Chris Bostic [Bostic - Jailbreak

Jailbreak

CHRIS BOSTIC

First printing, September 2019

Copyright 2019, Chris Bostic

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 9 78-1693011436

Cover Design by Chris Bostic

All characters and events in this book are fictitious products of the authors imagination and are not to be construed as real.

To my readers,

with gratitude for

your support.

The enthusiastic

reception of the series

motivated me to finish the story.

CHAPTER 1

I cant believe your mom let you come along again, I told Katelyn as we hunkered against a rock outcropping so we could watch the road below.

Better than spending time with my brother?

It doesnt take much, I offered, though I didnt really mean it. John had been a pretty solid mentor the first few months following our escape into the park. He also seemed to have accepted me pretty well into the Jennings family.

Thats not nice, Zach.

I looked at the gloomy sky overhead. Not exactly a picture-perfect spring afternoon. Guess Ive kinda lost the nice.

Yep. Grumpy as an old bear. She nudged me with her shoulder to let me know she was kidding.

Speaking of which, I finally saw one yesterday. Not a very big one, but it was my first since winter.

Great. She clearly didnt mean it. Guess we can add bear meat back to the menu.

Yeah, theyre gonna wish they went back to hibernating. I dont know how long theyll last before we hunt them out of the park.

And the deer, and the fish. Weve been putting a hurting on the wildlife.

I rubbed my washboard stomach and noted that it hadnt come from working out.

Its been putting a hurtin on me. I stood up to stretch out my back, resting the hunting rifle against a tree.

The only hunting it did was unfriendly humans. Thankfully very few and even farther between. Bow and arrows were used for wild game to keep from attracting undue attention.

What I wouldnt do for a real bed. My spine popped loudly enough for her to hear. Maybe an actual chair. That would be nice.

Imagine if there was more of us. There really would be nothing left, like extinct, Katelyn said, evidently still thinking about the wildlife. She always had a soft heart in that regard. Its probably a good thing Spotted Owls group went ahead and pulled out a while ago.

That had taken me by surprise, since Spotted Owl had seemed a whole lot more motivated to tough it out than the folks my mom had cobbled together.

I guess its good. I dont know.

Why not? she asked.

Do we really want to be going back to the city now? Its not even been a year since our comfortable little world turned totally upside down.

It cant get any less comfortable. She narrowed her eyes at me. Think about it. Do you really like eating weeds and raw meat and not having real furniture? In a house, with an actual roof?

Of course not, but we do cook the meat. And Ive been getting pretty good at that.

Katelyn exhaled exaggeratedly. Im done, Zach. Look at me. She ran a hand through long hair that failed to have the same luster it used to. The stained, worn clothes completed the picture. Still, she looked every bit as beautiful to me as she ever had.

Guess you got a point there.

She slugged me on the shoulder. Youre not supposed to agree!

I was thinking about me. I gestured along my body from waist to head. Ive probably lost twenty pounds, and I didnt have a lot to spare.

I used to look like a runner, but Id become more like one of those emaciated marathoners with ribs sticking out. At least the weather had broken, so I didnt need any extra weight to keep me warm. Not that Id been remotely warm while hiding in cold, musty caves all winter long.

Come with us when we go, Katelyn said. Your brother got to go with Field Mouse and Spotty. Surely you can come with us.

He didnt really ask. He just left. That left a bad taste in my mouth. I couldnt leave Mom and Maddie behind without at least asking. I had sort of broached the subject once, and that hadnt gone well. Mom says its a bad idea.

You gonna listen to your mom or me?

I rocked back on my heels. Katelyn had never used that line before. We were as close as two fillets in a skillet, but its not like we were married. Then again, despite being just shy of eighteen, our worlds revolved around each other. Still, I couldnt abandon my family.

She needs me, I replied. Shes not been the same since Dad died.

Neither have I.

Zach, I get that, but.

Not a day went by that I didnt think of him, broken body on the forest floor. Attack helicopters roaring overhead. Smoke rising into the night sky.

That was one thing I hadnt missed. The sky above had been oddly quieter for weeks, day and night.

No more jets; no helicopters. An occasional drone made a pass overhead. Maybe once a week, or less frequently.

Wed worried the Army would retaliate when wed beaten them back from the eastern entrance to the park. Truly, deeply worried, to the point that everyone was on high alert for weeks. But all that did was wear us out. Another attack never came, and some members of our group grew complacent.

Not Mom, which was why I was still out on watch duty. In a different part of the park, though. When folks started bailing out for Gatlinburg as winter dragged on, she at least agreed we could move camp closer to town. So we packed up in February and moved to a cave off the Grapeyard Ridge Trail, about halfway between the old ranger station at Greenbrier and the road belowthe Roaring Fork Motor Trail. It ran out of the east side of Gatlinburg on a little loop through what had been Great Smoky Mountain National Park. My home away from home, if I still had an actual home left in suburban Knoxville.

Zach? Katelyn was saying when I tuned back in. Are you even listening?

Id heard plenty in my head, just not her.

Sorry. I turned to look at her. Its kinda not really my call. Besides, I dont think I can run away like Austin.

He didnt abandon you guys. He went off to scout the town.

And didnt come back.

He probably found food, she insisted. Real food. Unless you really like asparagus, nothings gonna be ready to harvest for a few more weeks.

Obviously, with all the turmoil and moving around, we didnt get any decent gardens set up in the previous year, which really set us back when it came to fresh fruits and vegetables. Then the MRE packets ran out, leaving us with mostly dried foods like beans, flour, and pasta noodles to go with rabbit, deer, and fish. And now bear meat.

Things didnt work out according to plan, I mumbled. But whos to say that town will be any better? Last time we were there, we dragged your mom out unconscious in the back of a pickup truck.

And now we dont even have trucksor gas. You know theres still cars in town?

I know. But I wouldnt guarantee theres any fuel to run them.

I dont get why youre being so stubborn. She turned her back to me to stare away from the road, down toward the creek.

I dont get why youre pushing me about leaving.

She turned back around. Because its not just talk anymore. Im leavingsoon. And I thought youd want to go with me.

CHAPTER 2

I want that more than anything in the world, I told Katelyn.

Then act like it. She turned back away from me again to stare at her hands. I wanted to take her hands in mine, but the idea of her leaving had me rattled. Worse yet, shed challenged me about it.

And how do I do that? I finally said. Ive spent pretty much every waking hour with you. Even better now that you get to come with me to watch the road.

Its not better, she harrumphed. Its not better at all. Its just normalizing stuff that we shouldnt have to do. I should be watching movies on my couch, snuggled up with you in a blanket.