No Ordinary Mission: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller Read online

  Emma leaned closer to read. “I’ve heard of Texarkana. At least I think so.”

  “It’s over 100,000 people, at least. Good size town. Anything we need, we can find it there.”

  “Assuming there’s anything left.” Raymond stood a few steps back from the table, arms folded, expression neutral. “It’s been two weeks since the CME and the grid collapsed.”

  “Is that all?” Holly sat on her sleeping bag, hugging her legs to her chest. “It seems longer.”

  Emma agreed. They’d been through so much in such a short period of time, she forgot the rest of the country was still reeling from the collapse. “We might get lucky.”

  “We’d have to get there first.” Gloria stood next to Emma, focused on the map. “That’s what, fifty miles?”

  Vince ran his index finger along the road. “Sixty to seventy, depending on the route.”

  “There’s no way we’ll make it. The Explorer is down to a quarter tank, maybe less. Pulling the trailer sucked the fuel.”

  “Do we have any left in the jugs?” Emma glanced toward the clearing where the vehicles sat side-by-side. They had taken all the gas sitting in Vince’s barn for use in the tractor and the ATVs, piling the red plastic containers into the back of the truck. When it failed, they used them to fill the other vehicles and brought what was left in the trailer. “I know we used a fair amount to fill the Jeep and it’s empty again. It doesn’t get more than fifteen miles to the gallon, even on the highway.”

  Gloria shook her head. “I used the last when we stopped in Louisiana.”

  “Then we need to find more.” Emma pointed to the empty space around the hand-drawn x. “What if we barter? There have to be some neighbors willing to trade gas for food or supplies.”

  “Do we really want to trade away our food?” Gloria glanced at the canned goods stacked in the corner of the cabin. “We left so much behind as it is, what we have won’t last very long.”

  “If we’re careful, I’d say we’ve got enough for three more weeks. Maybe more if we all go a little bit hungry.” It wasn’t nearly enough, but the need for fuel weighed heavily on Emma’s mind. They needed a means of escape. A way to get out of town and disappear if Dane’s men came looking.

  Gloria shook her head, not convinced. “If we’re safe from Dane and any more of his operatives, then why do we need the fuel?”

  “How do we know that we’re safe?” Raymond twisted until his eyes focused on John who slumped against the wall behind them. “How will we ever know?”

  Emma pressed her lips together. John had been quiet ever since returning from the woods the night before. Not telling the others about his call with Dane bothered her deeply, but she understood John’s motivation. Raymond barely tolerated him. If he had a reason to suspect John wasn’t being truthful, things would get ugly, fast. But the phone call was one of the main reasons she placed gas as a top priority. With the same knowledge, Gloria would understand.

  “We need to think about more than gas.” Vince spoke softly, but with conviction. Emma turned to listen. “We need to rig up some sort of fencing to corral the horses and keep them secure at night. Make sure they don’t wander off. While they aren’t common, there are bears in the area and they’ll rip apart a car if they smell food. Wild hogs can make a right mess of things, too. Not to mention raccoons, possums, and coyotes.”

  Holly grumbled something beneath her breath and pulled her legs even closer. From her expression, she looked like she’d swallowed a lemon.

  “We also need to think about security.” John spoke up from across the room and everyone swiveled toward him. He didn’t open his eyes. “We need some sort of defensive perimeter. Several shored-up lookout positions. A way to watch the area at night.”

  Emma blew out a puff of air. The list was overwhelming. “Do you have any materials? Anything we can use?”

  Vince ran his fingers through his gray hair, sticking it up in all directions as he thought it over. “I might have some old lumber around back. Maybe some boards we could use for fencing. But not enough.”

  “What about your neighbors?”

  “There aren’t a whole lot in this neck of the woods. The ones I do have keep to themselves.”

  “Wouldn’t it be worth it to at least try?’ Emma pressed again. If she could convince at least one member of the group to scout for gas and supplies, it might help convince everyone else. “If we come back empty-handed then all we’ve done is waste a bit of time.”

