Into the Mist Read online

  “What it is?” Mercury asked quickly.

  Mrs. Gay shook her head. “Another man. Just outside the car. Dead. Like poor Mr. Hale.”

  “I wonder what the hell is going on with that,” Stella murmured softly so that her words only carried over the engine noise to Mercury.

  Mercury shrugged. She had no answer. Everything that had happened since the first explosion was beyond anything she’d ever imagined. She didn’t even like apocalypse movies. They creeped her out too much, so she never watched them—well, except for an occasional zombie flick. Great, and now I’m living a fucking apocalypse. If zombies show up, I’m going to … Mercury’s thoughts trailed off because the truth was, if zombies showed up, she wouldn’t give up. She’d fight to keep herself—and her group—alive. She squeezed her eyes closed and sent a quick prayer, which would’ve seemed utterly ridiculous just an hour before, to her patron goddess. Please, Gaia, no zombies.

  They rounded another turn, and a long section of highway unfolded in front of them—though here, too, there was only the two westbound lanes still intact. The cliffside lanes were mostly gone. Mercury didn’t let herself look over the earth-torn edge. It wouldn’t do any good. She couldn’t save the people who had been swept down the mountainside, so she focused on what was ahead of them instead—clusters of stalled cars and trucks—as well as more wrecks. She thought she could make out people around some of the vehicles, though they weren’t close enough to tell if they were alive or dead. What was for sure was that their truck was the only one moving within sight.

  Understanding jolted through Mercury. “The bombs caused an EMP. That’s why none of those cars are running.”

  “Oh shit.” Jenny stiffened beside her. “Then that is going to be nuclear fallout.” She jerked her chin up at the unnaturally dark sky.

  “Nuclear weapons?” Stella’s voice went up several octaves. “That’s so, so bad. What’s an EMP?”

  “Electromagnetic pulse,” Mercury said.

  “Oh Lord Jesus! Then we’re all going to die!” Karen wrapped her arms around her torso and rocked back and forth.

  Stella met Mercury’s gaze. “Was that what the green fog stuff was—nuclear fallout?”

  Mercury shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never read or seen anything about fallout, or even bombs, that are green. Jenny, you just got out of college. Have you?”

  The young teacher shook her head. “Nope. Never.”

  “It’s nuclear. That’s what causes an EMP,” insisted Mrs. Gay.

  “Not necessarily,” said Mercury. “Other bombs can cause an electromagnetic pulse.” She looked up at the sky and her stomach tightened. “But let’s hurry and get to cover.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Stella shifted into third. She held onto the wheel with both hands and didn’t take her gaze off the road. “Why is this truck still running when all the rest aren’t?”

  “One reason is that it’s pre-electric and pre-computerized,” Mercury explained. “I would think the pulse would’ve still fried the battery, but my guess is it didn’t because it was off when the blast hit. All these cars and trucks we’ve been passing—none look like they’re old enough to be pre-electric, and they were all running when the blast hit, so they’re fried. My guess is if the Escalade hadn’t been wrecked, we could’ve driven it out of there because it wasn’t running when the bomb hit.”

  “Hey, are those people?” Jenny squinted at a clump of cars and trucks in the distance, easily visible because they were situated on a rise in the highway.

  “I think so,” said Stella. “We can put some of them back there in the bed of the truck. They can hunker down under the tarp. It’ll be windy and cold, but better than walking, especially if they’re injured.”

  “We’re not stopping, are we?” Mrs. Gay’s voice had lost its trembling fearfulness and returned to its familiar sharpness.

  Mercury looked around Jenny and at her. “Of course we’re stopping. We’re not driving by people who need help.”

  “But you can’t know what kind of people they are,” Karen said. “They could be dangerous.”

  “What just happened is dangerous.” Mercury frowned at her.

  “We’re going to help anybody we can,” said Stella.

  “We can’t just leave people out here to die,” added Jenny.

  Mercury cleared her throat and finished with, “It’s the Christian thing to do.”

  Karen’s gaze snapped to hers. “You’re not a Christian.”

