365 Days At War

by Nancy Isaak

  Leaning in, I kissed him softly on his lips. “February 14th,” I whispered.

  * * * *

  A few minutes later—we heard gunshots.

  There were five of them—one after another—coming from the northwest. I immediately turned toward Jacob, my heart dropping. “That came from past Zuma. Rhys and Frank...you didn’t give them an order to…to kill Victor, did you?”

  Jacob shook his head. “They were told not to hurt him—just to ditch him somewhere around Oxnard.”

  Our guards came running up, weapons drawn. They fanned around us, their eyes scanning the nearby shadows for threats.

  “Oh, god,” I cried, scared. “What if Victor took a gun from them? What if he hurt Rhys or Frank?!”

  “I don’t think it’s them,” said Jacob, shaking his head. “I think the shots actually came from up behind Trancas. Frank and Rhys would be nowhere near there.”

  “Do we have sentries in that area? Could it be them?”

  “Two teams—one at the store there, one farther back at the dog park.”

  Suddenly—we heard more gunshots…bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

  Jacob quickly pointed to one of the guards. “Get back to the compound and ring the bell. I want everybody on Level One defenses. We’ll head over to the girls’ house and bring them across to the mansion.”

  As the guard went running in one direction, the rest of us hightailed it toward my dad’s house.

  JACOB

  More than anything, I just wanted to get on Beauty and gallop down the highway to Rhys and Frank—make sure that they were okay, bring my little brother home. Unfortunately, however, that would be left up to Kieran.

  I couldn’t leave the tribe if we were under attack.

  “Take the chestnut,” I ordered. “Find out where Rhys and Frank are and bring them back now!”

  “What about Victor?” asked Kieran. He was holding a set of reins and a saddle. Ian was standing beside him, his arms full of a second set of riding gear.

  “Don’t worry about Victor,” I said. “He can find his own way to Oxnard. Just bring our guys home. You can pick up a second horse down at Heavens Beach. The sentries there have the white horse. That should be enough to get the three of you home.”

  I turned to Ian. “And you get over to Trancas. Check on both of the sentry positions there. We need to find out exactly where those gunshots came from. Get me as much information as you can and report back here ASAP!”

  “What about the Sycamore and Mugu sentries?” asked Kieran.

  “They’re way past the shots,” I said. “If those teams are under fire, I need to trust that you’ll figure it out along the way. But your number one priority has to be to get Rhys and Frank back.”

  “Roger that.”

  “And guys,” I said—very serious, “if it’s Crazies—don’t take any chances being seen. If you need to, leave the horses and go on foot. Stow them in a yard along the way or let them go free if you think they’ll draw attention to you. Just take off their reins and saddles first…any questions?”

  Kieran and Ian both shook their heads.

  “Then, move it! And don’t forget that, if something happens here and we have to evacuate the tribe, we’ll head down the cliff and onto the boats.”

  “Is Dog Beach still where we’ll meet?” asked Kieran—meaning a spot a couple of miles up the coastline.

  I nodded. “We’ll land there first if we have to evacuate. If there are Crazies there and we can’t make a landing, then we’ll head farther north—up to one of the other evacuation points we talked about.”

  * * * *

  Except for Beauty and the chestnut, the rest of our small amount of horses were being used by the sentries up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. As I rode away from the compound, inspecting our defenses, I realized the enormous mistake our tribe had made in not having secured more horses.

  With the distances we had to travel just going from house to house on the Point—let alone from sentry posts set miles apart—walking on foot or even riding a bike during times like this was both dangerous and foolhardy.

  Galloping down Dume Drive toward the first of many soldier-placements I would visit that night, I made a mental note to acquire more horses when this present crisis was over.

  * * * *

  I encountered the first group of our guys hidden behind the bushes at the junction of Dume Drive and Grayfox Street—three kids, all around fourteen years of age.

  When they saw me coming, the biggest of them—a muscular blond—came out to greet me. He was holding a rifle, which he waved in the air. “Jacob…over here!”

