by Connor Mccoy
But here there was nothing. No people, human corpses, no gunfights, just open road and the surrounding wilderness. At times Criver kept looking back, expecting to hear a vehicle approaching. The vestiges of the old world still clung to him. Would he ever get used to how things had changed?
As the hours passed, the two of them exchanged few words. Criver was used to being alone with his own thoughts. It seemed Cheryl was the same. She never offered a word. She just stared ahead and pressed on. Eventually, they did have to stop and rest, but even then, they just rested their feet and ate a portion of their rations before setting off.
One thing they had to keep an eye on was the position of the sun. With no working timepieces, they couldn’t tell what time it was. So determining when evening would fall was difficult, though Cheryl learned that by placing a hand between the sun and the horizon three times, sundown would come in three hours. Once she made that determination, she brought their trek to a stop. They would have to spend the remaining hours setting up camp, not just to get the tent up, but to cover it so they wouldn’t be noticed. Unfortunately, unwary travelers could be targets for bands of thieves, marauders or anyone else looking to make trouble.
The two of them laid out their camping gear. They couldn’t travel heavy, as making good time was vital if they were to catch up with Amir in time. So Cheryl planned for their trip carefully. The former army sergeant had stocked her home with abundant supplies of water, canned food and batteries, so they had ample provisions for even a week-long journey.
Criver patted his side pants pocket. He snapped his fingers. “I am such an idiot.” He laughed.
Cheryl checked through her share of the gear. “What?”
“I keep going for my phone. It died in the pulse. It’s back in my house. I know I can’t use it any more, but I keep trying to check the damn thing for the weather or to text…” He let the sentence drop off. “I guess I still can’t make myself believe things have changed so much.”
He shook his head. “I just realized I haven’t watched a movie in months. It just seems strange. I never once thought all this stuff would just go away.” He turned his eyes to his camping load spread out on the mat, several cans of chicken, fish, a few MRE rations, several bottles of water with canteens for filling up, and multiple flashlights with packed batteries. “And then you realize so much of it never mattered anyway. It’s not like being able to watch Star Wars Episode Six-Thousand really counts for anything.”
“I think the worst part is not having the phones anymore.” Cheryl bowed her head. “My grandfather on my father’s side, he was still alive before the pulse hit. He was in Florida in a nursing home. He had suffered a few strokes, and had been losing his memory. I talked to him on the phone two days before it all went to Hell.” She bit her lip. “There’s no way he’s still alive now, but I’ll never know when or how he went, and he probably never even got a burial.”
“Do you have any family left at all, any that you think could have survived?”
Cheryl looked up. “Cousins, mostly distant cousins. I have no immediate family left.” Her eyes seemed to add, Except you.
Criver picked up one of the flashlights. Cheryl had insisted they pack extras, plus batteries. In case one broke, they needed another on the double. “Well, you had your eye on the ball. That’s why we’ve got a chance at making it through this.”
Cheryl flashed her green eyes at him. “Maybe, but I’d give anything to have been wrong.”
She had prepped hard for such a disaster. It was thanks to her hard work that they were well-stocked. She checked her own load. In addition to food, water and lights, they also had brought along cooking pans, utensils and a small medical kit for each of them. Who knew if they got sick or hurt out here—or perhaps they’d need a kit or two for Amir?
Criver bristled at the thought of Amir being hurt or abused by those monsters. He looked at the weapons. Anticipating a fight to free Amir, they had brought along what they could, but ammunition for their firearms was scarce. They had grabbed only a couple of gun magazines from The Principal’s hideout to arm their guns. He just hoped The Coach and his men didn’t have a lot of ammunition either.
Criver remembered all the things Justin had told them back in the city about The Coach and his empire, and how the vicious overlord targeted children in particular. The old man they had met in the city alley had given them valuable information on The Coach and The Principal. Although it didn’t result in them finding Amir, it gave them hope the child was still alive.
Criver exhaled loudly. “Why the hell would anyone go to this length to kidnap kids like this?”
“Because they can,” Cheryl replied bitterly, “Because they want to. Because they get sick pleasure out of hurting other people.”
“Yeah, I get that. There are people in this world who are completely screwed in the head. But you’d think having the plug pulled on anything that’s got power would have you, I don’t know, reorder your priorities a little? I mean, now you actually have to get your own water, hunt or grow your own food. And when you take a shit, you have to dispose of it yourself because you can’t flush it away.”
Cheryl had finished checking through her gear and had wrapped it up. No longer busy, she walked up to Criver, her eyes facing him. “It’s against the law to kidnap a child, right?”
“Sure, you bet your ass.”
“It’s against the law to abuse a child?”
“Absolutely.”
“It’s against the law to kill a child?”
“Yes, yes.” Criver’s blood pressure was rising. What was Cheryl getting at?
“And do we still have people who kidnap, abuse and kill children?” Cheryl asked, softly.
“Yes!” Criver was about to jump out of his skin.
