by Logan Keys
"What I mean is that if you guys hadn’t stopped for me then maybe you'd already be south. Maybe you would have never have gotten tangled up in Oklahoma. Maybe..."
"Maybe we'd all be dead, you mean?"
"Uh.”
"Brittany,” Chuck said, making himself clear. “You better get that crazy notion of your head. You are a hero."
"What. No. Paige is a hero."
Chuck pushed his hat back and glanced away, obviously overcome with emotion. “Yeah. She is. Of course." He cleared his throat. “But so are you. If you hadn't’ve saved Beau. He would not have come back and saved all of us. Paige wouldn’t have been the only one to pay the ultimate price. In fact, you two might be doing a lot worse than dead now...you think of that?"
She’d tried not to. Being a slave to Dusty's desires had sounded like hell on earth. She shook her head nevertheless. "I’m no hero. I did what I thought was right.”
Chuck laughed dryly. “That’s what Paige did, too. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? Do the right thing. But at what cost? You both risked it all to save me, and our group. Each other.”
He didn’t know the truth about her, she thought. She had already let her own group down and owed this one her life. At least, that’s how she felt. She was so close to confessing how she lost the kids that she bit her tongue. “I’m not like Paige,” she finally said, also making herself clear. “I would never do what she did.”
“You tried,” Chuck said. “You offered yourself over me to Dusty.”
“Because dying was better than being his slave. It was still for my own selfish reasons. Chuck, I won’t say more, but you have to trust me on this, I’m not like your sister. I wish I was. But I’m not. And I don’t want her duties, and I don’t want to be in charge. I will do anything else. Anything. But I can’t take her place and I don’t feel comfortable trying.”
“Fine. But you are good, Brittany. And you did try to save me.” Chuck gazed at her with a serious expression. “And I won’t ever forget it. I promise you that.”
Brittany was too embarrassed to answer. She focused on the road, hoping to help keep Chuck from missing the side street they'd been looking for.
"There,” she said quietly, and Chuck slowed and turned on his blinker to let the rest know to follow but he chuckled quietly to himself, seeming to know she was avoiding his comments about her bravery.
She felt the opposite of brave. She felt like bad luck for everyone who got too close.
The side road was bumpy, and the truck managed to find every pothole on it. Soon though, they turned back onto the main highway and passed a few cars pulled over the side of the road, before they saw the exit into the town. Plainview, the sign read.
"Should we stop here?"
"Why not," Chuck said. "Could use to stretch my legs."
But as they were pulling off, Brittany noticed cars were pulled over, more of them this time.
And then she saw the driver's face smashed against the window. Brittany gasped out, “Chuck!”
He slowed down and pulled up alongside the one where they could see the dead person staring out.
“There’s more,” he said as he pulled forward and checked each one.
Brittany had stopped looking.
“What happened to them?” she asked.
There were pile-ups along the road, so much so, that Chuck had to stop.
"What happened to all of them is more like it. The entire town looks dead.”
The caravan was waiting behind them but Brittany could spot a person lying on the sidewalk and more in their cars ahead.
"It can’t be all of them….” But as they waited long minutes she breathed out in surprise. “They really are aren’t they? Dead."
Chuck picked up the radio. "George. "
“Ya.”
“Looks like something happened here and we don’t want to find out if its contagious. Let’s head back to the highway.
“Roger.”
“Wait,” Brittany said, putting a hand on Chuck’s arm. “Shouldn’t we at least check and see if anyone needs help?”
Chuck glanced at her sadly, putting the truck into reverse. “I wont risk my group again. I should have listened to my gut before in OKC but this time, I’m not going to risk it. Sorry.”
Brittany nodded, and they turned around and headed back for the highway. She understood on some level what Chuck was saying, but for some inexplicable reason, she felt like she should be in that town. She tamped that down and, as they drove away, it lessened.
“Chuck, you said we were heading south but not exactly where.”
