Into Summer

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Robbie and Ronnie pulled out of Jake’s compound before the sun made the horizon. They both got a good night’s sleep and were ready to take on the new day. From here on out, they would be in new, never-before-traveled territory. The real adventure was beginning.

After a few turns, Robbie pointed to a road sign indicating Highway 181. “Next stop, Beeville. From there, we’ll get on 59 to Goliad.”

Ronnie was quiet but kept twisting and turning in his seat to see everything that caught his eyes along the highway. It wasn’t long until he spotted a cell tower. He scrutinized his map and made a mark.

Robbie drove at a leisurely pace and made numerous stops. They found oil tanks, commercial buildings that hadn’t burned, and of course the occasional pee break. All the while, Jake’s final words stuck in his head, ‘the world has been nothing but chaos the past couple of decades since the grid shut down. You two be very careful . . . you don’t know what you’re going to find out there’.

Robbie kept the speed between thirty and forty miles per hour, depending upon what they were seeing. Mostly there was the road ahead and brush with a few dilapidated houses here and there, but every so often, something that interested them showed up.

Robbie stopped and focused on a group of oil tanks he just barely spotted through the dense brush. He figured they would be worth checking out since they were well-concealed. Ronnie got out and cut the fence wires. Robbie handed his brother the machete, took his pliers, then followed while Ronnie trimmed a few tree limbs.

Of the five tanks, three had a liquid in them. One was nearly full and the others half full. Robbie took samples of each. He held the glass vials up to the sunlight and smiled. His Grandpa Reggie, who gave them the bottles for sample collection, would be proud. His grandpa would test the contents when they got back to Peaceful Valley.

Ronnie marked the location on his map and Robbie pulled back onto the roadway. When they got to the outskirts of Beeville, Robbie slowed to a crawl. His brother readied his AR-15. When they got closer to the buildings, Robbie stopped to take a good look around. The leaves rustled on the trees and dust blew around, but otherwise, he saw no movement and no signs of life.

The map indicated this had been a decent size city at one time. The road turned into a major freeway. Robbie put the Jeep in gear and eased forward, his gaze focused on the town ahead. The highway only skirted the city. There have to be people here. They couldn’t have all died.

Ronnie pointed to the road he thought was Highway 59 to Goliad. Robbie stopped again at the top of the overpass. “I have the feeling we’re being watched.”

Ronnie nodded. Both boys scanned the area with the scopes on their rifles. They saw no cars, no smoke, and the only sound was the wind whistling across their ears. The city appeared to be a ghost town.

Ronnie poked his fist at his brother’s arm. “Let’s get on toward Goliad.”

They made their way down to the access road and onto 59. A few miles away from the city, Robbie stopped, killed the engine, and turned in his seat to watch the roadway back toward town. “I feel like someone saw us and will be coming after us.”

“It really gives me the creeps when we expect to see people, and there is absolutely no one.”

Ronnie grabbed a nutrition bar out of his backpack and handed it to his brother. He got one for himself, and they nibbled on the bars while they waited and watched. After fifteen minutes, no one showed up.

Robbie turned the ignition key. He eyed the gas gauge, put the Jeep in gear, and headed on. At the edge of the little community of Berclair, Robbie stopped and eyed a very tall tower. “That’s too big to be a cell tower. And it has round dish thingies instead of vertical bars.”

Ronnie smiled. “Yeah, like satellite or television dishes. And one that looks like a space capsule!”

Ronnie pulled his map back out. “I’m going to mark it anyway. If it’s not a cell tower, maybe we can add the antennas we want and make it one.”

Robbie shrugged, put the Jeep in gear, and eased forward. They were on high alert as they rode through the vacant crumbled houses and commercial properties. Robbie let out a sigh of relief as they put distance between themselves and Berclair.

There were miles of nothing after that, and it was getting late. The sun was going down soon, and the early color hinted at a beautiful sunset to come in an hour or so. Robbie pulled off the road, and Ronnie hopped out to cut the fence wires. Ronnie masked the tire tracks with his feet as he followed the Jeep into the brush. Robbie stopped, and his brother got back in. They drove further into the bush until they could no longer see the road.

The boys got out and made a big circle around the area to check their surroundings. When they got back to the Jeep, they relaxed a few minutes while they watched the sunset.

They started to set up camp. Stretching a rope between two trees, they threw their tarp over and secured the bottom, then rolled out their bedrolls. Ronnie grabbed a couple of extra blankets and tossed one on each bed. “You should have stopped a little earlier. Maybe I could have gotten us a fresh rabbit. Now we’re going to be eating jerky.”

Robbie smiled. “Let’s get a good sleep tonight. We’re getting close to Goliad and the San Antonio River. There have to be people there.”

Ronnie handed his brother a piece of jerky and a canteen. “Yes, there most likely will be. Let’s hope we can get in without getting shot.”

Robbie nodded. “And hopefully they can be reasoned with.”

In Corpus Christi at the Hospital compound . . .

The next day, the coma patient was conscious but unable to move a muscle. I’m awake, or am I? Nothing seems to work except my ears. I hear someone walking around. I am awake! But why won’t my eyes open? Try your legs. Nope! Arms? No! I think a finger moved. No, I must have imagined it.

