by Hayden James
“Well, at least the good news is that it ends well for those who believe,” countered Prue.
“That's one way to look at it.”
“I think we came down this way once before,” Prue said after she remembered the same blue and white house that she liked. The pair continued to walk through the streets. Both of them relatively new to Nashville were not familiar with all the ins and outs of the city. They wandered through the streets, often finding themselves having to turn around because they were walking down a dead-end street.
“I don’t think so,” countered Liam, oblivious to his ignorance.
“I’m positive,” persisted Prue. “I’ve seen this blue and white house before. I am certain we are literally walking in circles.”
Liam took a moment, he didn’t think Prue was correct, but he was beginning to doubt himself. “I’ll take your word for it,” replied Liam. “Let’s turn around and go the other way. I’m not that confident of getting us out of the city. Usually, I have my phone’s map up while I’m driving.”
“Considering we have neither, a car nor a phone, perhaps we should get a map,” suggested Prue.
“Great idea! At the next gas station we cross by, let’s see if they’re open and we’ll get a map. I hope we’ll find an open one,” said Liam.
Moments passed as they walked down the street. At least the street was one of the main streets in Nashville and was bound to have a gas station on their route. “I think I see a gas station up ahead,” shouted Prue.
“I think you’re right,” confirmed Liam.
They walked closer to the gas station and stood outside of it. Liam said, “The sign says closed, and all of the lights are out. Obviously, they are not running on a generator. But, the door is open. Do you think that they’re open?”
“Couldn’t hurt to go find out,” suggested Prue.
Both of them walk up to the gas station and enter the front door. Liam asked Prue, “Now, where do you think they have maps?”
“I’m not sure,” replied Prue as the two looked intensely at the shelves.
Concentrating on the task at hand, finding where the gas station kept their maps, Liam jumped when he heard Prue make a bloodcurdling scream.
“What is it?” Liam shouted, startled and panicked from Prue’s scream.
Prue could not speak as her entire body shook. She covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face, completely panic-stricken. She pointed toward the counter where the register was.
“Oh, my word!” Liam shouted, looking at the dead clerk, a bullet hole through his forehead and his body slumped backward in his seat by the cash register. “Whoa! It looks like he’s been dead for a while.”
Liam’s senses had been heightened with the increased adrenaline. “Oh wow! This store has been completely ransacked,” Liam noticed now that he took a good look at the shelves. Prue was still in shock from the dead clerk that she was unable to talk.
“Let’s load up our pack with supplies. No one will ever know that we took them,” suggested Liam. He began taking sports drinks, protein bars, and canned goods from the shelves and placing them in his pack. Prue was of no use, as she still stood staring at the clerk.
“I’ll check the back of the register for a map,” announced Liam. While Liam was back behind the counter he got a better look at the store clerk. “Prue, it looks like this guy has been dead for at least a day. He was probably shot right after the disaster occurred. People probably panicked wanting supplies,” interpreted Liam of the murder of the gas station clerk.
Prue was finally speaking again. She said, “It looks like this place had been picked over fairly well. The store is full of debris. Did you get the map?
“Found one,” responded Liam. “See if they have any dog food for Chewy.”
Prue was able to find dog food from the pet aisle and took three cans, placing them in the bag next to Chewy.
Liam and Prue headed for the door to make a covert exit when a large man at least six-foot-eight inches blocked the door.
“Sorry,” Liam said. “We were just on our way out of here,” said Liam as he tried to get by the large, over-sized man.
“You’re not going anywhere,” the large man replied. “You see, we are the Bubba brothers. Bubbas for short.” Three shorter, yet very large men appeared behind the largest of the Bubba brothers. “And we’ve taken over management of this here gas station. I saw you take some items, and I’m going to need the payment for them.”
“Sorry, we don’t have any form of payment,” replied Liam.
“That’s fine. How about this pretty little lady here? We’d take her for payment in full if you know what I mean?” the larger of the Bubbas said.
Just then, the other Bubba brother came from behind the larger one, reaching for Prue’s shoulder to drag her toward him. As he did that he yelled, “Ouch! What in the Hell was that?” Chewy had bit the Bubba’s hand, and it was now bleeding.
Bang! The incident with Chewy was enough of a distraction for Liam to take out his gun, raise it above his head, and fire a warning shot.
“Oh shit! The guy’s got a gun!” one of the smaller of the Bubba brothers shouted.
“Let’s let them by,” the largest of the Bubbas said as he stepped aside, allowing Prue and Liam to pass through the door. Chewy growled and bared his teeth at the Bubbas as Prue passed through.
When Liam and Prue made their way out of the gas station, the largest Bubba threatened, “This here ain’t over. I’d be very careful if I were you.”
The four Bubbas take off running back into the nearby neighborhood.
“I’m glad we got out of there alive,” said Prue.
“Right. Good thing for Chewy. If he didn’t distract those, uh, Bubbas, I wouldn’t have had time to pull out my gun,” explained Liam.
“I’m so glad Mrs. Grandy sold us that.”
