“Yeah, but her hair is prettier,” Nathan said. “Brad, you can help here but stay near Jessie and his family. They are close to the brothers and several other farms. People surviving in numbers are the only ones that are going to make it. Numbers to grow food and numbers to fight to protect it,” he told them, putting his hand on each one’s shoulder. “It’s going to be bad but you have something to offer them with your services. You can do stuff to barter for things, and they can protect you. It’s going to be a lot of hard work but each of you can do it,” he confided.
“I’m going to need a few things,” Brad told him.
“I’m working on that and should be finished tonight,” Nathan told him. “Brad, no matter what happens, don’t let anyone take your weapon away. If they want it, say it’s lost or stolen, and don’t go anywhere they will search you to take it. You will be dead in days without it. Not saying it will save you, but it gives you the option of staying alive,” he stated.
“Don’t worry, I’ll never be unarmed again,” Brad promised. “Again, thanks to you,” he said.
“Glad I could help,” Nathan said. “Finish up here, then I need you two to do something for me.”
“Okay,” Brad said, and he and Abigail went back to separating supplies.
“Don’t forget to spend your three hundred dollars,” Nathan said, walking away.
“No, and here’s your change,” Brad said, reaching in his pocket and pulling out a wad of cash.
“Keep it,” Nathan said, not even turning around. He saw a truck pull in the parking lot and told Andy and Billy to get the bad boys as he went to grab their packs. When he came back out, they were toting them like suitcases again and both of the bad guys were crying. They carried them outside as a deputy lowered the tailgate, but the brothers just lifted them above their heads and threw them in the back. Nathan carried the packs out and the deputy put them in the front.
“I need my cuffs back,” Nathan said. The deputy reached inside and pulled out zip cuffs and handed them to Nathan.
“I’d have to be nice about it,” the deputy said.
“Not really. Watch,” Nathan said. “Fred, can you and your brothers get my cuffs and put these on instead? And don’t let them escape. They’ve been talking about it,” Nathan said, handing him the keys.
Fred laughed. “They can’t outrun us,” he said as all three jumped in the back of the truck. Nathan noticed the truck got real low to the ground. With a lot of fists, knees and stomps they put the zip cuffs on. They jumped out and Fred handed Nathan his cuffs back. “Told ya they wouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
“My bad,” Nathan said as the three grinned at him. “They’re cop killers,” Nathan told the deputy.
“Yes, it’s confirmed. We sent out a team an hour ago after the sergeant called it in,” the deputy told him. “I’m going to run over several curbs,” he said, climbing into the truck. Nathan laughed as the deputy fired the truck up and pulled out. True to his word, the deputy drove through the ditch, almost bouncing the two out of the back of the truck. Turning around, Nathan saw Mark come out with Renee at his side, carrying his old pistol.
“Nathan, it’s time for me to get back at it,” he said.
“When’s the last time you slept?” Nathan asked.
Mark closed his eyes, thinking. “I don’t know,” he answered.
“We will have someone awake here at all times, so stop and catch a few winks,” Nathan told him.
“Nah, I’m telling the sheriff I’m taking a few hours off tomorrow to move our stuff out to Renee’s parents’ house. I have to run out there and make sure that it’s okay first,” he said.
Fred moved over to him. “You can stay at our place, Mark. Paw thinks he can have the logging truck running this week and we can hook up to your new trailer and pull it out there,” he told him.
“Now that is a thought,” Mark said.
“Mark, does your department have some gear for the brothers?” Nathan asked.
“Everything but guns, the legislature wouldn’t approve the expense,” he told him.
“Even vests that big?” Nathan asked.
Mark laughed. “Hell, they had to order five for me until they got one that could fit,” he said. “They can have those.”
“You be careful out there, and if you need us, send someone for us. We’ll come,” Nathan assured him.
“You’ve done more than enough,” Mark said, kissing Renee and climbing in his Cherokee. Nathan fought the urge to laugh. Seeing Mark in it reminded him of a clown driving a tiny car.
As Mark pulled out, Nathan headed inside. “Men, you will wear those vests at all times while on duty. Unless you agree to that, I’m not going along with this. Am I clear?” he said.
“Don’t worry, we will,” Fred assured him and the others agreed.
Nathan took off his cuff holder and put both cuffs in it, then pulled the cuffs off the duty belt. He gave each brother a holster and two cuffs and keys. They smiled at him and went to spend their money. They each spent it all on ammunition and extra magazines.
Nathan walked over to the kids and pulled twenty dollars out of their ears and told them to go spend it. Then he went into the office and grabbed his tote bag and pulled out his laptop. Saying a prayer, he turned it on and wanted to jump as he saw it start up. “This one bag was worth its weight in gold,” he said as Renee came in.
“You have a computer?” she yelled.
“Yeah, I bought this bag at the store I bought the gun from,” he said, holding up his tote bag. “The guy told me it would shield from an EMP and he was right.”
“It looks like a super-sized diaper bag,” she said, looking at it.
“It’s a tote bag or large messenger bag,” Nathan hissed at her.
She raised her hands. “Sorry,” she said. “What are you doing?”
