by Hunt, Jack
“Excuse me,” he replied in a sarcastic tone.
Landon dropped his head forward as they brought him into the shelter. “I’m feeling nauseous. My arm is going numb. I can’t breathe.” Sweat trickled down the side of his face.
“You’re getting worked up. Stay calm. I need to think. Give me a minute to think.” Beth paced.
“Didn’t your father teach you about this stuff?” Billy asked.
She ignored him as she tried to recall what her father had said about the different types of venom.
“Aren’t you supposed to make a cut and suck out the venom?” Landon asked.
“No. That’s Hollywood bullshit,” Beth said. “Besides, if you have a sore in your mouth, you’ll end up with the venom in your system,” Beth said. She dug into their new bags they’d picked up since Virginia. They only carried the basics. Beth used some of her water to wash the wound and wrapped a bandage around the bite just as someone might with a sprain. She then left the shelter and returned with a sturdy stick to use as a splint. She stuck it up through the bandage and used a second bandage to prevent his arm from moving.
“What are you doing?” Billy asked.
“It’s called pressure immobilization. We need an antidote but in the meantime we can slow the process considerably using this method. This prevents you from using the muscles, and in turn reduces the flow of blood which would send it further into your system. How’s that feel? Not too tight?”
“It’s fine… but shouldn’t we apply a tourniquet?”
“No. That can just lead to more problems. Look, there is a good chance it’s just a dry bite and no venom went into your system. But either way, we need to get some antivenom and fast.” She fished into her bag and pulled out a map and compass. “I’m going to the nearest town. I’ll be back soon.”
“Just take me,” Landon said.
“No. It will only get your heart rate going and—”
“Why don’t I go? You stay with him,” Billy said.
Had he said that after they first met him, Landon might have been inclined to let him but his recent behavior had given him cause for concern. He wondered if he’d even come back. “No, you should go, Beth,” Landon said. She’d already proven herself in the Blue Ridge Mountains as trustworthy.
Beth focused on the map, laying it out in front of her. “Shit. The nearest town, Port Jervis, has to be at least two, maybe three hours away by foot. Unless I can find a vehicle, that’s not happening.”
“And I imagine the hospital isn’t operating,” Landon said, beginning to think that his luck was running out. They’d had a good run. The fact they’d made it halfway and were still alive was a feat in itself. He looked at the map. “What about here?” He pointed to a farm and a training center nearby. “If you cut through here, that’s less than two miles away. Maybe someone has a working vehicle.”
“That’s south of here. I’d be taking a risk.”
He shrugged. “We don’t have many options.” Landon looked over at Billy. “Billy, you think you can go and check the area where I was bitten? I want to make sure that was a copperhead.”
“You said it was,” Beth replied.
“Can’t be sure.”
Billy nodded and headed out. Landon waited until he was out of earshot before he grabbed Beth by the wrist. “I don’t trust him.”
“Why?”
“I have my reasons. Besides, how did the snake get in my bag?”
“They crawl into a lot of places, Landon.”
“The bag was upright. You ever seen a snake go up into a bag?”
She stared back at him. “You want me to stay?”
“No, because I don’t know if he would come back and if he did, could we trust he went into town? I mean if he returns without antivenom.”
“So I’ll take him with me.”
“I don’t trust him with you. I’d rather he stayed with me.”
“Landon. If he wanted to harm us, he’s had over a month and a half to do it. It’s highly unlikely he’ll do it now.” Landon dropped his chin. He had so many questions related to the last town they were in and the run-in they had with that hiker. Call it a gut instinct but something was very off about Billy, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. “You good?” she asked. “I hate to do this but if I don’t get it…”
“I know,” he said cutting her off. “Go. Be quick.”
Billy came around the corner and stared at Landon as if he’d been standing there the whole time. “Couldn’t find it,” he said with a deadpan expression.
“Must have got away,” Landon replied. “I’m pretty sure it was a copperhead.” He averted his eyes from him and Beth looked over to Billy.
