End of Days | Book 5 | Beyond Alpha

by Isherwood, E. E.

  “Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll go back.”

  For now.

  Buck’s Rock

  “We’ve got the team back together,” Buck murmured, finally able to relax.

  “We go where you say,” Mel “Monsignor” Tinker replied. “As I’ve said a million times since yesterday, I’d be dead right now if I’d tried to take my load to the fuel terminal in Illinois. I owe you.” The young man was in his early thirties. He was thin and a bit pale, but he was a super nice guy who had chosen his handle because he often prayed that his explosive cargo wouldn’t blow him to Heaven.

  “We all do,” Eve added. She was the OTR recruiter who also recorded her time behind the wheel as inspiration for new drivers, especially, she’d recently told him, other women.

  The sun had dipped under the horizon behind him, which made the greenish-blue sea seem to glow. Birds squawked in the pines ahead of him and in the weird palm trees closer to the waterfront. If he ignored the remains of Sedalia and the refugees camped around them, he could almost imagine being in the Garden of Eden. It was as if the whole world was brand new, and everything natural, even the water, was as happy as he was to see the sun rise for the first time over the new creation.

  “You both did what I suggested?” he asked.

  Eve and Mel nodded. They’d unhitched their trailers and left them parked next to his chili-heavy dry van over by the big outcropping he’d dubbed Buck’s Rock. The fifty-three-foot trailers would be liabilities for their day trip down to Colorado Springs, especially the flammable tanker Monsignor pulled.

  The young female truck driver, Eve, was dressed in cowboy boots, tight jeans, and a white t-shirt with Elmo from Sesame Street bulging across her chest. It fit perfectly with the in-your-face style of the over-the-road internet broadcaster.

  He spotted the small webcam in her hand.

  “Are you still recording all this?” he asked the girl.

  “Yup. Never stopped. Whatever place this is, I’m going to keep track of everything we do, everything we see. I’m now pretty sure no one will ever watch it because the internet is gone, but that’s a small price to pay if everyone else is dead but us. I figure the least I can do is record it for whoever comes after us.”

  Eve had surprised him with her driving skills over the course of their cross-country journey. It had nothing to do with being a woman and everything to do with her age. He figured she couldn’t be much over twenty-five, yet she handled everything with the grace and skill of a much older woman. Maybe that came from always recording herself?

  “I hope someone does get to see it,” he said solemnly.

  “What can I do to help?” Sparky asked. He was the older black guy who sported a salt-and-pepper beard. He’d lost his truck in a tip-over in Wyoming during one of the more powerful flashes of energy. He’d been riding shotgun with Monsignor ever since. “Not sure if I should continue sitting next to Mel or if I should ride with Evie so I can tell her and her fans how to drive.”

  Everyone laughed. They’d been through a lot but were still veteran truckers. They weren’t above good old-fashioned ribbing.

  “Connie and Mac will ride with me,” Buck answered. “I guess you can ride with either one if you—”

  “I’ll go with her,” a young woman interjected.

  To Buck’s shock, it was the young woman in the white and blue floral summer dress. She was one of those college students he’d picked up from the side of the road.

  “Amarillo, right?” Buck asked the newcomer.

  “Yes.” She blushed. “Though I figured out we didn’t go there.”

  “No, you didn’t,” he answered. “I’m sorry if I led you on.”

  “It’s not a big deal. Word got around pretty quick that we were the only ones who made it. I mean, look out there.” She pointed at the ocean. “If we’d gone to Amarillo in the first place, I’d be…”

  She halted as if unable to complete the thought.

  “Don’t sweat it,” Buck insisted. “What brings you here?”

  “As I said, I want to go with her.” She pointed at Eve.

  “Why?” he asked dryly before realizing he’d been rude. “Sorry. I mean, how do you even know what we’re doing?”

  “It’s all right. My name is Haley. I guess I’ve been hanging around your truck since we came here. There was really no other place to go.”