  After a prolonged moment of silence, Gloria nodded. “We need to remember this is early days yet. People in the area, if they’ve been isolated, on their own for the past two weeks, they might not appreciate the severity of the power outage. They might be willing to trade.” She managed a bit of a smile in Emma’s direction. “I’m afraid it’s only going to get harder. If we don’t try to barter now, we might lose our chance.”

  Thank you, Gloria. Emma always could count on her in a pinch even before this crazy upside-down world they found themselves in. She smiled at her friend before turning back to the map. “So, who is nearby?”

  Vince leaned closer and pointed off to the west of the X. “I’ve got one neighbor here. Keeps an older RV on the property. Don’t know if he’s around or not. Pretty sure he’s in Dallas most of the time. Just north of him is the Hawkins place. He’s retired and keeps that place in tip-top shape. If anyone’s willing to trade, it might be him.”

  Sliding his finger to the east, Vince continued. “Over here is Henry…” He snapped his fingers, struggling to remember. “Henry something-or-other. He’s got a single wide and a barn that’s seen better days. Might be able to barter some fence supplies out of him. Then just past him is another neighbor, Mary Grace. She’s not the friendliest. Got on me once for hunting too close to her house. Might shoot you before you even get to the door.”

  “Anyone with gas?” Gloria asked. “A working farm, maybe?”

  “Not within a day’s walk. You’d have to get back on the main road, head toward one of the little nearby towns. There are a few tiny ones ranging from a couple hundred to a couple thousand people. Farms all around. That’d be the best bet. The smaller stations might have working pumps.”

  “That we are definitely going to ask about before we use,” Emma offered with a smile. No one wanted a repeat of the showdown the week before.

  They fell into silence, everyone thinking through the possibilities. At last, Vince thumped the table. “If we really want to do this, then I suggest we split into teams. One group can stay close to the property, walking to the handful of neighbors around. The other can hop in a vehicle and see what they can find a little farther afield in one of the nearby towns.”

  Emma perked up. “I volunteer to stay close. It’s harder to get lost on foot.”

  “That’s debatable.” John spoke again from across the room. “Land nav can be tricky even if you know the area.”

  “I can draw a map. Make it easy with a few landmarks,” Vince offered. “Might be the sensible approach since you don’t know the back roads. I can drive if one of you doesn’t mind lending me a vehicle.”

  Gloria motioned outside. “Take the Explorer. It’s got the most gas and room in the back.” She glanced at her husband. “I can go with Emma. See if we can sweet talk any neighbors.”

  “Someone needs to stay behind and keep watch.” John shifted his weight and his face twisted in pain. “I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll try to stay awake.”

  “Then I’ll stay as well.” Raymond stared at John as he spoke. “If anyone is looking for us, my bet is they’ll come here first.”

  “Do you really think that’s wise?” Gloria reached for her husband’s arm. “Don’t you think you should come on the road?”

  He shook his head. “As long as whoever goes is armed, I think it’s the safest move.” Raymond left unsaid the underlying rationale: he didn’t trust John to be left alone.

  Emma inhaled and tried to shove as much warmth as possible into a smile. “Holly, how about you go with Vince? You might be able to help negotiate.”

  Holly’s mouth fell open in typical teenage outrage, but Vince spoke up. “I think that’s a great idea. No one is going to help a grizzled old man, but they might feel for a such a lovely young woman.”

  “Fine.” Holly clamped her lips shut and turned to stare out the window.

  “Great. Then it’s settled.” Emma ignored Holly’s obvious dislike of the plan. A few hours on the road might give Vince time to clear the air and mend whatever rift had developed between them. She turned to him with a smile. “About that map.”

  Chapter Nine

  HOLLY

  Holly slumped into the passenger seat of the Explorer, wishing for a working phone or an MP3 player. Anything to lose herself in besides the drive and a conversation with Vince. Millions of things sucked about the apocalypse but the inability to be a typical teenager had to be top of the list.

