Finding Home - A Post Apocalyptic Novel (The Ravaged Land Series Book 2) (21 page)

They opened the door and stood there for a while watching Penn do whatever he was doing inside the small shed. I couldn’t see him from my angle but I could see Dean and Owen. By the looks on their faces I was certain Penn was talking to someone. After a short time, they walked back to the car.

Once everyone was inside and we were driving down the road again, Dean broke the silence and told us what happened. “He told them we were going east. Just like he said he would,” Dean said, as if he didn’t believe Penn had actually done what he said he would do. I couldn’t tell if he was informing us because he was surprised or if he was just getting us up to speed. Most likely it was both.

“Thank you,” I said to Penn without looking at him.

“Of course. I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you, Ros,” he said as he cleared his throat. I could tell he felt bad, but he could have put an end to it all a long time ago and he hadn’t. He said he had kept things from HOME but I had no way of knowing if that was the truth. As far as I was concerned he had a lot to make up for, not only to me, but all of us. “But now I can’t check in again. Ever again. I don’t know if it’s even possible for the devices to have GPS, but if they do, I can’t risk it. If I call in again they’ll know where we are and it won’t be where I said we would be.”

“You could just lie about it. Tell them we changed our minds, and took a different route,” I said after I thought about it. It could be our backup plan, just in case we would need one.

“They’d know. They’d calculate it all out and know the travel time didn’t make sense… or something… I don’t know. But somehow they’d figure it out. For all I know they are already suspicious of me considering I left HOME with you guys instead of finding a way to just stay there. Not to mention they could be heading east right now.”

I looked at Owen to see if I could read anything from his expression. He glanced at me and then back to the road. I figured he was just as lost and unsure as I was. Even though he had helped us this time, that didn’t mean it wasn’t all part of his plan. He could have said something in code to whoever he talked to for all I knew. We couldn’t trust him. But we didn’t have a whole lot of options if we wanted to try to get Ryan back.

“It’s over for me now. Whether I’m with you or out on my own. I just hope they don’t figure it out until after we find the camp in Seattle.” He sniffed and wiped at his nose before he turned to stare out the window at the scenery passing by. “Either way if they find me, I’m as good as dead.”

Chapter eighteen.

We barely made any stops as we continued south. The only time we’d stop was to get gas, use the bathroom, or to quickly stretch our legs. We had been lucky so far that gas was still available at most the gas stations we found. It wouldn’t be long until all gas stations were empty. There just wasn’t a whole lot of traffic through this area any more so supplies were a bit more plentiful.

Occasionally, just for fun, I’d turn on the radio and scan the stations but it was always just static. Even though we were well stocked, we still rationed what we had just to be safe. And smart. Eventually we would run out, but for now we had enough and as long as we stayed mindful we’d be OK. At every gas station that had a little store inside we’d quickly check for water, food or medicine, but it was in and out. We never stayed for more than a few minutes. Even though there weren’t people around, Owen didn’t like us staying in one place too long.

“How many little army bases does HOME have out and about at any given time?” I asked Penn without turning to look at him.

“Not really sure… I think five or so, but knowing HOME there are probably more.”

“Do they travel the main roads?” Owen asked as he glanced in the rear-view mirror.

“Not typically, at least I don’t think so. I don’t really know much about what they do. For the spies it doesn’t matter as much, because we are like, well, undercover. Our job is to blend. But with the military division, it’s a little more obvious they have some kind of purpose,” Penn said leaning forward. “But don’t take that to mean we are safe on the roads. We are never safe. They have a lot of spies and ways to find people when they want to find them.”

“Oh?” I said wanting to hear more, and he seemed willing to share.

I could feel he was looking at me. “Yeah, like, they have the signs everywhere to go to HOME in Alaska, but I’m confident there are other HOME bases. Not just the one we were at. I haven’t actually been to any, but I think they have more, or at least they are working to expand. Maybe that’s what the military is doing. I’m not sure,” Penn said, his voice cool and flat.

“So HOME, the one we were at, is the main base? Is it the only one they try to drive people to?” Owen asked scratching his hair by his temple.

“I honestly don’t know, but I think that it’s kind of spread out. There could be several big bases based on some gossip I heard one time. I heard there was one in New Mexico and one in Tennessee. But that was just people talking. They want to get people they can trust and put to work.”

“But why do all this? What is their endgame?” Dean asked getting sucked into the conversation.

Penn chuckled, “I honestly have no idea. World domination? You saw how big the base was. There is a lot of power in numbers when the world has all but ended. In a war which team would you rather be on? The one with hundreds, maybe thousands of people or the scattered random groups like us?”

“Who said anything about war?” I said smirking.

“Well there isn’t a war that I know of, but I just meant if one day HOME wants to lead the new world. Their numbers are better than ours.” Penn shrugged, “Like I said before, I don’t know their ultimate plan, all I know is I don’t want to be a part of it.”

“What more could they want? They already have impressive numbers. Soon enough they’ll have everyone left on their side. Welcome people in, kill off those that don’t agree with your ways… how can you go wrong with a business plan like that? They already have dominion.” Owen glanced down at the gas meter, “This car is awful on gas. Keep your eyes open we need to fill up soon.”

I spotted something in the distance. It looked like an old sign hidden in the branches. “I think there’s something up there,” I said pointing just off to our right.

“Perfect,” Owen said as he bypassed the pumps and pulled up to where two abandoned cars were parked. He looked around to make sure he didn’t see anyone before he stepped out of the car.

“I have to use the bathroom,” Sienna announced.

