by Payne, T. L.
Scott stepped out and continued walking along the wall until he reached a small window. He stopped and listened. They were still talking, but they’d lowered their voices to where they were barely audible outside the garage. He took a deep breath and let it out before leaning to peek inside. He hoped they weren’t looking out the window.
Inside the garage was an old Chevy Blazer. Beside the Blazer stood three men. They weren’t dressed for this type of weather. Two of the men wore only hoodies and jeans.
It must be warm in the garage.
Scott sniffed the air. He smelled wood smoke. They had a wood stove inside the garage. He stretched to look beyond the Blazer, trying to see if JJ was in there. He didn’t see her if she was.
Scott crouched and walked under the window to the opposite corner of the building. He pressed his back against the wall and listened. He heard no voices. Leaning to his right, Scott surveyed that side of the garage. He saw nothing. He had hoped there would be a second window so he could see along the back wall. He slowly stepped out and walked along the building to a door. A concrete walkway led back to the house. The door was solid. The only way he could see the rest of the garage was to look through the glass in the rollup doors in front. Could he do that without being seen? He’d need to risk it. He had to know for sure if JJ was inside.
His heart pounded in his ears as he crouched below the window. He could hear the men now. They were laughing. Whatever issue they’d been arguing about must have been resolved. Scott eased himself up just enough to see through the glass. He scanned the areas along the back wall that hadn’t been visible to him from the back window. He saw no one. JJ wasn’t in there. He lowered himself and took a step back. When he did, he hit something solid. Before he could turn to see what it was, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and the world went black.
Chapter 4
Possum Hollow Road
Farmington, Missouri
February 23rd, approximately 4:00 a.m.
"What the hell is that?" Antonio said.
Raine chuckled. "That, my friend, is your new alarm clock."
Antonio pulled an old quilt over his head. "Oh, hell no. Please make it shut up."
Raine giggled. "What? Farm life not to your taste?"
"It's still dark out."
"Farm animals wake up early, I guess," Raine said.
"Can't you lock it inside the barn or something?"
"He is in the chicken coop with the hens where he belongs. We want lots of baby chicks. You like chicken, right?"
Antonio scowled. "Of course I like chicken. I just prefer them on my plate, smothered in a creamy mushroom sauce."
"How about coffee?" Raine asked.
Antonio threw back the quilt and sat up. "If I'm going to have to be awake this early, I'm damn sure going to need coffee.”
The Wards’ ranch-style home was small but comfortable. Its size made it easier to heat than most. Unlike many modern homes, the kitchen was at the back of the house, separate from the living room. The eat-in kitchen may have been fine for the elderly couple, but Raine couldn't see all their group sitting down for a meal at the tiny table in the corner. The rectangle kitchen was sparse on cabinets. She wondered how long the old the plastic gingham print had covered the table. A galvanized bucket filled with water sat on the floor by the deep double sink. Scott had filled it for them before he left.
Where's their water source?
Raine hadn't even thought to ask. She was so used to it coming from the tap.
"Did I hear someone mention coffee?" Tom asked as he entered the kitchen.
Raine held up an old-fashioned percolator. "I'm attempting to make a pot."
"Do you know what you're doing there?" Tom asked.
"It's gotta be like cooking over a campfire. I just have to heat the stove up and place the percolator on to boil."
"I think we're going to need a second pot," Lucy said, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.
Raine yawned. "I know we are all exhausted. I'd love to just lay in bed all day, but we have to figure out how to make this all work."
"It already feels like heaven compared to where we've stayed since leaving the apartments," Tom said.
Raine rubbed her hands together over the stove. "I know. I can finally feel my fingers and toes."
"Does anyone know where one of the flashlights went? I'm going out to gather eggs,” Lucy said, holding up Mrs. Ward's wire egg basket.
"I placed one on the counter last night after I stoked the fire," Antonio said as he entered the kitchen. "Maybe we should eat the rooster."
"Then we won't have any baby chicks, dummy," Lucy said as she pulled on her coat, hat, and gloves preparing for the trek to the barn.
The rooster crowed twice more, and Antonio’s hands flew up and covered his ears. "Ugh! I need my noise-canceling headphones."
Raine pictured the set of Bose headphones her mother had given her for Christmas. They were in the ashes of her apartment now. She hadn't listened to music since the EMP knocked her phone out. She missed it.
"You think they have a battery-operated radio around here somewhere?" Raine asked.
Tom handed Raine a coffee mug from the cabinet. "Even if they did, there wouldn't be any news or music playing. There’s no electricity at the station, remember?"
She remembered. Raine hoped that the government might have some type of announcement. Instructions, maybe. She just couldn't believe that emergency management officials had just left them to fend for themselves without so much as a word.
Raine felt guilty sitting by the fire drinking hot coffee while Lucy braved the cold to gather eggs. She dreaded having to get back out in the snow, but with having to watch for intruders, she wouldn't be able to avoid going out to do chores for long. And then there was guard duty. She understood why Scott and JJ felt watching for people was necessary yesterday, with the neighbor being freaked out they were there, but was it really needed now? As the time for her turn drew closer, her skepticism grew.