  That was a hard truth for them all.

  “So,” the girl continued, “I heard you guys disconnecting those trailers last night, and I saw you gathering some things to put inside those pretty cabs. I want to be useful, you know, so I jumped when it looked like you needed another person.”

  “You could ride with me,” Mel replied. “You’re much better-looking than him.” He pointed at Sparky.

  Buck saw the look on Haley’s face and knew what she’d say, so he jumped in. “I think Eve would prefer someone her own age, don’t you? If Haley wants to join us, I think she’d fit best with another young person.”

  He was perfectly willing to change his suggestion if Eve spoke up and made a plea to have Sparky ride with her, but he didn’t think that was likely. Sparky seemed like a decent guy, as was Mel Tinker, but there were connotations to inviting a young lady into a man’s rig, and Buck wanted to avoid needless complications before an important journey.

  “I would like that,” Eve said to Haley as she held out a hand.

  Haley took it with excitement.

  “So, where are we going?” the ride-along girl asked.

  “Out there.” He pointed south.

  “And you’ll have another vehicle,” Faith said as she appeared at his side.

  “Faith?” he replied. “I thought you were long gone.” He didn’t need to remind her about Garth.

  “I tried to go, but Strauss has been keeping me running around all night with questions about people down here. She calls this place her front lawn, by the way.”

  “She wants us off her lawn?” Buck sneered.

  “Exactly,” Faith concurred. “And she sent some of her guys to go with.”

  A Humvee crawled through the crowd about fifty yards behind them.

  “We’ll have babysitters?” Buck asked, seeing why Strauss would send a truck full of soldiers to travel with them.

  “Probably in case you find anything good,” Haley said, showing she wasn’t shy.

  “Yeah.” He looked at her. “That’s almost certainly why.”

  Buck turned back to the arriving Humvee.

  “I’ll eat my hat if they volunteer to drive at the head of the convoy.” He laughed.

  Eight

  Buck’s Rock

  Faith knew she was on paper-thin ice with General Strauss, but she stepped up to greet the arriving Humvee so Buck and his friends would have a representative who could speak for them.

  When the truck stopped, an intense-looking middle-aged officer hopped out of the passenger seat and put on his camo hat. The man filled out his uniform with a build that made her think he’d spent some time tossing hay bales or working out. He also had a boyish face, as if he’d never been able to grow a beard, but it was well-chiseled with a square jaw, suggesting he’d been the popular guy back in school.

  He also wore a different uniform than the other members of Strauss’s contingent.

  “Ma’am,” he said immediately.

  “I’m Faith Sinclair. I’m the liaison for these people.” She realized she’d left off part of her name. “I’m Doctor Sinclair from SNAKE.”

  “I know who you are.” He looked past her. “Are these the three trucks going out? Is this the best we could pick from the remaining vehicles?”

  Buck stepped closer. “I’m happy to take any vehicle you can find us, but I don’t know any truck on Earth better than I know this one. It sits high, giving us good visibility. We’ve got plenty of diesel for a fifty-mile round trip. And lastly, if we find somewhere to set up shop, I want to be sure this rig has clearance to pull my trailer down there.”

&nb
sp; The men stood about six feet apart, eying each other with suspicion.

  Buck spoke first. “Of course, things would go a lot smoother if you told me where my son was and if he is safe.” He gazed at the officer, then looked at Faith.

  “I’ve been trying all night,” she replied, “but Strauss hasn’t been forthcoming over the radio.”

  Buck turned back to the officer. “You wouldn’t know where he is, would you? He’s fifteen, with a young girl the same age. They haven’t been seen since you people took him yesterday.”

  The man forced a smile. “I’m Staff Sergeant Blake Varriss, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 130th Infantry Division. We aren’t in the business of kidnapping teenagers if that’s the point you’re trying to make.”

  “Well, somebody has to know,” Buck replied with a building head of steam.

  “I’ll take care of it, I promise,” she assured him.

  Both of them turned to her.

