End Days Super Boxset (192 page)

At first, Christina seemed receptive of their concern but ultimately annoyed at feeling boxed in. “You all know I can handle myself. But you're making me feel like I don't have a choice in the matter.”

“No, that's not it at all,” Janice said in a tone of alarmed protest.

“Terrance will be back in a day or two. Paula and I can set up camp right here. We'll make a fire, eat what can be rationed, and if anyone tries anything, I'm armed to the teeth.”

“But I don't want to stay here, Mom,” Paula said, cutting in. She had been listening to the entire conversation.

“Quiet, grown-ups are talking,” Christina said.

Paula took James's hand and held it in hers. Everyone stopped to take notice. James looked down, surprised. His own son hadn't shown him that level of affection in decades.

“I want to go wherever everyone else is going. Please don't make me stay out here in the woods any longer.”

Christina took a deep breath, walked to Paula, and gave her a hug. “Honey, we don't know anything about that other place.”

“That's why we need numbers, Christina,” James said.

“A forty-nine-year-old woman and her little daughter? What kind of numbers are those?”

“Please, hear me out. All we're going to do is check the place out. I guarantee your safety,” James said, holding his hand up.

“You know these people?” Christina asked.

“I know
of
them,” James said. “They're a sharp bunch. They've had the camp set up for months. Similar to what we did with the bug-out house.”

Christina walked out of the group circle and paced in her own area. Her intuition told her to stay, and that's what she normally went on. At her age, she had learned to trust her instincts. She was torn between the thought of Terrance on his way back with Richie, and her and Paula alone in the woods for days. More than anything, she yearned for answers.

“Fine,” she said. “We'll leave Terrance a note. But the note must have
detailed
instructions on how to find us. And I want it in plain view so they can't miss it, and I don't care who the hell else sees it.”

“It won't matter. The survival camp is heavily fortified from what I hear,” James said.

“OK,” Christina said. “I'm in.”

Paula jumped for joy. “Yea!” she said.

Christina pointed directly to James. “Just don't make me regret it.”

“I won't,” James said.

Mark and Janice seemed in agreement as well, and the decision was finalized. Their next destination would be a place of vague mystery, but one that offered a degree of hope.

The salvageable items from the basement were all laid out. There were four large Tupperware containers full of different types of dried foods: rice, noodles, fruit, vegetables, and jerky. They also recovered mason jars of preserved and canned meats, soups, beans, potatoes, sauces, and pickles. They were pleased to see that they had a variety of food to sustain them on their journey, but they had more than they could carry.

Mark and James loaded their backpacks as full as they could. Mark had a spare pack and kindly offered it up to James. In addition to food, they also had to carry weapons and ammunition. They laid everything out in an organized fashion. Each weapon, food container, and Mason jar was lined up neatly so as to conduct a complete inventory. They also knew they needed to stay hydrated, and James got to work right away, digging a direct line to their pump so that they could fill up whatever containers they had left to transport water.

Mark’s expectations were high, and he envisioned a group of level-headed experts who had all the information on the EMP and world response. He was certain that they were soon due some good news. Perhaps the entire ordeal was almost over. Perhaps they could soon go home and go back to their real lives.

Janice counted their inventory and divided it carefully among the group so they could carry the fullest loads possible. It would be a shame to leave anything behind that would prove useful later on. She had to consider the overall weight of their bags and the distance ahead. She estimated that, at the very least, they were looking at a good four hours of walking.

The rough terrain of the Milledgeville woods consisted of rolling hills, creeks, thick vegetation, and other challenging factors. With rest breaks and unforeseen obstacles, she estimated their time closer to eight to ten hours. They would need plenty of water.

Once Paula was packed and ready, Christina began to work on her own rucksack. Her clothes, hygiene bag, food rations, and ammunition probably totaled fifty pounds. It didn't sound like much, but even the lightest loads would seem heavy with each mile they traveled on foot. Christina noticed that James was attempting to carry the biggest load, even with his bad back. In response, she packed as much as she could fit into her pack. After an hour of planning, preparation, and searching through the house for supplies, the group was packed and ready to go.

