“Okay, here is the milk.” Jonas said.
Taking the milk, Dave walked across the barnyard and into the house. Inside he warned Mike they were being watched and then looking at his mother said, “I have to return. Things have to look normal here, and I have no choice.”
“I suspected as much, but some of us can go upstairs and if they shoot at you, we'll fire back.”
Long minutes passed after Dave did the return crossing of the barnyard and again, there were no shots.
“What now?” Dave asked.
“I want you and your father to return to the house and I'll stay out here most of the day. I have harnesses to repair, saddles that need takin' care of and just a whole bunch of little things, but I'll do it all sitting back from the entrance to the barn loft. If I get impatient, I'll sneak out of here and go see who our visitors are. I don't like being spied on.”
Picking up empty milk buckets the two moved for the barn door as Dan said, “You watch your back out here. If they are in the woods and see the two of us leave, they may make a move for a single man out here.”
“I've given that thought. Now go before they start shooting at us.” Jonas said and then taking a half-dozen harnesses, he moved for the ladder that led to the loft.
Dan and Dave had no one shoot at them as they crossed, so Dave was sure there was no one there and the sun had shined on a piece of scrap metal. Regardless, he felt it was safe to always assume someone was near and wanting to kill you.
In the house, Mike said, “There is for sure someone out there, because I saw a good half-dozen flashes while you two were in the barn. They are moving around because they are impatient waiting for something.”
“What now?”
“I'll sneak out the back door, enter the woods that surround us and go get Jonas. Once we are together, we'll play war for a spell. No matter who those people are watching us, they are up to no good, or they would have come to the door and knocked.”
“Oh, I agree.” Dan said and then asked, “What do you want us to do while you're gone?”
“Keep an eye on them and if they try to leave, shoot at them. If we can keep them there long enough, we can capture or kill them.”
“We ain't got a jail, so why capture them? Me and Jonas have decided anyone we capture will be given a court date and they will have a fair trial or as close to one as we can get.”
“If found guilt, where will they serve their sentence? I mean, we ain't got a cell here or even people to watch over them.”
“The only two sentences we have are guilty or not guilty. With a not guilty they'll be released and with a guilty finding they'll hang.”
June said, “Okay, but watch your butt out there. We have no idea how many men are watching us.”
Opening the door, Mike winked at June and then stepped out. In a matter of a seconds he was in the woods and gone.
Chapter 10
“They ain't coming out no more.” Wilcox and then added, “Maybe we need to kick the doors down and take the fight to them. What ya think, Freeman?”
“I reckon we won't do such a foolish thing when we don't know how many are in there and if they all have guns. You're an idiot, Wilcox, but that's why I'm the boss. No, we'll go back to town and then come out here tonight, hours after they've gone to bed. Then, we'll enter as quietly as we can.”
“When we gonna leave?” Jones asked.
“Right now.” Freeman said and then stood.
As they moved through the wood toward the truck, they left sign of their passing a baby could follow, especially in the snow, but not a one of them was a woodsman. Coming in behind them, Mike stopped and watched them pass. He flipped the safety off his rifle and followed them. As they went down a small hill, he saw his old blue pickup truck on the road and knew this group was probably responsible for the deaths of his mama and aunt.
He placed his scope cross hairs on the back of Freeman, who was leading, took a deep breath and as he released the air from his lungs, he gently squeezed the trigger. Just as he fired, Bill Moses moved to the left and the big 30.06 bullet struck him the middle of his back and he screamed. He fell to the ground where he yelled and kicked against the deep pain from a hole burned through him by the bullet. Blood seeped from his wounds but inside, his spine had been chipped, and his lungs had a huge hole in them because the bullet had started spinning after hitting his spine. It had damaged a kidney as it passed and it tore a ragged hole through his stomach as it exited his body.
“Some of y'all pick up Moses and get him to the truck bed and do the job now! I'll keep the shooter busy!” He began shooting his shotgun toward the trail behind them, when Mike was to his left slightly and not in a direct line after shooting.
The men moving Moses dropped him a few times and all were heard cursing as they worried about their own lives as they packed him. At the truck he was rolled in the back and then they jumped in with him. Jones was already in the passenger’s side and he covered Freeman once he neared the truck so he could get in the drivers seat. He fired three shots down the lightly used path and suspected he'd killed one man at least, but he wasn't even close to Mike.
Mike stretched out, aimed at Freeman's head and fired once more. This shot brought a loud scream from the driver, because it missed his head, almost, only it took most of his right ear off. He floored the gas and fishtailed as he tried his best to get away from the gun. Busted glass covered the seat and Jones sat there in shock, knowing a bullet almost struck him. Freeman stopped driving a mile down the road, which Mike saw clearly, so he raised his rifle, put the cross hairs on the driver as he stood by the door dripping blood. He gently squeezed the trigger and saw the bullet strike the door and then kick up a bit of dust in front of the truck. Another man jumped from the passenger’s side and moved to the steering wheel. He yelled something and the old driver jumped in the cargo area, where the other men tried to bandage his ear. Mike took another shot and the truck took off at the same time. The bullet struck in the same spot the truck had just been in, so the driver goosed the gas pedal.
