“And good friends,” she added with a smile.
“And good friends,” he repeated with his own smile.
Suddenly the blaring of a horn cut through the air and Veronica whipped around to see a truck barrelling up fast behind them. Three men were standing in the flatbed and they had guns propped on the top of the cab, aimed straight at the cruiser.
“Shit, looks like the rednecks found us,” Travis said and Veronica was thrown backwards as he slammed on the gas. Gunshots went off and Veronica ducked low in the seat as the rear window cracked when a bullet tore through it.
The cruiser swerved and Veronica slammed into the door, yelping as pain shot up her arm from where her elbow cracked into the metal. She heard more shots and then a small bang that could only be a blown tire. Suddenly the world spun on its axis and pain exploded through her body as her vision went black.
She came back to consciousness suddenly, everything silent and blurry for a moment before a sharp stab of pain in her temple brought everything back into sharp focus. The hissing of a cracked engine block filling the air, muted sunlight streaming through the shattered windshield to show the front end of the cruiser wrapped around a tree trunk.
She realized they had careened off the road and into the ravine. She looked over to see Travis sprawled over the deflating air bag and she leaned across the console to pull him into a sitting position, groaning as pain lanced through her shoulder where it had slammed into the door.
His face was bloody from a deep gash on his forehead and she could tell from the wrong angle of his arm it had been broken. She put her fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse but she couldn’t find it.
She leaned down, pressing her ear to his chest, trying to hear a heartbeat but her own was pumping so loudly in her ears. Angry shouts followed by car doors slamming came from up on the road. She hovered a hand over Travis’ mouth, praying to feel his breath against her palm but there was nothing. He was gone.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered to him, blinking back her tears before she turned her attention to climbing out the smashed passenger window, careful to avoid the glass. Her muscles screamed in protest but she heard one of the rednecks call out to the others to get down the hill and that got her adrenaline pumping and it drowned out the pain.
She moved to the back of the cruiser where the rear windshield had caved in and hauled out the gun bag. She looked around, seeing nothing but trees and bush spread out before her. She knew she could lose the rednecks if she disappeared in the woods. She just needed a head start but judging by the crashing through the underbrush, the rednecks were going to spot her before she could disappear.
A plan quickly formulated in her head and she took Travis’ gun from his holster and put it in his limp hand. She aimed her own gun in the direction of the shouting and fired. She could hear them yelling and what sounded like one of them falling down and crashing through the underbrush as she backed away from the cruiser, continuing to fire until her clip was empty.
That was when she made a break for it, running as fast as she could away from the crash site as the rednecks began to return fire. When she didn’t fire back, they would climb down the rest of the way to the cruiser, find Travis and assume he had shot at them before succumbing to his injuries. Even if they didn’t fall for it, it bought her precious time.
Soon the only sound was her own heartbeat thumping in her ears and the wheezing breaths she took as she zigzagged through the woods, doing her best to avoid leaving an obvious trail. It wasn’t until she came to a small creek running through the woods that she stopped, taking a moment to catch her breath and listen for any sign of pursuit. All she heard were the birds chirping in the trees and the sound of water flowing over the rocks. No one had followed.
Except that wasn’t as good as it sounded. She’d made it away from the rednecks but she’d had to run straight into her worst nightmare.
She was completely alone.
Subject File #749
Subject - I worry that all the kindness in the world is disappearing. It seems the only way you can survive now is to harden yourself. I don’t want my children to grow up in a world that can’t be kind.
Administrator - That’s something in your control. Kindness is something you can show them, something you can teach them to show to others.
Subject - I can and I do but I’m scared it won’t be enough. I think that’s why I put such importance on them being good to one another.
Those left at the camp had done their best to distract themselves over the hours as they waited for the others to return from town. They had spent a couple hours down at the creek, washing up the dirty laundry while the kids played in the water.
Janet had found it to be a welcome distraction for everyone. The children splashed in the water while the women sat on the bank, washing everyone’s clothes by hand as Ana told them amusing stories of doing the same with her sisters as a child in her tiny village.
It had been mid afternoon, after they had finished hanging the clothes to dry, when the walkie had crackled to life and Kim told them that someone was coming down the road. The group had waited with baited breath to find out who had come upon their camp.
“It’s Jose. I’m coming in with him.”
Janet saw Ana make the sign of the cross, letting out a relieved breath but when Janet looked to Jenny, she saw the worry etched on her face. Kim had made no mention of the others and that had to mean something. She moved to Jenny’s side, looping her arm through hers, a silent gesture to let her know she understood. Their family could still be out there.
The sound of an engine rumbled in the distance and a police cruiser emerged from the trees. When it came to a stop next to the minivan, Janet could see Jose behind the wheel, Kim next to him. Janet tried to see into the back but the wire cage prevented her from seeing inside at this distance.
The door opened and an exhausted looking Jose climbed out of the cruiser. Ana flung herself into his arms but then she jumped back with a gasp and that’s when they saw that Jose was covered in blood and gore.
“Trey, take the kids inside the ranger station now,” Kim ordered and he did as she instructed, picking up Ruth and telling the twins he had something cool to show them.
“Where are the others?” Janet asked once the children were out of earshot.
“We got split up,” Jose explained. “Craig got shot.”
The gasps of shock from the others had Jose raising his hands in reassurance. “Malcolm has taken him to get fixed up.”
“What happened?” Kim asked.
“Some of the town’s people didn’t like us coming in and taking what was theirs,” Jose explained. “He got shot in the stomach and he needed surgery.”
