James Hunt: Broken Roads

Anne sat in the front seat next to him. Her whole body was turned around. She dug her nails into the headrest to the point of almost puncturing them. Her eyes were glued to the smoke plume.

All of their bodies swayed back and forth. The top of the Jeep was off and the wind flew everyone’s hair around wildly. Bungee cords held down the supplies they packed the day before.

“Anne, I need you to tell me where I’m going,” Ulysses.

Anne didn’t move. Her face was frozen. Ulysses downshifted back into second gear, narrowly missing a black Lexus. Anne didn’t move. She held tight to back of the seat, watching the smoke shrink in the distance.

“Anne!’ Ulysses shouted.

The combination of the roar from the engine, the wind, and the adrenaline coursing through his body, Ulysses’ voice was harsh.

Anne set down in the seat and pulled open the glove box. She flipped through the stacks of paper and pulled out a map, focusing every shred of her will on the task of getting her family to the cabin.

“You’ll want to follow highway 60 all the way to I-376 and take that North; from there we’ll take 30 North to 39 West. That’ll lead us all the way into Ohio by Carrollton where the cabin is,” she said.

The wind kept flipping the map closed. Anne shoved it on the ground and glanced back behind her. The street was no longer in view. Her eyes shifted to her children in the back seat. Tears rolled down both of Freddy’s cheeks.

“Everything’s going to be fine, sweetie,” Anne said.

She gently cupped her hands around Freddy’s face and kissed his forehead. Her eyes flitted up once more at the smoke behind her, the only thing, still visible.

“Do we have enough gas to get us there?” Ray asked.

“We have a full tank now, the cabin’s only seventy miles away. Even with the gas mileage this thing gets we should have enough,” Ulysses said.

The more distance they put between themselves and Pittsburgh the less cars they ran into.

Ulysses watched the faces on the people they passed walking along the sides of the highway. Their mouths dropped at the sight of the Jeep. Each time the look was the same: shock followed by desperation. Arms waved, voices shouted, people ran for them, but they didn’t stop. Ulysses’ face was stone. There was no emotion upon hearing the shouts of their pleas. The fire that was consuming the home behind them was also ablaze inside him.

Ray watched the “Welcome to Ohio” sign flash by. His hands wrapped around the wood stock of the rifle. No one had said anything for the past hour. The howling wind was the only sound his ears had come across.

“How much further?” Ray asked.

“About 40 miles,” Anne said.

The abandoned cars became more sporadic. They hadn’t seen anyone for a few miles. Ray shifted the gun to the other shoulder and leaned up between the two front seats.

“We should start checking some of these cars for supplies,” Ray said.

“I don’t want us to stop,” Ulysses said.

“We might find something we could use in one of them.”

“Mike has everything we need at the cabin.”

“That doesn’t mean there won’t be something useful. We might not get a chance like this again.”

“Drop it, Ray.”

Ray fell back into his seat, shaking his head. It’s not that he didn’t believe Mike was well prepared. He was sure that the cabin would be well stocked with provisions. He just didn’t want to miss an opportunity. Ray knew the longer this lasted the more scarce resources would become, and while Mike was sure to have supplies, there was no way he would have enough supplies to last them the rest of their lives.

Freddy started to squirm in the seat next to Ray. He shifted in his seat and his leg bounced up and down.

“You alright, Freddy?” Ray asked.

“I have to pee.”

“Can you hold it?” Anne asked.

Freddy shook his head.

“Ulysses, pull over,” Anne said.

“Anne,” Ulysses said.

“Freddy has to go to the bathroom.”

“I really have to go, Grandpa,” Freddy said.

Freddy bounced up and down on the seat. The Jeep slowed to a crawl and pulled off onto the side of the road. Freddy climbed over Kalen and jumped over the side of the Jeep landing on the pavement.

“Kalen, go with your brother and make sure he doesn’t go to far,” Anne said.

“Ew, gross! I’m not going to the bathroom with him.”

“You’re not going to the bathroom with him, just making sure he doesn’t get lost. Now go.”

Kalen rolled her eyes and jumped out of the backseat. She grabbed Freddy’s hand and the two walked toward a tree line twenty yards from the edge of the highway. The trees were tall, and the area was thick with bushes.

From the back seat Ray could see a SUV parked fifty yards ahead of them. His feet hit the pavement and walked past Ulysses on the driver side.

“Where are you going?” Ulysses asked.

“I’m going to scout that car. Just pick me up when the kids get back.”

Ray removed the rifle from his shoulder and tucked it under his shoulder. His feet stepped lightly on the pavement. He scanned the sides of the road, looking for any signs someone was still close by, but couldn’t see anything through the thick brush.

The barrel of the rifle rose once he moved closer to the car. He peered through the back window, checking for anyone inside. He worked his way up to the driver side door and pulled the handle. Locked. He walked around checking each door, but all of them were closed.

The butt of the rifle smashed against the passenger side window. The glass shattered, but didn’t break. Ray gave the window another blow and the butt of the rifle crashed through the window. He cleared the crumbling bits of glass from the rest of the window and reached his hand through to unlock the door.

Ray brushed the glass of the seat and climbed inside. He searched the glove box, checked the back seat, under the seats, and the side door panel containers. A half eaten packet of crackers, road flares and a bottle of water were his rewards. He looked behind him and saw the Jeep still idling along side of the road. He leaned the seat back and put his feet on the dash. He pinched the corners of one the crackers in his fingers and tossed it in his mouth.

“Just do it over there, Freddy,” Kalen said.

“I don’t want anyone to see me,” Freddy said.

“Well, by the time you pick a spot grandpa’s gonna leave you.”

“No!”

“Better hurry up then.”

The thick layer of pine needles under Kalen’s boots made each step soundless. She wandered through the trees, glancing back at the road every once and a while making sure the Jeep was still in view. She could see her mom pacing back and forth through the leaves and branches.

The forest was quiet. She thought back to the many times her dad took her hunting. She remembered how much she fought him about it, how she complained that she didn’t want to go, but grew to love it. She could still hear his voice, don’t aim where the game is, aim where it’s going to be.

Kalen leaned her head back against the hard bark of the tree. Sunlight struggled to break through the dense leaves above. The trees long shadows covered the ground. She closed her eyes, completing the darkness around her. The snap of a twig caused her to open her eyes again.

“Freddy, don’t come over here and do it. I don’t want to se –”

A hand came up from behind her and covered her mouth. Her arms were pinned at her sides and she was pressed hard against a man’s body she didn’t know. He could feel his hot breath on her ear, whispering.

“Shhhhh.”

Kalen couldn’t see the attacker. Her breaths were sharp, sporadic. Her body shook. She could feel the grime of the man’s hand on her lips. The sour stench from days of not bathing engulfed her.