by N. C. Reed
“I hope you weren’t about to say what I think you were,” he said, his voice firm and unyielding. “Billy may not be smart the way you see it, but I’ll tell you straight out. I’d have traded three or four of the guys I fought with in Iraq and Afghanistan for one like Billy Todd. I don’t know how he knows as much as he does, but I can promise you he’s smart. And he’s a better shot than I am, especially at long distance.”
“I’m lucky to be going with him instead of some of the people I’ve served in combat with,” he finished, giving his friend the greatest compliment he knew.
“I. . .I didn’t mean it like that,” Shelly said softly. “I. . .I used to make fun of Billy, but I haven’t in a long time. It’s. . .it’s just that, this time, I’m depending on him to make sure you come back to me.” Pete laughed softly.
“I’d imagine Rhonda is thinking the same thing about me,” he assured her. “And we will come back. I don’t know how long we’ll be, but we’ve already discussed precautions to make sure that no matter what happens, we’ll get home. Might take us a while, but we will.”
“You know I’ll be sick with worry every minute you’re gone,” she finally said, giving up.
“No more than I’ll be missing you, honey,” Pete promised her. He leaned forward then, and kissed her.
There was no more talk about his trip after that.
*****
Billy was up early the next morning. He had a lot to do today. He and Pete would be leaving in the morning, and there was no real way to know when, let alone if, they would be back.
“I’m dependin’ on you to keep things goin’, Danny,” Billy told the teenager. “You know what’s got to be done, so don’t let things get away from you. You need help, you ask for it.”
“I’ll get it done,” Danny promised. “I wish you wasn’t havin’ to go, though,” the boy admitted. “Scares me a little.”
“Me too, bud,” Billy nodded. “You won’t have to worry too long, I reckon. We’ll be back ‘fore ya know it.”
“Ever thing’ll be here like ya left it,” Danny promised solemnly.
“I want you to take Rommel with you when you’re out and workin’,” Billy told him. “He’s a good dog, and he’ll give you fair warnin’ when somebody’s about. Don’t let him in the pasture, though,” he added, remembering when he’d taken the big dog in with him. “Him and the cows, they don’t get along too well.”
“I’ll remember.”
“Carry your rifle with ya when you’re out. Make sure you got your pistol on you when you walk out the door. And pay a mind to what’s around you.” The boy nodded again, his face as serious as could be.
“All right, then,” Billy slapped him on the shoulder. “Reckon that’s it. You best get to work. I gotta lot to do, today.” Danny nodded once more and headed away to do his chores.
Billy watched him go, and then headed to the barn. He had things to gather up. Just as he reached the barn, Pete rode into the yard.
“Hey Billy,” he grinned, stepping out of the saddle.
“Pete,” Billy nodded.
“Whatcha doin’?” Pete asked.
“Makin’ sure ever thing is ready for me to leave,” Billy replied. “You?”
“About the same, I guess. I wanted to see what you were carrying. No sense in us taking too many different calibers. Make it hard for ammo.”
“Good idea,” Billy nodded.
“We need to work on the cache tubes, too,” Pete reminded him. “We can bury them along the way. Might be good to have a few small one’s we can spread out in town, too.”
“‘Nother good idea,” Billy allowed. “Reckon I’ll take my rifle,” he added.
“Well, yeah,” Pete snorted. “Considering what we have in mind, that’d be a good idea.” Billy reddened at that, but said nothing. He looked into the barn, then back at Pete.
“What is it, Billy?” Pete asked. “You okay?”
Billy considered his options. Should he show Pete the Room? Let him in on the big secret? No, he decided. That wouldn’t do. He liked Pete, and he trusted him. But some things were for him and Rhonda only. And the kids. The Room was one of them.
“I’m just tryin’ to get things straight,” Billy pointed to his head. “Lots to get done ‘for we go. I don’t wanna leave nothin’ undone, and I don’t wanna get there an’ realize I done left somethin’ I need.”
“Yeah, I know that score,” Pete chuckled. “Left my radio behind once. Thought ole Terry was gonna tear my head off.”
“What say we meet up in a couple hours?” Billy asked. “I’ll have Danny bring the truck over, and you can load your gear, then we’ll look over ever’thing good and proper. All we’ll have to do then is load stuff in that Hummer, and take out.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Pete nodded. He could tell Billy was wanting to end the conversation, so he mounted his horse. “See you in say, three hours?”
“Works for me,” Billy nodded.
*****
Billy looked at the equipment he had assembled. His face was as grim as his mind. This would be an ugly thing. He took no pleasure in what was coming, but try as he might he still couldn’t see any way other than the one he and Pete had come up with me.
He shook his head, trying to throw the thoughts out. They served no purpose. The Ford rolled into the yard just then, with Danny bringing Pete along. Pete got out, his jaw dropping at what he saw displayed on the table.
“Billy, is that. . . .?”
“Yep,” Billy nodded grimly. Lying on the table in front of him was a Barrett Rifles M82. Several box magazines were spread out alongside the big rifle.
