Beyond the New Horizon (Book 2): Desperate Times

by Conaway, Christine

  “There was a bunch of people there that were shooting the people who were trying to escape the building. This lady and two little kids were trying to sneak by the cars, but some guys saw them…we tried to stop them.”

  Lucas looked like he was going to burst into tears and Gina had heard enough. “You got away, and I’m sure you did all that you could. No one could expect you to take on a group of men by yourselves. When you get older, you’ll see that you have to pick your battles. The main thing is, you’re okay, and you’re going home.”

  “We should have done more to help them. I never thought they would kill the kids.”

  Matt looked as traumatized as Lucas, and Gina didn’t know what she could say to diminish the heavy feelings of guilt both boys seemed to be carrying.

  “I think some people have gone a little crazy from everything that’s happened to them. When people are afraid or faced with a situation they don’t know how to handle, it sparks something in their brain, or maybe it shorts out or something, I don’t know. It makes good people do things they would never have done before.”

  “Oh bull crap! They were one tick shy of being unhinged, to begin with. Sometimes all it takes is the restraint put on people by acceptable social behavior, and when you don’t have that, people think they can do as they want. As we are now seeing, we have a complete lack of any kind of restraint or conscience being used.”

  “It’s not going to stop, is it? I mean the killing and everything?”

  “No Lucas, I don’t think it is unless someone steps up and takes control of the situation and I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

  “Maybe we should…do something. Those people didn’t have guns or anything.”

  “Lucas, for us to help anyone, we first have to help ourselves. How many men were there?”

  Lucas looked at Matt. Matt shrugged his shoulders, “Maybe fifty or sixty, but they weren’t just men. There were woman and kids too. Kids my age!”

  “So, you think we should step in and help all of the people who have no one to defend them?” Sam seemed to be having trouble hearing Matt’s words, even though he and Ben had discussed the same thing around the campfire weeks before.

  “If we don’t, then who will?”

  Sam looked at Gina and frowned, “It can’t be us. We don’t have the artillery nor the manpower to take on a big group of people determined to raise hell and what do we do with any people who we save if we were to intervene?”

  “I know we can’t take in any more bodies at the ranch, but that shouldn’t stop us from helping. Groups like the one the boys saw and the one Ben was with will run roughshod over anyone who crosses their path, if someone doesn’t stop them. A lot of good people will be lost if no one steps in.”

  “I’m afraid it’s already too late to prevent that. Don’t know what to say other than we’ll talk about it with John when we get back.”

  “Dad won’t do anything. He’s always saying how we need to mind our own business and not to get involved.”

  “This is one time, I don’t think he has a choice. The only thing that will allow those people to succeed in their evil ways is for people like ourselves to do nothing. And I for one don’t intend to let scum like them to take over our country…or what’s left of it. Now, we need to get some sleep so we can pull out of here at first light.”

  Sam and Gina spread their sleeping bags out for the boys to share. The plan was for one of them to stay awake while the other caught some sleep.

  “You go ahead and get some shut eye. I’m not ready to sleep yet.”

  “I thought I’d sit by the fire for a few minutes,” Gina said and put some small branches on their fire. “I’d kill for some coffee right now.”

  “And we don’t even have any from the MRE’s because we didn’t bring any. Where did you get those freeze dried meals anyhow?”

  “They’re not freeze dried, they’re dehydrated, and no, they don’t come with coffee packets. You have to buy coffee separately.”

  “Gina,” Matt whispered, “We have MRE’s in the pack saddle. There’s coffee in them.”

  “What do you say to a walk? It wouldn’t take long to go get Matt’s saddle and the pack.”

  Gina saw with the bright moon overhead, they would have plenty of light to see by. “Sure, why not. Can we carry it all back in one trip? It would sure save some time in the morning, and I could really use some coffee. I’ve had a headache all day from no caffeine.”

  “I guess unless someone finds a way or source to grow coffee trees, we’re all going to have to learn to live without it.”

  “But not today. Let’s go.”

  When they reached the clearing, Gina let out an explosive breath filled with horror, “Oh my God…Sam, we can’t just leave them like that.”

  Sam grabbed her arm when she turned to run toward the horse. “No. Leave it be. Let’s just get our stuff and get out of here. I hate to think what is big enough to make such short work of her.”

  Matt’s saddle had been left beside a tree, but they were no longer intact. Something had torn the saddle bags and the bags from the pack saddle apart, scattering the contents across the clearing. The brown plastic around the MRE’s was ripped and chewed. Matt’s belongings were scattered about as if something had gone through his bag looking for easier food than the horse. Matt’s sleeping bag had been unrolled, and it looked like something had taken its meal and eaten it while laying on the cloth bag.

  Gina gathered it up with the intention of rolling it up, the smell wrinkled her face with disgust. “Gross, I don’t know if we can wash the stink out or not. Maybe I should forget it? The insulation was torn loose and fluffed out along the tears in the material.

  Sam had gathered up anything that wasn’t chewed beyond recognition. He waggled a small packet in the air, “At least they didn’t chew this up.” He crawled around on his knees looking for anything else of value.

