Chapter 13

it falls like snow
and covers the earth.
it's birth a glow
it's glow a birth,
-- of death...

"Josh, what's your larder look like?"

"I keep a lot of meat in the deep freeze, Tobe. I'm glad you reminded me, that is one of the first things we need to take care of when we get there."

His mind wandered from the meat problem to the other problems they would run into since the world had gone crazy. The basic human necessities. Food, shelter, water, clothing, medicines, gasoline for Ralph, gas for the cook stove at home, and a thousand other things we take for granted when we go to the cupboard. The things we write on our grocery lists. The things our wives call to remind us to pick up on the way home from work.

"Shit. Toilet tissue."

"What about toilet tissue, Josh."

"I was going to pick up some more tissue on the way home tonight. I'm down to my last roll at the house."

"Well, " Marty's chuckle was steeped in honesty and well seasoned with chagrin, " we are also going to need a few other things. Like kotex, or tampons, or something anyway."

"Toby, why didn't you tell me your wife was on the rag."

"Well I didn't really know, but the way things are going it looks like she really will be before too long."

"You two are really gross, did you know that? You two are horrible."

"Hey, quit it before you run us off of the road. I can't drive with the two of you fighting in the front seat with me."

The good natured, if somewhat earthy, ribbing broke the immediate tension the situation had built, but the games escalated just as the tension had, got out of hand. Marty stretched out full length across the seats, had Toby taking refuge in the foot well to keep her from tickling him. Distracted, as he was by the grope session going on next to him, Josh allowed his attention to waver and automatically slowed to stop at the junction of the county road with US 71. Whether it was just a poor shot, or it missed because he slowed he didn't know, and was not about to stop and find out. He shifted down and floored the accelerator while swinging the wheel to the right. He felt Marty's legs start a slide which would have ended with them tangling his and the steering wheel, but had enough presence of mind to pull them into his lap before they could cause a problem. The van leaned wildly as it roared its way into the southbound lane of the highway. The rear wheels refused to slide because of the weight of the weapons in the rear.

"Damn it, stay down Marty. Hold onto the seat and stay put."

Toby climbed up from the foot well and slid the XM-15 from between the top of the yellow chest and Marty's supine body, as the rear window shattered into thousands of small rectangular shards. Josh involuntarily ducked as the bullet continued its path through the front windshield leaving a finger sized hole, cracks spider-webbing from it. Toby replied in kind with the XM set to three shot burst. His first volley did not make much of a difference, though the shots following the van started to go wide. His second burst took out the tire of one of the trucks spraying dust from the shoulder. By the third group of three he found the range and cut down one of the riflemen even as he let loose his shot. Those remaining lost interest as the van sped away, and their partner fell loose limbed at their feet.

Josh took stock of the damage to the passenger compartment of the vehicle, and listened for sounds of mechanical injuries. There were many of the first sort and, luckily, there were none of the latter immediately calling for attention. The first shot had entered the driver's window at an angle which just missed the somewhat archaic louver frame, passed over the outstretched arms of the driver, cut a furrow through the passenger's seat and passed completely through the metal of the rear door. Marty was the first to notice the neat dimpled hole in the neutral brown of the door. It was only by the merest chance, and the ragged tear in the seat fabric, that the path of the bullet was traced. If the couple had not been crouched well down on the floor, one or both of them would have been hit by the first bullet of the ensuing fusillade.

Little was said during the next twenty minutes of the drive, owing mainly to the intensity of the work being done by Marty and her husband in rearranging the stacks of cartons and boxes almost filling the rear of the van. When finished, the two had made a nest of the more solid pieces, then jury rigged a seat for Marty to watch and, if necessary, fire out of the now dissolved rear glass.

The heavily loaded vehicle wove a convoluted path through the back roads of the area between the Red River and the site of what had been Texarkana. The trip, if done in the normal manner, would have taken less than a half hour but owing to the caution of Josh and the ambiguous trail being left for anyone following, it was well passed four before the three got to the area near ' The Haven.'

The trail, for that name was all it deserved, Josh chose for his approach to the house was one of five different exits from the matrix of county and private roads which he used for access. It appeared to be an access road going to a natural gas well, operated by the infamous Mesa Petroleum Co., but it also connected to a maze of trails one of which led to Josh's new home. He stopped 'Ralph' at the location, and swung to the ground, SXGI in hand. He paused, motioned for Toby to come with him and for Marty to remain with the almost silently running van. He and Toby trotted back to the county road, and took up positions to watch for oncoming traffic.

"Josh." The breathy exclamation so softly spoken as to be unheard at any distance," Why is it we haven't seen anyone on the roads since we left the shop?"

"I don't know Toby, but I suspect most of the people who survived the bomb have headed into the mountains north of here, or up into Oklahoma. They probably figure Shreveport got it too, and the best place to be is away from the fallout line from the blasts in Dallas, and the areas west of here. What has really got me puzzled, is the ash falling all around us. It should be ash from the blast in town, and should be hotter than hell, but the counter stills says it is only about three times what normal background radiation should be."

