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“I’m sorry, Alex. It just overwhelmed me. I can’t stop worrying about Jake. Who’s taking care of Jake?” she finished on a sob.

Alex was confused. She knew Jake was Dara’s little brother. He had been just a toddler when they had moved into town and Alex guessed he was around seven or eight. She was confused because she expected that Dara’s mother would be looking after him.

“I’m sure your Mom will take care of him. They’ll be all right.” Alex tried to console.

Dara started to laugh and it wasn’t a nice laugh but a bitter one. “My Mom? Oh yeah, I’m sure as soon as she sobers up she’ll be the best protector for him.” she said sarcastically. “My Mom’s a drunk, Alex, has been since my Dad left. I take care of Jake.” she looked down with shame.

“But, but, why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped you. We were your best friends.” Alex said in shock.

Dara shook her head, “At first I was ashamed and didn’t want anyone to know. I thought she would get better. After a while, I was so angry, so mad at the world. I even hated you and Emily because you still had a real family. I was so busy cleaning up my Mom’s mess and trying to take care of Jake that I just let everything else go. It was easier if I didn’t have to talk about it so I just stayed away from you guys. The only one I couldn’t shake was Josh. He just kept coming around, sitting with me no matter what I said to him, he always came back. He figured out what was going on with my Mom pretty quick.

You know what Alex? He never said a word, never asked me about it, never offered advice, nothing. He was just there. Coming over and mowing the lawn, shoveling snow or just hanging out with me and Jake. Do you know it was Josh who taught Jake to ride a bike and to catch a baseball? So if I’m here and Josh is here, who’s taking care of Jake?” she finished in a whisper.

Alex didn’t know what to say. All these years Dara had been dealing with this on her own. She felt very small and shallow. She and Emily had just given up on her and Josh hadn’t. Josh’s outburst the night before came back to her. She had thought he was just blowing off steam but telling Dara he would kill someone to protect her made more sense now. How self-involved and selfish can a person be? Alex was forced to admit she had been oblivious to Dara’s pain for years.

“Dara, I’m so sorry. I was a terrible friend to just let you go like that. I’m sorry I didn’t fight for our friendship.” she said with shame.

“Oh Alex, don’t. I’m just as much to blame. I pushed you guys away instead of telling you what was happening. We were just kids and I didn’t know what to do. It seemed easier to just hide from everyone.” Dara reached out and took Alex’s hand.

“What about your Dad? Did he know? Did you tell him?” Alex asked.

With a bitter laugh and shake of her head Dara told her, “He knows. At first, he took us more often but he got remarried and was busy with his new wife. We still went every other weekend and he would do Dad stuff with us, like movies and camping. I loved when he would take us to the firing range. He would introduce us to his work friends and they would all gather around to watch me shoot. It was such a great feeling, an escape from dealing with my Mom. Then his new wife, Sandy had twins and he stopped doing those things with us. Jack was still little so he thought it was neat to have two babies around but as soon as they were over a year old, I was nothing but a babysitter for my Dad. The last weekend I spent with them was over a year ago and when we got to their house Friday night, Dad and my step-mom left for a night out within minutes. The next day they went out shopping and then they brought us home pizza and movies and left for another night out. Sunday morning my Dad woke me up and asked me to feed the twins breakfast and when I got mad and told him I felt like I was only there for free babysitting, he said he’d give me some money. After that I wouldn’t go to his place anymore. He would still take Jack but he started bringing him home earlier and earlier and then he would miss a weekend until he just stopped coming at all.” She paused to take a shaky breath and finished with “I don’t have a Dad.”

Alex didn’t know what to say. She had no idea what Dara’s life had become and was at a loss for words. Dara scrubbed her face with her hands and let out an angry breath. “I should have never come on this trip. I had it all set up so that Jake would be having sleepovers at a couple different friends’ houses. He wouldn’t have to stay at home with our Mom. With all of this happening, no one is going to be having sleepovers. He’s only eight and he’s all alone. I’m so selfish. I just wanted one thing for me. One thing that was happy and I could be, be…” Dara trailed off.

“A kid.” Alex finished for her.

