The Collapse Box Set, page 21
part #1 of The Collapse Series
The sun fell quickly behind the horizon. Darkness grew across miles of hilly farmland. Haley pushed her crew into the dark hours. Guided by torch, they walked alongside their bikes. Old men coughed. Young men complained quietly to each other. The winter cold numbed their fingers. Haley wiped the clear snot from her glowing nose.
They spotted a large ranch house. A group of the younger men killed their torches and snuck around the back. The rest of the force approached the front door. It didn’t take more than a quick inspection to see the place was empty. Haley's forces settled inside. Three groups of volunteers agreed to split the night shift. The house’s pantries and refrigerator still had food inside. The owners never made it home after the EMP blast.
Haley slept on the living room floor beside Lawrence and Dan. The house stank of sweat and rotting food. Even weeks after living in a world without frequent showers, Haley still hadn’t gotten used to the smell. As hard as she tried, she got no sleep that night.
She got up the moment the sun peeked over the tree line. She awoke the rest and got them mobilized and out of the house in ten minutes. They maintained their momentum from the first day. Occasionally, they’d slow down, looking for any more cans of food or other items the robbers would’ve dropped. They were unsuccessful in finding clues. A few of the men suggested splitting up and exploring various side streets. Haley shot down the suggestion. Splitting up wasn’t the issue; it was meeting back again that worried her. If they moved as a force, it was slower, but when they got into a battle, they’d be ready.
In the middle of the afternoon, they stopped to watch a pack of deer prance across the street. The buck stopped and turned to them, watching Haley with his black beady eyes. Lawrence raised his AR-15 and the animal bolted.
“There goes dinner,” he mumbled.
“We wouldn’t have time to skin and clean it,” Haley replied.
“Rodents and squirrels it is then,” Lawrence replied.
Near the latter part of the afternoon, they found a few local families living together in a farmhouse with acres of cornfields and grain tower. The locals claimed to have spotted a group of men bringing supplies up the road in the morning hours.
Haley was twelve hours behind. She asked the families if they had spotted any children among them. The family didn’t see any. Haley’s heart sank in her chest. The families said that they were hiding mostly and didn't get a clear look.
It was near sunset when one of the old men fell off his bike. The men surrounded him and checked his temperature. It was around 103 degrees Fahrenheit. They looked at Haley for instruction.
“Take him home or leave him here until we get back,” Haley said coldly. “The rest of us are pressing onward.”
Four of Haley’s eighty-five started back home, walking the old man with them. The rest followed Haley’s lead. She pressed harder this night, spending as much as four hours in the dark before calling it quits. The people didn’t like her, but she was too focused to listen to their complaints.
They slept in a roadside diner. During that night, rats got into the ration bag and ate some jerky. They shot a few of them, but the bulk of the rodents scattered. The next morning, they cooked the rats on sticks. Afraid of getting sick, Haley burnt her rat to a crisp. She bit into its charred body and nearly vomited.
A few of the younger men fought over something petty. Haley told them to shut up or go home. They glared at her and folded back into line. Her people had weary eyes and coughed frequently.
The passed through a small town early in the morning. Every store was looted and every house plundered. Within five minutes, gunfire erupted. Haley’s platoon broke, scattering to cover wherever they could find it.
“Rooftops!” someone shouted.
The shooters were positioned in the church bell tower, on top of a local fast-food joint, and across various flat-topped buildings. Their aim was bad, and by the looks of them, they weren’t Haley’s targets. She called her men to retreat. “Go back!”
Her command was lost in the middle of the gunfire. Lawrence rushed across the street to tell various people to fall back. They told the men near them. Haley's force left the town, laying down suppressing fire as they fled. After the fact, Haley recovered in the field and counted heads. All eighty survived, but seven were injured. Haley told them to get a buddy and go home. Startled, another ten left her ranks. Sixty-six able-bodied men stayed with her. None of them had broken morale, but all of them were tired and sore.
