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  “Just get up here and we will talk about that more,” Sammie replied with a slight laugh.

  Nate hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time. He really enjoyed his talk with Sammie and hoped it would mean getting to know her better when, and if, they ever arrived.

  Nate climbed down from the semi after talking on the Ham radio. It was late in the evening, and everyone except Samson was sleeping. Samson was sitting outside the small cabin where Ben and Nicole slept. Nate made his way inside, and walked quietly to his bed in the back. Nate’s parents were sleeping in the only cabin that ended up having electricity and running water. In the morning when they were done with the cabin, the kids would take showers, and then Nate would go last. The water was going to be cold, but no one minded; they just wanted a shower.

  Nate relaxed and tried to close his eyes. He moved his arm done to his hip and upholstered his pistol. He then laid it in his jacket, inside the vest pocket. His rifle was just inside the door, up against the wall. Earlier, Nate discussed gun safety with Nicole, trying to ascertain her knowledge of firearms. He found her to be very familiar with guns because her father was an avid hunter. She had gone out with him several times, and even to local gun ranges for practice. This was good to know, but that didn’t mean she would ever be able to pull the trigger on a human life. Nate got up and cracked open the window near his bed.

  The cool mountain breeze felt very good. He could hear the distant sounds of numerous animals. This constant drumbeat of wild life helped lull him to sleep better than any drug would ever do.

  Chapter 16

  Halfway

  The morning temps dropped much more than Nate believed possible for this time of year, but he had to remind himself of their current elevation. He was the first to awake. He rolled out of the hammock nearly stepping on Samson underneath. The dog moved fast.

  “Sorry buddy, I forgot you were under me,” Nate said, reaching for him and ruffling up his neck. Samson jumped up with both paws on Nate’s chest, trying to lick at his face.

  “Ok, let me get the fire going, and then I will get you something.”

  Nate was running out of his homemade dog food. But fortunately, the dog liked fish minus the bones. Nate opened the door to the cabin and reached in to grab his rifle. He looked at both kids who were sound asleep. He gently closed the door and had Samson follow him. Nate then heard his father coming out of the cabin.

  “You are up early,” Nate whispered as he made his way closer to Henry. Henry was already dressed for the day and even looked like he managed a shave.

  “The water is cold, but it felt great to be clean. Your mom is still sleeping. Figured I would just let her rest. What are you up to?” Henry asked.

  “I thought I might go down to the stream and try to catch some fish. Need to stock up for us and the dog,” Nate replied.

  Henry nodded.

  “Think the poles are in the back of the Tundra, I will get a fire going and some coffee,” Henry said. “I will keep an eye out on things here also. Just don’t be gone too long, Nate. Not sure how much longer your mom can handle being on the road,” Henry said in a serious tone.

  “Is she sick? What’s wrong?” Nate asked, stopping in his tracks. Nate knew his mom to always be very healthy. She seldom even suffered from allergies, let alone the common cold.

  “She’s not sick, son; just tired. Hell, I’m tired. This is a lot on us older people. Maybe it’s the combined stress of the world’s events, but we are just sore, stressed, and tired,” Henry replied.

  Nate relaxed inside. He was however sorry that they were going through this. This is not what they worked so hard over the years to accomplish.

  “I’m truly sorry, dad. I know this wasn’t an easy decision,” Nate said.

  Henry looked down. He appeared to be really worried.

  “Nate, we may never see your brother and sister again. I am sure they are doing well where they are. We are not concerned too much because we know we raised them like you. In time, when things are better, we will reconnect. When you came home we were not surprised, but decided right then we would not be without you. We couldn’t do anything but wait for you. Now we are together, and that’s how it will remain,” Henry finished.

  “I understand. I feel the same way,” the two hugged, and Nate and Henry walked to the rear of the truck.

  “I won’t be long; if they are biting, I will get as many as I can and cook them up,” Nate said.

