Braving The Storms (Strengthen What Remains Book 3) (14 page)

Chapter Twenty Six

Hollister Hotel, Sunday, October 4
^th

Zach searched part of the building and then returned to the lobby. DeLynn and her father were already there. “I didn’t find her or any clues.”

“We didn’t either.”

Vicki soon joined them. “No sign of her in my part of the building.”

“Did your mom take any clothes or food?” Zach asked.

“Not that we can tell. She just disappeared.”

His last conversation with DeLynn’s mother, and now her sudden disappearance, seemed real spooky, but Zach decided not to say anything.

DeLynn turned to her father. “Where do you think she might have gone?”

He rubbed his chin. “She never accepted moving here. She might be headed back to our old house.”

That seemed reasonable. He mapped out the route in his mind. “On foot, it would take her at least three hours to get there.”

“Longer.” Mr. Hollister shook his head. “She has an abysmal sense of direction and has never driven, or walked, from here to the house.”

DeLynn stepped toward the exit. “Let’s take the car and head that way. We’ll probably spot her.”

The four moved toward the door, but Mr. Hollister held up his hand. “This won’t take all of us. Vicki, would you prepare the food boxes?”

She nodded.

“Zach, would you continue framing the wall we were working on? Just keep doing what I showed you. DeLynn and I should be back in an hour or so.”

* * *

Sheriff’s Office, Hansen, Sunday, October 4
^th

Caden looked at his watch and shook his head in frustration. “I explained what happened when we were at the Wilson farm. Then, I answered the same questions in your interrogation room—”

“Only so it could be recorded,” Hoover interjected.

“—after waiting forever. Now you want to do it again in your office?”

“I just have a few more questions.” Hoover sat at his desk and picked up a pad of paper. “Do you or your father own a .270 rifle?”

“I’m sure Dad does.”

“I’ll need to examine all your guns. I’m also a little concerned about why, after Liz stabbed your father, you didn’t call 911, me, or your family, until after you were at the hospital.”

Looking back on the situation, Caden knew he should have done so. “Have you called 911 lately?”

“I am aware of their problems. Did you call them?”

“No.”

Hoover tapped his pen on the desk. “You should have called or told someone.”

“I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Rational decision making under stressful conditions is something you’re trained to do.” Hoover wrote in the pad.

“My father was bleeding out beside me.” Caden leaned forward, palms on the sheriff’s desk. “You sound suspicious. Do you really think I shot Liz Wilson and burned down the house to cover up her murder?”

Hoover set down the pad and pen. “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what I think, but no, I don’t believe you killed her. However, in any normal investigation, you and Trevor would be the prime suspects. I have to do my job and for both our sakes, I need to do it properly.”

Caden sighed. “As military commander, I could take over this investigation.”

“If you do, some people will always believe you killed her and covered it up. Let us do an inquiry and find who really committed the crime.” Hoover stood. “We recovered the bullet that killed Liz. Your guns should go a long way toward clearing this up. I’ll send a couple of deputies to over to check calibers, serial numbers, and registrations.”

Knowing his father, Caden wouldn’t have been surprised if none of the guns were registered. “Someone will be there, but I’m not going home.” He stood and together they walked toward the door of the office. “I’ve got to pick up Dad at the hospital. I’ll have Maria meet the deputies.” Caden stopped at the door. “Do you want to interview my father?”

“I already have.”

“Really? When?”

Hoover smiled. “Remember when you sat in the interrogation room for so long?”

“While you kept me waiting you were talking to him?”

Still grinning, Hoover nodded. “I needed to know what he would say before you two talked.”

“Cunning, very cunning.” On the way to the pickup truck Caden phoned Maria and explained about the deputies that would soon arrive. “Show them all the guns.”

“All of them? He has a lot. I doubt he’s shown me all of them.”

“Ask Mom for help and just do your best. I’ll be home soon with Dad. Bye.” His confidence grew as he reached his destination. His mother hadn’t visited the hospital, the Wilson investigation would reveal the truth and his father would be fine. He pulled into the lot and parked near the main entrance of the building.

As he walked toward the door, he looked again at those camped along the edge of the lot. Were they all refugees? Did they have family members in the hospital?

Caden sat in his father’s room as frustration grew within him. Why did discharging patients always take so long?

After Caden missed church and lunch, a doctor finally arrived and discharged Caden’s dad. Father and son then waited for a nurse to come with a wheelchair.

