Eve of Man (The Harvest Book 2) (10 page)

Zack sat behind the wheel of the Monster. Luke road
shotgun while Ed took the back seat. They traveled the deserted road staring
out at the nothingness their world had become. Each had his own thoughts, but
one commonality was the desire to feel the warmth of the sun. So for the moment
they didn’t think about where they were headed or the risk they were taking.
They all carried thoughts that were far away recollections of the past.

Luke was on Florida’s Gulf Coast, staring out at
emerald green waters and running his toes through warm white sand. His parents
had a beach house in Destin and every summer the family reunion was held at
their place. Every summer for the first fourteen years of his life Luke went
with his parents down to Destin. He’d met Emma Ryder during one of those
summers and fell in love in the first blink. Where the Taylor’s were
comfortable money, Emma’s family was big money and big everything. The Ryder’s
beach house, or mansion as most referred to it, was located about a mile down
the beach from the Taylor’s. Etched in his mind was the image of her walking
towards him on that stretch of beach between their homes. She’d worn a light orange
sarong over a blue bikini. Her hair was pulled back in a loose pony tail. She’d
stopped directly in front of him and introduced herself. He was fourteen, she
was eleven, but she didn’t look or act like an eleven-year-old. For the next
two weeks they spent every moment together. It was the best summer of his life.

Then football took over and instead of basking in the
sun with Emma, he was doing drills in ninety-five degree temps and one hundred
percent humidity. More than once a teammate had been hospitalized for
dehydration or heat exhaustion. Coach always made sure to be at the hospital when
the principal arrived, making sure nothing was said that might cause trouble or
interfere with the practice schedule. Luke hated those summers and truth be
told, he hated football. The fans, the reporters, his dad, his coach, they all
wanted a piece of him, and the better he played the more they took from him. The
only good feeling he had about football was Emma. She always came to his games.
She never wanted anything from him.

While Luke was holding hands with Emma on the beach, Ed
was hiking a volcano in Hawaii with Jenny. They’d gone to the big island for
their honeymoon. Cliché destination maybe, but Jenny had never been and he wanted
to make the moment a magical time for her. After all she was marrying a tax
attorney. The odds of their daily life being exciting weren’t good. Turned out
he was wrong; Jenny, who was so full of energy, had made every day an
adventure. Anniversaries were filled with surprises, holidays with joy, even
going to the grocery store had been fun. And just when he’d thought life
couldn’t get any better, Ryan had come along. He was the first grandchild and what
an ordeal that had been for the entire family. Throughout all the baby showers
and hoopla that took place, Jenny had made sure Ed still felt needed and loved.
Although Ed would never know the physical pain of a knife piercing his heart,
he thought now he had a pretty good idea, and would go so far as to surmise that
a real knife wouldn’t cause near the pain as the metaphorical.

Zack, who had traveled the world wide and spent time
in some of the most exotic places, didn’t imagine himself in Bali or Tahiti. He
was in Disney World, on a once in a lifetime trip that had not included the old
man. Compliments of mom’s great aunt Carmella, who died at the ripe age of
ninety-seven and in her will she’d left her favorite niece a little money. Not
enough, but a little. And if there was one thing his old man appreciated, it
was free money. Mom gave the bastard all but a couple grand of the cash, a
bribe, so he would let her take the boys on a vacation without him. How that
conversation might have went Zack would never know. He’d always wanted to ask
her how she’d convinced him to let them go alone. Maybe he knew she didn’t have
enough to not come back. Maybe that’s why he took such a big cut, greed and
insurance. If Bobby loved money, he hated being embarrassed. No wife of his was
going to leave him, not breathing she wasn’t. That trip had been the highest point
in Zack’s childhood. A moment in time when he’d pretended their family was
normal. A year before someone decided to blow half of Bobby Londergan’s head all
over the driver’s side of his custom Cadillac.