The ride back to town was rough and Freeman kept yelling for him to stop the truck, but he didn't stop until they were home. As everyone left the truck, Jones said, “I want nothin' to do with that man. I'm out of this.”
Freeman said, “Come on, he caught us getting in the truck. Anyone can get lucky, once. Let's go back tonight and kill all of them. You like using your knife, don't you? You can use it when we enter the house. Just make sure the man doesn't make any noise when you kill 'em.”
“You'll let me cut on 'em a long spell? I like to hear them screaming and I get so excited listening to them.”
“You can even bring one here to cut on, if you want.”
“I do love to cut on people, but that man was such a good shot, I'm not sure I want to go back, like I just told you. It may not be smart to return.”
“Well, it's your choice, but if you don't go, you'll get no say in the women or the prisoners. I think the man was lucky, but you can decide on your own.”
“His last shots were at least a mile and he almost killed both of us.”
“He hit the truck and not us.”
“I'll give it some thought, but you lost an ear.”
“If he'd been a good shot, I would have lost my head. Give that some thought. Now, I have to go in the house and doctor my ear. Come with me, I need you to wrap my head for me when I'm done.”
Two hours later, Jones was again at the open air market, peddling his home made pork. He advertised it from a freshly killed animal yesterday. It wasn't cold, because the freezer he kept the meat in had no power and didn't work, but it kept the meat clean and away from flies, and other insects.
“I have a ring to trade. It has diamonds and is made of 24 karat gold. How much meat will you give me?”
“One pound of pork.” he replied.
“Just one pound? Mister I paid over $4,000 for this ring not two years ago.”
“I don't need a ring now
and neither do you. It's a pound of pork or move on and out of the way so real traders can speak to me.”
Tossing the ring to him, the stranger said, “I'll take the meat but God will punish you for gouging people for riches. You are using our hunger to get wealthy.”
“What I do and don't do is none of your business. Now I will give you a half a pound of pork for the ring.”
“No deal, so give me back my ring and now.”
Jones tossed the ring back and said in a flat voice, “Move on.”
The man was heard cursing as he moved away from the crowd.
“I have two boys, good slaves.”
“I only take female slaves, so I'm not interested. If you can bring us females, you'll get 50 pounds of pork or 30 of beef per slave.”
“I have two at my home now, so set my meat aside. I will go get them and return.”
“How old are they? Are they pretty?”
“One is almost 20 and the other is in her 30's. One is beautiful and the other is attractive and is well put together. What she lacks in looks, she makes up for in her well formed body. I will let you see them and judge their value yourself. I will return.”
He made a few trades while the man was gone, but he soon returned leading two females with a rope. Both wore chains around their necks, hands and feet. The length of chain between their legs allowed them to take small steps. The chains to their hands had a padlock and their hands were behind their backs.
Walking up to Jones, the man said, “I can get you two slaves a month, if you are interested and I'll take anything of serious value for them. By value I mean gold, silver, diamonds, coins, weapons, foods, or drink.”
“I have meat for you today and you'll get 50 pounds of pork for these two, if you are interested.”
“Yes, I am interested, and need food this day. It has been a rough time since the asteroid struck the world and no food is being given out by the government any longer. They have completely stopped, and the workers no longer show up where they once handed out Meals Ready to Eat (MRE). The military ration meals were bland, but they kept a person alive, with just one package a day. Now, we get nothing. How do they expect us to live, when most of us live in cities or small towns? Stores are no longer open and food isn't easily found.”
Jones was cutting up meat as the man talked and once he stopped speaking, he said, “I have given you the leanest cuts I have, and if you look at the scales, you'll see you have 50 pounds and 3 ounces. That's close enough in my book.”
“I'll take it, only what do you want done with the two women?”
Tie them to the front bumper of my truck. When I leave today, I will place them in the back for the ride home. Remember, once a month I will take female slaves. I have absolutely no interest in males. I will take two or three and your meat will be waiting for you.”
The man grinned and said, “Deal. Now, let me tie these two to your door for you and get my meat. I have a wife and two boys at home who are hungry.”
After the man left, Jones laughed at the value of human meat and thought, I might have to kill a person a day to keep up with the demand for “pork”.
Soon the meat was traded away and Jones had a cigar box filled with various bright necklaces, watches, and even a few gold and silver coins. He tied the two slaves to the back of the truck and then made his way home. He wore a grin on his face and knew Freeman would suddenly develop an interest in the small business, especially since he now had two more women.
Once home, he brought his cigar box and the slaves into the house. He opened the old safe his grandfather had and placed the valuables he'd received on the top shelf and then closed the door.
“What are those women doing here?”
“They belong to us. I traded for them at the market place today. I paid 50 pounds of human flesh for them. Everyone thought they were getting pork.”
“A very, very good trade.” Freeman said as he moved to the women and gave the one on the right a critical look. He liked her and said, “Let me have the one on the right and the other one is yours.”
“Fine with me, but we'll be getting two or three slaves a month and all will be women.”