When the ash fall started, shortly after four, Toby dropped the box he was shifting and grabbed the geiger counter to find out how hot it was. He cursed for a full ten minutes before accepting its startling readings. Marty spent another ten minutes reading and rereading the operators manual in an attempt to discredit the device, but came up empty in her search for a malfunction. Finally they accepted the blessing although they all had their own reservations, and thanked the Lord they did not face immediate danger from radioactive fallout.

The men watched the road in silence for fifteen minutes before deciding that, if they had been followed, they had successfully eluded the followers. Even with the assurance of pursuit either far behind, or non existent, Josh drove through every possible route in the maze before finally taking the road bringing them to the big circular drive of the house. He pulled past the entrance to the double garage, lying well hidden in the pines and cedars through which they drove, and pulled to a stop parallel to the front of the house, just past a well shaded gap leading to the concrete patio.

"Marty, hop out and see if you can't fix us something to eat, I don't know about Toby, but being scared like I have been today gives me an insistent craving for food and drink. Meantime Tobe, you can hop out and guide me while I back this monster up onto the Patio so we can unload."

Josh's relief was as evident in his voice as it was in his face, and this acted like a catalyst on the emotions of his two companions. Both smiled in reply and, with sudden bursts of energy, leapt quickly to their assigned tasks. It was the work of only a minute to back the van through the short pathway onto the fully shaded patio. Though the van bulked huge while on the path itself, from a short distance it was dwarfed by the majesty of the towering pines who spread their leafy canopy to block the sun and sight from the house's roof below. A gravel path meandered from the patio to the tree shrouded garage. It was to this Josh's attention went as he turned off the quiet engine. Just visible through the flanking cedars were the blood stained figures of a blonde woman, and a young man.

"Robby?"

The question was voiced just loudly enough to draw Toby's attention as he inspected the bullet holes in the tailgate of the van.

"What Josh?"

"My God. Toby, come here and give me a hand." All caution fled from his mind as he jumped from the cab of the truck and ran the twenty feet to the side of his young friend.

Toby's caution was not dispelled. He threw himself to the ground beside a tree and covered the approach to the gore covered couple.

Josh glanced back and stopped at the click of safety on Toby's pistol. " For Christ's sake Tobe, the kid's a friend of mine and he's hurt," he continued toward the couple again, " put down the gun and give me a hand."

Toby ignored Josh's plea for a quick ten count because of the third tragic figure standing behind the duo. It took him those seconds to verify that the man, a giant along side the couple teetering up the gravel path, was unarmed and as splotched with red as his companions.

"Mr. Hardesty, " were the only words Robby spoke as Joshua picked him up and held him in a tear splashed embrace. It took him a long moment before he realized both man and boy were allowing emotions of loss to overwhelm them in the joy of finding a close friend alive. The outflow of emotion was as transitory as a spring shower, and as refreshing, but soon gave way to questions, and answers, which torqued fresh grief into their hearts.

"I'm Rafe Simpson, I happened along when those two were in a spot. They adopted me, but it looks like I'll have to introduce myself while they greet each other." The big dark haired man approached a still cautious Tobe with slightly outstretched arms and empty hands.

"Tobias Melton. Sorry about the gun, but today lends itself to being suspicious of your fellow man. That's Josh Hardesty, and this is his place. My wife Marty is..." Tobe paused and looked back toward the house, " still inside I guess, she was headed in to fix us something to eat. You don't sound like you're from around here. What brings you to this part of the world on such a fine day?"

The question was laced with a suspicious anger that was not lost on Rafe. It was also not resented. He was close enough to see the bullet scars on the van's sides, and the holes venting the front glass. He let his hands drop and slowly sat with his back to one of the well fleshed pines only then did he attempted to answer the questions raised.

"Well to start with Toby, I hope you don't mind that name."

"No, I don't mind go ahead."

"Well, as I said my name is Rafe Simpson, I'm a Nuclear-Engineer on leave from Eidlbrock Research Institute in California after helping to boost production of Av123 at the old Oak Ridge Plant. I'd planned to do some fishing at the lakes around here and got lost trying to get to Wright Putnam."

"That's Patnum."

"What?"

"Lake Wright Patnum, not Putnam."

"Oh, sorry. I'm not from around here." A gleam formed in Rafe's eyes matching the humorous glint displayed in Toby's. " Anyway, I got lost late last night, and spent the rest of it next to my Bronco, which I succeeded in getting stuck on some misbegotten excuse for a road. I woke up this morning, ate breakfast, got scared out of ten years growth, if you think I'm tall now you should have seen me yesterday, and ran into a couple of sons-of-bitches who were laying in wait for the youngster, his mother and the nurse here. I had a twenty-two, but they got off a couple of shots before I was ready. They killed the mother, and hit the boy in a couple of places."

Toby's eyes shifted to the quietly crying group who had lost so much today, and then back to Rafe. The humorous glint was gone now, and had been replaced with a hardness which prevented Rafe from continuing for an instant.

"Sorry, Rafe. I hadn't realized the boy's mother was gone too. Keep going, then I'll give you my side." Before Rafe could continue the screen door slammed as Marty came rushing out to see what had kept the two men.

"Rafe, this is my wife Marty. Marty this is Rafe Simpson, he is here with the boy and the nurse. The boy is hurt, why don't you see if you can help. While you're at it pull Josh away so we can get the guns out of the truck and into the house."