The two men walked into the back door and into the kitchen. Marilyn had just finished cooking soup. She was pouring bowls. Rob walked to the bathroom. Michael walked into the living room. All three kids were asleep on the floor. This was fine by Michael. Marilyn came in behind him with bowls of soup on a tray.
“Marilyn I was almost attacked out back in the alley.” Michael decided to just blurt it out. For what it was worth, deciding to share may strengthen the trust in the small group.
She stopped tending to the bowl and looked up in astonishment. “How come I didn’t hear? I was in the kitchen the whole time.” She rubbed her forehead reliving the steps and sounds.
“I made sure it was quiet. Rob stayed hidden and I made them leave without hurting anyone. I’m not sure if they will come back with more but I suggest that everyone sleep on the same level in the same house tonight just so we can move everyone at once if we have to and not have to worry about anyone being separated if things go south,” Michael suggested with a sigh. “Take this radio. Keep it close. If you don’t answer me when I contact you I’ll know something is wrong and I will be on my way. So please respond as soon as you hear my voice. We will be back after we secure this place."
Marilyn gave a slight nod. She seemed so stressed. She was trying so hard to make everything feel as normal as it possibly could feel. She began preparing the living room for everyone to sleep. She didn’t know how to deal with what was going on. The only way she could cope was to clean and rearrange and tidy up and to cook and to make the space livable. She hoped that Jack didn’t bring many people back. She didn’t know how they could feed all of these people, however at the same time Marilyn didn’t think that she could turn away any of Pete’s family members. Pete had been such a good friend to both her family and Michael’s family. They had bought Pete Christmas gifts and always took him a plate of food on Thanksgiving because he always kept his gas station open late on each and every night. Everything was happening so fast. She thought she had lost both Jordan and Jack and now Jack was gone once again. People are attacking other people. Marilyn never would have thought that this morning when she woke to up cook breakfast that she would have to fight for her life by supper. She had no other choice but immerse herself in the chores around her and taking care of the people.
Michael stepped into to the kitchen with Rob trailing behind him. Leaving was his way of dealing with the situation even if his security excuse was a valid excuse. They walked out of the back door. Michael stood in the yard for a moment. He was thinking. How many more marauders who were affiliated or unaffiliated with those three people he let go would come back? How could he get prepared to deal with such an attack again on his own? He didn’t know when or if Jack would come back and Rob was little to no help at all. He brushed the loose hair out of his eyes and began to devise a plan.
“Rob,” he pitched him a set of keys. “There are two cars around the front. One of them is my truck. I want you to pull them into my garage. It’s a tight fit but you can get both in there. Then meet me back here. Oh, and keep the lights off and radio me if anything happens.” Michael gave him a stern stare as if to say don’t screw this up.
“Ok I will. So I guess we had a change of plans?” Rob said walking in between the houses.
“Yes. We are digging in.” Michael started for the neighbor’s yard.
Their garage was cracked. He reached his fingers underneath and lifted slowly. He bent down and shined his flashlight and saw no one. He opened the garage door making minimal amounts noise possible. He was confident that the owners were evacuated with the rest being as half their belongings were drug from their front door to the curb, as if they were putting things in suitcases all the way to the evacuation busses. He still would feel better if Jake came along helping search the houses. The dog would bark if he seen anyone. Jake would be better help than Rob but he comforted the kids so it was for the best that he stayed sleeping on the couch. The owner’s car was sitting in the garage. He opened the Blazer’s door and found the keys in the ignition. The owners must have been on their way out once the evacuation started. Michael figured he lucked out this time. Next time it would be a search for the keys or having to hot wire the damn things.
Michael backed out of the garage (making sure to keep his lights off) and backed into the alley. He decided to drive halfway down the alley and park the Blazer horizontally blocking off the entrance to the alley. A few more cars and then the same amount on the opposite side and no one would be able to get to the semi by vehicles. Michael stepped out of the Blazer and started to walk back to Jack’s house to meet Rob. He should be done but he hadn’t yet radioed Michael. As Michael walked back he looked into the backyard driveway of each house on either side making a mental note of which houses had cars sitting outside or which didn’t. Once the entire alley was closed off with cars he would feel a lot better about the semi sitting out back unattended through the night.
