by Bruno Miller
Gunner heard his name and instantly appeared at the back of the truck, watching Ben. He let out a sharp bark, followed by a whine.
“Looks like somebody else is ready for breakfast, too!” Joel grabbed Gunner’s bowl from a nearby bush, where it hung from last night’s cleaning. He scooped a couple handfuls of dry food into it and put it on the ground.
Gunner gave it a few sniffs and dug in.
Allie heard a zipper, followed by her mother’s voice.
“Morning!” Sandy rubbed her eyes as she emerged from the tent. Gunner stopped eating and trotted over to Sandy, wagging his tail. He greeted her briefly with a couple soft growls and then quickly headed back to his bowl to finish eating.
“Is that coffee I smell?” she asked.
“Yes, it is. I’m getting ready to make more now, along with breakfast.” Allie handed her mother the still-steaming, half-full mug she was drinking. “Here. You can have this.”
“Thanks. You should have gotten me up sooner. I want to help out.” Sandy frowned.
“You can help Allie with breakfast if you want. I’ll go fill the waters while you guys do that,” Joel offered.
“Okay, great.” Sandy smiled and joined Allie by the fire.
Gunner finished eating and followed Joel down to the water. Allie and her mom got breakfast started while Ben put the finishing touches on the truck and secured the duffel bag to the rack.
Allie should have been content. It was a good morning—at least as good as they got these days. But something was bothering her. She was dreading the fact that they were going to pass by Pittsburgh today. The news they had heard about Pittsburgh was true; she could feel it in her gut. It had to be. They’d heard it from too many different sources.
She knew her dad was gone, but passing by the city today would make it real.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ben filled them in on his plans for the day over breakfast and explained why he thought the Chesapeake Bay Bridge should be avoided. They all agreed with his idea of taking a northern route around the bay and down through Delaware.
They quickly cleaned up after breakfast and loaded the remaining gear.
“Joel, you still feel like driving this morning?” Ben asked.
“Yep! No problem.” He caught the keys as Ben tossed them in his direction. Joel climbed into the driver’s seat while Gunner hopped up into the truck and made his way to the back seat.
Allie and her mom followed.
“Come on, boy. Here you go.” Allie patted her hand on the pile of blankets Ben had made over the gear in the back. Gunner reluctantly climbed over the seat as Allie continued to coax him onto the makeshift dog bed. He settled in with a grunt and stretched his neck out so that he could still rest his head on the back of their seat.
“Oh my, what a sad look!” Sandy smiled as she rubbed Gunner behind the ears. As Ben got situated in the passenger seat, he looked at the pathetic display Gunner was putting on for the girls and shook his head.
“He’ll be fine. He’s got the best spot in the truck,” Ben joked.
Joel followed the overgrown trail back out to the interstate and headed east. It wasn’t long until they saw a sign for Pennsylvania. At only 58 miles away, Pittsburgh was among the destinations listed on the sign.
Ben wondered how long before they would start to see signs of the devastation they had heard about. If they were lucky, they would only skirt the edge of it. They would be closest as they made their way around the town of Washington, Pennsylvania. The interstate ran around the town to the north and looked to be only about 15 miles from Pittsburgh, according to the map.
If the city had in fact been ground zero for a nuclear detonation, they would know for sure.
“How far do you think we’ll get today?” Joel asked.
“It depends how long we drive. I think we’re going to be close enough that if we push on a little later than normal, we’ll be able to make it there late tonight. Of course, that’s assuming the roads are decent.” Ben looked at the map as he spoke.
“Really? I thought we were still a day or two away?” Joel sounded surprised.
Ben shook his head. “Not if we get a good day of driving in.”
Sandy cleared her throat. “I’ve been wanting to say something since last night but never got the chance. I don’t want to keep you from your kids any longer. You’ve already done enough to keep my daughter safe and to help her find me. If Pittsburgh is truly gone, then there’s no point in wasting time there. I want you to just drive on by when we get there. I insist.”
Ben turned in his seat to look at Sandy and was going to tell her that they would wait and see what they found before making any decisions, but before he could say anything, Allie chimed in.
“My mom’s right. We need to get to Bradley and Emma, and you know it. Even if Pittsburgh is okay, we need to keep going. We’re coming back this way, right?” She nodded at Ben. “We can stop on the way back to Colorado.”
“We’ll see.” That was all Ben could think to say. He turned back around in his seat and looked out the window. They were right, and he knew it. It was time to get to the kids.
The trip had already taken longer than he expected. It had been nine days of hard traveling, and if he was being honest, the last thing he wanted to do was delay things anymore by getting sidetracked in Pittsburgh. He felt bad for Allie, but maybe it was for the best to keep moving and put Pittsburgh behind them.
Especially if that was what she and her mom wanted.
Joel continued east through the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania. The rhythmic sound of the tires humming on the pavement and the drone of the engine were the only sounds inside the truck.
Sandy looked a little better today, but it was going to take her a while to recover from her weakened condition. Ben could tell she was still suffering from a lack of proper nutrition. She had fallen asleep already and was leaning against the cab of the truck. He was sure she wouldn’t have lasted much longer at the camp if they hadn’t found her when they did.