  Henry nodded, handing him the pole. Samson followed Nate as he walked away. Henry stood at the tailgate watching his son as he made it to the small stream within sight. He was very proud of the man Nate became. He took on the responsibility of caring for Ben, and maybe now Nicole. He wasn’t sure what life would bring them all once they arrived in North Wyoming, but he knew they would all be together and closer to his other kids up in North Dakota.

  Nate was fly-fishing. It was a recent discovery for him. Up in Montana months earlier was where he first tried the technique. He always heard it was pretty difficult and perhaps in some setting it was, but in streams like this, he thought it was very easy. The trout were biting well on the flies he had. So far he had three good size trout. He took one of the larger ones and walked up to the bank. He quickly gutted and deboned the fish. He tossed the dog the meat. Samson was eagerly enjoying the breakfast when he stopped and raised his head. He sniffed at the air. Nate heard the sniff barely over the running water. Then Samson growled at something across the stream. Nate easily heard the growl. He turned his head to see Samson staring across the water. Before Nate could turn his head, he heard the unmistakable sound of a bear huffing his own bark at Samson. Nate turned to see a sizable black bear with a few cubs standing up, looking over the bushes at Nate and the dog.

  “Samson, come here,” Nate commanded. The dog did as he was told, not taking his eyes off of the bear. Nate knelt down slowly and grabbed hold of Sampson’s thick collar with one hand. With the other hand, he dropped his pole on the ground and reached for the basket that held the other two fish. He pulled it slowly up out of the water. He reached in and grabbed one of the fish, and threw it like a football over the area where the bears were. One of the cubs saw the fish land and flipping around on the ground. The bear ran at the free meal. The mother bear still standing up right, watched as Nate threw another fish toward her. She dropped to her front paws and took off for the fish, followed by the second cub.

  “Good boy, Samson; good boy.”

  Never at any point did Nate feel threatened, he had his gun and could have easily fired a warning shot. However, that wasn’t necessary this time. The bears could be seen leaving the area presumably after retrieving their hand feed breakfast. Nate picked up the pole and began again fishing. This time though he kept his eyes open more to his surroundings. If that had been a grizzly up north, things would have been different; but he knew grizzlies were no longer found this far south.

  When Nate walked back to the cabins, he saw everyone already outside and sitting around the small fire pit. The smoke smelled good, like bacon; but he knew they didn’t have bacon. As he walked closer, he could smell that it was bacon; big thick slices.

  “Any luck?” Henry asked, looking at the basket.

  “Yep, got four would have had seven, but I fed some bears,” Nate said smiling.

  “You fed some bears? Nate, are you ok?” Betty asked. She stood to look him over only like a mother could do.

  “I’m fine thanks to Samson. They just wanted some breakfast. They are gone now. So can someone tell me where the bacon came from?” Nate asked, stepping over to the small paper plate to sample a cooked piece.

  “Nate, wash your hands first,” Betty said smiling. Nate stopped and walked over to the old style water well, hand pump that was sticking out of the ground. He pumped it till the water came up, and washed his hands off.

  “Son, we do have soap,” she said, tossing him the small bottle.

  “We discovered in the old lady’s shop that she had
a freezer running off of a solar generator. We didn’t see the panels till just a bit ago. She has a full chest freezer of a variety of meats, and a few frozen bags of store bought veggies,” Henry informed Nate as he finished washing his hands. Nate turned his head to look at the office and could barely see the edge of a solar panel.

  “What kind of system she have?” Nate asked, walking over to dry his hands with a paper towel.

  “She was using the large Goal zero hooked up to several large solar panels. It’s powerful enough to keep things frozen,” Henry replied.

  “Dad, you think we can make room for that stuff somewhere?” Nate suggested, referring to the solar generator. He was certain he could make room for the small, but powerful generator; but the panels were another thing.

  “How about I strap one down in the back of the semi up against the rear cabin and you lay the other on top of the roof of the ranger. Between the two of us, I’m sure we have enough tie downs and rope,” Henry replied.

  Nate like the idea, but wished they had enough room for the small chest freezer.