Rob was standing in the yard awaiting his new orders. He constantly looked around and Michael could feel his nervousness. Michael couldn’t blame the man. Everyday Americans weren’t used to war like conditions. He watched as Rob paced back and forth, almost as if he was waiting for something to happen. It was a hard change to undergo. Most would be put through boot camp and rigorous training but Michael would do the best he can to help sharpen each one of the people he and Jack were protecting.
“Come on,” Michael walked past the jittery Rob. The two continued in between the two houses and onto the street. “You always want to be aware of your surroundings, look down each road, and scan every house for signs of life.”
The two looked around. Rob seemed to have a little more direction and his tensed body started to relax. “So what are we going to do?” Rob asked.
Michael walked across the street to one of the neighbor’s garages. “We are looking for cars. Bigger cars are preferred but we don’t have much time so we will take what he can get.” He bent down and pulled the garage door open.
“The best thing about this neighborhood is that everyone leaves their doors unlocked and their garage doors open.” Michael walked over to the Station Wagon. He looked inside and then opened the door. He opened the sun visor but there were no keys.
“There aren’t any keys. I’m sure there are some inside. Most people have a hideaway key just in case they locked their keys in the car.” Michael felt along the underbelly of the car. As he ran his hand down he stopped and pulled out from underneath a little black box. He popped the top and pulled out a key.”
“I’m sure I can find a car.” Rob said earnestly.
“You are going to drive whatever car you find to that end of our alley,” Michael pointed in the direction that he had parked the blazer. “You will already see a car there. Go ahead and wedge your car in however you think is best to stop anyone from driving in. I figure two more cars on that end of the ally should do the trick. We have to be quick though.”
“Sure that’s no problem.” Rob was a man of few words but his face was full of worry. Michael figured he was afraid of making a mistake.
“Here take this,” Michael tossed Rob a small hand gun. Rob caught it and the look on his face said bewilderment. His mouth dropped. Earlier that day Rob thought Michael and Jack were going to kill him and now one of them was handing him a gun in confidence. “Radio me.” Michael looked in the man’s eyes as if to tell him not to screw up.
Rob walked off to a different house in search of his own vehicle. Michael started the car and backed out of the garage. The dark road was hard to see but Michael knew the roads and could see well enough by the light of the moon. He headed for the opposite end of the block.
Michael picked up the radio. “Marilyn,” Michael awaited a response but there was no answer. “Marilyn, are you there?”
Michael slowed to a stop and turned around. He headed back toward the front of the house. He had told Marilyn that if she didn’t answer him he would know something was wrong. He didn’t want to
waste time by calling her on the radio especially if there was something happening.
“I’m here.” The radio went off and it was Marilyn’s voice.
Michael gave a sigh of relief. If Marilyn was safe then his daughter was safe. He turned the car around.“You should keep the radio on you at all times Marilyn. You had me thinking that something was wrong.”
“I’m sorry Michael. I’ll put it in my pocket. What did you want?” Marilyn said quickly and without hesitation.
“Rob and I are going to do a little work out here so keep an eye out. Look through the blinds about every ten minutes just to see any kind of movement you don’t recognize. It’s getting late and Jack still isn’t back yet and after those people showed up I don’t think we can wait any longer to fortify our defenses.” Michael finished. He felt strongly about this but he really needed Jack with him to get all the work done. Michael knew that not only did the semi need to be secured but windows needed to be boarded up and defenses needed to be installed in the house.
“That is understandable just be as quick as you can.” Marilyn said with a pleading confidence.
“We will.” Michael turned into the alley and traveled about halfway down. He was a good distance from the back of the semi. He parked the car horizontally and figured a few more cars would block the alley pretty well. So Michael traveled from house to house. He had been to three houses and found two cars. His side of the alley was blocked but he would feel more at ease if there was just one more in the blockage. The rear of the semi needed to be more heavily blocked then the front because if the time came and they need to escape using the semi they would want to plow through the least amount of cars possible but at the same time maintaining enough cars to stop any intruders from entering the alley.
