“Hey, buddy,” Ben called out, but Martin remained motionless with his back toward Ben. “Hey there, Martin. I brought you something good to eat,” Ben called out again, a little louder this time.
“Yeah, yeah, thanks. I’m sorry.” Martin wiped his eyes before turning toward Ben. He looked like he’d been crying, or rubbing his eyes, and he was doing his best to avoid making eye contact.
“You okay?” Ben asked reluctantly. All he could think about was getting back to a much-needed cup of coffee and a decent meal. The last thing he felt like doing right now was talking, but he needed Martin’s help for all of this to work.
“I’m fine.” He sighed. “I’m just wondering where I go from here. What now?”
That was music to Ben’s ears. Maybe Martin would be willing to drive the supplies to Cloverdale in another vehicle. But Ben didn’t want to push too hard.
“Where were you headed before ending up here?” Ben asked.
“Funny thing is we were headed here. Well, not here exactly.” Martin looked around. “But the mountains. My wife and I…” Martin trailed off as he struggled to keep it together.
Ben had forgotten all about the fact that Martin had lost his wife not too long ago. He was tired and hungry, but Ben forced himself to stay put and wait for Martin to continue. It was the least he could do for the guy.
Martin cleared his throat and started again. “My wife and I were headed up here to get away from the city. We used to rent a cabin on Treasure Lake, not too far away. We thought maybe we could find an empty cabin. Dana wanted to spend her final days there, but we never made it.” Martin sighed. “She was in hospice care at home. Metastatic cancer.” Martin looked down at his MRE and awkwardly inspected the packaging.
“I’m sorry.” Ben felt like his response was inadequate, but he didn’t know what else to say.
Martin shook his head. “At least she’s not in any more pain, and she doesn’t have to suffer through this. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t even be alive right now. One of her machines sounded an alarm when it switched to battery power and woke me up. I smelled smoke immediately and ran downstairs to find our panel box on fire. A few seconds later, the shock wave hit and shattered every window in the house. Knocked me off my feet, but luckily I wasn’t hurt and was able to put out the fire before it got too big. Our place was the only one left standing in our neighborhood when all was said and done.”
“Where did you come from?” Ben asked. Based on Martin’s description, he guessed that they must have been close to ground zero for one of the EMPs.
“Delmont, about forty miles outside Pittsburgh.”
Ben swallowed hard when he heard the name Pittsburgh. If Martin had been forty-some miles from the blast and experienced a shock wave strong enough to take out all the glass in his house and knock him off his feet, then it was certain Pittsburgh had been reduced to ashes. Ben and the others had assumed as much from their travels, especially after driving through the fallout on their way to Maryland. Ben would never forget the eerie silence as the Blazer’s tires cut silently through the bone-colored ash that covered the interstate. They knew then that Pittsburgh was lost, but to hear about it firsthand was something else.
“Allie’s father was in Pittsburgh.” Ben thought he should let Martin know about that to hopefully avoid any awkward conversation later when Allie was around.
“I’m sorry,” Martin said. Ben could tell by the look on Martin’s face that he was a little confused, so he proceeded to explain their situation. Ben gave him the basics of where they were from, where they had been, and where they were going. And even though he was anxious to get back and eat, he took the opportunity to mention Cloverdale and invited Martin to follow them in his own vehicle, which Ben would help him outfit. He seemed interested, but Ben didn’t want to push or talk about it anymore right now.
Before heading back, he showed Martin how to prepare the MRE and made sure he was capable of operating the AR-15 he’d brought for him; it would make a better primary weapon than the pistol. Martin admitted he wasn’t very “gun-savvy,” as he put it, but he had shot what he thought was the same type of rifle at a corporate retreat once. Ben didn’t have an abundance of confidence in his ability, but at least Martin was up front about it and seemed willing to take instruction. He’d rather deal with someone like that than someone who knew enough to be dangerous but didn’t realize it. Point, shoot, reload: it wasn’t rocket science, and with ammunition to burn, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone else returning fire if they were attacked.
Chapter Twenty-One
Thankful for the meal and AR-15, Martin was eager to exact revenge on any moonshiners who might show up, and he vowed to be diligent while standing watch at the gate. The moonshiners deserved payback for what they’d put his Dana through in her final days, and Martin made no apologies about being anxious to see that happen.
Martin also thanked Ben for laying waste to the compound and the moonshiners within but regretted that he couldn’t have been a part of it. He confessed to Ben that he hoped the other moonshiners showed up so he would have a chance to settle the score, as he put it.
“If anyone shows up at the gate, they’ll have to get through me,” Martin stated.
Ben believed him; he also believed Martin would talk him to death if he didn’t pull himself away. It