  She longed to disappear without ever leaving the car.

  “Ready?” Vince pulled the door shut and cranked the engine. “We’ll hit the little town north of here if that’s all right by you. There’s a small, two-pump gas station that might have something left.”

  “Whatever.” It wasn’t fair to Vince to act like a brat, and Holly knew it. But knowing something and acting accordingly were two very different things. She knew her dad was dead, her mom was a you-know-what, and the country was never, ever getting back together. It didn’t change the hole in her insides. There was this song her dad used to play by some old guy who did the soundtrack to a movie she watched as a kid.

  What did it say? Something about when you lose something—love, probably—it’s like it opens up a window and everyone can see it. You’ve got this big gaping maw where the wind blows straight on through. That’s how she felt. Blown apart and empty.

  Vince pulled away from the shack and eased the Explorer down the rutted, washed out, dirt track he called a road and Holly braced herself on the door. She bounced up and down, listed left, and crashed right. By the time they reached the pavement, she counted three bruises and a headache.

  “You ever thought about paving that driveway?”

  Vince shifted his cowboy hat as he glanced in the rearview at the dirt they were leaving behind. “Can’t say that I have. I’ve always had a vehicle that handles it just fine and now, with everything… Well, I don’t see it happening, do you?”

  “I suppose not.”

  “Listen, Holly—”

  She shifted on the seat, bracing herself for what came next. No adult ever started a happy talk with listen.

  “I know this must not be the ideal place to hide out, but with any luck, it won’t be for all that long.”

  She picked at a clump of dirt ground into her sleeve. Was he trying to apologize for dragging them all to the middle of nowhere?

  “Maybe I should have explained the conditions a little bit better before we set off. To manage expectations.”

  With a flick of her eyes, Holly gauged Vince’s attitude. Somber, but not severe. No pursed lips. No scowl. Was he actually sorry and not calling her out for a lack of enthusiasm? She picked at the dirt again. “It’s a little more basic than I expected. More camping than a cabin, you know?”

  “I do.” Vince eased up to a stop sign and glanced at the empty cross-street before continuing the drive. “And like I said, I should have explained it better.”

  She exhaled, breath thick and heavy, and stared out at the never-ending farmland on either side of the road. “Do you really think we’ll be able to go back to Mississippi soon?”

  “Is that what you’re wanting? To go back to the farm?”

  Short green crops she couldn’t identify whizzed past the window. “I don’t know. Maybe.” Truth was, she didn’t have a clue what she wanted. The anger raging every time she looked at the cabin or thought about the future only papered over the hurt. She mustered up a smile. “Sorry I’ve been a brat. It’s just hard to wrap my head around. What’s happened with the power, my dad, now my mom, and being here.” Tears threatened, but she willed them back with a sniff and a change of subject. “This is the first time I’ve ever been to Texas.”

  Vince didn’t press. He leaned toward her instead, a smile wrinkling the skin around his eyes. “Wish I could give you a tour, but I don’t think a whole lot of museums are open for tourists at the moment. The best we can hope for is someone willing to trade.”

  The Explorer slowed as Vince eased his foot off the gas. Across the street sat a little convenience store with worn wood siding and a sign above reading established 1906. Two gas pumps stood like sentries in front of the door. Vince eased the vehicle into the gas station and up to the closest pump.

  “Here goes nothing.” He eased the door open, but Holly reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

  “Be careful.”

  Vince tipped his cowboy hat in her direction before sliding to the ground. He shut the door and walked toward the convenience store door. Holly watched him disappear inside and tried to keep the worry to a minimum. A few minutes later, Vince emerged, heading straight to the rear of the vehicle before hoisting out two bottles of liquor. Without a word, he walked past Holly and back inside. A few moments later, a man about Vince’s age, sporting a checked flannel shirt and a double-barrel shotgun emerged.

  He unlocked the gas pump and nodded at Vince. “You can fill ‘er up, but that’s all. No containers.”

