Part 12 (2/2)
113.
Ben didn't know what direction she was referring to, not that it really mattered. He jerked the Bronco into reverse and began backing up, then turned around and waited for Lara. She pulled ahead of him and they both headed back in the direction they'd just come. A mile later, Lara pulled over and stopped. Ben pulled up alongside her.
”I think I know another way, Ben. But I won't make any promises.”
”We've got to do something. We d.a.m.n sure can't stay here. Lead us out of here.”
A couple of miles later, Lara turned off on a gravel road, Ben right behind her. They drove for fifteen minutes, making several twists and turns a^id road changes, before she pulled into the driveway of a long-deserted house. They both got out.
”I think I'm lost,” she admitted.
Ben smiled at her. ”You think?”
”OK. I'll admit it. I don't know where in the h.e.l.l we are.”
”Well, this road has to lead somewhere, even if it's to a dead end. Are we in the park yet?”
”Oh, h.e.l.l, we've been in the park for a long time. Ever since we left the hospital. The park is almost six million acres. About half of it wilderness. We're almost in the center of it. If I can lead us out of this maze, we'll be only a few miles from real wilderness, and home free.”
”Which way?”
Lara looked at the sun and then pointed. ”That way. But the road leading off in that direction sure doesn't look very promising to me.”
”Beats getting captured and tortured, or shot to death, doesn't it?””You do have a point. OK, Ben. Let's go. We can't get any more lost than we are right now.”
114.
”I wouldn't bet on that. Let's don't get separated. Take it slow.”
”Will do.”
Luck returned to the pair. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled onto a hard-surfaced road and Lara stopped and walked back to Ben.
”I'm pretty sure I know about where we are, Ben. If I'm right, a few miles down this road and we'll take a blacktop off to our right. That'll be to the northwest. Well, more west than north. If I'm right, we're home free.”
”Then get us out of here. I'm right behind you.”
Lara was right on target: a few miles later a potholed road led off to the right. She turned off on it, and Ben followed. Almost as soon as they did, Ben felt swallowed up by the silent majesty of the wilderness.
Hills thick with timber lay on both sides of the road. Off to Ben's left, which was south, several very respectable mountains-Ben figured at least twenty-five hundred feet high-jutted up not too far away. There were deep ravines on both sides of the road.
They crossed a lake, over a bridge that Ben figured had only a few more years left before spans of it collapsed. Then, a few miles farther on, they entered what was left of a tiny village. Lara drove on to the road's end and pulled over.
”Another tourist town that died a number of years ago,” she explained as Ben leaned against a Bronco and lit a cigarette. ”No one has lived here for years. As you can see, punks and looters have just about destroyed the place.”
”The government has no plans to rebuild?”
”No.”
”That seems odd to me.”
”The park is filled with empty villages just like this one. n.o.body can afford a vacation anymore. Well, let me amend 115.
115.
that. The majority can't afford anything resembling a real vacation.”
Ben's smile was sad. ”The left-wing liberals' dream of Utopia has finally arrived. No one has more than anyone else .. . except for those in power and their friends. But the government takes care of everyone from cradle to grave. Right?”
”That's about the size of it, but in reality no one really has proper health care. Unless they are absolutely life-threatening, major operations have a waiting period of one to three years. There justaren't enough doctors and hospitals for all the people who want care ...
and not enough money, really. Not for adequate care.”
”With all the taxes on you people, where the h.e.l.l is the money going?”
Ben paused and grimaced. ”As if I didn't know.”
”Government programs-”
”Naturally. How silly of me to ask.”
”Programs the likes of which you have never seen,” Lara continued. ”The government is taking care of drug addicts and drunks. They're taking care of the so-called homeless-which in this time of thousands and thousands of homes just sitting empty is ridiculous. They're taking care of the whiners and the crybabies and the thieves and punks, and G.o.d only knows who and what else. The government has made work programs ... sort of.”
”You want to explain that?”
”No one is forced to work in this society. If they don't work, the government will take care of them. Ten times worse than before the Great War.”
Lara fished in her s.h.i.+rt pocket and came out with a crumpled pack of cigarettes. She lit up.
”Where'd you get those?”
”Off one of the dead Feds. He had a whole carton in his rucksack.” She grinned. ”Bootleg cigarettes are a 116.
William W. Johnstone booming business in the USA, Ben. As is bootleg booze from Canada, and from moons.h.i.+ners.”
”But the government puts smokers in jail!”
”If they catch them, yes. But not the first time. The first time is just a warning. Same with drinkers and people who eat forbidden food.”
”Forbidden food? Oh .. . you mean like fried foods, and snacks that aren't considered healthful?”
”That's right.”
Ben started laughing. He couldn't help it. He recalled an episode of an old TV program about disc jockeys, one of them fearful of the 'phone cops.'
”What is so funny?” Lara demanded.
<script>