by Bruno Miller
Vince shook his head as if he could throw the image from his mind. He had to stay focused. It had been a long day and the heat in the cab was getting to him. Maybe it was time to let someone else have a turn behind the wheel for a while.
Vince put the loader in park and opened the cab door all the way. “Anybody want to take over for a while?” Cy jumped at the opportunity and was waiting at the bottom of the ladder as Vince climbed down. He tried to explain to Cy how he wanted the SUVs arranged by drawing a small diagram in the crusty dirt, but he wasn’t sure if his son understood. Vince had a specific way he wanted this done, so he decided to stay nearby and direct from the ground.
Initially, Vince assumed they would roll the new vehicles into place, but he forgot that they needed the loader to move the old ones. Since they had it unhooked from the trailer, they might as well use it.
* * *
Cy carefully scooped up the first Suburban with the makeshift forks just far enough to clear the ground with the tires. He knew it didn’t matter, but he felt bad treating the expensive SUV so roughly and he didn’t have the heart to tilt the bucket back and mar the glossy paint. Instead he decided to go a little slower and balance them solely on the forks instead.
His dad was waiting impatiently where Cy was supposed to place the truck. But as Cy swung the loader around and came to an abrupt stop before straightening out the wheel, the nearly three-ton SUV broke free of the bucket and slid off the forks. Cy froze as he watched the scene unfold in what felt like slow motion, the vehicle heading straight for his dad.
Vince ran to the left and dove, rolling the last couple of feet to safety as the truck made contact with the ground only a few yards away. Luckily the tires caught on the road with a loud screech and stopped the forward momentum. The Suburban teetered on two wheels for what seemed like an impossible amount of time before slamming back down on all four tires.
Cy’s heart was beating so fast he thought it might jump out of his chest. What had he done? He felt horrible for being so careless, and in hindsight, he should have known better. He was exhausted and wasn’t thinking clearly. The heat had taken a toll on him and his wits today.
Cy flung the cab door open. “Are you okay?”
John was already standing next to Vince and helped him to his feet.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Vince brushed the dirt and dried grass from his clothes before looking at Cy. “You tryin’ to kill me?” He shook his head.
“Sorry, it…it got away from me.” Cy felt about three inches tall.
“If you don’t want to work anymore today, just say so. I can take a hint,” Vince joked.
Cy was glad to see his dad was okay and willing to make fun of his mistake, but it did little to settle his nerves.
Cy began to climb down. “Somebody else better run the loader.”
“Nonsense. It could have happened to anyone. Don’t let it beat you,” Vince insisted.
Cy paused halfway down the ladder. His dad was right; he always was.
“You sure?” Cy asked.
Vince nodded. As Cy climbed back into the cab, he remembered a time when he was little and wrecked his go-cart while racing around his family’s property. He’d managed to take out a good section of fencing along the house in the process. That day, he had wanted to hang up his racing gloves forever and sell the go-cart to help pay for the repairs. But his dad insisted that he get back on and ride around until the feeling passed. His dad had always been that way, and although it was tough to go along with at times, it always worked out for the best.
Cy eased the bucket into place and slid the forks back under the Suburban. He only had to move it a few more feet, and he was relieved to finally set it down and back away.
When he picked the next one up, he didn’t hesitate to tilt the forks back and cradle the SUV properly, like he should have the first time. This one was silver and looked every bit as nice as the last one. It slid down the forks and landed against the bucket with a crunch, but Cy didn’t care this time. These overpriced SUVs were only worth as much protection as they could provide when used for a roadblock. He couldn’t believe he had almost killed his father because he didn’t want to scratch the pretty truck.
Cy shook his head as he maneuvered the loader to the next spot. This wasn’t a game they were playing. Not that he ever thought it was, but the close call made things seem much more real. If one of them were injured beyond what Reese could patch up, there was no one else to help. And based on how things were going, that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. They were truly alone out here, and everything they did had consequences.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Vince continued to direct Cy from the ground. His nerves were still a little rattled from the near miss, but he did his best not to show it. He needed Cy to move past the mistake he’d made. The last thing his son needed was to have his confidence undermined right now. There was no place for that in this new world.
Vince knew it was a slippery slope, and once you lost confidence, it was only a matter of time until your ability followed. He’d seen it before in the field: hesitation or a lack of certainty could result in a man’s death. And the situation they were in right now wasn’t any different or any less deadly than some of the worst he’d seen in his career with the army.
With all four Suburbans in place Vince walked around the new roadblock to the Cloverdale side, inspecting their creation as he went. With two of the long SUVs blocking the left and right shoulder and the other two blocking the north- and southbound lanes, the road itself was impassable.
The Suburbans on the road were offset behind the other two a little so they could be pushed or pulled out of the way, effectively creating a movable gate into town. They could work out the best way to do that later, but for right now, nobody was going anywhere.
