Unthinkable (Berger Series) (10 page)

“Hey!” The soldier walked up behind Evan. “What in the hell are you doing here?”

“Um, sorry,” stammered Evan, “this is my friend and we, uh…”

“Get out. Now!” Ordered the soldier.

“Um, I’m with the ditch crew,” Evan looked back at Yoshi
, ”and…” Evan back pedaled as the soldier stepped closer to him and started to raise a baton. Evan met Yoshi’s eyes briefly before bolting for the door.

Paul was standing outside. “You’re not supposed to…”

“Yoshi is here,” said Evan.

“Your friend?
” Paul looked surprised. “Well where is he?”

Evan gestured back at the shed.

“Oh I see, chased you out, eh? They like to keep skilled folks away from the riff raff.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. He’s worked electronics since dropping out of college. At least I know he’s alive. There has to be a way to talk to him.”

“Not right now there isn’t. The light’s almost done.”

Evan paced in frustration for the next few minutes until the light was finished and Paul and he could carry it back to the ditch. By the time they returned everyone else had already gone to sleep. Evan saw Damien snoring gently and thought about waking him, but decided not to.

Evan lay in his cot and stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Yoshi was alive. He looked awful, but he was alive. He closed his eyes to say a prayer of thanks and nearly dropped off to sleep. There was a noise. His eyes flew open and he immediately recognized the figure in the dark.

“Yoshi,” he whispered.

Yoshi nodded and crept closer, kneeling next to Evan’s cot. “I only have a few minutes,” he whispered. “I’m  on dinner break and they think I’m going to the john. Evan I’m…thank God you’re alive.”

“Same to you.”
Evan grabbed Yoshi’s arm. “I got here, um, two days ago, I think. Damien is with me.” Evan gestured to the next cot over.

“Damien?” Yoshi pulled back. “That traitorous son of a…”

“It wasn’t like that. He found me and helped me. He said he didn’t know what happened until the next morning.”

“Humph,” said Yoshi, glaring at Damien.

“He didn’t have to help me,” said Evan.

“Whatever,” Yoshi looked troubled. “We have to get out of here, you know. I’ve heard rumors their having trouble containing disease and violence is ramping up.”

“I know about violence. Couple kids threw rocks at me yesterday. Damien got into a fistfight with them.” Yoshi looked again at Damien. “But I do have an idea for getting out of here.”

“Do tell.”

Evan quickly explained his plan. Yoshi nodded. “I have to get back before I’m missed. I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull this off again, if nothing else, I’ll be here when your plan happens.”

“I won’t leave without you.”

“I know.”

Chapter 9

Evan groaned as Damien shook him awake.
He opened one eye and looked at Damien. “You need to get up, man,” he said.

Evan opened his other eye and sat up slowly. Everyone else was already moving towards the door. A soldier was glaring at them, baton in his hands.

“I’m up,” said Evan wearily as he stood and stretched. He was in a fog as he stumbled out to join the breakfast line with Damien close behind. Evan could sense the unasked question from Damien, but felt too tired to even open his mouth. Yoshi. Well, he’d tell Damien soon enough. The day seemed even more hot and humid, if that were possible, then the last. Breakfast was a blur and then it was back to the ditch.

Evan mechanically turned over one shovelful of dirt at a time. As they broke early for lunch, Paul nudged his elbow and offered him a cup. Evan looked at it and slowly took a sip.
Coffee. Evan looked at Paul in wonder. Paul just smiled and walked away. Evan shook his head and finished the cup.

Evan noticed now how leaden the sky looked. The air was dead and nearly suffocating. Damien walked up next to him, looking at the sky too. “Do
ya think today?” Damien asked. In response came a roll of thunder, and a breeze started up.

“Yeah,” said Evan.

The guards hurried lunch. As they climbed back into the ditch thunder came again. Evan could see the guards looking around nervously. Evan made eye contact with Paul and Damien. Both of them nodded. Evan turned over another shovel of dirt and counted the space between the lightning and the thunder.

A siren wailed, followed quickly by the shriek of whistles. The soldiers jumped before scrambling and adding their own whistles to the mix. “Time to take shelter,” one of them hollered. Shovels dropped as everyone climbed out of the ditch. The sky had fallen close to the ground. People headed toward the military cluster of building
s like a massive herd of cattle. They were calm, but cast looks toward the sky. Evan started walking, feeling Damien and Paul close behind him.

Thunder crashed close just as the skies opened and the rain poured down. The herd stampeded. Soldiers cursed as the crowd rushed forward in search of shelter. Evan stopped. They were near the back edge of the crowd and no one seemed to notice. The soldiers were more interested in finding shelter
themselves. As soon as Evan found himself free of the crowd he turned and ran back for the ditch. He tripped and slid down into it, Damien and Paul close on his heels. Evan grabbed a shovel and started digging under the fence as the rain poured down and turned the grass to mud. Lightning flashed overhead and thunder growled.

