To Cross a Wasteland

by Phillip D Granath

  “Will it still work?” Coal asked.

  “Let’s find out,” Kyle replied and climbed into the cab.

  The Scavenger toggled the S.E.S.S. switch again, and the dash lit up in reply. The bars showed the vehicle still had a little less than half a charge remaining. Kyle pulled the shifter back into reverse and then pulled the car straight back a few feet. He stopped and began turning the wheel, almost immediately the front tire contacted the smashed tubular bumper preventing the wheel from turning any further.

  “Hold on, I got it,” Coal shouted.

  The half-breed ran up to the front of the buggy. He gripped the bent tubing and placing both feet up on the body pulled back. The smashed section of bumper screamed in protest and then slowly bent forward. Then with a snap, the section broke away, and Coal fell backward onto his butt. He looked at the ruined section of tubing in his hand for a moment then casually threw it over his shoulder.

  “Try it now,” he called to Kyle.

  The Scavenger turned the steering wheel all the way to the right and then the left. The thick plastic wheels responded in kind, the vehicle had a full range of motion again. Kyle jammed the shifter forward into drive again and began to make a slow circuit of the parking lot being careful not to run over any of the dead bodies that littered it. The Scavenger could see a handful of townspeople approaching the club, individuals and small groups curious now that all of the shooting had stopped. Kyle pulled the buggy back up to the front of the ruined club, but Coal was nowhere to be seen.

  “Coal!” he shouted.

  “Yeah I see them,” the half-breed replied as he stepped back out of the smashed window carrying his rifle and the shotgun. He dropped the guns into the passenger seat and then went back inside a moment later and reemerged with the pitcher of chits in one hand a bottle of whiskey in the other.

  Kyle climbed out of the buggy and ran around the front back towards the bar. “Think they’ll be trouble?” he yelled as he ran.

  “Doubt it, just curious and desperate like most people. Though I’d rather not wait around and ask them which it is,” Coal replied and taking up his rifle walked around to stand in front of the car.

  Anna stood just inside of the smashed window looking out at them wearing the new clothes Kyle had found for her. Kyle stopped in his tracks seeing her standing there, looking at least like a shadow of her former self. She looked out past Kyle and the buggy. Towards Coal and the gawking onlookers. She then shifted her gaze down to her husband. Kyle returned the look with a half-smile, unsure what to say to her. Their eyes met for a moment, and she looked down again, that same haunted look of shame.

  “We need to go, sweetheart, this place may not be safe for much longer,” Kyle said to her softly.

  Anna nodded in response and taking Kyle’s hand allowed him to help her towards the buggy. She climbed into the passenger seat with Kyle’s help, and he sprinted around to jump into the driver’s seat.

  “Oh I see how it is, my own car and I’m not even riding bitch anymore,” Coal complained and ran around to the rear of the vehicle.

  The back of the buggy had a flat narrow surface on the back. It was lined with tie-down points, and Coal guessed it had been intended to provide the buggy a token amount of cargo space. Coal climbed up the back and grabbing the carbon fiber roll cage pulled himself up with his rifle at the ready. He pounded on the side of the buggy with the flat of his hand and shouted. “Alright let’s roll.”

  A moment later the buggy hummed to life and pulled out of the parking lot turned graveyard. Kyle hung a hard right back down main street U.S.A, he wasn’t pushing the vehicle at the breakneck speeds that they had entered the town at but still set a pace fast enough to make sure no one could follow. As they sped away from Murphy’s ruined headquarters, the townspeople descended on the place eager to pick the dead carcass clean.

  “Hold on tight to our bucket of chits now, we spent a fortune in lead back there those chits will hopefully buy some of it back,” Coal said, the eerie quiet of the buggies electric motors making it easy to hold a conversation even at high speeds.

  “Hey Coal, are those chits actually worth anything anymore?” Kyle asked over his shoulder.

  “What do you mean, that’s a fortune in water?” Coal asked confused.

  “Well yeah, but it was Murphy who was using them as currency. The Council were the ones that started it all back when they were just used as ration cards. It was their way of ensuring them that everybody got an equal share each day,” Kyle said.

