“She said she’d go. Do you want to come along, Dad?” Robert asks after they find Jack upstairs.
“I’d really enjoy that but there are a lot of things to do around here yet. You guys go have a good time,” Jack answers.
Gonzalez notices Jack nod to her wanting a private chat. Stepping away from Robert, Michelle, and Bri, Jack tells her to keep an eye out; that if anything looks or feels wrong, to return immediately. She knows Jack’s meaning with him having recently lost one of his daughters. A tightness clenches her stomach with the responsibility. She’s seen Robert in action more than once and is assured by his ability but she’s also seen that anything can happen at any time in this changed world.
“Yes, sir,” Gonzalez replies as they join Robert, Michelle, and Bri once again.
“Okay, Gonzalez here is in charge and what she says, goes,” Jack says.
“Okay, Dad,” both Robert and Bri reply.
Outside again, with soldiers taking in the sunny morning, Gonzalez, Robert, Michelle, and Bri angle towards the nearest Humvee parked in line with the rest of the vehicles; the sun bouncing brightly off its tan exterior.
“Do you want to drive?” Robert asks her.
“Nah, that’s okay, you know where you’re going so you can,” Gonzalez answers.
They climb in with the metallic sound of the shutting doors ringing across the still morning. The small number of soldiers, relishing their first day without having to worry about duties related to their survival, is startled and turns their heads at the sharp sounds. Gonzalez, sitting in the passenger seat, loosens her vest and places her M-4 at her side. Robert starts the vehicle as Michelle and Bri get settled in the back. The heavy thrum of the diesel engine vibrates the interior and Robert pulls out of the parking lot. Glancing in her side mirror, Gonzalez watches Jack grow smaller as they pull over the small hill and he disappears from view.
They drive to the heavy steel gates drawn across the entrance road. Robert pulls to a stop near the barred gates and two soldiers, these from Horace’s Green Team, lift the cross beam and swing the gates open. The heavy steel bar holding the gates fast has a fulcrum on one end to make the lifting easier. Gonzalez gives a wave to the two soldiers as they pull through the opening and out onto the road that eventually connects with the Interstate.
Turning southbound on the Interstate, they head toward town. The smell of smoke lingers in the air from the neighborhood burns they conducted earlier but the brownish haze has vanished, replaced with pristine scenic views of the mountains to both sides in the distance. The grass in the medians between the north and southbound lanes has grown measurably since their arrival and threatens to cut off the view of the other lanes. There’s a freshness to the air that she senses; perhaps in part knowing they are more secure in their environment.
Their initial conversation centers on her asking how their training is going but that drifts off as each folds into their own thoughts; hers wandering back to her family. She sends a silent prayer out for them as they progress down the highway with the sun streaming in the side windows. She feels thankful for the group of survivors and for Jack’s and Lynn’s leadership in getting them to this point and place but there’s a hardness settling in about finding her family; the determination to do so getting stronger. However, she also has a sense of responsibility to the group and won’t venture off on her own. If they don’t let her go, she’ll stay but knows the gnawing inside her will remain until she knows for sure.
Shaking the thoughts from her head, she rolls down the window to allow fresh air in and relishes in the pervasive energetic feeling it gives her. It’s good to be out for a leisure activity; something she didn’t think would ever happen again. Although confident of her own and the group’s abilities, the events and frenzied activity of the past months left her feeling like they were running on borrowed time. The completion of the wall changed that. Though there are still a lot of things that need to be put in place before they are totally secure, finishing the wall is a relief to them all. Now if we can just get ourselves into a place where we don’t have to go into buildings, then I’ll feel much better, she thinks as she watches the trees by the side of the road flash by. If I never have to set foot into another darkened building again, I’ll feel fortunate.
She watches as Robert turns off the highway and heads further into Olympia, progressing through the outskirts of downtown and onto a road paralleling the open bay to their left. The road is two lanes abutting the bay, the edge giving way to the burned out hulks of houses on the waterfront. A steep cliff rises to the immediate right of them. The ditch alongside the road under the cliff is deep making her think that there must be a lot of water that flows down during the rainy season. She watches the sunlight sparkle off the waters of the large bay; the open water calm with only a hint of waves. The sound of the tires humming along the pavement echoes off the dirt cliff just outside of her open window. The beautiful scene across the shimmering waters, the purr of the wheels kissing the road, the vibration of the Humvee’s powerful motor felt through the soles of her boots, the sun-filled day and fresh air blowing in gives her a sense of peace and calm. A pack of dogs enter the road from the burned structures ahead and take off up a side street that climbs the steep embankment; the pack pausing only momentarily to view the approaching Humvee.
A flash of movement in the side mirror catches her attention. Leaning forward, she sees the front end of a red pickup truck following them and watches it closing in. “We’ve got company,” she tells Robert as she reaches for the microphone.
She hesitates a moment analyzing the situation. The truck is closing in quickly but she isn’t sure of the intentions of the driver or the passengers she sees clearly now. After all, they are still on the lookout for remaining survivors and these people may just be trying to catch them with the same thought in mind. However, until she knows better, she’ll treat the situation with caution particularly given the rate at which the truck is closing in. She starts looking for a side road to take in order to get them out of here. Her plan is to head back to Cabela’s and, if the people right behind her are friendly, they’ll ascertain that when they arrive. However, all of the side roads seem to have vanished and only the steep dirt cliff remains.
“Robert, speed up and keep your eye out for a road. We’ll take the first one that presents itself,” Gonzalez says setting the mic down momentarily to slide the bolt of her M-4 back, chambering a round.
The truck is directly behind them and she turns to look over her shoulder to get a better look. Both Michelle and Bri are also staring out of the back window. The chrome grill, headlights, and part of the windshield are the only visible aspects of the truck through the window. That’s just too fucking close, she thinks noticing also they aren’t honking or flashing their lights to get them to pull over. An uneasy feeling comes over her and she notices Bri turn and chamber a round in her M-4 as well. Robert has pressed down on the pedal gaining speed but she knows they won’t be able to outrun the truck.
Turning back to the front, she looks again for a road exiting off the one they’re on. Nothing ahead. Picking up the mic, she presses the talk button, “Base, Gonzalez here.”
“Base here, go ahead,” she hears a female voice answer through the speaker, thinking that it’s Kathy on the other end.
“We have a vehicle that has started following us. Large red pickup truck,” Gonzalez says glancing in the side mirror again.