Then he rolled off the couch to find his parka soaked with water.
“Hot damn!”
In previous thaws the snow on top of the canvas canopy thawed so slowly that the water was whisked away and evaporated into the wind. This time it was melting much faster than that. Fast enough to pool beneath the snow and actually soak the canvas, until the canvas became so saturated it began to drip through it.
He scrambled into his truck’s sleeper cab and changed into a dry coat. Then he cranked up his rig so he could see what the outside temperature was.
The light on his panel said it was 44 degrees.
He went back outside and cheered.
Marty and Lenny came running from Lenny’s trailer shack, where they’d been playing cards. Tina, on guard duty in the north lookout trailer, stuck her head out the door to see what was going on.
What they saw was Joe laying down the four sheets of plywood leaning up against one of the trailers on the western wall and crawling out of the compound.
Lenny and Marty followed.
They looked out across the field at the rapidly dissolving snow pack. Once almost five feet deep, it was now down to less than a foot in some places. A couple more days like this one and they might be able to see the ground peeking through here and there.
It was truly a joyous sight.
Fifty yards away from the trailers, though, Marty and Lenny spotted something that troubled them.
The pile of snow they’d shoveled over Scott Burley’s body the day Marty shot him in the head had mostly melted away. His entire torso was exposed, now, and his head and face soon would be.
“Don’t worry about it,” Lenny told his friend. “I’ll take care of it.”
It had been a monumental undertaking, getting Scott’s body that far. He wasn’t a small man, weighing in at over 260 pounds. They’d gotten him out of the compound by typing ropes to each of his feet and dragging him, a few inches at a time, until he was fifty yards away from the camp.
Under other circumstances, they’d have buried him so they would have been rid of him forever. But when the ground was frozen hard as a rock, that wasn’t an option.
So they did the next best thing. They covered him with snow, knowing full well that someday they’d have to find some way to dispose of him in a more permanent manner.
Today was that day.
Lenny walked over to the truck stop’s garage and cranked up the yard tractor, thankful that the six heavy duty batteries still had enough cranking power to turn over the engine.
There had been a time, five years before, in the early days of the freeze, when he’d toyed with the idea of blocking the entrance of the truck stop to help keep marauders out. Looking back, he wondered why he’d never actually done it. Pity, he guessed, for those pour souls still out there who weren’t marauders.
In any event, he knew that parked in the fifth row of trucks in the west parking lot, among the hundreds of trailers dropped by truckers so they could bobtail it home to their families, was a drop bottom trailer full of landscaping rocks. These were the rocks he’d once planned to use to block the entrance, before he had second thoughts.
Lenny had driven dump trucks in his youth, and had made good money at it. For a time, he’d driven drop bottom trailers too, which were really just large dump trucks that discharged their loads from the bottom. Used mainly for road construction, he’d driven hundreds of them on various road projects all over Texas and Arkansas.
He’d given up long haul trucking years before, when his left knee started bothering him. It just wouldn’t stand up to the strain of depressing the truck’s clutch five hundred times a day any more. He’d given up long hauling for the more stable work of truck stop yard manager.
But by God, some things you just never forget. You never forget how to ride a bike, and you never forget how to drive a damn truck.
He backed the yard rig into the rock trailer, then hopped out of the cab to lock the pin and hook up his pigtail and air lines.
Then he climbed back into the rapidly warming cab and watched his gauges to see if his air pressure was building. After all this time, there was a good chance the air lines were shot and he wouldn’t be able to release the trailer brakes. He crossed his fingers as he saw the gauge slowly creep up.
When the pressure hit 85 psi, he shoved the tractor into reverse and nudged it backwards a couple of inches to break it free from any ice holding the tires in place.
Then he shifted into his lower second year and inched forward, watching in his mirrors to make sure the trailer’s tires were turning.
“Damn!” he muttered to himself when he saw the left rear set of tires dragging across the ground instead of turning. The brake was frozen.
Lenny crawled out of the cab and took a small sledge hammer out of the tool box, then crawled underneath the trailer to beat the brake free.
Once back in the cab, with all wheels rolling, he crept across the yard and into the field where Scott Burley’s body lay. Then he parked the trailer over the body and opened the bottom door, burying the body with seventeen tons of rock. They’d never have to look at Scott Burley again.
Lenny dropped the dumper where it sat, and since he was in a tractor anyway, he went back to the yard. There he went from trailer to trailer until he found one that had been headed for a supermarket chain before it got parked. In the trailer were dozens of cases of frozen meats and various types of shelf-stable foods.
He hooked up to the trailer and crossed his fingers again. This one rolled free with no problem.
Lenny drove out of the compound to the dirt road north of the field, which led back to Mason Bennett’s farmhouse.
The Bennett family had visited the compound many times since the day Marty shot Scott dead in front of them. Most of the time they came for provisions. But sometimes they just came to visit. The truckers had been the only other people they’d seen in several years, after all. The group had become good friends.
