by C. A. Hoaks
Liz whispered. “I did.” She fell against her father’s chest.
“Liz, you did what you had to do. There was no way Amy could have kept up with you. All three of you would have died. Now, quit second guessing everything you’ve done. “ He wiped at her face with a white handkerchief then handed it to her. “You’re sick because you’re you haven’t taken care of yourself. Your job is to take care of yourself and my grandson. And that’s an order.” He smiled. “I want a healthy mom and baby boy when Brian and the girls show up.”
“Yes, sir,” Liz answered.
Maria appeared and reached out to Liz. “You are up? I have been so worried. Come, señora. I fix you a nice snack. You too skinny. Niño needs a healthy madre. I make taquitos.” While Will nodded at Sam Goodman to follow him to his office, Maria led Liz to the kitchen. Maria sat Liz on a chair in front of a wooden table. She quickly pulled a pan from an overhead rack and put it on a burner. Maria opened a refrigerator and retrieved a handful of items. She moved to a cutting board made quick work of chopping onions, potatoes, and peppers. “I make them just how you like them,” Maria added as stepped to the stove and turned on the burner.
“There you are,” Cassie announced as she walked into the kitchen. “It’s time for your medication.”
“What is it? I still feel like shit.”
“I’m increasing the dosage of your antibiotics and adding a prenatal vitamin since the hyperemesis has slackened. If you start feeling nauseous or vomiting again, you need to let me know immediately. I have to wing it a bit since I don’t have much testing available, so I’m using a broad spectrum antibiotic. I think you’re fighting a kidney infection. But that’s just based on the back pain and my comparing a slide to pictures.” Cassie sat a couple pills in a small plastic cup on the table. “Don’t throw away the cup.” She laughed. “Keep drinking lots of water, too.”
“Are you sure that’s all it is?” Liz asked as she examined Carrie’s face for a hint of something she wasn’t saying.
“As sure as I can be. You’ve complicated the issue by not eating worth a shit for the last few months and being pregnant but other than that, I’m pretty sure.”
Maria sat a plate with three taquitos in front of her. “You eat it all. Sí?”
“I’ll try.” Liz chuckled.
“And take the antibiotics as soon as you’re done,” Cassie ordered.
Chapter 29
Cowboy Up
It took nearly an hour to sort through supplies and decide what they required instead of what they wanted. Steve, Della, and Zack made three stacks: one of the absolute essentials, another of items at least one of the trio thought was needed, then the last pile of expendable. A second pass reduced the stack to three duffle bags. When they were finished, they sat down and stared at the remaining supplies.
“I hate leaving so much behind,” Zack commented after a long pull at a bottle of water.
“I feel the same way, but we can only take so much,” Steve answered. “Come on, big guy, time to move out.”
The two men, with Darlene supervising, saddled the horses with a sense of uncertainty settling over the small group. On each saddle, they filled saddlebags with extra water and supplies then tied on bedrolls. When they were finished, Steve still worried about the goods being left behind and with Zack’s help tossed them into the trailer. He passed around more bottles of water, jerky and energy bars. Everyone ate quietly lost in the realization of the sudden changes. Since most were novice riders, they were hesitant at best.
“Let’s mount up. Darlene, do you want Penny in front or back?” Steve asked.
“Front. I think.” She answered.
Darlene mounted, got settled with her feet in the stirrups, then Zack passed Penny up to sit in front of her mother. Della climbed in the saddle by herself and pulled down on her baseball cap. Steve reached up to the saddle-horn and pulled himself into the saddle. He pushed his prosthetics into the stirrups and rose up to adjust his seat.
“Well, Zack. Are you coming?”
“I got this,” Zack answered.
He grabbed his own saddle and stuck his left foot into the stirrup. He bounced on his right foot, but the horse shied and pranced away leaving Zack hopping after him. Steve used his prosthetics to bump against his mount’s side and turned the reins to guide his mount to Zack’s horse’s side. Steve grabbed the bridle and calmed the skittish mount still. Zack jerked his foot from the saddle then leaned against the mount to catch his breath. After a minute he stepped back into the stirrup and with a quick jump swung his leg over the back of the saddle. He leaned precariously for a second then pulled himself upright and settled on the seat.
