A Perilous Journey Read online

  The expanded stores started selling other things besides groceries. Household goods, furniture items, outdoor living items, toys and sporting goods, for example.

  But they didn’t sell tools or hardware.

  “Maybe sometime in the future,” they said in a press release. “But not right now, sorry.”

  In the years immediately preceding Saris 7, a customer could walk into a Food World Supercenter and purchase a couch or a tent along with their groceries.

  But they couldn’t purchase a wrench or a box of bolts.

  The distribution center in Plainview, where Frank and Josie lived before breaking out and escaping in the Hummer, was in existence solely to restock the Food World grocery stores and supercenters.

  Since the grocery stores and supercenters did not sell hardware, the distribution center did not stock it.

  When Frank took on the project of building a snow plow blade to mount on the Hummer, therefore, he didn’t have everything he needed.

  He had to settle for what was available.

  Tools and wood weren’t much of a problem, since at the time Saris 7 struck the earth the receiving department at the distribution center just happened to be under renovation.

  The receiving offices were being expanded and additional offices were being built, and there were pallets of two-by-fours, sheetrock and plywood on hand for the project.

  Also saws, drills, industrial strength glue and clamps.

  Frank was glad to have such things and made good use of them.

  But there were also some key things Frank wanted but didn’t have.

  Like sheet metal to cover the blade with and protect the wood.

  And locking nuts, or at least locking washers, to place on the bolts holding the blade onto its frame.

  Now a lot of men will brag that they can build anything with a spool of wire and a roll of duct tape.

  They’re full of crapola.

  No matter how talented they are, they cannot build a snow plow blade with a spool of wire and a roll of duct tape.

  Maybe an F-15 fighter jet. But not a snow plow blade.

  Frank did his best, he really did.

  He made everything as sturdy as he could and hoped for the best.

  But without locking washers or nuts to place on the bolts, it was inevitable.

  The constant stress of the heavy snow beating against the blade and causing it to shake violently would cause vibrations.

  And constant vibrations would eventually loosen the non-locking nuts.

  Eventually the bolts would come loose.

  Frank hoped the thing would stay together at least long enough to get them to Junction.

  But it was not meant to be.

  Josie noticed, after they’d gone only forty miles or so.

  “Um, Frank…”

  “Yes, sweet love-o-mine?”

  “The plow… it looks like it’s shaking a lot more than it was when we left Plainview.”

  “It is.”

  “Is it something we should worry about?”

  “It is.”

  That was it. No further explanation.

  And that wasn’t like Frank. Typically Frank was only too eager to explain things to her. She wasn’t mechanically inclined. She was talented in so many other ways. As a paramedic she was a trained medical professional. In word games or card games or any other kind of game, for that matter, she could run circles around Frank.

  And she had a keen analytical mind which was perfectly suited for problem solving.

  But when God passed out genes He didn’t bless her with one for mechanics.

  Frank realized this early on and went out of his way to explain to her things such as building snow plow blades and such.

  Usually.

  This time he was as silent as a stone statue.

  Part of it was that his pride was wounded.

  Something he made wasn’t working as designed. And that always does harm to any man’s psyche.

  The other part was that he was deep in thought, working to find a solution to the problem.

  -4-

  They’d just passed a green highway sign which appeared to be sitting upright upon a mountain of snow.

  In reality, though, the accumulated snow just happened to come to the bottom of the sign, which was still attached to the top of its pole.

  Which was buried in the snow.

  Frank was more concerned with what the sign said than in where it was positioned.

  The sign said:

  LUBBOCK – 10 MILES

  He muttered, in a comment meant to help put Josie at ease, “If we can just make it to Lubbock I think I have a solution.”

  Frank was one of those “glass is half empty” kind of guys. He thought the only luck he ever had was bad. He thought there was no way he was going to make it ten more miles.

  Not without an adjustment.

  “Just to be on the safe side, honey, I’m going to stop and tighten the blade as much as I can.”

  “Do you have the tools to do that?”

  “Yes. I put a bag of wrenches in the back of the cargo bay when I loaded up the MREs.”

  In the back of the vehicle the words “cargo bay” made Crazy Eddie’s ears perk up just a bit.

  He’d buried himself beneath the MREs Frank was referring to.

  His left foot was resting upon Frank’s bag full of wrenches.

  He was busted and he knew it.

  But there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

  Frank didn’t pull over, for there was no need to.

  They hadn’t seen another vehicle since they left Plainview and didn’t expect to.

  The only piece of road clear enough to drive on was the road directly behind them; the road they’d just cleared themselves.

  He opened the door and quickly shut it again.

  He’d pulled off his jacket when they left and got quite comfortable, using the vehicle’s heater.

  So comfortable he forgot that he’d removed the jacket and was driving in a short-sleeved shirt.

  The blast of icy air when he opened the door quickly reminded him.