“As close to Mexico as we can get without being over the border. Southern Arizona.”
“You know people there?” Brittany asked.
“I know of a place. Not sure if the people will be there, too, but I sure hope so. If they are alive in all this…it would be a miracle. His place is a good one to bunker down in, for sure. He’s a prepper and he always told me I could come stay if I needed it. Well, we need it.”
“Is he going to be okay with you bringing every one along with you?”
“Yeah. Randy’s a good guy. He’d say, the more the merrier. You know, Paige...” Chuck let his voice fall off for a while, and the sound of them driving filled in the blanks. “Paige,” he finally continued. “She always wanted us to move closer to Randy’s place. She loves---loved it down there.”
“I bet.”
Brittany still felt responsible, no matter what Chuck said. She knew she helped start the events that lead to Paige’s death one way or another. No that guilt could change it but still, she wished she could change so many things. That she’d had the grenade. That Paige and Chuck were still leading the charge down to Southern Arizona.
“How long is the drive?”
“About ten hours, so if you are tuckered out, best get some sleep now.”
“What about you?”
Chuck’s mouth stretched in a dry smile. “I won’t be sleeping for as long as I can help it. Nightmares are pretty bad.”
Brittany decided that she would close her eyes. Just for a minute.
**
“Wake up, sleepy head. We are in El Paso already. Better go to the bathroom, and George has something cooked up for eatin’.”
Brittany stumbled to the bathroom at the rest stop. She found the toilets clogged so she went outside in a bush with some toilet paper, and returned to find the group discussing what she’d noticed herself. “Why is it so quiet? Empty?” someone asked.
Chuck answered, “Not many can travel anymore. Maybe gas has run out for most. I dunno. The city had people still but we’ve kept wide around it. Here in the desert, it’s always been quiet, but now without any lights in the city, it creeps up on you how much things have changed.”
Brittany ate and stretched her legs. She got into the truck when Chuck announced they’d be moving on. Like he promised, he didn’t ask her again to do Paige’s job and he even said he’d be seeing if Sue had any interest. She was a boisterous woman who was very decisive. Chuck’s cheeks turned redder whenever she was near, and Brittany wondered if there was more to the choice than he let on.
But it was Brittany who Chuck invited to ride with him. She could tell by the red around his eyes he’d been crying had while she wished she’d stayed awake to keep him company, she also felt that maybe Chuck wanted the privacy anyway.
They drove through the night and only stopped twice to look at the map and find ways around the cracks in earth. This far west had suffered more earthquakes. They were finally in Arizona and luckily the ten freeway was still mostly intact. It was a straight shot south, and when Chuck told her they were only a half an hour away from their destination, a little thrill went through her at the thought of finally being settled.
Home. They would be at what she could call home. For now.
She counted each minute and each mile was marked until they arrived. When they pulled up, Chuck said, “Tada.” Though, it wasn’t much, just a row of c
abins and trailers, side by side, to her, it was like reaching the promised land. “But I have not even shown you the best part,” Chuck added.
He found a giant shed full of supplies and he moved the largest trunks to reveal a shelter that went below the ground.
“Wow,” Brittany said. “These guys are really prepared. Was this a campground or something?”
“Yeah. But I don’t see anyone here, so it’s probably been out of use for a while, and, that means it might still have some supplies, and power even. Gas for a generator. He had everything here.”
The place had been tucked back a ways off a side road in the middle of nowhere. Anyone looking for supplies would have missed it. It was safe. A haven, really, and Brittany glanced at Chuck and grinned.
He grabbed her hand and said, “I’m glad you are here.”
Chuck was incredibly perceptive, and he must have read the hesitation on her face to feel needed or wanted in a group setting.
“Thank you for bringing me.”
Chuck started digging around, exclaiming excitement over every find. They had food, plenty of it. MRE’s, and clothing. They had water enough for a year if they didn’t have snow to melt, and they had generators and gas. It was like a paradise for the apocalypse.
