They rolled down the highway at a steady clip and the snowflakes became snowfall. Trevor turned on the windshield wipers and glanced over to Rick.
“What is it?” Rick asked.
“The snow is just...really picking up.”
“So it is,” Rick said. “So it is.”
Ten minutes ahead, they were stopped by the gridlock the Antis had met hours earlier.
Trevor stopped the car. “What now, Sir?”
“Now, we get out.” Rick stomped to the last car in the pack, a blue Suburban. “This was their car. They were here this morning.”
Trevor noted the melt pattern of the snowflakes on the hood.
“We proceed on foot,” Rick said. “Gear up!”
The men snapped to action and were underway in minutes.
One man took the front, Rick and Trevor twenty paces behind, and the rest of the troop, another twenty paces behind them. They weaved through the vehicle graveyard like a snake.
“Chancellor,” Trevor said. “Permission to speak freely?”
“Go on….”
“I wonder if we should just let the weather take care of them, Sir.”
Rick’s eyes flashed with anger and then cooled. “Are you questioning me?”
“No, Sir.”
“Good.”
They marched on.
* * *
The wagon wheels were caked with snow. Occasionally one would lock up like a misbehaved shopping cart and pitch the entire business sideways. “We’re going to have to ditch the battery,” Duncan said, forced to concede. He stopped and rubbed his shoulder, a knot of fiery pain. “Wish I had a sled now instead of this wagon.”
The gridlock had broken up with wider spaces between the cars.
“I don’t think it matters,” Vince said. “I’m not seeing anything old enough to have survived the flares.”
“If it keeps snowing, driving’s out anyway,” Terry said. Eight or nine inches had fallen already, with no sign of letting up.
Diane clutched Alisia’s arm, baby-stepping all the way. They caught up as Duncan was unloading the battery.
“What are you doing?” Diane said. “Did you find a car?” Her tone smelled of desperation.
“No…I’m leaving the battery behind. It’s getting to be too much to pull.”
“What? You said we needed that battery to get another car!”
“We’re not getting another car, Diane,” Duncan said and took a deep breath. “We’re on foot from here on out.”
“I can’t do this! We’re all going to die out here.” Diane was an expert level drama queen.
“Mom! Stop it! You’re going to scare the children.”
“Maybe they should be scared,” she mumbled.
“Jonathan, Tabitha,” Kat said. “Ears.” They obliged at once and covered their ears. “Now, listen here, you old bag,” Kat said, marching up and into her face. “You, shut the hell up. Got me? You’re not helping anything, so just–shut–up!”
Diane began to huff. It looked like she might go into the hyperventilating routine again. Alisia was mortified, and though she didn’t like Kat talking to her mother that way, she had to agree. Mom had to shut up.
“She’s right, Mom,” Alisia said. She found herself wanting to avoid eye contact but struggled to maintain it. “This has to stop.”
Diane gasped. “You, too? I raised you better than this, Alisia. I–“
“Mom–no more…”
“Fine! You want me to shut up? I’ll shut up!” Diane thought she was punishing her daughter, and while Alisia did feel a tinge of guilt, mostly she was relieved.
“Can we go now?” Vince said, rolling his eyes.
“Yes. Let’s go,” Alisia said. She grabbed Diane’s arm and dragged her forward.
They trudged uphill for another hour until blinding snowfall forced them to seek shelter.
“Up ahead!” Terry cried out. He had to shout to be heard above the wind. “There’s a semi with a sleeper cab! We can wait it out in there!” Inside were two dead bodies—flu victims.
“Oh, no,” Diane said. “I’m not going in there.”
“Suit yourself,” Vince said, hauling a body out by the coat collar. It was a light windbreaker. They’d probably been in here for a few weeks. The cold was welcome as it arrested the smell.
“We’ve all been immunized,” Alisia said. “It’s fine, Mom. And we can’t stay out here.”
