by Ralph Gibbs
“Plague,” Danica said. Though one had committed suicide, she had little doubt the plague played its part in his decision. “Best to stay downstairs.”
“Is the dog friendly,” the boy asked unaffected by the news of the homeowner’s death.
“Don’t know. We just met,” Danica said. “He’s friendly enough to me, but his foot is injured, so be careful with him.” She moved aside to let them in. “His name is Whisper.”
“Hey Whisper,” the kid said rushing over to pet the dog, completely ignoring everything Danica just said.
“Be careful,” the woman shouted after the boy. No one needed to worry. As soon as the boy started toward the dog, Whisper wagged his tail and licked the boy like they were long-lost playmates.
“I’m Danica,” she said, holding out her hand.
“I’m Randel, this is Maggie, and the boy is Andy,” Randel said. “Do you mind if I bring in some supplies from the car? I have a propane lamp we can use.”
“Pull your car around back first and leave the lamp off until we cover the windows,” Danica said.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“Not really, but I’d rather not invite problems to come knocking,” Danica said.
“Andy,” Maggie said. “Go help Randel bring in the supplies. You can play with the dog when you get back.”
“I’ll be right back, Whisper,” the boy said.
“What’s wrong with the dog?” Maggie asked.
“He cut his paw. He’ll be fine in a week or two.”
“You staying here until he gets better?” Maggie asked.
“I’ll be leaving in the morning,”
“I hope you don’t mind us staying with you.”
“Not at—” Danica turned to see Randel reenter the house with his arms raised. A man walked behind him holding a gun at his back. She drew on the man without hesitation.
“Put your gun down, or I’ll kill him,” the man said.
“Why, so you can kill us when I do?” Danica asked, her gun still raised.
“We just want the doctor. Hand her over, and you can go. Where is she? Is that her?”
“That’s Maggie,” Danica said. “We just met. By now, I’m guessing Gunilla is in Colorado. She and Paris caught a transport out of Columbia this morning.”
“You’re lying.”
“No, but it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. Either way, they’re out of your reach.”
“I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with you. Drop your weapon, or I’ll kill him, and my partner will kill the kid.”
“This isn’t your lucky day,” Danica said, not dropping her weapon. Her father’s advice was playing in her mind again. She would never drop her weapon.
“How do you figure?” he said, making sure his body stayed behind Randel so she could not get a clear shot at him.
“First, the doctor is gone. Now you’re holding a man I neither know nor care about. I just met them, literally, minutes ago. For all I know, he’s with you. But understand this, with you or not, you’re a walking dead man. The moment he moves or dies, you die.”
“I will kill him if you don’t drop your gun,” the man said, now sounding a little desperate.
“Go ahead.”
“What?” Randel stammered.
Danica gasped and crumpled to the floor never having seen or heard Maggie come up behind her with a frying pan.
**********
When Danica opened her eyes, she found herself looking at someone’s ass. She couldn’t tell whose ass it was because she was having trouble focusing. Did she faint in class? Were they taking her to the school nurse? She tried to remember the last thing that happened, but the ringing in her ears made it hard to concentrate. Whoever was carrying her repositioned her weight on their shoulder, thus freeing her arms that had been trapped by the weight of her body, revealing they were bound by a cord. She was also shocked to realize she was gagged and draped over someone’s shoulder.
Wade? No, Wade was dead.
Her heart raced as she struggled to piece together what was happening. The only thing she was sure of was she was being kidnapped. She tried to see where she was, but she didn’t want to move and alert her captor that she was awake. She tried to see her surroundings, but her head was at the wrong angle. Angle? The word seemed to jar memories. It became a trigger her mind latched on. Suddenly it all flooded back.
