Invasion: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Novel (Sympatico Syndrome Book 3) Page 13

  “Good idea.” He glanced at Hunter.

  “Sound fine to me. And maybe we’ll find a little booze, too.” Hunter grinned.

  Cole nodded. “That would be great.” It was the one thing they hadn’t found much of anywhere. It seemed the world had ended in a drunken party.

  With that thought in his mind, he didn’t have high hopes for finding much of anything because everyone had been in a festive mood prior to their demise. The front of the pub was exactly how he feared. A putrid stench wafted through the door as soon as they opened it—it wasn’t even locked. A quick peek was enough for Cole. Over turned tables, what was left of bodies, broken glass, and enough rodent droppings to make it appear that the floor was a carpet of them.

  Cole backed out. “I say we look for a backdoor. I don’t want to cross that room.”

  Hunter agreed with him, and while Sean looked indecisive for a moment, he reluctantly followed Cole around to the back.

  The kitchen was nearly empty. Even the cooks must have decided to join the fun—or had fled for their lives. A metal garbage can next to what had been a contraption to roll out pizza dough contained twenty pound sack of cornmeal. The cornmeal had probably been used in the pizza pans prior to baking. They took a stack of pizza pans and a huge vat that appeared to have been used to mix up soup or sauces.

  In addition to the cornmeal, they found huge cans of tomato sauce and bags of spices used to season the sauce for pizza. “Oh wow, Dad. What I wouldn’t give for a hot slice of pizza right now.” Hunter carried an armload of the bags of spices out to the truck.

  “I hit the motherlode!” Sean’s voice boomed from inside a steel walk in cooler. Cole had avoided it because of the stench of rotting produce and whatever else had been inside it when the power had died.

  Cole picked through the garbage on the floor to find Sean holding up a case of Jack Daniels. “What the hell? How did that escape the people in the front?”

  Hunter came up behind Cole, and gave a low whistle.

  Sean carefully brought the crate out of the cooler. “Best guess is someone stashed it there intending to come back later. Maybe the owner? He or she had to have seen what was going on out front.”

  “Probably. Why don’t you take that to the truck while Hunter and I will take one more look around?”

  Cole found an unopened jar of yeast. He didn’t know if it was still good, but he took it while Hunter found bottles of mustard and ketchup. They were still sealed also, so they went in one of the vats.

  Sean had a grin from ear to ear on the drive back to the campers. “Wait until I tell Jenna. “

  That evening, they broke open a bottle of the whiskey around a bonfire. The campers were comfortable none of them were large enough for all of them to fit inside at once without feeling like sardines, so they dragged desk chairs from the dealers, unpacked a few lawn chairs, and sat on the bumpers of the trucks.

  “Cheers, Cole.” Elly raised a mug to clink against the plastic tumbler Cole used.

  “Cheers.” He sipped his whiskey, savoring the heat as the liquid slid down his throat. The only people not partaking in the alcohol were Sophie and the kids. It didn’t even occur to Cole until after Sean had poured for everyone else that neither Piper nor Jake were old enough to drink if they went by the laws prior to the virus. As far as he was concerned, they did the work of adults so they should be treated like one. He took another sip and put his arm around Elly as she leaned against him.

  “Mmm…this is good.” She grinned up at him. “But here, have the rest of mine.”

  “What? You’ve only had a sip!” He blocked her mug.

  “That’s all I wanted.”

  Cole studied her smile. Her eyes danced in the firelight. “Of course you don’t have to drink if you don’t want to, but I remember once we went out to get drinks before we headed to Africa, and your drink of choice was Jack Daniels and a Coke.”

  “You remembered that?”

  “I remember everything about you.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back.

  “I was waiting for the right time to tell you, and tonight, with the festivities, so to speak, seems like a good time.”

  His arm stilled halfway to his mouth. “To tell me what?”

  “Remember those pregnancy tests you brought back from the first scavenging expedition?”