“Yeah, a kid, not taking care of Jake, cleaning up my Mom or being mad at my Dad. Just free for a few days. Free to be a kid, and now because of that selfish decision, my little brother is all alone and in danger.” she said angrily.

“Jake’s fine.” came from the doorway. Both girls looked up startled to see Josh standing there. “He’s with my Dad.”

“What are you talking about, why would he be with your Dad?” Dara asked, confused.

Josh entered the room and sat down beside Dara, taking her hand. “Before I left, I told my Dad everything about your situation. I asked him to keep an eye on Jake. I also told Jake that if anything happened he was to go to my Dad for help. As soon as the lights went out, my Dad would have gone and got him. Jake is safe Dara.”

Dara stared at Josh with open mouthed astonishment until she could choke out “Jake’s safe. Thank you, thank you.” And she dissolved into tears of relief. As Josh took her into his arms, Alex slipped out of the room to give them some privacy.

**  **  **  **  **  **

Alex came out of the house and headed towards the old camper to see what the boys were up to. She saw Quinn wrestling with a large propane tank and he set it by the back of the motorhome. Wiping sweat from his face, he saw Alex approaching and gave her a smile. “Hey, where are Josh and Dara? I thought we should have a meeting to plan things out. I sent Josh in to get you guys.”

Stalling for them she told him “They’re just in the middle of something. Why don’t I throw some lunch together? We can eat while we talk. Oh, and before I forget, there’s a gun safe in the basement. We need to look for keys for it.” she said, hoping to distract him.

“That’s great! Hopefully we won’t need them but it’s good to be prepared just in case. Let’s have lunch on the patio and we’ll look at the maps we found in the camper.”

Alex went over to the bikes and pulled out the ham pancakes she had made this morning as well as the apples and carried them over to the patio table. She went inside the house and got some cans of soda and a pile of napkins. As she was heading back out she stopped at the door to the basement and called down the stairs, “Lunch is ready! Meeting on the patio in five minutes!” and continued out onto the patio.

Alex looked over at the fresh graves of the Petersons. The poor dog was still lying beside them and Alex was again saddened that she didn’t even know its name. She went back in to the house and got a bowl and filled it with water from a jug. She took it out and placed it beside the dog, hoping it would show some interest. The dog looked up at her with the saddest eyes and gave a small whine then laid its head back down. Close to tears, Alex moved away and sat at the patio table waiting for the others. She was wondering if the dog would stay there until it died or if they should try to take it with them when Cooper and Quinn joined her.

Quinn followed Alex’s gaze and with a sigh sat down beside her. “There’s nothing we can do Alex. The dog will stay there and die or it’ll go wild. We can’t take it with us. We have enough on our plates without having to care for a dog. I’m sorry.” he said, rubbing her arm.

“I know. It’s just so sad. With all the death and destruction of the last few days, that one dog is so heartbreaking is silly. I can’t help feeling so sad for it.”

Cooper leaned toward her “It’s not silly, Alex. Being able to be sad for one dog after all the death you’ve seen is a good thing. I think by the time we get home, we will all be hardened to a lot of things. So be sad when you can and take joy and happiness where you find them. Only when you stop feeling should you be worried. And right now what I’m feeling is……hungry!” he joked, lightening the mood.

Josh and Dara came out of the house and took seats at the table. Dara’s eyes were red and puffy but she seemed composed. Everyone took a ham pancake and apple and started eating.

Josh finished his pancake quickly and said, “This is pretty good Alex, but now that we have a working stove and oven we can have better meals. The fridge works too so we can keep things longer. What do you guys think about taking a few laying hens with us for eggs? There are some fold up cages that would fit in the back of the truck. And if we have to, we can get rid of them for roasted chicken dinner. I also found a spring room under the barn. It has cheese and butter as well as some meat so even though the freezer part of the fridge is small, we can still take some of it.”

