“I’m going to be sick,” Travis announced and ran away to the back of the car.
“He’ll be all right,” Lexi told Frank. “I know it’s bad because of the smell, but I have to see him.”
She trudged forward, Frank letting her by, knowing this was something she had to do.
When she stopped by the driver’s side window, her chin and lower lip quivered, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Daddy, that you couldn’t tell us in person what you did for us … I was so selfish and so wrong …”
Her head drooped. Her anguish rained down onto the pavement for a solid minute before she looked back up, trying to regain composure. Taking a deep breath, she added, “You saved us, Daddy. We will be safe with Frank. And I will learn from him, and we will protect Travis. I promise you. One day, I will make you proud.”
“I know you already have,” Frank said to her when she walked back to him, fighting back his own tears.
“Okay, I want to bury him now,” she said.
~~~
“Are you nuts?” Frank howled at Lexi.
“That’s what I want, and Travis will ride with me.”
Frank didn’t like it one bit, but one thing he had quickly come to realize about his goddaughter was that when she got a thought in her mind, there was not a damn thing he could do to change it. This was just one more example.
They worked for an hour, trying their best to remove the gore and the smell from the Duster’s interior. He soaked a rag with gasoline to clean and mask the stench, figuring that fumes were better than the reek of death. Finally, he had to kick out the windshield, with his one good leg. This actually proved less tricky than he had thought. After two hours, as the sun was setting, it was ready.
Lexi fired up the Plymouth, glad that it started. She couldn’t help but smile. Only four days ago, they had left this car for good, and yet she had kept the keychain with the rabbit’s foot. She didn’t know why at the time. Now she did.
She looked over at Travis, making sure he was properly strapped in and ready. He was grinning at her, looking hilarious in his goggles. Frank had found them in the truck they had taken from Abdul, along with some other equipment.
When she had asked Travis if he wanted to ride in the back, he quickly shook his head “no.” She couldn’t blame him for not ever wanting to ride there again.
She eased it back into the road as Frank pulled alongside in the truck. When he gave her the thumbs up she yelled out the side window. “See if you can keep up.”
“Are you ready, Travis?”
“Mm-hmm,” he nodded, trying to keep his mouth closed. His sister had already warned him about the prospect of getting bugs caught in his teeth if he smiled while they drove.
“Here we go!” She stomped on the accelerator.
A flood of air hit them both through the giant opening where the windshield used to be.
Travis and Lexi grinned the whole way to their new home, not caring how many bugs got stuck in their teeth.
Chapter 39
Sunbay Cove, Florida
After Lexi insisted this was the right one, Frank worked at picking the gate’s lock and then forcing it open—he promised her that he would make it more secure in the coming days. Finally, they headed down the private road, shrouded in darkness, hoping it would lead to what would become their permanent home.
Neither of them knew what to expect. For this and many other reasons, Frank insisted on leading them through the tangle of tropical overgrowth, with Lexi following right behind him. Frank dragged his rifle onto his lap, then looped the sling around his head, never taking his eyes off the road in front of him. He wasn’t expecting anything, but found it was always best to plan for the worst. Hell, Frank only half-knew that Stanley had a place in Florida, but had no idea where it was located until now. Lexi had memorized its location from the map her father had given her, although she could no longer find it and feared that Abdul’s men possessed it. Yet, even she had no idea what it was, only suspecting and receiving confirmation from Frank that this was probably her father’s secret bug-out home.
No one could call him paranoid now. With society collapsing around them, as evidenced by the death and fires everywhere, little to no police assistance (and none likely to come around anytime soon), and thousands of terrorists planning on the destruction of a country he held so dear, he was not taking any chances. Who knows who may have stumbled onto this property or was waiting for them right now? He clicked the selector from Safe to Semi-Auto.
It was as black as a cave outside. So, Frank’s eyes were practically rotating in their sockets, scanning for anything out the ordinary within the limited area illuminated by his headlights. In the spots where the canopy of trees opened up to reveal the sky, the multitude of stars barely cast so much as a glow.
Lexi’s eyes were pasted on the truck’s taillights, which blinked at her every time he touched his brakes, and that was constant. Each time her heart leapt a beat and she’d touch the revolver snugly resting in her lap. Her mind reflected on what they would find, or whom. This house was a mystery to everyone, except her father. She didn’t think her mother had even known about this place, because it never arose in conversations. She could only recall two possibly related memories where the subject may have come up: the trip they had taken to Florida for their honeymoon, and only a few weeks before she died, they had giggled over a bottle of wine about how they’d like to retire in Florida. Apparently her father had taken that part to heart.
