4
Jessica
“What’s going on?” said Jessica, stepping out through the door and seeing a stranger there standing in a police uniform.
Her internal defenses immediately went up. Who was this guy? Was he really a cop? What was he doing here?
“How many RVs now?” Jim was saying.
“Four, I think,” called out Aly’s uncle Jordan from the rooftop.
“You think?” said Jessica sarcastically.
“It’s hard to see through the trees.”
“Who’s he?” said Jessica, gesturing to the man wearing a cop uniform.
“A cop, apparently,” said Jim. “Aly’s uncle wants us to let him stay with us.”
“With us?”
Jim nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it.
“That’s crazy,” said Jessica, who didn’t have any problem voicing her opinions in front of the stranger, even if he was a cop, and even if it was rude to do so. “We’re going to have enough trouble with the addition of Aly’s uncle.”
“I know,” said Jim. “But he’s right. It’s his house.”
“So, what are we going to do?”
They were standing a little away from the others now, speaking in low voices to one another.
“I don’t know,” said Jim. “Either stay here, or leave.”
“Aly’s in no condition to leave,” said Jessica.
“I know, I know,” said Jim, sounding stressed. “And we don’t have anywhere to go, either.”
“There are plenty of places to go,” said Jessica. “Think of all the houses that are going to be abandoned now. People are going to be fleeing, looking for a better place, a place where they can survive.”
“Exactly,” said Jim. “And if they’re leaving, it’s either out of panic or for a good reason. I don’t see someone leaving a house that has everything they need. So what are we going to do? Move into some abandoned house that wasn’t good enough for someone else? Where else are we going to find a spot near a lake, where we can fish, and get water?”
The sound of the approaching RVs was loud now. Jessica could clearly hear their engines.
A second later, the first one appeared at the end of the driveway. It was large, and it looked fairly new.
The RV drove fast, kicking up dirt and dust as it passed the driveway.
Another RV followed, then another, and another. Making four in total.
Jessica looked at Jim. “What do you think they’re doing here?”
Jim shrugged. “The same thing as everyone else. Looking for a place to survive.”
“What should we do?”
“Check it out,” said Jim.
“Sounds good,” said Jessica, readjusting the rifle strap that was slung over her shoulder.
“Not you,” said Jim. “I’ll go alone.”
“We don’t know who they are. You need backup.”
“We need someone here.”
“Rob’s here. It’ll be fine.”
“All right, come on. We’ll take the path through the trees by the shore. They won’t see us coming.”
Jessica started walking towards the lake, heading towards the path. Jim stayed back for a moment, saying something to the two new men, and then he jogged to catch up with her.
“You’ve got the binoculars?” said Jessica.
“Yeah,” said Jim.
They walked in silence in single file, following the narrow path that twisted through the pine trees.
The sun, as usual, was hidden behind the clouds. It was a gray day, as most of them were.
Occasionally, as they walked, Jessica caught glimpses of the lake. The water lapped gently against the shore. The lake wasn’t large enough to have real waves, but the ripples moved gently this way and that, giving her a peaceful sensation that was at odds with the situation.
Jessica’s mind was all over the place, running this way and that.
She didn’t think much about what was about to happen, about the newcomers in the RVs. They’d have to deal with whatever happened.
Instead, she thought about the future, about the practical things that they hadn’t quite figured out yet. Like water purification, fishing, and ongoing medical care.
The winter loomed large in her mind. Upstate New York winters were notoriously difficult. And that was with modern technology, with heat, with food in the supermarkets only a short drive away, with sophisticated medical care only a phone call away.
How would they fare once the winter came? Sure, they had several months before the first frosts rolled in. But they couldn’t simply wait without planning, pretending that it wouldn’t happen. They’d have to gather wood, figure out how to heat the small house. They’d have to gather enough food and figure out how to store it. They’d have to figure out how much food the lake could provide, and then drill a hole through whatever ice formed so that they could keep fishing through the winter.
They’d have to worry about their clothing, about boots, about the small countless winter issues that would become amplified into huge problems.
Up in front, Jim stopped. He held up his hand with his fist closed, signaling for Jessica to stop as well.
She already had her rifle in her hands. Her Glock was in its holster, fully loaded.
They’d walked only a small part of the way around the lake.
Jessica looked around carefully, but she didn’t see anything.
Not yet.
“You see them?” she said, speaking in a low voice.
“I see the corner of one of the RVs. You see? Over there, by the beach.”
Jessica looked, and sure enough, she saw the dim sunlight glinting off the fender of one of the RVs. They were still far off.
“It looks like they might be parking near the beach. There’s a big parking lot.”
Jessica nodded. She’d seen the beach only from the distance. From where they stood, they could see the beach across part of the lake, where the shore curved around.
“Should we keep going? What’s the plan?”
