by Hunt, Jack
She looked up and smiled. “Hey. How do you feel?”
“Better, I guess.”
“You’ve been asleep for almost two days. I thought you’d never wake up.”
His brow furrowed. “Where am I?”
“Northern Light Dean Hospital in Maine. It’s about thirty miles east of Caratunk.”
“Thirty miles?”
“Yeah, there was a guy in town with an old truck that still worked. He was kind enough to give us a ride. If he hadn’t, I think we would have lost you. After the bullshit we’ve been through, it kind of restored my hope in humanity again.”
“A truck?”
She screwed her face up. “You don’t remember?”
He shook his head.
“Strange, as you were talking some of the time. Your eyes opened. I mean I couldn’t make sense of what you were saying but still... Huh! Crazy. You don’t remember crossing the river?”
His memory was a blur. “No.”
“Maybe best. Let me tell you it wasn’t easy. Carrying you between me and Beth. You should seriously consider losing some weight.” She chuckled.
“Where’s Beth?”
Dakota lowered her chin.
“Dakota. Where’s Beth?” he said in a firm tone.
“She went on. To Mount Katahdin.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“No. The doctor. I mean, the nurse who is assisting said you would probably need to rest for a week. The summit is roughly seventy miles from here. Beth figured she could make it there in three and a half days and be back before you got out. Don’t worry, she took Grizzly with her.”
He glanced to his side and saw an IV pole.
“They had to give you some blood. The rest is just fluids. Gravity does the work.”
“But they didn’t know what my blood type was?”
“You have Beth to thank for that. Your wallet.”
“But I lost that a long time ago.”
“Girl has a good memory. She remembered your blood type on the donor card in there. Do you want a drink?”
He nodded.
“I’ll be right back.”
She walked out of the room and returned a few minutes later with a female dressed in scrubs. “Ah, Mr. Gray. I’m glad to see you awake. How do you feel?”
“Good.”
“It will still take some time but you should be set to leave at the end of the week.”
“How are you still operating?”
“Poorly,” the doctor replied. “We don’t have power at all so we do the best we can with what we have. You were lucky you got here as fast as you did. You lost quite a bit of blood. However, your daughter did a great job of sewing you up. I think if she hadn’t done that…”
“She’s not my daughter.”
“Oh?” The doctor looked at Dakota for confirmation. She shook her head.
“Well, your friends saved your life.”
The doctor went through some routine checks, like listening to his heart, taking his pulse and temperature, and shining a small light in his eyes and ears before telling him to rest. After she left, Dakota handed him a canister of water and he chugged it down fast then wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
“How did they keep the blood cool without power?” Landon asked.
“Solar powered blood bank refrigerators.”
“Well thank God for that.”
Dakota smiled. “They have magazines here if you want to read,” she said, handing him a cooking magazine. He snorted and she chuckled. “It’s either that or I rattle on and you listen to my life story but I’m sure you wouldn’t want to hear that.” She laughed as she thumbed through a home magazine.
“Actually I would.”
She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow “Really?” she said in a surprised tone.
“Well, as long as it doesn’t involve hiking, rivers, knives or crazed lunatics, sure. We’ve got time to kill, right?”
“That we do.”
Epilogue
He thought the day would never come. Excitement overwhelmed Landon upon seeing the first road sign for Castine just on the outskirts of Orland.
As promised, and to his relief, Beth and Grizzly had returned a week later, unharmed, from Mount Katahdin. He could have reamed her out for making him worry but he was just grateful to see her alive and well.
They had plenty of time to listen to her harrowing tales of her trip up the summit as it took them almost five days of hiking from the hospital to reach Hancock County.
Now with over a thousand miles behind them, seven months since the blackout, and only a few miles from Castine, he tried not to get his hopes up on the final stretch. “Okay, so you have freaked us out enough with the crazy group you managed to elude in Baxter State Park but what about the mountain?” Dakota asked. “Was it everything you expected it to be?” Dakota walked side by side with her. Landon looked over his shoulder at the two of them.
