“Amanda,” he started.
She shook her head. “It makes sense. There’s enough of us to split up. There’s no point in all of us going one way only to turn around and go the other. We save time and energy by dividing into two groups. The sooner we find a safe place, Austin, the sooner we get on the path to steady food.”
“We don’t know that the lodge is lost,” Wendell argued.
“It’s too dangerous. We already know there are warring factions near the lodge. Even if the lodge isn’t taken over this time, it will be. Do we really want a repeat of what happened at the house? I wanted to stay in the lodge as much as anyone,” Amanda admitted, looking around, “but it’s no longer safe.”
The group went quiet.
“She’s right,” Ennis said, breaking the silence. “Better to abandon the lodge than lose more friends. We need to move, and meeting in the clearing makes sense.”
Austin hated the idea of splitting up. No matter how much sense it made. And what if it backfired on them?
But he couldn’t think of anything better, and a quick glance around told him that too many of the group were waiting on him to decide the vote. So be it. “Okay,” he said on a sigh.
“I’ll lead one group, and you take the other,” Amanda suggested.
“No,” he answered immediately.
“Austin, it’s better that way,” she said, her eyes meeting his in that silent way she had of telling him to be reasonable. When it came to her and Savannah, that was hard. Harder every day, in fact.
He tried to think of a good reason to keep her with him, but he couldn’t. She was right. She was a natural leader, and had the skills to lead a team back safely should there be any fighting. She’d already proven herself, and everyone, not counting Wendell, trusted her and her ability to lead.
“I’ll go with her,” Ennis said.
Austin nodded, feeling a little better knowing that his brother would have her back. “Good. Sarah, you’re with me,” he said, looking at the doctor.
“It isn’t safe out there,” she mumbled.
“It isn’t safe right here,” he retorted. “Savannah, you’re with me, as well,” he said, leaving no room for argument. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight.
The rest of the group was divided as equally as possible, along with the weapons. Wendell was the only one who hadn’t declared what group he wanted to be a part of, but Austin assumed he’d go where Ennis went.
“I’ll go with Austin’s group,” Wendell announced, as if reading his mind.
Austin looked at Ennis, pleading with him to take his friend with him. Ennis just gave a slight shrug, earning him a glare from Austin.
“Fine,” he muttered. “What about the horses?” Austin asked Amanda.
Amanda grimaced. “I don’t think they’ll be helpful in this situation. But I’m not abandoning them!” she added quickly, as if anyone would have suggested it.
“How about leaving them in the clearing?” he suggested. “My group will be headed just past it. We can take them up there and leave them overnight till we get back to them and the clearing tomorrow. We’ll meet then, no later.”
Amanda chewed her bottom lip. “I guess that’s safer than taking them with either group. Make sure you tie their lead ropes loosely enough that they can get to that stream. They should be okay just for the night.”
“Okay, then it’s settled,” Austin said. “We’ll leave them by the stream near the clearing.”
“Keep your heads up and we’ll meet at the clearing tomorrow,” Amanda said. “If not before. If you find something promising for the group, just head back to the clearing. Or if something stops you,” she added pointedly, all of them knowing that was more likely.
Guns could stop any of their journeys early, to where they might as well head to the clearing and brainstorm what would come next. Splitting up for now made sense, and Austin knew it, but that was assuming they’d find anything of promise. It was far more likely, he thought, that they’d end up back at square one. He knew what Amanda and Ennis would say if he brought that up, though. And they were right. They had to try.
Austin looked at Amanda, meeting her eyes and saying all that he could without speaking. She offered a small smile in return before walking away. He watched her for a few seconds before collecting himself and turning to face his group. Wendell was looking at him in a way that sent a shiver of apprehension down his spine, but he didn’t let it show in his voice when he spoke.
“Let’s go. And, pay attention. There could be more people with guns out there just waiting to shoot,” he warned them.
Ezra nodded. Austin was going to be counting on him to be his back-up. He didn’t have much hope of Drew or Wendell being quick enough to eliminate a threat and keep his daughter safe.
4
Amanda knew she was pushing them hard, but she had to. They’d managed to stumble into a mid-sized town that seemed more industrial and factory-based than anything, but with plenty of trailer parks that had been burned to the ground, leaving only the skeletons of the trailer homes standing. It was a grim sight that held no real promise for them, but they had to keep moving through before they could set up camp for the night.
“What’s that building?” Malachi asked from her left. Ahead of them, the huge square of a factory loomed above smaller businesses and houses that had been left to rot. It looked sturdy enough in comparison, if foreboding.
“Looks like some kind of factory; notice the huge stacks?” she asked, studying the building.
“We should ignore it,” Harlen said. “I don’t like it here. It’s dark, dirty… and I can smell death.”
“That could be a good thing. Empty is good. Safer,” Ennis commented, “and we need a place to set up camp for the night, right?”
“It would be nice not to sleep outside,” Tonya pointed out.
