“We just wanted to get away and be free,” Jake replied softly. “I’m sick of everybody looking to us to feed ‘em.”
“So leave,” Simon replied. “You don’t need me to do that.” Lana appeared by his side, a shotgun dangling from her hand. He wrapped his good arm around the inside of her thigh and pulled her closer to him. “We’re just discussing the state of the world, dear. Nothing to fret over.”
She smiled at him, letting the shotgun slide out from behind her leg. “I wasn’t worried.”
Tommy held his hands up, his eyes pleading with her. “We ain’t here to cause no trouble, ma’am.”
Jake hung his head and nodded. “We were just hoping that your mister could lead us off the mountain and back into civilization.”
Simon chuckled. “There is no civilization, boys. Everything you knew is gone.” He sat forward and met their gazes. “No more TV. No more radio. No more beer joints or loose women hanging on your every word.” He sighed as he sat back. “The world as you knew it is no more.”
Tommy looked up and nodded toward the front of the RV. Trent rounded it and paused, his eyes narrowing at the two men. “I told you I talked to him.” His tone was obviously defensive.
“We thought maybe we could talk him into—”
Jake held a hand up, interrupting Tommy. “We came to visit. That’s all. Simon was telling us what it’s like out there.”
“There’s nothing left.” Simon repeated. “If you boys want to rule the world, you might as well start here.” He glanced to Lana then back to Trent. “This is probably the biggest collection of living, breathing people you’ll find.”
“But we don’t want to rule the world,” Tommy replied softly. “We’re just tired of everybody looking to us to provide.”
“Then stop providing,” Simon stated flatly. “They’ll get the message eventually.”
“Or…” Lana began, “you fellas tell them that with the cure, it’s safe for them to leave the campground.” She shrugged. “Who knows, maybe they’ll like the idea of going home rather than staying here.”
Tommy and Jake glanced at each other, then to Trent. “You think they’d leave?”
Trent shrugged. “Even if they didn’t, once we cut them off from the food, they’d have to do something.”
Simon sighed loudly and they all looked to him. “I wouldn’t tell you boys what to do…” he trailed off, letting them anticipate what came next. “But if it were me and I didn’t want to provide for folks, I’d make them pony up.”
“What are you saying? Make ‘em trade for food?” Tommy asked.
Simon shrugged. “Or tax them in some way.” He propped his good arm on the side of the chair. “Nothing says you have to provide for free.”
Trent nodded softly, his mind working. “What do they have that we could use?”
Simon clucked his tongue. “You know, back in my younger days, I found that people are the biggest commodity.” He raised a brow at the men. “If they’ve got nothing else…”
15
Hatcher weaved the little car between road blocks, his nerves still frayed from dealing with Vic. She had pleaded, argued, chastised, brow beat and finally relented, acknowledging that if the situation were reversed, there was nothing she wouldn’t have done.
He had to continually force his body to relax as his shoulders tightened while his mind replayed the interaction. “I’m not a child,” he had argued.
“You’re acting like one!” she countered.
Hatcher’s mind slipped back to the moment she made him second guess his decision. He could still see the look on her face when he replied to her comment. “I’d always known that one day I’d have to go back and look for her. Either to put her out of her misery, bury her remains or to bring her a cure.” Vic’s face fell and she couldn’t think of a legitimate argument. “The people here are taken care of. They have Roger and Candy and you to see to their needs.” He had motioned to the nice houses they were preparing. “They’re already better off than they were before the world ate itself.”
Vicky lowered her eyes and he wasn’t sure if she was going to scream at him or simply hit him. He nearly flinched when she wrapped her arms around his neck and told him to be careful.
He knew that it was just the idea of her little brother running off into the unknown that really scared her. With the cure in the air, the Zulus were no longer a threat. The few that might have avoided it were most likely few and far between.
That’s not to say that there weren’t more people like Simon and his Marauders out there. He couldn’t be certain who the bigger threat might be…the untreated Zulus or the survivors, but he knew that he’d deal with whatever he had to. He had to know Shelly’s fate.
He glanced up through the sunroof and muttered a silent prayer that if she were gone, he could find her remains. Shelly deserved a decent burial, if nothing else.
As he continued to drive up Highway 550, he didn’t even notice the signs announcing the reservation lands. His mind was on Yellowstone and what he might find there.
He had a solid twenty four hours’ worth of driving ahead of him, barring any problems. There were nine hundred miles to cover and he wasn’t naïve enough to think that there wouldn’t be detours and jammed streets between him and the park.
He glanced at the digital readout on the dash claiming that he had three hundred and fifty miles to go before empty. “Let’s hope this thing is true to its word.”
Hatcher pulled the USB drive from his pocket and plugged into the slot on the dash. After switching to Aux, he scrolled through the offerings on the screen and chose Boston. As Don’t Look Back began to play, he cranked the volume to full blast and rolled down his window.
“Now this is a proper road