  “I’m not comfortable just taking Martha’s stuff though; I think I need to leave something here with a note explaining what we took. I will leave some cash with a note. It may be silly, but at least if things get better and her family shows they will know someone didn’t take advantage of her after her passing,” Nate said.

  “Nate, that’s a wonderful thought. I will add some cash to yours for the stay in the cabins as well…and the bacon,” Betty replied.

  After everyone had their fill of bacon, Nate set out to remove the two large solar panels from the roof of the cabin. He disconnected the wiring, and was careful in handing them down off the ladder they used from the storage shed. Henry went inside and removed the Goal Zero generator. The small freezer remained, reluctantly. Betty had removed the food from inside, placing it all in the cooler they had already brought. If anything, they would cook the food as it defrosted so not to waste anything. Ben was busy taking his very fast cold shower. Nicole was done earlier with her shower and helping Betty pack away things. Samson was lying on the ground in the morning sun sleeping.

  The solar panels were secured. They would provide a means to make electricity. Everyone was ready and waiting for Nate. He was in the office leaving the note with some cash that totaled over $1,000. He didn’t feel right doing anything else. He realized that someone might break in and steal the money, but with the lack of people they encountered, that might not happen. He could only do what he knew was right. He looked around and saw a few pictures on the walls. They were pictures of Martha and who Nate believed to be her long-lost husband.

  “May God grant you two time in heaven now and peace,” Nate said as he turned and walked out the door.

  Nate stepped out the door and headed for his truck. Everyone else waited for him in the vehicles. It was a sunny morning and they were half way now.

  Nate waved at his dad, giving him a thumb up that he was ready to leave. Henry waved back and stated backing up on the gravel to give Nate room to turn around. Inside Nate’s truck, he found Nicole in the front seat, with Ben stretched out in the back with Samson.

  “Ben insisted that ladies ride up front,” Nicole commented, seeming to be a little embarrassed at her statement.

  “Is that ok, dad?” Ben asked.

  Nate smiled.

  “Of course it’s ok. That’s being a gentleman, Ben,” Nate replied, pulling the truck out and onto the empty old state road headed north. After about twenty minutes, they found the next town of Allenspark. The area was set with several small lodges, a community church, closed businesses, and a fire department right off the main highway on the right. In seconds, they were through the town. Once again, they didn’t see anyone, only very dusty cars.

  “Ben, what town is next?” Nate asked his rear seat copilot.

  Nate could hear Ben flipping through the pages to get to the Colorado page. He was tracing his finger along the page finding the last town they had driven through, and following the road north.

  “Looks like nothing until Estes Park,” Ben finally said.

  Nate remembered the first time they came through Estes was when he and Ben were going home. That seemed so long ago now. He wondered how the town was, and the FEMA camp that lay south. He wasn’t on the exact road this time that would take him near the FEMA setup, and he was glad about it. However, they would be going through downtown again; that wasn’t something they could avoid. Last time there were many people; most likely tourists that were stuck. Soon, they would find out how many were left.

  Henry was watching the fuel in his truck. He had half a tank left now. If he was still pulling the trailer, it would have been gone by now; that he knew. He looked ahead and wondered how they would all fit in Nate’s truck. It would mean leaving more things behind, but at least Nate had enough spare fuel for them all to get to their new home. Nate would hate to do it, but leaving the Ranger behind was going to become a reality soon if they had to conserve on fuel. It also took so much more room out of the bed of the truck. Henry saw the sign for Estes Park, and picked up the CB radio mic.

  “Estes Park is a bigger town if I recall, Nate,” Henry said.

  Nate picked up the radio mic and replied.

  “It’s bigger than most towns we have driven through. Ben and I came through ok on the way home. Not sure how it will be this time. Not far from Estes Park is a FEMA camp, or at least there was.” Nate stated.

  “We better stay clear of places like that. Hate to have everything taken by the authorities there if they are even still around,” Henry commented.

  “I agree,” Nate replied.

