TORMENT (19 page)

“We could follow the driveway,” Paul said. The dirt driveway twisted into the woods, disappearing in the distance. “There might be someplace better to hole up.”

“No,” Austin said. “This is good.
Nice and solitary.
If someone approaches through the woods, we’ll hear them coming.” The endless rows of dead trees had carpeted the forest floor in so many dry branches that it was impossible to walk without stepping on them. Anyone approaching the cabin would sound like they had a string of lit firecrackers tied to their feet.

“Unless they come up the driveway,” Garbarino said.

“We’ll take shifts watching,” Austin said with a nod. “Pair up, one agent to one civilian.”

“Pair up with one of them?” Garbarino said. He motioned to the others. “No offense, but they’re liable to get me killed.”

“Would you prefer to have two of them on watch while you slept?”

Garbarino pursed his lip. There was no arguing that. “What about her?” he asked, pointing to Vanderwarf, who had been quiet all day. She stood at the back of the group, arms crossed head down. “She’s useless now.”

“Vanderwarf!”
Austin snapped.

She went rigid and looked up, eyes wide.
“Sir.”

“Are you with us?”

“Yes, sir,” she said. Her training, which had taken a backseat while she adjusted to the horrors of the new world, was the best in the world. She set her mind to the task at hand, but her lower lip never quite stopped quivering.

Austin turned to Garbarino, “She’ll sleep first and take the last shift with Paul. She’ll be fine.”

“Sorry to point this out,” Mark said, “but the ratio of agent to civilian isn’t one to one. How will we all go on watch?”

“Not everyone will,” Austin said. “Paul is with Vanderwarf, last shift.” The pair looked at each other and nodded.

“Mia, you and Garbarino take second shift.” Neither looked happy, but they didn’t complain.

Austin looked Mark in the eyes. “And you’re with me, starting now.”

Mark sighed. They had walked all day, covering fifteen miles. They stopped only to eat and use the bathroom, which was whatever dead tree they could hide behind. His legs were sore and his eyes heavy. If he lay down, sleep would come in seconds.

“Don’t look so down, Father,” Austin said. “God is your strength, remember?”

Mark frowned at the remark. He knew Garbarino was hostile to the idea of God, but had not yet realized Austin was, too. In fact, as he searched the other faces, he saw sympathy in the eyes of only one of them. Liz.

Austin entered the cabin first, weapon at the ready. Garbarino followed. They searched the four room dwelling as a team, covering each other in case something wild lurked inside. They found a sparsely decorated, hastily abandoned home. The kitchen cabinets and wood stove were both missing, but a stack of old, stained mattresses filled the back bedroom. They saw few personal items, but the front bedroom showed evidence of at least one teenage gathering—empty beer cans and cigarette butts.

As Garbarino began dragging the old mattresses out into the empty rooms, Austin stepped outside. “It ain’t pretty, but it’s safe and dry.”

“
Everything
is dry,” Paul said before entering.

It was true. They hadn’t seen a cloud in the sky since returning and even the woods lacked the earthy smell of decaying vegetation.

Austin remained outside with Mark as the rest of the group entered the house and settled in for the night. He sat on the dilapidated front steps and helped himself to half a protein bar and a sip of water. Mark stood by the driveway, turned toward the woods.

They stayed like that for thirty minutes.

As the sky turned dark purple, Austin said, “Thought you were tired.”

Mark seemed to not hear him, but then bobbed his head and turned around. He walked right up to Austin and sat down.
“Dead tired.
I was just giving you time.”

Austin looked at him. “Giving
me
time?” Austin had been giving
Mark
time. It seemed both of them knew this conversation was going to happen.

“You had to work up the courage,” Mark said.

Austin’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead.

“Questioning a man’s religion isn’t an easy thing to do.”

Austin smiled. Mark was right about that. It wasn’t easy. But it was necessary. “I would appreciate it if you kept that book to yourself. We don’t need them to be any more afraid than they already are.”

“Actually, I think they could use a lot of what’s in the Bible.”

Austin let out a gentle laugh.

“If you’d read the whole book, you would know it’s a message of hope.”

“If delusions give you hope.”

Mark just shook his head. “I’ll keep it to myself until someone asks.
That good enough?”

“Works for me,” Austin said.

Mark placed his shotgun across his lap. The hard weapon felt wrong to him, but if wielding it could keep these people alive a little longer, he would use it. “They’re going to, you know? Ask.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You haven’t really looked around, have you?” Mark said. “Sooner or later, you’ll open your eyes. You’ll see what I see. Then you’ll ask.”

The cryptic reply left Austin feeling frustrated. It struck him as the kind of vague, fear-inducing rhetoric that got people to put on white robes and drink poisoned Kool-Aid. “Just keep the Bible-thumping in your head and don’t scare the kid.”