“Why?”
Now Criver was stumped for something to say, which was definitely not like him.
“C’mon, why? Tell me. We have all these laws. Why do they do it? Why don’t the laws stop them?”
Criver clenched two fists. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
Cheryl’s chin firmed up. “It’s because,” she said, punctuating each word for emphasis. “…they…don’t…give…a…shit. They don’t give a shit about laws, or punishment, or jail, or even the electric chair. Do you think that shutting down the world around them is going to make any difference?”
Criver swallowed. He had trained to be a protector against the filth of the world that would harm another human being, but even he never thought so deeply about why depraved psychos do what they do. But it was clear Cheryl had given it a lot of thought. The fire in the redhead’s eyes spoke volumes.
Cheryl stood up. “I’m going to use the ladies room before I get some sleep.”
The ladies…oh right. Cheryl disappeared behind a tree. That ladies room. But it was probably an excuse to get some air. Criver almost felt guilty about bringing up the subject of The Coach.
He massaged his tired cheeks. He realized he didn’t know much about Cheryl. She told him the broad strokes of her life, about how she had lost her father, about her mother’s remarriage to a man who sounded as though he treated Cheryl badly, about her flight to her brother’s house as a teenager, and her eventual entry into the military. But he didn’t know much more than that. And judging from her reaction, her past may have included some abusive actors, perhaps her stepfather.
Perhaps they didn’t encounter any trouble on the road, but they sure as hell couldn’t run from their pasts.
Chapter Thirteen
Criver winced at the sight that lay before them. Actually, he was surprised they had not encountered such a scene earlier on the highway.
The car had impacted the tree at high speed. The hood was bent, and the front windshield smashed in. The driver and front passenger both were plastered right into the dashboard, their torsos buried within the plastic and metal. The worst part was the bodies in the back. They were small, half the height of the adults. They both lay at angles in
their seats. Not even their seatbelts had saved them from the deadly impact.
No doubt this had been a family, driving on the road the instant the pulse hit. The car’s electronics had been fried, resulting in the car careening out of control, off the road and into this tree.
Criver turned away. “Damn.” He couldn’t take it any longer.
The bodies were badly decomposed, with multitudes of flies, maggots and other insects swarming around them. They deserved a decent burial, not to be frozen in time in this display of indignity and horror. Criver would do it himself if he wasn’t pressed for time.
Strolling away from the car, Cheryl bowed her head. Criver joined her. “I used to run into crashes just like that all the time back in the city. For a while, I got numb to it.” He swallowed.
“I just realized there’s probably millions of people out there just like this group who will never get a proper burial.” He turned to the open road. “They’ll just be food for vultures and whatever else comes along.”
Cheryl looked at him, not saying anything but sharing a sad glance.
“I can’t believe even a decent burial is something we can’t take for granted anymore.” His footsteps grew heavier. His pack felt more burdensome on his back.
As he raised his head higher, he saw something to make his heart sink again—another vehicle, this one a truck, turned over on its side several yards away. A group of vultures had gathered on the truck’s side. It was likely they wouldn’t be able to escape such spectacles as they traveled.
Cheryl grasped his arm. “Hey. Let’s explore off the road. I remember my map showed a brook turning in this direction. We should see if we can find some good drinking water. And it’s going to get dark soon.”
“Sure. And we won’t be in presence of the dead,” Criver added. Besides, the bodies attracted pestilence and predators. Better to get some distance from them.
It turned out Cheryl was on the money. About two hundred yards off the road, they located a running brook that cut through the woods. Cheryl said it was perfect for their needs. They could set up camp a short distance away.
The tent was up in short order. Cheryl volunteered to scout the area for additional berries and plants as well as check for signs of animals, mostly for those who might venture into their campsite looking for a meal. Criver took on the responsibility of preparing the cover for their tent. The pair had said little to each other since they had got off the road. Perhaps encountering more victims of the pulse had shaken them up, especially after reminiscing about the past before it had hit.
Criver finished wrapping the cover across their tent. It was a special camouflage cover that in the dark would make it very hard to discern the tent’s shape. As much as Criver hated to think about it, they weren’t safe out here. No, animals weren’t the problem. It was humans, particularly those who might try robbing them of food and supplies. Plus, they had no idea if The Coach was actively on the lookout for them. Some of his men could be on the road leading to Westown.
With the cover in place, Criver made the short trek to the creek with a metal bucket in hand. The quiet of the night actually had a calming effect. Since childhood, he had lived with images of the woods being infested with wild animals waiting to tear your head off if you got near them. But during these past few days, he had encountered nothing but squirrels, chipmunks, and the occasional deer or raccoon.
He arrived at the stream. The light of the new moon glistened in the water. He leaned over and dipped the bucket in the water. But then a silhouette cut through the light. He looked up.
