Greaves had been weird with Linda for about a week now. It wasn't anything she could put her finger on and kick his butt about. It was just the general way he treated her.
She knew he still felt uncomfortable about crying on her. He didn't have to get all pissy about it though. People acted in strange ways under the duress of battle, everyone knew that. No-one held it against you. A bit like at a swingers' party, no-one spoke about it afterwards.
That was the problem though, she had to keep her mouth shut. She couldn't confront the whole thing. So he had it both ways the little prick.
After the last guy had run from City Hall in Torrington, they'd done a thorough job of looking the place over. Greaves' instincts were good as usual and they'd made a pretty good haul. Guns, drugs, food rations, batteries and all kinds of things they could barter with. Anna had even come across a well stocked first-aid kit. They'd dressed Greaves' wounds and given him some industrial strength pain killers to get him up and running. He'd been a bit woozy for a day or two then he'd gone back to being his same irritating self.
They found bartering the stuff they'd scavenged more difficult than they'd imagined. They located a guy just outside of Casper who could get them gas. Soon as he recognised them, he was loath to do business. Seems word had already got out that the Neo-Clergy and their men were looking for them, had put out a description and everything.
What they had to offer for the gas was just too tasty for him to turn down, though it didn't stop him trying to rip them off.
After that, if they wanted anything they had to split up and go find it incognito. They drove along the back roads and stayed away from any major populated areas, trying the whole time to get to Montana while staying under the Neo-Clergy's radar.
Technically Wyoming wasn't yet under Neo-Clergy control, but their power was growing daily. The three gangs who ran the State were rapidly losing their grip and most people expected the Neo-Clergy to take over any day soon. Considering how bad she remembered things being under the Neo-Clergy, Linda was surprised to hear the majority of folk thought it would be a good thing when they did regain control.
They heard similar reports when they skipped over the border into Montana. Linda still found it kind of strange that even though the America she'd grown up in had gone, people still clung to clung to its old boundary lines and markers. Then again, she guessed that's all they had left to cling to.
In this day and age territory meant everything. It represented security, identity and a sense of order to people. Which is why, Linda supposed, the Neo-Clergy suddenly seemed so popular again. More than anything, what they offered to most people was one of those three things.
They heard a lot about the UTN in Montana as well. Greaves had brought the name up soon after they left Torrington. He said that's why the Neo-Clergy guys had jumped them. They'd seen Anna and thought they were part of this Native American army that was forming all over the country.
There was a lot of hatred for 'redskins', as the locals called them in Montana. Apparently that was because they'd carried out a massacre of over a hundred innocent men, women and children. They made sure to keep Anna out of sight whenever they passed any kind of a town or inhabited outpost. Everywhere they went people were full of fear and anger. They wanted a reckoning. But more than that, they wanted protection, and that's what the Neo-Clergy promised.
It seemed to Linda that the whole political landscape of the country was changing. The Neo-Clergy were making a big comeback on one hand. On the other the Native Americans were suddenly a force to be reckoned with. Most ordinary folk seemed to be caught in the middle, busying themselves with their daily routine while living in a climate of constant terror. A climate both sides had created to further their own ends.
The fact that they were travelling with a Native American and were wanted by the Neo-Clergy wasn't helped any by the route they had to take through Montana. Whole sectors of it were still radioactive from the bomb that had hit Billings. All the earthquakes that had happened as a result of the nuclear strike had altered the landscape too.
This meant they had to drive west and come back on themselves to get to Little Bighorn, which was where Greaves had revealed the underground lab that housed the Doomsday Virus was.
Some days they couldn't leave Bertha at all. Greaves had done some calculations about wind direction and fall-out and had determined where they'd be safe and where things weren't so good. And wouldn't you know it, he even had pills to deal with the trace radiation. He doled them out twice a day from a bottle in that stinking great coat of his.
This also meant they couldn't make quite so many prayer stops for Cortez and Anna. They just had to do their God grovelling on the go. They seemed to have formed this little two person prayer group. Which was kind of strange considering one was a devout Christian and the other a strict Muslim.
Greaves tended to keep his nose out of their religious discussions most of the time. Probably because he was afraid of offending Anna, or that Cortez would kick his butt for being an infidel. They knew he was a sceptic anyway. He fancied himself above such simple minded superstitions. Or so he claimed. Linda couldn't help thinking his inability to accept beliefs that weren't scientific or rational made him the biggest zealot of all. At least Anna and Cortez seemed willing to listen to each others' beliefs.
