“Nothing’s that simple these days.” I
flex my fingers around the grip of my gun.
Axl rolls his eyes and turns toward his
brother. “I told you this was stupid. Let’s go.”
“No, no. She needs help. It’s obvious.”
Angus turns back to me and smiles in what I’m sure he thinks is a charming way.
It’s not. “We just wanted to help ya out. That’s all.”
I study them for a minute longer with
the gun still aimed at Angus’s chest. My knuckles start to ache. These two
rednecks may be my only option. “Where are you headed?”
“California.” Angus flashes me a big
grin.
Sighing, I lower the gun. Shit. “Me
too.”
This makes Angus smile even bigger, and
I have the urge to shoot him anyway. There is definitely something creepy about
this guy.
“Well then, we’ll just travel on up
there together,” Angus says. Another smile.
“You’d give me a ride?”
“Sure would. Can’t leave a young lady
out here all by herself. It’s a dangerous world.” Angus winks and his eyes
sweep over my body, just like they did in the diner. I shudder.
He’s
dangerous.
“I’d pitch in for gas and anything else
we needed.” I cringe at the pleading in my voice. Not sure if there’s any sense
in hiding it, though. Angus knows I’m desperate, like everyone else on the
road.
He smiles again. “Sure you will.”
Angus picks up both guns on his way to
the Nissan. “Help her with her bags, Axl.” He doesn’t even glance at his
brother. It’s an order. He is definitely at the top of the food chain here.
Axl doesn’t blink. Not that I thought he
would. He heads toward my car. Axl doesn’t frighten me or put me on edge like
his brother, but maybe he should.
I open the back door and give him a
strained smile. “Sorry about the gun.”
He nods, but barely looks at me.
“Understandable.”
Axl grabs both my bags without so much
as a grunt and heads back to the Nissan. I gather my meager belongings as fast
as possible since I don’t want them to drive off with my stuff. I jog to catch
up with him. Angus catches my eye. He gives me another one of his smiles and I
do my best to return it. I’m sure mine is even less convincing than his.
“You’re in the back,” Angus says, but he
isn’t talking to me. He’s talking to Axl.
My stomach twists into knots, but I
climb in the passenger seat anyway. I should argue, say I’d rather be in the
back so I can get some sleep. But I don’t want to cause problems. I have to get
to California. Emily is there.
ANGUS
PULLS ONTO THE ROAD, and I barely look at my piece of junk when we drive past
it. Good riddance.
“So you gonna tell us your name or
what?” Axl asks from the backseat.
“Vivian,” I say. “Vivian Thomas.”
Angus gives me that creepy grin again.
“So where you comin’ from,
Vivian
?”
The way he says my name sends a shudder
through my body. Not to mention the fact that his eyes haven’t once focused on
my face for more than two seconds.
“Kentucky. Outside Louisville.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “You
thought that piece of shit was gonna get you all the way to California? I’ve
seen some desperate folks the last few weeks, but that takes the cake.”
“I had to try,” I say flatly.
“What’s in California?” Axl leans forward.
There’s a straightforward vibe in
everything he says, unlike his brother. Angus tries to make every word out of
his mouth sound light and teasing. Smooth. He’s anything but smooth.
I turn to face Axl, really studying him
for the first time. He’s got to be twenty-four, maybe twenty-five. His hair is
longer than his brother’s, which is buzzed, and it looks soft and feathery. A
nice dirty blond. He has a one-inch scar on the left side of his chin, almost
reaching his lips, and his eyes are a startling shade of gray. Dark. Stormy
like a rain cloud.
“My daughter.” Axl’s eyes have me so
mesmerized that the words are out before I realize it. I press my lips together
and silently curse myself while twisting the strap of my purse between my
fingers. That was stupid.
“Then what’s in Kentucky?” Angus asks.
I pull away from Axl and look straight
ahead. Can’t get away from the truth now. “My life. Where I was living.”
Angus raises an eyebrow. Might as well
just go for broke. Who cares if they know? If this really is the end of the
world, what does it matter anymore?
“I grew up in California. I moved to
Kentucky when I was eighteen, but before that I had a baby I gave up for
adoption. I haven’t seen her since she was born. I just figured with everything
that’s going on I should go meet her. She’s four now…”
Angus purses his lips and nods. “Makes
sense. You have any problems gettin’ travel papers? Hear it’s hard.”
My heart drops to the floor. I twist in
my seat to face Angus.
“Don’t you have papers?” My throat is so
tight that the words are barely a whisper. I have family in California, that’s
the only way I was able to get travel papers. It was easy, once I paid the $500
for my physical and the $400 for my papers. Anyone without family is screwed.