Michael went to one more house. It was a relatively close house. The car was in the garage just like all the others but there was no spare key anywhere and he searched every hiding place he could think of. The keys had to be in the house. He checked the backdoor. It was locked. The front door was most likely locked as well. Michael took a step back and planted his boot just under the door handle with heavy force. He heard the deadbolt snap the wood around the handle and the door swung to the side. Michael entered the home with pistol in hand and at a half crouch. The home was dark and appeared empty but there was no way Michael could be certain. He advanced into the kitchen. He took a look around and walked a few feet through an archway and into the living room. What struck Michael as odd was the fact that no clothes or personal items were thrown about. Whoever left this house left with nothing at all or they were still in the house. There were freshly burnt cigars in an ashtray. The aroma lingered in the air. Michael advanced even more cautiously. The house was silent but there had to be someone inside Michael could feel it. He had reached the middle of the room. Michael did a three sixty scan of the room but there was nothing but average everyday furniture. No sign of movement. He stood up all the way up. He figured that whoever was in the house had fled once they heard Michael break the door or possibly even when the garage door was opened.
Just as that thought of impending doom by an unknown assailant had passed through his mind he thought he had heard a light footstep. Michael turned around just in time to lean far enough back to let the kick slam the front of his face. The attacker turned and planted his foot on the ground. Michael held his face. It throbbed with pain. The impact was hard and if michael hadn’t leaned back just a bit he would have been knocked out cold. The man bounced from foot to foot. He wore a tight white tank top with black track pants. He advanced twisting his body just before he would try and plant a kick. It seemed to be a series of roundhouse kicks. Michael managed to avoid the next two but the man’s continuous advancing twists had pinned Michael against a bookshelf that was along the wall and the last kick landed hard on the left side of Michael’s face. He fell to the wall using it to hold him up. Michael raised his pistol at the man and it was hurriedly kicked it out of his hand. The man was incredibly fast. Michael had to think of a way to take the attacker off his feet. Michael took a deep breath and firmly planted his shoulder into the man’s stomach. He felt the air leave attacker’s chest. Michael thrust the man away using his shoulder. Michael rubbed his face and regained his composure. His gun wasn’t in his immediate sight so he cracked his knuckles and circled the aggressor.
“Well you have heart don’t ya?” The bouncing man said as he threw a kick at Michael’s head.
Michael held his arm up and blocked the kick which left a strong stinging sensation through his entire left arm. The man had power behind his legs. Michael didn’t return his response but instead he stepped forward with a full barrage of precisely landed punches. Michael had changed and he wasn’t soft and he wasn’t man to be fucked with. The man had a good kick but he wasn’t much of a boxer. Michael jabbed the man’s face several times before he could even recover well enough to step back. Once the man did get out of harm’s way he managed to come back at Michael hard. Michael soon couldn’t find an opening to land a punch. The onslaught of kicks forced Michael to the floor. It was all he could do to block some kicks with his arms while other connected to his ribs and face. The attacker forced his kicks hard onto Michael's chest. The power was in the man’s thighs, they were bulging with muscle. Each leg rained a powerful kick hitting squarely on Michael’s chest or abdomen. Out of his peripheral vision Michael could see his pistol. He quickly reached out for it. It was fingertips away but Michael’s hand was crushed by the heel of the man’s shoe. Michael retracted his hand and rolled out of the way or the attacker’s monstrous kicks. The man quickly followed hammering his feet from the air to the ground getting closer and closer to Michael but he carefully diverts the heavy stomps by rolling until he came to the wall once more. The stomps had caught up and Michael had nowhere to go. Thunderous blows thrashed his back. Michael winced as more blows came. Michael curled into a fetal position which helps defend his body from the rough shots but he was also able to reach his knife that was stuck inside his boot. Every time he would reach for it the aggressor would stomp on his hand.
“Michael! There are people outside.” The radio in Michael’s pocket sounded out loud with Marilyn’s cries.
The attacking man stopped for just a moment respecting the sound and unknowing where it was coming from. The aggressor had a confused look on his face. That small window of curiosity was just enough for Michael to draw his blade and sink it into the man’s thigh. The man screamed in pain. Michael quickly leap from the floor and tackled the man into the coffee table. Michael didn’t have time to continue fighting the kick fanatic. He hurried to his gun, picked it up and sprinted to the door.
