by N. C. Reed
Billy watched as the two of them started, Rhonda going over the safety routine again, and showing Shelly how to load the 10/22, and get a sight picture.
Toby walked up to where Billy was watching, still keeping a careful watch on their back.
“Reckon we need to worry?” he asked.
“Don’t think so,” Billy shrugged. “But it pays to be careful. Could be somebody we ain’t seen yet survived. This place ain’t no secret. Lot’s o’ people used to come here to shoot. Sight in scopes for deer season, plink, what have you.”
“Someone could o’ just wanted to see if their rifle worked, or if the site was on.”
“But it could have been someone else, yeah?” Toby prodded.
“Sure,” Billy nodded. “Ain’t no way o’ knowin’, though, unless we just happen on’em when they’re here. If they was just checkin’ the rifle, then I doubt they’ll be back,” he added.
“Okay,” Toby nodded, and fell silent.
The two of them split their time between watching Rhonda teach Shelly to shoot, and watching the area around them.
Billy was fairly confident that no one would bother them, but then he’d been fairly confident that he wouldn’t wind up in the position he was in now, too. He figured that anything was possible, now days.
Shelly was hesitant at first, but Rhonda was patient. The hours she had spent the day before were also paying off. Shelly knew a good deal already thanks to that, and she eagerly applied it to the task of learning to handle the weapon.
After almost two hours, and two hundred rounds of .22, Rhonda decided it was time to try the bigger weapons.
Following instructions carefully, Shelly loaded the Carbon-15, and raised it to her shoulder.
“Remember,” Rhonda told her. “Squeeze the trigger, just like before. Don’t forget there’ll be recoil this time, too. It’ll kick a little.”
She forgot.
The rifle held too loosely in her hands, it flew up, and the rear sight popped her lightly in the head.
“Ow!”
“Told you,” Rhonda was unsympathetic. “There’s recoil. I explained recoil. Hold the rifle firmly, and pull it into your shoulder. That will minimize it. Try it again.
Shelly reluctantly raised the rifle again, sighted, and squeezed the trigger. This time she held onto the rifle. And was delighted to see she had hit the target.
“Cool!” she exclaimed.
“Be cooler when you do it again,” Rhonda grinned. “Go on, shoot it!”
Shelly willingly cranked the whole magazine out, concentrating on being accurate. Now that she had hit the target once, she wanted to do it every time.
Billy was walking around the entrance to the pit, having ordered Toby to stay put, and keep an eye out. Billy was looking for anything that would give him an idea as to who had been here since their last visit.
Look though he did, however, there was nothing to find. No boot tracks, tire tracks, and the only horseshoe prints were their own.
Maybe they walked in through the woods, he decided, after a minute. He wasn’t about to go looking though, not with Shelly blasting away at the targets. Shrugging, he walked back to Toby’s side, and watched the ‘lessons’.
*****
Shelly turned out to be a pretty fair shot. She wasn’t as good as Toby, and nowhere near Rhonda or Billy, but for someone who hadn’t really ever shot a gun before, she did well.
Watching her use the 9mm was a little funny, as she took longer to get the hang of it. Her wrist was weak, and that caused the little semi-auto to stovepipe a good bit.
She finally worked it out, however, and was looking overly pleased with herself by the time she’d finished.
“We get back, you’ll have to strip it down and clean it. Oil it, and put it back together,” Rhonda informed her.
“Okay,” Shelly nodded. She’d learned to disassemble and reassemble both weapons the day before.
“What now?” Rhonda asked, looking at Billy.
For the next few minutes, Billy worked with Toby on the shotgun. He didn’t need much instruction, but, as Billy had feared, the youngster had no experience with buckshot.
“Man, that would tear a man clear in half,” Toby whistled lowly, seeing the damage that ‘double-ought’ had done to the wooden target frame.
“Always a buryin’ with buckshot,” Billy nodded. “What my pa used to say, anyhow. Ain’t good at much distance, but say, twenty, twenty-five yards, it’s pretty good.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Toby nodded. The two walked back to where the women were standing.
