A Powerless World (Book 2): When the Peace is Gone

by P. A. Glaspy

  Mike calmly replied, “They were too far away to do any damage with a shotgun. Some pellets hit your ride though. Sorry about that. No one got hit. They’re driving an older pickup. I’ve never seen them before.”

  “I don’t give a shit about the ride as long as you guys are alright. Describe the truck.”

  “Probably ’70 model Ford. Rusted to hell, but was possibly black at one point. It had a crew cab, could have been one of the first ones made.”

  “Russ, does that sound familiar to you?” Bob questioned over the air.

  “Yep, sounds like the crew that was in our area a week or so ago. They are obviously migrating away from town. Did they follow you, Mike?”

  “No, most of them were grabbing things from houses when we turned down our street. We beat it out of there and got off the road. I haven’t heard another vehicle, so I don’t think they are looking for us. I’m not leaving without the stuff we came for. This is a perfect example of why we need to get this done, and then hunker down at the farm. Can you send a few guys out here to back us up? I’d really like to run these assholes off or just get rid of them. It pisses me off when people shoot at me.”

  Russ laughed into the radio. “I hear ya, buddy. We’ll get some guys together and head your way. Where are you exactly?”

  Mike gave them directions to the spot they had holed up in. Russ, Bob, Bill, and Brian loaded up in the station wagon to head that way. A third of our people out there now? This was not going as planned – at all. Unfortunately, this was a mission that could not be abandoned. We HAD to have clothes and shoes for everyone. But at what price? Were those items more important than anyone’s life? If anything happened to any of them, I didn’t know if I could handle the guilt, since it was my idea. I prayed for everyone’s safety. There wasn’t much else I could do.

  ****

  Bill was driving. He said he knew exactly where Mike and the rest of them were. The other guys in the car were scanning the area for the dirtbags. While our people hoped they wouldn’t be headed in their direction, they were obviously working the whole area so they could show up anywhere. When they got to the ramp, Russ had Bill cut the engine so they could listen for other vehicles. They were all straining to hear one but it was quiet except for the birds and frogs. We always heard the frogs after the rain.

  When they verified there were no others close by, Bill started the car back up, turned right, and found the farm road. Russ radioed Mike.

  “Mike, we’re coming to you. Don’t shoot.”

  “All clear. Come on in.”

  Bill drove back to the SUV and killed the engine. Everyone got out of both vehicles. Bob inspected his truck. There were a few dozen dents from the shotgun blast.

  “Son of a bitch! I’m gonna kick somebody’s ass for this!”

  Mike was standing beside him. “Sorry man. I kind of feel responsible.”

  Bob was shaking his head. “This ain’t your fault. It’s those scavenger assholes who did this. So, what’s the plan? Because I’d just as soon go in there and beat the shit out of them.”

  Mike gave him a grim smile. “Me, too, but we’re not talking about a fist fight here. They’ve already shot at us. I think we should respond in like fashion.”

  Russ looked at him. “You have an idea?”

  “Yep. I say we head back that way. Park maybe two blocks away and walk in. Problem is, with no other noise, they’re going to hear us that close. There’s no way we can be stealthy.”

  “Honestly, after your encounter, I’m sure they’ll be expecting something. I think we should just go to the end of the street, park the SUV, have someone climb on top with this,” Russ held up the scoped .308 rifle, “and just wait. Either they’ll come to us, they’ll leave, or they’ll start shooting. No matter which they choose, we’ll be in a position to defend ourselves. I would suggest we leave the ladies here with Lee and the wagon, just in case. They can always come in when we give them the all clear.”

  There were general nods all around in agreement with the plan. Brian offered to stay with the SUV and act as sniper.

  “With my messed up hand, I could be a liability up close and personal.”

  That met with the approval of the group as well. Now that they had a plan, it was time to enact it. Everyone who was going loaded up in the SUV. Russ turned to Lee who was standing beside the wagon.