“Going to give you information to help you solve this,” he said, reaching down to his backpack and pulling out what looked like a book with a zipper. He opened it up and showed her twenty zip drives on each page for a total of five pages.
“I don’t think we have enough zip drives,” she said.
“You don’t need all of it, but it would be nice,” Nathan admitted. “You only need the first page. It contains information on how to build stuff. Like how to generate electricity, make fuel, a radio, suppressors, and a million other things.”
“Cool,” she said. “What’s the other pages?” she asked.
“How to fight a battle, train snipers, survive in any climate, preserve food, and a lot more,” he said, then flipped to the next one. “This page is survival stories and the last is my page. I have my information scanned in like my insurance, nursing license, social security card, music, and pictures of friends and stuff like that,” told her.
“Are we on that page?” she asked, smiling.
He laughed and pulled out his camera. “You will be in a minute,” he told her as he picked up his computer, carrying it to the diner. Renee took off running into the store. Nathan sat the computer on a table and called Brad over. He explained that he wanted Brad to transfer the zip drives on the first page to the ones the girls had given him. Brad sat down and got started.
Nathan went back to the office and grabbed the topographic map books, some scissors and tape. In the store he found a box of laminating plastic and carried it to the diner where he laid it on a table. He called Abigail over and showed her the pages he wanted and how he wanted them laid out. Abigail smiled and sat down to work. Nathan went back to the store and headed for the electronic aisle where he found several brands of power inverters. As always, only the expensive ones had the Mylar wrapping. He grabbed two and headed to the shop.
On one of his snoopings he’d found a fluid transfer pump. The ones he had at home were all hand pumps, but this one plugged into a wall. He had hopes for it since it was stored in a metal cabinet. He grabbed a car battery and put it on a roll-around cart, then moved it over to the work bench. He wired the inverter
to the battery terminals and crossed his fingers before turning the switch on. The light came on along with the fan, and he fought the urge to jump up and down as he turned the switch off.
Next he rolled the pump across the floor to the bench and plugged it up. Turning on the inverter, he crossed his fingers as he pushed the button. This time he did dance when the pump came on. He unhooked the pump and put it back in the cabinet, then rolled the battery with the inverter to the diner and plugged in his laptop.
Looking down beside Brad, he saw a stack of flash drives still in packages. “Where did those come from?” he asked.
“Connie grabbed them from the electronic closet behind the counter,” Brad told him.
“Damn, I have to see what’s in in there,” Nathan said, looking up to see Connie and Renee taking pictures of him. “Guys, I hope that is not what you spent your money on,” he said.
“No, I’m telling Mitch we want these for our bonus,” Connie told him. “You know you got almost all the camera batteries,” she told him.
“All that I saw,” he told her.
“That’s alright. We found some more and some rechargeable ones,” she said, looking at the battery with the inverter. “Oh my,” Connie said, running back to the store. She came back with an inverter and a dash solar charger.
Nathan laughed and looked outside to see it was getting dark. Then he noticed several people standing in front of the pharmacy. “Shit,” he said and ran to the office where he grabbed his M-4, chambered a round, and took off running. “Lock this place down,” he shouted, opening the front door and running out. He was halfway to the road when one of the people threw a chunk of concrete at the window on the pharmacy door, shattering it.
As the first one moved to the door, Nathan yelled, “Dyin’ time is here, let me give you some tickets!” The group turned and saw a man with ‘Sheriff’ across his chest running at them, aiming a machine gun at them, and three giants loping along behind him.
“Run!” one screamed and they all took off running toward the Interstate.
Nathan kept his rifle aimed at them until they were over two hundred yards away. “Damn, scared away a dozen,” Nathan said, feeling proud.
“Yep, and they can run, can’t they,” Fred said behind him.
Nathan turned to see the brothers aiming rifles at the group. All three were now dressed like ‘Riggs’. “No wonder they ran so hard, probably thought you guys were going to cook and eat them,” Nathan said, feeling disappointed now.
“We had to back you up,” Billy told him.
“I know, and thank you, Billy,” Nathan said, aiming at the pharmacy. “Help me clear the building,” he said.
“Nathan, nobody went in,” Andy said.
“We don’t know that. Rule one, always expect the unexpected,” Nathan said, moving to the door with the busted-out window. Reaching in, he opened the lock and eased inside and then went over how to clear a building. The brothers took to it like ducks to water, performing beautifully. When it was clear, he looked at them.
“You don’t see what I’m fixing to do,” he said, grabbing some bags. He started moving through the aisles, grabbing medical equipment and supplies, and filling over a dozen bags. Then he moved over and filled bags with medical and pharmacy books. Laying the bags by the front door, he went back to the counter and started filling bags with medications. When he ran out of the cloth shopping bags he used the plastic ones.
Looking back at the front door, he saw the mountain of shit and figured he had enough for Brad to start a practice. Fred walked over to him, smiling. “That’s a lot of stuff,” he said.
“That’s right, and you guys are going to need it,” Nathan said, feeling bad but hoping they understood.
“There’s a trailer out back,” Fred told Nathan.
“I was just back there and didn’t see a trailer,” he said.
“It’s back in the corner of the lot,” Billy called from the back door.
