Unthinkable (Berger Series) (19 page)

Yoshi stepped back
to check on Hopkins. A single shot rang out from inside the cab and Yoshi crumpled in slow motion.

“No!”
screamed Evan as he bolted for the door. The driver’s gun lay on the ground and he snatched it up. There was a click as Evan looked into the cab. Hopkins stared at Evan and pulled the trigger again. Click. Empty. Evan raised his gun and pointed it steadily at Hopkins.

Hopkins pulled the door handle behind him, but it wouldn’t budge. His eyes widened
in terror as he stared down the barrel. Evan noticed the cab was dirty and dingy, with the floorboards nearly rusted out. Near the pedals lay a lighter. Evan switched the gun to his left hand, reached into the bed and grabbed one of the plastic containers. He popped it open with one hand and started pouring the gasoline into the seat.

“No, no, don’t do this,” begged Hopkins, pushing against the stuck door. When the canister was nearly empty Evan threw it at Hopkins, splashing him with the rest of
the gas. He switched the gun to his other hand and picked up the lighter.

“
No, please, don’t…” whined Hopkins.

Evan looked at the lighter and back to Hopkins.

“Please…”whimpered Hopkins again, frantically pushing against the door.

“Fuck you.”

Evan flicked the lighter to life and slammed the driver’s door shut as the gasoline caught. Evan grabbed Grace’s hand and pulled her away. By the time they reached the edge of the road they could hear the screams.

Grace started shaking and sagged to the ground
, clutching Harry tightly. Evan bent over to pick her up and heard the click of a weapon behind them. He whipped around with his gun, shielding Grace.

“Easy buddy,” a man stood with a shotgun. He pointed it away from E
van. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Evan stared at him coldly
, not dropping his gun. Grace whimpered as the screams continued.

“That was Hopkins, right?” asked the man. “Not the way I would have done it, but the bastard deserved to die. I’m Clem Rodriguez.” He shifted hands, pointed the shotgun at the ground and offered his hand.

After another tense moment, Evan lowered the gun. “I’m Evan Berger,” he said as he shook. “This is Y…Grace Perkins. What,” Evan cleared his throat. “What do you know about Hopkins?”

“He’s been running illegals out to the corporate farms for years. Now that the world
seems to have ended some of those same corporate farms are willing to take just about any able body. I’m guessing that’s what he planned to do with you.” There was a shot and the screams mercifully stopped. Grace flinched, Evan didn’t.

“My friend and I, yeah.
That’s what he said anyway.” Evan looked at the body lying next to the truck. Yoshi, dead, with a bullet in his brain on the side of the road. Clem turned and looked too. The cab was still on fire, but going out. Half a dozen men stood well back and watched. “Who are you guys?” asked Evan.

“The new abolitionists,” Clem said with half a smile, “or at least that’s what it says on our business cards. Why don’t you come with us?”

“How do I know I can trust you?” asked Evan suspiciously.

“How do we know we can trust
you
? After all, you did just set a man on fire.”

“Not the first man I’ve killed,” said Evan quietly.

“I’m sure someone who looks like you has had difficulty.”

“You could say that,” laughed Evan bitterly. Grace whimpered again.

“Well, buddy, if we were going to hurt or kill you we would have done so already,” said Clem conversationally, resting the shotgun on his shoulder.

“True,” said Evan. He looked down at Grace. She was sucking her thumb staring at the truck and clutching Harry. “Captain A-
rab,” muttered Evan.

“
Hmm?” asked Clem.

“Let’s go,” said Evan
with a shake of his head as he put the gun in his waistband.

Chapter 17

Clem led them down
the road to where several horses stood tied under a tree. Evan had been on a horse exactly once in his life, but he managed to climb into the saddle with a bit of help. They handed Grace up to him and he set her in front of him. She trembled, but was silent, just clutching Harry as Evan wrapped one arm around her.