Vince checked his watch and then glanced at the westbound sun. It wouldn’t be totally dark for a few hours, but they were going to lose the good light soon. The air might have been cleaner, but the yellow haze had not diminished any, and it seemed to cause the light to fade faster than normal as the sun closed in on the horizon.
Cy approached in the loader, carrying the smaller sedan, and waited for Vince to show him where he wanted it. Vince had him place it tightly against the Suburban on the northbound shoulder. This was also the same side he had put the wrecks in the ditch. The sedan neatly covered the distance between the last Suburban and the ditch itself, ending just on top of the wrecks.
This was the first real piece of their wall, albeit a very small piece, and for the first time, what Vince had imagined was turning into a reality. They had a long way to go, but he was happy with how much they had increased their security just by doing this little bit. This was only the beginning, and now that they knew the drill, Vince hoped to add many more vehicles to the wall in much less time.
Vince, John, and Cy stood there for a minute, admiring their efforts, before Cy broke the silence.
“Are we doing more tonight?” he asked. Vince looked at John, who shrugged.
“I’d like to,” John answered, “but I’m worried we may get some visitors.”
“Same,” Vince agreed. “And I don’t think we have time to get another whole load in before dark.” They could work in the dark, but that meant they’d have to use the lights, which could give away their position to the looters.
He thought about at least taking the trailer back to the car lot tonight before calling it quits, but the longer he considered the plan, the less he was inclined to run it back. Besides, making it a temporary part of the wall wouldn’t hurt. He didn’t want to risk damaging it, but it could serve as a safety if the looters did attack and were crazy enough to try and ram their way through.
“Do you think they’ll show up tonight…for the supplies?” Cy asked. “I mean, they don’t have Ryan.”
“Hard to say what they’ll do,” Vince said. “There’s no way they got all the vehicles repaired in this short amount of time.”
/> “I agree, but I wouldn’t count them out,” John sneered. “They’re gonna be real butthurt over what we did to ’em. They will want revenge, make no mistake about that.”
“We’ll be ready for them,” Vince said.
The truth was, they weren’t ready for them, not entirely. Vince and the others were more prepared for an attack than they had ever been, especially with the new roadblock in place, but they still had a lot to do. They needed to finish the wall, and Vince needed to figure out how to run electricity to the motel so they could all enjoy a few modern-day conveniences and maybe feel human again. That would go a long way toward improving their level of preparedness and ability to fight. While he worked on the power situation, he wanted to run lines to a few strategically located spotlights along the barricade of cars as well. Being able to light up the looters when they attacked would be a huge advantage.
He also still wanted to make it out to his house and salvage what he could from his gun safe and possibly anything else that had survived. After the ride out to the dealership today, he had resigned himself to the fact that his house was a loss. Seeing the ratio of surviving homes to destroyed homes, he realized that the odds of his house not being burned to the ground were extremely low, and he decided it was best not to assume otherwise.
Even though there was still a long list of things to do, he felt good about what they had accomplished today. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a start, and it proved that they could do it. They had ventured into the ruins of town for the first time since the EMPs and moved forward with their lives. Now, if only Mary and her team had found some animals and set up a pen at the motel, the day would be complete in his mind.
John and Cy had returned to the motel ahead of Vince. He was eager to see how Mary and Reese had made out today, but first he wanted to use the loader to put the trailer into a better position for the night. It wouldn’t take long, and then he’d be right behind them.
He’d also left a spare key to his garage with Mary so the ones who stayed behind today could refill the water containers, something he hoped they had actually done. Vince looked forward to a fresh jug of semi-cool water all to himself. Not only was he hungry, but he was parched as well. The last few bottles of water he drank were warm and not exactly refreshing.
With the trailer in place, Vince ran the loader back to the motel and parked it in its usual spot along the curb. Tom was still on watch and made his way out of the Lincoln when he saw Vince coming.
“Looks like you guys did pretty good today,” Tom called out before Vince had climbed all the way down from the cab.
“Yeah, it went all right, I guess. We’d hoped to make a few runs, but there’s always tomorrow.” After jumping the rest of the way to the ground, Vince stretched his arms above his head. Knowing he was done with the loader for the day felt good.
“How’s the arm?” Vince asked.
“Not too bad.” Tom attempted to lift his arm a few inches off his body but struggled against the restrictive bandages and sling. Reese had fashioned them out of a cut-up towel to keep his arm immobile. Tom winced a little as he let it back down.
“Well, don’t push yourself. Let it heal and do what Reese tells you. You’re still a big help just standing watch. In fact, maybe you could take more watch shifts if you’re up to it.”
Tom nodded slowly. “Sure, Major. I guess I could do that. Don’t worry, though. I’ll be back in action in a few days.”
“Don’t rush it. You need to heal properly,” Vince cautioned as he started across the parking lot for the motel. It would take a couple of weeks before Tom was healthy enough to help out with what needed to be done around here. Vince wasn’t blaming him, even though it was Tom’s fault that he got shot, but he just wanted to be realistic in his expectations. If standing watch was the only way Tom could contribute to the group, then he should do that as much as possible.
