Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Rain checked Esther’s phone one more time before she gave it back to their hostess. It would be difficult to be without a lifeline to Adam, but he hadn’t called since the night of the dance, and now, when they were packing up the truck to leave, she wasn’t sure what to think. She did know she couldn’t take Esther’s phone with her.

Seth had tried to call Adam a couple of times but hadn’t gotten ahold of him. They knew from the Oklasaw militia that the tracker had made it into the river and was flowing at a rapid pace away from their location, but no one had seen Adam since right before he’d tossed the tracker. At the time, a few sharpshooters who had been concentrating on taking out drones had seen him, but then the Mothers had arrived in their larger transporters, and a fight had broken out. They didn’t think that any of them had made it past their line of defense where Adam was riding away from the river, but they had no way of knowing for sure. Most of the militia fought from the hills and highlands around the valley where the Mothers were headed toward the river, shooting at a distance, attempting to slow them but not engage unless completely necessary.

Her backpack on, Rain looked around the room she’d been staying in for the last few days. It seemed like she’d been there a lot longer, but it really hadn’t even been a week. She made sure she had everything. She’d take her belongings with her, but even more than that, she’d take memories--memories of being nursed back to health by a woman who was a true mother, memories of her encounter with Adam right before he left, and memories of getting to know Seth.

A light knock on the door had her turning her head. “Yeah?”

“Can I open the door?” Seth called.

Stifling a laugh, Rain said, “Yes,” and stood. She couldn’t blame him for being nervous about coming into the room again after what had happened after the dance.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked, giving her a sympathetic smile.

“I am,” Rain said, walking toward him. It seemed odd that he was attempting to comfort her when he was the one leaving his home. Of course, he intended to come back, she thought, Still, she was pulling him away from his family, and he was apologetic toward her.

His smile widened and he offered her his hand, which she gave him. It wasn’t quite the same as holding hands with Adam in the woods when she was frightened and their mutual strength flowed between them, but it was still a comfort. Seth led them to the kitchen where Mist, who was looking a lot better after a few days' rest, and Walt were waiting, along with Esther and Peter.

“Here’s your phone,” Rain said, handing it to her. She’d had it during the night, in case Adam called.

“Thank you. If he calls me, I’ll let you know immediately.” Esther’s smile was even more sympathetic than Seth’s had been.

“Thank you--for everything.” Rain did her best to fight back tears as Esther enveloped her in a strong embrace. The idea that she would likely never see this woman again made tears sting her eyes. Determined not to let them fall, she let Esther go and tried to blink them back. She had too much to focus on to let her emotions overrun her now.

Once they had all finished saying their goodbyes, Seth led them out the door toward the garage where the truck was kept. It was a few miles’ walk through Judea and then down an enclosed tunnel that Walt remarked looked similar to the path they’d taken from the duck boat to the city.

As Rain walked, she kept a careful eye on Mist. Her friend insisted she was fine, but Rain wasn’t so sure. It had only been about two days since she’d undergone a painful procedure and lost a lot of blood. So far, she seemed okay, holding Walt’s hand and keeping one foot in front of the other, but it was clear to Rain that the energy she usually saw in her friend, even without the supplements they often relied upon to give them an extra boost, was not quite what it usually was. Yet again, she found herself grateful that Seth had volunteered to drive them. She couldn’t imagine trying to run from the Mothers on foot with Mist in her current state.

About a half an hour after they’d left Esther’s home, they arrived in the garage. Rain was surprised to see several other people there preparing vehicles. She recognized a few of the young men from Seth’s group at the dance, but she didn’t know any of them. A few came over to greet him as they entered the large room that must’ve housed close to a hundred vehicles of various sizes. Some of them were clearly used to transport goods and food. Others looked more like military vehicles. She saw a few motorbikes and immediately thought of Adam. Her hand went to her pocket for a phone that wasn’t there.

“James,” Seth said, shaking the hand of a tall young man with a shock of red hair. He released his hand and moved to a shorter, stockier fellow with hair slightly darker than his own. “Moses.” The last man who’d come over to greet them, a blond with a beard and tattoos all over his arms Seth greeted with, “David.”

