All Is Silence - Deserted Lands #1

Chapter 16 - Part III

Lizzie wiped up the last of the burger juices, wishing she had some decent bread to sop it up with.

Noises of power tools came from the shop.

Nev stood. “I’m going to go check on him.”

“Okay.” Lizzie zoomed in on Saj as the stick headed toward his mouth. She had a sudden vision of him falling over and the stick tearing through his baby skin. She pulled the stick away as he began to howl. “Sorry, Saj. I shouldn’t have let you play with it anyway.”

A few minutes later, Zach reappeared with a wooden cross almost as tall as Lizzie. It looked like two cedar fence posts held together by a giant bolt and then wrapped in rope. Nev followed him with a sledgehammer, axe tool. Lizzie picked up Saj and followed. Spike watched them all, with his head cocked slightly to the side.

When they reached the pyramid of cement, Zach laid the cross down and took the axe thing from Nev. He swung it high and straight into the ground. It sunk in up to the handle. He extracted the tool and placed the pointed end of the cross in the ground. Nev held it vertical while he tapped the top with the sledgehammer side.

The cross slid into the soil. From the little signs that said beans and corn, Lizzie decided this must have been the garden.

When it didn’t go in any deeper, Zach swung the tool high; it smacked hard into the wood and the sound echoed of the outbuildings. Then he dropped the tool and stood for a moment staring at the pile.

Lizzie wanted to go to him, comfort him, but Nev was already there. Her hand on his arm. He pulled himself away and strode back toward the backhoe. He fired it up with a puff of dark smoke and drove it into one of the garages. He pulled the door closed with a bang and hollered, “Let’s go.”

Nev looked at Lizzie, pleading for an answer, advice. Lizzie had nothing to offer. “Let’s go.”

                                                         *        *        * 

By the time they reached I-5, the dark rain clouds Lizzie had been watching opened in a downpour. As the sun went down the raindrops flew and the wind buffeted the giant truck.

“It’s about 5 o’clock,” Zach said. “Let’s spend the night in Cle Elum. There’s a nice resort there.”

Overhead a flock of trumpeters hooted southward.

Lizzie plugged in her player to the USB and the sound came through the speakers. Screaming Trees came on. “I nearly lost you...” she sang. “Nice system.”

On the deserted highway near Marysville a doe and two fawns that had outgrown their spots ate grass in the median.

“Want more venison?” Zach asked. “Not like we’re gonna run out of food anytime soon.” He shook his head in annoyance. “‘Anyone wanna help me field dress a deer?”

“Ew,” Nev said from the back.

Lizzie pictured the lovely creatures riddled and bloody. “My shotgun’s for protecting us.”

“He’s not coming after us,” Zach snapped.

“I killed his brother, stupid. Some people take that kind of thing personal, apocalypse or not.” Lizzie crossed her arms—the music played on. What the hell?

When they neared the I-405 cutoff, Nev spoke, “That’s new.”

Liz looked up from her reverie. The message on the giant safety sign said, ‘ALL SURVIVORS REPORT TO THE CONVENTION CENTER ABOVE I-5!’

“When we came through last time,” Nev chuckled. “They had the ‘EXPRESS LANES CLOSED’ warnings on.”

Zach nodded. “Maybe they’re getting things together. Should we go into Seattle?”

“NO!” Lizzie felt her heart begin to pound; her lungs compressed. “Please.”

A whine came from Spike in the back.

“Okay.” Zach’s voice was calm. “When we get back.”

Lizzie's chest felt tight. “I don’t mean to freak— Once we decided... I can’t.”

Nev reached across the back seat and hugged her. “Lizzie, no worries. It’s all good. Even if it’s not.”

Lizzie’s heart slowed. “Thanks.” She enjoyed the warmth of Nev’s arms around her.

“Girl, you got a direction, something to do.” Nev whispered in her ear. Then louder she continued, “Zach and I are along for the ride, right?”

Zach reached across and squeezed her knee. “Yeah. We’re gonna go meet your dad and Jess and then we decide on other stuff.”

The rain fell as the sky faded. With no traffic, they made good time. Stopping in North Bend to refill the gas tank and empty their bladders, they snagged ice cream, coffee and junk food, then drove on into the darkening evening.

Lizzie watched the wipers hypnotically splash away the giant raindrops. Tom Petty sang “Hard on Me;” the raindrops split into little lumps.

“Snow.” Zach turned the wipers up a notch. “Pretty wet, though. We should be fine.”

“Looks like God spit,” Nev joked.

“Slain,” Lizzie said, “slush and rain.”

The Tank’s lights cut through the darkness. The snow thickened until it reminded Lizzie of the movie two days ago. “Prepare for jump to hyperspace?” she said.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Nev laughed.

“Trust the force.” Zach growled in low tones.

They all laughed. Spike joined in with an awkward breathy guffaw. Did he understand?

They climbed toward the pass as the flakes grew and everyone slipped back into their own thoughts.

“Glad we have this beast of a truck.” Zach’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

“It doesn’t look deep.” Nev said. “I love how pretty the trees are. Feels like Christmas.”

“No. it’s not deep. We’ll stay in the middle of the highway and keep on going.” Zach grinned. “Four-wheel drive hasn’t even kicked in yet.”

“We gonna make it over the pass?” Lizzie ran her fingers over her old scars.

“Yeah.”

But Lizzie saw his jaw strain as tight as his fingers. Suddenly she felt the truck turn, but Zach’s hands hadn’t moved on the wheel. His eyes widened.

The Tank slid. The automatic 4X4 light flashed. The vehicle shook sideways. They slipped toward the edge of the road. Her seatbelt dug into her shoulder. Saj is in his car-seat.

“Shit!” Zach spun the wheel. It didn’t make any difference in their direction.

Zach turned the wheel toward the cliff.

“Zach!” Lizzie yelled.

“Trust me!” Zach yelled back.

Time slowed. She pictured them rolling down into the trees, the Tank exploding in a blast of fire in the pure white snow. The snowbank didn’t look high enough to stop them. The stereo pounded bass.