Fending Them Off

by Max Lockwood

  Clara just wanted her sister close. Having two of her friends, Felicia, whom she’d only met more recently but who was definitely growing on her, and Cooper, whom she’d known for years, was all great, but there was her sister, too. Clara couldn’t even remember the last time they’d spent time together just the two of them. She remembered the last time the family gathered, Viola included, was because Viola had been the one to bring it up.

  But the point was, even if they ended up not speaking to each other, Clara would feel glad to just look to the side and see her sister. Tessa looked a lot cleaner today than she had in years, with her hair combed, though still looking a little rough. However, the paleness wasn’t gone, nor the bags under her eyes. Based on how absolutely skinny she was, Clara feared she could get blown away by the wind.

  “Tessa,” she said seriously, holding her sister’s gaze with her own intense one. “I want to ride with you at the front of the group, if that’s all right?”

  She didn’t protest this time and Clara counted that as a win before she even spoke. Tessa nodded, smiling slightly, sadly. “Sure, Clara.”

  Clara smiled back, and directed her next words to the others around them. “We should be getting back on the road soon! Can I drive again for the first shift?”

  No one had any objections, and people began to pile into cars, following Clara’s lead. She waited until everyone had gotten into a vehicle before she started theirs and drove off.

  “Tess, look for signs for nearby places and pick one to investigate,” she told her sister. “We can’t keep driving around, we need to find someplace where we can settle down, even just for a while.”

  “Got it,” was Tessa’s reply.

  They drove for maybe a couple hours before Tessa chose a town, and Clara veered left half a mile away to head for it. It was risky, and she hadn’t talked to anyone about her plans. She knew they were all tired, and looking for someone to be the leader of their little ragtag group so they at least had a stop to make. Clara didn’t want to be it, but she was growing tired of waiting for someone else to take the responsibility. The other cars followed her lead without a honk of protest.

  They drove through the town, but found that half of it had gone up in flames. Clara wasn’t even sure whether to be surprised or not, though she was mostly horrified at the state the town was in.

  Clara looked at the world around her and thought of the news stories she used to see of wartime. She wasn’t sure if there was a war, so much as plenty of internal fighting for resources, but what she saw was so similar. If this town was in this condition, just what would they encounter the further they went, because Clara was starting to lose more hope for the future, not that she hadn’t lost plenty of it already.

  She resigned herself to the idea of never finding a new home, and carried on driving halfheartedly.

  Chapter Three

  A bump in the road had Clara jolting awake.

  She looked around wildly for a moment, wondering what was going on, and it took her a moment to make the leap. She sighed as she leaned back in her seat, hand pressed against her heart, urging the beat to slow.

  They were still in the car, driving to who knew where, and she wasn’t entirely sure how long they had been on the road this time. They had run away from their problems already, but they’d dragged themselves into something new.

  What the hell were they supposed to do if they were stuck driving all over the place? How did they even begin to look for a place to settle down?

  Frankly, Clara was willing to settle for the group ending up with an area completely covered by trees where they wouldn’t be disturbed by anyone and then stay there. If it kept them safe from other people, and no dangerous wild animals were involved—and if they were lucky to have something edible and potable water nearby, then all the better.

  But Clara doubted that was something in anyone else’s mind. It was a pipe dream, either way, not something she thought could actually happen. They just couldn’t be that lucky.

  But that still leaves where we’re heading to.

  She didn’t think anyone else had an idea. They’d stopped to sleep, even got to eat together twice, before they went to bed. When they woke up, all people did was make groups and stick to them. She’d forgotten all about talking to everybody, despite the fact she was also holding back from trying to act like the leader of their little ragtag group. She wasn’t interested, and having people’s lives in her hands had almost gone so wrong all too recently. She was in no hurry to start playing group leader again.

  How long had it been since they woke up and left their camp, anyway? She was surprised to find it was still fairly light outside. She probably hadn't been asleep for long, and, the way her body felt, she could stand to sleep a little more.

  Only, she couldn’t. They had to share responsibilities. She stretched out the kinks in her back, even though it didn’t entirely help, and slapped her cheeks lightly to wake herself up.

  She remembered they had switched seats in the middle of the drive so Clara could sleep. She glanced to the side and saw Barbara in the driver’s seat. She was just settling back into her seat, when a curse came from Barbara, alerting her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She waited, breath held and her heart beating faster with renewed anxiety. Barbara sent her a grim look.

  “We’ve got a flat tire.”

  Dammit.

  Of all the things that could have happened, Clara hadn’t even thought about that. Their biggest worry was fuel, but she was pretty sure they didn’t have any spare tires. If they’d even thought to bring any, there wouldn’t have been enough space with all the people and the food they were already carrying.

  Where the hell were they, even? She didn’t want to get stranded out here.

  “We can't keep driving for long,” Barbara continued. “We’re going to have to make a stop somewhere. Hopefully there’s a town nearby.”

  “It’s that bad?” Clara said quietly.