A highway sign announced the exit for the airport was
two miles away. Vacation time ended, the memories faded back into the recesses
of their minds and they returned to the present, to focus on the task at hand.
The shoulder of the off ramp was cluttered with abandoned vehicles. They drove
by a school bus. Both Luke and Ed stared and wondered. 

“It’s empty,” Zack informed them, knowing what they
were thinking.

They didn’t ask how Zack knew this. How didn’t matter.
Thoughts of Lamar were never far off, could never be buried deep enough in
their subconscious, safe from the slightest instance that might conjure up the macabre
images once again.  

They drove off the ramp onto the main road to the
airport, also obstacle free. The results of work Zack and Colin had spent
endless hours completing in the aftermath of the invasion. Zack had kept
Colin’s time and mind busy clearing the main roadways of vehicles while he
handled the removal of the bodies. The task had taken almost four months. When
they’d finished, Zack decided burying the deceased was better than burning
them. At the time he’d still held a hope that the missing might return and, when
they did, they would want to know what happened to their loved ones. He’d dug a
mass grave and covered the bodies with snow and dirt. On top of the mound he’d
planted a cross, not because he was a religious man, but as a marker. The image
of those mutilated bodies piled up in that hole haunted him as much as Lamar
haunted his friends.

The airport loomed up ahead. Zack bypassed the main
entrance and continued down the road to the hangars where the private jets were
housed. A buddy of his had a nice six-seater that would be perfect for the
trip. A first class top of line jet. If they were flying to their death, Zack
was going to do so in style.

Once inside the hangar Zack inspected the plane, which
was in impeccable condition and the fuel tanks were full. Fortunately for them the
owner, unlike Zack, had been an organized responsible individual. While Zack
checked out the interior, Ed and Luke opened the hangar doors. Ed backed the
Monster into the hangar and Luke hooked up the towing cables. Ed pulled the
plane into position on the tarmac. The Monster was unloaded and then secured
inside the hangar. They stowed their gear, guns, food, and Zack’s specialized
tasers that were capable of emitting a small electromagnetic pulse, in the back
of the plane. In theory Zack hoped the pulse would disable the Sundog’s electrical
system. When packing for this trip, he’d thought this untested theory of his
might have the opportunity to prove him right or wrong. Something he wasn’t
sure he should be excited about, but he was.

They sat at the end of the runway preparing for
takeoff. It was almost noon. The flight to Wyoming would take fifty minutes start
to finish.  Once on the ground, time would be of the essence. The circle on the
map was over forty miles from their landing zone. If a road to the spot existed
they would consider this a sign of luck. If not, the search would be like
finding the proverbial needle in the proverbial haystack. Only one way to find
out. Zack put the plane into motion and within seconds they were airborne. The
radar screen was blank, but Zack could fly without it and didn’t think air
traffic would pose a problem. He maintained an altitude high enough to avoid skimming
any mountain ranges, but low enough to stay under the white mass. The question
of what would happen if he flew into the mass crossed his mind and that of his
companions, but no one was ready to find that out. That point of desperation,
where a person is willing to try anything regardless of consequences, had not
yet been reached.

People always speculated on what they would do and how
much they would put up with in dire circumstances, but when faced with making those
tough decisions, survival, at a minimum, came out on top of the list as the
most important outcome to consider. With living to see another day in mind,
Zack flew the plane with extreme caution.

As they flew over Wyoming, Ed and Luke kept their eyes
glued on the ground for anything giving the appearance of a being a large
building or simply looking out of place in the Wyoming landscape.

“Nothing,” Ed announced as Zack circled the plane
around. “Nothing, but white.”

“I’m sick of the snow,” Luke grumbled

“Me too man,” Ed agreed.

“Strap in. We’re gonna land and it might be bumpy.”

“Might be?” Ed asked.

“Will be,” Zack corrected, “and stopping might be a
problem.”

