“If we can,” Cory replied. “We need to see if there’s any cover or concealment before we decide. I agree that it’s better to get them into the ATVs before the climb. It looks to be about a thousand feet over three miles, so that would take them some time. But we need make sure we can find a place where we won’t be seen, but we can see the roadway.” Tim studied the map for a minute and shook his head.
“There’s not going to be any trees or bushes at the base of the switchback. It’s at the bottom of a cliff and there’s no river there, so it’s going to be barren. Erosion from the cliff sides from water runoff will have taken all the vegetation out of the foot of the escarpment. You guys should just count on having to meet them at the top of the switchback.”
“How can you know that?” Ben asked.
“I can’t, but it’s a good bet.”
“That’s not good news.”
“Well, I don’t like bad news either, but ignoring the facts isn’t going to help us get to the ranch in one piece.”
“We’re wasting time,” Cory said. “Let’s just go see what we have and we’ll deal with whatever we find.”
“Okay,” Tim replied. They all got back into the ATVs and Cory led the way, with Ben again following behind with a safe distance between them.
“So what was all that about the ARs?” Rachael yelled over the sound of the engine.
“We killed some gang members on the way to get you, and the ARs did the job for us,” Cory answered automatically without thinking about her reaction, and mentally kicked himself for his answer as soon as the words left his mouth.
“They probably needed killing,” she commented softly, then fell silent and they both watched the scenery for a long time. They reached the switchbacks, and true to Tim’s prediction, there was no vegetation of any kind at the bottom of the cliffs.
“Guess Tim was right about the bottom of the switchbacks,” Cory muttered to himself. “Motion for Ben to pull over,” he said louder, looking at Rachael. She raised her right fist and Ben pulled up next to them.
“We’re going to have to find another spot. Tim was right. There’s no cover here.”
“All right.” Ben shrugged his shoulders and added, “this is really starting to suck.”
“Adapt and overcome,” Cory replied. He took off again, with Ben trailing. They both watched the sides of the road, looking for a place they could pull off and wait for the boys, but found nothing that would work. When they reached the top of the switchback, Cory pulled off to the right side of the road and Ben stopped next to him.
“We got concealment on the other side of the road,” Ben said.
“It’s almost dark now, so let’s go over there and eat. We can post watches tonight to see if the boys come through here.”
“After you.” Ben lead off, and Cory turned left behind him and drove the ATV into a stand of trees on the left side of the road. He turned it off and walked to the precipice that overlooked the area they just passed through. He glassed the terrain below them, found nothing, and returned to where the others were unloading the MREs and water.
“Anything? Ben asked.
“No.”
“We need to settle in, I guess.”
“We better get the food down before nightfall or we’re going to be eating with NVGs on,” Cory said.
“I’ll get the heating pouches out and everyone can make their own,” Ben replied. He walked to the ATV, retrieved four meals, and returned to where the others stood waiting.
“You guys know how to use the heaters? Cory asked.
“No,” they replied in unison. Cory walked them through how to load the meal pack into the heater and they all sat on the ground and ate the meals. As they were finishing, the last rays of sun faded in the distance behind a low set of rolling hills. The major elevation increase was over until they reached the Bradshaw Mountains near Prescott.
Both Ben and Cory were tired, as they missed a full night’s sleep on the way in to Phoenix. “Can you two stand the first watch?” Cory asked the others.
“Sure.”
“Nothing is likely to happen until later in the evening. But make sure you wake Ben and me if someone is moving north. We’re looking for two younger men on horseback. It’s possible that they got separated or are on foot if they lost the horses somehow. We don’t care about people heading south, so if anyone passes, just let us sleep, unless you think they pose a threat. You got all that?”
“Duh,” she replied, rolling her eyes. Tim just chuckled, although it sounded more like a bear growling.