They took one last look at the house. Christina wrote a message on the front of the house with a thick permanent marker. She listed their coordinates, but was brief with the details. “I love you, and please hurry,” she wrote. A realization swept over them of how alone they really were, now that the house no longer provided safety or security. Its hollow appearance made it almost unrecognizable.

James held the map tightly in one hand and balanced his compass in the other. He had collected pebbles from the ground and filled his pockets with them. Every couple of meters he planned to drop a pebble to keep his pace count. Such methods were crucial in measuring time and distance. James was confident he could get the group there with little issue. He wanted to not only prove it to them, but to himself as well. He wished that the night before had been different.

He didn't quite blame himself, but he did yearn to turn back the clock for a second chance. Could things have been done differently? Could the house have been saved? Or did it ever have a chance? Everything they had spent years planning for was taken away in one night. It didn't make any sense. If there was a lesson to be learned, James had no clue what it might be. It was time, however, to move on.

“This way,” James said, pointing into the distance. “We're going north.”

The journey led them, predictably, through the most undeveloped terrain in all of Milledgeville. There were no back roads, cleared paths, or street signs along their route. They had left their home behind, with no other option but to remain hopeful. They passed through open spaces between the trees, often blocked by sharp, thorny vines, connected from one tree to the next. It was late afternoon and they had traveled about two miles. The mushy ground was covered with layer upon layer of dead leaves. There was no doubting that fall was upon them.

James led the group, carefully balancing his compass in hand. His pace-counting methods were based on basic military fundamentals. He estimated every two steps taken as a meter. And he dropped one pebble every 600 meters. It was important not to get distracted and lose count. Ten miles was roughly 160,000 meters, which meant he had a lot of counting to do.

“What day is it?” Mark asked from the back of the line.

“I lost track,” Janice said, walking in front of him with her hands gripped on the shoulder straps of her backpack.

“It's Friday,” James called out, leading the group.

“Yeah, but what's the date?” Mark asked.

“October second,” James answered.

“I forgot,” Mark said quietly to Janice, “James has that internal alarm clock. Bet he knows what time it is too.”

“Oh, stop it,” Janice said.

“Go ahead, ask him. You'll see,” Mark said, egging her on.

Janice thought to herself and smiled. She looked up to see the back of James's head. A green camouflage hat covered the top of his black hair. He was darkly tan, almost red. Janice was certain he had some Indian in him but never thought to ask. It would make a good conversation piece later, if they needed something to talk about.

“Hey, James,” she said.

“Yup,” he answered.

“Do you know what time it is?”

James shook his head. “You wanna discuss solstices next?” he asked.

“Very funny,” Janice said.

The group followed him in a semi-straight line, with Paula behind James, then Christina, Janice, and Mark. Much of the terrain ahead consisted of hills, which made their journey all the more exhausting. Two miles of walking, and they could already feel the ache in their backs, the sores on their feet, and hunger in their bellies. It was not going to be an easy trip. The forest ahead was quiet and somewhat peaceful. The sky—still gray and cloudy—showed no signs of rain or thunder. They were lucky for the time being, as rain wouldn’t help with their navigation.

They had veered 20 degrees east and were due to hit a ravine in a few hundred meters, according to the map. Christina held the map so James could focus on their direction and pace. She had been given a quick primer on map reading, which included cardinal directions, magnetic north, contour lines, grid squares, the map key, and distances measured by inches.

They seemed to be going in the right direction, for all she knew. The area they were supposedly in, according to the map, was nothing but undeveloped terrain. There wasn't a road, building structure, park, town or neighborhood listed on the map anywhere within thousands of meters.

James decided that once they reached the ravine, they would stop and rest for a bit. Time was gradually becoming an issue. It was nearly 3:00 p.m. and they were only a third of the way to their destination. Leaving in the afternoon had its problems. James knew that they weren't going to travel a full ten miles on foot before sundown. But if they kept to a specific regimen of brief rest intervals and a steady pace, they could arrive in the early evening. Before eight, if they were lucky. It was only ten miles, and James felt like he could walk that in his sleep. Or at least he hoped.

