“Or what if we take the Interstate up and not waste time, and if we find her we can head to the foothills then?” Matt smiled. “Come on, man, you know I’ve got a point.”
Trev supposed his friend did. He sighed. “Fine. Lead on.”
It turned out Trev didn’t mean that literally, since his friend continued to take the lead as they continued along Highway 6 through Spanish Fork making for I-15. Matt didn’t mind following behind, since he had to put most of his concentration into searching the faces of the stream of refugees heading south and was happy to let Trev navigate for them.
His friend chose to follow the Interstate on the right side, in the strip of undeveloped land between where the fence and the first houses began. Matt would’ve preferred to walk on the outside of the fence where the way was unobstructed but they’d be in sight of everyone on the I-15, but his friend chose to cut through people’s yards, hopping smaller fences between houses and leaving Matt to look for places where he could see over the usually tall, noise-canceling fences blocking sight and sound of the Interstate.
This route seemed dangerous to Matt, especially in these chaotic times, but Trev argued that most of the owners of the yards they were cutting through had probably already been evacuated and were now part of the sea of humanity on the Interstate.
His friend was proven wrong just a mile after beginning their new strategy, when he hopped a fence and nearly landed on a snarling dog.
Trev yelped and leapt straight upwards to escape snapping jaws, twisting in midair to desperately clutch the top of the fence and swing his legs up. Matt grabbed him and helped pull him over, while in the other yard the dog continued to snarl and bark. When they heard shouts and saw the door to that house slam open as the dog’s owner came to investigate the noise they bolted back the way they’d come, vaulting three fences before cutting away from the Interstate and onto the street running parallel to it on the other side of the houses.
“You okay?” Matt asked between pants. His friend nodded. “This isn’t going to work. We should just follow the outside of the fence like I wanted. Even if people see us what’s the harm?”
“We get robbed and murdered?” Trev shot back, also panting. “Look, maybe it’s time to accept reality and just make for your sister’s house along the foothills. For all we know she’s still there, or they’ve gone to the FETF camp.”
“Nobody else on I-15 is getting robbed,” Matt snapped, losing his patience. “Would it really be so bad to follow it?”
“Nobody else has anything to steal,” his friend shot back. “And we’re going a different direction than everyone else. We’d be obvious targets the entire way, and even if we could defend ourselves it would probably come to shooting people. Do you want that?”
Matt hesitated. “How about a compromise? We follow this street and check out the highway along any open spots. Even if I miss a few groups at least I’ll be able to do what I can.”
Trev looked like he wanted to point out some more flaws in Matt’s reasoning, but surprisingly he just nodded. “Fine. Let’s go.” He began following the sidewalk, doing his best to stick to the cover of cars or fences as he eyed the houses around them, the street ahead, and even the street behind warily with one hand tucked up under his jacket holding the concealed .45 there. Matt followed his friend’s example and also stuck to cover, warily watched in all directions, and kept a hand on the 9mm at his hip.
They’d only gone a few blocks when Trev abruptly stopped, out in the middle of the road with no hint of a reason why. He was staring ahead, and Matt hurried the rest of the way along the fence they’d been following to peek over his friend’s shoulder. “What is it?”
“Roadblock.”
The answer was unnecessary since Matt could see it now. Two police vehicles parked across the street at a large intersection ahead, with a few of those plastic barricades out to make it clear they hadn’t just parked there for fun. Three policemen were leaning against the front bumpers, looking bored. From the looks of it the cross street connected to the Interstate and they were there to direct people in that direction.
“Uniforms,” Trev mused. “Might’ve stolen them.”
Matt shot his friend an incredulous look. “What, you think they’re robbers disguised as cops?”
“No, they’re probably law enforcement. Even if someone was stupid enough to attack the police they wouldn’t try to impersonate them on an open road. If they were caught the way things are now there’s every chance they’d be shot on sight. Besides, this street leads to an onramp so you’d expect to see a roadblock.” His friend turned and started around Matt, heading back the way they’d come.
Matt stared after him. “Hey, where are you going?”
Trev glanced back. “To find a way around. No need to take this street.”
How about that? Matt knew his friend was almost as paranoid as Lewis but this was absurd. “What’s the big deal? They’re policemen, here to protect and serve. They might even have news about Midvale or could give us some other help.”
“Or they could have some problem with us or what we’re doing,” Trev said with a shrug. “No reason to go looking for trouble.”
“What trouble? It’s just some cops watching a street. If anything, acting like we’re avoiding them would be even more suspicious. Then talk about finding trouble.”
His friend paused, looking longingly down the fence to a back yard. “I don’t like it, Matt. These are troubled times, only an idiot walks up to potential problems.”
Matt was losing his patience. “These are the people who stop problems!”
Another shrug. “I’m not so sure of that.”
That was as much as he was ready to hear. “Well you can go around,” he snapped. “I’ll see you on the other side. Or maybe they’ll be able to give me a ride farther north and you can keep walking on your own.”
Trev made a frustrated noise and seemed to give up, moving to rejoin him. “This is a bad idea,” he warned.
They started forward down the street, and Matt couldn’t help but notice his friend’s obvious furtiveness. “Quit acting like a criminal. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
“And you think that’s going to matter?” But by then they’d drawn the attention of the officers, who quickly straightened and moved into cover behind the cars. All were holding their service issue weapons ready to draw. At seeing their reaction Trev fell silent, squared his shoulders, and moved out into the middle of the street with his hands held out at his sides to walk directly towards them.
Matt followed, watching the three men gripping their weapons and feeling a sudden unease. He’d had more than a few encounters with policemen, and there were a few he’d seen who seemed to like fondling their pistols whenever they talked with people. He’d always thought those types were a bit gung-ho, the sort who liked to swagger and feel big, but there was no harm in it. But these guys had spent a week dealing with riots, and to his eyes the gesture didn’t feel like swagger.
Whatever he’d said to Trev, he was beginning to wonder if his friend hadn’t had a point. Protect and serve or not those were real guns, and he didn’t like the fact that the policemen looked ready to draw them as he and Trev approached.