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

by Connor Mccoy

  “So, why not let us help you?” Sarah asked.

  “No kidding. You know I can handle anything with a sighting scope and a trigger,” Camilla said.

  Conrad sighed. “Believe me, Camilla, I know.”

  Camilla let a hand drop along her right hip. “Then what’s eating at you?”

  Conrad was trapped between his former and current lovers. He bristled. Confiding in anyone never came easy to him, even when he was married. In fact, it may very well have cost him his marriage.

  “I have to make some important decisions,” Conrad said. “This is going to be a big fight, probably an ugly one. The odds, on paper, don’t look good. Now, we do have the shelter down in the basement. It can handle just about anything Kurt and his goon squad could throw at us. Anyone who stays in there likely will come out of this. But now I have to determine who goes in there.”

  “Carla said you wanted to put her in there. Are you thinking of putting us in there?” Sarah asked.

  Conrad chuckled. “Ideally, I’d stuff all of you in that room and bag the bastards myself. But I know you’d never go along with it, plus I do need help.” He shook his head. “But there’s no way I can do this without knowing the family’s going to survive.”

  Sarah held her right arm. “Liam and Carla. They both have to go in there.”

  “Good luck getting them to do it,” Camilla said. “Liam’s not going to leave his dad’s side, and Carla isn’t going to leave Liam’s.”

  “You’re right about that,” Conrad said. “And the fact is, the more hands we have on the triggers, the better our chances are. I’m just not sure how to solve this.”

  “Let’s bring Tom and Liam into this,” Sarah said. “The more heads, the better.”

  Conrad nodded. “That’s good. Yeah, let’s do it.”

  Sarah departed the den. Camilla, however, stayed at Conrad’s side. “Baby steps,” she said after a brief moment.

  “Excuse me?” Conrad asked.

  “Opening up and trusting people with your problems,” Camilla replied. “You’re taking baby steps, but it’s helping.”

  “I’m just trying to protect all of us,” Conrad said. “If I can’t make the hard decisions, who can?”

  “I think you’re scared to let other people see what you’re doing,” Camilla said. “Or should I call you, ‘Shane?’” Conrad frowned, but Camilla pushed on. “Yeah, Sarah mentioned you were talking about that movie.”

  Conrad stifled a cough. “Glad to hear she’s exchanging notes with you.”

  “Conrad, c’mon. What’s really eating at you?” Camilla asked quietly.

  Conrad looked back at his little “surprise” on the table. “It’s going to get damn ugly real soon. This isn’t like in Redmond, where I was shooting at guys who were shooting back at me. Now it’s going to be guerilla warfare. To save us, I’m going to need to kill a hell of a lot of people very quickly, and without them seeing it coming.”

  He braced himself against the table. “Daddy was an angry man at times, but even at his worst, he never killed a single soul. He went to his grave without blood on his hands. I hate to think I could be even worse than he was.”

  Gently, Camilla wrapped her arm around Conrad’s right arm. “Conrad, you never could be as bad or worse than your family. No way in Hell.” She looked at the small metal casing on the table. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but it’s to save all of us. These men would kill us first. I don’t have to tell you it’s perfectly fine to shoot another man who’s out to kill you.”

  Conrad nodded. “I get that in here,” he said, pressing his forefinger against the left side of his head. “In my gut, well, that’s a little harder.”

  “Then let someone else share your burden. Let me help you. Let me be by your side when you do this. We’ll both stand together to keep everyone safe.”

  Conrad looked away as he thought it over. “Together,” he repeated softly.

  “That’s not a foreign word to you, is it? I can bring you a dictionary.”

  Conrad chuckled once. “I know what it means.” He turned to look at her. “Thanks, Cammie. You know, it’s amazing how well we get along when our first meeting wasn’t all sunshine and roses.”

  “You stepped on my foot at the West South Dakota Convention, and then walked past me! How the hell could your head be that far up in the clouds?” Camilla asked with a laugh.

  “I once stepped into a river and didn’t notice until I was three feet under the surface,” Conrad said.

  “Now you’re full of shit!” Camilla playfully punched Conrad on the shoulder.

