Turner’s travel plan progressed like clockwork. We crossed the Colorado border in seven hours and by 0345 parked under a highway bridge just outside Glenwood Springs. I stretched and jumped from the cab, nervous about contacting the group suspected to be camped out in the cavern. It felt reassuring to have Sadie, Ben, and Carl to hide behind. They’d assumed leader positions, and I hoped it would help our quartet blend into the ranks.
Deciding a small contingent would be best, Sadie, Ben, and four others started the hike up the mountain to the cave opening. They carried weapons and an open shortwave radio fixed to our channel. I paced as we waited for them to make contact. Tuner caught my hand as I passed, and glaring at him, I snatched it away.
Hand by his side, he started to sign. Who cares if we become close? No one knows who we are. We’re nobodies to them.
We’re more likely to be recognized if we’re together. We have to be vigilant.
I miss you.
I miss you too.
I took a seat beside Amelie, listening to the group trudge up the mountain. It was an hour before we heard them tapping on a tree in Morse code, hoping to signal to the group in the cave that we were friendly and would like to talk. A few minutes later, we heard bird calls and then a coded reply.
Weapons down. Hands up. Out in open.
Our team coded back. Not till 0507 to avoid satellites.
Copy.
I checked my watch and started pacing again. At 0507 my alarm dinged, and I peered up the mountain to see Sadie, Ben, and then the four others, one by one, step into a clearing, hands up. My heart skipped a beat. What if we were wrong about this group? They could be dead in seconds.
“We should load into the vehicles. Be ready to get out of here if this goes south.” I jogged to my transport and gunned the engine.
The others followed suit, and I sat there, leg bouncing, listening and waiting. I felt relieved to be out of the line of sight of the team on the mountain. I couldn’t handle seeing another person die. Gripping the steering wheel, I noticed my knuckles go white, and I raised and lowered my fingers.
“Who are you? Why are you here?” The voice sounded familiar.
“Maybe you’ve heard of our group. We have a camp outside Salt Lake City,” Sadie answered.
“Perhaps.” The same voice.
“We’re travelling east and needed to rest for a bit. We have thirty-six total. Could you spare space for a night?”
“We’re supposed to trust you in our compound? Each of you had two weapons on you. We’d be stupid to do that.”
“We knew you were here. There’s a small network of people who share information. We were told you’re friendly. We’re just passing through.”
Turner’s face appeared beside me. “It’s River. I’d bet money on it.”
“River? River from Cmdr. Butler’s Lovelock team?” Heart leaping out of my chest, I pushed the door open and followed him to the edge of the overpass.
Turner peered through his binoculars. Lowering them, he turned to me. “It’s River, Baxter, Garrison, and five others from Butler’s crew.”
I took the binoculars and realized he was right. My mind spun. “What do we do?”
Amelie and Mace approached. They squatted beside us, and we relayed the new information. Retreating under cover of the overpass, we mulled it over. If they had split from Butler, they could be huge assets. But could we trust them?
I snatched the walkie from Turner’s belt and pushed the comm button. “Retreat now.”
“What are you doing?” Amelie grabbed the radio from me.
“We need to let our team know what’s going on.”
“Come in?” Sadie’s voice sounded over the walkie.
“We need to give you some intel.” I opened the comm line again. “Give me a minute.”
I ventured to the edge of the underpass, looking at Sadie and her team through the binoculars. Sadie backed to the trees. “What’s going on?”
Turner grabbed my hand and locked his eyes on mine. “How do we explain that we know them? They may guess who we are.”
“Hey, guys, what’s going on down there?” Sadie’s voice came through the walkie speaker.
“What if you keep your heads down, blend in?” Amelie whispered to us. “Mace and I can say we were briefed on Butler and his team and recognize them as Lovelock men.”
“That’s a good idea.” Rubbing my hands down my pants, I paced away from her. “What if Turner and I take a team to prep the Missouri compound. That will limit our time with them.”
