It was too dark to make out any details of the shadowy thief even when Sara stood ten yards away. She raised her flashlight, aimed it at the person, and flipped it on. The beam cut through the darkness like a scythe, illuminating a figure in a dark coat, light jeans, and pink sneakers half-leaning into the back of the Subaru. Sara assumed by the height and clothing style that it was a woman, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t dangerous.
“Freeze.” Sara’s gruff voice cut the night as she raised her Beretta and trained it on the woman. The woman gave a startled gasp and froze stiff.
“Drop what you’ve got in your hands and raise them,” Sara continued, pleased that her surprise had been complete. When the woman complied and raised her hands in the air, Sara added, “Now turn around slowly.”
The woman turned, arms shaking in the flashlight’s beam until Sara found herself face-to-face with a woman about forty years old, with bright blue eyes and a mess of wet curls that clung to her cheeks. Her lips were pale and shivering in the chilly rain, and Sara almost felt sorry for her if it weren’t for the supplies she was ready to steal.
The sound of feet crunching over gravel came near, and Sara looked up to see Dion approaching from the cabin with his own flashlight in one hand and his ax in the other.
“Are you okay, Sara?” Dion said as he shined the beam on the woman through the glass in the Subaru.
The woman gave another gasp as she cast her frightened expression toward Dion and then back to Sara. Her eyes were wide and her breathing erratic. She glanced toward the woods.
“Don’t even think about running,” Sara said. “I’ve already shot one person this week, so I have no qualms about shooting another.”
The woman made a high-pitched whimpering noise and slammed her hand over her mouth, eyes wide in terror.
“Now move toward the cabin, but keep your hands in the air,” Sara growled, shoving her gun toward the woman. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The woman squeaked as she worked her way around the car, past Dion, and made her way toward the cabin with quick, frightened glances over her shoulder at Sara.
Dion walked next to the woman as Sara closed in quickly from behind and jammed the gun into her lower back, drawing another frightened squeal. Sara turned her eyes up at Dion and flashed him an amused grin, and Dion returned the expression with one that said Sara was enjoying this way more than she ought to be.
Chapter 27
Sara, Gatlinburg, Tennessee | 3:30 a.m., Saturday
“What’s your name?” Sara asked, arms folded across her chest and soggy sock tapping the kitchen floor.
The woman sat at the kitchen table, hands clenched white-knuckled on the surface as her eyes darted around at Sara, Dion, Natasha, and Todd in turn. They’d turned on two electric lanterns, and the kitchen was cast in a stark white light.
“My mom asked you a question,” Todd said from where he leaned against the counter to Sara’s right. His tone was tense, bordering on aggressive. Sara had woken him up with the news that they’d caught the interloper, not wanting to leave him out when it came to interrogating the woman, and Todd had gotten dressed and come downstairs faster than she’d seen him do in months.
She’d thought about letting him sleep but had decided against it. He kept guard and did tasks just like the rest of the adults, more so sometimes, and he deserved to be kept in the know. Although Sara would regret her decision if he acted too aggressively.
She shot her son a warning glance and addressed the woman again. “You were the one snooping around the generator shed the other night. We matched your sneaker to the footprints outside.”
“Can I have a glass of water?” The woman said after a pause, her lips smacking dryly together.
Sara stared at the woman a moment before she nodded to Natasha, who poured the woman a glass of water from the five-gallon container next to the sink and placed it on the table.
“Thank you,” the woman said, picking up the glass with a shaking hand and taking a long drink before she set it down and gave Sara a faint smile. “Our cabin water tastes funny now, and there’s hardly any pressure.”
Sara nodded, because she’d thought the same thing the other day when she’d tried to take a hot shower. The tap water seemed fine to shower with, but when she’d taken some into her mouth, she noticed a strange taste that had not been there before. From that moment on, she’d made everyone drink from their filtered reserves. Fortunately, all the rain had nearly filled up all their reserve drums, so they had enough water to last months.
“Your name,” Sara pressed.
