Grasp Grace: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (The Pulse Book 2)

by Hayden James

  William Conner

  Tucker Hollow

  3:52 PM

  “Damn it!” William shouted as the motorcycle surged and then stopped while he had the throttle engaged. “Should have checked the gas level before I left,” he muttered.

  William had no choice, but to pull over to the side of the road. He kicked down the kickstand and parked the motorcycle. He sat with his head in his knees on the side of the road. What Dwight had to say cut William deep.

  “Gees, I need to suck this up,” William said to himself. “I can’t risk Dwight kicking us out of his house…. Plus, I should not let his words get to me. They are only true if I believe him. I’m a better man than he is. Then he thinks I am. I have been involved in my children’s lives.”

  William figured he could head back to Dwight’s now, he was certain that he made his point and he needed sometime to cool down. Now that the dust had settled, he’d take the gas can that was strapped to the back of the bike and see if he could get gas somewhere in town.

  Walking in a direction that seemed like it would lead to a gas station, William walked with the small can to get it filled. After a mile, William turned around and saw the same four people walking behind him. They seemed to be following him, “What could they want,” he muttered.

  The four, suspicious people crept closer to William as he picked up his pace. They pick up their pace until William broke into a run. The four people following him also started running. “What in the world could they want,” he said to himself as he took cover behind the corner of the building to buy himself enough time to pull out his gun from his back waistband.

  As they passed by the building, he kept still, hoping they would keep going. However, they saw him. Without thinking, William aimed his gun and shot at them, missing all of them.

  They took out their guns, and as soon as William saw them take out their weapons, he took cover behind a tree. From behind the tree he shouted, “There’s no gas in the can.”

  He waited for the four people to lose interest and move on to someone who actually had something he could use. However, that point never came. Instead, William was met with more gunshots.

  William fired back, keeping his eye on where they stood from the other side of the street. Attempting his best, he had a clear shot on one of the assailants. He engaged the trigger of his gun only to hear a click. “Damn it!” William shouted. He had ran out of bullets and he forgot to reload it the entire trip.

  Not knowing what the next step was, William decided all he could do was to bide his time until they lost interest. Then William saw a top of the hill, a yellow VW camper van.

  Knowing it was Rachel out looking for him, he knew that Rachel was driving. He did not want her to get in the line of fire under no circumstance. He came out from behind the tree trunk, held up his hands, and yelled, “Stop! Rachel, Stop!”

  Amid his despair, he watched the yellow VW camper van speed up in the direction the men hunkered down across the street and shot at William. The van jumped the curb, angling right for the perpetrators who attacked William.

  In his own disbelief, he watched the four men run into the woods at the side of the road away from the surging camper van. After the men ran off, out of the way of the van and were no longer a threat to William, Rachel pulled up to where William stood behind the tree.

  “Need a ride?” Rachel asked.

  “Where did you come from? Why did you do that?” William asked.

  “I saw you needed some assistance,” answered Rachel.

  “Goodness, it’s good to see you,” William replied as he got into the passenger side door. “Oh, you have our twins with you?”

  “I needed there help.”

  “Can we go to a gas station, I will need a fill up,” jested William, surprised that it was his wife who came to his rescue and was off to help him get his gas can filled.

  A few miles later, Rachel said, “I see a station that looks open. I hope they are not charging an arm and a leg for gas.” She pulled into the station. “Girls, take this can and get it filled. Find out how much they want first and if it’s not completely insane, fill up the can.”

  Meanwhile, William could talk to Rachel. “I was so wrong to storm off like I did,” started William.

  “Dwight was very rough on you,” empathized Rachel.

  “He was. But, I need to realize that he will never change. If I want to keep my family safe at his compound, it will be me that needs to change. I will never act like that again,” explained William.

  “Well, never run away like that again,” reminded Rachel. “I don’t want to have to come for your rescue ever again.”

  “You have my word on that. But no one pushes my buttons like my dad does.”

  “He does do a good job at that.”

  “But that will be the last time I poke the bear, so to speak.”

  Maddy and Addy returned with a filled gas can. “They only wanted twenty dollars per gallon,” said Addison. “So, we filled the whole five-gallon can.”

  Feeling the pain at the pump, but realizing it was his own foolish mistake that got them there in the first place, William responded, “Oh, that’s all it was.”

  “Yeah, we thought we were getting a deal,” said Maddy.

  Rachel dropped William off back at his stalled motorcycle and went home. William started the motorcycle and headed home.

  When he returned at the homestead, he ran into Gary and Vince. “Hey guys, do you know where my dad is?”

  “He’s out gathering honey from the hives,” answered Gary.

  “Good grief!” William responded. He went back to the garage where he put on a pullover veil form the garage and headed over to the hives.

  Dwight did not even acknowledge him as he walked up. “Dad, I have an apology to make,” relented William.

  Dwight did not respond. William said, “I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. It hurt me. I will not let it happen again.”

  Dwight replied, “Here, hold this.” Handing William a hive tool. That was the end of the conversation regarding Dwight and William. William was not sure if their issues would bubble back up or would that be the end.

