Vanguard | Post-Apocalyptic YA

Part 33: Ship Wrecked

"Will! Get up." Dad shakes me awake.

"Is it morning yet?" I mumble before realizing my mistake. "I mean night. Whatever. Just ten more minutes, okay?"

"It's not okay, son," he says, continuing to nudge me up. "Nelly and Jed are gone."

My eyes pop open. "What?"

Dad looks haggard from exhaustion and worry, dark circles rimming his usually cheerful eyes. "Did she say anything to you earlier? Or was there a reason you can think of that they'd just leave us?"

Other than me trying to kiss her and then getting upset that she rejected me? Nawwww.

"Uhm, no," I say as I slowly rise. My shoulder still hurts—actually it's worse than yesterday—but funny enough, I'm actually getting more used to the pain.

"I'm sure there's been some kind of mistake—"

"The van's not there," Ellen interrupts as she walks in. A backpack draped over her shoulder carries our meager belongings. If Nelly and Jed are truly gone, then that's all we have left and we are completely screwed. But she wouldn't do that to us. Would she?

Dad and Ellen help me outside and we stand in the dark entryway looking at the empty parking lot out front. There's a light drizzle and the cloudy sky obscures any hint of the moon. None of us speak and frankly, I'm not surprised. We had several contingency plans, but being ditched without a ride wasn't one of them. I'm about to break the silence and ask 'what now' when a dark shape rounds the building and stops in front of us.

"Get in, guys. My dad's not going to rescue himself," Nelly says cheerfully out the passenger window.

"What the fuck?" Ellen blurts out. "Where have you been?"

Nelly looks genuinely surprised. "What? We took a quick spin around the block to make sure the van was all set and we weren't going to have a wheel pop off or anything. Thought we'd let you sleep a few extra minutes, but whatever. Now, are you coming or what?"

We pile back in and get on the road again. The windscreen is hazy from the rain, but Jed only turns on the wipers when it gets really bad. Since we're running on solar and don't know how long it'll be overcast, we have to conserve as much battery power as possible.

There's plenty of water, but the dry berries, nuts, and grain bars that we've been eating are quickly running out. We can always boil water for the oats we brought, but that's a last resort. Setting a fire risks being seen by rovers, the smoke a dead giveaway for miles around.

After tasting fresh tomatoes, strawberries and oranges grown in and around O-Town, I never thought I'd miss the kelp we frequently had on Vanguard, but here we are. That distinct salty tone mixed with an earthy sweetness makes me long for home. A home I may never see again, especially if we fail to find the real Dr. Scott.

It took me a while to admit it even to myself, but I have ulterior motives to locating Nelly's dad. Sure, we owe it to the man seeing as though my own father assumed his identity for over two decades and took his family's place on Vanguard. But Dr. Scott also went looking for the precious nuclear fuel that can continuously power our only means of long-range transportation. Being able to use the ferry without it relying on Vanguard's core energy source to re-charge would mean that it could make multiple round-trips between Florida and Canada, the place that Casey Chan has identified as radiation-free. Success would mean saving not only the people of O-Town, but also Vanguard. It's a perfect plan, but we're already almost halfway into our time limit and we haven't even reached the power plant, much less found Darren Scott.