Endure Series (Book 2): Enduring The Journey:

by Kinney, K. D.

  At three Ben’s eyes popped open. He laid there thinking about his family. He hoped they had left for the cabin days ago. All he wanted was for them to be safe and the same for himself and Nate as they made their trek up to Anchorage.

  Once their bags were packed, Jim gave them big heavy-duty trash bags to put their suitcases in.

  “There’s always a chance of rain. You might as well prepare for it. Even if it doesn’t rain, that thing can sure kick up some mud. I’m sure you don’t want that on your suitcases.” He also handed them a small plastic cooler. “I’ll give you plenty of bungee cords but this would be nice to have for water and what food you want to have access to while on the road.”

  It didn’t take long for them to load up. It was going to be an uncomfortable ride. Their big suitcases with the smaller ones on top were strapped side by side to the metal carrier on the back. Ben’s and Nate’s duffel bags and the lunchbox sized cooler were strapped to the much smaller front rack carrier which made visibility of what was right in front of them difficult. They had to sit close together on the seat. The driver would be cramped up against the gas tank and too close to the handlebars and the one in the back had the plastic from the suitcases poking their back.

  Because Nate was the one to get the ATV running, Ben asked him if he wanted to drive first. He did. Nate made sure that Ben had the gun.

  Ben didn’t expect it to be so hard for him to let Nate take charge as he drove them off Jim’s property heading for the main road. Once they were on the road, it took some adjusting for them to get comfortable being crammed together before they could get the four-wheeler up to speed.

  As they drove through Homer, there was not a soul on the road. They passed a few gas tanker semis parked in parking lots. Nate said he was worried the sound of the quad was going to attract attention but there was nothing to worry about as they approached the road that would take them to the Soldotna and Kenai area. The mountain range would be the next leg of their trip. They would need to drive around the bay on the last stretch of the journey to Anchorage.

  They hadn’t been on the road long when it started to mist from either a light rainfall or it was airborne water droplets from the inlet that they could barely see off to their left.

  “Good thing Jim gave us those ponchos right before we left.” Nate pulled over so they could put on the cheap plastic that was a lighter weight plastic than the trash bags that covered their suitcases. “I think I’d rather wear the bags we have on our suitcases. Do you think we should get the raingear out just in case?” Nate pursed his lips together and furrowed his brow as he looked at their stacked suitcases all wrapped in plastic and strapped down tight.

  “Maybe this misty stuff will go away once the sun rises and all this luggage will help protect us from getting wet all over,” Ben said knowing that it wasn’t going to help much. He just didn’t want to hassle with undoing everything when they hadn’t been on the road long.

  Once they sped up to get back on the road, the cheap ponchos flapped in the wind as they picked up speed. A short time later the rain started to fall. It wasn’t a heavy rain but it was plenty of water falling from the sky especially when they weren’t wearing proper rain gear. Ben was aggravated that they hadn’t thought to pull out their rain gear when they were loading up especially when they knew they’d be riding exposed to the elements. It was poor planning on his part to have his best preps buried in an inaccessible suitcase.

  “My gloves are soaked through already and my hands are starting to freeze.” Nate had to pull over again. He was able to find a pair of heavy work gloves he had in his duffel bag quickly and they were off again.

  The rain kept collecting on Ben’s glasses as he searched the area for wildlife as they went. They had to stay on the shoulder of the road when a few cars passed by. He wanted to give in, tell Nate to pull over so they could get their raincoats but the traffic was picking up and he kept trying to convince himself they could go a little further before they had to hassle with another stop.

  When the cars swerved and honked when they passed, Ben wondered if perhaps the plastic bags on the suitcases were covering their tail lights so they stopped again.

  One tail light was so faint it looked like it was out. The other one was fine but it was over the right tire so it wasn’t close enough to the road for drivers to see.

  “We aren’t making very good time.” Nate tried to shake some of the water off the edges of his poncho hood. “I think we should get our rain gear out now. This isn’t going to stop.”

