Chapter 10
I stood looking at the huge boxes for several minutes before the idea finally took hold. Looking around, I spotted Mason near the trailer currently being loaded by Jill.
Hey, cowboy, do we have any need for washers, dryers and fridges?
Are you serious?
Don't get you panty hose in a bind, I was thinking if we get the time before bed, maybe we load them onto a trailer and park it out front next to the motor home, like last night. Let the smart squad 'steal' it if they come back tonight.
I could see his smile from across the warehouse.
Sometimes, you scare me, brat, I swear you do.
Aw gee, sweetheart the things you say.
He spoke to Riley, who turned and gave me a thumbs up. I checked out some more boxes and spotted one that was full of squirt guns. Not those little things from my childhood. No siree, these were monster guns, the kind that knock you on your ass and soak you to near drowning kind of squirt guns. Just what we needed at the lodge. Loading some into a shopping cart, I took them to a pallet to be loaded. What can I say...
Wiping my hands on the rag I'd tied onto my belt, I looked for Ken. He was probably looking for more fuel. I wanted to tell him to almost empty the trick semi and fix the gauge so it read full. I'm not usually so mean but they really pissed me off, letting us do all the work and then taking it from us when we're too tired to do much about it. Geez.
I found him working on the fuel tanks at the trucking company terminal, located in the back lot of the warehouse. He was hand pumping fuel into a pretty new semi. He had a thing for them and we've had fancy ones we'd used in the past, so him and Howard ought to get along fine.
The smell of diesel fuel always clogged my lungs so I stopped a bit away from him. "How's it going?'
He smiled but kept pumping. "Not too bad, if we can keep the thieves from stealing anymore trucks. What's up with you?"
"Well I had this idea..." and told him what I had in mind. He was on board with the idea and since he almost had this semi fueled he decided he'd give the thieves the truck parked behind us, a bright, shiny, canary yellow Ken-worth. No self respecting truck driver should drive a yellow truck, he thought. He told me some stories of flying and said he'd be happy to teach anyone of our group who wanted to learn. I cringed because I knew Lacy would be the first to line up.
Telling him to take a water break, I headed back to the building. When I entered the office I found George had gotten the better end of the deal watching the monitors. It was cool as a spring day in there. I went to the small fridge in the corner and withdrew a cool bottle of water and sat opposite her.
"How's it going?"
"Gets down right boring in here sometimes but it's cooler than outside so I'm not complaining." She glanced over at me, then reached behind her and tossed me a tub of baby wipes...unscented. I must look sweaty but then I probably smelled that way too.
"We going to get out of here today?"
"I was hoping we could but now I think we're should plan to sleep in here tonight. I think it would be safer and we're planning a surprise for those fools if they do come back. Anyway, if we leave in the morning, we can be home tomorrow night and THAT my dear cousin I'm planning to do, come hell or high water."
"OK"
"So how are YOU doing?"
"I don't know. I keep thinking about dad wanting to stay behind instead wanting to be with me. I mean us. I mean he'd rather die than live with me in a log cabin in the mountains?" She teared up and reached for the Kleenex box and that's when I noticed the trash can full of small wads of white Kleenex.
"George, before he shut the door the last time, I noticed a bite on his hand. He wouldn't come with us because he was infected and he knew it. That's probably the only reason he'd stay behind. I know he would've wanted to be with you no matter what. He wouldn't chance hurting you and that's why I think he stayed behind."
"He wasn't that bad, JD. You never really knew him."
"I know sweetie, and now I never will. I'm sorry you're hurting but it'll get better slowly. I know when mom and dad was killed I thought I'd never get over it, but you do. Hold on to what you know and ignore what I say. OK?"
"OK, JD, thanks. Oh, Mason seems to be looking for you. Better get."
I'm with George and on my way to you with wings on my feet, love.
You better never let anyone else hear you talking to me that way, or they'd laugh you out of the state.
About that time George let out a big snort and I knew she had 'overheard' him. Smiling, I went in search of him.
Later in the afternoon we stopped simply because we were pooped. Finding some boxed meals, I whipped us up some yummy chicken Alfredo on pasta, yuck. We ate anyway cause we were starving. We loafed the rest of the afternoon away and went back inside just before dark.
Standing in the near dark of the cavernous building we just stared around us. Nearly as one unit, we turned and went back outside and dragged mattresses off the bunks, with sheets and pillows and made up sleeping arrangements inside the office. Leaving the lights on inside the motor home for the time being, we managed to get settled in before Ken drove the pretty semi and trailer full or washers, dryers, freezers and any other useless junk we could fill it with and parked it next to the motor home in nearly the same place the other one sat the night before. He would go back out around midnight and shut off the lights before locking us inside for the night.
I'd found some inflatable mattress and put them to good use. Riley huffed and puffed as he inflated one while Mason put padlocks on the inside of all the doors and the hatch leading inside from the roof. We were as secure as we were going to get. A little past midnight Ken went out and turned the lights off in the motor home Then we settled down around the monitors and waited for the fun to begin. I must of fallen asleep because I was awakened by someone saying "Here they come."
Jumping up, I stood behind Mason as we watched the motorcycles slow down on the highway before shutting off their lights. Then they pushed, yep, I said pushed, them the rest of the way to the other side of the parked semi. You'd think with that much energy they'd loaded their own trailer...just saying. One crept very quietly to the door of the truck and worked till he got the locked door (Kens idea) open and crept inside softly closing the door behind him. The creative one, moved around the bus, painting different words of wisdom no doubt until he was satisfied. Then they climbed on their bikes and gave some signal telling them all to act stupid which they did rather well. The guy in the truck gunned it once then the truck gave a big lurch and died. Popped the clutch. By the time he got it started again, the others had to wait for him to catch up at the parking lot entrance. Then they were gone.
