“Holy shit,” Nathan said, stepping back. “What else is back here?”
“The next cabinet is electronics and the next one is tobacco,” she told him, pulling out three more magazines for her present. Then she grabbed two for Renee’s pistol. Tearing the drawer apart, she found three dual magazine belt clips and took them out.
Leaving her digging through the drawer, Nathan continued filling boxes and stacked them along the wall of the office. Then he headed to the storeroom just to see what was in there. Walking the aisles, he found it was mostly canned and dry food goods and a lot of it. The storeroom was about fifteen hundred square feet and full. Noticing a case of hiking food bars, he pulled it down. He didn’t remember seeing these in the store. Opening one of the boxes and taking out a bar he grinned. These will come in handy. Continuing his exploration, he found two cases of emergency meal replacement bars. Nathan was not fond of them as they tasted like the protein bars he ate after lifting weights, but it was food in small containers. Grabbing the three cases, he moved them out and divided up the stuff among the boxes he’d put together and his stuff. When he was finished, he looked at his pile and knew there was no way he was carrying that much shit. Doing a rough calculation, he had now over a hundred and sixty pounds. The most he’d ever carried was a hundred and ten, and he’d barely managed fifteen miles the first few days.
“Nathan, come and eat!” Lenore shouted.
I’ll decide what I’ll take when it’s time to leave, he thought as he walked to the diner. He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table, joining everyone else. Lenore set out plates full of food.
“Oh yeah, now you’re talking,” Nathan said, looking at the fried eggs, biscuits, and bacon with pancakes on the side. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he looked around as everyone ate.
“How long are you guys going to stay here?” he asked
Connie looked down the table at him. “The grandkid that stopped by yesterday said Mitch, the owner, would be here as soon as he could to empty the store. We were to just keep going on till he gets here,” she told him.
“Seems like an asshole to me,” Nathan said.
“Nah, Mitch is okay, it’s his son Steven that’s the asshole. He runs the stores but his dad owns them,” Connie said.
“Okay, I’ll stay till he shows up,” Nathan said, and everyone thanked him. Then they heard lawn mowers outside coming down the road.
“That’s Fred. What is he doing here this early?” Allie asked.
“That is more than one mower,” Nathan said, standing up and heading to the front window, followed by the rest of the group. Coming down the road was a sight Nathan would remember for a long time. Fred was on his lawn mower, pulling a small trailer. He was still in his overalls, with a straw cowboy hat and a rifle slung across his back. A second man, the same size as Fred and dressed the same, was riding another mower. Between them was another man. He was dressed identically and was just as massive as the other two, but he had a beard that was down to his chest and was riding a tiny moped. When Allie saw them she took off running.
Nathan pulled out his camera and started taking pictures because nobody would ever believe him without proof. Here were three human giants riding down the road. He had about a dozen pictures as the group pulled up in the lot. Putting his camera up, Nathan followed with everyone else.
When they reached the three men, Fred had Allie wrapped up in a bear hug and was holding her off the ground. Way off the ground. Allie wasn’t a small woman, but next to Fred, she seemed damned near diminutive. The man on the moped got off and Nathan could swear he heard the moped sigh with relief as the giant laid it on the ground. Then the moped giant joined the other giant with Fred as they both walked over and hugged Allie.
When Fred released her, the other two picked her up. When they were done greeting her, Allie turned around to the group.
“Everyone, y’all know Fred, but these here are his brothers. This is Billy,” she said, gesturing to the one with the beard, “and the other one is Andy.”
“You’re going home Allie? You not goin’ to stay?” Monica asked.
Allie shook her head. “No they’s just checkin’ on me. Billy’s wife works at the school cafeteria and was helping at the center last night. Seems some people came runnin’ in tellin’ the folks someone here was shot. They described all of us so the sheriff didn’t send nobody. They just couldn’t figure out who Nathan was, but since he had a badge on the sheriff figured we was fine,” she told them, then turned around and hugged Fred. “He thought I was havin’ troubles and him and his brothers was goin’ to do some fixin’,” she said proudly.
