by Bruno Miller
Some of the more populated areas and cities would be unavoidable the closer to Maryland they got, and as the density of people and towns increased, so did their risk for trouble. Ben knew this, and it weighed heavily on his mind.
He heard Joel and Allie talking a few seconds before he saw them come over the little hill. Joel was fixated on Allie or their conversation and didn’t notice Ben was in the back until he was at the passenger door.
“I guess I’m driving?” Joel pointed at himself.
“If you don’t mind,” Ben replied. “It’ll give me a chance to go over the map and try to figure out a good spot for tonight. I can take over at the next fuel stop if you get tired.”
“No problem. I can drive all day if you want me to.” Joel shrugged and handed Ben a few cold water bottles still dripping from the river.
“Here you go, Mr. Davis. I have some, too.” Allie handed him bottles she was carrying.
Joel walked around to the driver’s side and got in while Allie situated herself in the passenger’s seat. As Ben was wrapping the water bottles up in a blanket for insulation, a thought crossed his mind—something he hadn’t considered up until now.
If anything were to happen to him, would these two kids in the front seat be able to make it on their own?
RESISTANCE
Dark Road, Book Three
Bruno Miller
How far would you go for family?
As Ben, Joel, Allie, and their dog Gunner continue their trek across the EMP ravaged country, constant challenges face them at every turn.
The struggle to get through the post-apocalyptic wasteland in an effort to find Allie’s dad in Pittsburgh and reunite with Joel’s brother and sister in Maryland tests Ben’s abilities as a former Army Ranger.
But the teenagers have trials of their own, namely coming to terms with their lost youth as they are forced to grow up fast and make some tough decisions. And as the group passes through one devastated town after another it becomes apparent that only the strong and prepared will survive in these dangerous days.
From kidnappers to roadblocks it seems it’s every man for himself in this dangerous new world. Are there any good people left or is this dark road one they have to travel alone?
To Mom and Dad
for always encouraging and supporting me regardless of the adventure
Chapter One
The dirt road that led back to the main highway seemed a lot shorter than it had last night, but it was still just as bumpy. Joel didn’t mind and was glad his dad had decided to let him drive. It felt good to have Allie riding up front with him in his truck, too.
Driving around the wrecks made him a little nervous, though. When his dad had been driving, Joel could look away from them if he wanted to. But now he had to pay attention to each and every one as he drove past, being careful not to run over anything sharp enough to puncture a tire.
He had worked a good part of last summer to save up for a new set of tires for his Blazer. The set that was on the truck when they had bought it wasn’t quite up to the challenge of the off-road trails Joel and his friends liked to explore on the weekends.
Having a blowout while four-wheeling was a constant concern, so although expensive, his choice of tire to replace them had been well worth it in his mind. He’d decided on the Goodyear MT/R because they had Kevlar in the tread and sidewall, adding much-needed puncture resistance for off-roading in the San Juan Mountains.
His friend Brian had thought Joel was nuts to spend that kind of money on tires at nearly 260 dollars each. Sure, it was a lot, but the tires were now a year old, and they still looked new.
There was a good chance those pricey tires had saved them from a flat already.
Joel glanced in the rearview mirror. All he could see of his dad was the top of his head, his face hidden behind the large road atlas he was studying. Joel looked to his right. Allie had her window down all the way and her arm hanging out in the air.
He brought his focus back to the road as they came to an intersection. He paused, then turned right onto the main road. There was no point in a complete stop. The highway was empty as usual, and that was good by him.
He checked the fuel gauge. “We have about three-quarters of a tank left.”
That brought his dad’s head up from the atlas. “We’ll start looking for a good place to fuel up when you’re down to about a quarter tank. Don’t forget we have the two spare cans for backup.”
Joel nodded. “I know, but don’t we want to save those?”
“We do, if we can.” His dad glanced at the atlas again. “The next town looks like it’s about 80 miles away. We’ll have enough gas to get through, but I think we should find a place to fuel up before we stop, just to be on the safe side. I want to be able to travel a little ways farther once we’re on the other side of town, just in case we need to put some distance between us and whatever we run into there.”
“Do you think all the towns are going to be so messed up?” Allie looked around the truck for either of them to answer.
“I don’t see why not.” Joel immediately regretted what he’d said, hoping he didn’t sound too pessimistic.
His dad sighed. “As much as I hate to say it, I think Joel is right. People are going to become more and more desperate unless we get into areas that still have services. But who knows? Maybe we’re completely wrong and the more populated places are more organized and orderly.”
Joel knew his dad didn’t believe that for a second and thought he was trying to boost Allie’s morale. There was no doubt people would become more desperate as time went on. He was sure Allie knew that, too.
It had only been five days since school had let out for the summer, but to Joel it seemed like another life he’d lived long ago. He couldn’t have felt any more removed from being a recently graduated eleventh grader than he did right now.
Did Allie feel the same way? He could only begin to imagine how she was coping, considering her mom was most likely dead. He quickly reminded himself to be thankful for what he had.
He hoped her dad was okay, but based on what she had told him about the man and his skill set—or lack thereof—Joel had his doubts. Pittsburgh was probably in chaos.
