Invasion: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Novel (Sympatico Syndrome Book 3) Page 19

  He ground the heel of one hand against first one eye and then the other. That couldn’t be it. They hadn’t seen another car moving since they left the island.

  Hunter glanced in his own side mirror, confirming that his eyes hadn’t played tricks on him. Three vehicles raced up behind them, weaving around wrecks with speed their own group hadn’t dared to take, not knowing what was on the other side of the piles of wreckage.

  The cars were still well back, hazy in the waning sunlight. The gap between the approaching cars and their group was closing fast. Hunter grabbed his radio. “Uh, Dad… we have three vehicles moving up behind us. What should we do?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Cole angled his mirrors so he could see past the other vehicles. The cars were coming up fast, weaving in and around the pile-ups at a breakneck speed. That signaled two possibilities to Cole—either they were daredevils, possibly infected with the virus—or they were very familiar with this road and the wreckage. He wouldn’t discount the first, but would put his money on the second. Or he would if money mattered anymore.

  His first instinct was to form a circle with their cars like an old time circling of the wagons, but there was nowhere to do it. He felt Travis’s gaze on him and saw fear in the boy’s eyes. “We’re going to be fine, Travis. It’s okay. They’re probably just excited to see survivors.”

  Travis shook his head. “The people I saw in my town weren’t happy. They didn’t like folks coming around.”

  Cole didn’t have time to answer as he scanned the road ahead looking for a safe place to pull over and either let the other cars go by, or confront them. He feared the boy was right though. While it wasn’t quite Mad Max, it wasn’t a welcome party either.

  “Dad…?”

  Cole picked up the radio. “I heard you.” He spotted a gas station off the next exit. It was on a slight hill. It wasn’t much of an advantage, but if they could get there and turn, facing down, they’d have a good defensive position. There looked to be an exit on the far side of the gas station as well so they had an escape route if needed and the other group would have to pass their caravan. “Everyone, next exit on the right is a gas station. Get there fast, turn around facing out, get your weapons loaded and ready.”

  He tucked the radio alongside his thigh and pressed his foot to the gas. “Travis, I need you to climb in the back there and get the rifles and shotgun ready. They’re already loaded, so be careful. I want you to stay back there and stay down.

  Travis nodded and dove into the backseat. The guns were close at hand and Cole was glad for that. “You want the handgun, too?”

  Cole almost said yes, but changed his mind. “No, you keep that one for yourself.” If something happened to him, the kid needed a way to defend himself.

  After a brief pause, Travis replied, his tone somber but with a note of confidence. “Yes, sir.”

  “Buckle up back there. This is going to get rough.” The click of the seatbelt came only a few seconds before Cole was forced to scrape past a car that was on the shoulder edge of a huge wreck that blocked the rest of the ramp. The car sat perpendicular to the road with only inches of clearance on either side. If he took it slowly, he could probably get by without touching the other car, but there wasn’t time for careful driving. The truck Sean was driving would need to fit through here too, and so with that in mind, Cole aimed for a location that would turn the car so it would almost be facing the wrong way.

  “Hang on!”

  The impact jarred the SUV, but he succeeded in moving the other car and not having his air bags go off. He’d worried about that and had slowed at the last second. Not far past that was another car, but this one was stopped still facing forward, as though it had stalled there. Maybe it ran out of gas just short of its goal, not that he cared why it was there. It just was and it was another obstacle. “Shit.” He glanced in the mirror to see if the cars were still coming towards them, but for the moment, the big truck blocked his view of the road behind him as he was on an incline.

  He slowed until he was nearly stopped, hoping Elly wouldn’t slam into the bumper of his own car, but there wasn’t time to tell everyone his plan. His front fender made contact with the rear of the stalled vehicle and, pressing steadily on the gas, his SUV moved the other car forward. He pressed harder on the gas, praying the other vehicle wouldn’t turn towards the shoulder but would instead turn towards the center of the road.

