Brody broke the silence, asking a question that never occurred to me. "What are we going to do about gasoline? The gas pumps are powered by electricity and since this old truck is a gas guzzler, we’ll have to refuel soon.”
Ryder let go of my hand to grip the steering wheel.
“We’ll have to find a hose and suction gas out of an abandoned car,” he said. “It’s either that or walk home so I would rather steal the gas.”
The thought of walking home made me shudder. We would either fry in this heat or die of dehydration. No, walking wasn’t an option.
My stomach growled with hunger as we past a stalled eighteen–wheeler. The picture of a huge hamburger and fries stared back at me along with the world famous McDonald’s logo. I thought of all the food inside that would rot in a few days, causing an awful smell. If power wasn’t restored quickly, all food would become a commodity, a bargaining chip, a new form of money. And we were passing a truckload of it.
Ryder’s deep voice rumbled beside me, dragging my attention away from the hunger. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep, Maddie?”
I doubted that I would be able to sleep but it would help me escape reality for a short period of time. With sleep, the pain and fear of the unknown would disappear and when I woke up, we would be all that much closer to home. So I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, praying for a respite from this hell.
~~~~
The next thing I knew, Ryder was shaking me awake gently.
Sitting up, I winced with pain. My body felt battered and bruised. My broken rib was killing me, my head was pounding, and my finger throbbed with each beat of my heart.
The early morning sun glared through the windshield, making the pavement in front of us shine and shimmer as if it was a liquid river. The lonely stretch of highway loomed ahead, vast and unending. Only pastures and farmland surrounded us. Not a house or person could be seen for miles. We were alone.
Ryder handed me a pain pill and a warm bottle of water. I couldn’t help but notice the stubble on his jaw and the exhaustion around his eyes.
“We’re taking a break. You want to get out?” he asked, his mouth set in a grim line.
"Sure," I said, with a scratchy voice. "What time is it?" I asked, slowly following him out of the truck.
“Seven maybe? We’re trying to avoid towns but it’s adding onto our time,” he said, rubbing a hand across his face.
In the bright sunlight, I stretched carefully, mindful of my aching body. Ryder leaned against the truck near me, making me acutely aware that he wasn’t leaving my side. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared off into the distance. He seemed relaxed but I knew he would be ready to pounce if danger appeared.
I pushed away from the hot metal of the truck and walked further onto the road, needing to stretch my legs. The blacktop beneath my tennis shoes was hot despite the early morning hour. A slight breeze lifted strands of my hair but it wasn’t enough to cool me down. I knew that in a few short hours, the heat would be almost unbearable, making Texas feel like hell on earth.
Ryder was watching me, staring at me with his blue eyes.
“Get out of the street, Maddie,” he said in a deep, commanding voice.
Earlier he had been gentle and caring but now he seemed hard and dangerous. This was his don’t–fuck–with–me attitude, the one he presented to most people. The one that annoyed me.
"Why should I move? There’s no one around," I said, spreading my arms wide and looking around me. "No one’s going to drive by and and run me over."
"Maddie."
He said my name as a warning, an ultimatum. I heard it. I believed the unspoken threat. I took a few steps closer to the truck and was instantly angry. Since when did I obey him?
“Happy?” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Always with you, baby.”
I sucked in a breath and felt my body leap to attention.
Ryder’s gaze lingered on me a moment longer before he turned to Eva, dismissing me.
“You have a map in this thing?” he asked her.
“Yep, in the glove box. Another thing my old–fashioned dad insisted I have. Thank God for over–protective parents,” Eva said.
Ryder sauntered over to the passenger side of the truck, his hips rolling with ease. Opening up the glove box, he pulled out a neatly folded map of Texas. Walking to the back of the truck, he lowered the tailgate and spread the map out. Brody joined him, both of them studying the map for the safest way home.
“Let’s look at your fingers, Maddie,” Eva said when she noticed me holding my injured hand against my chest.
Reluctantly, I climbed into the driver’s seat, glancing back at Ryder one more time. Eva slowly began to remove the bandage from my hand. I held back a cry, wondering how much pain one person could take.
She gasped when the bandage was completely off. My fingers looked terrible. No longer were they a healthy skin–toned color. Instead, each finger was covered in black and blue bruises. The worst was my ring finger. It was swollen and at an odd angle. It didn’t resemble my finger at all.
“Lord, Maddie, this is not good," Eva said, clearly worried. She took a deep breath. "Okay. I’m going to touch them."
I nodded, understanding this needed to be done. Sweat broke out on my upper lip and my stomach roiled with pain.
“Try not to move.”
I tensed as she felt along my black and blue fingers. When she touched the broken one, I cried out and yanked my hand away.
Immediately, Ryder was standing outside the truck door.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Eva sighed heavily. “Her fingers are a mess.”
When Ryder looked down at my fingers, all the blood drained from his face. “Oh, hell, Maddie.”
“Let’s just leave them alone,” I pleaded. The pain was too awful. I couldn’t handle Eva touching them again.
“That’s not an option. You know that broken one won’t heal correctly if it’s not fixed,” Eva said.
