by Mark Mathews
“Did you do it? Is this all your fault?” The voice came from behind her, and she hesitated for a moment or two before slowly revolving in place to face the person who had spoken to her.
From what she could see, the woman who had addressed her was the mother of this troupe. Sarah did the math in her head. There was a mother and a father, with two grown sons and what looked like a girl in her late teens. Their clothes were tattered, and they had that mean, hungry look in their eyes that meant they were turning into scavengers. The mother of the group held her gun steady, and the barrel was leveled right at Sarah’s chest.
“Did you do it? Is this your fault?” Sarah was so confused, but she couldn’t just stand there in silence. Maybe they could talk their way out of this if they were careful. Exchanging a glance with Wade, they came to an understanding that Sarah would try negotiating their way out.
“Did we do what? Please tell me what you’re talking about.” Her voice was soft and surprisingly gentle. She was trying to lull the family into a sense of security. All she could do now was hope and pray that Tom would keep his mouth shut. He seemed to be ruining everything lately. Then the realization hit her. This woman was asking if Sarah had something to do with the EMP.
“All of this!” The woman’s voice was accusing and angry, and Sarah was going to do her best to placate her as much as possible.
“Are you the reason that we don’t have electricity? A plane crashed near here not that long ago, and it scared the hell out of us. Was it your fault?”
Sarah was shocked for a moment. How the hell could all of the EMP attack be their fault? They would have needed help from the military or some terrorist group or something like that to get the job done. This was beyond the mere skills of a single ragtag group of people. Her mind was blown at this woman’s stupidity. She had to bite her tongue, however, because insulting the intelligence of a woman with a gun pointed at you wasn’t the smartest idea.
Wade barely was paying attention to the words that passed between the women. He had the confidence that Sarah would be able to get them out of this, but just in case she couldn’t, he was laying the groundwork for an escape plan. The father seemed to know what he was doing when it came to guns, because his barrel was straight, pointing at Tom. However, although the three kids held the guns correctly, he could see their hearts weren’t in it. The boys held their guns straight enough, but they kept looking everywhere else but at their targets. That meant he could wait for them to be distracted enough to get the barrels up or down far enough that the bullets wouldn’t hurt anyone. The girl, on the other hand, looked a little green. The mere thought of shooting someone seemed to make her sick. Her barrel already was sagging toward the ground a little more with each passing minute, and he concluded she just didn’t have the upper arm strength to hold such a heavy hunting rifle up this long. She might get caught up in the confusion and not shoot at all. Maybe fear would help her fumble around long enough to disarm the boys. He was setting up a game plan in his head should things go south.
“No, it wasn’t us. We’re trying to survive ourselves. We were just passing through. We’re trying to escape a gang on motorcycles and thought the quickest way to get away from them was to go straight over the mountain on terrain that they couldn’t handle on their bikes.” The truth poured out of Sarah’s mouth before she could come up with a plausible lie for the situation. Maybe telling the truth would help the family trust them enough to get them safely away. It was a tactic they advised against in the academy, because dealing with perpetrators meant you had to keep the upper hand. Giving them too much real information about yourself made it easy for them to use it against you.
“You’re lying!” The woman’s voice now was bordering on hysterical, and that made Sarah’s heart beat double-time.
If the family decided to shoot first and ask questions later, then they would have some problems. The family already was paranoid, and if that won out over reason, then Sarah and her own group would be finished. It would be like the proverbial firing squad. Her police brain kicked in out of nowhere, and she couldn’t help but think that if the family did execute them by firing squad, they would have friendly fire since the family was surrounding them. Then she threw that thought into the furthest reaches of her mind. Laughing at some police humor was not going to get them out of this alive. She was trying to come up with reasons that would convince the family that Sarah and her group weren’t dangerous, but her mind was coming up blank. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and when she turned her head slightly, she saw it was Emily. She was edging her way out from behind Sarah, shunning her protection.
Sarah’s heart thudded painfully in her chest. If they shot Emily for moving, then Sarah would turn into a deranged monster, not caring who else got shot. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to Emily. She’d promised the little girl that nothing else would get to her or hurt her like the motorcycle gang had.
“Hello. My name is Emily. I just wanted to tell you a little bit about myself. I’m seven years old, and I’ve lost my whole family. These people here have come to be my family now. This woman has become like a mother to me, and she has bent over backward trying to protect me.” She smiled at Sarah and chuckled a little, even though there was no real humor to it.
“And just by looking at her now, I can tell she’s not happy I’ve drawn attention to myself.” That much was true, and while Sarah had to admit that she wished Emily never would have started talking, she also had to admit the family was listening to her, hanging on her every word. Maybe they would get out of this alive after all. She didn’t like that Emily was out in front like the leader, but she couldn’t do anything about it because Emily already had made her move. The mother looked from Emily to Sarah and back. Her face softened a little. Sarah thought she saw her gaze flick to each of her own children.
