Full Speed Combat Mode
Seth was jarred awake by the sound of the city emergency siren wailing. He sat up in a frazzled haze. He heard the blaring of a bull horn. He heard the rough drone of the voice echoing through it in the darkness, muffled by distance and the chaotic sounds of unrest in the streets. Moab was a small town by any standard, but it had turned on its peaceful residents like a rabid dog.
He left the shelter of his bed and Haven, who lay sleeping beside him, and went outside to stand on the small porch balcony.
The smell of burning rubbish and humidity stung his eyes. Overhead, Blackhawk helicopters ripped through the sky, so close Seth could feel the pound of their propellers beat against his chest. He held the iron railing that enclosed his small porch with white knuckled fear.
His stomach lurched, tightening with the pain of anxiety. Gangs of young men ran along the thoroughfare past his apartment and Seth backed into the shadow of his doorway. Gun shots rang out and pinged off whatever they hit. Shouts of anger and confusion filled the air, screams and the violent crash of windows shattering pushed Seth back inside. He locked the door behind him, leaning his bare back against the cold hardwood, released the breath he had been holding and went to wake Haven.
She was already awake and sitting up in bed. Her chestnut hair was tousled from sleep, but her amber brown eyes were wide. She was clutching the comforter to her knees and gasped when he entered the room. "Where were you," she asked nervously. "And what is going on out there?"
"The town has gone crazy Haven. I think the electricity is out too," Seth told her as he was going for his phone on the nightstand.
Haven got up and quickly dressed. She grabbed her own phone but as Seth suspected there was no service. They looked at each other silently fearing what the other was thinking.
Seth's jaw was clenching, and he ran a hand over the top of his head. Haven watched him get dressed.
He was muscular and lean. Several years of ranch work had tanned him to burnished gold and his dark hair which he kept in a military crew matched the days worth of dark beard stubble on his chin. A chin that was stubborn and resolute but could also be relaxed and smiling.
Seth was a deep soul, melancholy at times and introspective, but he had the heart of a true patriot and a gentleman. He was instantly taken to Haven, meeting her at Hollis and Verbena's diner. After weeks of friendly banter, he finally asked her out, but she had declined, explaining that she wasn't going to be in Moab long.
She was pregnant and living at a halfway house until she gave birth. She was expected to give the child up for adoption which was the foundation of the center which took her in, but after that she would be going back to Ohio where she was from.
Seth had respected her wishes and her decisions, never pressing her but he was never far from any need she had. Even at Hollis' gentle warning that he should probably not become attached to her, Seth was just always there in that safe, familiar kind of way and Haven had found herself deeply attracted to him.
One night after giving in and allowing Seth to take her out to a movie, they went back to his place and stayed up all night talking and laughing. When he pulled her up off the couch and kissed her, she kissed him back. He slowly undressed her, and she let him. He caressed her body and she didn't stop him. When he took her to his room and made love to her that morning, she hadn't realized how lonely she had been.
They had tried to keep the relationship secret, but she was sure everyone knew. He said he didn't care. Haven hadn't returned to the pregnancy center but since they had been together, Seth had tried to discourage her from giving up her baby. She refrained from discussing it because the center was adoption based and had families waiting for newborns. Those families paid the bills for the girls. Haven shook off the thought because Seth and the center social worker, Linda, had gotten into a huge argument at the diner the other day when they first heard about the sickness in Salt Lake City. Linda had tried to make Haven go with her, but Seth wasn't hearing it. He told her straight up to stay out of it. Haven left with Seth because she wanted to.
Linda left mad, but it didn't really matter now.
Seth was dressed and together they went to the kitchen where a clock hung over the refrigerator. It was five am.
Haven knew instinctively he was thinking about his mom. He hadn't heard from her in days and now it would be impossible to contact her or anyone. She went to him and held him around the waist. He melted against her, secure in her embrace and buried his face in the scent of her hair.
1It was hard to be brave when everything around him was falling apart, and he whispered against her head, "I'm afraid Haven. We should have stayed with Hollis and Verbena."
She pulled him tighter to her body in answer to his aching honesty. Looking up to his face, she kissed him, and he responded pressing the hard contour of his lips against her mouth. Their igniting passions returned to stark reality when a loud pounding at the door shook them loose from each other's arms. Seth put her behind him and stole over to look out the peep hole.
The banging continued joined now by muffled shouts. Seth opened the door in a rush, reached out and jerked Bretta Howard into their small living room.
She was out of breath, her face white with panic. She threw her backpack on the floor, ran and hugged Haven, and Seth scolded her for being so loud.
"I'm sorry but I couldn't help it! I'm surprised I made it here," she panted. "Have you guys heard from Cole or anyone?" Bretta asked nervously. "Cole was supposed to pick up his son you know, two days ago for the weekend but I haven't heard from him or anyone and now the town doesn't have electricity. It's gone crazy out there. The military had set up a road block near the highway intersection but they've all gone and the donut shop in town was open earlier, but hordes of people came from everywhere and they handed out whatever they had then closed. I was on my way to the diner, but I don't know if it's safe." Bretta took a deep breath and slumped into a chair. "I just want to get home, but there is no way I can make it to Missouri in this mess." She started to cry, and Haven went to console her.
"Seth, what do we do?" Haven asked him reluctantly.
"I think we ought to go to the diner. Try to find Hollis and Verbena. We should stay with them until this is over. I have enough gas to get there," he stated.
Haven agreed. "I'll pack some clothes for us. Bretta did you bring clothes?"
She nodded and pointed to her backpack.
"I stuffed it full of stuff," she admitted. "I wasn't about to stay by myself while the world is going to shit around me, no way."
"Well just stay with us. We'll be safe out at Hollis' and when this clears up, we'll help you get home. Have you talked to your family at all?"