“Right, and only for a dollar.”
Day Three
Chapter Ten
William Conner
Franklin, IN
6:54 AM
“Daddy, I’m hungry. Can I have some food?” Natasha asked as she woke up. The sun crept past the horizon, the twins began to stir.
“Yes, dear,” replied Willian as he spread peanut butter on crackers for her.
The twins got up and took Regis for a morning walk. William did not take his eyes off of his girls the entire time they were gone. When they returned back, they ate protein bars for their breakfast.
During the meager breakfast the Conner family consumed in silence, Ron made his way over to their camp. He said, “Good morning everyone. How’d ya’ll sleep?”
“Well, thank you,” Madison replied. She did not make any eye contact with him but kept looking down as she ate her protein bar. Regis’ hair on his back stood straight up and he bared his teeth and growled at Ron.
Ron bent down and said to Regis, “Little guy, it’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you.” With Ron in Regis’ face, Regis snapped at Ron making him fall backward.
William, distressed, helped Ron up to his feet. “Hey, sorry about that,” William said. “He snaps at everyone he doesn’t know.”
“It’s all right,” replied Ron. “Hey, I came over here to ask if you guys wanted a ride. I’m not sure where you’re headed, but we could drop you guys off where you need to go. It won’t be any trouble at all.”
William was intrigued by the offer, “You will drop us off wherever we need to go?”
“Yeah, it will be no trouble. You have these kids with you. You must be brought to your last nerve traveling as a family. I only could imagine how tough that would be. That’s why I want to lighten your load. The only condition is that we leave the pooch behind. Since he seems to growl and snap at me all of the time,” replied Ron.
“No, dad! We can’t leave Regis behind,” shouted Addison after she heard the condition to the offer.
Madison chimed in, “We will not go if we have to leave Regis.”
Frustrated at th
e predicament, William took a deep breath and said to Ron, “Thanks for the offer, brother. We can’t leave the dog. He’s our family.”
“Well, suit yourself then,” replied Ron. As Ron walked away he said to William, “You should get a gun to protect your girls.”
Ron headed to his VW van and started it up. He waved at the Conners as he drove away. All four of them waved back with Regis still growling at Ron’s presence.
William and his daughters resumed eating their breakfast of protein bars, peanut butter, and crackers. As William thought about Ron’s offer, he began doubting his decision not to leave Regis behind and to travel with Ron.
Addison caught on to William’s frustration and said out of the blue, “Dad, you made the right decision. We could not leave Regis behind.”
“You’re right, honey. I know this. It’s just that we could find your mom faster if we traveled by car,” explained William.
Maddy interjected, “I trust Regis’ instincts. He has insight into people’s character.”
“Oh Madison, don’t be silly,” countered William. “Regis barks and growls at piles of leaves before running away. He doesn’t know what a threat is and when one is not. I know we could not leave behind our dog anyway, even though it was a nice offer.”
After finishing up breakfast, they packed up their camp and the four of them get back on the road, headed south on Route 31. William led the way with Natasha riding in her bike trailer, Maddy pulled Regis in the bike trailer, and Addy rode alongside her. This time, there were more people traveling than the day before. Most of the people seemed to be traveling on foot.
Maddy asked, “Why so many people than yesterday, dad? Where are they all going?”
William didn’t turn his head, but shouted back at her, “Honey, I don’t know. Just keep up.”
As they pedaled further, cars came up behind them. The family worked their way to the edge of the road to allow the cars to pass by. As they worked their way further south, stalled cars filled the rode. William and his girls zigzagged thought he stalled cars.
“We are making good time, despite all of these people,” said William to Addy.
“Wouldn’t we be making better time in a car,” replied Addy.
“I don’t think so. I think a car might be harder to ride by all of these people,” answered William.
The family worked themselves out of Franklin and traveled a few miles more before William spotted a pawnshop. “Hey girls, stop for a minute,” shouted William. The twin girls came to a stop, waiting to hear what their dad had planned. “Wait here with Natasha and Regis. If someone tries to hurt you, scream at the top of your lungs and I’ll come running out. This pawnshop looks like its selling guns and survival equipment. I’m going to see if I can get a gun and supplies. I’ll be right back.”
The two girls nodded their heads and stayed close to Natasha and Regis in their respective trailers while William went inside the pawnshop. The three girls were alone in the parking lot of the pawnshop, the twins guarding their dog.
Upon entering the pawnshop, William noticed that the prices were utterly outrageous. He approached the clerk standing at the counter, “Are you taking credit cards?” he asked.
The man behind the counter nodded his head and said, “Why, yes, we are sir.”
“How are you doing it? I can see you guys don’t have any electricity,” asked William as he noticed that the lights were off and the only light in the store came from the windows.
“We are using our trusty manual flatbed credit card imprinter. We will be charging the cards once the electricity comes back on,” explained the clerk.
“It seems as though I wasn’t as prepared as I had thought for this disaster,” relented William. “I’m going to need a gun, and I’ll stock up on more food. What kinds of guns do you have?”