  Reining in Beauty, I swung down, out of the saddle. “Seen anything?”

  He shook his head. “No, man…just our guys heading out to their positions. Haven’t heard any more gunshots either.”

  “Do you think it’s the Crazies?” asked one of the others, a small kid with a scar across his forehead. He seemed nervous and kept clicking his rifle’s safety on and off.

  “We don’t know who it is, yet,” I said. “So, you guys need to keep hidden. Anybody comes down that road, you don’t know who it is…you ask them for the password. Do you remember it?”

  “Whale song,” they all said in unison.

  “Good men,” I nodded. “If they don’t know the password, you arrest them. If they resist you—shoot them. And I mean that—you guys don’t give anybody second chances if they don’t know the password.”

  They nodded—with a mixture of excitement and terror.

  “And all three of you have met Brandon,” I added. “With him—even if he does know the password—you shoot him!”

  * * * *

  After having ridden from Dume Drive all the way to the highway—stopping to talk to each of our soldier-teams along the way—I returned to the compound just in time to find Josh handing out whistles to each of the girls. As I cantered to a stop beside him, he looked up at me, sheepishly.

  “I thought they should have them right away,” he admitted, embarrassed. “Just in case.”

  “Good idea,” I said, dismounting. “Are all the girls here? Is there anybody left at the house?”

  “We’re all here,” said Kaylee, coming toward me. “Even Pugly’s made the trip over.”

  I looked at Lily. She was standing to one side—a whistle in one hand, a leash in the other. Pugly was at the other end of the leash, snuffling away at Josh’s boots.

  “You okay, Lily?” I asked.

  The small girl looked scared, but defiant. She reached into a little white purse that was around her shoulder and pulled out a can of mace. “I’m armed.”

  “Good girl,” I said, mussing her hair a little—just enough to make her smile. “You know how to use that, right?”

  “Jude taught me,” she said, holding the can straight out as if to push its trigger. “This is my second can. The Foxes took my first one when they put me in the cage.”

  “Stupid Foxes,” I grinned.

  “A lot nicer than what I would have called them.” It was Jude, coming up beside Lily, a whistle in her hand. The older girl looked amused by the whistle, but still put it around her neck. “Not a bad idea, really.”

  Peyton came up with her own whistle. “Shame they don’t give these out in regular families,” she said, pointedly.

  TWEET, TWEET, TWEET!

  We all turned to look at Shawnee who, embarrassed, slowly took her whistle out from between her lips. “Sorry…I was just trying it out.”

  I noticed that Kaylee was looking around—conscious of the guys nearby turning to stare.

  “It’s okay,” I told her. “No harm done. And it might do some good to let everybody know that you girls have them.”

  She nodded, not so sure. “Any news on the Crazies, yet?”

  “We’re not even certain it is the Crazies at the moment. Ian is heading down to Trancas to see what he can find out. We’ll have to wait until he gets back.”

  “What about Rhys a
nd Frank?”

  “Still out there,” I admitted. “But I’ve got Kieran heading down the highway to try and find them and bring them back.”

  “Where do you want us?” Kaylee asked. “I mean, Jay has already gone over to the Medical Clinic, but I’d rather not have the rest of the girls standing out here in the middle of the compound.”

  Shawnee moved over to us, centering her bow across her back. “I need to find the Raiders,” she said. “They’ll need me.”

  “Down the cliff a bit.” I pointed her in the right direction. “They’re spread out down to Westward Beach Road. Find Andrei…he’s in charge until Rhys gets back. He’ll tell you where you should be.”

  “Is Wester with them?”

  I nodded. “I talked with him about fifteen minutes ago. He and Xavier are manning a checkpoint down around Birdview Avenue where it heads down to Westward Beach.”

  “Roger that.” And, without another word, Shawnee turned and disappeared into the dark.

  Kaylee looked worried.

  “She’s a good shot,” I said, trying to assure her. “Actually, she’s an amazing shot.”

