Take the Hit (Nuclear Survival: Northern Exposure Book 1) Page 5

  As they neared a rear access gate, Danny slowed. While they’d been driving across the airport, the sun had set completely and the cart’s single headlight only illuminated a swath ten feet wide. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like a group of people were gathered at the guard shack next to the gate.

  Before he could warn Jessica and Midge, a shout carried across the asphalt. “They’ve got a vehicle!”

  The man’s voice was deep and throaty, and in moments, a pair of hefty guys reminiscent of Caden’s future separated from the crowd. They ran toward the cart, lit up by the headlight.

  Jessica gasped. “Can you turn around?”

  “I can, but that’s the best way out.” Danny didn’t know what to do. The golf cart maxed out at fifteen miles an hour. Even if he could outrun the two men closing in, another group would surely follow.

  He put the cart in reverse and began to back up when more shouts echoed from the rear. “Hey! We need a ride!”

  Oh, no. Danny spun around to see another group of people running for the cart. He shoved it into drive and cranked the wheel. The right front tire came off the ground and the whole vehicle tipped. Jessica screamed and Caden woke up with a start. His cries eclipsed the shouts.

  “They’re gaining!”

  Danny punched the gas, heading away from both groups now closing in. He didn’t see the broken fence post until it was too late. A man wielding the flat piece of lumber swung and smacked Danny across the back of his head. Danny flew forward, slamming his face into the steering wheel. His stomach lurched and his vision dimmed.

  No way was some jerk going to take the golf cart. He couldn’t let a piece of wood take him down. Danny struggled to regain his focus when a punch landed hard on his shoulder. He sagged against Jessica and Caden wailed even louder. He was going to lose the fight before it even got started.

  “Get out of here, you scumbag! This isn’t your cart!”

  Danny heard a thud and an oof and before he knew it, Midge was pushing him out of the way and stamping on the gas.

  He tried to speak but his tongue filled his mouth. “W-What happened?”

  The headlight flicked off and the world turned black. A hand gripped his shoulder and a soft voice spoke into his ear. “Lean back and hold onto the rail. You don’t want to fall out.”

  Danny did as instructed, reaching for a metal pole beside him. He wrapped his arm around it and the same hand eased him onto his side. He tried to find out what happened. “Did we make it?”

  A baby cooed in his ear and Danny drifted off.

  A curse woke him some time later, followed by a terrible pounding. He gripped his head and groaned. “What’s going on?”

  “The cart’s out of gas.”

  He blinked back the pain. “Where are we?”

  “I have no freakin’ clue.”

  Danny squinted up at the voice. Midge? “But you’re from here.”

  “No, I’m not. I grew up in Dallas. My mom moved here last year.”

  Disappointment mixed with the pain and turned Danny’s world upside down. He’d stuck by Midge in part because he thought she knew the city. If she didn’t know her way around Chicago, what were they going to do? Where were they going to go?

  He smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, wishing they had some water. “What should we do?”

  Jessica spoke up. “We can go to my apartment. My husband’s probably at work, but you two can rest there and regroup.”

  “How far is it?”

  “I’m in Avondale. It’s southeast of here about eleven miles.”

  “I need to head north. My mom’s on the Lake.”

  Even with scrambled eggs for brains, Danny could hear the frustration in Midge’s voice. He stayed silent, too mixed-up to argue.

  Jessica, however, wouldn’t give it up. “Danny needs to rest. He has a concussion. And I have food and water and a map. You can rest, eat, and we can figure how to get where you want to go.”

  After a prolonged silence, Midge gave in. “All right. But I can’t stay long.”

  Danny sagged against the golf cart in relief. He wouldn’t have argued if Midge went her own way, but he couldn’t protect Jessica on his own with a brain that screamed at him to sleep. One more run-in with the wrong people and he might not remember his own name, ever.

  Midge helped him to stand and together they followed Jessica into the night.

