Society Lost- The Complete Series

by Steven Bird

  Nodding in agreement, Jessie asked, “Where’s Tina?”

  “She’s with the kids in the bedroom down the hall. She’s trying to get some rest so she can relieve me later. Michelle is in with Archie right now, but I think she’ll be asleep before long. Everyone is beginning to look worn down from all of this.”

  “How are you holding up?” he asked.

  “The same, I guess. I just wish we could get the hell out of here. I don’t like sitting and waiting. At first, I wanted to stand and fight, which I still do, but the longer this drags out, the more I find myself just wanting to run. Something bad is going to happen. I can feel it in my bones. And with Billy and Isaac still out there somewhere, I mean… Every time I look at my kids, I wonder…”

  Seeing her emotions beginning to take hold, Jessie redirected the conversation by saying, “On the bright side, it’s going to be a full moon tonight. At least the guys won’t be sitting out there in pitch-black darkness.”

  With a sniffle, she nodded and smiled. “Yes, we can see fairly well from up here, too.”

  Feeling he’d bothered her enough and that she needed to be left alone to deal with her thoughts, Jessie said, “Well, I’m gonna go check on Levi. He’s hanging out in the kitchen by the back door for the night. I’ll be on the couch in the front room if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, Jessie,” Allison said with sincerity in her voice. “Thanks for everything.”

  Tipping his hat to her, Jessie descended the stairs and headed for the kitchen.

  ~~~~

  In front of the home, Mike turned to Sam and whispered, “It’s crystal clear tonight. I bet it’s gonna be a cool one.”

  “Yep,” replied Sam, as he seemed to stare aimlessly into the night.

  Wanting to work through the awkwardness he felt with Sam, Mike asked, “So, how do you want to do this? Do you want to take turns napping? Or what?”

  “Don’t matter to me none,” Sam replied as if something else was on his mind.

  “I think that would be best,” Mike said. “That way, one of us can remain somewhat sharp, rather than both of us being mental zombies by morning.”

  After a brief pause, Sam spat the excess tobacco juice from his mouth, wiped his chin with his sleeve and shrugged. “Go right ahead. I’ll be right here.”

  Feeling as if he wasn’t going to make any progress with the small talk, Mike said, “Alright, then. I’ll relieve you in a few hours. Wake me when you get tired.”

  “I reckon I’ll be good for a while,” Sam replied.

  Laying his head back on the daypack he carried with him when on watch, Mike stared into the brilliance of the clear night sky. He’d always been a fan of space exploration programming on cable TV. Though he hadn’t watched them for quite some time now, he would sit and stare at the night sky while thinking back to the vastness and wonder of the universe detailed in those shows.

  He’d do his best to make sense of what he saw, trying to visualize the spiral of the Milky Way and his place on that relatively tiny planet spinning and orbiting the average yellow star they called the Sun, and how it too, was merely a speck in the grand scheme of things. Thinking of the vastness of it all helped him put aside his fears of what would come of their world, as if it reduced the significance of it all. He’d fallen asleep many a night assisted by such deep and fanciful thoughts.

  ~~~~

  “I’ll be on the couch in the front room if you need me,” Jessie told Levi, who sat at the kitchen table with his feet propped up on the chair in front of him and his rifle within reach atop the table.

  “Alrighty, then,” Levi said with a nod, quickly returning his gaze out the window.

  Walking through the home, Jessie marveled at the moonlight as it shined through the windows. Reaching the front room, he turned the knob on the oil lamp on the coffee table, extinguishing the flame. The moonlight will do just fine, he thought. No need to waste fuel.

  Lying back on the couch, Jessie propped the Marlin .30-30 against the coffee table next to his trusty Colt and his journal. He practiced reaching for them with his eyes closed, building muscle memory in the event he awakened without the benefit of the night’s moonlit sky.

  Turning his thoughts to Isaac, Jesse wondered if his friend was still out there somewhere working his way toward them, or if an unfortunate fate had befallen him and Billy after they’d left the Hofstatder place.