  “I know,” Kaylee nodded. “It’s just that—with Cherry gone—I feel responsible for her.”

  “Liar,” I grinned. “You feel responsible for everyone.”

  * * * *

  “I want to go and join the Raiders, too.”

  Bending down, I picked up Pugly and placed him in Lily’s arms. “Sorry, kiddo,” I told her. “I’ve got a different job in mind for you.”

  “But I’ve got my mace,” she insisted.

  “Which is good, because you’re going to need it to protect the animals.”

  “The animals?”

  “Somebody needs to protect Pugly and Kanga,” I said.

  Behind Lily, Lance had walked up with Xavier’s cat in his arms. The boy looked absolutely terrified; he was trembling and his eyes kept flicking back and forth, searching. “Where’s Frank…I can’t find Frank!”

  Kaylee immediately ran over to him. She took the cat from his hands, holding Kanga in one arm while placing the other around Lance’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, kiddo. Jacob has sent Kieran to get Frank. He’ll be coming home soon.”

  “Is he okay?” the boy asked in a wavering voice.

  “He’s Frank,” said Kaylee. “Big, tough Frank…of course, he’s okay. Now, come on, buddy…we need to get you guys and the pets somewhere safe.”

  “Take them into the ballroom,” I told her. “That will be their first position. If something happens and they need to be evacuated, go to the cliffs. There will be guys there to help everyone down to the boats.”

  “Okay,” she nodded. Then, she turned to Hannah who was standing nearby, not saying a word—just chewing on her thumb. “You, too. Hannah-banana, let’s go.”

  Hannah frowned. “I want to go and help Jay.”

  Kaylee looked at me for direction. I shook my head slightly. “She needs to be in the ballroom right now. It’ll be safer for everybody.”

  “You heard the boss,” said Kaylee, reaching for Hannah’s hand.

  The little girl moved out of reach. “No…I want to go help Jay!”

  “Oh, for god’s sake,” said Peyton. She went over and grabbed Hannah’s hand, holding on tightly. “Come on, you pain-in-the-ass. Let’s get out of everybody’s way before they stick a gun in our hands and make us fight.”

  As she pulled Hannah away, the little girl could be heard protesting, “But I want to fight.”

  Kaylee, meanwhile, shepherded Lily and Lance in the same direction. I watched them go and—just before they disappeared into the dark—Kaylee turned and gave me a sweet smile.

  ‘I’m so going to marry that girl,’ I thought.

  * * * *

  When I went to check out the Medical Clinic, I found Porter, Jay, and Connor rushing around, filling backpacks with medicines and bandages. Meanwhile, boxes of medical supplies had been set beside each bed.

  “Are the backpacks in case we have to evacuate?” I asked.

  Porter nodded. “It was Jay’s idea. Same thing with having the supplies already beside the beds.”

  “Smart girl,” I noted.

  “Thanks,” said Jay, walking by with an armful of pressure bandages.

  “Have you set up beds in the underground garage, yet?” I asked.

  “That’s where I’m heading next,” said Connor.

  “Okay, good. Because you need to be ready to evacuate if the Crazies come onto the Point. If we’ve got wounded we can’t get to the cliff, then you have to get them down into the garage. You can lock yourselves in. That thing is big enough that, if you’re in the far corner, they won’t even know you’re there. Then, when things calm down, we’ll figure out a way to get you out.”

  Connor nodded. “We’ve already stored food and water down there. We figure we have enough for ten people for two weeks. After that, though…”

  “After that,” I promised, “we’ll get you out!”

  * * * *

  Heading back through the compound, I was surprised to discover Sophia had taken over the food line. She had two gigantic pots of something that smelled amazing cooking over the fire and there was a table full of different snacks and goodies all set up.

  “Sophia, the girls are over in the ballroom. You don’t have to do that, you know.” I told her.

  “The army, it needs to be fed,” she said. “I remember in class, our teacher told us that a war, it can be won or lost on how full the soldier’s stomach is.”