Clem mounted his horse. “Candy will follow this one. If you have any problems just holler.” They rode along the side of the road at an easy pace. No need to hurry now, Evan realized. He started to shake
as the adrenaline left his system. The horse didn’t seem to care or notice. He shook his head and pulled Grace a little closer to him as he swallowed hard and blinked back tears. Now was not the time to go to pieces. Grace needed him to be strong.

By early afternoon they arrived at a town even smaller than the one they’d just left. As they reached the line of buildings Evan saw that the town was being turned into a fort. Half a wood wall stood already, but nobody was working on it at the moment. Evan felt like he was being watched. He reached back and adjusted the gun.

They rode into the middle of town and stopped in front of a small church. Clem dismounted, took Grace down, then helped Evan. A young boy had been sitting on the stairs, but he came down now and took the horses. He looked curiously at Evan.

“Don’t stare Tim. You take care of those horses.”

“Yes sir,” said Tim as he took the reins.

“Thanks,” smiled Clem as he
patted the boys head and led Evan and Grace into the church. Taking a deep breath, Evan reached down and took Grace’s hand.

A dozen men and woman waited in the church. They
stopped talking and turned as one when Clem walked down the aisle. The first thing Evan noticed in the dim light was that this was by far the most diverse bunch of people he’d seen in any small town so far.

“We were mostly successful,”
reported Clem. “This is Evan and Grace. Unfortunately we lost their friend. And Hopkins is dead. Evan killed him.”

A murmur ran through the crowd and the
y looked at Evan in a different way. He squirmed and glanced down at Grace. A large black man stood up.

“I’m Evander Jones,” rumbled the man as he put out his hand. Evan shook it. “I’m sure you need
to rest. Emily here will take you next door.” A woman stood up and smiled gently at them. Evan and Grace followed her out of the church as Clem started talking about the recent battle.

They went across the street to a tidy little house. “Are you hungry?” asked Emily. Evan stared at her
unsure how to answer such a normal question. All he felt was hollow and empty and numb. “Well you ought to eat something,” continued Emily as if he had answered. They walked into a kitchen in the back of the house. An enormous wood stove took up most of the room. Emily pulled a pot off the back of the stove and lifted the lid. “It’s not much, but it’s filling.”

Evan watched as she glopped yellow mush into two bowls. Grace stared down at it,
then looked up at Evan. He shrugged and dug in. It wasn’t horrible, and it was filling, but he wasn’t entirely sure he’d call it food. Grace picked at it, but finally ate about half of it.

When they finished eating Emily led them upstairs to a pair of bedrooms. Evan tucked Grace in. She rolled away from him, clutching Harry and scooting away from his touch.

“I’ll be just across the hall if you need me.”

She didn’t respond, and Evan wondered briefly if he should stay with her. Well, clearly she didn’t even want him to touch her now, not that he could blame her for that. He shut her door and went into
to the other bedroom. Setting the gun on the nightstand, he lay out on the bed, not bothering to get undressed. He stared at the ceiling as exhaustion seeped through his bones. Evan’s eyes closed and the screams swept in. Evan sighed and rolled out of bed. Maybe there would be some alcohol in this place.

He slipped the gun back into his waistband and looked in on Grace again. She was asleep, breathing normally. Evan was amazed at how calm and angelic she looked, dark hair splayed across the pillow. She had rolled
onto her back and Evan now saw she held something in her hand. He hesitated, then walked to the bed to see what it was. In her fist was a metallic object. Breath catching, Evan tugged Yoshi’s dog tag from her grasp and stared at it, glinting in the dim light of the room. Yoshi must have lost it when he went after Hopkins. Grace stirred and whimpered. Carefully he put the dog tag back in her grasp and she grew quiet again. He shook his head, walked out of the room and back down the hallway. Clem stood at the bottom of the stairs, clearly waiting for him.