They’re not allowed to travel
Angus laughs and narrows his eyes on my
face at the same time. “Don’t worry. We ain’t infected.”
“Where are your papers then?”
Axl leans forward, practically sticking
his face between the seats. His mouth turns down slightly in the corners. “We
got papers, they just ain’t quite legitimate. But we ain’t infected.” His words
ooze annoyance, but I don’t give a shit.
“I want you to stop the car.” My body
shakes. This isn’t how it ends for me. Being murdered by a pair of rednecks is
one thing, but the virus is another.
“Calm down,” Angus growls. “We got a
physical and we were clean. We just didn’t have any reason good ‘nough to drive
‘cross the country. So we had to purchase some papers.” He narrows his eyes at
me even more. “Under the table.”
He’s lying. I don’t trust a word that
comes out of his mouth. Not with that monkey grin he keeps flashing me.
I face Axl. For some reason I believe
those stormy eyes will tell me the truth. “You swear? I can’t get sick. Not
now.”
Axl nods, but Angus answers, “We’re
clean.”
My heart is still racing. Should I trust
them? I twist my purse strap tighter around my finger. The weight of my gun
presses on my legs. It helps keep me from panicking. I don’t have another
option. Who else is going to give me a ride?
“What’re you so worried ‘bout?” Axl’s
voice is tight. Why is he so irritated by my presence? “They got this thing
contained anyways. Saw it on the news.”
Angus laughs and shakes his head.
“That’s my kid brother, always lookin’ on the bright side.”
I shift in my seat so I can see Angus,
even though the bulge in his lip makes my stomach churn. He spits into an empty
soda can and wipes his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt.
Swallowing against the bile in my
throat, I say, “You don’t think it’s contained?” Obviously I have my doubts or
I wouldn’t be on this trip, but I’m curious what other people think. There are
a lot of rumors out there.
“Hell no, it ain’t contained,” Angus
barks at me. “If it was contained do you think they’d be makin’ us see a doctor
before lettin’ us travel? And what about this martial law bullshit? If this
thing was even close to bein’ contained, why wouldn’t they just lock down them
cities? Why put the whole country under martial law?” Angus spits so violently
I’m afraid he’ll miss the can. Thankfully, most of it hits the mark. Only a few
drops stain his hand.
He has a good point.
“The news said they haven’t had any new
cases outside the locked-down areas. Not since they declared martial law six
weeks ago.”
Angus studies me with one eye, the other
one on the road. “You gotta know I’m right or you wouldn’t be on this here
trip.”
“I wanted to see her, just in case.” I
shake my head. I don’t want to talk about my daughter, not with this disgusting
redneck and his brother. “What about you? You obviously don’t have family or
you would have been able to go get papers. Where are you going?”
“We’re gettin’ the hell away from the
virus. That’s where we’re goin’,” Axl says.
I look him up and down, trying to size
him up. He’s hard to get a read on. “Thought you believed the government?”
He shrugs. “Don’t hurt to take
precautions.”
“That’s right.” Angus nods. “Hell yeah.
No way anyone is gonna tell the James brothers they can’t drive to California
if they want.”
“Got that right,” Axl says.
For a brief second the exchange strikes
me as sweet: them against the world. Then it hits me. What would they be
willing to do to stay together? A shiver runs down my spine and I grip my purse
tighter. Gun or no, getting in the car with these two probably wasn’t one of my
better ideas.
The world flies by in a blur. It almost
makes me dizzy how fast it all disappears. Angus plays with the radio,
constantly changing the station. He finds a song he likes and leaves it on long
enough for the song to end before he starts searching again. This thing has a
six-CD changer. Why doesn’t he put a CD in? I doubt he has an iPod; he doesn’t
really seem like the type. I have one, but there’s no way my taste in music is
the same as his. I picture him as a Billy Ray Cyrus type of guy. Not exactly my
speed.
In the back, Axl starts to snore. He’s
stretched out across the seat, looking cozy. I’m jealous. My eyelids are heavy
and the constant flipping of the radio is oddly soothing.
“I’ve been awake for about fourteen
hours now,” I say with a yawn. “I’m going to have to get some sleep.”
“Go on ahead.” Angus doesn’t even glance
my way.
He still makes me nervous, but maybe he
isn’t as disgusting as I originally thought. Maybe he just likes to put on a
good show for other people.
“Thanks.” I grab my jacket off the floor
and roll it into a ball, so I can use it as a pillow. The fabric is stiff and
scratchy, and not the least bit comfortable, but even before I close my eyes
the world starts to drift away.