The woman’s eyes darted around one more time, then she seemed to settle down in her chair for the first time. “Karen. My name is Karen.”
“And where are you from, Karen?”
“We’re staying in the cabin at the bottom of Pine Bluff Road,” Karen said as her eyes dropped to the floor. “Me and Frank.”
Dion and Sara shared a look before Dion turned his eyes back to Karen. “I suspect Frank is the one who pulled a gun on us last week?”
“Yes,” Karen said with a faint nod, “I’m embarrassed to say.”
“Is he your husband?” Sara asked, recalling her anger at hearing Frank speaking harshly to the woman inside the house during that initial confrontation.
“Yes, he’s my husband.” Karen gave a wan smile and then lifted her eyes to Sara. “But he’s not really that bad.”
“Not that bad?” Todd interjected. “He pulled a gun on my mom. He’s lucky I didn’t go down there and—”
“Enough, Todd,” Sara said, raising her hand to hush her son. While Sara didn’t appreciate his attitude, it was having an effect on Karen. She stared up at Todd with pure fear in her eyes, and Sara realized this could work out to their advantage.
“Look, Karen.” Sara put her hands on the back of the chair across from the woman and leaned forward, raising an eyebrow. “My son is justifiably upset, wouldn’t you say? I mean, someone pulled a gun on his mother and threatened to blow her head off.” Sara glanced back at Todd with a sigh. “You should have seen him when I first told him about it. He—”
“Frank’s an asshole, I admit,” Karen said, face twisting into a grimace as she struggled with some inner turmoil. “And I’ve tried to tell him that. I’ve told him that’s why our friends don’t want to go out with us anymore, and that’s why he’s estranged from most of his family. He didn’t used to be this way.”
“What happened to him?” Sara asked. “Why did he change?”
“He started having some health problems a few years ago,” Karen said, eyes lifting to Sara. “Lost his job… He was the breadwinner at the time. Then he kept drinking and gaining weight, and now he’s got type-2 diabetes.”
“I can see why he’s a little angry all the time.”
“He’s a good guy, deep down.” Karen’s tone was suddenly hopeful and insistent at the same time.
“He’s not a good guy,” Todd scoffed, slapping his leg. “Good guys don’t point guns at people, especially ones who are trying to help them.”
“But you didn’t know him back in the day,” Karen said. “He’d do anything for you.”
“What he did back then doesn’t help us now,” Todd insisted.
“I have to agree with my son on this one.” Sara scooted the chair away from the table and slid into it, keeping her eyes on the woman. “Especially the way he talked to you last week. That was you inside the house, right? I think he told you to shut up or something.”
Karen nodded. “He gets that way sometimes.”
A pause engulfed the room as Sara stared at the woman. “So, now that we’ve introduced each other and put what happened last week behind us, how about you tell us why you’re here?”
“Because you caught me.” Karen’s statement was innocent enough, though Sara detected a note of moxie behind her words.
“You know what I mean.”
Karen shrugged. “We’re running out of food
and water. Like most people, I suspect.”
“You said Frank has type-2 diabetes, too,” Natasha said. “That means you need insulin.”
“Yes,” Karen replied. “We’ve got a few days’ worth, and that’s all.”
“You have a Jeep,” Sara said. “Why don’t you just drive out of here?”
“You don’t think we tried?” Karen was slightly exasperated. “We tried the day after we had the incident with you guys. Packed up the Jeep and made it pretty easily down to the bottom of Pine Bluff Road. Then it got really bad. The roads were flooded, and Frank isn’t exactly the greatest driver. I think we almost died three or four times. But we finally made it to 441 and tried to get to the expressway. It’s just…”
“What happened, Karen? Tell us.”
“The traffic was insane with people trying to get out of Sevierville,” Karen said, her eyes looking distant as she recalled the moment. “There were cars backed up as far as you could see. And people were getting angry, too. Getting out of their cars and fighting with each other. I saw at least a half-dozen robberies, and some people had guns. I was really freaked out.”
