by Payne, T. L.
Will got out and stood beside Tanner. “I think we should try to find another way around.”
“Do you know this area well enough to know the back roads?” Tanner asked.
“No. Not really.”
Gus climbed out and joined them. “Jaz?”
“I don’t know the streets. I didn’t grow up around here. My mom moved here after she married my stepdad,” she said.
“Maybe one of them knows,” Gus said, nodding back over his shoulder.
Tanner took a step back. “Any of you know another way to Liberty from here that doesn’t go through town?”
A wiry man in his late twenties threw a leg over the truck’s bed and hopped down beside Tanner. His head swiveled, studying the convenience store. “What’s the problem? Why can’t we just keep going?”
“They might want a ride,” Gus said.
Will jerked his thumb toward the crowd. “Or worse, try to take the truck and leave us stranded in that parking lot.”
“You could turn left at the crossroad and go north,” a young mother said. She moved her toddler to the opposite knee and shifted slightly to face them. “We could wind our way around to the other side of Dalton, but you have to get back onto ninety to cross the Trinity River.”
Will turned to Gus. It was his truck, after all. Well, his now; he’d acquired it. The legality of it all had blurred, not that it even mattered at this point. “What do you think?”
“You think we can make the turn before they can rush in front of us and block the lanes?” Gus asked.
“I don’t know. It’s risky, but what choice is there?”
Isabella called Will’s name. “The kids.” She nodded toward the boy in her lap. “We can’t take unnecessary risks.”
He understood her concern. The last thing he wanted was a child’s blood on his hands. This all sucked so badly. Now he was accountable not only for his son and Isabella but all these other refugees. He wanted to tell himself that they were not his problem, but as long as they were traveling together, he had to consider all their safety as well. “Gus?” That was a chicken shit thing to do, he knew. But it wasn’t his decision to make alone. Gus had a girlfriend and a kid on the way. They all needed to be on board with whatever they chose.
Gus turned and stared off in the direction they’d just come. “What if we turn around? Do you think we could find another road?”
“We’d have to backtrack about three miles or so, go north another fifteen or so miles before cutting over to bypass Dalton and come out on the east side of town. All in all, it’ll add thirty or more miles to the trip,” the young mother said.
“That’s an hour, probably,” Will said.
“What if you just floored it and shot past them real quick?” Monte asked. He’d appeared out of nowhere. Will hadn’t seen him get out of the back. “They have a bunch of women and children too. They might not want to engage in a firefight either.”
Will’s head rotated, scanning the parking lot. He was right. They might not want to risk it, especially if they saw Tanner and Monte brandishing pistols. He wasn’t looking forward to adding another hour or more to the trip. He’d hoped to be at Savanah’s by nightfall.
Gus looked torn. “I don’t know. Even if we make it past this group, we are more likely than not going to encounter more people up ahead in Dalton.”
“If we make it past them, I know a way around the south end of the city that will bypass the most populated areas,” the young mother said.
Gus studied the crowd in the parking lot. “I could be doing at least forty miles per hour by the time we pass them. That might be fast enough that even if they fired, they’d miss, but what if they rush onto the highway and block the lanes? This truck is loaded down with people. I can’t just swerve to miss them. I might throw people out.”
“Drop those guns to the ground! Do it now!” a man shouted.
Will dropped low and searched in the direction of the voice.
Tanner whipped around and raised the pistol as he slumped to a crouch by the left front tire. “Where are they? Anyone have eyes on them?”
Monte flattened himself against the cab of the pickup. “They’re in the tree line along the road. Bastards snuck up on us.”
“Get down, everyone! Get down!” Will shouted, slapping the air with his hand.
People were scrambling to get out of the truck’s bed. Children were crying.
Will heard Isabella’s voice. “Get out of the vehicle,” he yelled back to her. He moved backward, yanked open the back driver’s-side door, and pulled Cayden down to the ground. “Stay down.”
“We don’t want to hurt anyone,” the voice called from the trees.
“We’re just passing through. We don’t want any trouble,” Gus yelled.
Will moved around Cayden to take the child from Isabella. His mother appeared at Will’s side and snatched the boy from him.
Isabella pointed to the westbound lanes as she slid from the seat. “We should get across the median and hide the children behind that mover’s truck.”
Will glanced back at the rental van. It was large and would provide better cover for them, but to get there, they’d have to go out into the open. “I don’t know. It might—”
Isabella didn’t wait for Will to answer. She grabbed the boy from his mother and took off running for the van. The child’s mother followed after her, screaming her son’s name. In seconds, Isabella disappeared around the back of the moving van.
“Let’s go,” Will said. “Cayden, take that child’s hand.” He pointed to a six or seven-year-old boy standing by his sister. “You two, hold hands.” Will looked their mother in the eyes. “I’m going to get you and your kids over there where it’s safer.” The frightened woman nodded, tears slipping over her eyelids and streaming down her face. “Ready?” Will asked, and then he grabbed the woman’s hand, and they ran across the median just as the first shots rang out.
Will didn’t look back to see who was doing the firing. He continued on around the van and deposited the woman and her children by the front tire. Isabella was crouched by the back, clutching the boy to her chest. Will pointed. “Cayden, stay down right here. I’m going to check on Isabella.” Cayden opened his mouth to protest. “Stay here.”