“Watch over him. Okay? Don’t let anything happen.”
“You got it.” Billy smiled and Landon felt his stomach sink.
Beth squeezed his good hand, then removed his handgun and gave it to him in front of Billy. He knew what she was doing by the look in her eyes. “You never know. Maybe a bear might come along. Can’t be too safe,” she before giving a strained smile. She glanced at Billy and then scooped up her bag, got her bow from where she had dropped it, and then took off with Grizzly beside her.
Beth hurried through the woods using the compass as a guide. She didn’t want to leave him but it was that or risk the venom spreading faster through his system if she took him with her. Had the hospital been only a few miles away she might have reconsidered.
“Come on, boy,” she said. Grizzly bounded over roots and fallen trees, keeping up with her pace.
As her boots pounded the underbrush and she slalomed around trees, her thoughts went to Landon and his paranoia with Billy. She hadn’t seen Billy acting out of sorts. Sure, he was a little strange, and quiet at times, but who wasn’t. They’d been through a lot. All of them had. There had been several times he’d had their backs in a few tight spots in Virginia. He could have slit their throats in the night but he hadn’t. She pushed the negative thoughts from her mind, it wasn’t helping.
It didn’t take long to run the two miles through the woods. When she burst out of the dense woodland she was on Greenville Road. They jogged north until she saw a sign for Breezy Brook Farm. Although she was eager to cry out for help, previous encounters with homeowners had taught her to be wary. It wasn’t your typical farm. Had there not been a sign she might have considered it your run-of-the-mill home pushed back from the road. There was nothing grandiose about it. A simple two-story home with brown shingles, half vinyl siding and half brick foundation.
Beth hadn’t made it a few feet down the driveway when a gun erupted tearing up grass near her feet. Her gaze moved to the top window of the house where she noticed a woman holding a rifle. “That’s far enough!”
She jutted over her shoulder with a thumb. “I have a friend who’s been bitten by a copperhead. I need to get him medicine from the nearest hospital. Do you have a working vehicle?”
“If I did, do you think I would tell you?” the woman replied. “And besides, you’ll be lucky to find a doctor.”
Beth squinted. She looked to be in her late fifties, slightly on the robust side with a full head of dark curly hair. “Please.”
“Get out of here. Now!”
“I just—” Before she could get out another word, two more rounds tore into the dirt near her feet. She backed up, hands in the air. Grizzly growled and then barked. “All right. All right. We’re leaving.” She wanted to curse at the woman but how could she? She would have probably done exactly the same thing. Everyone was skittish around strangers.
Not more than two hundred yards down the road was High Point Training Center. Due to the numerous stables and the layout of the grounds, she assumed they trained horses. Getting a little closer to a black-and-white sign, she saw a picture of a horse’s head, and text below it advertising training and boarding. She approached the two-story, gray vinyl-sided home expecting to find herself staring down the barrel of a gun but no one attacked her. One short k
nock. No one answered the door. “Hello!?” She peered in through the window but couldn’t see much because of the thick drapes. Pulling her sidearm, she went around the back of the house to make sure someone wasn’t out back. Nothing. No one. Grizzly followed her through a gate and over to the stables. She stuck her head inside but there were no horses, no people, not even hay. She pursed her lips and looked at the time on her wristwatch. She considered continuing up the road and checking in on another home but instead she made her way to the back of the house and checked the doors and windows. A window that led into the dining room shifted up. She told Grizzly to wait while she climbed through.
Inside it was musty as though the windows hadn’t been opened in a long time. The floors were hardwood, and she could hear a clock ticking.
“Hello?” she muttered just in case someone was asleep. Keeping her handgun close to her she pressed into the house and cleared each of the rooms. No one was home but it looked as if someone had been there recently as a camping stove was still warm, and there were two cups on the counter. Beth headed for a door that led into the garage. She opened it and noticed an old black pickup truck. There were no keys inside. Quickly she returned to the kitchen and scanned the countertops, the table, and a small rack for any keys that looked like they might be for a vehicle.
