“I’d bet that was an animal kill,” Austin said.
“Animal?” Wendell asked, his voice high. “What kind of animal would take down a cow?”
“Wolves, cougars… really hard to say. If this place is empty, those predators would be at the top of the food chain,” Ennis explained.
“Let’s go in,” Austin said—not hopeful they’d find much in the way of food, but obligated to check anyway. Plus, getting inside would get them away from this smell, for what that was worth.
15
Amanda surveyed the freeway ahead of them, littered with cars and huge semi-trucks that had all been rendered useless at the moment the EMP hit. They’d been walking all day and encountered nothing but barren land. There weren’t any towns along I80. Not yet. That meant their group’s only option was to check as many vehicles as they could for food and other supplies, though they couldn’t afford to spend a lot of time doing it. It was a catch-22. They needed food and they also needed to keep moving. She’d made the executive decision not to check any more vehicles until it was closer to nightfall. That’s when they would make camp for the night, only to get started first thing in the morning.
Her group was subdued, or maybe it was her own quiet attitude influencing the others. It felt strange to be apart from the rest of the group—from Austin, especially. They’d been through hell and back together the past couple months, spending almost every night together along with every meal. They’d seen death, they’d triumphed, and they had dealt with more setbacks in three months than the average person dealt with in a lifetime. She felt like she was missing her right arm.
She told herself she was way too caught up in the man. She’d been lecturing Savannah about the appropriate time to think about romance, and yet she herself kept going there. Austin was her friend, probably her best friend in the whole world, and this was not the right time or the right place to think about anything more than a friendship. She didn’t want to get caught up in a love affair only to lose him or have him lose her. She knew what he’d lost already, and didn’t want to think about him having to grieve the loss of another woman he loved. The thought made her scoff even as it came to her. She was really getting ahead of herself. There had never yet been talk of love or anything else in that realm.
“You okay?” Gretchen asked from beside her.
Amanda offered her a smile. “Fine. I was thinking about our journey.”
“It’s a lot of pressure, but I’m confident we’ll get there in time,” Gretchen replied in her usual serene way.
“If we move an average of twenty miles a day, we’ll be there within twenty-two days. It’s day twenty-five when we try to put a stop to all this,” she said, still not sure it was a task they could complete. “I feel like I’m carrying the entire future in my pocket,” she commented more quietly, patting the zippered pocket of her cargo pants where the paper with the launch codes was sealed inside three Ziploc bags. They couldn’t risk it getting wet and blurring the ink they’d used to jot the codes down.
“You’re like the President of the United States in this moment,” Gretchen said.
“I don’t think I enjoy that. These codes feel like I’m actually carrying the missiles themselves,” she said with a grimace.
“It’s going to be okay. I have faith,” Gretchen said.
“So, do I,” Tonya added. “We all do. God wouldn’t have put this path in us if he didn’t think we were up for the task.”
Amanda smirked. She wasn’t quite as sure about that as they seemed to be, but she’d go along with it.
The fluffy clouds overhead did little to cast any real shade over them as they walked along the hard surface of the blacktop. She knew walking along the grassy edges of the highway would be cooler, but it would also slow them down, and they’d risk tripping over rocks or little bumps in the path. The smooth blacktop was easier. Not to mention that she was pretty sure they were in rattlesnake country. They couldn’t risk getting bit by an angry snake.
“Listen,” Mike said, stopping and holding out his arm to halt the others beside him.
Amanda stopped and cocked her head to the side. “What is that?” she whispered.
“An engine?” Jordan replied with confusion. “Do I hear a car engine?”
“That’s a diesel!” Mike exclaimed as the sound grew closer.
Amanda looked up and down both sides of the divided highway. She couldn’t see anything, but the sound was definitely coming closer. “It has to be the NWO. They’re the only ones that would have an operational vehicle.”
“It could be our military,” Gretchen suggested.
