Waves of Fury (Surviving Earth Chronicles)

Chapter Seventeen

Kellen

B arb’s gone.

The pain of losing another one of my employees is sharp and unrelenting. Her death has really messed with Kyle the most, though, as they were close. Ever since we left her at the wreck site thirty minutes ago, he’s been mournfully quiet.

Our exhausted band of survivors clomps down the road in general silence. Gerry has fallen back, keeping near Kyle, and I’ve taken up the lead. Tyler trots up to my side and gives me a grim smile, illuminated by the partly clouded moon.

“Not a sound coming from anywhere,” he says in a whisper. “Kind of creepy.”

I nod in agreement. “Everyone probably evacuated when the tsunami flood waters hit. They’re probably in the next town over, holed up in hotels.”

“Too bad we can’t find a hotel,” Tyler says with a grunt. “I’m so fucking tired.”

I clasp a hand on the back of his neck and give him a comforting squeeze. “We won’t walk for forever.”

It continues to drizzle off and on as we walk, making it impossible to feel warm. My dress shoes are rubbing blisters on the back of my heels and the sides of my big toes. I’ll be glad when I can get out of these clothes and into something more practical for the end of the world.

“What’s the plan?” Tyler asks, gesturing ahead at the dark road. “After we regroup, I mean.”

“If I remember correctly, the Sierra Nevada Mountain isn’t far from here. Our best bet is to get there where we’ll have the natural barrier to any more flooding. After that…” I trail off and shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

We come to a road that intersects the one we’re on, where a big wooden sign with the word “Hank’s General Store” and an arrow that points to the right beckons for us. Below it is another sign pointing to “camping area.”

A quarter mile to Hank’s.

A mile to the camping area.

Stopping, I turn around to face our weary group. “What do you all say we check out the general store?”

Murmurs of agreement ripple through the group. Pleased with their answer, I gesture for Tyler to follow me down the road. The trees here are thicker, hanging over the road and blocking out what little moonlight we have, and the asphalt isn’t as wide as the main road. If the last road was creepy, this one definitely surpasses it.

The road eventually opens up to a small general store and decrepit parking lot. Unfortunately, not a light is on. I stride ahead, wincing slightly at my painful blisters, to make it onto the porch of the store. A sign with their hours is plastered on the door, proclaiming they’re open from eight to eight.

“Do we break in?” Jesse asks, coming up the steps to peer inside the glass door.

“We can’t break in,” Elise mutters from nearby. “We’ll go to jail.”

I exchange a glance with Tyler. His brows are pinched together as he frowns.

“What do you think?” I ask him, voice low.

“I mean, if we break in and an alarm goes off, the police will show up. They can help us get to safety,” Tyler says. “If nothing happens, we’ll have the supplies we need.”

“I can leave my credit card with a note,” Dan offers, also joining us on the porch. “We’ll be careful to keep things nice inside the store and not break anything.”

“Then it’s settled. We’ll break in, take what we need, and promise to repay the owners.” I turn toward the group. “Any objections, raise your hand.”

The only one who raises their hand is Elise. When she realizes she’s alone, she quickly jerks it back down.

“Great. We don’t need everyone to go. Tyler, Aaron, Dan, and myself will go check things out. Everyone else can stay out here and rest until we deem it safe.”

Tyler studies the glass front door as if looking for the best way to get inside while Aaron walks around to the back with Dan. There’s no easy way to break into the front without busting the glass. The last thing we want to do is open up the general store to actual looters or animals. There’s got to be another way in.

A cracking sound can be heard and then Aaron hollers, “Got it!”

Me and Tyler walk around to the back of the building to find a back door standing ajar. No alarms have gone off, which means the building is likely out of power. I fumble for a light switch once inside and after flipping it on and off a couple of times, my observation is validated.

We need light.

Seconds later, a light illuminates the space and then sweeps over to blind me. I squint against it until it points to the ground.

“There’s a whole bucket of mini flashlights,” Tyler says, handing one to me. “Let’s see what we can find.”

I take the offered light and then follow Tyler through the store. One side of the store appears to be your typical convenience store with food, souvenirs, and drinks. Beyond the food aisles, another opening leads to a second area of the general store.

“Jackpot,” Aaron calls out. “Camping gear and supplies. Boots and clothes and other useful stuff.”

Boots and clothes.

Thank God.

“Unlock the front door, Dan,” I instruct, “and tell everyone they can come in to grab what they need. We’ll take an inventory on our note to repay the owner before we leave.”

Dan splits off to bring in the others while me and Tyler make our way to the camping section. It’s just as big as the food side, which is great. I’ve never been so happy in all my life to see redneck camo T-shirts and Carhartt pants.

Eager to get out of my wet, ruined dress clothes, I waste no time slipping off my jacket. My side hurts, but I’d noticed earlier Tyler must’ve redressed my wound while I slept. I quickly unbutton my shirt, peel it off, and then gingerly begin pulling off my undershirt.

When I get a whiff of my own body odor, I groan in embarrassment.

Tyler laughs and shakes his head. “You’re not the only one, Kell. I’ll go find us some deodorant.”

His eyes linger on my chest for a beat, causing heat to flood through me, and then he abruptly turns to leave. I start looking through the racks of camouflage long-sleeved shirts until I find one in my size. Tyler returns with a stick of deodorant that he’s already opened and pulled the cap off. I graciously accept his offering and attempt to erase my stench before handing it back to him. Once I pull the wonderfully dry shirt on, I then set off to find a pair of pants.