“We had nothing to do with this attack. We didn’t even know each other until after it all had happened. We all were trying to survive on our own, and I was having the hardest time trying to do that until I met this woman. She took me in without thinking twice. She put me above herself and started taking care of me. Then we met Wade.” Here she paused and inclined her head toward Wade, whose ears perked up now at the mention of his own name. Sarah mentally congratulated Emily on knowing instinctively that she shouldn’t point with her hand and cause a sudden movement.
“He joined our little twosome, and then we became a family. On the way to where we wanted to go, we met Tom.” Again she indicated with her head, and Sarah had to swell with pride. She was making each of them a person to this group so they wouldn’t have a nameless face to shoot at.
Emily’s words were like a soothing balm to a horrible burn. Her voice was smooth and warm, wrapping around their captors and lulling them into safety. Sarah was so proud she thought she would burst. She’d been underestimating this little girl all this time, and now she was being forced to see her as an adult. Whether Emily always had been like this, or whether the new world in which they found themselves had forged her that way, Emily not only was wise beyond her years, but she was more mature than a lot of people Sarah knew who were older than her, such as Tom. Sarah still was watching the faces of their captors, and some softness was starting to show. They actually might let them go. The mother looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“I believe you. Maybe you didn’t have anything to do with this after all. It’s just so hard to trust people nowadays, and good people are few and far between.” She nodded to her husband, who then lowered his gun. She did the same, and the children followed suit.
Wade had been watching this unfold, and now he stood there, fighting with himself not to go over to Emily and hug her. Not only had Emily just saved all of their necks, but she’d done it better than any hostage negotiator Wade had seen in his long career. He was proud of her…like a father would be proud of his daughter. When she’d said that they had become a family to her, something had tugged at Wade’s heartstr
ings, and he’d been trying to keep himself from tearing up. This little girl was ruining him. He’d been a hermit, a powerhouse in his own right when he’d found her and Sarah hanging in his trap. Now, he was a big softie, treating them like a replacement family to help heal the pain of losing his real family. He didn’t think he would make it on his own now. He’d been with Sarah and Emily too long to cut them out of his life anymore. It suddenly occurred to him that he couldn’t give them up.
“I swear to you we’ve told you nothing but the truth. I was kidnapped by a group who was riding on motorcycles, and they threatened to kill me. These people barged in on the group and took care of them, doing whatever they had to do to save me. Now we’re just trying to get as far away from them as possible. The quickest way to get ahead of them was to go over this mountain. We didn’t even know you guys were here until we saw the cabin. We really mean you no harm. And we would have circled around you and gone on our way as soon as we saw the cabin if you hadn’t surrounded us.” The truth rang out from her, and the family seemed instinctively to know it.
“We’ll let you go, but if you try accosting us in the future, we will fight you.” For the first time since the confrontation, a smile stretched across someone’s face. If it were a fair fight without weapons, then Sarah was pretty sure she and Wade could take them all on. She didn’t think it would come to that, though, because Sarah was eager to get away from any and all people. She had no problem never seeing that family again.
“We’ll keep that in mind. If you don’t mind, can we keep going?” Emily’s childish voice pleaded with them. The mother nodded.
The weapons now were hanging limply at their sides, and the family was staring at them, waiting for them to leave. Sarah took the initiative, and started walking in the direction they would have gone if the cabin and its inhabitants wouldn’t have interrupted their trip. As an added precaution, she kept her hands in the air, fingers spread, to show they were empty and she wasn’t doing anything to raise their suspicions. Tom followed after her without a second thought. Emily, on the other hand, keeping her hands where they could be seen, approached the woman. The woman flinched, and her other hand went back to her weapon. Emily ignored it. She slowly advanced on the woman, giving her plenty of time to warn her away or grab for her weapon if she wanted to do so. When Emily stood in front of her, she slowly brought her hands down and hugged the woman. It took a second or two, but the woman gave her an awkward, one-armed hug back, keeping the other hand on her gun. Smiling, Emily then put her hands back up and followed after Tom.
Wade came behind Emily, and he had been the only one in their group to see what happened. He was proud of Emily, not only for orchestrating their escape, but for being such an innocent. She hugged someone who was ready to shoot and kill her. He wasn’t going to go so far as to say she was the second coming of Christ or anything, because he wasn’t religious, but she was one of those people who might reach saint status if the world were normal. They were almost out of the area, when Sarah suddenly stopped. Wade saw the others go for their guns again. This family was paranoid, and that was enough to make anyone dangerous. Unpredictability and the faulty thought that they could do whatever they wanted if they had the numbers, were faults of most people in this type of situation. Sarah slowly turned around, remembering to keep her hands where they could see them.
“Would you like to come with us? We only have a loose destination and can’t promise a safe or comfortable trip, but if you’d like to come with us, you’d be more than welcome.” Wade exhaled.
Okay. The offer for the family to come with them wasn’t something stupid. To be honest, he’d been afraid Sarah was going to do something to pay them back for pointing a weapon at Emily and scaring her again, but Emily hadn’t seemed scared.