  “He’s safe,” the soldier answered, “if he’s protected by the 130th.”

  “He better be,” Buck added.

  “He is,” the sergeant said to Buck, finally sounding reasonable, as if they wanted the same thing.

  “I’ll find out for certain,” she assured him.

  A young Golden Retriever ambled up and sat down next to Buck, and he petted the sixty-pound dog on the head. It put him more at ease. “Fine. You know I’m just anxious to see him again with all this weirdness going on out there.”

  They all looked at the sea.

  “General Strauss ordered me, my driver, and my gunner to accompany your team as observers,” Varriss said as he faced Buck again, “because she wants to make sure you don’t find trouble. We’ll hang out at the back since, as you said, you have much better visibility.”

  “Shouldn’t the boys with guns go first?” Buck asked.

  “I can put a man in your truck if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Varriss needled.

  “No,” Buck replied immediately. “We can take care of ourselves.” He looked Faith in the eyes as if there was a message she was meant to understand.

  She nodded, figuring he meant she should take care of Garth.

  Buck addressed everyone. “Let’s get going before General Asshat decides to cut our time.”

  If the name-calling affected Varriss, he didn’t let on. He merely shrugged and went back to his vehicle.

  It gave Faith and Buck one last chance to speak.

  “You’ll—” Buck started.

  “Look after your boy,” she finished his sentence. “I’ll call you on the radio if there’s anything to report. If not, I expect you’ll be back before the deadline, so we can help all these people move out of here.”

  “Yep,” he acknowledged.

  “Oh, and Buck?”

  “Yep?” he repeated.

  “I’d like to leave this Alpha place with you when it’s time.”

  “Really?” he asked with surprise. “Isn’t this your baby?”

  She nodded. “Of course, but I’ve lost control of it to Strauss and her team. Even beyond that, look around. There are no power stations out there. No nuke plants. There is no way to run this place anymore. It’s basically a dead complex with some new busybody caretakers. I want nothing to do with them.”

  “Well, you are welcome to come.” He chuckled. “I don’t really have the authority to tell you no.”

  “Thank you,” she said, stepping closer. “Watch your back. I don’t trust Strauss, nor do I trust any of her people. There’s no way to say for sure why she sent these men, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it wasn’t only to provide protection for you.”

  “On that, we can agree.” He smiled.

  The Golden came over and sniffed her flats.

  “You be a good boy, okay? Take care of your human.”

  “Big Mac always takes care of me, don’t you?”

  The dog playfully barked once.

  “See?” Buck added. “We got this.”

  “I know,” she answered.

  “Just be sure Garth and Lydia are ready to go when it comes time to clear out of here. That’s all I ask.” He turned to leave.

  “I’m on it,” she said with as much assurance as she could stuff into her voice.

  “See you soon,” he said with a wave.

  Sedalia Ruins

  Buck drove Lorraine slowly as she nudged a four-door car ahead of her. Though he knew they’d need big trucks to shove aside many of the vehicles blocking their way, he hadn’t used it as one of his reasons when he’d explained it to Varriss. At the time, he’d still hoped the officer would order his men to take the lead, so he didn’t want to give him any reasons to refuse. Of course, the grunt had behaved true to form and volunteered to lead from behind.

  The red car rolled out of his way.

  What was left of Sedalia was filled with dozens of vehicles that had been abandoned when the blue light came through, but many of the cars were now filled with refugees waiting for answers. Lots of car owners moved out of the way of the convoy, but not all the drivers were there. For those cars, Buck tried to be respectful when he shoved them aside with his bumper.

  “We’re clear ahead,” he finally said after hitting a van parked at the edge of town. The two-lane road was mostly clear since the Army had diverted everyone to the parking areas on the east side, and Buck had gotten everyone to later rush to the west side of the highway. Almost none of the cars had been abandoned on the road.

  Connie repeated his statement on the CB radio so the other drivers knew what to expect. Eve and Monsignor replied right away, but the Humvee was silent.