Lenny eased the trailer into the barn as Mason Bennett and his entire family came outside. The girls were jumping for joy. Mason couldn’t wait to crawl into the trailer to see what was in it. It was an atmosphere not unlike Christmas morning.
Lenny showed Mason how to operate the reefer unit to keep the food frozen on thaw days, and told him anytime the reefer’s diesel tank ran low to get more from the compound’s tankers.
“Now, then,” Lenny cautioned them. “Don’t you think just because you have your own food, that you can’t come to visit any more.”
They promised they’d continue to come around, and Mason’s wife Connie gave Lenny a hug.
“Lenny, what are your plans, and the plans of the others, when the world thaws out enough to move around again?”
Lenny said, “I don’t know for sure. Marty and them were talking about a big fenced in compound they saw before the freeze. Marty said it was big enough to grow crops, and settle down. Maybe become farmers like you. But I don’t know. I haven’t committed to anything. This truck stop was my home and my life before the freeze. Maybe I’ll try to get it up and running again. I just don’t know.”
“Well, whether you go with them or stay behind, you know you’ll always have a home with us. Any time you’re hungry or just need someone to talk to or a friendly face, you come on by here. You all have been very good to us, and you’re likely the only family we’ve got left. Just remember that, okay?”
“I will. And thank you.”
“And you can tell Marty and Joe and Tina the same thing if you want.”
“Nope. I have a better idea. Why don’t y’all all come over tonight? I’ll dig a case of ribs and steaks out of our meat trailer and we’ll have a good old fashioned barbeque. Maybe we can talk about the future and what’s going to happen in the years ahead.”
Mason grew melancholy. With a tear in his eye he said, “The future. That’s a thing I haven’t even considered for a long while. I guess I gave up hope that we even had one. But yes. We’ll be th
ere. It sounds like a good plan.”
Chapter 35
In the mine, too, they were watching the world outside thaw. One month to the day after Lenny buried Scott Burley under a trailer load of rocks, a group was gathered around the control console.
Hannah and Sarah happened past on their way to the kitchen for coffee.
“Hey, what are y’all looking at?”
“There’s a car that broke down on Highway 83. We’re hoping they don’t come here looking for help.”
Hannah and Sarah looked up at Monitor 7, where the others were focusing their eyes. Camera 7 was attached to the ham radio tower atop Salt Mountain, some 320 feet over their heads. It focused at the end of the narrow road that connected the mine and the compound with Highway 83. From the highway, the mine and compound were completely hidden by two hundred yards of trees and scrub brush. The height of the tower, however, gave the long distance camera a very clear view of the motorists’ plight.
The group watched in fascination as two men worked on the engine of the white sedan, trying to get it started again.
Hannah asked John, the head of security, “Are there very many cars out and about now, since the roads are finally clear of snow?”
“We’ve been logging in counts, just to keep track of how many survivors are getting out and about now. It’s not many. Maybe ten to twelve cars a day on average. We don’t know if that means there are just a few brave souls willing to venture out, or if there just aren’t many people left alive.”
Mark interrupted him.
“Well, it looks like it’s a lucky day for these guys. Somebody came by and is stopping to help.”
They watched as a brown pickup truck stopped behind the disabled car. A man got out of the pickup and went to help.
What happened next would sicken all of them, and cement the group’s suspicion that there was still a lot of evil and pain in the world outside the mine.
They watched helplessly as one of the men in the white sedan went to his trunk, removed an assault rifle, and shot the good Samaritan several times in the chest.
The man went down instantly and didn’t move. He was obviously dead before he hit the ground.
Two other figures, who appeared to be young adults or teens, rushed out of the pickup and ran to where the dead man laid. They knelt down beside him as the killer and his partner got into the pickup and drove away.
“Oh, my God! They’ve killed him! In front of his family!”
Mark ran toward the mine’s entrance, threw on his Parka and gloves, and headed for the mine’s door. Brad was right behind him.
Before anyone could stop them, they burst through the four bays that separated the main part of the mine from the front door. Hannah could see them outside the mine on camera 2, which was focused on the mine’s door. Then she was able to follow their progress on the other cameras as they ran the two hundred yards down the narrow road toward the highway.
John took charge within the mine.
“You girls gather up as many of the adults as you can. Bring them here and tell them we’re calling an emergency meeting. We have to take a vote on whether or not to bring these people in with us. Go now. Go quickly.
“David, go find the elders. Tell them what we’re doing. Go quickly.”
Outside the mine, Mark and Brad made it to the scene of the shooting, to find two teenaged girls in hysterics. They almost bolted at the sight of two strange men appearing out of nowhere. After what they’d just witnessed, it was certainly understandable.
When the girls saw Mark and Brad kneel over their dead father and feel for his pulse, they became aware that the men were there to help and not to hurt them more.
The girls backed away, and were crying hysterically. Brad tried his best to calm them, but he was failing miserably.
Mark could see the man was dead. Covered with blood and with three bullet holes in his chest, Mark knew his heart had been torn to shreds. Still, he felt that somehow he owed it to these girls to try.
