“I could,” he retorted. “Loads better…”
He sighed heavily as she smiled. “You have an expedition to lead.”
“Yeah, but now I’m not sure if I should go—maybe one of the others could lead it instead,” he suggested, as he shook his head. “You may be familiar with everyone here now, but they aren’t family.”
“They are now,” she said, gently pushing him in the direction of the others waiting for him. “Now go.”
* * * * *
While Garrett had no idea who had said it first, he was a thorough believer in the old saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.”
At least that was the gist of what he understood. Garrett was not a man given to spending too much time lost in the bowels of a library like his other two brothers might. That was not to say he did not have his own library but the contents of such were far more likely to contain practical things such as books on hunting, fishing or carpentry. Or his beloved collection of Encyclopedia Britannia.
Sure, they were grossly out of date but as his daughter and niece often said the historical data and some other items within were still accurate.
And they looked fantastic on his book shelf beside his other collection of antique cameras and hunting knives.
He had no doubt that the workable supply of fish at the work camp at High Falls had a direct link to the fact that he had read the Britannicas.
The influx of protein and food served to re-energize the small group up there and it also raised their spirits.
The situation had gone from fighting over their limited supplies to real suggestions on how to continue the trend of survival using what they had on hand. They had almost made a game of it.
Garrett only cared that it served to raise their morale. Life seemed a whole lot brighter with a belly full of fresh fish and edible berries. Although while he was glad of the full stomach now he was not sure he would be too happy with it later when it needed to continue its way out as it naturally would.
The other major surprise was the HAM radio one of the women had found in an old-fashioned control room.
“Hey Garrett, I had an idea,” came one of the ones that he had caught fighting.
Garrett looked up from what he was working on. The radio’s circuits were dusty and he suspected there was a short somewhere in it as well. It just refused to work at all and, in truth, it began to frustrate him.
The distraction was actually welcome.
“Well, out with it,” he grumbled.
“A few of the others had this idea for setting up a trap line and using the backs of some of the mesh chairs as makeshift snowshoes.”
“The first idea is a good one,” agreed Garrett, with a sigh. “The second… Well, I know what movie you took that idea from and unfortunately it won’t work. The mesh and the frames aren’t strong enough to even hold up a small child.”
“You sound like that’s from experience,” said the other man.
“It is. My daughter tried that with my grandson. They lasted all of two minutes and he was through them with the frames up around his knees,” he answered, barking a laugh at the memory. “If he hadn’t been so disappointed, it would have been funnier at the time. At least now it is.”
“How old is he?”
“Seventeen,” answered Garrett.
“Wait, the movie we’re talking about would have come out while he was maybe thirteen…”
“Didn’t say we got the idea from the movie,” pointed out Garrett. “Just said that unlike the movie it doesn’t work.”
“So, what should we do?” he asked.
Garrett shrugged and leaned back. “Not sure, but I’m sure we could figure something out. We’ve managed this much already.”
The other man looked over the scattered parts of the HAM radio. “I’d ask if you were having any luck but I can see that you’ve got your own work cut out for you.”
“Actually, I’ve made progress,” answered Garrett.
As frustrated as he was with the radio, he had made great leaps on getting it to work—so long as the right parts were available. “I figured out what's broken, so if we can rig a replacement I should be able to get it to work.”
“What kind of parts?” asked the other.
Scratching at his chin, which had grown from stubble to a full-fledge beard, Garrett took a long moment to answer. “Transistors, resistors, various electronics. Some things look a bit like they got too warm. I managed to repair the short that caused the damage.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for anything you could use,” answered the other as he turned to leave. “I’ll bring some food up later.”
“Fantastic, and thanks,” answered Garrett as he bent back to his task and the other man simply waved as he left the room.
Garrett sighed as he looked back up. It was not that he really wanted to brush off Dane. But the other man gave Garrett the oddest feeling.
No hard feelings, my ass, thought Garrett as he thought back to when he had written up Dane for a safety infraction a month before, and again for refusing to respect his superiors at the company. If he thinks I haven’t heard him muttering about how he’d make a better foreman, he’s an idiot.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Derek and Zachary watched as the surliest man they had met since the power went out came out from the shop door and up to the fence.
“If you’re looking for food, you’re barking up the wrong tree, mate,” the surliest man said.
Derek looked the man up and down and the emphasis was on up. He was tall and bit taller than Terrence was and Terrence had been a tall man himself. “We’re not looking for food,” answered Derek. “We’re wondering if you needed anything, and even if not, if we could shelter here for the night before moving on.”
The man seemed slightly taken aback by this. “Move on to where?”
Derek pointed back to the road and to the south. “There’s a farm down the road, just on the other side of the ridge, offering refuge for those who want it. Has all the basic necessities of life to survive the winter.”
The man thought for a long moment and continued, “All right… but only because I’d like to know more about this farm of yours.”
