by Victor Zugg
The rain had stopped, but the air was still thick with moisture. Even in the cooler temperatures of the night, just after a rain, the jogging caused Sam to sweat. His soaked t-shirt clung to his skin. The nylon mixed fabric of his tactical pants began to chafe his inner thighs. Only Tiff in her tight jean shorts, was dressed right for jogging. Not so much if they had to push through thick foliage. She probably should have changed before heading out on this adventure.
After half an hour, Sam slowed and then slowed more into a steady walk. Taking deep inhales to catch his breath, he looked back at the group. He couldn’t see details in the dark, just hulks basically shaped like people. But he could hear them all breathing hard. Except Tiff. Not only was she dressed right, she was in the best shape of anyone.
Sam finally stopped. “We need a breather,” he whispered. Everyone bunched up next to him and began taking deep breaths.
Sam shrugged his pack off and retrieved four bottles of water from the main compartment. He passed one each to Hank, Lance, Pete, and Wanda, and then took a long drink from his own bottle. He returned the half-full bottle to his pack.
After a couple of minutes, he slung the pack onto his back and adjusted the weight. “Not that much farther,” Sam said. “And then it’s a leisurely walk down the main road.”
“They’ll be patrolling that road,” Tiff said. “I probably would. Or I’d just pick a spot and wait for us to show up.”
“True,” Sam said. “We’ll figure that out when we get to the main road. We need to move.”
Sam turned and led the group down the road, east.
Forty minutes later, Sam stopped at a sharp left bend in the road. When everyone caught up and gathered around, he cleared his voice. “This road turns north here, and then northeast. It actually intersects the main road, north about a quarter of a mile.”
“That’s where they’ll be waiting,” Chet said.
“Exactly,” Sam said. “If we continue due east through the forest, we’ll connect with the road well south of that point.”
“How far through the forest?” Wanda asked, between deep inhales and exhales.
“It’s only about a thousand feet, but it’s thick. Just stay close and stay quiet.”
Everyone shuffled their feet in anticipation. Wanda grunted.
Sam turned and pushed into the brush. Luckily, the partial moon was visible through the treetops again. Sam used the moon’s position in the sky to keep his trek generally due east.
He trudged through the foliage using his rifle to protect his face from unseen branches. He eased the larger branches back as he passed so they wouldn’t slap Tiff in the face. After forty-five minutes of lugging his pack up and down, around and through, he stopped.
Tiff and Hank pulled up behind him.
“The road is just a few more yards,” Sam said. “Let me reconnoiter first.” He pushed on while the others waited.
Sam came up to the tree line, crouched as low as possible, and eased forward until he could see up and down the road. He dropped to a knee and took a full minute to get his breathing under control so he could hear.
Sam turned his head south, toward the cabin. Total darkness. No discernible movement or sounds. The same with up the road to the north, toward Townsend. Nothing.
Sam cautiously got to his feet, stepped out of the low brush, and onto the pavement of Lamar Alexander Parkway. He twisted his head north and waited a full thirty seconds.
Suddenly, he heard rustling behind him. He jerked around to see the outline of Tiff approaching. His first impulse was irritation that she hadn’t waited as instructed. But then he realized he had been taking a long time. She probably came to check. “I don’t hear anything.”
Tiff paused for a few seconds. “Neither do I. Press on to the cabin?”
“Yeah, get everyone out to the road and we’ll head out.”
Tiff disappeared back into the brush and then returned almost two minutes later, with the rest of the group trailing behind.
“It’s a mile and a half that way,” Sam said, as he pointed south. “Thirty minutes or so.” He turned and marched off, followed by the others.
CHAPTER 20
Three hundred yards short of the driveway to the cabin, Tiff caught up with Sam. “Dad won’t know it’s us coming up the drive. No Hummer, and we have more people.”
Sam stopped walking and then turned to face Tiff. “You’re right. They probably have someone outside keeping watch.”
