"Three hours." The general said. George, wrapped in her husbands arms, was still crying. Ken was in the passenger seat and Mason was driving. He yelled hang on and we did but the bunk area didn't provide hand holds for four people so, slipping and sliding, I climbed into the area made for the small fridge and braced myself as we headed north. Riley managed to throw me a pillow from the bunk and that helped me avoid some of the bruises. The road was flat after we got off the mountain, so we made good time. "Two hours." Yelled the good general, who was starting to get on my nerves.
When the truck slowed, I started to climb out of my "We're coming off the interstate and onto the highway leading to Moab. Might want to stay low for a bit longer." I did just that. The vibration of the motor through the floor, though, lulled me into a nap for at least another hour cause I heard the general yell, "One hour." Ken opened the atlas and was flipping through the pages when I yelled, "The bridge leading to Arches National Park. There's a missile silo nearby." Mason nodded and floored the engine. I came out long enough to adjust the air conditioning in the bunk. I wasn't sure about the rest of them but no one complained so I settled back into my nest.
George had fallen asleep so Riley gently lay her in the bunk. The general's eyes were bulging so I figured her blood pressure was about as high as mine. I climbed back out of the hole and stood next to Mason with my hand on his shoulder. The muscles were knotted into a ball so I gave him a mini massage while we watched the scenery fly by.
When we passed the Hole in the Wall point of interest I got back into my hole again and held on. The bridge was about half a mile away at this point. "Fourteen minutes. We have to do whatever we are going to do real soon."
I was going to kill her. I couldn't take anymore of this damned countdown. I saw the bridge about the same time the Jake brake came on. Everyone held on as the truck made the turn without turning over. We parked under the bridge and started piling out the door. "Five minutes." I made a grab for the damned timer at the same time Mason grabbed my hand and started hauling me toward the river.
"We don't have time to make the silo, we'll have to get up under the bridge and hold on." You could hear everyone panting for breath and small rocks rolling to the river. Mason put his arm around me and held me close. Ken didn't have anyone so he grabbed the general and held onto her. She didn't seem to mind too much. Riley was squeezing George, bent over her head. We waited. I felt the ground rumble under my butt first. "Shut off everything electronic. The electromagnetic pulse will destroy anything still running," Mason said, then the world exploded. Wind and debris blew past us, then was sucked back. Rocks and dirt was so thick you couldn't see and it got dark quick. We were all choking on the dust, then something hit the back of my head and I didn't remember anything else.
Chapter 8
The first thing I was aware of was a headache. Like a million miners pounding away in my skull. When I opened my eyes there was a black face hovering over mine. I closed my eyes and opened them again but the black man was still there. I wondered briefly where he came from and where Mason was. "Mason!' I said, so hoarse it hurt. The black man said "I'm here."
"Where!"
"Here," the black man said.
"You're not Mason. Where's Mason? What did you do to him?" I struggled against his hold on me when another familiar voices spoke. "I think she might have amnesia."
"There's not a damned thing wrong with my memory, Ken. Tell this black bastard to let me go. Mason!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, but started coughing up dirt and stuff.
The black man took his sleeve and wiped his face and I saw a very dirty Mason looking back me. "Damn, hon, what happened to you?"
He smiled and said "Same thing that happened to the rest of us. We were in a nuclear explosion."
"We were? Cool." He laughed out loud, then started coughing too. I tried to sit up, and Mason helped me get upright but the headache got worse so I lay back against him. The scenery was weird. The sky was greenish like before a tornado and the air was heavy like before a rain. I would've thought storm and tornado but there weren't any clouds in the sky. There was an odd smell like dead fish, but we were in the dessert so that didn't fit either. I figured it was the hit on the head and decided to ignore it for the time being.
"How long have I been out".
"About an hour. We're all ok, except for small cuts and bruises. You got the worst of it."
"Of course, I always get the worst of it. It's written in stone somewhere." I frowned as I looked at a scrap metal heap in front of me. "Where did that come from?" Pointing at the mess in case he hadn't noticed.
"That was on the road above but the explosion put it nearly on top of the semi. The semi is behind it. It looks like it used to be a semi too. It was on the wrong side of the river evidently. The wind caught it, wadded it up and tossed it there. Our semi is toast though. The electromagnetic pulse fried everything. Looks like we're on foot."
"That ain't good."
"Not with you in the shape you are. The rest of us can walk the two miles into Moab, but not you, so we're trying to figure out how to manage this."
I didn't like the sound of this. I knew as sure as I had a hard head that they planned to leave me here and walk into town to find a ride.
"I can walk," I said trying to sit up. As soon as I did I threw up. Mason barely got out of the way while I heaved up nothing. I hate the dry heaves. My stomach was cramping and my head pounding. Not walking anywhere.
"Give up, brat, you got yourself a nice little concussion and you ain't walking anywhere." Like I said.
Ken showed up about then and his face was dirty to. I finally noticed the others down at the river, cleaning up it seemed. Ken had a wet rag he was holding out to me and I snatched from him and began cleaning Mason's face. I was feeling needy which meat I needed to see his face. He laughed and took the rag and began cleaning my face and when I saw the rag I understood. I was black to. Ken laughed and headed back to the river to clean up. I settled back against Mason's chest as I waited for the headache to pass and my stomach to settle.
"Who you planning to leave with me while you go to town?"
"You aren't going to argue with me?"
"You're right, I'm not able to walk anywhere and would probably hold you up. So, the sooner you get back the better."
"Gosh, I need to bang you on the head more often."
"Don't push it cowboy, or I'll sic the general on you.
"Her name is Jill. She doesn't want to be called general anymore. Besides, she's the only one armed so I say humor her."
"OK, humor her we will. I'm thirsty, is there anything cleaner than that river to drink?"
