Collision Course (18 page)

CHAPTER 20

D
J woke up with a start. He looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of place in the pale dawn light that was just beginning to illuminate the room. He listened for a minute, and except for the cheerful chirping of a couple of birds, he heard nothing. He threw the covers back and rose out of the bed in one motion.

“Ahh,” he groaned, grabbing his right shoulder. He grimaced as that motion brought pain to his other shoulder, though not as much as his right shoulder and back were experiencing. The digging had been harder than he'd thought it would be. He gingerly lowered his left hand so he could see his watch. It was just after six a.m. After burying the two bodies and then cleaning up his quad and himself, he had only gotten a couple of hours' sleep.

Moving as carefully and slowly as he could, he dressed and headed out to the spot where he had stopped the thieves. There wasn't as much blood as he'd expected. The ground seemed to have soaked up quite a bit of it. The patchwork of grass and weeds that made up Crystal's front lawn was somewhat discolored by the red substance, though. How could he cover it up? He thought about washing it off with a hose, but there was no water pressure. He could get some water in a bucket, but how far would he have to carry it? Crystal was getting low on water in the house. She probably wouldn't appreciate him using it to wash the grass.

He thought about getting some dirt and sprinkling it over the area. His muscles protested at the mere thought of a shovel. Besides, the fresh dirt might look suspicious. He walked around to the backyard and looked into the storage shed, hoping it would inspire him. An almost new lawn mower with a bagger was sitting next to the shed. If he cut the lawn short, most of the bloodstained grass would be removed. He decided to give it a try.

He unscrewed the gas cap and saw that the tank was nearly empty. He figured it would only take a quart or so to mow the front lawn. He could spare that much, especially since they were going to town to get more.

Once he'd carefully put gas in the mower, he pushed it around front. His shoulders were still sore, but he'd just have to live with the pain for now. He couldn't wait and take the chance that someone would find the bloodstains. He wondered if the mower would wake any of the neighbors and cause them to come over. It might, but he decided that the sooner he got this done, the better.

He started mowing in the middle of the lawn where the blood was just in case someone came to see what was going on. The mower not only cut and bagged the bloody grass, but it also seemed to make the red dirt disappear. DJ figured that it stirred up whatever dust there was and deposited it over the sticky red substance. However it was happening, he was pleased with the results.

It didn't take long to finish. He pushed the mower back to the shed and went into the house. Crystal was sitting at the table, her eyes bloodshot. She stared at DJ as he walked in, and he felt a little uncomfortable. “Good morning,” he said.

“I think you should go,” Crystal said.

“Why?” he asked with genuine shock.

“You know why.”

“Crystal, try to look at this from my point of view. That quad is my survival. Without it, I can't get to my retreat. Maybe I could have scared the thieves off, but what if they came back with more guys or with guns? They could have killed all of us. Or worse, they could have finished what I stopped the bangers from doing to you and Nancy.”

“I don't care. I want you out of here.”

DJ felt his face go hot. He'd done everything for this woman and she didn't appreciate it. “Fine,” he spat. He still needed the gas, though. Five gallons probably wasn't enough to make it to his retreat, but it would get him close, and he could beg, borrow, or steal enough to get him the rest of the way. He could take the car and go get the fuel himself, but what would Crystal do? As mad as she was, would she go to the neighbors and tell them what had happened? He couldn't take that chance. “I'll leave, but first we're going to town to get some gas.”

“You can go to hell, for all I care, but I'm not going anywhere with you.”

DJ had half a mind to backhand her, but he kept himself in check. He knew it would only strengthen her resolve not to go to town with him. He lowered his voice and spoke only a decibel or two above a whisper. “If you want me to leave, then you will go to town with me. I can't leave without more fuel. So make up your mind what you really want.”

He could see that his words had the desired effect. Her icy stare gave way to a pensive look. “We can go to the grocery store, and I'll buy you some food,” he added to sweeten the pot.

“Well,” she said slowly, “I guess if that's the only way to get rid of you, but you buy me whatever I want and then leave as soon as we get back.”

DJ wouldn't leave until dark at the earliest, but he could argue about that once they got back. “Agreed,” he said with his best smile.

* * *

“That's the last house,” Gabe said as he wiped his brow. He, Harold, and Robby had spent the morning walking down the roads in the area and passing out the handwritten notices they'd made the night before. All the people they had talked to were excited about the meeting and promised to be there. Gabe was surprised by how friendly they all were and how they all wanted to talk about current events. It would have normally taken only a couple of hours to walk around to all the houses. If Gabe and Harold hadn't excused themselves from several of the houses, they wouldn't have finished until well after dark.

The two men and the boy headed back home. The noontime sun was warm, but not hot. The sky was blue, and a light breeze blew steadily. It was a great day for being outside. Gabe would have been in his garden if he hadn't needed to pass out the flyers. There were still a few hours of daylight left, and Gabe thought about putting them to good use.

They said good-bye to Harold when they reached his driveway, and then Gabe and Robby continued on quietly down the road for a few minutes. Finally Robby broke the silence.

“What was his name?” the young man asked.

“Who?” Gabe said.

“Your son. I know he died, and that's why you're sad all the time.”

A black hole opened in Gabe's stomach. He hated this feeling. The only thing that would stop it was the whiskey. It upset him that the boy had reopened the wound, though he knew that he wasn't really angry at Robby. It was more that he felt vulnerable. He thought back to some of the difficult questions Michael had asked him. Questions he didn't know the answers to, or questions with answers that he couldn't put into words a boy would understand. Gabe had always tried his best, though, and Michael had always seemed satisfied.

The answer to Robby's question was easy, though. At least it should have been. It was only seven letters, two syllables that formed a simple, common name, but Gabe could not get his mouth to move. It was almost as if saying it would cause the world to end.