For these reasons, she suspected he had bought it sometime after her mom had died. A small part of her even wondered if he had kept another secret family here; she had always imagined, back when she thought that her father was a bum, that he had another wife and kids and that was why he had abandoned Lexi and Travis. Then there was the genuine possibility that some bad guy was going to jump out of the void at any minute. And their plodding pace didn’t help. She was so nervous she could scream.
Finally, after an intolerably long drive, they could see the form of a house in the murk. Yet, it was impossible to see much of anything past Frank’s giant truck. The driveway they were on ended in a teardrop, allowing them to drive around and pull back out on the same private road. Frank stopped rather abruptly.
Lexi almost ran into him, because her eyes had wandered from his taillights to the house and the drive. She pulled around him and parked so that the house was sideways from them. Frank kept the truck pointed at the front door, so that his lights might help them figure out how to get in.
Lexi turned off her ignition and pulled out the keys—she hoped one of them worked on the door. After quietly latching her driver’s-side door, she gazed up at the heavens both marveling at the sheer number of stars and pleading for some light from above—it was a moonless night, when they didn’t want it to be.
Then they both saw it.
Only a few feet from her Frank commanded, “Shhhhh.” He raised his rifle, getting ready to fire. Lexi already held her revolver, and she pulled the hammer back, pointing it at the house.
“What’s wrong?” Travis asked from behind her, clutching her free hand.
Lexi inched down to him, and used the car as cover.
“There’s a light on in the house.”
~~~
“Automatic lights,” Frank announced to Lexi, after he had done a once-around.
She and Travis had been waiting by the car, covering the door, with instructions to fire her weapon if the front door opened. “It looks empty, like it’s been that way for several months. Why don’t you try your keys?” Frank suggested.
The sense of relief was overwhelming, along with the sense of fatigue. But when the lock clicked open with the second key on the rabbit’s foot chain, they were all filled with excitement. This was their home now.
It had power, and was fully stocked, as Lexi had come to expect of her father—funny how quickly a long-standing opinion of someone could change.
“
The power is solar,” Frank announced after doing a complete inspection. Everything else was off-grid as well, including rainwater collection and filtration. The place had a functioning septic system, which Lexi felt was a blessing. A dock led to an inlet off the Gulf; there was even a boat moored to it.
They settled on bedrooms—with four to pick from, there was ample choice. Frank let Lexi choose first; after all it was her and Travis’s home. She chose her father’s room.
They washed up and made a quick meal out of a couple MREs, pulled from one of the two pallets full of them in a giant supply room. Frank said there was maybe a year’s supply of food there.
Travis couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer and so Lexi tucked him in and kissed him goodnight. He somehow managed to save his father’s Purple Heart and wore the damned thing to bed. The last thing she would do was try and separate him from it, even if there was the prospect of him getting pricked if he rolled over on it. She was filled with joy when he said, “I love you, Lex.” For the first time in her life, that meant something to her.
Frank had asked Lexi to join him on the dock. He had found some beer and had it cooling in the freezer. If she wasn’t too tired, he wanted to talk to her about what they were going to do next. The prospect of thinking about a future was not a burden any longer, and with Frank looking after her and Travis, she would no longer face every day in fear.
She paused in what was now her bedroom with her revolver, unsure whether to take it with her or not. She opted to take it. Although she felt safe because of Frank, she felt safer with the revolver.
Carrying two opened beers, she again marveled at the stars and the amazing smells and sounds coming from the Gulf. A black silhouette that she guessed was Frank was sitting at the edge of the dock, his legs dangling over its edge, just above the water, staring at the sky.
“Fancy a beer?” she said.
“More than life itself,” he said.
She plopped down beside him and they clinked their bottles and toasted to surviving this long adventure.
They were quiet for a long time, their beers almost empty, when he asked, “How’s Travis?”
“Oh, he’s asleep.”
“No, I mean, how is he? you know, with the Islamic indoctrination and all? Is he safe, I mean?”
There it was; the safety net had been lowered. Frank was laying the cards on the table. She couldn’t see his face to tell if he was really worried or if he was just casually asking. She took his question very seriously, because she had wondered this as well.
“I really believe he’s fine now. He’s been living a bit of a double life for a couple of years, since our dear Uncle Abdul paid for him to go to a Madrassa. I knew this happened, but didn’t want to admit it. Abdul must have had something over Aunt Sara to force her to do this. And right after this happened, Travis changed and became more distant to me. I kind of didn’t care then, because I was a self-absorbed bitch. Anyway, I’m sure he’s fine now. He gave up the gun and didn’t shoot us, that’s something right?” She was trying to be funny, but it didn’t come out the way she wanted.
He laughed a good belly laugh, and she joined in.
“I know it seems like we can just settle down here and live out our days, but you know, life for everyone else in this country is changing fast.”
