by Payne, T. L.
Jason and Zach both nodded.
Maddie rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Ron.
“Obviously the sheriff found the killer. So—what happened?”
“He did. Austin’s father and some of their family all followed. The Jewell family was ready and opened fire as soon as the sheriff’s men walked out into the open,” Ron said.
Maddie sat her rifle by the door, grabbed the pitcher of lemonade and a stack of plastic cups, and joined the others at the table. Ryan poured everyone a glass as Ron finished the story.
“The sheriff caught the Jewell girl attempting to take off on a four-wheeler. She shot him and rode off during the gunfight. Austin took off after her on his horse. Lugnut, Jacob, and I located them in a barn about a quarter mile away. The homeowner said he heard shouting and went to check. The Jewell girl had ambushed Austin when he’d gone in looking for her. She was going to do to him what she’d done to his sister.”
Ron dried his hands and face on a kitchen towel. As he held it out, Maddie could see he’d done a poor job of washing the blood off. The towel was streaked with blood. She made a mental note to add that towel to the bleached load when they washed it.
“They were yelling so loud they didn’t even hear us calling their names as we walked up,” Lugnut said, as he wiped his face. All he managed to do was smear the blood around and looked worse than when he’d started.
“Lugnut got the drop on the girl and we got her subdued. Lugnut threw her over Austin’s horse, and we headed back to tell the sheriff. That is when we discovered she’d killed the sheriff in the garage,” Ron said.
“Where did all the blood come from?” Maddie asked.
Lugnut turned to face her. She resisted the urge to take the towel from him and wipe the blood from his beard.
“There was a shoot-out between the deputies and people in the house. Someone in there was a damn good shot and dropped several of the Henson and all but one of the deputies.”
“All but Jacob?” Zach asked.
“Yep,” Lugnut said.
“And how did the blood get on all of you?” Zach asked.
Maddie looked Lugnut up and down. She didn’t see any visible wounds. She turned her attention to Ron as he answered Zach’s question.
“We had to go into the house. They weren’t coming out. We were low on ammo, so we had to use these,” Ron said, holding up his tactical knife. “We had to get up close and personal.”
“We took the brother and the other girl alive, though,” Lugnut said, gulping down his entire glass of lemonade.
“Why bring Austin Henson here, though?” Maddie asked.
“As we were taking them out of the house, a bunch of the Jewell’s family arrived. They weren’t armed so they couldn’t do much to stop us from taking them, but they made threats against Austin.
“So, what? We have a Hatfield’s and McCoy’s feud now?”
“Something like that,” Lugnut said.
“His father was killed. I thought he’d be safer here with us until this damn thing dies down,” Ron said.
Maddie worried that Ron’s big heart might get him in trouble in this new world. She’d always admired his kindness and willingness to go out of his way to help others. She wondered if that trait would be an asset or determent in the apocalypse.
“You think it will? These things tend to fester and grow, not die down?” Ryan asked.
Ron shifted in his seat to face him.
The door opened, and Jacob walked in. He, too, had attempted to wash the blood away.
“I convinced Austin to lie down for a while,” Jacob said, kicking off his boots and leaving them on the rug in the mudroom.
Maddie turned back to Ron.
“So, what now?”
“That is up to the new sheriff,” Ron said.
Maddie turned her gaze back to Jacob.
“What? You’re the new sheriff?”
“Just until we can have a new election.”
“And what is the new sheriff going to do with Mark Jewell and the girls?” Ryan asked.
Jacob slid in beside Jason on the bench along the wall. Lugnut poured Jacob a glass of lemonade and handed him a biscuit. Maddie felt her face begin to flush as she stared at him. She again looked for a flaw in the man — something to concentrate on besides his gorgeous green eyes and long eyelashes.
“We are going to lock them up and have a trial. My job is finished. I’ll write a report. The prosecutor will charge them, and I guess there will be a trial. But with Derek dead and no forensic lab to test the evidence, I’m not sure how that will work,” Jacob said.
“Will there even be a trial these days? I mean one with a judge and jury like before?” Jason asked.
“Do the judge and prosecutor live in town? Are they still showing up, business as usual?” It all seemed unbelievable to Maddie.
“The prosecutor has an apartment above his law practice near the courthouse. He is still showing up when the judge orders him too. He is filing charges on the few cases that we’ve written reports on and collecting his MRE’s from the county’s emergency food storage. Judge Farley is still trying cases. They are just bench trials without a jury, though. Everyone is sentenced to community service. The county has them cutting firewood for the elderly and mucking stalls out at the Keller’s horse ranch. Keller said he’d trade the county the use of the horses in exchange for the labor.”
“Who is feeding the prisoners?” Ryan asked.
“The county and whatever business uses their labor.”
“The county has extra food to feed petty criminals?” Lugnut asked.
“Some. FEMA and the Red Cross provided it. I’m not sure how much longer it will last, though.”
Lugnut looked around.
“Where’s Rank?”
“He’s up in the loft of the barn. He said he was on watch,” Ron replied.
“If you are here, who is guarding the killers?” Harmony asked.
“We drove them to the jail and posted extra guards to watch them.