Mark gave Austin a pat on the shoulder. “In case you haven’t noticed, tough guy, she’s not scared. Not like the rest of you.” He stood and left the porch, taking up his position in the driveway again.

Austin sat in silence, thinking about what Mark said. Other than the nightmare, in which everyone had died, she hadn’t panicked. She cringed at the violence, tensed when things got tense, but in general, she seemed peaceful.
At peace.

When he couldn’t figure out why, Austin pushed the train of thought from his mind and focused on listening instead. Inner peace never saved anyone from a post-apocalyptic nightmare, not in the movies, not in real life.

Two hours later, Mia and Garbarino took watch. Not that you could really call what they were doing watching. The darkness was nearly complete. The moon hid below the horizon. The stars, despite there being more than either had ever seen before, did little to light the deep woods. The only sound each could hear was the breathing of the other.

For the first hour, neither spoke. At first out of dislike for each other, and then out of fear that they’d be heard. But as the night wore on and their comfort in the dark grew, Mia found herself reviewing the events of the day. And despite Garbarino’s theatrics, she appreciated that Garbarino had looked out for Liz’s well being.

“Thanks,” she said.

The sudden break in silence made Garbarino jump.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“Scared the shit out of me.”

“Weren’t asleep were you?”

“Not a chance. Not out here. What the hell were you thanking me for, anyway?”

“Today, with Liz.”

Garbarino knew what she was talking about because the interaction with Mark had been the only noteworthy event of their day.
“Sure thing.
Think the boss-man had a talk with him.”

Mia nodded in the dark. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”

“Cause otherwise he would have partnered with you.” Garbarino followed with a Cary Grant-like impression. “I think he’s sweet on you, kid.”

Thankful that the darkness hid her flush cheeks, Mia said, “I’m not his type.”

“C’mon, don’t tell me you haven’t thought about repopulating the planet with the man?”

Mia could feel the heat radiating from her face now because she had, in fact, thought that very thing. But not for the reasons Garbarino suggested. Giving Liz a family to grow old with had nothing to do with passion. Besides, it was too soon.

Too soon for what?
she
asked herself. She hadn’t seen Matt in nearly half a year, and now he was—
Stop trying to rationalize your betrayal!
some
part of her screamed.

With Mia silent, Garbarino continued. “At first I knew I was stuck with Chang, which could be okay if she lost a few pounds. But with White out of the picture—”

“That’s cold,” Mia said.

“That’s the world. Of course, maybe Austin is thinking the same thing. You’ve got something exotic about you, but Vanderwarf, with those Angelina lips. You might end up with me.”

Mia couldn’t stop herself from laughing. For a moment she wondered if Garbarino might take offense at the blatant insult, but he laughed too.

“Please,” she said. “Collins is my runner up.”

“Then the old man and the priest, right?”

“Nah, if that doesn’t work out, screw repopulating the planet. I’ll take Vanderwarf myself. She’s way better looking than the rest of you.”

Their laughter slowly faded and silence returned. A few minutes later, Garbarino spoke again. “You’re all right, Durante.”

“Thanks Garbarino.” Mia rubbed her sore legs. “So, what’s your story?”

“What?”

“Why did you join the Secret Service?”

“I suppose you could say I was recruited. Good with a gun.
Former Marine.
Not afraid of taking a bullet.
Never questioned orders.
Scored high on the IQ tests.”

“Perfect human shield, huh?”

“Something
like
that.”

“And now?”

“Now?
You know the score.
Every man for himself.
There is no greater cause to live for beyond staying alive now. It’s different for you. You have the girl. Me? I didn’t have many people in my life before. I was dedicated to the good ol’ U. S. of A., but that asshole, Collins, had to go and blow up the world.
Didn’t have to end that way.”

“No,” Mia said. “It didn’t.”

“Heard your boyfriend was Matt Brenton.
Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Good Marine?
Convoy crew right?
Driving trucks?”

“Yes to all three. His convoy was attacked in northern Afghanistan. That’s where they took him.”

“Huh,” Garbarino said.

Mia couldn’t see his face, but the sound of Garbarino’s voice implied a confused expression. “What?”

“Supplies were airdropped up there. Truck convoys were too dangerous. Hell, they were dangerous in Iraq. They were suicidal in Northern Afghanistan.”

It was Mia’s turn to be confused. “Huh.”

“Looks like you’ve got a mystery to solve, Scooby Doo.”

“Looks like,” Mia said, and then fell silent. She spent the next few hours thinking about what Garbarino said. If he was right, it meant that she’d been lied to.
By Matt.
By Collins.
The new information refocused her thoughts on a question that had been nagging her all day:
why did Collins say Matt had been caught?