The way Greaves spoke about science holding all the answers and providing the key to all man's problems made it sound like a religion in its own right. The way he spoke about Anna was kind of religious too, about her saving mankind and turning the world into a new Eden. That was practically straight out of the Bible. Even Linda knew that and it had been a long while since she'd been to Sunday school.
She guessed it was easier for Greaves to believe in paradise and saviours so long as there was a scientific explanation for them. If this Doomsday Virus was everything he claimed it was, then maybe all three of them were right. Maybe the day of judgement really was at hand. Perhaps God or Allah was about to call the world to account all thanks to a handy bit of science Greaves and his buddies had whipped up for Him.
And here Linda was, chauffeuring the key players to doomsday. She wondered if this would give her any special license with the 'Big Guy' upstairs? She wasn't even sure if she believed in Him herself. What Linda believed in was self reliance, that's why she loved Bertha so much. Bertha represented independence. There was no-one to hold her back and no-one to rely on her. It was just her and the open highway aboard her great big, beautiful bus.
"Jesus, is it me or is it getting hot in here?" she said, turning Bertha's temperature control down low. "What's the matter with your air conditioning girl?"
"Mistress Linda," said Anna. "You should not blaspheme so. You'll go to hell for it."
"Is that right? Well I'm sure getting a taste of what the temperature's gonna be like."
"We're approaching the lava flows," said Greaves. "The temperature's set to rise a lot more before we're through."
"You sure know the best spots to party don't you?"
"You know Mistress Linda," said Anna. "I think you use your humour as a way to protect yourself. To stop people from getting too close. But you should be careful what you joke about."
"Here we go. You're all set for another deep look into the dark caverns of my soul are you?"
"No Mistress Linda. I don't mean to pry into your soul, I just care about you. I know you give the appearance of being so brave and confident and I admire that, truly I do. But I think inside you're afraid to be the person you really ought to be. I believe God has a special purpose for you."
"If He has, then He's been pretty slow in telling me about it."
"Perhaps you have been slow in listening. God has created each of us with a very special purpose in mind."
"Allah says, in the Qur'an, 'Did you then think that we had created you in jest, without any purpose, and that you would not be brought back to us – in the hereafter?'" said Cortez.
"Hey what did I do to piss you off?" said Linda. "What is this, some kind of religious pincer movement you've got me in?" She slapped Greaves leg. "C'mon science boy help me out here. Don't you believe life is just one random great interaction of particles or something? Isn't the whole universe just one wild roll of the dice?"
"Don't drag me into your pointless arguments. And for your information, it was Einstein who said 'I cannot believe that God would choose to play dice with the Universe', so you're wrong there too."
"Is Einstein one of your prophets?" said Anna.
"What?" said Greaves. "No, he wasn't a prophet. He was a man of science. Possibly the greatest theoretical thinker of his day. Although it has to be said that his general theory of relativity and his famous equation, E=MC^2, did not predict fundamental particle masses, however…"
"He speaks like a prophet," said Anna cutting him off.
Linda laughed. "She's got you there sport, there's no avoiding that."
"I'm not avoiding anything," said Greaves, getting a little irritable. "You're the one doing that, trying to make me the scapegoat of this conversation. And if you want to avoid that landslide up ahead you better go off-road here."
Greaves was right. The road ahead was blocked with rocks and shale.
"Left or right?" said Linda.
"Right."
For the next twenty minutes he guided them through a nightmare environment. The whole terrain had been torn apart by earthquakes and subsidence. The temperature continued to rise and Linda feared for Bertha's tires. Eventually they came to a tiny pass between two mountains.
"You expect me to take Bertha through there?" said Linda. "You gotta be kidding me."
"You want maybe we should park her up and walk then?" Greaves said. "In this terrain, in this temperature? It gets safer up ahead, I promise you."
"Okay," said Linda, slowly navigating the pass. "It better."
It didn't. The pass was bumpy going and there was little room for manoeuvre. It was only just wide enough for Bertha to fit through. The heat was becoming intolerable, it came at them in waves. There was a roaring sound up ahead.
"What is that noise?" Linda said.
"There's a major lava flow just ahead of us," said Greaves. "It's where the old river used to be. I'm afraid we've got to cross it."
"I thought you said things get better up ahead."
"They do… eventually."
Just as he said that there was a sudden earth tremor. It shook Bertha, causing all the crockery in her kitchen cupboards to shake loose and crash to the floor.
