Evergreen

by Cox, Matthew S.

  “No point wasting it,” said Cliff past a full mouth. “They’re already stale. Another week or two and you could hammer nails with them.”

  Jonathan inhaled his cupcake and ran into the back. A moment later, he shouted, “Hey! This toilet has water!”

  Hearing a ten-year-old as happy over finding water in a toilet as a kid should be getting a new PlayStation threw Harper into a pit of sadness. The idle thought that she and Madison might’ve been better off had they died instantly during the blast dug the pit deeper. Not even an overindulgence of chocolate helped.

  She still had three-quarters of a cupcake by the time everyone finished eating. Everyone else made a visit to the bathroom. The kids took over the middle of the seating area to work on dance stretches and some short routines. Harper concealed her frown behind the cupcake while staring at them. That’s stupid. What’s the point of dancing anymore? That won’t keep her alive. They’re only wasting time.

  “Hey.” Summer sat beside her. “You okay? Not lookin’ too great.”

  “This stupid cupcake. Why is a stupid cupcake making me want to cry?”

  “I don’t think it’s really the literal cupcake. More what it represents: civilization. A world in which beans from like 8,000 miles away are brought all the way here and turned into chocolate and no one thinks that’s amazing. Chocolate cupcakes are everywhere, at every corner store, every supermarket. No one used to think twice about how they got there or what went into making them.”

  “Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m thinking about. Are you trying to cheer me up or push me over the edge?” Harper wiped a tear as she chuckled.

  Madison ran out of steam, tired from walking for hours, and crawled into a sleeping bag that Cliff had arranged on one of the cushioned booth seats at the back of the room.

  “I’m trying to tell you that you’re not crying over a silly dessert. I’d say not having cupcakes isn’t the end of the world, but…”

  Harper groaned.

  “Okay, that was awful.” Cliff tossed another sleeping bag into a booth. “Harper, eat your dinner.”

  “Yes, Dad,” she said, playfully sarcastic.

  He snickered.

  She finished the cupcake in small bites, trying to make it last as long as possible. After, she availed herself of the bathroom. Jonathan kept his clothes on—except for sneakers—to sleep. By the time it became too dark to see outside, only Harper, Summer, and Cliff remained awake.

  Cliff rummaged the counter, gathering a collection of bagged coffee beans.

  “Coffee?” asked Harper. “Really?”

  “Damn right. How you felt about that cupcake? That’s me with the coffee. Won’t be much of this stuff left. Can’t you tell I’m all broke up about it?”

  “Oh, totally.” Harper yawned. “Pass the Zoloft.”

  He laughed. “Okay, we’re not in a known-safe location, so we should work out a watch rotation.”

  Harper glanced at Summer, not entirely sure the woman wouldn’t grab their guns and take off in the middle of the night. All the people she’d run into after the blast, and only Cliff so far hadn’t tried to kill or kidnap her. Jonathan didn’t count since he was only ten. She wouldn’t expect a kid that young to be a threat. Though… movies always had the little pickpocket characters. Still, considering the situation they’d found her in, she might be afraid to be alone. Harper considered being in her shoes—or lack thereof. If she’d run over to people who cut her free and didn’t attack her, she’d probably trust them.

  “How will we know when to wake the next person up?” asked Harper. “And Summer’s unarmed.”

  Cliff set the Glock down on the counter in front of her, the same gun Madison had winged the thug with. “Here. She can have this one. Got it from one of those blue idiots. Only twelve bullets left and I don’t have any more nine-mil. Save ’em for important moments.”

  “Okay.” Summer gingerly picked up the weapon. “I’ve never shot a gun before.”

  “It’s not too hard. Guns are the original point and click interface.” Cliff winked. “That’s a Glock, so be careful on the trigger. The little lever at the bottom is a ‘trigger safety.’ It’ll fire with only a little pressure.”

  “Got it. So, three shifts? How long?” asked Summer.

  “Figure since we’re not in any great rush, we take three hours on watch. That’ll make for a nine-hour camp, six hours of rest each. You a night owl?”

  Summer nodded.

