Glimmer of Hope (Land of Tomorrow Book 1) (4 page)

Nathan thought they would have to leave after only ten days due to lack of water, but Joshua came up with the idea of drinking out of the 80 gallon hot water heater in the basement corner. They also ended up eating all of Daisy’s dog food. They each suffered mild radiation sickness symptoms, but nothing more severe than nausea, lack of appetite, and headaches. He thought they would make it without further sickness as long as they were careful about exposure. By the time Nathan decided to leave the basement, all the radio channels were ominously quiet.

Nathan covered his mouth with a wet bandanna and walked upstairs and outside with the shotgun ready before him. Everything was still and silent. He surveyed crashed cars, bloated bodies in the road, and smoke from old fires in all directions. A layer of dirty ash covered every surface. Nathan was the only living thing he saw under the grey foreboding sky. It was late fall, but the air was colder than it should be and the clouds were dark and menacing. Although he didn’t like the idea of starting out with winter approaching, Nathan decided it was best to get his family away from the large cities while he could. Those cities were going to continue to emit deadly radiation for generations.

They emerged from their den thin, shaky and pale. They gathered all the guns, ammunition, food, water, clothing, and supplies they could. Any item they took that wasn’t in the basement with them was wiped down carefully to remove radioactive particles. Despite their hunger, Nathan was afraid to eat any of the topside food until they moved further from the radiation centers and he insisted they boil whatever water they used.

They drove as far as possible on jammed highways for several days before being forced to pack up and begin walking west. They occasionally saw small groups of other survivors doing the same. People they met didn’t talk much, just kept their distance and continued moving. These others were universally dirty, unkempt and fearfully nervous almost to the point of craziness. Nathan wondered if he and his family looked the same.

The day Daisy died was a low point. It happened after only a few weeks of traveling. Nathan wasn’t sure why, he had heard somewhere that dogs’ tolerance to radiation was much higher than humans. Maybe she just couldn’t handle the stress. They buried her with sorrow and kept moving.

Over the next few weeks they traveled west occasionally seeing individuals at a distance, but never approaching. The bodies with signs of foul play in their path reminded them that caution was now paramount. Nathan and his family had fought off attackers on three occasions already. Fortunately, none of these bands had possessed guns or been too clever.

It was disturbing to Nathan how quickly society broke down into brutality. A week ago they came to a still smoldering and deserted town. Everything was covered in soot including a body hanging from a lamp post by a chain around its neck. A hand scrawled placard on his body explained “Arson Bastard”. Another time they approached a small group of houses in the twilight and saw a large sign saying “Stay Away!” They had run across many such warnings, but the three severed rotting heads hanging from trees, just out of reach of any larger scavengers, made Nathan keep walking even though night was approaching.

At least they were away from the decaying death in the streets. Nathan believed these scenes were probably similar all across the country. All the major cities were destroyed. In rings around these cities were various degrees of “dead zones” with increasing levels of radiation depending on how close they were to a nuke impact. The further they moved away from those cities, the less they saw of mass graves and piles of bodies covered in swarms of feeding rats, vultures, and insects. Nathan also began to feel more comfortable eating any canned food they discovered and found it unnecessary to keep their faces covered with wet cloths.

Ironically, it seemed that the instances of suicides increased further away from the cities. Nathan couldn’t at first understand the families they found sitting around their dinner tables, all dead from eating or drinking poison together. He thought it must simply be despair at the idea of living so differently and without hope. In a strange way, these suicides unnerved him more than anything else.

The highways were totally clogged as they approached the West Virginia border. Vehicles piled high with belongings were packed in so tight they touched in many cases. Both sides of the highway, the median, and even the fields on the sides were stuffed with immobile cars, trucks, and RV’s headed west. They were forced to walk along the tops of these vehicles the last few miles to the border. Large spray-painted plywood signs declared the state quarantined and that no one would be admitted. Empty military vehicles were lined up along the border, but the soldiers, supplies, and weapons were gone. A few rotting bodies showed evidence of trying to force the issue, but not as many as Nathan would have thought. The soldiers had likely lost heart and abandoned their posts, letting the streaming masses of desperate refugees cross the border. Nathan suspected it had been futile.

On the other side of the border was an abandoned and ransacked military camp. In a nearby field behind a field hospital were neat lines composed of hundreds of recent graves. They conducted a futile search for anything of value, but all food, shelter, tools, and even scraps of plastic sheeting were long gone. The family hurried away from the depressing scene.

Murderous and wild rogues often crept in the forest and along the shadowy road edges awaiting an opportunity to attack them. Nathan at first called out to them to ease their fear and hesitation, but learned that these men and women were no longer to be trusted regardless of who they once were. He tried simply to scare these small groups of stalkers away. They would run off for a time only to return soundlessly at night. Nathan now shot at them with the rifle if they refused to show themselves, he was taking no chances.

Moving. Always moving now. They were like nomads. Nathan previously believed such a life would be romantic and reminded him of the Plains Indians, but he thought with wry humor that hunger, cold, and fear just sucked the romance right out of nomadic living. Their time in the hunting shack was warm and restful, but they must not get complacent. This wasn’t home and he was frankly surprised they had made it so far. Nathan brought himself back to the present.

