April didn’t like the idea but she understood why they needed to learn. The sounds of a car door opening alerted them to the rest of the group waking up and they added oatmeal to the heated water for a simple breakfast. Mrs. Moore shooed her away with a hot wet cloth for washing so April took care of her morning business after she went in search of her backpack. She eyed the almost flat tube of toothpaste as she brushed her teeth and sighed at the knowledge that she most likely wouldn’t be able to replace it. After so much time had passed, scavenging for any luxuries like toothpaste, deodorant and feminine hygiene products would be next to impossible. Forget showers or enough water to even bathe regularly. They were about to become a dirty smelly bunch. April tucked her precious tube of toothpaste away and pulled her brown hair back into a ponytail. She studied her face by the dim light of a flashlight. She didn’t know if it was the shadows in the dark room but she looked much older than her seventeen years.
Breakfast went quickly and everyone washed out their paper bowls with as little water as possible. They wouldn’t last very long but they were trying to conserve every resource they had. The glass showroom was very bright with warm California sunshine and looking around at her group, April saw that they all looked older than the teenagers they were. She also noticed that almost all of them had varying degrees of sunburns. From pink to bright red, everyone’s faces had been affected by the sun yesterday after spending so much time sequestered in the tunnels. Her mind flashed to the bottle of sunscreen she’d brought in her suitcase so long ago. She hadn’t even thought of it when she’d packed her backpack. Pressing her fingertips gently against her cheekbones, she felt the slight sting of a burn and her shoulders slumped. Another day biking in the hot sun and it would change to a fierce burn.
April was ready to go but the others were still packing up so she started searching through the desks in the hope of finding anything useful. Paper clips, business cards, pens and financing forms were all she could find. Finishing up her empty search at the reception desk, April leaned back in the comfortable desk chair causing her legs to stretch out under the desk where they knocked into something. Pushing the chair back on its wheels she leaned over and snagged a medium-sized cardboard box from where it had been hidden. Setting it on the desktop she searched the drawers for something to slit the packing tape. A long letter opener slid through the delivery stickers and tape holding it shut. She didn’t expect anything important to be in the box. It hardly weighed anything so she wasn’t disappointed when she pulled the flaps back and found a wedge of baseball caps with the car dealerships logo on them. Pushing the box to the side she got to her feet and took a step away before stopping. She closed her eyes in frustration at herself. She had just made a great find and dismissed it! They might not have sunscreen but the hats would protect their faces from the sun. She scooped up the box and headed back to the group. She needed to start thinking things out more. Survival could depend on the simplest things and she needed to get her mind to consider everything differently now. Her feet came to a stop once again and she turned back to the desk and grabbed the long letter opener and slid it into a side pocket of her pack. It might not be the best weapon but it could probably do damage if she needed to protect herself. She had an extra bounce to her step as she handed out the hats to her fellow students. Her mind and body felt lighter somehow. April knew they had miles to go but she felt more confident about handling what was ahead.
With everyone finally ready to go they wheeled their bikes out of the glass showroom and into the hot morning sun of the parking lot. April was not looking forward to the numb butt she was about to get from the bike seat but she was more than ready to make some miles to put them that much closer to home. As they got started back on the freeway, she pushed aside exactly how many miles they had between them and their hometown so far away. She looked around at the others and was happy to see Jenny and Jessica had taken on the bike trailers so Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Hardsky didn’t have to pull them for the second day in a row. Liam was still pulling his trailer so she planned on asking him to switch off when they stopped for a meal later. Her arm still hurt from the bullet graze but she was determined to pull her weight.
Mile after mile sped by under their bike’s wheels and once again they all fell into the silent concentration of pedaling. It was just after they had been on the road for an hour when Mrs. Moore called them to a stop. She was alternately glancing at her map and the many signs that stood above the freeway. Ahead of them was the biggest interchange April had ever seen. The roads split apart and looped around and seemed to go in every direction. She had never seen such a huge mass of concrete in her life. While her teacher figured out which branch to take, she leaned against the concrete barrier on the outer side of the road. It came up to her mid-chest so she was able to look over it at the area surrounding them. Being elevated gave her a bird’s eye view and something down below caught her attention.
A small muddy pond was surrounded by thousands of dirty tents and makeshift shelters. The whole camp was filled with garbage and household items. There were no signs of life. Liam came over to stand beside her. She pointed down at the empty camp.
“What do you think they were doing there and where did they all go?”
Liam scanned the area with a frown before his eyes widened in understanding. He pointed out beyond the edge of the camp.
“Look over there. Do you see the small hill with the wooden platform? That whole area was a lake or reservoir. If you follow the line of that hill you can see where its banks used to be. I bet people came and set up camp here when the water stopped flowing. With so many people taking water from it, the levels would’ve slowly dropped and they moved their camp closer and closer until there was nothing left but that muddy pond.”
Once April’s eyes picked out the original banks of the reservoir, it was easy to see how big it had been compared to what was left.
“But, Liam, where did they all go?”
He sighed sadly and turned his back on the camp.
