Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2) (20 page)

Then a horrible crunching sound came from beneath them and they felt themselves sink. The entire lip of the slope crumbled under their weight and a moment later they were racing down at the center of an avalanche.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Jeb screamed as vehicle tipped forward and bounced down the steep slope of the valley. The tires spun but gained no purchase as the earth and gravel shifted underneath.

A sudden jolt made him hit his head on the roof. A hot pain raked across his side. He clutched at his ribs but didn’t look down.

His eyes were locked on the view outside the windshield.

Through the driving rain he could see slope of the valley side, and the river at the bottom coming up way too fast. A semicircle of tumbling earth and stones and pieces of the road preceded them. They were part of an avalanche, heading at sickening speed for the jumble of rocks below.

“Yeeeee-HAWWWWW!”

Rachel shouted with pure joy as she gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white. She cut hard to the left. The four-by-four lurched at an angle, nearly getting overturned by the force of the avalanche before Rachel evened out and cut hard to the right. The vehicle almost tipped over again, but at the last moment she cut hard back in the other direction.

Gripping his side, his hand wet with what he presumed to be blood, Jeb fought the urge to puke as Rachel performed the maneuver again and again with sickening speed. Every time she turned she came close to rolling the vehicle, but it slowed them down. Jeb saw a cascade of earth and stones hit the stream with a splash. They were almost there.

“Hold on!” Rachel shouted.

She evened out the four-by-four and they shot down the rest of the slope. Another jolt slammed their heads against the ceiling again. Jeb braced himself and still got lifted off his seat with the next bump. Then he was getting shaken every which way—smashing into Christina, the door, the ceiling, the seat in front. Water foamed up to either side of the vehicle.

The next moment they were heading up the opposite side of the valley. Rachel hit the brakes and they came to a stop. Jeb was just about to breathe again when the four-by-four started sliding backwards. Rachel spun the wheel, swung them around so they faced the stream they’d splashed through, and eased them down to park at the edge of the water.

For a moment everyone sat in stunned silence. Then, one by one, they all fumbled for the doors. It didn’t matter that there was a stinking downpour of toxins outside; they had to get out.

Jeb fiddled with the handle a second, managed to open it, and staggered a few steps on unsteady legs. Annette was not far off, rubbing her neck. Rachel got out next, did a quick circle around the vehicle and spotting no obvious damage other than a few new dents, raised her fists to the air and let out a triumphant bellow.

And suddenly Jeb was laughing. Once he started he couldn’t stop. Rachel looked at him and started laughing too.

Jeb let out a bellow that rivaled Rachel’s and then cackled. He caught a note of hysteria in his voice but didn’t care. It felt good to laugh.

“You New City people are crazy!” he managed to say between laughs.

“The craziest!” Rachel replied, dancing through the stream.

Annette stood by, still rubbing her neck but joining in their laughter. The others came out of the vehicle too, all grinning, even Nguyen, although he had a big red welt on his forehead.

“You OK, buddy?” Jeb asked, still laughing.

“Yeah. Oh shit! Are you?” Nguyen replied, pointing to Jeb’s side.

Jeb looked down. A long, shallow cut on his side oozed blood.

He stared at it dumbly for a moment. “Ow.”

“How did you get that?” Nguyen asked.

Jeb turned to Christina, who put her hands up to her cheeks in horror.

That set him off into uncontrollable laughter again.

“Oh shit, I am so sorry,” Christina said, blushing.

That only made Jeb laugh harder, doubling over with one hand holding his wound and the other his belly.

Everyone joined in except Christina, who looked mortified.

“We got to get that tended to,” Annette managed to say between chuckles.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jeb said, still laughing. “First let’s get out of here before the creek swells from the rain. This isn’t so bad.”

They were all soaked and their noses wrinkled at the foul smell from the tainted rainfall. Rachel went over to the four-by-four and put her hand on a coil of chain at the front.

“This will do the trick.”

“What is it?” Nguyen said, rubbing his forehead.

“A power winch. We uncoil this chain and hook here, fasten it to something strong at the top of the slope, and it will pull us right up,” Rachel said.

“Really?” Jeb said. He had figured they’d be walking.

“Pretty basic tech from the Old Times,” Jackson said. “My dad taught me about all this stuff.”

“He was one of the best mechanics back in North Cape, from what I hear,” Rachel said. “I’ll get behind the wheel. Jackson, you unwind the cable and find a big rock or something to loop it around. The rest of you are going to have to walk up the slope. Sorry, but I got to reduce the weight as much as I can.”

Jackson flipped a catch on the winch, grabbed the hook at the end of the chain, and unspooled the chain as he waded across the stream. Jeb and the others followed. The rain and wind still buffeted them. Jeb hunched against it.

“River’s already rising,” Tanya said.

“Yeah, let’s get this job done,” Annette said. “Everyone OK?”

“Just a bump,” Nguyen said. “How’s your neck?”

“Sore as hell,” Annette said as they started slogging up the side of the gorge.

“I’m so sorry,” Christina told Jeb again.

Jeb let out another laugh. “It was worth it to see the look on your face. Anyway, it’s just a nasty scratch. Now I know you really mean business. Don’t worry, I’ll be good.”

Christina looked away, embarrassed. Jeb was surprised he was taking it so well. He guessed he was too relieved to be alive to get angry at anything.

After a couple of minutes of slipping and sliding they made it to the road. By then the rain and wind had died down somewhat, but they were all cold and soaked to the skin. Jackson found a large boulder a bit beyond where part of the road had sheared off and looped the cable around it, hooking it through one of the links. Then he went over to the edge of the slope and waved to Rachel. She gave him a thumbs-up, barely visible through the rain, and got back in the vehicle.

