Enduring Grit: an EMP survival story (The Off Grid Survivor Book 3)

by Connor Mccoy

  As they closed the gap between themselves and the homestead, they spotted one of the ranch’s hands—a thin Caucasian man in an oversized shirt hauling a bucket of picked vegetables. He approached the fence line.

  Blake turned to Vander. “Don’t say anything. I’ll take it from here.” Blake then straightened his jacket collar. “Remember, act neighborly.”

  Soon Tom walked close enough to the fence that he could spot Blake, Juan and Vander. At the same time, Blake raised his hand. “Hello!” he shouted, “Afternoon to you.”

  Tom stopped in place. “Uh, good afternoon,” he said.

  “Crop season, right?” Blake asked with a laugh, “Looks like you got a pretty sweet haul.”

  “Sweet,” Juan repeated.

  Tom put down his bucket. “You could say that. So, how I can help you?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing. We’re looking for a friend of ours. He’s a doctor. Ronald Darber. Seems he went missing and we’re worried about him.”

  “Really?” Tom asked.

  “Yep. A little birdie said he came out this way,” Blake said. “You’re the only ranch we see for miles. Maybe he showed up here for a night or two. Is he here?”

  Tom swallowed. “Well, I’m not sure,” he said uneasily. “I’m just…one of the hands. They don’t tell me everything. But I could go ask.”

  “You do that.” Blake smiled, showing off his teeth. “Hey, we’ll just head up to your door and wait for your answer.”

  Tom nodded. “Right.” Then he picked up the bucket and walked, very quickly, toward the home.

  DARBER HANDED Liam the cluster of small yellow pages. “First pack of breathing exercises, complete with diagrams.”

  Liam took them and flipped through the pages. “You write great for a doctor,” he said.

  “That’s because I used pictures.” Darber chuckled. “Wasn’t going to take any chances.”

  “But you are going to show me this?” Liam asked as he studied Darber’s notes.

  “Sure. Conrad just wanted me to get everything down on paper. I can understand. You might not know when, well, if, any of us aren’t available for some reason,” Darber said.

  Liam turned to his dad, who stood in the doorway between the living room and the hall. “Sage stuff, isn’t it?” Conrad asked. Then he smiled. “I always knew Ron was a good artist. It’s good for him to get this stuff down with pictures.”

  The scene was interrupted when Tom approached through the hallway, his shirt slicked with sweat and vegetation hanging off his body. “We have…guests…” he panted.

  “Guests?” Conrad asked, his expression suddenly turning to a frown.

  “Three guys at the fence. They were asking about Doctor Darber,” Tom answered quickly.

  Darber’s cheeriness instantly melted away into shock and horror. “Three men?” he asked, sounding if someone had punched him in the gut.

  “What’s the deal?” Conrad turned to Darber. “Why would anybody be looking for you?” Then he craned his head in Tom’s direction. “Did they say they were from Davies?”

  “Didn’t say, but I tell you I didn’t trust those guys. One of them looks like he’s made of solid rock, his fist could flatten your skull with one hit. They were all wearing jackets. They could be armed. I couldn’t see.”

  “What else?” Darber asked, “Appearance, like beards or skin color? What did you see?”

  “The big guy had red hair and a matching beard. There was a thin guy, brown skin, probably Hispanic. The guy who talked to me was shorter, had this strange drawl in his voice.”

  “That could be Blake,” Darber whispered.

  Conrad took a step closer to Darber. “You know these folks, don’t you?”

  Darber shook his head. “I'm so sorry. I never thought they would find me here.”

  The doctor turned to his suitcase on the couch. “I must go. They’ll come here and they won’t stop unless I go back with them.”

  Tom looked out the window. “Well, they’re out there now in front of the door.”

  Camilla turned to the hall. “Damn. I’ll get some arms and move their asses off our property.”

  “Wait!” Darber raised his hands. “You can’t go against Kurt’s men! More will come here if I don’t go back with them!”

  “Kurt?” Conrad made a fist. “Who the hell is Kurt? Dammit, I knew you were fidgeting like a scared rabbit back on the road. You wanted out of Davies bad. It’s because of these fellas, isn’t it?”

