and Larkin hoisted the pulls over their chests. Pull, break, pull. It was agonizing work and sweat broke out across Colt’s forehead. He paused halfway down.
“You all right?” Larkin wheezed as he gulped down the frigid night air.
“I’m not getting any younger.”
“Tell me about it.”
After a moment, they resumed the trek, catching up to a waiting Dani. She stood behind a tree in a leveled-off area of the mountainside, close enough to the front fence of the farm to make Colt nervous. It was as good a location as any.
“Let’s drop it here.”
Heaving in time with Larkin, they hoisted the wood into position. Dani rolled the tarp into a log shape and stashed it a hundred yards away. The two men sucked down some water and tossed the empty container into the bushes to hide it from view.
“Ready?” Colt wiped at the sweat on his forehead.
Larkin nodded.
Dani pulled out the lighter. “I’ll count to two hundred and light the logs.”
“Good.” Colt wrapped Dani up in a quick hug before taking her by the shoulders. “Only shoot if you’re shot at. Otherwise, stoke the fire and sneak away when they get near.”
“Will do.”
Colt and Larkin took off, heading closer to the farm with guns drawn and ready. Once they cleared Dani’s earshot, Larkin whispered. “You really think this will work?”
“The smoke?”
Larkin nodded.
“It’s better than the alternative. If we can draw some of their guards out, we have a chance of grabbing Walter without anyone getting hurt.”
“And if we can’t?”
“Then we protect ourselves.” Colt fell silent. As they neared the fence line of the farm, the first wisps of smoke tickled his nose. “It’s showtime.” He patted Larkin on the arm. “Good luck.”
“Same to you. See you at the Jeep.” Larkin took off, disappearing into the night, and Colt did the same.
He eased around the fencing, keeping to the shadows as best he could. The white farmhouse rose in front of him and Colt slowed.
In the closest window, candlelight illuminated a kitchen with a long island. A row of little heads sat with their backs to Colt, all focused on plates in front of them. Children. They ranged in size from no bigger than a toddler to elementary school, but all were small and significantly younger than Dani.
Somehow the idea of the farm housing a family had escaped Colt’s mind. It had been so long since he’d seen kids, he almost forgot they existed. He glanced behind him. Larger plumes of smoke rose against the forest wall. He had half a mind to rush back to Dani and call it off. They couldn’t hurt any kids.
As he struggled with the decision, the door to the main house opened and a man stepped onto the front porch. He flicked on a light and shone it in the direction of the smoke. Colt watched the man’s demeanor. First a lean in, then a pan of the light, followed by a panicked, full circle, spin around.
He rushed back inside and in moments, a gaggle of four men tore out the door, each one struggling into a jacket while holding a long gun. Colt sent up a prayer for Dani to stay hidden. She was an expert at evading detection in a city, but out in the woods was a whole different situation. He hoped she would heed his warning and run.
With four of the farm’s residents occupied, Colt crept past the house and on toward the barn.
Chapter Sixteen
TR
ACY
Woodland Veterinary Services
Truckee, CA
6:00 p.m.
“It has to be in here. At least one.” Tracy held out a bag and Brianna dumped everything she could identify by name inside. Fish Mox, painkillers, tranquilizers. So far, nothing for rabies.
“There’s got to be something.” Tracy willed a vaccine into existence with every twitch of her fingers and beat of her heart. They couldn’t have come all this way to leave empty-handed. Visions of Madison growing delirious and combative before succumbing to the virus filled her mind. She twisted the bag in her fingers. “Maybe he kept the vaccines in another place.”
Brianna pulled out a white and green box and squinted to read the label. “Shine the light this way.”
Tracy sent up a silent prayer. Please be what we need. Please.
Brianna tore into the packaging, pulling out a plastic rectangle and folded-up instructions. Her shoulders fell. “It’s only a testing kit.”
Tracy brightened. A testing kit was better than nothing. “Will it work on the spit we collected?”
