Chapter Thirty-Six
Tyler
W e lost our vehicle, our supplies, and are now soaking wet and injured. In a nutshell, we’re completely and utterly screwed. Kellen is quiet as we all huddle together, trying to figure out our next move. Of course the rain is unrelenting, doing its part to punish us for simply existing on this godforsaken Earth.
“Dad, I’m cold,” Hailey whines. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
I agree wholeheartedly.
“What are we going to do about supplies?” Hope asks. “We need food and water.”
She’s cradling her arm to her chest. I want to look at it—at everyone’s injuries—but there’s not much I can do out here in the downpour without my kit.
“We need to start walking,” Aaron says. “We’ll get back to the main road and stick to it. We’re bound to come to a town sooner or later. If it’s abandoned, we can regroup in a building and at the very least get dry.”
It’s as good a plan as any. Our pitiful group starts walking, sloshing through the deep puddles of water at every step.
The first couple of hours go by in a blur. Everyone is quiet and just thankful to be alive. However, when we get into the next few hours without seeing signs of life, I think we’re all beginning to lose it. My feet are on fire with blisters, I can’t feel my fingers or my toes, and I’m starving. The rain has been plentiful, which has kept us from dehydrating, but without any way to capture it, we’re relegated to walking with our mouths open to catch whatever we can.
This sucks.
It really fucking sucks.
We take a break on the side of the road to rest our feet, but without food, it’s pointless to waste too much time. It’s imperative we find shelter and food. Stat.
The rain starts to let up, which is a relief. Despite the warmer temperatures, the rain is still cold and not doing us any favors.
“Can we stop and sleep?” Hailey asks with a whimper. “I’m so tired.”
“Not yet, sweetheart,” Dan says tiredly. “Just a few more hours.”
A few more turns into more like ten. We’ve been walking without any sign of civilization for nearly a day straight with more breaks the farther we get along. My stomach has been grumbling so loudly it’s becoming annoying as hell. Hailey nearly passed out twice and is currently sandwiched between her father and Jesse. Hope keeps whimpering. She’s a tough woman, so I know she’s in a lot of pain.
We need help.
And fast.
Things are going to get bad quickly if not.
Finally, we see a sign for Seibert, Colorado, and then advertisement for a food and fuel convenience store at the next exit. Our group is too exhausted and beat down to cheer, but it’s enough to have everyone quickening their steps.
Kellen has moved to the front of the group and is taking long strides I can barely keep up with in my weakened state. He’s a man on a mission. Currently, his mission is to find food, medicine, and shelter. Hopefully, this will come to fruition for us very soon.
As we near the town, though, Kellen stops.
“Everyone, stay here,” Kellen says. “I’ll scout ahead and make sure it’s safe.”
“I’m going too,” I tell him, ignoring his glower. “You’re not going alone.”
He shakes his head in vehemence. “I can’t put you all through another damn problem. Just let me risk my neck to keep you all safe.”
Is he fucking delirious right now?
“You’re delusional, man,” Jesse blurts out, “if you think you’re going to win this argument. Tyler or someone needs to go with you.”
Kellen grits his teeth and then gives me a curt nod of approval. Not that I need it. I was going anyway. The two of us start out wordlessly toward Seibert. Once we’re out of earshot of the group, I can no longer hold my tongue.
“What was that back there?” I demand, cutting my gaze over to him.
He snorts. “What was what?”
“You being a hero, Kell. Don’t play dumb.”
“Trust me,” he practically spits out, “I’m no hero. It’s called damage control.”
“And what makes you think you’re in charge of controlling the damage?”
“Because this is all on me.” He shoots me a dark look. “We’re in this predicament because of me .”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.”
“I suppose we will.”
The air is frigid between us and it has nothing to do with the temperature of the air, which is actually warming now that it’s not raining so hard. He wants to take the blame for all of this, but I won’t let him. We’re all here because we chose to be.
Before we can dig more into his feelings on the matter, a gas station materializes. Unlike the abandoned one we stayed at, this one appears to be in working order. The windows are boarded up, which leads me to believe the people who owned it left in search of the FEMA assistance that was promised in Denver.
As we near the building, we notice someone has spray painted the plywood covering the front windows.
Private property. Keep out.
Kellen studies the building for a beat, taking in the message, and then walks over to the window to inspect the board. Using his fingers, he curls them under the lip of the wood and tugs. The wood creaks and the nails lift. I step up to help him. Together, we manage to rip the plywood completely off. We set it aside and then peer in the window.
It’s a typical convenience store with food, drinks, and other merchandise on the shelves—all of which we desperately need.
“We need to get inside,” I tell him, mouth watering when I see a lone box of PopTarts. “Once we make sure it’s safe, we can get the others. We’ll stay here for a day or two until we’re up to making the last leg of the trip.”
Kellen doesn’t say anything in return. He just peers into the store with his hands cupped around his face. Whatever’s going on in his head is something we’ll deal with. Getting our group to safety, though, will have to take priority over his mental breakdown. I turn away from him to search for something to break the glass with. There’s nothing in the near vicinity, but eventually, I find a fist-sized hunk of asphalt at the edge of the parking lot.