I saw her mind working as she studied my fingers.
“I’m going to have to do this the old fashioned way,” she muttered to herself.
“No, Eva,” I whispered in fright.
“What’s the old way?” Ryder asked, looking back and forth between us.
“Brody! Find me a stick that is around three inches long. And straight!” Eva yelled, not answering Ryder.
I felt queasy, knowing what was about to happen. In seconds, Brody handed her a small stick about the length of my finger.
“Ryder, sit behind her in the truck,” Eva instructed.
He climbed into the truck, scooting across the bench seat to sit behind me.
“Put your arms around her and hold her tight. Don’t let her move, no matter how much she pulls away,” Eva said.
I knew that this was for my own good but I shook my head in denial anyway. Ryder put his arms around me, making me feel like a child being held down for a shot.
Eva started applying light pressure on each finger. A whimper escaped me when severe pain hit. Instinctively, I tried pulling away but Ryder held me firmly.
“It will be okay,” he said. “Just breathe.”
Eva continued to poke around on my fingers, feeling along the bone for any breaks or dislocated joints. The pain was awful. I bit my lip to keep from crying out until the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth.
“You almost done?” Ryder snapped.
“No. Hold her tight,” Eva answered.
After pushing around on my wrist, she gently laid my hand down.
“It looks like three of your fingers are out of socket, Maddie. One is broken.” She gave me a questioning look. “How did three of your fingers get pulled out of socket? I thought you said you were trampled.”
I froze, remembering what happened before the lights went out.
"Maddie? Someone stepping on your fingers couldn’t have pulled them out of the socket. What happened?" Eva
asked again, suspiciously.
When I answered, my voice cracked with fear. “Ben was waiting for me outside the bathroom. We struggled. That’s when I felt them pop out of the socket.”
“Asshole!” Ryder growled, tightening his arms around me. “If I see him again, I’m putting him in the ground.”
“Not if I get to him first,” Eva spit, angry. “The guy deserves to be beaten within an inch of his life for hurting her." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, the anger was gone. "For now, let’s take care of her.”
“Just do your thing. I’ve got her.”
I should have been mad that they were talking about me like I wasn’t there but I just wanted to get this over with.
“I’m going to pop them back in place and it’s gonna hurt like a sonofabitch,” Eva said, glancing up at me. “You can handle this, Maddie.”
I smiled weakly at her. She was always joking with me that I could handle whatever Fate threw at me. I wasn’t so sure anymore.
I hissed with pain when Eva picked up one of my fingers. She looked at Ryder.
“Hold her tight.”
I felt him nod and tighten his arms around me. Eva took a deep breath and yanked.
I screamed. Then there was only blackness.
~~~~
I woke up slowly, feeling groggy and sore. The bumpy road jarred my cheek against a firm muscle. Opening my eyes, I saw a jean–covered leg beneath me. I blushed, realizing that my head was in Ryder’s lap and his large hand was on my hip.
He was asleep, his head resting on the worn headrest. When we hit another bump in the road, his hand tightened on my hip, holding me securely against him.
I sat up slowly, brushing the hair out of my eyes. The sun was now high in the sky, bringing with it the sweltering heat that made the inside of the truck feel like an oven despite the open windows.
Looking around, I recognized the area immediately. I had traveled on this particular road many times before. A few miles back, we would have passed a beer joint and a strip club, sitting unsuspectingly on an old country road. Also near here was a prison, set miles off of the road, hiding it from most people.
I glanced over when Eva whimpered softly in her sleep. She had her head in Brody’s lap while he kept both hands on the wheel.
For one blissful moment, I forgot about my injured hand. Forgot about the electricity going off, the plane going down, or the scene at the hospital. Then the pain hit me again, reminding me why we were traveling down this lonely road, desperate to get home.
A stick now protruded from my bandaged fingers. The makeshift splint would help stabilize the broken finger but without proper medical care, the broken bone may never heal correctly. I pushed the thought out of my mind when Ryder stirred beside me.
“Maddie, you okay?” he asked, groggy.
When I nodded yes, he sat up straighter and removed his hand from my hip.
“You scared the crap out of me passing out like that,” he said, rubbing the growing stubble on his jaw.
“Sorry,” I said, peevishly. “Setting a broken bone will do that to a person.”
His eyes ran over me, making me aware of every brush of his leg against mine.
“Shit, Maddie. I’m sorry. I should have been standing outside that bathroom. Waiting on you.”
“You can’t be with me 24/7, Ryder. Don’t beat yourself up about it,” I said with annoyance. I was sore and hungry. It was not the best time to have this discussion.
“I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight. You would’ve been safe if I had been thinking straight instead of thinking with my dick.”
“True, but I made the choice to walk away because your dick is the only thing that wants me,” I snapped in anger.
Grinding his teeth in frustration, he glared at me. “Damn it, Maddie! You really want to go there now?”
I opened my mouth, planning to tell him what I wanted, when Brody interrupted.
“Shit, guys. We’ve got a problem.”
Chapter Fourteen
About three hundred feet in front of us were two stalled vehicles blocking the lanes of Business 265.
