"You have to ask? You must really be tired. I'll get the guns," and feeling put upon, I unhitched my seat belt, climbed into the bunk where I'd gathered our gear and prepared to do battle. When nothing happened, we got out and faced a different direction, ready and waiting. Well, hell, where was everyone.
"They're in Casper." Clint said as he approached us quietly. I looked at Mason but he was as surprised as I was.
"Oh, I wasn't reading your mind. But I asked the same question, so figured you was wondering. There aren't that many anyway, so they had to go somewhere. We'll break up into groups and check things out, but I figure the place is abandoned."
So Mason and I headed to the north end of town and took the side with the grain elevator and started clearing each building. I needed the exercise anyway after the harrowing experience in Casper. We'd spent one whole day in Wyoming and were still only halfway through. At this pace, it'll be time to turn around and head back as soon as we get to New Mexico. We cleared most of the buildings when we met Randy and Flynn coming down the street. They'd cleared the buildings ahead of us but it took nearly an hour to secure the whole town.
Clint, Joe, Riley and Howard strolled up the street like they were on an evening walk talking quietly among themselves. We talked a bit then decided all was clear and let the kids and dog go. The women soon came out and we investigated the local watering hole, the Chugwater Soda Fountain with the elk head mounted on the wall. I was surprised to find this one didn't have it's legs mounted underneath holding the rifle used to kill it. Talk about overkill.
The weather here was hot. It was a dry heat but hot was hot no matter what the humidity was. The sky was a pale blue, no sign of clouds and that's ok cause this part of the country was known to have a few tornadoes. The creek running nearby was cool and it felt good to sit on the bank with your feet swinging in the stream, watching the trout swim by. The other side of the bank was lined with cottonwood trees and beyond them were a small herd of antelope with their white rear ends or diaper butts munching on the remaining grasses. Past the creek were the bluffs the indians drove the bison over some hundred of so years ago. Not very sporting but then when you're hungry...
That reminded me I was hungry. Mason had come to tell me dinner was ready as I was drying my feet off. He let me use him for support while I pulled my shoes on then he pulled me in tight and kissed me, nearly knocking my socks, err...I mean shoes off. I pulled back and kissed his chin then smiled. He smiled back and we walked back to Lacy's RV for dinner. Canned stew again tonight. I could smell it before I reached the RV. If I wasn't so hungry, I'd just go to bed but I'd better eat, no telling what was ahead of us.
Duke came in and said he'd contacted Ken with the sat radio. They were at a campground north of White Sulphur Springs and planed to stay a few days while he scouted with the plane. He said except for the walkers in Lewistown which was in the center of the state, they'd made good time and everyone was doing ok. Duke told them about the problems in Billings, but since it wasn't worth their time, they could decide if they wanted to stay away from that area. It was good to know that the Montana crew was doing ok. They'd been on my mind since Billings. It was decided that we would call every evening just to see how far the range was on the phone.
We poured over the maps that evening trying to figure out what direction to go at Cheyenne. I knew I didn't want to go through Denver so we'd bypass it and it looked like we would be going east of it. The road would be flatter, there were more side roads and less bridges to deal with. West of Denver was nothing but mountains so we had to go east a bit then head south.
That decided we turned in for the night. Mason was feeling frisky and I did by best to calm him down before we finally fell into an exhausted sleep under the stars. Morning found us eating pop tarts again but the coffee was sure good. I hated to drink coffee on the road, I seemed to spend a lot of time going to the bathroom and that meant one of the RV's had to stop so I could. I wasn't the only one with the problem so it seemed to work out ok. Although, the guys did nothing but grumble which we gamely ignored.
We could smell Cheyenne before we could see it. Smoke rose straight up from the area of the refinery so we could guess what happened there. We came upon the Little America travel center but we'd already decided not to stop. After the Billings truck stop no one had the nerve. There were three big trucks in the fuel bays and several cars in the parking lot but we kept going. We took the interstate east towards Omaha with no problems then found the road blocked. So we back tracked to the entrance to the interstate and got back on it to go farther south and then turned east again. We did this so many times that we suddenly found ourselves in Colorado headed to Carr. OK, we hadn't planned on that but we decided to go with it.