  “Yes! Yes! I should have told you, but I thought I could escape, disappear, leave it all behind!” Darber shook his head.

  “Look, you can dither all you want.” Camilla marched into the hall. “I’m getting the heavy artillery.”

  Darber braced his head with his hands. “No! This will turn out bad. I’ve got to—I’ve got to talk to them.” He cringed. “I can’t. No, I’ve got to!”

  Then he turned and ran for the front door. He unlocked it, then flung it open and rushed outside, shutting it behind him.

  “Ron!” Conrad called, narrowly missing him. “Dammit, come back here!”

  THERE WAS no turning back now. Ronald Darber was confronting one of his worst nightmares short of Kurt himself. He had met Blake, Juan and Vander off and on during the past month, but never ran into the three men together. Basically, he was doomed. He was no fighter. Physically, he was no match for even a man half the size of Vander, Blake or Juan. His only hope was to talk his way out of this.

  “Well, look who it is,” Blake said, almost stone-faced. “You didn’t even leave a goodbye note. Kind of rude, isn’t it?”

  “There was a medical emergency to take care of,” Darber said gruffly. “You know how in demand doctors are nowadays.”

  “All the way out here? That’s one hell of a house call, Doc,” Juan said. “The phones don’t work. No one can text you. So, what’s the deal? Seems like you just up and left.”

  “No! It’s true. I was just repaying a favor for a friend, that’s all,” Darber said.

  “And how long was that favor gonna last?” Vander asked.

  “Kurt, the Phoenix, he’s the only friend you got.” Blake advanced one step toward Darber. “You’re his, pal. He says go, you go. He says stay, you stay. He didn’t tell you to go, Doc. That means you’re in deep, deep shit.”

  “And so’s anybody who helped you out.” Vander looked over Darber’s shoulder to the house door behind him.

  Darber quaked. “What? No, no. I’ll go back with you. Just don’t hurt Conrad!”

  “Conrad?” Blake cocked his head. “So, that crazy old rancher does live here. He’s the guy who brought you here, right?”

  “No!” Darber shouted.

  “Stop lying, you sack of shit!” Blake then shoved Darber to the porch floor.

  “We got word that a guy named Conrad Drake lives here, and he’s a little messed up in the head, got big guns and all that stuff. Kurt’s going to want a little compensation for this trouble. Maybe this Conrad’s got some guns? Some sweet crops? Animals?” Vander then grabbed Darber and held him up as Blake cracked his knuckles. “Let’s talk.”

  THE SOUND of Camilla’s boots turned Conrad’s head from the front door. She hastily had donned an over-the-shoulder belt along with a waist belt, both containing firearm magazines. She also clutched a pair of rifles. Stopping, she handed one to Conrad.

  “What’s the deal?” she asked quietly.

  “A lot of fussing going on. Don’t know how long that’s going to last. I checked, but I didn’t see any guns in their hands. But it’s hard to tell through that damned peephole.”

  Suddenly, one of their visitors raised his voice even louder. “Stop lying, you sack of shit! We got word that a guy named Conrad Drake lives here, and he’s a little messed up in the head, got big guns and all that stuff. Kurt’s going to want a little compensation for this trouble. Maybe this Conrad’s got some guns? Some sweet crops? Animals? Let’s talk.”

  “Damn,” Conrad said in low voice. “
We got to get him inside. These bastards sound like they mean business. Camilla, go around the side, catch them from behind. I’ll open the door and drag him back in.”

  Then he turned to Camilla, but noticed his living room was a little emptier. Camilla, Tom, Sarah and Carla were there. No Liam.

  “Where the hell did Liam go?” Conrad asked.

  LIAM CREPT along the side of the house. The corner of the house was in sight. Now Liam got on his knees. The porch was approaching. He couldn’t let their three “visitors” see him until he was right on top of them.

  Sweat poured down his face. He was angry. Angry that once again trouble had come to his home. Angry that malevolent men were at his door. No, he would not let things spin out of control as they did when Derrick Wellinger laid siege to his dad’s homestead. Now Liam was going to take the fight to the bad guys for a change.

  I can’t just go in guns blazing, Liam thought. Doctor Darber could get hit by accident. I have to do this just right.

