William Johnstone - The Doomsday Bunker

“What makes you think that?”

Crandall gestured toward the plastic cans and said, “You’re siphoning gas from cars to fill those when there’s a whole tanker truck of the stuff less than a mile from here.”

Larkin caught his breath but tried not to let the surprise—and hope—he felt show on his face.

“What are you talking about?”

Crandall half-turned and pointed. “That little store up yonder a ways. As best I can figure it out, a gas truck was there making a delivery the day of the war. The truck was empty when I found it, but the underground tanks were full. The truck’s pump still worked, so I pumped it back up into the tanker. Just luck it was all mechanical, nothing digital for the EMP to wipe out.”

“And it’s still just sitting there?” Larkin asked.

“Some of the boys used it to fill up every time they got an old car running. A lot of them drove out of here, headed for someplace they hoped would be better. Probably won’t be, but people have to try, don’t they?”

Larkin had said much the same thing himself on more than one occasion, so he knew what Crandall meant. Right now, he was more interested in the information the man had just given them.

“We need that truck and the gas inside it,” he said. “Why did you tell us about it?”

Crandall’s shoulders rose a little and then fell. “I don’t know. Maybe I was hoping that if I helped you out, you’d let me down into that place you’ve got.”

“Don’t trust him, Cap,” Wade said. “If he’s got gas, he could’ve gotten back on that motorcycle he mentioned and ridden out of here a long time ago.”

“Sure I could have,” Crandall agreed. “But maybe I had something else in mind.”

“And what might that be?” Larkin wanted to know.

“I thought maybe you’d invite me down there for a cup of coffee.” Crandall’s grin widened. “Like Joni Mitchell said, sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. And you don’t know what you’re going to miss the most, either.”

Larkin shook his head. “We can’t let you into the project.”

“Why the hell not? Ruskin wasn’t the only one who was supposed to be down there who didn’t make it that day. The others are all either dead or gone, so I know you’ve got the space and supplies. And I just did you a solid by telling you about that tanker truck.”

“We were headed that direction anyway. We would have found it.”

“Maybe. Or would you have turned back before you got there, once you filled up those gas cans?”

That was exactly what Larkin had been thinking about doing, so Crandall had a point. Now that they knew the tanker was there, they would push on to the old convenience store. It wouldn’t take all of them for that chore, either.

“Wade, Rodriguez, Adams, you come with me,” Larkin said without addressing Crandall’s suggestion. “The rest of you take Blakely’s body back and make sure Jenkins and Herring get there okay, too.”

“We’re goin’ after that truck?” Wade asked.

“That’s right.”

“And taking him with us?” Wade nodded toward Crandall.

“Can’t really stop him from coming along without shooting him, now can we?”

Wade looked like he didn’t mind that idea, but he didn’t say anything.

“You won’t regret this,” Crandall said. “You’ll find that I’m a good guy to have on your side… what is your name, anyway, buddy?”

“It’s Larkin. Patrick Larkin.”

“Pleased to meet you in person this time.”

Some of the other men looked like they agreed with Wade and wanted to argue with Larkin’s decision, but they didn’t say anything when he told them to get moving back to the project. Larkin turned back to Crandall, nodded, and said, “Let’s go get that gas.”

The concussion from the nuclear blast had knocked down the convenience store’s walls, except for a few remnants on the west side of the building. Everything inside it had burned or melted, including the people. The gas pumps and the awning that had been over them were gone. Larkin thought it was lucky the underground tanks hadn’t ignited.

The hillside north and west of the store had been covered with a housing development, he recalled. All those dwellings were gone now. Only a few vestiges of foundations remained to testify that dozens of families had lived here once. Looking at what was left, it was like those days had been centuries earlier, instead of less than a year.

Larkin and his companions hadn’t encountered anyone else in the time it had taken them to cover the mile from the site of the ambush. Wade had muttered several times along the way that Crandall might be leading them into a trap. Larkin didn’t believe that was the case, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility entirely. That was the main reason he had split his force. If Crandall was trying some sort of trick, the whole group from the project wouldn’t be wiped out. The others would get back and be able to tell Moultrie what had happened.

The air of desolation around the entire place was overwhelming, though. Larkin didn’t see any threats, just the old tanker truck parked next to what remained of the store’s walls.

“With the road full of cars, we’ll have to drive in the ditch,” he commented. “It’ll be slow going.”

“You can get there,” Crandall said. “Might have to push down a fence or two along the way, but the truck’s big enough to do that without any trouble.”

Larkin looked at the smaller road that led to the top of the ridge. Since he was this close, he wasn’t going to turn back without taking that look around he wanted.

“Wade, Rodriguez, you guys guard that truck,” he said. The third man was one of the engineers, so Larkin told him, “Adams, you scavenge the parts we need for the generators from some of these cars.”

“It may take a while to find everything we need,” Adams said.

“That’s all right. Crandall and I are going up to the top of the hill.”

“We are?” Crandall said.

“That’s right. Unless you know of some reason not to.”

The man shook his head. “It’s fine by me. Good view from up there.” He paused. “Too bad there’s not much to see.”

“Be careful, Cap,” Wade said. “I still don’t trust this guy.”

“I’m always careful,” Larkin said. “Just ask my wife. On the other hand, don’t.”

He and Crandall walked along the side road, which went up and down a couple of smaller hills before climbing to the top of the ridge. As they headed in that direction, Crandall asked, “Why does the kid call you Cap? You have military ranks down there in the project?”

Larkin shook his head. “No, that’s just him. I don’t know why he decided to do it, but it seemed like more trouble than it would be worth to break him of the habit. We’re both members of the project’s security force, but it’s not set up like a military outfit. More law enforcement.”

“I was just curious. It sort of suits you, Larkin. Guys like you may be as close to Captain America as anybody the world has left.” Crandall was silent for a moment, then said, “Speaking of that… have you made contact with other survivors anywhere else?”

“We picked up some shortwave transmissions fairly early on from some foreign country. People who knew more about it than I did seemed to think they were coming from Brazil. They stopped after a while, though. If there’s been anything else, I don’t know about it. What about you?”

Crandall frowned over at him. “Me? I don’t have access to any sort of technology other than my rifle and my bike, man.”

“You said you came here from West Texas. There must be quite a few people still alive out there.”