“It should.” Brianna unfolded the instructions. “We put the saliva on the open spot of the collection tablet and wait ten minutes. A control line should appear in the testing window. If the saliva tests positive, a second red line should appear.”
“Just like a pregnancy test.” Tracy pulled the jar of saliva they collected from the fox out of her bag. “Are there any gloves around?”
“I saw some back in the office.” Brianna hurried into the main veterinary space while Tracy stood beside the mummified Dr. Benton and stared at the test kit. If the saliva came up negative, they could take their time loading up everything useful, find a place to sleep, and head back home in the morning.
If it tested positive…
“Got some.” Brianna interrupted Tracy’s runaway train of thoughts. “And some Q-tips. Hand me the test.”
Tracy held it out and Brianna set it up on the edge of the desk. With gloved hands, she opened the jar. Using the oversized Q-tip, she drew up some of the sample and deposited it on the test. “Now we wait.”
Tracy lasted about thirty seconds before the stress of not knowing propelled her into action. She dumped the rest of the medicine into the bag and secured it to her small pack along with the box of gloves Brianna pilfered.
She glanced at her watch. Ten minutes seemed like ten years.
Standing in the dark, with a dead man decaying on the floor, the reality of the world hit Tracy with renewed force. Before the solar storm and the EMP, a ten-minute wait passed in a blur of scrolling. Phones might as well be surgically attached to every person standing in line, waiting in carpool, ordering fast food.
She never noticed how much she relied on a phone to pass the time until they stopped working. Tracy picked up her flashlight and lit up the office, pausing on Dr. Benton’s diplomas and photographs hung on the wall. Most chronicled the life of a boy with a crooked smile and a dimple on his left cheek.
On the bookcase, he toddled between two sheep in a field. On the desk, he smiled in front of a school bus with poppy hair falling in his eyes. Prom in the next picture, goodbye at college in the next. The wall held photos commemorating graduation, a first car, and then a wedding.
A handsome young man standing tall beside a lovely bride.
Where is he now? Tracy focused on the syringe on the floor. Did the son know his father took his own life in his office all alone? Did he try to save his old man or write him off as a casualty of the apocalypse? Was he even still alive?
“You ready?”
Tracy snapped back to the present and turned to Brianna. She nodded.
Together, they bent over the test on the edge of the desk. Brianna pointed her flashlight beam at the testing window. One dark bar under C for control. One bright red bar under T for test.
Tracy’s spit turned to ash and her tongue to charcoal. “Is that—”
“Positive?” The instructions shook in Brianna’s hand. “According to this, it is.”
Tracy closed her eyes. The world spun off-kilter.
The fox had rabies. Madison could have rabies. If they didn’t find a vaccine, and soon, Tracy’s daughter would die a terrible death.
“He has to have a vaccine. It’s got to be somewhere.” Brianna slid the test and the supplies into a plastic bag and twisted it shut before taking off her gloves. “We just have to look harder.” She hurried back to the medicine cabinet, searching through the bottles they already inspected.
Tracy headed back out into the veterinary clinic. Maybe they overlooked a fridge or a hidden drawer. She searched under and over and in and out, turning tables upside down and spilling every jar on the floor.
But it was no use. The vet didn’t have a vaccine.
She leaned against the wall, panting and out of breath.
Brianna climbed through the broken door and stood up. “He doesn’t have one.”
Tracy voiced the words on repeat in her head. “Madison’s going to die.”
“Not yet.” Brianna closed the distance between them, her eyes bright in the flashlight beam. “Some people have lived for months before showing symptoms. We just have to keep searching. If we can find a vaccine and get it to her, she has a good chance.”
Tracy palmed her forehead. “Where are we going to find a vaccine now?”
“The hospital. It’s our only choice.”
“It’ll be a war zone.”
“Not in the middle of winter.”
Tracy shook her head. “It had to be ransacked months ago. There won’t be anything left.”
“We won’t know if we don’t try.”
“It’ll take hours to get there.” Tracy fought to keep the despair out of her voice, but she couldn’t hold it back. The hospital was too far and too dangerous. “Even if we get there, it’ll take days to get home.”