  He pulled out his taser. Then he crawled below the porch’s floor level, only raising his head enough to peer through the banister posts.

  A big guy was holding Darber up as a smaller man barked at the doctor. “So, what does Conrad have in there? How many people? More men? Or is it just some ladies and a kiddie or two?”

  “Look, you tell me what you want, and I’ll have Conrad bring it out. There’s no need for guns or killing!” Darber pleaded.

  “No, you tell me what he has, and I’ll tell you if it’s worth taking. I saw a big set of crops out there. This guy looks like he’s got a prime farm. I think Kurt would be very interested in this place. Maybe he’ll show up and take it for himself.”

  “No!” Darber cried out.

  At that moment, Liam sprang up and shot his taser at the big guy holding Darber. The brute screamed and then released Darber, who landed on the porch with a loud thud.

  ON THE OTHER side of the door, Conrad and everyone else heard Darber land with a thud.

  Conrad could take no more. He yanked open the front door. The doctor lay on the porch, wincing and clutching his side. Nearby, Vander was on his back, writhing as the taser points immobilized him.

  “What the hell?” Blake whipped out his firearm and aimed it at Liam. But Conrad’s entry had pulled Blake’s attention away from Liam, who leaped over the porch banister and charged him. Blake only had time to turn around before Liam’s fist connected with Blake’s face. Both Blake and his firearm fell to the deck.

  “Get him inside!” Conrad seized Darber by the shoulders, while Camilla grabbed Darber by his waist. The two adults hauled Darber in quickly, with Sarah shutting the door behind them.

  “Wait!” Sarah suddenly looked through the peephole. “God, Liam’s out there!”

  Conrad got up, just as he heard another thump on the porch. He looked through the peephole. Liam had just cold-cocked Juan on the back of his head. Now all three of the men were down on the porch. Liam quickly was pulling the gun belts off from Darber’s assailants.

  “Good boy,” Conrad whispered. Then he said, louder, “Sarah, Camilla, give Liam backup. And get that trash off my front porch while you’re at it.” Conrad then turned to Darber, who was lying on the floor, coughing. “I’ll make sure they don’t land another finger on Ron.”

  LIAM STAGGERED around the side of the house, stumbling back the way he had come. Two gun belts hung over his shoulder, each carrying a gun holster, a knife, and a couple of magazines each. He winced. He had successfully taken the gun belts off two of the men, but that last guy he fought had hit him before Liam could take him out. Unfortunately, it was also the place where he had been shot in the homestead siege.

  Lucky shot, he thought. He was in too much pain to hang around there. He had to get these weapons away from the doctor’s attackers.

  “Liam!” Sarah rushed over to him. “Are you alright?”

  “Mom!” Liam let out a gasp. “I’m not bad. One of them just hit me in the spot where I got shot.” Then he stopped and let Sarah take the belts off him. “That big guy might still have a gun on him.”

  “Let Camilla worry about him. I came to get you inside. We got Doctor Darber in.” Sarah took Liam by the arm. “C’mon Camilla’s waiting on the other side of the gate.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “BLAKE!” Vander, tired of Blake’s unresponsiveness, slapped him across the face. “Dammit, get up already!”

  Blake’s hand shot up to his face and clenched the cheek where Vander had slapped it. “Shit! What are you doing?”

  Vander seized Blake by his shirt and hoisted him up. “They knocked out you and Juan. One of the bastards tased me. They got the doctor inside! We gotta break down the door and get him!”

  Blake blinked his eyes. “Damn. Get me…get me up!”

  Vander dragged Blake all the way to his feet. Along the way, Blake patted his sides. “My knives. My guns. Where the hell are they?”

  “They must have frisked us.” Juan braced himself on the banister of the porch. “When me and Blake were knocked out.”

  Vander looked down at his belt. His knife was gone, lost when he got tasered. But he wasn’t fully disarmed as he still had his handgun. “I’m not done yet,” he said with a hiss.

  Juan started protesting. “They’ll be ready for you!”

  But Vander pushed Blake aside and stormed off the porch. “Go around back! Get them from behind!”

  “Damn it, Vander, you don’t know what they got in there!” Blake said as he started chasing after him.

