Grace Lost (26 page)

The other two guys came back over with
three quarters of a bucket of gasoline and repeated the process of emptying it
into the van’s fuel tank.  The sun was leaving its perch high above us and
just starting to head toward the horizon in the west again.  I wanted to
head back to the cabin but knew we still had a lot of work to do.

“What’s next?” I asked.

“We need to move enough cars to
get through,” answered Gus.  “Then off to find supplies.  I figure we
might as well make use of the gas.”

“Makes sense,” I said.  “You
guys smell like gasoline.”

“Yes we do, chica,” said Julio
with a grin. 
“The smell of hard working men!”
 
He laughed, full of life.
  I admired that.

“Zoe, do you think you can drive
the step van through slowly as we move the cars off the road?” asked
Boggs.  “It’s not much different that driving a car, just bigger and top
heavy.”

“I’m sure I’ll be ok,” I said.

“Ok then.  The key is still
in the ignition.  Start by pulling up behind the Tracker.  It’ll go
first, over the edge.”

“Ok,” I said in acknowledgement.

Boggs continued.  “After the
Tracker, just slowly pull up to the convertible, then do the same thing until
we get to the Bug.  Once we have those three rolled out of the way, we’ll
all get back in and Gus will take over at the wheel.  The last car is so
damaged we’ll need to push it over the edge with the van.”

“Is that safe?” I asked. 
“Should the rest of us get out while he pushes it over?”

“It should be ok, Zoe,” said
Gus.  “I’ll take it slow.  We’d use one of the other cars but they’re
all banged up.  Flat tires, crunched fenders, axles might be toast.”

“Ok,” was all I
said.
 
I really just wanted to get it over with, move on with the day, and get back
home.

“You ready?” asked Julio.

I nodded quickly.  “Ready.”

Boggs stepped closer to me and
gave me a sincere hug, then kissed me briefly on the lips.  “See you in a
few minutes, Zo,” he whispered.

“See you in a few,” I replied.

I walked back to the step van and
climbed into the driver’s seat.  I explained to the other three girls what
was going on.  They were busy looking through the bags and suitcase I had
found in the MGB.  It looked like clothes, mostly.  I turned the key
that had been left in the ignition, and the van roared to life.  I
disengaged the parking brake, which was a heavy lever off to the left by the
floor board, and put the van in drive using the column gear shift.  I
slowly took my foot off of the brake and used the engine to pull us forward
slowly instead of relying on the gas pedal.  When I got a few feet from
the Tracker, I stepped on the brake and waited while Julio got into the
driver’s seat of the wrecked car in order to steer toward the ravine
below.  Gus and Boggs both pushed on the rear end until it was at the
edge.  Julio got out and joined the other two men at the rear of the
vehicle.  They pushed, sending the car over the edge and out of the
way.  I had expected the resulting crash to be louder.  I let the van
creep forward, steering to the right a bit to avoid a piece of metal lying in
the road.  The men were waiting for me at the convertible.  It was
the most intact of all six vehicles, but had no keys and would offer little
protection from the living dead, so trying to salvage it had seemed
pointless.  Julio again took the driver’s seat to steer while Gus and
Boggs pushed.  They led it to the left shoulder.  The Volkswagen went
just as smoothly.  I weaved the step van through the path they had created
and stopped several feet away from the unidentifiable car. 

Gus half ran to my side of the
cab.  I set the parking brake for him and left the engine idling in
neutral.  I half crouched and stepped between the two seats, and walked to
the back of the van.  Boggs joined me in the back, and Julio took the
passenger seat.  Louisa was comfortably situated in her easy chair, Susan
and Emilie each seated on one of the wheel wells like before.  Boggs’
bucket seat was now about half full of siphoned gasoline and sitting back on
the side of the road hidden behind a shrub.  We left it there to pick up
on the return trip, to avoid fumes inside the van.  The hope was to use it
for the Explorer.  The men had all splashed gas on their shirts while
filling the van’s tank so we left those behind as well, leaving Gus bare from
the waist up and Boggs and Julio both in t-shirts.  I sat on the tuck bed
against the side of the van next to where Emilie was situated.  Boggs
joined me on the floor. 

