Alone, Book 3: The Journey (19 page)

     “I came across a framed photograph, of a woman and two girls. Is that your family?”

     “Yes. I brought that along to look at to remind me why I’m out here. And to help me keep going when I want to give up. I figured it would come in handy when I got to Kansas City, too. If I have to search for them, I can show it to people and ask if they’ve seen them. It was in my backpack before I emptied it out to go into town to get the alternator and battery.”

     “You left out a word.”

     “Huh?”

     “You should have said, ‘before I
stupidly
went into town to get the alternator and battery.’”

     “Hey, I needed the alternator. I figured I might never be this close to an auto parts store again. I thought it would be an easy trip.”

     “In case you haven’t noticed, Dave, the world has changed. Nothing is easy anymore. Perhaps someday it will be. But not now. And probably not anytime soon.”

     “True. I can’t argue that. I’ll move those bags in the back seat over to the left side so you can recline the passenger seat. It lays all the way back and you’ll have plenty of leg room. You’ll be quite comfortable.”

     Red smirked and looked around the sleeper’s curtain to face him.

     “Who said I’m gonna be sitting in the passenger seat? I think you meant
you’ll
be quite comfortable there.”

     Dave had never even considered giving up the responsibility of driving.

     And he’d always hated being a passenger.

     But he knew he was still in bad shape. So he didn’t press the issue.

     Red said, “Look. Maybe after a couple of nights you’ll be well enough to drive. But if you try it too soon, you’ll wince every time you hit a bump and jerk the wheel whenever you feel a stab of pain. I’d rather not be pushing us out of a ditch all by myself because you’re still too broken up to help.”

     “Okay. You win. You drive, I’ll navigate.”

     “Good boy.”

     Then Red changed the subject.

     “She’s quite beautiful.”

     Dave gave her a puzzled look.

     “Your wife.”

     “Oh, yes. Sarah was a model in her younger days, until her body changed and they didn’t want her any more. They refused to use any model who looked older than sixteen and weighed more than ninety pounds. But she kept her looks.”

     “Your daughters, fortunately, favor her instead of you. In fact, the older one is her spitting image. What are their names?”

     “Lindsey’s the oldest one. She’s a sophomore in high school. Beth is my baby. She’s almost thirteen.”

     Red eyed him closely.

     “You strike me as a good father.”

     “I try.”

     “Will they expect you to come after them?”

     “Yes. But Sarah will keep them from counting on it. She’ll know that it may not be possible. So she’ll be careful to stress to them that Daddy will try his best, and will probably eventually find them, but that it may be awhile.”

     “So you think she’ll know that you had to wait until spring to set out?”

     “Yes. She’ll have figured it out. In addition to being drop dead gorgeous, she’s also the smartest person I’ve ever met.

     “If she had a way to warn me about the escaped prisoners, she’d have told me not to come. But since she couldn’t, she’ll hope they’re all gone by the time I leave, and then pray that I make it to them.”

     “What escaped prisoners?”

     “From Fort Leavenworth. They had a big prison break when the world went black. They think most of them are still in the area, since there aren’t many transportation options, besides walking and stealing horses.”

     “If they’re still in the area, why don’t they just round them up?”

     “It’s not that easy. When everybody realized how serious the blackout was, and how permanent, things went to hell. Most of the policemen and state troopers deserted their posts to be with their families. A lot went rogue and started fending only for themselves. A lot eventually committed suicide or were murdered by felons with grudges.

     “So now, all of the law enforcement agencies, if they still exist at all, are nothing but skeletons of their former selves. Then you have the transportation problem. Without any vehicles, how would they search for them? How would they surround them in sufficient force to arrest them? How would they transport them?”

     “So where are they? If they’re all hiding in the woods, wouldn’t they eventually get hungry and go back to the prison?”

     “I understand the prison itself is barely functional. They let all but the worst offenders go. The ones left were given a few head of livestock and seeds and told they had to grow their own food or starve. I doubt if they’d let any more people join their ranks and have to feed them too. If they did catch somebody and send him back, he’d probably be murdered by the other prisoners so they wouldn’t have to share their food with him.”

     “So what do you think happened to them?”

     “The people I’ve talked to say they’ve probably taken over the farms in the area. Maybe even are holding the residents hostage, or making them slaves. Making them grow their food and cook for them.”

     Despite the swelling and bruising still very evident in Dave’s face, she could still make out the sadness and concern.

     She suspected she knew the answer, but asked anyway.

     “The relatives your family went up to Kansas City to visit… where do they live, exactly?”

     “On a farm. Not far from Fort Leavenworth.”

Chapter 39

     Red thought it wise to change the subject. There were so many questions she still wanted to ask of her new friend.

     Like what he expected to do if he encountered an army of convicted felons holding his wife and daughters hostage.

     And how in heck he got the Explorer running again.

     And, more importantly, could he do the same thing to get other vehicles running as well?

     But for now, time for talk was over.