  Day Thirteen

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Dwight Conner

  Residence of Dwight Conner

  Townsend, Tennessee

  7:37 AM

  “Mr. Conner,” shouted the Sheriff as he rode his horse, trotting up to the property of Dwight Conner.

  As Dwight saw the sheriff once again harassing him, he knew this encounter was not going to go well. Nothing was worse than a meddling sheriff who wanted to keep tabs on everyone just for the sake of knowing where the resources were so the rest of the town could benefit from Dwight’s hard work.

  “What is it?” Dwight responded as he finished walking the grounds of his compound, just circling back from the livestock coops, meeting the sheriff at the edge of his driveway.

  “You know why I’m here. Stop beating around the bush,” snapped Murphy, dismounting the horse.

  “Oh, right,” replied Dwight. He had been walking the compound with the rifle strapped around his shoulder. His Bushmaster Carbon 15 M4 Carbine. Ever since the first encounter he had with Sheriff Murphy, Dwight vowed to always be armed. One could never be too careful, especially with the Sheriff backing the new mayor, Mayor Elisa Tyler. With full intention of intimidating the Sheriff, Dwight took the gun off from around his shoulder and with the barrel aim right at the sheriff said, “I believe this is what you wanted to see.”

  Dwight stared at the shaken Sheriff, looking at him raise his hands in surrender down the long barrel of the rifle. Sheriff Murphy calmly said, “Calm down, old man. I told you, I need to inspect your gun.”

  Dwight seethed, “I am calm.” Still pointing the gun at the Sheriff. “I am defending my property. I have a second amendment protecting my rights to bear arms.”

  Sheriff Murphy chuckled, “Do you have a permit to carry that weapon?” the Sherrif asked.
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  “Permit? What are you talking about? I’m on my own damn property. I don’t need no stinking permit,” replied Dwight. His face turning red from the blood surging to his head, and he became filled with rage and frustration.

  “Well, in this case you do,” replied the Sheriff. “You see, you have the right to keep and to bear and to your arms for common defense. In fact, you can carry your here gun all over your property. And Going Armed as they say in these here parts is allowed for only a handgun. You sir, are carrying a rifle.”

  “Right, but I am on my property and I am defending my home,” seethed Dwight.

  “Correction. You have just stepped off of your property and onto public property. And seeing how you do not have a permit for an open or concealed carry, you are breaking the law. Therefore, I must take your gun,” countered the sheriff.

  Dwight stared at the Sheriff over the barrel of the rifle. “You cannot have my gun,” whispered Dwight.

  The smug Sheriff elaborated, “Not to mention, you were aggressive with the gun. Criminal activity such as this is supposed to be stopped immediately within the Tennessee gun laws. You’re lucky that I’m not charging you with attempted murder.”

  “If this goes any further, you might as well charge me with murder.”

  “Mr. Conner, surrender your weapon. This is an order,” barked the Sheriff.

  Out of the corner of Dwight’s eye, he saw William approaching the stand off. As William got closer to Dwight and the Sheriff he asked, “What seems to be the problem here?”

  “Your father needs to surrender his gun to me before I charge him with attempted murder,” answered Sheriff Murphy.

  Holding the stand off for a few more seconds, Dwight finally relented, handing over the gun to Sheriff Murphy.

  “I knew you would do the right thing,” the Sheriff said with a smug smirk. He strapped the gun around his shoulder and mounted the horse and rode off without another word.

  Dwight could see that William looked quite shocked at the surrendering of the rifle over to the Sheriff. “You seem surprised that I gave that jerk my gun,” Dwight huffed to William while he continued monitoring the trotting horse as the Sheriff rode toward the horizon.

  William took a deep breath and replied, “Yeah, that doesn’t seem much like you. You’ve always have been much more of a fighter. I suppose you are getting soft in your old age.”

  Dwight whispered, “I have something to show you, follow me.”

  Dwight led William to where his property met the mountain range, on the southern part of the property next to the fields for the dairy cattle. After reaching the foot of the mountain range, Dwight led him to a door that went into the side of the mountain. Flipping to the correct combination, the bank-safe door released. Dwight opened up the vault door to his prized work. An elaborate bunker, outfitted with every piece of living imaginable. The bunker entrance gave way to the large dining table.

  Winding down the hallway into the cavern, Dwight led William to his prized possession. The cavernous shelter that Dwight had spent all of his latter years building. “What in the world is this?” William muttered, appearing to be in complete shock and awe. “You made this?”

  “I’ve dug this cavern every day since I had you,” relented Dwight with a tear in his eye. “You see, ever since your mother told me that she was pregnant, and don’t get me wrong that was a surprise, I vowed to protect our little family and you for the rest of my life.”

  A tear bulged in William’s eye, and he was quick to wipe it away before Dwight could see it. “You have been building this ever since I was little?” William asked.

  “It wasn’t much back then. I would sneak away from you guys to work on it. It started off more as a hobby, but as the hurricanes kept popping up more and more frequently, and the other side had earthquakes, I knew we were only one natural disaster away from our entire infrastructure falling completely apart,” explained Dwight. “And that’s not even considering an enemy attack.”

