“Pam, what’s wrong?” Amy asks, sensing the worst. “Where’s Dad? Has something happened?”
“I don’t know,” Pam finally blurts as her tears began and desperation broke free. “Your dad went out with Ben and Zack to make sure the coast was clear. They’ve been gone for a while. Then we heard a bunch of gunshots and I mean a shitload, and now your dad’s not answering the radio, and—”
“What can I do?” Amy cuts in. “Where are you, exactly?”
“There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing I can do either, except wait and see if…” Pam was telling her when suddenly her ear was assaulted with the angry sound of their call being severed. “Fuck!” Pam shouts, squeezing the phone in her fist.
“What’d she say?” Joe asks.
“She said we’re fucked,” Pam replies, stifling her sobs. “She said the military is killing people who try to leave and everyone else is going all Mad-fucking-Max out there!”
Chapter 7
“Pam! Pam! Are you there?” Amy shouts into her cell phone as Travis runs into the room.
“Did they answer?” he asks.
“Yes, but we got cut off,” Amy replies.
“What’d they say?”
“Pam said they’re still in Ohio.”
“Pam said? Where was your dad?” Travis asks.
“I don’t know. Pam said they were in some kind of trouble and stuck there. Dad and my brothers went to find a way out, but she hasn’t heard from them for a while, and then she heard gunfire. And… fuck!” Amy yells in frustration, throwing her coffee mug across their kitchen and shattering it against the wall.
“What do you want to do?” Travis asks her.
“I wanna go help them!” she shouts.
“Fine. I’ll pack the truck. Just tell me where we’re going.”
“I don’t fucking know!”
“Then what do you want to do?” he asks.
“I wanna smash shit until I feel better. Hand me your mug,” she demands, opening and closing her hand in the give-it-here motion.
“Okay?” Travis replies and hands her the aluminum travel mug he’d been using.
“Asshole!” she shouts, stomping away and leaving him with his mug intact.
Chapter 8
“Lynn. Come in,” a tiny, desperate voice said from the walkie in Pam’s hand. “It’s Dave. Lynn. Please, come in. Shit! I’ll be she never even gave the fucking thing to her mother, like I asked!”
Pam’s emotions did an immediate one-eighty at the sound of his voice. She went from shattered despair to uncontrolled elation in the moment it took her to nearly crush the talk button and reply.
“Oh my god, baby. I was so worried. Where are you? What was all the shooting about? Are the boys okay?” she asked, the questions flowing from her lips faster than Amy’s had.
“Is Zack okay?” Brigette shouted.
“The boys and I are fine. We’ll fill you in when we get back, but we’re not safe there. Get everyone loaded up and ready to move. We have to go as soon as we get back,” Dave replied, sounding out of breath like he’d been, or still was running
“Where are we going?” Pam asks.
“I don’t have a fucking clue, baby. We’ll figure that out next. I gotta go or I’m going to drop this fucking thing. Hey! One more thing,” Dave says.
“What is it?” Pam asks, trying to prepare herself to hear the worst.
“I love you,” he says.
“Me too. Hurry back,” she tells him.
An excruciating long thirty minutes later, the three of them jogged into their makeshift camp. Pam had done everything Dave had instructed but Mike was the only one waiting patiently in the vehicles, since he was still partially infirmed with his back injury and it had taken a lot out of him to extricate himself from the vehicle in the first place. Jaxon and Braxton were keeping busy looking for more bottles around the area, but their mother had told them to stay close and be ready to jump in the car when she said so.
Zack wasted no time with pleasantries and ran to his wife. They collapsed in each other’s arms, his chest heaving from the forced run. They kissed and hugged, making promises to never do something that stupid again. Promises neither of them knew if they could keep but meaning it with all their being at the time.
