He stared out the car window at the bumper-to-bumper traffic clogging both northbound lanes of the interstate. The SUV and camping trailer on his left were a matching set—suitcases and bags covering the roof rack, gear crammed everywhere possible, uneasy passengers on constant alert.
Beyond the deserted southbound lanes, charred barn foundations and abandoned developments spotted the foothills drenched in late afternoon sunlight. A fire engine wound its way through a decimated neighborhood toward a blazing house.
Scott held his jaw with one hand and tapped the brakes.
Elena rummaged through her purse. “What can I get you?”
“Just the usual.”
“How about something stronger? I can drive while you sleep.”
“Saving those in case it gets worse.” He reached out so she could put an aspirin in his hand, then pressed it on top of his tooth and bit down.
Nate lifted a battered Savoy gaming console toward his face. His thumbs flew over the controls, firing a cyborg warrior’s lasers at the hydra devouring its headless victim.
His brother whistled an off-key note. “Cool…real soldiers.”
Nate paused the game and looked out Caden’s window as they inched forward. A heavily armed National Guard soldier in camo body armor rested one hand on the stock of her M16 and spied into their car. Outside Nate’s window, another scrutinized the lineup in the left lane. Beyond him, a third soldier leaned on the fifty-caliber machine gun mounted on top of a Humvee parked in the median and studied the empty southbound lanes.
Caden slapped both his thighs and stomped his feet. “Alex and Raz are never gonna believe this. Just wait till we get there. Cell phones and video games and streaming and outside soccer and fast food—just like before the Meltdown, right?”
Nate slid his hand over the money belt. “Yeah, just like before.”
“Whoa, Bumppo, a drone.”
“Told you not to…” His eyes drifted in the direction his brother pointed.
Alongside the road, a tactical drone hovered over clusters of mangled cars and pickups twisted together into bizarre sculptures.
Elena turned around in her seat. “OK, boys, grab your IDs and be ready to get out of the car. They’re just checking for weapons and any sign of the Dirge.”
Nate powered off the Savoy, dropped it into his pocket, and took out his school ID.
Caden pointed out his window. “Look at that dude over there.”
A dejected man slouching against a hatchback parked a few yards beyond the scrap piles held up a handwritten sign that read “Need gas or EV juice, please.”
Nate gawked past him at the line of stalled cars, SUVs, trailers, and trucks stretching out along the berm as far as the eye could see. Beside most of them, someone held a similar sign.
His mother said, “That could be us, honey.”
Scott took a deep breath. “Wish we could help out, but there’s no way of knowing how far we gotta make it on this tank and the jerry can.”
Their SUV and trailer crept past concrete barriers splitting each lane of traffic into two separate lines. More armed soldiers stood near sandbag barricades held together with crossed pieces of lumber and rope.
One motioned for the Finleys to pull forward and stop while two others approached the SUV.
Scott lowered his window before turning off the engine, letting in a cloud of exhaust.
The man on the driver’s side flopped a huge wad of gum around in his mouth and spoke with a Brooklyn accent. “What’s good? I’m Corporal O’Keeffe, your head searcher this afternoon. FYI, that busted-up ammo can over there in the shade patiently awaits the first tip of the day. Search for four, is it?”
“Yes, sir,” Scott replied. “My wife and two sons—and me, of course.”
O’Keeffe brandished a handheld scanner. “Well, bring your IDs and car registration, step out of the vehicle, and gather on the other side for your very own red carpet eyeprint op.”
“Will do.”
Nate unbuckled his seat belt, climbed out, and followed his father weaving through the group milling around an old station wagon in the next lane. They joined Elena and Caden fidgeting near the other soldier with their backs to the people with signs.
O’Keeffe scanned the car registration and Scott’s ID, then took Nate’s. “Doesn’t look much like you, bro.”
“It’s from three years ago ’cause we don’t get school pictures anymore.” He put his ID back into his pocket.
O’Keeffe slipped the scanner into an aluminum storage box, picked up a larger device, and swaggered toward a sloppy red stripe painted on the road. “Need all of you to line up over here for an iris scan. Won’t hurt in the least bit.”
The Finleys jostled into formation.
O’Keeffe put the eye scanner close to Scott’s face and touched the screen. “How far you hoping to get before curfew?”