Traveling south again we found a small area where we could refuel and eat a little something. Duke was complaining about his bus, so Howard had his head under the hood with Sam beside him. Duke paced around the bus mumbling and gesturing but was ignored by everyone. We'd been there, done that, but Clint and Mercy found it all amusing. The kids and dog ran off some excess energy while the rest of us sat in the shade in the neat fishing chairs Randy had gotten in Billings.
When we first met him he was hitchhiking in the dessert with one of the chairs strapped onto his back. Bright red, if I remember correctly. He had Lacy sitting in a red one at the moment. It had a small table that sat to the right of the arm. A breeze kicked up and boy did it feel good cause it dried the sweat on my brow. Pulling my tee shirt open I allowed some of the air to dry my chest. Mason noticed, waggling his eyebrows at me but I just smiled and shook my head.
Howard and Sam told us the bus was almost useless. Something in the motor. It wouldn't last much longer. "Need to start looking for something else pretty soon."
"Great!" yelled Duke, "I just got everything the way I wanted it and now you tell me I have to start all over again."
"Yep." Howard said, wiping his hands on a rag. Not a man of many words, our Howard. "Soon as possible." Then he turned and walked back to the bus to put away the tools, Sam right behind him. Duke stood there a minute watching them leave then shoulders slumped, he kicked a rock out of his way and went to his bus to pet it. Aww, a man and his wheels. I turned to Mason and said, "Aww, a man and his wheels."
"Stop it," he laughed. "This is serious, cause it's gonna put us behind nearly a day. He's gonna want to soup it up like this one and that's an all day deal. Maybe we should go into Denver anyway, we might be able to find something new there. Then we wouldn't have to worry about it quitting."
"Denver! Are you suicidal? Nope, no way are we going to do that. Maybe Loveland has something. Let's check there first then we can worry about Denver later."
"Well, I guess we better route this one before everyone takes off." After a very few minutes with my head slouched over the map, I gave the thumbs up to Loveland. We turned and went north a bit then west before hitting the interstate.
Loveland started at the interstate. We pulled off the road at the first place we could cause the road was blocked as far as we could see. Prepared for a herd of walkers any minute, we allowed everyone to get out for a few minutes to stretch. We were huddled around the sick bus when Mandy pointed and said "What's that?" Like Pavlov's dogs we reacted. Howard and Duke dropped and rolled under the bus. The women fought each other to get into the bus, while Mason and I crouched next to the front tire, weapons ready and looking wildly around. Flynn had jumped on the hood of the bus and was turning in circles looking for the 'that' Mandy referred to.
"Where?" I asked.
"Where Mandy? I don't see anything." Sarah said.
"Over there, Mommy, by the pretty, blue truck." She said, pointing at the something we still couldn't see. "See that funny looking truck? I ain't ever seen nothing like it before." We looked the direction she was pointing and I finally saw the 'that' she referred to. All I could do was stare. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen.
It was a RV with tip outs and around 30
feet long or so. It also was the prettiest purple you ever saw but after that it's hard to describe. The front bumper was triangular shaped with the headlights recessed. The grill was extra large and hung over the bumper, oval in shape and above it...well, the round windshield looked like a 5 foot CD disk had fallen forward to lay over the front of the vehicle and just on top of the grill. The tandem rear-end was closed in and the whole thing looked like it had come from another planet.
I felt the bus sway a bit and looked up to find Duke on top with Randy. "Oh. My. God." he said. I forgot to mention that on the side of the thing in big white words was written, "Communications/Command Center Larimer County". He took a step, then another and Randy grabbed him before he stepped off the roof. "It's mine," he said, looking at each of us in turn, "Don't anyone else even think about it. It's mine. Get me down. Hurry."
