Human Extinction Level Loss (Book 3): Liberation (7 page)

“Hey!” he said.

Tommy turned, startled, and looked at Jacob. Jacob gestured for Tommy’s right hand. Dejected, Tommy slumped back in the seat and held up his arm.

“No, you fucking bastard!” Beverly screamed as she watched Jacob cable tie Tommy’s wrist to the handhold above his head.

Satisfied that they were secure, Jacob climbed back out of the Jeep.

Beverly and Tommy watched as Jacob turned and walked back through the forest, disappearing into the trees.

Ten

“It stinks,” Tommy said for perhaps the fifth time.

Beverly rubbed her nose and kept vigil through the windows.

“I know it does, Tommy, but I am trying to teach someone a lesson, okay. Hopefully it won’t be for much longer,” she said.

Tommy looked in the back of the Jeep to where the empty can of stew sat on the Sheriff’s footlocker.

“What’s the lesson you are trying to teach him?” he asked.

“That we are real and so are the consequences for kidnapping us,” Beverly replied.

Tommy looked from the can to his mom, then back to the can.

“What about if you have to go? I think that was our only can,” he said.

Beverly leaned her head against the glass and closed her eyes.

“Then you turn your head while I drop trou and pee all over his front seat,” she said.

Tommy looked at his mom and scrunched up his face.

“Eww, mom,” he said.

Tommy pulled the top of his shirt up over his nose and slumped back down in the seat. After several seconds, he pulled his shirt away and a sly grin crossed his face. Beverly noticed.

“What. I know that look,” she said.

“If that can were a nut, what kind would it be?” Tommy asked.

Beverly stared at him with a blank expression. Tommy’s grin brew broader.

“A Pecan. Get it? A pee-can,” he said.

Beverly’s face fell in mild disgust at the corny joke which only made Tommy laugh all the more. The sound of his laughter washed away her irritation and she began to laugh too.

Several hours later, the sun began its descent. Inside the Jeep, Beverly squirmed in her seat, legs crossed in visible discomfort. Tommy eyed her nervously.

“Don’t do it, Mom,” he said.

Beverly squeezed her legs a little tighter.

“I make no guarantees, Tommy. But let’s not talk about it, okay?” she said.

Tommy nodded.

Just when she thought she was going to have to make good on her threat, she saw Jacob approaching through the trees. He went around and opened up the back of the Jeep, placing his rifle inside. He was about to unlock the footlocker when the scent hit him. He wrinkled his nose and stared at the nearly full can of Tommy’s urine sitting on top of the locker. Glancing up, he saw two sets of eyes staring at him over the back seat. Tommy’s were full of questioning, Beverly’s full of defiance.

“You like to imagine things, like we’re not real? Imagine that can of piss is your stew, asshole,” Beverly said.

Jacob gave a disgusted sneer at Beverly then stood up and went around to the driver’s side. Beverly rocked back and forth in her seat as Tommy watched her.

“If he doesn’t let us out of here in about three seconds, the smell is fixin’ to get a lot worse,” she said.

Tommy looked afraid. He mouthed the words, ‘No”.

“Sorry, son. It’s about to be out of my hands,” Beverly said.

No sooner had she spoken, then her door was pulled open and Jacob reached in with a large knife. Tommy screamed as Beverly tried to fend the Sheriff off. Jacob struggled with her before finally reaching up and cutting her loose. He went around to the other side and did the same for Tommy. Beverly called to her son and he crawled out of the Jeep on her side.

Jacob watched but did not give chase as Beverly took Tommy’s hand and ran into the woods.

The running didn’t help at all and with every step of the way, Beverly felt like her bladder was going to burst. When she thought she had gotten far enough away, she stopped and looked around. Everything was quiet in the gathering dusk.

“Keep an eye out, Tommy,” she said.

Tommy turned around and looked for any sign of pursuit. All was quiet. Seconds later, the preternatural silence was interrupted by the subtle sound of a steady stream of liquid hitting the ground. Tommy turned quizzically and saw only his mother’s knees poking out from behind a tree.

“Mom, are you peeing?” he asked.

Beverly grunted. “Don’t worry about what I’m doing, Tommy. Are you keeping an eye out?” she said.

Tommy turned back around. As he did so, another sound overrode the noise of Beverly’s bodily functions. The sound of the Jeep’s engine grew louder as it approached. Tommy crouched down and stared into the trees. Behind him, Beverly called out in a hissing whisper.

“Tommy!

Tommy didn’t answer as he kept low and continued to look for any sign of the Jeep. Beverly was about to call out again, when her breath caught in her throat. Behind her, but still some distance away, the Jeep lumbered past them over the uneven terrain. Beverly, still squatting, froze, not daring to move or look back. The Jeep did not slow as it moved past. After several seconds, the sound of the engine began to fade away, and the natural silence of the woods returned.

Beverly hiked up her pants and rushed from around the tree.

“Tommy!” she whispered as loud as she dared. She was about to call again when Tommy appeared from behind a tree. He looked behind his mother at the ground.

“You did pee! I knew it!”

Beverly looked chagrined. Yeah, well, I had to go,” she said.

Tommy started giggling at his mother.

“Hey, I didn’t laugh at you when you peed in a can,” she scolded.

“Well, what did you do for toilet paper?” Tommy asked.

Beverly playfully slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t you worry about it, now come on, we’ve got to get out of here,” she said.

Tommy started another round of laughing as he moved ahead of his mother through the trees. Beverly smiled in spite of herself.

“Talk about being almost caught with your pants down! I am so telling Dad what you did,” Tommy said.