They quietly marched forward, all lost in their own thoughts. The strangeness of walking through a dense and hilly forest, with no sign of any other human beings, was undeniably eerie. The sporadic singing of sparrows and bluebirds echoed throughout the endless wilderness surrounding them. Squirrels scurried up trees, and in the distance they saw a mother deer and her two young fawns. The wildlife before them dispersed instantly at the crackling sound of their footsteps against dead leaves and twigs.

“Mom, look,” Paula whispered, not a moment too soon.

“I see them,” Christina said. The deer vanished over a hill and out of sight.

“Wish I had my crossbow,” James said to himself.

“What?” Paula asked.

James turned his neck to the side. “I said, I wish that I had my crossbow.”

Janice overheard his comment and took immediate objection. “No you don't, James. You better not harm those deer. Not when I'm around.”

“Hey, when it comes down to us or them, you're going to have to choose a side,” James said while trying to remain focused on his head count.

“What are you talking about?” Janice asked. “Have you lost your mind?”

James laughed. It was fairly obvious to everyone that he was messing with her.

“I sure hope Tobias and Richie are OK,” Christina said. “I've been praying for them.”

“They're going to be fine,” Janice said as they reached the top of one particularly large hill. Going down was always the easiest part.

“I hope you're right. You know I worry. It's part of who I am,” Christina said.

They hadn’t reached the ravine yet, and James was growing anxious. According to this pace count, they were nearing the end of where the mark should be. But he didn't see a body of water anywhere near them. He said nothing and kept his brief moments of doubt to himself. The group had trusted him so far, and he didn't want to lose their confidence so early in their journey.

He had dropped 11 pebbles so far and made a mental note. They had traveled roughly 6,500 meters, or 4 miles. The prospect excited him; they were nearly halfway there. But they should have hit the ravine by now.

Janice and Christina talked back and forth while Mark looked ahead, bored, sick of the forest and sick of walking. The first two miles were interesting as he hadn't hiked in years, but the novelty had worn off, and he was getting impatient. James looked ahead as far as he could. It all looked the same. There were no distinguishable landmarks or anything else that stood out. Christina had the map, but James didn't want to ask for it and arouse suspicion. His very pride felt on the line.

“If I had a little girl, I'd name her Sweet Pea,” Janice said.

“Now why would you do that to the poor child?” Christina asked. “How about Vanessa? That's a pretty name.”

“Vanessa's nice. But I would still call her sweet pea in secret. My little sweet pea.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “I don't like where this conversation is going,” he said.

Christina laughed. “When Paula was born, Terrance and I had two names. One name was Ariel, and the other was Pauline. We settled on Paula.”

Mark listened to their lighthearted banter, feeling annoyed and frustrated. He had already asked James for a status many times during the past hour, but received only vague generalities in response. Without a map or compass in his hand and without any sense of direction, Mark felt lost.

“How close are we now?” he asked for the fifth time that hour.

James didn't answer. The back of his head bobbed up and down as Mark saw him drop another pebble to the ground.

“James?” he asked again.

James was busy fighting bouts of dread. He couldn't understand it. He knew the woods like the back of his hand. It hadn't been that long since he had ventured out into the wilderness. Two weeks before then, he was hunting as on any normal Sunday and had no problems finding his way around.

We should have made it to the ravine by now, he thought. Something isn't right.

They approached another hill, and with any luck a small body of water would await them on the other side. It would offer confirmation and put James's mind at ease. He could feel himself sweating underneath his clothes. He felt lightheaded and anxious and didn't know how much longer he could maintain a normal facade.

“Another hill?” Mark said under his breath. “Why don't we just climb a mountain and get it over with?”

“What was that, honey?” Janice asked.

“Nothing. Just thinking out loud.”

They ascended slowly up the hill as Janice and Christina continued to chat.

“When I bought my first gun, Terrance was a little surprised. I mean, I started out small, just so he wouldn't throw a fit. It was a little Ruger .38 special. There were no objections so I went out and bought myself a rifle.” She let out a small laugh.

“How do you afford it?”

“Afford what?” Christina asked.

“All those weapons,” Janice said.