“Do you copy?” Sadie asked.
Hearing a truck door slam, I turned to see Carl jogging to us. “What’s going on?”
I handed the walkie to Mace, and he switched on the comm. “Amelie and I recognize those men. They used to be with Butler at Lovelock. We’ve got to figure out what side they’re on.”
“Copy.” Through the binoculars, I saw Sadie walk back to the group.
Carl walked to each vehicle, alerting the others to the new information. Nerves on edge, I circled the space under the bridge. Amelie, Mace, and Turner matched my steps as we bounced ideas of how to limit our exposure to the ex-Lovelock crew. Turner wanted them on our team. They knew Butler, and if anyone could help figure out how to oust him, it would be them. We decided to get Carl on board with our idea to form a pre-staging team for the Missouri compound and let his Utah group handle recruiting the ex-Lovelock people at the top of the mountain.
We approached Carl and pitched our idea. Then Carl and I watched through the binoculars as Sadie and her team conversed with the Colorado group. I saw them shake hands, and then Sadie and our guys retrieved their weapons and started down the hill. Sadie radioed that we were invited inside their compound. My skin crawled. I never wanted to enter that cave again. Not with anyone, but even more so not with the people who tried to bargain Turner’s life away. Rage burned in my mind as I remembered their betrayal, Owen’s betrayal. We would not be used as bait again.
Our team milled about, waiting for Sadie and her team. Killing time, I checked the supplies in my transport. With one vehicle, we’d be faster. It made sense that only Turner and I go. The Utah team needed Amelie and Mace. They had information that would aid melding of the groups. Plus, Turner and I wouldn’t have to hide. Perhaps I hadn’t admitted how much energy keeping up my guard twenty-four seven required. Just the chance that I might not have to check to see if I were alone before washing my face had me feeling energized for the first time in eight days.
Amelie appeared beside me. “What are you doing?”
“Rearranging some gear. There’s too much here for just me and Turner.” I lifted a box of MREs and started towards the vehicle to my rear.
“You’re not going alone.” Amelie trailed me.
“Why not?” I set the box on top of another in the back of the truck.
“You’re kidding, right?” Her eyes cut around us, and she leaned into me. “What if you’re recognized? What if you’re ambushed? What if you get eaten by, I don’t know, a bear?”
I started for my vehicle. “There’s no one out here. We’ll hide during the day and travel at night. Turner and I know how to do this.”
She grabbed my arm and spun me around to face her. “That’s not happening. You’re not going alone. Your dads sent us to make sure you were safe, and that’s what we’re going to do. If something happens to even one of you, it could mean the end of the human species.”
Ripping my arm from her grip, I grabbed two of the sleeping bags from the back of my vehicle. “You’re being over dramatic.”
“No, I’m not. We’re coming with you. It’s not just you and Turner against the world anymore. It’s the four of us. We’re a unit. Why are you doing this? Is it the chip thing? You don’t trust us anymore?”
I tossed the bags into the next truck. “No, it’s not like that. It’s just Turner and I know how to hide and these people need your skills.”
“If that crew was trained by Butler, the
y have far better people than us.” She put her hands to her hips. “Mace will side with me on this. We’re coming too.”
“Who’s going where?”
I looked up to see Sadie standing beside my transport, Ben and the four others behind her. Pointing to the group, I indicated we should catch everyone up to speed on what happened at the top of the mountain. It turned out the Lovelock crew had been trying to figure out how they were going to plan a coup and were open to teaming up. Turner pitched our view on prepping the Missouri compound to the larger group. They agreed it sounded like a good plan, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Sadie stood there quiet for the entire conversation, seeming to take in everyone’s opinion. “Okay, well, if you teens are going off alone, I’m coming with you. Brains do not mature until at least twenty-four, and who knows what you’ll get yourselves into.”
Turner rubbed his beard. “We got this far. I think we’re good.”
“How many other women do you see here?” Sadie scanned the space. “There aren’t any other women up there either. There’s going to be five for your little staging party.”
