Lizzie tried to swallow, but felt choked. “His name is Duke.”
“Should we stop and try and catch him?” Zach asked. “Sorry, I didn’t believe you.”
“And do what?” Lizzie felt exhausted, drained, the warm sweat now chilled her. “I don’t want to kill him, too.”
“We better get some additional protection,” Zach said. “Keep an eye out for a sporting goods store. Shoulda grabbed Grandpa’s rifle.”
“Forget the rifle, Zach.” Lizzie laid her hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll need something anyway. We’re heading into the wilderness. Two legged predators might not be the only ones.” Zach slammed on the brakes. The Tank skidded to a stop. “Where’d I put the guns?” His hands twitched.
“I don’t know,” Nev answered.
“Mine’s up inside the back seat,” Lizzie said.
“Shit.” He slapped on the dashboard. “The ones we got from Yeager’s are on Snoqualmie Pass, stuck in the tool chest on the trailer.”
“Well, hell,” Lizzie said.
“Who’s C.J.?” from the back Charley’s voice whistled softly, “Who’s Duke? Why do we need guns?”
Spike whined.
“Bad men,” Lizzie said. “We probably don’t need guns, but—” Here came her Mama’s words, “Better safe than sorry.” The Snake River running alongside the freeway caught her eye. Idaho was on the other side. Lizzie wished they were already in Salt Lake City hanging out with her dad and Jess.
“Shit,” Lizzie said. “Glen can help us find gun shops. He said he’s got loads of data.” She texted Glen the question.
He called her back in a few minutes. “I’ve got a bunch of addresses. Lock, Stock and Barrel is about five or six miles out of the way near the Idaho border.”
Lizzie’s insides twisted. She didn’t want any more delays. “Anything closer to our path?”
“There’s this one. Great name.” Glen chuckled on the phone. “T-Bone’s Buns and Guns. Sandwiches and gun shop.”
Lizzie repeated it for the others in the SUV.
Zach nodded. “How close?”
“Twelve miles,” Glen said.
He told Lizzie the address and she relayed it to Zach.
They found the shop manned. The sign flashed open and sitting outside was a big man with a long scraggly salt and pepper beard.
“Welcome to Idaho, folks. Guns or Buns?” He grinned as they climbed out of the tank.
“Some of both, I think.” Lizzie smiled back, stepping inside as he opened the door for her. For a moment everything felt like the old days, before the disease. But the anxiety returned. They were here for guns to protect themselves. “Food first, we haven’t had bread in weeks.”
“Ours is fresh. Well, day old, but that’s pretty damn fresh. Driven in from Boise yesterday.” The big man turned and called back, “Jenny?”
“Yeah?” An annoyed female voice responded.
“We got more customers. Wash your hands.”
“Awesome.” She did not sound enthused.
They ordered sandwiches. The man at the counter might have been T-Bone, but he never introduced himself. He chattered. Where were they from? How was the weather? Had they been to Boise? Sounded like Idaho was doing pretty well. Lizzie and the others answered the questions, but the friendliness didn’t stop her from being suspicious.
The sandwiches were good. While they ate, the only sounds were T-Bone’s running monologue and Spike’s chewing. Lizzie tore off bits of her sandwich for Saj and Nev copied her. When the food was gone they bussed their own tables. As they were cleaning up, the man Lizzie decided was T-Bone opened the cabinets with the guns.
“What are you folks intending to pay with?” T-Bone rubbed his chubby hands together like he was getting ready to make a deal.
Lizzie looked to Zach. What the hell was worth anything? “Will you take cash?” She smiled at him.
“Well. That depends. How much do you have? I expect sooner or later, it’ll be worth something. There’s people in Boise forming a government and talking about using good old American dollars as currency. Of course, with all of it lying around, dollar’s worth even less than it used to be. Also, depends on how much you’re planning on buying. Jewelry’s my usual currency.”
Zach picked out an old-looking rifle. “This reminds me of my Grandpa’s favorite.”
“30 ought 6. Good choice. Probably the most common bore.”
The wad of bills Zach had stolen for gas had hardly been used. He handed it to T-Bone, who took all but $20. Zach shrugged. “Easy come, easy go.”
Lizzie’s nerves, already on the edge, didn’t like giving away all that cash. Even if it was only useful for vending and gas pay machines. And why would this guy even take it? Don’t be paranoid, Lizzie.
Charley was sitting quiet, watching T-Bone with sharp eyes.
Lizzie wondered if Charley was suspicious, too.
“Don’t want to leave you flat broke.” T-Bone smiled. “Don’t want to rip you off either. Now, you ladies want something?”
Nev shook her head.
Lizzie looked over the guns in the cabinet. She had the shotgun, but maybe something smaller. The jewelry she’d pilfered from the houses didn’t mean anything to her and they could always get more. “Zach, pick me out a hand-gun, maybe one for you, too. And a rifle for me. Not too much kick. I’ll go get my rings and stuff.” Zach’s eyebrow arched, but he nodded and turned back to the case.
Nev followed Lizzie to the tank with Saj in her arms. “Lizzie, you’re gonna give him your jewelry?”
Lizzie didn’t look at Nev. “It’s not really my jewelry. Just some things I picked up.”
Nev didn’t respond except to say, “I’ll put Saj in his car seat and wait for you all out here.”
T-Bone seemed like a nice guy, and how much choice did they have other than wild-goose chasing off the path. Charley came out of the store leading Spike as Lizzie headed back in with her Crown Royal bag of treasure.
“You boys, want to get in the car, too?” Lizzie asked.
Charley nodded, his face set in a frown.
“What’s wrong?” Lizzie stopped him.
“I don’t like that man.”
Lizzie patted his shoulder. “Yeah, not sure I do either, but he has what we want. What we need. Get in the car so we can get going as soon as Zach and I are done.
“Okay.” Charley tugged on Spike. “Come on, big guy. I’ll teach you some more words.” He dangled the rest of his sandwich in front of Spike’s face.
Lizzie couldn’t help but laugh. Charley was a good addition to the family.
As she turned away, her stomach twisted. Lunch came up in the bushes next to the building. The sandwich she’d eaten wasted on a shrubbery. Shit. Don’t freak out. She wanted to feel safe. She spit to clean her mouth and went back inside.
Zach had picked out a snub-nosed .38 and a .22 rifle with a magazine for Lizzie.
“It won’t stop anything big,” he explained, “but it’ll shoot every time you pull the trigger.”