  They salvaged Matt’s saddle, bridle, the jenny’s halter and rope and a few of Matt’s personal belongings that hadn’t been ripped to shreds. The pack saddle on the jenny had been broken beyond repair by the falling tree and Sam couldn’t get to it without cutting the tree away. Gina had finally given up on rolling the bedroll and left it behind.

  “I’m confused,” Gina told Sam. “What’s up with the weather?”

  Sam stopped and set the saddle down at his feet. He stretched his back to relieve the strain of carrying it over his shoulder. “I have no idea. We should be buried under a couple feet of snow by now. In my lifetime I can only remember one December where it was up to 43° on Christmas.”

  Did you notice the buds on the maples? When we were cutting the Vine Maple, I noticed them. It seems mother nature is really messing things up.”

  “If this is what winter is going to be like for the rest of it, I’m afraid what it will do for the wildlife. I’m pretty sure it was a bear who did the damage to the horse, but bears are usually hibernating by now. I did find some scat and hair rubbed off on one of the trees.” He held his hand up just about chest high.

  Gina’s mind saw a huge grizzly standing on his hind legs scratching, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. “Do you have grizzlies around here?”

  “Never seen one. At least not here.”

  Gina relaxed, “But I know a man who saw one and he told me about a guy who shot one that was killing his calves.”

  “Great! Not only do we have human intruders, but we have to watch for the four-legged prowlers as well.”

  “There’s always been someone or thing who wants what you have. We expect it from animals, but now we have to expect it from humans too.”

  “So, do you think with the earthquakes, something could have knocked the earth off its axis or something? Tipping even a few degrees different could change all of the climates and not just ours. We could be well into to spring as warm as it is right now.”

  “I don’t even know. Maybe we should have Mark check it out with some of his cont
acts. If it’s like this all over then perhaps you could be right.”

  “I wonder what it will mean for our garden? I almost feel like we should get some plants started, but it would be my luck as soon as we were ready to plant them that winter would decide to show up with a vengeance.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. If we don’t plant and we wait until the calendar, and the almanac says it’s spring, we could miss the growing season if the seasons have changed. We could be damned if we do and damned if we don’t.”

  “Mary is the gardener. Maybe ask her, but I bet she’s already got some seeds started.”

  Sam swung the saddle back upon his shoulder and walked off. Gina followed him in silence, lost in her own thoughts. The idea that the earth could have somehow been knocked off kilter by all of the earthquakes kind of made sense to her. What other explanation could there be for the spring-like weather, unless it had just been postponed? They had no way of knowing. If the weather had changed all over…but she would have to wait until they talked to Mark.

  At their camp, both boys seemed to be asleep. The fire was nothing but glowing coals, but it was warm enough to be without it, except Gina would really like to have some coffee.

  His voice low, to not disturb the boys, “This is instant coffee crystals just in case you want to stick your finger in and lick it.”

  “Just when I was thinking how mature you’ve been acting.”

  He chuckled, “I was serious. We used to do that in Iraq when we couldn’t have a fire.”

  “Can you please just put some wood on the fire. I’d rather drink it thank you.”

  She didn’t remember falling asleep, but she must have because Gina woke to the sound of hushed voices. Unable to keep her eyes open, she had wrapped herself in her jacket and curled up beside the boys and lay watching Sam in the glow from the fire. He had agreed to wake her when he was tired which meant he had been up all night.

  She couldn’t imagine why the boys were up so early, it was still dark, but she could see the blue-gray of dawn lightening the sky. Had they been camped out in different circumstances, Gina might have burrowed down in her sleeping bag and fallen back asleep, but these were desperate times with no time for the luxury of sleeping late. As much as she hated the thought, she needed to get up, but she would be doing it against everything her body was telling her.

  She lay there with her head pillowed on her arm and watched the guys. Matt seemed more alert, other than the occasional flash of pain on his face, and he rubbed his upper thigh as he talked. The interaction between Sam and Lucas appeared to be more relaxed, and she hoped they had talked out their differences. She understood Sam’s anger, but at the same time she understood why Lucas had chosen to go with his friend, and she certainly understood that not telling Matt about his father had been the catalyst behind this whole misadventure. She would be glad to get back to the ranch. With any luck, she thought they could be there by that night or at least the next day.

  She sat up and stretched. Her mouth felt like she had been asleep with it wide open. She swished her tongue around the inside of her mouth to work up some saliva. She knew they didn’t have any toothpaste or mouthwash, but thought she remembered something about the Indians and early settlers using charcoal to clean their teeth with.

  “It’s about time you rolled out. Come and have some of this coffee while I put the fire out. Lucas, see about getting the horses saddled.”

  “There’s a brush in one of my saddlebags,” Gina called to the boy.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “How are you feeling Matt? Is the leg bothering you?”

  “Some. Sam just gave me the last Aleve. I’m not going to let you carry me out of here either.”

  “Oh? You feel good enough to walk?”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Matt frowned at her, “No ma’am. I thought I could ride with one of you.”

  “Sam, you never did say if you found us a better way out of here.”

