“You have a point. I’ll ask my dad about that.”
“Or Elly.”
Hunter grinned. “Or Elly.”
“I’m so excited she’s having a baby too. It means my little peanut will have a playmate.”
“I can’t believe the playmate is going to be his or her uncle or aunt!” Hunter chuckled.
Cole watched the drenched landscape pass by, hardly noticing the overgrown lawns, wrecked cars, or burned out buildings on the outskirts of some town. They’d passed a lot of burned out buildings since leaving the island. It made him wonder how the fires had started? Some were obvious when the burned out remains of a vehicle stuck out from the charred remains of some building near a road. But, other fires were a mystery. Perhaps lightning had started a few of them and spread, or chemicals had spilled and ignited. Whatever the cause, the destruction of whole blocks wasn’t uncommon.
“I can’t believe Steve’s gone.”
Cole turned to look at Sean. Was there an accusatory note in his voice? Sean stared straight ahead, his expression open, and somber. He didn’t look at Cole and it was possible he didn’t know Cole was watching him, but his brother spoke again. “I should have been nicer to him. I wasn’t big on him or Mike hanging out with us. You know me. I was being my usual ‘friendly’ self around both of them.” He slanted Cole what he must have thought was a smile. It was more of a sad grimace.
“You were okay with them—you are, still, to Mike, I mean.” Cole sighed, his sentiment getting lost as he mixed the past tense that was Steve with the present that was Mike. “What I’m saying is you were welcoming to Steve. Remember when you guys talked hunting strategies a few weeks ago?”
Sean gave a real smile that time. “More like hilarious hunting stories. It felt almost like old times, shooting the breeze with the guys down at O’Malley’s Pub.”
Cole had always been a little envious of Sean having guys to hang out with at the corner bar. His brother wasn’t a barfly, but once a week he’d buy his employees a round and go watch football on Sundays. Jenna claimed it gave her Sundays to watch what she wanted, and she had her own circle of friends she’d go out with once or twice a month. Cole, well, he’d gone a few times to watch a ballgame, but he didn’t have the history with the guys like Sean did, and always felt out of place.
Sean cleared his throat. “You were right. We should have crossed last night. If we had…”
“We had no way of knowing the bridge would fail right as Steve’s truck crossed it. I don’t have a crystal ball.”
“But you wanted to go last night. I talked you into staying one more night and crossing today.”
“And you had good points. By the time we had everything packed and over, it would have been dark. Finding a place to spend the night in the dark, driving on unfamiliar roads that could be blocked or flooded wouldn’t have been safe either.”
They rode in silence, each lost in their thoughts, but the silence was comfortable. Cole closed his eyes as the heater blasted through the cold that had seeped down to his bones. As he relaxed, his mind wandered to his own interactions with Steve. The first night he’d been at the island and offered brown bread from a can. If he was ever fortunate enough to eat that again, he’d think of Steve and how the kids had raved about the bread for days afterward, begging Piper to learn how to make it.
Chapter Eighteen
Cole rounded a sharp curve and slammed on the brakes. “What the hell?” After a glance in the review mirror to make sure there were no chain reaction accidents behind him due to his sudden stop, he returned his focus to the road.
A boy, hunched into a red jacket, had been in the middle of it a second before, but where had he gone? He scanned the area until a flash of red caught his eye and watched as the boy scuttled behind a bush on the side of the road.
The sky was a deep purple behind them and a brilliant pink and orange straight ahead, but they were at a bend that curved north between two hills and cast the road in dark shadows. They had less than an hour of daylight and Cole had planned to stop a few miles down the road at a campground so they could get settled before it was fully dark. Since Steve’s death a few days ago, they had made decent time, although they had been forced to take alternate routes several times when they found roads blocked. Gas had been an issue yesterday and they’d spent time searching out usable gasoline.
Tonight, they had a campground circled on a map. It was their destination. He wondered if the kid had come from there and if he had, did that mean other survivors were nearby as well?
Cole started when his radio blasted.
“Is there a problem, Cole?” Joe sounded calm, but his voice held a hint of concern.
“There was a kid in the road. A live one,” he amended. They had seen plenty of dead children along the way, or what was left of them. He’d learned to look away from small bundles of bones wearing tattered clothes. “A boy, I think. I’m going to see if he needs help.”
“Be careful.” Elly must have taken the radio from Joe.
Cole opened his door slowly and stood half out of the car, his hands up and open, worried more about scaring the kid than any danger from the child. “Hey, kid! I’m getting out. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just wondering if you’re okay?”
There was no reply and so Cole scanned the area and felt to make sure his gun was still in its holster beneath his arm. He had a bad habit of removing it when driving, but he was relieved to feel the solid weight of it right where it should be. He stepped away from the safety of the vehicle but left the door open for quick re-entry if needed.
He saw a patch of red through the bush and took a few steps in that direction. “My name’s Cole and we’re passing through on our way west. We’re mostly family. How about you? Have a name?”
The bush rattled a little, and he thought he saw a shoulder.
“Are you hungry? We have plenty of food. I can leave some for you if you want. Or you could join us for dinner. We’re heading your way—just up to a campground a few miles up the road.”