“Honestly, most of them probably died. The water was probably contaminated with so many people using it. Every drop would have to have been boiled to keep it safe to drink and many wouldn’t have done that. They also would’ve run out of food. So, some of the people would’ve moved on but a lot would’ve been too weak and they probably died.”
April and Liam leaned against the concrete and thought about the millions of people that had died in the last five months from dehydration, starvation, disease or violence and they both prayed that they wouldn’t end up adding to those numbers.
Mrs. Moore called for them to mount up, breaking them out of their grim thoughts. With one last look back at the abandoned camp they pushed off and hoped they would find a better future.
The group stayed close together as they maneuvered through the abandoned cars that clogged the interchange. It was slow going, and in a few spots, they had to work together to lift the bikes and trailers over smashed car hoods or trunks when they couldn’t find a way through. There was no way to get off the interchange with it being so high off the ground so they had no choice but to lift the bikes over any blockage they came to. By the time they finally made it through the interchange and back on to the more even freeway heading west, they were all exhausted so after half-an-hour, the adults called a break for food and rest.
With the sun beaming straight down on their heads, they started looking for a place that would give them some shade. They were all hot and miserable by the time they rode up to a gas station that had an overhead canopy above the gas pumps. There were two cars and one van abandoned at the pumps with the gas nozzles lying on the pavement beside them. The girls opened all the vehicles doors to air them out so they could sit in comfort while they ate their small lunch of canned tuna on crackers. It wasn’t a very tasty meal but they only had so much food. Liam was banging around inside the gas station. It had been completely looted and all the shelves and glass had been destroyed. He finally came out to j
oin them after ten minutes of searching the rubble, a huge grin on his face.
“I found dessert!” He called out in a singsong voice before bringing his hands out from behind his back and holding up the two bags he’d found. One bag was filled with long red licorice and the other was a party size bag of Skittles.
Everyone cheered at the treats and Liam passed them out to the girls. The little bit of candy they would all get would bump up their calorie intake for the meal and the sugar would help as well. After the candy had been divided, Liam came over and settled down beside April on the dirty concrete and leaned back against one of the useless gas pumps to chew on a rope of licorice.
April studied him from the corner of her eye as she sipped at the lukewarm water in her bottle. He’d taken his hat off and sweat had given him a ring of matted hair from the hat. He looked different from the boy who had jumped balconies with her all those months ago. She tried to figure out what had changed and it finally hit her. His face wasn’t soft anymore. The teenage face he’d started this trip with had been chiselled into that of a man. Even his eyes were harder as he constantly scanned the parking area and street for threats. She sighed and looked down at her scuffed running shoes. Liam, like everyone else, had left his childhood behind and turned into a man. She wondered if he felt pressure to be the protector of them all, being the only male in the group. She felt a sense of helpless rage at the people who had destroyed the world and stolen so much life from it. She could only be grateful that he was with them and vowed to help him as much as he’d helped her.
“You should switch bikes with me. I can pull the trailer for the rest of the day,” she told him.
He raised his eyebrows at her and looked at her wounded arm in question.
April shrugged her shoulders.
“It’s not too bad. Still throbs a bit when I move it but I can handle a turn pulling the trailer.”
Liam studied her with a soft smile for a few seconds before answering her.
“I’m okay to finish out the day with it. How about you do it tomorrow? Give your arm one more day to heal a bit more.”
April nodded and achingly climbed to her feet when Mrs. Moore called out for them to get moving. They still had many miles to go before the sun went down and they had to look for another shelter for the night. She bit back a groan as she swung her pack back over her shoulders and daydreamed of a hot soak in a hot tub as she pushed off and followed the others back out onto the road.
They had only travelled for twenty minutes when gasps and cries of delight rang out causing April to raise her head and search for what had caused them. She followed the stares and pointed fingers as they all came to a stop. An overgrown field stretched out into the distance beside the road they were travelling on and calmly grazing in it were three of the most beautiful horses she’d ever seen. They were an amazing sight in the middle of so much destruction and made April’s heart feel lighter. She had no idea where they had come from but they didn’t look anything like the work horses she’d seen on the farms around her town. These animals were sleek and delicate-looking. The group sat and just watched them with smiles for a few minutes until, as one, all the horses raised their heads in the group’s direction and froze. For two heartbeats, the magnificent animals stared at them before bolting in the opposite direction. April’s grin spread even wider as they seemed to fly across the field. That grin changed to open-mouthed shock as a roar louder than a freight train sounded at her back and a dark blur sprang past her and crashed into two of the girls in front of her.
Chapter Thirteen
April was frozen. She couldn’t seem to move a muscle even as her brain screamed at her to run. What she saw in front of her was beyond impossible. Some sort of huge cat had crashed into Molly and Ashley. They were a heap of limbs and handlebars as their bike tires spun in the air. A massive paw swiped at Ashley’s head and the whole pile shifted a few feet exposing the blank, staring eyes of Molly. Her head flopped to the side in a sickening way. Bile surged up April’s throat and filled her mouth. Just as she was turning aside to heave, something grabbed her backpack from behind and dragged her backwards off her bike and down to the ground. She managed to turn her head before throwing up so that most of the mess landed on the pavement.