“Yeah,” said Jim. “We’re going to run into them sooner or later if they’ve decided to set up a more or less permanent camp here. And that’s probably what they’re doing. So, we might as well confront them now.”
“Confront them? You mean just like walk up and introduce yourself?”
“Basically,” said Jim. “But I want to get closer first. Check to see if they look like they’re carrying weapons, that sort of thing. Get a read on them.”
Jim had spent time here before the EMP, and he knew the lake better than anyone except Aly, and presumably her uncle, too. He explained that there was a path that would take them around to the other side of the parking lot where the RVs were parked. They could stay behind the trees for most of the way, only having to cross the road once.
Jessica agreed to the plan, and they spent another five or ten minutes walking along the path. The only time they were exposed, out of cover, was when they crossed the road. But there seemed to be no one there.
When they were in position, they could see all four RVs lined up in the parking lot.
“What now?” said Jessica.
“Wait and watch,” said Jim.
And that’s what they did.
They watched the parked RVs closely. They took turns passing the binoculars back and forth.
The idea was for one of them to always be the “spotter,” similar to how snipers worked in the military. That way, someone couldn’t sneak up on them easily.
“What do you think they’re doing?” said Jim.
There were a half dozen people or so gathered around the RVs. They were shuffling around, dragging things like coolers and tents around. It was hard to tell exactly what they were doing.
“I don’t know,” said Jessica. “I’d say they’re setting up camp, but that doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t they just sleep in their RVs?”
“That’s what I was thinking,” said Jim.
The people around the
RVs looked normal enough. They were in their forties, fifties, and sixties. There were men and women, wearing shorts, pants, t-shirts. Just normal clothing.
“OK,” said Jim. “They don’t look too dangerous. I’m going to go see what’s up.”
Jessica nodded and watched as Jim holstered his revolver, stood up, and started walking towards them.
She waited, rifle in her hands, ready to back him up if need be. From that distance, she was confident that she could get off a good shot or two if needed.
But she hoped they weren’t dangerous.
If they were, Jim would be in a bad position. He’d be outnumbered, and there was only so much he could do with his revolver, and so much Jessica could do with her rifle.
5
Aly
Aly wasn’t feeling that well. But she was better than she had been.
The return of her uncle was a huge surprise. Honestly, she’d assumed he was dead.
He’d just come into her room again, after having stepped outside with Jim.
“You don’t smell like alcohol,” said Aly, not able to contain the surprise in her voice.
Her uncle Jordan laughed. His open mouth was full of food. He had a couple packets of crackers that he was jamming into his mouth as fast as he could.
“Careful,” said Aly. “We don’t have an endless supply of those, you know.”
“I haven’t eaten in days,” said Jordan. “I’m about to pass out from hunger.”
“Did you quit drinking or something? You don’t sound drunk.”
“Something like that,” said Jordan, shrugging his shoulders. “You know how it goes.”
“I don’t,” said Aly, her voice sounding harsh.
But she didn’t blame herself. Jordan had been nothing but a problem for her family since she could remember. They’d been so many frantic midnight phone calls, so many trips to the emergency room. So many family crises that never seemed to resolve, no matter how much effort her mother and father put in. More than she could count.
Aly watched from her bed as her uncle put his muddy shoes up on the edge of the bed, instantly dirtying the sheets with mud and filth.
“Make yourself comfortable, why don’t you?” said Aly.
“Hey, it’s my house,” said Jordan.
“What, are you going to kick us out?”
“Well, your husband keeps talking about some kind of apocalypse thing. So I don’t think I can in these circumstances.”
“But you would otherwise?”
“What difference does it make?” said Jordan, his mouth still full of crackers.
There were cuts and scrapes on his face. There was dirt in his overgrown hair.
He looked disgusting.
“Why don’t you go take a bath in the lake or something?” said Aly.
“The lake? I think I’ll take a shower, like a normal person.”
“Maybe you didn’t catch on yet, but nothing works.”
“The shower doesn’t work?”
Aly shook her head.
There was silence in the room for a few moments.
“How’s your mother doing?” said Jordan. “I kept meaning to call her…”
“She’s dead,” said Aly.
“Dead?”
Aly said nothing. She’d already told him. She didn’t see the need to keep repeating herself.
“Wow,” said Jordan.
A man appeared in the doorway. He wore a cop uniform.
“You got any more of that beef jerky here?” he said. His mouth was also full. It looked like sardines, maybe.
Aly just looked at her uncle for an explanation.
What was that guy doing, eating all their food? A complete stranger.
If she’d been feeling more like herself, she would have done something about it.
But each new worrying thought seemed to make her feel weaker. She didn’t, after all, think that she could even get out of bed.
“That’s Andy. He’s going to be staying with us,” said Jordan. “I already talked to your husband about it.”
“And he was OK with it?”
Jordan nodded. “Well, not really. But it’s my house.”
