They all thanked Val for her help and went to get cleaned up. April rubbed at her ears and rotated her neck to ease the tension in it as she walked with Liam back to the house they were staying in. He gave her a nudge with his elbow and cracked a smile.
“What do you want to do now, Annie Oakley?”
April snorted a laugh. “Oh, I don’t know, let’s go to Starbucks for a latte then catch an afternoon matinée and end with dinner at Applebee’s,” she joked.
Liam chuckled, “Yeah, not seeing that happening!”
April agreed with a wistful sigh. She wondered if any of those things would ever come back in her lifetime. As they climbed the front walk, her thoughts were lost in all the things she’d never have the chance to see or do or have now. She laughed a little inside when she realized that none of those things made it to her top wants list. Being home with her dad was number one. Being safe and fed was number two and three. With all the things in the modern world disappearing, the basics became the most important again. Family, love, safety and health had way more value than anything that had been taken away.
The two teens split up and went to their rooms to wash away the smell of gun oil and powder. April’s two roommates were in the room sprawled out on their beds flipping through very outdated magazines. She looked at them and then looked at her own bed and contemplated crashing on it when she realized that Cindy hadn’t been at the weapons training class.
“Hey, what happened to you today? Why weren’t you with us?”
Cindy tossed aside her magazine and focused on April. “Not gonna happen! My dad used to take me hunting and I was always a wreck. I figured it would be a waste of time and bullets for me to try again so I talked to Mrs. Moore and Maya about it. What I did do was go to the little medical clinic they have set up and took a crash course in first aid.” At April’s raised eyebrows, Cindy explained further. “I could never shoot poor Bambi, but I never had a problem helping to field dress him. Weird, I know! Anyway, blood and guts don’t bother me so I figured I could be our medic! They have a doctor and a few nurses here so they set me up with a needle and thread and taught me how to do stitches. I’m going to go back later for some more practice and whatever else they are willing to teach me. I heard what you said April, and I agree with all of it, but my strengths don’t include firing a gun,” she finished defensively.
April was so happy she could barely speak. “That’s, that’s…awesome! Cindy, that’s so amazing that you can help like that!”
Cindy grinned back but swung her head around at Susan’s snort. The girl was leaning on her elbow and with her head cocked to the side she gave them a bland look.
“How nice, we now have a mercenary and an EMT. I guess that means I’m useless!”
April and Cindy shared a look before Cindy bounced down on the bed beside Susan. She gave her a playful shove before saying gleefully,
“Nope, when I go back to the clinic, you’re coming with me. They said they’d teach me how to take out a bullet from a pig!”
April and Cindy dissolved into giggles at Susan’s shocked expression. As the two girls laughed, Susan was shaking her head.
“What’s so funny?” asked Liam, as he leaned against the frame of their open door.
Susan rolled off the bed and aimed a look of disgust at her two friends. As she pushed past Liam she informed him, “Cindy wants me to operate on a pig!”
Liam’s horrified look made the other two girls double over with even more laughter. The poor boy could only stare at the girls in complete bewilderment before finally shaking his head.
“Uh, okay, well, when you guys are done with your swine surgery, Mrs. Moore wants us all down in the kitchen. Camila talked to the people at the refugee camp and they’ve worked out a plan for us.”
April was gasping for breath from her laughter so all she could do is nod with a big smile. She couldn’t help but feel ten pounds lighter. It had been over six months since she’d laughed that much or that freely and it made her whole body feel lighter somehow. As the girls followed Liam down the stairs, April mused that the old saying was true. Laughter is the best medicine!
Everyone was gathered around the kitchen island when the teens came into the room. Camila and Val were talking with the older teacher but turned when the last three seated themselves. Camila smiled at all the girls and Liam before she began.
“Well, I had a busy morning on the radio. I talked with quite a few people about your situation and I think we came up with a solution to get you guys closer to the border.”
Val laid out a map of the states and folded it so only California, Oregon and Washington showed. She uncapped a yellow highlighter and marked the route as Camila explained the plan.
“We trade salvage from the city with the camps for grains and beef that they trade for with Oregon for fruits and vegetables. Our scouts and traders will take your group with them when they meet for the next trade and pass you on to them. You guys will have to ride your bikes but you’ll be protected with our people. The camp people said they would send transportation so you won’t have to bike to their area. That gets you to here.” She pointed her finger at the city of Bakersfield. “That’s the start of their territory and they have a network of camps that run all the way up the central valley. You guys will ride on their transport route all the way up through Oregon and into Washington until it ends at Spokane. From there you’ll have to talk to the locals and see what they have in place, but you’ll probably have to go on alone. No one I talked to has any contact farther north. The distance between Spokane and the Canadian border is just over a hundred miles. Sorry guys, that’s as close as we can get you.”
Mrs. Moore stared at Camila in complete shock. “That’s over a thousand miles! How?”