With that, the group spread out, staying far enough apart that, if they were ambushed, they wouldn’t all be taken out in one sweep. Amanda remained a little surprised to have found the town deserted. It was an eerie sensation to walk down a street devoid of all signs of life, as if something had swooped in and snatched up the people who’d once lived and worked in the town. As they moved, she couldn’t help but feel like they were being watched; from where, she couldn’t immediately identify. They passed small stores that had been burnt out along with what had once been a clinic. There was no point in going in to scavenge—it was clear to all of them that anything left behind had been burned to a crisp.
“Why?” Malachi whispered.
“The burning?” Amanda asked.
“Yes, why would someone burn everything? What’s the point?” he asked.
She shrugged, not bothering to stop walking. “I don’t know. Control? Maybe it was the people who lived here… if they were being run out of town, they weren’t going to leave anything behind. It’s hard to say.”
“It’s so sad,” Gretchen said as they passed another building that had been reduced to a pile of rubble.
Coming up on the building Malachi had originally pointed out, Amanda had to agree it looked pretty intact—more so than anything else they’d found anyway. “Okay, listen; Harlen, Tonya, and Gretchen, you three stand watch while the rest of us make sure the factory is empty. Since it’s one of the few buildings standing, it might be occupied.” Amanda directed them to the side, and then headed to the main entrance, holding her gun at the side of her leg. So far, it seemed as deserted as everything else in the town.
Malachi, Jordan, and Ennis followed her inside, where she silently directed Ennis and Malachi to go left while she and Jordan went right. The windows high in the room gave them some light to see by as they made their way around the bottom floor, seeing nothing but a catwalk high above and a row of offices on the back wall. The building appeared deserted and mostly empty.
“I’ll get the others,” Ennis said once they’d cleared the place.
“Everyone, spread out and see what you can find. Check
for stashes of snacks in the desks and cabinets in those offices and bring whatever you find to the middle of the space. You never know what we might be able to use,” Amanda said.
The sounds of their movements echoed as they separated off to search. Judging from the boxes of plastic cutlery strewn about, she surmised this place had been some kind of plastics factory that had manufactured disposable utensils. Too bad they didn’t have more room to carry utensils—they could pack up some, but not enough for a lasting supply.
Aside from bags of utensils, the grand total of their scavenging resulted in a single bag of potato chips that had been stored in a cabinet and a half-roll of mints from a desk. The factory had been pillaged; no stone left unturned.
It was a meager dinner with everyone sharing a single bottle of water, knowing they had to ration what they had. They still had a long walk back up the mountain tomorrow.
“Does this mean we failed?” Malachi asked.
“Failed?” Ennis repeated, one eyebrow raised.
“We didn’t find a house, we didn’t find supplies, and we can’t stay here,” Malachi answered. “This place is creepy. I don’t like it.”
Amanda shrugged. “It isn’t a failure. We were supposed to be scouting, and we scouted. Hopefully, Austin and the others had better luck.”
The mood remained subdued as they unwrapped their blankets, which were filled with nothing truly useful in their current situation. The cement floor wasn’t going to be conducive to a good night’s sleep, but the roof over their heads was a bonus. They piled up cardboard to create beds, making for a slightly softer night, but kept close together.
“I’ll keep watch,” Ennis volunteered once their temporary camp was as good as it would get.
“Wake me in a couple hours,” Amanda told him with a nod of thanks. “Everyone, we need to get up early, before the sun preferably. I want to move in the early hours and get back up the mountain before we run into any unfriendly folks who might be roaming about.”
Amanda rolled onto her side, away from the others. She couldn’t help thinking about the group. Maybe they’d had better luck. Every time she tried to sleep, she longed for a home—somewhere she could go to bed at night and feel safe, with a full fridge and running water to make it last. The prepper house hadn’t been perfect, but it had been the closest thing to normal that she’d had in a long time. Thinking of it, she closed her eyes, hoping to be able to sleep for a couple of hours.
She awoke what felt like five minutes later to the sound of Ennis shouting, followed by several gunshots. Her gun was on the floor in front of her. She reached for it on instinct, already looking around for the threat.
“Amanda!” Ennis shouted.
“Where?”
“Outside, across the parking lot!” he shouted.
Amanda rolled to her feet, running to the door where Ennis’s voice was coming from. She could hear the others scrambling around behind her, gathering up their few belongings.
“How many?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I heard something and opened the door and saw a few shadows. One of the shadows aimed a gun at me and I shot back.”
She grimaced, knowing a lecture wasn’t appropriate in the exact moment, but he’d probably given them away. They might have been able to hide out. Now, whoever was outside knew there was someone armed here.
“Someone’s trying to come in,” Tonya whisper-shouted from nearby. “In back! I can hear them,” she added more loudly, panic in her voice.
“What do we do?” Gretchen asked, looking back to where Tonya had been pointing.
“They’re pushing us out the front,” Amanda whispered, realizing they’d been surrounded in their sleep. Ennis must not have given them away after all—they’d probably been watched this whole time.
“What?” Ennis asked, shock in his voice.
Amanda briefly closed her eyes, willing herself to calm down and think straight. “We fight.”
