in the cab. Every once in a while, he would glance at me but mostly just watched the road. We were looking for a fuel tanker. We had found two on the way from Florida to Montana last year so the idea did have some merit. The problem was when the virus hit, there was mass panic. People tried to escape to where ever and the result was clogged roads and gas stations. The off ramps were a traffic jam from hell. Even with the giant snow plow welded to the front of the truck, we couldn't push them clear enough to get to the pumps. Most of the time the pumps wouldn't work anyway or there wasn't any fuel so we just looked for fuel tankers.
One concession to the miserable ride was the beauty of the countryside. Winding through the passes you could see for miles. Cloudless blue skies sat on the snow capped mountain tops while green, pine trees that looked blue from a distance crowded the side of the mountains for sunshine and willows and cottonwoods lined the creek running full at the bottom. The snow was melting causing the creeks to fill to overflowing. A good rain and we would have floods for sure. We followed the creeks around the curves which seemed more like a roller coaster ride than a highway. Sometimes the walls of the canyons were so tall you had to stick your head out the window and look up to see the tops. Winding around up and down would be dizzying and then we would find ourselves dumped into a town or city. The quickness of the transition was a shock because the traffic jams was suddenly just there. We'd take the opposite lane or even drive down the median if we had to, too get around the mess.
We finally found the needed fuel tanker late in the afternoon. We had to drive into the ditch and over two driveways to get to it. I was glad I'd made Mason wait till I was safely in the bunk before he began the transition or I'd have been thrown through the windshield. The guys hooked the tanker up, then we used the shade of some trees to eat lunch. Sarah had packed fried chicken, peach pie and homemade bread. We did it justice then enjoyed the quiet of the afternoon for a few minutes till we finally got back into the truck.
I'd planned to drive but Ken jumped into the drivers seat before I could and sat grinning like crazy while I climbed into the bunk. Mason was surprised I wasn't sitting with him so I waggled my eyebrows at him and pointed to the bunk trying to make him laugh. He did, and while shaking his head, grabbed the curtain and closed it on me. We drove the frontage road for quite awhile before we were able to get back on the interstate. I lay down and soon the motion of the truck and my full belly soothed me into a restless sleep.
I hadn't slept well the night before although Mason had done some serious 'work' to ensure I did. I can remember waking and looking at the stars through the window several times. I just didn't want to leave the lodge. I was being stupid about it but I didn't know of another way to handle it.
I was snoozing pretty good in the gently rocking truck when I was nearly thrown from the bunk and an angry dragon started growling at me. Took me a minute to realize the Jake brake was the dragon. We managed to stop without wrecking the tanker, but just barely. Some pretty inventive cussing was coming from the front, so I pulled the curtain back to see what the fuss was about. About that time, I was nearly thrown through the windshield when the truck was put into reverse backing up quickly. A strong arm just managed to brace me from falling into the dash, but I grabbed the arm and slid under it falling on my butt and nearly breaking my nose in the process.
"Dammit Ken, what the hell are you doing?" I griped, as I crab walked backwards towards the bunk.
"Don't look now, JD, but we have a wall of walkers in front of us. Ken, I don't think that tanker will go