     “I need to get some rest so I’m alert tonight. You’ll have the option of sleeping. I’ll be driving all night. Can you scoot back and make some room?”

     It took him a minute, but Dave complied.

     Red held the bottle and straw to his face so he could get a drink.  

     “Do you need to go to the bathroom before I crash?”

     Dave winced just a bit before answering.

     “No, I’m good. And I’m glad. The only thing worse than peeing into a bottle is having to have you help me with it.”

     “Trust me, dude, it’s no spring picnic for me either. But it could be much worse.”

     “How so?”

     “So far all you’ve been doing is sipping water. If you were eating food, that would be much worse.”

     Dave couldn’t argue the point.

     She crawled onto the outside of the bunk, her back to him, and Dave’s curiosity got the best of him.

     “Hey, Red?”

     “Yes?”

     “I was just wondering. You being an attractive woman and all, and me being an average man, which as you know is just one step above an animal…”

     “Oh, get to the point. I’d like to get some sleep tonight.”

     “I was just wondering, aren’t you worried that I’ll get fresh, with you laying right here beside me and all?”

     “No.”

     “Not at all?”

     “Not at all. For one thing, I get the sense you’re a straight shooter. You can’t steal alternators worth a damn. But you seem like an all right guy. You’re devoted to your wife and family, and you don’t strike me as the type of man who’d cheat on his wife. Even when the world’s gone to hell in a hand basket.”

     “You’re right.”

     “And there’s something else, too.”

     “Oh? What is it?”

     “If you got fresh with me, that beating you got would seem like a walk in the park compared to the beating I’d give you.”

     “Yeah, I suspected as much. Good night, Red.”

     “Good night, Dave.” 

Chapter 40

     Getting Dave from the big truck into the passenger seat of his Explorer was an adventure unto itself.

     And not a fun one, either.

     There was only about eighty feet separating the two vehicles, but it might as well have been eighty miles.

     By the time he was strapped in and comfortable, they’d lost almost half an hour of darkness.

     But once they were on the road, it didn’t seem to matter much. They made good progress.

     “I’m going to stay on this highway instead of going back to the interstate,” Red told him. “Since you say there are FEMA and National Guard roadblocks around all the major cities.

     “And, oh, by the way…”

     Dave turned his head and looked at her.

     “We have some time to kill, and I’m in the mood to play forty questions again. Only this time it’s my turn.”

     “Okay. Shoot.”

     “How did you know about the FEMA road blocks? I mean, I know you saw the one south of Austin. But how did you know it was FEMA, instead of the local police? And how do you know it’s the same way at all the major cities?”

     “Do you know what a prepper is?”

     “Hey, I’m supposed to answer the questions. But yes, I know what a prepper in. There are a couple of them close to Blanco. One of them bought two old school buses and buried them underground in case there was a nuclear war. He and his wife live in them.”

     “Well, luckily that hasn’t happened yet. But many of the preppers saw this coming, and made plans accordingly.”

     “Is that what you were? A prepper?”

     “Yes. But I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was, or I’d have protected a ham radio. Do you know what that is?”

     “Isn’t it like a long distance CB radio?”

     “Exactly. I didn’t save one, but some of the other preppers did. I have a good friend who did. And they use them to talk to each other, all over the world.”

     “And they share information?”

     “Exactly. That’s how I found out about the FEMA roadblocks, and about the prisoners who escaped from Fort Leavenworth. And that’s not all of it.”

     “Go on.”

     “FEMA, or some government agency, saw it coming too. They were able to protect a lot of their vehicles. Tanks, Humvees, even helicopters.”

     “Ha! I knew it!”

     “Knew what?”

     “A few weeks ago I was out riding Bonnie west of Blanco, and I heard a helicopter buzz by, right over our heads. It was nighttime, no moon, just the stars up in the sky.

     “The helicopter must have been black, because I saw a black shadow pass in front of the stars. But it had no lights. None at all.

     “When we got back to Blanco I asked some of the others and they all laughed at me. They told me I was finally cracking up. I told them all to get bent and walked home.

     “I knew I wasn’t going crazy… but, wait! You mean the government knew this was going to happen and didn’t do anything to stop it? Why would they do that? Imagine how many more lives would have been saved if everyone knew it was coming. Everybody could have prepared for it. Stockpiled food and water, and stayed off the roads on the day it was supposed to hit.

     “If they knew, why in heck didn’t they tell us?”

     Dave took a deep breath.

     “I’ve believed for a long time that the government is made up of worthless politicians who are only out for themselves. I’m sure that all the higher ups in Washington knew about it. They were probably given some highly classified briefing and told what was going to happen so they had plenty of time to prepare for it.

     “Or, heck, maybe it went deeper than that. Maybe FEMA did the preparations for them, and then spirited all the politicians and their families away to some safe place just before the lights went out.

     “Maybe they’re all living in some big government camp now, a kind of nirvana where they have their own TV stations, and plenty of food and water and everything else the rich and powerful have become accustomed to.”

     “That’s kind of cynical, isn’t it?”