Hope (5 page)

“Shoot.”

“Hold on,” Carlos said, turning the engine off. “No need wasting fuel.”

“You okay, buddy, you look nervous as hell.”

“I’m not nervous, I’m excited, I just know everything is going to be fine. I’ve been so uptight, but yesterday I got clarity. Finding that cache of water will help fulfill the plan I have for us, all of us.”

“Okay.”

“We’ve been thinking about where to go for some time. We know we can’t stay here forever, but we’ve only been thinking of heading one place, south of the border. Well, you and I know it’s probably a shit show down there. One place we haven’t thought about is north of the border, like Canada or even Alaska. With all this water, we could make the long trek. We have the fuel stored, we have the food, but our big hurdle was water. Now we found it. Buddy, let’s go to Canada.”

“Canada? Alaska?”

“Dude, all the rumors we’ve heard say it’s fine up there. Tell me one time that you’ve heard one person mention it negatively?”

“I don’t think I’ve heard anyone ever speak of it. It’s like two thousand miles away.”

“More like twelve hundred, but the route isn’t too bad. We don’t have to cross through many major cities, and if we take it slow, we can be on the lookout for any government camps and steer clear of them too. I estimate we could get there in four or five days, taking it easy.”

Neal rested his head back and thought. He liked the sound of Canada but liked the sound of Alaska better. “What’s twelve hundred miles away?”

“Canada.”

“Just the border?”

“Yeah.”

“How will we get across? I bet they have the border sealed tight.”

“I’m sure they do, but there has to be the odd route or old dirt road that goes from Montana right into Alberta.”

“And once we’re in, then what? Where do we go? Neither you nor I have friends or family there.”

“We push north; maybe we do go as far as Alaska.”

Neal sat silent. The idea was the best he’d heard yet but there was still one issue. “It has to be Alaska.”

“That’s fine, Alaska it is. So you’re in?” Carlos asked.

“Yeah, sure, I’m in. We could be on the road for a long time. We have the food, but how will we transport the water? We need to be completely self-sufficient. We have to plan this trip as if we’re not making any pit stops. We need to have everything with us,” Neal stressed.

Carlos shifted in his seat and replied, “We go find ourselves a truck. I don’t care if we have to steal one; we need a pickup, period.”

“I won’t steal from anyone. That will only bring trouble.”

“Neal, you need to move past this archaic code of conduct. We need a truck. It’s the truck or your family’s survival.”

Neal chewed on his lip and said, “I hear you, but I just believe we do things with integrity. We’ve done that from the beginning, and it hasn’t failed us yet. If we find a truck and it’s just sitting there, then we take it, but we won’t be stealing it right from under the noses of its owners.”

Now it was Carlos who was left chewing on his lip. He looked away at the mountains to the south and said, “Deal, no stealing from under the noses of the truck’s owners.” He extended his hand to Neal.

Neal took Carlos’ hand and firmly shook. “You promise?”

“I promise. I wouldn’t do anything that would ever hurt you, you know that.”

“I know you would never do anything on purpose, but…”

“There’s no buts, I promise. I’ll be straight as an arrow. I’ve been that way since the beginning, and I’ll continue to be that way.”

“Good,” Neal replied, liking what he heard.

Carlos let out a loud sigh and barked with excitement, “Hell yes.”

“Fire it up. We have a truck to go find,” Neal said.

Carlos did as he said and sped off. “Alaska, here we come, baby.”

Two Miles South of Brawley, CA

Carlos leaned over the steering wheel and looked in both directions down the empty road.

Neal too was looking but more for a threat that might be waiting for them.

With it appearing all clear, Carlos pulled out of the Spreckels Sugar plant and headed east. They had just spent the past hour filling all the available water containers they could take.

“Well, we have a few more hours of light; shall we go looking for a truck?” Neal asked.

“You read my mind,” Carlos replied.

“Where should we even start looking?” Neal asked.

“Good question, I thought of the farms, but I can only imagine the farmhands or migrant labor took what operational vehicles they came across and headed back south,” Carlos said.