Quinn was nodding, “That’s a good idea Josh. A few hens and we can have fresh eggs that we can stock up on in the fridge. They would also be good for barter. So, I think we should stay here for the rest of the day and night and head out first thing in the morning. We need to stock the camper and truck up and hopefully find a way to fill up the water tanks on the camper. Alex found a gun safe in the basement, so we need to find keys for it and see what’s in it. I also think we should go over these road maps we found and see if we can find a way to get around Las Vegas without getting too close to it. It’s going to be nasty around that city. It would be good if we could map out a few different routes around all the major cities we need to get past. Travelling on back roads and secondary highways might be our best bet. The interstate is going to be packed with cars and people.” He looked around the nodding group and finished with, “Ok, let’s get packed up and sorted out. I say we have a BBQ for our supper and get a good night’s rest and then head for home.”

Chapter 10

Three days later and Alex was looking out at yet more barren scrub covered desert. They had taken a secondary highway at Baker that went north into Death Valley. The good news was that it would take them far from Las Vegas and there were no real towns on the highway. The bad news was there was nothing else either. Desert and rock, as far as the eye could see. There were hardly any cars on the road which meant that they could make good time, keeping at a steady forty miles an hour in case they came up on anything blocking the road. They were keeping the speed down, not wanting to risk losing one of the priceless vehicles to an accident. They had made around three hundred miles the day before and it had been uneventful except for one brief encounter.

They had gone north, skirting the Nellis Air Force Range Complex, which was nothing more than more scrub covered desert and rock, when they had seen a dust cloud moving towards them out of the desert. It could only be another vehicle raising a line of dust like that, so they pulled over and got into defensive positions.

They had talked about different scenarios and how they would handle them, so they all knew what to do. They all had guns, thanks to Mr. Peterson’s gun safe but they kept them tucked away. Only Quinn and Cooper had shotguns on display and those were held pointed up. The idea was to warn off anyone looking for a fight, not start one.

Quinn and Cooper were standing with the truck bed between them and the approaching vehicle, ready to duck down for cover if shooting started. Alex, Dara and Josh were in the scrub bushes further back on their side of the road. They didn’t want to be trapped in the camper if bullets started flying.

As the dust cloud got closer, they were able to make out an older model army looking jeep. It had two men with rifles in the front seat. It came to a stop by swerving sideways and both men jumped out on the far side, using it as cover.

“This is a United States Air Force patrol. Step into the road and identify yourselves!”

Quinn and Cooper whispered to each other and then Quinn shouted back, “How do we know you guys are really soldiers or are just trying to get the jump on us?”

“Sir, the only way I can confirm that is to show you my ID. If you would be willing to come forward unarmed, I would meet you halfway.” the man yelled back.

After more whispered discussion between the boys, Quinn held his shot gun high in the air and set it down in the truck bed. Walking around the side of the truck, he kept his hands in the air and made his way to the side of the road closest to the jeep. He stopped halfway between the two vehicles and made sure he wasn’t blocking Coopers’ line of sight. The man who had been doing the yelling came around the jeep and walked towards Quinn. He was dressed in a camouflage outfit and had a gun in a holster at his side but had left his rifle in the jeep.

When he reached a few feet from Quinn his faced showed surprise, “You’re just a kid!”

Quinn was used to that response by now and shrugged it off. “Are you guys really from the Army?” he asked.

“Air Force Son, there’s a difference. What are you doing out here? And where did you get two working vehicles? Are your parents with you?” the soldier questioned.

“Sir, do you have any identification? We’re trying to be careful with who we give answers to.” Quinn evaded.

“What? Oh sure. Hold on.”

The soldier pulled out a billfold and handed Quinn a card with his picture and information on it. Major Tom Lewis was the name on the ID card. Quinn handed it back and asked “Isn’t a Major a little high up to be out on patrol, Sir?”

The Major smiled, “I’m not really on patrol, son. I just wanted to get away from the airport and see what there is to see. I didn’t really expect to run into anyone out here. Now, can I ask again, who are you, what are you doing out here and are your parents over behind those trucks?”

“My name is Quinn and I’m with some friends. We were on a class trip when everything stopped working. We are trying to get home and thought it would be easier if we stayed off the main highways. We helped an elderly man bury his wife and he gave us his truck and camper to help us get home.” He quickly summarized, “Do you know what happened Sir? Can you give me any information? We are headed north to Canada and anything you could tell us would be appreciated.”