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Fred dumped her pack, her coat, sat down on the big leather couch, sighed. “She really likes you, and trusts you. I can see why. Um, do you maybe have some ice? There were men in the tunnel, and they tried to … One of them punched me.”
Chuck gave her a long, quiet look as she cupped her bruised jaw. “A lot of people suck, that’s why I like the quiet.”
“A lot more don’t.”
“Maybe. I’ll set you up, Red Fred. Ice, beer, chips, and salsa.”
“Is it really spicy salsa?”
“Set your mouth on fire.”
“That’s my favorite kind.”
CHAPTER TEN
With Max at the wheel, they crossed the Susquehanna. The tire chains bit through the snow—an inch, then two—as they pushed west.
He picked up the 414, kept to the rural areas, passing a scatter of homes and little farms as the hills rolled and forests thickened. A few times, with Eddie asleep in the back, he worked with Lana to ease an abandoned or wrecked car onto the shoulder of the winding two-lane road.
“Maybe we should find a place to stop. You’ve been driving more than three hours, and the roads are getting worse.”
“We’ve barely hit a hundred miles today. I want more before we break.”
In the back, Eddie stirred, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. “Ain’t letting up, is it? Storm’s coming in from the west, looks like, so we’re heading into worse. Want me to take the wheel for a spell?”
“Not yet.”
He made it another twenty miles before he had to stop for a three-car pileup.
“Well.” Eddie scratched his beard. “Looks like we’ve got some work to do. Lana, you mind taking Joe to do some business while me and Max see about pushing this mess out of the way?”
A warning look from Max told her he wasn’t ready to share what they could do with their new companion.
She took the dog, trudged through the snow to a stand of trees.
Max and Eddie walked toward the wrecked cars.
Behind the wheel of the hatchback, the body of a man slumped.
“That’s a bullet hole in the windshield there, and in him, too, I guess.” Though he’d gone a little pale, Eddie moved closer. “I don’t know much, but I know this dude hasn’t been dead long. I mean not like a couple of days.”
“Somebody put some bullet holes in this Subaru, too. And there’s some blood on the seat.”
Pulling lightly at his scraggle of a beard, Eddie let out a sigh. “Gun rack in the truck there—and no guns in it. I ain’t no CSI type, but I watched it some on TV. Looks to me like the truck dude shot at these two, killed the one here, wounded the other. Wrecked the shit out of the truck, so he couldn’t drive it.”
“I’d say you’re right.”
“So, you know…” Eddie looked around, searching for tracks, afraid he’d find them. “Maybe we should clear this mess out of the way, quick as we can, and get the hell out of here. In case.”
The hatchback rolled easily once in neutral with Eddie guiding the wheel and Max pushing from the rear.
Lana walked back as they worked on the Subaru.
“Tire’s flat. Looks like the wheel’s bent, too.” Eddie rolled his shoulders. “Gonna take more muscle.”
“I’ll help.”
“Don’t you strain nothing,” Eddie warned. This time, he cut the wheel, left the door open, and put his back into it from the front.
It only took Lana one shove to know muscle alone wouldn’t be enough. She added a different kind of push, and though she tried to keep it light, the car jerked forward.
“We got her!” Eddie called out. “Just a little more.”
Max, his hair covered with snow, laughed under his breath. “Ease back, Amazon Queen.”
They pushed again, had the car bumping over the shoulder, and stopping crookedly in the shallow ravine beside it.
Eddie shot Lana a grin. “Stronger than you look.”
She only smiled, flexed.
“We can get around the truck,” Max said.
“Yeah, room enough to squeak by. Give me a minute first.”
Eddie slid down to the ravine, pulled the keys out of the Subaru, stomped through snow to the back to open it. “Could be some useful things got left behind. Should check the other car, too.”
“I’ll do that.” Max thought of the body. Lana didn’t need to see it. “You help Eddie.”
She slithered down, opened the suitcase in the back while Eddie poked through a big cardboard box.
“Got food,” he said. “Looks like somebody grabbed stuff out of the pantry.”
“Just take the box. There are clothes in here—men’s clothes. And…” She took out a framed photo of a man in his thirties, a woman of about the same age. He wore a tux with a white rose boutonniere, and she a billowy white dress.