“Ladies, it might be noisy while
Gus pushes the car into the ravine.  Try not to worry,” said Boggs.

I felt the van lurch
forward.  It slowed, and the impact of van and car was a subtle shudder
accompanied by the loud screeching of metal on metal.  I could feel the
van struggle just slightly pushing against the mass of twisted glass and steel
that sat in the roadway.  The van was large and heavy and eventually I
felt the other car break free of us.

“We’re clear,” Gus called back to
us.

I let the air escape my lungs, not
realizing until then that I had been holding my breath.  I looked at
Boggs, and he wrapped an arm around me.

“It’ll be ok, Zo.”

“I hope so,” I said.

“Unless a zombie eats you,”
taunted Susan cruelly.

I glared at her.

Emilie took the opportunity to
interrupt.  “The bags are full of clothes.  Nothing fancy but we can
probably use them.”

“Oh, Boggs, I found a revolver in
the glove box of the convertible.”  I had forgotten about the gun with
everything else happening so quickly.

“Ya?” he asked, raising his
eyebrows.

“And a hunting
knife.
  They’re both in the
backpack.”  I gestured toward the headache rack that separated us from the
passenger seat, where the backpack was stashed.

“Cool,” he said.  “I’ll take
a look when we stop next.”

We sat beside each other, resting,
while Gus drove.  It was hard to tell how much time passed.

 “I see a building up on the
right,” said Julio finally. 

“I see it,” said Gus.

“Boggs called up to the other
men.  “What is it?”

“Hard to say,” said Gus. 
“It’s not huge.  I’m going to stop the van here.  Zoe, can you come
up front?”

I looked at Boggs.  He
shrugged.

“Ok,” I said as I stood.  My
left leg had fallen asleep, so I hobbled up to the cab.

“Zoe, I hate to ask but do you
sense anything here?” asked Gus kindly.

I looked out the windshield at the
small brick building not far away.  Nothing buzzed, tickled, or tormented
my brain.   I shook my head.  “Not so far.’

Gus looked thoughtful for a
moment.  I’m going to park in front, and then ask you again.  Is that
ok?”

I looked at him. 
“Sure.  Anything I can do to help, Gus.  I just want to get us all
back home ok.”

He smiled at me.  “Good
girl.  Ok, mind standing here?  Just hold onto the backs of our seats
for stability while I park.”

I gripped both seats, and the van
lurched forward again.  It took all of two minutes to pull off the highway
and situate the van in front of the small building.  We could see the sign
now.

Edith’s General Store

“Hot damn,” said Julio. 
“It’s a general store!”

“Ok, before everyone gets too
excited let’s just sit back and figure out our next move.  Zoe, how does
it feel here?” Gus questioned me.

I concentrated on my own
mind.  I still felt nothing unusual.  “Nothing,” I said.

Gus turned halfway around so he
could look into the back of the van and talk to us all at once.  “I think
we should make this quick. 
In and out.
 
Load up what we can and head back toward the cabin.  Let’s not get too
dependent on Zoe’s feelings.  We need to assume anyone, or anything, can
be in there.  Boggs, Julio and I will go in and clear the building, and
then all of us can go in and gather supplies.  Everyone got it?”

We all either nodded or grunted or
said “yes.”

“Gus?” I said to get his
attention.

“Ya?”
 

“Just…be careful, ok?”

“We all will,” he answered. 
“Ok, Julio, Boggs.  Let’s do this bad boy.”

The three men made sure their
firearms were readied and exited the van.  I watched as they walked to the
building, keeping away from windows until they could better assess the
situation inside. I thought all three looked tense, understandably so. 
Emilie came to stand beside me.  Neither of us seemed interested in
actually leaving the back of the van to sit in the cab.  I think instinct
must have told us to stay out of view.