* * *

The trip to town was a quiet one. Other than Nancy humming softly in the backseat, no one made a sound. When they got to the gas station, DJ saw a large hand-painted sign.

5-gallon limit per week per family. NO CANS.

He noticed two men armed with rifles at the front of the building. When he pulled up to the pump, he saw that the nozzle was locked with a padlock. A second later, the attendant came out.

“Driver's license please,” the young man said.

“What for?” DJ asked.

“We have to put it in the database and make sure no one from your address has gotten gas in the past week.”

“You have a database just for that? That seems a little extreme, doesn't it?”

“It's not. You wouldn't believe what people try to pull just to get some extra.”

“I guess so,” DJ said as he reached for his wallet. He pulled out his license and handed it to the man. Just as he did, it occurred to him that he should have made Crystal give her license. Then he could come back later and get more gas with his four-wheeler.

The man looked at DJ's card for a second and then handed it back. “I'm sorry, but you're from out of town. We only sell to locals.”

“I'm staying with my cousin,” DJ said as he tipped his head in Crystal's direction. “Give him your license, Crystal.”

Crystal didn't say a word. She handed her license to the attendant without turning her head. The man took it, looking curiously at Crystal and then the license. “Ma'am, are you all right?” he asked.

DJ turned to see what she would say. She continued to stare straight ahead and simply nodded once.

“She's not feeling well,” DJ said sadly.

“Okay, then,” the young man said slowly. “This address is fine. I'll be right back.” He walked back toward the office.

“You better chill, Crystal. You're going to blow this, and if I don't get my gas, I can't leave. Now, act normal.”

She turned her head only slightly toward him and stared at him with eyes full of hate. DJ decided to push her no further. A minute or two later, the man came back out of the office. He handed Crystal's license back to DJ.

“Do you want the whole five gallons?”

“Yes,” DJ said.

“That'll be fifty bucks.”

DJ whistled. “Wow, ten dollars a gallon. Well, we have to have it.”

“You're lucky we have any. We ran out yesterday, but a truck came first thing this morning,” the attendant said as he took DJ's cash. “Fire it up,” he hollered at one of the guards.

DJ watched as the guard set his rifle against the building and pulled the rope on the generator he'd been standing in front of. The attendant unlocked the nozzle, and soon the five gallons of liquid gold was in the little economy car. DJ thanked the man and drove across the street to the grocery. It was an old store with huge glass windows. DJ parked the car. There weren't many other cars in the lot, but there was a considerable line of people leading into the store.

A man was sitting at a card table with a laptop computer in front of him, an armed guard standing right behind him. Someone had cobbled together some wires that ran from the device down to a car battery. The man was recording information from people's driver's licenses just as DJ imagined they'd done at the gas station. He seemed in no particular hurry.

After thirty minutes of standing in line, DJ and Crystal were at the front. The man asked for an ID, and DJ nudged Crystal. He didn't want to show his license and was glad the man at the gas station hadn't taken his ID. He didn't want any record of having been in the area. Crystal fished it out of her purse and weakly smiled at the man. He took Crystal's license and entered her address. “You can buy one hundred dollars' worth of merchandise,” he said. “Not a penny more, and you have to pay in cash.”

“No problem,” DJ said. He wondered what people who didn't have any money were doing. They grabbed a basket and went into the store. The large front windows, plus windows along the side of the building and skylights, made it seem as if they had expected that the power would go out one day. Of course the building might have been constructed before they had electricity in this area, DJ thought. It certainly was here before power became reliable.

“Whatever you want,” DJ said to Crystal.

She finally looked at him and almost smiled.

“Well, that's better,” DJ said.

“I'm sorry, DJ. I guess I was afraid after what happened that you might hurt us. I'd been getting a vibe that your motives toward me might not be so pure, that you really didn't care about Nancy or me. I figured you lied about buying the groceries just to make me come to town with you. Now I see that I was wrong.”

DJ was a little surprised. Was he that easy to read? It's funny how perceptive women could be at times. His motives toward her were not pure, and if the money meant anything to him, he would have lied about the groceries. But cash was one thing he had plenty of, and he figured it would soon be worthless, so he might as well spend it.

“Really?” he said, trying to sound shocked.

“Yes.” Crystal hung her head.

“Don't worry about it. I understand.” But he didn't understand. Crystal's mood swings were unpredictable. He wondered if she was one of those women who could, out of the blue, just kill someone. Probably not, he told himself, but she did need to be watched. “Does this mean you don't want me to leave?” he asked.

“Not now.”

“Hmm,” was all he said.

“What do you think we should get?” Crystal asked cheerfully, interrupting his wish.

“Are you short of anything?”

“Not really.”

“Then just buy whatever you usually eat,” he said.

She smiled weakly and began to push the cart down an aisle of canned food. DJ noticed that while the shelves weren't full, they were better stocked than he would have thought. Also, each can had a price tag on it. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen every item in a grocery store with a price sticker. As Crystal began to pick things off the shelf, it was obvious that prices were not what they used to be.

“These were three for a dollar last month,” she whispered, holding a can of corn. “Now they're a dollar each.”

DJ nodded. He wasn't too surprised. As they continued to shop, it became clear that nearly everything was at least double the price it had been pre-Smash, and that all the products were priced in even dollars. It didn't take much to reach the hundred-dollar limit. They pushed the cart to the front, paid, and were soon on their way back to Crystal's.

“DJ?” Crystal said.

“Yes.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“Why?” he said.

“You were so quiet in the store that I was afraid you were still angry and that you're going to leave as soon as we get home.”

“I haven't really made up my mind, Crystal,” he said flatly. He was lying. He knew he wanted to stay for at least another week.