“We’re all loaded up and ready to go,” David said as Seth released his hand.

“Cool. Thanks,” Seth said, patting him on the arm.

“No problem,” James chimed in. “We’re anxious to get into some of this action we’ve been hearing about.”

Rain’s eyes widened in confusion. “What’s going on?” she asked. Seth hadn’t mentioned any of this.

“These guys contacted me this morning and volunteered to escort us--sort of. A few of them will go out the same exit as us and stick with us for a while, make sure we get a good start on the Mothers. The others will go out a different exit and act as a distraction. It’s our understanding that the Mothers haven’t made it as far north in their search as the exit we’ll be utilizing, but they are near a separate exit. If these guys can get out there and mess with them for a bit, it will give us a better chance of getting away undetected.”

“That sounds really dangerous,” Mist said, leaning against Walt as she spoke. “Are you guys sure you want to do that?”

“Hell, yeah!” Moses said. “We’ve been itchin’ to get in it.”

Rain arched an eyebrow. “The Mothers are quite dangerous,” she reminded them. “Are your vehicles armed?”

“No, but we are.” James pulled back his jacket to reveal a revolver. Her own weapons had been loaded into the truck earlier when Peter and Seth were packing. Now, she felt a little naked without it. “We’ve got this,” he assured her.

Rain nodded, but she wasn’t completely convinced. The idea that some of these people might get hurt because of her didn’t rest easily with her. Just as knowing that the militia on the outside was putting themselves at risk because she was trying to get through these people’s homeland.

“Hey, pretty lady,” David said, “remember, those bitches have been messing with us for centuries. You bein’ here is just an excuse for us to send some of them right back to hell.”

Swallowing hard, Rain took that in. While it was true that Michaelanburg and Oklasaw had always been enemies, she hadn’t realized it was quite like that. “Well, okay then,” she muttered. Since she hadn’t been successful in talking Seth out of driving them, she doubted she could convince any of these people to stay home either. She glanced around the garage again. “Are all of these folks here for the same reason?” There were some young women in the space as well. Several of the youths waved in their direction, and Seth lifted his hand in response. While it was possible a few of those gathered were in their early thirties, many were her age or even younger. Assuming they all had parents, she wondered if they knew about this and if they approved.

“Yep,” Seth said with a nod. “So I guess we should get on with it.” He went about reclasping the hands of his friends. Rain and the others also thanked them before Seth led them a few more steps to a beat up pickup truck that looked like it was as old as the mountain it sat within.

The paint on the truck appeared to have been red at one time, though much of it was stripped off now, leaving rusty patches on a steel exterior. The camper on the back was a dingy beige, or maybe it had once been white. Seth pulled the tailgate down and raised the top of the camper. Inside, he had padded the bed with several rolled out blankets and some pillows, assuming Mist might want to rest. There were also plenty of supplies--water, extra fuel containers, bags of food, more guns.

“Your packs are in the cab,” he said, “as are your weapons. I wanted to let you know, though, the tool chest up there near the cab actually conceals a hiding spot between the back seat of the cab and the bed. There’s plenty of space in there for one person to hide, maybe two, and three if you really squeeze in. If someone opens the lid, they won’t be able to see you, and it will look like it’s just an ordinary tool chest.”

“So… if the Mothers find us, we can access the tool chest? From the bed?” Walt asked.

“Yes, and a connected space in the back seat. I’ll show you.” He climbed up into the bed, and even without them following him, he showed them how the lid lifted and a false bottom popped out. It was difficult to see, especially since Seth couldn't stand up all the way with the camper on, but Rain thought she could figure it out. Once he had it back in place, he climbed out and went around to the back seat of the truck, opening the door. They all followed.

“This center pops out, and you can climb in that way, too. Much of the space is actually in the cab of the truck.”

Rain could see that now. It definitely looked like a tight squeeze for more than one person, but at least they had it--just in case. She sure hoped they never needed it.

“Why did your grandpa have this put into the truck?” Mist asked.