They avoided the town, cutting through farmland instead.
Foreboding overcast skies reigned overhead.
As the day waned, snow started to fall. Light flurries soon turned into large clumps. By sunset, they were walking through a sideways snowstorm. Their pace dropped immensely. Teeth chattering, Haley’s people begged her to find shelter for the night. She ignored them.
By the time it was dark, people were protesting. Haley and Lawrence were ready to press on. Most of the others were not. She stopped and turned back to them.
“How many of you have families?” Haley asked.
Two-thirds of the men raised their hands.
“You want to keep them fed through the winter, you shut up and keep walking.” Haley twisted back to the road.
She went a half mile before trying to light a torch. The gusts of wind killed the flame before it caught. Bitter, she found a country club and moved inside as night fell. She stood by the windows of the lodge and watched the snow, Dan and Lawrence flanking her sides.
Dan put his arms around Haley’s shoulders. “We’ll get them back.”
“We better,” Haley replied.
The robbers were at least a day ahead of them.
The next morning, they awoke to the world painted white. The snow buried any hope of finding clues. Haley’s bullheadedness prompted her to keep going. They finished the last of their rations at lunchtime and still had to make three days back. Dissension spread among the people. Men were hungry and coughing. Two got into a fistfight over a dumb insult. Haley was losing patience babysitting them. Lawrence saw her indifference, turned to the men, and fired two shots into the air.
The men stopped fighting.
“Keep walking,” Lawrence said to them. “Every minute you spend bickering is another minute we freeze out in this cold.”
The men fell in line and continued their icy trek. They found another small river town a few miles north. The locals had all gone away to their own homes, warmed by their own fires. They hid from Haley’s platoon and refused to answer their doors when they knocked. Finally, an elderly woman answered them and invited them inside where it was warm.
“No time, ma’am,” Haley said. “We’re looking for a group of travelers who might have passed through here in the last forty-eight hours. They would’ve had supply carts with them. Have you seen anyone like that?”
“I can’t say that I have,” the old woman replied. “The last visitor we had stopped by last week, and he's already gone his way.”
Haley left, trying her best to fight her discouragement.
A few of the other locals opened up to Haley but shared similar stories to the old woman.
After leaving town, a few of Haley’s people stopped biking. The entire platoon slowed and turned to them. Haley was the last to stop. She balanced her bike between her legs and had her feet flat on the ground. “What’s happened?”
“This is a waste of time,” one of the stoppers shouted.
“Yeah, we’ve not had a single clue for days,” another added.
A third joined the grumblers. “The supplies are gone. We will be too if we don’t head back.”
“I didn’t come out all this way to die," a fourth shouted from the back.
The complaining escalated. Soon over half of the people were bickering and pointing fingers at Haley.
She stood her ground, wearing a vacant stare as she ignored their jeering.
A vein bulged in Dan’s neck. He shouted, breaking the wave of noise. “Enough!”
The chatter fizzled out.
Dan said, “We’re all miserable and cold. Hungry, too. But if we give up now, we lose all our food and we die before spring. So shut up and keep biking.”
Dan mounted his seat and raced on ahead. Lawrence followed. Then Haley. Lawrence caught up to Dan. “Nice pep talk. I was thinking I’d have to shoot again.”
Dan grumbled. “These people make me want to blow my brains out.” Dan pinched his fingers together. “I’m this close to cutting them loose.”
Haley rode alongside them. “We need the bodies to get the supplies back to camp.”
“If we have the supplies and kids, why would we need to go back?” Dan asked.
His question offended Haley. Did he know all the hard work she put into their home? She had responsibilities as a leader. She couldn’t just walked away. Haley stopped herself from thinking more about it. From a pragmatic standpoint, Dan was right, but Haley didn’t realize how much she liked her little home until it was threatened to be taken away. She kept her opinion unspoken. It would make her seem weak.
