The Long Way To Reno

by Mix, Michelle

  Alex, the only name he gave us, said he wasn’t going far with Tom and Nate. Nate was the other guy, the one with the boyfriend who worked at a 24 Hour fitness center. Nate had met Alex and Tom somewhere on I-80, on his way back from visiting relatives in Elko.

  “Nate’s like a girl, you gotta protect him, he does crazy ass things when he’s scared, and that gets tiring,” Alex said with a sigh. He looked at Harley with sympathy. “Must be tired of watching over these ones.”

  “One stabbed one of the soldiers to bleed him dry, and another gave one a concussion with a demolition tool,” he replied dryly. “One’s killed a horde of zombies, and another figured out how to kill aliens. I think I’m the one in need of protection, here.”

  “Oh,” Alex said, frowning at us and trying to figure us out. Emmy smiled at him while I wondered who was actually doing the ‘protecting’ around here. When I thought about it, it definitely gave me some confidence in that I was truly able to handle myself, and others, okay. Why would I need a man for that?

  “So…about those clothes…?”

  “I’ll show you where it’s at,” I volunteered, ignoring Harley’s startled look. “And take a shower, too. I think this house has its own propane system.”

  “Awesome, because I reek. Your name is…?”

  I only smiled at him, not bothering with giving it, while Alex waited. Then he shrugged and looked at the others. Emmy followed my lead, and Harley exhaled heavily, having already given his name. Alex only nodded with a look of understanding, then lead the way into the house while Emmy asked Harley why I was trying to make him jealous by flirting with another dude.

  : :

  “Here are the keys to the truck outside,” Emmy said to me a couple of hours later. I caught them once she tossed them over.

  I examined the group of metal, then held it away from me with two fingers. “Emmy, they’re bloody.”

  “I know, Brandon found them outside, in the side yard? I didn’t want to touch them either, but…we might need them. I made sure not to tell either of those guys.” She heaved a tired sigh, sitting next to me and watching as I rearranged the contents of my messenger bag. Brandon followed after her, climbing up onto the bed and lying down with a flop of sound, heavy head resting atop of my shin. Emmy looked at my makeup pouch, some dried foods, two large bottles of water, feminine hygiene products for just in case…

  “It’s a good thing I finished,” Emmy said, picking up one of the plugs. “I seriously was just on it, like, it stopped a couple of days before.”

  “Me too…a week before, actually.”

  “You can lose your virginity with these things, you know that? But I guess you don’t have to worry about it.”

  “Shut up, you’re very uneducated!”

  Emmy laughed and scanned the room for something to hold her interest. We could hear the men planning their different courses of action in the front room, and Emmy and I started counting how many times Nate whined about missing his boyfriend, and needing to get to a certain area ‘faster’. Tom was losing patience with him.

  “I don’t think using a vehicle is wise,” I murmured. “But I’d rather get the walk over with as soon as possible.”

  “We were okay with a vehicle the other day. We just had to stop and keep our eyes open in the sky. Besides, I think it’s totally stupid that we have to be careful in this area…really? Aliens attacking the scummy part of Nevada? What’s out here that makes us so dangerous to them?” Emmy ranted, playing with her hair.

  “I dunno.” I cleaned the keys as best as I could, using the sheets. They were still stained and sticky. I gave them back to Emmy. “With your life, girl.”

  “Why can’t you hold them?”

  “They’re gross.”

  “So?”

  “Hold them, because I’m not.”

  She huffed, taking them and stuffing them into one pocket when movement caught our eye. It was Tom, and he looked us over with an expression that included a creepy smile. I definitely did not like this man at all.

  “You two sound like my daughters,” he said quietly. “Arguing in their bedroom. It’s nice to hear feminine voices in a house.”

  “How old are they?” Emmy asked, apparently oblivious to my dislike of Tom.

  “Fifteen, sixteen…I’ve got hope that they’re still out there, waiting for me. My wife’s a smart broad- she should have things figured out by now.”

  I scowled, studying Tom with what felt like a glare to my face. He noticed it, finally looking away from Emmy, and a look of contempt crossed his features. He wiped a hand over his stubble and walked away, apparently to rummage in one of the rooms for something he’d left. Then he rejoined the others.

  Emmy held the keys out. “Take them.”

  I pushed them back at her. “Grab your stuff. That guy gives me the creeps. We’re leaving today.”

  “Really? Why? How? I thought he was nice,” Emmy said, but she scrambled to grab her things, keys jingling noisily while I barged out into the hallway and headed for the guys.

  They’d found a map, and Nate had his cellphone in both hands, crying silent tears as he listened to Alex relate the best route to Cold Springs from Spanish Springs. Tom gave his input here and there, but when I approached, I noticed the heaviness of his stare as he watched me approach Harley.

  “Let’s go, we’re ready,” I said to him quietly. Alex’s hands were waving over the map and he was loudly demanding Tom’s suggestions about a proposed route through the battered freeway to Sun Valley.

  “Oh…? I thought – “ Harley started to say, looking confused as I stepped closer to him, to be heard over Tom’s voice and Alex’s protests.