Chet shuffled closer. “We don’t want to get shot coming home for dinner.”
Sam turned back to the group. “You guys wait here with Chet and Tiff. I need to go forward and let the rest of our clan know it’s us.”
Hank, Lance, Wanda, and Pete took a seat on the pavement. “We’ll be here,” Hank said.
Sam nodded at Chet and Tiff and then shuffled off. He thought about passing the driveway and approaching the cabin from the south, but then decided that would be even more suspicious than just walking in.
He was just about to step onto the driveway when he heard a low whistle from his left, in the trees.
Sam stopped. “Charlie, that you?”
A shadow stepped from the tree line. “Yep, wasn’t sure that was you. No Hummer and no Chet and Tiff.”
Sam continued down the driveway a few feet until he was next to Charlie. “We lost the Hummer, temporarily I hope. Chet and Tiff are up the road with some friends. Didn’t want to come marching in here on foot with more people than we left with. You would have thought it was an invasion.”
“You’re right, I would have thought that,” Charlie said. “Here, give me that backpack. I’ll let Emma know we have company. How many extra?”
“Four, including Pete,” Sam said. “I’ll be right back.” He slipped the pack off his back and walked off.
***
Sam took a bite of food from his bowl, chewed, and swallowed. “This is amazing, Emma, thanks for going to all the trouble this late at night.”
“Ditto,” Chet said.
Tiff, Hank, and all the others sat on the floor and in the available seats in the living room with a bowl in their hands, all nodded or mumbled their appreciation.
Emma smiled. “It was nothing. I just added a few cans of soup to the left over squirrel stew. We can thank Diego for the squirrels.”
Sam looked over at Diego and nodded.
Diego smiled.
Tiff, having changed out of her wet clothes and into a pair of dark tactical pants and a fresh T-shirt, took her last bite and then set the bowl on the floor next to her outstretched legs. “Any thoughts on how best to defend this place?”
“Juan is on lookout outside,” Charlie said. “He’ll let us know if anyone approaches.”
“Kill ‘em all,” Chet said.
Tiff, Hank, and Lance nodded.
Sam rubbed his face with one hand and then massaged the stubble on his jaw. “I’ve been thinking about something Tiff said. A strong offense is the best defense.”
“Ancient concept,” Chet said. “All the way back to Sun Tzu.”
“If we attack them,” Charlie said, “that would leave the cabin completely open if they get around us, or heaven forbid, we get annihilated.”
“I propose we leave you, Emma, Juan, and Diego at the cabin,” Sam said. “You guys will need to load the truck and be ready to bug out to the cave if necessary.”
“How would we know if we should leave?” Emma asked.
“I’d like to put Lance and Wanda up the road about half a mile to set up an ambush. If anyone comes down that road except any of us, you try your best to stop them,” Sam said, looking at Lance and Wanda. He turned to Charlie. “If you hear gunfire from Lance and Wanda, it’s time to bug out.”
“Even a vastly superior force?” Wanda asked.
Sam shrugged his shoulders. “Hit and run. Get your shots in and then bug out. Slip down the embankment, hide out, and then back to the cabin when it’s clear.”
Wanda nodded.
/> “That leaves me, Chet, Tiff, Hank, and Pete to assault the shit bags where they live,” Sam said.
“When would we head out?” Tiff asked.
“I think we can chance a couple of hours sleep,” Sam said. “We head out around three. We should set the alarm on that old clock in the bedroom.”
“I think Wanda and I should head out now,” Lance said. “We can take turns getting some sleep.”
“Good idea,” Sam said. “I think the intersection of Tremont and Laurel Creek would be the best possible place. They’d have to slow down to make that turn. North side of Tremont. If you have to fall back, you can follow the stream to the cabin’s back door.”
Lance and Wanda nodded as they got to their feet.
“Plenty of water and ammo,” Chet said.
