#21c
Ev was having the time of his life. Window down, the rushing chilly air blowing the straggly hair and bushy beard hard enough to tickle his neck and ears. The dog sitting on the front seat finally relented and settled down, her nose close to Ev's leg. Ev had no problem talking to the red heeler, finally announcing,"I might as well call you Ruby, it's the best name I can come up with. Sure hope you are as good as the first Ruby was; if you are, we're gonna have us a fine adventure."
Down past the burned out diner where they had camped, and out onto the two lane that took him closer to the forest cutoff to Evergreen. The old pickup rattled, belched a little diesel smoke now and then as they drove through the settling evening. It was dark when Ev found the cutoff, easing up the rutted road. Unused as a road for quite a while, Ev got as far as two pretty good sized firs that blocked the now overgrown road.
Ev got out, smelled deeply of the crisp, cold air and began setting up camp on his tailgate. Ruby2 got out and circled the pickup a couple of times, anxiously watching Ev and her new surroundings. Ev got out a bowl of dog food and a bowl of water and placed it next to the front tire. He watched Ruby2 sniff at the food, look over her shoulder at him, and then delicately pick up the crunchies one by one.
"So your a lady huh?" he teased as the stew in the can started to bubble on the camp stove. Tomorrow, he would have a campfire and get out the grate to cook his meals. Ev rubbed his hands together in anticipation, he hadn't felt this type of excitement for ages. It sure would have been better to have company, but he felt the urgency to do this trek right now.
Using a serving spoon, Ev ate his warmed stew listening to the night fold down around him. All the sounds that once were so familiar, were brought back fresh into his memory. There must have been a lake nearby, coots and loons were calling in the last vestiges of light as they settled in for the night.
Ev tidied up his kitchen, placing the stove and food in the front seat. He threw in a doggy blanket for the dog and arranged his new fandangled sleeping bag across the back seat. There was a bit of mumbling when he realized he had forgotten his pillow, so he wadded up his coat and used that. The seat wasn't long enough for Ev to be comfortable, but gosh darn it was gonna get cold so he made do.
The next morning, Ev unfolded himself to the sounds of creaks, groans and popping joints. Cheryl had been right, he wasn't a kid anymore. A cup of instant coffee quickly heated and a pouch of breakfast 'something' started his chainsawing marathon. Cutting the center section out of the downed trees, Ev fashioned a passage through.
There were three more trees in the way, and it was past noon when Ev topped the hill and looked at the ruins of the town. From his vantage point, he pinpointed the jail, the hardware, the cafe, places that had been, that were no more. It appeared that 99% of the town had burned. The chimneys rose stark naked, what they had been attached too, long gone.
The road out to the cabin was in such poor shape that Ev drove on the tops of the ruts. Coming around the corner past Evie's long gone house, Ev stared at his partially burned cabin. The barn was gone, and the woodshed and cabin was a jumble of half burned logs that had caved in the root cellar.
For a long time he just sat there, the crushing disappointment of reality a blow that was hard to recover from. In his heart, he had hoped that by some miracle the fire had missed his place. Ruby finally whined to be let out, and Ev came back to the present.
Getting out of the pickup, Ev finally put his feet on his own ground. Morosely he walked around the cabin, peering down into the blackened mess that had once been his home. What hadn't burned, had been ruined by exposure to the elements. Ev walked around and sat on the tailgate, suddenly he didn't feel well. Sick to his stomach and trying to breath against the crushing chest pain that radiated all the way down his left arm, Ev toppled over in the pickup bed.
Clora was as mad at Mark as she possibly could be. He had promised to get her a cell phone, and somehow it just hadn't got done. Now she wished she could be in touch with him, if for nothing else, she didn't want to mistake him for the sniper and shoot her own husband.
Mark suddenly had the same thought, kicking himself for not paying closer attention to that detail. As he stood there, the wail of an oncoming police car sounded in the distance. Will skidded to a stop, cursing under his breath. Wayne came humming along behind, not paying attention until he was right on the mêlée. The screech of tires had the officers whirling around to stare down the oncoming pickup. Wayne clamped down on the brakes and nearly hit bumpers with Will's car.
Wayne was in a happy fog. He had invited the gal in the shop for coffee, and she had accepted. After work they had gone to the coffee shop near the equipment yard and sat and talked. He could see that she reluctantly finally had to go, and he felt as reluctant to see her go. It was a fine beginning. Wayne was pleased.
Will was advancing on Wayne's happy face, intending to tear a strip off his hide and spit it out in the wind. When he got to the pickup cab he was all cop, barking his displeasure at Wayne's goofy grin. No matter what Will said, it barely penetrated Wayne's happy place.
"What's happening?" he questioned, "is the bridge out?"
"No," Will snapped roughly. "Some lowlife sniper has the farm under lockdown. nobody's hurt that we know of, but, it's hard to tell what might happen."
Mark was thanking his lucky stars Milo wasn't with him tonight. He wasn't worried about Milo being with Clora, his woman was more capable than most people with a rifle and a shotgun. Mark had finished work early and had dropped by Borg's place. In his old room, he had cleaned out his clothes closet and piled it all in the back seat. Right on top were his cammo fatigues and boots. Under the cover of approaching darkness he changed clothes, shucking his suit and getting ready to go fight for his family.