Linda Andrews - Extinction Level Event

At least not yet.

But that time might come soon.

The fires had pushed them further west, away from the soldiers. And with so many sick, the delay might be fatal.

The man held out his hand to the woman and helped lower her, creaking and groaning onto the blanket. Her eyes closed when she lay down and her breathing deepened. Sighing, he sank like a deflated balloon on the ground next to her. “How can I help you, young man?”

Manny’s grip slipped on the wagon handle. “We’re hoping to make soup for dinner today.” Something easy to make and share among the hundreds of people camped along the river bed. “If you have any canned vegetables to donate, we’d appreciate it.”

He didn’t ask for meat. No one had meat. Most didn’t even know about the chickens clucking in the wire boxes at the front of the line.

“Soup?” The man raked his fingers through his hair. They got stuck in the thick ash halfway across his skull.

“Everyone’s tired and most of us haven’t cooked over an open fire.” If Cowboy and his group hadn’t brought grill grates, Manny didn’t know how they would have managed. The cook stove he had found would have ran out of gas before everyone ate. “Soup seemed the easiest to make.”

The man rested his hand on his carryon. “So only those who donate will get soup?”

“No, sir.” Manny sighed. He’d had this conversation too many times in the last hour. So many who had nothing feared they’d be left out. Others with food believed they would be cheated. “Everyone will get something to eat.”

Rini stepped closer to the couple. “Our family is donating water, bouillon cubes and flour to make dumplings. We’re just looking for vegetables to make it go further.”

“Dumplings, huh?” The man scratched his chin, revealing the brown skin underneath. “Been a while since I’ve had dumplings.” Wheezing slightly, he leaned over to the right and unzipped his carryon part way down. He removed a plastic baggie full of orange medicine bottles, revealing the clean labels of cans underneath. He selected one of peas and one of corn. “Here you go. When can we expect to eat?”

Manny stepped forward and took the cans. Most with a food stash hadn’t been so generous. He added them to the dozen in his wagon. “We’ll be back in about half an hour. If you have something to eat with, you might want to get it out.”

The man shook his head. “Forgot to bring the good china. Heck, I forgot the damn opener. This way I’ll get to eat what’s inside without having to chew through the can.”

Rini stepped around Manny and raised her arm, showing the small blanket dangling from her forearm. “We still have a few more blankets left if you need one.”

The man patted his other suitcase. “We’re good. Save it for someone who doesn’t have anything.”

Manny tugged the wagon across the uneven ground toward the next group. “We’ll see you in a bit.”

Rini fell into step next to him. “He was nice.”

“Yeah.” Manny guided the wagon around a large boulder and scanned the darkness in front of him. Without the moon and the stars, he couldn’t see much and the lantern barely penetrated five feet into the smoke. The hair on his neck stood up and he shifted. “I don’t see anyone.”

She raised the propane lamp. “Me either.” Dumping the last two blankets into the wagon, she rubbed her arm. “Maybe we should we go back.”

“Anyone out there?” A rock clattered in the darkness. Manny stepped in front of Rini. His heart kicked up tempo. Something was out there.

“I didn’t notice anyone behind me,” the man said. “Sydney and I were the last. And there were times when we thought we’d lost you.”

A bubble of light washed over Manny’s feet. He spun about.

Rini stepped back. “What is it?”

Mildred appeared. Two propane lanterns sputtered from her hands. “There you are. My, we’ve certainly acquired a few people today.”

Behind her, two men stumbled to a stop—Falcon and Papa Rose, the two men who’d gone with him and Henry to check out the mission. They carried a plank of wood with a large metal pot sitting on it.

Beth, the battered girl they’d found, stepped out from behind the men and adjusted the folded blanket hanging around her neck. Her hands disappeared inside the sling. A heartbeat later, she brought up two tin cans, stripped of their labels. Metal scraped metal as she lifted the lid off the pot. Setting it on the plank, she lifted the ladle hooked to the side and spooned soup into the cans. Another fishing expedition in the sling produced some plastic spoons. Smiling despite her fat lip and bruised face, she offered one then another to the man. “There you go. Please keep the can and spoon for future meals.”

“Thank you.” Accepting both cans, the man nudged the woman next to him. She grumbled and coughed but blinked. “Soups on.”

Mildred peered into the wagon. “Fourteen cans. Everyone has been most generous. We’ll mix it with the rice for lunch tomorrow.”

Lunch tomorrow? Manny’s stomach growled. He hadn’t even had dinner. With a soft smile, Beth offered him and Rini the next two servings. He wrapped his fingers around the warm can, stirred the contents before scooping up a dumpling. “Thanks.”

Falcon and Papa Rose balanced the plank of wood on the rocky ground. “Is this the last of our group then?”

The dough dissolved in a burst of salt and chicken on Manny’s tongue. He quickly swallowed and chased down a carrot. “I think so.”

Papa Rose arranged small boulders in a circle on the ground. His skull tattoo glowed in its nest of inked roses.

Falcon crossed to stand next to Manny and tugged the yellow bandanna down. “What did you see, kid?”

Kid. Funny, how when there were plenty of adults around, he’d be relegated to the rank of child. Chewing on the carrot, Manny turned to face the darkness. The hair on his neck rose. “I didn’t see anything, but I feel like something is watching us.”

Falcon nodded. “Trust your gut. It’s your instincts telling you that your brain is ignoring something important.”

Manny nodded. He’d never heard it put that way before. Behind him, wood splintered. He turned to see Papa Rose stomp on the plank used to carry the soup. The board fragmented into jagged edge pieces that the man piled it into the stone pit.

Falcon pulled a plastic lighter from his pants pocket. He offered it to the man on the blanket. “We don’t have much dry wood, so if an animal approaches light the fire. If the lantern keeps them away for the night then we can use the wood to cook breakfast.”

The man’s hand shook as he accepted the lighter. “Okay.”

Mildred set one lantern on a rock near the fire pit before placing the other near the trio of old men opposite the couple. “That should keep most things away.”

“We’ll keep watch.” One of them spoke, huddling in a blanket Rini had given him earlier, while sipping from his can.

A crackling noise sounded overhead.

A few people rose from their blankets. Most didn’t stir.

Manny glanced up. Bulbs of red lights glowed in the sky. As he watched, the crimson circles arced toward the ground. His lungs labored to draw air through his mask. Please, God, don’t let it be fire . More lights crackled and glowed to life in a falling circle around them.

“I’ll be damned,” Falcon spoke. “It’s flares. Military flares.”

High overhead, an engine growled to the soft thump of rotary blades.

Papa Rose wiped his hands on his dusty jeans and cocked his head. “That’s an Apache.”

“The helicopter?” Manny ignored the dark sky to focus on the wash. Green eyes glowed in the distance. Coyotes! Would they attack?