It’s time to move
, he thought.
We've been in the shack too long
. He couldn’t say why he felt this, but knew to trust his intuition. Nathan remembered the four bodies at the bottom of the hill, probably nothing but bones now.
Could have been us. Hell, might be us by the end of the day.

“Let’s pack up,” he said to the room without turning from the window, “time to get on the road again.” Nathan started to hum that Willie Nelson song, but stopped when he realized it made him sad.

Chapter 3 – Roadblock

Nathan and his family continued steadily west after leaving the shack. They used a variety of routes, trying to avoid the major highways. Nathan decided to have them turn south in order to avoid the larger cities of Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia. He hadn’t heard anything about those locations, but was unwilling to take a chance they were uncontaminated.

On the roads, they spent most nights in abandoned cars along the road because these afforded shelter and security. Bethany didn't like to sleep away from the boys, but she understood the rationale of having her and Nathan in one car, and the boys in another a good distance apart in case someone surprised them.

The going was difficult after the luxury of the hunting shack. Nathan and his family were walking in the West Virginian Appalachians in late fall, but this was also a blessing. They saw few people and smoke from fires normally warned them when they were getting close to others.

Joshua was visibly relieved when they turned south off the interstate that led through Huntington. He'd been planning on going to Marshal University the next year. Nathan wanted to say something to comfort his son, but didn't have the words.

They followed the Appalachian Trail for a few days, staying in the hiker cabins located at regular intervals along the well-worn path. Nathan, Joshua, and David had always planned to walk the Appalachian Trail. It was going to be his retirement gift to himself and his boys. A couple of more years and they would have spent a long wonderful summer together. The worn trail was now cloaked in an ominous heaviness as if they were trespassing.

Eight days from the shack they came upon the town of Branchland, West Virginia. The checkpoint surprised Nathan so much he almost walked upon the sentries unawares. The men and young boys looked more frightened than aggressive. Nathan spoke to Wendell, the leader and one of the town’s deputy sheriffs. He was courteous enough, but refused to let them enter the town, saying a roving band of thugs came through a month ago stealing their food and gas, looting their shops, and killing one man. Since then, they closed the town borders, “until better times.”

Wendell kindly gave them a milk jug full of cold, earth filtered water and showed them on a battered road map how to backtrack around the town. It was plain that his courteous manner would vanish in an instant if they didn't move along, so they thanked them and departed.

“Toll” points became more frequent, manned by individuals with wild eyes and desperate natures. Nathan could have easily overcome these wretched poorly-armed wraiths, but Bethany usually took pity on them and tried a softer approach. Where Nathan would have likely shot them just to be safe, Bethany gave them a little food and talked to them. Although they pointed farm tools or shotguns at Nathan’s family, threatening to kill them when they arrived, they usually departed with kind words and hesitant smiles.

Nathan was thinking of these encounters as they finished making their way through the deserted town of Fort Gay. It was like many other pitiful towns they saw. Shops were looted, especially liquor stores, and any survivors were hiding. Nathan felt eyes upon him, but kept a steady pace, trusting anyone watching was deterred from aggression by their intentionally visible guns. He spied a bridge spanning a broad icy river through the thick wood line ahead. A road sign told him it was the Big Sandy River, the border between West Virginia and Kentucky.

He stopped and listened, hearing faint talking coming from the direction of the bridge. He did not intend to backtrack again. They needed to get across that river, the weather could turn against them any day now. None of them possessed the energy to waste in extra walking to the next bridge. Hopefully it was simply a group of people looking for a handout in the form of a toll which they justified with “guarding the road,” but Nathan was not willing to gamble with his family by walking up unprepared.

He turned to Joshua and motioned him forward from the rear. “Go find high ground over there and remember the signal, just like the other times. We’ll rally at the last road intersection if things go badly.” Joshua nodded without question and moved off at a run carrying the Weatherby .270 rifle, his long blond hair flying out from under a knit cap. Nathan smiled in approval. Joshua had proven steady and reliable since the incident at the shack.

Bethany and David moved up to Nathan as he crouched near the edge of the road. They all dropped their heavy packs in a ditch and covered them with snow. Nathan quietly told them the rally point and their role in the bridge approach.

Bethany looked worried. “I don’t like you walking up to them alone. Maybe we could go with you.”

Nathan shook his head, “I won’t be alone, and you’ll be there and can cover me if I need help. Believe me, it’s much better this way.” He whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

He covered the plan again while he switched weapons with David. Nathan took the shotgun and gave David his M4 assault rifle. Bethany and David crept slowly along the edge of the wood line out of sight. They would set up at a good defensive position where they could provide support to Nathan. With any luck, this would turn out as it had several times before. The men would talk, ask for something in return for crossing, and the family would make it through unscathed.

Nathan waited in the ditch by the side of the road near their gear, giving everyone else time to move into position. He let fifteen minutes pass on his watch and then stood and walked to the middle of the road. He looked both ways, but could not see much. This section of the road was in a curve with wooded hills rising on both sides of him. He took a deep breath and stepped off.