  His mind whirled with images of the devastated store, but her reason for asking the question took up most of his thought processes. “Yes…”

  He searched her eyes, hope curling up from his stomach and burning in his chest. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? His face must have shown his question because she grinned and nodded.

  The explosion of emotion rendered him speechless.

  “Cole? Are you …okay with it? I know we didn’t talk about it—”

  The explosion radiated out and he gave her a hug, wishing he had the words to say what he was feeling.“Shhh—of course I’m all right with it. More than all right. I’m…” He gave his head a quick shake, snapping himself out of his shock. “Oh m God, Elly! This is the best news I’ve had since…”He wracked his mind. “Well, since Brenda told me she was pregnant with Hunter.” Pulling her close again, but this time, he dipped his head for a quick kiss, but he was so excited, he felt like he had to see her face and make sure this wasn’t some kind of crazy joke. He was in his forties, had a grown son and was about to be a grandfather. And now he was going to be a dad again? It was confusing but in the best possible way.

  He smoothed brought his hand up, smoothing back her hair. “I am…I’m beyond thrilled, Elly. I love you and I think I’ve loved you since almost as soon as I met you years ago.”

  Tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes as she laughed and smiled up at him. “Me too.” She raised her face to him, closing her eyes as he leaned in for another kiss. Longer this time. One fitting the occasion.

  Nobody had been paying them any attention. The younger group had gathered on the other side of the fire, and Sean was telling some story to the other adults, the alcohol having relaxed him until he was almost jovial. This was the Sean Cole remembered from before the pandemic and before Trent had died. Cole bent his head. “Can we announce it? Is it too soon?”

  “I’m about three months along. I think we should plan on the baby arriving around early fall. And yes, I’d love to announce it. I’ve been keeping quiet, worried I’d lose him or her. I had a miscarriage a long time ago and the doctor told me then I’d probably never have a baby, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

  Cole pulled her close again, burying his face in her hair.

  Elly hugged him back, her hands rubbing his back through his coat.

  Sean chose that moment to ask if anyone needed a refill. Cole, one arm holding Elly close, stood, bringing her with him. “I believe I do.”

  Sean gave him an odd look, but poured a measure of whiskey in his tumbler. Elly covered her mug and shook her head. When everyone had a refill, Cole cleared his throat. “I have an announcement.” He turned to Elly and smiled. “I’d like to propose a toast…”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Cole gripped the railing on the bridge and gazed down at the swollen Mississippi River. They had received plenty of rain but he hadn’t expected the river to be this high. The steady drizzle yesterday while they had cleared a path half-way across the bridge hadn’t seemed hard enough to cause this large of a rise overnight. He searched up river, noting how the riverbanks on either side were basically non-existent. They were gone yesterday in some places, but the water had been a foot or so below today’s levels. Now, the banks were gone and the river spread out like a great flowing lake.

  He’d crossed the Mississippi countless times around this area and knew it was wide, but one reason he’d wanted to cross here was because it only grew even wider the farther down the river one went. The only explanation for the flood levels today had to be that there had been a lot of rain north of them in the last few days. For all he knew, there cou
ld still be a weather system to the north and the river would continue to rise.

  If there was one thing he could bring back from before the virus, not including people, it would be weather forecasts and reports. He had taken them granted and never realized how big a factor they played even when he didn’t have to make life or death decisions. A low curse behind him made him look over his shoulder, to see Sean approaching him.

  “Shit!” Sean leaned over the railing. “What a mess.”

  “I know. But, we have to cross today.” It wasn’t just spring melt and rains that were causing the flooding, but debris. Everywhere he looked loose boats and barges whirled and spun in the muddy brown water. Even as he watched, one slammed into the pile-up around one of the bridge supports. Some had run aground along the river banks and over the last year, other debris had piled up against them. Large branches and even whole trees had become tangled in the boats. In places, the river was nearly dammed. The current eddied and frothed around the obstacles.