“Their wedding photo,” she murmured. “But only men’s clothes. He must have lost her to the virus.”
“We oughta take the suitcase, too.”
“Yes.” She put the photo back inside. She wouldn’t leave it to fade in the back of a car.
Between them, they managed to haul the box of provisions to the road while shoving and pulling the suitcase. Max joined them with a duffel bag and a rifle.
“In the trunk. The gun and there’s ammo in the duffel, some warm weather clothes, a roll of cash stuffed in a boot. For all the good that does anyone now.”
“Gonna check the truck.”
Eddie jogged to it while Lana and Max started to pack the new finds in the car. Eddie came back with a half bottle of Jack Daniel’s and three cans of Bud.
“I suspect somebody was driving under the influence, and maybe that caused the wreck.” He wedged them into the car, turned in a circle.
“Pretty country. Damn pretty country. Find a stream, build yourself a cabin. Life wouldn’t be half bad.” He grinned over at the dog, who leaped through the snow, rolled in it. “He sure likes it.”
Max opened the driver’s door, leaned in to start the car while Eddie called the dog. “You drive,” he told Eddie. “I’ll navigate.”
“Sure thing. You oughta take yourself a nap, Lana. You look tired out.”
The glamour is wearing off, she thought. And the truth was, she felt tired out. The new provisions took up some of the backseat, but she managed to curl up, and tuned out almost immediately.
As he drove—competently, to Max’s relief—Eddie struck up conversation.
“You guys been together awhile?”
“We met about a year ago, moved in together a couple months later.”
“When it’s right, it’s right. Haven’t found the right yet. Not really looking, but I appreciate female company, if you know what I mean. Is she out?”
Max looked back. “Yeah. You’re right, she’s tired. We’ve pushed it pretty hard.”
“Likely have to keep pushing. What we saw back there? That’s how it is now for some. Kill you soon as look at you. I don’t get why when what makes sense is we need each other, but that’s how it is. You had to see plenty of that back in the city.”
“Too much of it. People are scared and pissed off, desperate.”
“And some are just no damn good,” Eddie added.
“And some are just no damn good.”
They passed through a little township, its main street deserted but for parked cars. Its shops shut down or gaping open.
“You let me know when you want to find a pump, top off the tank.”
“We’ve got enough for now. We’re going to get off this when it dips south, head north toward Route Six. If it’s clear, we can take that west. If not, there are back roads.”
Eddie flicked Max an impressed look. “Got it mapped out in your head?”
“I do. And it’s written down if anything happens to me. And if anything does, I have to trust you with her. I have to trust you to look out for her.”
Under the bruise and the beard, Eddie’s jaw tightened. “Nothing’s going to happen. We’re looki
ng out for each other now. But you can trust me to take care of her if she needs it. I got no family left, dude. You could’ve left me back there. I guess you could say you’re my people now.”
“Take Fifteen north when you get to it. Let’s try to get at least another fifty or sixty miles before we stop, find a pump. We’re going to want one of the small towns, nothing too big.”
“I got that.”
Max kicked back, shut his eyes. As he drifted off, he heard Eddie singing some country song. Bluegrass? He wasn’t familiar enough to know. But the clear, easy voice sang about angels, and soothed Max to sleep.
He woke with a start, felt their speed drop. Shoving up, he expected to see another wreck blocking the road. Instead he saw a snow-covered road, some houses, and a mini-mart with gas pumps.
“Six was a no go,” Eddie said. “Had to double back, take the back roads. We’re down to a quarter tank, so we better gas it up.”
He pulled into the lot.
All three got out. “It looks like it’s slowed down, the snow. I’ll see what I can put together so we can eat something,” Lana said.
“I sure could use that.” Eddie glanced around as Max walked to a pump. “Quiet around here. Maybe everybody lit out.”
“Maybe. Pumps are still on.” Max put the nozzle in the tank.
“I’m going inside first, use an actual bathroom.”
“Probably locked up,” Eddie told Lana.
“We’ll see.” Because that she could deal with.
“Joe and I are fine with the great outdoors.”