A high whine sounded out of the valley. The cable grew taught and Jeb could see the pulley at the front of the vehicle start to turn, reeling in the cable like a fisherman reels in a line. The four-by-four eased through the rushing white water of the stream, came to the other side, and began to creep up the slope.

“Be careful, Rach,” Tanya said under her breath.

Jeb shook his head. “Don’t worry. That chick is invincible.”

Within a couple of minutes the vehicle crested the edge of the slope, spun its tires for a tense moment as more soil broke away, then got a grip on the remaining pavement and pulled itself past the danger spot. Rachel stopped next to them, cut off the engine, and beckoned them inside.

“We’ll stay here until the rain stops,” she said as they all piled in. “Here, I’ll turn the heat on so we can dry off.”

“This thing’s got a heater too?” Jeb asked.

“Welcome to civilization, machete man,” she grinned back.

Jackson tended to his wound. Jeb removed his shirt and as the deputy washed his side with clean water and dabbed some iodine on the cut, Jeb looked around at his companions. Nobody seemed badly hurt but they were all shaken. All except for that crazy mechanic. She looked like she actually enjoyed the ride down the gully.

He looked over at Christina and saw guilt etched on her face. He smiled at her.

You go right ahead and feel guilty. That will keep your guard down.

Jackson wrapped his middle with gauze.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” the deputy said. “You’ll be OK.”

“Yeah, but with that and the cut on my arm, I’m not in the best shape for hunting down a cult.”

Annette turned around from the front seat, her head silhouetted by the rain-spattered windshield.

“We have a deal,” she said.

“And I’ll keep it. Just saying I’m not a hundred percent.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not like you got to fight or anything.”

“If they come after us, if we get surrounded or something, I sure as hell will have to fight.”

“What with?” Tanya asked. “Rocks?”

Jeb lapsed into silence. It seemed their sympathy only went so far. He’d hoped his hint would get them talking about arming him. He didn’t expect them to give him a weapon right now, but if they were under fire it would be dumb for them to be short a man. It looked like he’s have to prove himself a lot more than he had.

But how? If he was going to turn this around enough to be allowed back to the Burbs, he was going to have to do something pretty heroic. Save another life, perhaps.

The first thing he had to do was survive the day. With all of them soaked in tainted rain and packed into the vehicle, the air was becoming thick with a chemical stench. With the interior growing hotter, condensation built up on the windows. Jeb started getting lightheaded.

“Couldn’t we open the doors or something?” Charley asked.

“I don’t want rain to get in,” Rachel replied.

No one spoke for a minute, then Charley opened his door and puked out onto the pavement.

“OK, maybe we should leave the doors open,” Rachel conceded.

Everyone opened their doors. Rachel bustled around the vehicle hanging tarpaulins over the doors and roof so water wouldn’t get in. They sat there feeling ill as the heater tried to dry their soaked clothing.

At last the rain slackened and died. Rachel sprang out. Jeb, desperate to get out of the enclosing space, did the same.

“Watch him!” Christina shouted.

Y
our guilt didn’t last long, did it?

“I got him,” Charley said, emerging from the vehicle carrying his rifle.

“Feeling better?” Jeb asked.

“Not really. You?”

“Gotta get some air.”

Charley shook his head. “Not much better out here.”

It wasn’t. The smell of the rain clung to everything. At least there was a cool breeze that eased the stifling heat of the vehicle’s interior.

Something by the side of the road caught Jeb’s attention. A maple tree. It looked healthy too.

“Hey Rachel,” he said. “I noticed a toolbox in the trunk. You got a saw?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I borrow it?”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. It looked strange on that usually happy face.

“What for?”

“I want to cut a branch off that tree. Both of you can cover me. I think two guns beats a saw, don’t you?”

“What do you want to cut that branch for?” Annette asked as she emerged from the vehicle. Suspicion looked quite normal on her face.

“It’s a present for you, for trusting me. Actually it’s a present for your kid. He can carve a bat out of it.”

Suspicion and softness fought for control of Annette’s feature. In the end it looked like a tie.

“Go ahead and give him the saw,” Annette told Rachel.

The driver shrugged and fetched the saw. Jeb went up to the tree, examined all the low branches, and picked a thick, straight one.

As he worked he glanced out over the western slope of the mountain across the foothills and lowlands. The clouds in the foreground were light gray with a few streaks of blue in between, but a darker band of clouds was approaching from the distance.

“Better hurry up,” Annette said. “Looks like more rain on the way.”

“That’s always the way it is in these parts,” Charley said. “The rain comes in waves.”

Rachel turned and headed back to the four-by-four. “If we hurry we can make it over the pass before the next squall hits. Let’s go.”

Jeb finished his work and handed the saw to Annette. He placed the branch on the back seat.

“I’ll give you instructions on how to carve before I go. Too bad I can’t carve it myself. He’s a good kid.”

Annette allowed a little smile to creep into the corners of her mouth.

As he got into the vehicle, he saw Christina had drawn her pistol. Jeb gave her a look.

“I’ll be more careful this time,” she said with a hint of a smile.

Just as Rachel revved up the engine, the radio came alive with a hiss.

“Patrol Two calling base, over.”

The response came immediately, “Base calling patrol, this is Clyde, over.”

“We’re back at the pass. Returning to base, over.”

Rachel picked up the receiver and cut in. “Mobile One to Patrol and Base. I’m dropping off a package. Sit tight and I’ll pick you up, over.”

“That’s fine, Rachel. Thanks for the lift. Over and out.”

“Mobile One, Clyde here. What’s your status? Over.”

“Everything A-OK. Will call again once I pick up Patrol Two. Been having a fun ride, over.”