Dave dropped to his knees a few yards from Pam, his over fifty-year-old legs refusing to support him any longer. His lungs felt like they were burning gaping holes in his chest from over thirty years of smoking. Like everyone else who ever started the habit, he’d started because he knew, with absolute fucking certainty, it made him look cool. But rocking back and forth gasping for precious air as his throat smoldered and his heart threatened to explode, he was skeptical about how cool he looked in the moment. In a fit of rage, he dug his fingers into his pocket, nearly tearing it from his shirt and crushed the pack containing three crumbled smokes and threw it into the bushes. He knew it was only a symbolic gesture because there were still three unopened packs stashed in his belongings.
Pam laughed and knelt next to him, waiting for her opportunity to hug and kiss, after he’d wiped the spittle from his lips. She also wanted to tell him she’d talked to their daughter and what she’d told her, but decided that could wait until he regained the ability to speak. Dave rolled onto his back and tried to slow his breathing before he hyperventilated and passed out. Pam gently rubbed his stomach and chest, murmuring softly to him, like he was a dog seeking her affection.
Ben stood there, watching the emotional reunions around him. He was the only one in the family who’d ever made a conscious effort to stay in shape. He bicycled most everywhere and only drove his car when his destination was too far to make it feasible, or if he had things to transport like groceries. He’d even go jogging occasionally, but not as a rule. Needless to say, he was the only one of the three whose breathing had returned to normal within minutes after their run through the woods. They’d started by creeping away from the soldiers, trying to not make any noise to attract them. Once they felt they were at a safe distance, they broke into a steady jog the rest of the way. Ben was truly surprised Dave had made it back without collapsing or puking along the way. Ben made a mental note to bring this detail up at a later time and suggest they all get into the practice of getting in some cardio every day. Their acceptance of this advice would be directly proportional to how long this shitstorm lasted, but he didn’t see it ending anytime soon.
“Hey, Ben,” Joe said, bumping into his little brother with his shoulder.
“Hey, Joe,” he replied, bumping him back with his.
“Glad to see you made it back,” Joe said.
“Thanks. Glad to see you’re, a… still here,” Ben replied with a smile.
“You two are going to have to contain this outpouring of emotions,” Pam told them.
“We have to go,” Dave finally manages to rasp out between gasps for air.
“That’s what you said, but where?” Pam asks, helping him into a sitting position and brushing the dirt from his back.
“Anywhere but here,” Dave replies.
“Tell us what happened, sweetie,” Lynn says.
“And say loud enough for me to hear,” Mike shouts from the back seat of his car. “Better yet, why don’t you all move over here so I don’t have to keep yelling all the damn time.”
“Has he been like that this whole time?” Dave asks Pam.
“No. Only for about the last forty years,” she says, brushing the dirt from the seat of her jeans after she stood. “But like usual, he’s right.”
“I think that’s the part that pisses me off,” Dave replies as he dragged himself to his feet. “But we really don’t have the time to discuss this.”
“The sergeant said that Major Brooks, or whoever it was, wasn’t showing up for two hours,” Ben says, looking at his watch. “That gives us over an hour before she gets there. I think we can afford a few minutes to talk about our next move.”
“What sergeant is he talking about
and who is Major Brooks?” Pam asks.
“Fine,” Dave says, hobbling closer to the Mercedes on legs that were rapidly stiffening.
“You’re going to want to stretch those out before you can’t walk at all,” Ben tells him.
“Fuck you,” Dave says, with playful malice. “And thanks. I appreciate the advice.”
The three of them recounted what had happened, sparing no details including the episode of family urination, and what they’d witnessed. Dave tried to stretch the muscles in his legs before they locked up altogether, and Zack wasn’t doing much better. Ben filled in most of the details for the rest of the family since he was the only one of the three capable of doing it without adding the occasional groan. Or continuous in Dave’s case. By the time he was done, Dave confessed he felt a little more limber, or at least able to walk with only a slight limp, and the others were debating what they should do.
“And you’re sure they meant to kill those men. It wasn’t an accident, or anything provoked, right?” Mike asks.