“Because he used to smuggle fuel and moonshine to Aricornia when he was younger,” he explained. “Back then, it was illegal to sell certain forms of fuel in that nation, and alcoholic beverages were illegal. Grandpa would take both in and sell them for a nice profit.”

Rain and her friend exchanged surprised glances before she started laughing. “Now we know where you got your courage from,” she said.

“Sense of adventure anyway,” Seth said with a shrug. He put the center section of the back seat into place. “Are you guys ready to go?”

Rain could see her backpack in the front seat, alongside her rifle. In the back, Mist’s and Walt’s belongings were in the floorboards. “As ready as we’ll ever be,” she said for all of them. Seth gave them a nod of encouragement, and they loaded up, ready to get back to their journey.

* * *

Nothing was going to plan--not at the moment anyway. Not since he’d tossed the tracker into the river and taken off for Louis City. With a barrage of gunfire to his back, Adam had driven north, going as fast as he could in any direction that wasn’t deadly.

He knew he needed to go northeast, but he hadn’t had a chance to fiddle with the navigation as he’d fled the area, just doing whatever it took to get away from the Mothers that suddenly seemed to be bearing down on him, despite the fact that he’d already dumped the only device that should’ve been sending a signal out to them. It seemed as if they were on his tail for quite some time, though, as if they hadn’t been thrown off by the signal moving down the river. He’d ridden north through a forested area, dodging trees and stumps, occasionally nearly wiping out as he hit big rocks, until finally, with the sun almost straight overhead, he could no longer hear the roar of the land rider engines or the ping ping of gunfire. With a canopy of trees above him, the drones would have difficulty navigating here, too, and there were plenty of branches to hide beneath if one did flyover. He’d finally felt as if he could pause for a moment to refuel and figure out where the hell he was going.

Adam had turned the bike off and wiped his brow, still needing to hurry but also needing to breathe. He’d thought about calling Seth or Esther but hadn’t taken the time. Instead, surrounded by trees far taller than the ones they’d been running through together near Michaelanburg, he’d rushed through refueling and figured out which way to go. He was way off target now, and being in the forest meant he’d have to drive more slowly until he got out from between the trees and back to a road. He’d left with the hope that he’d be able to make up some of the time he’d wasted heading the wrong direction.

Since then, he’d stopped to refuel another time but hadn’t slept. His mind was growing foggy, and he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d gotten a full night’s sleep. The energy pills helped, and he’d taken another one when he’d stopped to refuel, but he hadn’t called because it had been the middle of the night, and he didn’t want to wake Rain or anyone else. Now, it was morning again, and he knew it was the day Rain and Seth would be leaving Judea. He was making up some time and might be able to meet them as planned, but if he stopped at all to sleep, he might miss the rendezvous.

Out of the forest now, he was on a road lined with trees on either side. He hadn’t seen a dirt road this clear in a long time and imagined others must use it frequently enough to keep it wide and from becoming overgrown. Thoughts of seeing Rain again soon had his mind wandering so that he didn’t realize he was at an intersection until it was too late to slow or look both ways.

He didn’t see the other vehicle until it was almost too late to think about stopping. The chances that a truck would come out of nowhere and just happen to be crossing at the exact same time as him seemed nearly impossible, and for a moment, he thought maybe he was hallucinating, but Adam immediately squeezed the brake as tightly as he could. The motorcycle spun out, the end coming around as the trailer whipped up rocks and spewed them into the air, spilling its contents of full and empty fuel containers all over the road.

Adam felt himself tipping to the side as well. He had a helmet on, but there wasn’t much to protect his body from the gravel, should he make contact with the road. He did his best to fight the inertia as the spin took over, but he couldn’t completely keep himself off of the ground. Rocks bit into his knee as it scraped against the road. He fought to hold onto the bike, thinking it would keep him from tumbling out of control, but he couldn’t keep his hands on the grips anymore, and the bike went flying out of his grasp as his backside hit the road hard.