  Chapter Seven

  DANNY

  Friday, 8:00 pm CST

  Streets of Chicago

  The pain in his head increased with each passing minute. He struggled to keep up with Midge and Jessica, loping every few steps to catch up as he fell behind. “Hey, guys, wait—”

  Danny tripped over the sidewalk and barreled into Midge. She grabbed him by the forearms and they wobbled forward and back. A group of people passed them on the sidewalk and Midge yanked him toward an iron fence to keep from running into them.

  After a moment, he managed to stand still. “Sorry. The road keeps playing tricks on me.”

  Jessica’s voice cut through the night air. “How’s the ringing in your ears?”

  “Still there.”

  “And the dizziness?”

  He tried to focus on the sidewalk, but it slipped away from him. Midge tightened her grip on his arm. “Not that great.”

  A man passed them, bumping into Danny. He couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or not, but the angry look on the guy’s face was plain. They needed to keep moving. “We should go.”

  “No. You need to rest.” Jessica stepped closer and pulled both Midge and Danny tight against the fence. Black paint peeled off the wrought iron in patches, leaving scratchy rust behind. They weren’t in the best part of town.

  Danny reached for a fence post and held onto it, willing the throbbing in his head to subside.

  Jessica lowered her voice, talking about him as if he weren’t there. “He’s all scrambled, Midge. We can’t keep up this pace. He’s either going to fall and hit his head again or—”

  Danny strained to hear the barely audible words.

  “Get us in trouble with the wrong people.”

  Midge said something Danny couldn’t hear and all of a sudden, they were moving again. He blinked, trying to bring the sidewalk into focus. It didn’t help. The cracks kept rearing up like railroad ties on a track. He stumbled over his own feet and Midge barely managed to hold on.

  “I-I think Jessica’s right. I need to stop.”

  Midge pulled up beside a brick building with a storefront and patted him on the arm. “Come in here. I think we can find something that will help.”

  A single light shone on the inside and Danny winced as he tried to look at it. He swore the sign said Plumbing Supply, but that couldn’t be right. What would they need in there?

  Danny followed Midge and Jessica inside and they ushered him to a seat by the front door. He practically fell into it and closed his eyes. With nothing to do but sit and focus on his breathing, his mind cleared for the first time since the fight over the golf cart.

  He’d definitely suffered a concussion, with worsening symptoms as time went on. But he didn’t have amnesia and could remember everything that happened. His speech might be a tad slow, but he didn’t slur his words. From what he remembered of his first aid training, it was probably low grade. The symptoms should clear by morning if he could rest.

  If was a big if.

  He opened his eyes to find Midge standing in front of him. She held out a pipe concoction shaped like a long, skinny T, topped off with insulating foam. He tried to raise his eyebrows, but pain shot through his forehead. He pointed instead. “What is it?

  “It’s a walking stick.” Midge shoved it under her arm to show him, even though it was way too tall for her. “The foam should make it more comfortable. You can lean on it while you walk. It’s like a cane for old people who lose their balance.”

  He snorted out a laugh. If anyone else compared him to a grandpa needing a cane, he’d be
offended. Not Midge. The more time they spent together, the more he liked her.

  Danny reached out and took a hold of the pipe before pushing up to stand. He gave it a trial run, walking a few steps without stumbling. It really might work. He looked up with a smile. “Thanks, Midge.”

  She nodded and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “We should pay and get going if you’re able.”

  As Danny approached the cashier, Midge set another pipe about two feet long on the counter and bent down to collect an assortment of snacks. Danny stared at the pipe. What could she need that for? She wasn’t injured and his modified crutch worked great.

  When she held up bottles of water, he stopped wondering. His throat clambered for something to drink and his stomach gurgled at the sight of food. Danny grabbed another handful of granola bars and extra water and added them to the pile before reaching for his wallet. As he pulled out his credit card, Jessica hurried toward them and added her own collection of food and water to the pile. “Can I join in?”

