by Kenny Soward
“Okay, Mom.”
Rita got out of the Honda with Lacy, shut the door, and hit the lock button on her key fob. Mother and daughter walked into the store. It was well-lit, although most of the shelves were empty. The refrigeration was on, and there was plenty of bottled water and Gatorade stacked inside.
A sign on the refrigerator door read Water - $15, Gatorade - $10.
Rita made a scoffing noise as she turned to the register. A pudgy woman with a tuft of gray hair stood behind the counter, looking at Rita with a slack expression.
“If you need gas, it’s thirty dollars a gallon.”
“What?” Rita just about fell over.
“Thirty dollars a gallon for gas. Just got a fresh shipment this morning.”
“I don’t care how fresh it is,” Rita scoffed. “It’s not worth thirty dollars a gallon. That’s more than the water you’re selling.”
“Supply and demand,” the woman shrugged.
“No wonder you don’t have any customers.” Rita shook her head and fixed the woman with a steady glare. “Maybe I should tell the military guys out there how much you’re price-gouging people for.”
“It’s free for military folks.”
“Of course, it is. But I guarantee they won’t be happy with what you’re charging, and I’m sure you change the price depending on how gullible you think people are. Well, I’m not gullible.”
The woman narrowed her eyes at Rita before giving her a conciliatory nod. “Twenty dollars a gallon for you.”
“We just need to pee, lady. How much is that?”
“Peeing’s free,” the woman said.
“Good to know,” Rita frowned. Then she turned to her daughter. “You know what? I have to go, too. We’ll go together.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Rita led her daughter into the restroom and looked around. “It looks like a pack of monkeys have been living in here. Lacy, make sure you put some toilet paper down on the seat.”
“Okay.”
Lacy and Rita took care of their business, washed up in the sink—happy to see the water was working—and went back out to the map rack. There were only a half-dozen maps left, though Rita found a regional one and opened it up to see a nice, simple layout of the major roads around Memphis. It would be perfect for navigating around the dangerous city.
Feeling accomplished, Rita lifted the map off the rack and took it to the register.
“Maps are thirty dollars—”
“Oh, horse poo!” Rita shouted. She flipped over the map and read the price on the back. It was ten dollars. Before leaving St. Louis, Rita had raided all of their saving jars in the house and had come up with about fifty dollars in cash. “I’ll give you twelve dollars for it, and that’s just to count for the circumstances. Clearly, you aren’t getting much business.”
“Fifteen,” the woman behind the register counter-offered, pushing up her glasses on her nose and looking at Rita with owlish eyes.
Rita frowned but dug fifteen dollars from her pocket. Then she tossed it on the counter and gestured to her daughter that they were leaving. When they got outside, Rita leaned closer to Lacy, saying, “Sorry you had to hear that language, but that lady was doing a jig on my last nerve.”
“I understand, Mom. Things are tough out here.”
Rita looked down. “They certainly are. You ready to go?”
“Yep.”
Rita unlocked the Honda’s doors, and the two got in. She started the vehicle and pulled out of the lot, feeling about ten percent tougher after her experience with the gas station lady. Rita may have been naive and simple before, but she was learning. And if people thought they could mess with her, they had another think coming.
Chapter 14
Jake, Gatlinburg, Tennessee | 8:47 p.m., Tuesday
Jake sat at the kitchen table of their cabin with a towel over his wet head and his skin thrumming pleasantly after the first hot shower he’d had in weeks. He’d stood beneath the hard spray for almost an hour as it peeled off the layers of dirt and grime he’d accumulated. He’d trimmed his beard but hadn’t shaved it all the way off.
Sara had found his pajamas, a pair of warm socks and slippers, and a clean white cotton T-shirt from the things she’d originally packed for the trip. The warm, soft material felt incredible against Jake’s skin, and he could only blink in wonder. He was still tired, but clean and fresh.