  Conrad took hold of Camilla’s wrists. “Well, it’s nice to have somebody who knows me so well, and when to call me out when I get too much into myself. You want to share my burden? I couldn’t ask for better.”

  Camilla sank into Conrad’s chest. He pulled her close and held her.

  KEEPING THE CURTAINS CAREFULLY CLOSED, Lance looked out the bathroom window through a small gap between them and the window frame. The scene still was the same. A large group of Kurt’s men, about twelve in all, had gathered outside to feast, with all of them seated at a large picnic table. Every now and then Hooper City men would bring them fresh batches of food on plastic trays. Kurt’s men were especially eager for meats. To preserve peace, Hooper City’s men gave them what they had.

  One of the men let out a loud belch. Then he took a can he was drinking from and tossed it into the grass. Apparently, the men from Davies also wanted beer.

  It’s all worth it just to get them on their way. Lance had overheard one of the men from a nearby store say that. But it seemed as though it was taking forever for them to leave Hooper City.

  “Hey, Lance!” Reg called out. Lance turned around. Reg was taking this early evening shift to help with the food dispersal. “Come on, move it. We need to load another round of potatoes and corn. Tammy’s handling the rest.”

  Lance jogged from the window to the restaurant kitchen. He didn’t want to be chewed out for slacking off. Nigel had made it clear he owed this town a decent work effort, so Lance toiled hard inside this small restaurant, now devoted to serving the needs of Kurt’s men. Even so, he wondered if his cooperation would be enough. Lance still dreaded being kicked out of town when this was over.

  I’m a screw-up, he thought.

  As he walked toward the table where the potatoes had been dumped from their cloth sack, a loud shout from outside quickly stopped him cold. Lance turned and ran back to the bathroom window. One of the servers, Aaron Sanders, lay on the ground. One of Kurt’s men stood over the young man with his fist raised. The brute must have just coldcocked the server, who now was staggering forward toward the building on his hands and knees. Several of the men seated nearby laughed.

  “What’s the matter?” the brute shouted. “I said get back in there and give me more of your meat!” Then he kicked the man square in the ass, sending him flat on his belly. More laughter erupted.

  Lance cringed. The situation outside was worsening, and he felt powerless to stop it. In fact, he had played a part in leading these men here. Lance should have chosen a different town, much farther away. But wouldn’t Kurt and his goon squad just have shown up here anyway and harassed the town, even if he hadn’t shown up?

  “Hey!” Reg’s voice called out from through the window. Lance looked back. Reg had left the restaurant and was approaching the wounded man. “Leave him alone. We’re out of meat. You ate our whole supply.”

  The brute hiccupped. Clearly, he had enjoyed his share of the town’s beer. Anger was starting to boil up inside Lance. Kurt’s men had guzzled on this community’s hospitality while caring nothing for the people’s efforts. Lance was starting to tire of cowering under thugs.

  For a moment, it seemed the brute might ignore Reg. But then he turned around and sucker-punched Reg in the face, sending him tripping over Aaron and rolling down onto the dirt.

  And the men laughed again.

  “Hey!” Hunter s
houted. The man in the coat approached from the street. “Kurt says to pack up. We’re retreating to camp just outside the city. The assault will begin tomorrow.”

  The men pushed aside their chairs and started leaving. However, they still felt too rowdy to let things be. Three of them grabbed the table and pushed it onto its side, emptying all the plates and utensils onto the lawn. One of the men kicked over a nearby garbage can. Another had taken an empty beer bottle and tossed it against the side of the restaurant, shattering the glass into tiny bits.

  Fresh sweat dripped down the side of Lance’s face. These men might get too rowdy, and Reg and Aaron still were outside, too dazed to climb back on their feet, and no one was coming out to help them.

  Lance looked down at himself. He didn’t have a gun on his person, and he didn’t know where they were stored in this place. No matter. He’d do what he’d have to.

  He bolted from the store and ran outside.

  The lawn in front of the building was an utter mess. Lance watched out for in the grass. A few stragglers remained, laughing and joking with each other in drunken stupors.