  “You think Blake is listening in?” She stressed the man’s name as if she’d meant to tease him.

  “Why did you say it like that?” he countered.

  “I don’t think you like him.” She snickered. “Because you share the same name.”

  His real name was Blake, but he’d gone by Buck since the day he’d gotten behind the wheel of a semi.

  “I don’t like him because he’s spying on us. His name has nothing to do with it.”

  Connie was silent. When he looked at her, she was gazing at him expectantly.

  “What is it, crazy lady?”

  “I’m trying to see if you are telling the truth. I mean, there has to be a reason you don’t go by Blake, right?” Her teasing was high-tempo and relentless.

  “Fine.” He sighed. “I’m not a fan of the name Blake. Sue me!”

  “You know I’m just teasing you.” She giggled.

  “Well, no matter his name, it proves he’s a dick by not communicating with us on the radio. They might not want to join in all our reindeer games, but I guarantee they are keeping track of everything we say on this trip. We should make sure we don’t give our opinions on an open channel, if you know what I mean.”

  “I do.” She smiled before she turned serious again. “I’m sure glad the government wasn’t this bad back in my time.”

  “They were.” He chuckled. “The difference is that citizens have gotten a lot smarter in those twenty years. We have leaks, whistleblowers, and white hats breaking into government networks. Each time we learn new things about what they’ve been doing to stir the pot between whatever ‘us versus them’ scam they are running that day.”

  “But you can’t believe this is all a conspiracy of some sort, can you?”

  “I believe what I can see, Connie, and so should you. I don’t trust a word that came out of Strauss’ mouth because of her weird claim to be a super general. I don’t trust Blakey-boy for being a part of her fishy unit, either. I do trust Faith, but only because she has Garth’s safety in her hands. If she even thinks about betraying—”

  “She won’t,” Connie cut in. “I trust her, too. There’s something about her which makes me believe her assurances. I think she’s really trying to help us.”

  He relaxed a little as the road opened up ahead of them. He slapped the shifter around to get them up to about fo
rty miles per hour but didn’t push it beyond that since they were going into an unknown world. To their left, about a mile beyond the familiar pavement, waves broke on a white, sandy beach.

  “I’d sure like to be out there taking a beach vacation instead of being where we are.”

  She looked across his chest and out his window. “Too bad I didn’t pack a bikini.”

  “Yeah, that’s terrible.” He took a moment to build up to it. “You know, we’re kind of in a fresh Earth sort of situation. A Garden of Eden, some might say. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if we had to act like it. You know, swimming without suits.”

  “You sound like a teenage boy.” Connie cracked up.

  She reached over and tugged on his ear.

  “Ouch,” he cried out in mock pain. “What are you doing?”

  “Seeing if that’s really Garth wearing a Buck costume.”

  They shared some laughter, but it quickly died.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have reminded you,” she lamented.

  “It’s fine,” he replied. “As you know, we don’t stop worrying about our kids even for a second. There’s always a little piece of us running the numbers on what our kid is doing, no matter where they are or what we’re doing at the same time.”

  “Still, I kind of liked talking about beaches and Buck nekkid.”

  They laughed some more, but it was strained.

  At least Garth was somewhere known. He and Connie were heading clean off the map. It was the farthest thing from the vacation he sought, but deep down, he admitted he wanted the world to right itself enough that he could get his future wife down on that beach, sans bikini.

  He glanced at it one last time, willing the pleasant vision to come to life.

  If only…

  Location Unknown, Pacific Ocean

  It didn’t take a lot of convincing to get Barlow to agree to climb the wall of trash. Going back to the boat without any answers wouldn’t do anyone a bit of good. The only way to get those answers was to get elevation. It was no secret how best to do that.

  She’d followed the captain for a little while, but the older man was slow and uncertain as he climbed the trash pile, as if he were unsure what to do on dry land. Within fifteen minutes, she’d led the four men on her own path.