“Yeah, Mike. We’re sure,” Dave replies.
“The sergeant said he told them to open fire,” Zack adds.
“They could have thought those men were us, or me anyway,” Ben says. “The sergeant asked the guy if he was the one who killed some of their men the night before, but the guy said he didn’t know anything about it.”
“Did they believe him?” Pam asks.
“It doesn’t matter if they did or didn’t. They killed them either way,” he answers.
“And he ordered his men to be ready to move.”
“It’s like this,” Dave began. “Either that Major Brooks and however many men he has with him, drives past us on his way to meet up with those assholes.”
“She,” Zack interjects.
“What?” Dave asks.
“Major Brooks and however many men she has with her. You said him,” Zack explained.
“What makes you think Major Brooks is a woman?” Brigette asks.
“Sergeant Brubaker called her a ball-busting bitch. I just figure she’s a woman,” he answers with a shrug.
“Makes sense,” Dave says. He made certain to not even glance in the general direction of the three women around him when he agreed. “Like I was saying. Our risk is she drives past us with an unknown number of soldiers, or she drives past us with even more of her soldiers. Men we know won’t hesitate to kill civilians. Maybe on her orders. Either way, we shouldn’t be sitting here when they do.”
“I disagree,” Ben says.
“What the fuck, son? Do you just enjoy arguing with me?” Dave asks.
“Sure. Sometimes,” he answers, looking at his brothers who nodded their agreement. “All I’m saying is I think this is exactly where we want to be when she drives past. With or without her soldiers.”
“Why would we want to do that?” Dave asks.
“How far do you think we are from those soldiers? A couple miles maybe?” Ben asks.
“Not far enough,” Zack says.
“That’s fair,” Ben replies. “But still, at least a mile and probably closer to two. And how far away do you think we are from the highway? I’m guessing a quarter mile as the crow flies, but closer to a half with all the turns.”
“I think I see his point,” Joe says. “We can just sit here and let them drive past.”
“And hope they drive past,” Dave replies.
“He may have a point,” Pam says, placing her hand on Dave’s arm. “It’s better than having them find us on the road.”
“Remember what happened with those, what did you call them, road pirates?” Mike said from the nest in the back seat. “Those bastards didn’t have any training, that we know of, and they almost killed you. Who knows what they would have done to Pam if they’d been able to stop your car?”
“Okay. Let’s say we just sit here and wait for them to drive on by us. If they drive on by us. How are we going to know what the hell they’re going to do? It’s not like we can ask them,” Dave counters.
“I’ve thought about that, and you’re right,” Ben replies. “One or two of us will have to go down near the highway and watch for them to pass by.”
“If they pass by,” Dave insists.
“I’m with my dad,” Zack says. “We’re better off to make a run for it now while we have a head start.”
“And go where?” Ben asks. “Those guys are directly west of us and they’re a lot closer to the highway than we are. There’s no way we’re going to sneak past them unnoticed. You saw them,” he continues, looking from Zack to Dave. “We’re not talking about a couple pickups full of rednecks. We’re talking about a military operation. We have to assume they’ve got men stationed near the highway, waiting for this Major Brooks to show up. At the very least, they’re on high alert for a zombie attack. I’m beginning to think those army guys saw us first, got into place and started shouting orders. Those other guys that thought they’d been spotted and answered back. I’ll bet they’d been hiding out there in the woods and watching them for a while. The more I think about it, the more I think we’re lucky we made it back the way we did.”
“That was your fucking idea,” Dave reminds him.
“I know, and if given the same circumstances, I’d probably do it again. And remember, we all agreed on it. It wasn’t just me making the decision,” Ben replies.
“Ouch,” Joe says, nervously rubbing his arm. “But he’s right. I agree with Ben. We should wait for them to leave.”
“I do too,” Brigette says.
“What the fuck?” Zack asks, turning to his wife.
