by E A Chance
Riley ignored him. She was so happy to see Dashay and Nico alive and free of Branson that she would have given them her last morsel. As she carried the food out of the tent, she spotted the shadow of a fourth person inching his way out of the woods behind the pavilion.
Coop saw him, too, and raised his rifle. “Don’t come any closer,” he said, keeping his voice even, but Riley sensed the threat in his words.
The man stopped at the treeline and raised his hands in surrender. “No need for the gun, Coop,” he said. “It’s just me, Adrian Landry.”
“Knowing that doesn’t make me want to lower this rifle,” Coop said.
Nico gestured for Coop to lower the gun. “It’s okay, Coop. He’s harmless.”
When Coop reluctantly rested the rifle on his shoulder, Adrian slowly crept toward them. Riley hardly recognized him from the man they last saw, emaciated from hunger and recovering from a severe beating at the hands of their captors. He was still thin and pasty, but he’d gained fifteen pounds and his hair had thickened. As his former physician, Riley was relieved to see he’d recovered, but as one of millions who’d suffered because of his actions, she wasn’t thrilled to have him reappear in their lives.
“If it isn’t Dr. Adrian Landry, world-renowned astrophysicist,” she said. “The man responsible for the devastation caused by his refusal to stand up to Vice President Kearns when she refused to alert the country of the CME fifteen hours earlier than announced.”
Riley had suppressed her feelings of anger and loathing for him when she treated his injuries at the compound, but he was no longer her patient and the sight of him sickened her.
“Riley, I mean Dr. Poole,” Adrian sputtered. “I’m sure you’re less than pleased to see me. Not that I blame you.”
Coop waved to silence him. “Explain how the four of you escaped that camp before I kindly ask you to leave.”
“There was a coup after you escaped. Branson’s dead,” Brooks said. “After his death, we seized control of the compound and left it up to the hostages to stay or go. Thirty percent left immediately, including Angie. We don’t know what happened to her after that. The rest of us stayed and waited out the snows. When the weather cleared, we hit the road.”
Coop gave a soft whistle. “I never could have predicted this, but I’m glad to hear it.”
Riley watched Brooks for a moment, then said, “There’s more to that story. What are you not telling us?”
Dashay hooked her arm in Riley’s. “It’s ancient history. Seems you have a story of your own. What are you two doing out here?”
Riley squeezed Dashay’s hand. “We’ll get to that later. You’re welcome to stay with us.” She felt Coop glaring behind her as soon as the words left her mouth. “You can use our extra tent. Do you have any supplies?”
Nico stood and pointed to the treeline behind him. “They’re stowed in the woods. We have two tents and a few odds and ends, just no food. Running into you may have saved our lives. We’ll work in exchange for food. Whatever you need.”
Brooks held his hand out to Coop. “You have no reason to trust me, but I promise I’m a reformed man. Can we join you?”
Coop gave a slight nod and reluctantly shook Brooks’ hand. “For now. We’ll figure out the rest later.”
Riley hugged Brooks, and said, “Forgive me for knocking you out at the warehouse. I was just doing what I needed to protect my family.” She turned to the others and smiled. “Seeing you alive and hearing that Angie survived is a tremendous weight off my shoulders. Rest now. You’re safe with us.”
While the others ate, Coop pulled Riley aside under the guise of needing to check the horses. When they were alone, he said, “I’m not comfortable with this arrangement, Riley. Dashay’s great. I have no problem with her, and Nico seems like a good guy, but we know nothing about him. And Brooks and Adrian? Are we supposed to just welcome them with open arms?”
Riley patted Aurora’s neck while she sorted through her thoughts. Echo whinnied at not getting attention, so she gave him a piece of dried apple from her pocket. As usual, Biscuit was lost in his own world and didn’t notice what was happening right next to him. Riley gave him a piece of apple and he reacted with utter delight, like it was the first one he’d ever had.