“I can walk.” His father wobbled to the chair by the door and plopped down.

Caden grunted, but otherwise remained silent.

The nurse arrived wearing an industrial breathing mask with filters on both sides of her mouth and nose, along with gloves. She offered a home variety mask to Caden’s father.

“I don’t need it.” He nearly fell into the wheelchair.

“Dad, put it on please. For me and Mom. At least until we’re out of here.”

He complied with a “humph.”

Unprotected, Caden walked ahead to clear the route.

As they neared the exit door, a man stumbled in. Sweat rolled down his face and his body sagged. His mouth gaped, as if ready to sneeze. Caden stepped aside and hurried past. A cough thundered behind him. He turned and saw his father make a face.

Just outside Caden asked, “Did you get sneezed on?”

“I don’t know.” He ripped off the mask and handed it to the nurse. “Let’s go.” With the aid of Caden, he stood, walked to the pickup, and they were soon on the way home.

When they parked in front of the house, the two deputies were on one end of the porch logging the firearm’s serial numbers, checking registrations and calibers. Caden half expected his father to recite the second amendment, and then order the deputies from the property. Instead he allowed Caden to help him into his favorite chair in the living room.

Caden’s mother immediately sat beside her husband and grabbed his hand. “Are you alright?”

“Don’t fuss. I’m sore, but I’ll be fine.”

Maria motioned for Caden to sit on the porch swing with her. He did and she leaned close. As they gently rocked back and forth the two watched Adam in a nearby playpen and the deputies with the firearms. Caden talked about his day.

“Are they going to take the guns?” Maria asked.

“I’m not sure.”

As they continued to talk, Caden’s eyelids grew heavy.

Two shotgun blasts boomed over a nearby hill.

A woman screamed.

* * *

Hollister Hotel, Sunday, October 4
^th

The sound of an engine caused Zach to look up from his work. Mr. Hollister’s car turned into the hotel parking lot. Father and daughter exited the vehicle and with heads slumped, returned to the building.

When they entered, DeLynn, near tears, spoke first. “We drove out to the old house and then slowly back toward town. We had to wait in line at the bridge checkpoint. I thought sure we’d see her there, but we didn’t.”

Her father shook his head, a worried look on his face. “I don’t know where she might have gone.”

Later that afternoon, Zach decided to do his own search. He didn’t have the energy for a long walk, but felt he owed it to DeLynn. Donning a light jacket, he exited the hotel through the main door, and walked in the general direction of the old Hollister home. As he strode away from the hotel he hoped to find the woman soon and not have to hike all the way out of town.

Piles of bulging plastic bags dotted both sides of the street. Apparently trash collection stopped during his bout with the Kern flu. Many bags had been torn and the contents strewn along the sidewalk. Rats, mice, and feral dogs tore at some of them. Zach made wide circles around the dogs. The smell of rotting garbage dominated the air. Knowing that Mrs. Hollister would not have stayed here, he pushed onward. Few people walked the street and even fewer vehicles rolled past. The rare person he spotted moved quickly away from him.

An hour later, he reached the edge of town. Two tents stood near the North Road Bridge. The larger one had a red cross emblazed on the roof. The smaller tent had a shower at one end. Sandbags formed a checkpoint nearby, with a squad car and two Humvees parked alongside. No vehicles waited to enter or leave town. As he approached the bridge a large sign read, “Attention: Medical clearance required for anyone entering Hansen. Think before you leave.”

A camp had sprung up on the far side of the river. Smaller than the sprawling one that emerged after the Seattle nuclear blast, this one, Zach estimated, still had a couple hundred campsites. Some were elaborate tents or RVs, others were single cars.

Zach walked up to the four soldiers on his side of the bridge. Three were new, and he didn’t know them well, but Sergeant Hill greeted him as a friend.

“Why are people camping over there?” Zach pointed across the river.

“Either they’re sick or someone in their family has been exposed.” Hill shook his head.

Zach stared across the river. “Then they should be in the hospital.”

“They will be as soon as there is a bed for them—if they’re still alive. I’ve heard talk of turning the high school gym into a makeshift ward.” Hill shrugged. “Nothing has happened yet.”

Zach leaned against a girder of the bridge as he considered the sergeants words. After a moment, he sighed and shook his head. “Have any of you seen a middle-aged woman with brown hair, about my height cross the bridge? She would have been headed out of town on foot.”