“Look, another truck!” Joel pointed to the westbound lane as an old Toyota pickup with a loaded bed went flying by in the other direction.
“Looks like they’ve got some mechanical problems,” Ben commented. There was a faint trail of smoke behind the vehicle.
“Probably burning oil. They won’t last long running like that,” Joel added.
Ben looked closer and realized it wasn’t smoke at all. It was dust. Why would they be leaving a trail of dust on the paved interstate?
He checked the side mirror on his door and saw that they were also kicking up a thick trail of dust behind the Blazer, as well as leaving tire tracks on the road. It reminded him of how it looked when driving through a light layer of freshly fallen snow on the road.
But this wasn’t snow.
“What is that on the road?” Allie asked.
“It’s like a powder or something,” Joel said.
Ben leaned out the window and watched the road pass by underneath. The front tires pushed out the fine, grayish-brown material as they went. It had the consistency of a thick fine powder and almost seemed to be in a liquid state as it was forced away from the tire.
Then it hit him what they were driving through.
“It’s nuclear fallout. Allie, give me an old towel from the back and let’s get the windows up.”
Allie handed Ben a towel, which he proceeded to cut up into pieces with his knife while Joel rolled up his window.
Ben handed the pieces to Allie. “Get these damp so we can use them to breathe through until we get out of this.” Allie poured a small amount of water over the pile of towel pieces and handed them out to everyone.
“Mom, wake up!” Allie shook her mom’s shoulder gently.
“What’s going on?” Sandy mumbled.
“You need to breathe through this.” Allie handed her the piece of damp towel as she covered her mouth and nose with her own piece.
“What about Gunner?
” Allie asked.
“Try to keep him covered as best you can,” Ben said.
Allie took a piece of the towel and slowly draped it over Gunner’s snoot while rubbing his head.
“Easy, boy. It’s okay,” she said.
He resisted at first and pawed at the towel over his nose, but Allie was persistent. He finally gave in and accepted the makeshift mask.
Ben could see it now in the trees and on the waist-high grass along the side of the road. It was getting thicker by the mile, and soon everything was covered in the fine ash. The trees and plants were all dead or dying, and Ben knew without a doubt this was the result of a nuclear detonation.
As they followed the interstate around Washington, Pennsylvania, the effects of the blast became more and more evident. The wrecks they passed by had been blown off the road and were lying in the median or on the shoulder. Most were lying on their sides or on their roofs.
Ben wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or if it was real, but the trees looked like they were all leaning to the west a few degrees. Could the shockwave from the blast have caused that this far away? And if it had, then there was definitely nothing left of Pittsburgh. They needed to get through here as fast as they could. He instantly regretted being this close as it was.
“Is this radioactive?” Sandy asked.
“I don’t know. It’s possible.” Ben had thought about that, but there was no way of being sure. There were too many unknown factors.
“It depends on the design of the weapon, the detonation altitude, and the weather conditions. Pittsburgh itself will still be radioactive for sure, and there’ll be hot spots around this area that will pose a high radiation hazard. The best thing to do is get far away from this area as quickly as possible,” Ben stated.
His knowledge of nuclear weapons was limited, but he knew enough about residual radiation to know it was best to steer clear of this place. It could be a radioactive hot spot for years to come. Even the soil could be contaminated, and he wouldn’t be surprised if everything in the immediate area eventually died off. He hoped they hadn’t been exposed to any radiation.
Nobody said a word as they passed by the Pittsburgh exit. There was no need for any further discussion about the matter.
Allie’s father was gone and so was the city.
Chapter Thirty
Within a matter of 10 or 15 minutes after passing the Pittsburgh exit, the fallout began to thin. The trees slowly returned to their normal color and the layer of ash on the road grew thinner until it was gone.
The trees and grass had a dry, parched look as the greens of summer were replaced with wilted brown in many areas, but it was a welcome sight compared to the gray, ash-covered trees. He was glad to be past the worst of it and made a quick note on the map.
Another place to avoid on the way back to Colorado, he thought.
He wasn’t surprised that the trees and plants looked like this. They hadn’t seen much rain since they’d started their journey. It had been nine days of hot, dry weather.
The water levels of the rivers and streams they passed over and camped at hadn’t gone unnoticed by him. Last night, he saw the old water line on the rocks along the bank. In fact, everywhere they had been in the last couple days looked to be well below the normal water level. Had the bombs somehow affected the weather? Was that even possible?
He was mad at himself for letting them get this close. They should’ve gone farther south and heeded the warnings they were given. Most of the health problems brought on by radiation were from long-term exposure. If they were exposed, hopefully the dose was minimal and they passed through quickly enough to avoid any serious effects.
“Can we take these down now?” Allie asked.
Ben pulled the towel from his face “Yeah, it should be okay now. I just didn’t want anyone to breathe in those particles. That’s bad stuff!”