“Best not.”
The words were so low and quiet, Cole wasn’t even sure if he heard them. “Excuse me?” He took a few steps closer. “I didn’t quite get that.”
The voice grew louder. “I said y’all best not go to the campground.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“It’s where they live now.”
Cole perked up. “More survivors? Are they your family?”
“Ain’t no family of mine. Don’t have a family anymore.”
“I…I’m sorry to hear that.” Cole took a few more steps until he glimpsed the top of the boy’s head. Matted dark hair nearly blended into the bush. “If we shouldn’t stay at the campground, do you know of another place we can camp for the night? Like I said, we’re just passing through and don’t want any trouble with anyone.”
Maybe it was Cole’s question—asking for help—or maybe it was his non-threatening demeanor, but the boy rose slowly from behind the bush. His dark skin stretched taut over sharp cheekbones. He had scrawny shoulders and a neck so skinny it looked as if it could barely hold his head, but his eyes were large and clear and when he spoke, his teeth gleamed. “I’d just keep on going, mister.”
Cole studied the boy looking for any signs of the virus but saw only a child who looked frightened, hungry, and yet resolute. “Are they sick there?”
The boy shook his head. “No. They’re too mean to be sick. They’ve been shooting anyone who comes near and stealing their stuff. I saw them kill four or five folks who was just passing by.””
His answer eased Cole’s worry about the virus but ignited a worry about other survivors. This kid seemed to know a thing or two and it wasn’t just luck that he was still alive. Cole took in the gaunt cheeks and the way the clothes hung on the kid. He may have been lucky to survive so far, but he wasn’t thriving. Softening his tone, Cole said, “I meant it when I said we have food. Are you hungry?”
The kid stared at Cole for a
long moment, then his eyes flicked to the line of cars stretched out behind Cole’s SUV. An expression of wariness tinged with hope flashed over face before he nodded, licking his lips.
Cole did a mental check of what kind of food he had stored in his car. Most of their provisions were with Piper since she did the majority of the cooking, but every car had an emergency stash, plus there was his Go bag, but he couldn’t touch any of that. It was only for emergencies.
He had a few cakes of their own pemmican made from the last deer they had shot. It was easy to eat and nutritious but he wasn’t sure the boy would recognize it as food. While their meals were filling, they had to be cooked. Ready to eat food was harder to come by and he had already eaten some of today’s supply to tide him over until dinner. He thought he might have a few sticks of beef jerky in his center console left from a few days ago when they’d scavenged from a remote gas station. He’d stuffed them in the console and had forgotten about them.
He backed to his vehicle. “I’m just going to get some food I have in here.”
Opening the console, he dug around until he found the sticks. The pemmican was in a bag there too, and he took one out to offer if the boy didn’t want to travel with them. Just because the kid was alone now didn’t mean he might not have a friends somewhere.
The sticks were wrapped in the heavy plastic from when they had been commercially packaged and could have stood up to being tossed to the ground near the boy, but Cole held them out in front of him and took a few steps closer to the bush. “Here.”
The boy eyed the caravan once again before narrowing his eyes at Cole. “How do I know you don’t have the sickness?”
Cole pulled a mask out of his pocket but didn’t put it on, intending to get more information first. “You’re smart to be asking that question, and I can’t promise for certain, but I can say that we haven’t been around anyone who has had it since last summer. Have you?” Even though he was almost positive the kid was healthy, he wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Nope. Almost everyone around here died before winter. The ones who are left took most of the food into their camp.” He tilted his head indicating down the road where Cole had intended to camp.
“How come you’re not with them?”
“They don’t want me.” His head dipped as he scuffed a toe in the gravel on the side of the road but he didn’t offer any more details.
Why would someone not want a kid around? Especially now, when every life was precious. “Do you have friends around here?” Cole almost added ‘still’, but didn’t. It sounded too cold phrased that way.
The boy blinked hard a few times then just shook his head, unable or unwilling to voice his answer.
“I’m sorry to hear it.” Cole sighed. Poor kid. He was all alone in the world.
The boy shrugged then bit his lip as his gaze slid to the beef sticks. Cole gave himself a mental shake. The kid was starving and here he was asking questions when the child needed food. “Here.”
When the boy hesitated, Cole s wiggled the beef jerky. “It’s okay. Take them.”
He finally moved toward Cole, snatched the food and retreated to the bush as though it offered some sort of protection. He tore the first stick open with his teeth and devoured half of it in the space of a few breaths.
Concerned, Cole lifted a hand and took a couple of steps closer. “Whoa. Slow down. You might choke.”
The boy shrank back, but continued to wolf the food down.
There was the creak of a car door opening behind Cole, and the boy backpedaled until he was almost hidden in the bushes again.
Elly approached Cole and whispered “Is he okay?”
“I’m almost certain he doesn’t have the virus, if that’s what you’re talking about. If he did, he’d be running to us instead of hiding, but he’s half-starved. It appears that he’s been on his own for a while. Probably since the fall. He said almost everyone around here had died of the virus by then.”
