by Cooper, DJ
Sobbing, she continued, “He said he would take care of us with all of his supplies and even shot one of the biker guys. Martin found out later that he was a guy they made drive through town like that just so that they could shoot him.”
John asked her, “How far away do we need to go to get away from them?”
She said, “We should be far enough now, they stay pretty close to the city and wait for people to come into town.”
John thought her story a little too organized and feared they may still be in danger, none the less he allowed her to stay with them just in case she was telling the truth and needed to get away.
He told everyone what she said and that he figured it was probably safe to set up camp. But there would be no fires, they were to cook over the camp stove and keep everything put together just to be safe.
Morgan went to Cindy and told her she was sorry, “There was nothing I could do, believe me.”
Cindy sat staunch not really speaking to anyone and scowling at John.
Laurie was staring at Morgan and Cindy saying, “What the hell? Her and her boyfriend just tried to kill Danny and she’s all BFF with her. Can we even trust her?”
Amy overheard and said to her, “I am wondering that myself.”
John, Ray and Dickie sat looking at the map trying to figure out where they were. They knew they went south because the direction showing the mirror inside the truck. They tried to find the river on the map, but there were at least five possibilities. They wanted to get back to their original route, but also needed to get Mandy and Aaron to their family.
Dickie said, “I’ll go ask her what town her family is in, so we can see if it is even possible for us to take them.”
Ray said, “Why wouldn’t we?”
Dickie replied, “There is no way I want to go east at all or go into another city.”
John interjected, “I agree with Dickie to a point. I’ll not bring them to a city, but slightly east as long as it is south I could live with.”
Dickie was growing agitated and said, “I don’t want Jules to have to travel any longer than necessary.”
John sighed, saying, “Somehow, I think this is going to be a long and perilous journey. I thought we could get there in a few days since it was merely a fifteen hour drive a few bumps might slow us down. Now I can see we are in for I think a little more than we bargained for.”
Ray looked down and said, “You don’t know the half of things. Roger and I saw the FEMA relief camps and there is nothing to do with relief in them. By now Ebola will be rampant in them as well as the cities. We need to limit our contact with people, all people. We have no way of knowing who is friend or foe.”
Ray and John agreed with Dickie that the injured needed a day to rest and recover a bit. Ray and Roger would do a bit of scouting to see if they could determine their exact location. They tried the map program on their phones but there was no signal. John cursed himself for not thinking of grabbing Amy’s GPS.
The pine grove they were in offered shade and cover, but they found that where they stopped they could be easily seen from the road. Moving further off the road they felt they could conceal the vehicles better and set up a more comfortable camp.
There would still be no fires until they could determine where they were. Roger and Ray would set out in the Jeep and head down the road to check out the area and determine where they were. First, they wanted to take all the supplies out of the vehicle and leave them with the group. Ray said there were a few reasons why, but mostly for fear of losing them if anything went wrong.
The afternoon was cool, but agreeable, they commenced with setting up their camp. With all the pine needles they made beds under each of the tents that would help with comfort while sleeping.
Mark and Jenny set up a tent for the family and offered to let Rita and Matty share it with them, but Amy said she already had a place for them in their tent. Kimmie and Renee just sat and talked to Morgan all afternoon while Laurie tended to the injured.
Laurie approached Cindy with some salve for her cheek, and Cindy backed away saying, “What are you trying to put on me?”
Laurie said, “It’s nothing really just a little bit of salve to help heal your face.”
Cindy looked disgusted, saying, “Why did you spit the green stuff in it?”
Laurie smiled, saying, “Its plantain.”
As she reached over and plucked a leaf from a weed explaining, “You have to chew it up to get it ready, it has amazing healing abilities and I want to get that cut cleaned and covered before you get an infection.”
Cindy reluctantly allowed her to clean and dress the wound and thanked her for her kindness.
Laurie looked at her sternly, “Don’t thank me, you can thank Amy. You and Martin tried to kill my son. Amy insisted I help you.”
The camp was set up including some firewood that Jenny and Melinda had gathered and said it was for just in case. When they started gathering it, Mark also started gathering rocks to make a fire pit and said it was also for just in case.
John began to get concerned when Ray and Roger did not return for a number of hours. He sat on a rock near the water’s edge, staring into the river.
Kevin approached saying, “I want to help but I don’t know what I should help with.”
John didn’t know what to make of Kevin, Morgan constantly yelled at him calling him stupid and worthless. John wanted to ask him why he stayed with her but didn’t.
Instead, he asked, “Has anyone determined a watch schedule yet?”
Kevin replied, “I don’t know, I’m not usually involved in that kind of stuff.”
John considered what he said and told him, “Well, you are now. If for some reason Ray and Roger don’t return we need enough people to stand watch in twos throughout the night.”
Kevin said, “Should I ask for volunteers?”
John thought a moment and replied, “No, only schedule those with shooting experience. That would include, myself, Dickie, Mark, Amy and Danny. Can you shoot?”