Paul tugged his arm and Evan stepped back so Paul could dig. Ignoring the lightning, Evan scrambled back up the other side of the ditch and strained his eyes looking into the rain. The wind blew hard and whipped at the tents, pulling a few of them loose. Blankets and cots blew over. There was a shout behind Evan. He turned and saw that Damien and Paul had made a big enough hole and were waving him over. Evan turned away from them and looked again into the driving rain.

Damien climbed up next to him and grabbed his arm. Evan shook his head. “Yoshi!” he shouted over the wind and rain. Damien’s eyes widened as if Evan had completely gone crazy. He pulled on Evan’s arm again.

Yoshi appeared through the rain, stumbling. Evan pulled free of Damien and ran to his side as he fell. He took one arm and helped Yoshi to his feet. Damien took Yoshi’s other arm and they slid back down into the ditch. Paul was already through the fence, waiting. Damien scrambled through, then Yoshi and finally Evan. The rain seemed to slack for a moment as they ran for the buildings in the near distance. Thunder clapped and the rain fell harder than before. Evan tripped and nearly fell. Someone grabbed his arm before he could hit the ground and pulled him to his feet.

Evan ducked as lightning struck close. They reached the buildings, but, Paul led them farther down the street, turned down an alley and then down another street. They could hardly see where they were going in the whipping rain. Paul stopped and shoved on a door. It banged open and the four of them piled into a used bookstore. They moved deeper into the store away from the windows and ducked behind a bookshelf. Evan wiped the rain from his eyes and looked around. Paul stood, eyes closed, head tilted back, leaning against a bookshelf. Yoshi sat with his knees drawn up with one arm around them and the other hand pressed against a cut on his head. Damien sat across from Yoshi, eyes fixed on him.

“You okay,
Yosh?” asked Evan as he sat next to him.

Yoshi slowly pulled his hand away and looked at it. “I think so. Some flying something clocked me.” They could hear the rain still slashing at the roof with the wind whipping around and the thunder pounding. The dim interior of the building lit up with frequent lightning.

“Soon as that thunder slows down we need to get moving,” said Paul, not opening his eyes.

“You’re alive,” said Damien, staring at Yoshi.

Yoshi narrowed his eyes and glared at Damien. “Why shouldn’t I be?”

“What happened in the town?” interjected Evan, trying to head off trouble.

“I woke up half a minute before they grabbed us,” Yoshi looked from Damien to Evan. “I got a shot off, but I missed in the dark, or at least I think so. They knocked me out and dragged me out into the country somewhere. I woke up on the side of the road. I didn’t see you, so I thought you were…dead.” Yoshi looked down at his hands.

“I’m not,” said Evan, “but I thought you might have been too.” Yoshi looked back up at him. “I looked for you but I guess I went the wrong way. When I couldn’t find you I started walking west. That’s when Damien found me.”

“Well,” Yoshi looked over at Damien, “I’m just glad we found each other.”

“If I’d known about it I would have looked for electronics earlier. Because of course that’s where you were.”

“It’s okay,” sighed Yoshi. “They asked me if I had any skills when they picked me up.”

“They didn’t even ask us,” said Evan.

“Well it seems that God has brought us back together. Or fate. Or something.” Yoshi wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his head on top of them. Damien looked from Evan to Yoshi before getting up and walking around the corner. Paul opened one eye, watched him go, closed it, then slid to the floor and settled against the shelf. Evan leaned back and let his eyes wander over the titles across from him. He reached over and pulled one out at random. The cover showed a couple in a steamy embrace. He idly flipped through the pages. How long would people remember how to read? What other knowledge had been lost already or soon would be? Or was it really that bad? Evan had heard nothing of the rest of the world; surely they weren’t in the same straits. But then again, he reasoned, if they weren’t then how come nobody had come to help? The thought sent a spike of fear down his back.

Evan put the book back and stood up. Yoshi looked up and watched him go around the corner. Damien
lay sprawled along the counter. He held a book towards the window, reading by the flashing storm.

“
Whatcha reading?” asked Evan as he approached.

He
looked up and held his place with his finger. “They didn’t have the book I was readin’, so I took this one.” Tilting it towards Evan he showed the cover.
Canticle for Leibowitz
.

“You like reading,” smiled Evan. “Your mom teach you to read?”

Damien snorted derisively and sat up. “Hell no. Momma didn’t teach nothin’ good,” he paused and looked out the window. “Miss Jackson, she was our neighbor, she taught all of us to read.”

“Sounds like a nice lady,” said Evan, leaning against the nearest shelf.

“Yeah,” Damien pulled his eyes from the window. “Took care of us like we was her own. When she died is when I left.”

“Why?”

“’Cause ain’t nobody else was gonna take care of me.” Damien looked again back out at the storm.

“I’m sorry,” said Evan.

