“When I came over earlier to get the water bucket, I put all of our names down for showers tonight. There are a few people ahead of us but it shouldn’t be too long of a wait. There’s a tray by the door that has little paper cups filled with soap and shampoo. I can’t wait to get this salt crust off of me.”
Emily and Lisa beamed happily at him and Mason nodded with a smile. They finished up their food and took their empty trays back to the dishwashers. The thought of being clean sent them straight back to the cabin and they all grabbed their one extra change of clothes. Emily made a note to herself to see about washing their salt encrusted clothes before they moved on. When they arrived at the shower room doors there were only four people waiting in line. The two men and two women waiting there stared at the kids before turning their backs. David raised his eyebrows in a question at the others but they just shrugged. Emily didn’t care. She just wanted to be clean and then sleep. The camp was a nice setup but she wanted to be home and she wasn’t looking to make friends. Once it was their turn, they all took the little cups of soap and separated into the men’s and women’s rooms. The hot water felt like heaven and if there had been more shampoo available, Emily would have scrubbed her hair a second time. As she pulled on her clean clothes, she felt sluggish and drowsy. The hot meal and hot shower had sapped all her strength as the lack of sleep from the past few days caught up to her. Lisa had to steer her back to the cabin and she helped her into bed. As Emily closed her eyes, she had a small smile on her face. Next step…home.
Chapter 21
In the morning, Emily woke with a sense of excitement. Even though they had travelled hundreds of miles by boat, it didn’t feel like they had. Today they would start the final leg of their journey home and she was itching to start walking. Everyone else must have felt the same because they were up early and ready to go. The main building was set up for breakfast and they eagerly joined the line that was forming. The meal was once again simple but filling. There was the biggest pot Emily had ever seen filled with oatmeal and raisins. A few bowls filled with canned fruit and small glasses of juice were also available. The teens savoured the meal as they knew that it would be the last one they had before they had to cook over a campfire.
After they had finished their meal they headed back to the cabin and packed their bags. Emily was getting antsy to leave but there was no sign of Joanna. They had gathered on the front porch with their bags ready at their feet. Emily was pacing back and forth ready to be on the way. They had just started talking about getting directions and leaving when they heard the sound of engines heading their way. They all turned to look around, trying to spot where the noise was coming from. It wasn’t long before two ATVs and one Quad came towards them from the main road leaving the camp. Joanna was leading them and Emily could see the two other riders where men. As they got closer she saw David stiffen and Lisa gasped. As the riders got closer, Emily realized that one of the riders was Jacob, the man who had stolen their boat.
When the three riders pulled up to the cabin and stopped, the teens were all on their feet on the porch staring down at them with grim silence. Jacob looked them over quickly and then stared at the ground. The other man with them was in his early thirties and he stared at them with a scowl on his face. Joanna approached the cabin and smiled.
“Good morning! I hope you all had a good night. This is my son Will and you know Jacob. We have some ideas about helping you kids get home. Jacob?” She turned and waved him forward.
Jacob didn’t seem like he was going to speak or even look at them for a minute. Emily was about to say something when he finally reached up and rubbed his forehead. He took a step forward and raised his eyes to them.
“What I did to you kids…” He stopped and shook his head and cleared his throat. “What I did was wrong and I’m sorry. I was out of my head with grief for my wife and desperation for my children. I’m sorry and I’d like to try and make it up to you.” He lowered his head again and Emily clearly saw the regret in his eyes.
It was David that replied to him. “Sir, we are sorry for what happened to your family. I’m glad you got your kids to safety. We would appreciate any help you could give us to get home.”
Emily shot a quick look at Mason who was frowning and Lisa who stood with a blank face. She hoped they wouldn’t say anything. There was no point in rehashing what had happened and if these people were willing to help them get closer to home they should just let it go. Jacob nodded at Joanna and her son crossed his arms and looked away angrily. Emily couldn’t tell who he was mad at.
Joanna sent Jacob a compassionate smile and turned to the teens.
“All right then. Will is leaving tomorrow to make a fish delivery to some of the rescue camps set upon the mainland. They go with armed guards and we think you should go with them. Their route will take you to about thirty miles from the Canadian border and past some of the more dangerous areas. Luke, my husband, and I talked it over and we want to give you kids this ATV. Jacob is going to give you his. You can double up on them and make much better time. Gas will be easy to find with all the abandoned cars on the roads. You just need to siphon it. We will give you some extra food and water and with a little luck, it should only take you about a week to get home.”
Emily was shocked by the generous offering and she saw her friends felt the same. Mason’s face had a huge grin on it and Lisa had closed her eyes in relief. David had walked down the steps with his hand out to Jacob.
“Sir, we can’t thank you enough!” he said as he shook the hand of the now smiling man. When he tried to shake Joanna’s son’s hand, the man angrily waved him off and sent a glare at his mother. Emily saw this over Joanna’s shoulder as she hugged the woman in gratitude. She pulled back from her and her smile changed to concern.
Joanna looked behind her and met the glare of her son. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.