  “Don’t come in until we let you know it’s clear. We’ll radio you when it is. I’d suggest you wait inside the car; in case you need to make a run for it. Don’t let the women out of your sight. They are a commodity right now. Call us if anyone shows up out here.”

  Lee nodded, shook Russ’s hand, and got Kate and Sara inside the wagon. All they could do now was wait: wait to hear if it was all clear or all gone to hell. Lee thought again about his wife, Jackie. Was she still alive? If she was, what was she going through? He shivered at the thought and resigned himself once again to the fact that he probably would never see her again. He looked at the two women with him and vowed they would stay safe no matter what happened. He couldn’t save his wife but he could protect these wives and mothers no matter what came his way.

  He would have to follow through on that vow soon enough.

  CHAPTER 11

  Bill was driving slowly toward their abandoned homes. Mike was hanging out of the driver’s side window with his minis trying to get an advanced look at the scavengers. Late April in Tennessee meant all the trees were in bloom so visibility was limited.

  “I can’t see a damn thing through all the pear tree blossoms. Stop as soon as you turn the corner, Bill.” Mike pulled back inside the car. He put his minis in his pack and checked his pistol. Mike carried a Sig Sauer P220, a .45 caliber pistol touted as one of the most accurate .45’s made. Paired with an ex-Marine, that was a force to be reckoned with. He had his AR slung in front of him at the ready. Bill rounded the corner and stopped immediately. Brian climbed out the back and got on top with the rifle. He looked down the street through the scope.

  “I see the four of them. They’re looking this way. I see the guy holding the shotgun. It’s that asshole that was driving the truck from over at our place. Two of the others were with him. I don’t recognize the fourth guy. I don’t see any other long guns, but they all have side arms in hand. Looks like they’re waiting for us to make the first move.”

  Russ thought for a second, then made a decision. “Mike and Bill, step out so they can see you, then move to the back. The rest of us will climb out the back window. If they show force, we’ll all come out. We have them outnumbered. Let’s see if we can get them to choose a path.”

  The scavengers started walking slowly toward them. Russ called out, “Okay, let them see us.” They all stepped out from behind the SUV, guns drawn. They moved to the front of the truck. And they waited.

  They didn’t have to wait long. The scavengers stopped, talked among themselves, then went back and loaded up in their pickup. They fired it up and headed down the street. They turned the next corner and were no longer in sight, although the guys could still hear the truck. After a minute or so the sound faded away. Our people waited another five minutes, then loaded back up and headed down the street. Bill stopped in front of his house and got out swearing.

  “Those assholes kicked the front door in! There’s side lights on both sides of it. They could have broken the glass, reached in and unlocked the damn thing. But nooooo – they had to destroy it. Animals!”

  He went through the doorway into the ransacked living room. The rest of the guys followed him in. The place was trashed. Furniture had been smashed and tossed aside. It didn’t look like the scavengers had been looking for anything in there. They just ransacked the place for fun. Yes, because when the world goes to hell it’s so much fun to tear up other people’s hard-earned stuff.

  Ryan had made his way to one of the bedrooms and hollered, “They took all the ammo that was out, but they couldn’t get into the gun safe. And they left the clothes. We got clothes peopl
e! Oh, and all the good guns.” Turns out, the Lawton brothers were avid gun lovers. They had pistols in every caliber, revolvers, shotguns, and rifles. And a nice stash of ammo in the gun safe with them.

  Mike looked in the safe. “I can’t believe you guys left all those guns here.”

  Ryan had an indignant look on his face. “Dude, we didn’t have a way to carry them all, with the other stuff we took. We figured we’d be walking for days. We always planned to try to get back here to get them. Guess what? We did!”

  “Alright, I’m going to call Lee on the radio and get him and the girls here. We need to get everything loaded. Since we have two vehicles now, we should be able to get it all. Grab some bags, guys. Let’s get busy.”

