by Harley Tate
“If I have to. How about we just take a step back and relax? We can hike back to the Humvee while there’s some light left, get some sleep, and discuss this like adults in the morning.”
Dani interrupted. “I don’t think—”
Doug turned on her. “That’s right. You never think about anyone but yourself. This whole mess wouldn’t have happened if you never showed up at Harvey’s place. If the asshole hadn’t taken you in and felt sorry for you, my sister would still be alive. We would still be sitting in our parents’ house, comfortable and happy.”
He twisted back and looked at his sister’s body. “Melody would still be alive.”
As Doug stared at his sister’s body, Lottie burst through the brush at the river’s edge. She scampered up to Melody, yipping and barking. Leaves and twigs matted the poor dog’s fur as she sat at her dead master’s side.
Colt swallowed. Everything had gone so horribly wrong. He cared for Melody. Hell, he could have fallen for her if the situation were different. And now she was dead and her brother was falling apart.
He lowered the gun and stepped forward. “Let’s go back, Doug. We can carry Melody together and find a beautiful spot to bury her.”
Doug screamed in anguish. Lottie cowered, but she wouldn’t leave Melody’s side. Doug rushed toward the little dog, hands outstretched like talons.
Dani shouted out. “If you touch that dog, you’re a dead man.”
Doug kept walking. “You don’t have the balls.”
Dani aimed and fired at a spot three feet to Doug’s left. “Wanna bet?”
Shit. Colt didn’t know how to diffuse the situation. Doug wasn’t thinking clearly and Dani wasn’t about to back down. As Colt stood there, gun still aimed at Doug, the grieving man spun around.
He unslung his rifle and pointed it at Dani, but his grip was all wrong. Even if Doug got a shot off, the kick would send him backward into the river. He’d end up on his ass before he could shoot again.
Colt spoke slowly and without emotion. “Don’t do this, Doug. You don’t want to die today.”
“Don’t I? What’s the point now? Melody’s dead. Harvey and Gloria and Will are dead. Larkin is God knows where.” He waved the rifle around, finger too tight on the trigger. “We’re going to die out here anyway, might as well get it over with.”
“You’re in shock. Hand me the rifle and we can talk about it in the morning.”
Doug swung the gun back to Dani. “No. She deserves to be punished.”
Colt had to give Dani credit. She stood still, aiming at Doug’s chest, saying nothing. The barrel of the rifle didn’t even shake. The girl might make it in this new world after all.
As they all stood there in a stalemate, Lottie let out a single, high-pitched bark. Doug turned.
It was Colt’s chance. If he wanted to take the man out, now was the time. He took aim. His finger slipped around the trigger as Larkin burst through the trees.
“Well I’ll be damned. If it isn’t…oh, shit.” He stumbled to a stop at the sight of Melody’s corpse.
Doug spun around and pointed his rifle at Larkin. “Stand back!”
Larkin lifted his hands. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to lower your weapon.”
“Were you in on it?”
“In on what?” Larkin glanced at Colt as another figure emerged from the trees.
Colt blinked in surprise. A man in his mid-forties with a two-inch beard came to a stop next to Larkin, his blue eyes clear and calm. It can’t be.
“Walter Sloane? Is that you?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
COLT
Northern California Forest
7:00 p.m.
Walter Sloane. The pilot who landed a commercial jet on a tiny runway after the power went out. The first man to save Colt’s life post-EMP. What the hell was he doing in the middle of the Northern California forest?
He looked a little older, maybe a little more haggard, but otherwise the man appeared in excellent health. A beard coated his previously clean jaw and out of the pilot’s uniform he seemed a bit younger, but it was definitely the same man.
Colt nodded in his direction. “Good to see you again, Pilot. Wish the circumstances were better.”
Walter nodded, but didn’t say anything. Colt tried to take in the scene from Walter’s perspective. An air marshal and a teenage girl pointing weapons at a distraught man standing over the corpse of a woman. Not exactly the warmest welcome.
Larkin stared at Melody’s dead body where it lay on the creek’s edge. Colt could see the emotion working behind the man’s clenched jaw. After a moment, Larkin glanced up at Doug. “Is there a problem?”
“Are you blind? Melody’s dead!” Doug jerked his rifle in Dani’s direction. “And it’s all her fault!”
Larkin managed to keep his voice even. “Is that right?”
“No.” Dani shook her head while she held the rifle. “I found her in the river. She was already dead.”
“The ravine is almost hidden in the tree line.” Colt tilted his head toward the embankment. “Melody must have fallen.”
Doug trembled. “No way. Melody wouldn’t be so careless.”
Colt pressed on. “She was distraught. Harvey’s death wrecked her. Don’t you remember, Doug? She could barely stand at his grave.”
The rifle in Doug’s hands shook. “I don’t believe it.”
Colt tried again. “It would have been easy to catch a rock or break a leg. I slid a bunch of times.”
“Better you than her.”
“That’s enough, Doug.” Larkin eased forward again. “Dani told you what happened. Let it go.”
“I won’t.”
Colt watched Larkin. He couldn’t get a read on his old friend. How much had he shared with Melody? Had their relationship changed into something more? As Larkin stepped toward Doug, Colt prepared to shoot anyone who made a wrong move.