"Why didn't they just send a few people to do what they did? I mean, they just needed a driver and painter and the rest could've stayed on the road." George looked at each of us like she was serious. Riley was red in the face. "Because my dear, they aren't nearly as bright as you." Then he bent down and kissed her nose. "Let's turn in so we can finish up early and get out of here."
So we did just that. I was feeling frisky but in the close proximity of others I knew sleeping would be less embarrassing. Mason cuddled up close to me and I could tell he was having the same problem. It took me a bit to fall asleep, mostly due to Kens snoring, but weariness finally overtook me and I slept.
The next morning we found the words 'suckers' written over the stuff they wrote last night. No college graduates there, I think. We spent the next few hours of the morning finishing up. Since our route resembled the one the thieves took last night we were a little apprehensive. We decided to arm ourselves just in case we ran into them then ate breakfast and headed home.
Mason and I were in the lead with Ken and Jill then Riley and George. Ken had worked his butt off filling the huge tanks of the big rigs so I don't think he planned to let some fool take his trucks. He was loaded for bear, ammo wise that is and spoiling for a fight.
We had to move from one side of the interstate to the other because of the traffic jams and that meant crossing the median. We didn't have too much trouble but we had to be extra careful with the loaded trailers so the going was slower than we would've liked. We started into the canyons and we could see right away how fast the river was running beside us. The snow had melted in the mountains and the rivers were raging. I hoped the many bridges that crossed the river would still be there when we got to them because the alternative of backing up and turning around was intolerable.
This was what was on our minds when we rounded a particularly sharp curve and Mason hit the brakes grabbing for the trailer brakes at the same time. I grabbed the CB and yelled "STOP, STOP, STOP.!" We just managed to keep from hitting the trailer that was once hooked to a shining, Canary yellow semi. I know it was theirs cause I had written on the back with spray paint "Clean up your act." You know washers and dryers? Never mind.
There was one body laying to the side, his motorcycle probably in the river and a lot of skid marks but that was all of the bad boys we saw. I walked to the edge and watched the river below as it boiled and roared. Whole trees and limbs churned and tumbled as they headed to the Pacific Ocean. I looked back and saw one semi nearly sideways in the road, the other one had nearly hit our trailer and sat nearly sideways next to ours. Doors were flying open and people bailing out. A motorcycle hung off a portion of the bridge and dangled over the water by mere inches. A large branch would grab it and take it away any minute.
I was so angry I vibrated with the need to kill someone. I wanted to go home, dammit. "No. No way. You bastards." I yelled and stomped my foot at the same time. Wrong move. The road gave way under my feet and I started to fall. Strong hands grabbed my shirt and twisted me as I swung back and smacked my face into the edge of the broken pavement. I was stunned and blackness was swimming in my vision. I was gearing up for a scream when another pair of hands reached down and pulled my hands loose from the rock they had grabbed onto.
Suddenly I felt a pair of hands grasp my ankles and pushed up from below and I nearly flew back onto the road above where Mason crushed me like a beer can. He's so possessive. I was trying to gasp as much air as I could. Finally I was able to gasp "Someone... below... pushed me up." Legs walked past me and stopped at the edge. "Careful, Riley it's unstable as hell," Mason said, as he held me tight to his chest. I could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest in tempo with mine.
"Can we move the semis back a few hundred miles so they don't go over too. I don't want to go through something like that again." I'd started shaking so bad my teeth were chattering. Riley was joined by Ken after he'd moved his truck back quite a ways. They were talking together then Ken lay on his stomach and reached down. Riley looked around until he found a long branch and then he lay on his stomach too. Fine, I didn't care. Mason was smoothing my hair and saying stuff into it and I let his voice soothe me into relaxing.
"We need some help, Mason, if you got a minute."
I nodded my head and shoved in the general direction of the two men lying on their bellies on the road. He kissed my chin and went to see what was up. Jill came over and sat near me putting her hand on my knee. I guess that's as close as she was going to get to letting me know she cared. That's okay, I spoke the same language.
A few minutes went by while the guys worked at whatever they were doing before they pulled another man up from the river. He looked to be around 25 years old, slight of build to the point of being skinny, dirty blond hair that needed trimming and a dark mustache. His clothes were nearly falling off and he'd lost one boot. It looked like those black leather things the bikers used to favor, with the buckle across the top of the foot.
He lay and tried to relearn how to breathe while Riley spoke to Mason who was staring down at the man. "You have anything to do with this bridge coming down?"
"Fu...a, hell man, if it was up to me I'd have left it up. That..."throwing his arm to indicate the river..."was mother natures idea. And she took every member of our gang with her."
"Everyone?"
"Yep, I was taking up the rear. I always have to take up the rear. Dudley didn't think I was much use for anything else. I was the grunt and gopher and general scape goat. Anything went wrong, and it always did, I was blamed. Couldn't do anything right according to them. Thanks man, for helping me out. Where you all from anyway?" Then he looked back at the semis, frowned then looked back at each of us. "Never mind, I think I know and that wasn't my fault either."
Mason walked over to me and helped me to stand. Steadying me until I nodded my okay he led me over to a large rock where I happily sat nursing the bottle of water George handed me and watched the guy for a few minutes.
"Thanks for giving me the hands up down there. What happened here?" I asked.
"I don't know. I was following the trailer like I said, protecting the rear, like always and I glanced at the river, thinking it was running awful full. When I glanced back at the road, the trailer was stopped like it is now so I swerved to miss it, and the bike slid of the road and into the river. I don't know why I didn't go with it but I managed to land on that ledge and stayed there trying to figure out what to do. Good thing you came along when you did, that ledge was getting smaller by the minute. I'd have been a goner if you'd taken any longer to get here.'