The First Hours Read online

  “I work at the paper mill, and we load the rolls of newsprint on the train. Damn computerized equipment. Everything shut down. If it weren’t for one of the guys on shift, I’d still be there waiting on it to come back online. Guess that’s never going to happen.”

  Tom nodded, “Probably not. Thanks for the information, now I better get out the and find my daughter.”

  “Good luck to you. I sure do hope you find her.”

  With a wave over his shoulder, Tom hurried back to his car. “We’re going the right way. The girls passed by here yesterday.”

  “Walking?” Carrie asked. She waved at the two people standing on the porch. “I hope they’re prepared.”

  “They are. They have a garden, and there are a cow and calf out back. He has firearms, so I guess it makes them more prepared than most people. He’s aware of what happened, and that puts him ahead of the game already.”

  “I guess that’s what makes most older people so valuable.”

  “Are they more valuable than young people?” Nancy leaned forward.

  “Knowledge is valued,” Tom said. “Those people have probably forgotten more than I know about survival under dire circumstances. Most likely, they come from a farming or ranching background and know how to grow food and preserve it. Seemed like they have all the makings for a self-sustainable lifestyle.”

  “Nowadays, people with their knowledge will be needed if the government doesn’t have a long-term survival plan in place,” Carrie said. “We didn’t have one for Gardner because the town council said we were too small, and it would be too costly.” She shook her head sadly, “I wonder how they feel about it now?”

  Tom laughed as if he didn’t really find anything funny, “I wouldn’t count on the government for anything. Look what happened with Louisiana. If that was their idea how to look after people following a catastrophic event, we'd do better on our own, that’s why I think as soon as we have Teagan, I’m going to head up to a cabin I know of.”

  “Oh,” Nancy said and threw herself back into her seat. She looked out the window, blinking to hide her tears. She had no idea what would happen to her when they left. She couldn’t hunt or garden, and she sure wasn’t going to go home. As mean as her stepfather was, she could only imagine how he would be without her mom being able to call 911 when he got out of hand. She knew that Tom knew exactly what Karl’s character was like. He had put Karl in jail on more than one occasion, and her mother had always refused to press charges and bailed him out. She didn’t understand why she would put up with his ways. Sometimes, Nancy felt like she had been the adult in their house or at the very least, the referee. She’d broken a fight up more than once. She remembered the first time her mother had actually fought back. That was the first time she’d called 911 and Tom had shown up. While she waited for the sheriff, Nancy had been the only one standing in the way of Karl beating her mother to a pulp.

  Tom realized how quiet Nancy had gotten after she sat back and grasped what she must be thinking. “Nancy don’t think we’ve forgotten about you. I don’t know what kind of plans you have, but you are welcome to come with us. You can ask your mother too if you want but not Karl, he’s too unstable for me to be able to trust him.”

  Through the rearview mirror, Tom saw Nancy relax into the seat, close her eyes for a few seconds, and nod. She had been worried. He couldn’t imagine how she must feel. The scene when he’d picked her up had to have been traumatic for her, especially to realize her mother had chosen to stay with Karl and not put up a fight to have Nancy stay too. She must feel abandoned by her mother. There was no way Tom was going to desert her too.

  “Thanks, Mister Cooper. I’ll go see Mom as soon as we get back. After we’ve found Teagan.” She sat up straight, “I can cook and bake. Does that make me valuable too?”

  Carrie laughed, “Yes, it does. It means I won’t have to do all the cooking. Between the two of us, we can keep everyone well fed.”

  They drove past the burned-out gas station to the overpass. Tom stopped the car. They couldn’t cross under without running over what he had thought were bodies on their way through the first time. With none of them having moved while they were gone, was confirmation he’d been right in his thoughts. Tom knew he should have stopped and done something with them the first time through, but he couldn’t work up any guilt for not doing it. Finding Teagan as quickly as possible was the only goal he had then, as it was now. He felt like they were closer to accomplishing his goal. All he had to do was find her and just knowing they were on the right track renewed his resolve to get it done.