* * *
Emily is in front of me. I haven’t seen
a picture of her since she was nine months old, but I know it’s her. She has my
golden blonde hair. My real hair, not the bottled stuff. And my eyes. They are
big and round, soft brown and turned up slightly at the corners.
Her mouth morphs into a wide smile, and
she dances across the room, singing a silly song while she spins. It’s a dream.
I’ve been having the same one for weeks now.
She sees me and stops. Her small face
lights up. She smiles, revealing a dimple in each cheek. Just like me.
“Hi.” Her voice is soft and musical. It
breaks my heart. A tear rolls down my cheek but I’m too shaken to wipe it away.
“Hi.” I take a small step toward her.
“Wake up!” she screams at me, her voice
deep and masculine.
My eyes fly open and a small sob bubbles
up in my throat. I cover my mouth with my hand as I turn my face toward the
window. My cheeks are moist from tears and I quickly wipe them away. I don’t
want Angus to think I’m weak.
“Check point,” he says.
He’s not looking at me. His body is
tense and he grips the steering wheel tightly as the car slows. I don’t blame
him for being nervous. He should be if his papers are fake. Hopefully they
don’t slow me down. I have to get to California.
“Axl!” The words comes out like a growl.
His brother shoots up in the backseat.
He sputters and makes sounds that are probably supposed to be words. They are
not.
A road block is set up in front of us.
Four military vehicles and a group of heavily armed soldiers. The automatic
weapons in their hands make my throat tighten. It’s not the first checkpoint
I’ve gone through, but it still makes me nervous. I have too much at stake.
Only one car is ahead of us. The tension
in the Nissan swirls around us, threatening to suffocate me. I play with the
hem of my shirt and lean forward, trying to get a better view. One soldier
stands at the driver’s side, examining a few travel papers. Four others
obstruct the road, their guns aimed at the car. After a few minutes the soldier
hands the papers back and waves to the armed men, who step aside and turn their
guns toward us. The other car speeds away.
“Here we go,” Angus says.
He pulls up and rolls down the window.
“Papers!” the soldier barks.
Angus hands them over without a word. I
reach into my purse to get mine, but they aren’t there. My heart beats against
my ribcage and little beads of sweat break out across my forehead. Where are
they? I
know
I put them here. When I look up, Angus grins at me with his
eyebrows raised. The soldier has three pieces of paper in his hand. Angus went
through my purse while I was asleep.
Axl sits forward so he can see between
the driver and passenger seats, and I glance his way. Did he have anything to
do with this? His hair is messy and his eyes are hazy from sleep. He stares
back at me blankly. He doesn’t have a clue.
“What business do you have in
California?” The solider looks through the window. His eyes sweep over the
three of us.
“Family.” Angus sits up straighter, like
he’s trying to appear bigger.
The soldier frowns. “You have a
different destination than the other two.” His eyes bore into me, dark brown
and intense.
“My car broke down. They were nice
enough to offer me a ride.” I’m shaking, but not from fear. I’m furious that
Angus went through my purse.
The soldier nods. “You will stick to
this route all the way to California, understand?”
“Yes, sir. We are law abidin’ citizens.”
Angus’s tone is too harsh. It sounds like an order.
The soldier’s frown deepens, becoming
exaggerated. “Route 66. That’s it.” He looks directly at Angus.
Angus’s jaw tightens. He doesn’t like
being challenged. “We. Heard. You.”
For a second the two men stare at each
other, not moving, but eventually the soldier sighs and hands the papers back.
“Move on.”
Angus takes them and folds them up,
shoving them on the dashboard. He nods to the soldier then rolls the window up.
“Asshole,” he mutters once the window is
secure. The soldier must be able to read Angus’s lips, because his face
darkens.
“Shut up, Angus,” Axl hisses.
Angus glares at his brother in the
rearview mirror but doesn’t respond. The second the soldiers move, he slams his
foot on the gas pedal. The tires squeal against the pavement as we speed away.
I dig my nails into my palms so hard I’m
sure they’ll draw blood. They’re long and red, fake like the rest of me. My
body shakes. I should keep my mouth shut. Angus is already pissed at being
challenged by the soldier. But I can’t. Not that I ever could.
“You went through my purse while I was
sleeping?” I say through clenched teeth.
Angus barely glances at me. “So? I
needed your papers for the roadblock.”
“Don’t you dare!”
Angus chuckles. “Or what? You’ll shoot
me? Better check your purse again, Blondie.”