The Day After Never (Book 4): Retribution Read online

  Lucas looked into her eyes. “That’s the world we live in. We didn’t ask for it, but we’ll damn sure deal it out when it comes looking.”

  “I just wish we could catch a break.”

  Lucas shook his head ruefully. “Afraid this is the break.”

  The engines started again and the procession rolled forward through the inch of sand that covered the road, only a few rusting vehicles impeding their progress as the sun ascended overhead. The grade steepened when they entered the mountains, and the landscape grew green and lush, with pine trees appearing along the route, fronted by tall grass billowing in the wind.

  When the first horse trailer motor coughed several times and then stalled, Lucas was unsurprised. He glanced down at the odometer and braked.

  “How are you boys doing?” he called to the drivers from his window.

  “On fumes,” the first said. The others echoed the news. Lucas stepped from the Humvee and strode to the nearest bus. He climbed aboard to look at the fuel gauge and then shook his head.

  “We knew this would happen. The good news is we’re only twenty or so miles away, tops. The bad news is we can’t run the trucks dry – they’d leave a trail even a blind man could find, and it would be only a matter of time before we attracted the wrong kind of attention,” he said to Elliot, whose bulk filled the doorway as the passengers looked on. Lucas turned back to the faces staring at him. “So this is it. Everybody out. We’ll off-load the horses and find somewhere we can ditch the trucks where they won’t be obvious.”

  Lucas pushed past Elliot to where Arnold was waiting at the roadside, one hand shielding his eyes from the glare. “Arnold, help me siphon a gallon for the stopped trailer so we can get it off the road.” He paused. “You see anywhere promising we can leave these rigs?”

  Arnold nodded and pointed to his right. “Looks like there’s a drop there. Might want to ride over and see how far down. Best would be if the trucks wound up where nobody would find them for a long time. Weather should take care of the rest.”

  “Got to get the horses off the trucks anyway. Probably itching to stretch their legs,” Lucas agreed.

  “This is their chance.”

  They made their way to where six men, including Duke and Aaron, were unloading the animals, and claimed their mounts. A short ride south yielded no love – the gulley there was too shallow to conceal the remains of the column. It was to the west of the highway that they hit pay dirt – a steep gorge with the remains of a fire access road running along its crest.

  Lucas and Arnold exchanged a satisfied look and rode back to the trucks. When everything had been off-loaded, they directed the drivers to the area they’d found and instructed them to use heavy stones to hold down the throttles in first gear and then jump clear of the vehicles at the edge of the drop.

  The process took fifteen minutes, and the only evidence left when they were through was a curl of black smoke from one of the buses. Lucas checked the time as Tango ambled alongside the drivers trudging back to the road – it would be tough, but they could make it to Pagosa Springs by night if they pushed.

  The wounded were loaded onto carts along with the precious equipment from the lab and machine shop, and they continued up the paved grade after the two Humvees, the horses trailing the vehicles in a line. Colt studied Lucas’s profile while he negotiated the twisting route and frowned. “Think we’ll make it without running out of gas?”

  Lucas tapped the fuel gauge and nodded. “We should. That’s one of the things we’ve called right so far.”

  “Let’s hope we’re also right about Pagosa. With the wounded and all the gear, we don’t have a lot of good options.”

  “True. And there’s going to be logistical issues once we arrive. I’ve never been there, but if there’s a road running through it, we won’t be able to hide out like you did in the valley. Eventually someone will stumble across it, and we’ll need a coherent response.”

  Colt smiled. “That’s what Arnold’s for.”

  Lucas wiped a bead of sweat from his cheek and sat back in the driver’s seat, the landscape crawling by at a snail’s pace. “Better him than me.”

  “What do you make of the ex-Crew guy? Luis?”

  Lucas considered his next words, which were guarded. “So far, so good.”

  “I don’t like him. There’s a jailhouse stink to him.”

  Lucas nodded. “He’s no saint. But he seems to be pulling on the oars with us. That’s what counts, right?”

  Colt stared through the side window, lost in thought. When he turned toward Lucas, his voice was low. “For now.”

  Chapter 7

  Elliot called a halt to the trip as it got dark. Their destination was still several hours away, but the ride was more arduous than they’d expected, due to the elevation and the amount of weight the horses were hauling. The survivors once again pitched camp by the side of the road with an armed Humvee facing in each direction and a sentry on guard, spelled every three hours, to enable them to sleep.

  They’d lost one more injured fighter that afternoon, and the group offered a brief prayer while the sun dropped behind the mountains, heads bowed as the air cooled in the gloaming. When they were done, the mood was somber, and they ate and spoke in hushed tones, extinguishing their small fires quickly once their rations had been warmed.

  Lucas spent a restless night tossing and turning, his dreams filled with nightmarish visions of those he’d killed. When he finally dragged himself from his tent at dawn, his eyes were red and the shadows beneath them pronounced. He glanced around at the dense ground fog that gave the impression they were floating in a cloud and inhaled the crisp mountain air to clear his head. After a brief meal washed down with water, his melancholy cleared and he was ready to go. He spent a few minutes with Tango, smoothing his mane and whispering to him, and then waited by the Humvee with his kit packed while the rest of the party prepared to mount up.