  Danny nodded. “No problem. I’ll pay.” He slid a shiny platinum Amex across the counter and for a moment he wondered if either woman would notice.

  They hadn’t talked about where they came from, or their families much, but judging by Midge’s black clothes and worn laptop bag, he didn’t think she came from money. No, Midge didn’t came from the country-club, charity-gala life Danny had been born into. Most of the time, he hated his father’s wealth and the power it could buy, but in this moment, it came in handy.

  At least until the man behind the counter pushed the credit card back.

  “Sorry, buddy, but we can’t take cards right now.” A single lantern lit up the space by the cash register and the man held it out over the blank screen of the card reader. “With the power out, we can only take cash.”

  Danny picked up the credit card with sheepish fingers. The twenty he gave the cabbie was the only paper money he had, and it had been in his wallet for months. He never needed cash. He reached for his food and water, ready to put it all back, when Midge stepped forward. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

  She flashed him a tight smile before turning to the cashier. “How much for everything?” She pointed to Danny’s crutch. “The pipes, too.”

  The man rang them up using a calculator and a pad of paper. “That’ll be $168.25.”

  Danny leaned back on the crutch. There was no way Midge could pay.

  Jessica slipped her diaper bag off her shoulder with a frown. “I probably have a few dollars.”

  “I said I’ve got it.” Midge’s voice took on a harsh edge as she tugged her wallet from her pocket. She flipped it open to reveal a huge stack of bills. Danny’s eyes widened, but he looked away as soon as Midge caught him gawking.

  She handed over two hundred-dollar bills with a shrug. “I’m not much for banks.”

  Danny almost laughed out loud, but he managed to rein it in when he saw the color creep up her cheeks. He’d never known anyone who didn’t rely on a plastic credit card to pay for everything from a fancy dinner out to a pack of gum. But if he hadn’t met Midge, he’d be limping out of the store hungry, thirsty, and with nothing to help his balance. He owed her, quirks and all.

  Midge passed out waters and some of the snacks and Danny drained an entire bottle before inhaling an energy bar. As they left the store, Midge slung the two bags of remaining food over the pipe and propped it on her shoulder like a hobo’s stick.

  Danny pointed at it. “Now I finally know what that pipe is for. It was killing me trying to figure it out.”

  Midge glanced at the pipe with a quizzical expression. “You think I bought it as a bag holder?”

  “What else is it good for?

  “Defense mostly.” Midge kicked at the sidewalk. “With all the craziness going on, I figured I might need it.”

  Danny looked out at the street, able to focus for the first time in what seemed like forever. Abandoned cars littered the road. Glass from broken windows covered the concrete, glittering in the light from Jessica’s phone. A storefront across the street gaped at him like a kid with no front teeth, the windows smashed and front display looted.

  “The power went out, what, four hours ago? Isn’t it a little early to loot and riot?”

  Jessica slowed to walk closer to Danny. “Not if what you two said is true. This isn’t like a normal power outage. Cars don’t work. Planes fell from the sky. People around here might not know what to call it, but everyone knows something terrible happened.” She wrapped a protective hand around her sleeping son and smiled at Midge. “I’m glad you got the pipe. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

  Danny blinked in surprise. Jessica seemed so gentle and against violence. He didn’t expect a woman who hid in a bathroom stall to support using a pipe as a deadly weapon, but the expression on her face said she wasn’t joking.

  “The stretch of town between here and my apartment can be rough. Even my neighborhood isn’t as safe as it could be on a good day. This definitely isn’t a good day.” She pointed at the pipe. “We may end up needing that.”

  An unsettling silence followed that revelation. Danny had assumed Jessica lived on a quaint little street with manicured lawns and perfect hedges. But as he glanced at Midge, he remembered that first impressions could be deceiving.

  Danny asked for one of the bags and he rooted through it, pulling out a granola bar and a can of Coke. The more he ate and drank, the more his headache dulled. Maybe his symptoms were caused more by exhaustion and dehydration than a concussion. He drained the rest of the can and tossed it in the nearest trash before catching up to both women.