“I saw your door open. Do you mind talking to us?” Evan shrugged and came down the stairs. Evander sat in a chair in the front room with Emily next to him and a couple
of other older men. Clem opened a cabinet and poured Evan a shot. Evan took it gratefully, feeling the warmth spread down his throat.

“So, what’s your story?” asked Clem as he poured another shot and left the bottle on the table. Evan sat in the offered chair, adjusting the gun. He looked around and saw only kindness and concern in the eyes of these people. Evan drank the shot and poured himself another one as he
started talking without emotion, telling them nearly everything.

By the time he finished talking it was growing dark outside and the bottle was nearly empty. There was silence as he finished telling them of Hopkins’s treatment. “And that’s right about when you guys showed up,” said Evan, staring into the droplets at the bottom of the glass. He was more than a little drunk, he realized.

“Hopkins shot your friend?” asked Evander.

“Yep.
Yoshi jumped out to grab Grace and Hopkins got him. Right in the head.” Evan pointed his finger at his temple and dropped his thumb. “Bang.” Evan reached for the bottle again but Clem gently took it away. Evan didn’t argue.

“If you’re willing to stay here I’m sure we can find work for you,” said Evander.

“George Rogers needs a hand at his farm,” said Clem.

Evan shrugged. “Grace needs a
safe home, and frankly, I need a rest. A steady job for the winter sounds great. I can’t promise what happens in spring though.”

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want,” said Clem. “Hopkins is done, but there will be more just like him, especially come spring.”

“Won’t he be missed?” asked Evan.

“Probably, but they won’t trace his death back here. After all that’s happened in the world he won’t be the last to disappear,” said Clem
as he put the alcohol back into the cabinet. “You can stay out there with them.”

Evan stood up unsteadily. “I can work for this farmer if you want me to
, so long as he doesn’t mind Grace.”

“I’m sure they won’t,” said Clem, putting a hand on Evan’s back to steady him.

“We’ll have a service for Yoshi in the morning,” said Evander. “After that Clem will take you out to the Rogers farm.”

Evan nodded.

“Let’s get you to bed,” said Clem, keeping a hand on him as he stumbled up the stairs. He got Evan into his room and left. Nearly missing the bed, he sat and pulled off his shoes and set the gun on the nightstand. Clem returned a minute later with a big glass of water and made him drink the whole thing.
I’m going to be hung over for my best friend’s funeral
, thought Evan as he lay back on the bed. It was impossible that Yoshi was really dead, but his heart knew the truth. His eyes closed and he slipped into sleep.

The next morning was gray as Evan slowly opened his eyes. His head pounded and he reached for the glass of water that had been left next to the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed trying to remember what exactly had happened. Yoshi was dead. That part came crashing back with Technicolor clarity. Putting the pistol in his waistband, Evan climbed to his feet and went across the hall to find Grace wasn’t in her bed.

He
made his way downstairs and found her sitting at the table slowly eating more yellow mush.  Harry sat on the table next to her. There was blood in his fur.

Grace concentrated on her food as Evan took his own bowl from the stove. At least it wasn’t oatmeal. She glanced over at Evan when she finished, collected Harry and dropped her bowl in the sink.
He watched her leave as he forced himself to finish up his bowl.

Walking
into the front room, he found Grace kneeling on the couch and staring out the window, watching the low clouds. Harry sat on the couch next to her, looking accusingly at Evan as he walked in. He looked away from the stuffed elephant and helped himself to a shot of liquor from the cabinet. Grace didn’t turn around.

Clem walked in as Evan closed the cabinet door. He didn’t say anything as Evan turned around guiltily. “Our graveyard is on the edge of town,” said Clem. “Did Yoshi have any religious preference?”

“He was raised Catholic,” said Evan, “but he hasn’t really been part of the church since he was a kid.”

Clem nodded and walked back out for a minute.
“Okay,” he said, “when he walked back in. Are you ready?”

Evan nodded and walked over to Grace.
She turned and looked up at him slowly. He carefully picked her up; she clutched Harry and rested her head on Evan’s shoulder.