  “Let’s go. I’m ready to go. We have our route, and we have our things. So let’s go,” I repeated with a nod. Harley definitely wasn’t a reader of faces, because he couldn’t see how serious I was.

  He frowned at me, looking over me to see Emmy approach us, ready to go. “Okay, well – “

  “Why are they making the decisions?” Tom interrupted us loudly. “I thought we agreed we’re going as a group.”

  Emmy and I looked at Harley for an explanation, and he gave this guilty grimace that made me slap him lightly.

  “What the hell - ?”

  “It makes more sense to be in a group,” he protested, pulling away from me. “We’re safer that way. More of us, more supplies.”

  “I don’t want to be in a group – sorry, no offence,” I said to Alex, my back to Tom because I could feel his angry stare at the back of my head. Alex shrugged, waved it off as he pulled the map closer to him.

  “Why not?” Nate interrupted. He gave me a stupefied expression. “It’s better in a group. If we have more people, we have more protection, more safety – it’s just the three of you, and two of you are girls - !”

  “So?” Emmy exclaimed, startling him. “Who cares? We’re all survivors, we all know how to fight. How to survive. We’re comfortable with the three of us. We don’t even know you guys - !”

  “We don’t even know each other very well,” Harley said to her gently. Emmy gave him a betrayed expression, but she didn’t continue, looking down at her shoes with an expression of frustration. He looked at me. “We’re going as a group. It just makes more sense that way.”

  “No it doesn’t,” I practically hissed. “We’re fine on our own!”

  “Then why don’t you go on your own?” Tom suggested, hand on my arm. I jerked it away from him, stepping away from him as he stood up. Alex was now focused on us, looking from one to the other, then to Harley as Harley stood too, to put himself between us.

  “Don’t put your hands on his girl, man, “ Alex warned Tom, making me give a sigh of exasperation.

  Harley and I denied our relationship status at the same time, but Tom spoke over us, saying, “If you don’t like our group plans, which are more logical than being out there, outnumbered by things and soldiers, then take a walk, girly.”

  “We need our female popu
lation - !” Alex protested, then sputtered at the look I gave him. “Not that – for, y’know, repopulation an’ stuff - !”

  “She’s not going off by herself,” Harley told Tom, having to raise his voice to do so, but I cut him off by saying to Tom, “Groups are a huge target to those things out there, and Rabid don’t care how many of us are out there, so, no, big groups DON’T make sense! Ours is comfortable as it is - !”

  “You’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Tom said over me, raising his voice to be heard, and all of us started talking over each other. Nate had cried out for us to stop shouting, and Emmy looked apprehensive, fingers inching to cover her ears. Brandon came in, alert and ready, and saw her state – must’ve felt some sort of doggie concern, because he pressed his large body against her and started barking at our general direction.

  Alex let loose with a loud whistle, making us stop. He folded up the map, giving us all a dirty look. “Let’s not fight. It’s a waste of time. There’s enough supplies in this house for everybody, so everybody stock up. C’mon, let’s just go. There’s others out there, Tom, that’ll be more agreeable.”

  “Who’s the man in this relationship, anyway, man?” Tom tried to laugh, but it came out as this strangled huff of air. Harley gave him a dirty look, clearly insulted. “Control that woman of yours, make her see reason. Our reason.”

  Harley looked at me, looking pissed. “It’ll be better like this, E-!”

  “Tom reminds me of Jeff,” I declared, preventing him from saying my name aloud. Tom looked puzzled, but Harley knew exactly what I was talking about, and he didn’t argue anymore. Seeing that he got my point, I waited for him to acknowledge my fear. He did with a slow nod, then looked at the others.

  “We’ll be good on our own,” he then said slowly, looking pained as he did so. I felt satisfied, an expression of relief on my face.

  “No, no, no - ! What if we don’t find other people to help us?” Nate cried. “We need you guys to help us, too!”

  “Groups are okay, but we’ve did good so far, so if they wanna go off and do their own thing, man, that’s on them,” Alex said, and I turned to look at Emmy when she made this funny face, looking beyond me.

  I was shoved completely off my feet and slammed hard into the wall, shouts erupting. My head bounced off that, and my leg was kicked in, so that I hit the floor on my knees. Disoriented by the attack from behind, by what was happening, I didn’t get that it was Tom that had attacked until I heard him shout, “Nobody move! Nobody! Or I’ll shoot this Asian bitch dead, I swear on it. You want to see that? Huh? Make another move!”

  My stupid hair obscured my face, and when I opened my eyes, I was looking at the dirty, ugly linoleum floor. Emmy was crying – but then I think it was Nate, too. Tom had the back of my neck gripped hard, and I started to scratch at it when I felt this hard, round thing press against the back of my head. To have a gun pointed at me like that only shocked me – I really wasn’t expecting this sort of thing to happen, and couldn’t even think of what to do but to freeze, straining my ears to hear what was happening.