I dared a glance at Turner, and he shrugged. “Fine. Let’s load up. We’ll plan for twenty-four hours, three meals each, five sleeping bags, two tents, ten weapons, ammo, and radio and satellite gear. That’s it. We travel light.”
We rearranged the supplies and watched as the five transports started up the road to the cave entrance. I prayed they weren’t driving into a trap. My leg bounced as the trucks appeared smaller and smaller in the distance. I turned over the radio in my hand.
Sadie laid her fingers on mine. “You’re way too young to be carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. You kids act like this is all on you. I don’t know who abandoned you or how you got this way, but you need to stop believing you’ve got to do this alone. You must start trusting people. I wouldn’t let them go up there if I didn’t think they could take care of themselves. They’re smart, and they know what they’re getting into. In a week, we’ll have over seventy with us, but we need more. Let’s focus on getting to Missouri and rounding up more people, okay? I’m not going to be hanging around you kids if you’re going to be all doom and gloom. We’ve got a world to save.”
My shoulders shuttered as I recalled everything we’d endured, what Butler’s men were capable of. But I had to focus on the future. That was what mattered.
“You done with your speech?” Turner gunned the engine.
I didn’t hear her reply as the sound of the turning motor bounced off the cement overpass, but she held her fist out, and Amelie laid hers atop it. Each of us followed suit.
“Ooh rah,” Sadie called.
“Ooh rah,” we answered.
Putting the truck into gear, Turner maneuvered up to a path that paralleled the highway. We’d travel smaller two-lane routes by day to limit exposure. I laid my head on the door frame, looking up at the trees as we climbed a peak, descended into a valley, and ascended to the next mountain top. Motion relaxing me, I slept like I hadn’t in weeks, the deep slumber where no dreams entered. I woke to see my friends sitting around a fire, eating from their meal packs, and laughing with Sadie.
Looking to the sky and blanket of stars above, I pushed off the door. With one swift move, I hurled my legs over the side of the truck. Landing on the soft ground, I steadied myself. How had I slept ten hours? I glanced at Turner, wanting nothing more than to snuggle in beside him and sleep another day.
I approached the fire and squatted beside Amelie. “I can’t believe you guys let me sleep that long.”
“We were starting to think you died. Amelie kept checking that you were still breathing.” Turner held a meal pack out to me.
Taking the MRE, I stood and stretched, extending my arms over my head. I shook out my legs and opened the pack, sucking the food from the plastic container. After eating, we doused the fire with dirt, ran for an hour to get our exercise in, and then packed our things back into the vehicle. Well rested, I took point on driving, and Sadie slid in beside me as navigator.
Finding the first ramp up to the limited access interstate, I switched into the highest gear. The moonlight and my night-vision goggles made driving at high speeds possible even on the cracked pavement. With two lanes to maneuver, I pushed the accelerator to the floor. We’d reached the T minus sixty-six-day mark in Zhou’s ninety-day deadline and time felt critical. We were nearly a third in, and still had no confirmed coup army.
After an hour, I glanced up at the rearview mirror to see Amelie, Mace, and Turner sound asleep. I noted Turner’s face had filled out a bit.
Sadie glanced at the back seat, and then her stare landed on me. “This may be fun if we weren’t trying to start a war. Lark would have loved this, driving cross country, seeing the landscape.”
“You miss her?”
“Every day. What about your parents? You never said anything about them. They let you sign up for this? I’m not sure I could have sent my daughter off to start a war.”
I couldn’t talk about my family, think about Mom or Nave with Owen, or my dad being a sitting duck at Port Orford. “It was my choice.”
“So, you do have parents?”
“Everyone has parents.”
“Touché. They’re in Port Orford, waiting out the stalemate?”
“I don’t know.” I half-lied, glad I had the cover of darkness to conceal any tells. I convinced myself this was true. I didn’t really know where Mom was, and Dad could be on a ship halfway across the Pacific.
