Dux Bellorum (Future History of America Book 3) (32 page)

"Nice silverware," he muttered.

Ted laughed.
 
"It was Teddy's idea.
 
He said there was no point in letting it sit there…"

"Recycling!"
 
The little man chirped from his seat on the van’s running board, kicking his legs in the air.

Erik smiled.
 
Everyone seemed in good spirits for once, even Brin.
 
They gathered around the side of the van as if they were on a camping trip, sitting around the campfire at night enjoying a hearty meal.
 
His eyes rested on Lindsay, huddled up inside the van by the seat farthest from the door.

"She not hungry?"
 
Erik said, gesturing with his spoon.

Ted looked over his shoulder at his daughter, then looked back at Erik.
 
He shook his head.
 
"I'm not worried about it.
 
Teenager thing, I think."

"Look at you two nodding like you actually know what you're talking about," Brin muttered in mock disgust.
 
She scraped the bottom of her can of chili and set it carefully on the ground before standing up and dusting her legs off.
 
"I'll go talk to her."

Ted sighed as he put his empty chili can in a plastic bag.
 
"Oh my God, that was good."

Erik tried to savor what was left in his can.
 
He took another sip of the bottled water and closed his eyes, letting himself fall into a wave of bliss.

"It's my turn behind the wheel," Ted said as he shouldered his rifle.
 
He belched.
 
"I think with all the stuff we've gathered, you're gonna need to reorganize back there if you want to lay down," he gestured toward the rear of the van.
 

"First, I'll head up on top of the RV for lookout."
 
He glanced at his watch.
 
"Let's take a 10 minutes break and then try to switch to the northbound lane?"

Erik nodded, only half listening.
 
His entire being was consumed with the taste of room temperature chili with meat.
 
At any other time he probably would've gagged, but he felt as if he sat at the table of a five-star restaurant.
 

"Sounds good…" he mumbled, eyes closed.

Ted laughed and moved around the rear of the RV.
 
Erik heard his boots ringing off the thin aluminum ladder that led to the top of the big vehicle.

"Why didn't you tell us?"
 
Brin's voice said, from inside the van.
 

Erik paused, spoon halfway to his mouth.
 
That didn't sound good.
 
He wolfed down the chili and leaned in the van.
 

"Everything okay?"
 
He saw Lindsay huddled against the far side of the van.
 
Brin, kneeling between the middle captain's seat, had one hand on Lindsay's leg.
 
"Hey Lindsay, you gotta try this stuff it's really pretty good—"

"She's hurt," Brin said quietly.

Erik froze.
 
"What?
 
Where?
 
How bad?"

"Keep your voice down, I don't want to upset Teddy," whispered Brin, her eyes on the little towhead as he happily kicked at a rock outside.
 
"She said it happened a couple days ago…"

"A couple
days
ago?" Erik asked.
 
He knelt inside the van.
 
"Lindsay, when?"

The girl sniffled and looked at Brin as if waiting for final approval to tell her tale.
 
Brin nodded.
 
Lindsay closed her eyes.
 
"It was when I had to go to the bathroom that night you were driving."

Erik looked at the floor, thinking.
 
He didn't remember her getting hurt at all.
 
She never cried out, she only…

"You said you tripped."

"Wait, you
knew
about this?
 
And you didn't say anything?" asked Brin in an accusing tone.

"Whoa, wait a minute," said Erik, raising his hand.
 
"She said she
tripped
when I asked her if she was okay.
 
She said she was fine."

"And you didn't look?"

Erik frowned.
 
"It was like three in the morning, everyone was asleep, and we were almost out of gas.
 
No, I didn't look when a 12-year-old girl told me she was fine.
 
I didn't look because I didn't hear her scream, or cry out…or
anything
."

"Guys, don't fight, please,"
 
Lindsay begged.

"It's okay, sweetie, Uncle Erik should've known—"

Lindsay shook her head, barely containing tears now.
 
"No!
 
It's not his fault!
 
I tried to
hide
it from him, I didn't want him to know—"

"Lindsay," Erik said slowly.
 
"Why not?"

"Because I’ve rolled my ankle before—it's never been a big deal.
 
It's happened at school, gym, and cheerleading practice, and…" her voice faded.
 
“I just rolled my ankle.
 
That’s all.”
 
She sniffed, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"And how did they treat it at school?" asked Brin.

"With ice packs…"

"Lindsay, this is much worse than a twisted ankle."
 
Brin shot a concerned look at Erik.
 
"Take a look."

Erik leaned forward and peered into the dim light where Brin pointed at Lindsay's ankle.
 
The skin was stretched tight with decent swelling and darkened to a sickly purple color.
 
A red line snaked across the top of the bruise.
 

"Did you get cut?"

Lindsay nodded.
 
"I didn't think it was any big deal.
 
It was just a little scratch."

Erik sat on the floor of the van and faced out, watching Teddy.
 
Jesus.
 
Now what are we gonna do?
 

"Lindsay," he began, "you have to
tell
us every single time something happens.
 
Okay?
 
We can't just run down to the drugstore and get you an ice pack, or bottle of Tylenol.
 
We have to be very careful now—"

"Don't you
dare
lecture her," hissed Brin.

"
Lecture
her?" asked Erik in a defensive tone.
 
What the hell is your problem?

"That's right—she only hid this from us because of
you
."

Erik blinked.
 
"What?
 