The man carrying her stopped, followed by the loud clang of a truck tailgate being slammed open. He tossed her in the truck bed. As he reached down to lift her legs into the truck, Danica, with a speed born of adrenaline, tucked her knees to her chest and then slammed her feet into the man’s face with the force of a wrecking ball. As the man fell hard to the ground, she rolled out of the truck, landing on his chest. Several of the man’s ribs snapped from the force of the impact. He would have screamed out in pain, but he lacked the wind and was too stunned to move. She recognized him. She pulled the gag from her mouth.
“I told you this was your unlucky day,” she hissed.
Pulling the knife from the man’s belt, Danica held it against his throat. As she did, he regained his breath and tried to scream. She clamped her bound hands over his mouth. “Stop struggling,” she ordered. The man tried to pull her hand away. “Goddammit, stop it.” Getting his other hand up, he squeezed the cut on her arm. Danica stifled a scream of intense pain.
Panicked, and nearly blind from the pain, she released her hold and then shoved the knife into his neck. Hot blood sprayed her face. The man’s eyes went wide in surprise as Danica pulled the knife from his neck and struck again. He made a gurgling sound and went still.
She propped the knife on the edge of the man’s truck and cut the cord that bound her hands together. Taking the man’s pistol, she looked around. Woods and freedom were less than a hundred feet away, but instead, she staggered back toward the house.
She stumbled her way back to the entrance to find Maggie arguing with another man.
“She needs medical attention,” Maggie said as she huddled near Randel on the couch. Andy sat on the couch hugging Whisper close. “I hit her too hard.”
“Are you a doctor?” the man asked, sounding hopeful.
“No, but I still know how to bind a wound,” Maggie said.
“She’ll get all the attention she needs in Atlanta,” the militiaman said.
“Atlanta?” Randel asked. “What’s in Atlanta?”
“The government of the United States,” the man said as if they should already know that.
“I beg to differ,” Danica said, leaning against the door for support. With blood still splattered across her face, she looked like the angel of death. The man’s eyes went wide as she stumbled inside. Maggie screamed. Despite getting the drop on the militiaman, he turned to shoot her. Danica shot him three times. Maggie rushed to the man and checked for a pulse.
“You killed him,” she said accusingly.
“And?” Danica said, pointing the gun at Maggie. “I ought to do the same to you.” Andy rushed to Maggie and hugged her around the waist. “I’m sorry, but I was trying to keep people from dying.”
“Did it work?” Danica asked hotly as she pointed the weapon away from Andy.
“Let’s go, Whisper,” Danica said. Whisper slipped off the couch and limped over to her.
“You’re in no condition to drive,” Randel said.
Danica reached up and winced as she touched the bump on the back of her head. “I’ll take my chances.”
“And you’ll end up dead,” Randel said. “Chances are you’ll get a few miles down the road before you pass out, run off the road and die in some ditch. Because the dog will be trapped in there with you, he’ll die too. Come with us.”
“I’ll roll down the window before I leave,” Danica said. Maggie and Randel just looked at her. “Fine.” Danica lowered her weapon. “There’s an SUV in the garage. I’ve already loaded it with supplies. Go put your stuff in the back while I deal with the other gu
y.”
“You’re not going to kill him, are you?” Randel asked.
“He’s already dead,” Danica said.
“Jesus,” Maggie said. “What kind of cop are you?”
“A live one,” Danica said.
CHAPTER 46
As Danica came awake, she listened to the thwack and screech of wiper blades working against a windshield without enough rain for them to operate smoothly.
“Can you turn the wipers off?” she asked. “They’re driving me insane.” She grabbed her head. “It’s like someone is taking a screwdriver and shoving it into my brain.”
“Sorry,” Randel said, switching off the wipers. He looked over his shoulder. “I can’t seem to find that sweet spot on the wiper’s auto-dial.”
“Watch the road,” Maggie said.
“Sorry,” Randel said again. He went back to watching the road. “The rain finally slowed down, but now it’s just enough that it’s annoying. I hate having to turn the wipers on every minute or so. I figured I’d just leave them on. But that was getting annoying as well. Ran out of wiper fluid, too. At this point, I wish it would just go back to raining hard. Less annoying.”