April knew they were far from home but the teacher’s words made her realize just how far. She tried to figure out how long that would take them to bike but it was just too big a number for her. She raised her hand before Camila could speak again and asked, “Do you think we’ll be safe biking through their areas?”
Val and Camila looked at each other and laughed before Camila started to shake her head.
“Oh, sweetie, you guys won’t be biking all that way. You’ll be riding in style.”
April looked around at her friends in confusion but no one understood. Camila had a huge grin on her face when she explained.
“You’ll all be riding on a train, a steam train!”
There was a beat of silence before some of the girls started to cheer and dance around. April and Liam couldn’t help but smile at each other as the reality of a faster journey set in. April was still a little hesitant to believe, after everything that had happened, they could simply get on a train and get that close to home so she turned back to Camila and asked her to explain how that was possible.
“I know the general story of how they did it but not all the details. What I was told was that around the end of the second month after the crash, the leaders of all the refugee camps and towns started to send out scouts to make contact with other areas farther north up the coast. Once they had ham radios set up and they started to communicate with each other they realized that they all had different goods that the other areas could use so they hammered out some trade agreements and routes to use. The problems they had were safely moving enough of the stuff and people to make it worthwhile. I had no idea before the crash, but apparently, there were a lot of restored steam trains in the Pacific States that were used for tourist attractions. Once again, I don’t know all the details but it took them two more months to get the trains where they needed them and thousands of people helped to clear the tracks on the main routes they wanted to use. They’ve been up and running now for just over a month and they say it’s working great. The last trade we did with the farm camps we got two beef cows from somewhere called Bend, Oregon as well as twenty bags of flour from up there.”
The city survivors could only shake their heads in amazed awe which made Val
laugh again. She looked proud when she declared, “Hey, this is America. They might’ve knocked us down but there’s no way we would’ve stayed down! We might never get back to where we were six months ago but we’ll rebuild and be stronger for it!”
Mrs. Moore slowly started to nod her head and laugh before turning to her charges. “Students, we’re going home!”
Chapter Sixteen
Everyone was in a celebratory mood that night at supper and after the main meal was served, and the tables cleared away in the dining hall, a band set up and played music. People danced and sang along to popular songs. April and her friends hadn’t heard music since the crash, and they all joined in whirling and spinning to a slightly Spanish-accented Lady Gaga cover. It was the first real fun any of them had had since it all began and the girls threw themselves into it fully.
April took a break from dancing and watched from the sidelines while sipping a weak-flavored cup of Tang. She was so happy and so sad at the same time. She couldn’t help thinking that her mom might’ve gotten better if she’d made it this far with them. The kindness of these people and normality of the night might’ve brought her back to her old self.
Jessica was smiling as she left the dance floor and leaned against the wall beside her for a break. It was the first time she’d seen her friend smile since they had left the tunnels and April hoped her friend was healing from the rape.
“How are you doing? We haven’t really had a chance to talk much since we got here,” April asked.
Jessica gave a half shrug, swiped April’s Tang, and took a sip before gagging and handing it back with a chuckle.
“God, that’s horrible! Is that juice or just the water they used to wash the oranges with?”
April laughed and nudged her friend. “Seriously, how are you?”
Jessica wiped her sweaty face and watched the dancers for a minute before finally answering.
“Better, I guess. I ..., I talked about what happened with Mrs. Moore and Maya and that helped a little. Maya took me to a house that had a bunch of women and girls and they had like a support meeting. I guess there were a lot of women who got attacked like me and they do counseling there. It helped a little to know I wasn’t the only one and they understand how I feel, so that’s good.”
April bit her lip and asked quietly, “How do you feel?”
Jessica breathed deeply. “Honestly? I feel pissed off but in a quiet sort of way. Not like I want to go scream but more like a simmering rage that never goes away. I’m not scared of men or hate them. I know it’s not all men who would do that but I think it’ll always be there now, a possibility in the back of my mind and that sucks.” She looked over and smirked at April. “I liked the gun training, bullet therapy!”
April held up her hands in mock surrender. “Uh, yeah! You were totally terrifying with that gun!”
The two girls were laughing when Liam came and pulled them both back onto the dance floor.
The next few days passed quickly with the group resting and getting in more gun and medical training until the morning came when they were ready to leave. There were a lot of hugs and some tears when it came time to say goodbye. It meant a lot to the group that these people had taken them in and provided a safe haven and so much help.
Everyone was nervous about leaving the safe community but they were all ready to move on to the next leg of their journey. Everyone’s backpacks had new supplies that Maya had gifted them and for the first time in months, most of the girls no longer wore Disney-themed clothing. Quite a few of the mothers in the community had traded non-logo clothing with the girls so they could have the cartoon covered fabric to make fun clothes for their younger children.