Ed and Luke shared an expression of concern before strapping
in extra tight. Ed had never flown in a private jet and knew nothing about the
dynamics of a plane, so how Zack would stop the plane on the icy landing strip
hadn’t crossed his mind until now. Too late Ed my man. Don’t panic or start
acting like a cupcake. No room for cupcakes in this here
per-dic-a-ment
.
Ed continued channeling his father’s voice inside his head, much like Madison’s
imaginary conversations with her mother, Ed relied on his father’s ghost to
keep his nerves in check.

Despite the uncertainty, Zack wasn’t concerned as he eased
the plane down on to the narrow landing strip. The jolt from the wheels initial
contact put their safety restraints to the test, but all belts and buckles
remained secure. The reverse thrusters kicked in and the plane began to slow.
Outside the scenery transitioned from a blur of white and brown to a more
detailed view of the landscape.

“We might run out of runway,” Zack announced.

“What?” Ed tried to see out the cockpit window, but
couldn’t from where he was sitting and wasn’t about to unbuckle his seatbelt.

“Don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry!” Luke repeated in dismay. Sitting in the
cockpit he had a front row seat. “We’re gonna crash into the trees.”

“We’ll stop,” Zack said sitting back relaxed.

Luke looked at him like he’d gone mad and glanced back
at Ed who now had his head buried in his lap.

Zack smirked. “Dude, chill. I’ve done this before.”

“So you know we’ll stop?” Ed yelled from his crash
position.

“Of course,” Zack answered exuding confidence despite
not feeling one hundred percent certain, but nothing was one hundred percent
guaranteed. A time or two he’d landed during a winter storm, but the field had
only been covered with six or seven inches of snow and, as he recalled, no ice was
in that mix.

The plane rolled along jerking whenever the wheels gripped
and the brakes caught. The interval between slides was not going to be enough.
The trees at the end of the runway loomed closer. Although the plane’s speed
had slowed to the equivalent of thirty miles an hour, the impact wasn’t going
to be gentle.

The plane began to slide sideways. “Brace for a
crash,” Zack warned and applied the reverse thruster again. The force of this
action shifted the plane back on course, but didn’t stop the slide. “Shit.” Was
all Zack could say before the nose connected with the trees. The plane plowed a
path fifty feet into the trees before coming to a stop. They sat quiet for
several seconds. A tree limb fell on top of the plane, making them all jump. Ed
unbuckled his restraints and fell forward before standing on shaky legs. Luke
wobbled out of the cockpit. His face had an ashen tinge, his eyes a slight
glazed over look.

“How are we gonna get back?” Luke asked.

“Get back,” Ed snorted. “How are we gonna get outta
here? We’re in the middle of no fucking where.”

Zack powered down the plane and spun his seat around.
“Ye of little faith. Didn’t you both hike halfway across the US before finding
the bunker?” Zack nodded. “And now you’re worried about a short romp through
the woods? Come on dudes. We got this.”

Skeptical, but having no choice, Ed and Luke followed
Zack to the back of the plane where they’d stowed their gear. In twenty minutes
they were dressed and loaded down with weapons. The emergency slide was
activated and they slid to the ground below. Zack, first to the bottom, jumped
off and looked back down the path of destruction towards the runway. He didn’t
bother inspecting the plane. It was never his intention to use the same one to
go home.

Luke dropped his backpack of supplies on the slide and
followed down after. Ed came down last. He and Zack helped Luke into his
backpack which was weighted down with extra survival supplies, in case they had
to spend the night or two. Something Ed had hardly given much consideration,
but was now weighing heavy on his mind.

 The trek out of the woods took under fifteen minutes
and from there they walked across the runway and back into the woods. Ed and
Luke followed Zack, both wondering and hoping he knew where the hell he was
going. It wasn’t long before they entered a clearing and there, half hidden
under a drift of snow, was a small log cabin. A crude path was forged through
the snow to the door and smoke rose from the single chimney. 

Zack stared at the path trying to determine how fresh
the tracks were and if more than one set was present. Ed and Luke had similar
thoughts as they approached the door.