Humvee had changed little over the past few hours. Abandoned automobiles, an all too familiar sight, littered the expansive roadway, restricting speed to little more than a steady crawl. Skeletons, some whole but most dismembered, crunched under the vehicle’s heavy tires. From time to time she would see an emaciated form rise briefly into view. Either too weak to pursue or fearing the hulking steel prey, the few Tils spotted refrained from attack. Only once, when the Humvee was forced to a near stop as Mike maneuvered it through a congestion of cars, did a Til pose a fleeting threat. The figure, eyes bulging from a skull thinly covered in flesh, and limbs deathly thin, stumbled against the truck in an attempt to feed. Weak as it was, the Til did not fall until Erik fired a second round in its ribs-visible chest.
Stops thus far had been infrequent, one to drain fuel from a gas tanker, the effort yielding barely a quarter tank, and a second delay when Erik’s squirming need for a nature call had reached the point of annoyance. Still feeling the effects of the physical toll her solitary journey weeks before had taken, though much less powerfully as of late, Lisa realized she had slipped into a light sleep when the Humvee’s engine cut off. The absence of the machine’s droning rumble brought her to full wakefulness. Before she could voice the question, Mike supplied the reason.
“We’re on the road Paul’s team should be taking,” he said to Erik, though clearly the information was aimed for her hearing. If there was any doubt, he added. “If her intel can be trusted.”
Refusing to take the bait for an argument, Lisa watched in silence as Mike opened the driver side door and stepped down to the pavement. “We’ll stop here to eat and then make a search for any sign the team passed through ahead of schedule.” he announced, after a brief scan of the area. Eager to stretch her legs after the confinement of the small back seat, Lisa hopped from the truck and forced herself to ignore the feeling she was a prisoner granted the privilege to move about freely. Mike may never forgive her, but she would allow him the time he required to make that decision.
Erik sat cross-legged atop the Humvee’s hood as he devoured his portion of the food they had brought with them. With an appetite not fully restored, Lisa ate sparingly from the pouch of jerked beef. The smell was enough to nauseate, but she forced down as much as she could stomach, knowing she had to restore her strength. What remained she offered to Erik, who quickly scarfed the dried meat.
“He’ll come around, you know,” he said, after taking a deep swallow from his canteen of water.
“Maybe.”
“He will. It’s just going to take time,” Erik continued in his attempt to lighten her dark mood. “Besides, it’s not like we can go back to New Cuba any time soon.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, puzzled.
“I’m just saying, we are on our own again, and we can't afford to be cutting people off.”
Lisa could not hold in the laugh. “Forgiveness by default, huh?”
Realizing how his assessment of things had been taken, Erik blushed slightly as he replied softly. “It’s a start.”
Feeling additional guilt, this time for disparaging his hopefulness and rebuffing the first conversation she had had since Michelle and Matt left, Lisa nudged his knee with a playful elbow. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I am just feeling sorry for myself.” The words helped return Erik’s ever-present grin as Mike made his way over to them.
“All right, I’ll take the west, you two search the eastern span. We’re still weeks ahead of their schedule, but keep your eyes open for any signs they came this way before us,” he announced.
“We could cover more ground if we all split up,” Erik stated the obvious, though the words made Lisa cringe. Though the journey thus far had been one of awkward silence, she much preferred that to
Stops thus far had been infrequent, one to drain fuel from a gas tanker, the effort yielding barely a quarter tank, and a second delay when Erik’s squirming need for a nature call had reached the point of annoyance. Still feeling the effects of the physical toll her solitary journey weeks before had taken, though much less powerfully as of late, Lisa realized she had slipped into a light sleep when the Humvee’s engine cut off. The absence of the machine’s droning rumble brought her to full wakefulness. Before she could voice the question, Mike supplied the reason.
“We’re on the road Paul’s team should be taking,” he said to Erik, though clearly the information was aimed for her hearing. If there was any doubt, he added. “If her intel can be trusted.”
Refusing to take the bait for an argument, Lisa watched in silence as Mike opened the driver side door and stepped down to the pavement. “We’ll stop here to eat and then make a search for any sign the team passed through ahead of schedule.” he announced, after a brief scan of the area. Eager to stretch her legs after the confinement of the small back seat, Lisa hopped from the truck and forced herself to ignore the feeling she was a prisoner granted the privilege to move about freely. Mike may never forgive her, but she would allow him the time he required to make that decision.
Erik sat cross-legged atop the Humvee’s hood as he devoured his portion of the food they had brought with them. With an appetite not fully restored, Lisa ate sparingly from the pouch of jerked beef. The smell was enough to nauseate, but she forced down as much as she could stomach, knowing she had to restore her strength. What remained she offered to Erik, who quickly scarfed the dried meat.
“He’ll come around, you know,” he said, after taking a deep swallow from his canteen of water.
“Maybe.”
“He will. It’s just going to take time,” Erik continued in his attempt to lighten her dark mood. “Besides, it’s not like we can go back to New Cuba any time soon.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, puzzled.
“I’m just saying, we are on our own again, and we can't afford to be cutting people off.”
Lisa could not hold in the laugh. “Forgiveness by default, huh?”
Realizing how his assessment of things had been taken, Erik blushed slightly as he replied softly. “It’s a start.”
Feeling additional guilt, this time for disparaging his hopefulness and rebuffing the first conversation she had had since Michelle and Matt left, Lisa nudged his knee with a playful elbow. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I am just feeling sorry for myself.” The words helped return Erik’s ever-present grin as Mike made his way over to them.
“All right, I’ll take the west, you two search the eastern span. We’re still weeks ahead of their schedule, but keep your eyes open for any signs they came this way before us,” he announced.
“We could cover more ground if we all split up,” Erik stated the obvious, though the words made Lisa cringe. Though the journey thus far had been one of awkward silence, she much preferred that to
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