The Road Home by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 34

Having stepped out of the RV, Maya quietly instructed everyone to speak only if it was necessary and to do so in whispers. If there were, in fact, survivors in Cle Elum she wanted to be sure to stay clear of them. But in such a small town, everything they needed should be close at hand, and walking down the empty streets they soon located the town’s grocery store. Maya stopped the group before going in. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here,” she began. “I’m guessing that the entire town’s been overrun by smallpox.”

Moving forward, she grabbed the handle of the stainless steel door. It was constructed of the usual materials and in a similar design to that of the RV store in Easton. But thinking there might be a magnetic seal Maya pulled forcefully and was surprised when it opened easily. A quiet entry made the task of acquiring food and water much easier.

Upon entering the store, they found its silence frightening, expecting that anyone could leap out and attack them at any time. But canvassing the store in small groups all were relieved that the store was, in fact, devoid of what Maya now thought of as ‘human monsters’. It had previously decided who would obtain what items—water being first on the list. Next, they focused on anything non-perishable as there was no point in emptying the store of things that had already spoiled. Boxed goods were of special value as they would keep longer. Soon, everyone met near the front doors and with arms filled with bags stuffed with food and water made their way back to the RV without incident. Now, they needed to gas up the RV and without power operating a pump would be impossible. Pulling up to a gas station, Maya contemplated how she would get the gas from the underground storage to the RV’s tank. Looking toward the gas station’s office she wondered if she might find anything that might help her in drawing up some of the gas. Opening the office door, she was startled by the sudden sound of a bell perched at the top of the door. With no one to answer it, Maya began searching for anything she could use for siphoning gas and it wasn’t long before she discovered it. Having approached a display rack, Maya saw several packaged gas siphoning tubes. Each was fitted with a one-way valve, a pumping handle, and an exit spout. She didn’t think such an item would be available in a small mountain town but there it was. She took all of them, just in case.

Leaving the gas station office, Maya went back to the RV, where the group waited inside. With the keys in her pocket, she removed the gas cap then, going to the pump, she looked for the metal cap covering a pipe that led to the gasoline reservoir. However, in an attempt to remove it, she noticed a keyhole.

“Fuck,” she whispered.

In her frustration, she went back to the RV and, returning the gas cap to its proper place, went back in and sat down.

“This is fucking hopeless,” she said. “We need gas. We can’t just stay here.”

Aurora, seeing what she thought should was obvious, spoke up.

“Actually, we can.”

Still frustrated, Maya questioned what she believed was a ridiculous flaw of logic. “Here?” she said. “You think we should stay here? Look at this place. It’s a shithole. Why the fuck would we stay in a dump like this?” Before Maya returned to the RV, the wheels in Aurora’s mind had begun turning as she imagined one scenario after another. Now, she had a plan. “I think you need a different perspective,” she began. “Look again. There’s houses, a grocery store, water and I’ll bet we can find firewood here. It’s perfect. And I don’t know about the rest of you, but did you notice that it’s starting to snow? We need someplace to ride out the winter, and those mountains don’t look very friendly. We’ll never make it through there. Face it, guys, we’re stuck here for the winter and we’ve just been handed all of this.”

Everyone fell silent. Expecting to follow the original plan, the group wanted to be as far from Tacoma as possible—someplace safe. Now, they had to compromise and winter only having begun a few weeks ago, everyone knew things were about to get far worse.

“I don’t like this,” Eli said. “This place gives me the creeps.”

Maya and Jackson agreed. Yet, Jackson also saw that it made sense to stay in Cle Elum, at least for the winter, and siding with Aurora, he voiced his support.

“You know,” he began. “Aurora’s right. We can either stay here or go back to Tacoma and risk running out of gas. New RVs only come with a few gallons, so yeah, we need gas. But until we can get some, we really need to stay put. I just don’t think we should take the risk.” Maya leaned forward and, looking up at the mountains, couldn’t help but feel intimidated and just as frightened. She knew Aurora’s plan was feasible, but it still didn’t sit well with her. Not everything works according to plan, but seeing this as their only option, Maya was unable to devise an alternative. And thinking aloud, her only response came to the surface. “We are so fucking screwed.”