And he had coffee, too. Not warm, bitter road brew or gas station swill. This was a fresh-brewed pot from home, and there was nothing quite like it. He watched Sara, Todd, and Zoe all bustling around the kitchen to make him his first home-cooked meal in weeks. He’d insisted on helping, though they’d only directed him back to his chair and wouldn’t let him get up. It was particularly touching, considering what they’d all just been through. Jake forced himself to understand this was something they wanted to do. Maybe they needed it. And Jake appreciated every second of the attention.
Collier and Ostrosky were in the living room, Ostrosky on the couch with a bandage on his head while Collier wandered around in his usual antsy way. The man always seemed to be pacing or talking or gesturing, although Jake remarked that he was all “yes, ma’am” and “no, ma’am” when it came to Sara and Zoe.
Spitz sat across from Jake, the kid watching the laptop they’d wired into the crawlers’ transmitter. He’d fallen into one of his bouts of silence, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
“What are you waiting for?” Jake asked.
“Anything,” Spitz said. The helicopter crash had shaken him up, and he seemed miserable where he sat with his arms folded across his chest. “I hacked into the system, and now I’m monitoring the crawlers’ communication bands. But, so far, it’s been quiet.”
“Are you sure it’s working?”
“Not really,” Spitz shrugged, his smallish eyes glancing up at Jake.
“Stern is going to want to make a move soon,” Collier said. “If we can stamp out this last group of crawlers then we can call the region safe. Next, we’ll lay a smackdown on Memphis. Then we can get us some R&R.”
“They won’t go down so easily,” Steven warned from where he’d turned the living room recliner around to face the kitchen. The man had cleaned up some, but still wore his torn and tattered, bloodstained clothing. “The bastards are like roaches. And you can bet they’ll have something big planned, just like the Douglas Dam.”
There was a knock on the front door and then someone immediately opened it and stepped inside.
“Hey, Tash,” Sara called from the kitchen. “Dion.”
Dion and Natasha took off their coats and greeted everyone with nods.
“Karen, Barbara, and some of the Good Folk have everything under control down at Squirrel’s Nest,” Natasha told Sara as she stepped over to the kitchen counter and had a look at the meal Sara and the kids were preparing. “Ham, mashed potatoes, and corn.”
“That’s what’s on the menu!” Zoe sang. The lyric was from a commercial Jake vaguely remembered from what seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Smells and looks great!” Natasha said before she stepped over to Jake. One of her eyebrows raised in question. “I’d like to have a look at your stab wounds. They got you in the stomach, right?”
“Do you ever stop?” Jake said in mock accusation.
“Not really,” Natasha replied, gesturing for him to lift his shirt.
Jake lifted his shirt and leaned back so the nurse could have a look. He hadn’t had time to put a fresh bandage on, but the wounds had healed to the point where they were just a couple of pink lines on his skin.
“Not bad,” Natasha said, her lips twisting in concentration as she studied the area. “You must have gotten this patched up pretty quickly.”
“We did,” Jake said. “Well, Marcy did. She was my traveling partner for a while there.”
Jake went into detail about the things that had happened to him. He told them about the tornado taking a bite out of the Westin, although he avoide
d many of the grisly details. He talked about meeting Marcy and the Westin folks and his subsequent adventures with Marcy as they tried to escape a devastated Boston. He carefully recounted meeting Lizzy May and detailed her grand hospitality; his voice caught up with emotion when he came to the part about having to leave her behind.
“Tell them about the tiger,” Collier said, coming over to stand behind Spitz. Even the hacker raised his eyebrows at the mention of the beast. “I never got the full story.”
“You saw a tiger out there?” Todd eased himself into the chair across from his father, the young man’s eyes wide with disbelief.
At first Jake was slightly bothered having to recount the events yet again. Then it dawned on him that he’d likely be telling the story over and over until the day he died, so he might as well make the most of it.
By then, everyone had stopped what they were doing and were staring at Jake with awe-filled expressions. So, Jake grinned and continued on with the rest of the story. He recounted how he’d stumbled into the tiger’s lair, the beast chasing him into a car, and then meeting it one final time in the construction yard where it attacked the gang members, Hawk and Raven, and allowed Jake, Marcy, and the kids to escape.