The tan Carhartt work pants remind me of the ones I used to wear all the time back at the ranch. It feels like a lifetime ago. Since I don’t have replacement boxers, I’m forced to keep the still-wet pair on, but putting on the new pants feels great.

“Socks,” Tyler says, tossing me a small package. “They have some hiking boots in the corner. Not a huge style selection, but there does seem to be various sizes to choose from.”

I rip open the package with my teeth and swap out my soaked socks. My feet smell pretty rank too, but there’s nothing I can do about that until I grab a shower whenever the hell that may be. The socks are thick and warm, much to my delight.

As promised, the corner of the store houses the hiking boots. I find Kyle and Gerry already there, both eager to lose their dress shoes. I hope there are some that will fit Hope and Elise as well since they lost their heels a long time ago when the water first hit and tried to drown us.

I feel like a new man when I locate a pair of boots in my size and they fit perfectly when I get them laced up.

Kyle, having found his boots, saunters off to look at the clothes. Gerry remains to help Hope and Elise when they arrive. I leave the three of them to look for a backpack or something to carry supplies in. Luckily, there’s a whole wall of them. The camping and hiking gear in this store is a blessing.

I grab a backpack and pull out all the stuffing. Then I head back over to the clothes. Having a backup change of clothes will be nice. Once I gather a few items, I then check over the other hunting supplies. Food and water are important, but so are other things we may need should we be forced to stay outdoors. I snag matches, a couple of battery-powered lanterns, a hatchet, a sleeping roll I can tie to my backpack, a couple of pocketknives, and a few boxes of water purification tablets.

Tyler joins me just as I’m zipping up my bag and starts stuffing a new backpack, one much sturdier and made for outdoors than his current one, with similar supplies.

Bottles in the refrigerators on the other side of the store begin to rattle. It takes me a second to realize the ground is shaking. Tyler shoots me a panicked look as he grabs onto my arm. The shaking doesn’t stop but intensifies, sending various items crashing to the ground throughout the store. Several people cry out, making me wonder if they were hit by any of the falling goods.

Unlike most earthquakes that last a minute or so, this one continues to rumble. Everyone snaps into action, quickly finishing their shopping spree. Tyler tugs me out of the camping side and over to the food side. We grab what we can, topping off our bags, and then hurry out of the building before it crumples on top of us.

Outside, most everyone has already escaped the store. Aaron and Hope are the last to run out, their arms full of gear.

“We should get to more stable ground,” I call out above the grumbling complaints of the earth. “Camping is that way. We can always come back if we forgot anything.”

Elise staggers over to me, frowning. “What about the list for the owner? I don’t feel comfortable stealing their things.”

Dan gestures for her to follow him away from the store. “I left a note and my card. Told them to charge me as much as they want for whatever we took. It’s fine.”

Satisfied, Elise runs to catch up to Hope and Aaron, who are already down the road, headed for the campsite. This time, me and Tyler take up the rear, making sure we don’t lose anyone. The rumbling eventually slows, but it doesn’t do anything for my erratically beating heart.

When will this ever end?

The rest of our walk is uneventful. It’s dark, but the rain has held off. We eventually make it to the campgrounds. At the front is a registration building—also presumably without power like the general store. Beyond that, we find two cabins nearby. There might be more the farther into the campground we go, but no one seems eager to find more.

“We’ll stay here for the night,” I say, gesturing at the cabins. “Split off. Hope and Elise, you two can stay with Dan and his family. The rest of us guys can stay next door. Any objections?”

Jesse raises his hand. “I should stay there too in case Dan needs help protecting the women.”

Hope rolls her eyes when Dan agrees with him. She’s proven thus far to be quite capable of protecting herself and others.

Everyone splits off. We have to break into these cabins as well, but it’s not too tricky as they’re old and we’re only contending with wooden doors, not glass. Once inside our cabin, we set up some of the battery-operated lanterns to determine our sleeping situation. There are two sets of bunk beds on one wall, a sofa on the other, and a musty rug in the center of the cabin.

Kyle claims one of the bottom bunks and Gerry climbs above his. Wayne takes the other bottom. Aaron lifts a brow at Tyler.

“You take it,” Tyler says. “I’ll take the floor. Kellen can have the couch.”

Aaron smirks and ruffles his little brother’s hair before climbing onto the bed.

“We can share the couch,” I tell Tyler. “No one has to sleep on the floor.”

We walk over to the couch and then set to shedding our bags. While I pull my boots off, Tyler rummages in his bag before pulling out a bag of beef jerky. “Hungry for dinner?”

My stomach growls as if to answer him. “Hell yeah.”

He settles on one end of the couch while I sprawl out on the other. Even having half a couch to sleep on is better than the stairwell in my building. We’re quiet as we eat the jerky, but neither of us falls asleep long after everyone else does.

“Can’t sleep?” Tyler whispers.

“Nah.”

“Want to play tic-tac-toe again?”

I grin and nod. “Who’s winning so far?”

“Me. You’ll have time to catch up, though.”

He finds a pen in his bag before crawling across the cushions to sit right next to me. Despite the pain in my side, I stretch my arm across the back of the sofa, inviting him into my space. His warm body chases away any lingering chill I had. I pull his arm into my lap, pushing the material of his new long-sleeved shirt up to reveal his tattoo. When I run my thumb over his flesh, he shivers.

“Cold?”

“I’m good now.”

He tilts his head to look over at me. This close, with our mouths inches apart, I ache to kiss him. I almost do, but then he turns away to draw an O in the center of his tattoo.

For the first time since all this chaos happened, I’m actually relaxed and happy.

I like Tyler. Really like him.

Here’s to hoping I can actually do something about it.