Survival: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival series (Cloverdale Book 2) Read online

  “Whoa!” Vince hung on to the cab door and nearly lost his footing as the loader jumped forward a couple of feet. The sudden movement startled Cy enough that he let go of the wires and broke the connection, causing the engine to stall out and the loader to jerk backward this time. It threw him in the opposite direction and drove his shoulder into the base of the seat mount with a solid thunk.

  “I was just about to say ‘make sure it’s in neutral before you try to start it,’ but I guess we know it isn’t now.” Vince sighed as he readjusted himself on the steps.

  “At least we know it runs.” Cy rubbed his head and felt a small knot welling up.

  “You okay?” Vince asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” And he was, physically; it was his pride that hurt the most. Cy looked down at the gear selection lever on the column and saw that the indicator was halfway between neutral and low gear. He must have bumped it while he was trying to position himself under the console. He shifted the lever into neutral and wiggled it a little to make sure it was secure before he turned his attention back to the wires.

  Vince hopped off the bottom step and landed on the gravel. “I think I’ll watch from down here this time.”

  “I don’t blame you.” Cy smiled and was glad to see his dad taking his mistake so lightly. Reaching under the ignition as he sat down behind the wheel, he felt the two dangling wires and pulled them out from under the console so he could see them. He held them with one hand and then used the other to quickly twist the two ends together. Once more a small spark flashed and the engine roared to life.

  Cy looked back through the rear cab window and saw a large puff of black smoke jump from the exhaust pipe as the engine revved up and then slowed to a smooth idle. For as rough as the old loader looked, he was impressed by how well it was running.

  His dad climbed back up to the cab and tossed the bag of tools on the floor, then handed Cy his AR-15.

  “Sounds pretty good. You okay to drive this thing, or do you want me to run it back to town?” Vince asked.

  “I’m good. I got it.” Cy was already putting the bucket through its positions and familiarizing himself with the controls for the hydraulics. He glanced at his dad, who was still half in the cab and looking at him.

  “Seriously, Dad, I can handle it. No problem.”

  Vince nodded. “I know you can.” He started to climb down and then paused.

  “How about giving me a ride over to the Jeep?” Vince asked.

  Cy shrugged. “Sure, but there’s not much room in here.”

  “No problem. I’ll ride in the bucket.” Vince jumped down to the ground, then looked up at Cy and shot him a crooked smile. “Go slow.”

  Cy nodded as he pulled the cab door closed. He raised the bucket a couple of feet off the ground and leveled it off so his dad could easily climb in and sit down comfortably. It was much quieter with the door closed, and the seat was surprisingly comfortable. The feeling of power that washed over him as he sat there behind the wheel of the large loader was intoxicating, and for a brief moment, he forgot about what was going on around them.

  Once his dad was situated in the bucket and had given a thumbs-up, Cy pushed down on the brake and put the loader into the L position, which he assumed meant low. There was also an H on the column for what he also guessed was high gear. Until he was confident and got used to the handling, he’d keep it in low, especially with his dad riding in the bucket.

  As he eased his foot off the brake and onto the gas pedal, the big machine began to roll forward. He cut the wheel and headed for the taillights of the Jeep on the other side of the gravel yard. Slowly but surely, they made their way to John and Tom, who were waiting and watching. Both smiled when Cy pulled up alongside the Jeep.

  As soon as he stopped, his dad climbed out of the bucket and headed back toward the loader’s cab. Cy cracked the door open as his dad approached.

  “You still want to drive it back?” Vince asked.

  Cy nodded. “Yeah, no problem.”

  “All right then. You lead the way and we’ll follow you home.” Vince paused as he began to turn around and head to the Jeep.

  “How’s your fuel?”

  “I’m good. Almost a full tank,” Cy answered. Vince nodded and continued to the Jeep. Cy gave the guys a small wave as he passed them and started down the gravel road to the quarry’s exit. As he rumbled and bounced along, he felt invincible sitting up high in the fully enclosed cab of the loader.