Larkin pulled a pistol from his waistband and held it close to his chest. He reached out with his other hand to Doug. “Hand me the weapon.”
“No.” Doug swung the rifle in Larkin’s direction. “It’s mine.”
Larkin didn’t even flinch. “If I remember correctly, it actually belongs to that asshole who killed the Wilkins family.”
Doug stared at the dark metal barrel for a moment. It was enough for Larkin. He lunged for the gun and plucked it from Doug’s hands before he had time to react.
Doug stood there, hands still in the shape of the rifle, frozen.
Larkin turned to Walter. “Does your offer still stand?”
Walter glanced at Colt. “Yes. But the first sign of trouble and you all will have to leave. Understood?”
Colt didn’t know what the hell was going on, but if Walter was offering, he was taking, whatever it might turn out to be. He nodded at Walter before turning his attention on Doug. The man needed to come to terms with reality. Colt holstered his weapon and approached.
“We can all help with Melody, if that’s what you want.”
Doug shuddered while he stared at his sister’s corpse. “No. She’s my responsibility. I can bury her.”
Colt exhaled. He didn’t want to push, but leave Doug there to handle his sister on his own? He stepped back to stand beside Dani and motioned for her to stand down. She lowered the rifle with a scowl.
Larkin bent down and scooped Lottie up into his arms. “Walter has some food. I’m going to get Lottie something to eat. Is that all right, Doug?”
Melody’s brother swayed back and forth on his feet, never once taking his eyes off her body. “Fine.”
Larkin motioned to Walter and the pair of them eased around Doug and joined Colt and Dani on the bank. Walter gave Colt’s hand a quick shake. “Looks like you all are in a bind.”
Colt nodded. “That’s an understatement.”
“I’ve got a base camp not far from here. You are welcome to come rest there.”
“We’ve got a Humvee up the hill with some gear and q
uite a few weapons.”
Walter nodded. “We can collect everything tomorrow. How about all of you come with me before it’s too dark to see?”
Colt glanced up at the sky. Sometime during the altercation with Doug, the sun had set. They didn’t have long. “Thank you, but someone should stay with Doug.”
“No. I want to be alone.”
Colt knew the man’s grief was eating him up, but he couldn’t leave Doug to the elements. “What will you do overnight?”
“Bury my sister.”
Larkin caught Colt’s eye. “I’ll come back to check on him in a while.”
Leaving Doug didn’t sit well with Colt, but what choice did he have? If he stayed, it would only prolong the conflict. If he left, Doug could mourn his sister in peace. Both options were terrible, but with reluctance, Colt agreed. “I’ll be back at first light.”
Doug didn’t respond. He walked over to his sister’s body and knelt by her side. Colt turned away. Doug needed time to grieve without a bunch of people he barely knew staring at him, wondering if he would crack.
Walter pointed downriver and Colt, Dani, and Larkin fell into step behind him. Lottie sat in the crook of Larkin’s arm, her little ears pricked as she listened to the evening animals of the forest waking up. The poor little scrap of a dog had been through more than most pets, and now her owner was dead.
Colt didn’t know how long an animal like Lottie would last in this new world, but he would try his best to keep her alive for Melody’s sake.
With a heaviness in his heart, he left the woman he’d grown attached to in unexpected ways behind. So far, the trek out of Eugene had brought nothing but pain and misfortune. He hoped Walter’s presence would turn the tide.
Chapter Twenty-Six
COLT
Northern California Forest
9:00 p.m.
Colt swirled the last dregs of tea around his mug and gulped it down. “I can’t thank you enough for letting us come here.”
Walter nodded. “You’re welcome. I could frankly do with some company. It’s been a long week on my own.”
Larkin, Walter, Colt, and Dani sat in a circle around a small fire, watching the flames dance. They’d been mostly silent for the past hour, drinking tea, eating some of Walter’s jerky, and recovering from one hell of a day.
Colt reached out with a stick and poked a log not yet burning into the fire. “So you’ve been out here hunting?”
“Gathering anything I can find, really. Meat, edible plants, berries. If it’s not poisonous and I can preserve it, that’s what I aim to do.”
Colt stretched out his left leg and rubbed at the healed knife wound in his thigh. He had bruises all over from the car crash, injuries from the last month that weren’t completely healed, and a concussion that still made him close his eyes every now and then. Walter on the other hand, seemed right as rain.
For a man who set off with nothing but a pilot’s uniform and a couple of granola bars, he’d done a hell of a lot better than Colt expected. With a stretch and a groan, Colt eased a loaded question across the night. “So… where are you located these days?”
Walter smiled over the rim of his mug. “Not going to tell you that.”
“Fair enough.” Colt glanced at Larkin and exhaled. He didn’t expect the truth from Walter, even if he’d gotten an answer. They might have both survived the same emergency landing, but Walter didn’t know Colt from a hole in the ground. “Tell me about Sacramento. It had to fare worse than Eugene.”