“What happened, Allie?” Fred asked, and she told him the story. Fred took off his hat and handed his rifle to Billy, then walked around her, heading to Nathan.
Nathan could swear he felt the earth shake with each step Fred took. Seeing Fred walk toward him like that, Nathan wasn’t sure if he should pull his gun, and if he did, who he should use it on, Fred or himself. Looking at Fred’s face as he came closer, Nathan had to keep tilting his head back to look up at him. When Fred reached Nathan, he wrapped his arms around Nathan and picked him up, hugging him.
“Nathan, you saved my Allie. I’m indebted to ya,” he said, putting Nathan down.
Feeling kind of small and weak, which he didn’t like, Nathan smiled up at Fred. “Fred, it was my pleasure,” he told him.
“Me and the brothers are goin’ to be stayin’ today in case trouble starts,” Fred told Nathan.
“Shit, sounds good to me,” Nathan said. Be damned if he was telling ‘em no.
Lenore came out and hugged the three. “Boys, go put those up and come get some food,” she said, pointing at the mowers and moped.
Billy put his hands in his pockets. “Ms. Lenore, we don’t be havin’ money fo’ food stuffs,” he told her.
Lenore spun around. “Billy, if I tell you to get in there and eat a bite, you better be doin’ it. You want me to tell your Ma?” she threatened.
“No ma-am,” Billy said meekly, moving to the moped.
“That’s good, boys. Now we’ll have a busy day, so eat up,” she said, heading inside.
Nathan watched as the two pushed—not drove, pushed—the lawnmowers with one arm. Billy just picked up the moped under one arm and followed the others to the back, with Allie leading them. Mesmerized, Nathan just watched, since the two mowers had trailers and neither man showed much effort. Jessie came over to stand beside him.
“Those are some good boys there,” he said as the three disappeared around the corner.
“Damn, they’re big,” was all Nathan could say.
Jessie started laughing. “You think they’re big, wait till you see Renee’s husband, Mark,” he said, still laughing.
“You know them well?” Nathan asked, still looking at the corner they’d gone around.
“Oh yeah, they live right down the road from us. They have a rather large family and are dirt poor. The brothers work at the chicken farm that’s called The Fowler Plant. They work hard and the family has a large plot of land. They don’t consider themselves poor, though. They have all they need,” Jessie told him.
“Shouldn’t they be guarding their farm then?” Nathan asked.
“There’s two more brothers and two sisters and their husbands not counting Ma and Paw. Then you have the kids, some as old as sixteen. But even the young’uns can shoot in that family. Trust me, anyone who goes out there for trouble will get more than they can handle,” Jessie assured him.
“I can imagine,” Nathan said, finally turning to look at him. “He really loves his Allie,” he said.
“You have no idea,” Jessie told him. “Allie was the high school prom queen and is from a pretty well-off family here. Fred always wanted to date her but was intimidated by her standing at school and her family. He never really talked to her or asked her out. Allie took care of that in their senior year. They’ve been married fourteen years and have three boys and a girl. We v
isit them a lot,” Jessie said.
“Then you’ll be fine,” Nathan said.
“Of course we’ll be fine. My boys aren’t much smaller than them, and my daughters can almost beat down their brothers,” Jessie told him proudly.
Nathan laughed at that as he headed back inside with Jessie. “Thank you for taking in Connie,” he told him, and Jessie grabbed his arm.
“That is a good woman and for nothing else I wish you would stay for her,” Jessie told him.
Nathan looked at him and sighed. “I wish I could, but I have a home and friends that are counting on me. I hope you understand,” he told him.
“Of course I understand. I’m just sayin’. You’re a good man, Nathan, it’s been nothin’ but an honor to know ya,” Jessie said.
“Damn, thank you.” Nathan smiled at him.
“Come on, let’s eat before it gets much colder,” Jessie said, opening the door, and Nathan headed back to the table.