  He glanced back at the headlights of the Jeep and turned the wheel unintentionally as he strained to look behind him. The loader swerved sharply to the left and he overcompensated by turning the wheel the other way in an effort to correct it, but this only made it worse and caused the loader to swerve and bounce. The articulated body on the loader was something he would have to get used to; it would be easy to lose control if he didn’t pay attention to what he was doing.

  Once he straightened the loader out, he resolved to concentrate and worry less about his dad and the others behind him. He hoped his dad hadn’t noticed his mistake, but he knew better. How could they miss the big yellow loader wildly swerving back and forth in front of them? He promised himself he wouldn’t let that happen again and gripped the wheel a little tighter.

  He slowed down at the end of the gravel road and only glanced at the burned ruins of the quarry office as he passed. When he reached the edge of the paved road, he mashed the brake pedal down, and the loader came to a stop with a low moan. Cy made a mental note about the soft brakes and checked both directions for traffic. The last thing he wanted to do was run into something or someone because he couldn’t stop in time. He felt a little foolish checking for traffic before he pulled out since he knew there was nobody on the roads and there was no traffic to look out for. Or was there?

  Chapter Eight

  It took a moment to sink in, but when it finally did, the realization that there were headlights coming toward them sent a cold chill down Cy’s spine. If he had to guess, the lights were a mile or two in the distance, but there was no mistaking the smaller lights as those of an ATV. The brighter set of headlights had to belong to a car or truck.

  Cy froze and stared in disbelief for a second, trying to rationalize that maybe the others from the motel had come to help them with the loader, but he knew it was the looters.

  He glanced back at the Jeep as it closed in on his position. Then it hit him that he should turn the lights off on the loader. He hit the switch and he was instantly enveloped in the darkness. He popped open the cab door and stepped out carefully, trying to keep his balance while he waved at his dad and the others.

  A section of tall bushes and weeds lined the gravel road near the entrance to the quarry, and Cy knew that his dad wouldn’t be able to see the approaching headlights from his lower position in the Jeep. Thankfully, from his elevated position in the loader, Cy spotted the looters over the vegetation.

  With any luck, the looters hadn’t seen his lights, although he doubted it. The four large floodlights adorning the upper part of the cab and the two others sitting at the top of the hydraulic arms that operated the bucket were extremely bright. The lights easily lit up a good fifty yards or so of road in front of the loader. It’d be a miracle if he hadn’t been spotted in the surrounding darkness.

  He waved frantically at John as the Jeep pulled up next to the loader and motioned for him to kill the lights. John finally figured out what Cy was trying to tell him and turned them off as the Jeep came to an abrupt stop.

  “The looters, they’re back. Over that way.” Cy pointed east, toward the road that led back to the interstate and Cloverdale. He was surprised, and a little relieved, to see the lights still so far away. Maybe they hadn’t been spotted after all.

  Vince and John hurried out of the Jeep and climbed up the loader, where they joined Cy outside the cab to get a better look down the road.

  “That’s them, all right. No doubt about it,” Vince said.

  John produced a
pair of small binoculars and glassed the approaching vehicles. “Can’t see much. Still a lot of smoke in the air. Definitely at least one car and a few four-wheelers. Not really sure how many people there are. Here, have a look.” John handed the binoculars to Vince.

  Vince let out a frustrated grunt. “I’m pretty sure that’s the same car I unloaded on at the gas station. I guess they got it patched up.”

  “Do you think they saw us?” Cy asked.

  “Hard to say,” John said. “They’re not moving very fast, but that could be because of the visibility.”

  “Or maybe the double-aught buckshot in the radiator,” Vince added with a smirk.

  “Hey, guys, what’s going on?” Tom shouted nervously from the Jeep. He was standing up in the back seat and hanging on to the roll bar.

