Foster figured that Abby finally took advantage of an opportunity to die and stayed in the street until a soldier shot her.
He’d always remember Abby. He felt bad that she had died, but a part of him was happy for her because she was reunited with the family she had lost.
The house he found had been converted into apartments and Foster took Judith to the second floor to be safe. He dragged the bodies out and down the hall. He found clothing in the other apartments for him and for Judith.
What he found for her was a house dress. It was probably something someone much older than Judith would wear, but it was better than her blood stained clothes. That and a pair of cotton stretch pants, the type his second foster mother wore all the time to Bingo. He forewarned Judith that she was not going to be a fashion statement. To which she replied, “At least I don’t have to see what I look like.”
For himself he found a pair of jogging pants and shirt.
They both had started to smell sour and he knew it. He ran a bath in the second floor apartment for her. The water was cool, but not ice cold. He was able to use the gas line and a match to boil some water. He added that to the bath.
“Towel.” He placed it in her hand and then brought her hand to the toilet next to the tub. “Soap is to your left with the shampoo. Just reach out. Call me and I can help you if you want. I promise not to look.”
“Jimmy,” she said as she grabbed his hand. “You are very kind. For this God is going to reward you.”
“Let’s just hope his reward is getting us to somewhere safe.”
“Let’s hope.”
“I’ll let you be,” Foster said. “I’m going to head right next door and take a quick shower. I won’t be long, I promise. You soak. If you need anything, call.”
Judith nodded.
She undressed when she heard him leave the bathroom. Her blouse stuck to her body and she had to peel it from her. She removed the remainder of her clothes, felt for the edge of the tub, lifted her leg and stepped inside.
The water was hot and she couldn’t wait to settle down.
Her body sunk into the water and the instant it engulfed her, Judith wanted to collapse.
Her chest felt heavy and in the middle of reaching for the soap, she started to cry. Clutching the bar between her fingers, she didn’t move.
She couldn’t see a thing except for a change in lighting. How helpless she truly was. She couldn’t find her own food, her way; she couldn’t even draw her own bath.
It was at that instant it hit her that if everyone from the bus had died as well as everyone in the area, then chances were everyone she knew and loved was probably gone as well.
She was alive by the grace and compassion of a teenage boy who didn’t need to sacrifice his own well being for her, but did.
In that tub, body aching, Judith prayed for those she lost, for those alive and struggling and for the young man named Jimmy who had become nothing less than an angel to her. And while she prayed, she continued to cry.
The bikes were hidden in the bushes. Ben and Lana withdrew deeper into the foliage and huddled together under a blanket tent.
They had trekked a good fifteen miles and the final few miles were killers.
They weren’t teenagers anymore and the fact that they stayed clear of the road most of the time didn’t help.
The bicycle ride wasn’t easy.
They found a Wal-Mart just before they knew they were going to have to stop. There they grabbed some blankets and pillows, a small flashlight, water and food.
Deep in the wooded area, at least a hundred feet from where they hid the bikes, they laid down some blankets and using a darker one, made a makeshift tent. They hoped their attempt at camouflage would prevent them from being spotted from the air.
The tent hid the light from the flashlight and they huddled together sharing a can of Dinty Moore beef stew. They had grabbed a bottle of booze from the convenience store and sipped on that along with the water. The alcohol kept them warm, busy and numb to what was happening.
“We didn’t make much progress today,” Lana said as she inched closer to Ben, putting her spoon in the can. “You can finish that off.”
“Nah, I’m good.” He placed his own spoon in the can and set it down. “Maybe we can eat more later. And we have made great progress.”
Lana chuckled. “Hardly.”
“Hey, we’re chipping away at the miles.”
“And we’re safe.”
“That, too. I think though, we’ll remain safe for a while and more so when we get to Canada.”
“We don’t have any documentation; you think they’ll let us through.”
“I’m sure they have provisions for refugees.”
“Refugees?” Lana asked.
“That’s what we are, Lana, refugees. How many times have we seen it on the news? A country goes to war and people leave it. You see them by the masses making an exodus to the next country.”
“Ben? Let me ask you a question. Do you think we’re wrong for leaving?”
Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. How much can we do?”
“But how much can they do?”
“What do you mean?” Ben asked.
“It’s a big country. How much have they really taken or attacked.”
“I don’t know and that’s why our plan is to head into Canada. Play it safe, Lana, safe and alive.”
“For all the years we’ve had together, even the rough ones, I’m glad we were together the other morning. I’m glad I was on that train with you.”
“Me, too.” He pulled her to him, guiding her head to his shoulder. “Me, too.”
‘What’s in the box, Harry?’
Tyler asked Harry again and Harry explained to him that it was important, even more so with all that was going on now. And Harry also told him he could unwrap the box and look inside if he wanted to.
“I’m curious,” Harry told him. “I wonder if you can figure out what it is.”
Those words made Tyler curious, too.
He asked Harry again, when they went to the storage to get their things. Harry made sure he grabbed that box, stating it was far too valuable to leave in the car. He wanted it with them at all times.
What was in the box?
It was metal. Tyler learned that by knocking on it, and heavy. But was it the box that made it heavy or the contents? It didn’t feel like there was much in there. In fact, when Tyler moved the box, the contents moved too.
But he dared not shake it.
After all, it was valuable.
When they arrived in the small town, Tyler was tired and hungry. He didn’t want Harry to know he was hungry, Harry had worked too hard to move them and feed Tyler. Tyler didn’t want to come across as ungrateful.
But he was hungry.
Harry’s friend, George, gave Tyler some cheese crackers and juice while the old friends caught up. Somewhere in the middle of his crackers, Tyler put his head down in Harry’s lap and fell asleep.
It was his longest nap ever.
He didn’t get to hear much about what was going on. Harry filled him in over supper. He told him that people had come to the country and started a fight.
“The whole country?” Tyler asked.
“I doubt that,” Harry told him. He then explained it was a big country and that more than likely, whoever was starting trouble, was just taking a small piece as their own —just enough for them to have some sort of control over the United States.
Tyler didn’t quite understand it until Harry explained it.
“What’s your favorite toy besides a ball?” Harry asked. “Do you like cars, toy soldiers? Is there anything you collect?”
Tyler nodded. “Action figures. Especially wrestling.”
“Ok, now let’s suppose they only made a hundred, special edition wrestling figures. And suppose you found every one of them and had it all to yourself. Now let’s say some kid at school wanted to fight you for it.”