Toils and Snares - Deserted Lands #0.5

CHAPTER FOUR - Part II

Right now, Samuel wanted to be as far away from the rest of humanity as possible. “We’re still heading west.”

“What about a boat?” James asked softly behind him.

Sam spun realizing he was excluding Ria and James. They were adults and soon-to-be parents. They deserved a voice. He stepped back to let them into the conversation. 

“We’d lose the trucks,” Ria countered.

“Trucks we can replace.” Anna bounced Noah, running her fingers through his hair.

“There might still be people with guns on the other side—” Samuel said. “Should we turn around and head to some other wilderness?”

“We could go to the Rez,” James offered.

“We’re going to Quinault,” Anna said in her one who will be obeyed voice.

“Astoria first,” Samuel said. “But we come up on it slow.” No response. Samuel’s gaze swept across the other adults. They offering any ideas of their own. “If we have trouble there, we make another plan. We don’t have to go to Quinault.” He found Anna’s eyes. She said nothing aloud, but her eyes said plenty. “Okay. We will go to Quinault.” How many holes would he dig himself tonight? Once Anna got something in her head, there was no dissuading her.

Samuel smoothed Abi’s hair. Noah’s eyes were active. He knew everyone was on edge.

Back on the road, Anna fumed; Samuel recognized the posture. She refused to look his direction. He concentrated on driving once it became clear that she wasn’t talking. At least the adrenaline kept him wired. When the lights behind him flashed, Samuel realized he’d been zoning. Anna’s head lolled, her mouth open. At least she could sleep and maybe wake up not pissed off at him. A sign flashed by: Welcome to Astoria. Population nine thousand five hundred twenty-nine.  “None-thousand,” Sam muttered to himself. He slowed and rubbed his eyes as James pulled up beside him.

Ria rolled her window down. “Well?” she asked.

Samuel sighed. “I really want to drive on through.”

“Okay.” Maria nodded with a glance to James. He nodded, too. “Let’s do it.”

“Turn off the lights and drive slow.” He glanced down at the buildings, the city demarcated by the street lights. There were dark sections. “We don’t stop for anything. We can’t afford to.”

Sam let the beast of a vehicle and its trailer roll forward picking up speed as they descended into Astoria. Samuel slowed even further where lights were out.  Astoria was pretty small. Had everyone left? Gone to a bigger city to find a cure? The back of his neck tickled, his nerves came to life, firing as he drove.  His family was being watched. There were people here. Still alive. His animal instincts kicked into high gear. His gaze snapped to the rear view mirror. He thought he saw movement—human movement. Don’t stop, Sam. Keep going.

The darkness enveloped the vehicles. Do we go across with lights off or do we make it clear we are coming, but we’re coming slow? I don’t want to slink. Sam flipped the lights back on. Ahead slow... Drive.
A wave of dizziness hit as Samuel realized he had been holding his breath. The vehicle rolled down the incline, past the middle of the bridge eliciting memories from years ago. When Ria was little, before he met Anna, he and Ria would hold their breath over the water or through tunnels. As she got older she freaked out that he would pass out and drive off the bridge. When had he stopped breathing here? Had Ria done the same in the car behind them?

He jerked himself back to the present, rolled his window down, and searched with all his senses. Nothing. Up ahead, he saw headlights, but no sandbags, broken bridges or armed men. Cones blocked part of the lane. He drove past them. The headlights of police car stared at him. He drove by slowly, peering through the glare. A body, head slumped against the window, was the only thing guarding this Columbia River crossing. He let the air escape again and sucked in another grateful breath.

They were across. He glanced around. Everyone in his car still slept. Oh, Hell, oh, well. Let them sleep. He chuckled, a strange euphoria bubbling up as his chest expanded. He pumped his fist out the window for Maria and James. Their lights flashed high-low-high. All of that build-up for nothing.

This route promised twisting back roads. He had gone this way with Anna once, stopping at a little hick bar in the middle of nowhere. The people were friendly, but even back then you couldn’t help thinking that if they wanted to do Deliverance on your ass, they could and would and no one would be the wiser. Maybe he should go the long way. Highway 101 North was also winding, but it seemed less likely to be blocked by folks like the ones who had shot at him earlier.

Abi’s snuffly nose woke her. Sam tried to soothe her with his voice, but her coughs woke Anna, too. She flipped her seat back and spun around to comfort Abi.

When Abi slipped back into sleep, Anna glanced at the side of the road. “We’re in Washington?”

“Yeah. Crossed the bridge at Astoria. No one there. Not that we saw anyway.”

Anna nodded, calmer and happier than he’d seen her in days. He grasped her hand; she put it to her lips, smiling sleepily as she lay down on her side in the seat.

In a few minutes Sam heard her light snore. But Abi woke more and more often. Every time she woke up and fussed, Anna did, too. Anna’s manner became more and more manic. Was this going to be it? The end of the line for Anna’s belief in their salvation from God.

Sam tossed the facts back and forth in his mind, hoping they’d fall into some sort of neat order. But all he got was more questions. If Abigail had the sickness, it meant the rest of them had been exposed, too. And once infected, the mortality rate was somewhere over eighty percent. That meant most of them were going to die unless they really were immune. Sam’s jaw clamped down. What could he do for his family if someone got sick or hurt? Not that it mattered. No hospitals were accepting new patients. The City of Portland had turned the downtown park blocks into mass graves.

But his family was here. They were alive.

Sam reached over, flicked the radio on, and punched the volume button all the way down. He switched the stereo sound to front and left before gently raising the level. He hit the search button and paused when it found a signal. Some stations still played music, as if the only thing wrong this Halloween night was that somebody had to pull the late shift. But any music playing now was canned. When the low band NPR stations came in, he stopped and listened. The messages were the same as they’d been for the last few weeks. He listened anyway. There might be something new.

The announcements droned on. The drowsiness returned and Samuel hit the search button, stopping on a heavy metal station. After a bit, he opened his window a crack. The cold would help him stay awake.

But it didn’t, he woke when his wheels crossed the rumble strip on the side of the road.  He gripped the steering wheel as Anna jerked up to a sitting position.

Lights behind him flashed up and down. He urged the Suburban back inside the white line. The trailer complained at the rough treatment. The adrenaline had worn off and now he had given himself another dose. “Shit.”

“Where are we?” She glanced around, but all that was visible were the lines going down the road and the evergreen trees lining the ditches.

“Almost to Raymond.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Figured I might need you to spell me.”

“Like now? You just about drove off the road.”

“Yeah.” The pandemic might get them if he didn’t kill them all first.

“We’ll stop in Aberdeen. See if there’s a motel or something. Or we sleep in the vehicles.”

A sign for Artic RV Park made up his mind for him. He turned down through the arch. “Let’s go here. Bathrooms. Showers in the morning. Nobody around. Who’d bother? Hey, there’s a pub, too.”

The power was on, but the emptiness of the camp made Samuel think of horror movies. At any moment a guy with a hockey mask and an ax might walk out of the woods. Or Bigfoot. Did he want to take the time to put up a tent? No. Sleep in the rigs. Bad weather, animal prowlers or two-legged ones… When the sun came up, he’d wake up and go the rest of the way in the light.