  “Yeah, I remember I was there,” Coal said, already not liking where this was going.

  “Well doesn’t it stand to reason that the city council will go back to that method now that they control the water again?” Kyle asked.

  “Oh shit,” Coal said.

  “Yeah, those chits won’t be worth nothing if all they do is entitle you to the same daily ration of water that everyone gets,” Kyle pointed out.

  “Holly shit, it’ll be a complete fucking economic catastrophe! Quick we got to get to the Hub right now and trade this shit away!” Coal yelled and pointed down the street ahead of them at the steadily approaching cluster of shops.

  Kyle turned to look at his wife in the passenger seat considering. Anna wasn’t looking at him she seemed content to just stare out at the passing town. He wanted to get her out of town away from all of this as quickly as he could, someplace safe and right now that meant going back to the facility. If that were the plan, they would need a few things, and food was right at the top of that list.

  “Okay we’re stopping, but let’s not forget that Murphy and Rory are still out there. So let’s make it a quick trip,” Kyle said over his shoulder to Coal.

  “Oh, believe me, I have not forgotten about them,” Coal replied.

  The traders and patrons of the Hub saw the electric car approaching and began to scatter no doubt fearing another pass-through of an Indian war party behind them. Kyle pulled hard to the left and then back to the right as he slammed on the gas. The buggy slid to a stop in a screech of plastic wheels just outside of the gathering of trader shacks. Coal jumped down from the back and leaning in scooped up the pitcher of bloody chits. After a moment of rummaging, he came out and extended a hand to Kyle.

  “Your cut my dear Sir,” Coal said with a grin and dropped a pair of .357 rounds and a single 12-gauge shell into Kyle’s hand.

  Kyle grinned in reply. “Thanks,” He said and drawing his empty magnum dropped the rounds into place and then did the same with the shotgun.

  “Okay, off to swindle a few unsuspecting swindlers!” Coal said as he grabbed the pitcher and walked from the car.

  “Be sure to get some food, at least a few days’ worth,” Kyle called after him but if Coal heard him he didn’t respond, and soon the half-breed disappeared into the maze of wooden shacks.

  The next 20 minutes Kyle spent waiting nervously for the half breed’s return. Once it had become clear that the Indian horde would not be riding down on them again, people began to warily approach Kyle and the buggy. Most stood back content just to stare at the functioning relic of technology, but after a time some grew bold and tried to approach Kyle, many asking questions. The Scavenger stood in the driver’s seat the shotgun held awkwardly in his uninjured hand.

  “Stay back, everybody just stay the fuck back!” The Scavenger shouted growing more nervous by the minute.

  Just when Kyle was considering moving the buggy Coal reappeared. The pitcher of chits was gone, but he now carried a bundle of goods under each arm.

  “Out of the way, a man walking here and that’s my ride!” Coal shouted as always enjoying the attention.

  The gathering mass of people parted allowing the half-breed through, and as he approached the buggy, he gave Kyle a grin. Coal walked around the side of the car and without a word dropped the bundle in on Anna’s lap. She looked up at him completely startled for a moment and then wrapped her arms around the items. Coal climbed back up on to the top of the buggy,
and a moment later they were racing away from the Hub and leaving the crowd behind them.

  “Did you get any food?” Kyle asked him.

  “I did, a few pounds of the best-jerked meat around. It’s from a very reputable company that sadly is no longer in business,” Coal replied.

  As Kyle sped down Main Street on an impulse, he turned right following a large red arrow painted on the street. As the clinic came into view, Kyle regretted the decision. The small compound still trailed wafts of smoke into the sky. Every R.V. that made up the outer perimeter wall had been ravaged by fire as had the service station itself. Kyle slowed the buggy but didn’t stop, not a sign of life stirred, no one was even picking through the wreckage at least not yet. He looked over at Anna, his wife was holding her gaze straight ahead, but tears were rolling down her cheeks. Kyle shook his head and accelerated again heading down the street and towards the open desert.