“Good, I work to establish market starting tomorrow. Many men are alone now, wives dead from the earthquakes, so what they want we'll provide. I just need for us to advertise our products. I want you to take a couple with you each time you go to the market. Show them off and keep them nude most of the time.”
“We still going back to the farm tonight?”
“We are, and look at it as a chance to get more slaves.”
“I'll go, but I'll tell ya right now if things turn rough, don't expect me to hang in there, just to get killed in the end. I'm tellin' ya right now, I think those two that we rode with are not to be played with or threatened.”
“I want to kill them first, if we can. Get them out of the way, and the others will be easy.”
“I need to go out for a bit. I have some more meat to pick up and get ready to sell in the morning, if I'm still alive.”
“Dang it, Issac, will you leave the visit tonight alone? Ain't no reason for you to carry on like you are. If things get too rough, we'll just leave the place, okay?”
“I hear ya.” Then grabbing his hat, he walked from the house to his truck. He still didn't like the idea of attacking the farm house.
*****
Terry opened his eyes, looked around and then said, “Water?”
Mike, who was on guard, took a glass of water mixed with whiskey to the man and said, “Drink this, pa, it's a mixture of water and whiskey. Your throat was mauled by a knife, but you'll live. I'm surprised you can talk.”
“I . . . I hurt . . . all . . . over.”
“You were kicked around and beat on before they took a knife to you.”
The old man nodded, but said nothing. He finished the drink in two gulps. “Give me a . . . a glass . . . of . . . whiskey for . . . my pain.”
“I have some codeine pills, if you want one of them.”
“Not with . . . whiskey. They . . . they will kill if . . . if mixed with whiskey.”
Mike poured his father a full glass of bourbon. He then sat on the edge of the bed watching him gulp down the drink. He was in the upstairs bedroom and from there he had windows all over the place and he could see 360 degrees. So far he'd seen nothing, except one cow was loose and not in the fenced in area. There might be a gate open or the animal had some how breached the fence. He'd check come daylight. To help their vision at night he had a pair of old night vision binoculars he'd used in the past to hunt coyotes. So far, he'd seen nothing of importance.
His dad finished the whiskey and said, “How are the women? Your mama was scared to death.”
“They're both gone, Dad. We buried them a few days back. They'd been used and then killed by someone. Did you get a good look at the men that cut you?”
“I did, and I know both of them. Neither of them amounts to much and they used to work at Gibson's Vegetable Stand in Rolla. They had a stand right where highway 72 ran into highway 63 south.”
“I remember the stand, but don't remember any workers there.”
“There names are Matthew Freeman and Issac Jones, and neither one is worth a tinkers curse. From what little I saw of them, they were both lazy and not good for much. I'm not sure how they found our place, but we need to see they pay for the rape and murder of our women.” Pa said and when Mike looked at him, his father was crying silently.
He poured another drink for his dad and said, “Here, drink this and get some more sleep.”
The old man took the drink but remained silent; he was remembering how scared Anita had been and now he discovered she was killed. He had a burning desire to slowly kill both of the men and now he knew who the guilty parties were, the two deaths would be avenged, given time.
Mike made his way to the windows again and began looking for threats or people moving. He saw nothing, until the last window.
So
mething just moved, he thought and then adjusted the binoculars to be a little finer. There it is again. Is that a foot? I can't be sure, but I need to wake everyone up.
He then moved through the house waking everyone.
He then moved to the ground floor and counted six men against their four men, counting Dave, and one woman, June. His father would be of no help now, but in time he'd heal.
He and Dave were on the ground floor, Jonas and Dan on the second floor, and June was in the attic.
The six men walked quietly to the front door, worked the lock a few times, and Mike knew the lock could be released by using a credit card. A few seconds later the door popped open just a little. The entrance was now open.
Mike held his hand up, telling Dave to hold off and not shoot yet.
“What now?” an unknown voice asked in the darkness.
“Move to a sleeping man and use your knife to kill him silently. Once the men are dead, we take any women that are found in here.”
“I don't think so.” Mike said and squeezed the trigger on his shotgun. The big 12 gauge weapon blew Tom Lee in half and slightly wounded Joshua and Manny. Both Freeman and Jones fired at the muzzle light, but Mike had moved to the left a good ten feet. He opened the breach of the double barrel weapon and loaded two fresh shells. He didn't notice the two empties flying into the air as they were ejected. Dave fired, struck Manny in the hand and the big .45 pistol round took most of the hand off right at the wrist. Manny screamed in pain and for help as he fell to the floor.
The shotgun in Mike's hands barked again, with both barrels, and Manny instantly stopped screaming, killed by an unknown number of pellets that struck his head. Freeman fired at Mike and heard a scream as his 30.06 bullet struck the man in the middle of his chest. Dropping to the floor, Mike screamed and kicked as pain started radiating up and down his whole torso.
Dave, unsure what was going on, raised a second long gun he had, a 20 gauge shotgun, and jerked the trigger. Wilcox fell yelling, because most of the blast had struck him full in the face. His eyes, nose and lips were greatly mutilated by the heavy lead pellets, and he fell to the ground. Dave placed another shot where he thought the injured man was and heard another scream followed by hard kicking on the floor. After a minute or so it grew quiet.
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