Forced Exodus (Pandemic Book Two) Read online

  Derrick nodded. “Agreed.” He looked at the others and everyone nodded. “Okay. We’re on the same page.” Then he smirked at Jeff. “You already know your utility trailer will be a target.”

  Rolling his eyes, Jeff chuckled. “Yeah.”

  Derrick laughed. “Just so we’re all clear on what’s what.”

  “Is the RV or Jeff’s trailer worth taking a life over?” Jessica asked.

  They all turned to her, but no one answered. Matt didn’t want to have to kill anyone—there had been enough killing already. Besides, his RV wasn’t worth a person’s life. “No,” he finally said.

  Derrick held up a hand. “Hold on.” All eyes swiveled to him. “It’s impossible to say exactly what situations we’ll run into, which makes it impossible to state anything with certainty.” He grimaced. “We’re going to have to figure things out on the fly.”

  Matt couldn’t disagree, but he wanted clarification. “Are you saying there might be an instance where you would kill over losing our supplies?”

  “If losing those supplies meant endangering our lives, then yeah. Absolutely.”

  Okay. He could see the reasoning behind Derrick’s statement. He just hoped that wouldn’t be something they would face.

  As they walked back to their vehicles, Jessica spoke quietly. “I’m nervous, Matt. About this trip. About what could happen.”

  He put an arm around her shoulders and tugged her against him. “We need to have faith that we’ll all be okay. Besides, we have an awesome team.” He chuckled. “What could be safer than traveling with Derrick, Jeff, and Chris?”

  She tossed him a sideways glance. “Not traveling at all.”

  That got his attention. They reached the truck. Dylan got in, but Matt faced Jessica. “Are you having second thoughts? About leaving?”

  Shaking her head, she sighed. “Staying would be just as dangerous. Maybe more with those gangs living in our neighborhood. It’s just…” She looked at the pavement before meeting his eyes. “I worry. You know that.”

  He kissed her before pulling her into his arms. “Yes. I do know that.” He worried too, but he had to shove that down and focus on each moment as it came. He drew away and smiled at her. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, okay? Instead of thinking about what could happen, let’s concentrate on what is happening.”

  Softly smiling, she said, “How do you always know the right thing to say?”

  Chuckling, he said, “I’m awesome like that.”

  She hugged him. “Yes you are.”

  They got back in the truck, and moments later they lumbered forward with Derrick leading the way. When they passed Ben and his crew—who had moved their cars enough to allow their caravan to pass—Matt lifted his hand in greeting. Ben gave him a chin lift. Moments later they drove down the on-ramp and entered I-15. The last time Matt had been on the ten-lane interstate, he’d been coming home from work at Jessica’s behest. Traffic had been lighter than normal, but nothing like now. Now, the only cars moving on the road were the ones in their group. A car was parked haphazardly on the shoulder here and there, but no one was near those cars.

  With no traffic, they drove in the northbound lanes unimpeded, although Derrick kept their speed to about forty-five miles an hour. Matt was glad. It would conserve their fuel as well as give them the agility to go around unexpected objects in the road. Chris and Jeff stayed behind Matt, spreading out a bit in the adjoining lanes.

  Matt looked ahead and saw nothing but clear roads. It seemed unlikely that anyone would expend energy blocking this road. Why would they bother with so little traffic?

  “Look at that,” Jessica murmured, pointing to the southbound lanes.

  Matt shifted his eyes to the lanes going the other direction. That’s when he saw them. Ten people were walking south, most of them with something covering their mouths and noses, a few of them pushing shopping carts overflowing with all of their worldly possessions.

  The pedestrians stopped and stared at Matt and his group as they passed.

  “Where do you think they’re going?” Brooke asked. She was sitting beside the window that had the best view.

  “Somewhere warmer?” Jessica asked.

  Matt thought of Ben’s comment that they’d stopped a lot of desperate people from entering the area. Would these people be the next group Ben would come into contact with?