  His prayers were answered as the car angled ever so slightly to the left. Giving his car a little more gas, he disengaged when the car’s wheels hit something and turned at a sharper angle and rolled out of the way.

  Gunning the SUV, Cole shot ahead, grateful there were no more cars between them and the gas station. He just wished he could block the road off from the pursuers. The next stopped police car he saw, or the next police station they passed, he vowed to check for the strips that he saw used in police chases. The strips that police officers would place on the road which would puncture tires of any pursuers.

  He raced into the gas station, cranking the steering wheel hard to the right as he performed a U-turn. Stopping just inside the entrance from the top of the ramp, he angled the car so there was just enough room for the others to enter, but was ready to do his best to block access from the pursuers. It also gave him an angle to use the rifle.

  Cole shoved the gearshift into park and snatched the rifle Travis handed him along with a pouch full of shells. “I need you to stay down. Slide the boxes over to my side of the car and hunker down behind them.” Cole grabbed Travis’s and his own insulated water bottles and tossed them in the back. “If things don’t go well, take the water, and run. Put your backpack on.” He had put a pack together for Travis the day the boy had joined them. The look on Travis’s face when Cole had presented it to him had made him feel like Santa Claus.

  “Yes, sir.”

  There came rustling and clanking and Cole breathed easier, able to focus on the approaching cars as Sean entered the station. He was the last in their caravan, and the others had parked at angles just a little behind Cole, bringing their weapons to bear on the cars racing up the ramp.

  Cole grabbed the radio. “Everybody hold your fire.”

  “Until we see the whites of their eyes?”

  While he appreciated Sean’s attempt at levity, Cole didn’t have time to comment on it. “Let’s just find out what they want first.”

  A series of quick replies confirmed he’d been heard. Sean simply said, ‘Okay’.

  He studied the approaching cars, now merely a quarter of a mile away. Were they slowing? It was hard to determine. If only he could communicate with them and decipher their intentions. What he wouldn’t give for a loudspeaker right about now. Cursing his lack of foresight for not obtaining a megaphone from somewhere, Cole drew a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel.

  He tried to tell himself that these were people just like them but he wasn’t sure he believed it. Everyone seemed to react to the worst case scenario differently. Had his own reaction been wrong? There hadn’t been much time to plan and then the focus had been on immediate survival, not keeping humans from going extinct. Now, it was foremost in his mind but that didn’t mean others felt the same way.

  It would have been easy to slip into and remain in short-term survival mode, living in the moment. They had been plunged into a free for all lifestyle with survival of the fittest the only law, but Cole refused to lose his conscience—his humanity. And now, he could only pray that the approaching car contained survivors who felt the same.

  How times had changed. How many thousands of people had he sped past in his lifetime without giving a second thought? Or parked near and walked into a store. It was crazy to think that now the prospect of meeting strangers sent his heart thumping racing so hard he could feel it all the way up into his throat.

  A trickle of sweat slid down his neck and he reached over and turned the air conditioning to max. Hadn’t the helicopter been enough of a challenge?
All they wanted to do was find a new home in a mostly empty land. He wasn’t at all eager to engage with more strangers.

  The strangers were definitely slowing, and came to a stop a long stone’s throw away. That was something, anyway. Despite chasing them to the gas station, they didn’t seem to be in a hurry to charge at them. Then again, that could be due to the rifle barrels poking out of the windows of the cars in Cole’s caravan.

  There wasn’t enough room for them to stop three abreast—the best they could do was stagger their vehicles so none blocked the other completely. Cole hoped that was a good thing for them. He glanced at the vehicles in his group. All but the children were armed and ready. Hunter’s SUV was on his left, and he noted with approval that his son not only had his rifle ready, but the top part of his bow and arrow were visible, resting upright against the seat.