“You want to shoot any?” Rhonda asked. Billy shook his head.
“Nah.”
“We ready to go, then?”
“‘Spect so,” Billy nodded. Rhonda and Shelly had policed their brass while Billy had shown Toby the shotgun. They put away their stuff, and mounted up.
With Rommel again leading, they set out on the return trip. At the last minute, Billy stopped them.
“Let’s do something else,” he said suddenly. He led them down another trail.
“What we doin’ this for?” Rhonda asked, pulling alongside him.
“Ain’t smart to use the same trail all the time,” he shrugged. “Just bein’ careful.” She nodded in understanding. Things were different now.
“This won’t take no longer, anyway,” he offered.
They rode in silence the rest of the way. Rommel ranged a little, but not as much on the unfamiliar ground. Dottie stayed in front of the horses, but much closer. She did keep her eyes on Rommel, always taking her cues from him.
They left the woods almost straight across the road from the house.
“Well, I’ll be danged,” Toby chuckled. “I never even knew this was here.”
“Ain’t used much,” Billy shrugged. “Old fire trail, but the Forestry Service quit keepin’ it up long time ago. Comes in handy, now’n again.”
They eased up to the house, and dismounted. Everyone unsaddled their horse, though Toby and Shelly picketed theirs while Billy and Rhonda led theirs into the stables.
“Want to grain’em?” Billy asked Toby, indicating the Silvers’ horses.
“Nah, I’ll do it when I get home,” Toby shook his head. “They get a belly full o’ grain, they’ll be salty when we head back.” Billy nodded, pleased that the boy knew that.
Shelly broke her rifle and handgun down under Rhonda’s watchful eye. Rhonda quizzed her all during the process, with questions about safety, mechanics, and other details.
“She’s pickin’ things up pretty good,” Toby admitted grudgingly, watching.
“She’s had a eye opening’ experience,” Billy nodded, his voice quiet. “That deal in Franklin made her think about things, I reckon.”
“Yeah,” Toby looked at the ground. “That. . .that was a bad business.”
“It was,” Billy nodded again. “Could happen anywhere. Always could, o’ course, but these days I’d say it’s way more likely than before.”
Toby nodded, thinking about that. There was no more law. Not anymore.
“Reckon how dad and them are makin’ out?” he asked, wanting to talk about something else.
“Was just wonderin’ that myself.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“Mornin’ folks,” Jerry called, as he rode up to the Franklin house.
Have to start callin’ it something else now, I guess, he told himself.
“Morning Jerry!” Ralph greeted enthusiastically.
“You’re awful bright and shiny this mornin’,” Jerry chuckled.
“Yeah. We got the truck unloaded, finally. Took til near dark to do, but we’re about half settled in. Makes us feel more at home.”
“I ‘spect so,” Jerry nodded.
“We’ll be ready in a just a sec,” George told him. “Reckon it’s just us two goin’. Women want to finish settin’ up house. Now we got the heavy lifting’ done, we’re just under foot, it seems.”
“Know that feel
in’ well,” Jerry laughed. “Reckon we’ll ride up yonder a bit,” he pointed down the road, opposite of the direction they had entered. “Couple houses up there. We ain’t looked at’em, so I got no idea what we’ll find.”
“Suits us,” Ralph replied, and George nodded. The two quickly finished checking their horses, and climbed aboard. Ralph whistled sharply, and a large male Anatolian came bounding around the house. The dog drew up sharply seeing Jerry and his horse.
“Is this gonna be a problem?” Jerry asked warily, as his horse stamped nervously.
“Nope,” Ralph shook his head. “Reb, friends!” he ordered, pointing. The dog relaxed slightly, and walked slowly to his master’s side.
“Annie’s are great dogs, but they’re protective as all get out,” Ralph said, as they started for the road. “Reb likes to check things out for himself, but I did train him to recognize friend when I said it. He’ll still want to keep an eye on you, til he knows you better, but he won’t bother you now.”