As he rounded the corner he noticed the tall steel structure of the bridge, arching in the middle so that the other end was obscured. He also saw several cars blocking all lanes across the bridge. Six men were visible, only one of them looking in his general direction. They were talking and laughing about something and appeared totally engrossed in doing nothing in particular. Nathan felt unusually nervous and almost slipped back into the woods out of sight, but he knew they needed to cross the river.

He wanted to get as close as possible before the men noticed him, but he did not want to frighten them. Frightened men with guns usually shot before thinking. He walked purposefully and quickly towards the barricade. Nathan felt the presence of his family off to his left and slung the shotgun over his shoulder. It was a Remington 870 riot gun, and the weight felt awkward on just one side, but he wanted to be able to use the shotgun quickly if needed. At the same time he loosened the pistol in its holster on his hip.

Nathan stopped about fifty feet from the road block and stood silently. He was not sure how long he waited, but patience was a trait he had learned over the years. He did not fidget or look around, simply remained still and stared calmly at the men.

Nathan deliberately removed his hat and held it out in his left hand. Part of him wanted to rush the men now and try to kill them all unawares, but he decided to take the more cautious approach.

After what Nathan guessed was perhaps two minutes, one of the men looked in his direction, started noticeably, and yelled out, “Holy shit!” He scrambled to pull up his rifle. The other five men turned quickly to look at him and also grab their weapons, pointing them over the parked vehicles.

One large fellow with a beer belly yelled out, “Don’t you move mister, not a muscle, or we’ll blow your damn head off.”

Nathan remained still and silent, which seemed to confuse the men. The big man spoke again after some hesitation, “You lay that shotgun on the ground slowly, the pistol too, partner.” Nathan hesitated a moment and then complied. He was getting an even worse feeling about this. After laying the weapons down he stood back up with both hands in the air and his hat in his hand in what he hoped was a harmless pose.

The big man seemed to relax a little. “Now walk over here…carefully.”

Nathan started walking and saw the men smile and start chuckling. Instead of being nervous and uncertain about his approach, they now were relaxed and eager. They obviously had something in mind for him. Nathan didn’t like that.

He stopped walking. Big Man’s smile vanished in an instant. “You just keep on walking there friend. I don’t want to have to blow your head off before seeing what kind of goodies you brought us.”

Nathan ignored the order. “I’m looking to cross the bridge; I’ll pay whatever toll you’re asking for.”

The men laughed. “That’s good,” Big Man said. “Because the toll is everything you got. Afterwards we might let you go on your way.”

Nathan smiled slightly himself, “Well in that case, I’ve obviously made a mistake, very sorry to bother you gentlemen, I’ll go back the way I came.”

He walked backwards two steps before one of the men fired a shot which ricocheted off the road to his left surprising the other men as much as Nathan. “You move another step and you’re dead.” Big Man promised him with a shaky voice after cuffing the shooter angrily on the back of the head.

Nathan’s heart sank. This was the dreaded scenario, but the response was already decided. There was only one way out. Nathan breathed a deep breath and then let go of the hat in his left hand.

Before the hat hit the ground, the side of Big Man’s head exploded, followed by the sound of the rifle’s roar from the hill to the left. Nathan felt a moment of pride in his son. Joshua had always been an incredible marksman. This shot was followed by two from the M4 with David hitting another man square in the chest. Bethany also opened up with the .22 rifle. The men forgot about Nathan and dropped behind the cars to seek cover.

Nathan knew this was his only opportunity; he certainly didn’t want to get into a shootout where his family was outgunned and without the element of surprise.

He drew the large hunting knife out of the back of his belt and charged the cars. He was almost there before one of the men peered over a car hood with his rifle. The weapon was pointed directly at Nathan, but the man was so surprised that he froze. Nathan ran around the front of the car and jammed his knife into the man’s eye while grabbing the barrel of the rifle and yanking it away.

He saw Big Man laying dead and another dying to one side. Two other men had not even seen him yet; they were trying to shoot back at David and Bethany from under the cars. Another did see him though, and drawing a pistol, fired at Nathan from about ten feet away. He felt the bullet graze his shoulder as he charged forward grabbing the man’s wrist and lifting the smoking pistol high. He then jammed his knife into the man’s exposed armpit.

Both of the other men on the ground must have heard something because they turned and saw Nathan covered in blood behind them. One scrambled up and started running across the bridge, but only got about twenty feet before Joshua shot him with the rifle. The other man crawled under the car and out the other side where he was met by several carefully aimed shots from David and Bethany.

Then the shooting stopped and silence was soothing. The men were all dead or dying.

Nathan stopped and leaned against one of the cars after gathering up all the men's weapons. He gave his family the signal that he was okay. He almost motioned them to come out of hiding when he heard alarmed cries from across the river.

Damn it!
he thought.
Why didn’t I think that there might be other men at the opposite end of the bridge? It’s what I would have done
. He could hear them running and yelling as they made their way across.

Nathan ran back to the middle of the road, grabbed his shotgun and pistol and sprinted to where David and Bethany lay. He slid in between them saying breathlessly, “Get ready, it’s not over yet.”