First Wave (The Travis Combs Post-Apocalypse Thrillers) (9 page)

Or been killed by the goon squads
roaming the region looking for resources and prey
,
Travis thought.
The world has become Somalia overnight.

They stowed the bikes in another location under a
tangle of shrubs that Travis cut with the machete. He removed the heavily-laden
saddlebags and passed AKs to the other women to carry, both of whom were no
strangers to rifles. Before heading out, he gently dusted off the tracks on
either side of the bridge with a swath of foliage.

“Do either of you know this area we are in?” said
Travis.

“Yes, sir,” replied Nora while Rachel followed
behind her sister in silence. “This is Willow Canyon. It goes up for about
eight miles and then walls out. I used to come out here with my grandpa’s
cowboys when I was younger, roundin’ up stray cattle.”

“What about the surrounding areas above? You said
the highway wasn’t too far away…anything else around?”

“Well, sir, it’s all pretty much high desert to the
south for about twelve miles, and then you come into the small town of Paulden
where there are some scattered ranches and the headwaters of the Verde River by
Hell Canyon. That’s where our ranch is at. If it hasn’t been torched or taken
over by more of those brutes. Chino Valley and Prescott are about twenty miles further
south.”

They shouldered the weapons and saddlebags and began
the return trip to the alcove. On their way back through the canyon, Travis
made sure to buttonhook up top and then come back down so as not to leave a
straight trail back to the group’s location.

LB was up above, scanning the tree-lined canyon and
saw them coming, as Travis waved to him. The rest of the group came down to
greet them, led by Evelyn. “My goodness, what happened? Are you all OK? We
heard shooting,” she said, putting her hand on Katy’s shoulders.

“We’re good Ev. Just a run-in with some unsavory guys
trying to pass themselves off as human beings,” said Travis. The other members
from the alcove gathered around, while LB stayed up top watching the canyon floor
for a minute and then strode down the trail to the group.

“This is Rachel and Nora,” Katy said. Nora nodded
while Rachel moved behind her sister and gazed down. The rest of the group
introduced themselves.

“Let’s pack our gear up,” said Travis. “Not sure if
those boys had any pals in the area, but I’d rather not stick around to find
out. We’ll move up canyon a few miles to a new camp where we can gain some
distance from the bridge and set up a perimeter. We can discuss what to do from
there.”

“Hey Trav, let me talk to you a minute,” said Pete,
motioning for his friend to move away from the group.

As Travis started to follow Pete, Evelyn chimed in,
“Guys, hold on a minute, will you.” The two men stopped and turned around
towards Evelyn who continued, “I’m in debt to you both. We’re all in debt to
you for what you’ve done, on and off the river, but I’d appreciate keeping us
in the loop on your plans and discussions. I know you feel a need to talk
amongst yourselves about what’s best for us but this is no longer a vacation
where you have to manage our affairs.” She paused and looked them both in the eyes
with an understanding gaze. “I love both you boys but it’s time we huddled up
and worked together on our plans.”

Travis looked at Pete and then gave off a slight
smile tinged with relief. “OK Ev, you’re right. This isn’t one of my old units,
and I’d be more than happy to pass the reins on to someone else.”

“That’s not what I’m asking Trav,” she said. “You’ve
done just fine by me and kept us alive through it all. I’d follow you both down
a thorn-choked trail any day. I just think we need to have more input on what’s
going to happen from now on and know what you’re thinking, instead of having it
sprung on us. That’s all I’m saying,” she said, with one hand on her hip and
the other brushing through her short gray hair.

Travis looked at the rest of the party and saw the
look of agreement with Evelyn’s words.
Sometimes life is a helluva lot
easier when people just listen and do as they’re told,
he thought, while
pursing his lower lip and glancing over at Jim.
One clusterfuck after
another!

“I agree guys with what Ev is saying,” said Katy, stepping
up alongside the older woman.

Rachel and Nora looked around puzzled but stood
still beside each other. Travis walked over to the shade of the alcove and
lowered the saddle bags and weapons against a boulder. The rest of the group
followed and sat by the smooth, stone walls. “I think I can speak for everyone
here when I say that the first question is- does each person want to stick it
out together or try to make it to a town and then go our own way?” said Evelyn.