  “They’ll probably go wherever they can find food,” he said, which reminded him of how blessed they were. Although now that they had twelve people in their group, plus Cleo, their food stores would dwindle more quickly.

  They’d traveled less than three miles when the walkie squawked and Derrick’s voice came over the line.

  “Pedestrians up ahead. Slowing to pass them. Over.”

  Matt focused on the road up ahead and was able to make out a small group of people walking right down the middle of the Interstate. “I see them.”

  “Where?” Dylan said from behind him, leaning halfway into the front seat.

  “Put your seatbelt on,” Jessica said.

  “How come? There’s, like, no cars on the road.”

  Matt glanced at Jessica. She looked at Dylan with narrowed eyes and a deep frown.

  “Really?” she said. “You think just because there’s no traffic that Dad won’t have to slam on the brakes?”

  Dylan huffed a sigh, but Matt heard his seatbelt click into place.

  Derrick’s brake lights came on, so Matt braked as well. Following Derrick’s lead, Matt carefully swerved to the left to go around the people walking in the center lane.

  “Hey!” one man yelled as he threw a rock at their truck. “Help us out. Give us some food.”

  Chapter 4

  Jessica

  A rock hit Jessica’s door. She let out a small scream. Sweeping her gaze over the people they were slowly passing, she saw two men, two women, and three school-aged children. Clothes dirty and torn in places, hair matted, dragging their feet as they staggered along the asphalt, they looked like they’d been on the move for a while.

  “Help us,” one of the women cried out. “Please!”

  Jessica bit her lip, then looked at Matt, who frowned.

  “Can we help them?” Kayla asked, her eyes beseeching.

  Jessica wanted to help them too, but in all reality, if they helped every person they came across, they would quickly run out of food and then they’d be in the same situation. They had to make it to their destination—the San Joaquin Valley in California where Emily’s aunt and uncle had some land where they could settle and make a home.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie,” Matt said, “we have twelve mouths of our own to feed. We really don’t have extra.”

  He glanced at Jessica, she assumed to see if she would argue with him, but she smiled and placed her hand on his, adding, “We need to stay focused on our mission.”

  The people walking faded into the distance.

  “Our mission?” Kayla asked.

  “I know what it is,” Dylan said.

  Turning her attention to Dylan, Jessica smiled. “What?”

  He grinned. “To get to that place in California.”

  “That’s right.”

  Kayla pursed her lips. “I still don’t see why we couldn’t give those people a little bit of food.”

  “Tell you what,” Matt said, “next group of people we see, we’ll give them some food.”

  Surprised that he was willing to do that, Jessica looked at him with raised eyebrows.

  “What?” he said with a chuckle.

  Reaching out and stroking his cheek, she said, “I just love you.”

  He took her hand and kissed it. “I love you too.”

  It didn’t take long before the next group of pedestrians came into view—two men and three women. All five of them waved their hands as Matt and Jessica’s convoy approached.

  Jessica looked at the group, then said, “I know we can only help a few people. Let’s wait until we see a group with children.”
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  Matt nodded. “I agree.”

  They went on, soon exiting onto I-215 on-ramp. I-215 was the connecting freeway to get them to I-80, which would take them all the way to California.

  Derrick’s voice came over the walkie. “Blind curve ahead. Approaching with caution. Over.”

  Matt and the others acknowledged his message.

  On edge as they got closer to the curve, Jessica fixed her gaze on the road. She’d driven this way dozens of times, always speeding around this bend to merge with northbound I-215 and never thinking twice about it. But now, what if there was a roadblock? A pile-up of cars? What if they were ambushed?

  She hated this—the danger, the unknown. It was so outside of anything she’d experienced before, and knowing there wasn’t a darn thing she could do about it beyond endure and deal with it didn’t help.

  They went around the bend smoothly without incident, merging with the non-existent traffic.

  Exhaling the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, Jessica knew by the time they reached their destination, all of her hair would be gray.

  The walkie squawked. “Slowing down. People up ahead. Over.”

