“We found some scouts stranded by the lake. They need some help getting home,” said Robert quietly.
“Send them in,” said the deputy. The nametag on the front of his shirt was Murphy.
Robert and Kyle noticed the deputy’s name and realized that this must be the ranger’s brother. The police officer sat down in a chair and pretended to ignore the conversation. He picked up an old magazine and flipped through the pages. He was squinting at the pages, struggling with the thin light getting through the open windows.
“I told them to wait outside,” said Robert. “I need to clear something up first. There has been a terrible misunderstanding. We heard that you are going to hang the man that had that truck out front. All he did was drive those sick kids to get help.”
The police officer stopped looking at the magazine. He peered over its top and continued to listen, as he remained seated.
“How would you know that? Are you with the guy we have locked up?” asked the deputy, now visibly angry.
“You could say that. We know he didn’t do anything wrong,” said Robert, in a more assertive tone.
The deputy drew his pistol and aimed it back and forth at Robert and Kyle. “Get your hands up. That’s a bullshit story. I found my brother’s pistol on your friend. A hanging is too good for him. Maybe a hanging is too good for all of you!”
Robert and Kyle did not move.
“I said get your hands up now!”
Kyle’s hands went immediately up. Robert had buried his hands deep into his front pockets, but he began to remove them, slowly. As his right hand cleared his pocket, he turned his hand to show an object, tightly gripped in his right hand, to the deputy. His other hand displayed the pin from the hand grenade, which he had already pulled.
“Drop it now!” commanded the deputy.
“I don’t think you want me to do that,” said Robert, as he dangled the grenade pin in front of him for the deputy to see. “If you shoot me, I’ll let go of the grenade. Is that really what you want?”
“Everybody calm down,” said the police officer, getting up slowly from the chair. “Let’s just take it easy and work something out. Murphy, you need to put the pistol down before this situation gets worse.” He tossed the magazine to the floor. “I’m going to release their friend, and they’re going to leave.”
“We’ll take the keys to that truck out front, too,” demanded Robert.
“I’m going to get your friend now, okay?” said the police officer, holding his hands up.
“Follow him, Kyle. We don’t want any funny stuff.”
Within a few minutes, Richard was in the lobby with Kyle. Richard was wearing an orange jumpsuit and carrying a bundle of the clothes he had been wearing when he was arrested. Kyle used a set of handcuffs to restrain the deputy and the police officer, cuffing them to each other. Kyle and Richard ran to the truck, piled in, and waited for Robert. Seeing that Richard had started the truck and was ready to go, Robert dashed to the street, jumping into the bed of the truck, and Richard hit the gas. Robert went flat on his back and carefully replaced the pin back into the grenade. Kyle gave Richard directions to the road leading back to the river where they had hid the rafts. The three men jumped into the rafts and headed downstream.
Chapter Twelve
As the endless days turned into weeks again, the men noticed the surrounding terrain gradually change. They saw more farmland with abandoned crops, and the arid grassland faded away as trees became a common sight along the riverbank. Although the men were able and motivated to avoid direct contact with people over these weeks, they did see people with increasing frequency. Some were walking in the fields and others were on horseback. The closest they came to contact, recently, was with a man chopping a tree near the river. They had drifted too close and the man with the axe had his back turned, oblivious to the rafts floating downstream.
On a cloudy morning, the men came upon a bridge crossing the river. It had been weeks since they had seen a bridge. This was a steel-framed bridge supported by large concrete pillars. It was a wide bridge, and because of the billowing dark clouds behind them, they decided to stop beneath it to rest and determine whether a storm was actually on its way. The men pulled their rafts out of the water and tethered them to the riverbank in case of heavy wind from the possible storm. Robert climbed up the embankment, staying under the bridge, looking for an area that would remain dry if it began to rain. He sat down in the dirt and the other two men joined him.
“Anybody want to guess where we’re at?” Robert asked.
“It’s hard to say without a map,” Kyle replied. “I know we’ve covered a lot of distance and the river has turned south now. My guess is we’re deep into the Dakotas.”
“It won’t be much longer before we go through some bigger cities,” said Richard. “We’ve been able to avoid people for a while, but I’m afraid when we get closer to a city, that’s not going to work anymore.”
Robert reflected in silence on what Richard had just said. He knew that Richard was correct. They would not be able to avoid people much longer. The larger cities were getting closer and it would not be long before they had to pass through them. He looked up at Richard, nodded, and then spoke to Kyle. “He’s right. We can try to keep our distance, but when we get to Omaha, we’ll start to get into the thick of this mess. You said you live in the downtown area. My guess is that by now chaos has reached your town. We’ll need to go in fast and get right back out. I plan on carrying the rifle in plain sight to deter the criminal element.” Robert stood up and brushed dirt off his pants with his hands. “Kyle, how do you think your wife is doing?”
“She’s a smart person, a science teacher, so I’m sure she figured out what happened faster than others. She’s thrifty, too. When we went grocery shopping and she saw a good deal on something we could stock the pantry with, she loaded up.” Kyle’s voice trailed into a depressed tone. “There was plenty of food in the house when I left.”
“Kyle, is there something wrong?” asked Robert.
Richard stood up. “Just leave him alone. We’re all in a shitty situation. This sucks for all of us,” said Richard, as he started to climb to the top of the bridge.
Kyle’s silence answered his question. There was something wrong. Kyle glanced up and watched Richard walk away. He then turned to Robert and said, “She’s pregnant. My wife is pregnant.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this before,” said Robert, shocked at his confession.
“There’s nothing you could do about it, and I didn’t want to talk about it. It bothers me to be this far away when I know she needs help,” replied Kyle, showing frustration.
“Do you want to tell Richard now?” asked Robert.
“Where is Richard?” Kyle replied.
Robert stood up and looked around. “He must’ve gone up the embankment to see where we’re at.”
“Go check on Richard while I get some firewood. If it rains, we’ll need it dry,” said Kyle, as he stood up and stretched his tired body.
Robert looked at the dark clouds covering the sky. He still could not tell if it was going to rain, but he did know he should find Richard. Robert walked up the embankment to look toward the road across the bridge. Before he reached the top, he heard Richard’s voice. It sounded like he was trying to talk to someone. When Robert reached the top of the bridge, he saw Richard walking toward the road from a fencerow that was near the bridge and parallel with the road. On the road was a young boy riding a bicycle and holding a fishing pole. Richard was waving his hands at the boy, walking towards him, and telling him to stop. Richard startled the boy, and he quickly turned his bicycle around and peddled away.