  “You’ve always talked that something like this would happen,” replied William.

  “I had a feeling deep down that it would. I know it almost drove us apart. Even yesterday, it’s still a point of contention for us, but I have good intentions.”

  “I know you do, dad. You always did. I just hated that this took up a lot of your time and I resented that you didn’t spend that time with me and mom. I realize that you thought you were sacrificing your time with us to ultimately save us.”

  “I am glad that we were able to come to common ground about this. I realize it nearly drove us apart, but I especially wanted to make sure that this place was large enough for your family when you and Rachel started having children. I mean, my life would never be the same if anything ever happened to any of those darling grand babies you gave me and your mother. That’s when I had to expand this place to make sure everyone could fit.”

  William took in the bunker, looking around at the extreme detail that Dwight took to complete something on this scale. “I honestly don’t know what to say,” interjected William. It became visibly clear that his emotions were raw and Dwight needed to put an end to the emotional talk.

  “This is my life’s work,” replied Dwight, leading William to though the main living quarters. “Here, you’ll find the dining table. And in the kitchen, there I have a pantry filled with enough food for two years. Rice, beans, peanut butter, crackers, protein bars, powdered milk, instant coffee. Anything that I could think of with a long shelf life. If this here disaster lasts a while, before the year is over and the flour goes bad, we could make hardtack. That will last us several more years. Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it sounds.”

  William gave him a look, “It does sound bad,” he replied.

  “Well, the orchard on the edge of the property is going strong, and if we can sustain the cows, we could have the hardtack with butter and jam. It’s not that bad, I’ve been perfecting my recipe,” explained Dwight.

  “I know that you’ve been canned fruits and vegetables for years now,” said William.

  “Right, I marked the dates on each can. We’ll eat the oldest first, of course,” explained Dwight.

  “Of course.”

  “Here, follow me,” Dwight said, leading William through the kitchen and dining area and over to the bunks were. “Now, we can live in the main house until things turn dire. And if my feeling about that, uh, sheriff are even half true, then we will be living in here full time and never coming out.”

  “Really? You think it will get that bad?” William asked.

  “Think?” Dwight replied with a stone cold look.

  “Right.”

  The pair moved to the living area. After the kitchen and dining area, the bunker led to a hallway where bunks of beds were built into the wall. The beds were aligned so that the person sleeping would have their feet toward the hallway and would have what would seem like a private room, allowing them privacy during the disaster. These bed compartments were carved into the ground and then reinforced with concrete bricks and rebar.

  Examining the elaborate design of the bunk area, William stated, “This must have taken you forever to carve each of these compartments. One lower, one high bunk, and eight on each side. We can easily sleep sixteen people in here.”

  “We will have to be extremely careful who we decide to take in,” warned Dwight. “The last thing we want is a weasel in the henhouse.”

  “I understand your concern completely. We’ve been having some difficulties with Gary and Vince.”

  “Oh yeah. You need me to speak with them? We can cut the loose, just say the word,” emphasized Dwight.

  “Nah. They seem to be harmless, but they were making moves on Maddy and Addy, and it was making Rachel uncomfortable. But they are adults now, and they can make their own decisions.”

  “Just say the word. They will always be my grandbabies.”

  “Gary and Vince are more of an asset that a deterrent. We need them on our team. They’re yo
ung, strong, and handy.”

  “If you say so.”

  “For now.”

  “Let me show you the rest,” Dwight interrupted, guiding William to the quarantine area and bathroom. “I have a place where if one of us falls ill, then can have a comfortable area and not get the rest of us sick. And the bathroom and kitchen does have running water. The toilet is composting, so it will start to smell. Especially if we are at full capacity, but we will make sure the door remains shut.”

  William nodded and appeared to be in sheer amazement by the detail and thought that went into this.

  “And now we are at the place that is my true prized possession,” announced Dwight. There was a mother vault door and Dwight put in the combination and he then pulled the lock. “I am the only person who knows this combination. If we are under attack, I will distribute the weapons.”

  “I see,” William replied. It was apparent to Dwight that William had no idea how ugly this type of thing could get.

  After Dwight pulled open the door, revealing the armory of firearms, he noticed William’s jaw drop. “There’s at least several hundreds of thousands of guns and weapons in here,” William said astounded.

  “Right. You name it, I probably have it. That’s why I was all right with surrendering my Bushmaster. I’ll miss that rifle, but I have at least twelve more. Not to mention I have by prized possession, the eight AK-47s that I have.”

  “How in the world did you get your hands on assault rifles?” William asked.

  “In Tennessee, I just needed to have them registered, which I do. I found a dealer and bought them when I could afford them.”

  “That’s definitely not the case in Indiana. Such automatic weapons are prohibited in that state,” replied William.

  “Guess it’s a good thing I don’t live there, ain’t it,” retorted Dwight. Dwight and William walked into the vault with the guns displayed on racks mounted to the walls. The racks contained the eight AK-47s, the twelve Bushmaster Carbon 15 M4 Carbines, several handguns such as Glock 36s, Glock 17s, and various shotguns were kept. “I have plenty of ammo, so we shouldn’t need to worry about that.”