“Yep,” she said somewhat dispassionately. She didn’t want to have this conversation, but knew it was going to come eventually. She just had hoped it wouldn’t be for a few days. “What do you think we should do?”
“Well, starting tomorrow, you’re going to train.” He seemed to be waiting for an acknowledgement.
“Train?”
“Yep, I’m going to teach you everything I know about combat and self-defense. That way, if something happens to me, you can take care of yourself and Travis. While this is happening, we’ll keep up with what’s going on around us. Your father has a pretty good radio setup and I think I can stay in touch with my friends back in Stowell, Texas.”
“What do you think will happen with Abdul’s planned invasion?”
“Well with any luck, our military will be able to fight back and win. The word will spread, now that they know who’s behind this. And knowing this country, and our military, I suspect we’ve got a good chance.”
“I hope so… I think I’m going to bed. I’m awfully tired. And like you said, I start training.” Lexi started to move to get up but stopped. She leaned over to Frank and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you so much for saving us. I know how much Daddy would appreciate your being here.”
He hugged her back. Although this hurt a lot, he didn’t so much as grunt. “That’s what a godfather is for.” He smiled at her, even though she couldn’t see it.
She rose up, and something in the distance caught her eye. “Hey look at the skies.”
Among the carpet of stars, a lone light coming from the Gulf moved north toward the Pensacola coast.
“I think it’s a plane,” Frank guessed.
It did look like an airplane. And if it was an airplane, that had to mean civilization and maybe help from other countries, and maybe that meant they would be all right after all. Maybe their military would defeat these terrorists and maybe, one day, things would get back to normal.
Lexi said goodnight and ambled along the dock toward her new home, feeling something she hadn’t felt in a long time, and certainly not in the last few days.
She felt hope.
Epilogue
July 11th
They rode in the relative quiet of the boat motor’s hum, moving at a constant 20 knots.
With the water of the Apalachicola River like glass tonight, they would reach the coast in less than an hour. There, they would meet up with one of the hundreds of the boats that would dot America’s coasts tonight and tomorrow night. Their rendezvous was with one of the freighters from the Gulf.
He was surprised that everything had gone as well as it had. They had suffered some losses for sure, but that was to be expected. Tonight was a night for celebration. Phase Two had concluded last night, with the help of their Russian partners, and the drone bases they had taken at Ft. Rucker and Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. And tonight began Phase Three, with the beginning of the arrival of their troops.
After the next few days, they would have over twenty thousand soldiers on American soil, ready to fight the infidels. But the infidel soldiers wouldn’t have any fight left in them. Of this he was sure.
Their society would be in chaos, as its populations tried to survive. Their EMPs had exposed the soft underbelly of this animal: easy for them to stick their knives in and eviscerate them.
Their plan was bold, but it was remarkably simple. Phase One was to take down the grid and most electronics. With the Russians’ help, they had succeeded. But it probably would have succeeded with far less effort. Perhaps just taking out a couple of the main transformers would have done it. The result would be the same: America without power would be like a world without gravity: there would be nothing to hold American society together.
The other nukes added the necessary chaos and fear through mass deaths. This also forced its government and military underground, ensuring that as American society devolved, there would be no one to help. Phase Two would weaken the military’s remnants, making sure victory would take place in Phase Three.
It was all coming together nicely, though it didn’t need to.
With its corruption and perversions, America had fallen asleep, focused on itself long ago. Its citizens’ lives always focused on satisfying their own pleasures, rather than heeding the threats that were all around. He and his enablers simply hurried along a process that would have occurred without their help.
Mohammad, peace be upon him, had predicted the end of days. But so did the People of the Book and the followers of Jesu. Now, he would be the one to see it through.
Abdul touched his bandages covering most of his right cheek. And although the wound was painful, he grinned at its pre
sence and accompanying agony in the dark. The doctor told him a healthy scar would remain after it had healed.
It would be a wonderful reminder of this time.
“Mahdi Abdul?” Sal interrupted his thoughts from behind him.
“Yes, my great and noble servant, Saleem.” Abdul could feel him touch his robe, and he could picture him bowing.
“I’m sorry that Suhaimah and Abdul-Aziz escaped.”
“Not to worry, my friend,” Abdul tapped his shirt pocket where he kept the map they had confiscated from the men who had attacked them before they were beheaded. He knew right where both of them would be. And when they were done, he would still collect his son and his new wife.
“I’m sure we’ll have no problem locating them in the future.”
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John Q. Prepper isn’t just an author who enjoys writing and reading sci-fi books. John Q. Prepper represents the typical American (man or woman) who has become aware of some of the serious systemic problems facing our country, which if not fixed may lead to an economic or societal collapse, especially if an apocalyptic event like the one described in this book were to occur.
Highway: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale of Survival Page 23