  “Yeah.” Then she cursed again, her voice coming out in such a quiet hiss that Clara didn’t even hear the words, but she did catch the tone. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying enough attention to the road, I didn’t even see the hole before I drove right over it.”

  Clara sighed. “It’s fine,” she reassured the other woman. “It could have been anyone else in your place, and the same thing might have happened. Don’t feel bad about it.”

  She was probably zoned out while on the road. It didn’t exactly take a lot of focus to drive when there weren’t other cars around besides theirs to distract you, and, currently, all the other cars were behind them since she’d taken the lead earlier. Clara had insisted on sticking to the front while Tessa moved back so she could get another turn at the wheel.

  But it was a serious stroke of bad luck when things had been going so well before. Where could they possibly get a spare tire out in the middle of nowhere? Did they even have the tools, or someone in their group skilled enough to do the job?

  Clara groaned quietly and slumped low in her seat. Of all things to happen, this was among the worst. It basically ruined the flow of the whole team, and Clara knew the rest weren’t going to be happy when they heard it.

  “How bad is it?”

  Barbara shrugged. “Bad, I guess. Can't you feel it? The car isn’t moving properly.”

  Clara frowned and tried to pay attention. She got what Barbara meant almost immediately. Her hands were steady on the wheel, and the road was straight, but Clara could feel the car wasn’t moving as smoothly as before. It wobbled a little, and while it wasn’t all that bad, yet…

  “It will be bad if we keep driving on a flat. I could lose control of the wheel and we’d end up crashing, worst case scenario, it would be on one of the other cars.”

  “Yeah,” Clara muttered.

  That would be even worse. They didn’t need the other cars in even worse condition. She leaned around her seat and tried to look over at the other cars and gauge whether or not
they had received damage. They weren’t following close, so it was possible they’d missed the hole as well. But it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong. As far as she could tell, their cars didn’t move like they had a flat tire.

  “We can't stop out in the middle of nowhere,” Clara decided. “How far do you think you can push the car? We need to at least find a town to stop at. Maybe we might even get some help there.”

  Barbara shot her a look. “I don’t know about receiving help, but that’s probably the best idea for us right now. It’ll only be for a few minutes, though.”

  She sighed, and Clara could see she was worrying and trying to hide it.

  Understandable. She was probably still berating herself. Clara could have told her not to waste the energy, but she probably needed to, so she could just get over it. They had bigger things to focus on.

  Her own mind was racking with thoughts and decisions, wondering what she could do. Because she could just imagine the fight that might break out once news got out. There was no way to avoid that, but they needed to have this taken care of quickly and get back on the road.

  If we even can, she thought grimly to herself.

  Barbara alerted the others to the new problem by honking the horn three times, waiting for a few seconds, and repeating. When an answering honk came from behind them, she waved her hand outside the window.

  But they couldn’t just pull up on the side of the road for something like this. Clara would have preferred they got further, but there wasn’t really much choice. There was only so far they could get with a flat tire, and if they didn’t find a town to stop at soon, they might have to squeeze into the other vehicles. The only problem was that, she didn’t think there was even room. All the cars were at least as overcrowded as theirs, and they’d have to let go of needed supplies to squeeze into the other cars.

  Luckily for them, a sign came up ahead and maybe twenty minutes later, Clara could hear the sigh of relief that came from Barbara, who was probably having a hard time keeping the car steady now, with her hands tensed around the wheel. Deviating from the main road to head towards the town, the other cars followed behind them.

  The whole group was forced to pull up outside a town estate to try and figure out what to do.

  “What’s going on?” one of the guys from the other cars asked as they all gathered on the road. “Why did we stop here? It’s not dark yet.”

  He was from the last car, so he probably hadn't noticed the problem their car suddenly had. Clara exchanged a look with Barbara as the rest of their party came out of their cars. Tessa came to stand by Clara, Cooper not far behind, and Felicia moved closer to her sister.

  It was like they could tell something was wrong, even though the guys in the back somehow seemed calm.

  “Our car got a flat tire,” Barbara said bluntly.

  Clara winced, but really, there was no way, after all, to tactfully say that they’d royally screwed up. Barbara just stated the facts, but Clara wished she could have put it a little more gently.

  “A flat?” Felicia said, frowning and turning to the car. She went around until she stopped at the wheel with the problem, her face grim. She sighed and returned to her sister’s side without a word, and Clara knew it was bad.

  She could see the dissatisfaction spread among the members of their group, like she had expected.

  “What do you mean, a flat!” someone shouted from behind the group of people. “Don’t you people look where you’re driving?”

  “Yeah!” another added. “Pay attention to the road when you drive.”

  More murmurs spread among the group, and Clara narrowed her eyes, trying to see the ones that started the whole thing. But since pretty much the whole crowd was following them, it wasn’t possible.

  “Bastards,” she muttered, clenching her fists at her sides. “They weren’t even there, how dare they talk smack.”

  But Clara couldn’t speak loud enough for them to hear her, because she did understand their anger. If she had been in another car, or one of the other cars got a flat, she wouldn’t have reacted well. But these people were all but ready to lynch Barbara, and Clara wouldn’t stand for that.