Travis crossed his legs. “Before we can even start
to answer those questions, Ev, maybe Nora can tell you what she shared with us
about what’s going on in the world and in the nearby towns.”

Nora knelt down in the sand and spent twenty minutes
describing news reports, the death toll in the cities, collapse of the central
government, and the criminal element sweeping through the region.

They sat silent for a minute, taking in the raw data,
trying to process what they heard against the images of the former reality they
once knew. “Well, it doesn’t sound like I’m going to be getting back home to Seattle
any time soon it seems,” said Evelyn. “I will have to wait this one out for a
bit until things calm down and some type of order is established. So, it looks
like you’re stuck with this ornery, old lady.”

Katy shot a nervous glance at Travis, wondering if
he was going to say anything about what Jim had told them. Then LB added in. “My
home is in New York, I only pray that my children are OK,” he said, shuffling
his right foot back and forth in the dirt making a shallow groove and looking
down to hide his tears. “What we’re dealing with is probably going on around
the globe. Travis and Pete have gotten us this far, even before the world went
to hell. I’m going to stick it out with them for now.”

Becka nodded at Travis, “My family’s gone and I’d
probably be dead already if it weren’t for all of you.”

Pete spoke, “I’ve got family and friends in Tucson
whose wellbeing keeps me awake at night, probably like the rest of you. This
isn’t how I ever thought a trip would turn out, but I’m for sticking together
and seeing this through so we can all get back to the ones we cherish. I know
this landscape and what it can offer but, uh, shooting and guerilla warfare
ain’t exactly my specialty, so I’m fine with leaving that to Trav and being his
wingman. I think he’s the one who should call the shots.”

“Jim and Katy…any thoughts?” said Travis.

“Count me in,” was Jim’s sole response, as he folded
his arms across his chest.

Katy brushed a lock of hair aside. “As long as I
don’t have to eat one of those packrats you caught, I plan on sticking around.
Safety in numbers and all that.”

Travis was slumped against the wall. His eyes
alternated between staring at the sand beneath his boots and the indigo sky
above the canyon rim. He let out a muffled sigh and then sat up. “I am also for
sticking together for the time being until we can get to a town that’s regained
law and order. All I’ve known is the military model and it has served me well
in many conflicts throughout the world. This is what we’ll work off of, but
it’s only going to be possible if everyone is cross-trained on the basic skills
and tactics. There’s a lot of life experience here and we can all benefit as a
group from learning from each other,” he said standing up and brushing the dust
off his pants. “I am only going to take on a leadership role if people aren’t
going to second guess me around every turn in the trail. I’ll do my best to
only bark orders when the chips are down and I need you to follow my lead, otherwise,
once we agree on this, I would ask that you stick by my decisions.”

He rubbed his arm and glanced over at the two
sisters. “Rachel…Nora…you’re probably wondering what this group-therapy session
is about, but things have changed drastically for us in the past few days,
having been isolated on the river for many weeks. We’re just now trying to
piece it all together. However, you are welcome to stay with us,” said Travis.

“Well, sir, to be honest, me and my sister thought
we’d be taking our last breaths back on that bridge,” Nora said, looking at
everyone beside her. “We’re good with staying for now, if it’s no burden on all
of you. We also grew up in these parts and know the springs and countryside
pretty well. There’s a line shack of ours in a remote canyon about sixteen
miles from here that we can use too.”

“That’s much appreciated Nora. Thank you,” said
Travis, mulling over her words and looking at his watch. “Unless anyone is set
on further embracing a Neanderthal’s way of life, I say we take Nora up on her
offer and head there tomorrow.” There weren’t any signs of disapproval and he
continued on. “Before we can head out, we need to have everyone versed in the
rudiments of handling a firearm and dealing with basic trauma. This is, indeed,
going to be a crash course, and I will go more in-depth once we relocate to the
line shack but, right now, we can’t afford to have everyone dependent on the
defensive skills of a few individuals.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. “Before we begin on
that, let’s take a few hours and gather up more pine nuts and cattail roots. We
don’t know what the region ahead will hold in terms of such resources, so harvest
as much as your packs can hold. Then, we’ll get started on Firearms 101. With
what we have to do here to get ready, we’ll plan on heading out at first light
for the line shack.”