“Didn’t you just go?” Dean asked, seeming like he just wanted to get back on the road. Any time we stopped Dean and Owen were anxious and on edge. I couldn’t blame them. We all wanted to put as much distance between HOME and us as possible, although I didn’t even know if it would matter at this point. If they wanted to find us they probably would. Or what if we just happened to bump into another spy, the HOME army, or whatever else was out there? And the way it sounded they were everywhere. I had no idea how we would be able to avoid them. It just felt as though one day they’d catch up to us. We’d just been lucky so far and eventually that luck would run out.

“I’ll take the girls in after I siphon what I can. Let Penn stretch his legs,” Owen said through his still-open door. Sienna and I got out of the car and stood next to him waiting for him to finish. It had been a good thing we remembered the hose or we would have had to keep finding replacement cars. We would have never made it to Seattle. It would have definitely taken a lot longer than a few days to get there.

Dean let Penn out, but he made him stand up against the side of the car as we were following Owen inside. I walked behind Sienna towards the bathroom figuring I might as well use it too since we were here. Owen waited outside the door for us.

“Let’s take a quick look around for anything of use,” Owen said as we walked out of the bathroom. We split up between the aisles and scanned them quickly, but carefully. This gas station had still been pretty well stocked. I found some plastic bags behind the counter and started to fill them with canned goods, medicine and first aid stuff. Owen took a plastic bag from me and put some oil for the car in it. I hoped he knew what he was doing and took the right kind. He also grabbed a gallon of window washer fluid and I wondered if we’d even have room in the car for everything.

I smiled at him. He was standing there as if everything was normal and he was just doing some shopping. “You think of everything don’t you?” I said nodding at the oil.

“I wish,” he said gesturing to the front door. “Let’s go.”

I walked to the front of the store while Owen lagged behind waiting on Sienna. She was still taking things off of a shelf. Out of the glass door I saw Penn standing with his back towards the car. Dean was several feet away from him scanning the area. I couldn’t stop the smile that was growing on my face. Something about him standing there keeping watch all protective-like made me feel all goofy inside.

When I got to the door those feelings vanished and were replaced with something much more ominous. I froze in place when I saw the crazed dog-beast prowling. It was mostly hidden behind the car, and it had its eyes fixed on Dean and Penn just waiting for the right moment. I had to do something. Dean was closer to the dog by a foot or two which made him the likely target. If something happened to Dean… I didn’t know how I could go on. It would just be too much. I’d just give up. Neither of them knew the dog-beast was even there, creeping up on them.

I dropped my bag and pushed the door open. I was about to pull my gun and shout out hoping to confuse the dog-beast in the meantime. Penn looked at me coming out of the door and then over to where I was looking. He slipped his hands out from behind his back and took a single step towards Dean. He moved so fast I wasn’t even sure how it had happened but he was holding the gun. With one hand he shoved Dean out of the way and fired a shot at the dog-beast. It released a painful howl as it flopped to the ground.

I ran over to Dean and put my arms around him. His chest was rising and falling hard with each breath. He didn’t even seem to fully grasp what had just happened. Penn walked up to the dog and stood over it. Blood pooled out around the still whimpering beast. He pointed the gun at its head and shot again. The dog was silent. But just to be sure Penn nudged it with his foot.

He handed the gun back to Dean and leaned against the car. He looked as though he was a little shaken, which was unusual to see from Penn.

“I hate those things,” he said glancing at me.

“What are they?” I asked him.

“I have no idea… rabid, hybrid dog. Monsters,” he said shaking his hands.

I looked at his hands that were no longer tied. He had red marks around his wrist. “Where did they come from?”

“I don’t know.”

Owen looked at him skeptically, “Are they from HOME?”

“I honestly don’t know, but I’d believe you if you told me they were,” Penn said raising his hand up to Owen. “Are you going to tie me back up?”

Owen looked at Dean and then at the rope lying on the ground near his feet. He had saved Dean and given him his gun back. He probably could escape anything we tied him up with. I wasn’t sure there was much of a reason to try again but I didn’t know if Owen would agree.

“Maybe you are a magician?” Owen said squinting at him.

“No, nothing like that,” Penn said with a small cocky grin.

I looked at Dean and he seemed distracted. Almost as if he was replaying everything that had just happened. Or maybe he was just realizing how lucky he had been that he hadn’t been bitten by one of those things. If that dog would have bit him, he would have ended up just like Seth because we wouldn’t have been able to take him to HOME for saving. Had HOME really saved Ryan? They must have cured him somehow, right? I’d believe it when I actually saw Ryan alive.

“How long have you been free?” I said locking eyes with Penn. I felt that if I looked deep into his eyes maybe he was more likely to be honest. That my eyes would somehow force the truth out.

“Let’s see… I probably could have gotten free after Owen first tied me up, but I didn’t actually do it until we were in the car driving away from the cabin.”

At any point in the journey he could have surprised us or escaped. If he wasn’t actually on our side, he was putting on one heck of a show because I was really starting to believe him. But then again, maybe that’s what his training had taught him to do. This was a perfect way to gain trust, or so I guessed.

“Not much of a point in tying you back up then. You can probably escape any knot any of us are able to tie… am I right?” Owen asked stepping away from the blood that was spreading out from the dog. He moved so fast it seemed as though he thought the blood was poisonous. And maybe it was.

“Not really. Unless, it makes you all feel better,” Penn said with a weak smile.

Dean shivered, and I realized I was still hanging on to him. I stepped away to give him a little breathing room, but he grabbed my hand and held onto it tightly. “Let’s just get out of here,” he said glancing down at the dog that had just almost given him an undesirable fate. I was thankful beyond comprehension, to Penn, for having saved him. He could have easily let the dog get him and claimed to not have been able to do anything about it. Instead he chose to act. And saved Dean’s life.