Tsunami

by Benton, W. R.

  At that moment, Dave switched the lights on the RV on so the attackers were clearly seen, and the whole place became alive. Bullets flew from inside and outside the barn. Tom and Frank entered the barn, both fired a shot at Terry and saw the old man go down. Dan raised, fire two rounds, and heard Tom scream as the bullets removed the top of his head from the eyebrows up. His body fell as Frank turned to run, but Freeman was suddenly in front of him and yelled, “Where do you think you're going?”

  “Run, there are too many of them!” Frank screamed.

  Freeman fired his 9 mm pistol and the man collapsed, shot in the center of his chest. A blow to his head knocked Matt down and he raised his hand to feel his head. He felt blood and could smell the coppery odor of the cerise fluid. He stood on wobbly legs and moved forward.

  Jones, his previous injuries hurting him now, continued moving forward until Carol stood and fired three shots at him. He fell, mainly to avoid the bullets and he squeezed off three rounds from his deer rifle. He then turned and crawled away from the barn.

  Slowly the attackers began to withdraw and once together out of the light of the RV, Freeman yelled, “Someone take those RV lights out and now.”

  Shots were fired and a second later the lights were off.

  Angry and still bleeding from his head, Freeman said, “Some of them are down, so we'll try again. This time, we'll run as quickly as we can, run right through them and then turn and run into them once more. Once back in the barn we'll stop and kill the survivors.”

  “I don't know, boss, they seemed to be too much for us.” one man Freeman didn't remember said.

  Aiming his pistol at the man, Matt fired two rounds, which struck the man in his chest and belly. He fell screaming and was still yelling when Freeman's last shot took him in the head. It grew deathly quiet.

  “Everyone line up. I'll have no cowards with us.” Freeman said, and then bandaged his head with a piece of material ripped from his tee shirt.

  All the men lined up but less than half intended to rush forward. These were men used to robbing and killing old people or those in some way handicapped. They had little courage and what they did have usually came from a bottle. They'd come along because they expected to fight an old farmer with a barnyard full of chickens and geese, not booby traps and guns.

  Freeman gave a mighty yell and ran hard for the barn. Behind him about a third of his men moved forward with him and he was totally unaware so few followed. He took a round fired by Dan, was knocked on his butt and when he sat up, he happened to glance back and saw most of his men moving around in the darkness away from the fight. Few had followed him. He had no choice but to yell for all of them to retreat.

  Three men made it back with Freeman and every one of them was bleeding. The men who'd not attacked waited to see if Matt would die and when he began to run for the safety of the darkness, they moved into the woods and disappeared. Matt was heard cursing as he felt the wound Dan had given him on his shoulder. The round had clipped the man, taking about an inch of flesh right next to his neck. It was bleeding freely, but it wasn't a killing wound.

  “Dang, Matt, we sure messed that last attack up, didn't we?”

  “We would have taken the place if all the men had attacked with me. I don't understand why they didn't move.”

  “Some were cowards and some didn't think the risk was worth it now the people in the barn know we're here. What now?”

  “We go back to town. I want each man to have some time to relax with good food, some whiskey, and maybe a woman. Let's move for the truck, everyone.”

  Chapter 14

  It was just after dawn, when Dan looked down at Carols open but unseeing eyes and broke into tears. His only daughter was dead and it hurt him deeply. He blamed himself for her death, because she was just a child and he loved her so much. Her whole life ran through his mind as he looked at her bloody body.

  Why, God? Why? She was just a baby, Lord, Dan prayed.

  She'd died in Dan's arms just moments ago, and she'd smiled at him when she died, which tore his heart out. She was so precious to him and they'd been so close since she was just a toddler. He loved both of his children, but Carol had been special, as their first child, and now she was gone, forever. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and move to June.

  “Honey, Carol didn't make it. She took two bullets in the chest and I held her as she died. She even smiled at me and that was the last thing she did on this earth.”

