G Hopf - Sanctuary

On the map, Annaliese had located a small road that could eventually lead them back to the interstate. She also spotted a large base on the map to the south and commented, “I think these people might be heading to this Air Force base.”

“What base is that?” Sebastian asked.

“Mountain Home.”

“I hope they find what they’re looking for there,” Sebastian said.

“Why don’t we go there?” Luke asked.

“Because we have a place to go to in McCall and my brother will be there,” Sebastian answered.

They continued driving overland until they would hit that road. Driving overland was a slow and bumpy process, so when they intersected with the dirt road that Annaliese had noticed, he was happy to be moving a bit faster. However, they were only about a quarter mile or so along when they noticed that something seemed wrong with the truck.

“Oh, no,” Sebastian said.

“What is it?” Annaliese asked. She now could feel that the right rear of the truck was at an angle.

“I think we have a flat tire,” Sebastian said as he stopped the truck. “Shit. I hope there’s a spare.”

When he got out of the truck his prediction was correct; the right rear tire was flat. A branch from one of the shrubs was sticking out of the sidewalls.

“Damn it!” he barked. He looked around to gauge their location. The dirt road ran parallel to the highway. To the west, about a mile away, he could see a few gas stations, restaurants, and other commercial businesses off the highway.

“Let’s see if old Samuel gave me a spare,” Sebastian said as he lay on the ground and looked under the truck. “Awesome, there it is!” He had half-expected that Samuel would purposely leave one off. However, his euphoria was short-lived. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Annaliese asked. She was bundled up against the cold wind but was still shivering.

“We have a tire, just no jack.”

“Are you sure?”

The boys came out then. They both started going through the truck looking for the jack too, but there wasn’t one to be found.

“Shit. Well, we’re not far from what I guess are hundreds of abandoned cars over there. I’ll go there, get one, and come right back,” he said, pointing toward the gas stations and other buildings.

“You can’t go by yourself,” she urged.

“I won’t, I’ll take Luke with me.”

“Great, leave me with the devil,” she joked. He kissed her on the forehead.

Luke proved to be quick and responsive to everything Sebastian requested. They made it to the gas station in less than thirty minutes and found over a dozen cars sitting abandoned and ransacked. Sebastian went to the first truck, a Chevy Silverado, and in less than a minute had a jack. Thinking of the future, he took the spare tire from the truck too.

It was clear that Luke was feeling more and more confident. The pistol training and his natural marksmanship abilities had boosted his self-esteem. When Sebastian requested he join him on this adventure, he was excited and proved to be a good companion.

“Good job, Luke, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It was fun,” Luke responded with a smile.

They both laughed and shared small talk as they strode back. The terrain sloped up slightly and below that small hill was the road where Annaliese and Brandon were.

The laughs and smiles turned to shock when they reached the top of the small rise and saw another vehicle behind theirs.

Sebastian dropped the tire, pulled out his pistol, and sprinted for the truck. Neither Annaliese nor Brandon were anywhere in sight.

Just twelve feet from the truck, an older man lifted his head and laughed openly. He was followed by Annaliese, who was also laughing.

Sebastian called out, “Annaliese, what’s going on?” He pointed his pistol at the man.

“Sebastian, no, it’s fine. He’s helping,” Annaliese cried, waving Sebastian back.

Sebastian kept the gun pointed at the man, who stood frozen with his arms up.

“I’m just here to help. My name is Jed, Jedediah Walton. I live on a ranch about a mile north. This road you’re on is mine. You’re on my property.”

Jedediah was a native Idahoan and his family had been potato farmers and ranchers for three generations. His thick gray hair was cut short and the deep wrinkles on his face were earned over his seventy-two years of life.

“Why would you help us?” Sebastian asked, squinting his eyes.

“Why wouldn’t I? That’s part of the problem with this world, not enough helping,” he answered calmly.

“Sebastian, he seems like a good man,” Annaliese pleaded.

Sebastian’s suspicion was healthy in this world but his logical mind told him that not everyone would be bad. He lowered his pistol and stepped around the truck to get a full view of what Jed had done.

The truck was jacked up and the spare had been removed and was ready to put on.

“Where’s Brandon?” Sebastian asked.

“In the truck,” Annaliese answered.

“In the truck, while it’s jacked up?”

Just after Sebastian spoke, Brandon yelled something unintelligible from inside the truck.

The door burst open and a boy about Brandon’s age jumped out. “I did not!”

“Yes, you did. I showed it to you now it’s not there. Where is it?” Brandon screamed at the boy as he jumped out behind him.

“I didn’t take it!” the boy yelled again.

“Give me back the ring!” Brandon screamed.

“Hey, hey. What’s going on?” Sebastian asked.

“He took my mother’s ring. I showed him some of my stuff; her ring was one of those things. I went to look at it again and it’s now gone. He took it!”

The boy, Jed’s grandson, Flynn, rushed away from Brandon and toward his grandfather’s truck.

Brandon ran after him and jumped on his back.

Both boys fell to the ground and began to wrestle. Flynn had gotten the better of Brandon and was punching him.

Sebastian raced over and pulled Flynn off. He was swinging wildly as he held him high in the air.

Brandon scurried off the ground and stood up. He wiped blood from his face and ran back to the truck.

Sebastian put Flynn down just as Jed came over.

“You all right, son?” Jed asked Flynn.

Sebastian asked him then, “Did you take it?”

“No!” Flynn yelled.

“Brandon, oh my God!” Annaliese screamed.

Brandon had walked back from the truck holding the small revolver. He pointed it at Flynn. In an instant, the back of Flynn’s head exploded and the boy dropped to the ground, dead.

Sebastian reeled back from what happened and turned to face Brandon. Brandon then turned the gun on Jed and shot him in the chest.

Jed bent over and fell to the ground as his last breath exited his body.

“Brandon! What are you doing?” Sebastian asked. He now had pulled his pistol and aimed it the wide-eyed teen.

Annaliese had made her way around from the far side of the truck and was fast approaching Brandon when he trained the gun on her. She stopped when she saw him aiming at her. “Brandon, put the gun down!”

“I fucking hate you! I told you these people were bad. We can’t trust anyone. I will never trust anyone!” Brandon screamed.

Sebastian watched with fear as Brandon’s shaking hands held the revolver he had given him a few days ago.

“Put it down, Brandon. We can talk about this!” Annaliese pleaded.

“All you do is pick on me and say horrible things. I heard you call me ‘devil’ this morning. I hate you!” he screamed.

Sebastian saw the hammer slowly start to go back on the pistol. He too began to squeeze the trigger on his pistol when another gunshot went off.

The side of Brandon’s head opened up as the bullet from Luke’s little Colt Detective exited. Brandon dropped the gun and collapsed to the ground, dead.