“Good to go,” Zack announced with a broad grin as Steve released the bridle and handed him the rope attached to the pack horse’s bridle.
“Follow single file and stay about ten feet apart,” Steve ordered. “Zack, bring up the rear and hang onto the pack horse. You can wrap the rope around the saddle horn a couple loops but don’t tie it. Hang on to the end but if the horse bolts, let it go.”
“Got it,” Zack answered as he squirmed in the saddle.
Steve reined his mount around and headed out, with Della on the black mare first to follow. Darlene followed Della with Zack bringing up the rear leading the pack horse. Steve led the group across the rugged terrain until suddenly they were back at the edge of the blacktop. He studied a sign in the distance, then pulled a map from his pocket. They were approaching Miller Ranch Road. If they continued on, they should make it back to State Road 90 and could head north. They rode for another hour, driving past a water treatment plant, now putrid from holding ponds no longer being treated. They saw the sign for the state road with only a few remnants of the tornado damage. They saw a small white square white building in the distance.
“Is that Marfa again?” Darlene asked.
Della answered in her best Obi-Wan Kenobi voice. “Nothing to see here, move along.”
“Party pooper,” Darlene answered amid peals of laughter. “My one chance in life to have designer shoes and we ride on by. I’m crushed.”
The five horses plodded away from Marfa. They followed the roadway a short distance while dodging around scrub trees and mesquite.
“Why aren’t we riding on the road?” Della asked.
“We need to be able to disappear. We don’t want to take a chance someone on these back roads sees us.”
As the afternoon wore on, Penny began to whimper. Steve glanced at the raised train tracks in the distance and wondered if they would find a train sitting on them at some point. His gaze followed the tracks to a green belt perpendicular to the railroad and asphalt road about a mile away. It could mean water and a place to camp for the night. A creek would let them clean up, have a meal, and provide a place to rest the horses for the night. He turned to Della and called out. “We’ll stop up ahead, let’s get there.” He tapped the stirrups against the horse’s belly. With a new enthusiasm for the last leg of the day’s journey, the trio following Steve picked up their pace as well.
Half an hour more of riding and they rode into a shallow draw with a trickling stream surrounded by lush grasses and trees including a few sprawling oak trees. Steve led the group away from the highway into a dense grove of trees surrounded by brush. Steve stepped out of the saddle and slid to the ground at the side of the dark brown mare. After taking a few seconds to gain his footing, he handed the reins to Della.”Wait a few minutes while I look it over.” He carefully picked his way to the stream and looked back at the overpass crossing the highway a couple hundred yards away. They would be hidden from passing traffic. He made a quick perusal of the area and found a level area under the thick limb of an oak tree about twenty feet from the stream. A little further downstream was a less brushy area with plenty of grass close to the water. He walked back up the bank and waved at the waiting group. “This’ll do. After we unsaddle the horses, we’ll take them down to water then they can graze there.”
; Zack stepped out of the saddle and nearly fell to the ground when his foot caught in the left stirrup. After a quick maneuver to pull his foot free, he flexed one leg then the other, before he tied the reins to a tree limb and did the same for the pack horse. After removing the supply bags, Zack pulled a rope from a pocket in one of the bags.
“If you take care of the horses, we’ll set up camp and fix a meal,” Steve announced as he loosened the cinch on his mount’s saddle.
“No problem, I got it. I’m not sure I can even sit down right now,” Zack answered.
Zack walked to Darlene, and she dropped Penny into his waiting arms. Penny giggled and wiggled, anxious to be let down. Zack put her on the ground, and she darted away.
Darlene called out to her retreating back. “Don’t go far.”
“I won’t” Penny answered as she headed for a patch of bluebonnets.
Darlene stepped out of the saddle as if she was not the least bit uncomfortable. “I’ll help with the horses.”
“I’ll help, too,” Della announced.
