This is week 16 in volume 3 of the Saturday Survival Serial. To learn more about what the Saturday Survival Serial is, click here. To start at week 1, click here.
Miller was resigned to the fact that it was going to likely take all day long to make it to Reed City, even though it was only fifty miles away if you could travel on Hwy 131. Of course, that would be too easy, he thought to himself. He wasn’t one to complain but after so many days and weeks of being shuffled around, his patience was thinner than usual.
They had tried taking back roads north but that only got them so far before they had to detour onto the highway. Everyone was tense as they cruised along slowly, cars abandoned everywhere. They were a target that was loud enough to be heard for miles away in the now very quiet world. They’d been traveling two hours and had only made it to what was labeled ‘Morley” on a shot up road sign as they crossed over the highway. They were still a good 30 miles away.
Though they hadn’t gotten far, Miller decided to call for a break. He ordered supplies to be double checked and secured. “We don’t know what’s ahead of us. Let’s take every precaution, be diligent in the details! We head out in fifteen minutes.” He walked to the edge of the road and survey the area they were in. He found the view pleasant while he stretched out to wake up and loosen tension. As he was finishing up, he noticed a soldier standing a respectful distance from him, obviously waiting to be noticed.
“Report,” Miller said automatically. He cringed internally, knowing some habits were going to be hard to break now that he was Mayor of a settlement.
The soldier saluted and said, “Sir, I felt I should remind you that you have a drone in your supplies that can be used to survey an area. I hope you don’t mind, I took it upon myself to get it charged and have just finished checking to ensure everything is working. With permission, I would like to test it further and see how well it functions in flight.”
Miller’s eyebrows rose higher and higher. He hadn’t gotten to the lists of supplies in the packets yet. He figured he would have enough time to get acquainted with it once they reached their destination. Though Miller rarely showed emotion before, he was consciously working on changing that. He knew it unnerved people and that would not do as a public figure.
“I was not aware of that, soldier. I appreciate your incentive, you may have just saved lives. I would be very interested to see what it’s capable of.” Miller gestured for the man to lead the way.
There was a group of people standing around where the drone was set up. Miller’s eyebrows raised again, seeing that while it was an older style, it was perfect for what they needed. Smaller, with a camera that he was pretty sure had infrared capabilities, and a decent range. He wanted eyes in the sky more than weapons at this stage in the game.
“What’s the range and power?”
“I believe this model’s range is twelve miles and at full power, it should run for roughly ten hours. Top speed without fighting the wind is unknown.” The soldier glanced at Miller, shifting his feet nervously.
“Thirty miles per hour, give or take. I’m familiar enough with this model though I’ve never really seen one in action.” Miller gave a small smile. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Everyone stepped back as the engine on the drone started up and started moving down the road. It didn’t take long before it was in flight and being banked around to the left. People cheered as it successfully flew back and forth above the group and then landed smoothly on the road.
Miller looked at the soldier and said, “I’d say that was textbook perfect. Get it hooked up to a screen and have it handy. How long before you’ll have that ready?”
The soldier smiled and relaxed a little. “It will take ten minutes to have it ready for viewing, Sir.”
Miller clapped the man on the back and said, “Excellent! Everyone, load up!”
The next eleven miles were almost excruciating and took over four hours due to mud, having to move cars out of the way and cut trees that were downed in a winter storm across the roads. Once they passed around Stanwood though, things became easier. There were less trees in the way, less cars on the roads, and no one was shooting at them. Miller consulted the map and called for the group to halt a few miles south of Big Rapids.
He called for people to scout the perimeter, food to be made, and ordered a one hour break. Motioning the soldier who flew the drone to come over, he asked for the man’s name.
“Dalton, Sir. Clark Dalton.”
“Dalton, after you get some food, let’s set up and scout around our location in an eight mile radius. Focus particularly on Big Rapids to the north. I’d like to go through instead of around.”
Dalton nodded and saluted before turning about face and heading to the fire that was started to heat water for food.
Thirty minutes later and Miller found himself watching the screen that displayed the view from the drone.
*************
Kory, Richard, Tori, Bret, Sticks, and Roger were on alert as they cruised along at a steady 20 miles per hour along a mostly clear road. They had been traveling at an amazing speed today compared to yesterday. The gasifier was working much better and they’d formed a system to quickly gather more fuel.
Kory, was driving and was thoroughly enjoying it. He had been a driver in the military, due largely to his reflex times. He secretly attributed that finely honed skill to hours upon hours of video games as a kid. It hadn’t taken him long to fall back into old habits, driving in the middle of the road, scanning both sides of the road both close to their location and down the road.