“Ben’s right. We can’t sneak past them and we can’t risk them running us down on the road. And it’s not like we have the option of going off-road if we needed to,” she says, pointing to their lowered Volkswagen. “Dave’s and Mike’s, maybe. But not ours. And I guarantee the army vehicles they’re driving are built for it. You saw those jeeps last night. They were driving them through the trees. If they see us, we’ll have nowhere to run.”
“And if they find us back here, where do we run then?” Zack asks, but Brigette just shrugged her shoulders, letting him and the others know she didn’t have an answer.
“Pam?” Dave asks.
“I think Ben’s got a point,” she begins. “But I hate just sitting here, waiting for shit to go wrong. I’d feel better if we were moving.”
“Okay, that’s three votes to make a run for it while we have the chance, and three to sit here and hope they go away,” Dave says. “Mike? Lynn? What’re your votes?”
“Oh no, sweetie,” Lynn says, holding up her hands. “I don’t have an opinion. You guys watch this kind of stuff all the time in the movies. You read books about this stuff. I’ll do whatever the group decides but I’m not going to be responsible for making the wrong decision.”
“Well shit,” Dave says. That’s three for doing the smart thing, three for sitting here and two abstaining. I guess I’ll have to make the—”
“Hold on a second!” Mike shouts through the backseat window. “Lynn might not have an opinion but I sure as hell do! I say we wait.”
“Then it’s settled,” Ben says before Dave could protest.
“What about us?” Jaxon asks. “Don’t me and Braxton get a vote?”
“No,” Zack and Brigette say in unison.
“Why not?” Jaxon asks.
“Because one of you will pick wait and one will pick run,” Brigette replies. “It’s what you two always do because you’re brothers and you can’t agree on anything.”
“Besides, buddy,” Zack says calmly, crouching down to look his son in the eyes. “This is some scary stuff we’re talking about here and people could get hurt if we do the wrong thing. Maybe even die. You don’t want to be part of that decision, do you?”
“But we could get hurt too, right?” Jaxon asks.
“He’s got a good point,” Joe says.
“Okay,” Zack says, turning to his youngest son. “Braxton, what do you
think?”
“I think we should go,” he replies, beaming a proud smile at Dave.
“Well, I think we should stay,” Jaxon says, giving his brother a shove before wrestling him to the ground.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Dave says, rubbing his face in his hands.
“It’s settled,” Ben repeats. “I’ll go down near the highway and watch for the major to drive past. We have to assume she’ll be coming from that direction since that’s where all this shit started.”
“Fair enough,” Dave says. He’d resigned himself to the group decision but decided to take on the role of devil’s advocate. If they were going to go through with this, he wanted to be prepared for anything that could go wrong. “What if they head west when they leave, we’ll never see them, and we’ll just be sitting here until winter?”
“I don’t think they will,” Mike interjects. “At least not at first. If you head west on Highway 114, it actually dips south for about twenty miles rather than due west and gets pretty twisty. It’ll be fine for us because it eventually crosses back over I-70 and then to west 80. But if they’re driving military vehicles, it makes more sense for them to backtrack four or five miles to I-70. It’s a major interstate, so it’s better suited for the size of the things they’re driving and a straighter shot west.”
“That’s a pretty big assumption,” Dave says.
“It’s all I’ve got,” Mike replies.
“We’ll go with that for now,” Dave says. “But we’ll have to make other plans if we don’t see them at all.”
“But then we’ll have more time,” Ben adds.
“Right,” Dave agrees reluctantly. “Ben and I will go down to the highway and wait. If we see anything we’ll radio back.”
“I think it’s better if only one of us goes,” Ben replies.
“Not an option,” Dave answers firmly, letting his son know this decision wasn’t up for a vote. “The two of us can watch each other’s backs and make sure we don’t miss seeing them coming or going.”
The F*cked Series (Book 4): Hard Page 9