Jake especially enjoyed the expression on his daughter’s face as he told the tale. Her eyes were wide almost the entire time, not hiding how impressed she was with her father. By the time Jake was done, her mouth hung open in amazement.
“That’s just crazy.” Collier shook his head. “Man, that’s one heck of a fight to pick.”
“I didn’t really pick it,” Jake shrugged. “And keep in mind, I was running almost the entire time.”
“Take this over to your father,” Sara said, handing Zoe a huge plate of food. The little girl brought it over and put it on the table in front of him.
“Thank you, Zo.”
Zoe smiled. “No problem, Dad.”
Jake picked up his fork and started to dig in, but then he stopped and gestured with the utensil. “Now it’s your turn. I want to know everything that happened while I was gone. I’ll eat, you talk.”
Todd looked back and forth between his mother and Natasha, although they’d already begun making plates for everyone else. Todd turned back to his father. “Mom has been incredible. Let’s see, there was that fake cop when we were passing through Maryville—”
“Fake cop?” Jake asked through a mouthful of hot ham and potatoes.
“Yeah, he pulled us over and attacked Mom. It was crazy.”
Jake felt a pang of anger but quickly pushed it aside as Todd retold how Sara had shot the impostor and sped away. Then he explained how they’d first met Tex, their arrival at the cabin, and how they’d bolstered themselves against the storms, all the while waiting for news about Jake.
“Don’t forget the part where you ran away, and I had to come find you,” Sara said, pointedly. She brought her own plate over from the kitchen and sat on Jake’s left. He reached over and patted her arm with a smile.
Todd launched into that part of the story. He began with a sheepish expression on his face as he told Jake about how he’d left a note for his mother before striking out with the Good Folk only to be surprised to find Tex had joined them as well. Todd went on about his first fight with the crawlers on the road where Tex had been shot.
Jake looked up from his food and saw his son in a completely different light. He was a tall kid, still boyish in many ways, but with broad shoulders and a decidedly more serious disposition.
“Is that where you got hit by a car?” Jake asked.
“No, that was later.”
Todd recounted bringing Tex back to the cabin to see to his gunshot wound, and then went into the part about getting attacked at Trailmarker’s Urgent Care by a bunch of local thugs. “That’s where I got hit by the car,” he finished.
Sara cut in, relating how she, Steven, and Dion planned the raid to liberate the urgent care facility. Jake chewed his food in amazement as she described how she’d locked some of the thugs in the bar and shot them through the doors, although she downplayed the gory parts for Zoe’s sake.
Sara gave Jake a look that told him there was more to the tale, and Jake nodded and continued eating.
Sara continued all the way to the end. Saving Kayla at the lodge, the visit by the crawlers, Jacques and Victoro, and Frank’s subsequent death.
Everyone ate in silence for several long moments, digesting the tale and sorting through their feelings about what had happened. Dion, with his one good arm, brought around a pitcher of water and refilled everyone’s glasses before he picked whatever was left out of the pots and pans.
“I’m just blown away by all this,” Jake said, and he was. “Here I was thinking you guys were safe and sound in the cabin the entire time.”
Sara chuckled. “Far from it.”
“I’m really proud of everyone.” Jake took measure of Todd and Sara before his eyes settled on Dion and Natasha eating at the counter. “And I want to thank you two for helping protect my family.
“Sara saved our butts,” Natasha grinned. “But we might have saved her back a little, too.”
“You definitely did,” Sara confirmed. “We couldn’t have done this without you two, and Karen and Barbara and Steven.”
“And Frank,” Todd added.
“And Frank.”
“Why don’t you get some sleep, honey?” Sara said to Jake as he finished the last bite of his meal. “Your head must be spinning.” Then Sara looked all around. “We all need to get some rest. It’s been a long day.”
