Jeremiah and Gary stood a respectable distance away, and waited. They had kept their distance, but had not been so far away that they had not seen the marks on her body, and it angered them both. Jeremiah had seen no inkling whatsoever of that sort of violence in Gina's eyes, and that bothered him a great deal. It did not harden his heart so much that he began to distrust everyone, as Frank had begun to do, but he did resolve to look more closely, to be much more careful, and it made him understand how Frank had felt. Without speaking both men walked slowly toward the front of the trees, and stared out over the field in the direction of the trucks.
Nothing moved all was quiet. Both groups seemed to playing the waiting game, and Jeremiah wondered briefly if there was time for it. They had been here for a little over three hours, and their position had not changed for the better at all, with the exception of the bullet riddled truck, which did provide some additional cover. They had only six hours or so remaining before the missiles would launch, and they needed to be gone already. Was six hours enough time to get away? Far enough away? He had no idea, but it would have to be, it was all they had, and in fact they wouldn't even have that if they didn't leave soon. Very soon, he corrected himself, very soon. Maybe they should try to make the river now, he reasoned, and just as quickly rejected it. Too many would die trying, and even if they did make the river, what then? He was still puzzling over what they should do, when Gary nudged his shoulder and pointed toward the trucks.
Most of the trucks now had their head-lights on, and as they watched and listened, they began to pick up the sounds of hurried movement, and then several of the trucks started.
Everyone squeezed closer to the front of the trees, including the four women. All were ready, rifles clutched desperately, waiting to see what would happen next.
"Stupid!" Lisa whispered loudly, and lunged for the bullet riddled truck, "I forgot!" She reached through the shattered window, and came back out holding the rifle that Gina had been using, and turned to Jeremiah. "She could see you through this somehow, she said so, and I forgot all about it," she finished as she handed the rifle to him.
Jeremiah sighted quickly through the scope, and then whistled softly. "Infrared scope, no wonder they could see us." He sighted on the trucks, and watched as the trucks unexpectedly turned around, and quickly accelerated in the opposite direction. "You ain't goin' to believe this," he said, "but it looks as though they're leavin'." He handed the rifle to Jessie, and she confirmed his suspicion.
"But why?" she asked aloud.
"I killed her," Lisa said simply and quietly, "I had to. Maybe without her they don't want to fight, she did seem to be all that held them together."
"Maybe," Jeremiah allowed, "could be a trick though."
Jessie was still looking through the scope. "Maybe," she agreed, "but if it is a trick, they're heading quite a long ways away to pull it off, and, they're driving fast, like we're after them, and... What the hell is that?" she asked, sounding startled, as she handed the rifle back to Jeremiah. "To the right, looks like it's right on the river or something," she finished.
Jeremiah took the rifle and sighted slowly along the river bank, before he came upon what she had seen. He did not speak for several seconds, but when he did, a smile broke over his face. "I think," he said happily, "that help has finally arrived," he handed the rifle to Gary.
Gary quickly sighted. "Boats?" he asked, as he handed the rifle back to Jessie. She looked again. She could clearly see the glow she had first seen, that seemed to be suspended on the river, but she could also see the source of the light, for now she could tell that they were lights. Several of them. Attached to two of the largest boats she had ever seen. "They're ships, or boats, aren't they?" she asked.
"Look like river boats," Jeremiah replied. "Folks, I think we better get down to the river, or they just might pass us by," he finished, a smile splitting his face. It slipped as Jessie looked back into the woods, and started to walk back.
Frank was still out cold, and as she looked she saw that his face was pale, and bathed in sweat. She began to shake as she ran her fingers through the dark curls that spilled across his forehead.
"Don't do it to yourself Jessie," Jeremiah said, gently squeezing one arm, "we can't help him."
She looked away, blinking rapidly before she spoke. "I know that, Jeremiah, but it's not fair," she finished.
Gary had stayed up front, and Jessie, followed by Jeremiah, returned just a few minutes later, with fresh tears tracking her tired face. Two men bore the makeshift stretcher behind them.
"Okay, let's go," Jeremiah said, and the group began first to walk, and then several broke into a run as they came from the trees, and headed toward the river.
Joe stood on the deck with Becky, and watched them come. "There's so many of them," Delbert said from nearby where he stood with Ali, "did you know there would be so many of them?"
"No... maybe... I don't know, Dell, I guess I might have at that," Joe responded thoughtfully.
Jacob maneuvered the boat closer into shore, nearly touching the bank, and ordered the walkway lowered, just before the first of the large group reached the bank. The crowd swelled, but none stepped aboard, until Jeremiah and Jessie caught up, and worked their way to the front with Gary. Jeremiah looked up at the young blond-haired man who stood looking down and nodded before he spoke.
"You Joe?" he asked.
"Yes, but how did you know my name?" Joe asked incredulously.
"Oh, I think we have a mutual friend," Jeremiah answered with a smile, as he made his way up the walkway.
Becky looked down at the still, dark-haired form that lay on a makeshift stretcher. "Frank!" she said startled, and left Joe's side as the stretcher was born up the walkway. A young woman walked next to the stretcher, holding Frank's hand, and Becky approached her.