  “Correct.” Mercury’s answer was immediate. “But you are.” She held the history teacher’s gaze until Karen looked away.

  CHAPTER

  5

  “SHIT. SOME OF them look like they’re hurt,” Stella said as the old truck slowed, and they reached the first of the vehicles.

  From a distance it had appeared as if the cluster of cars and trucks had been a massive pileup, but as they got closer, it became clear that only one car had rear-ended a huge Winnebago. A few of the other vehicles had skidded around the accident and were partially on the side of the road before the EMP brought them all to a standstill. There were several people lying on the mountain side of the westbound lanes, as far as was possible away from the easement of broken and bent pine trees and the nonexistent west lane. Two people stood over them. A mile or so farther down the highway, Mercury could just make out what looked like a small group of people walking down the middle of the road, away from them.

  “I’m going to stop, but I’m not getting out,” said Stella.

  “No one is. Or at least we aren’t at first,” Mercury said quickly. “Just roll down your window and let’s see how we can help.”

  Stella nodded, pulled the truck beside the group, and rolled down her window.

  “Hey there,” she said. “Do y’all need help?” Stella sounded completely normal, but her Okie accent had thickened, a sure sign that she was stressed.

  The two people who were standing were women—one was middle aged and the other, considerably younger. Their resemblance made it seem as though they could be mother and daughter. The older of the two wiped her sleeve across her dirty face wearily and nodded as she motioned for the girl to stay where she was. She walked to the truck.

  “Hi. Thanks for stopping. It’s, uh, crazy that your truck works. All these other vehicles quit when the explosions started.” The woman’s eyes darted around like she expected someone to leap at her from out of the back of the truck.

  Mercury leaned forward and smiled. “I’m Mercury. This is Stella—and Jenny and Karen.” She ignored the woman’s comment about the truck and nodded at the people lying on the ground behind her. “We’re heading back toward Timberline. Do you folks need a ride?”

  “Oh yes! I’m Sadie Jenkins and this is my daughter, Gemma. We were on our way home from brunch at Glacier Pub when all hell broke loose. We’re okay, but the others—well, they’re dead.” She finished in a rush and wiped her sleeve across her face again. “Gemma and I helped these people. We don’t know them, but they can’t walk, and when that group left,” she jerked her chin at the people in the distance, “we just didn’t feel right abandoning them.”

  Stella asked. “Do you know those other people?”

  Sadie nodded. “Yeah, there’s a guy in charge named Alvin Rutland. He’s a hops farmer with a big place east of Government Camp. The men with him are his workers, and there are a few women with them I didn’t recognize. Al said he’d send back help once they get to town.”

  “And he’s okay, this, um, hops farmer?” Mercury asked.

  “Well, I don’t really know him. He’s more of an acquaintance.”

  “No, I meant does he feel okay. Is he wounded?” clarified Mercury.

  “He seemed to be fine. He and his men were in that Range Rover.” She pointed to a big black vehicle that had skidded to a stop on the near side of the Winnebago. “When the green stuff hit and all that debris came with it, their group was shielded by that thing. Rutland had a bloody nose, but besides that he was walking and talking, so …” She shrugged.

  “And the other men walking with him? They’re not, uh, wounded?” Stella said.

  “Nah. They all hunkered down against the Winnebago, which saved them from the worst of it. Some bloody noses and scrapes, but not bad enough to stop them walking away.” She lowered her voice and added. “More than half of the people died, though. It’s really awful. The men just—just dissolved. My daughter and I, we left them where they fell. We didn’t know what else to do.”

  “There’s really nothing else you can do,” said Stella. “We need to focus on the people who are alive.”

  “Speaking of which, how about we get those wounded people in the bed of our truck,” Mercury said. “If you don’t mind the wind, you can ride back there with them too.”

  Sadie’s shoulders slumped with relief. “We don’t mind at all, but we’ll need some help getting them into the truck. We have one with a broken leg, and I think another has some cracked ribs. And the others—two men from the Winnebago—are unconscious but seem to be breathing just fine.” She paused. “You came from the other side of the pass?”