“Stand back,” I instruct as I near Kellen. “I’m going to break it.”
“Wait,” he grunts, holding up a hand. “I thought I heard something.”
I sidle up beside him and peek back into the store. There’s no movement, no people or animals, nothing. What is there, though, are the much-needed supplies. We have to do this.
With a resigned sigh, Kellen steps away from the window. I rear back my arm and heave the asphalt into the window. It makes a splintering sound but doesn’t shatter into a million pieces. Silver, jagged lines now crisscross all over the glass, hiding our view of the inside. I pick up the asphalt and repeat my action. Three more times of throwing it and the hunk finally pierces the glass. Still, the window remains mainly intact.
“Damn tinted windows,” Kellen complains.
Now that the glass is weakened, he starts ramming the compromised area of the window with his boot. I take his cue and mimic his actions. It takes several more minutes, but we eventually break away enough space for us to push our way through the opening.
The convenience store smells of rancid cigarette smoke with a hint of old, greasy fried chicken. My stomach grumbles again at the thought of fried chicken.
“You check the aisles and I’ll check behind the register and the storeroom,” Kellen says, gesturing for the front part of the store.
I give him a nod before we part ways. Slowly, I creep down the first aisle where I’d seen the PopTarts. Rather than tearing into them, famished beyond belief, I pick up the box, ready to use it as a weapon if I need to. If anyone’s hiding in here, I’ll throw it at their head to give myself a chance to escape.
Nothing, aside from the food, grabs me from the first aisle. I make my way around the next aisle and look down toward the register for anything lurking.
Sleeping bags line the space. My heart thuds violently.
The next aisle is full of car items from motor oil to air fresheners. Once it’s clear, I’ll inspect this aisle more closely for anything I can use for a proper weapon. The next aisle has feminine hygiene products, diapers, and condoms. At the end of it are a small supply of medical items like little packages of ibuprofen, hydrogen peroxide, bandages, and gauze. I nearly cheer with delight.
On the final aisle, I discover more sleeping bags, but no people. This place will definitely do. We can grab our group and take refuge in this place. Before I can get comfortable, Kellen bursts from the back room, a panicked expression on his face. He grabs for some plastic bags at the register and then hands a wad over to me.
“Grab what you can. We need to go.”
I frown at him. “What? Why? It’s safe here.”
He shakes his head. “We need to grab some stuff and go.”
Gaping at him, I try to figure out what spooked him. Did he see someone? A dead body?
“I said move, dammit,” Kellen growls, stalking past me toward the first aisle.
My heart lurches with unease as I sense the anxiety emanating from him. I rush over to the medical supplies area and begin grabbing everything I might need, managing to fill one of the plastic sacks with everything that’ll fit.
“We need to go,” Kellen barks out. “Help me get some water bottles.”
The two of us meet at the coolers. When I open the door to one, I get a whiff of spoiled milk and it makes me gag. Kellen snatches several bottles of water lined up and fills a sack for each of us.
“Let’s go.” He nudges me out of the way, letting the door close behind him. “We need to get out of here.”
I frown at the thought of leaving the rest of our loot. We could really use this stuff. As we make our way out, I snatch up a sleeping bag, zip it up, and then toss my bags inside. Kellen frowns at me but says nothing. Then the two of us slip out of the store. When he takes off running back toward our group, I feel panic rising up inside me.
What did he see?
Why are we running?
Our group is all waiting nervously as we trudge their way, splashing through fat puddles and making all kinds of racket. By the time we reach the others, we’re both panting and out of breath.
“What is it?” Aaron asks. “Were there people?”
“No,” I say, but Kellen cuts me off.
“I saw some kids hiding out in the back. Little kids. Whoever left them there is coming back.”
My blood runs cold.
There were kids inside?
“Are they alone?” Hope asks, voice slightly quavering. “Should we go get them?”
We can barely help ourselves and now she wants to rescue more people?
“One of the older kids whispered to a toddler to stay quiet because their daddies would be back soon.” Kellen hangs his head. “We need to get out of here before that happens.”
I blink at him in shock. Why didn’t he say anything back there?
“You robbed a family?” Hailey asks, tone filled with horror. “Did you hurt them?”
Kellen scoffs, clearly disgusted at her question. “No, we didn’t hurt them. We just took what we needed. Nothing more. There’s still plenty left for them. I just don’t want to be around when the parents come back.”
Nausea makes my gut churn.
I took their PopTarts. I took food from little kids.
“Should we take this stuff back?” My words are hoarse and shaky. “Kell…”
I can see the indecision warring in his eyes, softness transforming his handsome features. My growling stomach seems to make a decision for him. His gaze hardens and he shakes his head.
“They’ll be fine,” he grunts. “We leave now.”
With those words, we gather our stolen treasure and our broken people, heading away from the scene of our crime.