"Is he okay? What happened to him?" she asked.
Jessie was temporarily taken aback, but managed to compose herself and answer.
"They shot him," she said angrily, and then, "You know him? You and Frank know each other?"
"I'm sorry," Becky said, "I didn't mean to sound like that, it's just that I thought he would... would be okay. I didn't know he would be hurt."
Jessie was even more confused, and Becky could see it in her eyes.
"I'm Becky, I used to know Frank, but... Well, for now, it's just too complicated. We have a doctor," Becky said quickly, "come on, I'll take you to him, and then I'll explain myself a little better."
Frank moaned and opened his eyes as they moved across the main deck, and Jessie looked down at him from one side, as Becky looked from the other. He shook his head and focused on Jessie. "What happened?" he managed in a near whisper.
"Shh," Jessie said, "Keep still, Frank."
Frank swiveled his head to the right and focused on Becky, "Arlene?" he asked. Before she could answer his eyes slipped shut. As they hurried along a hallway heading for the doctor Jessie wondered just who Arlene was, and just what sort of a relationship she'd had with Frank, and why had she said her name was Becky?
When the first boat was filled, Jacob backed carefully away from the bank and David eased the other boat slowly into position taking his place. As that boat also began to take on passengers, Jeremiah and Gary filled Joe in about the missiles. Joe got Jacob involved in the conversation, as well as Delbert, and the five men began to devise a plan that they hoped would get them away fast enough to escape the brunt of the blast.
"So how much time do we have left?" Jacob asked.
"Probably less than four hours I'd say, to be safe," Gary replied.
"Probably more than that," Jeremiah added, "but to be safe that's about all we kin afford time wise."
"That doesn't leave us a lot of choice," Jacob sighed.
"Can we make it?" Joe asked.
"I don't know, but we have to try," Jacob replied, "I guess the only thing we can do is run damn hard for three hours or so, and then put to shore. We don't want to be on the water w
hen they go... thing is, we can't run real hard or we'll kill the engines for sure, they've already been run too hard as it is."
"How far will that get us?" Gary asked.
"Not far at all, but you're asking the impossible with only three hours to run in. That extra hour or so is gonna be needed to get as far inland as possible... unless... well, we could cut across now and see if we can pick up a river off the main channel. That would get us further inland a lot quicker," he shrugged his shoulders when he finished.
"Sounds like the best we can do," Jeremiah said.
"If we don't pick up a river to the west, then we'll just have to get as far inland as we can on foot before the missiles launch," Joe added.
"Sounds like our only choice," Jeremiah agreed, "well, are we agreed then?"
They all decided it was at least a workable plan, and Jacob left to radio Dave and let him know.
Dave was still loading passengers and was not immediately able to get back to him. When he did he reluctantly agreed that it seemed as though it was the only alternative they had.
"My real concern is my number two diesel," Dave radioed back, "I'm not so sure I can keep it running much longer...she's knocking bad, Jake."
"Got one going myself, Dave, just nurse her, we got no choice."
"Read you... Hey, we got another problem here, Jake, those trucks are coming back... Listen, I'll get back to you, Jake, soon as I can, out."
"Dave... Dave,"he called. "Shit," he muttered, as he left the bridge. When he reached the deck a small crowd had gathered around the rail and was staring back at the other boat. He located Jeremiah and Joe, and squeezed in beside them.
"Trucks are back," he said, with no preamble.
"Saw 'em," Jeremiah said, "what'd your man over there say they were doing?"
"He went to go see," Jacob replied, "I'm going back to the bridge I just thought you should know they were back."
"I'm going with you," Jeremiah said. Both men moved back to the bridge, with Joe and Gary behind them. Dave was calling on the radio when they walked in, and Jacob quickly grabbed the mike, keyed it, and answered.
"What do you have, Dave?"
"Not what I suspected, Jake, they don't want a fight."
"Well what do they want then?"
"They want to come with us, Jake... how do you call it?"
Jacob glanced over his shoulder at the other men.
"We let 'em come," Jeremiah said, "if we don't we're no better than killers."
"I agree," Joe said, "but we have got to be careful."
"Take their guns," Gary said, "if they'll agree to that then fine."
Jeremiah nodded, as did Joe. "Agreed," Joe said, "tell him, Jacob, but you ought to also get us a little closer in case it's a trick."
"Done," Jacob said. "Dave? Here's the deal," he carefully repeated the terms they had arrived at, "and Dave, we're swinging in closer, you ought to get some of your people armed just in case."
"Already done, Jake."
Jeremiah, Gary, and Joe, left the bridge and walked back out onto the deck as Jacob swung the boat back in toward the bank. They passed the word quickly, and soon there was not a person at the rail who was not armed. Whether they were sincere, or simply realized they were outnumbered, they quickly threw down their weapons, and Dave had them escorted to a suite of rooms on one side of the boat. He posted armed guards to watch them.
With slightly less than three hours remaining before the missiles launched the two boats then swung away from the bank and began to cut across the river toward the opposite bank.