  “You’re right. Now we’re already soaked and everything else is going to get wet if we dig through our stuff now. I know my rain gear is likely in the bottom suitcase and it was the first thing I packed so it’s buried.” Ben undid the bungee cords and did his best to search his suitcase while everything was still in place. His hand dug through the tightly packed clothes until he felt the plastic of his raincoat as far back in his suitcase as it could be. It wouldn’t budge, he tugged and it rocked the ATV. He worked on pulling the thick unforgiving bundle of plastic out slower and somehow managed to free his raincoat and coveralls without having to unpack his suitcase. He was willing to sacrifice a few of his work shirts that fell in the mud. He rolled them up and stuck them in between the bag and suitcases where they wedged in tight.

  Water ran off the poncho in rivers. He pulled it off and hustled to put on his raincoat. He sighed. The poncho was a joke. His flannel jacket was already so wet, it felt like he hadn’t been wearing anything to repel water. His sleeves were soaked through. He struggled with the water-repellant coveralls. He didn’t dare take off his boots but they were a muddy mess so he was about to make his pants as muddy as they were wet. He yanked them on, ripping the cheap material when his boot was caught. It was obvious he didn’t buy the high dollar stuff. However, it would offer some protection so he hustled getting them on the rest of the way. When Nate had finished and their gear was strapped down securely again, they were quite the dripping soggy mess.

  “Hopefully this lets up. As far as safety goes, don’t drive any closer to the edge over here. It’s so muddy and there’s a drop-off. We might wind up in that water-filled ditch.” Ben waited for Nate to get on the four-wheeler.

  “Yeah, I noticed that. Well, let’s keep going. I’ll keep an eye on the shoulder and oncoming cars.”

  “Wait, I have an idea.” Ben ran up to one of the plastic tubular posts with the reflective tape that marked the side of the road. He pulled out his knife and cut the top off.

  It took some adjusting once he strung one of the bungee cords through it so their left side was reflective and visible to passing cars.

  They were back on the road again. Massive water droplets fell from the edge of their hoods into their eyes as they went.

  Ben didn’t think it was possible but the rain picked up even more the closer it got to sunrise. Traffic was starting to build as well. The vehicles sped past, splashing water on them, in a hurry as if they knew more cars would be coming soon and they were determined to beat all the traffic.

  “I wish Jim had a beat-up tin can Ford Escort or something instead of this. Do you want to drive for a bit? I can’t feel my fingers. Now these gloves are soaked through too.” Nate pulled over before Ben could answer but he was all for it.

  “This is miserable. I forgot Alaska rain isn’t like it is at home when it lets up after a bit. We made a huge mistake to wait so long to get our rain gear on.” Ben started unhooking the bungee cords on the suitcases again. “I’m going to change the jacket I have on underneath this raincoat. It’s too wet and I’m shivering.”

  They unfastened everything again, found their dry coats, and stuffed the wet ones where he’d stuffed his muddy shirts earlier. Once they strapped everything down again, a half-hour had passed.

  Finally, they were ready. When they were trying to get on the road again, they had to move back over to the shoulder to let a vehicle pass. A pickup truck with a toy hauler on the back pulled over i
n front of them forcing them to stop.

  “What do you think they want?” Nate’s grip on Ben’s coat tightened.

  “I dunno.” Ben casually reached into his raincoat pocket where he had stashed the handgun. It was still dark and he only had one dim headlight on the quad to light the road between them and the trailer.

  “What are you guys doing out in this mess at this time in the morning? You stirring up trouble or something?” A tall man in a yellow slicker shined his flashlight in their faces. “You got an awful lot secured on that thing to be recreating in this area right now. You trying to evacuate?”

  Nate looked at Ben, clearly indicating he wasn’t going to answer. Ben could tell how apprehensive Nate was when he started fidgeting with the sheath of the hunting knife Jim had given him.

  “We are heading to Anchorage, yes.” Ben didn’t want to let on how far from home they were. He didn’t want to come across as vulnerable and desperate for help if he were to overshare that info with a stranger.