“The stream crosses Laurel right there,” Sam said. “The abutment for the bridge is low, but it should provide some cover from approaching men or vehicles.”
“I know the spot,” Lance said. “We’ll figure it out.”
Sam stepped into the master bedroom, grabbed an old backpack from the closet, and returned to the living room. “Use this.”
Lance took the back pack and began stuffing it with water and ammo.
Emma went to the kitchen and returned with some beef jerky and a couple of granola bars. “In case you get hungry.”
Lance stuffed the food into the pack and then looked up at Sam. “If nothing happens, no one comes, how long do we stay there?”
“Use your own judgment,” Sam said. “But if no one comes by tomorrow at dusk, I’d probably fall back to the cabin.” Sam looked at Charlie. “And strongly consider going to the cave for a couple of days.”
Tiff handed Bill’s rifle to Charlie. “We ended up with an extra rifle. It might serve you better in this situation than your bow.”
Charlie nodded and took the rifle. “Really sorry to hear about Bill. Seemed like a capable fellow.” He examined the rifle. “You carried the extra rifle all the way here?”
“We took turns,” Sam said.
***
The moon was on the opposite side of the sky when Sam, Chet, Tiff, Hank, and Pete stepped from the cabin.
Sam shrugged his backpack on, adjusted the straps, and marched off, followed by the others. Chet brought up the rear.
Out on the road, headed for Townsend, they kept a fast walking pace over the asphalt, in patrol formation.
Sam wondered how they would handle the situation if they met Frank and his men on the road before they even got to town. Hopefully, they would get some kind of warning, and would be able to take evasive actions. Most importantly, they couldn’t allow Frank or any of his men to get past them. He glanced to his right as Tiff caught up and kept pace by his side.
“Where do you think they will be?” Tiff whispered.
“If they’re not at the police department, I don’t know. We’ll have to play that by ear. This road is the only way to the cabin from town. If we don’t meet them on the road, and they’re not at the police department, we’ll have to look for them I guess.”
“We’re going to walk this road all the way to the police department?” Tiff asked.
“We’ll cut through at the curve and go in the back way, like we did with the Hummer.”
“Any idea how many of those guys on the highway you might have hit?”
“With a spread of ten rounds, certainly the guy I was aiming at. Beyond that, I’m not sure. I didn’t take the time to watch for them to fall. I was gone before they even fired back.”
“So our best guesstimate is we may be looking at something around eleven or twelve shit bags, plus any walking wounded.”
“Something like that,” Sam said. “We just need to take out three each or so, and we’re done.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Hey, this was your idea,” Sam said.
“I’m not always right,” Tiff said, as she slowed and resumed her position in the formation.
Sam nodded and concentrated on his pace. I’m not always right either, he thought.
As they approached the intersection with Laurel, Sam let out a low whistle. He got a low whistle in return.
Lance and Wanda met them in the middle of the intersection.
“Wish we could go with you,” Lance said.
“I know,” Sam said. “But we need someone to cover our butts.”
Sam saw Lance and Wanda nod in the moon light. “We’ll all be back before you know it.”
“Okay, Sam,” Lance said.
Sam nodded and then proceeded onto Laurel, and then north on the main road a half block later.
***
Sam eased forward and peeked around the southwest corner of the school building. The front entrance to the police department was straight ahead. In the dark he could make out one of Frank’s pickups and the Chevy sedan, parked four or five feet apart, in front of the building. The front of both vehicles faced out, ready to go. The other pickup was not there, which meant some men were out carousing. He also saw two men standing under the portico. Sam presumed there were at least two more men in the back. The two vehicles needed to be their top priority. Eliminating their primary mode of transportation would go a long way toward stopping these guys. Sam considered for a moment the idea of commandeering at least one of the vehicles, but decided against it. Chances were the keys were inside with one of the men. Trying to get them would be too risky and would take too much time, especially considering that nothing would be running in six months or so. Soon, no one would have a running vehicle.