  Lance leaned over Reg. “Hey! You okay? Can you get up?”

  Reg held the side of his head. “Damn. He hit me good. I’m seeing stars.”

  Before Lance could check the server, a dark shadow crossed his path. Lance looked up, terrified at the sight.

  “Good evening,” Kurt said.

  Lance gulped. He had seen Kurt several times, but always at a distance. The two never had met personally. It was Blake who personally inducted Lance into Kurt’s Davies empire. Would Kurt recognize Lance now?

  “We are departing your lovely city,” Kurt said blandly. “We thank you for the provisions and shelter.” The man then pulled out a glass beer bottle from his coat. Lance’s nostrils wretched. That didn’t smell at all like beer.

  Kurt started dripping some of the liquid on the grass and the overturned table. “Yes, I can say your meats and vegetables were of great quality. You should be commended for making it this far in this new, savage world.” Kurt then turned his back to Lance. Lance heard a scratching sound, but couldn’t see what Kurt was up to.

  “Unfortunately, there’s still the matter of you possessing something that is mine. We’ve taken the truck back, but you still have to pay a penalty. The hospitality was quite nice, but not enough.”

  Kurt then turned to his side, enough for Lance to see the bottle in his hand, as well as the cloth hanging from it—and the small fire snaking its way up the fabric toward the bottle’s mouth.

  Then Kurt tossed the bottle into the open doorway of the restaurant.

  The bottle broke open and dumped its contents all over the floor. The liquid quickly ignited and created a large fire in the middle of the restaurant. Kurt swiftly pulled out a match, lit it, and tossed it on the gasoline he had dumped onto the grass. Another fire quickly lit up across the table and on the lawn.

  Lance’s eyes widened in shock, while Kurt calmly turned and walked away. “Consider this mercy. Only a small part of your city will burn, and that’s more than anyone deserves in this life anymore.”

  Kurt then disappeared down the street, but Lance didn’t even care to watch him go. He had to get Reg and Aaron out of there, or he’d die. The fire already was spilling out of the restaurant windows, but the smoke was the more immediate threat. Lance grabbed Reg by the arm and pulled him a few feet away. Unfortunately, Lance still was too weak from malnutrition to pull Reg much more.

  “Lance, I…I can handle it. Go. Run. Get help,” Reg said weakly.

  Reg then stumbled to his feet and reached for the server, who now was awake and coughing. Lance was about to do as Reg wanted, until he spotted Tammy inside the restaurant pounding on the storage room window at the right end of the building. She still was in there!

  Flames poured out of the front door. There was no way to re-enter the restaurant through there. Lance tried to think. The window was big enough for her to fit through. That might do the trick.

  Then he spotted a rock on the ground. “Hey!” Lance ran up to the store. The smoke was gathering and made it hard to breathe, but he refused to back away. “Duck!”

  Tammy jumped to the side. Lance gave the rock a good hard throw. It smashed through the window, dead-center, making a large hole in the glass.

  The gap wasn’t big enough for the woman to climb through, but it was a good start. Lance looked for another rock and found a smaller one. He dashed to the window, and started pounding away at the glass. More than once he missed and cut his hand, but he didn’t care.

  Finally, he got enough of the glass away that he felt the young woman could crawl through. “Hey!” Lance cried out. “Come on!”

  Tammy now was looking dazed, her once-vibrant blue eyes glazing over. Lance reached over and grabbed her, scraping his chest with glass shards in the process. It was painful, but he would not be deterred. He pulled with all his might, and managed to yank her free, but he was so weak that all he did was pull her right on top of him. The pair collapsed onto the grass.

  “Over there!” Nigel’s voice called. “Quickly, pull them away from there! Get them to fresh air!”

  A few pairs of strong hands pulled Tammy and Lance off each other, then dragged each of them away from the burning building. Already, other men were rushing to the fire with water buckets.

  Lance coughed all the way to the other side of the street. “Get some clean cloths and bandages. They’re both cut up,” Nigel said.

  As Lance was laid on the ground, he now was face to face with Nigel.

  “Hey,” Nigel said, “you alright?”