He flipped a couple of times, his hands dragging through the gravel, jagged edges biting into his shoulder. As much as it hurt, he knew he was okay once he came to a stop in the middle of the road. The bike, on the other hand, lay on its side about ten feet ahead of him, the wheels slowing, the cart twisted but still hanging on. Adam swore under his breath, glad he was alive, but he had a feeling the bike was not as lucky.

The truck came to a halt just in front of the bike and out of the middle of the crossroads. The door flew open and a woman got out. Immediately, he could tell she wasn’t a Mother, but he still reached for his weapon. Finding his holster empty, he glanced around and saw his gun tossed about twenty feet away. He considered scrambling for it, but she didn’t look dangerous. Rather, she looked concerned.

“Are you okay?” the woman shouted as she hurried over to him. Black, wavy hair billowed out all around her as she ran. Her clothes indicated she was from Oklasaw or the surrounding area. Denim pants and a T-shirt with boots. Her cocoa colored skin glistened in the bright sunlight, and he noticed she had a pretty face with dark, chocolate eyes. She couldn’t have been more than twenty years old, he guessed.

Realizing she’d asked a question, Adam said, “I think so.” He glanced down at his body and saw his knee was bleeding. It was only after he saw the rip in his pants and the blood flowing out that it began to hurt. His palms were skinned as well, and he figured he’d have even more bruising on his bottom, but he hadn’t broken any bones.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, glancing at his bike but then coming over to him. She crouched down and looked at his knee. “I have a first aid kit in the truck. Is anything else hurt?”

“No, just my knee, I think.” He started to stand but the world began to spin slightly and he stopped himself.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back,” she said hopping up and running back to her truck.

“In the middle of the road?” he asked her, but she didn’t answer. Adam glanced around. He hadn’t seen another vehicle--at all--since he’d left Judea, except for farm equipment in the fields, though he’d heard the Mothers. Still, it seemed dangerous to keep sitting there.

In a few moments, she was back with a metal box. She set it down beside him and flipped it open. Her medical supplies were rudimentary, like Mary’s had been, but he didn’t think he needed much care. She opened a bottle and poured a liquid over his knee, which stung. “Sorry,” she muttered, wiping it off and cleaning up the wound. “It’s not too deep. That’s good,” she said before affixing a large bandage over the skinned section. She also washed his hands, which stung, but not as sharply as his knee, and then she placed smaller bandages on his hands. She cleaned up his shoulder as well.

“Thank you,” Adam said, once she was done. “I think I should move out of the middle of the road now.”

“I’d say you don’t need to worry because no one ever comes down it, but it shows what I know,” she replied. “What’s your name?”

“Adam,” he said quickly. She continued to look at him, and he realized people were supposed to have last names. “Adam… Blue.” He figured since Seth’s last name was Green and Daniel’s was Redd, everyone here must have a color name.

She smiled and a little giggle escaped her lips. “That’s an interesting name.”

He tipped his head to the side, not sure what to think that she would question the legitimacy of his name. “What’s your name?”

“Naomi Little,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, but I’m sorry we had to cross paths this way. Literally.”

“Me, too,” he said, pushing up off of the ground. Naomi hopped up quickly and helped him. Adam thanked her and then tested out his knee. It hurt, but he thought it would hold. “Now… do you have anything in that box for my bike?”

“No, sorry,” Naomi said, studying the wreckage with him. “It doesn’t look like it’s in too horrible of shape, though.”

Adam’s eyes widened as he took in the sight. “You must be seeing something I’m not,” he replied. Slowly, he walked over to what was left of Seth’s motorcycle, his leg aching with each step.

Naomi went along with him. Together, they managed to lift the bike, along with the twisted cart, and sit it upright. Once it was off the ground, it did look like it was in a little better condition than Adam had thought, but the front tire was no longer in alignment, and there were bits and pieces of metal all over the road.

“The kickstand still works,” Naomi said, putting down the piece of metal that was used to support it and taking her eyes off of the bike.

“Kickstand,” Adam muttered. He’d had no idea what that was called. It was good to know the name.