Kevin replied, “Not well.”
John said, “That’s fine schedule yourself with me or Dickie. On second thought, let’s make shorter shifts and add Rita and Laurie to the list.”
Kevin said he would do so and report back to John when he had the schedule and a lookout point. John thanked him and asked that he also keep an eye out for Roger and Ray while he did. Kevin agreed and said it would be good to get some time to himself anyway.
With that taken care of and the camp set up there was little to do but rest, so John stretched out on the rock and settled in for a nice quiet moment.
The sun sank lower in the sky and Kevin had not given John the watch assignments. John went over to the camp and asked Mark if he had seen Kevin.
Mark said, “As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen him since he was talking to you earlier. He went up over that way.” Pointing in the direction they drove into the grove.
John said, “Take a walk?”
Mark Said, “Sure.”
John waved over Dickie and said, “We need to go check something out, keep an eye on things and stay alert?”
Dickie said, “Sure mate, anything I know?”
John said, “It’s probably nothing but we haven’t seen Kevin in a while.”
Dickie looked off like he was thinking and said, “I ain't seen him either.”
John said they would be right back as he and Mark walked up the embankment they drove in the night before. About half way up, Mark grabbed his arm and put a finger up to his lips. Listening, he jerked his head to the left, something was rustling in the bushes. They both crept up to the bush and parted them startling a trembling Matty hiding.
Mark scooped him up and seeing tears streaming down his face asked him, “What’s wrong little man?”
Matty didn’t speak, he cried harder and buried his face in his grandfather’s shoulder. John told Mark to take Matty back to camp and to send Dickie up to meet him.
John
waited for Dickie and the two of them crept through the brush instead of walking up the path between the pines. As they reached the roadway they could see nothing wrong, but also saw no sign of Kevin. They walked just inside the brush alongside the road looking for him and could find no sign of him.
Mark was walking back up the path through the pines looking for John when something caught his eye on a large rock. It looked like blood. He called out to John and Dickie who came running.
Mark looked closer and said, “This is blood and it is fresh, it has hardly dried.”
John and Dickie both drew their handguns and watched in both directions as Mark investigated closer.
They heard Mark as he gasped, “Oh no, no this is bad.”
Scuffling around behind the rock he shook Kevin saying, “Kevin, Kevin…”
He shouted to John, “I need some help, Kevin is hurt…bad!”
John put his firearm away and helped Mark get Kevin out from behind the rock. Dickie said he would keep a watch from the brush alongside the path while they brought him back to camp where Amy and Laurie tried to revive him.
Amy could see someone hit him in the head, she looked at John terrified, saying, “Whoever did this meant to kill him.”
John said, “How do you know that?”
Amy with tears in her eyes said, “He’s been hit with something hard like a rock at least five times. There are five or more distinct impact points on his skull, and look at his side. He was kicked or beaten besides the blows to the head.”
John asked, “Is he going to be ok?”
Amy shook her head saying, “I don’t know, he is barely alive. I would say, chances are not good, even in a hospital, and we don’t have much more than a Band-Aid to work with.”
John sent Mark to get Morgan and bring her to her husband’s side. Thinking she may need moral support he grabbed Renee to be there for her at this time. John and Danny each set up watch posts around the encampment feeling like a threat was still nearby.
When Mark approached with Morgan, Amy was shocked to see a lack of emotion from Morgan.
She looked at him like she was surprised he was alive and said, “What happened to him?”
Amy said, “We don’t know, we found him in the bushes like this.”
Morgan shrugged, saying, “Well, who tried to kill him?”
Amy was shocked as she replied, “No one said anyone tried to kill him.”
Morgan laughed nervously saying, “I was joking, he’s not very graceful if you know my meaning. Did he fall down?”
Amy looked at her coolly saying, “I don’t think he is going to live Morgan.”
Morgan never once reached out for her husband, nor did she shed a tear. She simply shrugged, turned and walked away. Amy asked Laurie to keep him comfortable and let her know if anything changed while she went and talked to John.
Amy told John about how Morgan acted and said, “Someone did try to kill him, and I think it was her.”
John scolded her saying, “I think you are over reacting, some people handle grief differently.”
Amy said, “Mark my words, this is not the last bit of treachery, we will see from her.”
John thought about it a moment and remembered Matty crying in the bushes. Horrified, he ran to Rita, who was putting him down for a nap in the tent. He asked her to come out of the tent a moment.
John said, “Did he say anything yet?”
Rita said, “No, he hasn’t said a single word, he just cries.”
John said, “I think he knows what happened to Kevin, don’t you leave him for one second. If you need to walk away get me or Amy to watch him. No one else do you understand?”
Rita became fearful saying, “Do you think he is in danger?”
John said, “I don’t know, but don’t say anything to anyone about it. If anyone asks, say he has a temp, ok?”
Rita agreed and said, “Thank you John, for everything.”