What’s the matter with me? Am I dead? Do dead people think? I’ve gotta be alive. Then why the hell can’t I move? Relax and listen. Yes, I still hear someone. There is someone here other than me. What’s that beeping? A monitor. Yes. I’m in a hospital. It feels comfortable here—quiet, restful, someone watching me. Yes, I’m alive, and someone is taking care of me.

Me? . . . Me! Who am I? Oh s**t! I don’t remember who I am. Relax . . . relax. It’ll come to . . .

Someone touched me . . . touched my face. The bed moved, someone sat down on the edge, then she . . . probably she . . . touched my face. Yes, she. A man wouldn’t touch . . .

Owww! What did she do?! She hit me. Yes, I heard it . . . and I felt it. The damn b***h slapped me!

He struggled. He blinked his eyes. Yes! I see color. My eyes are working . . . trying to work. Try harder dammit!

He blinked over and over, and his eyes slowly focused on a young girl. He mustered all he had to reach his arm out. He tried to say something, but nothing would come out.

She fell to her knees, tears of relief in her eyes that he was awake. “I’m sorry I hit you, but you’re awake now. Relax. I know it probably doesn’t look like it, but I’m a nurse.” She smiled and scrambled to her feet. “I’m going to help you.”

He looked into her glassy blue eyes. She’s pretty!

Not far from Goliad, Robbie slowed the Jeep and held a steady twenty miles-per-hour pace. The San Antonio River bridge was coming up soon. There will be people in Goliad . . . I know it. If there were indeed people, they needed to see them first. Robbie saw the bridge from afar and stopped. He looked behind him, around, then back ahead.

Ronnie looked over. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“What did you expect?”

Robbie took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I guess I just expected to see some people.”

Robbie proceeded to the bridge but stopped just short of the ramp. “If there is anyone here, they should be near town and the river. It’s only a couple of miles farther to the edge of town according to the map, maybe three if we follow the river. The San Antonio River has to be the snakiest one I’ve seen. I think we should ditch the Jeep and go on foot. We’ll have a better chance of seeing someone first that way. We can’t let anyone get the drop on us.”

“I’m with you. There’s plenty of brush around here.”

Robbie found a spot to hide the Jeep, and they packed enough gear for two days. They made their way back to the bridge on foot, crossed the river, and headed into the brush along the stream.

“It’s been dry here too,” Robbie remarked. “Not much water flow.”

Ronnie nodded.

The boys followed the river to the point where the map showed it to be closest to town. There was no one along the way, and they passed up two run-down homes near the water, but at a third house, they heard voices.

Robbie knelt down behind a stump. His brother moved over behind a tree. Robbie gave him a hand signal indicating maybe three people and took the lead. The voices grew louder as they neared the third house. Robbie spied a woman and three nearly grown kids, but they weren’t like any people he’d seen before.

The woman hung clothes to dry on a line. The kids chopped wood and stacked it alongside the home. A trickle of smoke snaked into the air from a roof pipe and faded into nothing.

Robbie looked over at his brother and shrugged his shoulders. They were both at a loss at what to do. Could they communicate with these people? Surely they spoke English, but they weren’t certain. If there was a man, he had to be around somewhere. Was he nearby? The boys were careful and knew they hadn’t been spotted. If there was a man, they had better keep their eyes open. These people could be aggressive toward strangers.

Robbie waved his brother to conceal himself better, then turned his attention back to the family. Robbie scrunched down and chattered like a squirrel. He watched as the woman stopped what she was doing and turned an ear toward him. Robbie chattered again, and the woman’s eyes honed in on his position, but more toward the top of the trees than straight at him.

Robbie watched the woman as she turned toward the kids. “Joey. There’s a squirrel somewhere up the riverbank. Get your gun.”

The young boy who appeared to be the oldest of the three went in the house and came back outside with what Robbie thought looked like a .22 caliber rifle. The woman pointed the direction, and he headed up the river toward them while his brother and sister stayed behind.

Robbie waved his brother back, and the two moved farther away from the riverbank and the people.

Ronnie grabbed his brother’s arm. “What the hell are you doing?” he whispered.

“We now know they speak English. We’re going to capture one and see if they are reasonable.”

“What?”

“Keep your voice down.” Robbie pointed to a large oak tree. “Get behind that one. I’ll lead him by you, and you grab him. And cover his mouth.”

Ronnie followed his brother’s instructions. The boy was coming with a gun, and he didn’t have time to argue the point. Robbie headed farther away from the river and got behind a tree so he could still see Ronnie. Robbie chattered again and watched for the boy.

Ronnie laid his rifle on the ground and watched for his brother’s signals.

Soon, the boy came into sight. Robbie chattered once again, and the young boy moved toward him with his eyes upward trying to spot the squirrel. Robbie signaled to his brother that the kid was coming on the left side.

Ronnie grabbed at the rifle as it appeared around the tree and jerked the kid toward him. Ronnie wrapped his arm around his neck and over his mouth, then took him to the ground and held him down with his body. Robbie was there in a flash, laid his rifle down, and pulled the gun from the kid’s hands in order to help Ronnie hold him.