  “Looters, but we’re not sure where they’re headed,” John answered.

  “What are we gonna do?” Cy asked.

  “We need to wait and see which way they’re headed,” John said. “They haven’t reached the intersection yet, and if they don’t come this way, there’s no reason to engage them in a fight, at least not right now.” He glanced at Vince.

  Vince nodded. “I agree.”

  “And what if they’re headed back to my dad’s garage or the motel to finish what they started?” Cy bit his lip and looked at John, then at his dad.

  “Well, we obviously can’t let them do that,” Vince responded. The three watched impatiently from the top of the loader as the looters continued to head toward the intersection where the burned eighteen-wheeler blocked the road.

  In the best-case scenario, they would turn and head north, away from the quarry and Cloverdale, but Cy didn’t believe for one second that they would do that. He knew in his gut that they were coming back for the supplies at his dad’s garage or, even worse, revenge. He was pretty sure his dad and John knew that, too. He also hoped they had a plan to deal with them.

  They continued to watch from the loader as the headlights weaved and threaded their way around unseen obstacles. They seemed to be traveling in a single-file line and looked more organized than the last time they haphazardly drove into town. Cy could hear the louder ATVs now, and the fact that they were going to have to deal with these people one way or another once again became very real.

  Cy could see them clearly enough now to count four ATVs and two cars. One of the cars was missing a headlight, and he had mistaken it for an ATV when he first spotted the group approaching. The cars were leading the entourage, with the ATV’s taking up the rear of the column.

  “There’s another car,” Cy said.

  “I see that,” John replied.

  Then it happened: the cars turned and the ATVs followed close behind. They were heading south toward Cloverdale. It was a bittersweet moment; the looters hadn’t spotted the bright lights of the loader, but they were definitely headed back to his dad’s garage and to undoubtedly exact revenge on the survivors.

  Chapter Nine

  “We need to let the others know,” Vince said. He regretted not getting in touch with Fred on the radio sooner. He was sure the looters had seen the bright spotlights on the loader and would head their way. He should have contacted Fred as soon as they saw them.

  “Tom, get Fred on the radio. Let him know to get the others ready. The looters are headed back to town.”

  Vince climbed down, skipping the last step and jumping to the ground. He ignored the pain in his back and made his way over to the Jeep while Tom attempted to contact Fred on the two-way.

  Tom was shaking his head and handed the radio to Vince as soon as he reached the Jeep. “Nothing,” he said, shrugging. “it’s not going through, Major.”

  Vince tried. “Fred, do you copy? Come in. Over.” But there was no answer. Vince tried a couple more times but heard no response.

  John had joined him at the Jeep and was climbing into the driver’s seat.

  “We need to get going. We’re wasting time here. We can’t let the looters catch them off guard.” He started the Jeep.

  Vince stood there, conflicted and unable to make a decision; he looked back at Cy, who was still on top of the loader and looking to him for direction. Suddenly, this plan of his seemed like a very bad idea. The others needed them now, but he didn’t want to leave his son here by himself.

  “Just go! I’ll be right behind you,” Cy shouted as he climbed back into the cab of the loader and began closing the door. Vince had no choice in the matter, and he knew it. They had to move if they were going to catch the looters. Cy would have to bring up the rear on his own.

  Vince thought about abandoning the plan for the time being and telling Cy to come with them in the Jeep, but then all this would be for nothing, and besides, they really needed that loader. Now that they had done the work and hotwired the thing, it would be easy pickings for the looters if they decided to take it for themselves.

  Vince reluctantly climbed into the Jeep, and before he could say anything to Cy, the rear wheels began to spin in the gravel as John put his foot down and made the turn out onto the paved road. Vince looked back and saw the loader lights ignite through a cloud of dust left behind by John’s quick departure.

  There were so many thoughts racing through Vince’s mind right now, but there was no time to make sense of any of them. They had to catch the looters before they reached the motel. With the radio not working, the others would be completely caught off guard and an attack would certainly produce casualties.

