He could not assure her that staying here was the best decision. What if he was wrong? With the suspicion that the congressman and his party might be headed in their direction, there was the potential for a skirmish of some sort. He couldn’t fault Leslie for not wanting to wait around for that. Was that the basis of her decision? It was possible she thought the entire Hardwick family and all their friends were about to be wiped out and she wanted no part of that. It could all be about protecting Dylan by getting him away from them.
He would do as she asked. After he spent some time setting out tripwires, he would return to the house and collect the thirty days’ of food that he had promised her and Dylan. Leslie’s request was poorly timed with all the work to be done around there. He hated to be away from his farm but he would respect Leslie's wishes. He knew all too well what it felt like to be trapped in a place you didn’t want to be. He hadn’t liked the feeling either. The experience had nearly broken him yet he’d learned from it.
Having said what was on her mind, Leslie stood to leave the room. Theresa shot up and embraced her. Theresa appeared as if she might cry. Leslie returned the embrace then disengaged herself and stepped from the room. Theresa looked at Robert with fear in her eyes. Robert met her gaze but had nothing to offer her.
"That little boy," Theresa said. "He’s seen so much in his short life. I hate the idea of him suffering."
Robert pushed up from his desk and went around to hug his wife. "It’s not our call. People have the right to their own decisions, even if we don’t agree with them.”
Theresa stepped away from him and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She smoothed her clothes and gathered herself. "Okay. Tough times, tough world, and I’ve got to be tough too."
"That's the attitude.”
Theresa flashed him a dark look. “Well, it sucks. They leave here, we’ll probably never see them again.”
“That doesn’t change anything.”
“You’re okay with it?”
“I didn’t say that. But in the end it doesn’t matter if either of us is okay with it or not.”
11
After dinner Robert showed Brandon the various goodies he’d picked up over the years expressly for the purpose of making booby traps. Some of those items could be used in conjunction with a tripwire to let you know someone was approaching. Others could be used to disable or kill the person tripping the device. Brandon was like a kid in a candy store.
“This is an excellent resource, Robert. More than I hoped for.”
Robert smiled. “I’m a gear nerd. What can I say?”
“There’s a lot we can do with this.”
“What do you need to make it happen?”
“A few people. I think I’d like to go into production mode first and make all the devices. We need to drill the grenade fuzes for both the primer and for a nail to hold them in place. I need someone cutting pipe for those other deterrents we discussed.”
“We could help with that,” Sonyea offered.
“How about Grace and Tom help with that?” Robert suggested. “I was hoping I might be able to convince you to go on a short ride with me.”
Sonyea groaned dramatically. “Experience has taught me that when you suggest a ride, a road trip, a little errand—anything like that—I should run in the other direction.”
“You can’t blame it all on me,” he said.
“I know, but there seems to be a pattern here. A common denominator. What did you have in mind?”
“I’d like to take the ATV and check on Mike and Karen. They’re the neighbors whose property butts up against us. They have a logging road that will allow us to access the road. Since I need to take a ride into town tomorrow I thought I should probably go ahead and make sure the road was clear and that they didn’t mind us using it.”
“Why are you going into town?”
The question came from several people at once. When he explained why he was going, just as many folks voiced their concerns about the nature of the trip.
“I know all that,” Robert said. “I don’t want her to leave either, but I’m not going to hold her prisoner if she doesn’t want to stay. I get the feeling it’s not entirely about space and resources. I think she’s scared about Dylan being caught up in a battle between us and the congressman. I can’t blame her for that. It’s kind of how I felt when I was at Arthur’s compound, like I was stuck in the middle of someone else’s fight.”
“Yeah, but you realized it was your fight too,” Sonyea pointed out. “Eventually.”
Robert nodded, a little uncomfortable. “I was being a jerk. Leslie’s concerns are different. Either way, she has to make her own decision and she’s made it. Theresa tried to talk her out of it and she shut us down.”
A cloud of concern settled over the group. People were in their own heads, trying to come up with solutions.
“You need me to go with you, Dad?” Grace asked.
Robert shook his head. “I need you here. If there are things Brandon needs, you’re more likely to be able to find them. You can also help him accurately map the location of anything he puts in place if I’m not back yet.”
“Okay.”
“So, you up for this?” Robert asked Sonyea.
She got to her feet. “Might as well, I guess. You haven’t gotten me killed yet. Almost, but not yet.”
Robert shot her an eye-roll.
They said their goodbyes and Sonyea climbed in the ATV with Robert. He swung by the house to tell Theresa where they were headed. She warned them to be careful, which was an unnecessary warning in current times. Anyone who wasn’t careful would probably be culled from the gene pool pretty quickly.
A woven-wire cattle fence separated the two properties. Access between the two was provided by a red gate located near Robert’s barn. The gate was never locked and used only occasionally. Robert hadn’t had a need to use it all summer, and tall grass, weeds, and thorny bushes had grown around it. It didn’t take long for vegetation to bind a gate to the ground and that was exactly what had taken place. Robert had to force the gate open with several strong shoves.