He unlocked the chain link fence gate and moved it far enough out of the way for the sleigh to move inside it. Once they were inside, he closed and locked it up again.
“Issues?” asked Zachary.
“Had some would-be looters try to jump the fence. And, no, they weren’t interested in sharing,” he answered. “They were more interested in destroying what I had and they did some damage too before I managed to run them off, not before one of them managed to put a hole in one of the tires to the pole driver. Given that the world has come to an end, I’m guessing we’re going to have difficulty replacing that.”
“Understandable,” he agreed. “I’m Derek, that’s Shiloh, Marissa and Helen.”
“I’m Zack, and this is Emilie, Aaron and Nora, and their two kids Kaylie and Liam,” said Zachary.
“George,” answered the contractor. He then drew his attention to the two kids, looked at them meaningfully and said, “Kids. You would have to have kids.”
He spoke the last loudly and it carried into the wind. Derek felt a sudden sinking feeling in his gut as he realized, glancing at the now locked gate, that this had been a carefully laid and executed trap for people just like them. He and Zachary looked at each other. They shared the same disbelieving gaze as neither of them had even suspected that George was anyone but who he claimed to be.
As he suspected, on the roof was now at least five armed people with their rifles trained on their sleigh. He was glad that he had not warned them of the defences Sheridan had on their farm—only that it was there and offering shelter.
“I’d think it best if you got down off that horse, Derek,” said George evenly. “You’ve got kids and I don’t want to have to hurt them, but that sleigh is worth a lot.”
“It’s worth more to Sheridan!”
exclaimed one of the kids, Kaylie by the sound of it. “She’s a doctor!”
“There’s a doctor up the road?” came one of the voices from the roof. “Take all you want from anyone else, but she’d be useful.”
“Shut up!” yelled George, and he turned back to Derek. “Derek, get down off that horse.”
By this time, Marissa and Helen had their rifles up and trained on the roof. Zachary had his police issue shotgun trained on George. Emilie already fired one shot off as a warning into the air before training her gun on the person sneaking up behind her using the heavy equipment. Derek’s rifle was aiming at George, and a quick glance showed that the children very quickly ducked behind and under the sleigh.
Only one person had not responded and that was the children’s mother, Nora.
Derek suspected she was already dead. She had likely died on the road from the cold. His priority, however, was making sure the rest of them made it back alive, without the needs of testing Sheridan’s clinic. “I think you’ll find that we’ll be leaving,” said Derek. “I would have invited you back, but I can clearly see where you want this to go.”
“You think we’re letting you leave?” asked George, laughing. “Let me tell you how this is going to go, even if I open that gate for you… You’ll have to sleep with one eye open and push your horses all the way back through the dark because me and my men will be on your tails the entire time. We take what you have now or we take it later.”
“Third option,” came Shiloh's voice. “If you’re actually the original owner of this property then you should be familiar with Terrence Scapael. These are his horses… and Sheridan is his wife. We’re here on their say so.”
That gave George pause. Derek was sure he knew that the threat of crossing Terrence without the law to stop him from going a bit old fashioned on everyone would have been a real threat. Terrence had always to be seemed an all right fellow before the law ceased to exist. But there was always something just brewing under that surface that screamed like a wild animal just barely kept under control. George had no way to know Terrence was dead.
Derek hoped the idea of Terrence would be enough.
While George was contemplating his options, Derek was also running through possible outcomes. If, by some miracle, he allowed them to leave, George was right. They would chase Derek and his people all the way back to the farm and those defences would be tested almost immediately. The only advantage they had was the horses and the wall that they were a good distance outside of. If they relinquished what they had they would have to still get back to the farm somehow and more of them would likely die on the trip there.
“And that third outcome is?” asked George.
“You can try to take what we have. If you somehow succeed on taking it and at least one of us makes it back to Sheridan’s farm—and I can guarantee you someone will—Terrence will raise a mounted fighting force and come at you with everything he has,” Shiloh answered. “Just remember—Sheridan and Terrence are history fanatics and historical reenactors. You should see some of the medieval gear they have… Weapons of war from a time before cars or guns, and they have those as well although for hunting… You sure you want that on your doorstep in less than a week?”
“We could leave!” answered someone from the roof.
“And he’d only track us down until he got everything back,” yelled George back up at him, before turning back to their group. “Quite the little stand-off we have here. I take it that wasn’t the third option.”
“Nope, that was a statement of reality. The third option comes from you standing down, letting us leave with what we have tomorrow morning and we make like this never happened,” said Shiloh. “Because if you know Terrence and I think you do know him… you let this go down and even Sheridan won’t stay her hand to stop him.”
“You’re not going to let them?” yelled the same voice from up top.
“Shut up!” yelled George. “You think you can do better?”
“Yeah, I think I do!”