“Not one word! For the last time, this is not your decision to make!” she snapped at him harshly. Will shut his mouth and turned and walked away.
Joanna took a deep breath and turned back to the kids. “He’s not happy with giving up the ATVs but we have an extra one and a truck that still works. It’s more than most people have and it’s the right thing to do. Don’t worry about him. He’ll get over it.” Joanna smiled reassuringly at them before continuing. “You kids just relax for today and I’ll be back at dawn to get you. Be ready because they like to get on the road as soon as possible. I’ll head over and let Betty know that you’ll be staying another night.” Joanna called her son back over and Jacob gave them a nod before they started up their machines and rode away.
David slung his arm around Emily’s shoulder as they watched them leave. “This is huge, Emily. We will be home in no time now. I figured on at least two or three weeks walking to get there but with ATVs it will only be days.”
Emily smiled up at him. His face was so full of hope and happiness. She was happy too but she couldn’t get the angry look on Will’s face out of her mind. They would be leaving with him in the morning and she hoped he had a change of heart by then.
“I’m going to grab Lisa and see about washing up our clothes. Everything is still covered in salt and it would be nice to clean them while we can.”
“Good idea! Would you mind doing mine as well? I want to go around and see if anyone is familiar with what’s between here and the border. It would be good to know what we are facing before we get there,” he said.
“Yes, of course. We might as well do Mason’s clothes too but you boys are doing the next load!” she teased him.
Lisa and Emily unpacked their bags and sorted out the salt encrusted clothes. Once they had the boys’ laundry, they headed to the main building to see what the setup was. They were directed to a fire pit off to the side of the building that had a big barrel of water over it. There were tin washtubs and plastic containers set up in a row. Emily was delighted to see an antique roller wringer on a stand. After washing and rins
ing the clothing they took turns feeding each piece through the wringer while the other cranked the handle. There were clotheslines strung between trees and they hung everything to dry in the spring sun.
When they got back to the cabin, David and Mason were gone. She puttered around the small room but couldn’t seem to settle. Lisa was staring out the window with a far off look on her face. Emily knew her friend was still trying to deal with what happened on the boat with Mark. She wished that she could help but knew that Lisa would have to come to terms with it herself. She gave the girl a hug and reminded her that she was there for her if she wanted to talk but Lisa just sadly shook her head.
“I’m going to go for a walk and see what else is around here. Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
“Thanks, Emily, but I just need to have some time to think. Thank you for being such a good friend. It means more to me than you will ever know.”
After another quick hug, Emily slipped out of the cabin. She needed something to occupy herself or she would go crazy waiting to leave in the morning. She saw people carrying boxes and crates into the main building and decided to head over and see if she could help out with anything. When she poked her head in the main doors, she saw that all the tables were empty but she heard voices coming from the kitchen area. When she saw Betty walking by the door, she headed that way. The kitchen was bustling with people prepping for the next meal and when she caught Betty’s eye, she went over to the lady.
“Excuse me, ma’am. I was hoping you could put me to work. I’m pretty good in the kitchen but I could lend a hand with whatever needs doing.”
Betty wiped her hands on a towel and smiled at her. “We can always use extra hands around here. It’s Emily, right? Follow me and I’ll introduce you to these busy ladies. They’ll love the extra help!”
Emily spent the rest of the day hard at work with her mind occupied. They all chatted as they made up sandwiches for lunch and prepped the food that would go into dinner. Her heart felt light in the warm room. It was so much like being at home during the holidays when her mom and all her aunts would work together to prepare the holiday meal. At one point, she felt tears dripping down her face in homesickness. The woman next to her handed her a dish towel and rubbed her back.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. I do that at least three times a day.”
She worked all day helping to make food and clean and wash dishes. When the dinner was being served, Betty handed her a tray and told her to go and eat. She offered to stay and wash dishes but the older woman just shooed her out.
“Go on now, eat with your friends. You’ve done enough today and Joanna says you will be leaving at dawn. I put your name down on the evening shower list. You’ve got a long road ahead of you so take what comforts you can before you leave.”
Emily impulsively threw her arms around Betty. “Thank you for letting me help out today and for everything else you have done for us. I won’t forget you!”
Betty smiled and nodded then pushed Emily towards the dining area where her friends were waiting. When she settled at their table they were talking about tomorrow and what David and Mason had learned from some of the others in the camp.
David was talking about the border crossing. “They said that they tried to cross into B.C. because they have family in the interior but that guards have the border crossings locked down. They aren’t letting anyone across even with Canadian ID. Other people that know that area said it was just a chain link fence and if you go further away from the crossing there would be no one to stop us from just going over it. They said there isn’t even a fence in some places. We shouldn’t have a problem. With the ATVs, we don’t even have to stay on the roads. We can easily go over fields if we have to.” He looked at all of them and grinned. “We will be in Canada tomorrow night!”
They finished their dinners and stacked their trays in the dish area before heading back to the cabin. Emily was happy to see the neat pile of clothing that Lisa had taken down from the lines and folded. After they had repacked their backpacks, they headed to the showers. They all knew that it would probably be the last one they had for a very long time.