  Beneath the bridge only a few narrow channels were open, creating a dangerous current that pulled yet more debris towards the center of the bridge. It was only a matter of time before the entire span beneath the bridge was blocked. When that happened, the water had nowhere to go and pressure would build. Some would spill over the various dikes along the banks, but most would continue the southward journey. The bridge would fail.

  Cole waved towards a pile-up of debris against one of the bridge supports. “If another one hits that, it could take out the support beam.” He wasn’t an engineer, but he would bet the support was already weakened. The thought of them being on the bridge if that happened made his stomach clench.

  “Maybe we should find another bridge?” Sean raised his hand, shielding his eyes as he squinted downriver.

  “You think the next bridge is going to be in better shape than the three before this?” Those had been in worse condition. One was higher above the river, but two overturned semi-trucks made it impassable. One had been hit by a barge and collapsed in the middle. The third was intact, but the river was already lapping across it. They had left it, certain that the next bridge would be better. And it had been—yesterday. Damn it.

  “Maybe?” Sean didn’t sound confident and Cole didn’t want to wait. He had a feeling things were only going to get worse the farther downriver they went.

  Cole pushed off the rail and shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. The raw spring air felt even colder when a gust of wind blasted across the bridge. It came from the northwest, and he worried a late spring snowstorm could be headed their way.

  “I think the situation is going to be same all up and down the river. With the rain we’ve had over the last week on top of the snow melt, I don’t think that it’s even crested yet. When this bridge goes down, it’s going to add to the debris and pile up against the next bridge, and so on.” He gestured to the dozens of vehicles stranded on the bridge when their drivers either abandoned them or succumbed to the virus mid-crossing. “Every one of these vehicles will add to the problem when they become debris in the river. Besides, the farther south we go, the wider the river becomes and the more vehicles we’d need to clear before we can cross.” The last bit was just a guess. He supposed if they were lucky they might come across a nearly empty bridge, but so far, every one they’d seen had been jammed. Everyone had been trying to escape the virus and most hadn’t made it.

  “Okay, well let’s get moving right after breakfast.” Sean slapped his hands down on the railing before turning towards their camp on the eastern bank.

  Cole cast a glance north, sighing as the muddy brown water swirled around obstacles and crashed against the bridge pilings along the shore. They didn’t have much time.

  Food was being served buffet-style on a couple of boards laid between the tailgates of Steve’s pickup truck and Hunter’s truck. Cole went to the end of the line behind Mike. When the meal was over, the boards would slide back into the covered bed of one of the trucks to be used again.

  “You want to go ahead of me?” Mike gestured.

  Cole shook his head. “No, that’s okay. I’ll wait.” Ever since the Mike and Steve had joined up with them, Mike had acted deferential towards Cole and he didn’t understand why.

  Elly joined Cole in line. “How’s it look?”

  He shook his head and told her what they’d seen. “It’s going to be a long day.”

  “Better eat up then. You’re getting too skinny.” She poked his flat abdomen and winked. He gave her a wry smile. They’d all lost weight they couldn’t afford to lose—she most of all. “You worry about your own weight. Remember, you’re eating for two.”

  “As if this baby was going to let me forget.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “This is my second time through the line.”

  “Here, get in front of me.” He wanted to make sure she got enough, but she shook her head.

  “No, everyone needs to eat—and how would we manage if our fearless leader up and died of starvation?”

  Cole grinned. “I think we’re all pretty safe from that at the moment.” It was the ‘at the moment’ part that worried him. It was true that they had plenty of food right now, but it wasn’t so long ago that he was worried they wouldn’t make it through the winter. They had, but they had all felt the pinch of hunger during the worst of it after the fire— except for the children— everyone made sure they had their fill. Cole knew it wasn’t so much the lack of food as it was burning calories. That was something he hadn’t factored in to food stores. Before, if he’d consumed as many calories as he now ate daily, he’d have been obese. His daily tasks included hauling and chopping wood, hunting, scavenging and loading or unloading supplies from the trucks. And they were all working just as hard if not harder than he was.