Sara exchanged a look with Dion, whose eyes widened in alarm.
“There was a group of ten people or so moving from car to car and demanding things,” Karen said. “They had baseball bats and knives. Frank took one look at them and turned the Jeep around. We were right in the middle of traffic, miles from the expressway. He had to ram two cars out of the way just to get to the shoulder, and I think someone hit the back of the Jeep with a baseball bat as we escaped. We went right back to our cabin, because it was just too dangerous to do anything else.”
“You got lucky,” Todd said, and Sara glanced back to see Todd’s look of anger had been replaced with grudging sympathy for the woman.
“Very lucky,” Karen admitted. “So, that’s why I was snooping around your place. I already broke into some of the other cabins on the way up—I’m not proud of that fact—and I couldn’t find anything. This place was the only one that was occupied. I was just looking for some food.” Karen spread her hands. “I’m really sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do. Frank doesn’t even know I’m here.”
Sara nodded and leaned back in the chair. Karen’s story made sense when Sara combined it with what she’d heard from Mike. The tourist city was in complete disarray, and it was clearly going to be too dangerous for them to try to leave any time soon.
“Dion, Natasha, and Todd. Can I have a word with you in private?” Sara stood up from her chair, saying to Karen, “We’ll be right back.”
“Of course,” Karen said with a nod.
Sara led the other three to the far side of the living room, making sure she positioned herself to keep an eye on Karen.
“What do you think?” Sara asked.
“It sounds like things are getting pretty bad out there,” Dion said with a shake of his head.
“And I’m glad we didn’t try those flooded roads with the Subaru,” Natasha added, her eyes moving from Dion to Sara with the cool calm she always had. “Even if we made it to 441, we could have been robbed, or worse.”
“Yeah,” Sara said, stomach twisting with the thought. “It only solidifies my opinion that we need to stay entrenched up here on the mountain.”
“What about Karen and Frank?” Todd asked. “What are we going to do about them?”
“I have a good mind to send Karen away empty-handed,” Sara replied.
“We can’t do that,” Todd said. “We can’t just leave them to starve.”
“A minute ago, you wanted to be a big man,” Sara accused him. “At least, you were talking that way.”
“That’s before I heard her story, Mom,” Todd said. “I might not like Frank, but I don’t want the guy to die.”
Sara stifled a smile as Todd’s comment hit a soft spot in her heart and made her feel even more proud of him than she expected. Todd was full of surprises. One minute, he was trying to be a tough guy, and the next minute he showed tremendous heart.
“Pretty soon, food and water will be the least of their worries,” Natasha said. “If they run out of insulin, Frank is going to be in big trouble.”
“I hear you, Tash,” Sara said. “One thing at a time.”
Todd glanced back at Karen, who appeared anxious, before he turned his attention back to his mother. “Look, Mom. I know they can’t stay here with us. We just can’t trust a guy like Frank around the cabin. We should at least send them a few days’ worth of food, just to keep them alive.”
“If we do it once, we’ll have to do it a hundred times,” Sara said, giving Todd a pointed look. “We have plenty for us, but we can’t feed the world. And based on what Karen said, it sounds like we’re going to be here way longer than a couple of months. We’re not leaving Pine Bluff Road until I’m sure there’s no trouble waiting for us out there.”
“I know, Mom,” Todd said. “So we stay up here and break out plan C.”
“The seed cache.” Sara nodded. “We’ll need to get the garden perimeter formed this fall and maybe try that hydroponic idea your dad was talking about last year, if we can find the supplies. Still, we have to draw the line somewhere.”
“I know,” Todd acknowledged. “And I’ll back you on that when the time comes.”
Sara looked at Dion and waited for him to give his input.
“Hey, don’t ask me,” he said with a disarming look. “It’s not our food and supplies. I think we’re just happy to be here.”
“That is correct,” Natasha said.
“But you’re part of this now.” Sara pointed out, looking from Dion to Natasha. “You’ll both have to play a big part in expanding our food stores if we need to stay past next spring. You’ll both have to farm and maybe even hunt.”