Raine finished her coffee and set the mug in the sink. I'm going to check out the pantry. We should inventory the food and see how much we have. The door to her left held the pantry, tucked up under the stairs. The space was lined with shelves.
On the floor were cases of empty jars. The bottom row of shelves held jars filled with vegetables, mostly green beans. Raine curled her lip. They were not her favorite veggie, but after the hunger she'd experience lately, food was food. The canned food on the second shelf was more appetizing. Raine picked up a can of tuna and held it to her chest. They had eggs and tuna. If only they had bread for a tuna salad sandwich. In the corner sat a wooden box with chicken wire on the front. Raine opened the lid. The three-foot-high box appeared to be filled with potatoes. She picked up several and wrapped them in her shirt. Backing out of the pantry, she said, "We're having hash browns with our eggs."
After Lucy returned from the chicken coop, she and Antonio made scrambled eggs and homemade hash browns. Brandon and Gage were still outside on guard duty, so their food was set aside for later.
Sheena and DeAndre were the last ones up. Raine had gotten such a kick out of seeing DeAndre in Mr. Ward's old pajamas. His pant legs and sleeves were rolled up, but he still looked like a little old man.
"After breakfast, we should make an inventory of the food. We really should start rationing, so we have enough. Just until we are able to hunt something or find more," Raine said.
"What about eating the goats and chickens?" Tom said.
Raine raised her eye brows. "I think we shouldn't eat any of them until it is absolutely necessary."
"I don't want to kill them either, but we have to eat."
"It's not that. Animals reproduce. We need to keep the parents and only eat their offspring. That way we will always have food," Raine said.
"Make sense," Lucy said. "Besides, do any of you even know how to butcher an animal?"
Tom scrunched his face and shook his head.
&n
bsp; "We're going to need to get some more firewood too," Sheena said as she stuck a stick of it into the wood stove.
"I can split the wood if someone cuts it," Lucy said.
"I saw a manual wood splitter in the machine shed next to the barn," Tom said.
Lucy smiled. "Even better."
"What about a saw for cutting down trees? Did you see one of those?" Raine asked.
"No. But there's a chainsaw sitting on a workbench. The chain is off, though, so I'm not sure if it works," Tom said.
"There has to be a saw somewhere. It's a farm, right? They keep stuff like that around," Antonio said.
"I'm sure that they kept lots of things that we can use, if we knew what they were and how to use any of them," Lucy said.
Antonio waved his hand in the air. "I'm from Brooklyn. This is my first time on a farm, so I'm not any help with that. But if you bring me some meat, a couple of onions, and a little basil, I can make you an amazing meal."
Lucy stood, stretched, and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair. "Well, Raine, it's that time."
Raine wrinkled her nose.
"I know, but knowing we have a nice warm fire to come back to makes it bearable," Lucy said.
They'd agreed that it would be best if the two people on duty would alternate with thirty minutes outside and ten minutes inside. Lucy would take the first shift, which meant she would go out before Raine. It was complicated to keep track of, but it was the best they could come up with to ensure no one died of hypothermia.
"I'll send Gage in. You take Brandon's post," Lucy said as she opened the door.
Reluctantly, Raine headed to the bedroom to dress for her thirty minutes in the cold.
As Raine pulled on her right boot, the back door banged open. "What's going on?" she called as she hobbled down the hall, holding her left boot in her hand.
"We have visitors," Gage called from the kitchen.
"What? Who?"
"I'm not sure, but they're armed to the teeth."
Raine stopped still and stepped into her boot. "What the—"
"Antonio, take the rifle by the front door. Sheena, you should take DeAndre into the bathroom," Raine said as she headed for the back door.
Tom met her in the kitchen. He already had his boots on and was shoving his arm through the sleeve of his jacket. His grimace told Raine that his hands still hurt quite a bit. It did appear that the severity of the burns to his right hand was less than his left.
"I'm going with you," Tom said, falling in behind Raine and Gage as they ran out the door.
She didn't slow down to discuss it. She wanted to head off their visitors before they reached the house.
Lucy held her pistol in both hands but wasn't pointing at the men. Raine counted three of them. They each carried some type of military-looking rifle. Gage leaned in and whispered, "I saw five of them walking up. Two are missing now."
"Probably in the wood line as a backup," Tom whispered.
"You guys look around and see if you can spot them," Raine said.
"What can we do for you?" Raine said as she approached the men.
"As I was telling your friend, this here is the Wards’ property. You're trespassing, and we’re gonna have to ask you to leave," the older of the men said. He held his rifle across his chest, pointed toward the ground. Raine looked down at the man's Timberland boots and then met his gaze.
"We have permission to be here. Mrs. Ward's husband died recently, and she went to stay with her sister for a few weeks. She wanted us to housesit for her and take care of the animals." Raine tried not to look away as she said the last part.
"How do we know that you're telling the truth?" a second man asked. He wore dirty Carhartt overalls and the same Timberland boots.