After some time, Brittany asked, “Your friend? You think he’s still alive?”
“I was just about to head over there. You want to…come with?” Chuck rubbed the back of his neck. He was obviously afraid of what he’d find.
“Of course,” Brittany said.
Brittany could tell Chuck was hesitant to see if his friend was there or alive. He took extra time helping the others unload their things. Checking on each of them, and sort of loitering until she finally stood next to the truck door with her arms crossed.
Chuck finally headed over and got inside. They drove out of the campsite and went back to the main road. Not a minute down that, they took a turn onto a dirt road that was almost as hidden as the campsite’s road was. Dogs came rushing out to greet the truck. They barked and yipped, all chasing the tires.
Brittany thought it was a good sign that the dogs looked healthy and well-fed.
Chuck and she shared a hope-filled glance.
When they pulled up to the house, a manufactured home that was decked out with a porch that wrapped all the way around, a man stood up from his rocker and Brittany could see the halo of smoke coming from a glowing pipe that hung from his lips.
He also had a shotgun pointed at them.
Chuck got out with this hands up. “Randy,” he called. “It’s me!”
The man froze for a moment before he threw down the pipe and set down the gun, and then hobbling down the steps in excitement. “Well I will be a monkey’s uncle! Lord all mighty, it can’t be you. Chuck!” The man turned towards the house. “Cindy, get out here! We have company!”
Cindy appeared, a woman with curlers in her hair and she stepped outside, blinking through thick glasses. “Oh my, is that really you? Is that Paige with you?”
Brittany exited the truck and they both glanced at Chuck confused. The dogs sniffed Brittany as Chuck clarified. “This is Brittany. A friend.”
Randy seemed crestfallen. He understood right away. Cindy took a moment and then she crossed herself, saying a quiet prayer.
The woman told them all, “I have dinner on the table. You get your butts inside!”
“All right, woman,” Randy said. “Hold your horses. They just got here.”
Cindy waved him away, waddling back inside.
The man approached and hugged Brittany to him like he’d known her all his life. Chuck and Randy also gripped one another tightly. “Good to see you, brother,” the man said, clearly too old to be an actual brother.
“You too,” Chuck said, his voice tight.
Brittany followed Cindy inside and the woman got a good look at her in the light. They had power. That was shocking enough, but Brittany smelled the food cooking. She saw the dogs all lined up in front of the TV. They were watching a movie.
The woman handed her a drink, cold in a glass. “Hope you like tea. Sweetened.”
Brittany stared at the glass then at the TV and then at the woman. She put out an extra plate piled high with meat and potatoes.
Brittany sat her drink down, surrounded by familiar sights and sounds and smells that felt as if they were from ages ago. Finding her seat, she couldn’t help it. The tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
“Oh, no, hun,” the woman said rushing over, clucking like a hen. She pulled Brittany into a hug. “Oh, you’ve been through it all, haven’t you? The worst is over, sweet girl. You are safe now.”
Brittany let it go, and she started to cry harder. “I mean…” she hiccuped. “It’s just so nice to do normal things for once.”
All the fear and anguish had finally caught up with her. Her emotions poured out no matter how she tried to stop embarrassing herself.
“It’s okay,” Cindy said quietly. “You let it all out, Okay?”
Randy came inside, and he paused at the scene and glanced at Chuck with a knowing expression.
“Welcome,” he said to both of them. “Welcome. Stay as long as you need.”
Chapter 9
Nogales, Arizona
Kent was moving everyone in. He and his men were sprawled out all over the house like they owned the place. "What do we do with the sleeper?" one of the men asked.
"If he lives, we hang him, too."
"Nah," the man said shaking his head. "Too big."
"Here." Kent handed him his pistol. "Shoot him."
"No!" Luckman jumped to his feet as best he could with his hands tied to the stair's posts. "Please!"