Evan followed Clem out the door and down the street. They walked past the church and out to the edge of town. The graveyard sat
beside a creek. A dozen townspeople stood around, waiting. Evan’s steps slowed as he approached the crowd. Grace slipped out of his arms to walk beside him. An old grey-haired man with a Hispanic accent raised his voice in prayer as Evan stopped at the graveside. Grace wrapped her arms around herself. He looked down and knew that what was left of Yoshi lay in the bottom of that hole. Grace whimpered and moved closer to Evan. He unconsciously stroked her hair.

The
man finished the prayer and read a verse. Evan felt himself starting to shake again. No. Have to be strong for Grace. He gritted his teeth and stared down the hole.

Evander’s deep voice proclaimed the 23
rd
psalm. Evan put his hand on Grace’s shoulder as the familiar words rolled past him.

“Do you want to say anything?” the
deep voice penetrated Evan’s fogged mind. He blinked, not even aware that Evander had finished speaking. Grace reached up and squeezed his hand. He met her eyes and nodded, then raised his head and addressed the crowd.

“
Yoshisada McCarthy. Yoshi was my…friend. He was a good, no, great friend and a great man,” Evan cleared his throat. “He was kind and loyal and…” Evan stopped and blinked back tears. What could he really say? “He will be missed,” Evan finished lamely.

Evan shoved his hands into his pockets. He felt the note and the license. Wrapping his hand around the note he pulled it out and looked at it. Wordlessly he dropped it into the grave. Grace sniffled and shuffled forward. She
looked at Harry, gave him a hug and held him over the grave.

Evan bit his lip and knelt next to Grace. “You don’t have to do that.”

“But Mr. Yoshi is all alone,” she said and dropped him.

Evan felt a lump in his throat and swallowed hard. He blinked back tears and forced himself to stand up again. Have to be strong.

Evander’s deep voice raised in Amazing Grace as the preacher said a last prayer. Clem handed Evan a shovel. He turned over a shovel of dirt, then handed it to Grace. She started quietly crying as the dirt hit the box with a thump. There was one more amen and the crowd was dismissed. Grace sniffled and wrapped her arms around herself. Evan picked her up again, rocking her gently against his shoulder.

Clem stepped up to Evan.  “If you want, we can go out to the farm now, unless you’d rather eat lunch first.”

Evan thought about the yellow mush and shook his head. “That’s…okay. We may as well head out now.” At that moment he wanted to be anywhere but next to this grave. Clem led them toward a truck parked on the edge of the graveyard. Evan glanced back to see strangers throwing dirt in the hole. He glanced at Grace but her eyes were closed as she sniffled.

“Excuse me,” said a young man to Evan. “I’m sorry, but can you tell us his birth date for the marker?”

Evan stared at him and thought hard. Finally his mind produced the required information. “What’s the date now?” asked Evan. The man told him. Wow, thought Evan, when did Yoshi’s birthday pass? He told the man his birth date and the man scribbled it down, thanked Evan and walked away. Evan wished for another drink.

Clem climbed behind the wheel.
Grace flinched at the sound of the door and pushed away from Evan, dropping to the ground and backing away. Taking a breath, he pulled the door open and sat down as he watched Grace. She stared at the truck, wrapped one arm around herself and sucked her thumb.

“I’m right here Grace,
it’s okay,” said Evan, trying to sound reassuring. Grace took one hesitant step, then another. She looked up at Evan and raised her arms. Evan picked her up again and held her in his lap. She trembled but did not cry as Clem put it into gear and drove off.

They bounced down a farm road. Evan marveled at the fact that this was the first vehicle he’d been in voluntarily since they’d lost the rental.
He thought about the date. It hadn’t been that long, really, but yet it had been a lifetime. Literally, said the back of his mind. Grace pulled the dog tag out of her front pocket and clutched it tightly as they went along.