Everyone talked at once. Trying to convince him to wait for the thing to be cleared before he got himself killed. We were just barely able to stop him while, Flynn, Clint and Mason prepared to clear it. Duke finally calmed down long enough to watch from the rooftop of the bus while we took care of business. A fuel tanker behind the gas station had our attention and when we had Duke busy transferring everything to his new digs, we'd finish fueling all the vehicles. Our tanker was nearly empty and we'd need another one soon anyway, so we decided to change while we were here.
It took the rest of the day to get everything done. The inside of the Dukemobile (Sarah named it) was set up just like a command center with a conference room in the back. It had to be cleared out and the conference room transformed into a bedroom for him and Sarah and another smaller room into a bedroom for Mandy. The place had lights galore, a small kitchenette and a nice restroom. The rest of the walls were laden with monitors and computers with a long table down the middle. Gadgets and do dads were everywhere you looked. We discovered the roof raised and became an observation deck which had Duke jumping up and down like a four year old. There were satellite dishes, and antenna everywhere and he seemed to know what everything did.
So we left the bus behind and stuck the Dukemobile in the middle of the convoy and headed east for Brush, Colorado where we would head south to New Mexico. I felt a lot better about things since we had fuel, pop tarts and water, the road looked clear as far as the eye could see and the mountains loomed to our right, seemingly, like they were pacing us as we rolled along. Near dark, we pulled off in the parking area at the Dairy Queen in Last Chance Colorado, about 70 miles east of Denver. The land was flat, barren and you could see for miles. While we prepared for supper, the guys secured the building which hadn't been used in years and set up a secure perimeter. Duke was still getting acquainted with the electronics of his new wheels so we'd do things the hard way until he figured everything out. He said the place could do everything but make love but I didn't want to go there.
When it got dark, the sky was a blanket of stars from horizon to horizon. You didn't know where to look it all so beautiful. We had a small to-do over a walker staggering by in the middle of the night which proved the security system worked, but other than that it was a nice, quiet night for a change.
CHAPTER 5
I woke up alone the next morning but I wasn't worried about it and was in no hurry to get up. The bunk was tight, but the small windows were open, letting in a warm breeze. I closed my eyes and could imagine my big, queen sized bed at the cabin, cool, sweet air sending the curtains dancing and the calls of the morning dove. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the skylight in the bunk, no curtains but the sounds of kids playing had me throwing back the covers and searching for my clothes.
When I climbed off the truck and saw the Dukemobile, I was taken aback at the science fiction of it. I turned my head to the side and studied it a moment and was startled at the sound of footsteps behind me. "Kinda hard to imagine, ain't it?" Sarah asked.
"I'd say. But somehow I can see Duke at the wheel. How's the inside coming?"
"I have to admit, I had my doubts at first but he's done wonders and I think I can live with it. Somewhere in town, he found some flowered sheets and a comforter for the bed so I think I can get past the star wars effect. Still, I have to admit, it does look like him. Like someone thought of him when they were designing it." We both stared at it a moment longer then turned and headed towards Lacy's RV. "He's beside himself with all the gadgets and buttons. I swear he was up all night playing with the damned thing. Even woke us up because he had the sound to loud at one point. I just rolled over and put the pillow on my head. You can't talk to him when he's like that, so I warn you, don't try."
"Thanks for the heads up. I think we should leave as early as possible this morning. No telling what lays in store for us up the road. We've lost a lot of time and he'll have all winter to mess with that thing."
"Yes, he said the same thing. Doing it, however, is something else entirely."
When we approached Lacy's RV, most of the gang was standing around outside. They were talking and as we approached I found the subject was the Dukemobile. Mason turned when I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled before kissing me on the nose. Lacy rolled her eyes and Mercy yelled from inside to hurry and eat.
Mason came inside and had another cup of coffee as I ate pancakes and fried spam. Yea, I know I said I'd never eat the stuff again, but desperate measures and all that.