“You should see how they got the animals set up,” Tom called out as Vince continued across the parking lot. “They did a real good job with that today.”
“I’ll be sure to take a look,” Vince answered.
Vince was reminded that he had the 12:00 to 4:00 a.m. watch tomorrow morning, and he wanted to talk to John and Cy about that. If he was already going to be up, he might as well head over to the garage after his shift and get to work on a way to run power from the solar panels to the motel. There was no reason why John and Cy couldn’t handle a few runs to the dealership on their own. It would be easier if they started early, anyway, before the heat could slow them down.
The mornings were always cooler, and Vince also considered them the least likely time for an attack. They should be taking advantage of the lower temperatures, and after struggling with the oppressive heat this afternoon, he was going to suggest that they all work more in the early morning hours from now on. The heat had taken too much out of them, and he felt they could have accomplished much more if they didn’t have to take so many water breaks. They might even have to consider sitting out the middle part of the day if this heat wave continued.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Vince hoped they could try and return to some type of normal schedule—or at least as close to normal as possible. The extra rest they all enjoyed and then grew sick of when they were trapped in their rooms for the first few days had long worn off. Everyone had the same look on their faces: total exhaustion. Between the rescue mission and crazy hours they were keeping, no one had gone to bed at a decent hour lately.
An earlier bedtime was one of Vince’s goals for tonight, especially since he had to get up so early for watch duty. He thought about how good it would feel to take off his boots and lie down tonight, but as he neared the motel, he smelled something that made him forget all about how tired he was.
He couldn’t put his finger on the delicious aroma that filled the air, but his mouth began to water just the same. He wasn’t sure what they were making for dinner tonight, but it was undoubtedly the best thing he’d ever smelled in his life. Other than a protein bar and water, he hadn’t had anything since their late breakfast this morning, and his stomach growled with every step he took toward what had become their dining room.
Vince was about to open the office door and follow his nose to dinner when he stopped and noticed that the vending machines and ice machine had been moved. With the promise of food, he’d forgotten all about the animals. He ignored his grumbling belly and wandered over to take a quick look at the courtyard. Approaching the section of fence that extended from the ice machine to the exterior of the motel wall, he leaned over the makeshift barricade to see how Mary and the others had set up the courtyard. He counted the animals but gave up when he got to the chickens, which were constantly on the move and chasing bugs as they pecked at the ground.
“Quite the petting zoo, huh?” Mary surprised him; he hadn’t noticed her walk up behind him.
“Looks like you guys had a pretty good day.”
“Bill and Fred followed Reese and me out to my place with his Dodge. We made a pretty good haul today.”
Vince smiled. “I can see that. Great job.”
Mary joined Vince at the gate and leaned over. “That’s only half of it. We also brought back all the preserves from my basement, along with a few other things. We made two trips out there today.”
“Wow, I’m impressed.” Vince paused for a moment as he looked the animals over. “Aren’t you missing a pig?”
Mary lowered her head, and he suddenly felt bad for asking so casually.
Mary shrugged. “Yeah, one of the sows didn’t make it. She was attacked by something.”
“I’m sorry.” Vince put his arm around her and tried his best to comfort her. He wanted to ask about what she meant by attacked and if they knew what had done it, but he didn’t want to risk upsetting her further.
“It’s okay. I’m over it.” She leaned into him a little. Vince wasn’t buying her claim of being over the loss of the pig, but he figured it was best to let it go.
She laughed. “Aren’t we all?”
“I plan on doing something about that. Going to get started on that effort tomorrow morning first thing.” Vince straightened up off the fence and was suddenly aware of how disgusting he felt.
“Oh, by the way, here’s the key to the garage. Everything is off and locked back up.” Mary fished around in her pocket, but Vince stopped her.
“Why don’t you hang on to that, just in case?” He shrugged. Mary smiled and they both watched the animals for a second.
“Well, come on. Dinner is just about ready, and I know you’re starving. I’ll see you in there in a minute. I’m going to go knock on some doors and let the others know. That’s what I came out here to do in the first place.” Mary put her hand on his shoulder as she headed off.
Vince really was pleased with the courtyard setup and gave it one more glance as he walked away. They’d all worked hard today as well. It had taken a lot of effort to accomplish all this. Just the watering trough alone must have taken a while to fill, what with all the trips back and forth to the garage to fill containers. The animals would go through a lot of water in this heat, and that was just another reason to get the water working at the motel.
Vince was proud of his little group, and he felt hopeful that everything was going to work out. Cloverdale would never be what it once was, but it would be something again—they wouldn’t be wiped off the map forever. And if they could survive, then there had to be other towns that would make it, too.
When Vince entered the room, Sarah and the kids were setting the table for a proper sit-down meal. They had even gone so far as to set up a folding table in the corner so that everyone had a decent place to sit. Both tables were complete with tablecloths and candles burning at the center of each one.