“Well, it’s a start,” she replied, as if she’d assumed he was just saying that the kickstand wasn’t much of anything. Naomi walked around the bike and inspected it. “I think I can fix it. But I’ll have to take it back to the shop. I’m really sorry. I hope you weren’t in a huge hurry to get somewhere. Or… I can give you a ride to where you were going, if it’s close by.”

“I don’t think it’s close by,” Adam said, shaking his head.

“Where are you headed?”

“Louis City.”

“Oh, no. That’s not close at all. Besides, if I went there, my dad would kill me.” Her eyes widened, and Adam got the impression Louis City wasn’t a safe place to be. Yet, Rain was likely headed there right now, without him.

“How long will it take you to fix the bike?” he asked, a little surprised that she knew how to fix machines. He’d been under the impression that the men in Oklasaw did that sort of thing while women mostly did house chores. Clearly, Naomi was different, though, or else she wouldn’t be out driving this truck. Maybe he’d gotten the wrong idea about gender roles altogether. He felt a little bad about that since everyone was constantly judging him for the part he’d played in the place where he’d come from, a place he did not intend to tell Naomi about.

“Fixing it shouldn’t take too long. Maybe an hour or two. But… I live three hours north of here, which means you’ll be about six hours in the wrong direction from where you need to go. Louis City is almost dead east from here.”

Adam’s face fell as he thought about how off schedule that would make him. He didn’t have a choice, though. He’d have to get the bike fixed if he was going to go anywhere at all. Remembering the phone, he felt for his pocket. He could always call Seth and let him know that he was going to be late.

The phone wasn’t there, though. Adam spun around, surveying the area where the bike’s debris cluttered the ground. There was quite a field of it, but he didn’t see the phone anywhere.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“My phone,” he replied, walking over to where his revolver lay on the ground. No phone, but when he picked up his weapon, it looked as if it had survived the wreck. He put it in his holster and continued searching for the phone.

Naomi was helping, checking the ditch along the far side of the road. “Why do you have a gun? Does it have anything to do with what’s going on down south?”

“No,” he said quickly, assuming she had either heard the battle raging with the Mothers or had heard about it. “Just in case I run into someone dangerous. Don’t worry. I’m not a threat.” He knew it was one thing to tell her that and something else for her to accept it.

“I didn’t think you were,” she said. “Or else I wouldn’t have stopped to see if you were okay.”

He wondered how in the world she could tell that from seeing him lying on the road next to a wrecked bike but didn’t ask. A few seconds later, he spotted his phone in a pile of grass by the side of the road and scooped it up.

The screen was cracked. His stomach turned over as he said, “Found it,” and tried to turn it on. Nothing happened. Naomi was at his shoulder now. He turned it over and saw much of the plastic in the back busted as well. “Got something that will fix this?”

“I’m afraid not,” she said. “That sucker looks beyond repair.”

Adam muttered a curse word under his breath and shoved the device in his pocket. “Now what?”

“You can use my phone,” Naomi offered. “Do you know the number you need to reach?”

Adam shook his head. “No idea. All I know is that they’re from Judea and their names.”

“Judea?” Naomi repeated. “That’s a long way off. Why in the world are you over here?”

Shrugging, Adam went back to retrieve the contents of the cart and his backpack, which had somehow come off in the wreck. “It’s a long story.”

“Maybe you can fill me in on our long ride to my house,” she suggested.

“Maybe,” Adam replied, but he wouldn’t be telling her the truth, that was for sure. For one thing, he didn’t want to have to relive his life story, and for the other, he knew, if the Mothers ever found out Naomi was helping him, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill her, her family, and possibly everyone else in her town. It was bad enough that they’d endangered Seth’s family and the others in Judea, not to mention the Oklasaw militia, but it seemed like Naomi’s family lived far enough north that they were trying to avoid any potential conflict with the Mothers. And he was delivering it right to her front door.

The two of them loaded the bike, cart, and contents into the back of Naomi’s truck, and Adam put his backpack on, finding that most of the contents were okay, save a few of Esther’s goodies she’d packed for the ride. He climbed into the passenger side of the truck and with one last glance around, headed off on his next adventure.