  Jessica looked at Matt, suddenly unsure if she wanted to stop and help people after all. The fear she’d just experienced made her nervous about stopping.

  “Look!” Kayla said as she pointed out the window. “There’s kids.”

  “Looks like a family,” Matt said with a glance in Jessica’s direction, a question in his voice.

  One man, two women, and two young teenagers—a boy and a girl—pulled a full wagon behind them. All five of them turned and looked at the approaching vehicles, but they didn’t break their stride and they didn’t try to wave them down.

  Jessica looked at Matt and nodded. He picked up the walkie. “We’re going to stop. Over.” He set the walkie down.

  “Not advised,” Derrick shot back.

  Jessica picked up the walkie. “Just this once, over.”

  To her pleasure—and surprise—Derrick came to a stop about twenty feet past the group.

  Matt braked to a stop ten feet in front of the people. The walkers looked alarmed. Wanting to assure them that they were there to help, Jessica stuck her head out the window and shouted, “Hello!” in her friendliest voice.

  One of the women, who looked like she was in her forties, waved and smiled wanly, like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. “Hi.”

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Jessica asked.

  The woman glanced at her companions, who were eyeing all four vehicles with suspicion, then she nodded. “Okay.”

  Jessica tugged on the door release. As her door began to open, Matt grabbed her arm.

  “Wait,” he said.

  She turned to him. “What’s wrong?”

  He frowned. “Don’t get out.”

  Jessica looked at the people. The woman she’d spoken to was striding toward the truck, walking right up to her window. Alarmed at the woman’s swift approach, Jessica closed her door and yanked on her face mask.

  “Do you have any food?” the woman asked through the window.

  Jessica turned and looked at Matt with raised eyebrows.

  “Here, Mom,” Kayla said, handing her a granola bar and a bottle of water.

  Jessica turned to Kayla with eyebrows furrowed. That food was supposed to have been Kayla’s breakfast. Had she been holding on to it so she could give it away?

  Love for her daughter swept over her.

  “Please?” the woman asked, her voice pleading.

  With a tender look at Kayla, Jessica took the meager meal and held it out to the woman standing just outside her window.

  The woman looked at the food with a frown before glancing at the rest of her group. Turning back to Jessica, she snatched the food from her hands. “Got anything else? This won’t go far.” Her voice had gone from pleading to annoyed. “I know you’ve gotta have a whole lot in your rig.” She gestured toward the RV with her thumb.

  The woman was right, but Jessica wasn’t about to get out of the truck to go into the RV, and when the woman sneered and said, “Come on. Don’t be selfish,” all feelings of compassion fled.

  “I’m sorry. That’s all I have to give.”

  Now the woman’s eyes narrowed before her lips pressed into a slash. “You’re lying.”

  Chapter 5

  Matt

  Matt didn’t like the surly tone the woman was taking. He shifted into gear and took his foot off the brake. “Time to go.”

  Jessica nodded.

  The walkie squawked and Jeff said, “Move! Now!”

  Not taking the time to figure out why Jeff’s voice sounded so urgent, Matt hit the gas and the RV jerked into motion. Derrick was already driving, his truck more agile without an RV tethered to it.

  “Mom!” Dylan shouted. He was sitting behind Jessica, next to the window. “Get down!”

  On instinct, Matt put his hand on Jessica’s upper back and shoved her so that she would bend forward. A bullet whizzed past her and nearly hit him, lodging in his headrest.

  The kids screamed.

  Heart thundering in his chest, Matt clenched his jaw as he took his hand from Jessica’s back, his focus on getting his family away from the flying bullets. She straightened.

  The sound of several more gunshots rang out. He braced himself to be hit, but nothing happened. He looked at Jessica, his eyes raking over her as he searched for injury. “You okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Everyone else okay?” he called out.

  Each of the kids said yes, but their voices were shaky.

  Matt’s eyes drifted to the right sideview mirror. That’s when he saw the man lying on the ground and the rest of his group kneeling beside him.