“Not necessarily.” Brianna held up a set of keys on a Ford keychain. “I found them by the back door. If we can dig out the car, we might have a ride.”
Tracy forced her feet to follow Brianna out to the hunk of frozen snow that used to be a car. “We’re never going to be able to dig that out.”
“Don’t say never. Help me find a shovel.”
Brianna huffed over to a small shed twenty yards away and Tracy followed, her eyelashes crusting with frozen tears. Snow wedged against the shed door, but with Tracy pulling and Brianna pushing, they managed to open it wide enough for Brianna to slip inside. She whooped as her flashlight lit up the space. “Forget a shovel, we’ll melt it out.”
Tracy wedged herself in the opening. “What are you—”
Brianna held up a red gas can and baseball bat. “There were some towels in the vet’s office. A big stack on top of the cabinets.”
“I remember.”
“We can wrap them around the bat and use it like a torch. We’ll melt the snow in no time.”
No time turned out to be an hour, but with some perseverance and an armful of stinky towels, the women melted the majority of the snow and ice. A pale blue Ford Explorer greeted them for their efforts.
“Let’s hope it’s got enough battery left to crank.” Brianna unlocked the driver’s-side door and clambered inside.
As Tracy climbed up into the passenger seat, Brianna turned the key. The engine sputtered. Tracy wedged a set of crossed fingers between her pants and the worn velour seat.
On the third pump of gas, the SUV grumbled to life. Tracy’s eyes filled with tears. They might be able to save her daughter after all. She cleared her throat. “Are you sure you want to drive?”
Brianna shifted into four-wheel drive and flicked on the headlights. “Definitely. I’m too amped up to sit still. It gives me something to concentrate on.” She checked the gauges and hit the steering wheel in triumph. “There’s enough gas to get us to the hospital and back home.”
“Then let’s not waste any time.” Tracy buckled her seatbelt and stared out the windshield at the barren landsc
ape lit up in front of them. There was zero chance the hospital wasn’t ransacked, but if they were lucky, the vaccines had been ignored. Vandals hit the high-value targets first: oxy and morphine and all the other drugs that took pain away. Then it would be first aid supplies and antibiotics and life-saving medicines for people with chronic illnesses.
Who wanted vaccine in the apocalypse? Tracy hoped it wasn’t the first wave of thieves. It was the only chance they had to save her daughter.
Brianna reached out and squeezed her hand. “We’ll save Madison.”
Tracy nodded. Brianna wasn’t giving up and neither should she. If other people lived for months without symptoms and were still cured, then Madison could be, too.
Tracy just had to have faith. She would find a vaccine. She would cure her daughter. Madison wasn’t going to survive the insanity after the EMP only to die thanks to a fox bite.
The Explorer bumped over the exit to the farm and onto the road. Thanks to the lingering snow and the lack of vehicular traffic, every road would be an obstacle. It wouldn’t be smooth going at top speeds, but a vehicle beat hiking hands down.
Tracy dug into her bag and pulled out a packet of venison jerky and a bottle of water. She handed a bit to Brianna before biting into a strip herself. How their lives had changed in a matter of months.
Gone were snack bars and dollar menus and chocolate croissants from the coffee shop down the street. In their place were dehydrated fruit and veggies and every kind of jerky imaginable. If it could be pickled or jellied or turned into leather, Tracy had learned how.
She’d lost ten pounds of fat and gained that much in muscle. The end of modern civilization had forced her into the best shape of her life. But none of it would matter if she couldn’t save Madison. If Walter came home to a dying daughter, Tracy would never forgive herself.
She turned to Brianna. “Thank you for not giving up on us.”
Brianna glanced her way with a frown. “Why would I?”
“You helped Madison find her way home when you could have come straight up here to your parents’ place. You fought for all of us when the compound came under attack.” Tracy swallowed. “When Tucker died, it would have been easy to turn your back and leave us all behind, but you didn’t. We’ll never be able to thank you enough for all that you and your family have done for us.”