“I guess,” Beth replied.
“You guess?” Landon chimed in. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I was expecting. The view was beautiful.”
Landon laughed. “That’s it? The view was beautiful.” He burst out laughing. “Well of course it was but what about that moment? You made it. You did what you set out to do, Beth. I would have thought you would have more to say.”
“I figured I would too. You know, I built it up as this big thing in my mind, that once I reached the end I would somehow feel...”
“Whole?” Landon asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. Something like that.” She exhaled hard. “I mean, don’t get me wrong — it was everything and more. Exhausting, liberating and meaningful. It was truly incredible to reach the end and feel the wind whipping at my clothes as I stood beside the sign and looked out over Maine… but… the strangest thing is…”
“What?” he probed.
“Well, it wasn’t my father who came to mind as much as it was… you. I wanted you there.”
“Me?” Landon asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Weird, huh?”
Dakota chuckled. “I dunno, it doesn’t sound weird to me.” She smiled at them both.
Landon felt honored but slightly awkward, so he quickly shifted the attention away from him. “And what about you, Grizzly? Did you enjoy it?” he asked as if the dog could understand.
Grizzly barked and wagged his tail.
Landon looked back at Beth. “Well, maybe at some point we’ll both go up. How about that?”
“You’d do that?”
“Unwillingly, yeah, but I’d do it,” he said with a chuckle. “After what we’ve been through I think I could handle anything.”
They pressed on down Route 166 which was set back from the coastline, and he took in the familiar sights and smell of Penobscot Bay. “I used to take my kids out there,” he said pointing to Fort Point Lighthouse across the bay. “Has some great spots for fishing. I think you guys are gonna love this place.”
Their optimism soon faded as they reached the intersection of Wadsworth Cove Road and 166. There was a checkpoint up ahead, a Humvee with multiple armed men. The entire section of road was blocked off with an eighteen-wheeler, concrete barriers and rolled barbed wire. Had they not seen similar situations on the outskirts of towns across America, they might have thought it was strange.
“That’s far enough!” one of the soldiers bellowed raising a hand and stepping forward. “What’s your business?”
“I’m from Castine. My family lives here.”
“Yeah. Who?”
“Sara Gray.”
The soldier went over to a Humvee where a door was open. A guy in the driver’s seat had his eyes closed and looked to be sleeping. The soldier gave him a shake and his eyes opened. He whispered in his ear and then turned and asked for a name.
“Landon Gray,” he replied.
“And the other two?”
“Friends of min
e.”
The soldier nodded and got on a two-way radio. There was a lot of back and forth before they were told to take a seat at the edge of the road and wait. “You ever seen these guys before?” Beth asked.
“No. Then again, I didn’t exactly get involved in the community.”
About twenty minutes passed before three horses came galloping up to the checkpoint. Landon squinted but the glare from the sun made it hard to see who was on horseback. The soldier pointed to them and the horses came around the concrete barrier.
“Landon?”
He squinted, recognizing the voice but unable to see his face as the sun was shining in his face. “Carl?”
Carl hopped off his horse and greeted him with a handshake. “You’ve been gone a long time.”
“Seven months,” Landon replied.
“Has it been that long?”
“About that.” His eyes drifted over the other riders. One of them looked familiar but he couldn’t remember his name. The other was a stranger.
“This is Deputy Sam Daniels,” Carl said, gesturing to the guy who looked familiar.
Sam gave a nod and adjusted himself on the horse. “How are you, Landon?”
“Good.” He looked back at Carl. “Sara. Is she..?”
He was nervous to ask.
“Still alive. And your son too,” Carl said. “They are something else. Strong people, I mean.”
“Yeah. That’s them.”
Sam cast his gaze over the other two. “And who…?”
Landon twisted. “Oh sorry, this is Beth Sullivan and Dakota Larson. Friends of mine.”
The dog barked.
“Let’s not forget Grizzly,” Beth said with a smile.
“Of course, sorry, my friend,” Landon said bending to ruffle his hair.
Sam tipped his wide-brimmed hat. “Pleased to meet you.”