  “Well, this is quite the messy weather we have this morning. You should have left yesterday ahead of this system if you were going to travel on that thing.”

  “Well, I wish we had the option to leave yesterday and traveling on this old thing wasn’t our original plan.” Ben refrained from rolling his eyes at Nate while he remained silent.

  “That’s good to hear, I suppose. This weather, though. You chose a rough morning to head north and those aren’t proper raincoats you’re wearing. You’re going to catch pneumonia or something.” The tall guy with the scruffy beard along his chin line but no mustache that made him look like the fisherman on a box of fish sticks, rubbed the hair on his chin. He attempted to shake his hand dry but it didn’t help.

  The rain was falling steadily and it was doing a good job of somehow finding a way through his cheap plastic coveralls further saturating Ben’s jeans.

  “You fellas want a lift? I got room for the four-wheeler on the trailer. Sadly, I don’t have room in the cab for either of you. I do have some space in the very back of the truck. You can ride there if I rearrange some things, if you don’t mind dealing with our mess. It’s not very warm but at least it’s dry.

  Ben refrained from answering right away to make sure Nate was willing. He didn’t feel like the man was a danger to them at all. Or maybe it was the wet cold jeans talking and his frozen fingers and toes.

  “We would love a ride,” Nate answered once Ben gave him a questioning nod for him to answer if he wanted to accept the offer.

  “Name’s Dimitri.” He shook their hands briefly before he went to unhitch the ramp on the trailer so they could load the ATV.

  Dimitri had two newer model four-wheelers and he had several plastic tubs and a cooler secured in the place where they needed to park their four-wheeler. He moved things around and was waving for them to load it on. It took hardly any time at all. He handed them a tarp that was folded up in the back of the truck. “If we put your gear in the back, there won’t be any room for you. It looks secure but I don’t know how well those plastic bags covering your belongings will hold up when we really get going so help me securely cover your four-wheeler with this.”

  Because Dimitri had nice shiny looking quads of his own, Ben felt more at ease that he wasn’t interested in taking their sad-looking piece of junk just to leave them on the side of the road. Once everything was all strapped down, the sleeves of Ben’s coat were drenched and his pant legs were so soaked, they felt like they’d gone wading in a lake. Except their new friend was fine. He had on a proper heavy yellow slicker raincoat and heavy-duty waterproof coveralls.

  He moved a few things around in the back of the truck, tossing what he could out of the way to make room. “Sorry, I can’t really warm it up back here. But at least it’s dry and you won’t get windblown to add to the misery.”

  The space was barely big enough for Ben and Nate to sit facing each other with the tailgate of the truck against one shoulder and Dimitri’s tubs and whatever else they brought pressing against the other. Because they were facing each other, their feet competed for space in the center. Dimitri made sure they were set before he closed and latched the back window of the camper shell.

  Ben pulled off his pathetic raincoat and rolled it up before setting it on a tub so it wouldn’t get anything else wet. Because the coveralls were already ripped, he tore them open all the way down the sides to take them off. “I’ll never buy crap like this again.” He tried to dry his glasses off but it was futile. The bottom of his shirt was wet too.

  “I hope we don’t get sick.” Nate watched the tarp covering their suitcases as it started to flap in the wind as the truck picked up speed. “I wish we had time to grab some more dry clothes before we were stuck back here.”

  “Me too.” Ben pulled his arms inside his coat to keep them warm against his chest. He shivered. “It must be that peak cold hour just before sunrise. The sun sure is slow to come up over the horizon.”

  “It has to come up over that mountain range.” Nate stared at the trailer lost in thought for a moment. “You know, it’s probably going to start snowing before we get home.”

  “Shh, I don’t want to think about that right now. It makes me shiver even more.” Ben clenched his jaw so his teeth wouldn’t chatter. The only positive thing he could think of at that moment was that they were finally making great time. If they were really lucky, they would get to Anchorage early enough that they could possibly consider heading for the Canadian border later in the day or early the next morning. Depending on if Dave actually had things ready to go like he said he would.