Will moved quickly toward the back, stepped around the boy’s mother, and placed a hand on Isabella’s shoulder. “You okay?”
“Jaz and Gus?” she asked.
“I’ll get them,” Will said.
He risked a peek around the rear fender. Everyone back at the pickup had dropped to the ground. Parents were covering their children. Will’s eyes cruised the length of the truck before finding Gus and Jaz near the front tire. The shooting had stopped. The only sound was the children whimpering. Will looked for Tanner or Monte. He still couldn’t be sure who had fired the first shot. Surely it wasn’t Tanner and Monte. Would they put the kids at risk like that? Will didn’t think so. They’d come to Texas to save lives. They didn’t seem like the type of people to be so careless.
“Monte?” It was Tanner calling for him. Will shifted, trying to locate him among the bodies on the pavement.
“You have eyes on them?” Monte called back.
“Negative,” Tanner said.
“I think they are at your two o’clock, by that mound of gravel,” Monte said.
Will spotted Tanner when he raised his head and repositioned himself onto his elbows. “Got ’em.”
“How many?” Monte asked.
“I see two sets of boots.”
“Toes pointing to the sky?” Monte asked.
“Nope.”
“Shit fire.” Monte got up onto all fours and crawled toward Tanner’s position at the back of the truck. “You boys might as well go on back to your loved ones. We ain’t giving up this truck,” he yelled.
The men answered by firing a round into the truck.
Will ducked back behind the moving van. “Stay down. Stay down.” When he looked again, Monte was crawl
ing on his belly toward the side of the road. “On me, Tanner,” he said, disappearing into the tall grass. Tanner took off slithering to the shoulder of the road on his belly. Rifle rounds kicked up dust in the gravel along the road, and Tanner hurried to follow Monte into the grass.
Will looked for movement or any sign of the two in the brush but saw nothing before the gunmen suddenly appeared near a mound of gravel some twenty yards away. Will wanted to shout and warn Tanner and Monte, but he didn’t want to give away his position. He had a clear shot at both men, if only he had his rifle. If only he had ammo for it. The damn thing was useless without ammunition. He cursed the soldiers for not returning the magazines.
A shot cracked, and one of the gunmen dropped to his knees while the other dove behind the gravel pile where Will lost sight of him. He returned his attention to the other man. He’d dropped his rifle and was holding his stomach. Monte appeared beside him, kicked his weapon away, and pressed the barrel of his weapon against the side of the man’s face. Will stiffened, anticipating Monte firing a bullet into the man. The man fell sideways just as Tanner rushed behind the gravel mound. He bent, and when he straightened, he was holding the second man’s rifle. “They’re both down,” Tanner called back.
Will blew out a breath and ran the back of his hand across his forehead. He moved around the bumper and took in the scene back at the Valero gas station parking lot. The people who’d gathered there had scattered, and he hoped they were no longer a threat. He was sick of the violence.
“Let’s get the hell out of here before someone comes looking for them,” Tanner said, hurrying back toward the truck.
Gus helped Jaz to her feet, and she rushed around to the passenger seat. “Cayden, Isabella, let’s go,” Will said, not wanting to get left behind.
“Give me my son,” the mother shouted.
Isabella turned and handed the boy to her. “Come on. We have to go.”
“No. I’m staying here. I’m not getting back in that truck. That thing is just a giant bullseye. I’d rather walk.”
Isabella stared at her for a moment before nodding and turning her back to them.
Will grabbed her hand, and they followed Cayden back across the median and climbed into the truck. Tanner handed a rifle through Will’s open window.
“Here,” he said. “He only had one extra magazine for it though.” Will inspected the AR-15 as Monte handed Isabella a shotgun and a handful of shells. It wasn’t much, but at least they were no longer defenseless.
The other evacuees must have concluded the same thing as the young mother as they chose to stay behind. They hadn’t made it far, and Will wondered how they intended to survive out there on foot. They were five miles from town, and there was no telling what dangers awaited them there.
“Keep an eye on that parking lot. People may have scrambled for cover, but they could still pop out and get a shot off,” Tanner said.
“You guys hold on tight back there,” Gus said. “I’m about to floor this Mfer and haul ass away from here. If you fall out, I ain’t stopping.”
Thirteen
Will
Day Seven
Gus stopped the truck just outside the city limits of Dalton, Texas. Will leaned forward, placed his hand on the back of the driver’s seat, and peered through the windshield. Alongside the westbound lane sat a long train that had been heading for Houston. Will wondered how many millions of barrels of petroleum product sat on idle trains like that one. He began to think of what other commodities were shipped by rail. Grains for sure. What about the food? How great would it be to come upon a whole freight car full of canned foods? He doubted weapons or ammunition would have been moved across the country that way, but they were transported somehow. The way things were going, a person would need a shit ton of it in order to survive.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I say we floor it and get through town as fast as possible and don’t stop for anything,” Gus said.
“Might be safer to go around,” Will said.
“And it might not. May just as likely get shot taking a wrong turn down some ole boy’s driveway.”
