After the Event (8 page)

“She can’t keep going like this.” Jack whispered.

Anger flared for just a second in Grant.
He knew this, everyone knew this, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Jack recognized the anger and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“What I’m saying is we have to get her something to help her fight.”

“Suggestions?”

“She’s burning up right now, we’ve got to get her fever down.
We need Tylenol and I’ve already checked my place and Trent has checked his, we’ve got shit.”

Tylenol.
A small little pill that anyone could get at a store for a couple of bucks is what they needed and they had no way to get it. “How do we not have any Tylenol?”

Jack shrugged. “Grant there is a lot of stuff we should have but don’t.
When you get used to being able to drive 15 minutes and pick up whatever you need you don’t have a reason to stock up.”

Alec walked in the room.
If Jack mirrored the feeling of despair that Grant was feeling then Alec mirrored the anger.

“We have to do something.”

Grant nodded, “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

“We don’t have time to figure it out we have to do something now.”

The anger returned and Grant fought to keep it back. “Alec, that is what I’m trying to figure out.”

Jack stepped up and tried to place a hand on Alec but he shrugged it off.
“Don’t give me that shit. You don’t know what you’re doing. You never know what you’re doing, because this is when you run away. When things get bad you take off.”

The anger took over and Grant grabbed the boy and pushed him against the wall.
“Don’t you dare try to put this on me because you’re scared. You think I’m not scared? You don’t think I want to do something?”

Tears filled the boy’s eyes.
“You don’t know what you’re doing. I’m the one that always has to pick us up. I’m the one that is supposed to protect us because you’re not there.”

The anger fled Grant’s body all at once.
He took a step back and took a deep breath. “Alec you don’t have to do this alone anymore. I’m here.”

The boy broke down.
“I can’t sit around and watch her die. I can’t go through that again.”

Grant hugged the boy to his body.
Alec fought him for a second then gave in.

“You have every right to be mad at me Alec.
You have every right to hate me, but don’t let your anger towards me hurt your sister.”

After a few minutes Alec pushed himself away and walked to the door.
“So what are we going to do?”

Grant glanced at Jack.
“I’m going to go in town and see if anyone has some medicine we can trade for.”

Alec still had his back to Grant.
“I’m coming with you.”

Grant didn’t argue.

Trent’s truck fought against the snow and ice and won, this time. They had decided to take the back roads to get into town and at the moment it didn’t seem like such a good idea. The road, which had once been gravel, had more in common now with a frozen-over lake. To make things even worse the ice was covered by snow, in some spots only a foot, in others several, as the blustery wind created snow drifts. The truck would fight to get through the snow drifts only to hit the ice at the bottom and then careen off to the side. If they managed to get into town the only way they were going to get back was by taking the main road.

Alec sat in the back barely aware of the
struggle that Trent was fighting. Next to the man was his father, they all sat in silence. Alec was a bundle of rage and despair. Once again an unseen enemy attacked his family and once again he had no way to fight against it. The back of the truck was filled with blankets, extra clothing, and kitchen supplies, things they hoped they would be able to trade for medicine.

They entered the town in silence and were met with more silence.
If the town looked deserted last time this time it appeared dead. The empty homes and cars were buried in snow and ice. The last trace of humanity had been frozen away.

“Jesus.”
Trent looked around in horror giving voice to what they were already thinking.

Just as it seemed they weren’t going to find anything Alec noticed smoke coming from the
large civic center. Trent noticed it as well as he pulled up in one of the few clear areas. Trent and Grant grabbed their rifles. Alec wasn’t happy about being unarmed but they decided the last rifle should stay with Jack and the kids just in case.

Grant looked back at him.
His face seemed firm but he could see the cracks, the man was barely holding it together. “Let’s do this.”

They fought through the knee-high snow and Trent knocked several times on the door.
After a few minutes a man answered the door, a shotgun at the ready. It was at that moment that Alec realized they weren’t doing as bad as he thought. The man’s cheeks were sunken in and his clothes were hanging off of him. Even with the gun pointed in their direction the man didn’t appear threatening. It looked like a mild gust of wind would have probably knocked the man off his feet.

“We don’t have any more room.”

Grant put himself in between the gun and the rest of them.

“We’re not looking for a place to stay, we’re looking to trade for medicine.”

The man let out a rough laugh. “Medicine? What do we look like a CVS?”

“All we need is some Tylenol.
I have a sick daughter and she is burning up, we need to get her temperature down.”

There was movement from behind the man and the Police Officer they met previously, Whitford, emerged.
The man looked more haggard then the last time they met but still considerably better than the man with the shotgun. Whitford gave Grant a weary smile when he saw him.

“Nice to see you’re still in the fight.”

Grant gave him a firm handshake. “Same to you.”

With pleasantries out of the way Whitford’s face took on a defeated look.
“I heard what you need and I’m sorry. What little we have, we need.”

“I can understand that but all we need is a half a bottle, just enough to help keep my daughter’s fever down so she can get over the worst of it.”

The man with the shotgun spoke up. “Don’t go giving away our supplies.”

Whitford’s face hardened instantly and he gave the man a look that made him take a step back.
“I have no intention of giving anything away Paul.” There was silence for a moment then he turned his attention back to them. “I’m sorry. We have our own sick. The small pharmacy we had in this town was looted pretty thoroughly before we could get it locked down.”