Carl couldn’t take his eyes off Landon. “Where have you been?”
“North Carolina.”
“That’s a long way. How did you get here?”
“Hiked. If you can believe that,” Landon replied.
“You hiked all the way from North Carolina?”
He smiled and looked at Beth who shifted from one foot to the next. “On the AT.”
Carl’s eyebrows went up. “But that’s wild country. You wouldn’t even come hunting with me.”
“I know, right. Crazy shit. And that’s not the half of it. But I’ll tell you more later. You think…” He motioned to the horses and Carl nodded.
“Yeah sure, come on up. We’ll take you home.”
Dakota and Beth got on the back of the other horses and they broke into a trot. Grizzly ran alongside.
“How are things?” Landon asked.
Carl sighed. “A lot has changed, Landon. A lot. And not all for the better, but I’m sure Sara will bring you up to speed.”
They galloped down 166 which soon turned into Battle Avenue and Landon took in the sights of home. The once picturesque town now resembled a war zone. Buildings had been reduced to rubble, some homes were no more than charred remains and locals they saw along the way looked on with nervous eyes. Still, it felt good to put the trail behind them and be home, whatever that meant. “Oh, by the way, Sara took people in, so don’t be surprised if you find your home a little crowded.”
“That sounds like her. Business as usual.”
“I guess,” Carl replied casting a glance at Sam.
He had a sense that Carl was privy to things he wasn’t. He wasn’t sure whether to be worried or not.
As the Manor Inn came into view, a sense of relief washed over him. It was really over. All that hiking, all that time in the backwoods, all those troubles were behind him. Finally he could rest. It was good to see his estate was still in one piece. A number of people were outside, a guy hanging up washing on a line, a couple bringing horses into the barn that he’d used for rebuilding a classic car. It was a 1956 Austin Healey. As they passed the open doors, he noticed it wasn’t in there.
“You can drop us here,” he said. “That’s good.”
Landon dismounted and brushed himself off. He really needed a bath.
“I’ll swing by later. We’ll have a drink. Catch up,” Carl replied.
“Sounds good,” he reached up and shook his hand. “Thanks again.”
The deputies waved them off and he took a deep breath as he looked up at the house. “Home. I can barely believe we made it.”
“How do you feel?” Beth asked.
“Nervous.”
She slipped her arm around his. “Well, I’m right here with you.”
He gave her hand a squeeze and they made their way around to the side door. The first person he saw when he entered was Rita Thomas. She had a little baby in her arms and was rocking the child back and forth. “Landon?”
“Hey Rita.”
She looked shocked and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.
“Sara. She around?”
As if on autopilot, Rita lifted a finger pointing to the sunroom without looking that way. “Come on. I can’t wait for you to meet her,” Landon said bringing Beth down the hallway through the kitchen where he saw a few strangers. He continued on toward a pair of double glass doors that led into the sunroom. His face was beaming as he opened the door and stepped in. It soon faded as he looked upon Sara kissing Jake Parish.
“Sara?”
As she turned out of his arms, her eyes widened and all the blood drained from her face. Sara took a few steps in his direction and looked as if she’d seen a ghost. “Landon?”
His eyes bounced between them and hers between him and Beth.
THANK YOU FOR READING
All That Escapes Book 3
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Plea
Thank you for reading All That Escapes Book 3. If you enjoyed the book, I would really appreciate it if you would consider leaving a review. Without reviews, an author’s books are virtually invisible on the retail sites. It also lets me know what you liked. It also motivates me to write more books. You can leave a review by visiting the book’s page. I would greatly appreciate it. It only takes a couple of seconds.
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About the Author
Jack Hunt is the best-selling author of horror, sci-fi and post-apocalyptic novels. He currently has over thirty books published. Jack lives on the East coast of North America. If you haven’t joined Jack Hunt’s Private Facebook Group you can request to join by clicking here now. This gives readers a way to chat with Jack, see cover reveals, and stay updated on upcoming releases. There is also his main facebook page below if you want to browse.
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