“A woman alone, and on foot, headed out of town?” The sergeant shook his head. “With the sickness killing so many, most people just stay inside.”

“Yeah.” A private nodded. “A few trucks have come into town and left, but no one has left on foot.”

“We came on duty about two hours ago,” another said. “When would she have been here?”

Zach looked at the camp on the far side of the bridge. “She might have reached the river before then.”

“Ask the deputy.” The sergeant pointed to the tent. “He’s been here all day.”

Just inside the shelter, the doctor and the deputy ate dinner from a Styrofoam cooler. Using a boxy clear plastic tent, most of the space had been turned into an isolation ward. On the other side of the plastic barrier, a nurse worked with about a dozen patients. Zach turned to the doctor and deputy and described the woman and his need to find her.

The doctor shook his head. “Unless she was trying to get into town I wouldn’t have seen her.”

“I don’t see many people out walking nowadays so, I remember those that do.” The deputy nodded. “No one has left in days—until today.”

“So, you saw her?”

“I saw a woman matching that description cross the bridge about three hours ago.” The deputy pointed north. “We have orders to do medical checks on everyone trying to get in, but anyone can leave.”

Zach sprinted to the bridge.

The sergeant shouted as Zach ran across. “Most of the people in the camp are sick. If she is with them ….”

Zach decided to worry about her health if and when he found her.

On the far side of the bridge a sign warned people to stop and receive medical clearance before crossing the bridge. Twenty feet ahead, trash had been piled and burned. It still smoldered and stank. Zach slowed to a walk as he came to the first vehicle. Breathing deeply he hiked through the middle of camp. Having nothing but the clothes on his back he feared no harm. From a nearby car someone eyed him suspiciously. A woman looked out the window of an RV. Several men seated around a camp fire glanced at him. Others looked away.

At the edge of camp, a tarp had blown off five bodies, laid out side-by-side, a woman, a man and three children. An entire family, or just random people joined together in death? Flies buzzed about. Zach gathered stones and replaced the tarp.

When they were again covered, he moved several yards upwind, sat and stared at the ground. How many more would perish before this deadly year ends? He lifted his head several minutes later, and there, at the edge of the trees, she sat.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Westmore Farm, Rural Lewis County, Sunday, October 4
^th

The two deputies turned in the direction of rapid gunfire mixed with shotgun blasts.

Caden jumped from the porch swing.

Maria clutched his hand and held tight.

Leaving his father’s guns behind, the deputies ran for their vehicle and jumped in. As the two sped away, the patrol car kicked up stones in the driveway.

Caden took a step.

Maria tightened her grip. “Let them do their job. You don’t have to save the world.”

Adam, still in his playpen, stopped tossing toys out and turned toward the speeding patrol car.

Caden stared into the darkness for nearly a minute and then sat. Perhaps he should be less involved until Hoover solved the Wilson murder.

Gunfire thundered again, followed by shouts.

Adam cried and Maria picked up the baby.

Gradually, the stillness of the night returned.

Caden remained seated, but his thoughts were over the nearby hill. He tried to remember the name of the family that owned the farm.

The door squeaked. His father stepped onto the porch, followed by his mother.

“Who owns the farm over there?” Caden pointed.

“Walt Harper.” His father looked concerned. “The deputies headed over there?”

Caden nodded.

Maria stood. “It’s getting cool out here. I’m taking the baby in.”

His dad and mom followed.

Caden secured the gate across the driveway and then brought the rifles in the house. With a final look over his shoulder, he stepped inside, and locked the door.

* * *

North of Hansen, Sunday, October 4
^th

Zach stood and inched forward. “Mrs. Hollister, we’ve been looking for you!”

She darted into the woods.

Zach shook his head. He would never understand DeLynn’s mother. Mustering all his energy he sprinted after her. For nearly an hour she hid and ran while Zach followed and searched. Catching her would normally have been easy but, after only two days recovery, he remained weak. He struggled to stay close to her.

Finally, he decided not to try and catch her, but anticipate her destination. Most people running away would go downhill and into deeper forest, but she wasn’t doing that. She headed generally uphill and stayed near the main road out of town. He had never heard of Mrs. Hollister going into the woods. As far as he knew, she only traveled in a car and, now on foot, still followed the road toward her old home. Zach smiled. He knew just where to cut her off.

Hiking deeper into the forest, Zach traveled in a roughly straight line over a hill that the road went around. Wiping sweat from his brow, for a moment he stopped, and leaned against a tree. On the far side, the road crossed a large stream. This time of year the water could be forded in several places, but she didn’t know that. He pushed on.

