Unthinkable (Berger Series) (5 page)

“You’ll come with me,” said Yoshi, closing his eyes.

“Damn right I’m coming with you. How could you even say otherwise?” Yoshi ignored Evan. Evan gave an exasperated sigh, crossed back to his side of the bed and crawled under the covers. One more night under a roof.

Chapter 4

Evan dreamed of a memory. He was eight years old, short for his age and already a bit chubby.  He carried his report card into the dining room. Dad and Mom were already sitting at the table with supper. Dad taught at the high school, Mom at the junior high, so there was no way to avoid giving them his grades. In fact, knowing Dad, they probably already knew. He placed the report card face down next to Dad’s plate and took his seat. Mom spooned some extra vegetables for him as Dad turned the paper over to read it. Evan ate slowly, dreading the disappointment on Dad’s face; he knew how bad the grades were.

Finally Dad looked at him with those piercing blue eyes. “You were adopted for a purpose, Evan. Not to waste our time or your opportunities.”

Evan winced and tried to slink lower in his chair. “Norm…” Mom put a hand on Dad’s arm.

Dad pulled away and looked at her. “No. He needs to hear me on this. You listening, boy?”

He looked up and nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“Do not waste your opportunities,” repeated Dad.

Those words rang in Evan’s head as he woke up. He stared up at the ceiling. Was he wasting opportunity now? His Dad always said he’d been adopted for a purpose, had he and Yoshi been saved for a purpose too? He yawned, knowing he wouldn’t get back to sleep now, and rolled out
of bed. Yoshi was still asleep, curled into a ball, with the covers thrown back. He whimpered a bit as Evan tossed the covers back over him. Evan turned and looked out the window, wondering again about Yoshi. Birds sang so it must be nearly dawn. He stared out the window watching the light grow brighter, until he heard movement elsewhere in the house.

He made his way downstairs to find Katie frying bacon over the stove. She smiled as he came in. “Couldn’t sleep?” she asked.

“Not really. Guess I’m just ready to go.” Evan returned her smile. She reminded Evan of his mom, quiet and sturdy.

“You might want to go look in the living room,” she said.

Evan did as she suggested and saw two packs lying against the couch. He shook his head as he opened one and saw the supplies inside. He opened the other and saw the same thing. He quietly transferred a few things from one pack to the other before closing them both back up. Evan shook his head, another kindness of these people. The stairs squeaked and he looked up to see Yoshi coming down with Tom right behind. Yoshi stopped when he saw the packs. He turned and looked back up at Tom. “It’s too much,” he protested.

“It’s hardly anything, and you boys won’t get far without it. And I also want you to have this:” Tom crossed the living room, took a box from the mantle and handed it to Evan. He opened it and saw that it was the pistol. It was sitting in a holster and there was a small box of bullets next to it.

“No,” said Evan shaking his head, “I can’t.”

“You need something to protect yourself. It was just sitting in a box. I just wish I had more ammunition for it,” said Tom.

Evan sighed and took it. He checked and saw it was loaded before pulling his belt loose to put the holster on it. He looked up at Yoshi.  Was that jealousy in his eyes? Yoshi looked away from Evan and up at Tom. “Thank you, Mr. Jasper. This is all too much, but thank you,” he said carefully.

“You’ll run out of supplies before you hit Wyoming, but this should help you get a little farther down the road. Nathan and Noah will walk you to the edge of our property. You’ve earned your keep this last week. Now, let’s get you boys some breakfast.”

Evan went to use the bathroom before he sat down. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He’d started building muscle from the farm work and was finally losing the last of the baby fat. Probably he’d be as skinny as Yoshi by the time they reached Wyoming. He dried his hands and headed to the table.

Yoshi was quiet as they ate. Evan asked Tom about the road west. Tom said there were some towns further along the road, and most of them seemed all right.

When they finished they went out to living room. Nathan and Noah waited with rifles in hand. Evan strode over and grabbed the heavier pack. Yosh gave him a look as he picked up the other one.  Tom and Katie followed them onto the porch and watched them go.

It was a quiet party that walked along the gravel road. Evan resisted the urge to look back. Yoshi kept his eyes straight ahead and his back straight, walking as well as he could. Noah and Nathan flanked them. It was only a mile to the edge of the property. Noah handed Evan a brown paper bag, “Mom made you guys lunch,” he said.