“Either way, we need to get out of sight until we know what it is we’re dealing with,” Amanda said, already looking for somewhere to hide.
There was nothing but flat land around them. There were hills far off in the distance, but they’d never make it there in time. Up ahead, though, she saw a semi with a trailer. The roll-up door was about halfway up. It would have to do; she just hoped there was nothing dead or hiding in the trailer.
“I see something coming—they’re on our side,” Mike called out.
“The trailer! Go!” Amanda shouted, already on the move.
One by one, they scrambled into the back of the trailer. There were boxes strewn about, just waiting to be searched. She waited for her eyes to adjust before she tried to identify what it was the truck had been hauling. She broke into a smile when she recognized the big red target signs on the outside of the boxes.
“No way,” Jordan exclaimed when he picked up one of the boxes.
“Yes, way,” Amanda said with a smile. “But before we start digging through these Target boxes, we identify the risk,” she said, turning back to the truck’s back opening.
Amanda flattened herself against the inside wall of the trailer, hoping she wasn’t visible to the coming vehicle.
“Humvee,” Ezra said from the other side of the trailer.
The large vehicle was traveling slowly—around thirty-miles per hour, Amanda guessed. They could see it weaving around the other vehicles on the road, driving in and out of the median as it moved closer. She couldn’t tell if it was military or NWO.
“A vehicle would sure make our journey easier,” she whispered.
“Rifle?” Jordan asked.
She cringed. She hated the idea of shooting a true military person, even though the likelihood of the Humvee being military seemed nil. They’d traveled the country and not seen a single military vehicle.
“We shoot,” she said, her decision made.
“What are you going to do?” Tonya hissed from the back of the trailer.
“I’m going to shoot the driver,” she said coolly.
She expected arguing and pleading for the driver’s life, but it didn’t come. She had a feeling they were just as eager as she was to be in a vehicle again. They were only on the first day of their journey, and it was proving to be physically exhausting. Amanda dropped to her stomach, knowing the rifle wasn’t the best choice, but it was the only option she had.
She lined up her shot, waiting until the Humvee was a little closer. The reflection of the sun made it difficult for her to actually see the driver, but she could make out the general outline. As soon as the Humvee came back onto the road and was about fifty feet away, she pulled the trigger. Her shot rang true, piercing the windshield.
Only then did she realize her plan’s flaw. “Oh no,” she whispered when the Humvee started to rapidly accelerate before making a sharp left and slamming right into the back of a semi truck’s flatbed trailer. The corner of the trailer nearly sheared off the top of the Humvee. If the driver hadn’t been killed by her bullet, he was certainly dead after that collision.
“Is there anyone else in there?” Ezra asked.
Amanda kept her rifle aimed on the destroyed vehicle that now had smoke barreling out from the front of its destroyed engine area, which sat wedged underneath the trailer. If anyone else had been in the front passenger sea
t, it was more than likely that the impact had killed them, as well.
They all waited, none of them moving. After several long minutes with no one attempting to get out of the back of the Humvee, Amanda decided it was clear.
“Ezra, with me. Jordan, take the rifle and cover us,” Amanda instructed.
She took the Glock Jordan held out and handed him the rifle before she jumped out of the trailer, landing on her feet and immediately moving towards the vehicle. Ezra was just behind her. Her heart pounded fast as she moved to get a better view of the driver’s seat. The front end of the Humvee was nothing more than a pile of twisted, crunched metal, the vehicle’s engine pushed into the front seating.
“On the count of three,” she told Ezra, who reached for the handle of the back door.
He nodded his understanding. She aimed her gun, ready to shoot if anyone moved. Ezra yanked open the door only to find it empty, minus the splatters of blood from the driver.
“I don’t think we’ll be driving this anywhere,” Ezra said dryly.
Amanda winced, angry with herself for not thinking the plan through. To be fair, she’d only had a split second to make a plan. It just hadn’t been the right one.