Kent turned towards him with new interest. His eyes narrowed. "Why not?"
"Because he's an injured man. Is that also part of the old west code? That you have to murder the injured and women? What if word gets out that you killed us all, you will look weak. For a fresh start, sure sounds lame."
Kent though for a moment. "You know what? You’re right. Maybe we let the women go. Let your friend heal up and leave when he's able, and just hang you, how does that sound?"
"No!" Jean cried the same time that Luckman offered, "Okay."
Jean turned on Luckman with a snarl. "You will not sacrifice yourself for me! I won't have that on my conscience."
Luckman smiled at her softly. "Perhaps you don't have a choice in the matter."
Kent watched the exchange with an intrigued expression. "Tell you what. I'll let you both go now, as a gesture of good faith."
Cal's mouth dropped. "What about me?"
"I need a doctor around. You want the job?"
Cal nodded, obviously too afraid to decline. "Good," Kent said. "Untie the girls. They can leave."
"What?" Terry asked, wide eyed. "Are you serious?"
"I am."
They untied Terry and Jean and Jean rushed over to Luckman with tears in her eyes. "I won't do it. I won't leave you. Don't ask me to do this."
But he already knew that she would and had no choice. She touched his cheek, and he closed his eyes, drinking in the feel of it. "Go," he whispered, opening his eyes. "You take your sister to her family. And don't you dare look back."
Jean leveled him with a gaze and then she finally nodded.
Luckman watched Kent walk Jean and Terry to the door. His heart raced. Would the man change his mind? Would he shoot them in the yard? Was it all a cruel trick?
But he could hear them being given horses to ride out on. "This one is real reliable,” one of Kent’s men was telling her.
The men didn't even bat an eye at the change of heart their leader suddenly had, which meant Kent was either very smart or very crazy. Maybe both.
Luckman could hear the horses trot from the yard and he leaned back, felling lighter than air. Now that they were safe, he just had to accept the trade. His life, for all of theirs. "And my friend," he said to Kent when the man returned. "You’ll let him go as well.”
"I will."
Luckman gave a half smile. "You don’t need a scientist around, do you?"
"Is that you? You a book man?"
Luckman nodded.
"Nah. I don't cotton to any of that mess.
“Thought so,” Luckman said, and Kent winked at him and moved past.
It was strange, like they had an understanding now. He’d be strung up and he wouldn’t fight it and Kent enjoyed having someone to put in a tree because he was angry at the world, or whatever. He’d be able to say he did it the old west way, while Luckman had finally run out of luck.
Holtz came into the house not a few moments later. "Where are the girls going? Saw them riding out to the road?'
Kent told him what he'd done, and Holtz deflated like someone stole the candy out of his pinata. The man was pure evil, Luckman thought. Sour over the fact that they'd only be hanging Luckman and it made Luckman see red to picture what a traitor Holtz had turned into.
"So why did he keep you, I wonder" Holtz said, and Luckman shrugged.
"Why does he keep you is the better question," Luckman said, and Holtz glared at him before running up the stairs.
"Better check on German."
Luckman stared after, worried, but also pretty sure that Holtz wouldn’t do anything stupid where German was concerned. There was an unspoken code, and Kent might string up Holtz, too. Though he was a monster, he was a smart one.
**
“Today is the day. You ready?” Kent bent down and smiled, now level with Luckman’s place on the stairs.
They waited until morning but now Kent had an order to things and Luckman was sweating.
“What do you want for your last meal?”
“My last meal?”
“Yup. The officers, they just get strung up here in a minute, but you, I’ll give you all the perks. Last meal. Last words. The whole shebang.”
The blood drained from Luckman’s face. “The officers? I thought the trade was for me and everyone else was safe.”
Kent slanted him a look that said he was crazy like a fox. “You should have been clear then, partner. They go first. Not changing my mind on that. Oh, don’t look too sad, you did your best, and you weren’t really in any position to negotiate in the first place.”