  A complaint died on Lance’s lips. Instead, the young man said, “Yeah.”

  “He saved Reg’s life, and Tammy’s, too,” Jeff said. “I got the whole story from Aaron. He went out there and dragged her out of there. Kurt and his men then pulled out. Aaron managed to come to long enough to walk to safety.”

  Nigel nodded, then turned to Lance. “Well, I guess you really did earn your keep tonight. Good job.”

  Lance smiled. “Thanks.”

  The pain lingered. Indeed, it would linger throughout the night and into the next day. But Lance didn’t care. For the first time in a long time, he finally felt he was worth something.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “HEY! HEY!”

  Carla’s eyes opened at the sound of Liam’s voice. Her boyfriend stood over her. A small tray was unfolded near her bed, holding a plate of fresh eggs, toast, a little ham, and a cup of coffee.

  Carla smiled. “Well, thank you.” She sat up. “Okay, spill it. What did you do?”

  Liam laughed. “What are you talking about? I just thought you’d like a nice breakfast in bed.”

  Carla just glared at him for a minute, then slid her legs off the bed and onto the floor. “Eat first, drill the real reason out of you later.” Laughing, she reached for the food. “I got a little person inside me who’s famished.”

  “The baby?” Liam asked.

  “No, my stomach. Oh yeah, I got a baby inside me, too,” she said as she raised a fork of eggs to her lips.

  Liam watched his beloved eat. Every now and then Carla would look up into his eyes, wondering what he was thinking. A bit of wistfulness was peeking out from his eyes. It was the look of someone who was preparing to go on a journey or perform some kind of dangerous task. Carla had seen it before.

  She licked her lips upon swallowing the last bite. “Did your mom cook this?”

  “I may have had some help,” he admitted.

  Then, before Carla could retort, Liam suddenly scooped Carla up in his arms. Carla laughed. “Hey now! It’s kind of early for this, don’t you think?”

  “Oh, I think this is the perfect time.” Liam quickly carried Carla down the hall. “Yep, absolutely perfect.”

  The door to the basement yawned open. Liam turned and started down the stairs. “Hey,” Carla asked, “Why are we going into the basement?”

  Liam didn’t i
mmediately answer. Carla then looked down and spotted the shelter door open, with Doctor Darber inside and Conrad at the door.

  “Whoa, what’s going on here?” Carla asked.

  “Yeah, I guess that breakfast was an apology, but it was for something I was going to do,” Liam quickly said as he sped toward the open door. Conrad stepped out just as Liam walked inside the sanctuary room and put Carla down.

  “For God’s sake, Liam, what the hell?” Carla asked.

  Darber took Carla’s arm. “It’ll only be for about a day. We’ll wait here.”

  “Screw that, you need another shooter, unless you’ve armed all the goats!” Carla broke loose and rushed to the opening, but Conrad pushed the vault door closed enough to cut her off.

  “Sorry, Carla, but this is the way it’s got to be,” Conrad said.

  “Doc, watch over her, and if, you know…” Liam began.

  “Your child will be safely delivered. You can bank on it,” Darber replied.

  Carla wasn’t about to accept this. She threw her palm up against the door. “Dammit, don’t do this!”

  But she had no chance against Conrad’s strength. The older man pushed the door shut all the way. Then he pushed the numbers on the keypad. The shelter door locked. With a sigh, he turned and faced his son.

  “We had to do it,” Liam said.

  “Yeah.” Conrad agreed, though for one more than one reason. He would have put Liam in there, too, not only to keep him safe, but to keep from seeing what had to happen next. Violence was coming, but if Conrad’s plans succeeded, he would be the one to deal out a lot of it.

  WHAT DO YOU THINK, Kurt? What makes a peaceful man go wild? Why do you think a regular guy would pick up a gun and shoot someone? Is it over a girl? Money? Pride?

  Kurt opened his eyes. The words sounded in his head as a memory from a bygone time. Jimmy Park was just asking a random question. Kurt couldn’t recall how the conversation between him and his friend landed on that subject. Why would a peaceful man turn violent? Kurt didn’t even remember his reply, if he had given one at all.