  Kyle drove the buggy across the desert following the same broken roadway that had started him on this path a little over a week ago. But what a hell of a week it had been he considered, their whole world as small as it was had shifted. The daylight was slowly fading and as the light died so did the battery life on their vehicle. Now only three red bars remained on the dashboard display. The little group had made excellent time though covering what would have taken a man on horseback at least half of a day. Behind him, Coal still stood clutching the roll bars with one hand, and his half drank bottle of whiskey in the other. Kyle had to add it to their list of unbelievable accomplishments for the day, the fact that the Indian hadn’t drunkenly fallen off on the ride back.

  The buggy crested a hill and Kyle recognized the wide section of sandy road as the scenic view he had been looking for. He turned the vehicle to the left and rolled through the break in the guardrail and down the steep trail towards the mesa. For the first time, Kyle regretted having smashed the LED lights during the attack, the shadows had grown long enough in the small valley that they would have come in handy. In half an hour it would be full on dark, and then without the lights, they would be driving blind. Luckily the batteries and the daylight had lasted just long enough and as they rounded the last corner the mesa’s open steel door came into view. The heavy steel door was backlit by a burning campfire and Kyle could see Miles and Juan stand as they pulled in.

  “Kyle!” Miles shouted in surprise and then added. “Anna! Oh, Anna!” his voice shook with emotion as he saw Kyle help the doctor out of the passenger seat.

  Juan ran to her wrapping his small arms around her waist and burying his head into her stomach. Kyle cringed and reached out to stop the boy, but Anna didn’t push him away. She wrapped her arms around the boy, and the two began to quietly cry together.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay old man. I’m here, and I’m okay too, thanks for asking,” Coal slurred the words drunkenly as he half jumped half fell off the back of the buggy. On landing his mostly empty bottle slipped from his grasp and went skidding across the ground, he bent down drunkenly chasing it into the darkness.

  “That I can see Coal,” Miles replied while shaking his head.

  Kyle placed a hand on Anna’s shoulder and guided her and Juan back towards the light of the fire. The three sat down on the ground next to the flames and Miles held out a beaker of water. Kyle took it and handed it over to Anna who hesitantly drank her fill and then passed it back to Kyle. Juan sat next to her leaning his head against her still.

  “How did it go?” Miles asked after a moment.

  “Overall, better than we could have hoped. With the help of some of Coal’s friends. I think Murphy is done,” Kyle replied.

  “Dead?” Miles asked.

  “No, he and Rory got away. But we killed a lot of his men, I’m not even sure if he has anyone left to follow his orders. We smashed his club, literally and while we were doing that the City Council and the Black Jackets managed to take back the tower and the pump,” Kyle took another drink from the beaker and gave Miles a moment to process it all.

  Miles let out a long slow whistle. “Holy shit Kyle, this, this changes everything.”

  Kyle nodded in reply. “It does.”

  “What’s the plan then?” Miles pressed.

  “Don’t know, lay low here a bit, give us a few days to rest and lick our wounds,” Kyle glanced at Anna as he spoke. His wife stood unwrapping herself from Juan’s embrace and walked towards the wagon. Both Kyle and Miles watched her go.

  “What happened to her?” Miles asked concerned.

  Kyle turned to look at his partner and friend. “Don’t you dare ask her that, not ever! She’s been through a lot, and it’s all because of me,” the Scavenger replied in a harsh whisper.

  “I, I won’t, I’m sorry,” the old man said quickly and then continued.

  “You just left us here, Juan and me. We have had all day to just sit here and worry and think,” Miles explained.

  “I’m sorry about that Miles,” Kyle replied honestly.

  “I tried to Keep Juan and me busy, but it’s not like we could do much, especially since we didn’t know how long we would be staying,” Miles continued, and Kyle began to get a bad feeling.

  “Miles what did you do?” he asked looking up at his friend.

  Miles gave a half shrug in reply. “You know, tended the fire and I had Juan make a few more trips inside for water to boil. Then I had him jack open that inner door a bit more. Made it just wide enough for me to squeeze through. So I could have a look around inside. I couldn’t find the light,” Miles admitted.

  “Damn it! I told you to stay out of there Miles,” Kyle shouted and was up and running towards the inner door.