They went hours, following the river through woods and fields. The snow before them lay unmarked. No tire tracks. No boot prints. The snow had fallen yesterday. There was no possible way the abductors were that far ahead, not with the time Haley was making.
Haley pumped on her brakes. The tires skidded. She stopped in the middle of the forest-flanked road. The river rumbled faintly out of sight. She looked back at dozens of unshaven, pissed Greenhillers.
Sucking up her pride, she said, “We need to try a different path.”
“Are you kidding me?” one of the men shouted.
The grumbling started again.
“We'll double back and retrace our steps,” Haley said.
The grumbling increased.
Dan shouted, but the men ignored him.
Lawrence slung his rifle off his shoulder and aimed to the sky.
One man shouted louder than the rest. “We can’t keep doing this, Haley. It's too much.”
“You’re strong,” Haley said.
“Maybe,” the farmer replied. “But every day, we stray farther from home. I want to keep going, I do, but what if one of our other two groups has already recovered the supplies?”
“We heard the testimonies and saw the can. This is the right way. We just need to try a different path,” Haley said.
“But that was days ago,” the man whined. “We could be off by dozens of miles at this point. You can keep going and more power to you, but I’m finished. Whatever happens, happens.”
He turned around and started back the way they came. A handful of people followed behind him. The group of deserters increased.
Haley and a handful stayed, watching the able-bodied men they needed desert them.
Dan waited for Haley’s instruction.
She gnashed her teeth and sniffled. Seated on the bike seat that chafed her, she tailed the men.
Dan asked, “What about our children?”
“We’ll find a way.” Haley’s words should’ve have been hopeful, but they were laced with pessimism.
They camped that night in an unoccupied house. The next day, one of their people awoke with a bad cold. He could hardly sit upright on his bike. The entire platoon slowed down to match his pace. The lost hours of time and their empty stomachs made them grouchy. Fights broke out frequently, and a few times it ended with a broken nose or busted lip.
By the second day, Haley stopped caring about the mission. Her mind was on auto-pilot. Her body just followed behind the rest.
Dan tried to encourage her to keep looking, but his attempts were feeble. Haley was fried, and she knew it. One of their men passed out on the road. They drank river water. It gave them hydration at the cost of diarrhea.
Day three on the journey back, and Haley’s only hope was that Dexter or the other group had managed to catch the villains. Starvation left holes in her stomach. Her arms were rigid and her body shook. The sickness spread. More people collapsed. Though there were no fatalities, many of them felt like they were knocking on death’s door. Day five on the journey back and they arrived at the outskirts of Greenhill. They walked the streets, heads down in shame.
They arrived on Main Street, hungry and in a worse condition than from before. The group that went northwest was already in town. They never caught the trail and returned home four days ago. Many of them had resorted to hunting, though it was a patience sport.
Haley dispersed her empty-handed platoon and returned home. Without Jermaine, Ashley, Carter, and Dee-Dee, her fortress felt like an empty husk. She crashed in her bed and covered her face with a pillow. She was at a loss at what to do next. Finding her children was still her main priority. She waited on Dexter’s team, refusing to leave her fireplace until he arrived.
The next day, Dexter returned to Greenhill. He had a weary face and stubble from his cheeks down to the bottom of his neck. The rest of his men were unwashed and pissed off. He had nothing to show for his efforts. The trail he followed led him nowhere. The people of Greenhill were resigned to their fate.
It was going to be a long winter.
21
Reunion
Greenhill looked empty. Buildings had darkened windows. The streets were unoccupied. Local police no longer stood by the bank. Snow like fine sand rolled across the frosty grass. To an outsider, it was a ghost town.
Lawrence’s home stood a frosted hill, a pillar of white smoke rising from its chimney.
Inside, Haley stood in front of the fireplace, feeling the flames’ warmth rising up to her scarred palm. Her unkempt hair rolled down her shoulders. Her pale complexion and glazed eyes glowed in the fire’s light.
