All Is Silence - Deserted Lands #1

Chapter 21 - Part I

LIZZIE COULDN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT her dad, though he and the nurse both said there was nothing to worry about. The drive south had been quiet, but Saj was getting fussy. He squirmed, whining. She sniffed his diaper, nothing. Maybe he sensed her mood. Or maybe he was tired of riding in the car seat. She didn’t blame him; her butt was sore, too.

“Zach?” Lizzie leaned forward. “Can I get some driving in?”

“Hey,” Nev said, “Me, too.”

Zach glanced back at her in the rear view mirror. “Sure.” He pulled the Tank to the side of the road and hopped out.

“Nev,” Lizzie asked, “you got Saj?”

“Yeah.” Nev got in back. “How’s my little buddy?”

Lizzie climbed up into the driver’s seat, a lot farther from the ground than the CRV or anything else she’d ever tried to drive. “This thing is a monster.”

Zach got into the passenger seat. “It’s a gentle giant. You point it, give it a little gas and it goes where you tell it.”

“Everybody belted in?” Lizzie adjusted the mirrors. She could see Saj focus on Nev, quiet for the moment. “Saji? Sissie’s gonna drive!” She took a deep breath and depressed the accelerator. The motor revved, but nothing happened. She looked over at Zach in the passenger seat, a pained look on his face.

“You’re in park and your e-brake’s on.”

Lizzie nodded, popped the emergency brake release and pulled the shift into drive. She pressed the gas pedal and they rolled forward.

Zach nodded. “Here we go.”

Nev laughed. “I’m glad I went without a driver in the car. I did the same thing.”

A few random cars sat on the side of the road; some had dates in neon orange paint on the windows, now faded in the sun. After a few miles Lizzie had the Tank up to the speed limit. She felt barely in control. The power steering was too loose and easy for such a big vehicle; with a slight delay, it had a sliding bounce. Once going the freeway driving was much easier than stop and go in a city.

Cars rolled north on the other side of the highway in long intervals. Like her group they were full of people. The first one was exciting, a miracle, like the tigers. It felt weird. In the old days the highway would have been full of cars with single people. Now folks were coming together, even if they were strangers. But wasn’t everybody alive kind of family?

In her experience family wasn’t what it should have been: Jerkwad, Mama and her father. Even her little brother was an annoying jerk most of the time. The friends she chose usually treated her better than family. And they didn’t understand why she didn’t trust anyone. Now everybody alive was part of a big dysfunctional family and keeping distance made sense. C.J. was an example of that dysfunction. She kept glancing in the rear view mirror, expecting to see his brother coming after her. But the highway behind was always empty.

Her shoulders were tense and eventually her hands were cramping. “Think I’m done. All tired and achy.” She felt like she’d been driving for hours, but it looked like about 25 minutes. She pulled off I-5 near the Ft. Lewis exit and jumped down from the driver’s seat.

“Relax next time,” Zach said. “You did good. Nev? You wanna drive through Olympia?”

“Yeah, sure.” She climbed into the driver’s seat. She sat there for a minute and then spoke, not to Lizzie or Zach, but to the windshield. “I want to stop in Tumwater. Check in on the folks I stayed with. Tell them I’m okay. Lizzie? You all right with that?”

“Of course.” Why did Nev think she would throw a fit? She understood Nev wanting to check on her temporary family. I’m not that bad, am I? Lizzie was too exhausted to give it more thought.

Nev switched the radio back on, some sort of techno dance station, but at least it didn’t have many words.

She lay the seat back and tried to follow Saj’s lead and take a nap, but every little jog of the Tank pulled her awake. Once her tired brain convinced her that Nev was driving them off a cliff. The next time C.J. and his brother were pulling her from her seat. So much for sleep. She played through her messages from Mama and the videos of Jayce.

Saj napped with the peaceful abandon of a toddler, his fist curled around her thumb. She smiled and watched his eyelids flutter at some pleasant dream. Instead of trying to find her own peace she immersed herself in his. She tuned out the passing scenery, the past, and all that lay behind them.

As she finally nodded off, the truck stopped. Lizzie sighed and pulled herself through the haze to reality. She pushed her head away from the window. Had she slept? They must have gotten through Olympia to Tumwater. Nev jumped out and jogged over to a nondescript, brown split-level house.

Lizzie wiped the fog her breath had formed on the window. A middle-aged couple answered the door, a stream of children poured out, bouncing around Nev. Lizzie watched the scene through the smeared wet glass, like something out of a movie—the perfect family reunion.

Then Nev turned and waved at the truck. She ran back and patted Zach’s window. He rolled it down.

“They’ve invited us for dinner,” Nev said, out of breath. “Did you know today is Thanksgiving? Whattaya say?”

Lizzie shrugged. “We gotta eat somewhere.” Maybe this Turkey Day wouldn’t end up with drunk people yelling at each other.

“You know me,” Zach added, “I’m always hungry.” He climbed out and let Spike out of the back seat. Spike squatted staring at all the people.

Lizzie caught Zach’s eye as Nev ran back to the house. Not too long, she mouthed and tapped the back of Jayce’s watch. “I’ll wait out here until Saj wakes up, ‘kay?” He gave her a thumbs-up and followed Nev.

Saj stirred. Lizzie cooed at him and rubbed the bridge of his nose to keep him asleep. Spike cocked his head sideways watching her. “You don’t want to go in either, do you, Spike?” His head changed sides, still staring. Lizzie let Saj sleep. Zach came out with deviled eggs and rolls. She took an egg and swallowed it in two bites, the peppery paprika taste burned pleasantly. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Zach fed Spike an egg. It disappeared in a bite and Spike’s mouth was open again.

Zach placed a roll in his hand. “Dinner’s ready in a few minutes.”

“Great.” Lizzie said. Saj stirred and whined as his eyes opened. “How is it in there?”

Zach gave a noncommittal, “Fine.”