She scooped up a set that had nine keys on it and made a beeline for the back door to let Grizzly in. Grizzly wagged his tail and began sniffing the floor. “Come on,” she said leading him into the garage. She hopped into the truck and was thumbing through the set of keys when she heard tires roll over gravel.
Beth got out and went over to the dusty pane of glass in the garage door. She ran a hand over the glass and saw two guys getting out of a truck, both carrying rifles and heading for the front door.
3
Having appliances operate was a luxury they hadn’t experienced in almost a month due to a lack of gasoline. A rare commodity, the valuable liquid could only be found inside stranded vehicles, and most in the surrounding area had already been siphoned by locals. The previous day, Jake had been out searching the back roads, and highways beyond Castine, and had returned late in the evening with just enough to keep his Scout ticking over, however he’d insisted she use it in the generator to lift the morale, especially Tess. No one more than Tess could fathom what her husband, Ian, had committed. She’d been with him for years and never once been victim of brutality, that’s why it didn’t make sense how a seemingly ordinary man could commit such heinous acts.
Though as they reflected on the incident, slowly the pieces fell into place: Ian’s long work hours, the huge amount of food and supplies he’d stocked at the house, and a string of women who’d gone missing in the county only a year or two before the blackout. He was living a double life and Tess had been oblivious to it all.
Sara hoisted the five-gallon red canister out the back of Jake’s Scout and lugged it over to the shed. “Are you sure about this?” Sara asked as Jake emerged from the house with a cup of coffee. “I’m sure Sam could use it in his vehicle.”
“I’m sure they could but for how long? A day or two? No, we have the horses and bicycles now, and enough people helping in Castine to not have to rush from one end of the town to the other.” He jabbed his finger. “So don’t be telling them. If anyone asks, this is the leftovers from a canister you had forgotten about, okay? Besides, after all you’ve done helping people, and taking in those from the town, I want to give back.”
She smiled, thanked him again and emptied the contents into the generator and fired it up. Oh, it was such a sweet sound hearing it churn away. It was the small things that mattered now.
Janice Sterling and Arlo were the recent additions to the Manor. It had taken a lot of convincing to get Arlo to leave behind the farm but common sense prevailed in the end. They were stronger together. And having Janice there provided Rita Thomas with some much needed company since losing her husband.
“There we go,” Sara said stepping back from the generator as Jake sidled up beside her and handed her a coffee. “Thanks.” They wandered back to the house and up onto the porch. Sara took a seat on the porch rocker and nursed her coffee, savoring the aroma and letting it bring her senses to life. “So what are your plans for today?” she asked.
“Teresa’s having a meeting this morning. She wants to introduce us to some bigwig from FEMA.”
“Oh that.”
He nodded, shaking his head. “She says that it’s just a routine check. They want to know the state of the situation, what infrastructure we still have in place and where the needs are. Seems FEMA is going town to town.”
“Seems obvious to me,” she said taking a sip of her coffee. “We’re in dire straits.”
Just as Jake was about to respond, the storm door creaked open and Rita poked her head out. “Max not with you?”
Sara frowned and rose from her seat. “No. Why?”
“I called up to him but didn’t get an answer. I went up and his bedroom is empty. I figured he was with you.”
Sara put her cup down and made a beeline for the door.
“C’mon, Sara, don’t worry. He’s probably just gone for a bike ride,” Jake said trying to reassure her. It didn’t help. She raced up the stairs to his room and flung the door open. His bed had been slept in. Her gaze darted to the window where the drapes were gently blowing. “Max!” She nearly ran Jake over on the way out. “He’s gone. We need to find him.” Jake caught a hold of her arm.
“Sara. Slow it down. He’s almost eighteen. You can’t keep him cooped up in here the whole time.”
“Is that what he told you?”
He shifted from one foot to the next. “He might have mentioned feeling smothered.”
She pursed her lips and hurried downstairs. “I have good reason. You know how many people have been attacked in this town, Jake?” She dashed out of the house with him in her shadow.