With help from Zack, Della, and Darlene pulled saddles from the horses, wiped them down with handfuls of grass and then passed the reins to Darlene and Zack to lead them to the stream. At seeing Steve limp around the camp area, Della walked up to Steve and said, “Sit down and tell me what I can do..” Steve started to protest, but she continued, “You go sit down and pull off the prosthetics. Your legs are still too raw to be wearing them for so long.”
“I don’t know which is worse at this point, my ass or my legs.” Steve laughed then walked to a fallen log and sat down next to Penny where she sat drawing shapes in the dirt. Steve pulled up his pant legs and removed the prosthetics from his stumps. He rubbed the pink skin and sighed with relief at no sign of ulcers.
“Why don’t you have feet?” Penny asked.
Steve looked up and smiled. “I lost them.”
“I look for new ones,” Penny tilted her head to one side and studied his face. “I find things.” She held out her small hand and showed Steve a rock.
“You sure are, but they’ve been gone a long time.” He smiles. “Besides, I have these.” He held up a prosthetic with a grin.
Penny looked a little confused then smiled. “Okay. I’m getting hungry. Are you hungry?”
Zack appeared at Steve’s side and opened one of the packs. “What should we do first?”
“Give me the camp shovel, I’ll take care of the fire, you can hang the tarp from that branch on the oak to the ground behind it. It’ll give us cover in case it rains.”
When Zack handed Steve the camp shovel, he slid off the log and scooted over to a slight depression in the ground. He pulled away a couple handfuls of scrub grass then began to dig. He looked to see Penny watching and smiled as he wiped the moisture from his brow.
“You want to help?” Steve asked.
“Uh-huh,” Penny answered.
“I need lots of little pieces of wood.” He held his hands apart about six inches. “About this long and no bigger than your thumb, can you do that?”
Penny grinned. “Uh-huh.” She ran to a nearby tree to begin picking up sticks.
When she brought the first handful, Steve pointed at a place nearby. “There’ll be fine. Don’t wander too far.”
“Yes, Sir.” Penny skipped away giggling while Steve completed the first hole down about twenty inches. He cleaned out the shaft of the last of dirt then slid over about eighteen inches to begin a second smaller hole. When he got to the same depth, he reached into the first hole and joined the two.
Zack hung the green tarp while Della and Darlene began sorting supplies for an evening meal. He walked over to Steve carrying an armful of small limbs and branches.
“Thought you were building a fire. What’s the hole for?”
“It’s a Dakota fire hole. Remember all the fires we saw? No one will see our fire because it will be below ground,” Steve answered.
“Want me to help?”
“Sure.” Steve passed Zack a shovel. “We need to expand the bottom of the big hole a little more. Make it about the size of a five-gallon bucket. Don’t open the top any larger if you can help it. We’re going to use that grating to set a pot on.”
Steve sat back and began weaving together dried grass into a small tight ball.
Zack shoveled and scooped dirt then glanced at Steve, “I think I got it.”
“Put this in the center and add sticks around it in the shape of a T-pee. Add bigger sticks as you work your way out but be sure to leave access to light the tender.”
Della and Darlene walked over to Steve and Zack. Della sat a pot of water nearby. “Have you got a fire going? We need to start boiling water.”
Zack stuck a lighter into the hole for a minute, then sat up just as smoke wafted from the hole in front of him.
“What are you two doing?”
“A Dakota Fire takes less fuel and burns hotter. Did you bring that metal grating?” Steve answered.
“We should have brought more supplies,” Della commented as she handed him the camp grill.
“A little trapping or hunting and we’ll be fine,” Steve answered. “Even at ten miles a day, we can be there in a week.”
“How far did we ride today?”
“Seven, maybe eight miles. No more than that,” Steve answered.
Della interrupted. “The way my legs and butt feel, I can’t imagine going further than we did today.”
Zack echoed Della’s sentiment then added. “Besides, I don’t think Penny can take riding more than we did today.”
“Then we’ll go as far as we can,” Steve answered.
