“That will work all the way around,” James said.
“Tomorrow, if the snow lets up?” Jake asked.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Conner said. “So, what else?“ he asked.
Amy poked her head in through the hanging tarps. “Hey,” she said loudly. “There’s a truck out here.”
Everyone grabbed up their weapons and rushed out into the snow.
Dark
The truck was idling low, stopped about two hundred yards down the road back towards the area where the restaurant was and the road swung back out to the square. The headlights were on, high beams lighting up the roadway.
Conner looked at Katie.
“Just drove in there a few minutes ago, and stopped. Hasn’t done anything since. It’s only been a few minutes though.” She looked at her watch. “Maybe three. That little.”
A few of the others went back inside to get jackets for the cold. Aaron came back out and handed Conner his own.
“Thanks, Aaron.” Conner watched the idling truck where it sat as he slipped the jacket on..
Although no longer horizontal from the wind, the snow was still coming down hard. The wind still gusted occasionally, but the storm was nowhere near as fierce as it had been throughout the day. There was maybe two feet of fresh snow on the level, drifts well over three feet on the roadway between the factory and the idling truck.
The headlights suddenly snapped off. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the dimmer night light. The engine remained running. The driver's door opened, and someone stepped out into the night.
“Don’t want no trouble,” a male voice called out.
“You armed?” Conner called back.
“Isn’t everyone?” The voice called back.
“How many are you?” Conner called back.
“Just one. Just me for now,” The voice called back.
“Come on then,” Katie called. She unsnapped the leather straps that held the Forty Fives in their holsters, pulled them free one by one, thumbed off the safeties and returned them to their holsters. She seemed so calm. Amy followed suit and then moved sideways and a little away from Katie, making it clear she’d follow whatever Katie wanted to do. Katie looked over and nodded at her. Some sort of unspoken instructions passed between them as Conner watched. Amy slipped a couple feet further to the west and stopped, feet planted wide apart, her eyes on the darkened roadway. Conner turned his own attention back to the road.
“I'm not looking to get shot,” The voice said.
“Neither are we,” Katie called back smoothly. “And we aren’t looking to shoot you.”
Conner stepped closer to Aaron. “If it comes to shooting it looks like Katie and Amy got a plan. Leave it to them. I guess we’ll cover them,” He whispered.
Aaron nodded as he stepped up closer to Conner.
“He must have pulled the fuse in the truck. The light never came on when he opened the door,” Conner said.
“Saw that,” Aaron agreed. “That says to me that he planned on this.”
Conner nodded.
The man's shadow made its way along the roadway through the blowing snow. As he came closer they could see the outline of a rifle of some sort held loosely in the mans left hand.
The dog walked stiff legged past Conner and Aaron and began to growl deep in his throat.
“Jesus,” the man said suddenly. He stopped in the road. “You got a dog?”
“Easy Dog,” Sandy said. The dog turned and looked back at Sandy where she stood in the shadows of the factory entrance, looked back toward the road and the man, then turned and trotted over to Sandy.
“Dog won’t hurt you,” Sandy said.
Conner watched the rifle outline, which stayed pointed at the ground. The man stepped forward; close enough to be seen through the heavy snow, maybe seventy feet away in the shadows, Conner thought. He was sure Katie would have no trouble hitting him if she had to.
“Maybe we could step inside?” The man asked.
“Maybe,” Conner allowed. “Why’d you leave your truck running if you planned on coming inside?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” The man asked.
“With the truck running, quiet as it is, we’d never hear anyone coming on foot,” Conner answered.
“Why’d I do that?” The man asked.
“I didn’t say you would. I said if that situation occurred, we’d never hear a thing.”
“Not much with trust, are you people?”
“Nope,” Jake answered quietly. “We’re not.”
The man paused, then turned around and walked back to the truck and shut it off. Again the light stayed off as the man opened and closed the door. He trotted back to them, the rifle still loosely clutched in his left hand. “Good?” He asked.
