Trev wasted no time scrambling back to his feet to close the distance to the mugger as the teenager screamed and staggered sideways, pistol falling to the ground as he lifted both hands to clutch at his face. He hadn’t even got a shot off. Trev snatched up the gun and backed away with it at about the same time the mugger crumpled to the ground, making choking noises. He aimed the weapon at their attacker in spite of his incapacitated state.
For a moment the only noise was the punk hacking and coughing as everyone stared between him and Trev, and then Matt shoved his bear spray into his pocket and went over to grab his shoulder. “Are you insane? You could’ve gotten us all killed!”
Trev gave him a crooked smile, still buzzed from adrenaline and relief at the good outcome. “Just myself. Since I moved first he aimed at me, which meant even if he’d managed to shoot me you would’ve been able to get him before he hurt anyone else. I figured it was worth the risk. You’d be surprised how long it takes people to respond if you move without warning. There’s a reason firearms instructors teach that anyone within 10 feet, sometimes as much as 25 feet, can potentially reach you before you can fire a shot.”
Matt shook his head, looking impressed. “It was stupid, but I’ve got to admit it was also pretty awesome.” He glanced down at the revolver Trev held. Trev thought it was .357 or .38 special, although he wasn’t too familiar with revolver calibers. “Hey, at least now you’ve got a gun again.”
Trev reversed the pistol to hold the barrel and offered it to him. “You mean you do. You’ve got a family to protect and I’ve got my Mini-14 waiting at home. Besides, you’re the one who tagged him.”
“Uh uh,” his friend said firmly. “I’m the idiot who lost you your 1911, and I know how much you loved that thing. This isn’t the same but it’s better than nothing. Besides, you’re a better shot.”
Trev hesitated, then shrugged. “Kind of hard to say no.” He idly thumbed open the chamber, then snorted and upended it over his hand. Six spent shells spilled into his palm. “I guess it didn’t matter what we did. He was out of bullets.” He flipped the chamber closed and tucked the empty revolver inside his backpack. The cops at the roadblock hadn’t taken his underarm holster, also now in his pack, and he thought it would work for this gun too with a bit of adjustment.
“Well you can keep your eye out for some,” Matt said absently, glaring at the mugger. The kid was still lost in his own little world of extreme discomfort. “What do we do with this guy?”
“I say let him go,” April immediately said. “He’s learned his lesson.”
Trev agreed. “He’s going to have trouble functioning for a while after that, and he doesn’t have a weapon anymore. Maybe the best justice is to leave him here surrounded by far more dangerous people and see if the golden rule teaches him any lessons.”
Matt suddenly started for the kid and lightly kicked his shoe. “Hey.”
“Sorry, man!” the mugger yelled, curling up into a fetal position and trying to squint at Matt through bloodshot eyes. “I’ll leave you guys alone, I promise!”
“You’d better. That’s not what I wanted to talk about.” Matt leaned down and pointed. “See those rosebushes in the yard? The rose hips, the seedpods, are edible. We’re going to leave now so you can hang out here and have as many as you want.”
Straightening, his friend made his way back over to the group and led them away from the house and out of the neighborhood. Trev was quick to follow, eager to get some distance between them and the mugger even if he was out for the count.
Once they were well away from the expensive houses they continued south along the streets, and since they’d found food and didn’t really need to stay in the city anymore Trev led the way west to the edge of the suburbs, where a road ran basically abandoned with only a few houses and some fenced in industrial lots and buildings dotted along it. Better yet, there was also a bit of cover in the way of bushes and trees.
“That was awfully kind of you, telling him about the rose hips,” April told her brother as they walked along.
Matt shrugged. “We’re not going to be around so they’d just go to waste otherwise.”
His sister grinned impishly at him. “I noticed you didn’t warn him about the white hairs, though.”
“Well he did try to rob us at gunpoint,” Matt answered, deadpan. “I suppose he’ll figure it out eventually.” In spite of the tense situation Trev found himself grinning.
“The itchy bottom teaches best,” April said with a laugh, and at that little Aaron walking behind her laughed too, even though he probably didn’t understand what was funny.
Although the trip south with the Lynns took much, much longer, just as Trev had predicted it would, it was surprisingly uneventful. They were finally traveling well away from other people like he’d wanted to do from the start, sticking to cover on the western outskirts of the populated areas. It was slower going with the wagon and having to take turns carrying the boys most of the time, since they were too tired to walk or simply refused to do so. But with careful rationing the rose hips they’d gathered lasted them, keeping them at the edge of hunger.
The only times they ventured in along the streets was to get water from the Jordan River, and there Trev and Matt went together in the evenings while the others set up camp, leaving a can of bear spray with them just in case. Trev was worried that after using the bear spray once there might not be much left in there, but talking it through with Matt they figured that each can had about 5 continuous seconds’ worth, and if they’d both sprayed for about a second there was still quite a bit left. They decided from then on to be better about aiming and try to spray for around half a second at a time to stretch out what was left, since the pepper spray was their only means of defense aside from possibly trying to bluff attackers with an empty revolver.
During Trev and Matt’s forays to get water their good fortune continued, and while they heard noises that suggested others might be around they never saw anyone. That wasn’t enough to make Trev let down his guard, but he did start to entertain an idea. So during one such trip for water three days into their journey south, just when they were nearing Utah Lake and the point where they’d need to veer southeast to Spanish Fork, they passed a hardware store and Trev paused in a covered spot in sight of the front windows to stare inside. “I’d like to go in.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Matt demanded, pausing in his sweep of the area to turn and look at him. “Stores are bad news, man, and that one’s probably already been looted bare anyway.” He grimaced and shifted position slightly. “Besides, I doubt they stock toilet paper.”
That was an unpleasant reminder of Trev’s own discomfort. They’d run out of TP yesterday, and with no other option had been forced to resort to using grass and leaves like he’d heard people talk about doing. It was the first time Trev had ever been reduced to such measures, and sparing the unpleasant details it didn’t work nearly as well as advertised. He was actually considering taking a dip in the river no matter how cold it was, and for more reason than because he desperately needed a bath.
“I want to see if I can find shovels and can openers,” he answered. “And if we happen to find toilet paper too I doubt any of us would complain about it.”
His friend gave him a meaningful look. “Ooh. In that case yeah, let’s take the risk.”
They quickly darted across the parking lot, eyes and ears peeled for any sign of unfriendly people lurking about. Trev didn’t see anything, and judging by the sorry state of the inside of the store he wasn’t surprised. Every section looked to have been stripped nearly bare, including the gardening and home improvement sections. While he headed down the aisles looking for what he needed Matt made a beeline for the restrooms at one end of the store, disappearing inside with his flashlight.