"Yep, got some water. Hang on a sec."
I watched his fine backside go to the river where he pulled up a netted bag and fished out two bottles of water. I was desperate for a drink but he wouldn't let me have much. Wanted my stomach to settle a bit first. Everyone sauntered back to the shade of the bridge with water bottles and sat next to me.
"Well, we need to decide who gets the gun."
"You all do, I'll just hide out in the semi in that nice bunk, until you get back. No, now don't argue, you know if I'm quiet, no one will bother me. That's the way walkers work. Leave me a club or something and I'll be fine. Oh, yea and a can to pee in."
"I don't like leaving you unarmed. Even if you do have a club.
"I don't care. You're heading into populated territory and we know what that means. You need a weapon."
"I think if I stay here with JD and George then you all can take the gun and go to town. We'll be fine." The general, Jill, was being very cooperative. I was beginning to reassess my opinion. She handed the gun to Riley who didn't look to happy about it but I decided to trust the man anyway. He pocketed the gun, accepted the ammo and then bent to lift me up. That was too much for Mason. He elbowed him away, picked me up instead and stomped towards the semi.
Relax. He was trying to help.
I know but no one touches you but me, brat. I can't help it.
You're such a manly man, cowboy, that it turns me on sometimes.
Sometimes?
He kissed me before leaning into the semi to put me on the bunk.
Before you get comfortable do you need to pee.
I grinned big that time and he handed me a can.
"Walking an average of two miles an hour it'll probably take us about an hour and a half to get there, two at the most. The RV dealership is at this end of town, thank God, so we should be able to find what we need and get back here in two or three hours. Does that sound about right, JD?"
"I think you may be right. We went through so many towns a week ago, that I'm not too sure but I can live with three hours. Don't talk too much, walk slow and watch for walkers. If I hear gunfire, you'll be the one nursing a concussion on the way back."
"What happened to manly man?" He said, smiling that killer smile. I grabbed him and took possession of his mouth. "Now, git before I change my mind."
Jill walked them to the road and watched for a bit before she returned to the semi. I showed her how to arrange the mirrors so we could see behind us, then Jill left again. Soon, she was back and explained what was up. "I don't see any reason why we can't bathe in that river and wash some of this dirt off. I think the coast is clear but we can take turns keeping watch for each other. Be quick, then we'll settle back into the semi."
That's just what we did. I needed a bit of help but still managed to get out of my clothes and wash the grime off. I detested the thought of putting my clothes back on since they had seen the better part of three days, but I had no choice. We finished up and returned to the semi where I wanted to go to sleep but no one would let me because 'I might never wake up again'. What a pain. George got to take a nap but Jill watched one side of the semi through the mirrors while I watched the other. Once we saw a walker downstream and when it waded into the river, the current swept it away. I could live with that.
I tensed when a walker came around the bend ahead. I nudged Jill, who pulled the curtain after making sure the doors were locked. I found a spot to peak out and watched it walk right up to the semi and stop. George was still asleep and I hoped she stayed that way while the thing seemed to inspect the rig. It walked all the way around it, sniffing everything. Once it tried the door but when it didn't open right away it just turned and walked back the way it had come. I thought we were safe until George cried out in her sleep. The walker stopped, then turned its head around to stare at us. I had visions of "The Exorcist" and whispered "Shit".
Jill quietly moved to Georges head, put her hand over her mouth and when George awoke, whispered to her to be quiet. Georges eyes were almost bugging out she was so scared. I could just imagine but had no time to explain.
The walker was walking back to the truck. I put my finger to my lips and watched. It tried to open the door again, then tried more forcefully. The truck was rocking back and forth from its efforts. George was making noises again like a scared rabbit and I knew the walker could hear it, but it couldn't get in. I was feeling sick to my stomach again from the swaying of the semi. Soon, I heard metal giving out and was ready to beat its brains out when I heard a dog bark. The walker turned when the dog grabbed its foot and tried to grab it back. The dog took off a little ways and barked at it again. The walker took off after the dog and at a narrow part of the river the dog jumped into the water and practically walked to the other side, then it ran back on the other bank barking at the walker. The stupid walker tried to cross before the narrow part and was swept away in the water. The dog watched it glide past him then looked at us, barked again and ran around the corner. Just like that the crisis was over.
I nodded to the other two women while I tried calm my stomach. I needed air, so I checked all the mirrors and rolled down the windows sticking my head out of the window to cool off.
"How long before they get back?"
"I don't know. My watch bit the dust after the event but I hope soon. I can't go through that again." She was hanging out of the door because her window was electric and wouldn't open. Both of us was drenched with perspiration. George was quietly crying in the bunk so I left her to it. The heat was like a wet blanket wrapped tightly around us and I felt on the verge of being sick again. Just then, like she was reading my mind, Jill handed me a bottle of water. I drank it all.
"How do you do it living in the open with these things? I wasn't exposed to them like that before. My 'men' kept them away from the main base, then we moved to the facility. The only ones I saw after that were Dr. May's playthings, and believe me that was bad enough for me. Damn, it's hot. I hope they get back soon."
Yea, my thoughts exactly.
The day gradually drudged on. I was tired and hot and felt like I'd crawled through a sewer. A nice hot bath, chicken fried venison steak, baked potato....oh yea, I was dreaming. We didn't see any more walkers and the dog disappeared over the hill. Still we waited. I knew it had been more than four hours since they left, and I was worried. George just seemed to cry a lot and although I had warned her about dehydration she didn't seem to care. I hoped Riley got back and took care of her, cause she was more than I could handle. Grief, I guess at losing her 'daddy' and then the misery of the day and taken a toll on her. I wasn't in much better shape myself and started thinking up ways to punish the guys when they got back.