On the Riverboats
Jacob pushed the boats as hard as he dared. Even so it was better than forty minutes later when they finally reached the far side of the river, and began to search the bank as they headed back down. The break they were looking for came almost two hours later.
With slightly over an hour remaining they swung hard right and began to push up the uncharted river they had found. Jacob could tell from the freshly cut banks that the river was newly formed, and he had no idea where it would take them. He picked up the radio and called Dave.
"How's that number two diesel doing, Dave?"
"Still there, sick, but holding," came his reply.
"I'm going flat out," Jacob told him, "no sense holding back... if I see you dropping back I'll slow down, Dave."
"Got it," Dave replied.
Jacob rammed the throttle to the stop and a shudder passed through the steel flooring as the engines responded. Dave followed suit and the two boats churned down the river for the next hour, until Jacob lost one of his engines, and the other began to lose oil pressure rapidly.
"Dave?"
"Yeah, Jake."
"I'm done in, look for a place to put 'em in."
Twenty minutes later both boats were anchored to the banks, and Jeremiah, Gary, Jacob, and Joe, stood quietly to one side along with Dave talking. Both boats were emptying quickly.
"How long?" Joe asked.
"Past time," Gary replied calmly, "ten minutes past time."
"Could be as much as an hour left," Jeremiah said, "or only a few seconds."
“Or could be they didn't go off,” Gary answered.
“Could be,” Jeremiah agreed.
As the last few stragglers left the boat, the crowd began walking. Between them they numbered well over a thousand people, but they were nearly silent as they walked along. No one spoke. They were all waiting for the blast, and the longer they walked without it coming, the more subdued they became.
No one among them had the slightest idea where they were. Although Jacob had carried charts with him on the river boat, they were of no use. The river they followed may have been formed over an existing smaller water way, or it may simply have been formed over or near a fault line, he explained. There was no real way to tell, and they had all concluded that they would have to simply find their way along, until they came to an existing city, or town, and determine where they were from there. In the mean time they struggled to put as many miles between themselves and Rochester as they could, before the missiles were launched.
The group of people they had allowed on board from the trucks, split off shortly after they struck out from the boats, and went their own way.
Their own way, as it turned out, was to attempt to re-board the boats, turn them around, and head back toward the main channel. No amount of talk had been able to dissuade them, and after only a brief discussion there really was no time to argue with them, Gary pointed out, they had turned back. Jacob tried to make them understand that both boats had been shut down, and starting them, let alone piloting them, would involve at least two hours of work, and even then they would have to limp at half power, and that would probably not last long enough to get them back to the main river. It had done no good whatsoever. They were determined to do it, and, Jacob agreed, there was not enough time to try and talk them out of it. Jacob had simply explained what would have to be done, and then left them to their own devices.
An hour of walking had brought them to a small town, and they had stopped.
There still had been no blast, and they had no way to judge when it would come. Everyone had reached the point of exhaustion. Even trading off the job of carrying the wounded, no longer made it easier to keep up.
Gary and Jeremiah were standing before what proclaimed itself to be the Oak Forest Volunteer Fire Department, of Oak Forest Indiana.
"Indiana?" Gary asked, as Jacob walked up.
"Makes as much sense as anything else does," Jacob replied, "actually I imagined us to be in Ohio, so I guess we're a little further along than I thought we were."
"So was that river part of the Ohio river?" Gary asked.
"Can't be. The Ohio's south of us, or what used to be south... if there even is an Ohio River anymore," Jacob replied.
Jeremiah was about to join in the conversation, when the ground suddenly began to tremble and vibrate. The conversation ceased. All eyes were glued on the horizon to the west
as it instantly turned a deep, angry red.
After the initial shaking-vibration, the ground ceased moving, and the air grew still, heavy, expectant. As they watched the horizon the sky seemed to brighten, almost as if the sun were rising. Jeremiah looked down at the ground, and noticed it was no longer full dark. His shadow stretched away behind him, as did the shadows of the others who stood nearby him. It wasn't precisely like daybreak, but it was close enough as to make no real difference.
The crowd of people had drifted apart as they entered the small town, but they were now reforming around Jeremiah and Gary, where they stood with Jacob, in front of the fire department. Gary spoke first, after a silence that stretched for more than a minute, as the crowd watched the horizon continue to brighten.
"Damn if they didn't do it," he said dejectedly, "damn if they didn't."
"Is that going to kill us?" a frightened young woman, who stood nearby asked.
"I don't think so," Gary replied, "if it was gonna it already would've I think. It isn't the nukes,” Gary said. “It's the wrong direction.” He looked around, “Am I wrong? That's west, right? What used to be West?”
"Look at that," Jacob said, pointing toward the river, "she's churning up pretty fast."
The river was indeed becoming violent, in fact it seemed to boil, as they watched, and small waves began to crash against the banks.
"This isn't the place to be," Jeremiah said calmly, "tired or not, we're going to have to get away from that water."
Earth's Survivors Box Set [Books 1-7] Page 208