“Amanda, we don’t know how many are out there,” Ennis said under his breath, pulling her closer in an effort to keep the conversation between them.
“No, but staying in here leaves us just as exposed,” she said, hating the options they were left with. Her eyes were moving around the dark room already. There were several trashcans along one wall, and bins filled with bits of plastic placed around the space.
“Grab those trash bins and get them over here. Ennis, get those desks pushed in front of that back door,” she ordered, command back in her voice.
Ennis and Malachi jumped into action, racing across the factory floor to the desks. Gretchen and Tonya ran for the bins, dragging them across the floor. Amanda pressed herself against the side of the door, watching for activity outside. From what she could gather, the folks outside were lining up one side of the parking lot, creating a wall of sorts that would block their way back into town—the only option was the land across the parking lot, which didn’t offer a lot of cover beyond occasional abandoned cars. And she was positive they were planning to open fire as soon as she and the others were forced to flee by those trying to gain entrance from the back. It’s what she would have done if she’d wanted to keep an enemy out of her territory. A firing squad chasing the enemy in the opposite direction was a pretty effective You-Are-Not-Welcome sign.
“Done,” Ennis said out of breath as he and Malachi got back to her side, helping Tonya and Gretchen with the last of the bins. “Those desks will hold them out for a little while, but not long; they’re just not that sturdy.”
“Guys, this isn’t a guarantee, but it’s the best I can offer. We’re going to do our best to toss these cans as far as we can, and in different directions. The cans will draw the fire and add some chaos, giving us time to run,” she explained.
“That sounds risky,” Tonya whispered.
“It is. I have no other ideas. Run as fast as you can. Don’t run in a straight line. Zig-zag. If you fall, keep rolling until you can find cover. There are a few cars around the lot and weeds on the side of the road as we get closer to trees. Then we run, but not back through town—we have to cut through the trees along that side road we saw off-shooting from the highway. Get there and stay flat.”
She looked at the grim faces in the dark. The pounding in the back of the factory grew louder, more intense. They didn’t have long. She didn’t have any other ideas, though, and they didn’t have the luxury of time to come up with another option.
“Let’s do this. Amanda, let me and Malachi up front to throw the first cans,” Ennis said. “You throw one as you start running, and shoot as soon as you get some distance; Tonya and Gretchen will go out after you while we throw the rest before following.”
She nodded, knowing they’d be able to launch them further than she could. She knew the idea was horrible, and guessed it would probably end up with at least one of them dead, but there was no way she was going down without a fight. She’d shoot as many of their attackers as she could and hope that most of their small group survived the escape.
5
Austin led the crew down the trail running into the back of what looked like an elementary school—or what had once been a school, anyway. There was a playground on one side, along with an area that had once been a lawn. A single school bus was parked on the side of the beige building, which itself had a collapsed roof and a huge chunk missing out of the side. He could see desks and chairs inside. Books were laying in various stages of ruin around the area.
“A school could be useful if there’s anything left,” Wendell offered. “Cafeteria and all that.”
As if that isn’t obvious. “Everyone, stay low. We don’t know what we’re going into,” Austin said, his voice just above a whisper.
He glanced Savannah’s way, making sure she was close. The town looked like it had been bombed, and this school itself wasn’t much better. Their vantage point above gave them a view of the flattened town. There was a water tower that had been toppled, the massive cistern lying across what had once bee
n a road. Bricks and debris littered the area where buildings and homes had once stood.
“Dad, why bother? Look,” Savannah said, gesturing to the ruins.
“She’s right, probably, but we have to try.” Austin sighed, not a few seconds later. “Ezra, you’re with me. The rest of you, stay up here. Watch us. If we signal it’s clear, come in; if not, get out of here and we’ll catch up.”
“Shouldn’t I go with you?” Wendell asked.
“No, stay with the group. Don’t let your guard down,” he said simply.
With that, he and Ezra moved down the hill, both of them carrying handguns. It was eerily quiet. Austin expected to hear a stray dog or crickets, anything, but there was nothing.
“This doesn’t feel right,” Ezra whispered.
“No, it doesn’t.”
They walked alongside the road leading up to the school, their eyes darting left and right.
“Oh God,” Ezra groaned, pointing to what looked like the decaying bodies of several adults.
Austin stopped walking, doing a full three-sixty and seeing more of the same further along the ground, closer to the school itself and over near the road approaching the back of the building. Something about the place felt really off now, dangerous. A flash of red caught his eye, partially hidden under what looked like part of a black tarp near a cluster of trees. He moved towards it, focused on the red plastic.
“Oh crap,” he murmured, realizing it was the remnants of a biohazard bag.
“What is that?” Ezra asked.
“Biohazard.”
“What?” he asked, taking a step back.
“It’s a biohazard tag. I don’t know what was here, but I know we don’t want any part of it. We need to go. Don’t touch anything,” he said, already moving back towards the hill where the rest of the group waited, cutting across ground now instead of following the road. The important thing was to get out of this area as fast as possible.
Small Town EMP (Book 3): Survive The Conflict Page 4