  Josie smiled her sweetest smile and queried, “Forget something, honey?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  But he stuck his tongue out at her.

  It seemed to convey just the right message.

  One of the things that endeared her to him was that she was still full of life. Even after all she’d been through in her life, and all the turmoil the world was in, she still had a playful side.

  She could still be silly whenever she wanted to, and tended to draw Frank into Silly Town as well.

  There were times when they behaved more like kids on a playground than adults.

  They’d found their youth again, and were relishing in it.

  Frank pulled his jacket back on and rushed out the door again.

  The draft caused Josie to pick up the travel blanket she had at her feet and wrap it around her shoulders.

  She sat back in the seat and tried to get comfortable while Frank finished… whatever he was going to do.

  Then she heard two things which would change her world.

  The first was the sound of the hatchback opening.

  The second was a voice she recognized, but not Frank’s.

  “Hi, Mister Frank. Is it okay that I came with you on your trip? You didn’t tell me you were going, so I guess you must have forgot to invite me. I thought it was okay to come along, on account of you probably forgot to invite me. Is it okay that I came along, Mister Frank?”

  Josie buried her face in her hands and muttered, “Oh, God. Why me?”

  The truth was, Josie wasn’t really upset that Eddie had stowed away.

  She could never be upset with Eddie. He was, as old people used to say, “not of right mind.”

  Eddie had the mind of a young boy, you see. And a lot of people just don’t understand such people can’t be treated like the adults they appear to be.
/>   Rather, they must be treated like the child who resides within them.

  She’d been concerned since they left Plainview.

  She’d long suspected that the only reason Eddie hadn’t been harmed by some of her family members was because she was there to protect him. And that she would seek vengeance for any harm which came to him.

  John had made his feelings known early on when he said, “People like Eddie need to be locked up in a big room together until they drive each other to suicide.”

  She’d overheard her Aunt Stacy tell Eddie many times, “One of these days you’re going to get on my last nerve, and there’s a serious accident waiting for you.”

  She once got a commitment from her brother Jason.

  If anything ever happened to Josie, Jason said, he’d step in to protect Eddie from the others.

  She’d always fallen back on that promise to set her mind at ease.

  Lately, though, Jason had become unreliable.

  Before the world froze over the Food World Supercenters sold liquor. And its distribution centers stored hundreds of cases.

  Even after many years, there was much of it left.

  Several of the Dykes clan were former drug users, you see, and most drug users tend to shy away from alcohol. It just doesn’t have the “punch” that drugs have. Its effects were too weak and took too long.

  Recently, though, Jason took to carrying a bottle of booze around with him. He was drinking more and more and had become violent.

  Josie no longer trusted him.

  -5-

  A few days before, Josie caught Jason in a sober moment and reminded him of his promise.

  He swore on God Almighty above that he’d never do anything to hurt poor Eddie, or allow anyone else to hurt him either.

  “I feel bad for Eddie, I really do. He’s got a kind heart and sometimes I think he’s the only one around here who’s not just in it for himself.

  “If something happens to you I’ll take good care of him, you don’t have to worry about that.”

  A couple of hours later she overheard Jason, this time half drunk with a bottle of gin in his hand, talking to John.

  “I don’t know why she cares so much about that simpleton. He’d have been dead a long time ago if she wasn’t around to protect his stupid ass.”

  The night before they left Frank and Josie had a long discussion about Eddie and his well being.

  Both felt for him. But while his continued survival in Plainview was certainly in question, they calculated his chances of survival in the frozen world outside was even less.

  Frank was up front with his wife from the beginning.

  He explained to her that few vehicles were capable of running anymore because their batteries had long before exceeded their shelf life.

  The only reason the one in the Hummer still worked was because it wasn’t a battery one would buy at a Walmart or auto parts store.

  “It’s a dry battery Mark and Hannah purchased from an agricultural supply store. It comes in a box dry and isn’t activated until acid is added to it. It can sit on the shelf for fifty years and then work perfectly fine once the acid is added.

  “Mark and Hannah purchased two dozen of them between the time Saris 7 became worldwide news and the time it struck and screwed everything up.”

  “How come they don’t sell those batteries in stores anymore?”

  “Because Congress came along and messed everything up. They passed a law that says those kinds of batteries are only needed by farmers and industrial equipment companies. So those kinds of stores are the only kind that sell them.”

  “Then how were Mark and Hannah able to get them?”

  “I didn’t join their little group until later on, but it’s my understanding they skirted the rules by claiming to be owners of a forklift rental agency.”

  “Okay, Frank. That’s all well and good and all. But why are you telling me this?”

  “I’m trying to help you understand how dangerous it is out there.

  “There are very few vehicles running anywhere. All-terrain vehicles that’ll drive on ice and snow are even more rare.

  “And we happen to have one. We have one and a lot of other people will want it. Some bad enough to kill for it.