Gunner let out a loud sneeze when Allie removed the towel from his snoot. Glad to be free of the restriction, he belly-crawled toward Allie and her mom until he could hang his front paws over the back of the seat along with his head.
“Can we open the windows again?” Joel asked.
“Yes, please.” Ben rolled his window down and Joel did the same. Although the air was warm, it cooled the truck a little as it rushed in.
“Whew, that’s better!” Sandy sighed as she used her piece of towel to wipe the sweat from her face.
“Sorry. We could have used the AC, but I didn’t want to suck any of that in here with us,” Ben said.
“It’s fine. We’re low on gas anyway,” Joel added.
“How low?” Ben leaned over to peek at the fuel gauge.
“A little over a quarter tank,” Joel answered.
“Well, I guess we better start looking.” They had all been too preoccupied with the devastation outside to notice they were running low on gas—not that they would have stopped anywhere back there if they had noticed. Ben didn’t like being this low on fuel, especially when they were in the middle of nowhere like they were at the moment.
“How about we pull over if you can find some shade and we’ll add the two spare cans to the tank.” Ben looked at Joel.
“How about up there?” He pointed to an overpass that crossed the interstate up ahead.
“Sure,” Ben answered. He surveyed the area as Joel slowed the truck and pulled in under the bridge. He felt the change in temperature immediately as the Blazer came to a stop in the shade.
Gunner was up immediately and whined impatiently at the opportunity to get out. As soon as Ben opened his door, Gunner launched himself over the rear seat between Allie and her mom. He cleared the center console and Ben’s seat in a single bound. Within a few seconds, he had disappeared into the tall weeds along the road.
“Gunner! Don’t go too far, boy,” Joel called after the dog as he shut the truck off and climbed out.
“I’ll leave the keys in the ignition so you can listen to the radio,” he joked.
“Right, thanks.” Allie laughed.
Ben already had the first spare fuel can unstrapped by the time Joel made his way to the back of the truck.
“Here you go.” Ben handed him the spare and started to loosen the other one. Joel lugged the heavy tank around to the side of the truck and began to transfer the gas. Ben joined him with the other tank shortly.
“It feels kind of nice under here,” Joel remarked.
“Yeah, it’s not bad.” Ben sighed as he leaned against the truck and took his sunglasses off. He pulled the piece of towel from his back pocket and wiped his face clean of sweat. There was a slight breeze, and it felt good in the shade of the overpass. It was the first real relief from the heat they’d had all day.
“Hey, guys. Listen!” Allie blurted out.
Joel stopped pouring gas and set the container down on the ground.
“What is it?” Ben asked. He didn’t hear anything.
“The radio!” Allie answered. “There was a voice. I swear I heard a voice.”
“I heard it, too,” Sandy added.
Ben and Joel were now both standing at the open driver’s door, staring at the illuminated radio.
“I turned it on and hit scan. I was just fooling around. I didn’t think it would actually work.” Allie’s eyes were wide with disbelief.
“What did you hear?” Joel asked.
“There was a voice but then static and—” Allie was cut off by the sound of static and three short garbled electronic noises. Ben immediately recognized the sound as the EAS (Emergency Alert System) alarm. A computerized voice followed the signal with an announcement.
“We interrupt this program. This is a national emergency. Important instructions will follow.”
There was a pause followed by a long higher-pitched tone before the monotone voice continued.
“The following message is being transmitted at the request of the United States government. This is not a test. A nuclear attack was commenced against the United States. Twenty-thre
e nuclear bombs have been detonated in areas around the coun—”
The radio cut out as quickly as it had come on, leaving them all staring at it blankly. The frequencies started scrolling by as the radio resumed its search for a broadcasting channel.
They all looked at each other. Ben wasn’t sure what to make of it other than that they now knew how many bombs had hit—if what they heard on the radio was even accurate.
“Check your phones.” Ben looked at Joel, then Allie.
“Do you think they’ll work? I haven’t even been able to turn mine on since the morning it happened,” Allie said.
“Joel and I had our phones turned off. We always keep them off when we’re camping to save the battery in case we need it,” Ben said.
Joel was already around the other side of the truck and digging through the glove box for his phone. He pulled it out and held the power button down. Within a few seconds, the screen lit up with a picture of Joel posing with a large brown trout.
“Brian took that.” Joel swallowed as he waited for the phone to connect.
“Any signal?” Ben asked impatiently.
“Nothing.” Joel shook his head. He stared at the screen for a moment before turning the phone off.
“What does it mean?” Sandy asked.
“I don’t know, but it’s something. It at least means they’re trying to get communications back up and running.” Ben headed back around to continue refueling. Joel tossed his phone back in the glove compartment and joined his dad.
Ben could hear the girls talking quietly among themselves while he and Joel finished pouring the last of the second can into the truck.
In the meantime, Gunner had come back from his short-lived adventure in the grass and hopped into the truck on his own.
“Do you think things will ever be the way they were before?” Joel carried one of the empty gas tanks to the back of the truck and secured it in place.
Ben thought for a second before he answered. He didn’t want to sound to negative, but he didn’t want to lie, either.