The group decided as a whole to take a very off beaten path that would put them far out of the way at first. The idea was that the lack of cars and people on the deep back roads would allow for overall faster travel and it was paying off. They had made such good time that when they came across a stream, they stopped and were successful at getting a couple fish before heading out again.
It was mid afternoon when they passed by Woodville Country Store, the old styled sign crushed in on one side. The building was partially burned, windows had been smashed out and weeds were growing through the tall dried grass from the previous winter in the field across the road. The homes were obviously abandoned and had signs of being looted.
Bret rapped the back window of the truck and hollered, “Turn left on East Polk, then right on Cypress.”
Kory gave a thumbs up and made the first turn, dodging a pile of rubble in the middle of the road. He turned right on Cypress as directed and the engine sputtered. He slowed down to 5 miles an hour and the others jumped out to gather more wood. A few minutes later and the fire was burning bright again, fuel replenished in a dry pile at Richard’s feet.
Bret looked at the atlas again and called out for Kory to make a turn, putting them on Elm Street instead, since it went further south. They made the turn and Kory groaned slowing down. Everyone sat up, looking around frantically, trying to see what the problem was.
Bret called out, “Tree!” and pointed in front of them. There was a large tree completely across the road.
Kory pulled to the side and turned the engine off. Everyone got out and stretched before assessing the problem. As they began to walk around the tree, Sticks suddenly hissed, “Shhh!”
Everyone stopped, looking at him expectantly. He put his hand up to tell them to hold on and strained to listen. After a moment, everyone heard the high pitched sound. They looked at each other, waiting to see if anyone could identify it. Several of them shrugged. The sound got louder, Roger and Sticks both clearly trying to figure it out. Roger sucked in a breath as the noise seemed to be almost on top of them and looked at Sticks with wide eyes.
“Take cover! Hide, NOW! MOVE!”
No one hesitated as they scattered in different directions, taking cover under bushes just starting to get a good set of leaves on them. Kory slid up under a section of the tree and Tori followed suit on the other side. They all looked up with breath held as the noise got ever louder. It took on a surreal feeling and seemed an eternity as the buzzing echoed around them. Just when it seemed it something had to give, they spotted the source of the noise as it flew overhead.
The drone slowed as it came to the gasifier truck parked by the tree. Smoke was still coming out the side from the last of the wood still smoldering inside. It dropped down to roughly 150 feet above the truck, pausing for a moment before turning and taking off in another direction.
After it had passed, everyone just stayed in place for several minutes. When it was obvious it wasn’t coming back, Roger called for people to come out. They gathered by the tree, each one glancing now and then to the sky as opinions and guesses as to who controlled the drone and what they were looking for were tossed around.
After about ten minutes, Kory got them back on track. It was decided that they needed to just get to the safe house as soon as possible. They could relay the drone encounter from there and then continue on to the settlement camp at Plymouth. He pushed the speed up to 30 and told them to keep the fire well fed, heading south toward highway 20.
*************
Marcus, Jack, Rick, and Candy from South Camp were trotting along at a steady pace. They’d changed their mind about heading down to Newaygo and turned east onto state highway 20 instead. Marcus wanted to check highway 131 as it would have more traffic potential plus, they could check the bridges along the section that fed into the dam further down. With all the rain they’d had, it was anyone’s guess as to what conditions they were going to find.
The group had started while there were still stars in the sky, the full moon giving plenty of light to guide their way. They kept their eyes open for fires or any other lights and didn’t see anything, making excellent time. With their newly acquired foraging skills and the fish from the night before, they were well fed and full of energy. By mid afternoon, they made a right turn along the mostly wooded road. There were driveways here and there and all showed signs of being long-abandoned.
There was a sign that read, “River Ridge Resort, Ahead 1.5 Mi.” The group stopped and went to the side of the road, taking in their surroundings.
“A resort may’ve been a place where people congregated. Especially out here. Those staying there would have had a hard time getting home, same as everyone else,” commented Marcus. “We may want to scout it out before getting too close.”
The others agreed and there was a pause in the conversation as each considered different angles of approach when they noticed a low buzzing sound. Heads snapped up and then tilted, trying to listen more closely.
After a few tense minutes, Candy said quietly, “I’ll be damned. That’s a drone, or something like it anyway. I’d bet my last meal on it.”
Marcus looked at her, eyebrows raised. “You sure?” She nodded.