  The strangers remained facing them and Cole tried to count heads but with the shadows deepening it was difficult. At least that worked both ways. Plus, it had to be a good sign that nobody was shooting yet. After about thirty minutes of silence, Cole took a deep breath. Maybe the strangers were waiting for them to run out of gas as they idled. Everyone had topped up at the last rest stop when Sean had used his generator to get a pump on at a remote gas station to work.

  Cole looked at Hunter and Elly, on either side of him, glad to see they were focusing forward, but Sophie, in the passenger seat of Hunter’s car, looked to be in some distress. He didn’t know what it was and when he mouthed the question asking if she was okay, she nodded, flashing him a strained smile.

  That did it. They couldn’t just sit here all night. He had to find out what these people wanted. He handed Travis the radio. “If something happens, jump in Elly’s car, okay?” Elly was on the passenger side, and with the driver’s side rear door barricaded with boxes for protection, it would be the quickest escape for Travis.

  Wide-eyed, Travis nodded.

  Reluctantly, he left his rifle in the car. He was glad when Travis reached over the seat and steadied it. He’d be able to grab it quickly if he had to. He left the door open, slight protection if they decided to shoot, but it made him feel safer. He spread his arms, hands wide to show he was unarmed. The trickle of sweat turned into a stream and a few drops ran down from his brow and stung his eyes. He blinked, not daring to rub them.

  The cars opposite him were covered in dust, their colors impossible to discern. If he had to guess, he’d say the front car, a crossover vehicle, was a deep red. The next one was a quad cab pickup with a cap on the back. It was probably black beneath the reddish dust. The last one, on his right, Cole easily identified because of the round headlights and build of a Jeep.

  Each second seemed to last a year as he remained with arms outstretched and his shoulder muscles burned, but he ignored it just as he ignored Elly’s harsh whisper asking him what he was doing. He didn’t have an answer for her. He just knew the only way to end the standoff was to do something. This was preferable to opening fire, and since he hadn’t been shot immediately, his confidence grew. Whoever they were, they weren’t impulsive.

  A movement from the Jeep caused Cole’s breath to quicken. Maybe he’d given them too much credit too soon. Cole rested his right hand on the roof of the car and his left on the doorframe. They could still see his hands, but if he needed to, he could dive back in the car.

  The door on the passenger side of the Jeep eased open and a woman stepped out. She wore sunglasses, as he did, so he wasn’t able to see her eyes. Like him, she held her arms wide, and seeing as she faced almost a dozen weapons aimed at her, he had to give her credit for guts if nothing else. After a moment, as if giving them time to judge if she was a threat, she folded her arms on the top of the door frame. She was probably only a few inches shorter than his own six foot two inches. She wore her dark hair pulled back from her face, and when she turned to say something to her driver, he saw it lay in a flat braid down her back.

  She turned back to face them, and her head cocked. After a moment, she said, “Hey, Cheesehead, what are you doing so far from home?”

  Her comment caught him off guard and he laughed. The corners of her mouth turned up for an instant, but then flattened. Cole sobered. He shouldn’t have laughed—not when inappropriate laughter was one sign of Sympatico Syndrome. He raised his hands once again. “Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you to call me a cheesehead. I’m guessing you noticed our license plates.”

  From the slight shake of her head, he imagined she was rolling her eyes at him. He’d forgotten that the plates would identify them as outsiders right off the bat. They should have removed them, but he hadn’t given it a thought. There were so many things to think about when an apocalypse hit

  “Nothing gets by you, does it?” Her attitude screamed confidence, but he saw her head turn a fraction towards Sean’s truck, behind and to the right of Cole, parked at an angle due to its length and the gas pumps. His brother sat a bit higher than the rest of them and his weapon was a semi-automatic. The distinctive barrel poked out of his window. Jenna sat with her body through the window; her weapon steadied on the roof of the cab.

  “So, you didn’t answer me. Nevada is a long way from Wisconsin. Why are you here?”