As the two talked, a white Chevrolet Suburban appeared from the
AmPm
convenient store on the corner of the intersection they were headed towards and jumped into the westbound lane.

“Jackpot!” Carlos cheered and pulled the car off onto the gravel shoulder.

Both men watched the Suburban drive past them at a high rate of speed.

Neal caught sight of two men in the front and what looked like possibly more people in the back, but it was difficult to make out with the tinted rear windows.

Carlos kept the Suburban in his sight in the side mirror, and when they were far enough away, he cranked the wheel hard to the left and slammed on the accelerator. The old Lincoln lunged hard to the left and completed the U-turn.

“Where are you going?” Neal asked, although he knew what Carlos was doing.

“Following them.”

“Why?”

Carlos raised his eyebrow and said, “That’s a dumb question.”

“I thought we discussed this.”

“We did. I’m just seeing where they’re headed. Maybe they have a spare truck.”

“Bullshit. Listen, Carlos, there’s no need in us looking for trouble. We’ve been safe since this all happened. Now we have a plan to escape this hellhole. Let’s not fuck that up with anything aggressive and dumb.”

“I’m not, but it’s not every day we see the exact vehicle we need,” Carlos replied, defending his actions.

Neal felt his heart skip a beat. This could all go badly, or it could be nothing. The thing was you didn’t know until it happened.

Carlos stayed a good distance back, following each turn the Suburban made until it pulled off and headed down a long gravel driveway and stopped a hundred yards down. This was where the flat desert topography came in handy. Carlos turned left at an intersection just before the right turn down the drive and pulled into an abandoned car wash. A large grove of dead dry shrubs provided cover and concealment, but they were still able to see the Suburban.

Neal didn’t like what they were doing but had stopped fretting over it long before.

When the Lincoln came to a stop, Carlos jumped out with a set of binoculars and raced towards the thick shrubs. He put them to his eyes and focused on the Suburban that still sat idling.

Neal got out and kept his attention on everything behind and to the sides of them. If he was one thing, it was always vigilant.

“They’re moving again,” Carlos said, his eyes stuck to the binoculars.

“They saw us, I know it.”

“You’re right. I think they did, too many turns, but now they must feel safe.”

A warm gust swept over them and shook the dead branches of the shrub.

“What are they doing?” Neal asked.

“Driving slowly down the road. Wait, wait a sec,” Carlos muttered.

“What?” Neal asked, his gaze still focused on everything behind them. He had stayed safe for those many months and owed a lot of it to his attention to details, always following his protocol.

“Another vehicle and, guess what, it’s another SUV. Hold on, make that two more,” Carlos blurted out.

“Three?”

“Glad to see you can count,” Carlos mused.

“Har, har.”

“They’re all driving north along that road,” Carlos said. He focused on the road north and caught sight of a small house with several outbuildings. “I bet they’re headed there.”

Needing to see for himself, Neal broke from his position and walked up to Carlos. “Let me see.”

Carlos handed the binoculars over without question. “Right there,” he said, pointing through the bushes towards the house.

Neal peered through and saw exactly what Carlos had described. He saw all the vehicles pull up to the house, park, and what looked like a dozen people in total get out.

“Anything?” Carlos asked.

“How about making sure no one sneaks up on us?” Neal sternly said.

“We’re good, so did they go to that house?”

“Yes, they’ve all parked and gone inside,” Neal answered. He lowered the binoculars and handed them back.

“What do you think?” Carlos asked.

“I think we’re wasting time. Let’s get moving and try to find a truck we can use without getting into a damn battle,” Neal replied, walking back to the car.

“Let’s stay here a bit longer and see—”

“See what? There’s nothing to see here,” Neal said.

“Who are these guys? Maybe we can find out where they got their trucks.”

“From spying on them, you’re going to get that? Stop the bullshit, Carlos, you’re thinking about stealing one of those rigs.”

Carlos opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Neal could see the devious look written all over his face. “See, I knew it.”

“No, no, I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.”

“Well, maybe a little. C’mon, brother, we need a fucking big rig to haul that water bull back at the plant. My old Lincoln isn’t up to the task. We desperately need a truck, and lo and behold, they have them, three of them.”