“Better,” Jake agreed. “But that doesn’t tell us what you want.”
“Just a talk, catch us both up so to speak.” The man answered.
Katie stepped forward from the shadows. Amy watched her closely. “I’d like that weapon,” she said.
“Why’s that?” The man asked. He stepped forward a little more. He wore a heavy jacket, a hooded sweatshirt under that with the hood pulled over his head, tall, thin, face cast in shadow. Not much else to see.
“We’ve been through some stuff. I don’t want that weapon in your hands. You want to come in, give up the rifle. If not…” She didn’t finish.
“Kind of pushy aren’t you?” He asked.
“Want to go that way, you can get right back in your truck,” Conner said. “This is our place. You came here. You came here with a weapon. You seem on edge. Some way or another, you disconnected the interior light in your truck so it wouldn’t come on when you open the door, like you didn’t want us to see you, or maybe the inside of the truck. Maybe both for all I know.”
Conner walked closer to the man as he spoke. His own rifle, he had grabbed one of the assault rifles, held in both hands. The index finger of one hand rested lightly against the trigger guard, caressing the cold steel of the trigger, feeling its curved shape as it slipped past the ridges of skin on the edge of his finger. It made the rifle feel alive to him. The other hand was wrapped tightly around the stock. “You don’t look stupid, but it must be that you are. Or you think we are. If you’ve been close by, you know there’s been trouble. One of ours was killed a few days back, and you want to talk like a smart ass to my woman.”
The man stayed silent for a moment. When Conner had finished talking, he had continued to walk until he was no more than five feet from the man, facing him, his eyes hard.
“I took the fuse out. Otherwise, every time I open that door at night, I’m a sitting duck. Maybe it looks another way to you. Also... I didn’t know she was your woman. Not trying to make excuses. I’m not used to being talked down to by a woman, I guess.”
Conner saw Katie lean back into the shadows once more, her hands fall to her sides, the guns within easy reach. It was clear how the man's words had made her feel. His reaction was not much different. Aaron stepped forward and rested one hand on Amy’s arm. She had taken a step forward.
The man cleared his throat, oblivious to the drama playing out around him. “I came to ask your plans. What’s next? There’s six of us, none in the truck, all close by. I’d be stupid to come here without them close by.”
No matter how Conner looked at the situation, he didn't like it. He was uncomfortable with it, the man, his motivations… whatever they might be. He didn’t want to let the man inside to see how the factory was set up. If he wanted to join us, he told himself, he would’ve already asked us. And we wouldn’t have him anyway. No, this is something else, he told himself.
“We can talk here. There are children inside,” Conner said.
“You’re not inviting me inside?”
“No,” Katie said from the shadows.
“That so?” The man asked.
No one answered.
“We knew you had trouble,�
� The man said at last. “We’ve had some trouble ourselves. You came out alright.”
“And?” Conner asked.
“And, I’m just making conversation,” the man answered. He sighed. “Okay, we’re trying to get ourselves in shape for next winter. You got this big factory. It’s easy for you. We’re in an old abandoned factory up on… Well, forget where. It don’t matter. What matters is we’re trying to look ahead. We don’t want trouble. We got gas to trade. Fuel oil, good for heaters. We can find other things too.”
“There’s gas free for the taking everywhere,” James said. “Same as the other stuff you mentioned.”
“Not really,” the man replied. “At least not out State Street there isn’t.”
“Plenty of gas stations out there,” James disagreed.
“Didn’t say they weren’t there. They’re ours though.” The man said.
“Really?” James said.
“Really,” The man replied.
“And?” Conner asked.
“Well, you got vehicles, you’ll need gas.”
“Uh huh, and what is it you’re looking for in trade?” Conner asked.
“Listen,” The man said. “I see your setup here. It looks good. I see this is your show. I’m not trying to step in either, I run my own show too… really.”