“No, thank you. We’ll stay here.” The woman’s voice wasn’t as cold as it had been, and Sarah fought the urge to shrug because that would be a sudden movement. She slowly turned back around and started walking again. She’d gone maybe a dozen steps or so before the woman’s voice rang out again, this time with some urgency.
“Wait!” Sarah froze. Had they changed their minds about letting them go? She started quickly thinking of any ways to get out of there short of putting on a burst of speed and running off into the darkness.
“Yes?” It was Wade who took point this time, and it was probably a good thing, too, since he still was the closest one to the group. The woman started to fidget, then looked at her husband who gave her a curt nod. They must have communicated about something nonverbally so the other group wouldn’t be able to listen in.
“Why don’t you come in and eat dinner with us before you go?” Wade was shocked.
He was sure everyone else had heard her question, too, but didn’t believe it. There was a momentary silence, and it was broken by Emily, who seemed to be the savior of the day. She smiled at the woman. Maybe it had been because of Emily that they’d been invited to dinner, and maybe it was just the fact that Emily had convinced them they were no longer a threat. Either way, they at least had the ability to rest for a little while, and they were getting some food out of it so they wouldn’t deplete their own stores.
“Thank you. We would love that. That’s so kind of you.” The woman smiled at Emily, and if Wade’s eyes were as sharp as he thought they were, he could see tears in the woman’s eyes.
Maybe she was experiencing empty nest syndrome, or maybe it was just because Emily was such a sweet little girl, but he knew they owed not only their freedom but this free meal to the little girl. He still was going to take the time to teach her how to shoot. It didn’t hurt to have a deadly aim behind the sweet face. The little group went back to the cabin, and followed the other family into the kitchen area. There was a table, but it had no chairs, and it was so low that you could eat from it if you sat on the floor. A fireplace had been scooped out of the dirt, and a hook had been rigged to hold a big pot over the small flames. An earthy yet savory smell was coming from a cast iron kettle that hung over the fire, and it made everyone’s mouth water.
“Go ahead and sit down at the table. It’s not much, just some stew, but we’d be glad to share it with you.” The woman looked almost embarrassed at their living conditions, but Sarah wanted to put her mind at ease. There was no way she could have kept up with the way things were in the old world, so there was no reason to be embarrassed about the rough and crude way they lived now.
“Thank you. It’s been a while since we’ve eaten anything that didn’t come out of a can, and even then it wasn’t always cooked. This is like having a feast.” The woman blushed, and she quickly scooped out some stew into wooden bowls that looked like they’d been whittled.
Her own children sat down at the table after distributing the bowls, and Wade noticed how they quickly interspersed themselves among their own group. Whether they were being friendly, or just taking precautions, he didn’t know. The food was absolutely delicious after months of eating canned gunk. No one said a word until all the bowls were empty.
“I’m sorry to hear you’ve had problems with others. We’ve been by ourselves for most of the time. We have no electricity, and we have no idea what really happened to the world.” Sarah felt bad.
Ignorance wasn’t always bliss. In this case, if the family didn’t know what was going on, then they couldn’t prepare for what was to come. Glancing at Wade, she decided that maybe it would be best to talk about the EMP attack, just to see what they knew and try filling in the gaps that they had themselves. It could wait until after the kettle was empty, though, because half the people at the table already were asking for seconds. No one wanted to ruin the delicious moment by talking about troublesome things. Privately, Sarah agreed, handing her bowl back for more of the delicious stew. There was a warm feeling in the cabin; friendly even. It was almost like a winter afternoon at a ski lodge, where they had a fire and food after roughing it out on the slopes. It was something Sarah had been able to do with her newlywed husband,
but now it seemed as though he was back and it made her miss him a little. The memory of him in that point in time warmed her heart and made her wonder what they would be like if they met now.
Chapter Sixteen
The food flowed and the conversation went with it. After about an hour, it seemed as though they always had been one group rather than two who would have killed each other if given the opportunity. Sarah was getting advice from Beth about how to take care of children Emily’s age, and childrearing in general. Wade was sitting with Max, talking about hunting and fishing, and other manly pastimes that they both missed from the old world. Tom was with Josh and Justin, talking about stupid pranks they’d pulled before the world went to hell. Emily was curled up in a nest of blankets, snoozing like a giant cat. Sarah couldn’t blame the poor thing. She still was trying to get over what had happened to her, and sleep was the best way to help the body recuperate. They all seemed to think this was a temporary issue that would be worked out in due time, but Sarah and Wade had told them all they’d learned about the attack; what it meant, how to take care of themselves, and whether it ever would go away. It had taken some time, but they finally had managed to get the other family to believe them. Sarah had thought it was more like trying to convince stubborn kids that their view of the world wasn’t accurate. In the end, they thanked them for the food, then warned them of some of the dangerous animals that they’d seen signs of while they’d been climbing the mountain. The two groups said goodbye to each other, and Wade led them back into the forest, heading down a trail he’d seen earlier that he thought would lead them over the mountain and toward the other side.