“I’m coming.” Michael sprinted through the yard sliding the radio into his pocket. Once he hit the alley he turned right he dug in and pounded his feet on the pavement. Although his back ached, his ribs throbbed, and his head pulsated with pain he increased his speed. He would have even been limping again but his daughter was his motivation. His daughter was more important than any kind of pain he felt. If Jenna and his best friend’s loved ones were at risk and he was responsible for keeping them safe there wasn’t any way he would fail. The house itself wasn’t very far away but Michael’s body being in the condition it was made it hard for him even to run without searing pain every time his foot came down to the pavement. He had trained himself to disregard the pain. He powered through and finally saw Rob far down at the other end parking his second car. He slowed once he was running next to the semi-trailer. He strained to get some glimpse of any kind of intruders. It was quiet.
There hadn’t been any more sounds coming from Marilyn which didn’t make Michael hopeful. He didn’t want to say anything on Marilyn’s radio line because if she was hiding and trying to keep quiet from someone, the radio sounding with Michael’s voice would give her away.
Instead he switched the channel and radioed Rob. “Rob, you need to come down here quick.”
A few seconds went by then
the radio chimed. “I’m on my way. What’s wrong?” Rob asked.
“Leave the car. Come on foot. We got some trouble and I’m not sure what kind.” Michael stared at the back of the house the whole time creeping closer to the back door. Michael stayed crouched and under the cover of the night he slithered his way to the door. Michael knew that Jack had a radio but the radio was only equipped with a one mile radius so there was little chance of Michael being able to let his friend know. He decided to proceed without Rob. He would manage better and it would be one less person to protect.
Michael opened the door with a crack keeping his gun pointed high. Looked inside the kitchen but saw nothing immediately. There were a few candles that held a faint glow but he noticed that the electric lantern he gave Marilyn wasn’t lighting the room anymore. He walked a little further into the kitchen. Against the far wall was the lantern laying in pieces. It appeared to have been thrown against the wall. Upon closer inspection of the kitchen further revealed kitchenware; dishes, pots, pans, and food items were scattered all around the floor and countertops. Whoever had fought in the kitchen had have struggled hard based on the amount of debris thrown around. He found the radio on the floor which explained why Marilyn hadn’t said anything else. Michael had to check the other rooms. Marilyn had yet to be seen. He walked to the doorway that opened up into the hallway that led to living room. From the doorway to the end of the hallway were small droplets of blood. Michael followed the blood like a trail as he feared the worst had happened to his own people. Michael started to think of how Jack would feel if he had to tell his best friend that his family had been killed. He had to shake the thought from his head. He had to believe they were alive. He traveled down the hallway approaching the living room when he heard a small sound. A few steps further and he heard it again. It sounded like a hollow whimper like a puppy wanting its mother. He walked further and the sound got louder. He recognized the sound as sobbing. He was at the corner of the doorway. Holding his pistol high and turned the corner scanning the room quick, ready to drop any invader. The pain in his body had been long gone and had been blocked out. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. He looked from corner to corner. The kids were asleep on the living room floor but were no gone leaving only sleeping paraphernalia lying about.There was a trail of blankets leading upstairs as if the kids were rushed upstairs from their slumber in a hurry. His adrenaline was pumping now. The worst thought were flying through his brain. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his daughter. The front door was left wide open. In the middle of the floor lay a body of a skinny tattooed man. A puddle of blood covered the carpet underneath the body. The man’s face was gone, completely shattered. From his forehead down had been caved in. Marilyn sat with her back against the wall with her arm (which were covered in blood) propped up on her knees. Her head hung low and her hair was no longer up, it fell loosely hiding her face. In front of her on the floor was a cast iron skillet covered with blood. She looked up and seen Michael. Michael’s mouth dropped once he seen her face. Marilyn’s left eye was almost swollen shut, bruises covered her faces, arms, and neck, and there were cuts all over her face and body. A small amount of blood trickled from her mouth. There was a large gash on her arm which Michael expected the blood in the hallway had come from. Michael suddenly didn’t feel any remorse for the carcass lying on the floor.
No Time To Mourn Page 17