Squinting against the sun, I tried to see what had made Brody and Ryder suddenly uneasy. We had passed numerous stalled cars, so why were these a problem?
Then I saw him.
Heat waves rose around the unconscious man. He was lying between an old Chevy truck and a dusty minivan.
Apprehension made my heart thump harder. Something about this scene bothered me. Something was off.
“Brody, take the ditch around them.” Ryder said, never taking his eyes off the man.
“Someone’s hurt,” Eva said, now wide–awake. “We need to stop.”
“No, we need to keep driving,” Ryder said, each word clipped.
“We can’t just drive past if someone is hurt!” Eva countered. “We have to help.”
Ryder shot Eva a frustrated look. “The world changed when that EMP went off, Eva. It’s every man for himself…”
“And screw everyone else? Is that your answer for everything, Ryder?” Eva asked, annoyed. “And what if it was Maddie lying there hurt? Wouldn’t you want someone to stop and help her?”
We were almost to the vehicles now. Someone needed to make a decision. Quick.
“You can’t save the world, Eva,” Ryder said, trying to reason with her.
“But at least I’m willing to try," she muttered, her meaning obvious. She turned to Brody and laid a hand on his arm. "Brody, please.”
When I heard the seductive tone in her voice, I knew we were stopping.
“Your girlfriend is going to get us killed, Brody,” Ryder mumbled in anger as he put the hunting knife into the back of his jeans and pulled his shirt over it.
“Just keep your eyes open, Ryder,” Brody said, stopping the truck a few feet from the stalled vehicles.
“You two stay in the truck while we check it out,” Ryder said, looking at Eva and me.
The man on the ground appeared to be in his early thirties. He was big and muscular, wearing black jeans and a blue shirt with heavy combat boots. From where we were, he didn’t appear injured. There was no blood, no sign of struggle, and nothing that could explain why he was unconscious. All the more reason why I felt uneasy.
“Leave the keys,” Ryder told Brody, watching the van closely. He looked at me, his eyes hard. “If something happens, Maddie, take off. Don’t do anything stupid like get out of the truck.”
I nodded in agreement but knew I would never leave him behind.
Brody handed the keys to Eva before both him and Ryder jumped out of the truck. As they walked away, I wanted to cover my eyes, afraid to look but afraid not to. I waited for the inevitable to happen.
My heart felt like it would leap out of my chest. Something wasn’t right! I couldn’t take my eyes off Ryder as he crept closer to the unconscious man. He kept an eye on the truck and minivan as he bent down to check the man’s pulse.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
The doors of the minivan swung open and three large men jumped out, shouting and surrounding Brody and Ryder. The man on the ground was no longer unconscious. He was now on his feet in a fighting stance. But what frightened me the most was the sight of the guns.
The now conscious man had a semi–automatic pistol aimed at Ryder’s chest. The other men carried various weapons; a shotgun, a hunting rifle, and a revolver. We were no match for the deadly power.
“Holy shit!” Eva screeched with terror.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Eva scrambled into the driver’s seat and attempted to insert the key in the ignition but her hands were shaking too badly. She tried again, cursing when the keys dropped to the floorboard.
As she bent down to find them, I watched, frozen in fear, as Ryder and Brody raised their hands above their heads. Four guns were now aimed at their chests and heads, waiting on them to make one wrong move.
Oh, God! I quickly scooted over to t
he passenger door and pushed the door open, planning to jump out of the truck and run to Ryder. I had no idea what I was going to do once I reached him. I just knew I had to be next to him.
But my plan was short–lived.
Two men approached the truck with menace. Both had guns. The barrels were pointed directly at Eva and me despite the windshield.
My eyes quickly snapped to Ryder. He was watching the men with murderous rage but then his eyes moved to me. Making the smallest movement, he shook his head. That was my cue to sit still and not make any sudden moves.
The biggest man walked over to the driver’s side while the other headed for the passenger door, blocking my escape route.
“Out!” the bigger man yelled with authority. He yanked opened the heavy metal door easily, still keeping his gun aimed at us.
The guy was scary. He was large with ruthlessness written all over him. His sweaty face was covered in old knife scars and pockmarks. There were tattoos on the entire lower half of his jaw, making him appear nonhuman. His hair was shaved off, revealing a dented and imperfectly shaped skull.
And he had on prison garb.
“I said get the fuck out of the car!” he roared.
I looked down the barrel of the gun and felt my stomach drop. These were prison inmates. We were as good as dead.
Eva scrambled out of the truck, edging away from the gun pointed at her face. I could tell she was barely holding it together.
I winced as I climbed out after her. My ribs ached from sitting for so long but that wasn’t my biggest problem right now.
The second, smaller man walked around the truck to join his partner. They were both aiming at our heads like they were going to use us for target practice.
“Move away from the door, girlies,” the small man said with a high–pitched and overly excited voice. This was obviously a game for him.
Eva and I moved to the back of the truck. Coming to a stop at the tailgate, I glanced back over my shoulder when someone shouted, “MOVE IT!”