Chapter 6
Nathan sat down and started shoveling food down as Lenore set a plate on the floor for Ares. Nodding his head at Ares, Nathan watched as Ares started wolfing down the food. He looked up as the brothers sat down and Lenore and Jessie set plates down for them. Nathan thought he ate fast till he saw the three brothers pile in. They were human vacuum cleaners.
He cleared his throat. “Fred, I haven’t had a chance yet to siphon some gas out of my truck for you.”
“That’s okay, we can do it. We brought cans, and Paw gave us some money to give ya,” Fred said, shoving a whole biscuit in his mouth.
Nathan slapped the table. “No sir, I will not take money for it. It’s a gift.”
“Paw said we needed to give ya somethin’ for it since it’s goin’ to be scarce,” Fred told him.
“Fred, there are eighty gallons in my truck that are goin’ to ruin. I want it to go to some use,” Nathan said. “I’m not taking money for it, understand? Besides, you’re helping me guard everyone here,” he added.
“Paw will get right mad,” Fred said, and the brothers nodded in agreement.
Jessie leaned over the table, putting down another plate of bacon down. “Boys, I’ll tell ‘im, he can’t say nothing to me,” he said, and that seemed to satisfy them.
“Thank you Nathan,” Fred said.
“No, thank you, Fred, for not letting it go to waste,” Nathan told him.
The three brothers grinned at him and he had to admit he really liked them. “Connie, since we have more help in the guarding department, and you, Jessie, and Renee are now armed, I want to limit how many people are inside. How many you figure for the diner and the store?” Nathan asked.
She thought for a minute. “The diner can seat a hundred, but let’s keep it at fifty, and the same for the store,” she decided.
Nodding his head in agreement with her, Nathan cleared his throat. “Sounds good to me. Fred, you and your brothers rotate around the store. One of you on the inside of the diner door, one at the front door of the store, and the other walking around making sure everyone plays nice. I’ll be walking around and giving you guys breaks,” he said.
“You want us to count out fifty people to let in, then count out fifty more?” Billy asked in horror.
Nathan just looked at the brothers, not knowing what to say. Connie spoke up. “We will have fifty tickets in a box. When people come in, they have to take one, and when they leave, have them put it back. That way if you see tickets in the box you can let one person take it and come in. When they leave they put it back in the box and another person can come in,” she said.
The three brothers thought about that and Fred grinned in relief. “That sounds better,” he said.
Wiping his plate down with a biscuit, Nathan popped it in his mouth and stood up. “Come on guys, let’s get the gas before the crowd gets here.”
The brothers got up and followed Nathan into the store, but not before each one grabbed a biscuit and more bacon. Nathan walked over to the automotive aisle and grabbed three, five-gallon gasoline cans. “Connie, put three gas cans on my tab!” he yelled.
“Bite me!” she yelled back.
Nathan looked at Fred. “You’re going to let her talk to me like that?” he asked.
Fred nodded his head. “Allie likes Connie and is her friend, so I’m not going to make her mad,” he told him.
“Smart man,” Nathan said, patting his shoulder. “We just need to find a water hose now.”
“We brought one,” Fred said. “It’s in my trailer,” he added.
“I’ll get it and the cans,” Billy offered, walking through the store and heading to the shop.
Nathan led the other two outside to his truck, with Ares bouncing around and wanting to play.
“That is a nice ride,” Fred said, walking up to the truck.
“It was. It’s only a year old with all the bells and whistles,” Nathan agreed. “Now if you’re around here in the next few months, I want you to get what’s left,” Nathan told him.
Fred looked at the three cans at Nathan’s feet and closed his eyes. Nathan was fixing to ask if he was alright when Fred spoke. “We can get it all now if that’s okay with you,” he said.
“You said you only brought two fuel cans,” Nathan said.
“We did, but we also brought a drum with us,” Fred told him. Before Nathan could question him further, he saw Billy walking around the back of the building. In his right hand were two, five-gallon cans and a green water hose. Under his left arm was a fifty-five gallon drum, carried as casually as a stack of schoolbooks. Left speechless, Nathan watched as Billy walked over and set down the stuff.