Dan’s heavy footsteps thunked behind her. He stopped at her side and pecked her temple. “Lawrence has agreed to look after the food for us.”
Not taking her eyes from the fire, Haley nodded. “I only wish we had a better plan.”
Her legs ached from the ride home two days ago, and all sleep had eluded her. Thoughts of her children’s uncertain fates invaded her nightmares.
Dan handed her a pistol.
Haley checked the magazine, seeing it to be fully loaded. She clipped the weapon to her side.
“I have the map in my bag,” Dan explained. “I marked a few potential routes they might’ve taken.”
“It doesn’t make much sense to me,” Haley said. “If the burglars had the supplies, why would they keep the kids? That would only mean more mouths to feed.”
Dan’s expression darkened. “Some men are just bad, Haley.”
“But they dropped Leah quickly,” Haley replied, her voice straining.
Dan sniffled. “We’re losing daylight.”
Dan helped Haley put on her heavy backpack. Food, utensils, and water filled it. She backed away from the heat and headed outside. The long underwear beneath her snow pants rubbed against her chafing inner thighs. Despite the irritating pain, biking was still the greatest way to travel. Part of her wished that she stole that truck back at the biker bar. Maybe they’d find a vehicle on their quest.
Dan locked the front door behind her. The two of them headed down the icy driveway.
“Heads up,” Dan mumbled.
Joshua and Mariam Peters hiked up Haley’s hill. They wore beanies and L.L. Bean winter jackets. Joshua’s cross necklace captured the gray tone of the overcast day. Mariam's button nose and rosy cheeks glowed pink in the cold. The couple had sunken cheeks, bloodshot eyes, and chapped lips. Haley hadn’t seen them since leaving for the supplies.
“Hey, neighbor,” Joshua said, forcing a smile. He hugged Haley.
Mariam hugged Dan. “Little cold for a bike ride,” she quipped.
Dan replied, his voice always deep. “I don’t want to be in this mess more than anyone else.”
“You look skinny,” Haley said.
“Starvation will do that to you,” Joshua replied.
Mariam leaned against her husband’s side. He put an arm around her waist.
“We’ve been rationing,” Mariam said. “The kids hate us for it.”
Haley could see a little face in the upstairs window in Joshua’s home.
Dan said, “We’re on our way to see if we can’t get our kids home.”
“They’ve been in our prayers,” Joshua said sincerely. “But if there is anything we can do to help…”
“Just keep an eye out,” Haley replied.
Mariam gave her a pitying smile. “I’m sorry you have to go through this.”
Haley kept quiet. Burning daylight, she thought.
“We should probably get going,” Dan said, as if reading Haley’s mind.
“I didn’t mean to keep you,” Joshua replied.
Dan and Haley mounted their bikes.
Before they could pedal, Mariam said, “Well, actually, there is something we wanted to ask you.”
Embarrassed, Joshua said, “Because of our, um… contribution to the food bank, we don’t have much left in the pantry. We were wondering if--”
Mariam interrupted. “You were gone for nearly ten days, and now you’re leaving again. I wanted to ask you if you had anything you’d stored up during that time, since I know you won’t be needing it on your travels.”
“All of us were away on the expedition,” Haley explained. “We never had a chance to go to the food bank before it was all taken.”
Joshua looked down at his feet. “Well, that’s… unfortunate.”
“Sorry,” Dan said, not making eye contact.
“Don’t be,” Mariam said, “We were all idiots for giving our food away.”
“Mariam, that’s not true,” Joshua replied. “People needed help.”
“And now no one is helping us, Joshua,” Mariam barked. She turned to Haley. “Eve is sick, and I don’t know what the odds of a seven-year-old getting through below freezing weather without food are, but it's not good.”
“Don’t say those types of things, Mariam,” Joshua pleaded.
“Someone has to say it,” Mariam argued.
“These are our children we’re talking about,” Joshua replied.