  Vince nodded and thanked the man as he reached for the pump handle. It didn’t take long to fill the tank. The man in flannel waited for Vince to replace the handle before locking the pump back up and heading back inside. Vince climbed into the driver’s seat a moment later.

  “Why no containers? Didn’t you explain we needed the gas for the Jeep?”

  Vince started the engine and eased out of the parking lot before turning to Holly. “We were lucky to get that much. He wasn’t interested in money or food or water. But the scotch—” Vince shook his head. “That was my top shelf. Been saving it for a special occasion for years.”

  “He wouldn’t take anything else?”

  “Nope. Was about to shoo me out the door with the wrong end of that shotgun until I mentioned it. Macallan didn’t come cheap before. Now it’s got to be more valuable than gold.”

  Holly crossed her arms. It didn’t seem right, someone taking advantage just because they could. “I can’t believe he wouldn’t take something else. Food or water or even one bottle instead of two.”

  Vince turned toward the cabin. “People are scared. It’s natural in this situation.”

  Holly glanced at Vince, but his expression gave nothing away. “Are you scared?”

  He hesitated. “Yes and no. We have a fair number of supplies, a good location for hunting and fishing, and plenty of fresh water. As far as the EMP goes, we’re in good shape.”

  “But?”

  “The men after Emma and Gloria give me some pause.”

  Holly snorted. “Bit of an understatement if you ask me.” She shuddered as memories returned of the acrid stench of Willy’s breath, fanning hot across her cheek, and the rough scrape of his dry skin against her arm when he grabbed her.

  “Cold?”

  “No.” Holly focused on the road stretching out in front of them. When Willy came upon her down by the creek, she’d feared the worst. When he’d held her there in the turnaround, gun to her head, she’d closed her eyes and seen the body of her father. Relived his murder at the hands of the same man. She didn’t look at Vince when she spoke. “Thank you for saving my life back at the house. When that man had me, I thought—”

  “Don’t mention it. I’m thankful I got such a clean shot. Wouldn’t have helped much if I’d accidentally shot you, too.”

  She smiled down at her lap.

  “When all this is over, and Emma and Gloria are safe,” Vince began. “You’re welcome to live with me. I know I’m not blood, I’ve never had a child of my own, and I can be a real grouch if you wake me up too early, but—”

  “Sounds almost perfect,” Holly interrupted before Vince finished.

  “Almost?” He lifted an eyebrow in her direction before turning his attention back to the road.

  “Maybe we could find a place with fewer spiders in the bathroom?”

  Vince laughed and a mix of emotions swirled within Holly, all blending together in a mush. Gratitude, compassion, fear, but most of all, relief.

  The anger building inside her hadn’t been about their circumstances or the cabin, it had been about her future. She hadn’t been able to understand that until this moment. Gloria and Raymond would leave. Emma and John, too. If Vince didn’t take her in, where would she go?

  He’d never replace her dad, but Vince was kind and decent and he’d stuck up for her when her own mother refused. She glanced his way. “I’m sorry about my mom. If I’d known that showing up would—”

  “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m only mad at myself that I didn’t see it sooner.”

  “See what?”

  “How callous and self-centered Sandra had become. Maybe always was.” He slowed as they neared the turn to the cabin. “We married later in life, and I wasn’t looking for a woman to raise a family with, so maybe I overlooked her flaws. Maybe I only saw what I wanted to see.” They bounced over the dirt tracks and Vince tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “All of that is over now. Water under the bridge. She’s got the farm and I’ve got the much better end of the deal.” He smiled at Holly and the last bit of guilt and worry inside her broke apart.

  Vince pulled the Explorer to a stop. “Let’s hope Emma and Gloria had better luck with the neighbors.”

  Chapter Ten

  EMMA

  An old, dried-out branch splintered beneath Emma’s sneaker as she walked beside Gloria “The first cabin should be coming up soon, right?”

  Gloria pulled the hand-drawn map taught. “I think so. Vince didn’t exactly draw this to scale.”