Moments later the rest of his reply came with the sharp echo of a gunshot. George looked surprised for a second at his own blood as it steamed and bounced off the frozen snow before he crumpled in a heap.
The rest happened quickly, and Derek jumped from the horse. He rolled behind one of the cherry picker trucks while his horse fell heavily, twitching and thrashing as the bullets tore through its flanks. Damn, he swore. The horses were too valuable to lose. Even one would be a terrible blow to their resources.
Zachary was just as pinned down, but at least they could see each other to signal what to do next, except Zachary was taking aim at Derek. For a moment, Derek could only stare in shock and betrayal and prepared himself to die. It was out of his hands.
The gun shot he expected to feel did not come, even if he heard it. A dull thud of a body hitting the snow beside him made him turn and look. He laughed in nervous relief when he realized that he was not Zachary’s target as Zachary shot another man trying to shoot him. Derek gave Zachary the thumbs up in thanks and recognition at his shooting ability and for saving his life and ducked out just enough to see past the massive wheels of the large truck he was hiding behind.
The children were hiding under the sleigh, and Shiloh was using the back of the seat for cover. Derek was behind the sleigh, as was Marissa. Helen was face down in the snow, dark red blood pooling out from under her, her hair splayed out around her.
Emilie was… he looked around and saw her making her way to the side of the building, apparently part commando in addition to being a paramedic. One of the men on the roof made the mistake of looking over the edge for her and she shot him. She just barely moved out the way as he fell off the building and landed where she had been only moments ago.
With that man’s death, the gunshots from the building stopped abruptly and a voice, from behind another piece of equipment on Zachary's side, said, “I give up!”
They whirled on the young man as he came out with his arms above and behind his head. He knelt in the snow and Zachary checked him over. “He’s unarmed.”
“Was he always, though?” asked Derek.
Zachary shook his head, unsure. Shiloh jumped down from the sleigh and ran over to Helen, rolling her over. With a look of sadness, she looked up at Derek and he could plainly see that Helen had died immediately. Either a crack shot had taken her out or someone had been lucky with their shooting. Either way, she wouldn’t have felt it hit her. “She likely didn’t even get a chance to duck for cover,” said Shiloh. “She was right beside me!”
“Shiloh, check the horses.” suggested Derek, pushing into a task to take her mind off it. “I know at least one is dead.”
“Okay, who are you and how many others of you are there?” asked Zachary as he pulled the young man to his feet and got a closer look at him. He sucked in a breath. “And how old are you? Sixteen, seventeen?”
“Fifteen, sir,” he answered. “My name is Patrice. The one she—” he pointed at Emilie. “—Shot was my Dad.”
“That bother you, son?” asked Derek.
Patrice shook his head. “I mean, it should but it doesn’t. When everything—stopped—went dark… whatever… he simply snapped. He wasn’t my Dad anymore. Even George went different. It’s like they had this notion that they could make this little empire out of the shop and make people do what they wanted them to do to support them. But what could I do? He was my Dad and George was his best friend.”
Derek patted him on the shoulder. “You can help us now—if you want to,” he suggested gently. “A good solid hand would be valuable. If you don’t want to stay you can provision yourself and leave after spring melt to make your own way in the world.”
He nodded and looked back up at Zachary and Derek. “I think I’d like that, sir, if you’ll have me.”
Shiloh came up beside Derek as he leaned against the back of the sleigh, staring out of the fenced gate, and put a key into his hand. He looked up at her and at the key in his han
d. “It’s labelled as the gate key,” she explained. “It was on the bastard’s key chain. I figured you should get this.”
He lifted a brow in surprise. “After your show of force back there? I’d think you deserve it.”
“All I did was cause a fire fight.”
“No, you split the fire fight into two groups fighting over us instead of one cohesive group pinning us down,” he answered and tapped his head. “You played a head game with their leader. Caused them to question him, which in turn split them into two factions... not to mention cut the head off the snake before it could bite us. It could have gone down a whole lot worse than it did. You did well.”
She thought about it and then smiled. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”
He returned her nod, smiling. He then looked at the sky, her eyes following his.
“The stars are brighter now,” she said. “Normally they aren’t this clear.”
“No light pollution anymore to stop us from being able to see them,” he answered. “A true sign of just how desolate things are. Normally, even this far out of the city, the lights from the city—and down south—are enough to make them seem dimmer. No light pollution means no lights on anywhere. We’re right back to the ‘days of old’.”
“You think that maybe this is only temporary?” she asked.
“I hope it is,” he answered. “But I don’t think it is.”
She nodded a bit sadly. “There’s a lot of people out there that we were close to that if this this thing really means that civilization is gone we’re likely never going to see again. Family that was on the other side of Sudbury but for all intents and purposes could be on the other side of the country now.”
He nodded his agreement and then sighed. “You didn’t come out here to talk to me about stars, did you?”
She shook her head. “Casualty list,” she answered.
After Oil Page 15