The huge explosion of gunshots rang out and competed with the cat’s furious roars and the other girls’ screams of terror. All April could do was curl into herself and cover her ears as she continued to dry heave. The noise was deafening and she had no idea what was happening but she knew what she’d seen. A lion, a lion had just attacked them and killed Molly and maybe Ashley, too. Her body was wracked with sobs. She didn’t understand this new world and squeezed her eyes shut to make it all go away. Her escape from reality was thwarted when strong hands gripped her and yanked her to her feet. Her eyes flew wide as she stared into Liam’s panicked blue ones.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he yelled at her as he looked her body up and down.
April was beyond speech so she just nodded frantically and spun around to check on the rest of the group. What she saw staggered her, and Liam had to hold her up or she would’ve fallen to her knees.
Blood, there was so much blood everywhere. Molly and Ashley were in a heap with their bikes and the lion was draped overtop of them. All three figures were bathed in blood and a small lake of it was spreading all around them. April couldn’t tear her eyes away from the carnage until someone blocked her view and gave her a shake.
Mrs. Moore’s grief-filled eyes came into focus and that was all it took for April to break. She threw herself at her teacher and let out a howl of pain that came from the very depths of her soul.
April lost herself in the comfort of the older woman’s arms. She couldn’t handle any more. She was done. There was nothing left inside of her and she didn’t know if she’d ever recover.
Mrs. Moore turned with her student in her arms and watched as Liam dragged the carcass off her former students. She knew that they were dead but said nothing as he checked both girls for a pulse. He took a few steps back and shook his head. His eyes worried the teacher. They were devoid of all emotion and she feared for all her students’ mental health. Glancing away from him, she took in the rest of the girls huddled around Mrs. Hardsky. The woman was doing her best to hold on to Kara who was trying to reach out to her best friend on the ground.
Everyone remained frozen in place as Liam carefully moved the two girls to the side of the road. He walked into the field and kicked at the ground for a few minutes before coming back to join the group. His blank eyes searched out Mrs. Moore and in a bleak voice told her, “I don’t have a shovel. I need to bury them but I don’t have a shovel.”
Mrs. Moore gently lowered April to the ground and pressed a bottle of water that she’d taken from her pack into the girl’s hands before approaching Liam. She put a hand on his shoulder and searched his eyes.
“No, Liam, we don’t have a shovel.” She turned to take in the other girls before addressing them all. “I’m sorry, but we have no way to bury Molly and Ashley.”
The teacher’s eyes welled with tears and she took a bracing breath.
“I’m so sorry that this happened. I…I didn’t even think about this kind of threat. There’s nothing we can do for them now. We can put them in one of these cars but that’s all we can do. I’m sorry but we have to keep moving. There might be more animals out here and they will be attracted by the blood. I’m so sorry that we can’t do more for them.”
As if her words were a prophecy, a roar rang out causing the girls to scream in panic. Everyone surged to their feet and prepared to bolt when the sound of a rifle shot boomed and they all dropped back to the ground.
The roar of another predator had snapped April from her shock and she’d bounced to her feet like the others. The gunshot had caused her to drop into a crouch but had also wiped all fear from her brain. Her eyes had been on Liam so she knew he hadn’t fired his gun That meant there was someone else out there.
All of the fear, sadness and panic had pushed her brain to the limit and she felt like a switch had been thrown inside of her. She felt cold and hard and ready to kill. The rage inside of her didn’t burn, it was sharp like ice. Waving her hand to get Liam’s attention, she hissed at him when he looked her way.
“Where are the other guns?”
Something in her face must have scared him because he flinched back before pointing an unsteady finger at one of the bike trailers.
She glanced at the gun in his trembling hand that was pointed at the ground and spat out, “Be ready!”
She didn’t wait for his reaction but started to duck walk towards the bike trailer he’d indicated. It no longer mattered that she didn’t like guns. She wasn’t going to see any more of her friends die. April would do what she had to do to protect her friends.
She had reached the trailer and was rummaging through its contents when a stranger’s voice called out.
“HOLA!”
Her hands froze as she felt the cold metal hardness of a weapon and her eyes tracked to the direction the voice had come from. A man in his early twenties was walking towards them from across the field and slung over his shoulder was a long-barreled rifle. The sight of the gun was all April needed to see. She pulled her own weapon from the trailer and ran over next to Liam.
The man continued to walk towards them but never reached for his weapon. When he got to about ten feet from the two dead girls’ bodies he stopped and frowned down at them. Crossing himself, April heard him say, “Descanse en paz los niños”
He stood quietly with all eyes on him as he said a prayer for the two girls. April’s grip on the gun relaxed slightly. She didn’t think a bad man would say a prayer for their fallen and then try to hurt them but she still kept the gun pointed in his direction.
Stranded Box Set Page 69