“Let’s get all the supplies we can from here. He has to have a go-bag in here,” she replied, ignoring his comment about driving away.
“Hopefully, it wasn’t in the front seat,” Ezra said, shuddering at the gruesome scene.
“Check the back,” she ordered. “It’s clear!” she shouted to the others waiting in the trailer. “Start going through those boxes and see if there’s anything useful!”
“On it!” Jordan called back.
Amanda moved to the back of the Humvee and yanked open the hardtop on the slant back military rig. She smiled when she saw the boxes of rations along with a flashlight, a wool blanket, and even an old cot folded into the space.
“I’ve got food!” she hollered with excitement.
“Good, because I’ve got nothing but blood and brains up here,” Ezra complained.
He came around the back and immediately reached for the Maglite and turned it on. When the light shone bright, he and Amanda couldn’t stop staring at it.
“Wow,” she said with awe.
“This is going to be a huge help out here,” he said with a grin, turning it off to save the battery.
“Grab some of those MREs and let’s go see what’s in that truck,” Amanda said, grabbing a handful of the brown packages.
They walked back to the truck with their hands full, placing their goodies on the edge before jumping inside. Jordan held up a handful of what looked like little girls’ summer dresses. “Are they your size?” he teased.
Amanda scoffed. “Finding anything useful?”
“I’m finding a lot of little kids’ clothes, shoes, and some toys, but so far nothing for adults,” Gretchen called out from the back corner.
“We can use the clothes, even the small shirts and dresses, to cover our heads with. We’ll be able to protect our heads and the back of our necks from the sun,” Amanda said.
“We could make the hobo-style bundles with some of the dresses as well—the larger ones, that is,” Tonya suggested.
“Good thinking. With only three backpacks between us, we need a way to carry as many supplies as we can. We’re in some pretty barren territory and need to bring everything we can,” Amanda said.
“Any use for all these sandals?” Drew asked, holding up some child-size summer sandals.
Amanda stared at the sandals, trying to think out of the box. Nothing sprang to mind, though she knew everything had a purpose. Everything could be reused in some way to aid survival. Unfortunately, with limited carrying ability, it didn’t make sense to carry stuff that may not prove helpful.
“I don’t think so, unless someone else has an idea,” Amanda muttered.
After searching every single box and determining the load was nothing more than summer clothing for kids, they decided to make camp inside the trailer for the night. The MREs were passed around for everyone to enjoy.
“Should someone keep watch?” Jordan asked.
Amanda thought about it before nodding. “It’s probably for the best. We’ll pull this door down and just leave a small gap, and use a few of the boxes to keep it from closing all the way. All those clothes will certainly make for nice bedding,” she added with a smile.
“I’ll take first watch,” Jordan offered.
Amanda agreed before heading to the back of the trailer and fluffing her own bed made from children’s clothes. It wasn’t a Memory Foam, but it would be awfully nice to have a secure place to sleep with no bugs crawling all over her.
16
Malachi slid from Charlie’s back, crouching low to look at what he was convinced was a hoofprint in the dark, soft earth. He dropped to his knees and leaned in, studying the print just like Ennis had taught him. It was definitely a hoofprint, and it was fresh. He got to his feet and stared in the direction the print was pointed. Savannah was headed north.
He’d spent most of the afternoon traveling in a semi-circle out from the camp. Now he knew the general direction she’d gone in, but it wasn’t until he saw a few strands of her hair hanging from a low branch that he got his first real clue. He’d been intermittently riding the horse and walking, not wanting to miss anything, but now he got back on Charlie to give more range to his voice.
“Savannah!” he called out. “It’s me, Malachi! I’m alone!”
He waited, listening for any sign she was close. He hoped she would answer him and not run farther away. When he heard nothing, he started walking again. He’d gone another mile when he came to the edge of a two-lane road. To the right, he saw a brown sign.
