They resumed their slog southward. Cooper’s truck was ruled by silence. He didn’t know what to say to his son. He doubted words would matter now. Now, more than ever, he wanted to be away from everything. He hoped that getting into the country and away from so much death might be the tonic that could cure what ailed Jake.
As they drove, Julianne fidgeted. Her eyes would furtively try to connect with Cooper’s in the rearview mirror. Each time, she shrank before the fury she saw in his eyes. She broke the silence first, “I’m sorry, Cooper. I’m so sorry…”
“Don’t,” he spat through gritted teeth. Rage owned his heart now. Julianne’s role in this disaster and his son’s lost childhood made his mind whirl and his gut wrench. But, try as he might, he could not hate her. And, he wanted to hate her. It would make everything else so much easier. I’d like to dump her on the side of the road and let her fend for herself in this world that she helped create. That would be justice. But, he could not. Mercy tugged at him, too. The bond he felt toward her was powerful. Involuntary. Messy. A tenderness she had no right to had wormed its way into his heart and wouldn’t let go. It mocked Cooper, as if to say, your rage will pass, but this will remain. Its truth enraged him further and he managed a harsher glare at Julianne.
His confused and angry thoughts were periodically interrupted as they had to stop their vehicles and push one out of the way to make passage. Calvin had his rifle at the ready, riding true ‘shotgun’. His eyes were alert and scanning. He was always the first out when they stopped so he could take a look in all directions to ensure their safety. In between, he knew Cooper was not in the mood for conversation and left him be.
After another hour, they were reaching the junction of the road they wanted to take east. Dranko radioed for him to stop and they gathered.
“Jake and Lily can you guys keep an eye out and let us know if you see anything?”
“Yes, darling,” Lily responded while Jake simply shuffled off a few paces to take up watch.
The others huddled in a semi-circle.
Dranko motioned into the distance, “Just around that bend, about a mile down the road, is the crossing over I-5 that we need to get on to head east. It’s a dangerously exposed position and we need to think about our approach.”
“Shouldn’t we scout it first?” Calvin asked.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Dranko agreed. “It’s the most prudent approach.”
Cooper exploded, “We don’t have time for that! On foot, it will cost us at least an hour to scout it. By then, the sun will be setting and we won’t have time to get across and set up camp.”
Angela raised her hands to try and calm Cooper, “That’s a good point. Why don’t we just camp on this side, scout and cross in the morning.”
“Because staying on 82nd is a mistake. Who knows what will come down this road overnight. We need to get across and get some distance off the road. There is cover on that side of I-5. We don’t have it here.”
“But, rushing across a vulnerable position without scouting it is a mistake, brother, you know that,” Dranko pleaded, his eyebrows knitted in confusion.
Cooper turned on him and looked as if he was about to pounce, “I’ll tell you what is a mistake. It’s a mistake to see a disaster around every corner and a two-headed monster behind every bush. I…we need to get out of the city and into cover and away from all of this,” Cooper said, waving his arms about to indicate the death and destruction that surrounded them. Deep down, he knew he had slipped into an emotional and irrational state and he hated himself for it.
“Can’t we clear out on these empty businesses and bunker down there tonight?” Calvin asked.
“There are certainly a lot to choose from,” Angela added.
Cooper surveyed the group gathered around and saw the nodding heads, the arms folded, and the expectant eyes looking at him. His mind turned and thought of one unfinished piece of business that had clawed at the back of his mind since the other night when they’d been attacked. “Fine, you guys clear a building, I’ve got something else I need to get ready for,” he grunted and strode back to his truck and began absentmindedly checking their supplies. The others let him go without intervening.
An hour later, they had settled into an auto parts store that was set back from the road and gave them a good vantage point over the road in front of them. They barricaded the back door with boxes of heavy parts. They left a side door locked from the inside with a heavy chain, but which could become an escape route if they needed it. They decided to park their vehicles in front where they could keep an eye on them. The group unloaded the supplies so that they wouldn’t invite prying eyes of anyone that might come along. As added camouflage, they parked Cooper’s truck over the curb and popped the hood, feigning a breakdown. They left Dranko’s Jeep angled in the middle of the parking lot and dumped a few gallons of anti-freeze underneath it to make it look like its radiator had blown out. They carefully made sure the coolant made a sloppy trail toward the street.
When their preparations were complete, Cooper pulled Dranko aside.
“I’m going to take the motorcycle and head back to our neighborhood tonight.”
“That your unfinished business? Gus?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I owe him a visit. I don’t want to waste my time sitting on this side of the 205 tonight,” Cooper’s eyes flamed, anger flashing from his lost argument earlier.
“I think that’s a stupid risk, but I know you well enough to try and talk you out of it,” Dranko replied, folding his arms.
He ignored the barb, “You do know me well. I’ll leave right after we eat. Hole up over there until dark and take him down at three AM. If I’m not back by sunrise, go on without me,” Cooper said, clipping his words.
“Good luck, I hope you don’t make Jake an orphan,” Dranko’s words burned.
Cooper turned and went to work readying his weapons. When he told Jake his plan for the night, he had only one word in response, “Good.” Such a cold reply made him shudder more than what Dranko had said.
Cooper took a different route home on the motorbike and squirrelled himself away in a cluster of bushes off the road, about a mile from his neighborhood. He laid out his sleeping bag, put his pistol next to him, set the alarm on his watch, and was asleep in minutes.
The soft beeping startled him hours later, at two in the morning. He was instantly awake, adrenaline pumping. He packed his sleeping bag and readied himself. He would travel light, only his pistol in hand and a borrowed revolver from their supplies as a backup, holstered. He wore dark clothing and smudged grease from the auto parts store to darken his face and neck. He donned a black baseball cap that he had also liberated from the store. It had previously advertised Jack Daniels whiskey, but he’d removed the patch that held the white lettering. He turned it around so the brim faced rearward. He drank deeply from a water bottle and double checked his weapons one last time.
He moved to the edge of the bushes and surveyed Division Street. The moon was just a sliver in the dark sky. The streetlamps were all dark, the electricity having failed several days ago. Here and there, moonlight glistened off shiny metal on the many cars that littered the roadway. Cooper smiled to himself, knowing how hard it would be for anyone to see him.