“Wake us up in around four hours. The moon will be there,” he added, pointing his arm at a seventy-degree angle from the rocky surface beneath them. He didn’t bother to ask her if she understood again. He and Ben got into the back seat of each ATV and dozed off almost immediately.
“Get up, Cory,” Rachael whispered as she gently shook his arm. Cory groaned faintly, then sighed and got out of the ATV with another small groan.
“Something going on?” Cory whispered back, blinking his eyes and trying to get his night vision.
“No, but it’s been about four hours. One party of four passed moving south, but they didn’t look like a threat. It looked like a couple with two kids, but I’m not really sure.”
“Okay.” He paused a moment, then added, “Why don’t you and Tim try to get some sleep? I’ll take the next watch.”
“Aren’t you going to wake Ben?”
“No, let him sleep. He needs it more than I do.” Cory went back to the ATV, grabbed his AR and NVGs, and moved back to the bush, where he sat alone watching the road. Tim and Rachael went back to the second ATV and tried to get some sleep.
Cory put on the NVGs briefly, then took them off and set them at his side. The ambient light was sufficient to see movement, so he would only use them if someone passed and he needed more detail. Two other groups passed that evening, one to the south and one to the north. The northern-bound group all carried crosses and were dressed in white robes. They chanted something as they passed, but Cory ignored the sound. The chants were in Latin or some other language he didn’t understand. Just another bunch of nut-jobs looking for the end-of-days scenario was his thought. They passed without incident, and he wondered how many more of the “Armageddon” worshipers they would encounter before this was over. He guessed more than a few.
The following morning, Ben rose first, did his business, and then raided the ATV for coffee. After preparing it, he walked over to where Cory sat, back still toward the rest of the group, with his binoculars aimed to the south.
“Anything?” Ben asked.
“Not a thing,” Cory replied, lowering the binoculars to his lap. “I thought for sure they would try to come through during the evening and they can’t be north of us, unless they somehow got a ride.”
“I agree. Question is what do we do now?” Ben’s voice conveyed his concern for the boys, and Cory knew he wanted to stay and wait for them.
“I don’t see how we can wait more than another day,” Cory said. The regret was obvious in his voice.
“Why don’t you guys move along? I’m fine here by myself. We’re out of the city and I really don’t think I’m going to run into any problems I can’t handle.” Cory thought it over; he really did not like the idea of separating. Ben certainly could have gone looking for the boys rather than going to the city with Cory.
“I don’t want to do that,” he said slowly. “But we’re going to have to leave in a day, with or without you.”
“I understand.”
“I don’t feel good about it, but there has to be some limit to the time we’re away from the ranch. I don’t want them to get worried to the point they come looking for us, especially not in Phoenix. We’re lucky we got out of there alive.”
“Suit yourself. But you may as well just leave now. Why lose a day of travel?”
“Because we started this together and I would rather finish it together. I just gotta be reasonable about ho
w much delay we can afford to take.”
“Well, okay. But why don’t you leave early afternoon? You can still get to the forest before nightfall, and that should be safe enough. If you had to, you could push on using the NVGs on the forest road and still get home late tonight.”
“We’ll stay here for now,” Cory stated flatly, signaling the end of the conversation.
“Suit yourself.”
“I usually do,” Cory chuckled. He paused a moment, then asked, “where are you on the worry meter?”
“Pretty much topped out.”
“They’ll show up. They probably had to stop and do some hunting or something.”
“I guess.”
After another half-hour passed, they heard stirrings from the second ATV and turned to see Rachael crawling out of the front seat. Tim woke up with a start at her movement, wiped a shirtsleeve across his eyes, and unfolded himself from the back seat.
“I better make some coffee for them,” Cory said, rising with a sigh and moving toward his sister, who stretched her back by leaning forward and then backward several times. Tim did the same, rotating his head at the same time as he rubbed his neck. Cory passed them, stopping to hug his sister as he nodded a greeting to Tim. “Who wants coffee?” he asked.