“Where did you get that?” Pete asked, his voice almost a whisper.
“My daddy left it to me,” Billy told him. “Never thought I’d have no use for it, but. . . .” He shrugged, as if to say I was wrong.
“So this is what you meant when you said you were taking your rifle?” Pete asked.
“Well, no,” Billy shook his head. “Truth is, I ain’t. . .see, I can’t see how we’re gonna be able to carry ever thing we need,” he admitted. “I want to carry my 700 too, and I reckon we’d better carry our M-4's, ‘count o’ we may need’em, we get into a sure ‘nough fight. But that’s a lotta stuff to carry. Hard to move with all that.”
“It is,” Pete nodded. “It’s an age old problem, Billy. You just have to look for the best compromise you can come up with.”
“I ain’t come up with one as yet,” Billy admitted.
“Well, let me see if I can help you.”
*****
“So that’s what we’ll do,” Pete finished.
“I like it,” Billy admitted.
“That will be our first priority, then, when we get there. We’ll stash supplies in several of the outlying houses. None of them looked to be used when we were there. We’ll waterproof the stashes, so we can hide them outdoors, too. That way, we don’t have to hump so much stuff all the time. When we get low on food, water, or ammo, we’ll just head to one of those stashes, and resupply.”
“Kinda like cache tubes, but purpose built, like,” Billy nodded.
“Yeah, just like that,” Pete replied.
“Well, reckon we’d better get to work on that, then.”
*****
They were ready. At least as ready as they could be. Terry, George and Jerry were standing with them, going over last minute things.
“We’ll start workin’ on the road tomorrow,” Jerry told them. “Hope you boys can find your way home,” he chuckled.
“We’ll be back,” Billy nodded.
“Look, I still say this is a stupid idea,” Terry cut in. He wasn’t in the mood for any jokes.
“And I still say it’s all we got,” Billy shrugged. “I don’t like it neither. I ain’t never. But we can’t let them people find us, Terry. We can’t beat’em. Not here. And you know that, better’n I ever will.”
Terry sighed, refusing to acknowledge that Billy was right. He’d studied
the terrain, figured on everything they had available, the people who were able to fight. There was no way to defend the valley against them. None.
“You guys watch yourselves,” George told them.
“We will,” Pete nodded.
“So you’re leavin’ out first thing?” Jerry asked.
“Fore day light,” Billy nodded. “We wanna be well on our way ‘fore the sun’s up.”
“Good idea,” Jerry agreed. “I wish I was twenty years younger. I. . . .” he stopped. He wasn’t, and nothing would change that. He looked at Pete.
“You had better come back,” he warned. Pete smiled.
“Do my best, sir.”
“And you too, Billy,” Jerry turned to his young neighbor. “I think we’ve proved this place can’t hardly manage without you.” Billy flushed at that, but merely nodded.
“Good luck,” was all Terry could manage. He wanted to go. He wanted them not to. He wanted things to be normal. He wanted to keep bad things from happening.
And he had never felt so powerless as he did right now.
*****
Morning was still dark when Billy walked out his front door. Rhonda followed him, tears falling silently down her cheeks.
“I will worry myself sick until you come back,” she told him.
“I know,” he nodded. She would.
“Please, Billy, don’t take so many chances,” she pleaded. “Come home.”
“I plan to,” he promised. “I really do.” She stood on her toes and kissed him, then suddenly fled into the house. The Hummer was waiting, Pete behind the wheel. He had experienced a similar morning.
“Ready for this, Billy?” he asked.
“No, but I reckon it’s got to be,” Billy admitted. Pete nodded, and put the truck in gear.
“Here we go, then.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
“Looks like three,” Pete whispered. Billy nodded, looking through his rifle scope.
“Which one you think looks like the leader?” he whispered back.
“I’m going with the one on our right,” Pete replied after some consideration. “He looks like he’s giving orders.”
“Works for me,” Billy answered.
They had been in position for almost three days. Arriving without any problems, the two of them had first looked for, and found, a secure place for the Hummer. A garage on the south west corner of town in a neighborhood that looked like it hadn’t seen any visitors since the virus proved to be just fine. There was a small loft above it, and they decided to make a stash there as well.
The next two days had seen the two running scout all over their side of town, and eventually making an entire circuit, leaving small caches of supplies in the least likely places they could think of. GPS was still working, at least for now, so in addition to written notes and map notations, they entered the coordinates of each one as well.
They weren’t really anything special. Ammunition, MRE’s, a knife, a multitool. Water. First aid kit. Socks. Things that someone might really need in order to get out of a bad scrape. Even if they didn’t use them, the cache’s would be here the next time.
Finally, they had spent an entire day looking over the center of town, where the activity was concentrated. The two men had selected five houses that had upper levels, giving them a good view of their surroundings. In addition, there were a few multistory buildings that would give them good vantage points.
The trick, the key, was to stay hidden.
*****
“Reckon we start with him?” Billy asked.
“I don’t see why not,” Pete shrugged. Before he could add anything, the huge rifle split the atmosphere in half.