  “Me too. I’ll take first watch, you second, Harper third?”

  “Sure.” Harper stretched. “I wouldn’t mind sleeping sooner rather than later.”

  “How do I ‘watch?’” asked Summer.

  “Pretty easy really. Find a spot to sit where you can see the front door. If anyone breaks in, point the gun at them and make a bunch of noise to wake everyone up. If a whole lot of people show up outside, wake us up quiet.”

  Summer gave a thumbs-up. “Got it.”

  Harper took off her sneakers and winter coat, then crawled into the sleeping bag on the opposite bench from Madison. Much to her surprise, she didn’t stare at the ceiling for long before slipping off to sleep.

  14

  Going Away

  Harper awoke to a dimly lit room, Summer gently shaking her by the shoulder.

  She sat up and looked around blearily. Cliff lay out on a bench seat across the aisle, apparently sleeping, once again wearing his jacket.

  Summer had on a different coat with a furry collar.

  “Where’d you get that?” She yawned again.

  “Closet in back. Someone left it here.”

  “Gimme a sec to pee and I’ll take over watch.”

  “Knock yourself out.” Summer sat on the end of the booth by Madison’s feet.

  Harper unzipped the sleeping bag, cringing at the chilly air while pulling her sneakers on. She wished Cliff had made a fire or something, but he probably didn’t want to burn the building down. Still shivering, she hurried to the bathroom. Expecting an icy toilet seat, she bit her arm before sitting to muffle the shriek. Once that torture ended, she returned to the booth where she’d slept and put her coat on. Summer crawled into a sleeping bag.

  With only the ticking of Cliff’s wind-up clock to break the silence, Harper paced. The clock didn’t matter that much since she had third watch. After three hours, she wouldn’t wake anyone else to take over—they’d be leaving. She expected to pass out if she sat down, but maybe given the cold, she wouldn’t.

  She spent some time wandering, then remembered Cliff’s suggestion she stay away from the windows so no one outside would notice activity here. Once standing behind the counter daydreaming about working there got boring, she grabbed a paper cup and filled it with water from the sink. Thoughts of radiation swirled in her mind as she drank, but the water neither smelled or tasted odd.

  Soft murmuring drew her over to where Jonathan slept.

  “I miss you guys. Yeah, he’s taking care of me. I got two sisters now. Yeah, I like them a lot.”

  Harper choked up at being called ‘sister.’

  He muttered a few non-words, having a conversation in his dream that sometimes leaked out of his mouth. “Wish Maddie wasn’t so sad all the time.” Again, he made noises that didn’t quite form speech. “My other sister’s super brave.”

  His comment about Madison had made the lump in Harper’s throat so big, she couldn’t quite bark out a ‘Hah’ at being called brave. She set the shotgun on the table and tucked his stray arm back into the sleeping bag, then patted him on the head.

  Jonathan babbled, snuggled into the red fabric, and smiled in his sleep.

  The next few hours dragged by. Harper did her best to stay awake, but the approach of daylight snuck up on her. She stretched, clinging to the idea that if she had passed out, it had only been for a few minutes, not deep enough into sleep that she wouldn’t have heard anyone trying to break in. Still, she abandoned the bench seat and stood to prevent another blackout.

&nbs
p; Not long after, Cliff woke up and dragged himself to the bathroom. When he returned, he fixed himself a cup of water, chugged it in one long gulp, and refilled it. Eyes still half-closed, he ambled around behind the counter and opened one of the bags of coffee beans. Harper blinked in shocked awe as he stuffed a handful in his mouth and ate them.

  Still crunching, he gave her a ‘what?’ look.

  “You’re eating coffee beans?”

  “Old Army trick. I’d rather drink the coffee, but we’re a little short on electricity or hot water.” He poured more beans into his hand and offered them. “Here, try it.”

  Harper slung the shotgun on its strap over her shoulder and cupped her hands to receive the beans.

  He chuckled at the unsure look on her face. “You ever eat chocolate covered espresso beans?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s just like that, only without the chocolate.” He munched for a second. “Never did understand that about people. They complain when there’s grinds in the cup, but they’ll eat the beans.”