Julio reached his hand out to the
door handle of the store and tried pulling on it.  He lifted his hand from
the handle and raised both arms in the air.  I watched as he stepped back,
and the door opened outward.  A rough looking old man with greasy gray
hair and a scraggly beard to match walked out, holding a sawed-off
shotgun.  While I couldn’t hear his exact words, the man was talking in a
raised voice that sounded threatening.  I watched as Julio and the other
two men from our group all slowly lower their guns to the ground, then stand
and place their hands on their heads.  I had a sinking feeling in my
stomach.  The old man continued to yell at Julio, who was shaking his head
back and forth.  I had a hunch he was pleading with the man, and as calmly
as I could I asked Susan to bring the backpack from the wrecked cars to
me.  I didn’t take my eyes off our companions who were outside the
store.  Thankfully Susan had the good sense to not question me when I
asked her to fetch the bag, and moments later I felt the pack being held out
for my waiting hand.  Julio was now down on his knees, his hands still
clasped behind his head.  I unzipped the pack blindly, still not averting
my eyes from the scene in front of the store.  I reached in, feeling for
the revolver.  I found the hunting knife first and handed it to Emilie.

“Zoe?  What do we do?” asked
Emilie.  I could hear her voice trembling with fear.

“What is it?” asked Susan.

Neither of us answered, and I
could sense her standing directly behind us.

“Oh fuck,” she said.  “Fuck,
fuck, fuck…”

Louisa was still in the back, and
I didn’t want her seeing what was going on.

“Susan, go sit with Louisa,
please?” begged Emilie.  “Zoe, that’s a semi-automatic shotgun. 
That’s serious shit.”  How she knew this, I’m not sure.

At last my hand came into contact
with the revolver, and I pulled it out of the pack.  I quickly opened the
cylinder even though I knew it held ammo.  I shut it, hoping I did it
correctly.  Julio was starting to move his hands away from his head and
the dirty old man seemed to agitate further.  Boggs and Gus were as close
to Julio as they dared, and by the looks on their faces I could tell they felt
helpless.  Any time one of them attempted to advance, the old man got
louder and began waving his gun.  Suddenly the old man fired the shotgun,
and Julio tumbled backward onto the asphalt of the store parking lot.  I
felt my core go numb.  Time slowed momentarily and nothing seemed
real.  I was brought back to real time when I heard Susan starting to
sob. 

“Be quiet!” I said sharply. 
“Stay quiet!  He doesn’t know we’re in here!”

Susan continued to cry, but it
sounded like she had covered her mouth with her hands.

I looked in time to see the old
man pump the shot gun, chambering another round.  The man was aiming the
gun at Gus and Boggs, alternating waving it between the two of them. 
Julio lay in a pool of blood, half of his head and chest missing. 

Without thinking it over, I
climbed down from the passenger seat and landed on the parking lot surface as
quietly as I could.  I was glad the men had left the sliding door
open.  I clutched the revolver in my right hand and crouched down by the
tire.  I was out of sight of the old man as well as Gus and Boggs, and
knew I had to keep it that way in order to stay hidden.  I crawled to the
front bumper, where I dared to peek.  Gus and Boggs were both on their
knees at this point, and I could hear Gus trying to reason with the man. 
I held the revolver up and ran through what Boggs had taught me in the car the
day we had fled his house and left Silvana behind.  Aim, breathe in,
exhale
part way, shoot.  Make sure your aim is
true.  Use two hands.  I gripped the revolver in my right hand,
supported my wrist with my left, and steadied both on the bumper of the
van.  I looked down the sight and tried to track the old man.  It was
far from easy.  Something felt wrong, and I had a hard time pinpointing
it.  Boggs had shown me how to chamber a round in his Kahr, but that was
different than a revolver.   I wracked my brain and realized that in
the movies, cowboys always pull the hammer back before firing.  I tried to
slow my breathing, and pulled the hammer of the revolver back.  It felt
stiff and took a lot of effort.  It made a small click and I prayed no one
else had heard it.  I noticed the man was aiming at Gus in particular and
decided it was now or never.