With her animal friends satisfied, she considered Coop’s question. Her tendency to trust too quickly had gotten them in enough trouble for five lifetimes, but she’d learned her lesson and her gut told her they’d be safe joining up with the others.
“I get your hesitation, but these aren’t just any strangers. We have a history with them, and Nico and Dashay’s medical skills will be a bonus. You know my feelings toward Adrian, but Nico was right. He’s harmless. I’m shocked they let him tag along, but you saw how he cowered in the woods until it was safe.”
Coop leaned against Echo and hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “We could allow Nico, Dashay, and possibly Brooks to stay on the condition they part ways with Adrian.”
“I can’t believe I’m about to defend Adrian Landry, but that could mean sending him off to die. Dashay would never go for that. Adrian may be a brilliant scientist, but I have a feeling his survival skills are nil. He wouldn’t last a day on his own.”
“Another reason to ditch him. The last thing we need is to be hauling dead weight across the country.”
“The others would have ditched him if he was that much trouble. He may have hidden skills we’re not aware of, and his scientific knowledge could come in handy down the road.”
“And Brooks?”
Riley rubbed her temples as she thought about how to answer. “That’s a bigger question mark. He was being chummy when we went on that supply run to the medical supply warehouse. At least, right until I knocked him out.”
“How did you know he has three sons?”
“He told me that day. He spent as much time with them as he could before the disaster. Did you see his face when I asked about them?”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s part of the reason Julia was shot.”
“I’m not excusing that, but he’s also the one who made it possible for us to do surgery to save her life. Brooks was afraid of Branson and hated the way he treated the hostages. Bottom line, I trust Dashay’s judgement. She wouldn’t travel with him if he were a threat.”
Coop stroked his beard as he considered her argument. “Why do you always have to make so much sense?”
She folded her arms and grinned at him. “Someone has to. Look, aside from whatever happened in the compound, there’s safety in numbers and having more people will make it easier to get resources we need.”
“They can travel with us as far as Charleston. Then, we’ll reassess. This field trip across is going to be tough enough. We don’t need to be piling new drama on top.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and gazed up at him. “Since none of us knows what we’ll face in Charleston, there’s no point to planning beyond that. We’d better ration the food until we can replenish since we have more mouths to feed.”
“Another reason I’m not on board with this.”
“Don’t be so negative. You might end up glad of the help. Trust me.”
Coop took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You said that about crossing the mudslide.”
Not exactly the vote of confidence she’d hoped for, but she didn’t blame him. “We survived, didn’t we?”
He gave her a hard kiss, then turned and headed back to the others without a word. She reminded herself that his first thought was always for her safety, but she wasn’t concerned about letting the others join them. If the arrangement didn’t work, it would be easy enough to split after Charleston and strike out on their own. She hoped that wouldn’t be the case. Traveling with a bigger group was comforting to her, even if one of them was Adrian Landry.
The rain was held off for the rest of the day. After the newcomers had eaten and had time to rest, they searched the park and Nico discovered a stack of wood covered with a tarp beh
ind a nearby abandoned house. They each carried an armload to the horses’ pavilion and stacked it in a neat pile, then Brooks and Nico built a firepit while Coop went off to shoot squirrels for dinner.
“He’s become quite the squirrel slayer,” Riley said to Dashay when they heard the pop of the air rifle. “We should scrounge up something to go with them.”
Dashay cocked her thumb at Adrian, who was at the faucet filling anything that would hold water. “He’s kind of a plant savant. If there’s anything edible around here, he’ll find it.”
As they started toward him, Riley said, “I told Coop that Adrian’s brains would come in handy. Let’s take over collecting the water and send him out to search.”
“Trying to get rid of him?”
Riley gave her a half-grin and kept walking. After sending an eager Adrian on his mission, she said, “Tell me what really happened at the compound and how you ended with Adrian.”