“Just say I agreed to your idea of stealing one, just how do you propose on getting it without getting shot up much less killed, and let me be clear, killed is the operative word.”

Carlos gave Neal his signature toothy grin, tapped his index finger to his temple, and said, “With superior intellect.”

Guatay, CA

Charlotte sat frozen, her eyes stuck on the blank page of her diary. This had been her position for an hour. She didn’t know what to write, and did it really matter anymore? She had asked Drew to take it back, but it appeared that wasn’t going to happen.

Was there any purpose to writing? Maybe she’d find comfort in the written word, but she doubted it. How could you find comfort after everything that had happened? Her mother was missing, her father dead, and now she and her sister were captives of a drug lord—oops, reformed/turned-legit drug lord—and to add insult to it all, she found out her father worked for the man. So what could these off-white blank pages do to help?

Frustrated she closed the diary and tossed it aside.

Her ears perked up when voices came from the other side of the door, but one voice brought her to her feet.

The door opened and there stood Hope.

“Hope!” Charlotte squealed.

Both girls ran into each other’s arms.

Hope instantly began to cry.

“Are you well? Have they taken care of you? You’re not hurt, are you?” Charlotte asked.

“I miss Dada,” was all Hope could mutter between the sobs.

“I miss him too,” Charlotte said before asking her the all-important question, “Did they say anything about Daddy?”

Hope remained quiet.

Charlotte pulled her away so she could see her face. “Did they tell you anything about what Daddy did for work?”

Hope wiped the tears from her rosy cheeks and shook her head. “No.”

“Nothing?”

“No.”

“And you’re fine? They haven’t touched you anywhere they shouldn’t?”

“No. No one touched me.”

Drew stepped into the room and stood with a large smile on his face. “Hi, girls.”

Charlotte pulled Hope close and took a couple steps away from him.

He chuckled and said, “You still don’t trust me? If I was going to bite, I would’ve bitten. But I wanted to show I was a man of my word. I promised I’d let you see your sister if you told me the truth.”

“So you believed me?” Charlotte asked, clearly confused especially after his reaction the last time.

Drew ran his fingers through his thick black hair and said, “I’ll have to admit, I didn’t believe you, but something came up, and well, we now know you were being honest.”

“You found it?” Charlotte asked.

Hope just stood with most of her weight against Charlotte.

“We’re going to get it now.”

“Who had it? Did my…?”

“No, no. Unfortunately it was someone else in our crew. We had our suspicions and they were well founded. I’m disappointed, but it is what it is.”

“You’ll let us go?” Charlotte asked.

“Sorry, but that’s not going to happen.”

“But you found the gold.”

Drew walked up to them and said, “We have another plan for you two.”

“What?” Charlotte asked her lips trembling.

He looked down, his face strained as veins popped on his neck and forehead. “You girls are valuable, you’re assets, and we intend on selling you to a slaver in Mexico.”

“You can’t, no!” Charlotte screamed.

“I’m sorry, but it’s not my call. I’m just the messenger.”

Hope began crying again. She had heard of the word slave, but she couldn’t quite comprehend what it meant. Her tears emanated from fear.

“No, no, you can’t!” Charlotte screamed.

Drew stepped closer so he could impart something quietly, but his approach was repelled.

“Get away from us!” Charlotte yelled as she hit him with her fist.

He withdrew but was more sad than angry. “I’m sorry, it’s not my call. I promise if it were up to me, you’d stay with us.”

“What’s to come of us?”

“I’ll make sure we sell you together, okay?” Drew said in a weak attempt at comforting her.

“Leave us alone, go, go!” Charlotte demanded.

“Let me talk to the boss again, see what I can do,” Drew said, again trying to make them feel at ease.

“Go!”

Nervously Drew exited but not before he said, “I’ll have dinner dropped off with an extra set of blankets for Hope. She can stay with you.”

The door closed and locked.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Hope asked.

Charlotte hugged Hope tightly and repeated the exact words her father would say when she was scared. “It will be fine. I’ll keep you safe.”

Hope looked up at Charlotte and cried, “It won’t be fine.”