The three of them met by the river fifteen minutes later. That was enough time for Austin and Michael to grab backpacks, put on some warmer clothes, and fill their water bottles for the trip. As they crouched behind a bush, they could see a Yellow Jacket walking near the edge of the woods, patroling the riverbank.
“Darsha, you walk out and call for the guard,” whispered Austin. “When he comes over to you, Michael and I will sneak behind him.”
“Got it,” said Darsha.
She left her position and seconds later called the guard over from his post. She was waving her arms and talking fast, making a whole production of things. The guard followed her away from the river.
“Ready?” asked Austin when he thought the coast was clear.
“Let’s do it.”
They crept slowly toward the river, away from camp. They were close to safety when Michael tripped on a branch and tumbled to the ground. The noise from his fall echoed through the woods. Austin assumed the guard had heard it.
“Let’s go!” he hissed as Michael jumped back up. “Run!”
The two of them bolted along the riverbank. They jumped over rocks and ducked under tree limbs. Neither of them looked back until they had made it to a dirt road. There was no sign of the guard behind them.
“Think he saw us?” asked Michael.
“Not sure,” said Austin. “I guess we’ll find out when we come back.”
They looked down the road. Austin shielded his eyes from the setting sun. “Which way is Burlington?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“You’re not sure? You’re supposed to be my guide!”
“Sorry,” said Michael. “I don’t really know without my phone.”
“If we had our phones we wouldn’t be in this mess!”
“Wait!” said Michael. He pointed to an abandoned gas station down the road. “I remember passing that on our way here. We must be going in the right direction.”
By the looks of the sky, they had about another hour before nightfall. Austin hoped they’d make it to the pharmacy by then.
They walked along the dusty road in silence, seeing none of the violence Mr. Forrester had described. It wasn’t until about twenty minutes into their walk, when they turned a bend in the road, that they first came upon other people. They crouched behind a tree, not ready to be spotted by anyone just yet.
Down the road was a large farmhouse. A group of people were stacking boxes outside the entrance to a storm cellar. A man with a little girl was loading items into a wagon hitched to two large brown horses.
“What do you think they’re doing?” asked Michael.
“Probably just scavenging for food,” said Austin.
“You think we should talk to them?”
Austin figured there was a chance the people might be able to help them. “With those horses and that wagon, they could get us to Burlington a lot faster.”
“Or maybe they have medicine,” said Michael, nodding.
Austin figured it was worth taking the risk. They stood up and crossed the road. The little girl skipping along the driveway was the first to see them. Her eyes went big. “Daddy!” she shouted. She turned to the man tending the horses. “Daddy! Look!”
The man spotted Austin and Michael. “Chloe!” he shouted. “Get over here. Now!”
She raced to his side.
Austin and Michael approached slowly. Austin raised his hands in the air. “Hi there!” The two of them walked closer. “I’m Austin. This is Michael. We mean no harm.” They stopped twenty feet from the man and his daughter. “We just want to talk.”
The man looked around, then back at the boys. “Okay. Come on. I’m Gerald,” he said. “And this is Chloe.”
“Hi, Chloe,” said Austin. He waved at her.
“Hi.” She was clutching her dad’s leg.
“You guys looking for supplies?” asked Austin.
“That’s one way to put it,” said Gerald. “I’m not proud of it, but we need all the food we can get. How about you boys?”
“We’re heading for a pharmacy,” said Austin. “The camp we’re living at is about two miles back, but we left because my mom is really sick. We’re hoping to find medicine for her in Burlington. Any chance you have any with you? We’ll trade you for it.”
Gerald shook his head. “Not with me, sorry. But we have a lot of medicine back in our camp. There’s a doctor there and everything.”
“Really?” Austin became excited. “Then can we come with you?”
Gerald shook his head. “I’m afraid our camp is about forty miles away.”
Austin felt all the air go out of his body.
“We’re going to be traveling through the night to get back there with these supplies,” said Gerald. “Even if you came with us, you’d have to walk back to your camp. That would take days. You think your mom has that kind of time?”
“I don’t know,” said Austin. Any hope that Gerald would be able to help him seemed gone.
“I don’t suppose you could bring us into Burlington?” asked Michael.
Gerald ran his fingers through his hair. “We just came from there,” he said. “We can’t afford to go back. We’re on a tight schedule. I’m sorry. I wish we could help you.”
“It’s okay,” said Austin. “Well then. We’d better keep moving.” He turned.
“Wait,” said the man. “Tell me about your shelter. Did the two of you find a safe place?”
“It’s pretty rough,” said Michael.
“It’s like a prison,” said Austin. “We had to sneak out.”
“And they’re barely feeding us.”
“I tell you what,” said Gerald. “You manage to get your mom back on her feet, you come to our camp. We have a group of really good people there. We’d be more than happy to have you join us.”
“Thanks,” said Michael, surprise in his voice. The boys turned to each other and could tell they were thinking the same thing—leaving for this camp might solve all their problems.
Gerald found a scrap of paper and wrote down directions for how to find his camp. The boys thanked him.
“Hey, take these.” Gerald rummaged through the wagon. He came out with a jar of peanut butter, a box of crackers, and two bottles of water.
He and Michael grabbed the supplies, thanked Gerald again, and resumed their journey.