  “No, we weren’t through the mountain when the explosions happened,” Mercury said. “We were only a little farther down the highway, at the scenic turnout.”

  Sadie’s eyes lit. “So, you could see a ways?”

  Mercury nodded. “Yeah, all the way to Portland and even Salem.”

  “Between here and Portland—did bombs or whatever this is—hit that area too?”

  Mercury moved her shoulders. “It was hard to tell, especially because we’re from Oklahoma and don’t know the area, but it looked like most everything there”—she jerked her thumb over her shoulder to point behind them—“is either on fire or torn up by the earthquakes.”

  Sadie looked down and didn’t appear to be able to speak. When she finally met Mercury’s gaze again, her eyes were filled with unshed tears. “Our home—it’s just this side of Portland in Gresham. My husband always stays home on Sunday mornings so Gemma and I can have a mother–daughter brunch.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Stella said.

  Sadie nodded and wiped her eyes. “He could be okay. We do have a basement. I’m—I’m just going to believe he’s okay. He has to be. He just has to be.”

  “I hope he is. I, uh, think we should get going,” Mercury said gently. “An aftershock could happen any time.”

  “You’re right. Yeah, we need to get out of here.” Sadie drew a deep breath and wiped her face again. “Can you help Gemma and me get them into your truck?”

  “Absolutely,” said Mercury. “Mrs. Gay, Jenny and I will work with Sadie and her daughter to move the wounded while you lift the tarps and push the luggage out of the way.”

  “And I’ll stay behind the wheel in case we need to get out of here quick,” added Stella.

  Mrs. Gay narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, but she unlocked her door and lumbered to the rear of the truck so Mercury and Jenny could slide out. Mercury put down the heavy old tailgate, and then she and Jenny boosted Mrs. Gay up into the bed.

  “We should hurry,” Mrs. Gay grumbled.

  “Yeah, that’s what we’re doing,” said Mercury before she turned to Sadie. “Okay, let’s get these people out of here.”

  Together Jenny and Mercury went to the roadside with Sadie. There were four adults on the ground—one woman and three men. Mercury went to the woman, whose jeans were ripped open down one leg, exposing a nasty break. Someone had placed two long sticks on either side of the leg in an attempt to stabilize it and tied them together with what looked like torn-up strips of a T-shirt.

  Mercury glanced at Sadie. “Did you make that splint?”

  “No, the teenager did,” said the woman with the broken leg. Her face was sallow, and a film of sweat beaded her upper lip.

  Mercury’s gaze went to Gemma. “Good job with that.”

  Gemma shrugged. “During school breaks I volunteer at OHSU.”

  “OHSU?” Mercury asked.

  “Oregon Health and Science University. I wanna be a doctor—actually an orthopedic surgeon.” The teenager put her long, cocoa-colored hair behind her ears. Her green eyes were bright and intelligent, and she looked way older than her years.

  “Impressive!” Jenny said.

  “She’s always loved science,” said her mom.

  “Huh! Me too!” Jenny smiled at Gemma. “And now I teach science.”

  “And I teach biology.” Mercury nodded at the teenager. “You definitely did a good job with this splint.” She squatted beside the injured woman. “This is going to hurt, and I’m sorry for that, but we need to get you—”

  “You don’t have to explain it to me. I get it. It’s hurts like hell anyway. I’m just thankful you stopped.” She paused and smiled weakly at Sadie. “And thankful Sadie and her daughter didn’t leave us here like those jackasses did. By the way, I’m Marge Jackson, and this is my partner, Nathan Long.”

  “Mercury and Jenny,” Mercury said quickly.

  Nathan, who was lying beside Marge, turned his head and blinked his vision clear. “Nice to meet you ladies. Feels like my ribs are broken, but like Marge here, I’ll be damn glad to get into that old truck.”

  “Do either of you know those two?” Mercury asked, nodding at the unconscious men beside them. Their faces were bloody, though someone—Mercury guessed Gemma—had tried to wipe them clean. Another makeshift bandage was wrapped around one of the men’s heads. Blood had seeped through it, and his nose was bleeding sluggishly. The other man’s forehead looked like raw hamburger with glass mixed in it.

