Rabid

them.  If there are, then they’re the smart ones, he thought.  Smart enough to stay put and be quiet.

“I don’t see anyone,” Tina said.

“They’re hiding somewhere,” Carl said.  “I’d bet money on it.”  The rifle stood upright between his legs, resting against the back of the driver’s seat.  Carl had one hand wrapped around the barrel.  His window was cracked to provide easier access in case he needed to start shooting from the car.

They passed an elementary school.  The playground was visible just west of the school.  The jungle gym caught Carl’s attention.  In the dark, it resembled a giant steel spider web.

As they reached the outskirts of town, the houses were spaced farther apart.  Taylor drove them another half a mile, at which time their parent’s house became visible a quarter mile down the road.

Carl pointed.  “That’s it up there,” he said to Tina.

It was a two-story house, painted white with brown shingles on the roof.  A sizeable deck was built onto the left side of the house.  A picnic table sat on the deck.  Taylor slowed the car.  For some reason, he felt the urge to keep going.  He told himself that maybe it was better not to know, that some of the alternatives were far too dark to entertain.  But he also realized he must be feeling the same way Carl had felt when they had pulled up in front of his and Angie’s house.  Now that the shoe was on the other foot – his foot, to be exact – it wasn’t as difficult to empathize with his brother.

Taylor sucked in his breath and turned into the driveway.  Putting the car in park, he leaned over the wheel and peered up at the front of the house.  “Looks quiet.  You guys want me to go -”

Carl had already exited the car, rifle out and at the ready.  He approached the house, eyes darting from window to window.  Please, God, let them be all right.  Let Angie be here and let them be all right.  You know how much I hate asking for favors, but I’m asking now.

Taylor walked over to the two car garage.  The garage doors were lined with windows.  He pointed the flashlight through them.  “Van’s gone,” he said.  “The truck is here, but no van.”

The front door was unlocked.

They had grown up here.  All of their senses were attuned to the house.  By the time they entered the kitchen, both of them could already sense that the house was empty.

Carl said, “Forget it.  There’s nobody here.”  He flicked the lightswitch and the lights came on.  “Power works.”

“Must be the backup generator.  Dad put it in a few years ago, remember?”

Carl placed the rifle on the kitchen table.  “They’re not here.”

“Check anyway.”

Carl explored the house, calling Angie’s name as he poked his head in the various rooms, knowing full well he wasn’t going to find anyone.

“Where the fuck could they be?”

“Do you think she would have left another note?” Tina said.  “I thought maybe she might have left one like she did at the other house.”

“Where would they have went?”

Taylor tried the phone.  No dial tone, which wasn’t at all surprising.

“Why wouldn’t she leave a note?”  Carl said.  He rummaged through the papers, bills, and receipts that were scattered across the countertop in the corner.  “If those things had been breaking in, I can see them having to make a break for it, but there aren’t any signs that that happened.  Nothing’s broken.  It doesn’t make sense.  Angie wasn’t that scatterbrained.  Not like some of the chicks you’ve gone out with.”

“Thanks,” Taylor said.

“You know what I’m sayin’.  Shit!”

Tina said, “Is there anywhere else she might have left it?  Someplace she might have chosen where she knew you would look for it?”

Carl thought about it and after a moment his eyes lit up.  He rushed out of the room and up the stairs, and Taylor and Tina heard a door being thrown open.

“Found it!”  Carl had a yellow sheet of paper in his hand when he came down the stairs.  “She left it in my old bedroom, stuck to the desk.  I didn’t go all the way in when I looked before, so I missed it.”

“Well,” Taylor said, “what does it say?”

“There’s not much.  She must have been in a hurry.  All it says is ‘Your dad said we’re going to the mountains.  He says you will know what that means.’  That’s it.  Oh, and ‘Love, Angie.’”

“Do you know what she’s talking about?”  Tina asked.  “What mountains?”

After some thought, Carl snapped his fingers and threw his head back, chuckling to himself.

“What?”

“No wonder she wasn’t more specific.  She probably didn’t know what the hell Dad was talking about when he said they were going to the mountains.  You remember where we used to go camping when we were younger?  It’s been seven or eight years, but do you remember?  Dad would pack us up some weekends and tell us we were heading to the mountains.  Thing is, they’re not really mountains.  He just called them that.  They’re just big rocks, but when we were kids, they looked like mountains to us.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?  Being out in the open like that.  There wouldn’t be any way to protect ourselves.”

“Those dumb fuckers can’t even figure out how to open a door without breaking it down,” Carl said.  “Dollars to donuts they wouldn’t be able to climb up a big rock.”

Taylor and Carl exchanged glances.  Taylor led them into the dining room where a large safe stood in the corner.  The safe was large enough that it could have housed a grown man comfortably, maybe two if they didn’t mind rubbing up against each other, and when Taylor grabbed the handle he was surprised to find it unlocked.

“For our sake, I’ll bet,” Carl said.

“He left the Glock.  There’s a 12-gauge, and another one of the Ruger’s.”  He spoke directly to Tina now.  “See, normally this thing’s full, which means they packed up the rest and took them with them.  You asked why they would head into the mountains.  My dad’s kind of a wilderness junkie.  Not one of those paranoid survivalist-types or anything, but he liked to spend his free time hunting and being in the woods.  He’s never lived in a big city, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to head for one now.  He’s familiar with that place.  Maybe for somebody else it would be the worst mistake in the world.  For him, it’s probably the best place he could have picked.  Loaded the van with food and guns and ammo and went on their merry way.  Plus it’s isolated.  If those things out there are only out to fuck up other people, they’ll stick to the places where the people are.  That’ just an educated guess, but it sounds about right.”

“How big is this place?”

“Big enough to get lost in if you don’t know where you’re going.  But there are quite a few trails in there.  Usually you follow one of the trails and sooner or later you’ll find your way out.”

“If it’s that big, how do we find them?”

Taylor reached into the safe.  He checked the magazine in the Glock, made sure it was loaded, and then tucked it into the waistband of his jeans.  He handed the shotgun to Carl.  Pulling out the rifle, he handed it to Tina and said, “Let’s worry about that when we get there.”

Chapter 7 Hell Out of Coldwater

They didn’t waste a lot of time gathering supplies.  Most of the non-perishables had been taken, so the selection was sparse.  The important things were the guns and ammunition their father had left for them to find.  They also packed anything that would provide warmth; blankets, flannel shirts, some of their father’s thermal underwear.  It could get cold in the mountains.

As they packed, Carl made frequent trips to the window, checking on the car to make sure more of the rabid things didn’t show up.  They sky was beginning to shift colors; soft blues and piercing oranges.  Light poured through a row of apple trees that had wept piles of white blossoms onto the ground.