“What do you want?” Conner asked, losing patience with the man.
“Women… I need a few women. We talked to Sin about that woman that was with him and he was saying...”
Conner tried to cut him off with a wave of his hands, but Jake spoke over him. “What?” Conner began.
“You knew that Sin guy?” Jake asked.
Katie stepped out of the shadows. Amy moved away from Aaron. Both of them walked to within a few feet of the man and stared him down.
The man nodded at Jake’s question. Jake also moved closer to the man.
Jake swore lightly, and his rifle started to come up. Conner reached out and lightly rested one hand on the barrel. Allison spoke from the darkness. No one had known she had come out.
“Sin planned to trade me to him. I remember him,” She sounded on the verge of tears. Nell rushed from where she had been standing over to where Allison now stepped from the shadows.
Conner watched Katie’s hand come up and then drop onto the butt of the Forty Five closest to him.
“So, you think we’d trade that little girl for some... what, gasoline?” Conner asked. He seemed to be the only one who could still speak. Everyone else had fallen into a hard silence.
Katie released a deep breath, turned and went to Allison and Nell. She squatted in front of Allison and looked into her eyes, freezing everything and everyone else out.
“Honey,” She said softly, much more softly than she felt. “That man is not going to touch you. Not going to, you see?” She waited until Allison nodded through the tears that had begun to spill over the bottoms of her lids and course down her cheeks. “Oh, Baby, don’t cry,” Katie said. She reached out and pulled Allison into her arms. She held her as she sobbed against her breast. “I promise, Allison. I promise,” she pulled away and looked in her eyes. “Okay?”
Allison nodded. Katie raised her eyes to Nell. “Nelly, take her inside, would you?” She reached forward, kissed Allison, hugged her once more and then waited until Nell took her inside, past the hanging mass of tarps and blankets.
Dustin stood glaring at the stranger from the side of the cliff face where he had been standing next to Allison.
“You good, Dustin?” Aaron asked now.
“I can’t believe that guy came here to hurt Allison. I hate him,” Dustin said.
“Now wait a minute,” The man said. “I didn’t come here to hurt anyone at all.”
“No. Just come to buy a woman, a little girl, like you would a dog,” Katie said. She was walking slowly back toward the man as she spoke, pushing her own tears from the corners of her eyes with the flat of one palm.
“It’s a different world, Miss,” The man said. He looked at Conner. “I thought that some of you folks saw the way it is.”
“You’re in this with Death?” Conner asked.
“I never said that. I see him… I’ve seen him. I…” He began to stutter.
“Lately?” Jake asked.
“Well,” The man said.
“Since the murder?” Amy asked, fury in her voice.
“Well… Yeah, maybe,” The man finally answered.
“Get out,” Katie said. She had walked to within a few inches of the man. Her eyes were unblinking. Her left hand was closed around the butt of one Forty five. Her voice sounded low, controlled, but Conner could feel the emotion on the air like electricity before a thunderstorm.
Before the man could speak again the gun was out of her holster and in her hand. “Get out.”
“Listen, I…” The man started.
“It’s loaded, the safety’s off, get the fuck out,” Katie said softly.
The man hesitated for a second. Katie began to raise the gun. He turned and began to walk quickly back to his truck. “Wouldn’t shoot me in the back, would you?” He asked in a high, crazy voice.
“I don’t know,” Katie said. “And leave the truck where it is. Walk out.”
“That’s my truck, Bitch!” The man stopped and began to turn.
“Not anymore,” Katie said. She sighted with the pistol. The man turned and walked past the truck, disappearing into the storm.
Katie shook with anger. Conner pulled her into his arms. There were tears in her eyes. He held her as she shook. He caught Aaron’s eye and nodded towards the truck. Aaron nodded and he and Amy walked off towards the truck. James and Jake walked along beside them.