  ****

  After he got the call from Russ, Lee headed out with Kate and Sara. Russ had told them to keep an eye out for the scavengers, so Lee had Sara driving while he and Kate watched for attackers. They didn’t see or hear anyone else as they pulled in behind the SUV. They jumped out and rushed into the house. In the time it had taken them to get there, the guys had loaded up every bag they could find – suitcases, duffels, even trash bags – and were hauling them out to the SUV. Lee went to Russ.

  “What do we need to do? Where do we start?”

  “Head to your house. Start packing everything. Here, take some of these bags.”

  Russ handed him a box of industrial sized garbage bags. As landscapers, the Lawtons did leaf removal in the fall so they bought the large bags by the pallet. They had half of one of those pallets in their garage. Everyone had carried a couple of boxes each out to the SUV. We wouldn’t need garbage bags again for a really long time.

  Lee and the gals hurried across the lawn to the Roush home next door. As they were just about finished with the Lawton’s house, Mike and Brian went over with them.

  The scene was a repeat of what they had seen at the Lawton home. Front door kicked in, furniture smashed and trashed, cupboards bare, with the dishes broken all over the kitchen floor. Lee stood in the center of what was once a warm, comfortable living room surveying the destruction. If Jackie did happen to make it home, this is what she would find. Everything they had worked so hard for destroyed. And for what reason? Why would people do this?

  He asked the question out loud, his voice on the edge of hysteria. “Why? Why destroy everything? My God, someone has urinated in the corner! What kind of animals do something like that??”

  Mike laid his hand on Lee’s shoulder and replied, “You answered your own question, Lee. Animals. There is no good reason for something like this,” he gestured around at the devastation, “other than just plain disregard for other people. My guess is they broke in to our houses, found no food because we had eaten it all, and trashed the places in retribution. You can look at this from another perspective: what could have happened if we had still been here? What might these bastards have done to you, or worse, your kids? I for one am glad we were already gone. This is just stuff. In this new world, nice furniture and china are not important items. Clothes are. Let’s go gather your family’s clothes now.”

  Lee nodded, took one last look around, then headed down the hall. Kate and Sara were already back in Moira’s room stuffing clothes and shoes in bags. The state of the houses had given them all a sense of urgency to get done and get out. What if those guys came back, with more guys? Who knew how many dirtbags were in their “crew”, holed up somewhere else?

  With so many hands, they were able to get the items they were after loaded up pretty quickly. Within an hour, they had been through all their own houses, plus a couple that Lee and Sara knew had smaller kids. Since the scavengers had already worked their way down the street, all the houses’ doors were standing open. The ones owned by folks who were already gone and never made it back were hard to go into. Food had spoiled in refrigerators which the scavengers had opened. The smell almost knocked them over when they entered. Ryan ran out to the yard and lost his breakfast. Lee and Sara followed suit.

  “Oh my God, that’s terrible! That’s the most disgusting thing I have ever smelled! How are we going to be able to stand it long enough to get the clothes together?” Ryan was spitting the last remnants out as Bill brought him a bottle of water.

  “I’ve got an idea, little brother. Hang on.” Bill ran back down to their house, went into the garage, and grabbed a bag. He brought it back and set it down on the lawn. He pulled out a dust mask and handed it to his brother.

  “It probably won’t keep all the smell out, but it should help.” To the group he said, “We use these when the pollen is high or when it’s rained a lot and the mold spore count goes up. Help yourselves.”

  Ryan put on one of the masks and started back to the house. When he got to the door he hesitated, sniffed a bit, then went inside. He immediately came back out, gagging.

  “Nope, still smells almost as bad. What else can we try?”

  Mike reached into his bag and pulled out a bandana. He handed it to Ryan. “Try it with this inside the mask.”

  Ryan stuck the bandana inside the mask and went back to the doorway. After a minute, he came back to the entrance with a thumbs up, signaling the gang that it was working.

