Ryan Westfield - Surviving Chaos

People had become more and more removed from the real world, to the point where simple tasks common a hundred years ago were so out of the reach of the average citizen that it was almost laughable.

Many of those people would have a terrible time surviving. They not only didn’t have the gear and the food, but they didn’t have the skills either. Or the common sense. Or the drive.

A lot of those people were dead already, reasoned Max.

And none of this was accounting for the ugly side of human nature, the wicked and animalistic side that now reared its head, unhampered by rules or laws or common good.

So there were two sides to it. Max saw that. He’d resented some of the restrictions placed on him in society, but at the same time, those same restrictions had had a purpose. To what end exactly, Max didn’t know.

He was already tired, and he’d let his mind wander enough. He knew there wasn’t much point now philosophizing about this or that. The thing to do was to get ready.

There was a long journey ahead of them.

Georgia rested in the Bronco, shouting out things to her children, while Sadie, Mandy, and James got the campsite packed up as quickly as they could.

Max set about pouring the gasoline from the pesticide container into the Ford Bronco.

Somehow, the gas seemed to be much less than what he’d thought he’d had. But there really wasn’t any way to measure it other than by eyeballing it.

“You think we have enough gas, Max?” said Georgia, from the inside of the Bronco, as Max held the plastic tube and poured.

“I hope so.”

“What am I going to do if we have to walk?”

“You’ll be fine. I’ll make you some crutches.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it on crutches.”

Georgia spoke quietly now so that the others, probably particularly her children, couldn’t hear her. Max knew that she didn’t like to admit weakness. It was hard for her to do so, as it was for many.

“If you can’t, we’ll make you a stretcher out of wood. Don’t worry, you’re coming with us no matter what.”

“Thanks, Max,” said Georgia, in a quiet voice.

“No need to thank me. You’d do the same for me.”

“What are we going to do with the stranger?”

“Take her with us. It’ll mean a little more weight in the car, but she’s pretty skinny.”

“You think we can trust her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe we should leave her here.”

“Maybe,” said Max. “But I get the sense that for whatever reason leaving her here would be the same as killing her.”

“We can’t risk our own lives helping a stranger,” said Georgia.

“Maybe you’re right,” said Max, pulling the plastic tubing out from the Bronco, and screwing the gas cap back on. “The real problem is that we don’t choose the situations we’re in.”

The others came over, carrying various things. They started loading them into the Bronco.

Max went over to see the stranger, who was still tied up.

“You ready to talk?” said Max.

She didn’t speak.

“We’re taking a real risk bringing you along,” said Max. “That’s the plan, at least. Should we leave you here? We don’t want to take you against your will.”

She didn’t open her mouth and she didn’t move.

“This would be a good time to talk, if you’re going to,” said Max. “Frankly, I don’t get this whole not talking thing. You weren’t born like this, were you?”

The woman shook her head no.

“OK, so shake your head to indicate yes if you want to stay here.”

The woman didn’t move.

“So you want us to take you along?”

The woman shook her head yes.

“All right,” sighed Max. “Sooner or later, you’re going to have to talk to us, no matter what you’ve been through.”

He undid the woman from the tree, but kept her hands tied. He helped her to the Bronco, which was just about loaded up.

“We all set?” said Max.

Everyone murmured yes.

The mood of the group was grim and subdued. They’d left so many temporary homes at this point that it wasn’t a cause for excitement. Everyone knew very well that danger always seemed to lay in store for them when they hit the road.

“I’ll drive,” said Max, getting into the driver’s seat.

He cranked the engine and it turned over a few times before the engine roared to life.

“Doesn’t sound good,” said Max, listening to the rumbling sounds of the rough engine. “But it’ll get us somewhere.”

Max was able to drive right out of the woods through the path they’d cleared. They hit the road, and Max took the opposite direction from the one he’d headed down when he’d left about a week ago.

They’d be heading south, hopefully reaching the game lands before tomorrow.

Max drove at about 55, since he remembered that the best gas mileage could be attained at that speed. He accelerated excruciatingly slowly, and tried to avoid hitting the brakes at all costs.

They couldn’t waste a single ounce of gas.

Since there weren’t any other cars, there wasn’t much need for the brakes anyway. There were hardly any stop signs out in this rural area, but the ones that were there Max simply blew through.

Max put the Bronco in neutral at every chance he could, letting it coast along.

On down hills, Max turned off the engine, to further save gas. When it came to the turns, the power steering was off. But it wasn’t that hard to steer when they were going fast enough, the momentum making turning the wheel manually easier.

Everyone was quiet for the most part during the drive. Georgia had drifted off to sleep from exhaustion.

James and Sadie seemed nervous, and while they were awake, they kept their thoughts to themselves.

The stranger sat there, completely mute, never uttering so much as a sound. Which was about what they had come to expect from her. Her presence made Max nervous. They’d have to figure out what to do with her as soon as possible. Her appearance, out of nowhere, couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Mandy and Max were the only ones who spoke. She consulted the map constantly as the darkness fell around them, trying to commit the entire thing to memory for when she could no longer read it.

They drove all night. Max kept the headlights off when he could, but when he really couldn’t see, he had to turn them on.

He flicked them on to head around a turn, leaning in with the wheel, and then flicked them off again.

“Why don’t you just leave them on?” said Mandy.

“I don’t want to announce our presence any more than I have to,” said Max.

The engine was off, and they were coasting down a hill. Max liked having the engine off and the lights off. They could move without causing any noise, going completely undetected to their new home.

Max just hoped there’d be food for them to hunt when they got there.

They’d hit the bottom of the long hill. Max let the Bronco coast a little bit longer on the flats way before turning the key again to start the engine.

The engine turned over, but nothing happened.

“It’s not starting,” said Mandy.

Max didn’t respond. He knew it wasn’t starting. He tried again, holding it for just a little less than the ten seconds he knew it took for the starter to overheat.

Nothing.

Max gave it a rest for a moment, then tried again, this time jamming the accelerator down to the floor.

Still nothing.

“Shit,” muttered Mandy. “Now what are we going to do? Are we out of fuel?”

“I think so,” muttered Max. “We ran out a lot sooner than I thought we would. Do you know where we are on the map?”

“It’s a little hard to judge, but based on the odometer, I think we’ve got… let me see… About five more hours to walk until we get there.”