“I’m going to plan some shifts,” Natasha called out. “I’ll need every able-bodied person to do rounds with the wounded.”
“Ostrosky and I will stay here with Spitz and Steven and watch for any crawler activity,” Collier said, then he glanced at Sara. “If that’s okay with you.”
“You’re absolutely welcome here,” Sara nodded and then flashed the tall soldier a pointed look. “Provided you can help with the dishes.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Collier’s tall form strode over to the sink where he began cleaning up. “I used to work in the mess hall. I know all about dirty dishes.”
“I appreciate that.” Sara got up and helped Collier find what he needed to get the job done.
“If anything comes up,” Jake commented as he stood, “wake me up right away.”
“You got it,” Spitz said with a tired nod.
Jake’s body hit the bed like a log. His back felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to him. He hadn’t slept in almost forty-eight hours, and his brain swam with electronics schematics and the smell of melted solder. As he drifted off, the smells of gun smoke and oil replaced everything, and Jenkins’s .50 caliber gun rattled in his head like rain on a tin roof.
He breathed deep and rolled over, turning his thoughts to his family. They were safe, and their voices reached him from the kitchen, inviting him to drift deeper and deeper until sleep overtook him.
Sometime later, Jake felt movement on the bed, and he opened his eyes to see Sara sliding barefoot onto the mattress beside him. She shifted onto her right side and slid closer with a coy smile.
“Hello there,” Jake whispered in a dream-sleepy voice.
Sara butted her forehead gently against his and reached out to touch his cheek. “Hi.”
His eyes slid to the bandage over her ear. “Looks like you got dinged good.”
Something changed in Sara’s expression, and her eyes fell downward in what Jake took as shame.
“What is it, Sara?”
She shook her head briefly, as if the bandage hid some dark secret. “I got shot. It’s not pretty.”
“Let me be the judge.”
Sara let out a soft sigh as she reached up and pulled the bandage off her ear. It was a nasty wound that had turned her left earlobe into a crescent shape with two jagged ends that hung down. The stitches were wonderfully done, tightening the loose skin up so that there was barely any blood crusted around the wou
nd.
“Does it hurt?”
“A little.”
“I’ll bet Natasha stitched you up.”
“Yep.” Sara nodded, her eyes focused intently on Jake as he continued to study the wound.
“Well, she does great work.”
“She’s going to run her own hospital someday.”
“I could see that happening.”
“So, what do you think? Ugly?”
“I wasn’t thinking that,” Jake replied with an absent sigh. Then he narrowed his eyebrows. “I’m just mad you got more scars than me.”
“Oh, is that it?” Sara said with a low chuckle, her eyes brightening at his mock-serious tone.
“I’m supposed to be the man in the family, and here you are out-scarring me. Not really fair, Sara.”
“Sorry.” She put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing outright.
Jake sighed. “Let’s just try and acquire any future scars together, at the same time, okay?”
“Okay,” Sara said, grinning broadly.
Jake closed his eyes and pulled his wife closer, taking pleasure in the warmth of her body. A few moments later, sleep pulled him down into a much-welcomed darkness.
Chapter 15
Rita, Nashville, Tennessee
“We’re going to stop off at the next exit for just a few minutes, okay?” Rita chimed in a singsong voice to her kids. “We need gas.”
Lacy and Olivia were asleep in the back seat, leaning against each other and snoring lightly.
They weren’t completely out of gas, although Rita was cutting it close. She’d used up all but one of her gas canisters, and she had less than a quarter-tank left in the Honda. They might have enough gas to get to Knoxville and then Sevierville, though Rita didn’t want to take a chance. Why not get out and fill up the rest of their canisters at a nice, quiet exit before they finished the last leg to Uncle Tex’s?
“Is that okay, Bobby Junior?”
Bobby Junior was knocked out, too. His head rested against the window, lulled to sleep by the vibrations of the Honda. Rita remembered when she was a kid and how she had often put her head against the window and slept on long trips. She used to do it on the school bus, too.