They might not even be able to find him. But if they did, what then? Were they just going to leave her there with him and continue on?
Joel didn’t want that to happen, either. He might never see Allie again if she stayed there, not to mention he would have serious concerns for her safety. He tried not to think about it and instead focused on the road. No point in worrying about something that hadn’t happened yet. Besides, they were a long way from Pittsburgh.
“Look!” Allie pointed through the windshield.
Joel had been so deep in thought and focused on giving the wrecks a wide berth that he failed to notice an old green Chevy Suburban on the road ahead. It was coming at them about a half a mile or so away. They all watched in silence for a minute as it slowly dodged the obstacles on the road.
The Suburban looked a bit like a top-heavy tortoise as it weaved around a pile of cars on one side of the road. The roof was loaded with everything they owned, or at least Joel presumed that by the size of the tarp-covered mound on the roof.
The tarp, which was also green, was tied down with rope that crisscrossed itself multiple times, giving it the odd appearance of a turtle shell from a distance. The unsecured parts of the tarp flapped wildly in the wind. Joel could make out at least two people inside the cabin and thought he saw more but wasn’t sure.
“What should I do?” Joel glanced at his Dad, who was now leaning forward between the two seats.
“Nothing yet. Just give him plenty of room to pass.” Ben closed the road atlas and tucked it behind him.
Now less than 500 yards away from the newcomers, Joel steered around the last pile of cars between them and the Suburban on the two-lane highway. With nothing else on the road, he could now see the reason for the Suburban’s slow approach. The left
front wheel had a pretty bad wobble.
“That doesn’t look good,” Allie said.
“No, not at all. I’m going to say a bent or broken tie rod.” Joel had seen a fair number of bent tie rods on the off-road trails back home and knew the death wobble, as he and his friends called it, when they saw it. A tie rod was a pretty common part to damage when off-roading in rocky terrain. When they bought his Blazer, it had a bent tie rod on the passenger side, and it was one of the first things he and his dad fixed together.
“You’re probably right about that,” Ben agreed.
At a few hundred feet away, the Suburban flashed its lights several times, followed by a waving hand out of the passenger’s window.
“They want us to stop, I think.” Allie shifted in her seat to face Joel and Ben. “What if they’re trying to warn us about something up ahead?”
Joel snorted. “What if they just want our stuff?”
Ben shrugged. “Let’s just roll with it and see how it plays out. Allie might be right. It’d be nice to have a heads-up on any surprises down the road. They look like a family just trying to get somewhere like we are.”
Allie tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. “And we can warn them about what happened to us and what to expect if they stay on this road.”
Even Gunner was sitting up at this point. Roused from his nap by the commotion, he was now straining around Joel’s seat to get a better view out the window.
Joel refocused his attention on the Suburban as the distance between them shrunk. He could see a man driving, a woman in the passenger seat, and what looked like a small child in the back seat.
Ben put his hand on Joel’s shoulder. “Keep it in gear when you stop. One foot on the gas, one on the brake. Be ready to step on it if you need to. With their wheel wobbling like that, we could lose them fast.”
Chapter Two
The loaded-down Suburban stopped first, several yards ahead of them. A man got out with his hands open in front of him, indicating he wasn’t holding anything. The woman followed his lead and exited the passenger-side door, waving her hands in the air.
Ben nodded toward the couple as he spoke to Joel. “Leave a good amount of space between us when you stop.”
“Okay.” Joel turned the wheel to the right and pulled over on the shoulder. That left more than a lane and a half between the two trucks.
The man took a couple cautious steps forward and stopped. “Thanks for not driving past. My name is Jon, and this is my wife, Christine.” He repeated his name. “Jon Wilson.”
Joel looked over at his dad. “What do you think?”
“So far they seem friendly.” Ben was now fully leaned over the center console so he could see out of Joel’s window. There was an old faded Air Force sticker on one of the Suburban’s side windows.
Joel nodded. “You talk to them, Dad.”
“I’m Ben, and this is my son and his friend.” Ben tried to answer as vaguely as he could without coming off as rude or aggressive. “Where are you folks headed?”
Jon answered. “Going down to Glendale, Arizona, to Luke Air Force Base, to get up with our son. He’s stationed there.”
Knowing they were parents of an airman made Ben feel better. “Having some trouble, I see. What year is the truck?”
“Eighty-five, I think. My son left this pretty thing in our yard when he enlisted. He kept promising to come and get it, but now I’m glad he never did. Neither one of our vehicles would run, but this old machine started right up.” He jerked his thumb back at the last pile of cars they had passed. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention for a second and ran into one of those.”
Ben thought the guy seemed legitimate and his story believable enough, but the pragmatist in him wasn’t fully buying it yet.
Just then, a little pony-tailed head popped up from the back window and snuck a peek at them before the mother scolded her for not staying out of sight like her father had asked her to.
Ben nudged Joel. “Go ahead, turn it off and get out, but stay near the truck.”
Joel shut the truck off and hopped out.