Cheryl stood in a wide, nearly oval-shaped area of the water. She was completely nude and bathing herself in the water, using a small cloth to scrub her arms. And as she was standing in waist-level water, her upper body was completely exposed. The light of the new moon coated her pale skin, now free of all the clothing and the pack she had carried on her back.
Good Lord, Criver thought. He was far enough away, plus the remaining darkness obscured some details, but he definitely could make out how full her breasts were. And when she turned around, she took a step forward, which hoisted her a little higher, lifting her buttocks mostly from the water.
She was perfect from head to toe. Even in the moonlight, her face took on a luminescent quality.
She’s beautiful.
Criver had done all he could to quell any infatuation with her. It reared its head back at her home, but he pushed it aside so he could focus on rescuing Amir. However, out here it returned with a vengeance in the presence of this unclothed angel.
He had to remind himself what he had come here for. In his euphoria, he had released the bucket into the water, and it now was sitting up on its side. He bent over to pick it up, but carefully. He did not want to make a sound. In fact, he wanted to get the hell out of there before Cheryl noticed him. He desperately didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about him—he surely didn’t come here to spy on her taking a bath!
Bucket in hand, Criver crept backward until he could take cover behind a tree, which the shadows actually had magnified into a bigger one.
“Tom!” Criver froze. Did she notice him?
“Tom!”
It seemed childish, but Criver refused to move from the spot. Perhaps she thought she had heard him, but never actually saw him.
“Tom, come here.”
She didn’t sound angry, but people acted differently when they were angry. Jessica had done little things such as tap her fingernails on a solid surface or narrow her right eye—never her left. She never raised her voice until she reached the boiling point. He didn’t know what Cheryl would do.
Criver decided to reveal himself. Cheryl was still in the water, now submerged to just below her neck, her breasts obscured. “It’s probably been ages since you had a bath.” She smiled a little. “Don’t worry, it won’t bite.”
It’s not the water I’m worried about, Criver thought.
Cheryl started turning around so she wouldn’t face him. “I’ll wait until you come out here. I won’t look.”
Criver approached the edge of the water, removing his shirt. Criver continued to strip until he was fully nude. Then he plunged his foot into the water. A tad cool, but his body easily adapted to it.
He waded into the water. Now Cheryl turned around. “Come closer. Here, let me help you.” She dug into the water and produced her washcloth. “You probably need somebody to get your back.”
Criver turned around and allowed Cheryl to rub his back. “So, you do this a lot in the army?”
“No. We had showers. I don’t think we wanted to share a river anyway.” She chuckled.
Cheryl finished. Criver heard a soft splash down behind him. It was probably safe to turn around. He did, finding Cheryl safely submerged up to her neck.
“Can you do me?” She raised her cloth.
“Sure.”
She stood up, back facing him. He rubbed her back, going from her shoulders down to her lower back. Then he let her know he was done, and she dropped back into the water.
“I never thought I’d ever take a bath for granted,” Criver said.
“Just don’t take too long. You know there are leeches out here that will latch onto your balls and never let go,” Cheryl said.
Criver’s heart quickened. “What?”
“Just kidding.”
Criver responded with a playful splash in her face. After laughing a little, Cheryl continued, “People had to live like this for thousands and thousands of years. Some people in some parts of the world still do.”
“It’s so quiet out here,” Criver said as Cheryl swam around him. “It’s just amazing. It’s like we’re all alone in the world.”
“It’s like we’re both free,” Cheryl said, practically blissful in her tone. She seemed genuinely happy, as if she had found a retreat she had been craving for a while. “Don’t you feel it?”
Criver let his body relax. The waters soothed his body from his chest to his toes. “Yeah.”
Cheryl came to a stop next to him. The two exchanged a look. Then she rose up out of the water, all the way to waist-level. Criver’s eyes widened. Her breasts now were fully exposed. She even pushed aside a few strands of her long hair to make sure nothing stood in the way.
“I showed you mine,” she said softly, even a little seductively. “Now you can show me yours.”
Criver’s heart raced. Her body was magnificent to behold up close. Perhaps now there shouldn’t be any secrets between them—including their bodies.
He stood up in the water, which now only reached his thighs. Cheryl bobbed her head from side to side, taking in the view. Criver almost forgot what it was like to have a woman fawn over him, how good it felt to have a woman’s affection directed at him. It was a feeling he thought had disappeared along with Jessica.
Cheryl spread her arms. “So, what do you think?”
“Standing in a river with a gorgeous, naked woman?” He took her hand.
“Most men would call that a dream come true.” Then he kissed her hand.
She smiled, then drew away a little. Redness broke out across her cheeks, visible in the moonlight. “Thanks. I-I never had anyone call me gorgeous before.”
“What, all the men in your unit were blind?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly a place for romance.”
“How about high school?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“What?” Criver leaned in close, making a show of checking out Cheryl’s chest.
“You look like you could have made a sweater very happy.” Cheryl laughed, almost choking. “No guys checking you out? Asking you on a date? Swamping you with invitations to the prom?”