He returned to the ATV and eased through the gate. Weeds scrubbed against the sides and undercarriage of the machine. The road was rough and overgrown, carved through the neighbor’s property several years back to allow timber skidders to drag out cherry, poplar, and oak logs. It was nothing more than two dirty tracks tracing a clearing through the woods. It wasn’t maintained regularly though the property owner occasionally made a pass with a brush mower to cut down blackberries and wild roses.
Robert had been on the road before, helping his neighbor with fence maintenance, but he’d never followed it all the way to his neighbor's house. It was a large parcel of land, over five hundred wooded acres, with a boundary of pastures on which his neighbor grazed cattle, goats, and a few horses. Uncertain of what he might encounter on the forest road, Robert had his chainsaw, fuel mix, and a few tools for moving anything they might find blocking the route. The ATV also had a winch that could drag smaller obstacles to the side using a snatch block.
Never good at judging distance without a map, Robert didn’t know how much ground they covered before he and Sonyea emerged from the deep forest into a cleared pasture. He'd driven slowly and carefully the entire time, not wanting to run up on some obstacle or hazard that might cause him to wreck. They went through two lines of cross fencing, with Sonyea having to get out each time to let them through another gate. Not far past the second gate they ran into a newer metal sided barn. Just beyond that was his neighbor’s home.
The generous yard was fenced to keep the livestock out. Robert rode around to the driveway, slowed to cross the cattle guard, and stopped. He turned the ATV off. He stared at the large white farmhouse about seventy feet ahead of them.
"How you gonna do this?" Sonyea asked.
“Preferably in a way that doesn’t get me killed.”
Sonyea nodded. “I agree that’s preferable.”
/> As he always did when venturing outside the immediate area of his home, Robert was wearing his plate carrier with plates and carrying weapons. The good thing about a plate carrier was that it could save your life if someone, either accidentally or intentionally, put a round in your center mass. The bad thing was that it made you look a little threatening when you showed up on someone’s doorstep. He knew his neighbors would probably be focused on the plate carrier and not the familiar face.
“I’m going to leave my rifle in here. I hope they don’t open fire on me. It would suck to make it home only to get drilled by my neighbor.”
"Statistics say that most accidents take place close to home.”
“Your friendship is a joy,” Robert replied.
“What goes around comes around.”
Robert could argue with Sonyea all evening but that wouldn’t get the job done. He undid the latch and flung open the plastic door to the driver’s side. He propped his rifle against the seat, then removed his sidearm and placed it on the seat beside him.
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
“I don’t want to scare them.”
“You don’t even know if it is them. What if someone else moved in and took over?”
“Then you better save my ass.”
Robert wished the ATV had some type of horn. He could honk it and draw their attention, let them know someone was out here. He imagined they already knew. Like most people right now, they were probably keeping an eye on anyone approaching their home. The ATV was not discreet either. They had to have heard him.
He gave Sonyea one last nervous look, let out a deep sigh, and got out. He raised his arms over his head and started walking boldly toward the house. "Hey Mike, Karen, it's Robert Hardwick!” he called out loudly. “I need to talk to you. Don't shoot."
When there was no reaction, he stopped for a moment. His eyelids quivered, his entire body tensed up at the expectation of gunfire. He kept his arms raised and repeated his message. He’d closed half the distance, continuing to repeat his message, and no one answered. At thirty feet from the house, a downstairs window flew open. A gun barrel was shoved forward, dislodging the window screen from the opening.
“Don’t come any closer!” a female voice shouted. Robert recognized it as his neighbor, Karen.
He did exactly as he was told. He came to an immediate stop and held his breath, feeling incredibly vulnerable. "Is that you, Karen?"
"Who's asking? I heard the yelling but I couldn’t understand you."
"Karen, it's Robert Hardwick. I live on the farm next door. We’ve met before."
"Hold on. I'm coming out but keep your hands where I can see them.”
Robert heard the click of locks and the door swung open. Karen emerged under the porch carrying a shotgun. She looked a little rough around the edges, like she hadn’t been sleeping well, but she looked more than ready to bring the fight. Too ready.
"What are you doing here?"
"The world is a little crazy right now. I just wanted to check on you and Mike and make sure you were okay. I should have come by before but I’ve been away.”
That caught her interest. “You made it home? How bad is it out there?”
“It’s a little rough. Can I put my hands down? You’re not going to shoot me are you?"
Karen lowered the gun, then leaned it up against the wall of the house. She took a deep breath, sighed, and stuck her palms in her back pocket. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t recognize you. Never seen you dressed like that before.”
Robert lowered his hands and approached the porch cautiously. "Karen, are you okay? You look exhausted. Is Mike okay?"
Karen shifted as if her body was too weary to maintain any particular posture for too long at a time. She opted to go to the steps and sit down. She put her head in her hands, then swept her hair. There were dark circles under her eyes.
"Mike is out of town. He had to go take a workshop for some certification. I don't know where he is now because I haven’t been able to talk to him for…since it happened. I would assume he is somewhere between Atlanta and here. I pray he’s okay."
Robert shook his head. That was concerning information. Atlanta, with its sprawling size and large population, would be a rough place to be trapped with no resources. That didn’t mean he was dead though. "Don't give up on him yet, Karen. My daughter Grace was all the way at Oxford, Mississippi and she made it home. I went after her and got stuck on the road. Mike can make it but it won’t be quick."
