Sudden Independents - By Ted Hill Page 0,61

and ripping through the miles at a faster pace. This time Scout didn’t object to his recklessness.

They continued following US 36 West. Their winter gear kept Hunter and Scout warm on their motorbikes for the most part, and the feeling of urgency did the rest. They didn’t stop for conferences anymore because there wasn’t any time. The path lay clearly ahead and they needed to catch up.

They passed through two more ghost towns. The fourth town they arrived at classified as a city, expanding in all directions around the highway with a McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell that all the boys looked upon with unbridled hunger. Scout placed the Wal-Mart on his to-do list for the spring and wondered if this city had a Boy Scout troop six years ago.

They siphoned fuel out of some vehicles near an old warehouse that backed a set of railroad tracks. Hunter and Mark stayed in their respective corners during the pit stop. Samuel handed out Chef Brittany sandwiches that didn’t carry the same appeal as a Happy Meal, but squelched their rumbling stomachs all the same.

After the quick bite, everyone loaded up their vehicles just as big fat snowflakes spiraled out of the sky. Scout looked at Hunter and they both lowered their heads. It took two minutes and a white blanket covered the ground. In three minutes they couldn’t see the other buildings across the street from the intensity of the whiteout.

The boys piled out of the SUVs and hurried into the warehouse, followed by Scout and Hunter, pushing their motorbikes inside. Samuel came through the door with a snowcap sitting on his head.

“Where’s Mark?” Scout asked.

Samuel hooked a thumb at the SUV. “He wants to keep going.”

“He would,” Hunter said.

“Keep that talk quiet,” Scout growled at him. “We’re going to be stuck here for a while. I don’t want to pull you guys apart every five minutes.”

Hunter moved to the back of the building. Scout watched him clear a spot and lie down, using his backpack as a pillow.

“We can’t ride in this weather,” Scout told Samuel. “We’d get stuck in the middle of nowhere and freeze to death. We’re lucky we were here when this storm hit.”

“I know.” Samuel turned toward the SUV that was barely visible through the snowfall. “We just need to convince him.”

“You kept the keys, right?”

Samuel jingled them at Scout.

“Good news is Chase and company won’t be able to drive in this either,” Scout said.

“Any bad news?”

“Only if they didn’t find shelter. Or they might be out from under the storm and leaving us behind. It doesn’t really matter. We’re stuck.”

The snow piled up around the SUV where Mark sat alone. Finally, even he gave up and waded through the drifts into the building where the search party had found refuge.

Molly was freezing in the truck bed with the pack of five boys. They finally came to the realization that she wasn’t putting out and huddling with them was easier ever since. The ride was smoother once Kessie started following the old road that stretched behind them like a broken ribbon of black asphalt through the withered grass. Every time they passed an abandoned town, Molly hoped they would stop. But the towns quickly faded in the distance like unimportant memories and still the brutal trip wore on and on.

That’s when she started thinking she’d made a mistake. A vision of Hunter leading a column of Independents boys coming to her rescue kept popping into her head. She shook the thought in agitation.

“I don’t need rescuing.”

A sleepy boy next to her lifted his head. “What?”

Molly didn’t bother responding. Why would she talk to the pawns of this little party? Still, she hated showing any type of weakness, and it was getting tougher with every mile. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as her eyesight blurred.

She woke from a sudden shift in momentum. Her eyes hurt as she opened them in the wintry air. The engine stopped and both doors to the cab opened.

“Wake up, girls!” Patrick yelled. He stretched and yawned, loud and obnoxious, and shook the nearest boy. “Grab that fuel we left inside and fill us up.”

They scrambled out of the truck, leaving Molly cold from their absence. Even her bones felt coated in ice. They had arrived in some forgotten town that resembled all the others previously passed, except for the trees that lined both sides of the street like tall, leafless guardians. Molly stood and