They weren't the only things shaken loose. Several large rocks came bounding down the mountain to their left. Linda swerved to avoid one of them then slammed on the brakes as another rolled right past Bertha's bonnet. Before Linda could start her up a third rock smacked right into their side.
Bertha tilted with the impact. Anna screamed as she was sent flying. Linda punched Greaves on the shoulder.
He cried out. "What was that for?"
"For hurting my baby!"
"I didn't know this was going to happen, I swear. There's a natural bridge over the lava just up ahead. It's not very wide but it's the only way across. Once we're over that we're onto a natural plateau. It will be safer there. That's where the lab is."
Linda wasn't impressed. "You've said that before, and look what happened."
She steered Bertha round the obstacles as best she could. After a little while the bridge Greaves mentioned came into view and it was even smaller than the pass, a tiny rocky outcrop that connected the pass with the plateau beyond. Bertha would only just fit across it. There wouldn't be any margin for error.
As they came to the end of the pass another tremor hit. Linda hung on to the steering wheel to keep from falling out of her seat. The rumbling stopped. It was followed by a rattling cascade. Greaves looked out of the passenger window. "Rock slide," he said. "On the other side. Drive, quickly!"
Linda kicked it up a gear and sped along the little bridge. It was like driving through an oven. Either side of them was a huge drop into a river of molten lava. The rock slide chased them along the bridge. They could hear it rattling along behind them at first, then it caught up and Bertha began to lose traction on her back tires, slowing as the rock slide engulfed her. Her underside clattered and clanged with the debris that rattled around her. They reached the front wheels and Linda lost control.
They were carried along by the movement of the rocks for a few feet as Linda fought to regain control. Bertha veered dangerously to the right. Linda twisted the wheel as far to the left as she could, but she didn't have any grip.
Bertha's front wheels left the edge of the bridge and spun madly in mid air. The front end tilted forwards and the molten lava below swung into view. Linda's stomach turned over with sheer fright. The heat was so intense she let go of the steering wheel.
The rockslide kept on coming, it spilled over the edge of the bridge and dissolved as it hit the lava below. Linda had never seen something as solid as rock actually dissolve before. Anna started praying at the top of her voice as Bertha teetered. One more surge from the rocks and she would be gone and all of them with her.
Cortez grabbed Greaves and Anna and ran towards the back of Bertha. The vehicle rocked backwards and straightened up. Linda slammed the gear stick into reverse and hit the accelerator. The back wheels caught a tiny bit of traction and moved Bertha back a few inches. Not enough to put her front wheels back on the bridge however.
"Quick," said Linda. "You've got to get out."
Greaves tried the door but couldn't open it. "It's jammed shut. Must have been the rock that hit us."
Cortez put his shoulder to it and pushed but the door didn't move.
"Pop the back window," said Linda. "You can crawl out of that."
Another wave of rocks inched them further over the edge. Linda revved as hard as she could to stop them falling.
"Hurry," she said. "I can only buy you a few seconds, even with my foot to the floor."
"But that means you'll…" Anna couldn't finish the sentence.
"Go," said Linda as Greaves and Cortez pushed the back window out.
"I can't leave you," said Anna. "Not like this. You've got to come."
Rocks were surging all around them pushing the vehicle further and further forward.
"We'll all die if I come. Besides, a captain always goes down with her… erm, ship."
"You can't!" said Anna, trying to wriggle free of Greaves and Cortez as they pulled her back towards the window.
"You ever think that maybe this is God's purpose for me? Don't fuck with the master plan. Go build your new Eden and build me a big statue. Git."
Greaves and Cortez manhandled Anna out of the window. Bertha lost traction on her back wheels and started to rock again as Greaves and Cortez jumped clear.
Linda took her foot off the peddle and turned to look back. For a split second she thought about running for it, but she realised she'd never make it. Time seemed to slow down as her heartbeat sped up. Everything moved in slow motion.
So much for no-one to hold me back or rely on me, she thought. What was that Cortez had quoted from the Qur'an? 'Did you then think that we had created you in jest?'
"No," Linda muttered to herself. "But you sure have a sick sense of humour you old bastard."
Bertha began to topple. Linda patted her dashboard. "Okay sweetheart. It's just you, me and the open highway to Hell."
I hope it's quick, was the last thing she was aware of thinking as Bertha went over the egde. The windscreen turned to gas. Linda's skin and lungs turned to cinders as the lava claimed Bertha and practically everything the four of them still owned.