So for twenty minutes, even though he knew it was hopeless, Mark performed CPR on the man’s body. The girls watched in horror and prayed for a miracle.
Inside the mine, most of the adults assembled at the security console. John briefed them on what had happened.
“We just witnessed a murder. Two outlaws shot a man who had stopped to help them with a disabled car. Then they stole his truck and left. The man’s family is still out there. We have to decide whether to bring them in with us, or to let them stay out there and die. I am willing to give up part of my food ration for them if others will do the same.”
Sarah said, “We just did the annual food inventory. We’ve got enough food for them without anybody giving up anything.”
John went on. “We need seventeen votes to make a majority and bring these people in. Brad and Mark both voted yes before they went out to help. My vote makes three. Who else is with me?”
Hannah, Sarah and David all knew he was lying about Mark and Brad casting votes. But none of them were going to call him on it.
Hannah said “Four.”
Sarah said “Five.”
David said “Six.”
By the time they were finished, it was unanimous. John told the girls to get some blankets and to greet the newcomers at the front door.
“Wrap them up and take them immediately to the dining room. Helen, can you fix them some hot soup or cocoa to help warm them up?”
“Certainly.”
“Bryan, they’re going to be a mess emotionally. You’re the closest thing to a preacher we have.”
“No problem, John. I’ll do what I can.”
They watched the monitors as Mark and Brad headed back toward the mine with the children.
John reflected. Other than the despair all of them felt the day Phyllis died, he suspected this would be everyone’s worst day in the mine.
Chapter 36
Hannah, Sarah and Sami met the girls at the door of the mine and covered them with blankets. They were wearing Brad’s and Mark’s coats and still shivering. They looked tiny and frail inside the oversized coats, which were covered with the blood of their father.
The girls stared into nothingness. They responded slowly to prods, but didn’t quite comprehend what was going on around them.
Sarah knew from the limited medical training she’d received in college that the girls were in shock. They must be put in a nonthreatening environment immediately and comforted, while being kept warm, until they began to come out of it.
They were led slowly through the mine to the kitchen, where they sat together eating soup while the others fawned over them. The women washed most of the blood from their hands and arms, took away the bloody coats and blankets, and replaced them with soft and warm comforters. They held the girls and rocked them, and cried with them, as if sharing their misery would somehow make it go away faster.
The men in the mine had their own mission.
Mark changed into clean clothes so that his blood-stained garments wouldn’t upset the girls again.
Then he went to the front of the dining room, caught Hannah’s eye, and motioned her to come over.
“How are they?”
“They’ve been through hell. Physically they’re okay. But emotionally, it’s going to take awhile.”
“We’re going out to retrieve the body. We’ll bury him next to Mom. It’s important that you keep them here, so they don’t see us bringing him in.”
She nodded.
“Baby, be careful.”
Hannah went back to the girls, and Mark went to the security console to coordinate retrieval of the body.
“John, will the walkie talkies reach to the highway?”
“I doubt it, Mark. The mountain is too thick for the signal to go through. But I know they’ll reach to the mine entrance. We can put a relay man there.”
“Very well. Brad, will you come with me again?”
“Of course. How will we get him back here?”
&nbs
p; “We’ll take the u-boat we use to gather food from the freezers. It’ll fit through the walk-through doors and will take his weight with no problem. It won’t be the most dignified way to be moved, but he’s beyond the point of complaining.”
John chimed in.
“David, would you take a walkie talkie and stand in the doorway?”
“Sure, John.”
“Mark, you guys each take one in case one craps out. Everybody go to channel five. I can see inbound traffic on Highway 83 at least thirty seconds before they’ll be able to see you. David, if I see a vehicle, I’ll yell “Take cover.” You repeat it as soon as you hear it. Mark and Brad won’t be able to hear me, but they’ll hear you.”
“Got it.”
“Mark and Brad, you guys need to arm up. Just in case.”
Ten minutes later Mark and Brad stepped back out of the mine, rolling the high-railed u-boat dolly in front of them. They rolled it slowly down the narrow road toward the highway as David stood behind in the doorway, watching their progress. What a lousy day this was turning out to be.
At the end of the road, where it connected with the highway, the pair unshouldered their AR-15s and put them aside. They struggled to put the dead man onto the u-boat, and to tuck in his hands for the bumpy ride back to the mine.
They took a quick look around before heading back. There was no traffic, or anything else living within their sight. In the absence of a breeze, they were barely able to make out the very faint hissing sound still coming from the disabled car’s overheated radiator.
In the mine, the traumatized girls were beginning to share their story.
Their names were Rachel and Roxanne. They’d survived the freeze holed up in a Walmart Store with their parents. They ate whatever they could find, mostly beans and rice, and burned whatever they couldn’t eat to keep warm. Their mother was sickly and frail even before the freeze came, they said. She quickly caught pneumonia and withered away before their very eyes. She died, and they had wrapped her frozen body in blankets and covered it with artificial flowers.
The oldest, Rachel, continued with their sad tale.
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