by Connor Mccoy
But the magnificence of his home quickly turned bleak. The blue sky above it grew cloudy. A dark shadow loomed over the house, so black that he could not make out the details of his home. It was like a dark shape sticking out of the land.
The front door creaked open, revealing an orange light. Jacob wanted to push his field of vision into the door, but fear kept him back. Who was inside?
This doesn’t feel like home anymore. It’s like an alien place. No, turn away. Brandon! Jubilee! Domino! Pull back!
But an unseen voice suddenly grabbed Jacob and pushed him right through the doorway. He flew right into a sea of orange fire.
“Dad!” Brandon’s voice cried.
Jacob awoke with a jolt. “Brandon?” He turned so violently he smacked his face into the side of the door. “Ow! What’s wrong?” He had fallen asleep, of that he was certain, but for how long?
Jubilee grabbed onto the back of Jacob’s seat. “Somebody’s out there.”
Domino stirred. “Baby? What?” She rubbed her eyes.
Brandon pointed to his window. “Someone with a light. I saw him coming!”
Domino’s jaw tightened. Another threat to her family could be lurking just outside of their window. She swore under her breath as she poked her binoculars under the cloth.
Sure enough, she spotted a man outside, but in the darkness his features remained indistinct. He was holding a lantern that wobbled close enough to himself to show off his gray pants. Other than that, Domino could not make out anything else.
“I see him,” Domino said, dropping her voice low. “He’s coming. No wait, he’s just walking at an angle.” She nodded her head to the left. “That way. He might miss us.”
“Roll up the windows,” Jacob said.
Brandon and Jubilee complied. Domino also took hold of the crank and turned it to push the window up the rest of the way. There would be no chance of the man finding an opening into the truck.
Domino returned to her watch. She thought of the gun in her belt. At any moment, she might have to use it.
“Do we have to whisper?” Jubilee asked.
“Yeah,” Jacob replied, “Yeah, we should keep our voices down.”
Domino chewed on her lip. She hated having to hunker down like this. She despised the fact that threatening men existed out there. However, it was a fact of life that she knew only too well.
A glass bottle saved me from being raped in high school. I was lucky. If I wasn’t armed when I was fighting off Diablo and those skuzzy Lutz cousins, I’d be six feet under by now.
That event ensured that a firearm would be her constant companion. When an evildoer reared his head, Domino vowed to blow him away.
And so, she waited for something to change, an event to make her draw her weapon.
Chapter Three
Jacob wiped fresh sweat from his face. Maybe the rolled-up windows were trapping in hot air, but Jacob bet the tense situation was causing the perspiration. He wondered if sleeping in the truck was a mistake. Instead of providing security, this truck might end up becoming their coffin.
Without a working watch, Jacob could not tell the time, but he bet at least thirty minutes had passed. Domino updated with the same news—the man was still out there. He apparently was milling around one of the stalled cars. He might be searching it for something, perhaps scavenging for whatever he could find.
But Domino had noticed something more unsettling. There was additional movement beyond the car, closer to the road. The figures were too dark to make out, and some of the cars were slightly blocking them, but Domino was sure more men lurked outside.
At the moment, Domino could not hear any voices. Perhaps the Avery family was too far away from them to hear any chatter.
I wonder if any of them are the same men who tracked me and Doctor Nguyen a few nights ago? Jacob thought. If one of them should recognize Jacob, what would the man do or say?
“You think maybe they’re not bad people?” Jubilee asked, her voice tinged with worry.
Brandon smirked. “You want to go ask them?”
“No!” Jubilee narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m just asking.”
“It’s a good question.” Jacob nodded at his daughter. “They might be. Some people are just out to rob and hurt people, but you’re also going to have survivors who just are looking for resources, fuel, any scrap of food they can find. You might even run into whole caravans of people.”
Jacob cleared his throat so he could speak longer. “People are going to band together because they can’t find resources on their own. There’s also safety in numbers. I wouldn’t be surprised to run into…” He fished a number out of thin air. “…a group of hundreds of people.”
“So, that’s a good thing?” Jubilee asked.
“Not unless they created their own army. Ever seen The Postman?” Brandon asked.
Jubilee lowered her voice. “Mom said you weren’t supposed to see that movie.”
Domino aimed a mischievous look at her son while Jacob continued. “Yeah, armed bands can be a problem too. No matter who we encounter out here, from now on we have to observe them from a distance until we know they’re friendly.”
Brandon patted his face with the cloth, drying off fresh sweat. “You want to try cards again?” Jubilee asked, “Crazy Eights?”
The younger Avery sibling sat up. “I think so.” He had been in and out of sleep for a while. Jacob wanted his children to rest if they could while he and Domino kept watch. But the stuffiness of the truck wasn’t helping.
“I don’t have to go the bathroom anymore,” Brandon said.
“You’re probably sweating it all out.” Jubilee passed Brandon a few cards. “I haven’t felt like going since…” She looked at her wrist. “Shoot! Why do I keep doing that? My watch stopped working when everything else shut down!”
Brandon took the cards. “I kept checking my phone when I was at Doc Sam’s. Maybe we ought to make a game. How many times do we keep checking our stuff that doesn’t work anymore?”