  “This is great, Sophia…really.”

  “I don’t pick up no gun,” she said, holding up a spoon. “But this—this I can do. This is how I fight.”

  There were tears in her eyes and I realized with a start that she was scared. Reaching out, I pulled Sophia in for a comforting hug. “It will be okay…and what you’re doing will be a big part of that.”

  When I pulled back, the tears were falling down her cheeks. She reached out and rubbed them away, almost angrily. “I have stew to make.”

  * * * *

  I made one more round of the outer-sentries, making sure that everyone was in their assigned spots and ready for action. It was unnervingly quiet out on the Point—away from the compound. If there were Crazies worming their way into our territory, nobody had seen a sign.

  As I was trotting along the cliff, heading back toward the mansion, I was shocked to discover Kaylee, Jude, and Cammie hunched down behind some rocks—rifles aimed over the edge.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” I asked, jumping off Beauty and stalking over to the girls.

  “What do you think?” said Kaylee, almost nonchalantly.

  Beside her Cammie grinned, while Jude gave a snort, saying, “Boy’s gone a little macho. You sure you want to marry this dude, Kaylee?”

  “He’ll be fine,” said Kaylee, looking pointedly at me. “He just needs to get it through his thick boy-skull that we girls are part of this tribe, too. That means we have just as much right to protect it as anybody with excess dangly bits.”

  Despite my anger, that made me grin. I kneeled down beside the girls. “At least tell me that you’ve got your whistles.”

  They all giggled, nodding.

  Sighing, I stood back up, turning to go. “Fine. But, if we evacuate, you guys go down the #3 rope. That’s the closest one.”

  * * * *

  It was just before dawn when we finally ‘stood down’.

  The night had been long and—to a great extent—boring.

  For hours we had stood or knelt in the dark, waiting for the battle that never came. Our one relief was Sophia—moving through the ranks, ladling out stew or handing out treats to help us keep up our energy.

  At one point, we heard a single gunshot.

  It came from behind us—to the south.

  For a short while, our soldiers went on high alert, thinking that the Crazies had finally made it onto the Point. That ended, however, with the embarrassed a
dmission that the shot had been caused by one of our own guys accidently dropping his gun as he nodded off from exhaustion. Luckily, the bullet had missed the guy next to him or Porter and Jay would have had their first casualty in the Clinic.

  As it was—the last time I checked on our teenaged doctors—they were seated at a small table, playing gin rummy and looking as bored as the rest of us.

  “Kieran and Ian not back, yet?” Porter asked, slapping down a three of spades.

  I shook my head. “Neither of them. I’ll give them another hour, then I’ll send someone after them.”

  But—they didn’t need the hour.

  Fifteen minutes later, Ian came galloping up, straight into the center of the compound. As he saw me coming out of the Clinic, he jumped off of his horse and raced over to me.

  “We’ve got bodies coming!”

  * * * *

  There were four of them—two 15-year olds from L.A. who had made it up to Malibu before the Crazies closed off the highway south of us…and a 16-year old and a 17-year old who had traveled together from Idaho. I knew all four of them by sight but, sadly, I had never spoken with them.

  Now, I wish I had.

  Their names were Cheyenne, Michael, Billy, and Oded—and they were the guys who had been manning the sentry post up near the Trancas dog park. Apparently, their position had been overwhelmed by Crazies; they had stood no chance and had—hopefully—died quickly under superior numbers and fire power.

  Now, they were coming back to the Point—each one of them draped over the back of a horse. The bodies of the boys had been covered with blankets and, in one case, a jacket—but we could still see their hands hanging down, their booted feet…the curve of a head lolling gently to the rise and fall of a horse’s gait.

  I met up with them at Westward Beach Road, wanting to be with the boys as they made their final journey.

  Rhys and Frank reached me first—each pulling a horse behind them, its sad burden weighing down their spirits. Kieran was walking with them—behind him, a body lay across his own horse’s saddle.