Tommy’s words cut through to her heart and her smile fled away. She stopped and stared after her son as he ran and jumped through the trees. The happy moment evaporated. They had laughed, and in that laughter she had forgotten the way the world had become, forgot that their best hope of a life was far away at the other end of a stranger’s broadcast, and forgot that the love of her life and father to her son was gone. She was now reminded anew that she had neither the luxury of a grave site nor the confidence that death was truly the end for Mark. She knew she would have to tell Tommy, but had convinced herself now was not the time. As she again started through the trees, she thought that it was getting easier and easier to tell herself that. Following her son, she knew in her broken heart it would only be that much harder on both of them when that time did come.

The burden in her heart was too heavy to carry and Beverly lagged behind a jubilant Tommy as he skipped and ran through the woods. It was too late to call to him when she saw the Jeep through the trees. It was parked by the side of the road, but she could not see the Sheriff. A new worry and concern welled up inside her and exploded from her chest.

“Tommy, get away from there!” she screamed, even as she broke into a run towards the road.

She could see Tommy motionless by the Jeep. Seconds later she burst from the tree line, expecting the worst, but the worst didn’t happen. There was no menacing figure who had caught them in a trap of false security. There was only the Jeep, its tailgate down. On the tailgate were two opened cans of stew, a spoon in each one. Beverly stared at the food and her stomach rumbled. Tommy looked up at his mother.

“Can we, mom? I am pretty hungry,” he said.

Beverly pulled her son to her side and looked inside the Jeep. Jacob sat motionless in the front seat, his hands on the steering wheel. He made no move to get out and did not turn to look at them.

“Go wait over there, Tommy,” Beverly said, pointing some distance down the highway away from the Jeep.

Tommy began to protest.

“Tommy!” Beverly shouted, her voice sounding more harsh than she intended.

“Please, don’t argue with me now, okay?” she said, softening her tone, but keeping it firm.

Tommy slumped and walked off a little ways from the Jeep. Beverly looked around on the ground and found a stout branch. She picked it up and tested the weight of it in her hands. Satisfied, she moved out onto the highway and began to approach the driverside window. She saw the Sheriff’s hands still resting on the steering wheel. As she approached, Beverly debated what she would do if she saw those hands move.

As she drew closer, she could see the Sheriff’s profile. He sat in the seat, the rest of his body as motionless as his hands. He stared straight ahead, not acknowledging her approach. Beverly kept a tight grip on the branch and tried to appear menacing.

“Hey! Asshole! What are you doing here?” she said.

After several seconds, Jacob spoke, his voice was level and low.

“You haven’t eaten since I picked you up. I thought you might be hungry.”

Beverly huffed. “Yeah, if by ‘picked up’ you mean kidnapped. You tied us in the back of your Jeep for a whole day!” Beverly said.

Jacob was nonplussed. “You did try to steal my Jeep,” he said.

Beverly screwed up her face. “You were acting like some kind of serial killer creepo! Wouldn’t talk to us— What did you mean when you asked, ‘Are we real?’ Only somebody with a loose hold on reality would ask something that, you know? I’ve got a son to think about!” Beverly shouted.

Jacob sighed, but still did not turn to face her. The two engaged in a standoff for several long seconds, Jacob staring straight ahead, Beverly staring at the side of his face and brandishing the tree branch. Finally, Jacob spoke.

“So, are you going to eat the food?”

Beverly blinked and she tried to counter the seemingly innocuous question. She took a step closer and pointed the branch at Jacob.

“Did you poison it?” she asked.

This time, Jacob did turn and looked at her with an expression of agitated incredulity. Beverly was chagrined as his expression brought the full weight of the paranoia of her question down on her. She stood staring at him a few seconds more, her body language betraying her inner struggle between hunger and safety.

“Yeah, well, you just stay put. The only reason I’m doing this is because my son is hungry. You so much as get out of this car, I’ll bash your brains all over this highway, you understand?” Beverly said.

Jacob turned his head and faced front again. Beverly waited another several seconds more before returning to the rear of the Jeep.

Tommy saw his mom get to the back of the Jeep and he came running even before she gave the all clear.

“Is it safe?” he asked.

Beverly handed him one of the cans of stew and kept an eye on the front of the Jeep as she ate her own.

Seeing his mom eat, Tommy dove hungrily into his own can.

Even though it was cold, the stew reminded her just how hungry she was. As she ate, her gaze focused more on the contents of the can and less on the front of the Jeep. Her lethal tree branch rested forgotten against the tailgate. She was almost done eating when she heard the driverside door open. In a flash, she put the can down on the tailgate and grabbed her branch with her right hand, pushing Tommy behind her with her left. Jacob moved down the length of the Jeep and stopped just before the tailgate. He stood and looked at Beverly and Tommy.

“My name is Jacob. Jacob Miller, not Asshole. I am headed West for a little while if you want a ride. I promise not to tie you up,” he said.

Beverly stood still, mulling his words over in her mind.

“Yeah… Well… Okay, as long as you don’t act like a creep or try to tie us up!” she said.

For the second time, she felt chagrined as she realized he agreed to her terms before she made them. Jacob stared at her and let it sink in.

“Yeah, Okay,” was all she could think to say to salvage her tough exterior.

Jacob turned and made his way to the front of the Jeep.

“Don’t you want to know our names?” Beverly asked.

Jacob stopped, but did not turn around.

“You’re Beverly and your son is Tommy. You already told me. I never forget a name… or a face,” he said, then opened his door and climbed behind the wheel. He sat inside the Jeep, waiting as Beverly and Tommy finished their meal.

Eleven

Beverly and Tommy slept in the back seat of Jacob’s Jeep Cherokee. Beverly had remembered what Mark used to tell Tommy to get him to go to sleep.

“
Beds are time accelerators. You go to sleep and when you wake up, hours will have passed and you didn’t even know
.”