Walter filled him in on the details, describing everything from the looting and fires to the National Guard sealing up the worst riots and letting them burn themselves out. It sounded like he barely escaped the violence. Walter poked a stick at the fire keeping them warm. “What about Eugene? When I went through, it was fine. Why leave?”
Colt shared his experience staying at the University of Oregon for the first two weeks and how the National Guard who came to help went rogue. He told Walter all about Jarvis and the night he barely escaped with his life and how Dani kept him alive, and how Harvey took them in when they were on death’s door.
Larkin chimed in with what he experienced in Portland and then how the National Guard turned into a militia.
At the end of it all, Walter nodded. “If there’s anything I’ve learned this past month, it’s that finding people to trust is worth more than any skill.”
Colt agreed. He didn’t know which one fared worse: the big city with complete lawlessness, or the small town with a despot for a ruler. But the conversation with Walter solidified his decision to find a remote place on his own.
Nowhere bigger than a few thousand people would be functional now. Small towns with tight-knit communities might be able to carry on with some semblance of normalcy, but without the government as de facto leaders, the power loss would warp everywhere eventually.
He thought about all of his assignments halfway across the world and the tribal factions that mattered more than any dictator or president. America was in the throes of a crisis and in desperate times—not always the best men and women took charge.
While Walter poured another cup of tea, Colt took stock. A single tent for one in forest green sat concealed among the trees on the edge of the camp. Sacks of gathered food sat beside the entrance.
A crazy box with aluminum foil sides and a clear plastic lid took up residence not far from the fire. Colt squinted at it. Was it a storage container? A magnifying glass? All of a sudden it clicked. A solar cooker. Smart.
The fire in the middle was one of two. Another, larger version with rocks and sheets of metal anchored the opposite corner of the camp. A deer carcass hung above it, high enough to avoid animals attracted by the smell as it smoked.
Colt pointed at the setup. “Are you cooking all of that meat?”
Walter glanced behind him. “Hoping to smoke it, actually. It won’t keep unless I preserve it somehow. I wanted to can it, but the logistics were too hard. I made jerky out of the last one, but I wanted to try my hand at something different this go-round.”
The difference between their situations was staggering. In town, they were rummaging through houses and fending off hostiles and barely surviving. Out in the woods, Walter had abundance and plenty.
Colt glanced at Dani. She sat a few feet away, toes pointed toward the fire while Lottie slept in her lap. She chewed on a strip of deer jerky in silence, watching the flames.
The little dog had gorged herself on scraps of the hanging deer while Walter had stoked the fire and put the water on to boil. If Colt didn’t have the wounds to prove it, he could almost forget the rest of the country was falling apart.
He nudged Dani’s foot with his boot. “You can curl up somewhere and sleep.”
She raised her exhausted head. “Where?”
Walter pointed at a large leafy tree among the pines. “There’s a soft spot beneath the white alder over there. You’ll be close enough to the smoker that you shouldn’t be cold.”
Dani glanced at it, but didn’t move.
Colt nudged her again. “I’ll wake you if anything happens.”
“You promise?”
He nodded and Dani reluctantly stood, carrying her rifle with her over to the tree. She patted the ground around the trunk and eased herself down. Lottie trotted up and tucked herself by Dani’s side.
Colt waited for a handful of minutes before turning back to Walter. He needed to clear the air. “I’m sorry again about the scene with Doug. We only beat you to the river by a few minutes.”
“Larkin told me you’d already lost two people.”
“Three.” Colt glanced at Larkin. The man had been quiet for the better part of the night. “Harvey’s dead, too.”
“Damn it.” Larkin scrubbed a hand down his face. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”
Colt agreed. Ever since they left Eugene, their luck had taken a turn for the worse. “I’m sorry about Melody.”
“Are you sure she fell?”
Larkin nodded and stood up. “I’m going to check on Doug.”
“Are you sure?”
He paused as a shadow crossed his face. “I also want to pay my respects.”
Colt nodded. “See you in the morning.”
Larkin slung a rifle over his shoulder and took off.
After his footsteps faded into the night, Colt turned to Walter. “How did you and Larkin find each other?”
“I came across him near Highway 58. Told me he’d been chased by a pair of men up to no good and was trying to find his way back to his group. I offered to help. We were on our way to this place when we came across you all.”
Colt snorted. They only ran into each other on accident. Maybe their luck hadn’t completely run out.
“How did you end up with the girl? Was she on the plane?”
“No.” Colt leaned back and took another sip of tea. “I found her on the streets in Eugene. She’d been caught by a soldier who wanted to bring her in. He didn’t have good intentions, so I rectified the situation.”
“And you two have stuck together ever since?”
“She’s saved my life and I’ve saved hers.” Colt glanced at Dani’s sleeping form. “Guess she’s the closest to family I’m ever going to get.”
Walter nodded. “In times like these, family is what matters.”
“How about you? Did you find your wife and daughter?”
Walter didn’t answer. Instead he sipped his tea. After a moment, he changed the subject. “Tell me about the gun haul. Larkin described the car crash and two men in the Mustang. I want your take on it.”
Colt relayed what he knew. When he finished, he asked the question that burned in the back of his mind ever since overhearing the two men talk. “Do you know anything about this Cunningham fellow?”