  “Actually, I did say. I said it would be rough, but we could do it. Of course, I hadn’t thought about Matt not being able to walk…but, he can ride, and we’ll tie the stretcher on one of the horses. When we need to walk, we’ll have to use it. We’ll just take turns carrying you.”

  Gina saw that Matt’s face was turning red and she knew he was going to spout off, “Matt, you can’t walk no matter what you think. If you try it, you will end up crippled. Now, let’s get out of here.”

  Sam lead the way with Lucas following him. Matt sat on top of Clyde for the first ride. Gina followed Chief with Sailor and Gus trailed along behind. Gus was a social animal, and she knew he wouldn’t get far away, and it was easier than tying him to Sailor where he would inevitably go around the wrong side of a tree.

  Several times Sam had to stop to untangle the stretcher from brush where it had gotten stuck. Sam had been tempted more than once to leave the poles and cord along side the trail until Gina had reminded him how valuable the paracord was. He hadn’t wanted to stop and untie the knots, and so it remained tied to his saddle. While it had been uncomfortable for Sam to straddle the poles tied to his saddle, he did it anyhow.

  Matt rode Chief when he wasn’t forced onto the stretcher, while Lucas had walked every step leading his horse, and sometimes all three of the horses.

  By noon, the trail had become almost impassable, with Sam having to cut more than one tree out of their path. Sam figured after six hours of walking and riding they hadn’t gone more than a couple miles in the right direction. They found places where metal guard rail stuck out of the dirt and rock as if someone had thrown it from above. They found whole sections of concrete and other sections that had been reduced to gravel. At no point did they find the freeway intact.

  With every shift in their forward direction, Sam would have to stop and study the terrain. Finally, he stopped and with a sigh, dropped down on a boulder. He sat slump-shouldered for several minutes before speaking. While she waited, Gina brought out the pemmican and gave the boys each a piece and handed one to Sam. He took it without looking at it and bit off a chunk.

  Sam chewed it thoughtfully. He looked up at Gina and then at the square of food in his hand and took another bite. “Not bad,” he admitted. It’s almost like one of those health food bars, only better tasting.”

  “Yeah, just like one of them only different,” Gina said. She grimaced when no one picked up on the dissimilarity of what she’d said.

  “Is there more?” Sam asked as he put his last bite into his mouth.

  “There is, but at the rate we’re going, we need to ration it. You probably don’t feel it, but you just ate a whole day’s worth of nutrition.”

  He rubbed his stomach, “You’re right. I don’t feel like I ate anything.”

  “They aren’t cookies. Drink some water it’ll make you feel full.”

  “Well, seeing as I’m the one who needs to go ahead and find a way through this mess, don’t you think I need some more energy?”

  She hadn’t wanted to say anything to the boys, but they had enough food with the three MRE’s the boys had and the pemmican, to last them two or three days at the most. It had taken them a week to find their way through going east. They had elected to find a different route going back west, but she could see from the troubled expression on Sam’s face that it wasn’t going to be easy.

  When Sam stood up to go, she walked a short way with him. “Can we get back? I can see you look troubled.”

  “We can. I’m not sure how or when, but if we have to climb these damn mountains we’ll get there. Some of the ground we crossed today is unstable. If we get any more earthquakes, these hills are liable to come down around our ears. Somehow, we need to keep moving. I’m just not sure…” Sam sighed, “I’m just not certain that we’re going the right direction to get there. It seems the further west we go, the worse the terrain gets.”

  “Can we turn south and go back the way we came? Maybe it will be easier. But, we may have another problem.”r />
  “Like we need any more of those. What is it, our food?”

  Gina nodded. “We have enough pemmican to last the four of us a week if we ration it, and I do mean ration. One piece a day and that’s banking on us getting to the ranch in a week.”

  “As near as I can figure, we are still forty, maybe fifty miles out. There is no way we can make that in a week unless we can ride. Under normal conditions, it would have been a two-day ride.”

  “For Pete’s sake, stop talking about normal conditions. These are the conditions we have now. I don’t want to hear how we could make it in two days. I want to know how long it’s going to take us now…today, under these conditions.”

  “I can’t say for sure. I know you don’t see what I see when I look at these mountains. They are not the same mountains I grew up with. Hell, they don’t even run the same direction anymore.” He pointed at Matt and Lucas, who were watching them, “You guys tell her. Everything has changed. Every earthquake brings more changes, and just when I think I know where I’m going, we get another damn shaker and more changes. All I do know is that we’re going west most of the time.”

  “Well, what does that say about your tracking ability? Huh? You told me you could find your way anywhere and yet here we are still lost!”

  Gina put her hand over her mouth horrified at what she had just said. She looked at the boys, and they had heard her. Sam was standing with his mouth hanging open as if he couldn’t believe what had come out of her mouth. Gina closed her eyes and with both hands massaged her forehead. Her fingers got tangled in her unruly hair. She pulled them away and really looked at her hands. She turned then from back to front almost ready to cry at the sight of them. Her nails were broken off, some still with a crust of blood and dirt caked under the edge. She had scratches and dirt had settled into the creases of her knuckles. The blisters she had gotten chopping the tree down had broken with the small circle of missing skin, exposing her to all kinds of unknown infections.