“Do they have a working hospital?” Janet asked.
Jose shook his head. “We ran into a doctor, surgeon actually. Travis and I stayed with the doctor’s sisters while the others went to a clinic with Craig. But the town was overrun and we had to get out of there. Travis was following us in another cruiser.”
“Us?”
Jose nodded to the back of the cruiser and that was when she finally noticed the young woman hugging her knees to her chest. “The doctor’s sister, Claudia. His other sister is with Travis. Malcolm and the others will come back here once Craig is all fixed up.”
“Malcolm and the others are okay?” Janet asked.
“They were the last time we talked to them,” he replied, patting the walkie talkie that was in his breast pocket. “I radioed them about half an hour ago to let them know what routes out of town were clear. He said they may have to wait out the night at the clinic. I lost contact with them once we were on the other side of the mountain range though.”
“What about Travis?” Kim asked. “How far behind is he?”
“I’m not sure,” Jose said, frowning. “With all the sick people there, we had to take different ways but he shouldn’t be too long.”
“Well, let’s get you and Claudia cleaned up and get some food into you,” Ana said, wiping at the blood on Jose’s collar.
“We’re gonna have to be easy with the girl,” Jose said, glancing back at the cruiser. “She’s been through some things. Her parents…well, they didn’t make it. I’m afraid having to flee with a stranger hasn’t helped. She isn’t much of a talker.”
Poor thing. Losing her parents and then being separated from her siblings and brought to a group of strangers. It wasn’t much of a surprise that she would shut down completely. Best way to protect yourself was to ignore everything happening around you.
Janet went to rear door and opened it, the girl turning her head to stare at her with empty eyes. It broke her heart to see that vacant expression on such a young face.
“Hi, my name is Janet,” she said as she crouched down in front of Claudia, coming eye to eye with her. “If you want to stay in the car, that’s okay. We can bring you some food if you’d like. It’s probably going to get real hot in the car though. You’re welcome to come sit at the table if you want. It’s your choice.”
Janet stood up and stepped away from the cruiser, giving Claudia the space to make her choice. It seemed for a moment that she hadn’t heard a word Janet had said but then she shifted, sliding across the seat and climbing out of the vehicle. Janet nodded and smiled at her before turning and leading the way to the table.
The others followed, Ana dragging Jose off to get cleaned up as Kim went to let the children know they could come back out. Janet busied herself with preparing two plates of leftovers from lunch, setting them down for Claudia and a now clean Jose. The first sign of real life in the girl happened when she began to wolf down the food as if she hadn’t eaten in days.
Meanwhile, Jose elaborated on what had happened in town. By the sound of things, they were lucky to get out with their lives and that was still up in the air for the others. At least they had found a doctor for Craig. Janet sent up a silent prayer for him to pull through.
Then there was still the matter of the group getting back here once Craig was fixed. She couldn’t stop the dark thoughts that came to her then.
What were they going to do if the others didn’t come back? They would be down in serious manpower and though they knew how to handle weapons, the group that remained wasn’t very intimidating. And apparently there was a band of rapists roving the nearby town…who knew how many others there were just like them elsewhere?
She watched as Ruth toddled over to Claudia, pulling herself up next to her at the table. Claudia’s attention turned from her plate to the little girl at her side. Janet took a few steps towards them, putting herself within arm’s reach, unsure about how Claudia would react to the little girl.
There seemed to be no reaction whatsoever from Claudia as they just stared at one another. Then Ruth held out her doll, offering it to the young woman. The gesture pulled at Janet’s heart strings. Her little girl could see that Claudia was hurting and she wanted to help her and, in her childish innocence, she believed a toy could make everything better.
Janet was about to go to Ruth, anticipating that her kind gesture would be ignored and the little girl would be upset and need some comforting. She was surprised when Claudia reached out and took the doll, hugging it tight to her chest. Ruth gave her a toothy grin before snuggling into her side, petting the doll’s hair as she told Claudia that her name was Mrs. Feather and she liked chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting.
Janet looked to the others who sat around the table and she could see the tears glistening in their eyes as well. For all the bad things they had seen over the weeks, it buoyed them to see that there was still good in this world. That a gesture of kindness still meant
something
in this world.
Subject File # 742
Administrator: You like Quinton.
Subject: Sure I do. Just as a friend, in case that was your angle.
Administrator: You are both natural leaders, experienced with being in charge in emergency situations, confident and competent. Logic would say the two of you should be constantly butting heads and fighting to be top dog, not being friends.
Subject: We’re always fighting but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends when it all comes from the same place. I respect a man who does whatever he can to protect his family.
When they were done with the surgery and Craig was off the respirator and breathing on his own, Malcolm had killed the generator, hoping that without the noise the freaks would eventually wander off. However it was a slow go and even as the sun set, there were still too many surrounding the building. Getting Craig into the station wagon would involve a lot of shooting and the noise would just bring more of them.
So the decision was made to spend the night with the hope that they would wander off by morning. He knew that everyone at camp would be worried but his hands were tied. He was intent on making sure everyone made it back and this was the best way to make it happen.
Lorraine had pulled two chairs next to Craig’s bed, propping her legs up on one as she dozed in the other. Alan had done the same in the corner, snoring in a steady rhythm. Malcolm had taken a seat against the wall, giving himself a clear view of the door and the others.
Quinton stood at Craig’s bed, checking his vital signs. The blood pressure cuff deflated with a hiss and Quinton set the stethoscope around his neck, sighing deeply as he palpated Craig’s belly.