Robert chose to leave out the details of the level of preparation he'd made on Grace's behalf. He left out the assistance she’d received because he’d taken the time to build her a network of safe houses in advance. He also left out the chopper that carried her for the final leg of her journey. He didn’t want to make it sound like Mike was screwed if all he had was his shaving kit and a cell phone.
"You have kids, right?” Robert asked.
He needed to distract Karen from thinking about her husband’s journey. If she spent all her time focusing on that, she’d be unable to function. She needed to keep this house running. She needed to be focusing on hers and her children’s survival. He waved at Sonyea in the ATV to come up to the house.
“Two girls. Eight and eleven. They’re trying to help but they’re a little flipped out about the power staying out for so long. We have a generator but it ran out of fuel and I'm not sure what to put in it. I don’t know if it’s gas or diesel, and I know I’ll kill it if I use the wrong thing."
Robert understood the predicament. It could happen anywhere you had a division of labor. Everyone knew their little piece, the things they took care of. Everyone worked together to keep the homestead operational. Karen knew her parts but she didn't know Mike's parts. Now Mike wasn't here and critical information was missing.
Robert heard steps approaching from behind him. “Karen, this is Sonyea. She’s a family friend. She and her son Tom are staying with us for a while.”
Karen nodded at Sonyea but didn’t get up. Wariness of strangers weighed upon the usual Southern friendliness. People weren’t so apt to let a new person within arm’s reach.
“It’s good to meet you, Karen,” Sonyea said.
“Is it safe?" Karen asked, her voice tense. "I haven't heard anything. Haven't seen anyone. I don't know what's going on in the world."
"You know about the terror attacks right?" Sonyea asked.
Karen nodded. "It will come back, right?" she asked. “I mean, surely…?”
Robert shrugged. "This isn't like an ice storm where the ice melts, the power company comes in, and everything is better again. This will take longer."
He didn't want to go into the details of just how long it might be. She was scared, felt vulnerable enough already. Maybe she deserved the truth but she wasn't ready for it yet. She was still right on the edge of completely losing her composure.
"Karen, I think one of us can come down here and help you figure things out,” Sonyea offered. “It shouldn't be too hard to improve conditions around here."
"That’s right,” Robert agreed. “There are things you can do to make life a little more bearable.”
Sonyea moved forward and took a seat on the steps beside Karen. She put her arm around the younger woman. “Would you like me to stay here with you for a little while? It might be nice for you to have another adult to talk to. I’m pretty experienced with homestead life. Maybe I could help you guys get set up a little better. I’m sure Robert and his family can spare me for a little while."
Robert nodded. "Of course."
Karen collapsed into sobbing, apparently comfortable now that she could let her guard down just a bit. Sonyea patted her on the back and hugged her.
Robert excused himself. "I'll grab your pack and rifle from the vehicle."
Sonia nodded over the shoulder of the crying woman. Robert hurried back to the ATV. He started it and drove it up closer to the house. Leaving it running, he delivered Sonyea’s gear to the porch a
nd left it at her feet.
"I'll just be going now. I’ll come back and check on you later. I’m sure Tom will want to check in on you too."
Sonyea nodded. Robert climbed into his ATV and drove back toward the logging road. He hoped Tom would not see his approach. To see the ATV home returning without his mother would push Tom’s thoughts to a dark place. Before Robert could explain, Tom would immediately assume that something happened. He would assume she’d been killed or taken. It would be the logical assumption. Robert hoped he could explain before Tom’s mind went down that road.
12
Robert was up early readying the side-by-side ATV for the trip into town. He checked the oil and put two five-gallon gas cans in the back. The full tank should be enough for the trip but he didn’t want to run out if they were forced to use a longer, alternative route than the one he’d planned on. He covered the fuel cans with some old feed sacks, slipping them down over the top to make certain they were hidden. Gas was probably as good a reason to kill a man as any right now and he didn’t want to die over it.
Last night he’d asked Grace to go with him to deliver Mrs. Brown to her home. He’d considered Brandon but the young man had been clear that he had several things on his list for the day. He’d gotten most of his tripwires and booby traps in place on the property but wanted to spend today rigging some along the road.
Theresa had been hesitant about Grace going, which made Grace roll her eyes. She was experienced, capable, and knew the terrain as well as Robert did. Theresa had conceded but Robert knew she’d be wracked with worry the entire time. In all honesty, he probably could have done it alone but he wanted the time with Grace. They had no time to talk and reconnect at all since he’d returned home.
He’d also repacked his Go Bag with fresh supplies. The pack had lived a hard life while he’d been at Arthur's compound and he wanted to make sure he replenished all the gear he’d used. He’d been planning on doing that ever since he got home but it hadn’t been a priority until he was about to venture out into the world again. Now there was nothing more important than making sure he had the emergency supplies he might need on the road. He did the same for Grace, going through her bag with her and replacing anything that needed replenishing. Her bag was also in rough shape.
Blood Bought: Book Four in The Locker Nine Series Page 11