“Absolutely and it’s heading this way. I think we should head toward the trees. Then again, if they are doing some heat seeking mission, it won’t matter much.” She grinned and slung her .308 Winchester off her shoulder. “I sure hope it’s flying low enough. Those things can have some serious range. Maybe far enough to the camps, too. I’d rather not take the chance of them finding us just yet and with us being several miles away, they would focus here, first. We can be long gone quickly, right?”
The others laughed at her almost childlike enthusiasm at the challenge of shooting down a drone. They agreed that if she could get a good shot, she should take it. They moved off the road and into the trees, Candy quickly climbing a tree to get a better shot, and closer. Everyone would be ready to get out of dodge if she took a shot. They would head down the road toward the first bridge through the trees. It would be slower going, but much safer. They needed to get bridge information, too.
The buzzing increased, changing in tone and pitch as it slowed and changed elevation in places. Candy called out for everyone to be on the lookout and whistle if they see it. After a few more minutes, Jack whistled out and pointed, just as the drone slowed down. Rick cursed under his breath and tried to flatten himself, as did everyone else. Marcus glanced toward Candy and saw her looking through the scope. The drone was 300 meters away but he knew she could hit it. He had absolutely no doubt.
The drone turned in a wide, lazy arc. It came closer to Candy’s position but raised up in elevation, too. She called out, “I don’t think it saw any of us but I really want to shoot it down, too. I couldn’t make out any markings of ownership but honestly, who else but the military would have a drone out here exploring?”
“Someone who was lucky enough to loot a military base?” mused Rick. He watched as the drone changed direction again, moving away from them but coming down in elevation, too.
It was too much for Candy.
Her shot echoed through the area and back again seemingly forever before the silence of everything within earshot rushed in to replace it. Candy grinned at first when she saw the drone start to fall. She could hear the engine cutting in and out and laughed a little.
“Give a warning next-” Rick was cut off by the sound of the drone’s engine turning over and Candy’s shocked cursing. They all watched as the drone regained altitude as quickly as it could and leave the area toward the northeast.
Candy jumped out of the tree madder than a wet cat and started trotting down the road, a string of angry muttering punctuated by her footfalls. The others fell in step behind her as she moved off the road and into the trees toward River Ridge Resort.
After a few minutes, the sound of the drone had faded. Candy was still obviously upset she’d missed a kill shot but had stopped muttering. Marcus caught up to her and leaned closer.
“You know, I’m thinking it was a damn lucky shot that you missed.”
She scowled at him and replied, “Oh? How’s that? What kind of BS are you peddling?”
Marcus laughed. “If you’d shot it down, we wouldn’t know which direction the owners of that fine piece of technology were located.”
He grinned at her stunned expression. “Shall we see what we can see? Just a little side run? I’ve got a ton of adrenaline to burn right now.” He looked at the others questioningly. “Guys? You in?”
The group picked up their pace without further discussion. The more information, the better.
***********
After the first fifteen minutes of watching the screen, Miller was bored with what he saw. There wasn’t much of any definite sign of survivors, let alone groups of them, anywhere. Big Rapids looked completely abandoned, as did pretty much everywhere else. If there were survivors, they were adept at hiding and would likely make way to his camp anyway. A hungry man can smell food a very long way off.
People’s interest faded and they went elsewhere one by one. After thirty minutes, only a few were left including Eugene, Miller, Dalton, and a couple soldiers who were only half paying attention.
“What do we have here?” asked Dalton. The question seemed to wake everyone up. Miller refocused on the screen and saw a truck that looked to be on fire behind a tree that had fallen across the road.
Miller came closer and asked for Dalton to zoom in. The back of the truck had a large tank on it with weird pipes feeding into the engine. No one was visible but that didn’t mean there was no one around. There’d been no thunderstorms lately and besides, fires didn’t start inside a metal tank by themselves.
“Note the location, date, and details of this,” Miller ordered. He paid closer attention now that there were signs of life out there.
“What the..?” exclaimed Dalton, hands furiously working controls. Miller watched as the view began to fall and spin, the details in a blur.
“What’s going on?!” He demanded.
“I believe we’ve been shot down, Sir! Seems someone doesn’t like us around their resort area. Down on state highway 20. Sign said “River Ridge Resort,” anyway. I’ve got it now though.”
“Bring it back as fast as you can. We can not afford to lose this. From now on, you will fly at least 500 feet above. That thing has a zoom, use it.” Miller stood up, trying to keep his temper in check. Dalton may know how to maneuver the machine but didn’t know a thing about tactics. He walked away, knowing he would be told if anything else happened.