  “We’ll also have a boatload of MREs, just in case we get delayed and have to lay up for awhile.

  “I’ve heard there are people out there who are so desperate they’re killing each other for a rusty can of soup.

  “What do you think they’d be willing to do for enough food to feed them for months?”

  “Okay, honey. You’ve got my attention. It’s a bad world out there. Exactly what do you think the odds are we’ll make it safely to Junction and to your friends in the mine?”

  “Honestly?”

  “Yes, honestly. Give it to me straight, Frank.”

  He held her close and pondered the question.

  “Okay, considering the possibility we’ll slide off the road and roll twenty times before finally falling off a high cliff…”

  “You don’t have to take such glee in describing our deaths.”

  “Sorry. Between that and the possibility someone will see us drive by and shoot us so they can steal our vehicle…”

  “… or see us getting food out of the back and shoot us for that…”

  “Oh, get to the point, will you?”

  “I figure our odds at less than fifty-fifty.”

  “Seriously? The odds are against us surviving?”

  “The way I see it, yes.”

  “Wow.”

  “Still want to go?”

  “Yes. We’ve worn out our welcome here, Frank. I no longer consider these people my family. If we stay here either Jason’s going to kill me or hurt me so bad you’ll kill him. Then John will kill you. It’s inevitable.

  “I’d rather go with you and have half a chance than no chance at all.”

  “What about Eddie?”

  “I was going to ask you if we could take him.

  “But now I think maybe he should stay behind.”

  “Do you think you can trust Jason to keep his word and protect him?”

  “Not totally, no. But I think I trust him more than fifty-fifty. If you think those are our odds of surviving to Junction, I think his odds are probably better here.”

  On her bunk at the distribution center Josie left two sealed envelopes.

  On the first she’d written John’s name.

  On the second she’d written Jason’s.

  She had no reason to expect the notes would be kept personal. She fully expected both men to share them with the others. They’d probably read them aloud while the others jeered her words.

  But the words she left behind for each of them were different. She had a different request for each one. And she wanted to make sure each of them read the words intended for them and not the other.

  -6-

  She’d asked Frank, the day before they left, to read John’s.

  “Are you sure, honey? I feel a little dirty, reading someone else’s mail.”

  “You shouldn’t feel dirty if you’re asked to, you dope. I just want your opinion on my word choice. I want to make sure I don’t say anything that’s going to inflame the situation if John lets Jason read his letter.”

  “Okay, then. Let me have it.”

  Dear John,

  If you’re reading this, I’ve left with Frank to start a new life in south Texas.

  I’m doing this partly for Frank. Since he came here against his will and was never made to feel quite at home here, he still has feelings that someday someone will decide he’s worn out his welcome and put a bullet in his head.

  He’s heard some of you whispering about shooting him as he slept because you were worried he was strong enough to take control and put you all out in the snow.

  For the record, Frank has never entertained such thoughts. He’s never wanted to take control or to stay here long term. All he’s ever wanted was to go
home or start anew elsewhere, with me by his side.

  I’m also leaving for myself.

  I could not continue to live if something was to happen to Frank. I’m his wife now, legally in the eyes of the State of Texas, and morally in the eyes of God. As his wife, it’s my duty to protect him, just as it’s his duty to protect me.

  I feel afraid for Frank’s safety here. That’s always been true, and it’s become even truer because of Jason’s recent behavioral changes. I’m afraid that if Jason gets into the wrong mood or if Frank says the wrong thing Jason will kill him.

  Any time you pit an armed man with a drinking problem against an unarmed man who doesn’t drink, there’s a chance of trouble.

  We’re getting out of here before that trouble happens.

  As your little sister, I’ve always loved you and looked up to you.

  I don’t remember ever asking anything of you.

  But I’m asking two things of you now.

  First, please get control of Jason. He’s a loose cannon. If you have to lock up the booze area of the warehouse or destroy it all so he can’t drink it, please do something. He’s already beaten me senseless and would again if I wasn’t leaving. He’ll do it to somebody else or even worse.

  I don’t want you to be in a position to regret not intervening when it’s too late, when he’s killed someone in a drunken rage.

  Also, I’m begging you, please keep Eddie safe until the thaw comes and we can come back for him. You know he’s a child living in a man’s body, and as such he’s the most vulnerable among us. You cannot treat him like a man; you have to treat him as a child, because that’s the way he thinks and acts. You know that, John, and I’m trusting you to protect him as a father would protect a young son.

  I’ve heard almost every one of you talk about what a pain Eddie was and how much better it would be if he weren’t around.

  But you’re too good a man to let that happen, John. I leave Eddie temporarily in your hands, and trust you to keep him safe until I return.

  Your loving sister,

  Josie.

  Frank finished the letter, then folded it and put it back in the envelope.

  “I wouldn’t change a word of it,” he said.