by Alex Gunwick
“The guys were sneaking up to the house. She had to.”
“What guys?”
“The guys from the church. Oh, hang on a second… Mom! Dad’s on the phone!”
Luke’s stomach plunged as he processed what his son was telling him. They weren’t safe. His family wasn’t safe, and he was still over one hundred miles from home.
“Babe, is that you?” Liz choked out.
“It’s me, honey.”
“Thank God. Thank God.” She burst into tears. “I knew you were alive.”
“Of course I’m alive, hon. I missed you so much.” If he could have crawled through the phone to kiss her, he would have. “Are you okay? Kyle said something about a shooting?”
“We’re okay,” she said. “It’s…I’ll tell you about it when you get home. We’re at the cabin. The power’s out, but we’ve got solar hooked up.”
“The EMP must have hit everyone,” he said.
“It’s really an EMP? I thought maybe the neighbors were wrong.”
“Which neighbors?”
“The Wrights.”
“Edwin and Sandy are good people.”
“We’ve gotten to know each other a bit more over the last few days,” Liz said. “Where are you?”
“I’m almost at the Cajon Pass.”
“But… that’s nowhere near San Jose. How did you get there?” she asked.
“It’s a long story. But baby, I’m coming home.”
“I love you so much,” she whispered. “I don’t think I can do this without you. I need you.”
“You’re smart and strong and powerful. You can do anything. I’m coming home, but I don’t have a car. I’ve been on foot the last week. I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Highway 14 to a small town called Wrightwood.”
Luke looked up to find Brock watching him from the back porch. Luke gave him a thumbs up before turning away to hide his tears. Joy, frustration, and love expanded in his chest until he couldn’t hold it anymore. He choked back a sob and fought to get his emotions under control. After everything he’d braved to make it this far, he wasn’t going to fall apart now.
“How far away are you?” she asked.
“I’m guessing about a hundred miles.”
“How are you going to get here if you don’t have a car?”
“I’ll walk.”
“Through Riverside? Please tell me you’re armed.”
“I’ve still got the P938 and I’m now the proud owner of a rifle,” he said wryly.
“How did you end up with a rifle?”
“Someone tried to use it on me. They lost.”
“You killed someone?” she whispered.
“Self-defense.” He lowered his voice. “Kyle told me you shot someone. Are there people trying to get onto the property?”
“I-I had to. It…they were coming toward the house. I had to. I didn’t think I killed the guy. I saw the others carry him off.”
“Oh honey,” he murmured.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t be sorry,” he said more gruffly than he’d intended. “Never be sorry about defending yourself or the kids. I’ll get home as soon as I can. If I have to walk night and day to get there, I will.”
“Even if you cover twenty miles a day, that’s still five days,” she said.
“If I don’t run into any problems.”
“Have you had a lot of problems so far? Other than losing your car. Also, where’d you get a car?”
“Rented one. Stole another. Although technically I guess it wasn’t stolen since the owner was dead.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“I had to kill the owner. I caught him trying to murder a family on their ranch. I couldn’t abide by that, so I took him out. His friends too.”
The line was silent for several seconds. Maybe he should have waited to tell her everything once he got home. But he needed her to understand the severity of the situation. If he was lucky he’d get home in five days. So far he’d been anything but, so he needed her to stay strong.
“I love you,” she said. “I don’t care what you have to do. Get home.”
“I will. I swear to you, I’ll get home. Be careful. Set up a perimeter—”
“Already did. Caltrops too.”
“I didn’t even think it was possible, but I love you even more now,” he said. “You can do this. You can keep everyone safe until I get home. Lie low. Don’t do anything to draw attention to the cabin. We should be far enough back in the canyon that people won’t stumble onto our property.”
“We would have been fine, but Sierra befriended the wrong people.”
“Some preacher?”
“From the next canyon over. But I told him I’d shoot his men on sight if they ever step foot on our property again. And I meant it.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go through this,” he said. “I wish I’d been there.”
“You will be. You’re coming home, and that’s all I could ever want right now. Well, that and a mocha Frappuccino.”
He laughed despite the pain in his heart. That was Liz, always looking for a way to lighten his mood. He loved her with the ferocity of a hundred lions. If he had to literally rip people apart to get home, he would. Nothing would stop him from getting back to his family. Nothing.
“I can’t keep the phone,” he said. “But I’ll try to call again when I get to Riverside. That’s about halfway. I can’t make any promises…”
“You don’t have to. I know you’ll make it. You’re a SEAL at heart. You lived through Afghanistan and Iraq. This is America; it can’t be worse than that,” she said.
“I don’t know. Things are getting bad. It’s been about ten days since it all went down. People will be getting desperate. Most people will be out of food. With the grid down, I doubt water treatment plants will be running. There’s about a million of people between where I’m at and where you’re at. I can’t imagine they’ll all let me waltz through their neighborhoods.”
“Travel at night. It will be safer,” she said.
“Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll have to play it by ear. Is Sierra around? I want to say hi to her before I hang up.
“She’s out at the stream washing clothes.”
“Then tell her I love her,” he said. “Liz, I love you. I know I don’t say it enough, but I do. You’re the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I’d be a broken man without you. If you need to fight, fight. If you need to kill, do it. You have to stay alive, and you have to keep the kids alive. Promise me you won’t give up.”
“I promise. I swear it. We’re going to live until we’re one hundred and then we’ll die together on the same day, right?”
His throat tightened. How many times had they made that joke? They’d never really considered the possibility that one of them could die so young.
“Right,” he choked.
“The battery’s running low.”
“Tell the kids I love them. I love you. I’ll be home soon.”
After he ended the call, he sat down on the back porch. Brock came back outside and handed him a glass of water.
“Are they okay?” Brock asked.
“As good as they can be considering the circumstances.”
“Will you be heading out at first light?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll put together some supplies,” Brock said. “It might not be enough to get you all the way home, but it should help.”
“I appreciate anything you can give me. Thanks for all of your help. You don’t know what that call meant to me. When things get back to normal, if I can find a way to repay you—”
“Not necessary,” Brock interrupted. “This is what I do. I’m glad I could help you out. Just pay it forward someday. Deal?”
“Deal.” Luke shook his hand.
In the predawn light, Luke rose and mentally prepared himself for a full day on the trail. According to Brock, he had about twenty-five miles to go before he made it to Highw
ay 15. As Luke hiked back to the Pacific Crest Trail, he replayed his conversation with his wife over and over again in his head. He didn’t know what kind of trouble he might run into, but he was ready for anything. Even the devil himself couldn’t keep Luke from his family.
When Luke finally stepped on the deserted highway, he took a deep breath. The relative safety of the trail wouldn’t protect him now. If he could use his sheer will to get home, he’d make it. But he had no illusions about the journey. The city would be rife with desperation, strangled by roving gangs of militant people. Overrun by people with nothing to lose and everything to gain from his death. As he trekked down the freeway, he walked toward an unknown future in a society on the edge of collapse.
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About the Author
Alex Gunwick started researching post-apocalyptic scenarios for book ideas. When she realized how unprepared she and her husband were for a disaster, she launched into prepping. Now she’s armed and sitting on enough beans to rocket her to the moon and back. She’s already mastered her Mossberg 500 and can’t wait to put her HK P2000 through its paces at the range.
Her fantasy of moving to Montana to live in a cabin in the woods has become an obsession. Her husband’s totally on board and can’t wait to wrangle grizzly bears with his bare hands. We’ll see how that works out. ;)
To find out more about her including what she’s shooting these days, visit her online at:
www.AlexGunwick.com
[email protected]