"Looks like it's a clear shot south to New Mexico on flat road from here, barring any road blocks and broken bridges." I said, around a mouthful of pancakes. I found if I chewed a few times, swallowed then took a drink of coffee I could get done faster. Mason gave me funny look but didn't say anything. Gotta love the man for discretion.
"All the outfits are fueled and ready to go. Duke's been going nuts getting all his new play-toys up and running. He was even able to get a hold of Ken this morning. They're doing ok and he told them where we were. He's so damned excited, Duke that is, that you can't talk to him."
"That's what Sarah said, so I won't talk to him. He won't notice. I hope he plans to drive that thing, cause I don't know if it would be a good idea for Sarah to drive while he plays."
"I thought of that but he said he was the only one driving it, so it'll be ok. What the hell?"
I started to say something when I noticed the rocking. Mason flew out the door, just as the sign on the building next to us fell to the ground. An earthquake? Really? I sat abruptly on the step as things rattled and rolled, the sound of glass breaking loud in the silence of the flatland. It didn't last long but it felt like it. The pancakes in my stomach weren't settling well, but I didn't care. When was the last time an earthquake hit this area? Then I thought explosion and looked in a circle around us for the mushroom cloud. Okay, maybe I was being silly, but really. What was that?
We stood and looked around at each other until some imaginary bell sounded and as one unit, we prepared to leave. We didn't have to do much to get ready so we pulled out on the road and waited for the others to get in line behind us.
"I hope no bridges went down because of that, whatever it was." I said, fluttering my hands at the same time.
"Don't even think it. I don't know if we even want to do much more backtracking. Remember, back when you could just get in your truck, and drive down the road? You could go hundreds of miles in one day. Now, you're lucky to go fifty miles without having to backtrack eighty."
"Yeah, I know. I miss the good ole days too."
He smiled at me, then reached for my hand. "At least we're together through this nonsense. I can't think of another person I'd rather backtrack with."
"Oh, shut up, fool and drive down the road. Looks like they're all ready." Just then they each piped up over the CB that they were, in fact, ready and if we didn't move they'd go around us. Geez! We headed south.
Almost exactly one hour later we sat in the road staring at the buckled road in front of us. We'd all gotten out of our outfits and were standing in a line staring at the mess.
"Do you think we should try it?"
Lacy asked.
"I don't know. Maybe one of us should just walk out and test it." Sarah offered.
So Mason tentatively walked out to the wrinkled, black tar and started walking slowly across it. It looked like about 30 feet of it was disturbed but there was no telling how bad. Mason reached the other side, inspecting the shoulder of the road closely, then walked back across it.
"Looks like it might be a little soft, but I think it's okay otherwise. I'll take the semi across, and that should be a good enough test. If I make it we all should."
"If 'we' make it you mean, you aren't crossing that without me."
"Now JD, there's no reason...Hey!" He yelled, as I headed back to the semi. Climbing in, I tightened my seat belt as he opened the door.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, clearly upset.
"I'm waiting on you evidently." I stared out the windshield, waiting for him to close my door.
He stared at me a moment, then closed the door, stomped around the front of the truck, and got in. Putting it in gear made a horrible, angry dragon sound , then he took a big breath, put it in gear and we eased forward.
Everyone parted and as we passed them but I could see the worried looks on their faces. I hope they didn't see the scared look on my face. Regardless, I was so not letting Mason do this alone.
The truck sank a couple of inches but the ground held. Mason was having trouble controlling the steering wheel because the soft ground pulled him back and forth. Semi's have an air ride system but the way we were hopping up and down in our seats had me afraid I'd be thrown through the roof. Add that to the swaying and dipping the cab did side to side and it was a terrifying ride. I was thankful we were only crawling because if we'd been going any faster we'd have wrecked. We had just gained the hard part of the road when I looked in the mirror and saw everyone jumping up and down and pointing. Then I saw the road behind us disappearing.
Walkers (Book 3): The Survivors Page 4