“Wait, are people still showing up for work like the world didn’t go to shit?” Maddie asked.
“A few are—the ones who live in town. The county is their only source of food and supplies. They know that if they don’t work, they don’t eat.”
“We had to add an extra jailer in case the rest of the Jewell family gets the idea to try to break them out,” Jacob said.
“Or the town’s folk decide to make good on their threat to lynch them,” Lugnut said through a mouth full of biscuit.
“Lynch them?” Jason asked.
Jacob put his drink down and turned in his seat to face Jason.
“Yeah. There was a crowd gathered at the sheriff’s department when we got there. We’d also brought the sheriff and the other deputies’ bodies back with us. When the town’s folks saw what the Jewell’s had done to them, they tried to storm the sheriff’s department. The door locks held. Thank goodness.”
“How long do you think you’ll be able to hold them off like that?” Jason asked.
“The judge came out and spoke to them. That seemed to calm them down. He promised a speedy trial and had everyone sign up for jury selection. That seemed to satisfy them for now.”
“Maybe until after the trial. Are they going to be satisfied with feeding those three while their own children go hungry?” Ryan asked.
“Probably not. But that is for them to decide. The prosecutor will lay out the case. The jury will vote, and the judge will pass sentence according to the law.”
“What law? The one that offered the option of life in prison or the death penalty?” Maddie asked, standing.
“That is something the community will need to work out, I guess,” Jacob said, standing.
“I need to get back. I am going to be up most the night handwriting reports for the prosecutor. And the county commission has a meeting first thing in the morning to find a new sheriff and deputies.”
“The county government
is still functioning?” Maddie asked.
“The judge deserves all the credit for that. The county commission is as worthless as ever,” Jacob replied.
She was amazed that things seemed so normal when they were everything but.
“And the commissioner will decide who the next sheriff is?” Maddie asked.
“The four county commissioners agreed to meet and discuss it, but we will see who actually shows up. The runner I sent out to inform them about the sheriff and the other deputies said that most of them were too afraid even to open their doors. He wasn’t sure they would leave their properties, let alone drive to town.”
“Drive?” Jason asked.
“Yeah, most everyone around these parts has an old farm truck or four wheelers that still runs. Until the gas runs out, anyway.”
“So, why was the sheriff on horseback if there are so many vehicles running in the county?” Maddie asked.
“The horses were to track down the escaped prisoners. Eventually, though, we will all be on horseback,” Jacob said.
“I need to get home and do chores,” Ron said.
“Thanks for everything, Ron,” Maddie replied
“Yeah, Ron, thanks. I’ll come by tomorrow and give you a hand with the horses,” Lugnut called as Ron walked toward the door.
As Jacob slid his feet into his boots, Maddie tried to find more flaws in the man. As Jacob stood, she searched his features. He was tall, dark, and handsome, but everyone had something wrong with them. No one was that perfect, right?
What was it that I found wrong with him again? Oh yeah, he’s too short.
Chapter 13
Arkansas City, Kansas
Event + 14 days
The two stops Beth and Maria made for fuel as they drove across Oklahoma were uneventful. Beth saw no one in the sparsely populated area of the state from Guymon to Kildare. At Kildare, they drove north to Arkansas City, Kansas. The sun was setting when they reached the outskirts of the small town. Beth was just about to comment on how fortunate they had been, not to have run into any trouble on their trip when she was forced to slam on her brakes. She’d been weaving in and out of vehicles on the roadway and was picking up speed again when a car rolled into view, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Beth!” Maria yelled as Beth stomped on the brake.
Beth’s immediate reaction was to put out her arm to keep Jack’s carrier from sliding forward onto the floor. The truck stopped within inches of the compact car now blocking the roadway.
Two men and a woman suddenly appeared, guns drawn and pointed directly at them.
“Out of the truck. Now! Get out now, or I will shoot you,” the taller of the men yelled.
“Maria,” Beth said as she raised her hands.
“I think we are going to have to do what he says. If I lower my hand to get my pistol, he might shoot. Just keep your hands up so he can see them. Maybe they’ll just take the truck.”
“Get out of the truck,” the man repeated.
Beth started to reach down and shut off the ignition.
“Stop. Leave it running. Just get out of the truck,” the man said.
“Maybe I can stomp on the gas and run them over,” Beth said, not taking her eyes off the people in front of her.
“No. It isn’t worth the risk. One of them could get off a shot.”
Beth reached over with her left hand and pushed open the driver’s door. As she began to exit, she grabbed Jack’s carrier and in one motion slid out of the truck.
“Get your hands up,” all three of them screamed at once.
Beth raised her left hand and lifted Jack’s carrier into the air with her right hand.
“It is just my dog,” Beth called out. “Don’t shoot. It is just a little dog.”
Beth saw the woman look over at the taller man. She saw him mouth, “Shut up.”
Beth seized the opportunity to play on the woman’s sympathy.
“Please don’t hurt my dog. He is just an old, one-eyed dog. He belonged to my elderly mother,” Beth cried.
The woman looked from Beth to the man and said something to him.
“Just set the carrier down on the ground and back away from the truck,” the man said.