Chapter 30
Truth or Lies
Paula and Margo parked the vehicles near the camp. Both women ignored the gathering of men and their cleanup activities to walk up to the two women huddled together near the car where they had been chained.
“Hi. I’m Paula. This is Margo.” Paula stepped closer with bottles of water.
The woman looked up and stared without speaking. Paula gave each of them a bottle while Margo handed them a plastic store bag with beef jerky, fruit cups and a handful of candy bars.
“I’m sorry. We didn’t find much at the truck stop,” Margo whispered. “It’s hard to keep enough food to feed half a dozen people.”
“This is fine.” The woman whispered. She nodded for her daughter to eat, but she just stared straight ahead.
“I’m sorry about your family.” Paula sat down next to the woman.
Margo followed suit. “Steve and the guys came as soon as they heard the gunfire. I’m sorry we were too late.”
“So am I,” The woman whispered. “My name is Elaine, Elaine Winton. This is my daughter, Sandy.”
The woman pushed greasy hair from her face while she studied the bag on the ground. She looked up then silently opened the bottle of water. She took a drink then passed it to her daughter. Sandy finished the bottle of water and Elaine began the second. They both drank without speaking for a couple minutes before she looked into the bag. She opened a package of jerked meat and passed a piece to Sandy then retrieved one for herself while Margo and Paula waited quietly.
“We haven’t eaten in a couple days.” Still chewing, Elaine opened the fruit cup and passed it to her daughter.
Sandy tipped up the cup and spilled the sweet syrup and fruit into her mouth. She licked the dribbled of sugar with a hint of a smile on her lips. When she realized what she was doing, she started crying. “They’re dead.” She looked at the food horrified. “How can I eat when Daddy and Danny are dead?”
Elaine put her arm around her daughter. “It’s alright. You have to eat. Your body is hungry. Your dad and Danny would want you to eat,” Elaine tore off another piece of dried meat and put it in her mouth in a show of support for her words.
Brian approached the women. “Ladies? Is there anything I can do over here?”
Elaine looked up and studied Brian for a moment. “You’re military?”
> “Yes, mam. Captain Brian Jameson. I’m sorry we couldn’t do more for your family.”
“Me too.” She introduced herself and her daughter then added. “What now? The van is destroyed?”
“You get your choice of trucks from the four these assholes were driving. You can come with us, or you can head back out to wherever you were going.” Brian answered. “We’re loading everything we could find from your van into a truck then we’ll head back to the fueling station where we were staying. We’ll spend the rest of the night there. We can talk about your options in the morning, and you can make those decisions then.
Elaine nodded. “What about my son and husband? I’d like to bury them.”
Brian sighed. “I’m sorry. The best we can do is put them in the van and burn it in the morning. We don’t have the tools to bury them, and we can’t chance a fire tonight.”
“I understand.” Elaine wiped at a tear sliding down the side of her face then answered, “We’re ready to go.” She struggled to her feet picking up the bag of supplies with Sandy following suit.
Brian led the women to one of the trucks and helped them inside with Paula at the wheel. He walked around the back of a second truck and pulled at the rope hanging on the roll bar and used it to bind Henry’s hands and feet. Billy, Leon, Juan, and Margo each got into the remaining vehicles, and they caravanned back to the gas station.
Once the women had settled in the gift shop, Brian and Billy went back outside and pulled Henry across the bed of the truck. They slid him off the tailgate none too gently and deposited him on the ground.
“Alright, Henry Dodd, this is your chance to live. I want to know everything about the camp.” Brian leaned toward Henry menacingly.
Henry held up his bound hands in surrender. “You got it….”
Henry talked for nearly twenty minutes before Brian finally spoke again. “You’re sure of the numbers?”
Henry nodded excitedly. “A man by the name of Grant was in charge until last week. He left with a group to go out scavenging and just never came back. Most people figured he ran into the military or took on someone he couldn’t handle. Anyway, that’s when this bunch took over. You have to understand, not everyone in the camp is bad. Grant brought in a bunch of assholes right after the attack, and the decent folks are afraid to do or say anything. Most of the people there are like me. They have families they are trying to protect.”