“You’re the doctor,” Diane said, rolling her eyes.
Sometimes, I could just slap you, Alisia thought.
* * *
Terry cracked the window open and lit a candle. “This’ll help keep us a little warmer.”
The blizzard raged outside, laying an insulating blanket over the truck and covering their tracks. For the latter, Terry was thankful. He didn’t think anyone was following, but if they were, he was happy to take a helping hand from Mother Nature.
“Who wants to play cards?” Terry asked, pulling a deck of cards from his knapsack.
“Go Fish?” Jonathan offered.
“Sure. Who else is in?”
Everyone was dealt in but Diane, who was determined to suffer.
Two hours later, cabin fever was setting in, and the snow continued to pile up.
“Ya’ know,” Duncan said. “We’re not too far off from the summit. Maybe I’ll scout ahead…. Find us better accommodations.”
“I don’t know,” Terry said, arching a brow. “Sundown is in two hours.”
“Plus, you’ll get hypothermic,” Alisia said. “That doesn’t help anyone.”
“No, no, I’ll be fine. I’ve got the clothes for it…and I can’t sit here anymore.”
“Count me in, too,” Vince said.
“We’ll be back before sundown. Don’t worry,” Duncan said. “Hell, we might be back with good news.”
“I don’t know,” Terry said again. “I don’t like it. Why don’t we all just wait and go together when the weather clears?”
“We’ll be okay,” Duncan said. “A little walk in the snow never hurt anyone.”
“Really?” Alisia said. “Because I can think of at least a couple of times when a little walk in the snow hurt somebody.”
“We’ll be careful…and we won’t be gone too long. Promise.”
“Wait,” Terry said. “Take the rifle. Just in case.”
“Thank you,” Duncan said. “And Terry, I’ve got something for you too.” He handed Terry a neatly folded paper.
“What is it?” Terry asked.
“It’s a map…to the cabin, you know, just in case anything happens.”
“Thanks,” Terry said, “but let’s make sure nothing happens, okay?”
* * *
It was almost dark and still no Duncan or Vince.
“Do you think they’re all right?” Kat said. “I hope nothing's happened.”
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Terry said. “They’ve got an interstate to follow. I can’t imagine them getting lost on I-90.”
“I hope so,” Kat said, stroking Tabitha’s hair. Her little head rested in Kat’s lap. Both kids and Diane were asleep.
Terry was glad to have Diane asleep so he didn’t have to hear her objections and skepticism. He tried to put up with her for Alisia’s sake, but it was tiring.
“Should we go and look for them?” Alisia said.
The snow had let up some, but the wind howled on. “Shhh…. Did you hear that?” Terry said, squinting his eyes. “I thought I heard voices.”
“Oh, good. It’s probably them,” Alisia said.
“No…I don’t think so. The wind is blowing from the west….”
“And?” Kat said.
“They went east. I don’t think we’d be hearing them,” Terry said as he pinched out the candle. “Listen….”
They strained to hear when a searchlight briefly illuminated the snow blanket covering the truck’s glass, then passed.
“Oh, shit–get down!” Terry said, quietly but forcefull
y. “It’s them…Rick, the New Patriots.”
They huddled down and heard voices for a few minutes. The light flashed back and forth a couple more times and then it and the voices were gone.
“Oh my God,” Kat said. “Was that really them? And, Vince and Duncan…they’re still out there.”
Terry nodded. “It was them, all right. I’m sure of it. No one else would be out in this. Not unless they were looking for us.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” Kat said.
“No, I don’t–not for sure. But it makes sense. And I thought I heard Rick’s voice. Didn’t that sound like him?”
Kat nodded reluctantly. “What about Vince and Duncan?”
Terry wished he could see out, but was glad they’d not been able to see in. “They’re on their own…. There’s nothing we can do now but wait.”
* * *
“I need to pee,” Kat said. They’d been cooped up now for hours.