Then, as if on command, the three brothers reached into their pockets. They each pulled out a pack of chewing tobacco and pulled out a cud, shoving it in their cheeks. Then together they put it up and turned to Nathan.
“Oh I’m sorry, Nathan,” Fred said, and pulled his tobacco back out. “Want a chew?” he asked.
Nathan shook his head in spellbound wonder. “No, I dip. Chewing gives me indigestion,” he said. In reality, he’d quit dipping four years before and had only tried chewing once. He’d thrown up for an hour and had a headache for a day after that one chew.
“I tried the dippin’ but went through the cans too fast,” Billy said, grabbing the hose.
Nathan opened the tank and grabbed the water hose from Billy. Then he started taking deep breaths, psyching himself up. “I hate this shit,” he said.
“Why?” Fred asked.
Nathan looked up at him. “Because I hate drinking a mouthful of gasoline,” he explained.
“Gas tastes nasty. Why would you want to drink it?” Fred asked.
“You have to siphon it out,” Nathan answered, running the hose down the tank.
Fred grabbed the hose and pushed Nathan back. “I know it’s your truck but let us do this. I don’t want to see you drinkin’ gas helpin’ us out,” he told him.
“You’ll have to drink it too,” Nathan warned him.
“You must siphon gas different out west,” Fred told him as he blew in the hose and sucked on the end. Then he quickly pulled it out of his mouth and held the end over a can just as the fuel came out. “You don’t have to be drinkin’ it,” he told Nathan.
“That was cool,” Nathan said admiringly. “I’ve been siphoning gas since I was a kid and every time got a mouth full,” he admitted.
Billy moved over with another can, taking the full one and pouring its contents into the drum. “You need to keep your hand where it goes in the fuel tank, and when you feel the gas hit it, take it out of your mouth,” he said.
“Damn, that’s smart,” Nathan admitted, feeling very stupid.
They emptied the tanks and tightened the lid on the drum. Nathan bent down to pick up the cans but Fred stopped him.
“We can get this. You have on good clothes and new boots,” he said.
Nathan looked down at his tan tactical pants tucked into his new boots and his black t-shirt with ‘Sheriff’ ac
ross the front in big white letters. “Guys, these aren’t good clothes and I’m breaking the boots in,” he told them.
“That’s nice stuff you’re wearin’ and you have all that stuff around your waist,” Billy said, agreeing with his brother as he tilted the full barrel on its side and laid it down. What shocked Nathan was that he did it without any effort.
“Nathan, you givin’ us this. Please let us do the work,” Fred begged him. Nathan just nodded as Andy walked over to join his brother Billy. Each one bent down and picked up a five-gallon can, and with the other hand they grabbed the half-inch lip on the barrel, Billy at the front and Andy at the back. They lifted it up and carried the drum of fuel off between them.
Gawking at them in disbelief, Nathan followed them with his stare as they calmly carried a drum weighing over four hundred pounds with their fingertips. Fred put the cap on his tank and closed the fuel door, wrapped up his hose, and grabbed the other three cans.
“We’ll meet you inside,” Fred said as he followed his brothers.
Nathan was still standing there after they left his sight. “What the hell do they feed these boys down here?” he asked out loud as Ares came over and sat down beside him. “Did you see that?” he asked Ares. Ares just looked up at him, wondering what he wanted.
Nathan shook his head and walked back to the store. “Anyone insane enough to screw with them deserves what they get,” he told Ares, holding the door open for him. Walking inside, he headed to the cooler and pulled out a pop and took a swig.
“Yeah, I’m going to miss these,” Nathan said, taking another long drink and walking to the counter. He looked at his cheap watch, seeing it was almost eight. “Shouldn’t be much longer,” he said, looking at Connie and Renee. They each had their pistols on their right hips and magazine holders on their left hips. “You guys look intimidating,” he said, motioning to the guns.
“It keeps pulling my shorts down,” Renee told him, pulling up her cut-off blue jean shorts.
Dark Titan Journey Book 1 Page 7