“Both of us,” Rachael answered, so Cory pilfered three more coffee packets from the MREs and made the coffee. He returned with cups and handed them to the couple. He picked up his own and sipped it as they watched Ben concentrate on the road.
“Do you think they’re going to make it here?” Tim asked.
“I have no idea,” Cory replied. “I hope so.” Another long silence ensued as they finished their coffee.
“Tell us about the ranch,” Rachael prompted, breaking the silence.
“Well, I told you about how we got there, and that we have power and water. What we haven’t covered is how prepared the place is. These people are really organized and have been getting ready for this for around four years. They have everything we need to survive long term. The best part is that they are all really good people. Don is kind of hard sometimes, but he is former military and sees the world as an inherently threatening place. The bad part is that he’s usually right about that. His wife, Kate, is the glue of the place. She sort of keeps things running and is the grease for the squeaky wheel.” Cory stopped and thought for a moment before continuing. “Ben was a neighbor who had a ranch next to Don’s place. He retired a few years back, after his wife died. His boys were attending college in Phoenix, which is part of the reason we came together to find you all.”
“You said there were other people there, too?”
“There are. Ed and Ann are from Phoenix and made it up to the ranch after the EMP hit. Ed was a fireman and Ann was a nurse who worked at a hospital in the city. Ed handles all the gardens and Ann takes care of the medical side of things. They both have stockpiled everything we need to grow crops and treat illnesses and wounds.”
“Who are the others?”
“Well, Bud and Mary are the other couple from Phoenix that prepped with Don and Kate before it happened. Bud is the brainiac that handles all the systems on the ranch, and Mary is responsible for food storage and menus. We all take turns cooking, but she looks after the food stores.” Cory paused for a moment, then added, “Mary was a teacher, so she spends half-days teaching the kids. That is a huge bonus for Julie and me. We have the world falling apart around us, but our kids are getting a first-class education in the middle of it.” He shook his head in wonder, then fell silent.
“It sounds like an ideal setup, but how do you all live together in such close quarters?”
“Well, there are tensions every so often. We’re all very different people. Mary and Bud are polar opposites.” He stopped to think for a second, then added, “all the couples are, really. Ed is a serious gear freak like me. Bud is a jokester, Ann is kind of serious, and Mary is the person who sees the good in a crap sandwich. I’m not really sure why it works, but it does. There is some kind of weird chemistry that makes us able to work together pretty well. I guess Don and Kate selected their people pretty well, but I don’t really know that. Maybe we mesh because we have to.”
“I gotta go for a minute,” Tim said, and then disappeared into the brush.
Cory waited for a moment, then whispered, “how serious are you two?”
“Pretty serious.”
“I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“He doesn’t, but he’ll get over it. I’m not sure I like you very much right now. You got a bad look about you that makes Rambo look like he’s singing a song from ‘The Sound of Music.’” She barked a laugh that rang hollow to Cory’s ear.
“That bad?” He asked, looking at his feet.
“Worse.”
He looked up, thought for a second, and then said, “I’ve done some things that I’m not very proud of. Some of it was probably illegal and the day may have come when I traded the right thing for the thing that would work. We all have, really. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Don’t say anything more. I know you did what you thought was right. That has always been you. You used to get beat up all the time in school when you fought bigger guys who were bullies. I thought you would get killed before you were twelve years old.” She chuckled at the memory, and then said, “you’re a good man. I know that. I watched you grow up, and you never could walk by an injustice even if it cost you dearly. Whatever it is that you think you’ve done, you did it for the right reasons, and I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Taking lives is not like a schoolyard fight,” he replied after a few moments. “It’s pretty final.”
“Cory, I had to kill a man right after the EMP hit. He was trying to break into the condo, and I had to shoot him. Thank God, the cops that lived in our complex got me a pistol and taught me how to use it! All of us have done something we might regret, but the fact of the matter is that we are still here because we chose to fight and not be victims. I don’t like that memory, but I don’t regret it, either. I had no choice in the matter and I did what I had to do to live. I’m guessing the same thing happened to you.”
