Portia ran to the SUV and got in the back.
Leigh was right behind her and got in the front passenger seat.
Crusher, Chef and Gunny jumped into an old Chevy pickup.
Jacob tossed some gear in the back before he got behind the wheel of the SUV. He keyed his radio, “Crusher, you lead us out of here.”
“Roger that, boss,” Crusher replied.
Leigh rolled her window down and stuck out her AR platform rifle. “Why are we always running? We should stay and fight. If we dug in we could take them.”
“There could be more, just keep your eyes open, we don’t need to be racing into an ambush,” Jacob said.
Leigh grumbled.
Portia put her seat belt on and stared out the window.
Jacob caught a glimpse of her in the rear view mirror. A question suddenly came to mind. “You never told me who your husband is. I’m familiar with a few Drivers for The Collective, maybe I know him.”
She locked eyes with him in the mirror and answered, “My husband is Driver Eight.”
He looked away for fear she’d see he knew something. He knew that name and had just heard he was dead. Timing was everything and telling her then that Driver Eight was dead was not the right time.
Five hours and forty-three long slow miles later, Jacob and his team pulled off the back roads and onto a long gravel drive.
“I saw a house, about a half mile in,” Crusher radioed.
“Copy that,” Jacob replied following closely behind Crusher’s truck.
The drive gently winded along a dry creek bed until it stopped at an old cattle guard and gate.
Crusher stopped. He and Chef surveilled the area first before Gunny exited the truck to inspect the gate.
“You sure this is a good idea?” Leigh asked.
“I don’t know,” Jacob replied.
“What’s the problem?” Portia asked.
“Nothing,” Jacob said.
Gunny looked at the rusty gate and found it unlocked and pushed it open. The tired metal screamed as it grinded against itself. He looked at Crusher and waved him on through.
They all passed through the gate with Leigh closing it behind them. Ahead of them sat an old two story house with four outbuildings; one a large barn and the other three were sheds.
Jacob pulled the SUV alongside the front deck and scanned the house and the surrounding area.
Leigh didn’t waste any time, she hopped out and went towards the front door. When she placed her full weight on the first step, her foot broke through the dry rotten wood.
Crusher saw her and began to laugh.
She glared at him and said, “Fuck you.”
“Sorry, that shit was just funny,” Crusher said.
“Your fat ass better watch out then, you’ll fall through the deck,” Leigh shot back. She removed her foot and tried again, this time not breaking through. The house was in bad shape and appeared to have been abandoned for many years.
The team secured the house and out buildings before unloading their gear.
“Let’s get everything inside. I don’t want anything of value in the rigs tonight,” Jacob ordered hauling several packs inside.
Portia approached him and asked, “Can I borrow that phone?”
“Yeah, but let me make a call first,” Jacob said putting down the packs in the front room and removing the phone from his jacket pocket. He powered it on and waited patiently for a message notification to pop up, but nothing. He hit the green call button and waited. The phone rang and rang then disconnected. “Shit,” he said hitting the green button again, this time it didn’t connect. The phone beeped several times signaling he didn’t have any service. “Nothing, no service. We’re out of range of any sats.”
“Can I try?” Portia asked.
“Sure but don’t try too much, I don’t want to run down my battery,” Jacob said offering her the phone.
She took it and then realized she didn’t know her direct line, in fact, she didn’t know anyone’s direct line at The Collective. The phone service there relied on old phone lines. There were several lines at dispatch that allowed outside calls to come in but she didn’t know those numbers. “Jacob.”
“Yeah,” he replied, his attention on unpacking.
“Stupid question, but do you know the direct number for The Collective?”
He laughed. “Sorry, sweetheart, I don’t have them on speed dial.”
How stupid are you? She thought. I have a phone and I can’t make a call because I don’t know the number.
Jacob could see she was upset, he walked over and took the phone. “We’ll figure something out.”
“I need to know if my husband is alive,” she said somberly.
He lowered his head and said, “You said your husband was Driver Eight.”
“Yeah.”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
“What?”
“It might be best if you sat down,” he said pointing to a dining room table in the next room.
Leigh was walking in and overheard his last comment. She scrunched her face and walked past, she was curious about what was happening.
“I don’t need to sit, if you’re going to tell me my husband is dead, it wouldn’t be the first time,” Portia replied standing tall.
Leigh placed a box in the far room and slowly opened the lid and pretended she was sorting through it, her ear locked on their conversation.
“Days ago I had contact with Tommy O’Leary, he’s one of ours if I didn’t mention it before. Anyway, he was heading to The Collective for a job when he’d received word that an old friend of his, a driver, was killed. I don’t know how but he told me his name was Driver Eight.”
“He didn’t mention anything about how?” Portia asked.
“Like I said, he didn’t say how, just that he was dead.”
Portia went to the dining table and sat down. She put her head in her hands and began to weep. She had been told of Kyle’s death before and it turned out to be a lie but this time it did make sense. All she had to do was look at her situation. Here she was hundreds of miles away from the one place she could call home. She had been almost sold into slavery and was witness to a Generate blood ceremony. It was conceivable Kyle was dead, a victim of Barry’s.
Leigh’s hard edge melted away. She walked over and knelt next to Portia. “I heard, I’m sorry.”
“I’m alone,” Portia whimpered.
Jacob came up and said, “You’re not. You’re with us now.”
“He’s right, you’re with us,” Leigh said softly rubbing Portia’s back.
It wasn’t often that Jacob witnessed Leigh’s softer side and he liked it. “I’m going to let you all talk, time to get the rest of the gear and secure the vehicles.”
“I want to go with you,” Portia blurted out to Jacob as he walked away.
He stopped and turned around, “To Paradise?”
“Yes, I want to go with you. I don’t know if it’s real but this place doesn’t offer me anything anymore. Whatever I can do, ask of me. I know I’m not Leviathan, but I’ll carry my weight.”
Jacob glanced at Leigh who returned it with a smile. “Deal, welcome to the team.”
Kyle pulled his truck over and fueled up. From his vantage point he had a good view of the city below. He had made the decision right from the start that he was going directly through Grand Junction, regardless of The Generate activity. Anything else would take him another half day or more, something he couldn’t do.