“I took an oath as a nurse,” Natasha said with cool assuredness. “I can’t willingly let someone suffer or die if it is within my power to stop it. So, if you’re asking me, then I say we give them some food. I’d even take it a step further and consider how we can gather some additional medical supplies, like insulin and antibiotics.”
“I can respect that,” Sara said with a nod. “What about you, Dion?”
“I’ll just stay on my wife’s good side,” Dion flashed Natasha a grin before he sobered. “But I understand that we’re going to need to do some planting and growing. I’m more than willing to get my hands dirty.”
“That settles it,” Sara said, and she stepped between Dion and Todd and offered Karen a warm smile.
“Thank you.” Karen shook with relief without Sara having to say another word. “Thank you so much.”
Chapter 28
Jake, Boston, Massachusetts | 2:07 p.m., Saturday
Friday had gone by without event, affording Timothy and Alice some much-needed rest while Marcy and Jake prepared for the next leg of their journey. Jake had gone out three times since yesterday morning to see if he could glean any insight into X-Gang’s progress on their sweeps of the city. While he’d not seen a single car or gang member, the distant sounds of engines and an occasional gunshot could be heard in the distance, filling him with a growing sense of dread.
On his rounds, Jake had not once felt that eerie presence from the other day when they’d first arrived at Lizzy’s. Yet, he found himself glancing over his shoulder for some signs of danger other than the gang. The rain had stopped only long enough to be replaced by hail before it returned in a biting drizzle that had pecked at his rain poncho and any skin that was left exposed.
Once his round for the morning was completed, Jake had settled in with Marcy, the kids, and Lizzy in the living room while they passed the time playing Uno using the coffee table as the centerpiece for the game. Lizzy turned out to be quite the player, and she wasn’t interested in allowing Alice any easy victories.
“Uno,” the old woman said with a grin as she held up her final card and waved it at Alice in smug self-assurance.
“You’re brutal, lady.” Alice frowned a
s she stared at the six cards left in her hand. There were enough in her hand alone to put Lizzy over five hundred, not to mention Jake still had four cards and Timothy still had two.
Jake had long ago lost interest in winning. It was much more fun to watch Alice and Lizzy go at it, generations apart yet with the same killer instinct when it came to the game of Uno. Timothy held his own, a solid second place with a steady showing that impressed Jake. The boy was quietly smart, and he’d come out of his shell in the past twenty-four hours after a few regular meals and some decent sleep. It probably didn’t hurt that Lizzy loved the kids and coddled them every chance she could.
“Play your card, sis,” Timothy said in a quiet but firm tone.
“You heard the man,” Jake said to Alice who glared up at him with a level of malice that took Jake by surprise. “Easy, now, little one. It’s just a game.”
“Uno is more than a game.” Alice glared at Jake for a moment, then she broke into a grin just before she turned back to the coffee table and discarded a green three.
“Sweet, I can discard this one,” Jake said, laying down his highest green card, which was a green eight. “Now, it’s up to you, Timothy. Hoping you have a draw four in there for Miss Lizzy.”
“Oh, that’s not very nice,” Lizzy said to Jake with a mock expression of pitiful helplessness. “I’m an old lady, you know.”
“An old card shark is what you are.” Jake shook his head and scoffed.
Lizzy shot him a wink before she turned to Timothy with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “What’s it going to be, young man? Play a green card? Or maybe you want to reverse it so as to delay my victory for a short while longer.”
“I’m going to change it to blue,” Timothy said, looking at Lizzy doubtfully as he placed a wild card on the discard pile. “I’m changing the color to blue.”
“Oh, that’s nice, sweetie.” Lizzy put her final card to her chest and sighed before she looked all around. “You all played so well. You should be very proud. Alas, this one belongs to me.” She placed a blue three on the discard pile and clasped her hands lightly together.
Weathering The Storm (Book 2): Surge Page 16