“That’s a story for some other day. It was a dark time, best left in the past.” Dashay grew quiet for a moment, then said, “We’ve been through so much since then. The compound seems like another lifetime.”
“I can relate, but what have you been through?”
Dashay flashed her brilliant smile Riley loved and said, “You first.”
Riley chuckled and said, “Fair enough. I’ll tell you one good thing that happened.” She lifted her left hand to show Dashay the elegant diamond gracing her finger.
Dashay’s eyes widened. “You got married? I didn’t know anyone did that these days.”
“We even had a preacher, cake, and dress. It was just over a week ago.”
She gave Riley a warm hug. “Congratulations, friend! Nice to hear good news for a change. Tell me, how did you tear yourself away from our little Warrior Princess Julia?”
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I have two other children I love just as much. I knew Julia would be safe, and I hated not knowing what happened to Emily and Jared, or the rest of my family, so I left her. Why didn’t you go back to you parents’ house? Didn’t they live near the compound?”
A cloud passed over Dashay’s face. “We traveled to my parent’s house and found it a burned-out shell. Thankfully, we didn’t find any bodies. I asked around with the neighbors still in the area, but they had no idea if my family made it out in time. I’ll never know if they’re still alive.”
Riley squeezed her hand. “What a nightmare. I’m so sorry.”
Dashay wiped a tear from her cheek. “With nowhere else to go, I left with my three boys over there. Traveling with them has kept my mind off what I’ve lost.”
“I’m grateful you did. It’s nice to have another woman and friend on this journey. Let’s carry the water to the tables and see if Coop and Adrian are back with our dinner, such as it is.”
Riley walked back to the pavilion with her in silence, caught up in memories of loved ones lost and hoping there wouldn’t be more before their journey’s end.
After a meal of squirrel, the last of the dried fish, dandelion and fiddlehead salad, and acorn mush, they enjoyed cups of black birch tea around the fire. Though Riley picked the fiddleheads from her salad, she found it satisfying to be learning how to eat off the land. Adrian regaled them for a good thirty minutes about edible and nutritious plants in the area. Riley hadn’t heard him say so much in the entire time she’d known him.
When she’d learned more about local flora than she ever wanted to know, she steered the conversation to a different topic. After taking a sip of Adrian’s tea concoction, she said, “I can’t believe we crossed paths. What are the odds?”
“I could do the math,” Adrian said, “but the short answer is, astronomical.”
“You would know,” Coop said.
Riley shot him a glance, then said, “We’ve told you where we’re going and Dashay filled me in on what happened to her family. Where are you headed, Nico?”
“I’m going home. Farmington, New Mexico,” he said.
Riley smiled. “I’ve been through there. It’s only six hours from Colorado Springs. And you, Adrian?”
“My wife left a note saying she was taking our two girls and going to her parents’ in St. Louis. That’s my destination. They left before the CME hit, so I hope they may have made it in time. If not, they should have reached St. Louis long before now. After I find them, we’ll start a new life in a new place.”
Riley caught Coop watching him. It was going to take time for him to trust Adrian. Admitting he’d warned his family about the CME but no one else didn’t earn him any points. She wasn’t thrilled about that herself.
To deflect Coop’s attention, she said, “What about you, Brooks? You’re from Virginia. Why didn’t you go home?”
“There’s nothing there for me. I went looking for my boys, but only found a note from my oldest son. He said my ex-wife died. Her parents had been visiting for the holidays when the CME hit, so they took the boys with them to Atlanta. I’m also on an adventure to make a new life. Anything to put distance between me and that camp and stay ahead of President Kearns’ Reconstruction Troops, as she calls them.”
“You mean Vice President Kearns,” Coop said, “and what troops?”
The four of them glanced at each other, then Nico said, “You haven’t heard? You really must have been hiding in the woods.”
Riley leaned forward and said, “What are you talking about?”