Eugene followed Miller back to the Jeep. Miller climbed in and gestured for the man to speak his mind.
“I had no idea that Jimmy Walker would already be out this far, let alone armed well enough to be able to make a shot on a drone like that! We didn’t see anyone but there is proof positive that there are survivors out there and I know in my gut that it’s Jimmy and his followers!” He was breathing a little heavy, as if he had used energy to hold it in.
Miller eyed the man, noting the sheen of sweat on the man’s brow. “There is no proof it was Jimmy or anyone associated with him whatsoever. Let’s not jump to conclusions; we’ve only just gotten to the state and haven’t even made it to Reed City yet. Speaking of, we are late enough as it is.” He leaned to the side of where Eugene was standing and hollered out, “Load UP!”
Eugene sputtered protests, cut off by Miller giving him a look and putting up his hand. “We will deal with it after we get to Reed City and not before unless we’re forced to by the man himself. Understood?”
He watched as Eugene took obvious effort to get himself under control. Finally, the man nodded and went to a truck further back in the line. Miller watched him go without comment. When his driver got in the truck, the convoy headed out.
***********
“Fifteen-two, four, six, and a double run for fourteen! Read it and weep. I told you I was an excellent player.” Shannon grinned at Pako, moving her wooden peg to the last hole triumphantly. “I don’t even need to count the crib. Ha!”
Pako smiled back, putting his hands up. “I give, you are an excellent player. Of course, that was only the first game.” He grabbed the cards and began to shuffle them. It was a partly cloudy day and the light breeze had a warmth to it. They munched on some cinnamon-honey crackers she had made while sitting at a picnic table that had been part of the school grounds before IT happened.
“I will happily show you again how to play this fine game,” she replied with a playful sparkle in her eye. It had been so long since she’d done anything remotely close to playing cards and was having a great time. Pako was nice enough, keeping the topics to simple chit chat.
As he dealt, he glanced up at her and returned the smile. “You know,” he said, “I heard an interesting story about you on your journey here. Something about a heroic rescue of an office and his upstanding citizens?”
Shannon scoffed. “I wouldn’t say ‘upstanding’ but I helped to save some people, ya. I didn’t do it all alone, of course.” She picked up her cards and started arranging them while he moved their pegs back to the starting point on the board.
“Not a big fan of the military’s mission, are we?” Pako didn’t look at her while asking, keeping his eyes on his card.
Shannon was stunned at the question and unsure how to answer. It could be some test of her loyalties to the camp and the U.N., it could be friendly conversation with him trying to get to know her, it could be both or neither. She was stuck in indecision, a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face.
Pako burst out laughing when he finally looked at her. “I’m sorry, did I make you uncomfortable? It’s OK, you don’t have to answer.” He looked back at his cards.
Shannon licked her lips and said, “No, I’m not uncomfortable. Just surprised at the question was all.” She tossed two cards face down on top of the two he had placed for his crib. “I would say there are good and bad in every group, wouldn’t you?”
Pako flipped the card on top after she cut the deck. “A perfectly diplomatic answer. You sure you weren’t a politician before?” He smiled charmingly, no sign of feeling one way or the other about her answers.
She laughed and shook her head. “No way. I prefer systems and machines to the chaos of people’s opinions and political correctness.”
He agreed and changed the subject. Shannon was distracted by the question started to play poorly before she realized she was twenty points behind. Shaking off the odd feeling, she focused and was soon a few points ahead.
“I’ve got you now!”
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch,” warned Pako. “You know, they say that the officer you saved offered you a favor whenever you needed it. Is that true?”
Shannon’s eyebrows raised and she laughed. “Where do these people come up with that stuff? Them offer someone like me a favor? Ya, right! I’m just a workhorse with skills to make their showers hot and their toilets flush.”
Pako laughed loudly, his eyes sparkling and yet calculating. “I know what you mean. I feel more like a nameless cog in the wheel now than I ever did before.” She agreed.
After a couple more hands Pako asked, “Would you leave and try to live elsewhere?”
Shannon’s head snapped up and she eyed him warily. “Why do you ask?”
Pako waved his hand as if to clear the air. “Nevermind. We have it good here. It’s silly to even think about really. Besides, I know I don’t want a brand on my hand.”
The subject was changed again but Shannon was so worked up over the conversation and questions that she lost the next three games.
As she was walking back home, her thoughts whirled. What if he is on their side and wants to get me in trouble? Should I trust him and be myself?