  “Carol dead? No!”

  “Yes, baby. Our little girl is gone.”

  “No!” June said, “She can't be dead. Maybe she just passed out.”

  Dan moved to his wife of over twenty years, took her in his arms and said, “Baby, I'm EMT qualified and she's gone, no pulse. We need to clean her up and get her ready for a burial service.”

  “No! She can’t be dead!”

  Speaking at a whisper, Dan said, “June, baby, she’s gone. No amount of denial will bring her back. We’ve lost our little girl.” he then took his wife in his arms and held her tightly.

  “Dan, this is breaking my heart! She was such a fun-loving young lady with her whole life in front of her. She was to start college this fall and now you tell me she's dead. Take me to her, please.”

  He took her to Carol and the first thing June did was to squat, feel the side of her neck for a heartbeat, and then burst into tears. Dan walked away, because if he didn't, they'd both end up crying.

  “Dad!” Dave called out, “Mister Baker, Terry, is dead. He took bullets to his head and chest. There is a pile of brass beside his fighting spot. Jonas is beside him, but he can't do much since he was injured.”

  “Where are you, Dave?” Dan asked.

  “Near the front of the barn, by the old tractor.”

  Dan walked to his son and said, “Dave, Carol was killed.”

  “I know Dad, I saw her go down. I didn't see her die, but she took some lead and I noticed she was out of the fight.” Dave tried to be brave, only by the time he said the last couple of words, he was crying silently.

  “We need to all move to the RV, because we can no longer defend the barn and I'm thinking of moving.”

  “Where will you go, Mister Wolf?” Jonas asked.

  “I'm thinking deep into the Mark Twain National Forest and hiding in there. If you go with us, do you think you and Dave can herd the cattle?”

  “I think we could do the job once the cows start moving, but we'll need to round them up before we can ride herd on them. If you're serious about this, we can start in the morning. We have near 300 head and forty or so horses around the farm. We have about the same a few miles from here, near the Little Piney River. I told you before about the almost 400 head by the river. I have two trailers in the barn and both could be hooked up in tandem to the RV. We have ammo, supplies, spices, canned foods and a bunch of stuff we need to take from here. We'll need blankets and sleeping bags too. We have old sleeping stuff in the tack room, but the blankets are old horse blankets and they stink.” Jonas said as he stood beside his dead father.

  “We can wash them. I'll ponder over a map this evening and see if I can find a place near water and heavily wooded. I will find the coordinates and enter them in my GPS. I don't expect any attacks or even seeing people if we move into rough country. We'll need to build an area for the cattle and horses, but it can be done. Do you have any chain saws?” Dan asked as he looked around.

  “Two, and they're almost new too, but why the chainsaw?”

  “With the chainsaws we can make log cabins and quickly too. The RV will be too cold come winter.”

  “We can pull one of the double 55 gallon gas drums we have, because it's mounted on wheels. Then the other we'll use to fill all the gas cans we have and then destroy the remaining gas. I don't want the bad guys to get any fuel. If we limit their travels, we'll have less trouble from them.”

  “June?” Dan asked.

  “I'm here.”

  “Mr. Baker is dead too, so we now have
two funerals to do in the morning.”

  “I'll make the coffins from wood from the barn and while they'll not be pretty, they'll work. We lost two very meaningful people today. I thought my dad would live forever.” Jonas said and he lowered his head, so no one would see his tears.

  “You do that, while I check the RV to see how much damage the guns did to the motor. When they knocked the lights out the bullets may have struck the engine. Son, you come with me and Jonas, clean your father up as much as you can.”

  “Thank you, Mister Wolf. If not for you, I'd go nuts. Inside a month I've lost my whole family and while it's hard on me, I'll survive.”

  Dan smiled and patted the man on the back. He then walked with Dave to the RV. Both fenders had gunshot holes in them, both headlights were knocked out, and one bullet had hit the front of the grill, so he raised the hood to look for damages. Strangely, he found none.