"You wouldn't, but I don't see how it’s any of your business," Lucy said. She stared him down unblinking.
The broad-shouldered man looked her up and down and huffed. "Folks look out for one another around here. We’re gonna need you to either prove you have Mrs. Ward's permission to be here or pack up and go."
"I'll tell you what, why don't you guys just drive on up to St. Louis and ask her," Lucy said. A flush grew behind her cheeks.
The man's jaw clenched. Raine was growing more concerned by the moment. Lucy's antagonistic attitude was doing nothing to defuse the situation. "If Mrs. Ward hadn't asked us to come here, how would we know about her husband's murder? It's not like it was plastered all over the news. There's no television or radio anymore."
"That's easy. You came here with that woman who killed a boy which brought those fellas down here in the first place. If it weren't for her, Mr. Ward would still be alive," the man in the overalls said.
"We're staying. We gave Mrs. Ward our word that we'd take care of Matilda. I don't know why, but she loves those silly goats like they’re her children. I won't let her down," Raine said. It was partially true. That was the way JJ had described her. She hoped she sounded convincing.
The man in the Carhartt coat pursed his lips and stepped forward. "Listen here, little lady…"
Raine felt her blood pressure rise. She despised being talked to like that.
"We don't take to strangers moving in around here, and we don't know you people. We don't trust people we don't know," the man continued.
"I can understand that. If you'd like to come in, I'll make you a cup of coffee, and we can get to know one another," Raine said and then thought better of it. That was the old way of defusing the situation. They couldn't afford to let them into the house where all their food and supplies were, not to mention the defenseless, Sheena and DeAndre hiding in that bathroom.
"Nah. That ain't gonna happen. You all just need to pack up and leave this county," the man in the overalls said as he slowly raised his rifle.
"I wouldn't do that, mister," Brandon called from the tree line.
The three men turned and raised their rifles in Brandon's direction.
Raine's heart nearly stopped. She anticipated another gun battle breaking out at any moment, and she wasn't carrying a weapon. How stupid of her to leave the house without at least her pipe wrench.
"Lower those rifles," Antonio called from the opposite side of the driveway. Raine looked for him, but he was well concealed behind a clump of evergreen shrubs that lined the driveway.
"You come out and make us," Overalls said.
"You lower those weapons, or I'm going to drop you where you stand," Brandon called back.
"I'd do what he said if I were you, Bobby," an unfamiliar voice said.
Raine whipped around to see Dean Cartwright and his son walking up from the direction of the barn. Had they heard the commotion all the way over at their farm? Or were they spying on them this whole time? The three men turned to face Dean.
"We're just here to look after Mrs. Ward's interest and that of the community. We can't have strangers running around in times like these," Coveralls said.
"I understand, and I agree, but Mrs. Ward invited them here and who are we to say who she can and can't have stay at her place," Dean said as he walked up beside Raine and Lucy.
Raine pivoted to face him. Her eyes lasered in on the man. That wasn’t what he was saying just last night. He’d been the first to demand they leave. What changed? What was he up to?
"How do you know that she invited them? There aren't any working phones to ask her,” the older man asked.
"I spoke with her before she left. She wanted these folks to look after her place until she gets back from her sister’s. I think we should let them get back to doing that," Dean said, gesturing toward the road.
Overalls turned his head and looked over his shoulder. "All right, Dean. But you're responsible if they cause trouble out in these parts." He made a circle in the air with his right hand and then pointed to the road. "Let's go, boys."
"See you at church on Sunday, Dean," the man in the Carhartt coat called back as they walked down the drive.
Raine turned to Dean. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. Those guys will be back." Dean turned and patted his son on his shoulder. "You help them with the animals and then come straight home." The boy nodded and took off toward the barn without saying a word to Raine or her group. Raine watched Dean disappear through the into the trees.
Raine glanced over to Lucy and gave a half-shrug.
"I think that guy is right. They'll be back," Brandon said as he approached them. "We need more people on watch."
"Even if we have a dozen people posted out here, without weapons, what good does it do?" Raine asked.
"We have to do something. We can't just let them run us off like that," Antonio said as he climbed out from behind the shrubs with Gage on his heels.
"Where's Tom?" Raine asked.
Antonio glanced back to Gage.
Gage shrugged. "We split up. He was going to work his way around to Brandon.”
"I didn't see him," Brandon said.
"Hey, Tom. You can come out now. They're gone," Gage called out.
Raine scanned the wood line but saw no movement. She listened and heard nothing.
"Tom?" Raine called. "Could he have gotten lost?"
"I guess," Gage said. "I'll go look for him."
"And get yourself lost, too?" Brandon said. "I better go with you."
Chapter 5
Possum Hollow Road
Farmington, Missouri
February 23rd, approximately 8:45 a.m.
Brandon and Gage located Tom's tracks where he and Gage had separated. They followed his footprints in the snow across a pasture and into the woods on the opposite side. A few feet in was where they discovered more tracks, likely belonging to the other two men that Gage had seen with the overalls guy and his men before they split up.