Because of me?
 
I never asked anybody to—"

"I didn't want to slow us down!"
 
Lindsay burst, tears pouring down her face.
 
She wrapped her arms around herself and covered her face in her hands.
 
"We were always in such a hurry to get north, I didn't want to slow us down.
 
I didn't think it was a big deal, it was just a
scratch!
 
I'm sorry, guys, I'm so sorry!"

Brin shot one more glare at Erik and wrapped her arms around Lindsay's shoulders as she shook.
 
Erik turned and stood up, standing in the sunlight outside the van and staring at the side of the RV.
 

Oh my God.
 
Did I really push everyone this hard?
 
All I wanted to do was get us the hell out of Florida.
 
I never wanted anyone to get hurt, I just…oh, my God.
 
What if she's got an infection?
 
His mind raced.
 
They didn't have any antibiotics.
 
If the cut was infected, he didn't know what they could do.
 

Erik only knew basic rudimentary first aid—he'd picked up a few tips from Ted like how to use a tampon to plug a bullet wound—marine shit like that.
 
How would they even know it was infected?
 

He leaned against the RV, watching Teddy kick the rock back and forth next to the van.
 
I gotta tell Ted.
 
This changes everything.
 
He turned and looked north.
 
We have to find medication, we have to…
His mind spun circles, grasping at ideas before rejecting each one of them in turn.
 
Erik stood rooted to the spot, frozen in indecision.
 

He tried to think of anything to block the dark shadow that formed in the back of his mind as soon as he saw that red line across Lindsay's shin.
 
In a world without doctors, without power, without refrigeration, the tiniest scratch could get infected.
 
Infection would inevitably lead to what?
 
Blood poisoning?
 
Death without proper medical treatment.

Oh God, don't let that happen.
 
Ted's already lost so much.
 
Between Susan and Mark… And it's all my fault… She was afraid of upsetting me… Of trying to slow us down…

Erik listened for a moment as Lindsay sobbed softly in the van.
 
I have to tell Ted.
 
He turned and trotted to the back of the RV and was halfway up the ladder before Ted called out.
 

"Erik!
 
You need to check this out."

Erik closed his eyes, hanging off the ladder.
 
"On my way."
 
He did not want to give Ted this kind of news.

Once on top of the RV, Erik slithered his way forward, every movement bringing a new wave of fear that he’d crash through the roof of the thin-skinned vehicle.
 
He moved his legs a foot at a time and felt the RV creak under his weight.
 
Not for the first time, he envied Ted’s shorter stature.

"Took you long enough," muttered Ted.
 
He didn't look back, but handed the small field binoculars to Erik.
 
"Due north, right up there at the curve of the road."

Erik put his rifle on the roof and settled in.
 
"Listen, there's something you need to know…"

"Later.
 
We got bigger things to worry about."

Erik looked at Ted sideways for a moment.
 
I doubt that.
 
Stalling for time, Erik brought the binoculars to his eyes.
 
"Okay, what am I looking at here…" he sighed.

"Trust me, you'll know it when you see it.
 
They finished eating down there?"

"Yeah…about that," Erik began.
 
Then his eyes caught movement in the distance.
 
At first he wasn't sure what it was—it looked like a tan rectangle that moved.
 
It was much bigger than a car and lower too.
 
It didn't make any sense.
 
Then he realized why it didn't make any sense—the long barrel that stuck out the back pointed the wrong way.
 

"Is that—holy shit, that's a
tank!
"

"M1-Abrams.
 
You betcha.
 
Either someone jacked a mainline battle tank from the army, or they're right around the corner clearing roads."

Erik couldn't tear his eyes away the sight of the lumbering machine as it crept around the corner and made contact with two cars.
 
"What do you mean?
 
What the hell is the army—" he froze as the tank lurched forward and shoved the two cars aside as if they were made of paper.
 
"Wow."

"Someone's clearing a path south out of Richmond.
 
You know what that means?"

"Help?"

Ted took the binoculars back.
 
"No, it means we need to get the hell out of here.
 
In case you haven't noticed, we're still carrying standard issue army equipment.
 
What are they going to think when they find us with fully automatic Colt M4s?
 
And all the ammo we have for the pistols?
 
Or packages of
Russian
emergency rations?"

Erik's blood ran cold.
 
"Oh, this is not good."

"Yeah, you're telling me.
 
Let's get going."

Erik looked at Ted.
 
"No, I mean we may have to stay…I mean, I don't know.
 
Look, Lindsay's hurt, you need to get down there."

"What?
 
How?
 
She was sitting inside the van—"

Erik put a hand on Ted's shoulder.
 
"Just get down there.
 
I don't know what we're going to do, but we're gonna have to make a decision pretty quick."
 
He turned back and barely caught the movement of the tank in the distance with his naked eye.
 
"God
damn
that thing's big."

Without a word, Ted rolled to the side of the RV and disappeared over the edge.

Chapter 36

The Valley

E
RIK
GRIPPED
THE
WHEEL
with white knuckles as he weaved around a single car parked sideways in the middle of the small country road.
 
The van jerked left as he pulled them around the car, then swerved back to the middle of the road.
 
He cursed as he overcompensated and felt the supplies and passengers behind him jostle.
 

Dammit, calm down.

"Hey, you don't have to go quite so fast—take it easy."

Erik couldn't meet Ted's eyes.
 
He stared at the road, watching the trees zip past.