  “I wonder why the bullet that struck the middle of the grill missed the radiator and engine block?”

  “I think the bullet ricocheted once it struck the steel reinforcing the grill. See the glancing blow on the metal?”

  “I see it but find in hard to believe. Get in and see if you can crank this thing.”

  Dave climbed into the seat, turned the key and the RV started right up. No smoke, no noises and no leaking of fluids.

  “Turn if off now, son.”

  “We need to search the barn for some way to get lights on this thing.”

  “I saw some lights mounted on a tractor near the tack room. We'll just need to find a way to mount them. I'm not even sure they'll work, but they might.” Dave said.

  Over the next three days, they buried their dead, pulled the tractor’s lights and hooked them to the RV, and connected the two trailers to the RV. Dave and Jonas were out gathering cattle and leading them to a spot near the barn.

  It was on the morning of the fifth day that Jonas said, “The cattle, all that we can find, as well as horses are all rounded up. I make a little over 780 head of cows. And, around 35 head of horses, which we can eat if push comes to shove. I don't want to eat a horse, but I will before we starve.”

  “I hear you. I have the location in the GPS and we should be able to be there in a few hours. I only want to go there once, so we don't leave a trail for anyone to follow.”

  “Once we're there, Dave and I will returned to straighten any bent grasses and to hide our passing. The prints from the cattle and horses will remain until the next hard rain. Not much we can do about their moving.”

  “Dad, looks like a dust storm hitting us in a few minutes, maybe. Look west!”

  Dan and Jonas looked and the Dad said, “Get everyone in the RV and hurry.”

  Less than 30 minutes later the storm struck, and it had gale like force as the sand clogged every spot it could. The RV was rocking from winds Dan estimated at 60 to 70 miles per hour. It was three hours before the air cleared and the storm moved east.

  “Dave, you and I need to check the cattle and horses. This storm may have scattered them.” Jonas said.

  “I'll clear all the sand from the RV. I especially want the engine clean.” Dan said.

  Twenty minutes later both were back in the vehicle when Jonas said, “I'm still in pain, but I loaded ten gallons of moonshine from the cellar to the trailer. I refilled my quart bottle and have had a few snorts. I'm not drunk but I'm feeling less pain. All the cattle are still there, along with the horses. When we first start, I need you to use the RV to move them east at a walk. Once we cover a mile or two, they'll be easier to move then.”

  “How do your burns feel?”

  “That's most of my pain. My other wounds are healing fine and I have no complaints. Burns for some reason really hurt me.”

  “That's normal. Well, let's move east, and start as soon as you two get mounted.”

  A few short minutes later, Jonas and Dave had the cattle moving slowly, but Dan drove the RV into the middle of them so they'd move faster. It took a few more attempts before they began to move at a fast walk. Four hours later, the GPS showed they were where they wanted to be. Dan stopped the RV, got out and grinned. They were deep in the woods, about 8 miles from the farm, and in virgin woods as far as they could see.

  “Stop, Jonas, this is it.”

  Both of the young men stopped and Dan said, “We were lucky we had a partial trail to follow. While not much, it kept the brush we had to hit at a minimum. This place looks good. To the east, maybe 30 yards is a stream of fresh water from an ice cold spring. The river is called Little Piney River.”

  “Dad, the RV won't start. I was going to move it under the trees, but now it cranks and won't start.”

  “Could be sand in the carburetor.” Jonas said.

  “I'm not sure if this thing has a carburetor or a fuel injection system. I've not had to work on the engine since I bought it used five years back. It has always started with the first turn of the key. Leave it be for now, but I'll get on it first thing in the morning. Probably from the sand storm we had a few hours back. Sand even got in the RV fridge, so tell me how that happened?”

  “My brother said it was like that in Iraq during the war. Sand would find the strangest places to hide in. They started placing condoms over their gun barrels if a sand storm was approaching. I guess it worked, because he never mentioned how it did in a storm. Lord I miss him and my mama.”

