Cooper just glared at him and loudly sipped his coffee. The others stayed out of it.
They packed, faster than the day before as they gained proficiency with the routine and Dranko’s system of organization. Freddie still moved slowly, but he was in much better shape and color than the day before. With Freddie in Dranko’s Jeep, Cooper took point. Jake went into Dranko’s vehicle, while Angela joined Cooper. They were on the road by six a.m.
“When we get two miles east of Carver, let me take the lead for a minute. We need to make a pit stop there,” Dranko told him, with an impish smile splashed onto his face. Cooper decided not to bother asking why.
They covered the few miles to Carver quickly. Apparently, the local residents had pushed the vehicles off the road with efficiency, as the shoulders and fields alongside the road were littered with abandoned vehicles.
“I bet someone has a tow truck in town,” Angela observed.
“And, they are organized,” Calvin added. Cooper nodded at both comments. He picked up the radio as they neared the town.
“We have a family sitting next to their car about a mile up,” he informed Dranko. He spotted something else and clicked the call button again, “You see that field turned up on the right?”
“The long rectangle?” Dranko responded.
“The same. Looks like a mass grave to me,” Cooper added.
He heard Dranko whistle over the walkie talkie, “Damn near. Could be. We better be on the alert going in.”
“Let’s stop and talk to this family, maybe they can tell us something.”
“Good.”
Cooper stopped the truck about twenty yards away from the family and their idled Chevy Malibu. Twenty yards is a pistol shot most people can’t make. And, if they have rifles, it probably wouldn’t matter. If they’d wanted, they could have fired on us as soon as we’d come into view.
Cooper stepped out of the truck, and Calvin and Angela exited the other side. The family was bedraggled. The father was in his thirties, dressed in dirty jeans and a grease stained sweatshirt. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. His wife was plain-looking with no remarkable features. She was cleaner than her husband, wearing brown hiking pants and a North Face black jacket. Two children lay huddled underneath blankets in the back seat. It looked like they had been camping there for several days, as garbage and cooking paraphernalia lay scattered about.
“Mornin’,” the man grumbled.
“Good morning. What’s going on here?” Cooper asked.
The man stood up angrily, throwing a tin cup to the ground, “You can see can’t you? You gonna help us or not?” The man had taken a step toward them, but Cooper’s hand quickly found the grip of his holstered pistol and the man stopped just as abruptly.
He raised his left hand, palm out, “Why don’t you take a step back?”
“C’mon Josh. Calm down,” his wife pleaded.
Josh’s face lost a shade of red and he stepped back and resumed leaning against the car. He lowered his head, “I’m sorry. We’ve just been asked twenty million times in the last week what’s going on or what do we need and no one has helped us.”
“What help do you need?” Calvin asked.
Josh laughed mockingly, “What don’t we need? Hell, we need gas, food, and water.”
“Where are you from?” Dranko asked, coming up from Cooper’s left side.
“Beaverton. I got relatives in eastern Oregon.”
“And you left home with just what you had in your tank?” Dranko blurted in shock.
“Actually, just three-quarters of a tank. That’s all I had when this whole thing started,” Josh said, the mirth of the hopeless clouding his voice.
“What’s the deal up ahead? I’m assuming you just didn’t happen to run out of gas right outside of here,” Cooper asked.
Josh nodded, his face growing foul once more, “Yeah. These bastards charge a toll. Ten gallons of gas or one hundred pounds of food to get through town. They call it a ‘road mainteance’ fee. I didn’t have either. I burned what gas I had left trying to keep my kids warm at night.”
“Why didn’t you just siphon gas from all these cars around?”
“I’m not a moron. All these ones here were empty. This Carver crew is thorough.”
“We can’t spare gas, but I think we can…” Cooper began.
Dranko grabbed him by the arm, jerking Cooper around. He pulled him away from the group, “We can’t give them food, Cooper.”
“Why not? Just a little?”
“Because we don’t have any to spare. We have no idea how long our stores will have to last. I stocked my cabin, but only for me. It might be months before we’re producing enough food for ourselves.”
“But…”
“But, nothing. These people are dead, anyway. He’ll never…never, make it to his relatives. He’s a dead man. And, he killed himself and his family because he didn’t think, didn’t plan, didn’t do shit! You want to see Jake go hungry six months from now on account of this guy?”
Cooper grimaced, knowing his words were true, but liking it none the more. He briskly turned back toward the group and strode there, “Sorry, Josh. We can’t help you.”
Josh let loose an eerie cackle that grated on Cooper’s ears. His wife fell out sobbing and rushed toward him. She grabbed Cooper by the shoulders. Her foul breath made him curl his lips, “Please, Mister! Help us! We’re gonna die!” Her words pierced his heart, the desperation calling upon him.
He scowled and pushed her arms off of him. She fell to ground and collapsed. Her hands found his ankle and she pulled on them, rising to her knees, “Please. At least take my kids. You can save them. They don’t deserve this!” Her cries wracked her body as she feebly grasped her hands to his legs.
Dranko stepped forward, “You’re right. They don’t. You should have planned better than this. Getting in your car and thinking you’ll find gas and food along the way!” His words were laced with ice. Dranko’s rage surprised Cooper as he yelled at her. The woman howled as he spoke. Josh stood up again, “Fuck you!” He looked ready to charge right at Dranko. Cooper drew his pistol and pointed it straight at Josh.
“We’re going. Don’t try anything stupid.” He kept the pistol trained on him as everyone loaded back into their vehicles. Getting in, they drove off without incident, and witnessed Josh standing in the middle of the road flipping them off with both hands.
Minutes later, they approached the barricade outside of Carver. When their vehicles were within a hundred yards, a voice rang out over a bullhorn, “Stop right there.”
Cooper stopped the truck and Dranko pulled along, forming a V across the road. Everyone emptied out of the vehicles, except Freddie and Jake.
“One man approaches. No weapons,” the bullhorn called once more.
Cooper began taking off his weapons, smiling widely, “Negotiation time. Get the rifles ready to go and have your aim on them. I need some leverage, after all.” Dranko, Calvin, and Angela nodded and moved into action.
Leaving his rifle behind, Cooper approached the barricade slowly, hands raised. He couldn’t shake the feeling of just how vulnerable he was. One jumpy finger on a trigger and I could be dead and Jake an orphan. Just like that. The thought sent a cold chill run down his back. As he drew closer, he saw four men on the barricade; three with scoped hunting rifles and one with a shotgun. Off to his left, he spotted another, ably camouflaged on the top of a panel van, a rifle poking out from underneath a white tarp that made him blend into the van. He noted that they had positioned the van in front of a white building, which added to the concealment. I’ll have to remember that trick. About a hundred yards behind the barricade, he spied six men lounging around a pickup truck, with weapons in various states of readiness. Must be their ‘reserve’ ready to go to wherever needed.