  To speed their journey, they were only cooking two meals a day, morning and evening. Lunch consisted of whatever was leftover. He eyed the pile of corncakes, relieved to see there would be plenty for everyone to get a few more later in the day. When people had good food in their stomach with more to look forward to, they worked hard and were less irritable. He took a bite of a cake. After swallowing, he smiled. “These are delicious, Piper.”

  “Thanks, Cole. Jake’s the one you can thank for the maple syrup. He found it at that little store everyone else passed up. He walked back last night to see what they had.”

  He didn’t know if she was giving him a rebuke, or just pointing out that Jake had been the reason for the treat so he simply nodded. Foraging and scavenging had become second nature to all of them, but if they stopped at every store or house along the way, they would never reach Las Vegas.

  Jake had spotted the store set back from the road and had mentioned it at dinner last night. They were all exhausted from clearing the bridge, so Cole had only said that he was too beat to check it out and besides, it was his turn to wash dishes. Hunter had opted to stay with Sophie. She was due in a few months, give or take a week, and was the main reason Cole wanted to get to their destination as quickly as possible. It would be difficult enough to care for an infant in this new world, but trying to do so while traveling through what could be desolate and dangerous country, would be even more difficult.

  Jake mumbled a response to Piper about how it was no big deal, but Cole didn’t agree and let Jake know. “Thanks for literally going the extra mile, Jake. You had to have been exhausted from pushing cars out of the way. I know I was.”

  Piper beamed and the corners of Jake’s mouth lifted. “It’s just maple syrup. It’s not like we would die without it.”

  “True, but I really appreciate it.” Holding the corn cake, he waved it toward the rest of the group chowing down. “From the looks of it, everyone else appreciates it too.” He took a big bite and ambled over to the truck, using the bumper as a seat.

  As he balanced his plate on his lap, he felt Lucas watching him, his eyes following the movement of Cole’s fork as he brought a bite of fish to his mouth. At first, he was worried the
boy hadn’t had enough to eat and he was going to share what he had, but there had still been plenty left after he’d gone through the line, and only Mike and Elly had been after him. Then he remembered that Lucas had caught the fish in a small pond bordering the bank while the rest of them had been moving vehicles late yesterday. Joe had helped the boy clean the fish and pack them in snow found in the shade of a small hill.

  Cole took another bite and made show of how tasty it was. Lucas had been eager to learn how to fish and constantly quizzed all of them about how to find food. He’d learned how to gut a deer last month, and was rapidly becoming an expert at cleaning fish. Lucas’s months alone with his little sister after their food ran low had affected him deeply. He didn’t hoard food, but he never left anything on his plate and when he wasn’t asking Cole to show him how to hunt, or Elly how to fish, he was in the kitchen with Piper, learning how to cook.

  “Did you cook this, Lucas?”

  The little boy nodded. “Jenna helped me, but I caught them all by myself.” He had been upset when he’d been told he was too little to help move cars and more to distract him than with any concern of putting food on the table, Cole had given him a fishing pole and pointed him in the direction of the nearby pond. The river was much too dangerous to fish in right now, but the pond was safe enough. He’d been shocked when Lucas had proudly shown him the dozen or so trout on stringers in the pond. Fresh trout was always welcome.

  “Man, I don’t know when I’ve had such a good meal. The trout were delicious and the corn cakes better than anything my grandma made.” His grandmother had never made a corncake that he could recall, but that was beside the point.

  Cole looked at the gathering. Everyone pulled their weight. Even little Zoe did what she could to help by scrapping plates into a bucket and feeding the scraps to the goats and chickens. Now that they were traveling, she also watched the chickens when they were allowed out in the mornings and evenings to forage.