  Sierra approached, gave him an appraising look, and shook her head. “Tough night?” she asked.

  “I’ve had better.”

  “Well, it’s almost over. We’ll be there soon, right?”

  “Should be there in a couple hours.”

  His guess proved optimistic; the final leg took closer to three. When they turned off the highway at a faded stone sign welcoming them to Pagosa Springs, he exhaled in silent relief and managed a small smile for Eve, who was peering through her window with an expression of wonder at the San Juan River. The column crossed the river over a bridge, and Lucas spotted a pair of riders awaiting their arrival at the far end of the main street. One of the men waved his rifle overhead, and Lucas increased his speed slightly, mindful of the animals in tow.

  He stopped when he reached the scouts and leaned his head through the open window.

  “Morning.”

  The older of the two nodded. “It’s a nice one.”

  “You find a good area to off-load our gear?”

  “Couple.”

  “Lead the way.”

  He followed the scouts to a pair of resorts near the river and shut the engine off to conserve what little fuel remained. A sign on the closest announced a hot springs spa and restaurant. Lucas stepped down from the Humvee with Sierra and Eve in tow as Elliot approached from the other vehicle, eyes on Colt. The scouts dismounted, and one of them approached Lucas.

  “We set up in that one,” the man said, pointing at the resort on the riverbank. “Water’s unbelievable. And the place is really nice, even after all these years.”

  Elliot nodded. “Lovely. But we can’t all fit in those two buildings.”

  “True. But we searched some of the houses – most of them are in decent shape. With a little work, we should be able to rehab them and they’ll be fine.”

  “And the lab and hospital?” Elliot asked.

  The scout pointed at a nearby building. “The post office will work for the hospital, I think. For the lab…there are a number of places that will do the trick. Probably th
e community center just over yonder would be the best, but it’s up to you. There are plenty of places to choose from.”

  Michael neared with Arnold, who was surveying the approaches to the area with a seasoned eye.

  Elliot turned to them. “Well? What do you think?”

  “I’ll have to look it over some, but it’s promising,” Arnold admitted. “We can block the entry road with the vehicles and some barricades, and set up defense points.”

  “That was my instinct as we rolled through town,” Elliot said. “And you, Michael? What say you?”

  “Not as secluded as the valley, but it’ll do.”

  Elliot returned his attention to the scout. “And the geothermal plant? Where is that?”

  “Outside of town, on the way to the airport.”

  Terry called out from beside the second Humvee. “Airport! Are there planes?”

  The scout shrugged. “Didn’t look, tell you the truth.”

  “What? Sacrilege!” Terry turned to Ruby. “You know the first order of business for me.”

  She smiled. “I can guess.”

  Elliot clapped his hands, suddenly animated, the slumped shoulders and defeated air from earlier gone. “Everybody! Gather ’round.”

  When the survivors were all within earshot, he studied them with approval and spoke in his orator’s voice. “It is a big day for us – we’ve found our new home, delivered safe and sound, and with a little elbow grease we can make it into something magnificent. All of you have sacrificed so much for this cause, and it’s heartening that we’ve been rewarded with an oasis of plenty in this barren world. Join me in giving thanks to the Lord for leading us here, and let’s ask for His blessing in our new life in our own private Eden.”

  Elliot led the prayer, and when he was done, he snapped into business mode, handing out assignments, delegating duties, and dividing the survivors into groups. Once he’d issued instructions, he left with Craig to inspect the community center and, after that, the geothermal plant.

  Lucas watched him trundle off with a bemused smile. Sierra took his hand.

  “Feel like going house shopping? We should try to pick a good one before they’re all gone,” she suggested.

  “Sure. Not much on this side of the river. But I saw some promising places across the water.”

  “Let’s see what we can find.”

  Lucas asked Duke to feed and water Tango and Nugget while they went in search of suitable lodging, and he, Sierra, and Eve walked together, their shadows preceding them across the overpass that bridged the river. They passed a commercial area and several churches and made for a cluster of homes.

  Sierra nixed the first two based on their appearance, but smiled when she appraised the third – a ranch house that, in her words, looked “cozy.”

  Lucas led her to the front door and tried the knob. “Open,” he said, unslinging his M4. “Wait here.”

  “I thought the scouts said there’s nobody here.”

  “Just in case.”

  He pushed open the door and stepped over the threshold. A film of dust blanketed the furniture, but there were no broken windows or evidence of water damage, telling him that the roof was probably sound. Lucas checked each of two smaller guest bedrooms, the closets still full of clothes, and paused outside what was clearly the master at the end of the hall. The hair on his arms stood up and a chill ran along his spine.

  He eased the door open. The room was gloomy, the curtains drawn, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. The bed was made, the room as neat as though a housekeeper had recently been through it, except for the skeleton sitting in an easy chair by the window, its sightless eye sockets fixed on the curtains.

  Lucas took cautious steps across the hardwood floor and stopped by the chair. A Smith & Wesson revolver on the planks beside the skeleton told the story, not that the gunshot holes in the skull left any doubt. Whoever this was – male, by the looks of the clothes – had called it quits by taking his life, either because he was sick or just couldn’t stand living any longer.