“You’re a hard nut to crack. But I’ll get to that gooey center if it’s the last thing I do.”
“You’re assuming I have a soft side.”
“Strong silent type, eh?” Running her hands down her pants, she stretched her legs out.
“Haven’t we already established that?”
She explained deciding to enlist in the military and joining the aid forces, talked about how she chose her husband from the list of potentials she’d been assigned—or, as she described it, he’d pestered her until she couldn’t say no—and about her daughter and how she loved camping.
“I did everything right for this country. This country could have done better for me, for all those facing this virus.”
This was something I did know about. “When did she die?”
“Three months ago.”
“I’m really sorry you went through that.” My stomach turned as I considered how close we came to losing Nave.
We rode in silence for what seemed like hours until she spoke again. “My friend back at camp says I still have some issues around my daughter’s death. She says I’m stuck in the anger phase.”
I stretched my free leg. “Works for me. We need all the angry people we can get.”
The hours ticked by as we sped through the night. Before dawn, we reached the abandoned metro area skirting Kansas City and pulled off the highway to break for a meal and conditioning. As we ran, the moist air filled my lungs, and they protested with each exhalation. Dew from the trees pelted my jacket as I hit the branches with my arms. Water from the undergrowth soaked my pant legs. Even with the sun just above the horizon, sweat beaded on my forehead.
Reaching a clearing, a rattling noise made me freeze in my tracks. A snake lay coiled on the ground not two feet from me. Squealing, I jumped back.
Turner slid his gun from his vest and shot the animal in the head. “We’re eating snake for dinner.”
My heart pounded in my chest. I hated Missouri. The others teased me as we trekked back to the vehicle, more cautious of my foot placement. Turner hacked off the head and rattler and skinned the snake. I watched Sadie grimace as pierced the strips of meat with makeshift skewers whittled from sticks.
“Now, this is living.” Turner smiled as he sat on the ground, holding his snake over the flames.
I liked that side of him. Being away from the group relaxed all of us. The mood felt lighter, and I wished it could be Amelie, Mace, Turner, and me again. A
s the sun rose, the forest came alive with a hum almost like an incessant reverberating chirp.
“Cicadas.” Sadie raised her face to the trees.
“Bugs?” I asked.
“A type of beetle. Aren’t you the bio person? Various species used to stretch from coast to coast. They mostly live in trees.”
“Biotech. I’m surprised to see forest here. I thought it lay farther east.”
Sadie shook her head. “Doesn’t anyone learn the basics anymore? Ecosystem migration. Everything moved northwest with the rise in temperatures. Snakes, gators, wild cats, bears, mosquitos all thriving here now. The jungle is denser on the eastern side of the state.”
My shoulders shuddered, and I peered up at the tree trunks. “How did they grow in a row? Are they like the Aspens that grow from roots spreading underground?”
Sadie sniffed at her heated-snake skewer. “No, these are pines. Soft wood but fast growing, compliments of the UNS Forest Service.”
I shot up, followed by Amelie, Mace, and Turner. I gathered the meat skewers and tossed them into the cab. Mace kicked dirt on the fire. Sadie caught on fast, stowing gear underneath the truck. Amelie and Turner stripped low branches and we lay them over the vehicle.
“You knew this was forest service land? Why didn’t you say something?” Turner turned to face Sadie as we climbed into the truck.
“I assumed you knew. You seem to know everything. Your maps didn’t have them marked off?”
Mace opened his computer. “It doesn’t say anything about national forest lands. How long has it been since we fired the shot? How fast can they get a helicopter here?”
Amelie tapped on her watch. “It’s been half an hour. I would say we’re clear after an hour maybe.”
We sat in the vehicle and waited, and with sweat pouring from every surface of my skin, I wondered what else we could have missed, what other dangers lurked in this tropical jungle-like ecosystem. With all the trees and undergrowth, it made it harder to spot threats. We’d have to be more vigilant.
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