  As they crossed another trashed street, he caught Jessica’s eye. “Why live in this part of town? Aren’t there some suburbs you could afford?”

  Jessica sighed. “My husband’s a cop. Raymond needs to live close to work in case he gets called out for an emergency. I’m a receptionist. We don’t make enough money for anything better.”

  At the mention of her husband’s occupation, Midge’s shoulders tensed. Danny stared at her, wondering why Raymond being a police officer would bother her, but he didn’t pry.

  Jessica let out a sob. “This was supposed to be Caden’s first trip to see my mom; his first chance to meet his grandmother. I haven’t seen her in such a long time. It was going to be so nice, and now...now, there’s all of this...and, I...I just...” Her words trailed off and she clutched her hand to her mouth to keep from waking the baby.

  Midge didn’t offer any condolences, preferring instead to stare at her boots and pretend she blended with the road.

  Danny frowned. Couldn’t she at least try? He reached out and patted Jessica on the arm. “We’re going to get through this, the power will come back on, and you’ll be able to see your mom again. Caden will get to meet his grandmother. You’ll see. Everything will be okay.”

  Jessica sniffed and swiped at her eyes. “I hope you’re right. I just have to keep believing that, or else...”

  “No, don’t think about ‘or else.’ That isn’t going to help anything. Focus on what is going to happen—we’re going to get through this. Just focus on that.”

  She bobbed her head and gave him a small smile. “Thanks. You’re a good guy, Danny.”

  He glanced at Midge. She walked with a hunch, curled into her hoodie with the bags of food still hanging by the pipe over her shoulder. For some reason, the conversation with Jessica had rubbed her the wrong way. Danny didn’t know what to make of it, but he was determined to find out.

  Chapter Eight

  MIDGE

  Friday, 10:00 pm CST

  Streets of Chicago

  The city stretched on and on in an endless grid of apartments and office buildings butting up against each other like mismatched crayons in a dogeared box. Midge checked her phone. Just past ten local time. A cold wind cut across the nearest cross street and Midge shrank back into her hoodie.

  She hadn’t dressed for spring in Chicago. She
hadn’t meant to be there at all.

  As they crossed the street, dodging stalled cars and broken glass, she shortened the strap on her bag and gripped the pipe a bit tighter. At least the wind had thinned the crowds. Now the only people outside were their sorry little threesome and the occasional occupant of a car still stranded with somewhere else to be.

  Midge peered into the windows of the closest vehicle, an older Camry missing a hubcap. A woman slept in the back seat, her arms cradling two little blonde heads. She couldn’t have been much older than Jessica, late twenties or early thirties at the most. Her children snuggled against her middle, content to spend the night in a car like it was a giant game of sleepover.

  The overwhelming weight of her knowledge hunched Midge’s shoulders and wrecked her back. She tensed against imaginary hands clawing at her insides. I should tell everyone. I should find a way to let the country know. She wasn’t much for grand, showy gestures or making a name for herself.

  See the show, don’t be the show. That was her motto.

  But in this moment? She paused, staring at the mother and her children as Danny and Jessica kept walking. They didn’t deserve to die from the blast or from radiation exposure a week later. She fished a scrap of paper and a pen out of her bag and scrawled a message. Get out of town. It’s not safe. She folded it up and tucked it between the rubber window seal and the glass.

  “What are you doing?” Danny hissed as he closed the distance between them.

  Midge flicked her eyes up to his. In the dark, she couldn’t read his expression, but the tone was accusatory enough. “Nothing.”

  “We need to keep moving. It’s only getting colder.”

  “No shit, Sherlock.”

  Danny deflated. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s this headache. I can barely think with all the pounding.”

  Midge winced. She’d been so wrapped up in the bomb threat and how she was going to get out of the city that she hadn’t thought about Danny’s concussion. She fell into step beside him as they caught up with Jessica. “How are you?”