Trent stepped forward.
“What do you need?”

“Everything, son.
Food, guns, ammo, heat, you name it we need it. I take it you all don’t have a Mcdonald’s in the back of that truck do you?”

Trent shook his head no.
“But we do have ammo.”

This time it was Grant who gave Trent a look.
Alec had overheard enough talks between Jack and his father to know they were dangerously low on ammo. The snares that Trent set up along their property would catch a raccoon or rabbit every few days but that was barely enough for a meal. It was the big game like deer and coyotes that gave them the closest thing to a full meal, and that took ammo.”

Trent ignored his father’s look and held out his rifle.
“This is a .22 semi-automatic. Only a couple years old, I give it a good cleaning every few months.”

Paul stepped forward and gave the gun a look.
“Gun isn’t any good without something to spit out of it.”

Trent reached in his pocket and pulled out a small box of ammunition.
“This gun and ammo are mine.” He gave Grant a look to assure him. “I’m willing to trade but we’re going to need a full bottle of Tylenol and some kind of stomach soother. A lowered temp isn’t going to do us any good if she isn’t able to keep anything down.”

Paul turned towards Whitford and they shared a quick look.
Paul nodded and walked away.

Whitford shook Trent’s hand.
“Paul will grab the supplies.”

Grant placed a hand on Trent’s shoulder and began to say something before Trent cut him off.
“I’m sure. This will help your little one get back on her feet and give us some much needed medicine. Plus, it’s the least I can do after everything.”

“I’m sorry it has to be this way,” said Whitford, “But we’re hanging by a thread here.
This town used to have over three thousand strong, I don’t there are even three hundred of us left in a ten mile radius.”

Paul came back and handed Trent a bag with a bottle of Tylenol and a bottle of Pepto-Bismol.
Trent handed over the rifle and ammunition.

Whitford again shook Grant’s hand.
“Be careful out there. There is a group somewhere out there that is causing us a lot of problems. They haven’t hit us in a while, probably realize we don’t have anything, but they’ve taken more than their fair share of lives.”

Grant nodded.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t do more.” And with that said they got back in their truck and headed home.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Grant kept his eyes on the road.
“We need every gun and piece of ammo we can get our hands on.”

“I have another rifle that I can probably get in working order, and I have plenty of ammo, let’s just get your little one the medicine.”

“Thank you.”

Trent smiled, “Don’t mention it.”

They hadn’t even made it a mile from town when they saw the truck blocking the road. Both Alec and Grant recognized it instantly. Trent started to slow down.

“What the hell do we have here?”
Trent asked.

Grant picked up the rifle.
“Trent I want you to gun it around them.”

Trent looked over confused for a second then the realization appeared on his face.
“This is who Whitford was talking about?”

Grant nodded.

As they slowly approached the truck two males got out with rifles hung casually to the side.
One of the males had a long ponytail and as they got closer Alec recognized the large scar that cut diagonally across his face. Trent started to slow down and then all at once stepped on the gas and they lurched forward. The man with the scar grabbed for his rifle as they sped past the stopped truck.

Grant turned off the safety of his rifle just as a shot rang out and his window burst into shards
of broken glass. He let out a shout of pain and for a brief second Trent nearly lost control of the truck sending them sliding sideways before he regained control and sent them in the correct direction.

“Dad!” Alec shouted.

He could see blood running down the side of his father’s face. Grant shoved the gun in his direction.

“Take it, I’m alright I think it’s just from the glass.”

For a second all Alec could do is stare at the rifle hanging in front of him. Then he heard another shot emanating from behind them. When he glanced back he saw that the truck was on the road following them. One of the men was hanging out the window with a gun pointing in their direction.

“Alec take it.”
Trent shouted.

Alec grabbed the rifle, feeling the cold wood against his skin.
Another shot rang out and this time the rear windshield shattered, while the glass missed him the cold wind was enough to take his breath away for a second.

“Trent you gotta go faster,” Grant said as he tried to stem the flow of blood which appeared to be coming from his forehead.
“They’re catching up.”

“If I go much faster we’re going to end up in a ditch.”

Another shot, this time it wasn’t followed by anything, a miss. Alec took a deep breath and swung around. The truck was a good fifty yards away if not further, Alec aimed let out a breath and shot, nothing. He aimed again, shot, and the bullet struck the hood of the truck.

“Keep your head down kid.”
Trent glanced at him with the rearview mirror. The raiders prevented him from doing this again as a bullet whizzed into the truck and took out the mirror.

Their truck began to fishtail sending Alec head first into the passenger rear door.
The impact jarred him and time seemed to slow down for a brief second. He felt Trent bring the truck back under control and heard his father let out another shout but he couldn’t make out what he said.

His father turned around in his seat, face covered in blood, and shook him.
The world came back into focus. “Alec, are you ok?”

Alec managed to nod and got back onto the seat.
When he swung around he realized his father’s shout was one of happiness. Falling rapidly behind was the raiders truck which was sideways in a ditch, they had lost control.

They continued on their way home.
Alec watching behind them for any approaching vehicles, Grant holding pressure on his wound, and Trent doing everything he could to go fast while not losing control. They pulled into their driveway, injured, sans one gun, but with the medicine they needed. Standing there in the garage was Jack with a large smile plastered on his face, lying beside him was the body of a deer.

Despite all they had been through, Alec smiled.