  The walkie squawked. Jeff spoke. “Threat has been neutralized. Over.”

  “Copy,” Derrick and Chris said.

  Stunned with how quickly things had gone south, but grateful that the other men had his back despite his bad decision to stop in the first place, he picked up the walkie and muttered, “Copy.” He set the walkie down and shifted his gaze to Jessica, who looked shell-shocked. “No more stopping, okay?”

  Mutely, she nodded.

  Keeping his left hand on the steering wheel, he reached over and placed his right hand on one of Jessica’s. She closed her eyes as her chin fell to her chest, then her shoulders silently shook.

  Furious with those people, he gritted his teeth. They’d stopped to help them and they’d shot at his wife. But now the man was dead. He didn’t feel any remorse about that whatsoever.

  “It’s okay, Mom,” Dylan said from the back seat as he reached forward and patted Jessica’s shoulder.

  “Yeah,” Kayla said, “you were only trying to help. How were we supposed to know they’d turn on us?”

  Matt could hear Jessica drawing in a shaky breath.

  “They shot at us.” She turned to Matt with tear-filled eyes. “What if they’d hit one of the kids?”

  “Let’s not do what ifs, okay? We’re all fine and we’ve learned a lesson.”

  She looked in the sideview mirror on her side of the truck, then swiveled to Matt. “What if they’d hurt one of the others? Chris and Amy have little ones in their car.” Her eyebrows bunched. “It would be all my fault.”

  He looked at her with raised eyebrows.

  A tiny smile lifted her lips. “Right. No what ifs.”

  Not wanting to squelch that part of her that wanted to care for others, he said, “You know, there may come a time when we can actually help someone. Someone who will be grateful.”

  Her eyes brightened. “Do you think so?”

  Actually, he had no idea if that would ever happen, but he couldn’t resist the hope in her eyes. “Yeah.” Besides, it was possible.

  She smiled, then leaned back in her seat.

  They drove several miles in silence.

  “I think Cleo needs to go to the bathroom,” Brooke said.r />
  Trying not to sigh, Matt picked up the walkie. “Cleo needs a potty break. Over.”

  “Copy,” Derrick said with a chuckle. “Road looks clear. We’ll stop here, but make it quick. Over.”

  “Jacob needs to go too,” Chris said over the walkie, referring to his six-year-old son.

  “I’m glad Cleo’s not the only one,” Brooke said with a laugh, relieving some of the tension.

  Matt smiled. A few moments later the RV stopped. In an overabundance of caution, Matt got out first. Derrick was out of his truck as well. Matt scanned the freeway. No threats visible. He opened the rear door. Brooke hopped out with Cleo.

  “Go potty, girl,” Brooke said as she held Cleo’s leash, but Cleo seemed more interested in sniffing the asphalt than taking care of business.

  Come on, Matt thought as he continued surveying the area. Finally, Cleo was done. Matt looked toward Chris’s SUV. Chris gave the thumbs up. Breathing a sigh of relief, Matt made sure Brooke and Cleo were safely inside before he got in. Derrick pulled forward and Matt followed.

  Traveling with children and a dog would make things a little more challenging, but that was just the way it was. They would all adjust. They’d have to.

  They passed the Valley Fair Mall. The Maverick Center was coming up on the right. Matt looked toward it, thinking of the good times he’d spent there watching hockey games with Dylan.

  “Sniper! Sniper! Sniper!” Derrick yelled just before a bullet slammed into the grill of Matt’s truck.

  Matt didn’t know where the shot had come from, which made it impossible to know how to avoid the next one.

  “On the overpass!” Jeff called out.

  Matt’s gaze shot to the overpass they were rapidly approaching. Two men were pointing rifles right at them. “Everyone down!”

  His family cried out in fear, but all he could do was make sure they weren’t hit again. With the RV on his back, Matt had no agility to swerve, but he did his best, cutting to the right to avoid the snipers’ bullets.

  Derrick and Chris cut and swerved, but with his small utility trailer, Jeff was in a similar situation as Matt.