“How are you feeling?” Maggie asked. Instead of answering, Danica looked around her seat. Maggie held out her gun, grip first. “Looking for this?”
“My head still hurts,” Danica said, taking the gun.
“That’s to be expected,” Maggie said. “It would probably be best if we found a place to rest for a few days. You and the dog could both use it.”
“When did you bandage my head?” Danica asked and then looked down at the T-shirt she was now wearing. “And change my shirt?”
“About an hour ago,” Randel said. “Maggie also re-bandaged your arm.” Danica looked at the fresh bandages that were also covered with a brown leather strip. “We stopped in a small town about fifteen miles back and found a drugstore.” He held up a soda. “There was a surprising amount of supplies.” He looked at his drink. “God, what I wouldn’t give for a glass of ice.”
“Here,” Maggie said, handing Danica two pills and a bottle of water.
“What are these?” she asked, holding up the pills.
“Aspirin. You’ll also need to drink plenty of water over the next couple of days.”
“For someone who’s not a doctor, you know plenty about head injuries. And how to cause them.”
“When I was in high school, I was interested in sports medicine. I spent a few years along the sidelines at football games.”
“You didn’t pursue it?” Danica asked.
“Got pregnant in the back of Bobby Filmore’s candy apple red Mustang. God, I loved that car. Bobby . . . not so much.” Danica looked at Andy, who was sleeping. Whisper had his head in the boy’s lap.
“I found him wandering in a park about a month back,” Maggie said, eyeing the boy.
“And Randel?”
“At a library three days later,” Maggie said.
“I was looking for how-to-books,” Randel said. “I’m an IT guy. I don’t know shit about anything except computers. I can’t even load a gun without video instructions. Anyway, I was coming out of the library, and there they were, eating a sandwich on the bench in front of the library. We’ve been together ever since.”
“Run into any problems?” Danica asked.
“Do you count?” Randel asked, smiling so she would see that he was joking. When Danica didn’t return the smile, he continued, “Other than the weather, not much. We were up near the mountains two days ago and found most of the roads either washed out or covered in trees. We’ve run into lots of people, but most of them were pretty easy going.
“Wait, you said we stopped in a town?” Danica said suddenly.
“About fifteen miles back,” Randel said. “Newbenny, I think the name was.”
“Shit,” Danica said. “Turn around.”
“What’s going on?” Randel asked as he slowed the car.
“I was supposed to meet my friend there.”
“Are you sure?” Randell said. “I thought you said people were chasing you.”
“I’m sure.”
“All right,” Randell said, turning the car around. About three miles from Newbenny, they spotted a two-car convoy heading toward them.
“Shit,” Danica said, checking her weapon.
“Wake Andy,” Randel said to Maggie. “I don’t want him waking up in the middle of this and say something that would give us away.”
Maggie shook Andy awake. “People ahead,” she said. “I want you to stay quiet.” He rubbed his eyes, and Danica hoped he was awake enough to understand. As the vehicles came closer, Randel started to slow down.
“What are you doing?” Danica said, panic sounding in her voice.
“Trying not to act suspicious,” he said. Randel came to a stop, rolled down his window and motioned for the oncoming vehicles to stop.
“It’ll be okay,” Maggie said, taking her hand.
“Hello,” Randel said as the first car pulled even with them. “How’s the road up ahead?”
“It’s clear all the way to the interstate,” the driver said. “Where you headed?”
“Richmond,” Randel said without hesitation. “Maggie has family there. We’re just going to check on them. Bury them if needed.”
“I understand,” the driver said. “A lot of people are doing that. Most will remain unburied, though.”
“Too many to deal with,” Randel agreed. “That’s for sure.”
“How come you’re not going up the interstate already?” the passenger said leaning over so he could be heard.