“Well, not exactly, but I take your point.” Cory lapsed into another silence and then asked, “is Tim really willing to pull the trigger on a bad guy if something happens?” He held up a hand to her instinctive protest and added, “I don’t want to doubt him, but Ben and I both have wondered if what he said is actually true.”
“He was a Marine. He killed people in combat, and I personally saw him shoot two men who were attacking a patient of his. Trust me; he will do what you need done.” She was frowning at Cory, and he could see she resented the question.
“Sorry, but I had to ask.”
Tim emerged from the bushes and walked to Rachael, who he hugged, and then gazed at Cory. “Got another cup of coffee?”
“You know where the MREs are, go ahead.”
“Room service here sucks.” Cory looked at Rachael with a question mark in his stare.
“He is a doctor,” she whispered when Tim was out of earshot looking for the coffee.
“I’m a park ranger, and I don’t ask the deer to shoot themselves when we have to thin the herd.” He gave her a toothy smile and she shot him the finger. They both laughed.
“This coffee is not so bad for MRE coffee,” Tim said as he returned to their group.
“I’m going to freshen up as much as I can with a splash of water and my comb,” Rachael told them as she headed off a bit from the guys.
“How long ago did you leave the Corps?” Cory asked.
“Eight years.”
“Maybe they got better at it.”
“More likely my standards lowered since the EMP,” he answered, taking a sip of the coffee and then adding, “you and I are still not on the right foot.”
“Maybe we never will be,” Cory answered, after thinking on it for a long minute. “She seems to love you, so I will live with it. I don’t really give a
crap if you like me or not. If she’s with you, then you are one of ours and mine. Simple as that. I don’t need to think about it beyond that.”
“Well, it would be nice if we got along, at the very least. I know I kind of overreacted to you when you first showed up at the clinic, but I was coming off a few days with no sleep and I had no idea who you were.”
“No problem here.” The two men exchanged glances, both assessing the other, before Tim silently put out his hand. An unspoken truce was offered and accepted as they shook hands. Tim was now a part of the family, for better or worse.
“Cory!” It was Ben’s voice, and it was filled with excitement. Cory and Tim walked to the overlook where he sat, and followed his arm as he extended it south.
“That’s my boys,” Ben said, excitedly. “I can’t see their faces yet, but I would recognize their riding style from miles off.” He got into the ATV and moved down the hillside, then turned onto the pavement and sped off in their direction. Cory could see the two men dismount as the ATV approached and the three met on the roadway, exchanging a fierce, three-way hug before parting and talking excitedly. After a minute, Ben pointed in the direction of the bluff where Cory and Tim stood. They both waved and the men below waved back. Tim went to tell Rachael the good news and Cory watched as the men loaded their gear into the back of the ATV and removed the saddles from the horses. They then led the horses into some brush on the side of the road, removed the bridles, and slapped each horse on the rump to get them to move farther into the wilderness. Ben waved for them to get into the ATV and the group headed toward Cory’s position, climbing the hill and coming to a stop next to where he stood. Tim and Rachael joined the group and Ben did the introductions.
“These are my boys,” he said, beaming proudly as he circled an arm around each of the young men. “This one on the right is Eric, and the handsome one is Justin.” Eric stared back at him for a moment, watching his father chuckle at his own joke, then shook his head and moved forward to exchange handshakes. Justin did the same. Cory was amazed at how much they looked like their father. Both were about Ben’s height and broad-shouldered. Both had the same dark hair and eyes as Ben, and both were wearing the same look of mild amusement that Ben so often wore. The boys seemed thin and dirty to Cory, and both looked as though they had passed through some sort of ordeal that defied description. Eric looked less stressed, but Justin looked horrible.
Prepper's Crucible: Volume Five: A Post Apocalyptic Tale Page 6