Sam pulled back from the corner and then motioned for Tiff and Chet to follow him back to the others waiting on the east side of the building.
With everyone gathered around, Sam explained the situation.
“We could throw a firebomb through the window, and pick them off as they come out,” Chet said.
“We’d lose the building and all that food in there,” Hank said. “We might win the battle, but we’d lose the coming war with winter.”
“I say we rush the two guys out front, pump a few rounds into the radiators, and dash,” Tiff said. “Hit and run.”
“And what if this is a trap?” Pete asked. “Looks easy enough, but what if it’s just an ambush waiting for us to show up? Game over. We lose.”
“Okay, we’re wasting our darkness,” Sam said. “It will be light in about an hour.”
Chet stepped closer. “We position two guys on the north side of the school, ready to rush forward and kill the vehicles.” He tapped Sam on the chest. “You have magnification on your rifle. Shoot the two guys from behind the school building here on the south side.”
“What about the other truck?” Tiff asked. “There are more men out there.”
“We deal with them if they show up,” Chet said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Sam said. “You and Pete position yourselves on the north side. When you hear me fire and see at least one of the guys drop, take out the vehicles. If there is an ambush, they would be hiding in the woods on the west side of the police building. The lot to the east is completely open; nowhere to hide.”
Chet nodded, tapped Pete on the shoulder, and the two of them disappeared around the east side of the school building.
Sam, Tiff, and Hank eased up to the southwest corner. Since Sam was lousy at shooting left-handed, which is what it would take to minimize his exposure from around the corner, he dropped down to his stomach and crawled forward, well out from the corner. Prone position would give him a more stable firing position.
He lowered his eyes to the rifle sight. Almost immediately a drop of sweat ran into his right eye. He used his sleeve to clear the moisture, repositioned his cheek on the rifle, and peered through the scope again. The view was dark, but the magnification helped pinpoint the blobs. The two men stood next to each other, like they were whispering. Sam caressed the trigger as he fought to get his breathing under control. A miss would likely have disastrous consequences. Sam moved the crosshairs from
one to the other and waited. He wanted to make sure Chet and Pete had enough time to get into position.
After a few more seconds, Sam placed the crosshairs on the chest of the guy on the right, the one closest to the cover of the vehicles. When he went down, the guy on the left would have to jump over him to reach cover. That extra millisecond could mean the difference between getting both of them, or just one. Sam wanted both.
Sam slowly squeezed the trigger until the rifle jumped with an ear splitting boom. He quickly moved the crosshairs to the second guy and fired again. The near double tap muffled his hearing, but his eyesight was just fine. Two hits; both men down.
Sam saw Chet and Pete rush forward and to the front of the two vehicles. They pumped multiple rounds into the radiators and then took cover between the vehicles. Chet leveled his rifle over the bed of the pickup toward the building’s main entrance. Pete aimed over the Chevy’s hood toward the southwest corner of the building. Any men in back of the building would likely come around from that direction. The slot between the two vehicles, where Chet and Pete stood, was not in the line of fire from any of the building’s windows.
In Sam’s mind it was a toss-up whether Frank’s men would come out the front, or from around one or both sides.
Sam looked behind him. Tiff and Hank were against the wall. “Tiff, you and Hank go around to the north side of the school and cover Chet and Pete from that angle.”
Tiff nodded, tapped Hank on the shoulder, and they bounded off.
Sam waited for Frank’s men to pour out the front entrance.
***
Tiff slid to a stop in the grass and dropped to the base of a tree at the northwest corner of the school building. Hank took cover behind an adjacent tree.
Tiff could see the south and east sides of the police department building, and would have a clear shot at anyone coming up from the back of the building. She leveled her rifle in that direction and waited. She expected men to pour out of the front entrance at any moment, and to come running from around the back of the building. But they didn’t. No movement. Nothing.