  “I want them dead. I want them dead!” he shouted as he stomped through the grass along the side of the house.

  “Vander, you idiot! The back is fenced off! You can’t get in there!” Juan shouted.

  Indeed, the way to the back of the ranch was barricaded by a strong wooden fence and a gate that looked locked and sturdy.

  Vander raised his weapon and fired two shots at the gate handle. Both shots struck it and ricocheted off, and while they severely dented the handle, they weren’t enough to blow it open.

  “The gate’s probably reinforced,” Blake said, “Face it, we’re outmatched.”

  Before Vander could respond, either with another shot to the gate or a swear word, the grass in front of them suddenly popped. A gunshot from somewhere up ahead had hit the ground, followed by a loud female voice screaming, “Drop it, dickhead!”

  Vander’s eyes widened. The angry brute suddenly looked scared. “What the hell?”

  “What’s the matter? You got shit where your brain’s supposed to be?” asked the woman, “I said drop it now!”

  Vander quickly discarded the gun on the grass. Behind him, Blake and Juan looked around, but there was a large tree growing near the fence that made it hard to see back beyond the gate. With all that cover, it wouldn’t be hard for someone to shoot at them.

  “Now, you three squirrels turn and run, and I mean quick! If you don’t, I’ll play target practice with your asses. Now go!” shouted their mystery sniper.

  Vander let out a loud profanity before turning and running. Blake and Juan joined him. The three reached the front yard of the homestead, where another gunshot rang out and hit the ground behind them.

  Any thought of slowing down was driven immediately from their heads. They fled down the small road that led to State Road 22, then turned and kept on running, never bothering to look back.

  DARBER STOOD on the small walkway from the porch as Liam and Conrad inspected the front yard and the sides of the house. Sarah stood with Darber, clutching her shotgun. As for the doctor, he just stood there, his face ashen. He just waited as the two men finished their tasks.

  “No more weapons back there,” Liam said as he emerged from the left side of the house.

  “And no more stragglers. Looks like it was just three of them after all,” Conrad said as he rejoined Liam by Sarah and Darber.

  At that moment, Camilla rode back onto the driveway on the bicycle. “No more signs of them for a couple of m
iles.” She parked the bike, then marched over to Conrad, Liam, Sarah and Darber. “And no more reinforcements, not that I can see.”

  Conrad turned to Darber. “Do these fellas usually have backup following?”

  Darber, still in shock, didn’t respond.

  “Ron!” Conrad barked with intensity that made even Camilla jump. “Talk to me! Are we going to have more dinner guests?”

  Darber shook his head. “I-I don’t know. I think that’s all that came. They’ll have to go back to Kurt and report in.”

  “Kurt? He’s the man running this operation?” Conrad asked.

  “Yeah. Yeah, that’s right,” Darber replied.

  Conrad took quick count of all the weapons they had grabbed from Darber’s attackers. The men were packing three handguns with five loaded magazines. Each of the men also had packed a sharp knife, with a blade that glistened almost like new. One of them had packed an extendable baton.

  “This is enough to kill a man many times over.” Conrad turned slowly to Darber. “Who’s this Kurt? Who in God’s name did you run afoul of?”

  Darber shut his eyes tightly. “I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”

  “Apologize later, after you’ve told me. Then I’ll decide whether to kick your ass or not.” Conrad then glanced at Liam. “Pack this stuff and get it inside. Camilla, get the doctor here some tea. I get the feeling we’re in for a hell of a story.”

  DARBER WAS SEATED in an easy chair, with Conrad, Tom, Liam, Carla, Sarah and Camilla all standing or seated someplace in front of him or close by. The doctor fidgeted at being the center of such attention, but he finally sighed and got started with his tale.

  “This whole mess started out shortly after the solar storm hit. When it became clear the authorities weren’t coming to save us, people ran wild. They ransacked stores. Some even went on a rampage through the homes in the affluent areas. There was food there, or so they believed. Homes were torched. One of them belonged to the Walsh family. They were patients of mine. Mrs. Walsh and her son Joshua both were inside the home when the fires began. They had no way to escape. Kurt Marsh, the husband, the father, he was caught in the conflagration. Judging from the news, we thought everyone in that block was incinerated.”