“I’m not leaving my mother’s dog. I promised her on her death bed that I wouldn’t let anything happen to him.”
“Keep your hands in the air and step away from the truck. Do it now!” the man said again, clearly irritated.
Beth glanced over to Maria. Her hands were in the air. The shorter of the men had his gun trained on her. Maria never lost eye contact with the man.
“Drop that pistol, lady,” the shorter man said, pointing to the holster on Maria’s hip.
Maria slowly slipped her hand down and unstrapped the holster, pulled the pistol out and lowered it to the ground.
“Now back away,” the man said, taking a step toward her.
Maria did as he instructed.
“Now you,” the taller man said, looking to Beth.
“Just do what he says, Beth,” Maria said, backing away.
“Can we have our gear, at least? It has Jack’s medicine in it—and his food. He’ll die without it,” Beth said as she shifted Jack onto her left and slipped her pistol from its holster. She slowly lowered the gun to the ground and took a step back.
The tall man rushed over to the truck, grabbed her pack from the bed, and threw it on the ground.
“Get that car moved. Let’s go,” the tall man yelled as he got into the truck and shut the driver’s door.
The short man and the woman pushed the car off the roadway, then rushed back to the truck. The woman climbed in and scooted to the middle of the seat before the short man got in and shut the passenger door.
“Hey! What about my pack?” Maria asked as she rushed toward the truck.
She was reaching into the bed to grab her pack as they sped away.
“Damn! I almost had it!” Maria said, stomping her boot hard on the pavement. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
Beth stood with her mouth open in disbelief before the realization of the situation sank in. She was less than six hours from home. But on foot, it might as well have been six thousand hours.
As Maria continued to curse their luck, Beth remained speechless, her mind racing to think of their next move. They were exposed out on the highway. Their only weapons were the Henry survival rifle, a box of .22 long ammo, and a Ka-Bar BK2 knife in her pack that she brought with them from the Kingman camp. Bringing Jack may have saved their lives. It was a good thing that their carjackers were dog lovers, or they would be stranded with nothing.
“We need to get off this highway, Maria,” Beth said.
“Yeah, we need to find another vehicle,” Maria said, picking up Beth’s pack from the ground and sliding her arms through the straps.
Beth put the strap to Jack’s carrier over her head, adjusted it across her chest, and the three of them turned toward the shoulder of the road. Maria led them down the embankment to the tree line. They continued east, inside the tree line, as darkness approached. The night was clear and cloudless, lit by a bright full moon, so they were able to push on into the night after the sun went down. They decided to get back on the roadway to make better time, though, because they kept tripping over logs and rocks that they couldn’t see in the wood line.
After what seemed like hours to Beth, they came to a creek running under the highway and stopped under the bridge to rest. A boggy smell made Beth wonder if there was a stagnant pool of water nearby.
“We’re going to get you home,” Maria said, filling the silence.
“I know. We’ll get there. I know.”
Beth was trying to stay positive. She wouldn’t let herself give into the fear that incessantly tried to seize hold of her mind. She was too damn close to give up now. They’d make it. It would just take a lot longer on foot.
After eating energy bars and drinking what was left in their camel packs, Beth removed her water filter and hydration bl
adder from her pack and walked upstream hoping to reach a point where the creek was flowing faster, but the smell only got stronger. She flicked on her flashlight long enough to see that the current was running swiftly a few feet below where she stood. Beth slid down the muddy bank and stuck her filter in the stream to refill the water bladder.
Beth climbed back up the bank and headed back to Maria and Jack. Her foot hit something solid but soft, and she tumbled over it to the ground.
“Ugh!” Beth said as she landed on top of the water bladder. It was still too dark to make out what she had tripped over, but her nose told her what her eyes couldn’t.
“Maria,” Beth called out.
Beth felt around for the flashlight she’d dropped, extended her arms, and pushed herself back away from the noxious-smelling object. She stood, flicked on the flashlight, and gasped.
“Ugh is right,” Beth said, pulling her shirt up over her nose.
Jack began to bark, likely feeling abandoned.
Beth side-stepped around the bloated body of a man on the ground and hurried up the hill to quiet Jack before he could alert anyone to their presence. She doubted that any of the companions of the man lying by the creek were still hanging around, but others nearby might hear Jack’s barking and come to investigate.
Beth hurried to removed Jack from his carrier. She fished his leash from her pack and clipped it to his collar. After relieving himself on a nearby bush, Jack ran over to Maria.
“I think we should get moving. The sooner I get that smell out of my nostrils, the better,” Maria said, gathering up Jack and handing him back to Beth.
After ruffling the little dog’s fur, Beth placing him back inside his carrier. Beth and Maria climbed back up onto the highway and continued walking east.
“Maybe we should have looked for that man’s pack,” Maria finally said.
“I don’t think I would have had the stomach for it, myself,” Beth replied.
“I know, me either, but if his pack had been there, it could have been full of things we need.”
Beth considered it for a moment. She was sure that Greg or Roger would have had no qualms taking the pack of a dead man and going through it. Although they may eventually regret it, she couldn’t imagine being that desperate.
