kids they were after had scuttled out and were gone.
They rode up to the vehicles and dismounted. Scout and Hunter walked with the heads down and studied the ground, following different sets of tire tracks that led from the house.
Scout pointed. “These look the freshest. They’re also the only ones heading away from Independents.”
“Nobody’s here,” Samuel reported coming out of the house. “What now?”
Hunter said, “Get back behind the wheel. We’re going to follow these tracks. We’ll probably make sudden stops if we lose the trail. Don’t run us over.”
The tracks led off to the south towards the Kansas state line. Scout shook his head. “There’s no way this group came from Iowa.”
“Too bad your sister couldn’t get anything out of Jolanda.”
Scout eyed the growing wall of heavy clouds. The temperature was dropping rapidly as a cold wind pushed ahead of the storm, clearing out a path with the promise of snow in the air. “We better find them quick or there won’t be any tracks to follow.”
“Let’s go already!” Mark yelled, leaning through the window and pounding his hand on the door of the SUV. “We’re wasting time here!”
Scout shrugged at Hunter, who frowned and revved up his bike. They each took a tread of the trail and followed it away from the empty farmhouse.
The trail was easy to spot where it mashed down the high prairie grass, continuing south for several miles. They arrived at an old, forgotten highway with a white and black sign marked US 36. Potholes and cracks covered the gray asphalt in both directions. The trail turned west, running parallel to the highway.
Scout didn’t hesitate. He turned with his groove and headed west.
Hunter pulled up beside him and hollered over the noise of their engines. “We followed this highway before, remember?”
“Yeah, but that was a while ago.”
“Remember how it goes through a town every ten miles or so? Lots of good places for another ambush.”
“Then we’ll have to play it safe and stay sharp when we pass through them, but I doubt they’re stopping for anything. They got to figure we’re coming after them.”
The hidden sun left Scout without any clues to the time of day. The miles passed quickly with the flat ground providing a smooth ride next to the broken road.
Roads were reminders of the ruined world that no longer functioned. People, or rather the surviving kids, didn’t function the same way either because they were also broken, cracked and filled with holes. Molly was the leading example, but Scout knew a lot of kids suffered. You either dealt with it or you exploded from the pressure building up over time. Molly had popped her top like a Roman candle.
Scout refocused his attention when they approached the first town. His fingers tapped the brake and Hunter slowed next to him. The wind blew dust and half a dozen tumbleweeds through the empty streets ahead. This place could have been Independents, instead of a lifeless ruin. Its Main Street buildings stood dull and forgotten. Sometime ago, a roof had collapsed and reduced one building to rubble.
Scout tucked his stocking mask into his collar. “What do you think?”
Hunter removed his goggles, snorted and spat with the wind. “A bulldozer would make this place look real nice.”
“Are you worried about an ambush?”
“No, this town is dead.”
Behind them the SUVs rolled closer and stopped. “What’s the discussion? We’re losing daylight!” Mark yelled.
Hunter responded. “Give us a break! We’re not sitting in front of a heater!”
Scout lowered his head.
The passenger door flew open and Mark leapt out. Hunter hopped off his bike and Scout did too, knowing he would have to buffer the situation.
Samuel followed quickly after Mark. Everyone else stayed in the SUVs.
Mark stalked over with his fists clenched, his jaw leading the way. “What did you say?”
“You heard me,” Hunter said. “I’m out here freezing my ass off, and I don’t need you yelling at me.”
“We need to pick up the pace. My sister’s out there and we’re never going to find her if we keep stopping.”
Scout silently prayed for Hunter to bite his tongue, even going so far as to look heavenward only to find black, unfriendly clouds.
“My brother has a concussion and broken ribs because of her! So screw your crazy-ass sister!” Hunter yelled.
Mark barreled into him, flailing erratic blows. Scout and Samuel pounced on the pile and dragged Mark off kicking, screaming and spitting.
“I’m going to kill you!”
Hunter wiped blood off his lip and returned to his motorbike. He rode off through the empty town alone.
“Mark, this isn’t helping anybody,” Scout said. “We can’t keep separating you from Hunter and we can’t concentrate on tracking the kids who took Molly and Catherine if you’re yelling at us every time we stop.”
“Scout’s right,” Samuel said. “You got to take it easy, man.”
“Let’s just go. I trust you guys to find her.”
“What about Hunter?” Scout asked.
“Him, too.” Mark walked away and settled in the SUV.
“This is messed up, isn’t it?” Samuel asked.
“Which part?”
Samuel turned back to the SUV. “Pretty much all of it.”
Scout rode through town. A couple of skeletons lay on the sidewalk like a museum display showing the affects of a simple life interrupted by an uncontrollable disease. He guided his bike down the broken road to where Hunter waited.
“Are you all right?” Scout asked.
Hunter smirked with a bandanna pressed to his split lip. He pulled his ski mask and goggles back down as the SUVs caught up and they all left the town as a group. Hunter led, picking up the trail again on the other side and ripping through the miles at a faster pace. This time Scout didn’t object to his recklessness.
They continued following US 36 West. Their winter gear kept Hunter and Scout warm on their motorbikes for the most part, and the feeling of urgency did the rest. They didn’t stop for conferences anymore because there wasn’t any time. The path lay clearly ahead and they needed to catch up.
They passed through two more ghost towns. The fourth town they arrived at classified as a city, expanding in all directions around the highway with a McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell that all the boys looked upon with unbridled hunger. Scout placed the Wal-Mart on his to-do list for the spring and wondered if this city had a Boy Scout troop six years ago.
They siphoned fuel out of some vehicles near an old warehouse that backed a set of railroad tracks. Hunter and Mark stayed in their respective corners during the pit stop. Samuel handed out Chef Brittany sandwiches that didn’t carry the same appeal as a Happy Meal, but squelched their rumbling stomachs all the same.
After the quick bite, everyone loaded up their vehicles just as big fat snowflakes spiraled out of the sky. Scout looked at Hunter and they both lowered their heads. It took two minutes and a white blanket covered the ground. In three minutes they couldn’t see the other buildings across the street from the intensity of the whiteout.
The boys piled out of the SUVs and hurried into the warehouse, followed by Scout and Hunter, pushing their motorbikes inside. Samuel came through the door with a snowcap sitting on his head.
“Where’s Mark?” Scout asked.
Samuel hooked a thumb at the SUV. “He wants to keep going.”
“He would,” Hunter said.
“Keep that talk quiet,” Scout growled at him. “We’re going to be stuck here for a while. I don’t want to pull