“Thanks,” said Evan. He shook their hands while Yoshi stared away at the road. The boys turned for home. Evan looked back toward the farm, but the house was lost behind another hill. By the time he turned around again Yoshi had already started walking. Evan hurried to catch up, then tried to slow the pace. It wouldn’t do for Yoshi to hurt himself again, he reasoned.

The gravel crunched as they walked steadily for most of the day. Evan called a halt when they reached the hot part of the afternoon. His stomach rumbled at the thought of lunch. He could feel the sweat between the pack and his back. “Let’s eat,” he said as he took off this pack and sat along the riverbank.

Yoshi grunted and took a swig of water from the canteen on the side of his pack.  Evan opened the brown bag. He waited for Yoshi to finish adjusting his socks before handing him a sandwich and an apple. Yoshi took it and leaned back against a tree. Evan pulled out his own food and noticed a note at the bottom of the bag. He looked at Yoshi. He was staring off down the road, crunching on the apple. Evan decided to read the note later and started on his own meal.

As soon as he finished eating, Yoshi leaned back against and dozed off. Evan quietly opened the bag again and took out the note:

Evan,

Take care of Yoshi. He thinks he’s stronger than he is. Someday he may fail you. If this happens then know that you are still a brother to him. Let me remind you your heritage doesn’t make you a lesser person, no matter what others might think. Be strong and have faith. Mortals may fail, but God will not.

Katie Jasper

Evan read it twice before stuffing it into his pocket. It was amazing, he thought, why were the Jaspers so nice? They didn’t have to do all that they’d done for them this last week. He touched the pistol; security in a world gone crazy. What did the note mean, anyway? Of course Yoshi was strong. Far stronger than he was, Evan was sure. Sure he’d been…different since the town, but that didn’t make him less Yoshi, did it? He shook himself from that train of thought, leaned back and fell asleep.

Evan awoke with a start a bit later. He couldn’t remember what he’d been dreaming about, but his heart raced. Yoshi still snoozed against his tree. Evan stood and stretched. He walked over to shake Yoshi awake. Yoshi’s eyes flew open. For a moment Evan saw fear,
then it was gone.

“We need to go,” he said.

Yoshi nodded and refused Evan’s help getting up. They adjusted their packs and started off, with Evan setting the pace. The road was beginning to look as if it might have been paved once, but now was covered in dirt and gravel. “At least it’s not raining,” said Evan, attempting to start a conversation.

Yoshi just grunted.

Evan stopped and faced Yoshi. “What’s the matter with you?” He demanded.

“Nothing,” Yoshi stopped and glared at Evan.

“Bull. You’ve hardly said anything to me since we got to the farm. What happened at the gas station?”

“Nothing.
I just didn’t feel good having to sit there at the farm while everyone else worked. Just sitting there when we should have been walking to Wyoming.”

“You were hurt. You’re still hurt. Something else happened to you…”

“Nothing happened!” yelled Yoshi. He took a breath. “I’m not going to talk about it. Just leave me alone.” Yoshi turned and stalked down the road. Evan watched, shaking his head.

The rest of the afternoon passed in angry silence. The miles passed and Evan found himself wishing for better shoes. This was going to be a long walk. The late summer heat was oppressive and his shoulders ached. Finally it began to get dark again. Evan wondered how many miles they had come, and then decided he probably wouldn’t want to know anyway. However far it was, it wasn’t nearly enough. There was a small flicker in the distance and as they got closer they saw it was a small campfire. Evan
started to hurry forward, but Yoshi put out a restraining hand. “We need to be careful.”

Evan nodded and slowed his pace.

“Draw your weapon,” said Yoshi.

Evan hesitated, glanced at Yoshi, and pulled it out. The gun felt cold and strange. He tried to keep his hand from shaking and was glad Yoshi was by his side. Evan wanted to thrust the gun at Yoshi, tell him to take it. But he kept walking.

They crept forward as quietly as they could on the rough road. Evan reminded himself to keep breathing. Finally they were close enough to see a man sitting angled away from them. He stared at the fire. Without looking up he spoke with a thick southern accent.

“Put that away. You’re so nervous you’d probably hurt someone.” Evan froze.

“Who are you?” demanded Yoshi.

“Just a traveler like yourself.”
He turned toward them, but his features were lost under the shadow of his baseball cap. “You’re welcome to join me.”

Evan pointed the gun upward and began to walk forward again.

“Evan!” hissed Yoshi.