Lying in bed, Emily stared at the ceiling and thought about Alex. Where was she? How far had they come and were they all still alive? Her biggest hope after seeing her parents were that Alex and her other friends would already be home or that they would arrive soon after.
Chapter 22
The night was barely lightened in the east when Emily and her friends filed out of the cabin and stood on the front porch. The outline of a person was walking towards them from the main road. Emily felt a surge of apprehension. For some reason she felt that things were not going to go by the plan. She let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding when Joanna stepped into the torchlight and she was smiling in greeting.
“Good morning! I see you are all ready to go. Follow me. The trucks are waiting out on the main road.” She turned back the way she had come and they followed her out of the campground. Waiting on the road were three old pickup trucks and seven different ATVs and Quads. Two of them had supplies strapped to the back but were riderless. Joanna walked them over to them and waved her son, Will, to join them. He was still clearly upset by his Mother’s decision but he didn’t say anything.
“I want you to stay between the trucks at all times. The men will be on guard and they all have weapons. Stay with them until they get to the last drop off and then William will show you the way to go from there. You should try and stay off the interstate. There are a lot of desperate people out there that would kill you for what you have.” She paused and looked at each one of them before continuing. “I will pray that you get home safely. Good luck.” Joanna pulled Will into a tight embrace and spoke softly to him. When they separated, she smiled at the kids again and turned to walk away.
Emily called out to her. “Thank you, Joanna! Thank you for saving us!”
Will stared at her for a moment before barking out at them.
“Load up! Stay between the trucks and keep your mouths shut. Once we get to the mainland, anything or anyone could be waiting for us. We need to stay sharp and we can’t be babysitting you bunch.” He practically snarled the last sentence before turning away. Emily saw Mason’s face darken in anger and she quickly grabbed his arm and shook her head. There was no point in fighting with the jerk. In a few hours, they would be away from him and on their way alone.
David, Mason and Emily were all experienced riders but they had decided to let the boys drive for the first leg. Once they were on and settled, Emily climbed on behind Mason and Lisa joined David. Lisa had made peace with Mason over their past but she was still uncomfortable being too close to him.
They stayed tucked between the first and second truck. It was still too dark to see any of the scenery so Emily spent the first hour with her head tucked down behind Mason’s back. By the time the sun was up and it was bright enough to see, they had crossed the landbridge and were on the mainland. Emily didn’t know what she expected to see but everything looked fairly normal. There were all types of vehicles that had been pushed off to the side of the road, but that was the only thing out of place. As they got closer to the first town that they would drive through, there were more signs of destruction. Some of the homes were boarded up and had smoke coming out of the chimneys but others had windows smashed out and doors hanging open. There was a block that they drove by that all the houses had burned to the ground. The strangest sight to Emily was a long stretch of road that had every car wide open. Front and back doors and trunks were all open. What she didn’t see was people. No one was out walking around and that coupled with the silence made her shiver.
As they went through the main business district, the damage was much more prevalent. Stores and restaurants had been looted heavily and there weren’t any windows left intact. She was saddened by all the damage around her and then baffled. For some reason, someone had pulled down the golden arches of a McDonald’s sign and it hun
g from its pole by wires. Shaking her head at the senselessness of it, she heard her belly rumble and images of the restaurant’s famous breakfast came to mind. She groaned at the knowledge that there might never be another one made. A sudden anger came over her. Who had done this? Who had caused the misery all around them? They had been so focused on getting home that none of her friends had even asked that question. They only had what Emily had seen on CNN the day everything stopped to go by. Did anyone even know who had done this terrible thing? At this point, did it even matter?
A shout from ahead pulled her from her dark thoughts and she felt the ATV slow before coming to a stop. With the big truck in front of them she couldn’t see what was happening but a look at the relaxed guards told her everything was fine. They were moving again in minutes and they passed through an open gate. Chain link fence surrounded a building that Emily recognized as a large hotel. The guards jumped from their machines and dropped the tailgate of the truck that they had been following. David quickly jumped in to help when he saw that they were unloading the boxes and crates and carrying them inside. Will scowled at him but didn’t say anything when David lifted a crate and followed the others. Emily nudged Mason and he joined in as well.
The men made quick work of the unloading and they were heading back through the gate within twenty minutes. Emily was happy when they left the damaged town and got back into the countryside. It was easier to look at the new spring growth on trees and in fields than the destroyed town. That thought ended when she started to see people walking along the sides of the road. They were like zombies. Whole families would stop and stare at them as they drove by with empty eyes. They were filthy and ragged and way too thin. Emily had to sob when they passed a mother and father with their two small children. The mother was holding a toddler and it looked like it was dead. The father held the hand of a little girl in a ragged pink dress and when they passed them she waved her stick thin arm like it was a parade. Mason reached down and squeezed her arm that was around his waist but they didn’t stop. She wanted to scream at the guards to do something, anything to help, but their blank faces told her that they wouldn’t.
Sea (A Stranded Novel) Page 17