  Ben was looking carefully at the map, holding it close to the window, trying to see with the help of the sunlight.

  “Dad, up ahead is a road that goes away from town and to the east. Looks like it will take us to that Highway 34 you want to be on without going through town. It’s called Fish Creek Road. Maybe there will be a sign ahead,” Ben said.

  “Really? Thank you, Ben; good job,” Nate said.

  Ben looked up to see Nicole smiling at him.

  “Wow, good job, Ben. You have a good sense of direction. I get lost easily,” she said.

  “I don’t know why I like looking at maps, it just comes easy to me, and it relaxes me also,” Ben said.

  Nate looked back at Ben in the rearview mirror.

  “Whatever reason, Ben…you are really good at it,” Nate said.

  Ben smiled and returned to his duty of map reading and trying to help.

  Ben was correct. The road sign was coming into view for the turn off for Fish Creek Road. It was a small dirt gravel road, but would work. The turn was off to the right with a beautiful large lake in view, along with mountains to the north, clearly in view. Nate informed his dad about the road, and together they made their way to the northeast toward Estes Park, but away from town. The road was curvy at times with some cabins that appeared to be empty.

  The drive into the valley was mostly a view of homes scattered here and there. Only a few people were seen sitting in the front yards, while others were busy in their gardens. A few heard them coming and waved, but didn’t do anything else. Soon they made their way to Estes Park Gold Club. The road ran past the course and up to Lake Estes. Nate followed the signs that took him to Highway 34 going east out of town. They could see many people in boats out on the water fishing. Anglers were also in the Big Thomson River fly-fishing. This time there didn’t seem to be as many people out as there was before, but that was months ago.

  Nate only saw one police car parked on the shoulder of the road. He waved at the officer who waved back. He looked surprised to see two large trucks coming by, but didn’t stop them. Nate was glad for that. The road out of Estes Park was a small two-lane road with lots of sharp turns with the river flowing at times on either side. Several cottages and cabins for lodging tourists were spotted; mostly empty looking. A few, however, did have cars up in the driveways; mo
re than likely, the ones that the owners also lived at while renting out available cottages. The further east they drove, the less people could be seen fishing in the river. About forty minutes passed before they were able to take the next highway – 27 north.

  Nate picked up the radio mic.

  “Ok dad, this road will take us up to Rustic. Remember what I told you about Rustic? If it were not for these kind people, we likely would not have made it home,” Nate stated.

  Nate had told Henry and his mother after coming home how Chris and his family provided him with the Ranger and extra supplies. They were not far away now. This would take them a little off course, but if things went as planned, they would be in Wyoming by the end of the day, and closer to one more goal he hopped to achieve.

  “Ok Nate, we trust you,” Henry said, smiling at Betty.

  Betty was reading a book and looked up when she heard Nate’s words.

  “What is he planning, Henry?” Betty asked.

  “I think he wants to return the Ranger to that kid and his family he told us about where he took out all those bad men,” Henry said.

  Betty’s face grimaced at recalling the story. Nate practically turned into Rambo for those people. He had no choice she knew that, but she still felt for the family having went through such a horrific event.

  “Oh, I see. It will be good to meet them, Henry,” she replied.

  Henry nodded in agreement.

  Nate took the highway northwest, and kept the speed they were going at a constant sixty miles an hour, trying to conserve as much fuel as possible. To the left, they could all see the Loveland Water Reservoir. It was nearly dried up. Nate thought about the water they had, and how many times they already refilled, sanitized, boiled, and filtered along the way, fortunate to find good flowing sources. He wondered if Sammie’s family had well water.

  After nearly two hours of hilly, curvy terrain, they finally came to the end of Highway 27. They would now take Highway 14 to the west. They were only miles away now from Chris’s family home. Nate spent a good portion of the trip telling both Ben and Nicole about Chris and his family. He explained the things that happened that lead him to meet Chris, and how they helped Nate with supplies. Ben seemed sad to think about getting rid of the Ranger, but knew it would help them by not carrying it further.