That was true. Without GPS or a decent map, they could get hopelessly lost and wind up stuck on a dead-end road.
“Floor it then,” Will said.
Gus did just that. They approached the city of Dalton doing sixty miles per hour. It was a good thing that traffic there must have been light on the day of the EMP and few cars remained on the road. Several men were standing around the auto parts store’s parking lot, but none attempted to stop them. Will’s stomach growled as they sped past all the fast-food restaurants. He wished he’d eaten when everyone else had. It was hard to say when they’d get a chance now, and most of the food was stacked up back on the roadway where they’d picked up the refugee group earlier.
They were almost out of town when the first sign of trouble appeared. Two men riding all-terrain vehicles suddenly pulled out of the Jack in the Box parking lot, blocking their lane. Gus swerved into the turning lane to avoid hitting them.
“That one is a cop,” Jaz said.
“I’m not pulling over for no cop on a four-wheeler,” Gus replied.
Everyone was looking behind them. When Will turned back to face the road ahead, two more ATV riders blocked their lane. “Gus!” Will yelled. Gus turned and cursed as he stomped the brakes. They came to a stop within twenty feet of the officers who had their rifles pointed at the truck.
“Hands in the air,” one of the officers yelled. Everyone in the cab of the pickup complied. Will resisted the urge to turn to see if Tanner and Monte had.
The second officer moved to the driver’s side of the vehicle. “What’s the hurry?” he asked.
The hurry was that they didn’t want to get their vehicle confiscated or into a gun battle again, but that wasn’t what Gus told the man.
“Some folks back there shot at us. We were just trying to get as far away from them as possible,” Gus said.
That wasn’t what Will would have told the cops. Now they might want to question them about the incident and take witness statements or something.
The officer stepped back and examined the bullet holes in the side of the truck. “What’d they look like?”
Gus looked back over his shoulder to Will. “Um…”
Tanner spoke up. “The one ole boy had on a long beard. He wore a white cowboy hat and some fancy boots.”
The officer moved toward the bed of the truck, and Will shifted in his seat to watch him.
“And he just shot at you as you were driving by?”
“Sure did. Scariest shit I have ever been through,” Tanner said.
“Where ya’ll headed?”
“Liberty,” Gus said out the window.
The officer moved back to the driver’s side window. He leaned forward and looked at everyone. Will smiled, as did Cayden and Isabella. Jaz crossed her arms and glared at him.
“What’s in Liberty?”
“Her parents,” Gus said, nodding toward Jaz.
“So you’re just passing through?”
“Yep.”
“You got a license and the registration for this truck?”
Will’s stomach flip-flopped. He had no idea where Gus had found the vehicle, but his name would not be on the registration, Will was sure of that.
“I don’t have my wallet. It was stolen back in Houston. But the registration is in the cubby.” He pointed. “Jaz, you want to get paperwork for the officer?”
Without a word, Jaz opened the glove compartment, pulled out a sheet of paper, and handed it to Gus. He smiled and then handed it to the officer. Will held his breath as the cop unfolded the paper and read the name.
“You’re Stefan Kowalski?”
“Yep,” Gus lied.
Will almost laughed out loud. Kowalski?
The officer eyed him with suspicion before returning the document.
“What about the rest of you? Your wallets stolen too?”
Will shifted and fumbled for his billfold. It wasn’t there. He had no idea when he’d lost it. He shook his head. “I don’t have mine either.”
“I never had one,” Cayden said. The officer smiled and then glanced over to Isabella. She batted her eyelashes and heat surged beneath Will's skin. She reached into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out her identification then leaned across Will and Cayden and handed it through the window.
“Isabella D’Angelo,” he said. “How long have you been in Texas?”
“Oh, a few months. I’ve been meaning to get my license updated.”
He handed it back to her. “I guess it don’t much matter now.”
Everything seemed to be going so well that what he said next surprised Will.
“I’m going to have to ask you folks to exit the vehicle.”
“What? Why?” Gus asked.
“By order of the Mayor of Dalton, we are authorized to seize all working vehicles for use by emergency personnel.”
Jaz lost it. At first, she spoke something in Spanish and then lit into him in English. “Hell to the freaking no! No way! I’m not giving up this truck until I reach my mama’s. I am not walking in this heat. Not going to happen,” she said, waving her hands in the air wildly.
Gus was doing his best to calm her down, but she just swatted his hands away and kept on.
Will turned toward the officer who just stood there with the rifle across his forearms, waiting for her to stop. He wasn’t fazed by it at all.
“You three in the back, go ahead and crawl on out of there.”
Will’s hand dropped to the door handle, but before he could open his door, Gus stomped on the gas. The officer near the ATVs jumped back just in time as Gus swerved into the turning lane and raced away. Will grabbed Cayden’s arm and pulled him down, covering him with his own body. “Get down, Isabella.” He expected bullets to crash through the back glass at any second. He waited and then waited some more.
“Dad, I can’t breathe.”
Will sat up and turned to look in the direction they’d just come. The officers had jumped on their quads and were taking chase after them, but they couldn’t outrun the truck. “I think we’re in the clear,” he said as they exited the town.