“We have a Glock 19 available. Plus we have a ton of the 9mm ammo for it,” suggested the clerk.
“I’ll take it, how much?” William asked.
“Fifteen hundred dollars. That includes a thousand rounds,” replied the clerk.
“That is expensive, but I have no choice at this juncture,” replied William. “I’ll get some food too.”
“What kind of food would you like?”
William looked at the shelves behind him and said, “I’ll take twenty protein bars, eight cans of beans, five bags of dried fruit. Oh! And a can opener.”
The clerk placed the items in a box for William as he rang the items up. The clerk said, “That will be two thousand dollars.”
“Wow! That is outrageous. But, again, I don’t have a choice in the matter. Here’s my card,” said William while he handed his plastic credit card to the clerk.
The clerk took an imprint of the credit card and handed it back to him. “Here you go, and here are your supplies.”
“Thanks,” replied William as he stuck the gun in the back of his waistband and he headed for the door with his box of supplies.
When he got back to his girls, he was worried that they would not be there when he returned and was relieved to see them all standing in the sun in the parking lot.
“Hey girls. Here are more supplies, divide these up in your packs. Put the cans in my pack,” ordered William, taking control of the situation once again. The twins did as they were told, and the family of four was back on the road once again.
As they continued down Route 31, the tone of the people had grown even more desperate than before when they had pulled off to go to the pawnshop. The tension among the people walking heightened and William could feel the fear that they felt. It was the same fear he had as well, but he knew he had to push on to find his wife and then his son in Nashville.
One of the people who William passed by attempted to push him off of his bicycle, “Hey, watch it,” William shouted to the man, dodging his advance. “Common girls, keep close,” he shouted to his daughters who were right behind him.
William was glad that he had purchased the gun, no matter the cost. However, was it enough protection if this crowd turned on him? What if he and his daughters were mobbed, the handgun was clearly not enough to ward them off? He stuffed those thoughts down in his brain and kept pedaling forward.
Chapter Eleven
Rachel Conner
Memphis, IN
9:24 AM
“Here we go again. Today, should be my last day on the road,” Rachel said to herself, motivating her to keep moving. Rachel started up early in the morning before the sun rose. The thought of seeing her children and being reunited with her husband was her entire motivation. She had an early start, and because of that made fairly good time.
The day turned to midmorning, and crowds of people filled the highway. As she headed down Route 31, the people made it harder to make her way through. She wondered where they were headed, but figured that they were displaced when the disaster stuck like she was and they were headed back to their homes, much like her.
The crowd of people that filled the street also seemed to be more hostile than she experienced before. Rachel weaved in and out among the crowds of people thinking to herself that she was never going to get to Indianapolis at this rate and with this crowd on the road.
She concentrated on the people surrounding her, trying not to get too close to anyone. The tension mounting as people grew desperate. She made her way through a group of people and settled down where the crowd thinned and became more sparse.
Just as she thought she had it back together and was mentally prepared for the duration of the ride back to Indianapolis she felt her chest clench up again. Her heart raced, but she was not aware of the reason. She noticed her fingers and hands tingling and becoming numb, much like she did the day before.
Then she saw it. The flash of green and white caught her eye. She knew why she was having another panic attack. Instinctively, Rachel’s body knew the green and white flashes was a sign that danger lured.
She took a second, long look of where she saw the green and white fla
shes in the corner of her eye. There they were, the two men who had trailed and hunted her from the day before. The two men, one who wore a green jacket and the other wore a white jacket. Subconsciously, she had them in her field of vision and her body responded to the sight of them, warning her of the danger that could result with another encounter.
Rachel began to hang back, but she could not help but stare at the two men. While Rachel took the longer look to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her, they looked back at her. Her heart sank. Oh no, she thought. Deep down she now wished she had taken Paul, Mischa’s ex-husband, up on the offer of his handgun. Now, what was she going to do? She was certain that they were going to come right after her. Right now. Anticipating them to come over to her since she was riding to the side of them and a little further back, she could barely breathe from the notion of a confrontation with them.
To her surprise, they kept riding. She was certain that they saw her, but they seemed as though they did not care. Rachel was also certain it was the exact same guys. Perhaps they did not want to attack her among the crowds of people. In any case, Rachel felt relief as she watched them continue to pedal their bikes and left her alone.
As they moved further ahead of her, Rachel made sure to keep an eye on them as they weaved in and out of the crowds of people. She could still see the white and green jackets the men wore from where she was. As she became slowed down by a group of people, she lost sight of them. At least they seemed as though they did not want any part of her today. Rachel relaxed and returned to breathing normally.
“Huh! Look at that. The crowd seems to be taking a break,” Rachel said to herself. Rachel approached Otisco, and a crowd of people exited Route 31 and headed east toward the unincorporated community. Rachel followed, needing a break. The crowd who headed toward Otisco included both bicycle riders and those on foot. Rachel found it safer to stick with the crowd, so moves within the group.