“Ain’t your fault, man,” Damien looked back and smiled at him. “Quit apologizing for things you had nothing to do with. I think I’ve done okay with the hand I was dealt. Least I think I’ve avoided most of Momma’s mistakes.” Damien shrugged, “the big ones anyway.”

Evan nodded and looked out the window at the storm. Damien rolled over onto his back and opened the book again.
Hiding a smile, Evan went back to Yoshi and Paul and sat down. He closed his eyes and dozed lightly until the thunder started to recede, the rain slackened and Paul nudged him with his foot. He stood and stretched, arms aching from the work of the last few days. Yoshi stirred and Evan offered him a hand up. Damien came back around the corner, folding the page he was reading.

“We need to get moving,” ordered Paul.

Damien watched him as he shrugged and wrapped the paperback into a plastic bag from the register, sticking it in his pocket. It was still drizzling as Paul led them out the door and down the street. The rain had cooled the air but it was still warm. Evan peered up at the sky and wondered what time it was. Yoshi was still limping and hard pressed to keep up, but Paul didn’t look back as he pushed them through the ghostly rain-shrouded buildings, one soggy step after another. Most of the buildings were commercial. They almost looked ready for business, with scattered cars out front, but all the doors were shut and probably locked. They didn’t try any more of them, anyway, as Paul hurried them along.

After a while in the steady rain Paul made a turn and they passed into a subdivision of
once tidy two story houses, now with lawns going wild. It was getting darker as they moved deeper into the subdivision. Damien spoke up. “We should find somewhere to sleep.” Paul stopped and looked back at him. “We can’t see where we’re goin’ in the dark and we’re all hungry,” he continued. Paul opened his mouth to argue, but Damien turned, walked up to the nearest house and tried the front door. When that didn’t work he tried the garage door. That failed too, so he jumped a low gate and went around the back of the house. After a minute or two of silence there was the sound of breaking glass. Another minute after that the front door opened. Paul glared as Evan and Yoshi hurried forward to get out of the rain.

The house looked
once-loved as they walked into the entryway. In front of them a stairway ran up to the second floor. To the right was a living room and beyond that a dining room. Noise further along told them that Damien was rummaging in the kitchen. Evan walked into the living room and noticed the broken window in the dining room. The backyard was spacious and weedy. The furniture in the living room looked comfortable and the house was lived-in messy. Dusty vacation photos hung on the wall.

Grumbling, P
aul walked in and closed the front door firmly behind them. He took a quick look around the living room before heading upstairs. Yoshi limped over to the couch and sat down heavily. Evan watched Yoshi sadly for a moment before sitting down next to him.

“You’re in bad shape,
Yosh,” said Evan.

“You don’t have t
o tell me that,” grumbled Yoshi, “not as if we’ve been treated gently.” Yoshi held out his arms for Evan’s inspection. For the first time Evan saw they were covered in old and new bruises.

“Jesus,
Yosh,” Evan breathed. “What did they do to you?”

“I wasn’t exactly a model prisoner,” Yoshi shrugged and dropped his arms, “I’ll live.”

“Are you going to make it to Wyoming?” asked Evan.

“Hell yes,” defiance lit up Yoshi’s eyes. “We’ll make it.”

“Here guys,” Damien came out of the kitchen with a jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers. He sat down on the other side of Evan. Yoshi gave him a glance, but took his share of the food. As the smell of the peanut butter hit him Evan realized just how hungry he was. The crackers were a bit stale, but the peanut butter helped cover that. They could hear Paul rummaging around upstairs.

Paul came down the stairs with an armload of clothes and towels.
“Family of four. I’d guess you don’t want to wear the little girl’s stuff. Something bound to fit between the teen and the dad.” Paul dropped the clothes in a heap in the middle of the floor, took pants and a shirt and went into the downstairs bathroom. The other three went through the pile to see what would fit. Paul came back out, took his share of the crackers and sat on the recliner.

Evan took what he thought would fit and a towel and went into the bathroom. There was a high window over
the toilet that provided some light. Looking in the mirror, Evan didn’t recognize himself. He scratched at the beard and ran his fingers through his shaggy wet hair.

As h
e stripped and toweled off, Evan looked down at himself and realized just how much his body had changed in these few short weeks. The fast food weight was gone; he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this thin. Still, he wasn’t as skinny as Yoshi had become. That was in no small part thanks to Damien. Evan shook his head and looked in the mirror again before grabbing the fresh clothes. They were big on him, but that wasn’t surprising. Evan rolled up the bottom of the pants and then reached for the jeans he’d been wearing. He pulled out the note from Katie Jasper. It was a little wet, but he carefully unfolded it and read it. “Be strong,” she’d written, “and have faith. Mortals may fail, but God will not.” Evan sighed and wondered where God was in all this mess. He shoved the note back in his pocket as he grabbed his belt out of his jeans and returned to the living room.