  Putting the car in neutral, Tom looked at Carrie, “You ready?”

  Carrie looked at him. She grimaced, “We have to do this, don’t we?”

  Tom nodded, “We do. We won’t take the time to bury them, but we need to at least move them from the roadway. Nancy, you stay in the car and keep watch for us.”

  “Sure, but what am I watching for?”

  “People. We don’t want anyone sneaking up on us, and with it getting dark…expect anything.”

  Nancy didn’t understand what to expect, but she would do what Tom asked of her. She thought she should look at the bodies in case any of them were people she knew from school but realized she really didn’t want to know who they were. Several kids in her class played around with drugs, but she didn’t think any of them were serious drug users, but she realized that even one time with the bad drugs reported to be going around, the ones laced with fentanyl, were deadly in any amount.

  Moving dead bodies was not something Carrie ever thought she would find herself doing, and the stink of death already hung in the air. She understood why so many officers carried packets of gum in their pockets. She also knew Tom had a jar of Vicks in his county car. She wasn’t going to think of them as dead people at all if she could help herself.

  With the grizzly task finished, Carrie wiped her hands on her jeans, cleared her throat, and vomited beside the car. Careful to avoid the mess, Carrie climbed in the car and rested her head against the rest. Eyes closed, she tried not to think of the bodies. These bodies were someone’s children. They’d stacked the bodies like cordwood, high up under the overpass. In a perfect world, they would have at least buried them, but maybe this way, someone would come looking and be able to find their loved ones if, like Tom, they began looking soon. Carrie didn’t want to know what the bodies would look like in another few days.

  “I’m so sorry you had to do that,” Nancy said when Tom and Carrie were in the car. “I hope I never have to do anything like that.”

  Tom met her eyes in the mirror, “I hope you never have to either, but there are going to be times when we’re all going to have to do things we don’t want to do. I dread what life has in store for us.”

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Carrie said, “It feels…surreal.”

  “Surreal or not, it’s what it is. I’m not counting on anyone coming to the rescue. As soon as we find Teagan, we’ll have to decide what we’re doing.”

  “What can we do? I know you keep saying no one is coming to help, but don’t they have an obligation to the people they serve?”

  Tom glanced at Carrie and wondered if she remembered the chaos government served up to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. By their non-action, it proved the government had no interest in helping anyone but themselves.

  “I’m afraid it’s up to us to help ourselves and so it should be. We at least have our best interests at heart and like I said, as soon as we find Teagan, I’ll lay out what I think we should do. I’ve always had a half-assed plan in mind for a disaster situation, and if this doesn’t qualify, I don’t know what does.”

  Tom worked his way around the parked cars on the on-ramp to the freeway and was grateful the traffic was light the morning before. He was surprised when they found people still sitting in their cars. He almost wished they had gone back the route they’d taken down, but he was sure now that Teagan would have taken the most direct
route home and that was up the interstate. The couple in the last house they’d stopped at confirmed it for him and realistically, she could already be at the house and probably worried when she didn’t find him there. He wished he’d taken the time to leave a note.

  “Oh my God! What now?” Carrie asked while leaning forward as if to have a better look up the road.

  Tom had let his thoughts wander while weaving through the cars and trucks. He couldn’t avoid the stopped traffic and the few pedestrians plus see what was out in front at the same time. He whipped his eyes forward to see that someone had pushed cars nose to nose across the freeway, leaving a space just wide enough for someone to drive through. The problem was several people stood arms linked in the gap between the cars.

  Tom slapped the steering wheel in disgust. He had thought that at some point, someone would try to stop them, and he had vowed to run them over if he had to, but he couldn’t bring himself to press on the gas. Running down women and children, was just not in his plans. He found himself rolling to a stop and applied the brakes.

  “What do we do?” Carrie asked. She shared glances with Nancy and placed her hand on top of Nancy’s that clung to the back of Carrie’s seat. “It’ll be okay. They probably just want help.”

  “That man looks so mean.”