Below them, two men stood stunned, and speechless, as the man they took their orders from disintegrated in front of their eyes. One minute, he was there, and everything was normal. The next, he was in several pieces, with blood and bone and body parts everywhere on the sidewalk.
Before they could recover, another one met the same fate. The third, realizing he would be next, took off running back in the direction from which they had come.
Billy let him go.
They needed someone to tell the story, after all.
“Time to move,” Pete noted, gathering their things.
*****
Rather than strike again that first day, Pete and Billy elected to watch the reaction to their attack. The ‘mess’ was cleaned up by very hesitant people, each looking around them frantically, as if they could somehow ward off the destruction if only they could see it coming.
Everyone who came to the scene left terrified. Which was just what Billy and Pete intended.
The next day, almost a mile from where they had first struck, the big rifle boomed again. One moment a young girl was being forced down the street by the woman Pete remembered from the bus, the next moment the girl was alone, her captor spread all over the sidewalk.
The girl screamed. Men and women came running from every direction to the noise of the shot, and the scream. One man, who might or might not have been in charge, they didn’t know, hit the girl in the face, knocking her down. He screamed at her to tell him what had happened or he would kill her, and drew his gun to emphasize the point.
Three seconds later, his head exploded, along with most of his shoulders, covering his ‘friends’ in a mist of bone fragments, blood, and parts of their former leader. Everyone ran for cover, leaving the girl unattended.
Pete and Billy were on the move again before everyone found a hiding place.
*****
They didn’t limit their damage to the people, either. Billy’s rifle put six vehicles out of commission over the next three days. Broken engine blocks were hard to replace, and the big fifty caliber rounds went through even the toughest blocks. They only targeted the moving vehicles, a fact not lost on the people in charge of the town.
Also not lost on them was the two deaths and three injuries caused by the exploding engine blocks and over penetration of the heavy rifle rounds. By the seventh day, no one was driving anywhere.
Search parties were sent out looking for the shooters. Billy and Pete moved each time they shot, and often moved yet again before taking another shot. When whoever was in charge wised up and sent almost every man and woman out to search, they withdrew, watching until the search parties returned, carefully counting each one to make sure no one had stayed behind to ambush them.
“I would have left at least two men out here, lying low, to watch for us,” Pete told Billy. “Either no one down there knows anything about tactics, or we killed the one who did.”
“Makes it easier for us,” was all Billy said.
*****
They took the next three days ‘off’, setting up in a good location, and taking no shots. The idea, Pete told Billy, was to let them relax, think it was over. Gradually, they would relax their guard, and try to get back to whatever was normal for them.
“Once they get back to their beat, we’ll start again.”
So they watched, and they waited for three days. The time wasn’t wasted, as they observed the comings and goings in the town. Slowly but surely they started to get an idea of what they were up against.
There was no set group of people. That was something that stood out. The thugs running what was left of the town were from all walks of life, if their dress was anything to go by. A few wore leathers that reminded Billy of biker gangs. Pete had recognized two different army patches among those wearing military style clothing. A few were dressed as farmers, or ranchers.
“We can’t really be sure, though,” Pete mused. “They could have taken those clothes from anywhere. The two guys I saw with the army patches, though, they sort of look the part. Still, if they had any experience at all, they’d be laying in wait for us, not walking around town.”
They had narrowed down where the prisoners were being kept as well. The men were being held in the old jail, they were sure. A few had been brought in and out to perform one menial tas
k or another, always under heavy guard.
They were also fairly certain that the women and children were being held in what had been a hotel. There were always men on guard there, as well as some tough looking women. Neither wanted to think what went on inside the hotel.
“Reckon there ain’t much we can do for them,” Billy lamented.
“I know,” Pete agreed. “But we’ll keep a look out. If we get the chance, we’ll try and spring them. I’d say try to get the men, first. If we can arm them, they might be of some help.”
*****
While Billy and Pete were working to keep the gang in Franklin off balance, the others were working hard at home. The morning the two had left, Every able bodied man and woman reported to the community building. Soon, they were headed into town. It took a few hours, but they managed to get three additional dump trucks running. They took the trucks back to a small hillside near the gravel pit, and started loading them with dirt, using a front end loader.
Soon, the trucks were moving back and forth to the highway, what was considered the ‘back’ way into the valley. Starting at the edge of the right-of-way, the trucks started dumping load after load of dirt. As the small dozer they were using spread the dirt out, others walked behind, sewing hay seed. With any luck, the roadbed would soon match the fields around it, flowing with hay.
They worked for three days, almost non-stop. Most ate on the road, or when they were waiting for new dirt. It was hard work, and grimy in the hot sun, but no one complained. Everyone knew what was at risk. If they wanted to live, to survive, they had to hide.
By noon of the fourth day, they had covered the mile-and-three-quarters of road that ran to the tree line. Five people spent over an hour trying to see the road from the highway, from every angle they could find. Terry finally lowered his binoculars, and pronounced the job done.