"Yeah. Two days ago. I haven't been able to reach them since."
Seth nodded. "Yeah, me neither. My mom's been stuck at the hospital in Salt Lake City. She told me it was bad. I tried to convince her to get out of there, but she couldn't. Said they were on lock down. If I had known the damn electricity was going to shut off, I would have gone up there and got her, and to hell with her safety rules."
Haven came back with two duffles full of shoes and clothes. The three of them crept out the front door and down the stairs to the parking lot. It was daylight now, and while things had settled down, there was still unease in the streets. Smoke and sirens, racing cars, people stalking the streets and military presence. They threw their bags in the back of Seth's Ford Ranger, climbed in the seat and he pulled slowly out to the road looking all around. His mind was going full speed combat mode as he pulled onto the road.
"Hey Haven, reach behind the seat there and get my rifle out. I want it up here with us."
Haven turned in the seat and went over the back, grabbing Seth's AR and pulling it up and over into her lap. She went for the glove box and got out the box of shells, sprang the clip and started loading shells.
Seth smiled. "That's my girl," he declared with a chuckle. "We're outta here!" he vowed, and they took off heading toward Monticello, Utah. If they were lucky, they would be there in an hour.
〰️
Mark and Sherri had barely left Donelle's ranch-style property hidden in the mountain country regions of the town of Delores and got on the highway when they started to take on gunfire.
There were abandoned vehicles everywhere and it slowed them down. Sherri heard the pop of gunfire and felt the sting of a bullet graze her left arm. She screamed in anger and pain swerving to miss a van and crashed into a line of cars on the side of the road.
Mark saw it happen through his rear-view mirror and slammed on his brakes. He threw it in reverse and backed all the way back to her, bent over and threw open the passenger side door.
"GET IN!" he yelled.
Sherri rolled out of her SUV and onto the ground as gunfire erupted all around them. She ducked and squatted raising up only to fire back in the direction of the incoming fire. Mark rolled his window down enough to get his Glock muzzle through and backed her up. She sprinted for the front seat got in and Mark backed out and floored it. Her arm was pouring blood and she ripped off her shirt, tore off a sleeve and wrapped the wound, tying it off with her teeth. She put the shirt back on and turned to look out the back window.
"MUTHER Fucker!" Mark yelled. "What the hell are these fuckers doing!"
"I think they want the cars," she panted. "They got one, so they'll probably leave now. Doesn't look like we're being followed."
Mark certainly hoped not. He was already going seventy-five and he knew there were curves coming up ahead. Sherri kept her head low but watched behind them telling Mark it was okay to slow down. His heart was racing a hundred miles an hour, but he slowed down to a normal speed. After a few miles he pulled to a stop to look at Sherri's arm.
"Don't worry about me dammit, just get going! I'm okay," she vented sharply.
"Ten-four Babe," he growled back. "Exactly why I married you," Mark ribbed her. "You are the shit."
"Shut up," she laughed halfheartedly. "Just get us there."
They rolled out onto the highway and made it to Route 491, which was a straight shot to Monticello in half an hour. The rest of the trip was uneventful and when they pulled into the diner parking lot the first thing, they saw was Seth's truck.
"I'll be damned," Mark murmured. "We got company."
"Yeah, I bet he's looking for Hollis and Verbena. We'll bring him with us, we could use the help." Sherri added getting out and heading for the door.
Seth came around from the back having heard a vehicle pull in. He had his AR pointed and ready until he noticed who it was then he dropped sight and trotted up with relief on his face.
Mark pointed at his truck. "Dude, why are you parked out front? Every Tom, Dick and Harry are gonna try to steal everything you got," Mark related, telling him about what happened to him and Sherri.
"Oh damn. Is she okay?" Seth asked worriedly.
"Yes," Sherri answered for herself. "Did you get inside yet?"
"Yeah I have a key. Come on, Haven and Bretta are inside. We didn't know what the hell to do when we got here. Hollis and Verbena aren't here."
"They're out at Donelle's." Mark told him. "We came to get extra supplies. It's not looking good for the long term. Y'all need to help us load up and we have to go. It's going to get worse by the minute."
Mark pulled the SUV around back as did Seth his truck and they all went inside. Mark and Sherri immediately whipped everyone into action. Haven was relieved and so was Bretta.
Seth pulled plastic storage containers out of the store room and they started loading them up. Mark grabbed cleaning supplies and all the first aid kits he could find, and Seth told him that Hollis had two guns and plenty of ammo upstairs. The two of them went up and Sherri and the girls started loading the vehicles. Mark and Seth came back with the guns and a whole case of shotgun shells. Seth found some 9mm bullets and got those too.
"Okay, we got to get the hell out of here," Mark rushed them. Seth you and the girls follow. And stay close, there's no telling what we'll come across."
"Here Seth," Sherri handed him her Glock. "Keep it ready. Haven, can you or Bretta handle a gun?"
"I can," Bretta piped up. "I grew up in the country."
"I'm learning," Haven added.
Sherri handed another Glock to Bretta.
"Sorry Haven, we'll get you one when we get to Donelle's okay."
"That's fine. I'm riding in the middle anyway."
"Alright everyone. Let's go. Keep your eyes and ears open. This is full-on military ops," Mark instructed.
"I know some back roads, Mark," Seth mentioned.
"That's a good idea. Lead the way and Sherri and I will back up the rear. Once you start out don't stop for anyone, you hear?"
Seth nodded and they all loaded up. His relief was tantamount to pure elation, but his thoughts strayed back to his mother. Once he got Haven and Bretta safe with Hollis and Verbena, he vowed to get to Salt Lake City and find her and bring her back with him, and to hell with lock downs and hospital rules. Yeah, he thought, all rules were out.