“Billy’s got Rommel doin’ that.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Ralph nodded. “He must o’ worked long and hard with that dog, get him trained that well so fast. And with him already grown when he picked him up.”
“Billy’s a caution,” Jerry agreed. “The Smith family used to live up here,” he pointed to a nice brick home on the right. They were about three hundred yards down the road.
“Older couple, passed on last year. Kids had it for sale when the plague hit. It’s been empty for a while now.”
“Looks like it,” George nodded. The house wasn’t in bad condition, but it was clearly unkept.
“Yeah, shame they didn’t keep it up no better,” Jerry nodded. “They hired my boy to keep it mowed for a while, but then stopped when the place didn’t sell right away. Reckon they let the real estate agent deal with it.”
They rode into the yard, not bothering to dismount. Reb took the time to urinate everywhere he could, while the men looked things over.
“This would probably be a good candidate to fix up for a new family,” George announced finally. “It’ll need some work, but not too much. Imagine a good cleanin’, maybe some bug spray and mouse traps for a little while, she’d be good to go.”
“Probably,” Ralph nodded. “Close by, too.”
“Yeah, nearest house to you for about a mile,” Jerry nodded. “Wanted you to see this one first, since we’ll like as not turn around. Ain’t another house on this road for about two miles or so.”
“Where does this road come out at?” Ralph asked.
“Well, it don’t, really,” Jerry scratched his neck. “Kinda dead ends at the Clifton place. Big outfit, back in the day. Kinda fell off as the young’uns moved on, and Mister Clifton got on up in years. I ain’t even been up there since all this started,” he admitted a bit shame faced. “Not very neighborly I guess,” he shrugged.
“We can check it out later,” George shrugged. “Ralph and I will ride up with you sometime, you want to go.”
“I’m almost afraid to,” Jerry admitted. “But, can’t hurt. You wanna go on up there today, then?”
“Nah,” Ralph shook his head. “Too far, for just a look see. We’d rather get the lay o’ the land around here, if that’s okay.”
“Sure,” Jerry nodded, reigning his horse around. “Makes more sense, anyway. Let’s head back down.”
The three men rode slowly, discussing different subjects as they went. Ralph was confident that Reb would alert them to any danger.
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in front of a large two story white frame house, with a horse barn sitting in the distance behind.
“Nice,” George whistled.
“Barn’s a loss,” Jerry shook his head. “Had three cows and six horses boarded inside. Ain’t nice at all.”
“Aw, maaan!” Ralph exclaimed in sympathy.
“Yeah, it was rough,” Jerry nodded. “Probably still is. And the house like as not ain’t no better. We took a peek inside the front windows, and the rear door. There’s a body lying on the dining room floor. Looks to have been there a while.”
“Be hard to clean up, I guess,” George said sadly.
“Need formaldehyde I’d say, at least,” Ralph agreed.
“If it could be cleaned up, and the odor got rid of, the house ain’t very old,” Jerry allowed. “And it’s a nice place. Hate to lose that barn, but I just don’t see no help for that. Probably needs to be burned.”
“I imagine,” Ralph nodded. “Place got a well?”
“Two of’em,” Jerry nodded. “If I remember right, there’s solar pumps on’em too. House is electric, so if you could find some solar panels, wouldn’t be too hard to set it up. But, like I say, there’s at least one body inside.”
“Yeah,” George nodded. “That’s a shame. But we ain’t really needin’ to move ourselves. House is comfortable.”
“Sure is,” Ralph agreed. “And there’s safety in numbers, too.”
The three moved on, looking at place after place. Jerry pointed out local features they could use as land marks, showed them reliable water sources, and explained the pros and cons of each house they came to. After three hours, the men were ready to head back.
“My ass is asleep,” George joked.
“Wish mine was,” Ralph frowned, shifting in his saddle.
“Takes a few days to get used to this as a full time thing,” Jerry nodded. “We done seen a good bit o’ what I wanted to show you anyway. There’s a few other places, but we can get to them later.”