Nathan walked to the back door to see Billy standing there. He was fixing to ask where Andy was till he saw him walking toward them from the field. “What’s he doing out there?” Nathan asked.
“Checking it out. I was covering him,” Billy said.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about. Thinking about the unexpected,” Nathan said, grabbing his shoulder and shaking it, proud of him. Andy walked up, grinning. “What’s in it?” Nathan asked, gesturing toward the trailer.
“Camping gear for a Boy Scout troop,” Andy said.
“You’re kidding,” Nathan said with a flat face.
“Naw, I opened it up to make sure,” he said.
“Someone go get Jessie. We need that trailer,” Nathan said, turning around to take the bags in his hands to the pile.
Twenty minutes later they were pulling the trailer into the shop along with the medical supplies. Shutting the door, Nathan led everyone to the diner to have a talk over supper.
“Everyone. I want to set something straight. I stopped those thugs taking the stuff because you guys needed it. Is what I did stealing? Yes it is. But I know you will use it for the greater good. I didn’t know that about them. You will have to walk a fine line. If you come upon something that will help you and no one is around to claim it, take it. Now if you walk into an active camp or a house you know is occupied, that doesn’t apply, of course. If you come across a dead body and it has something you need, take it. They no longer need it,” he told them.
Everyone was staring at him in the low light. “With the best estimates, seventy percent of the human species is fixing to die. That’s over two hundred million just here in America, and remember that’s best case scenario. I’m putting it higher. Each of you are going to have to learn to survive and count on each other, and more than likely each of you will have to kill just to live. Accept it and move on unless you just want to die,” he told them. “Now let me talk to you in the little time we have left together,” Nathan said, and started telling them how to survive.
Chapter 9
Day 3
Nathan stretched out his arms, yawning, and noticed light coming in. He looked down at his watch and saw it was after six. He sat up suddenly and started putting his boots on. They had taken some cots out of the trailer and put them in the casino for everyone to sleep on. Looking around, he could see the kids but no one else.
He walked out to the diner to see everyone writing and Brad still at the laptop downloading flash drives. Walking over to the brothers, he stopped and looked down at them.
“I was supposed to have guard duty after you, Andy,” Nathan said looking at him.
Andy started to blush. “Connie sat with me on guard duty and I took your shift too,” he said.
Nathan smiled. “Well thank you,” he said, turning away as Fred and Billy elbowed Andy. Nathan walked over to Brad. “How many have you done?” he asked.
“I’m downloading your books now,” Brad said, looking up with a tired face.
“You better get another battery ready then,” Nathan told him.
“Already changed it out,” Brad said, stretching his arms over his head as Lenore brought him a cup of coffee.
Nathan took a sip of coffee. “What’s everyone writing?” he asked.
“Monica took notes last night and they’re copying them,” Brad said, taking out a flash drive and putting in another.
Nathan saw Abigail writing and looked at Brad. “Did she finish my maps?” he asked.
“Of course, there in the office,” he said.
Nathan sipped his coffee while heading to the office, where he found his maps on the desk. He had Abigail cut out the pages of the route he was taking. Instead of him taking ten books with hundreds of pages, he was only taking sixty or so, all laminated and joined together. He had the topo/satellite program on his laptop and tablet but he didn’t want to use it. There would be too many people around here for him to be using electronics when he left.
He studied the maps as Lenore came in and handed him the
uniforms she’d washed. “Here you go,” she said, smiling.
“Thank you,” he replied. He set one to the side and put the knee and elbow pads back in, then put the others in a compression bag and rolled the air out. Then he laid it on his pack. He saw everyone’s boxes were now stuffed full, and he knew everyone had more boxes in Jessie’s truck and trailer. He had talked to them till midnight, then they had all grabbed cans of spray paint and painted the trailer. Nathan never even remembered laying his head down.
Ares came in and looked up at him, whining. “Hey, I’ve been here, you could’ve found me,” Nathan told him, walking out of the office to the front door and opening it for his dog. Ares shot out, heading to the ditch. Nathan chuckled and watched him, then heard a lot of gunfire to the north, close to the Interstate and town. “I need to hit the road before I get tied up in a freaking war,” Nathan said, looking to the north.
Taking a sip of coffee, he heard something he wasn’t expecting to hear again for a long time: helicopters. He stepped out from under the awning and looked up, searching for them. Then he saw them to the southeast; there were twenty-four of them flying in a line. He saw they were the big ones with two blades. Everyone saw Nathan look up in the sky and came running out and saw the choppers. Several of them started cheering.
Renee looked at Nathan. “Where do you think they’re going?” she asked him.
“My guess is they’re taking troops to Atlanta to fight a war the police are losing,” he told her.
The smile fell off her face. “They might be taking supplies,” Renee said hopefully.
“Land would be the best route for supplies, or fixed wing. They might be but I’m thinking troops,” Nathan said, draining his cup.
Andy walked over to him. “With the military in the city, that means the bad guys will leave it and move out here,” he said, and the others just stared at him.
“That’s what I think,” Nathan confirmed, glad they were thinking about their surroundings.
“How long till we start seeing them here?” Abigail asked.
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