“Yeah,” Ford said and then repeated the story Mercury had concocted. “I’m Ford Diaz, a backpack guide. These three ladies are teachers from out of state. They were on a spring break camping trip with me when all hell broke loose. Walking down the highway yesterday, we met a trucker named Sim who told us this was a safe place.”
There was a pause and then the wall of lights extinguished. Mercury blinked hard, trying to clear the spots from her eyes as the warm glow of an oil lantern replaced the glare of headlights. The lantern bobbed toward them, and soon Mercury could make out the figure of a woman, flanked by two men, walking toward their little group.
“Sim! He’s sent us several groups of good people.” The woman’s smile flashed white in the darkness behind the lantern. “I’m Amber Watson, executive assistant to the mayor of Madras, Eva Cruz. Welcome to our town.”
As the woman was smiling at Ford, he extended his hand first. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Watson.”
Her smile was warm. “Oh, just Amber is fine. And who are your ladies?”
Mercury forced a smile as she extended her hand. “Mercury Rhodes.”
“And I’m Stella Carver.”
“I’m Karen Gay. It is s-so l-lovely to finally get here!” gushed Karen through teeth that chattered with cold.
Mercury stepped forward, smile still in place, and offered her hand to one of the two men flanking Amber. “Hi, I’m Mercury. Nice to meet you.”
The man hesitated, glanced at Amber, and then took Mercury’s hand. “Ron Shaddox.”
Mercury noticed Ron kept sniffing and wiping at his nose. Even in the dim light of the lantern the dark stain on the wad of tissue in his hand looked like blood.
Mercury turned to the second man, and Amber stepped forward, gesturing behind her at the line of cars that blocked the road and spoke quickly. “Oh, Karen, your teeth are chattering! What’s wrong with me? I shouldn’t keep you out here in the cold and rain. If you come with us, we’ll get you settled in one of the facilities Mayor Cruz has designated for housing newcomers.” She motioned for them to follow her as she briskly led them to the vehicles that had been blinding them. “I’m assuming you ladies would like to room near one another?”
“Yes,” Stella said. “We can share one room for the three of us. No need to take up more space.”
“And I’d like to be close to the ladies,” Ford said.
Amber tossed her long, strawberry-blonde hair back and grinned over her shoulder at Ford. “Well, of course you would. You’ve been taking care of them all through this nightmare. We’ll be sure to put you in the same building with your ladies.”
“Thanks,” Stella said. “We’d appreciate that. We have come to depend on Ford.”
“I’m not surprised at all. Such a tall, capable man.” Amber gave Ford an appreciative look. “Follow me and let’s get you out of this cold.”
Beside Stella, Mercury whispered, “The misogyny is strong with that one.”
Ford covered his laugh with a cough.
Amber took them to a big Suburban that didn’t just look new, but as she opened the back door, new car smell wafted through the rain to them.
“If you hand Ron and Wes—” Amber laughed softly—“oops, sorry I cut the introductions short—this is Wes Marshall.” She gestured to the second man, who dipped his head but said nothing. “If you give the men your backpacks, they’ll put them in the rear so you have plenty of room in the seats. We’re not going far, but you might as well be comfortable.”
Mercury glanced at Stella, who surreptitiously nodded and then slid her backpack from her shoulders and gave it to Wes.
“Thanks,” Mercury said when she slipped out of Ford’s backpack and handed it to him. She watched his eyes widen as he felt its weight. She shrugged. “I log a lot of gym time.”
They climbed into the Suburban. Amber got behind the wheel, leaving Ron and Wes at the roadblock.
Mercury leaned forward as Amber put the big SUV in gear. “We’ve hardly seen any vehicles still running—and this one looks brand new—like those other SUVs blocking the highway.”
Amber smiled and nodded. “Oh, it is! We’re fortunate that our Chevy dealership was hardly damaged in the quakes. Any vehicle not running when the bombs went off is in perfect working order.”
Mercury sat back as Karen said, “That does seem very fortunate.”
“And please understand”—Amber caught Mercury’s gaze in the rearview mirror—“the only reason we’ve blocked off the city center is so that we can better help survivors find shelter.”
“That’s kind of you,” Karen said.
“We count our blessing here in Madras. We also have a farm supply store that was almost untouched by the quake. It has a great selection of generators, which is why you’ll see”—she paused as she took a left, and suddenly lights glowed from the windows of a few buildings—“that we do have some electricity!”