“Should point the weapon down,” said the stranger. Evan corrected himself and kept walking.

“Evan!” Yoshi grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Your friend is right you know,” the stranger stood up, revealing now that he was pointing his own pistol at them. “But I don’t want to harm you; if I did you’d be dead already.” Evan stared at the gun, momentarily forgetting that he was holding his own. The stranger holstered his weapon and stood, waiting. Yoshi still held Evan’s arm. Evan shook him off and holstered his own.

“You’re right. You could have killed us already. My name is Evan Berger, and this is Yoshi McCarthy.”

“Damien Blake.” The stranger didn’t offer a hand,
simply sat back down. Evan moved closer. Yoshi followed, still watching warily. In the light of the fire they could see that Damien had lanky blond hair hanging below the cap and scruffiness to match. His eyes were a piercing blue that shone in the firelight. He wore a faded old pair of camouflage pants. His shirt might have once been white, now it was a dingy yellow. Altogether he looked like just the sort or hitchhiker you were warned to never pick up. But that was before and Evan felt he was the type that might be useful to have around now.

“Where are you headed?” asked Damien as he added another can of soup to the one cooking over the fire.

“Wyoming,” answered Evan, taking a seat across from him. Yoshi sat next to Evan, watching.

“That’s a long walk,” said Damien as he reached into his bag and pulled out a stack of Styrofoam bowls.

“We don’t want to take your food,” said Evan, reaching for his own pack.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a few cans here and I can always find more. There’s a town a couple of days from here. I always found work there and I’m sure we can find something.”

“We?” asked Yoshi, looking up quickly.

“Well you don’t have to tag along if you don’t want to. But it is on the way, and there is safety in numbers. I can take care of myself, but your friend here…”

“Evan can handle things if he has to and so can I.” Yoshi challenged. He and Damien stared at each other.

“We might as well travel together,” broke in Evan. “He’s right, there is safety in numbers.”

Yoshi glared at Evan. He shook his head. “Fine, Captain A-rab, if you insist, we’ll go.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “It’s not just my decision.”

Yoshi looked at the fire, clearly not wanting to talk about it anymore. He quickly ate the food Damien offered. “I’m getting some sleep.”

Evan watched as he settled down with his pack for a
pillow. Damien reached in his pack and pulled out a flask. He took a pull and offered it to Evan. Evan shook his head. Better to keep his wits about him. Damien shrugged, banked the fire low and settled down to sleep. Evan shivered despite the heat and lay down near to Yoshi, setting the gun on the ground near his head. He closed his eyes and started to fall asleep. There was a noise and his eyes flew open. Yoshi was watching him in the dark. He gave a tiny nod to Evan and rolled over. Evan shuddered and put a hand on the gun. Yoshi’s eyes looked hollow. It reminded him of when his friend had lost his mom. Evan closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.

Only a few hours later he woke up again, stiff from sleeping on the ground. The fire barely flickered with a few remaining embers. He swatted away mosquitoes as he sat up and stretched against his aching body. He moved closer to the fire. Damien snored gently, sprawled out on the other side of the fire. Yoshi lay curled in a tight ball, muttering in his sleep. It worried Evan; in all the years they’d shared a place in college Yoshi had always been a quiet sleeper. Well Yoshi was asleep, and he wasn’t, so Evan decided to stay up and watch for trouble. He stood, stretched out his back again and put his hands in his pockets. He felt the note. Yoshi could count on him too, he thought as he bent over to pick up the gun. It was still heavy, but it was growing less odd to know that it was loaded.  He sat back down and looked up at the night sky. The stars splashed brilliantly across the sky in a way he hadn’t seen in years.
Maybe since Dad had taken him out to the country to watch a meteor shower when he was fourteen. Evan drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. How had the world simultaneously gotten so big and so small? Big, because now a trip to the next town, let alone anything else was a huge undertaking. Small, because the concerns of the world had shrunk to survival. He could only imagine how bad the cities must be, if they weren’t obliterated. Yoshi thrashed in his sleep, getting loud for a moment before passing into quieter dreams. Evan wondered what had happened, but pushed the thought away. Whatever it was, Yoshi would tell him when he was ready, and not a moment before. Evan considered finding a way to get Yoshi drunk, knowing then he might talk. But that wouldn’t be fair. Instead he sat back, watching the stars and wondering if he’d start thrashing in his sleep too.