While everyone set about harvesting the two abundant
wild foods in the area and replenishing water bottles, Travis went through the
biker’s saddlebags. The contents revealed that they had most likely done a few
home raids. Assorted jewelry, eight boxes of 12 gauge shotgun shells, a roll of
fifty-dollar bills, two pulverized bags of cookies, a dozen AA batteries, rolls
of gauze, twenty assorted canned goods, ten pound bag of rice, a few t-shirts
and socks, three pill bottles each of antibiotics and Vicodin, and a stuffed
Koala bear. Travis held the small grey stuffed animal in his hands for a second,
and then tossed it to the back of the alcove along with the jewelry.

When they reassembled an hour later, their packs
were laden with nuts, cattail roots, and full water bottles. Travis ran through
the basics of weapons safety, loading a magazine, and racking a round in the
chamber, and then had everyone perform several dozen rounds of dry fire practice.
“Don’t worry about headshots, just shoot the bastards where they look the
biggest,” was his advice on sighting. He had trained plenty of rebel forces in
guerilla warfare in other parts of the world, but never thought he’d be
imparting the same information to a group of friendly-eyed tourists on home
soil.

Extensive malfunction drills would have to wait for
another time. This basic training would at least ensure that they had a few
more hands ready, in the event anything happened to the shooters in the group. Travis
then went over a few basic techniques for gunshot, wound management using
direct pressure and improvised tourniquets. Katy contributed her ER experiences
with wound care in the aftermath of a gunfight.

After an intensive afternoon of prepping for the
hike and the hands-on training, everyone took a short break. Nearing sunset, LB
lit the evening campfire with the dwindling fuel from Pete’s Bic lighter, and
the group gathered around to roast the cattail roots and critters caught in the
deadfalls. Per Travis’s instructions, LB tossed the squirrels and rat on the
hot coals for thirty seconds to burn off any fleas which would reduce the
threat of bubonic plague. Afterwards, the singed carcasses were removed, gutted,
and buried under the coals in their skins to bake for forty minutes, using the
aboriginal method of preparing wild game. “If we only had a cooking pot for
making that rice, I could make some killer packrat burritos,” chimed LB.

“Is that an old family recipe of yours?” laughed
Evelyn.

“Oh yeah, we Puerto Ricans often go out wading through
murky rivers to dig up plant roots laden with grit for our squirrel soufflés,”
he laughed back. “I’ll tell you this,” he said, with a serious face, “if Travis
or Pete could show me how to make some Tabasco, I’d be a happy man. You could
put Tabasco on crushed gravel and it would be edible,” he chuckled.

“With all these new foods, you should think about
starting up a fancy eatery out here, called
The Rice and Rat Cafe,
” Evelyn
said, as they both broke into laughter. It was the first time since the river
trip that either of them wore a look other than terror on their faces.

Katy came over and sat down next to the tiny fire,
which was nestled behind a rock reflector to reduce the light and fuel
consumption. “It’s sounding like a comedy routine over here. What did I miss?”

“LB’s just discussing a career move. We both agreed
that he has a promising path ahead as a wilderness chef,” replied Evelyn.

Katy looked at the squirrels and rats roasting on
willow skewers next to the fire and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I can see we’re all
going to be fighting over who gets the succulent hind legs off that rat,” she
said, licking her lips and laughing.

“Hey, wait a minute, Evelyn already has dibs on that
rat, Katy. If you’re lucky, she’ll share a tender backstrap with you,” said LB.

Travis was up above the rim of the alcove keeping an
eye on the canyon floor. He could hear the laughter of the group below, but any
attempt to emit a smile was kept at bay as he pondered the coming days and his
responsibilities in getting them ready for the new world ahead.