  A lot of heavy breathing, stunned silence – Brandon’s claws tapped the floor as he shifted, but even after that was nothing. Tom’s fingers tightened, and I grunted some sound of pain.

  “Jesus, really? Tom?” Alex croaked, sounding more like a scared teenager than a criminal serving time for stabbing somebody to death. On a hysterical note, he and Emmy would make great friends with that shared habit of theirs.

  Tom shifted his weight – he was pressing down on me, and it made my neck strain. I tried to support myself with my hands on the floor, and he just shoved harder, so that now my head was at this severely awkward angle. I tried to stay very still, scared to do even that because I couldn’t see what was happening around me.

  “We’re doing this as a group,” he repeated quietly. “We’d agreed on it, and – well, it’s smarter this way. I really don’t think this one should have that much control over us. Females get hysterical, and need us men to be logical.”

  “Fucking bullshit - !” I snarled, then whimpered with the added weight and feel of the gun jabbing against my head. I thought of my parents, wondering with some hysteria if they were waiting for me.

  “We can’t all be hysterical – “ Nate squeaked.

  “Let up on her, Tom. You’re hurting her,” I heard Harley say tightly.

  Tom was silent for a few moments, then I felt him shift – but not to let up on my neck. He had the gun off my head. “All of you. Weapons forward. I want them all right here.”

  Breathing hard, I felt apprehension hit me – I had only seen Harley with his rifle, and Emmy with her knife – I don’t know if the others had any of their own. I only hoped Harley had hid whatever else he had when I’d told him to.

  “Why?” Alex asked.

  “As a group, we should have a count. Of what we have. Relax. I just – she was getting out of control,” Tom said calmly, and I felt my hysteria rising at his words. “I don’t want us to split up. I feel that it is safer for us to cooperate. Look at you, man. Honestly. I can’t see you taking care of these girls all by yourself. You’re just one man. Now there is four of us – we can help each other, protect them when possible.”

  “He’s right,” Nate murmured, and I hoped that Harley wasn’t believing this bullshit.

  “Now…to prevent any other – accidents, or mishaps, or…or anything…please. All weapons forward.”

  I felt my chest constrict at the sounds of movement, of a rifle chamber being emptied. Heard the sound of hesitant movement forward, and, even though I couldn’t see, I could feel the vibration of things being set onto the floor. I was really hoping Harley hadn’t shown the others his handgun he’d found the night before.

  “Good, good. We’ve got a good supply,” Tom then said, when everyone stopped moving. “Didn’t know…didn’t know you had that one, Alex.”

  “Picked it up on the way here, homes. Get that gun off her head, man, c’mon.”

  “Not until everyone’s settled, calm.”

  My fingers curled into fists, and I heard someone swallow hard. Brandon was growling every so slightly, so I felt a little better about Emmy being in his company. Tom shifted in response, and Brandon growled even louder.

  Before I knew it, Emmy was shrieking hysterically, and the guys were yelling again. Tom moved, this time pulling me to my feet. In that moment, I saw that Emmy was trying to hide Brandon from Tom, using her body to protect the dog while the dog snarled and barked. Tom had been aiming the gun at him, but he pulled me aside, away from them while Harley took a few steps forward in response. Like he was going to do something when Tom pressed the gun against my head again and everyone but the dog stilled and went quiet.

  He wrapped an arm around my chest and practically dragged me along with him. Our height differences didn’t work for him, as he had to lean down to do so. I hated the feel of being held that way, his forearm over my chest, and had my hands on his arm in an effort to somehow keep him from touching me. A useless effort, considering the situation.

  For a few, tense minutes, he used his feet to lightly kick the weapons pile towards him. Harley’s rifle, Emmy’s knife, another hunting knife, a submachine gun that made me do a double take at Alex. I had no idea where he’d had that hidden, or even where he got that. All of them looked scared, pale, and absolutely defenseless. It was like looking at a bunch of scared little kids. No hero in sight.

  Somehow, he managed to gather everything with the gun pressed to my head, so I couldn’t do anything to escape. Shouldered the rifle, jabbed the knives into his jacket pocket, stuffed the SMG into the waistband of his pants. Then he was back with an arm around me, dragging me once more.

  “Everyone, calm down. I won’t shoot the dog – or the animal,” he indicated Brandon with a wave of his gun, and I frowned. “Let’s just…cooperate. Let’s all cooperate and work together. I’m sure we can come up with a better solution, a better situation if this
one is…is just out of the way.”

  “Don’t hurt her - !” Emmy whimpered, holding tightly onto Brandon while I felt helpless as he started pulling me backward. We were in the kitchen, now, and I couldn’t think of what to do or say with that gun being waved about.

  Finally he stopped, then fumbled with one hand for a light switch. Without much of an explanation, he shoved me into the pantry room, and slammed the door behind me. I barely caught myself from slamming into the shelves, hearing a lock fall into place. His voice was muffled, so I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I straightened, and went flying at the door, trying the handle. It wouldn’t budge, and the thing was heavier than the front door. I banged on it with a fist and some screechy curses, then resorted to kicking at it.