  “Yeah, and you were in a great state of mind at the time! A real example of rational thought,” Miles called out after him.

  Kyle reached the door and just as Miles had said the opening was considerably larger than when they had left. He slowly stuck his head in and allowed a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark. He could make out the large circle of moonlight from the opening in the roof. It was just as a shade of pale shadow in the pitch blackness that surrounded him. He looked up at the high wall across from him where he knew the odd three-legged light was attached to the wall about eight feet up. He watched the darkness for a few minutes making himself count to 60 three times. When nothing happened, Kyle allowed himself to release the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He shook his head and walked back towards the fire and Miles.

  “So are you going to show me this damn light or not?” Miles demanded before Kyle could speak.

  Kyle looked down at his friend, he felt relieved but at the same time immensely tired.

  “Maybe tomorrow, I don’t know. I, there is just some more things I need to tell you about my last trip here. Why I didn’t want to come back. I just,” Kyle trailed off as Miles raised a hand to silence him.

  “It’s alright Kyle, Coal told me you had a run in with some raiders here. I know you didn’t want to tell me about it. I also know that it’s been a hell of a long day for all of us. How about you tell all of us about it in the morning and then after that, then we can go look at this light. If that’s what we decide to do,” Miles said looking up at the Scavenger.

  Kyle just shook his head in agreement. His little story had waited this long, what difference was one more night going to make.

  “Okay Miles, in the morning then,” Kyle replied.

  The Scavenger walked over and peered into the back of the wagon. Anna was sleeping fitfully, twitching and mumbling in her troubled sleep on one of the fold-out cots. Juan lay curled in the other snoring softly as only children can. Kyle carefully crawled up into the wagon and lay down between them, he fell asleep using his shirt as a pillow. Next to the fire Miles dozed for quite a while before stretching out and pulling the blanket tightly around him. In the brush next to the buggy, Coal had slipped into unconsciousness still gripping the empty whiskey bottle in his hands. While back in the darkness of the cavern the blue light flashed.

&n
bsp; Many Happy Returns

  The first rays of sunlight filtered through the canvas of the wagon and Kyle awoke startled. Anna knelt beside him, she had her bag of medical supplies open next to him and was just finishing rewrapping a new bandage around his forearm. She put a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down to his back.

  “Hush,” was all she said and Kyle looked into her eyes for a moment. It was the first thing she had said since her rescue. She finished tying off the fresh bandage, so he lifted his arm and tested his hand. The palm and fingers were swollen and felt puffy. His whole arm burned as he flexed his fingers and his grip felt weak, but at least they still worked. He looked up from his arm to her.

  “How does it feel?” she asked in a small voice.

  “Good. I mean it hurts, but it still seems to work,” he replied just happy that she was speaking.

  A moment later Juan appeared at the back of the wagon and handed a glass beaker of water up to Anna. She took it from the boy with a simple nod and placed a pair of pills into Kyle’s good hand. He looked down considering them for a moment before popping them into his mouth and washing them down with a quick gulp. He then handed it back to Anna, she took the beaker but kept a hold of his hand she held it up to her mouth and kissed it once gently.

  “I’m sorry,” Kyle whispered.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered back.

  Coal joined Juan at the tailgate just then, and they both turned to look at the Indian. It took Kyle only a glance to tell that Coal was in serious pain.

  “Hey Doc, got any of those OXy’s left?” Coal asked with a grimace.

  Anna just frowned at him and turning her back began to repack her medical supplies. Kyle just grinned and handed the beaker over to Coal.

  “This may be the only comfort you get today,” Kyle said as Coal took the beaker and downed its contents. He then replied.

  “No. The most comfort I’m going to get today is when I ride down Rory and the Councilman and piss on their fucking graves. Now, who is going to dig those two pieces of shits graves you may I ask? Well, I don’t know; I just know that it’s not going to be me. But wherever they end up lying, in a grave or a ditch or even a fucking bathtub, I’m going to make sure it gets filled with piss. So I’m going to need some more water,” at that Coal finished his hangover fueled rant and staggered back towards the fire in search of a fresh beaker.