  “What are we supposed to do now?” Tessa asked from her spot beside Clara, the question most of them had on their minds.

  Clara could only sigh. She didn’t think they could squeeze into the other vehicles, people, supplies, and all. They’d have to sacrifice something, but she doubted anyone in their group would be up for leaving food just because they couldn’t fit it all, especially considering just how much food they’d have to displace.

  “I don’t know, honestly,” Clara admitted. “It’s not exactly an easy situation. There are a lot of people in our car, and some supplies. Even if we just move people and food around to the other vehicles, they’d have to lose some stuff, and I don’t just mean the supplies. Even if everyone is somehow okay with sleeping on the ground, there is still the one issue; food. No one would be willing to give up any of it.”

  Tessa looked at her in disbelief. “So, we’re stuck here?”

  “Not necessarily,” Clara said slowly. “There are plenty of things we can do.”

  But she tightened her lips, knowing most of their options were still not all that great. Most of them, the rest of the group wouldn’t even agree to, and since they were trying to get along with each other for all their sakes, they had to pick something that wouldn’t have the others ready to revolt.

  She glanced around the group and winced, thinking it would be impossible. Everyone that had been in her car was acting defensive, arms folded over chests, hard looks aimed at the protesting crowd. Felicia stood between her sister and the crowd. The rest of the group kept sending glares and scowls their way, as if it was their fault somehow there had been a hole in the middle of the road.

  “It was the driver’s fault, wasn’t it?” someone spoke up. “The rest of us can just go without them. We’re crowded enough as it is, if it’s just one less person it should be fine, right?”

  Clara narrowed her eyes on the woman that spoke up, Barbara and Felicia at her side each sending glares the woman’s way. It was so easy to assign blame, Clara wondered how she would react if they all decided she should be the one left behind for the careless comment.

  “No one should get left behind,” she argued, stepping in front of Barbara, because that was the last straw. “We are not doing that.”

  Clara hated making commands, as if just because she gave them they had to be obeyed. She knew that wasn’t the case, but there was no way she could let something like this slide. They were seriously talking about leaving someone alone who knew where, and with what kind of people.

  It was inhumane, and that anyone with them would even suggest it had her seeing red.

  “Well, whose fault is it then, huh?” someone else shouted.

  Then the woman joined in again. “Yeah! Who was driving when you got the flat? They need to pay for being careless somehow! There are a lot of us here, after all.”

  “I realize that,” Clara said between gritted teeth, before making her voice louder. “But it doesn’t matter who was driving when it happened. The fact is, that we have a flat tire and we can't keep moving on immediately. It makes me as uneasy as the rest of you, but that is not the answer.”

  The murmurs of dissent didn’t die, but then Clara wasn’t expecting it would be that easy. She wasn’t backing down, though. She was in debt to both Barbara and Felicia, like hell she would let them get left behind over a mistake, because Clara knew Felicia would choose to stay with her younger sister.

  “We’ve gotten this far already. Losing the tire was an accident, no one could have predicted it would happen. We can’t blame anyone for this.”

  She didn’t mention that it could have happened to any car that had taken the lead instead of theirs, they were all probably thinking the same thing and being grateful they weren’t the ones with the problem. But she could also tell the others were conside
ring leaving someone behind, and it made her a little mad. She could feel Cooper come up behind her, probably sensing her mood, but she was glad he didn’t try and pull her back.

  “Look, there’s no way we can leave someone behind over something this stupid, and if we squeeze in the other cars, we’ll have to let go of some food. So why doesn’t everyone split up and go into the nearby houses to see if anyone can spare a new tire? Chances are they won’t need them if they have one around, anyway, so it should be fine, right?”

  No one said anything immediately, and she intensified her glare on the people that looked the most hesitant. She thought she would have to say more to get them to agree when they reluctantly consented, with several people, including Tessa, left to guard the cars.

  Tessa caught her arm before she could walk off, and she paused, curious as to what her sister wanted with her. Tessa looked worried, and trying not to let it show.

  “Be careful, all right?”

  Clara nodded, letting go of her annoyance long enough to give Tessa a reassuring smile and a pat on the arm. She went with Cooper and they knocked at houses, without much luck for the first few attempts.

  She saw a house with a flower-bed and was drawn to it, reminded of Viola and her love of gardening. Thinking of her grandmother brought tears to her eyes. She’d mourned, but it was hardly enough for her, since she hadn’t gotten her revenge on the people behind the attack that killed her grandmother. And now, she never would.

  After a short moment to collect herself, Clara knocked. Someone answered the door not long after, holding a knife. She was surprised at first, taken aback at the reception, but then, it was expected. The world was dangerous now.

  “Look, I’m not here to harm you,” she said, quickly establishing that she wasn’t a threat, holding her hands up and palms out. “I just need some help and I’ll be out of your hair soon.”

  The person at the door still looked suspicious, but at least Clara didn’t think they would stab her without reason. She held still and didn’t shift her gaze, waiting for him to speak.