“Well, I'm no wealthy heiress. You just save a little here and there. One piece at a time.”

“But ammunition is so expensive,” Janice said.

“You're telling me.”

“James, what's the status?” Mark asked again.

By the time they reached the top of the hill, James felt instantaneous relief flood through him. At the bottom of the hill, a quarter mile ahead, a long ravine stretched from east to west.

James cleared his throat, satisfied. “We’ve reached the ravine. We'll take a quick break here and then move out.”

The news was a breath of fresh air. Their packs, some weighing upwards of fifty pounds, were becoming more uncomfortable by the hour. James hurried down the hill as the others followed.

The group threw off their packs and plopped down on the ground the minute they got to the ravine, feeling a million pounds lighter. Their backs were sore and sweaty. It was hard to believe that they had only traveled half the way so far. James leaned against a tree and tilted his head upward, and rotated his neck. The sky was still overcast, nearly colorless, and surprisingly flat, given the prospect of rain. James felt good but concerned about the approaching dusk. A dark forest was no kind of place to be finding their way in.

Christina sat close to Paula, examining her closely. “How are you holding up?” she asked.

“Fine, I guess,” Paula said.

Christina placed a 16-ounce water bottle in Paula's hand. “Make sure you're drinking plenty of water out here.” Paula took a drink from it. Christina dug into her backpack and pulled out some trail mix. “Here, eat this, it'll help build up your energy.”

“I'm not hungry,” Paula said.

“Doesn't matter. Your body needs to stay hydrated
and
you need to eat. You don't wanna pass out in the middle of the woods, do you?”

“No,” Paula said as her voice trailed off.

“Then do what I ask,” Christina said.

Paula reluctantly took the trail mix and picked through the bag.

“That's better,” Christina said.

“Are we almost there?” Paula asked.

Christina glanced in James's direction. He looked peaceful. His head remained tilted upward toward the sky and his eyes were closed. “Yes, honey, we're almost there,” she answered.

“Are the people there going to be nice to us?” Paula asked.

“I’m sure they will.”

“What if they're cannibals like Mark said?”

Christina covered her own mouth in shock. “Goodness, child, that's crazy talk. And what's wrong? I thought you wanted to go there.”

“I do. I'm just wondering.”

Christina wrapped her arm around Paula as they leaned against their packs. Paula rested her head on her mother's chest as Christina petted her head. “Everything is going to be OK,” she said.

“You always say that,” Paula replied.

“Well, it's true.”

Mark and Janice sat on the ground next to each other gulping down their water bottles. Mark suddenly stopped himself, as if fighting the urge to drink more. “We need to conserve every last drop.”

“James said we're half the way there,” Janice said.

“I know, but we can never be too sure. Anything can happen. The last couple of days certainly proved that.”

“You worry too much,” Janice said, taking another swig.

“You don't worry enough,” Mark replied.

Janice put a hand on Mark's knee. “At least we're together with friends,” she said. “People we can trust.”

James's eyes flickered open. He could tell it had gotten darker out, even after such a short rest. Only ten minutes or so had passed, but he knew it was time to get moving.

“All right,” James said, standing up and stretching. “Let's hit the road.”

“Road?” Mark said.

“You know what I mean. The beaten path. This is outdoor life, everyone, enjoy it while you can.” He picked up his large black backpack and threw it over his shoulders. After a few steps forward, James clapped his hands together. “This is where it's at,” he said.

Mark leaned closer to Janice and spoke into her ear. “How many tickets do you think we could sell to the
James Cook experience
?”

It was well past eight when they arrived near the enclosed area believed to be the survival camp. They were completely exhausted from the journey. It was very dark, but James used a flashlight to lead the way. As they got closer to the compound, he turned it off. It was time to be careful and prepared for anything. Though he believed in the good intentions of the camp, he didn't want to waltz up to the doors on faith alone. They stood behind a sprawling redwood, planning their next move. The mysterious camp ahead resembled a military fort from America's frontier days. Giant walls of interconnected logs were staked into the ground vertically, scaling fifty feet or higher. The ends of the logs had been sharpened on the top.