  Lucas leaned over, scooped up the weapon, slid it into his belt, and retraced his steps through the house to the entrance.

  “Well?” Sierra asked.

  “It’ll do. But I need to clean up the prior occupant in the master. Probably want to keep Eve out of there while I do, unless you want a lot of sleepless nights.”

  Sierra grimaced. “Bad?”

  Lucas shook his head and looked over to where Eve was playing in the yard. “Won’t take long. Go on in and have a look around, but stay out of the room at the end of the hall.”

  Sierra brushed past him to get Eve, planting a peck on his cheek as she did, and he went to check the closets for a suitable tarp or blanket with which he could dispose of the bones. Not finding anything, he made his way into the garage and spotted a metal trunk near the front bumper of an ancient Buick sedan resting on flat tires. He opened the trunk and dumped out the collection of automotive waxes and fluids before carrying it back into the house.

  It took several minutes to fit the skeleton into the trunk. When he was done, Lucas scowled at the black stain on the back of the chair and hoisted the container, barely heavier than when it was empty, and headed to the front porch, secure that Sierra and Eve were exploring the kitchen, judging by their giggles.

  He would bury the body later. For now, he wanted to agree with Sierra that this would be their place and stake a claim so there was no confusion with any of the others, and fetch Tango and Nugget so they could munch on the vegetation that was threatening to overtake the huge backyard.

  The thought stopped him. Their place.

  Lucas hadn’t questioned that they would get one together. After a week in each other’s company following the battle, they’d relaxed into an easy companionship, the only friction between them being the matter of her son. He’d forgiven her for sneaking away – he understood her reasoning, even if he didn’t agree with it, and believed that she was being genuine with him. Her affection for him was more than obvious, and their time together had planted a seed of hope for a future he now believed was more than an impossibility.

  “Sierra?” he called.

  “Yes?”

  “So what do you think?”

  “Are you done?”

  “Mostly.”

  She poked her head from the kitchen doorway. “So it’s safe to look at the rest of the house?”

  “Have at it.”

  Sierra returned a few minutes later, her face serious. “Going to need to clean the master some.”

  “I was thinking of tossing that chair.”

  “Probably a good idea. I’m not going to ask.”

  “That’s best,” he agreed.

  “Which room is mine?” Eve chimed in.

  “Either of the smaller ones you want,” Sierra said.

  “The one facing the backyard!”

  Lucas nodded solemnly. “Good choice.”

  “So this is really home?” Eve’s face glowed.

  Sierra smiled. “For now.”

  The little girl’s ebullience faded, but only a little. “Let’s get Tango!”

  Lucas adjusted his hat. “You read my mind.”

  She gave him one of her oddly penetrating looks and grinned. “I know.”

  Eve skipped away before he could say anything, making for the entrance. Sierra took his hand again and pulled him closer. “It’s perfect. Except for the chair.”

  He looked into her eyes, and he felt dizzy for a moment – probably the fatigue finally hitting.

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Her expression grew serious. “How long are we going to stay?”

  They’d discussed Sierra’s desire to search for her son, and Lucas had reluctantly agreed to help – but only once they’d gotten Eve settled and fulfilled their commitments to participate in creating a new sanctuary to ultimately call home. Obviously, any hope that Lucas had that she’d cut him some slack had been misguided.

  �
�At least until they have the vaccine. Elliot made me promise that.”

  She stepped away from him, her face rigid. “What? We don’t know how long that’s going to take. You already promised me you would find my boy.”

  “Sierra, they need us here for now. Once they begin distributing the vaccine, we can take some south with us, to Texas or wherever, and kill two birds with one stone.”

  “I never agreed to that.”

  “Because you want to just take off. But it’s better to plan things,” he cautioned. “That way we’ll have safety in numbers, and we’ll have helped Elliot, which means we can come back and be welcomed with open arms.”

  “I don’t care about helping him.”

  “Right. Because you’re thinking short term. But let’s say we find your son. Then what? Where do you take him? Where do you live? And what about Eve? Do you try your luck on the road? How’s that worked for you so far?”

  Sierra didn’t have an answer but was clearly upset. “It just feels like time’s slipping away, Lucas. My boy’s out there somewhere, and every day here is one more with him I’ll never get back. I…we need to do something. I have this terrible feeling we’re going to be too late.”

  Lucas took her in his arms. “Please. Let’s do this my way. I’ll help, but only once we aren’t needed here.”

  “You have a ton of gold. You’re rich now. You could make a home anywhere. We don’t need them.”

  “Gold has nothing to do with it. I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder every day, waiting for the next band of scavengers to come over the hill. There’s safety in numbers, Sierra, and Elliot has a good thing going. Power. Water. Meds. Where else are we going to find that?”

  She shook her head and asked the question again. “How long are we going to stay?”

  “As long as it takes.”

  She looked away. “Fine. But don’t expect me to be happy about it.”

  Lucas sighed and released her. “I don’t. But I’ll keep my promise. Which means you need to keep yours. No going off half-cocked on your own, remember?”