Zach hid in the bushes near the north side of the culvert. One car rumbled over by, and he heard another in the distance, but otherwise only the rustle of the breeze in the trees disturbed the quiet. The sun dropped behind the nearby hills, casting the valley into deep shadows. This would aid his ambush.

Out of the growing darkness came the sound of heavy breathing. Zach held his position, watching and waiting. As she stepped onto the bridge, Zach spotted her. She walked with a weary droop to her body. Afraid that it might be someone else, he waited until he could see her face. When she passed within arm’s reach he stood. “Mrs. Hollister—”

She screamed.

“—why did you leave?”

She turned to run.

Zach grabbed her wrist.

She slapped and kicked.

He fended off most of her blows, and held her tight.

Finally, she collapsed to the ground.

“Everyone is worried about you, DeLynn, your husband, Vicki and me.” Zach knelt beside her more confused by her actions than worried. “Why did you run off?”

She sat on the ground in silence.

Over the next few minutes, Zach gently tugged on her arm several times, and finally sat on the ground still holding onto her. He didn’t know how long he sat there with her when, after more gentle urging she stood. Holding her wrist, Zach led her back toward the bridge.

They walked several minutes in silence, but then, in a voice just above a whisper, Mrs. Hollister spoke. “My mother, brothers, and sister all lived in Los Angeles. I have more aunts, uncles, nephews, and cousins that lived in the city. I’ve tried to remember them all.

“For months after the attack, I held on to the hope that some of them would come and knock on our door. I know they’re probably dead, but in the house we owned, I clung to hope. Living where we do now, they will never find us.”

She sighed deeply. “Now we’re broke and live in a ramshackle building. We’ve often been hungry and I’m always afraid.” Tears streamed down her face. She looked into the sky and shouted. “God, why did you do this to me and my family?”

Something stirred Zach to answer. “An evil man killed my father, but good people like your husband and others helped me. We all make choices. Evil people choose to screw up this world. Good people make it a better place.”

“No!” she cried. “God should just make us do the right thing.”

“It would be a sad world if God didn’t give us a choice. Could there even be good, if no one had a choice? I don’t know, I’m not very smart about such things.”

She cast a serious gaze his way. For a while they walked in silence. “You’re smarter than you think. You’ve reminded me of things I’d forgotten.”

Zach looked up at the canopy of stars. “I’d like to believe that there is a God who gathers the souls of the good people who follow him. Then someday I’ll see my father and mother again, and you’ll see your family.”

“Out of the mouths of babes,” she whispered.

“Huh?”

She smiled. “Just one more thing you’ve reminded me of tonight. You don’t have to hold me. I’ll follow you back.”

A rising moon cast pale light as they arrived at the bridge. A Humvee blocked any vehicle from crossing.

As they walked onto the bridge, a voice came out of the darkness. “Halt. Zach is that you?”

He did as commanded. “Yeah, I found Mrs. Hollister. We’re heading home now. I guess we need to see the doctor. Right?”

“Yeah, but the doctor left for the night. There won’t be one here until 0700 tomorrow.”

“What about a nurse?” Zach gestured toward the tent. “I saw one in there earlier.”

“She stays in the isolation ward.” Sergeant Hill said as he came onto the bridge. “Only the doctor can let someone into town.” Hill rubbed his chin. “Even though it’s against the rules, I’d let you in Zach. I know you had the Kern flu and recovered. You won’t infect anyone, but the woman….” He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

He thought about phoning First Sergeant Fletcher and asking him to send a medic, but decided against it. Ten hours under the night sky wouldn’t hurt either of them. Perhaps it would help Mrs. Hollister to appreciate the hotel. However, he did need to make one call. Zach borrowed the sergeant’s phone. “Hello, DeLynn?”

“Zach! Where are you?”

“Beyond the North Bridge. I found your mother ….”

“I’ll get Dad. We’ll be right there.”

“No don’t. She’s fine, but the checkpoint is closed for the night. They won’t let us cross. I’ll have her there at 0700.”

“When?”

“Seven in the morning.” After a bit more persuading he said goodbye and turned to the sergeant. “Can we borrow a couple of blankets and a tarp?” Zach planned to use the tarp to keep them off the damp ground. He turned to Mrs. Hollister. “Let’s hope it doesn’t rain.”