he said swinging his gun around to indicate my
passengers. Jesus Christ, first Dreysi, now this guy.
“No,
sir. No infection, no fevers,” I replied thinking the kid was going to
ventilate someone and I wanted to be far, far away when he did.
“Good
deal, friend,” he said and to my great relief, stepped away from the door and
waved us on. Another set of military guards waved back and rolled their huge
tanks out of the road and let us through.
We
passed through and watched the nervous soldiers who wanted to be home with
their families or just about anywhere but the edge of the fucking desert watch
us roll by. I wanted to take them with us, have them jump in their jeeps and
just roll along behind us but I knew they couldn’t come. They had their jobs to
do and I had mine.
“What
the fuck was that?” Tony said form the backseat.
“That
was a military blockade manned by a bunch of scared kids with large caliber,
fully automatic weapons,” I said as we sped up and left the checkpoint far
behind.
“God,
that’s scary,” Greer said, “What if they hadn’t let us through?”
“I guess
we’d be headed back to Nicky’s house,” I said.
I heard
Dreysi snort and whisper, “Like hell.”
“Did he
say the city wasn’t going to last?” Nicky asked as we sped down the nearly
empty highway, “What did he mean by that?”
I knew
what he meant by that but wasn’t going to share my opinion with everyone and
scare the shit out of them so I just shrugged and replied, “Nothing. Just
nerves, that’s all.” We drove for nearly two hours without seeing another car
heading east or west. We did see a few abandoned vehicles on the side of the
road but no one was in them so we moved on.
Soon I
spotted a sign that said Grants, five miles. It was almost noon. It would take
us two more hours to reach the trailhead, then another two or three to reach
the cabin. We’d get there well before dark. I breathed a sigh of relief. We’d
be moved in and locked up tight in Tony’s cabin before the sun went down. I
didn’t care if we were out in the boonies on the side of an isolated mountain,
I didn’t want to be hiking around in the forest in the dark with fucking crazy
people just wandering around trying to infect me.
“I need
to pee,” Dreysi said from the back. I glanced back in the rear view mirror and
could see Dreysi scowling back at me as if to say ‘fuck you, you mother fucking
mother fucker. Fucker.’ Yep, all that. In one look.
“Me
too,” Greer chimed in.
“OK,
we’ll stop at the next station. We’ve got plenty of time to get to the cabin,”
I said and pulled over at the next gas station.
As I
pulled up to the gas pump, I looked around: there was not a single car in the
parking spaces and no one other than us at the pump. I began to wonder if
anyone was here when a tall, lanky man in a pair of biballs came around the
corner and waved to us, “You open?” I asked as we all watched nervously to see
what he would do.
“Yep,
I’m open. Come on in an get what you need,” he said and unlocked the front door
to the station.
Nicky
got out and hollered after him, “Can we use your restrooms?”
The old
guy nodded and jerked his thumb back towards the way he’d came.
Tony had
also gotten out of the Bronco and asked, “Everything OK here?”
The old
guy looked back at Tony as he stepped inside and said, “If you’re asking if
there are any of those crazy infected around, then no. Haven’t seen any since
the government put up all those
passengers. Jesus Christ, first Dreysi, now this guy.
“No,
sir. No infection, no fevers,” I replied thinking the kid was going to
ventilate someone and I wanted to be far, far away when he did.
“Good
deal, friend,” he said and to my great relief, stepped away from the door and
waved us on. Another set of military guards waved back and rolled their huge
tanks out of the road and let us through.
We
passed through and watched the nervous soldiers who wanted to be home with
their families or just about anywhere but the edge of the fucking desert watch
us roll by. I wanted to take them with us, have them jump in their jeeps and
just roll along behind us but I knew they couldn’t come. They had their jobs to
do and I had mine.
“What
the fuck was that?” Tony said form the backseat.
“That
was a military blockade manned by a bunch of scared kids with large caliber,
fully automatic weapons,” I said as we sped up and left the checkpoint far
behind.
“God,
that’s scary,” Greer said, “What if they hadn’t let us through?”
“I guess
we’d be headed back to Nicky’s house,” I said.
I heard
Dreysi snort and whisper, “Like hell.”
“Did he
say the city wasn’t going to last?” Nicky asked as we sped down the nearly
empty highway, “What did he mean by that?”
I knew
what he meant by that but wasn’t going to share my opinion with everyone and
scare the shit out of them so I just shrugged and replied, “Nothing. Just
nerves, that’s all.” We drove for nearly two hours without seeing another car
heading east or west. We did see a few abandoned vehicles on the side of the
road but no one was in them so we moved on.
Soon I
spotted a sign that said Grants, five miles. It was almost noon. It would take
us two more hours to reach the trailhead, then another two or three to reach
the cabin. We’d get there well before dark. I breathed a sigh of relief. We’d
be moved in and locked up tight in Tony’s cabin before the sun went down. I
didn’t care if we were out in the boonies on the side of an isolated mountain,
I didn’t want to be hiking around in the forest in the dark with fucking crazy
people just wandering around trying to infect me.
“I need
to pee,” Dreysi said from the back. I glanced back in the rear view mirror and
could see Dreysi scowling back at me as if to say ‘fuck you, you mother fucking
mother fucker. Fucker.’ Yep, all that. In one look.
“Me
too,” Greer chimed in.
“OK,
we’ll stop at the next station. We’ve got plenty of time to get to the cabin,”
I said and pulled over at the next gas station.
As I
pulled up to the gas pump, I looked around: there was not a single car in the
parking spaces and no one other than us at the pump. I began to wonder if
anyone was here when a tall, lanky man in a pair of biballs came around the
corner and waved to us, “You open?” I asked as we all watched nervously to see
what he would do.
“Yep,
I’m open. Come on in an get what you need,” he said and unlocked the front door
to the station.
Nicky
got out and hollered after him, “Can we use your restrooms?”
The old
guy nodded and jerked his thumb back towards the way he’d came.
Tony had
also gotten out of the Bronco and asked, “Everything OK here?”
The old
guy looked back at Tony as he stepped inside and said, “If you’re asking if
there are any of those crazy infected around, then no. Haven’t seen any since
the government put up all those
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