Getting back on their bikes, the group gave a final wave goodbye to the crowd that had come to see them off before following Juan and four of his scouts out of the gates. The five men were also mounted on bikes and the plan was for all of them to ride to a warehouse where they had one of a few functioning trucks loaded with the scavenged goods that the community was trading. From there they would follow behind the truck to the designated meeting point with the refugee traders.
The group on bikes had no problem keeping up with the truck as it was slow going in a lot of places where many wrecked and stalled cars still covered the roads. They had started out from the gates very early in the morning and by ten o’clock they were all drenched in sweat. Juan came to a halt and everyone gulped at their water bottles. They had been on the road for almost three hours and still had another three to go.
April fanned herself as she looked around at the scenery. It was a curious mix of suburban homes and nature. There were canyons and hills as well as suburban tracts of housing. They had passed huge areas that had been swept through with a fire that left nothing but charred remains of foliage and twisted frames of buildings. Juan had told them that fire was one of his people’s biggest fears and the guards on their wall scanned the hills constantly for the threat. There wasn’t a lot his community could do but evacuate if a fire swept through their area and it was a huge concern.
April twisted and turned trying to stretch out her back and daydreamed about riding in a comfortable seat as the train sped over the miles. She was smiling to herself when the sound of faint barking reached her ears. She barely registered it until she saw Juan and his men tense up and tighten their grips on their weapons. The men scanned the surrounding area as Juan called the students to move in closer to the truck. April was confused but unholstered her gun and flicked off the safety. She didn’t know what the threat was but she trusted the reactions of the men, so she readied herself for whatever was to come at them.
The barking became louder until a pack of dogs spilled out from between two buildings ahead of them. Surprise had April lowering her weapon as she saw over ten dogs of different breeds and sizes come barreling towards them. The dogs were in poor condition with matted fur and ribs showing but their barking and growling was fierce and savage. She couldn’t help but notice that each and every one of the dogs had a collar on. The loud report of gunfire had her bringing up her weapon but she just couldn’t fire on the pack.
One of the men had fired into the pavement in front of the pack causing most of the dogs to scatter and run away. Two of the biggest dogs still headed towards them so the man fired again, causing the lead dog to squeal and tumble to a stop before it and its companion ran back the way it had come. The tinkle of dog tags had them all swiveling around. Standing in the road behind them was a golden Lab with a pink collar. It was also in bad shape with part of its ear torn away. The group of people stood with weapons pointed at it before the dog let out a whine of sorrow and turned and bolted around a corner.
April didn’t even feel the tears trickling down her face until Liam stepped over to her and held out a crumpled bit of toilet paper. She hadn’t thought that there was anything else in this devastated world that could break her heart until she realized that all those dogs were once people’s beloved pets. Her mind flashed to her own dog, Lucy, and she wondered if her sweet pet had been left to fend for itself.
Liam squeezed her shoulder. “They’ve all gone feral. All those pets not locked into homes would’ve formed packs. When their owners never came home to feed them, they would’ve started to hunt for food. Man’s best friend is now an enemy.”
April blew her nose and shoved her sadness to the side and let the anger fill her. This was the new reality and tears wouldn’t help her or her friends survive. She threw her pack back on and climbed back on her bike without a word. The only thing they could do was to press on and try and find happiness wherever they could.
April kept her head down and followed the truck with the others for the next few hours. She let her anger at what the world had become fuel her muscles and tried to block out the destruction they passed. She trusted Juan and his men to alert them to any dangers they might encounter. She was so focused on moving that she had to jerk to the side to avoid crashing into the bikes in front of her when t
hey slowed to a stop.
When she brought her bike under control on the side of the road, she had a good view of what was ahead of them. The landscape ahead was different than what they had been travelling through since they left Disneyland. Fields spread across the distance and it had an almost prairie-like quality. Her heart gave a lurch of homesickness as the fields rose up to meet mountains in the far distance. She pulled her gaze away from the familiar looking view and focused on the road ahead of them. Two vehicles with a small group of people waited in the middle of the road.
Both trucks were older models. One was a heavy-duty transport looking truck that had a flatbed trailer attached to it. The trailer had crates and boxes strapped down to it and April assumed it was the trade goods. The other truck was just plain weird. The panels on it were painted with old-fashioned cartoons of children eating ice cream cones. April sent Liam and Jessica an inquiring look but they just shrugged with bemused expressions.
Juan had walked out to meet the other group halfway between the two convoys and after a few minutes came back with a man from the other group. The other men in both groups worked on unhitching the flatbed trailers from the transports.
“This is Kevin. He will be taking you guys from here to the main farm camp.” Juan introduced the new man and he shook hands with Mrs. Moore and looked over her students.
“It’s nice to meet you all, always good to meet survivors from the city!” He gave them a warm smile and waved at the bikes they were all standing by. “You can just leave those by the side of the road. You won’t need them anymore. We’ll drive you to the camp for processing and send you to where you’ll all be living from now on.”
STRANDED: Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 72