“Okay,” Terry said. “Anyone else?” Alisia shook her head, no. “We go out on the passenger side.”
The truck sat in the right-hand lane, and he didn’t want to leave tracks or disturb their camouflage where it would be easily seen should Rick and his men return. “Let me peek out first.”
He and Kat switched seats, and Terry eased the door open, holding his breath. For all he knew, they were waiting right outside. Terry peered out into the darkness and saw nothing. The sky was still overcast so neither the moon nor the stars could lend any light. “Okay. It’s clear.”
Terry hopped down and helped Kat from the truck. They faced away from one another and relieved themselves. Terry tried not to pee on his boots with limited success. It wasn’t easy pissing into the wind.
They climbed back up into the truck and Terry closed the door as gently as he could, hoping the snow would remain stuck to the door. Most of it fell away, and Diane woke up.
She looked around in the candlelit cab and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Where’s Duncan? And that Italian?”
“Vince,” Alisia said, correcting her mother, “Vince and Duncan aren’t back yet.”
“Well, where are they?”
“I…don’t know.” Alisia, Terry, and Kat all shared a look, eyes darting about.
“What’s going on?” Diane said. “What’s happened?”
* * *
Walking back, against the wind was much worse than walking with it. Goggles would have been nice, Duncan thought. The driving snow and ice pellets bit into his eyes like tiny knives. “Maybe we ought to hunker down for a little bit!” He shouted, competing with the wind.
“Yeah, okay!” Vince replied.
Duncan pointed to an open storage container beside the road, part of a construction staging area. “In there!”
They’d nearly made it to the summit, but turned back when the futility of their mission was fully realized. Sure, they could hike further and sleep somewhere else, but why? Why drag Diane, protesting all the way, through a snowstorm if it wasn’t necessary? Mostly, it had been about fighting the fatigue of cabin fever, anyhow. And they had found another blanket in the trunk of an abandoned car, so it wasn’t all for naught.
“Maybe this wasn’t my brightest idea ever,” Duncan said, watching the snow pile up. The wind whipped it into mini white tornadoes.
“Yeah, well…even worse, would have been staying in that truck another second longer with Diane,” Vince said.
Duncan laughed. “She’s not the easiest person in the world to appreciate, is she?”
“No.”
“But…we did get a doctor out of the deal.”
“True.”
“Hey,” Duncan said, standing up straighter and peering out the door. “Do you see that?”
“What?” Vince said.
“That light. Someone’s coming.”
“Who is it?” Vince said, straining to see. He’d lost his glasses some time ago, and his eyesight wasn’t the best.
“I don’t know. They’re too far out.”
“Can you tell how many? Is it Terry and everybody?”
“I hope so,” Duncan said.
The group continued to approach and minutes dragged on like hours.
“Oh shit…”
“What?” Vince said.
“It’s not them. There’s too many. And they’re too tall.”
“Too tall?
“Yeah, too tall. No kids with them and I count seven…all armed,” Duncan said.
“Oh, shit…. Is it Rick?”
“Could be. Can’t tell,” Duncan said. “Let’s get out of this container while we still can. You can bet that whoever they are, they’re going to want to get out of the snow, too.”
Duncan and Vince snuck around to the back of the container and waited.
“They’re going to see our tracks,” Vince said.
“Nothing we can do about it,” Duncan said, peering through the scope of the rifle.
“If it’s him, I say you pop him.”
“Can’t. If I do that, we’re dead for sure.”
“True, but so is Rick.”
Duncan wondered if maybe he should just start shooting. He could probably get at least a couple of them. But what if this group just passed them by, otherwise? Giving away their position would be foolish.
He was paralyzed by indecision. If only he could see who it was out there. If he waited too long, it would be too late. If it was Rick, and he didn’t shoot him, he hated to think what Rick would do to them. Rick wasn’t going to just shoot them. Not with the others still out there. Unless he’d already dealt with them? No, he’d torture the both of them to give up the others. Duncan could not accept that possibility and he fired.