  Wanting to get Jonas away from death, he said, “You need to rope off the cattle and keep them in an area with grass.”

  “Come on, Dave, lets put the cattle to bed.” Jonas said and then the two rode off toward the cattle.

  While the two young men took care of the herd, Dan tinkered with the engine on the RV but the day died before he could open the air filter around the carburetor. So he closed everything and moved into the RV, where June was cooking supper. They were having fried chicken from Jason's freezer, canned green beans with new potatoes, cornbread, and frozen Brussels sprouts. The cornbread smelled so good too.

  “The boys will be in before too long. They're placing the cattle in the roped in area. Tomorrow we'll crank up the chainsaws and build some fences out of poles. It's time consuming but he doesn't have enough barbed wire to do the job.”

  “They have to be controlled or we'll lose all of them as they wander off. I'm sorry it will be slow work.”

  “It's okay as long as the cows can eat and drink enough water. You know, if not for those two young men, we'd probably be dead right now. I'm extremely pleased with Dave, because this emergency turned him into a man and he isn't even 17 yet.” His mind flicked to Carol, but he forced the thought from his mind and moved to the back room to shower.

  Once cleaned up he changed, and then moved to the kitchen area where Dave and Jonas were just sitting down to supper. As the dishes were passed around, Dan said, “We're very lucky that we have this much food to eat. Thanks to all the food the Bakers' had, we are able to live well, compared to most folks. That's one of the reasons I'm trying to hide us, so we can keep all the things we have to help us survive. I suspect more than one family has much less to eat and they are for sure not eating at a table. When each of you get a chance, I ask you to pray and thank God we have what he has given us.”

  “I already did, Dad. The first night we spent alone and away from everyone. We have a lot, and driving the cattle opened my eyes today. I prayed more than once as we rode.”

  Dan looked at Jonas who said, “I did also, but me and God haven't be speaking much lately, because he took my family. It's okay now, I've made amends with him, but there was a time, right after dad died, I wanted nothing to do with God.”

  “Son, one of the problems we have as people is God gives us free will. As a result we lose people, make poor decisions or do dumb things. Always, he'll step in and fix what we have messed up. Many people do not believe in God and they have that choice in this country, and always have had. But, this nation was started by people fleeing religious persecution in Europe. Never forget that i
n America you can believe as you wish. Many don't believe in God and they have that right here. I never force my religious views, but I believe in God.”

  “I was raised the same way.” Jonas said, “and I attended church 3 nights a week and on Sunday, I went to Bible study at 7 in the morning, then Sunday School at 9, and church service at 10. Then back that night for more church. I can say one very good thing about church, it made me the man I am today. Oh, I just told you I got mad at God, but I lost my whole family in about three weeks. I'm human and I hurt.”

  At the word hurt, June’s fork struck her plate with a loud clink and she broke out in tears.

  Dan turned to her, pulled her upper body to his and began kissing the tears running down her cheeks. In a low voice he said, “It's okay baby, cry if makes you feel better. I know you hurt and so do Dave and I, but life goes on. I cannot change the past or if I could, she would live and I would be dead. If God wanted one of us, I'd prefer he take me than any of you.”

  “D . . . don't you . . . say that! I didn't want to lose any of us! Don't you understand, I wanted all of us to survive, but that didn't happen! Why would God take my baby girl? Dan, I am heart broken and always will be.”

  Dan nodded, hugged her hard, and winked at the boys. They both knew the death of a member of their family was hard and they both were grieving as well. They were lucky though and even June knew, many complete family were wiped from the face of the earth and in just seconds. The Tsunami and the earthquakes had killed millions and that was just in the states.

  Five minute later or so, June pulled away from Dan and looking at the boys she said, “I'm sorry guys, but the death of Carol was very hard for me. I'll be okay.” she wiped her eyes dry and then added, “Eat now, before your food gets cold.”