“Sara, wait up! There’s no point you going out there. I’ll go. Let me talk with him. He’ll just think you’re being overbearing.”
She came to an abrupt halt and spun around. “Overbearing? Overbearing!” she bellowed causing a big enough commotion to attract the attention of the other guests in the house. “He’s all I have left. Had this event not happened, maybe I wouldn’t bat an eye but we are living in a different world now. A lawless one, and we’ve already overlooked one person and look at what he turned out to be!” Right then her gaze went to the door where Tess was standing. She lowered her head and walked back in. “Tess. Tess. I didn’t mean it like that.” She groaned and brought a hand up to her head.
Jake approached her again as she contemplated whether to go searching or wait for his return. Jake continued, “All I’m saying is that…”
Sara threw a hand up. “Jake, I appreciate your help, and your attempts to bond with Max, but you’re not his father. I’m all he has and he’s already gone through enough as it is. I think I know what’s best.”
“I know that and I’m not trying to replace Landon.”
“Sure seems like it,” she said.
Jake took a few steps back and squinted at her. “You know, maybe this was a bad idea. Me staying here.”
“Jake. I’m…”
He threw a hand up. “I gotta go. Sam’s waiting.” He headed for the stable where the horses were. Arlo had brought them from his farm. Jake cast a glance over his shoulder before unlocking the stable and entering. Sara closed her eyes and cursed inwardly. Great. That was two people she’d pissed off and it wasn’t even eight in the morning. She turned to see Rita walk back into the house.
While she understood what Jake was trying to explain, it didn’t take away the fact that she was Max’s mother and he was all she had left. There was no damn way she was going to let anything happen to him. She headed into the shed and collected her bicycle, hopped on it and pedaled away, passing Jake on the way out.
Jake ran his hand over the horse’s mane. He was beginning to think that moving in
with Sara to watch over them was a dumb idea. He was letting his emotions govern his actions and that just wasn’t him. What the hell was he thinking moving in? He was single, a damn island in the ocean. He didn’t need her. He groaned. For a long time he’d kept his feelings in check but after the event, and all that had happened since, he’d found himself falling into that old pattern of thinking. Falling for a story in which he and she ended up together. It didn’t help being around her. Evenings they would drink wine, spend time talking about their younger days and… Ugh, he groaned again, pushing it from his mind. To survive he couldn’t become complacent or allow himself to get bogged down by another person.
He watched her in the distance veer around the bend in the road heading south while he went north. The horse broke into a gallop and he shifted his mind to what was before them. Although the town now had forty volunteers helping to keep the peace and it felt relatively safe, he knew that the introduction of FEMA could be both a blessing and a curse. The need was high, that was for sure. But it was mostly for medical supplies. Food and water wasn’t an issue as the bay around them offered an abundant amount of fish and they’d already held a meeting in the early months after the event to discuss growing vegetables and helping one another. Teresa had used Sara as an example, opening up the inn to those who didn’t feel safe. So far only Rita, Tess and the Sterlings had taken her up on the offer. Though safety was found in numbers, giving up a home to live with someone else meant taking on responsibilities and not everyone wanted to pitch in.
When Jake turned onto Court Street, which led to Emerson Hall, he noticed a large military Humvee parked nearby. There were more than the usual number of residents gathered outside. Several looked his way as he got closer. He pulled on the reins to slow the horse and hopped off, leading it through the crowd before handing it off to Lou Peterson, one of the volunteers. Lou led the horse around the back to a makeshift stable that had recently been built while Jake passed by six armed residents posted outside. He gave a nod, and they moved aside to let him in. It felt good to know that they had a strong group of residents who were committed to protecting the town. They operated in shifts with thirty on at any given time, the rest would sleep but could be called upon if and when an issue arose. They had spread them out, posting five at the intersection of Wadsworth Cove Road and Castine Road while the rest patrolled the town. The roadblock at the intersection was to prevent an influx of troublemakers from out of town. They rotated in shifts and for the past month they had seen a decrease in crime. Most of it now was petty.
