Free Into The Darkness by Doug Kelly Page B

out from behind the bushes and told Richard he would have to move
back into the thicket and stay concealed. Richard stepped out of the raft and
helped Kevin carry it into the dark wooded area. As he walked away Richard felt
the warm urine that had soaked his pants go cool in the nighttime air. He hoped
the other two men did not notice and was glad to be walking into the darkness.
The three finally drifted to sleep in their rafts, covered by their plastic
tarps.
    Dylan
was the first to wake the next morning. He remained under the tarp as his mind
migrated from the world of peaceful dreams to his newfound reality. His body
was motionless as he lay there, listening to nature’s morning chatter by the
river. He closed his eyes and tried to identify all the noises from his new
surroundings. There was an orchestra of songbirds, crickets, frogs, a few
buzzing insects that had found their way under the tarp, and the perpetual
sound of the river. He pulled the tarp aside and felt the cool morning air. He
groped around on the floor of the raft to verify that the pistol remained where
he had hid it, then he stood and stepped out of the raft, saying quietly to
himself, “Time to start the day.”
    Dylan
walked out of the thicket and toward the smoldering campfire. He split a few
pieces of driftwood and tossed them on the glowing embers to get the flames
back, hoping there would be fish to cook. Then his attention turned to the
where he left the intruder last night. He glanced at the lifeless body, and
walked toward it. The sound of chopping wood had awakened Kevin from the short
night’s sleep. He joined Dylan and they both stood staring at the man sprawled
on the ground.
    “What
do you want to do with the body?” asked Kevin.
    “Nothing.
Let the buzzards have it,” Dylan replied.
    Pointing
at the body Dylan said, “This is the reason why we need to avoid people. I
can’t imagine what the roads will be like. They’re probably full of desperate
people like this guy.”
    “What
roads will be the worst?” asked Kevin.
    “The
interstates will be bad. You don’t know how happy I am that we’re not trying to
travel on an interstate. Lots of people were stranded on the interstates and
with every second that passes, they’re going to get more desperate. Then inside
the towns, I know there’s going to be road blocks and traps set for the
unsuspecting.”
    “Dylan,
I looked at Richard’s map. I hate to tell you, but the interstate stays by this
river for miles. We’ll be right beside that interstate for…I don’t know how
long. I saw a small town on the map named Cascade, downstream from here. We
might be able to get there by the end of the day. Then next is Great Falls, and
we’ll have five dams to get around in about ten miles.”
    “Shit!”
Dylan exclaimed. “There are five dams outside of Great Falls?”
    “Yeah.
I didn’t think you wanted to hear that. One more thing, Great Falls has a
military base. There’ll be plenty of soldiers with guns that we need to avoid.”
    Dylan
shook his head and said, “Well, there’s nothing we can do about that. We’d
better get busy. See if we got any fish last night and I’ll get more wood on
the fire.”
    Kevin
went to the trotlines that he had set the previous day. Each line was tied
around a large stick and the end of the stick was hammered securely into the
ground. He pulled on the first line and it felt heavy. Kevin hauled the line in
and revealed a large catfish. He pulled the fish up to dry ground where it flailed
convulsively. Kevin grabbed a large stick and hit the fish squarely on the head
to kill it. He was able to retrieve two more catfish of similar size from the
remaining lines, and the other fish met the same fate when he hauled them in.
Kevin, now in possession of the switchblade that Dylan had acquired, used it to
cut a long flexible branch from a small tree. He used this little branch to
thread through their gills so he could carry the fish after he cleaned