“As I told you in the compound, President Carlisle was flying over the Atlantic when the CME hit and there’s been no word from him since,” Adrian said. “Our lovely former vice president has promoted herself to president and declared martial law. She’s ruling from Philadelphia and has taken over whatever is left of the military. She has them herding her citizens into these Residential Zones in the larger towns and cities.”
“We haven’t heard a word of this,” Coop said. “Kearns took over the entire country without resistance?”
“How can she do that and live with herself after withholding life-saving information?” Riley asked. “She has blood on her hands.”
Adrian shook his head. “She’s keeping a handful of people from her inner circle who know the truth under her all-seeing eye. The rest probably didn’t survive. No one else knows, except me.”
Riley locked her eyes on him. “Then, you have a responsibility to tell people. You owe this country for keeping your mouth shut when you had the chance to save lives.”
Adrian rubbed the scars on his ribs. “You’re a witness to the consequences when I told the truth in that camp. I’ve kept my mouth shut since.”
If she and Coop hadn’t treated his wounds in Branson’s compound, he would have died. She couldn’t blame him for his reluctance to share the truth about Kearns, but he had an obligation to get the truth out.
Dashay said, “We’ve heard rumors that people who defy Kearns’ troops get beaten or just disappear.”
“Seems farfetched,” Coop said. “This is still the United States, not some lawless banana republic.”
Brooks shook his head. “That’s exactly what we’ve become. Would you put it past Kearns to order her forces to force people in internment camps? Have you forgotten Branson and his goons?”
Coop grunted. “Branson was a sociopath.”
“But he’s a perfect example of what can happen when the wrong person gets into power.”
Riley leaned back and crossed her arms. “I don’t believe it. I wouldn’t put it past Kearns to issue the order, but these troops are former US military. They’re honorable people willing to die for their country like my first husband. You were Army, Nico. You’d never carry out such orders.”
He eyed her for a moment, then said, “I wouldn’t but I’ve known plenty who would.”
Riley struggled to make sense of what they were saying. She thought of Zach’s friend Bryce, who had rescued her and Julia from freezing to death. She couldn’t discard the hope that there were thousands more like them who hadn’t turned t
o the dark side. If not, what was the point of trying to rebuild their world?
“Whether or not the rumors are true,” Brooks said, “we need to stay ahead of Kearns forces. They haven’t made it this far west, but it won’t be long before they catch up with us.”
Coop stood and stretched. “Then, we start for Charleston at dawn. It’ll be a long day. We’d better get some sleep.”
The others got to their feet and gathered their belongings. Riley gave Dashay a hug, then watched in surprise as she followed Nico into his tent. Riley had assumed the three men shared one tent and Dashay had the other to herself.
Riley joined Coop in their tent and watched as he sat and pulled off his socks. She gasped at the sight of his feet. The skin was dotted with blister bubbles and strips of raw, peeling skin.
She knelt to examine him more closely, and said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to make a fuss, like you’re doing now. Days of wearing wet socks will do this to you. Water leaked into my boots and I haven’t had time to dry them. It doesn’t hurt.”
Riley grabbed the med pack from the corner of the tent and pulled out supplies she’d need to treat his feet. She picked up a pair of scissors and started trimming the dead skin.
While she worked, she said, “You’ll never guess what I just saw. Dashay went into Nico’s tent with him.”
Coop said, “And?”
Riley stopped and looked up at him. “What do you mean and? She didn’t come back out. I think they’re together.”
Coop raised his eyebrows. “This surprises you?”
“I never would have pictured Dashay with him. He seems so young and inexperienced compared to her.”
She started working again, and he flinched when she cut the skin too close.
“Easy there, Doctor. How did you miss the vibes they’ve been giving off all day?”
She sat back on her heels and stared at him. “They have? I must have been so shocked at running into them I didn’t notice.”
“They were thrown together in that camp for weeks, and they’ve been on the trail just as long. It was bound to happen, like with us.”