A few minutes later, the trucks lights came on, the engine started and the truck rumbled the short distance down the road to where Conner still stood holding Katie, easily pushing aside the snow drifts as it did. Katie pulled away as the truck pulled up. Aaron jumped down from the cab; Amy came around and stood next to Katie.
Aaron and James held out two of the carbines with the clips like the ones they had taken from Sin and Death.
“Could have been someone else in that truck,” Aaron said. “Or else why would they need two of these?”
James nodded. “Could have done a quick fade.”
“I guess we better keep a hard watch tonight,“ Conner said. “No telling what they might do.” He bent and whispered in Katie’s ear, “Go inside?”
She nodded “I’ll be back in a little while,” Conner said. The three men nodded.
EIGHT
March 23rd
Kentucky: Billy and Beth
Beth awoke a few hours before dawn and sat just outside the small tent, lost in thought.
Billy had mentioned that it was probably not safe to use the main road any longer. She knew now that he was right. At first she had thought that his reasoning had been influenced by the previous attack they had experienced, but now she was not so sure. Now she was convinced that the only way for them to travel safely was via the back roads. As she sat in the darkness waiting for the sunrise, she realized that she had known, she had just refused to see it. She sat and tried to make sense of all the thoughts that seemed to be running loose in her mind.
She slowly became aware that the sky was beginning to color with the first rays of sunrise. The silent, night-black forest surrounding them began to awaken. Birds began to whistle in the pre-dawn air. Their whistled conversations flew back and forth, and were soon joined by the chatter of a multitude of squirrels who also called the forest home. The symphony created by the forest inhabitants began to break apart her troubled thoughts as she listened, and the black mood that had begun to descend upon her finally lifted as the first brilliant rays of sunlight began to stream down through the thick pines of the forest.
She rose slowly and began to re-kindle the fire. When Billy awoke a few minutes later, she had coffee heating, and had already prepared a small breakfast from the left over dinner of the night before.
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Lazy curls from the wood fire drifted slowly up through the trees into the morning air, the smoky scent hung in the air, and invoked nothing but good feelings in her. When Billy crawled out of the tent, the black mood that had threatened to envelop her was completely gone, and had been replaced with a deep feeling of peace that calmed and soothed her soul. She knew they would have to be careful on their trek east, but she was no longer overpowered by the sense of foreboding that had washed over her earlier.
“Morning,” Billy said, as he sat down next to her and took the steaming cup of coffee she offered, “Sleep okay?”
She considered her answer only briefly, “No,” she replied, “I woke up a couple of hours ago and couldn't get back to sleep. I kept thinking about things, Billy. Like what's ahead for us, and I couldn't shake the feeling that we have to be careful. But I shouldn't spend my time sweating this stuff,” she looked into his eyes as she finished speaking.
“I know how you feel. I feel the same way,” Billy said, “I spent a long time thinking about it last night before I could finally get to sleep. I guess I just don't care anymore. We could drive ourselves crazy trying to reason it... whatever happened, happened, and we'll just face what we have to as we go,” he paused for a second. “I think truthfully that we'll be okay, I really do. If I didn't I would say so. We'll just keep going.”
Billy finished speaking, and when he did he pulled Beth to him and held her.
“Are you afraid?” he asked her.
“No,” she replied, “not afraid of death anyhow, maybe just afraid of the alternative to death... Being held... Being forced... I don't want that, Billy, I really don't,” she began to cry as she finished, and Billy held her, comforting her as best he could. I won't let that happen, he thought, not at all.
Aloud he said, “Beth?” he waited until she looked up at him. “I think that we just have to be careful so that doesn't happen, you know, like if we just went ahead with no thought to what we were doing, we could find ourselves in a bad situation, or we might not be able to think quickly enough if something happened. But I don't, and can't believe that we will. Not if we're careful, Beth.” He was looking over the top of her head as he spoke. “I think,” he said, changing the subject, “That those stitches need to come out... Might hurt a little.”
Earth's Survivors: box set Page 39