John nodded to her as he turned and went to find Mark and Dickie. Something happened to Kevin and Matty knew what. He was scared, not just scared, but terrified which to John meant the threat still existed somewhere.
He set the watches to be all day as well as all night, he didn’t know where Roger and Ray went either and was feeling like everything was falling apart right before his eyes.
Melinda and Jenny made dinner and for being just peanut butter and jelly it sure hit the spot. There were sandwiches made with the biscuits left over from the previous night along with some mixed fruit they cut up after finding some blackberries along the path.
There was also other snacking type foods like crackers and that cheese spread stuff that squirted from a can. They also had out some teriyaki beef jerky, chips and cupcakes.
When everyone saw what was for dinner they all looked astonished that a smorgasbord of snacks could be called a meal.
Jenny with a look of indignation said, “Well, smells are smells, no matter if it is firewood or baked beans cooking would have given us away.”
John smiling, said, “Good thinking ladies and this looks wonderful. I for one love PBJs.”
Chapter 14
“Trouble Doubles”
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decided not to surrender, that is strength.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger
Through the evening the watches were quiet, uneventful even eerie. The majority seemed to sleep well, except John, he couldn’t sleep at all. The events of the day were plaguing him, Kevin had died mere hours after his discovery and still Morgan seemed to have no feelings about it. Except maybe relief was all John could think as what she showed.
This made John replay the day in his head over and over again. Who could have done this to him? And for that matter, why? Kevin was a quiet man, one might not even know he was around were it not for Morgan’s incessant nagging of him.
Morgan almost seemed gleeful at the evening meal, John felt sure she had something to do with it, but also felt it was wrong of him to think that about a woman who just lost her husband.
Matty cried out in his sleep many times that night. He had indeed seen who had killed Kevin. The attack was brutal and bloody, there was blood all over the rocks surrounding the area, he was found and John felt sure it was more than one person because of the scuffling of the leaves in the area. Finally drifting off to sleep the morning’s fears would materialize all too soon.
John woke long after the sun rose and even until he could smell bacon and a wood fire. He thought he was dreaming until he fully awakened and realized someone had started a fire and was cooking bacon.
He emerged from the tent to see Roger and Ray sitting around the fire with the others waiting for the Bacon and eggs to be done.
He called out, “The fire, someone is going to see it.”
Roger looked over his shoulder at him, saying, “Not likely there sleepy head, we’ve managed to park ourselves at nearly the end of some poe dunk little access road to the cell tower.
John rubbed his eyes and scratched his head, yawning as he said, “Well, it’s about time you two got round to showing up.”
Ray laughed and said, “We have a good idea of where we are and after breakfast we will pull out the map and go over some of what we found.”
John couldn’t help but smile at the breakfast he was looking at, eggs, bacon, biscuits, beans and hash browned potatoes. He thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
Looking at it all he shook his head and glanced up saying, “Now if only there were coff….”
Cutting him off as she shoved a steaming hot cup of coffee under his nose, Amy laughed. She knew he loved his coffee and just how to make it for him. Sometimes he thought she was practically perfect. Thinking to himself, ‘especially when she brings me coffee.’ He sat smiling at his feast, forgetting for just that moment the events of yesterday.
After breakfast John and Dickie went to show Roger and Ray the spot they had fou
nd Kevin while Mark was finding an appropriate spot to bury him.
John said to them, “Something stinks here, you would think if it was an invader or something they would have continued until they got what they wanted. Do you think he happened upon someone and they ran off?”
Roger was busy looking at the prints and the scuffle, commenting, “See these marks here? He was clearly bigger than whoever hit him and they must have tried to quiet him or something by the dragging over here.” He said pointing to an area John never noticed yesterday.
Ray said, “Over here, I think this may have been used as a weapon.” Pointing to a large rock with blood stains on it.
Roger frowned, saying, “I’m sorry John but there are no tracks leading away from this scene that are not for you. Looking at the struggle and the drag marks along with the prints over where he was we are looking for a much smaller foot. Maybe a woman?”
John looked angry, saying, “I don’t want to believe it, but Morgan could care less that her husband was injured yesterday as a matter of fact Amy said she looked surprised when she told her he was alive.”
Ray said, “Cold brother, real cold… Do you really think she could have?”
“Maybe not alone, but her and that Cindy girl have been real chummy.” Shaking his head, John continued, “I don’t know, it just seems weird she didn’t care he was dead.”
Dickie came up with a theory saying, “I think we all know if she didn’t do it, but I'm pretty sure she is somehow involved.”
Nodding in agreement John said, “You guys didn’t see her yesterday, I’d bet money on it.”
“Well.” Ray said, “Can we prove it?”
They all stood shaking their heads, John becoming angry said, “How can we prove it, other than the tracks and a good guess we got nothing.”
Ray said, “We’ll just watch her, she will give herself away if she is guilty. There had to be a reason she did it, all we have to do is find out what that is.”
After looking over the scene they walked back to camp to figure out the best course to take. Roger pointed out that they were not really that far off course.