Joe took the first step, Lexi and Hannah by his side. The other four followed behind. Five silent minutes passed as the group left the parking lot then made their way to a side street.
Oscar padded by Joe’s side, keeping step with his new owner. Oscar glanced at Joe for direction and guidance for his purpose, and when Joe didn’t acknowledge Oscar, the dog nosed him to get his attention.
“I know,” Joe said. He reached down to Oscar and stroked him on the head. “I’m winging it here, and doing my best. The journey has just begun, so you stay with me, and don’t run off. Okay?”
Oscar thumped his tail, not because he understood anything, rather he understood the feeling, knowing he had found his pack.
“Stop,” Becca said. She leaned to one side, putting her weight on her good leg. “I won’t be able to make it. You’ll have to go on without me.”
“Mom,” Kinsey pleaded, “you can’t stop. Tyler and I will carry you if you can’t walk.”
“Impossible.”
“Then we’ll think of something else. Like make a stretcher of some sort like they did in the old west.”
“I’ll slow everybody down. Leave me here. Once I’m better I’ll meet you at our house.”
“No way,” Ethan said. “Kinsey is right. You can’t stay by yourself.”
“Then I’m staying.” Kinsey crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving you, Mom.”
“We’ll die here,” Tyler protested. “We can make it home, Mom. I know we can. We will help you any way we can.”
The back and forth between Becca and her two children went on for several minutes, and Joe decided it was best not to butt into a family squabble. He exchanged glances with Lexi, Hannah, and Ethan regarding the situation becoming grim. Joe didn’t know Becca or Ethan, yet he felt an unexplained camaraderie with them. He had to admit he didn’t know Lexi well either, only briefly when she was a kid, and had only met Hannah the previous day. Both showed grit, a quality he admired.
It was also obvious Ethan admired Becca’s family, staying to help them when he could have left. He owed them nothing, except for the fact it was the right thing to do. He’d be the kind of guy to have your back.
They needed to stay together as a group.
“Hey, hey!” Joe yelled, interrupting the squabble. “Break it up. We should all stay together because there’s safety in numbers. We are not leaving anyone. Somehow, we’ll manage, and I’ll scout for another place we can stay until Becca can walk. Perhaps a hotel.”
“No!” Tyler butted in. “I want to go home. We’ll find a way for my mom to travel with us.”
“Unless you have a futuristic prototype flying car or an old jalopy the EMP wouldn’t have affected, we’ll need to—”
“What did you say?” Tyler interrupted.
“I was being sarcastic.”
“EMPs don’t affect jalopies? As in old cars?”
“Right,” Joe said.
“As in how old?”
“Anything made prior to probably 1970.”
“Holy crap!” Tyler clapped his hands together in excitement. “I’ve got the solution!”
“What is it?” Joe asked.
“Doesn’t anybody know the antique car show was scheduled to begin in two weeks?” Tyler paced back and forth, unable to contain his enthusiasm.
“What good will that do?” Kinsey asked with a dose of sarcasm. “I don’t see any antique cars anywhere.”
“Of course not. The cars are in the convention center across the parking lot.” Tyler pointed to the building.
In unison, the group turned their attention to the convention center.
“There’s nothing advertised,” Ethan pointed out. “And it appears empty.”
Tyler waved him off. “It doesn’t matter. My dad was on the mailing list, and we were planning on going together for my birthday.”
“Which is in two weeks,” Becca added.
“Right,” Tyler said. “Dad knew I liked cars. We worked on them together on the weekends.”
“Even so,” Joe said. “I doubt the keys would be laying around or even in the ignition.”
“Not a problem.” Tyler beamed.
“Why not?” Joe asked.
“I know how to hotwire a car.”
“You do?” Joe tossed Tyler a skeptical glance. “How?”
“YouTube. Everything is on YouTube.”
~ ~ ~
The realization they’d be home in an hour provided the group with the boost they needed. The past seventy-two hours had tested their will and ability to cope in the degrading situation. Gunshots regularly rang out during the night, and roaming gangs patrolled cordoned off areas, not allowing anyone passage unless a toll was paid in supplies. A proper meal had become a thing of the past.
Personal cleanliness had become an issue, and normally innocuous infections could easily turn deadly. The group needed to bathe and change into clean clothes. Everyone was feeling the morale busting effects of three days without proper bathing.
A gust of cold rain blew in and the group huddled over, pulling jackets over their heads as they hurriedly crossed the parking lot to the convention center, dodging puddles of water and empty cars.
Oscar loped with the group, keeping an eye on them, and listening to their cadence. He sensed a change was in the air by the way the group interacted with each other, particularly how Joe spoke to the group. When the group came to a stop, Oscar squinted his eyes at the sprinkling of rain. He glanced at the towering stadium where his handler had taken his last breath. A sense of loss came to him at that moment. Now, his allegiance was with the man known as Joe.
“Invigorating!” Tyler exclaimed. “Nothing like running in the cold rain to get your blood going.” He rubbed his hands together to get circulation in them.
Hannah scanned the massive wall of plate glass held together with a metal frame. The doors were secured with chains and a padlock. “Got any ideas on how
