Earth(7)

Susan shooed both me and Alex back to reveal a trap door in the floor. Dust and grime covered the edges. Susan stuck her finger in a knot in a floorboard and pulled up. A staircase led down. Alex went first, disappearing into the dark.

"It's ok!" he shouted up.

Susan went next, and I followed with Bee, snoring away in my arms.

"Oh my God," Alex said, voice cracking into a higher octave. "There are batteries." In the pitch black, I heard him fumbling around, then a beam of light shot through the underground storage area.

Alex aimed the flashlight at the walls. Floor to ceiling shelves were stocked full of supplies. The image danced in front of our eyes like some glorious revelation. Canned foods, medical supplies, camping equipment, and lots and lots of batteries.

I rushed to one of the shelves. "Soap!" I could've danced a jig just then, if it weren't for the sleeping baby. I turned to Susan. "Well, is this all you found?" I asked with a teasing smile.

"No. There is also that." She pointed up.

I craned my neck, looking back up the steep staircase to the ceiling of the shed. Alex pointed his light up and my mouth dropped open. A canoe hung from the rafters.





Chapter 6





Pocahontas





"One, two, three, and push!"

The back wheels were stuck in the mud yet again. That Alex had been able to find them at all was amazing, but one was beginning to go flat, and we had a little over half a mile until the river. Or 'a click and a half' as Alex put it.

"One more time. One, two, three, push!" Alex repeated. Susan and I pushed while he pulled, and the tire popped free of the mud.

"Explain to me again how you were able to find the tires, but no vehicle to drive us to Utah?" Susan asked, picking up a can of green beans that had toppled out of the canoe. Bee continued to nap in the middle on top a pile of blankets. That girl could sleep through anything.

"Because, all the cars were blown up. Whoever attacked the compound probably hit the garage first. These were the only tires sitting around that weren't actually on fire." Alex swatted at a mosquito on his arm. His tone with Susan was short and clipped.

We were all tired. After the high of discovering the loot, I had explained my brief stint in U.S. politics. Alex went into the bunker to find some way to transport the canoe to the river, while Susan and I loaded up. We had emptied the shelves entirely. I just hoped the canoe would still float with all this weight.

"Did you find any weapons, or ammunition?" Alex asked.

"No," I said. A pistol hung at each of our hips. They had been empty of bullets for months now, but still proved to be a valuable deterrent. Travelers thought twice about going after our supplies when we looked armed.

Alex's shoulders sagged.

"Are we there yet?" Susan whined.

Alex's shoulders sagged even further. The past year and a half couldn't have been easy on him, trudging from state to state, dragging along two women and a baby.

"Where do you suppose the president was headed?" I asked, trying to keep Susan's mind occupied with something other than her sore feet.

She shrugged. "Probably another bunker. Someplace with running water and air conditioning."

"Maybe even back to D.C. While we were there, plenty of people mentioned how much better the capital has become compared to right after the EMP. Much more tame," Alex said.

His version and my version of tame differed greatly. There was still rioting when we went through, and almost the entire Southeast section was on fire. There was no sign of Micah in all that mess.

"I should've followed the President," I mumbled. "He probably has a boat – with a motor and gas."

I suppose I should just be thankful for the pair of oars inside the canoe.

A half an hour later, Susan's head jerked up, eyes going wide and face cracking into a smile. "The river is close."

Several minutes later, I heard it. We rolled the canoe to a stop alongside the shore. It wasn't very large, but seemed tame enough. We would still need to find a life jacket for Bee.

"Are we sure this is the Greenbrier River?" I asked. It was a convoluted route on West Virginia's river system, even before we reached the Ohio. There were plenty of tributaries leading in or flowing out along the way. Keeping on the right path would be tricky. It wasn't like there were road signs posted.

Alex consulted one of the many maps he acquired. "Pretty sure." He nodded twice, as if to reassure himself, then folded the map.

"Well." Susan rubbed her hands together. "Let's shove off, shall we?"

I laughed. Her mood always improved when close to water.

"Hold on Pocahontas," Alex said. "We need to make some modifications to the boat first."