“What does the winner get?” Jubilee asked as she looked at her cards.
“What? The winner’s the one who looks the most? I was thinking it should be the one that looks the least.” Brandon gazed at his cards.
As the two children played, Domino spoke up. “Jay, it’s starting to brighten up out there. I don’t like this. Those men are still out there. When the sun comes up, they’re going to see our coverings on the windows. That might draw them in.”
Jacob clenched his teeth. Domino had maintained watch and the news had not been great. She definitely had been able to make out a few more men in the darkness. Maddeningly, Domino could not discern any more details, whether the men were carrying guns or other armaments or what they were doing out there. The Averys had not even heard noises beyond an occasional grinding sound that could have been a car door or a trunk being forced open.
Domino’s latest report made things worse. If the sun did come up with those men out there, their options were few. Jacob could gamble that they were friendly and meant no harm, but if they were not, then their best option was to flee the truck before they were noticed.
“They have to take a break after a while,” Jacob said out of frustration, “Doms, did it ever look like they stopped doing whatever the hell it is that they’re up to?”
“I don’t know. I just keep seeing people move around out there, but I’ll be damned if I can tell if they’ve stopped to take a leak or what,” she replied.
Jacob never had wished in his life for the sun to stay down. Yet, as the light continued to intensify beyond the window, he cursed at it.
“I haven’t heard anything for the past maybe, oh, twenty minutes,” Domino said, “Maybe they finally left. If they’ve been working all night, I mean, geez. They probably need to catch forty winks by now.”
“Maybe.” Domino was right. The chatter and clatter beyond the truck finally had subsided, plus Domino had not spotted any further movement. Jacob looked careful
ly from his end in case they had circled around his truck. Nothing. They appeared to be in the clear.
I don’t trust it for one minute. Jacob itched to find out, even if it put him in danger.
“I’m going out there.” He shifted back to Domino. “There’s no way we can tell if we’re really alone. They could be camping out on the other side of the road and we wouldn’t be able to tell. It’s better if I do some recon, check it out by myself.”
Domino’s lower jaw tightened. She didn’t like the idea, but she understood the wisdom of Jacob’s move. One person out there would have less of a chance of getting spotted than two.
“I’ll keep an eye out for you,” she said.
Jacob smiled weakly. “With you watching my back, I feel more confident.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss. “I won’t be long.” He glanced at his two children. They had dropped off to sleep, their cards strewn on the floor or in their hands. He wouldn’t wake them up. Better to get this over with as quickly as possible. Besides, if they slept through his little scouting mission, all the better. One less thing for them to worry about.
With the door inched open enough for him to slip through, Jacob slid off the seat and onto the grass. He plopped down so hard and fast that it shocked him. He expected to catch himself. Of course, he had been sitting on that seat almost all night. His glutes and legs were stiff from the extended inactivity.
Great. I have to move like a ninja, but I’m stuck with a sore ass.
He looked up, catching Domino, who had scooted across her seat and was reaching for the door handle. He gave her a thumbs-up. She smiled back before gently closing the door.
He ascended into a crouching position, keeping his body pressed against the truck. He crept to the hood. Slowly, he looked out to the road.
So far, the coast was clear. The scene was just like yesterday, a bunch of stalled vehicles off the side of State Road 215. A soft, almost comforting wind blew through Jacob’s hair. The sun had risen to what Jacob figured to be civil dawn. There was plenty of light to see what was going on, but also for anybody nearby to spot him if he wasn’t careful.
A dark red car was within easy running distance. Perhaps four seconds. Jacob stretched his legs before he gave it a try.
Now!
Jacob dashed across the gap and dove for the ground once he made it around the vehicle. Now he was closer to the road and could view the surrounding vehicles more closely.
Some of the car and truck doors lay open. Whoever had come around here last night had broken in and searched them, so Domino’s suspicions were confirmed.
Jacob panned the area as much as he could, still detecting no movement. He was beginning to feel comfortable that the scavengers had indeed left, but he refused to take chances. He checked the nearby vehicles, but carefully and without sudden movements.
Jacob found similar patterns—the floor mats were yanked out and tossed away, trunks and glove compartments opened, and seats pulled up or pushed back. Nothing was spared.
How the hell did they miss my truck?
As Jacob approached the edge of the road, he found his answer. There were many more vehicles littered on the other side. The group of scavengers must have concentrated their efforts over there.
He checked both sides of the road. Again, not a soul to be found. Jacob finally relaxed, confident that the scavengers had left. He ran across the road and checked around.
The same story greeted him, just a bunch of ransacked vehicles. However, the scent of gasoline gripped Jacob’s nostrils. He would smell the fumes in close proximity to the vehicles.
He checked the gas tanks. Although every one of them was shut, they all had gas trickling down the side of the vehicle.
Jacob returned to the road, where he spotted faded drops on the asphalt. He leaned down and inhaled. Definitely gasoline.
“These guys were draining the cars,” he whispered. What did that mean? Wouldn’t scavengers be more interested in finding food or medicine, anything to sustain their immediate needs? These men went through a lot of trouble to drain these vehicles. This smelled like a sophisticated operation, not something borne of desperation.