His target fell. Headshot. He hoped it was Rick, prayed it was Rick. Panic’s long, icy fingers gripped his insides as he pulled the bolt back, chambering another round.
“Jesus Christ!” Vince said. “What happened to we’re dead if we do that?”
A volley of automatic weapon reports erupted, peppering the storage container they crouched behind.
“Option-lock,” Duncan said. He swung out from his cover and took another shot. This time, he hit a man in the shoulder. Whether he’d made the right choice or not, they were in it now. If only they had another gun.
* * *
It was fully dark, and the wanderers had still not returned when the shots rang out.
It was Kat that heard them first. “What was that? Are those…gunshots?”
Terry didn’t hear it immediately. “What? I don’t hear anything.”
“Who’s shooting, Mom?” Jonathan asked. “What are they shooting at?”
Kat hushed him.
“She’s right,” Alisia said. “That sounds like gunfire.”
“Oh shit,” Terry said. “I’ve got to go help them.”
“No!” Kat said. “Are you crazy? What do you think you’re going to do? Run a few miles up the road in a blizzard and save the day?”
“I have to do something. I can’t just sit here and wait it out.”
“She’s right, Terry,” Alisia said. “By the time you reach them, if you find them at all, it will all be over. All you’d accomplish is making tracks in the snow leading them right back here to us.”
It was hard for Terry to argue against that logic. She was right. They were both right. But how could he just sit idly by while his companions were under attack? He realized he didn’t have much choice.
After seven or eight minutes, that seemed like hours, the shots abated.
Alisia cocked her head slightly. “It’s stopped.”
“Yep,” Terry said and exhaled heavily like he’d been holding his breath the entire time.
“I hope they’re okay,” Kat said, looking out into the nothing.
“Mom?” Jonathan said. “Are we going to be okay?”
“Yes. Yes, we're going to be fine.”
Neither Jonathan nor Tabitha looked like they believed it. Not for a second.
“Hey, you gu
ys want a fruit snack or a taffy?” Terry asked. Tabitha accepted at once. Jonathan took more convincing. The novelty of this adventure was wearing thin.
“We had better keep a watch, tonight,” Terry said. “In case Vince and Duncan–or if….” He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to, and he didn’t want to scare the kids any more than they already were. “I’m just going to peek outside real quick.” He grabbed the shotgun and hopped down to nearly a foot of new snow.
Terry stood outside for thirty minutes scanning the dark. He saw nothing and he heard nothing but the wind. He patted his pocket and made sure he still had the map that Duncan had drawn him, just in case. The not knowing, was the worst kind of torture.
He climbed back into the truck. “I think it’s all clear. Why don’t you all try and get some rest? I’ll take first watch.”
“I’ll stay up with you,” Alisia said.
“You don’t have to do that,” Terry said, cradling the shotgun in his lap. “Try and get some sleep.”
“I know, I don’t have to. I want to.”
“Well, all right.” He was glad for the company and eventually the others drifted off.
“Do you think they’re okay?” Alisia said.
Terry waited a moment before answering. “I don’t know…. I hope so.” But the truth was, he didn’t feel hopeful about it.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
A barrage of cover fire from the interstate kept them pinned down behind the container. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea. Rick and his men knew exactly where they were now, and they were coming for them. Coming to end them. “This might be it,” Duncan said. “Whatever happens—don’t tell them anything.”
“No shit, Cochise.”
Duncan stepped out, shrieked some kind of war cry, and squeezed off his last shot. It went high, hitting nothing. Enemy fire cut him down before he could take aim at the marauders in the snowy dark. His parting thoughts were of his son. Duncan fell, twitching momentarily, before falling silent. Moonlight illuminated the growing red patch of snow shrouding his body and Vince was all alone.
Solaris Mortem: The New Patriots Page 18