  She laughed. “Speaking of chocolate…” Harper grabbed another stale cupcake from the display case. Tossing a coffee bean or two in with each mouthful of cake made it more tolerable than eating the beans straight. She’d never been big on black coffee, and the bitterness of the beans lessened the overwhelming sweetness of the cupcake.

  Summer woke next, hit the bathroom, and also ate two handfuls of coffee beans. The kids stirred at the same time. They appeared to get into a race for the bathroom, which Madison won due to the zipper on Jonathan’s sleeping bag not opening. As soon as the girl disappeared into the bathroom, he unzipped it without a problem.

  Harper smiled at him.

  The kids split a cupcake and had a granola bar each for breakfast. Cliff and Summer ate the last two, leaving the display case empty of everything but crumbs. After repacking all their gear, Cliff loaded up two big plastic bags with coffee, which he asked Summer to carry since she had no other burdens.

  They headed out, crossing the huge park-and-ride lot back to I-70 and continuing west past abandoned cars and trucks. A few had melt damage, almost all had been left with the doors open. Every time they encountered a vehicle, Cliff stopped to search it for anything useful. While he rummaged, Harper stood guard, keeping her attention on the world around them for threats. At this distance from the city, the smoky haze had further thinned, allowing about a quarter mile of visibility. Her shotgun wouldn’t be much good at long range, but Cliff still had the AR-15 he’d taken from the one thug. He carried it over his shoulder instead of in a ready position, saying something about not wasting those bullets at pistol ranges. That made sense in the city when they could only see like thirty feet.

  Searching cars slowed their progress, but he scored a couple sets of road flares, a gas can, and a cardboard box with ten MREs in it, which Summer also carried.

  Harper walked along, eyeing the hills on both sides of the road. “This feels dangerous.”

  “What does?” asked Summer.

  “Being at the bottom like this. Someone on the high ground could pick us off.”

  Cliff squinted, glancing up to the right. “I don’t think most people would randomly open fire on a small group without a word… but keep your eyes open.”

  By mid-day, the smoky haze had all but vanished. Jonathan asked if they still needed the face masks. Cliff pulled his down, sniffed the air, then shrugged. Harper took hers off and stuffed it in her jacket pocket, then collected Madison’s, keeping it in her other jacket pocket just in case the haze returned.

  They walked—searching cars along the way—for a few hours, surrounded by rolling hills dotted with pines. Most of the trees here had survived, likely shielded by the taller hills between here and Colorado Springs. Harper figured that meant the bomb had gone off closer to ground level.

  A sign over the road announced Exit 252 to Evergreen Parkway, Route 74 coming up on the right. Seeing the word ‘Evergreen’ in print stirred a mixture of joy, worry, and grief inside Harper. It wouldn’t be long before she learned if what that man told her father was true. However, if this place did turn out to be a safe haven, then her parents would have died for stupidity.

  We should’ve left with those people… not waited another three weeks.

  If Evergreen turned out to be empty—or worse, dangerous—she worried what would happen to them. The blue gang had to have started in center city Denver or someplace like that. While these mountain towns up here didn’t come anywhere near that in size, smallness didn’t necessarily guarantee a lack of bad people. If the promise of safety didn’t hold up, where would she go?

  Harper glanced at Cliff, grateful to have an adult around to help make decisions. She eyed Summer as well.

  She looks as scared as I feel. Can’t say I blame her after what happened. At the thought the woman would probably run away instead of shoot someone, a sense of awkwardness came over her. Despite being five years younger, she felt more like ‘the mom’ while she expected Summer would act like the frightened teen. Then again, she had fought her way free from three men. Harper started to wonder if she’d have the guts to do the same if she ever wound up in a similar situation, but the mere idea of being that helpless freaked her out too much.

  Cliff veered to the right, heading for Exit 252. A four-ish story tall rocky hill abutted the road on the right. Harper kept her eyes trained on the top, in case danger lurked among the sparse trees. The hill flattened before the road curved to the left. They passed a weird white building with a round roof that made it look like a gargantuan can of soup cut in half lengthwise. Not far past that, they crossed along the top of an overpass. Naturally, Jonathan had to lean over the concrete barrier and spit.