  “He’s probably just like the rest of us and has no idea what’s going on.”

  “You girls lock the doors and stay in the car. I’ll take care of this.” Tom opened the door and climbed out. Before he had the chance to offer a greeting, the man came storming at him. Tom stepped back and bumped into the car. He raised his hand to halt the man’s forward progress, but the man trapped him between his overweight body and the car. He could feel the rage emanating from the guy. Sweat covered the man’s face, spittle flew from between his fat lips when he spoke. Tom turned his face away to avoid the saliva.

  “We need a ride!” He leaned toward Tom in a threatening manner as if he felt entitled to impose his will just because he was the larger person.

  Tom slid out from between the man and car and had to step back when the man tried to intimidate him by moving in closer. Now the guy was in between him and the car, and he saw the guy glance behind him as if checking his position with the driver’s door. Tom realized his mistake when the guy made a grab for the door handle. Carrie was quicker and slammed her hand down on the door lock before the guy could open it. He wheeled around, pounding on the window.

  “Open this damn door,” he bellowed, pressing close. Spit sprayed the window and Tom was glad it was rolled up when Carrie jerked away.

  Tom knew he didn’t stand a chance against if it came to fisticuffs with the overweight man’s meat-hook hands, but he would have agility on his side. The man was breathing hard from running to the car, so fitness would also be a factor.

  “You need to get your hands off my car and calm down. Maybe if you stopped acting like a barbarian, we could talk.”

  The man turned back to Tom. His face flushed in anger, “I already told you we need a ride.” He stepped toward Tom, “Do you know how long we’ve been stranded here? No one wants to help me. I’ve got a wife and kids back there, and we need help!”

  He pointed behind them, and Tom saw an obese woman and two kids, all of who hadn’t missed many meals. Tom had to assume they had been on the highway since the electronics failed and wondered why the man and his family were still there. Why hadn’t they left? No way would he hang out in such a hostile environment when he had two good feet to move him.

  “You spent last night here?” Tom tried to hide the disbelief from his voice, but the way the guys faced turned purple, he figured he’d failed.

  He huffed and stepped toward Tom again, “What did you think I was supposed to do? Leave my car and family sitting here? Do you even know how many thieves are on this highway?”

  Tom stepped back. If this guy got in his face one more time, he was going to lose his reason. This guy obviously didn’t understand personal space. “Look, where do you need to go?” Tom thought if the guy would settle down and stop with the demands, just maybe he would take him where he needed to go if it was the direction Tom was going and he suspected it was with the direction the guys car, where the woman sat; her legs hanging out the passenger door, was pointed. His two kids sat up on the hood bickering if their actions were anything to go by. They took turns shoving and then squabbling and whining when the other shoved back.

  He wheeled around, “God damn you little brats! Knock it off, or I’ll give you something to squall for.”

  He fingered his belt, and both went silent, scowling at each other. Tom could understand the children’s behavior if they’d been sitting there for the better part of two days. With night falling, Tom hated to see the kids spending another night on the road.

  “Now, where was I?” The man turned back to Tom, “Yeah. Like I said, we need a ride home.”

  Tom pursed his lips, considering the request. It was more of a demand than request, but Tom dealt with enough people to overlook the man’s snarly tone. “Where is home for you. Maybe we can work something out.”

  “They ain’t nothing to work out. The way I see it, you have the only running car.” He rubbed his hands together, “You take us home, or I take the car. Simple as that.”

  Tom stepped back. He wasn’t one to put up with an either-or situation, and this had turned that way, but he could see the guys loud voice was beginning to draw more unwanted attention. Tom had no idea if others had been sacked out in their cars or wandered in from wherever they’d been hiding, but now, a dozen or more people stood in the gap between the blocking cars. He saw where they were going, and it wasn’t going to end up well for any of them. If he took the man and his kids, the others would storm the car for a ride too, and Tom didn’t have time to ferry people where they needed to go.

  Thinking fast, Tom tried to catch Carrie's eye and realized she must have seen what was going on. She slipped over to the driver seat and nodded at him.