  “It doesn’t mask all of the smell but it helps. Stick something inside the masks, gang.” Needless to say, they moved through those houses quickly. When they had finished, both vehicles were crammed full of every kind of useful bag they had found in the houses, from backpacks to large suitcases, as well as lots of the big trash bags. There was just enough room for them left inside.

  Russ, who had been standing watch with Bob, looked at the group. “Did we get everything? I don’t want us to have to come back here. Were you able to find clothes for the Scanlins, especially the girls?”

  Kate nodded. “I think what we found will fit them, if not perfectly, at least close. They may even get some growing room out of them. Thank you all so much for doing this for my family. I only wish the families who lived here had been able to get back home. Of course, if they had, we wouldn’t have been able to get this stuff, so their misfortune became our blessing.”

  Sara stuck her toe up on that soapbox again. “This is why I don’t understand why we can’t help others as well. We are benefiting from these people’s misfortune. Shouldn’t we pay it forward, and help out others in need?”

  Mike was shaking his head, the Lawton brothers groaned in unison, and just as Russ started to speak, Lee beat him to it.

  “Sara, when are you going to understand – WE are the others in need. You saw what those animals did to our homes. What do you think they would have done to us if we had still been here? Even if we were already gone, if Russ and his people hadn’t offered to take us in, we could very easily have still been on the road trying to get to Sean and Kate’s friends. How would that have played out with the couple we ran into that were killed on the way out to the farm? Yes, we’re taking things that belonged to other people, but we have no choice. Those people are not here to offer it or for us to ask for it. This is the simplest way I can put it to you: if you and Pete had been at work, Tony at school, and hadn’t made it home after the pulse, wouldn’t you have wanted someone to use the things in your home you would never use again? Wouldn’t you have wanted a family like the Scanlins, who lost everything through no fault of their own, to get some use out of those things?”

  Sara looked at Lee and sighed. “Yes, of course I would. I’d want someone to use the things I’d left behind and wouldn’t be back for. But what about the other people out there? What about the children?”

  Russ became resolute. “Sara, there is no ‘but’. We have told you that we do not have the resources to help everyone. If that’s something you can’t resolve yourself to understand, we may have to rethink our offer for you and your family to stay on the farm with us.”

  Sara had been maintaining a somewhat haughty look when she chose to travel down one of these “let’s save the world” paths. The look on her face now was one of sheer terror.<
br />
  “NO! NO! I’m sorry! I’m having a really hard time with this, especially where kids are involved, but no, please don’t make us leave the farm!”

  “So you understand that you are in a very good place with us, right? I’d like for this to be the last time we have this discussion.”

  She was vigorously nodding her head. “Yes! Thank you for taking us in! Really, I’m so sorry! I won’t bring it up again!”

  With that issue hopefully handled for good, they were trying to decide who was going to ride back in which car when they heard the truck. The scavengers were back.

  CHAPTER 12

  Les was pissed. What should have been an easy day going through the houses they had busted into the day before was interrupted by those assholes. That they may have been the legal owners of some of the homes meant nothing to him. They left, so anything they left behind was fair game. And he had claimed it. All of it.

  There wasn’t really much left in this area. It looked like most of these people had tried to ride it out, waiting for help to show up that never came. The further they got from civilization (or what he considered civilization), the leaner the pickings seemed to be. They had plenty of food and ammo to last him and his crew a good long while. Water was going to be a problem soon though. He still wasn’t sure how they were going to handle that. Oh well – that was something to think about another day. Today was about getting more stuff.

  They already had an impressive amount of supplies in their stash at the mall. Food, water, guns, ammo, camping gear, some clothes, and they had recently added a couple of women for night time entertainment. It’s not like they could watch cable or even videos – nothing worked anymore. The women weren’t necessarily “willing” participants, but they liked eating and nothing is free in this world. The rule was you stay, you play. Thing was, he was already getting tired of them, and they were starting to stink. They couldn’t waste water on bathing, and he wasn’t willing to share his stash of wet wipes with them. He’d need to find some new ones, maybe some cleaner ones. Then he’d cut those skank bitches loose.