  7

  Tammy

  At four am, it was difficult for Tammy to pull herself out of bed. It was the first time she’d had a few hours of solid sleep and her body wanted more. It had been six days since the event and six nights with hardly any sleep. Her muscles all hated her as she got dressed.

  The holster was sitting on the nightstand next to the handgun. She sighed as she picked it up and put it on her waistband. It took some adjusting before she had it in place. After she slowly slid the gun inside the holster, she tugged on her shirt as she struggled to settle the conflict going on in her head. Once she finally had come to terms with the new part of her wardrobe, she pulled on a cardigan as she went to wake up the girls.

  They packed the last of their clothes in backpacks and each one of the girls carried their armory as they headed up the stairs.

  Dale was already awake and waiting for them. “You didn’t leave the Suburban key where I could find it or I would have the trailer ready to go.”

  She gave him an emotionless stare and he responded by smirking apologetically at her.

  “Have you been up all night?” Tammy rubbed more sleep out of her eyes. Walking was still very painful.

  “I slept a little. I’ve been keeping an eye on things out there. Nothing’s going on. Perfect timing. We still need to be quiet when we hook the trailer up to the Suburban. And we need to do it quickly. No wasting time or this will all be for nothing. I want those girls to load up the last of it as silently as they can before we turn anything on.”

  “I know we need to be quiet. We’re really close. It won’t take long. I still have to get the chickens and load the cage in the back of the Suburban so leave that space open.” Tammy tossed her bag of clothes and a fabric grocery bag full of the last of the food she wanted for the ride in the back of the Suburban. She pointed where she wanted the rest of the backpacks to go.

  “Seriously? You have chickens too?” Dale took his hat off and scratched his head.

  “Yes, they’re downstairs. The girls know what they need to do right now so I’ll go get the ladies. Oh, Buddy needs to go outside and do his business real quick before we start moving around in front or he’ll bark.” She checked her pocket for the magnet key that would lock the safe room up tight.

  “All right. You do that. I’ll go… have the girls let the dog out first.” He rubbed his arm and examined it in the lan
tern light. “That dog did a number on me last night. I didn’t know he’d be that protective.”

  “I wasn’t sure he had it in him either.” She would normally feel bad but she had no feelings of guilt at all whatsoever. Her anger was still festering.

  Dale seemed to know it too. He looked around awkwardly before he headed for the garage.

  The anticipation of leaving into the unknown was getting to Tammy when she was in the underground chicken pen trying to catch and settle the chickens in the wire dog kennel. “It’s okay, we’re just heading to someplace safer, ladies. We will be isolated and safe once we get there.” She was talking more to herself than to the chickens. Her hands trembled when she struggled with fastening the latch.

  When she was at the bookshelf that was the secret door to the safe room, she drew in a deep breath to calm her nerves. Locking the door felt so final. Hopefully, that room would stay secret and intact if Ben returned to the house first. If he was still alive. She closed her eyes and rested her head on one of the shelves. He had to still be alive. She wished she knew something. Anything. Good or bad, she wanted to know. Tammy shook her head. She had to stop thinking about him and get her head back to what she had to do for the girls. It was about to be just the six of them and her daughters were depending on her.

  She hoisted up the kennel and shushed the chickens as she jostled the cage carrying it up the stairs. The pain she felt with every step was her reality check and the thing that kept her mind from diving into the abyss of her imagination of what was lurking out there, just waiting for them. She shushed every irrational thought that entered her head and concentrated on her next task, getting the family on the road.

  Dale was efficient. The girls were obedient and silent with every task they executed. The chickens were secured. In no time the Suburban was ready, the trailer was hooked up, and everyone was loaded inside. It was time to go.

  “This will be obnoxious heading out of town but I want you to use the flashlights instead of your headlights. Keep them pointed at the ground. At least you’ll look like a person or a bike from a distance. I covered the tail lights with tape. I’ll have you drive me to Brian’s house. We’ll probably have to change things up once we have the motorcycles going. they’re noisy and will draw plenty of attention.”