Her eyes softened as she glanced towards the bush. He knew that look. It was the same one she got when she spoke about Luke and Zoe. “Do you think he’d come with us?”
The idea had already entered Cole’s mind. “I don’t know, but he seems like a smart kid and he’s got survivor instincts. In fact, he warned us away from the campground. Something about survivors being there. Mean survivors, according to him.”
Elly inched closer to the bush. “Hey there. My name is Elly.”
His cheek bulging, the boy stared at her.
With a quick glance at Cole, who nodded encouragement, she turned back to the boy. “What’s your name?”
He swallowed. “Travis.”
“Nice to meet you, Travis. Like I said, I’m Elly, and this is Cole.”
“I know. He told me his name. Is he your husband?”
Cole grinned. He couldn’t help it. He stepped alongside Elly. “Officially, no, but only because there are no officials.” He put an arm around Elly’s shoulders. “My son, Hunter, is a few cars back. We have a few kids with us who were orphaned by the sickness. We’re their family now.”
A look of naked longing darted through Travis’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything. Cole had hoped he’d ask to come with them, but then he saw the boy square his shoulders as he tucked the last beef stick into his back pocket. “I gotta get going. I have to be settled before dark.”
Cole had an idea. “Hey, do you think you could do me a favor? I’ll trade a hot dinner in exchange.”
Suspicious, Travis said, “What do I gotta do?”
“Just show us a safe place to camp for the night. We’re from Wisconsin and don’t know this area like you do. We definitely don’t want to mess with the folks at the campground.”
Travis thought for a minute, then nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Awesome.” Cole waved to the caravan to let everyone know things were fine, then gestured to his vehicle. “If you can stand the smell of chickens, you can ride with me to show me where to go.”
“You got chickens in there?” Travis’s voice was equal parts curiosity and revulsion.
“Sure do!”
After settling in, laughing as Travis waved his hand in front of his face a few times, Cole let the others know via radio of the change of plans and that they had a guest. Then he turned to Travis. “Point the way.”
Chapter Nineteen
Travis directed Cole to get off the highway at the next exit. “The guys at the camp cleared this road before the first snow, but now they use another road most of the time. I think we can get through.”
Cole wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that, and sent a message to the others to be ready for visitors. That was the word they had decided upon when encountering others. It could mean someone friendly as well as hostile, but caution was implied in both cases.
“How come they don’t come this way anymore?”
Travis shrugged. “The town is on the other side of the campground. There’s not much out here but more highway. They already cleaned out all the houses and stores this way.”
It made sense. Cole followed directions to turn off another road, this one turned back west. It was a half mile south, but roughly seemed to run parallel to the highway, so they weren’t getting too far off track.
After driving for about a mile, Travis had Cole make one more turn, and this time, the road was gravel and ended at a small lake. Perfect. Water wouldn’t be an issue. “And the people at the campground don’t come here?” Cole looked around the small beach and a couple of swing sets, but no homes. It looked like a park.
“No, there’s a bigger lake at the camp and cabins and stuff. There’s nothing here but some toilets and a water pump.” He pointed to a small building. “That used to have a concession stand. It’s where I sleep now. I lock myself in the storeroom.”
“Aren’t you worried someone might come looking for the food?”
“Naw. They cleaned it out before winter.”
“What have you been livin
g on?”
“I find stuff now and then. Food in cars. Offices. I once found a whole vending machine full of chips in a back hallway of an office building. I think it was forgotten.”
“You’re resourceful, that’s for sure.”
“What’s that mean?”
Cole smiled. “It means you’re smart.”
After the rest of the cars pulled in, everyone crowded around to meet the guest, unintentionally overwhelming Travis. He edged towards the concession stand, looking ready to flee.
The kid had shown them his home, and it occurred to Cole that he was now having second thoughts. Cole waved everyone back. “Listen up, guys. Travis is understandably a bit nervous to be around a bunch of strangers. Let’s give him a little room. Everyone get to setting up camp. I promised Travis a good meal in exchange for leading us to this fantastic camping site.”
The adults all began their duties and Cole checked on the chickens and the eggs. They were almost ready to hatch. Travis stood beside him, offering suggestions and asking a few questions. He quieted when Luke and Zoe approached. Luke started talking about the chickens and Travis lost his shyness, showing he knew a lot about chickens, mentioning something about his grandma having chickens in her backyard.
Cole excused himself saying he needed to check on something else and let the kids talk. If anyone could get Travis to trust them, it would be Luke. He’d been in Travis’s shoes not long ago. Cole didn’t want to let the kids out of his sight though. He didn’t think Travis would do anything, but he wasn’t ready to trust him around the younger kids just yet.
Cole had unloaded his tent and was setting it up when Luke ran up to him. “Cole, can I show Travis how to fish?”
Cole glanced at the sky. It was almost completely dark outside the glow of the two fires they had going already. While warm during the day, the nights were still cold. The lake was only a few steps away though, so Cole got the poles out and handed them, plus a can of worms to Luke. “Stay right there on the beach where I can see you. Zoe, you stay here.”
Invasion: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Novel (Sympatico Syndrome Book 3) Page 16