  Vince was troubled and briefly overcome with a sense of remorse for leaving them so vulnerable and unprepared. In hindsight, he should have planned better. He wasn’t sure how or what else he could have done, but that didn’t rid him of the gut-wrenching guilt he felt at the moment.

  John held out for as long as he could and managed to make it to the main road leading back to town before he flicked on the Jeep’s headlights. Vince was surprised that he waited for as long as he had, considering the speed they were traveling and the poor visibility. He was glad John was driving. Vince’s nerves would have given out long ago and he would have turned the lights on much sooner.

  Tom leaned forward, between the front seats. “What are we going to do?”

  “I’m not sure, but we can’t let them get into town.” John glanced back at Tom. “Just get ready and don’t hesitate to use your weapon.”

  Tom leaned back into his seat and brought the AR-15 up to his lap. Vince heard the familiar sound of the charging handle as Tom chambered a round and readied himself. Vince grabbed the 12-gauge wedged between the console and the seat and followed suit by pumping a shell into the action of the gun. It was a better choice than his .45, especially if he was going to be shooting from the Jeep at moving targets.

  Luckily for them, the ATVs were at the rear of the pack, and with any luck, the riders wouldn’t notice or hear the Jeep approaching over the loud exhaust note of their four-wheelers. The riders were all wearing helmets this time as well, another advantage for Vince and the others. The helmets would restrict the looters’ vision and hopefully prevent them from seeing the Jeep as it came up from behind—at least until Vince and the others were close enough to take action.

  Vince glanced back, trying his best to locate the loader. He didn’t see Cy anywhere, and the possibility of the loader breaking down or stalling crossed his mind.

  Vince wasn’t sure how fast the old machine would go, but he doubted Cy could coax much more than twenty or thirty miles per hour out of it, even in high gear. The old John Deere wasn’t made for speed and it was well past its prime.

  It sounded solid when they started it up, but there could be a big difference in how it idled and how it would tolerate being run flat-out. He knew his son and was certain that Cy would push the loader to its limits in hopes of catching up with them. Hopefully, the dated machine would run better than it looked. The last thing he wanted to think about was Cy ending up stranded. If that happened, Vince would have to go back for him.

  And what
if there were more looters on their way? If he broke down, Cy would be a sitting duck on the side of the road. He had his AR-15 with him, but the all-glass cab of the loader wouldn’t provide much cover and it would leave him very exposed in the event of an attack. This was all the more reason for Vince to take out the looters in front of him as quickly as possible and return to his son.

  He readjusted himself in the seat as he turned his attention to the taillights of the ATVs. They were not that far ahead anymore. The riders on the ATVs had spaced themselves out more than when they had first attacked the garage, and there was about a fifty-yard gap between them as they drove in a semi-straight line.

  John killed the lights again as they closed in on the last ATV in the column.

  “We might be able to get close before they notice us without the lights. I can follow their taillights from here,” John shouted without taking his eyes off the road or his hands off the wheel.

  Vince glanced over at the speedometer and saw that they were only going fifty miles per hour. With the top down on the Jeep and the wind rushing by, it felt like they were doing twice that. Or maybe the adrenaline pumping through his veins had made it feel like they were rolling down the highway at a much higher speed.

  Now, less than twenty yards away from the closest ATV, Vince could see a single rider bent over the handlebars, shotgun slung over his shoulder.

  “Take your time and make your shots count,” John cautioned. Vince readied the shotgun and prepared himself to do what was necessary. It wasn’t easy for him, and he felt conflicted about whether to aim for the ATV or the man driving.

  The answer was clear, but he was reluctant to accept it. Even if Vince shot the tire out or something, the driver would likely die in the crash. And if he didn’t and was only hurt, he would become a liability with a loaded gun. If he didn’t shoot at the Jeep, he would be there for Cy to deal with when he came along.