  “Where do you need to go?”

  The man pushed his chest out as if his words had been enough to intimidate Tom. He smirked, “That’s more like it. Don’t need to go that far. Just the other side of Salem.”

  Tom stared at the man in disbelief but quickly wiped all expression from his face. Even if they had to walk every step of the way, the guy could have been home already. He didn’t understand the stupidity of the guy. Tom felt his boil beginning to boil. He needed to get away from this guy before he exploded.

  “I don’t have the time or the room to help all of these people so why don’t you bring your family to the car, but see if you can do it without advertising what you’re doing.”

  “Ya ain’t going anywhere are ya? You’re not going to jump in that car and take off as soon as I turn my back?” The man looked over his shoulder and laughed. “Guess I don’t have to worry about that now do I.”

  “Oh, hell yes I am,” Tom thought to himself. He knew he couldn’t go north, but he could reverse and back down the next on-ramp if it was clear enough. He knew how to avoid this section of highway and get back on a mile or so north of where they were. He had to take it for granted that Teagan and her friend were already past this point.

  “Hey, you guys didn’t happen to see a red-headed girl, did you?” Tom held his hand shoulder high, “Slim and lots of red hair. She might have had another girl with her and…” He didn’t know what else to add. He didn’t know what the other girl looked like or what either girl was wearing.

  “Naw…we had some problems with a couple kids that refused to share their food, but it was a boy. He had a redheaded girl with him, but they were in the company of a lady and a couple brats. I suspected they had food the way they guarded those backpacks they were wearing.”

  “Today? You saw them today?” Tom felt his heart rate accelerate. It had to be Teagan Tom was sure of it. He didn’t understand why she would be with a boy but helping a woman with kids didn’t surprise Tom at all. His gut t
old him they were getting closer.

  “This morning.” He rubbed his face, “Gave the both of them a good down-home beating. Someone never taught them manners, but I did. Can you believe that gal tried beating up my little boy?”

  Tom saw red. He had already seen the man’s little boy, and knew he was as tall as Teagan and outweighed her by half. Clenching his teeth, Tom curled his hands into fists wanting to punch the man out just for saying he’d given them a beating. He watched the man walk back toward his car.

  As soon as the man was far enough away, Tom slunk down the passenger side of his car and slipped in. He closed the door quietly and nodded at Carrie.

  “Run over the works of them?” Carrie asked in a distressed voice.

  Her foot poised over the gas pedal; Tom realized she would do just that if he gave the go-ahead. He forgot she couldn’t read his mind. “No! Go backward. We need to back off the on-ramp.” He whipped his eyes forward. The man was bent over, talking to his wife.

  Carrie tried to push the shifter into reverse and ground the gears, “Clutch! Put the clutch in. Hurry!”

  As Carrie found the right gear, she stomped on the gas and slid down the side of a parked car. Whipping the wheel wildly, she maneuvered down the ramp scraping the guardrail as she went.

  Tom saw the man jerk himself upright and yell something at the crowd of people. He pointed his accusing finger at the car. They began to run toward them.

  “Hurry Carrie. Here they all come.”

  At the bottom of the ramp, Carrie stopped, “Which way?” Her voice screamed the panic she felt inside.

  Tom pointed, “The frontage road. Go, go, go!” He grabbed the dash to keep from being thrown into her lap as she spun the wheel around and stomped the gas. Tom managed to catch a glimpse of the people running down the ramp, but the fat man was not in sight. Dodging between cars, Carrie never let off the gas until they were blocks away.

  “Back up to the freeway,” Tom pointed and sat back to evaluate everything he’d learned. He was positive the redhead the guy spoke of had to be Teagan. He didn’t know where her friend was, but it appeared as if she’d found another one. As much as Teagan thought he didn’t trust her, he did explicitly. Whatever reason she had for fighting with this guy if it had really happened, had to have been a good one. He knew Tegan was capable of standing up to someone if she thought they were wrong, but she had never raised her hands to anyone that he knew of.