“What about the jerky?” said Andy.
Aly shook her head. “We’ve got to save that,” she said. “We’re on tight rations. We don’t just go eating everything in sight when we feel like it. It’s not like we’re going to get that food again.”
“Lighten up,” said Jordan. “We’re both starving. What? You want us to drop dead?”
“Where’s Jim?”
Jordan shrugged. “I don’t know. Went off to talk to some RV people or something.”
“Well,” said Aly, after a long pause. “You know, I didn’t really expect to see you again.”
“I’ve always been the black sheep of the family. Your mother always treated me like dirt.”
“That’s not true…” said Aly, interrupting him.
But he continued. “But keep in mind. This is my house. You’re my guest here. So things are going to go the way I want them to go. And I say that our guest here, this valiant policeman, well, he can eat as much as he wants.”
“But you don’t even understand what’s going on,” said Aly.
She started to explain about the EMP, about how everything was down. All the systems.
“Everything?”
“Yeah,” said Aly. “It was hard for me to believe at first, too. But that’s the way it is.”
“I’m sure it’ll all come back on,” said her uncle.
“That way of thinking is going to get us killed,” said Aly. “If things keep sliding in the direction they’ve been sliding, we’re going to be lucky to be alive. And we can’t expect the power to suddenly come back on.”
“I don’t know,” said Jordan. “Things always have a way of working out.”
“That kind of attitude could be the death of us all.”
“You sound so much like your mother.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” said Aly.
“I don’t mean to interrupt this little family drama,” said Andy the cop. “But what’s been going on around here? The lake, I mean. It was crazy back in Rochester. I barely got out alive.”
“Why aren’t you with the force there?” said Aly.
He waved his hand. “It’s a long story,” he said. “For another time. Tell me what’s been going on here.”
Aly told him briefly about the Carpenters, how she’d been shot, and the battle that had taken place with them.
“And nothing else happened? No one else is around here? No gangs? No police?”
Aly shook her head. “We’ve been lucky so far.”
“Hey!” shouted a male voice from outside the bedroom.
Aly heard the front door squeaking on its hinges. It took her a second to realize it was Rob’s voice.
“Rob?” she called out.
Rob appeared in the doorway, sweating from head to toe. His hair, a little longer than he normally kept it, was drenched and plastered against his forehead. In another context, his appearance would have been funny.
But now, it made her heart leap with fear.
“What is it?” she said.
All heads were turned, facing Rob.
“There’s someone out there,” he said. “Someone with a gun.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Where’s Jim? And Jessica?”
“They’re off to investigate some RV thing.”
“Shit,” muttered Rob.
“Well,” said Jordan, standing up and tapping Andy the cop on the arm. “You’re the cop. Why don’t you get out there and see what’s going on? Give him your gun, Rob.”
Rob shook his head. “No way,” he said.
“Well, how’s he going to defend us without a sidearm? As I understand it, his was taken in the line of duty.”
“Uh, that’s right,” said Andy, looking nervous. “Look, I don’t think going out there in uniform is the best approach. May
be he’ll just leave.”
“What?” said Jordan. “What happened to bravery and all that? Bravery in the line of fire?”
“Well, it’s just that…”
There was a loud knock at the door.
“Anyone in there?” came a rough, male voice.
“He’s here,” whispered Rob.
Jordan didn’t sound nervous. He wasn’t talking like he was nervous, but when Aly glanced at him, she saw that he was sweating. Beads of perspiration had accumulated on his brow. And his hand, which he was trying to conceal close to his body, was shaking almost violently.
“I’ll deal with this,” said Rob, taking a deep breath and turning back around to head out of the room.
6
Jim
Jim didn’t want to approach them with a gun drawn. For all he knew, they weren’t violent people and weren’t armed themselves. And if that was the case, the presence of a gun might cause them to become fretful. And even violent.
No, it was better to try the peaceful approach first.
He knew he was taking a risk approaching them like this. It was just him against a group of an untold number.
But at least he was just risking himself.
Then again, if something happened to him, it’d put the rest of the lake house group, his wife included, at greater risk.
He sighed. Everything seemed wrong, no matter how he looked at it.
He tried not to think about Aly’s uncle and the new cop stranger. It was strange. A strange situation, and the more he thought about it, the more he didn’t like it.
He’d have to do something. Think of something. Come up with some plan.
But he’d worry about that later.
Up ahead, he could see the RV folks more clearly. It looked like they were setting up a grill.
They didn’t look dangerous. One of the men wore shorts and boat shoes. He looked like a guy on vacation.
If there hadn’t been the EMP, it would have looked totally normal. Just some friends with some RVs gathering around a nice lake for a cookout.
But that’s not the way things were.
“Hey there,” shouted Jim, when he was within earshot of the RVs.
Surviving: The Complete Series [Books 1-3] Page 19