“It was too hard,” Randel said. “I keep having to abandon my car at the bridges,” Randel said. “And I have no clue how to hot-wire a car. Kept having to search around until we found a car with keys. I think this is the eighth or ninth car since I started this trip. Yesterday I had the bright idea to try the back roads, but I took a wrong turn somewhere.” He pointed to Maggie. “She hasn’t let me forget it either.”
“I tried to get him to pull over and ask for directions, but you know men,” Maggie said. Everyone laughed, even Danica had to smile.
“I was going to stop in the next town and see if I could find a map,” Randel said. “Man, you never know how much you miss GPS until it’s gone.”
“GPS still works,” the driver said.
“You’re kidding me,” Randel said, genuinely surprised.
“GPS is based on satellites,” the man said. “They haven’t stopped working. At least not yet.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Randel said. “Never even thought of that. I guess I’ll try to find a navigator in the next town.”
“Where’d you come from?” the passenger asked.
“Pensacola,” Randell said.
“You in the navy?” the driver asked.
“Parents own a vacation home there,” Randel said. “We were vacationing when the plague hit.”
“You just now getting on the road?” the driver asked.
“We had to bury our kids,” Randell said, lowering his voice. “Afterwards, I didn’t feel much like traveling for a while.”
“Sorry to hear that,” the driver said. He motioned to the back of Randel’s car. “At least one of your boys survived.”
“Not mine,” Randell said. He pointed to Maggie and Andy. “I found these two just before I left. Same story as the rest of the world I imagine.” The driver nodded.
“You go through Atlanta?” the passenger asked.
“Hell no,” Randel said. “I can imagine the nightmare that place is. We’d probably have to walk through the entire city to get to the other side.”
“Not really,” the driver said. “We have a large settlement there. We’ve been clearing out the traffic.”
“Really,” Randel said, sounding surprised. “How big is the settlement?”
“Over five hundred people,” the driver said.
“Damn, does sound nice,” Randel said. �
��Anyone welcome?”
“Almost anyone, but I think you’re safe,” the driver said.
“Once I bury my folks, I just might find my way there,” Randel said. “So, what are you guys doing so far from Atlanta?”
“We were out spreading the word about the settlement, but at the moment we’re looking for some outlaws,” the driver said looking at Danica sitting in the back seat.
“Dangerous?” Maggie asked.
“A little, but nothing we can’t handle,” the driver said. “Your friend there doesn’t look so good.”
“I’m fine,” Danica said. “Just a bump.”
“We found Paula a few days ago,” Randell said. “She was still bleeding from a nasty fall. Hit her head pretty hard.”
“My wife had an aunt that died from a blow to the head,” the passenger said. “Her husband hit her with a coke bottle, back when they were thick glass. She bled like a stuck pig but otherwise seemed fine. Two days later, she keeled over dead while making pancakes.”
“Damn you, Hanson, now I want pancakes,” the driver said. “You guys see anyone?”
“You’re the first people we’ve seen all day,” Randel answered.
“If you see a young woman, dressed like a cop, I’d stay well clear of her,” the driver said. “Her and some nigger been causing problems in the area.”
“If we see her, we’ll be sure to give her a wide berth,” Randel said.
“Don’t worry about us,” Maggie said, lifting a frying pan. “If she messes with me, I’ll pound her over the head with this.”
“All right,” the driver said chuckling. “You be safe. After you’ve checked on your family, come on down to Atlanta.”
As they drove away, it required all of Danica’s willpower not to look behind her. If they saw her look back, it might draw suspicion. It helped that it hurt too much to turn her head. A short time later, they pulled into Newbenny.
“Any idea where this friend of yours is?” Randel asked as he pulled to a stop in the middle of the street.
“We were too busy trying not to die to discuss which bar to meet at for drinks,” Danica said. She reached in through the driver’s window and laid on the horn.
“You’re making enough noise to wake the dead,” a voice said from above them. Looking up, she smiled widely as she recognized Franklin standing on the roof of the convenience store. He disappeared and came out a few moments later. Danica rushed over and hugged him.