  Cole tilted his head, scanned the opposing vehicles for signs of movement, noting the glint of metal jutting from the windows. He’d expected them to be armed, so it didn’t come as a surprise. With a tiny shrug, not wanting them to take it for more than it was and shoot him, he said, “It’s a free country.” At least, he hoped it still was. Wanting to get the upper hand and not comfortable being on the receiving end of questioning, he threw one back at her. “Why do you care?”

  “This is our land. You don’t belong here. Go on back to Wisconsin.”

  “Your land?” He made a show of looking around at the barren landscape. “You own all of this?”

  “Pretty much. Me and my family.”

  Cole gave a tight smile. “Really? You must have a helluva big family to need this much land to yourselves.”

  From this distance, it was difficult to tell, but he could have sworn she flinched at his comment. Taking a different tact, sensing she wasn’t as tough as she tried to appear, he stepped out from behind the door, lowering his arms to his side after making sure that it was obvious he was unarmed. “I’m going to come a little closer.”

  After letting his comment sink in, he took about eight deliberate steps forward, making sure he was still far enough back that he wouldn’t be in any of his own people’s line of fire. It made him uneasy that he couldn’t see her face clearly enough to read her expressions and the shouting made it almost impossible to detect nuances in the other’s voice. And right now, he wanted nuance—he needed it if he was to read the situation correctly.

  She straightened, her back ramrod straight before she turned to her driver and spoke something he couldn’t make out, but her tone sounded scolding. Then she, too, came around her door, her arms held out momentarily before she eased them to her sides.

  With the gas station in deep shadow, he took another chance, and removed his sunglasses. Not only did it allow him to see her better, and he also wanted them to see him.

  It took steeling every nerve in his body to stand unprotected with who knew how many guns pointed at him, but he remained still, forcing his shoulders to relax.

  She studied him so long that Cole had to stifle the urge to squirm. He felt naked. Vulnerable. He wasn’t wearing a mask, not having anticipated leaving the safety of his car. Dammit. On the bright side, it was apparent he wasn’t hiding anything, not even his expressions, but he had to think about the virus. It was another reason he wanted a closer look, though. To see if she, or any of them, displayed symptoms.

  Removing her glasses, her gaze swept over the vehicles behind Cole, pausing briefly on Sean’s, as she raised her hands wiggling her fingers. “I’m coming out there. My mom always said that shouting isn’t ladylike.”

  Cole couldn’t stop the smile that cracke
d his face and she caught it, flashing one of her own before dipping her head slightly, as if embarrassed. His smile widened. As she moved closer, he realized she was younger than he’d thought. Probably mid-twenties at the most.

  She halted about a dozen feet from him which he reasoned was a safe buffer from the virus since they were out in the open. Plus, the wind had picked up a little and came out of the west and blew their breath away from them.

  When she didn’t speak right away, Cole crossed his arms and decided to be direct. “Look, we’re here and we’re not leaving on your say so. It’s been a long trip and we’re not turning around now. We don’t want trouble, but we’re ready for it if it comes our way.”

  “So you say.” She crossed her arms as well.

  “Excuse me?”

  She waved an arm wide, causing Cole to tense but her gesture was just to emphasize her words. “Your group isn’t the first to come here. I bet you’re hoping the power is on, aren’t you?”

  Cole schooled his expression to remain neutral and didn’t reply.

  “Yeah…I thought so. Everyone thinks the Hoover Dam is still supplying us with electricity, but—”

  “It’s not?” He cut to the chase.

  Eyes narrowing, she said, “It is but probably not for long. The intake pipes are clogging. So, while it’s working, we get first dibs. It’s ours. My family and a few others grew up here, and now people are wandering in from all over, thinking they can force the rest of us out.”

  Cole shook his head. “Hold on. We have no intention of trying to force anyone out. If anything, even more of a draw than the possibility of electricity was the hope that other survivors would also arrive. The only way we can get some kind of civilization up and running again is with old-fashioned manpower.”