“Any idea where we’re at?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Road is north. Right there. But where is north?”
“Up.”
Chris laughed. “That’s funny. If my phone had service we could use the compass.”
“Can’t you use the sky like they do in the movies?” Tigger asked.
“Yeah, but it’s cloudy. Where’s the sun?”
Tigger stood and looked. “There.”
Finally Chris saw it. It was lower than he expected, and just the tiniest speck of light. “Wow, it must be late. Sun sets in the west. We keep that sun to our left, we’ll find the road. Good going, Tig.”
“Done.” Jake returned with Emmie.
Chris sniffed. “Why do I smell pee?”
“She’s wet,” Jake said. “I made her a potty but she still peed on herself. No big deal.”
“Aw, geeze,” Chris whined. “Between her and Tig, we’ll leave a scent.”
“Hey!” Tigger yelled. “I can’t help it, I was peeing uphill.”
Chris rolled up the map. “Let’s go.”
“You think you figured it out?” Jake asked.
“I think.” Chris sighed. “I hope. It’s getting late and these woods are the last place I want to spend the night.” He grabbed Tigger’s hand and Jake grabbed Emmie’s, and they continued on.
9. Where Next?
“He’s not two,” Lars poured a drink at the bar, then walked around and joined Tom at a table. “My guess is about sixteen months. He doesn’t talk yet, except one syllable words. Ethan referred to him as Baby Doe, my guess is he’s a John Doe, so that’s what I’ve been calling him. Doe.”
“Will he be alright?”
“Yes. Yes, he will. Had Ethan and Mick not started fluids, even as little as they got into him, he would have died. Probably went three days without food. Last blood test his electrolytes were much, much better. Any idea what we’re going to do with him? Anyone that can take him?”
“Ethan said Mick….” Tom sighed, “that Mick took a liking to him. Maybe have Rose handle the baby till, you know, Mick gets back? What about the woman?”
“Fine. Bullet went straight through. No damage. Needs some rest but otherwise healthy as a horse.” Lars reached over and laid a hand on Tom’s arm. “How are you?”
Tom looked worse for wear. His face was drawn, shoulders slumped. “Dying inside, Lars, and there’s nothing I can do. They’re all I have left in this world. All I have. And I keep thinking, did these men grab them? Did they run? And Mick, he’s looking for them. How? This isn’t the old world.”
“I understand, Tom, but I have faith in Mick. You know that. If anyone can find them and bring them back Mick can. And he will.”
“And then I will kick his ass for leaving them alone.”
“I’m certain Mick already is kicking his own self.”
The bell above the door dinged and Lars looked back to see a man of about forty wearing a camouflage jacket and pants walk in. He removed his cap.
“Can I help you, son?” Tom asked.
“My name is Craig Nelson of the Ohio Minuteman Militia. I’m looking for Rose Owens. Do you know where I can find her? I tried radio contact, but I don’t know why I couldn’t get through.”
Lars questioned. “You came all the way down here to find her?”
“Yeah, I found that note she wrote and it seemed urgent. I thought… I thought there was trouble here like in Wadsworth.”
Tom stood. “Do you know what happened in Wadsworth?”
“I have an idea. Not one hundred percent certain though.”
Tom patted the seat next to him. “Sit down and tell us what you think.”
Tom led the way up the walk to Rose’s house. The front room lights were on and Tom paused as he passed her motorcycle. There was a sleeping roll tied to the back.
The front door was open, so Tom knocked once, opened the screen door, and walked in ahead of Lars and Nelson.
“Rose, you here?”
A single, ‘Yep’, carried to him and Tom followed the voice.
Rose stood in the sitting room; she was adding a few things to a backpack. A rifle sat next to it.
“Rose, what in the hell are you doing?” Tom asked.
“What the fuck does it look like I’m doing?” She zipped the pack. “I’m going after my son and grandchildren.”
“Right now?”
“Should I wait? Huh, Tom? Wait until it’s too fucking late and the trail is cold?”
“For crying out loud, woman,” Tom barked. “It’s gonna be dark in an hour. You can’t be going out there. It’s not safe.”
“Well, I can’t sit around waiting.”
“I want them back as bad as you. I am sick with worry. You don’t even know where to start.”
“Ethan said his camp that was hit was right outside of Erie. Even circled it on the map. I’ll find it. I’ll start…” she paused and leaned to the right, pointing to Nelson, “Who the fuck is this?”
Lars cleared his throat. “Considering you left urgent notes on this man’s door, I’d think you know.”
“Ma’am,” Nelson extended his hand, “I’m Craig Nelson from the Minuteman Militia.”
Rose cocked back. “I don’t know you. I been a member for years.”
“I know. I came from Ohio First Defense at the onset of the flu. When the military was breaking down, the militia was organizing for post-event. During the breakdown of the regular army, the militia is America’s first line of defense, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tom waved out his hand. “Tell her what you think about Wadsworth.”
“Well, considering she just mentioned a camp that was hit near Erie,” Nelson shifted his eyes, “I’m pretty certain my suspicions are right.”
Rose stopped packing and moving. “Go on.”
“During the height of the flu, several organized and unorganized militia units were networking so as to come up with a viable plan after everything was said and done,” Nelson explained. “We were contacted and stayed in touch, giving stats, we also were the link up to other Indiana and Ohio militias. Our mission was simple: to stay intact until the flu died out and then we would restructure.”
Tom waved his hand. “Get to the point.”
Lars closed his eyes for a second. “He is explaining so we don’t ask questions, but I have a big question. I understand the restructuring, but isn’t that the job of the government and our surviving president?”
“Where is he?” Nelson asked. “In a bunker? Waiting? You guys are only a couple weeks out of the flu, most of this country, finished well over a month ago. He didn’t do anything, so we had to. We’re getting pretty organized. We had a lot of units deployed to small towns like yours to help when the Army and National Guard pulled out. And then a lot of those soldiers started joining us over the last couple weeks. Anyhow… some militia units we avoided because we know they had rough edges. Some were rough and we didn’t know. It’s a gamble with unregistered militia. Unit 149, out of southern Pennsylvania, was deployed to this area for stockpile of abandoned supplies, survivor search, register towns for the United America Army, so all resources would be pulled, organized, shared. This unit is the one that I suspect burned Wadsworth. I didn’t trust them, they seemed like trouble. When I spoke to headquarters about the signal tower, I mentioned it.”
“What does this have to do with my son?” Rose asked.
“I’m getting to it.” Nelson lifted a hand. “The commander contacted me about my report of this unit. He wanted me to find them to see if they were the ones responsible, but I told him I couldn’t because they had to be long gone and were meeting up with another group from their unit in Pennsylvania. Last I heard… up near Erie.”