Gas was definitely more valuable now that it no longer could be widely distributed across the country. Anyone who had a working vehicle or a generator would be almost like a king. Perhaps these men knew someone like that. Someone might have rounded up these guys to take on the task of finding gas wherever they could.
Jacob diverted his attention to the ground. Between the crunched grass and prints in the mud patches, he could discern a trail. It led back to the road, headed west. Jacob felt unnerved a bit, as it happened to be going in the direction of his home.
He didn’t get a chance to check any further. A familiar sound pricked his ears, one that he did not imagine he would hear again.
It was the sound of an approaching vehicle.
Jacob turned his head back to the state road. A truck was approaching in the distance. With each second it grew larger and larger. It appeared to be a commercial truck.
Jacob’s heart quickened. Who could this be? Was it the government?
He tried to squelch the hope that their country had rallied from the EMP so quickly. The odds were greater that this was a lone wolf, somebody who had managed to shield their vehicle from the electromagnetic pulse, rebuild it, or perhaps the vehicle did not have electronic components to fry in the first place.
Whoever it was, Jacob didn’t want the driver to spot him. Better to hide and observe the vehicle as it passed.
Jacob fled back down the slope toward his truck, flinging himself onto the grass behind a stalled car. From there, he could watch through the car windows as the truck passed.
He did not have to wait long. The truck zipped by, not stopping or slowing down as it passed the stalled vehicles. Jacob took in the truck’s details. Its design was pretty basic, a multi-seat cab with a modestly-sized cargo body in the back.
However, the truck’s logo immediately seized Jacob’s attention. It included the company name: Corbin Transportation Lines.
“Hey,” Jacob whispered as the sound of the truck faded in the distance. “Doms said the truck that bailed out Cowell had that name on it.” Was that the same truck? It almost had to be. The EMP would have left few vehicles operational.
Suddenly, the mystery of the scavenging operation seemed much less mysterious. Jacob had an idea of who these men might be working for.
Once he no longer heard the truck, he scrambled back to his vehicle. He approached the passenger side where his wife sat. Spotting the small gap in the concealing cloth where Domino was looking out, he gave her a thumbs-up.
She opened up the door and jumped out. “Thank God. I was on pins and needles for a while,” she said, a little breathlessly. “And that truck! I heard it, but I didn’t get a good look at it.”
Jacob nodded. “Yeah. The men who raided this area are gone for the moment, but we’d better move. God knows if those men are coming back. And the truck…” Jacob stopped to catch his breath. “I saw it. But I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to tell you.”
Chapter Four
Jacob waited to see how Domino would react. Would she spit out a string of angry swear words? Or would she show apprehension, perhaps display nervousness that the same truck that ferried Cowell away from Doc Sam’s house had returned to their neck of the woods?
Jacob banked on perhaps a mild show of anger. Instead, she nodded, her brow deepened a little, but otherwise she remained calm and said, “Okay.”
Jubilee’s mouth hung open a little while Brandon stared at his mom, perhaps wondering if she would explode at hearing his father’s news. Finally, Jacob’s patience broke, and he said, “You’re taking this a little better than I thought.”
Domino started walking toward the bed of the truck. “Why should we be worried? It’s not like Cowell was in that truck. He was going to the town of Fall Crossing when he fled Sam’s. He’s probably found a new life
there with his sister. So, why would we ever see him again?”
“But why would…” Jubilee scratched her head. “Who was that guy who owned those trucks?”
“Jimmy Sykes,” Jacob replied.
“Yeah, do you think he’s coming back?” Jubilee asked.
As Domino pulled down the tailgate and undid the covering over the truck bed, Jacob replied, “Sykes was doing business in Trapp. So, I’m guessing he might be going back there.”
Now Domino swore. “Shit,” she whispered as she pulled the gas can out of the truck bed and put it on the grass.
Jacob sympathized with her. Neither of them liked the idea of Sykes returning to Trapp. The man was a thief. He had facilitated the Cowell’s getaway with the stolen gas, which made him no less guilty. And, of course, Sykes’s men had shot at Domino as she tried to stop Cowell. One well-aimed bullet could have put Domino in her grave.
There was no doubt that Sykes was dangerous. Hopefully, they wouldn’t cross paths with him again.
“Mom?” Jubilee asked, “Are we going to bring all of that with us? Doesn’t Dad want us to travel light so we can get home as fast as we can?”
The truck bed contained all the supplies they had unpacked the day before. They quickly had stocked it all in the bed and then covered it with a tarp so it could not be seen by interlopers. But Domino had been unpacking it for the past few minutes.
“Actually, your mom read my mind,” Jacob said as he helped her tug a sack off the open tailgate.
“We might not be in too much trouble if we take a more scenic route. We’ll stay away from the road this time and plot a course that should take us home by late tonight, or early tomorrow if we rest. Besides, this stuff might actually save our lives. If we run into a group of survivors, we could use this to barter.” He faced his children as he set the sack down. “I can’t say we won’t run into those men who were searching around here last night, so it’s good to have some bargaining chips.”