Ben climbed out after Joel and walked toward Jon with his hand outstretched. “Maybe we can take a look at it and see if there’s anything we can do. I’ve got some basic tools.”
“That would be great. We just started having problems a few miles ago.” Jon shook Ben’s hand and nodded back at the truck. “That was our daughter, Jessie, by the way.”
Joel waved. “I’m Joel.”
Allie gave a little wave, too. “I’m Allie. Do you mind if I say hi to your daughter?”
“No,” Jon said. “She’d probably like that.”
Allie headed over to the Suburban’s passenger door and introduced herself to Jessie. “Hi, I’m Allie. What’s your name?”
“Jessie.”
“How old are you, Jessie?” Allie asked.
“I’m nine,” she replied.
“It’s been a tough couple of days,” Christine added in a shaky voice.
“How would you like to come and meet Gunner?” Allie pointed back to the big brown dog who was watching intently from the front driver’s seat of their truck.
“Okay.” Jessie cracked a smile and climbed out of the Suburban.
Ben looked around, behind the tire that had been wobbling. “Where are you guys coming from?”
“We’re from Topeka, Kansas,” Jon answered.
“So it took you two days to get here?” Ben asked.
“Unfortunately.” Jon shook his head. “And I hate to tell you this, but we drove all night last night, taking turns, which was a mistake in hindsight.”
“Why’s that?”
Jon looked back at the damaged Suburban. “The wrecks come up fast in the dark.” He shrugged.
“I think we can help you guys out. It’s at least worth a try,” Ben stated.
“Really?” Christine gasped. “That’s wonderful!”
“It’s a tie rod, like you said, Joel.” Ben turned to his son. “It’s bent pretty badly, and that’s causing the wobble, but I believe we can straighten it out enough to keep you going.”
Jon smiled. “I can’t thank you enough!”
“Don’t get too excited just yet. Let’s make sure we can do this. Joel and I have a little bit of experience with these, but not a lot.” Ben walked around to the back of the Blazer and started gathering tools for the job.
Jon nodded. “Anything you can do to help us would be great.”
“We can show you how to get this one off and then, if you can scavenge a replacement somewhere, you’ll know how to do it. You should definitely replace it at some point.” Ben handed Joel the Hi-Lift jack and the socket set, then grabbed a hammer and a small crowbar before heading over to the front end of Jon’s truck.
Jon joined him there. “I’ll get it replaced as soon as I can, but I have a feeling this repair will have to hold us for a while.”
“It won’t be perfect, but it will be a lot better than it was,” Ben said.
“Just let me know how I can help,” Jon replied.
“If you have another jack, we should use it as a secondary brace to support the truck since we’ll have to do some prying and hammering underneath there. It’ll also be a lot easier with that tire off, too.”
“I have a jack, and I’ll have the tire off in no time.” Jon headed around to the back of the Suburban. “It hasn’t been easy-going, I’ll tell you. Most of the heavily populated areas we’ve seen have been in total chaos. Early morning seems to be the best time to travel. Where are you guys headed anyway?”
“We’re headed all the way to the east coast of Maryland, and by the sounds of it, well, we will be for a while.” Ben frowned.
“Whatever you do, mark off Topeka on your map—and Kansas City, too, for that matter—as no-go zones.”
“Oh?” Ben listened. This was good information.
“We’ve seen Topeka firsthand and have heard Kansas City is under mob rule. Supposedly, the Nat
ional Guard showed up in Kansas City with the intent of distributing supplies through FEMA. We heard they were outnumbered and unprepared for the swarm of people that showed up needing—or should I say demanding—food and water. When they exhausted their supplies, all hell broke loose and things got ugly fast. Rumor has it they were authorized to use deadly force and have done so. It’s total guerilla warfare in the city. The Guard pulled out to let the gangs kill each other off.”
Ben shook his head. “I had a feeling something like that would happen.”
“They’re dug in at the downtown airport on the Missouri side of the Kansas River.” Jon finished getting his jack in place and began to crank it up to where Joel had already raised the front end of the Suburban slightly. “Okay, my jack is under pressure.”
Together, they lifted the truck using both jacks until the wheel was off the ground.
Ben tested the stability of the jacked-up truck by pushing against it with the weight of his body. The truck didn’t budge with the two opposing jacks holding strong on either side of the wheel well. Satisfied that the truck was stable, he stepped back and let Jon get to work on the tire. “How did you hear about all this?”
“Our neighbor, good old Mr. Thompson. Really nice guy.” Jon looked at his wife and smiled. “He’s one of those ham radio guys, and a bit of a prepper, I guess you call it. God bless him, though. I’ll tell you, if it wasn’t for him, we’d be in a lot worse shape than we are now.”
“There are still some good people out there.”
“Thankfully.” Jon gave Ben a knowing look before continuing. “Thompson gave us most of his MREs, about six dozen of them, along with a few other supplies for the trip and told us he’d do his best to watch over the house while we were gone. We tried to talk him into coming with us but he wouldn’t have it any other way, even after the collecting started.” Jon finished up with the tire and yanked it off, letting it roll a couple feet to where it tipped over and came to rest.