“Well, there’s a lot that’s been lost, or will be,” George allowed as they ambled toward home. “But overall, this is a great area. Land looks good. I see there’s a lot of unharvested crops in the fields. That’s a shame, too.”
“We took as much corn as we could,” Jerry nodded. “Put it up for the hogs, and the cattle, too, if needs be. Thing is, fuel’s gonna become a problem sooner or later. Just don’t see no way around that.”
“Need bio-diesel,” Ralph suggested.
“Well, I thought on that,” Jerry agreed. “Thing is, I ain’t gotta clue how to make it. I mean I know roughly how it’s done, just from readin’. But never did it. And ain’t got the equipment for it neither.”
“We may can salvage what we need,” George mused. “It’s not that uncommon anymore. Need a few chemicals, too, but they can be found. We’ll just have to take a look around, that’s all.”
“Well, I’m all for it, happens we can do it,” Jerry agreed. “If we can make some, and keep the tractors and combines running, then we can produce a lot more food than we can eat. And that means we can sell or trade the balance away.”
“Absolutely,” George nodded firmly. “We’ll grab a phone book tonight, look through the yellow pages, and see what we come up with.”
“Good deal.”
The discussion fell away then to more talk on division of labor, responsibility, and other mundane items. While they were ‘mundane’, they were also important. Despite their far reaching goals, the three of them didn’t over look the fact that there were more immediate goals to consider.
Like surviving what was almost sure to be a hard winter.
George and Ralph would have to harvest a good deal of wood. Jerry assured them they wouldn’t have to do it alone, but even so, he, Toby, and Billy had work of their own to do. The other two men would have to do the majority of their own wood cutting. Neither minded, but they were also aware of the time constraints. The nights were already getting cold, and that cold would creep into the day time more and more with each passing day.
“Reckon we’ll start cuttin’ wood tomorrow,” Ralph said, as the three of them arrived back at the house.
“May be we can help, but not tomorrow,” Jerry told them. “Got too much to see to, after so long doin’ other things,” he chuckled.
“We’ll make out,” George assured him. “Help’s always nice to have, but we can make a start without it. And you guys have done a whole
bunch for us already,” he added sincerely.
“Well, I’ll give you fellas a chance to rest your backsides, then,” Jerry laughed. “Time I was gettin’ home. See you fellas later.” With goodbyes said, Jerry headed over the hill.
“We got awful lucky, you know,” George said, as he and Ralph stripped off their saddles, and cared for their horses.
“Sure did,” Ralph agreed. “Seems like a miracle, at times. I knew we were in a tight spot, but. . .I had no idea how tight.”
“Me neither,” George admitted. “And I thought I’d scoped things out pretty fair, too.”
“Well, this is a good place,” Ralph said firmly. “Good people around us, and plenty to provide for us. I don’t aim to let nobody scare us off, anymore.”
“Me either,” George nodded. “Me either.”
*****
Jerry rode into the yard at Billy’s to find his daughter working diligently to clean and reassemble her new guns.
“Hi, daddy!” she smiled, waving with an oil covered hand.
“Shelly, you look like you’ve been hard at it,” he smiled, dismounting.
“I have!” she enthused. “And I did pretty good, too! Didn’t I Rhonda?”
“She sure did,” Rhonda smiled broadly. “I think she’s squared away fine.”
“Well, I’m right proud of you, girl, I surely am,” Jerry told her sincerely. “Never been more proud, way you’ve come around last few weeks.”
“Thank you, daddy,” Shelly blushed a little at the praise.
“Billy, how you gettin’ on?” Jerry asked, seeing Billy and Toby talking quietly.
“Found some sign at the range,” Billy told him flatly. “Someone cranked off at least one mag from an AR, or maybe a Mini-14.”
“What?”
“Found their brass, and they left the target up,” Billy explained. “Ain’t recent, but it’s since our last visit. Ain’t much sign. I’m almost sure whoever it was was afoot. Can’t be sure, o’ course, but that’s how it looked.”
“Well,” Jerry scratched his head. “That could be good or bad. Reckon someone around here besides us has made it?”