“Ha! I know where you are,” he said, feeling sure that a state park would be just the place she’d choose to hide out. It would be filled with resources like water, shelter, and plenty of foraging opportunities in the surrounding area. Savannah was excellent at fishing, and he knew she was capable of setting various traps. She could survive off the land easily enough thanks to Ennis teaching her so much about survival.
Malachi got back on Charlie’s back and trotted toward the sign, then turning and following the narrow road that led into the park.
Charlie’s hooves clopping against the pavement echoed around him, feeding the eerie silence. He knew how dangerous the other campgrounds had been and hoped this one wouldn’t be the same. It was then that he had the horrible realization that Savannah could have been kidnapped if there were people already claiming the campground for their own. Would she have thought of that and been on her guard?
His eyes scanned the area, noticed the small wood building that housed the visitor’s center and a lone camper trailer parked in the lot out front. He kept going, heading to the day use area that had access to the small lake. A familiar scent caught his attention. He inhaled deeply and identified it as the smell of a campfire. He wanted to believe it was Savannah, settling in and making camp for the night.
“Shh, boy, shh,” he said, stroking Charlie’s neck when he neighed softly.
He checked the first day use area and found it empty, minus trash strewn about. Dejected, he moved on and checked a second and a third, wondering if the smell of fire was coming from another direction. Just when he was about to give up hope of finding her, he saw the faintest trail of smoke rising from a firepit in the last day use spot.
He jumped off Charlie and raced to the firepit, where he crouched and felt the heat from the ash. Someone had been there recently. He looked around, hoping to find Savannah asleep somewhere nearby. She wasn’t.
“Savannah!” he yelled, frustrated he hadn’t found her.
He’d thought he would already be back with Austin’s group by now, with Savannah in tow. He’d promised Austin he would find her and bring her back.
A glimpse of something shiny caught his eye. He walked a few feet away from the firepit and saw the wrapper of a chocolate chip granola bar. It w
as the exact same kind they’d had in their stash back at camp. It wasn’t weathered, which told him it had only recently been discarded.
It had to be her. He could feel it in his gut. She’d been there. She’d had a fire, and probably boiled some water and eaten a snack before moving on. He did a slow circle, his eyes glued to the soft ground around the firepit, slowly moving outward and looking for a sign of which way she would have gone.
The fading light made it difficult for him to see clearly. Savannah would probably already be making camp for the night, he realized. Malachi wanted to go in search of her while she wasn’t moving, but he was too worried he’d miss clues to guide him in the right direction. After a great deal of thought, he decided to use the ash from her fire to start another one for himself.
“Come on, boy,” he called Charlie, leading him to the water’s edge to drink.
He pulled off his backpack and removed one of the two full bottles of water he carried, taking a long healthy drink for himself. Austin had given him one of the empty tin cans they had saved from some beans they’d found. That’s what he would use to purify more water to refill the empty bottles. He’d get a fresh start in the morning.
“I’m coming, Savannah, I’m coming,” he whispered into the night.
17
Savannah hated the night. She hated hearing the rustling in the trees and wondering what it was.
Her grand plan for running away wasn’t feeling so grand after a long, cold night sleeping on the ground underneath a fir tree. She’d lain awake for a long time, just waiting for the sun to come up, for the moment when she’d see the first bit of pink haze from beyond the canopy of the tree she lay under.
When she did, she rolled to her feet and ran her hands over her legs and then her arms before bending at the waist and shaking out whatever bugs had decided to crawl into her hair during the night.
One of the perks to being completely alone was not having to worry about trekking too far into the woods to use the bathroom. With personal business taken care of and more light flooding the area, Savannah decided to stick with her original plan and head deeper into the forest. She hoped to find an old hunting cabin to make her own. It wasn’t like she had to ask anyone their opinion on the matter. She was alone and free to do what she felt was right, so it was just a matter of finding the right opportunity.
Small Town EMP (Book 3): Survive The Conflict Page 12