  They continued along the path of Route 74. Not seeing ash everywhere felt strange.

  Cliff paused to search an SUV.

  “That looks like Dad’s new Explorer,” said Madison. She pulled the iPhone out of her pocket and hit the button a couple times. “They haven’t called.”

  Harper patted her on the head. “Their phones are probably out of battery power.”

  “Yeah.” Madison frowned at her phone. “They would’ve called us if they could. I hope they’re not too worried about where we are. Mom’s gotta be losing her mind. We’ve been away for like weeks.”

  Summer looked over at her, but didn’t say anything.

  “I…” Harper considered saying something about their parents would try to get to Evergreen, but bit it back. She couldn’t set up such a cruel false hope. Of course, she also couldn’t bring herself to say they’d died. Madison had to know that, at least on some level. Saying it, however, would make it too real—for both of them. “Umm.”

  “Their phones don’t work.” Jonathan hurried over and put an arm around Madison’s shoulders. “The bomb made all the electronic stuff stop working.”

  “Oh.” Madison stared into the blank void on her iPhone’s screen. “I feel bad. Mom’s gonna still have to pay for dance class even if I miss it. I wanna go, but we’re lost out here.”

  “We’re not lost,” said Cliff from the SUV.

  “They’re gonna call as soon as they find new phones.” Madison hugged her iPhone.

  Harper let a long, slow breath out her nose. That bubble would have to pop eventually, but she couldn’t stick a pin in it at the moment. Maybe once she stopped worrying about finding a safe place, she could deal with her little sister having an emotional breakdown. No ten-year-old child should react to everything that had happened with such eerie calm. Some manner of freak-out would eventually occur.

  Maddie can’t hold it all in forever. Maybe I should break her wall down sooner so it won’t be as bad when it does crumble.

  “Damn.” Cliff slid down from the SUV, chuckling. “Smells like gun oil in the compartment. Nerve of those people taking their weapons with them.”

  “Yeah, how rude.” Summer fake rolled her eyes.

  They resumed walking, passing a Comfort Suites hotel
on the right a few minutes past the SUV. It sat a fair distance down a hill of pine trees. Motion caught Harper’s eye, and she dropped into a squat.

  At her sudden reaction, both kids hit the ground flat on their chests. Cliff eased himself down on one knee, turning his head to look at her. Summer stood there, conspicuously confused.

  “People down there.” Harper pointed with the shotgun.

  Cliff rose back to his feet, approached the guardrail, and spent a moment observing the distant hotel. “Looks like a small group. Doubt they’re dangerous, but this ain’t Evergreen. We should probably keep going. If those people down there think we’re after their shit, they might not be happy to see us. They could be completely friendly, but no sense risking it.”

  Harper nodded.

  The kids got back up.

  “Is everyone mean now?” asked Madison.

  “I wouldn’t say everyone is ‘mean,’ but most people are going to be on guard.” Cliff backed away from the guardrail and resumed following the road.

  “What’s the world gonna be like now?” Harper migrated to the left to reduce the chances of someone down at the hotel seeing her.

  Cliff shrugged. “I’d say a mess, but it was pretty much a mess before. A lot of things will be different. No electricity, no cars. No jets. Won’t be much intercontinental travel for a while. Even the boats relied too much on electronics. Might be a handful left that work if they’d been out to sea when the shit hit the fan, but the diesel fuel won’t last long at all. The world just got a whole lot bigger.”

  “Huh?” Jonathan looked up at him. “The nukes made the Earth fat?”

  Harper laughed.

  “Nah.” Cliff ruffled the boy’s hair. “Most people are stuck walking or riding horses again. Takes longer to go anywhere, and traveling across the ocean is likely impossible now. Someone’s going to need to reinvent sailing ships. When you can get from New York City to Los Angeles in a couple hours, the world feels smaller than if that same trip took months.”

  “Oh.” Jonathan nodded.