“One of the safe havens in Eugene.”
O’Keeffe shuffled over to Elena and repeated the process. “You and about half the DPs in this whole crazy state. Safe bet’s staying in Curtin tonight.” He moved over for Caden’s turn.
Scott said, “So we hear.”
O’Keeffe shook the scanner and held it in front of Nate’s face. “Damn battery’s getting low again. Anyhow, a lot of DPs are heading up to Drain through Yoncalla and over to Reedsport to pick up 101. No Dirge action over that way lately, but a few fenders are raising Cain. Stay on your toes whatever you do.”
“Thanks, we will.”
O’Keeffe put the iris scanner back into the storage box and sauntered toward the Finleys’ trailer. “Gotta take a look-see.”
“No problem.”
O’Keeffe opened the door and used the grab bar to haul himself in.
Caden asked, “Dad, can I go watch him—?”
“Fifteen, fifteen!” O’Keeffe’s booming voice made everyone jump.
Another soldier pointed her shotgun at the Finleys and growled, “Freeze.”
Elena raised her voice. “What the hell’s going on?”
“You tell us, girl.”
Scott bristled. “Now hold on a minute, you can’t—”
Two more soldiers with M16s hustled past and took up positions on either side of the door.
O’Keeffe backed out of the trailer as he sighted over his 9mm pistol. “Face down. On the ground now.”
The other soldiers crouched next to someone lunging at their feet. “No weapons, no weapons.”
O’Keeffe’s voice took on a menacing tone. “You need help counting past four or what, man?”
Scott stammered, “I-I swear, we didn’t know.”
O’Keeffe kept his eyes fixated on his target and grunted, “Uh-huh. All right, you, get up slow and easy.”
The soldiers moved aside.
Tally lurched to her feet, her eyes filled with abject terror.
Nate tried to speak, but the words stuck in his throat.
Elena said, “Oh, my God, sweetie, what’re you doing here?”
Tally choked back tears. “I’m s-sorry. Pop started saying…I-I should go with you guys, then no, then yes. S-So I left him a note and hid in the shower for a while. I didn’t wanna cause any trouble, honest.”
O’Keeffe scoffed. “So much for that brilliant plan, Sherlock. Got any ID?”
Nate finally spoke up. “Sh-She’s my friend.”
O’Keeffe secured his pistol. “Real talk, bro—considering what went down here last night, she just about was your friend. Notice my use of past tense.”
Tally reached toward a back pocket of her jeans but froze when the soldiers around her flinched. After easing her ID out, she kept her hands in plain sight.
O’Keeffe snatched the card and strode over to the storage box.
A woman’s commanding voice called out, “What’s the holdup, Corporal?” The tall officer in camo fatigues and body armor joined them.
“Lieutenant, this girl here stowed away in their trailer, apparently without their knowledge. No flags on her in the system, and her address is on the same street.”
The Lieutenant turned toward Elena and Scott. “You got full responsibility for her the rest of the way.”
Scott said, “But her father didn’t—”
“No choice.” The Lieutenant motioned along the desolate southbound lanes. “You couldn’t take her home even if we let you. About an hour ago, some jackasses practiced their demolition skills on an overpass this side of Winchester. Managed to drop more than one good-sized chunk on the road.”
Elena brushed past the soldier with the shotgun and hugged Tally close. “We’ll watch over her.”
The Lieutenant nodded. “I’m sure you will. O’Keeffe has the honor of adding her to your profile to keep this from happening again. Now get a move on. You’re backing up traffic in this lane something awful.”
O’Keeffe raised the iris scanner in front of Tally’s left eye. “So much for a tip, I guess. All the same, be easy Finleys plus one. Over and out.”
Nate hurried into the back and fastened his seat belt.
Elena settled Tally in next to him and hopped into the front.
Caden climbed in on the other side. “It’s OK, Talula, we’ll take care of you.”
She pressed her face behind Nate’s shoulder, her body shuddering with each sob.
He inhaled the faint scent of her perfume again and looked out Caden’s window.
As the Finleys passed through the checkpoint to join the thinner traffic moving north around a wide bend in the road, a despondent woman sitting on the hood of a broken-down car raised a scrap of cardboard.
Nate pivoted in his seat as the twisting line of stalled cars and sign holders slowly disappeared.