  “Nope. Sadie and Gemma pulled them outta that Winnebago over there. The one rear-ended,” said Marge.

  “Neither of them were wearing seat belts,” said Sadie.

  “Well, let’s lift the unconscious men in first, if y’all don’t mind,” said Mercury.

  “We can wait our turn,” said Marge, and Nathan nodded in agreement.

  “The bed’s as ready as it’s going to be,” Mrs. Gay called from the back of the truck.

  “The four of us can lift them together,” Mercury said as she moved to the first of the two unconscious men. She bent and felt for the pulse in his throat—not because she could tell whether it was fast or slow or anything in between, but because she wanted to check that it was there at all. The man was so still and pale, he looked dead, but there was a heartbeat under her fingers, though it felt like the fluttering wings of a very small bird. “Sadie and Gemma, y’all get on his left. Jenny and I will be on the other side of him. Let’s grab wrists under him and lift on three.” The four women linked wrists. “One, two, three!” The man was young and slight and more awkward to carry than heavy. They moved together and slowly lifted him to the bed of the truck, where Mrs. Gay put her arms under the man’s shoulders and helped pull him to the rear of the bed.

  They returned for the second man, the one whose forehead looked like raw meat. He was older than the first guy, though not by much. He was also heavier. Just as they linked wrists beneath him, the man’s eyelids fluttered and then opened.

  “Where am I?” He looked around frantically. “Jason? Where’s Jason?”

  Mercury touched his shoulder gently. “You’ve been in an accident. We’re going to take you to find help. Your friend is already in the back of our truck.”

  “He’s—he’s my cousin.” The man started to sit up, moaned painfully, then reached up to touch his forehead. He flinched and began to pant with panic.

  “My face! What’s wrong with my face?”

  “Don’t touch it.” Mercury tried to keep her voice calm, but she was utterly out of her comfort zone. Unlike Gemma, she had definitely never wanted to be a doctor.

  “It’s not your whole face,” Gemma said kindly. “Your forehead’s been cut up some, but don’t touch it ’cause there’s still glass in your skin. You’re gonna be fine. What’s your name?”

  “T-Todd,” his voice shook. “Todd Wilson.”

  “Hi, Todd, I’m Gemma. Don’t worry, okay? We’re gonna get you out of here now.”

  “Todd, can you slide one arm around my neck and the other around Sadie’s?” Mercury asked, cutting her eyes to the woman whose wrist she’d grasped.

  “Who are you?” asked Todd, whose eyes didn’t seem to be able to focus, but looked glassy and blank. “Where am I?”

  “I’m Mercury and you’ve been in an accident, remember? We’re here to help, but we have to get you into the—”

  “Something’s wrong!” Todd’s body began to tremble. “I feel wrong. Inside. Like, like I’m broken. I don’t think I can—” His words ended as he began to cough so violently that Mercury lost her grip on Sadie’s wrists, and she had to catch Todd’s torso before it smacked against the ground.

  “Hey, it’s okay. We can wait for you to catch your breath,” Gemma said.

  Todd reached wildly out and snagged Mercury’s hand. She was shocked at the strength in his grip. “It’s okay,” she said, repeating Gemma’s words, careful to keep her voice soothing. “Like Gemma said, we can wait for you to—”

  Todd made a horrible noise—a cross between a scream and a retching sound—more animal than human. Then he flopped to his side and began to vomit something that looked like red Jell-O. It was pouring from his gasping mouth, his nose and even his eyes. It spread around them in a sickening, sluggish pool of scarlet.

  Mercury’s mind whirred. It’s like what Hale turned into and what hemorrhaged from Amelia. She wanted to fling Todd’s hand away and run, but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Instead, she gripped the dying man’s hand tighter and murmured, “I’m here, I’ve got you,” over and over as Todd vomited his life onto the snowy grass.

  It didn’t take long. Todd was dead in minutes. Mercury pried her hand free and placed Todd’s gently on his chest, folded with his other one.

  “Here’s what’s left of the T-shirt I used for the splint and the other man’s bandage.”