  Shaking the negative thought from his head, Jessie reassured himself, That tough old bastard is fine. He’s just fine.

  ~~~~

  Awakened by a loud crash of breaking wood and glass, Jessie reached for his gun while trying to sit up, only to find him himself confined to the couch beneath the branches of a large oak tree. While the wind from the storm outside whipped into the huge, gaping hole in the front room left by the fallen tree, Jessie struggled to no avail.

  He was pinned down on the couch and could not move.

  As the winds continued to pound the home, the tree’s weight began to bear down harder on him, and the walls that held its trunk began to buckle under the pressure.

  With a branch of the tree laying across Jessie’s throat, he writhed and struggled, finding it harder and harder to breathe under its crushing weight.

  Awakened by the sound of his rifle hitting the floor, Jessie opened his eyes to see a dark figure atop him, with hands grasping tightly around his throat. Quickly realizing his apparent dream and his reality were closely intertwined, Jessie quickly attempted to fend off his attacker.

  Unable to free his throat from the man’s crushing grip, Jessie felt as if his windpipe was being closed. In an act of desperation, he felt around for anything he could use as a weapon. With his own knife being blocked by the man’s knee, Jessie worked his hands around the man’s belt, finding a small, fixed blade knife in a leather sheath.

  As he began to pull it from its sheath, the man released one of his hands from Jessie’s throat and grabbed Jessie’s wrist, holding the knife in place.

  Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jessie rolled with all his might, pushing off the couch and sending both of them crashing into the coffee table and onto the floor.

  Landing with his Colt squarely under his back, Jessie was now face-up on the floor amidst the broken debris of the table. Jessie winced in pain when the man’s weight pushed the gun into his back as they struggled.

  Seeing the reflection of moonlight on the blade of the man’s knife coming at him and unable to reach his Colt due to the struggle, Jessie grabbed the man’s wrist with his left hand while he fumbled around on the floor with his right. Finding his journal, he pulled his pen from the spiral ring binding and thrust it toward the man’s face, jabbing him directly in the right eye.

  Screaming in agony, the man dropped the knife and placed both hands over his face as he hurled himself off Jessie and fell backward. Rolling over, Jessie quickly grabbed his Colt, cocked the hammer, and pointed it at the man as the moonlight revealed the man’s face for the first time. It was Sam Hofstadter. “Sam! Shit!” exclaimed Jessie, and he immediately scanned the dark room for Sam’s ally, Levi.

  Hearing a scream upstairs, Jessie fired the Colt, ending Sam’s struggles with a shot to the chest, eliminating him as a threat. With his ears ringing from the high-velocity crack of the .357 Magnum round being discharged indoors, Jessie instinctively shoved his journal into his pocket and struggled to his feet. He ran up the stairs to find Tina struggling on the bed, with Levi on top of her and a knife held over his head. She struggled with both of her hands to keep the blade away from her flesh.

  “Hey!” Jessie yelled, drawing Levi’s attention.

  With Levi’s attention momentarily on Jessie, Tina struggled with her left hand to find something to use as a weapon, accidentally knocking the dimly lit oil lamp from the nightstand. As the lamp crashed against the floor, a ball of flames erupted, quickly catching the bed on fire.

  Hearing Jessie’s Colt fire several times, Tina felt Levi’s grip relax, and she push
ed him off her and into the fire. The smell of his hair and beard burning in the flames quickly filled the room while his body was consumed by the fire.

  Scurrying away from him, Tina struggled to her feet and began to run toward Jessie before a look of horror came over her. Realizing her eyes were looking behind him, Jessie felt his feet being pulled out from under him when a man, who had been running up the stairs amidst the struggle, grabbed his legs and jerked him down the stairs. Jessie’s head bounced off each step as he descended uncontrollably toward the front room below.

  Momentarily dazed from the fall, Jessie heard more screams from upstairs as the fire spread rapidly through the home, sending thick smoke billowing down the stairs.

  Turning to see the headlights of several vehicles shining through the front windows of the home, Jessie quickly ran up the stairs and tripped on his Colt on the way up, nearly causing him to fall once again.

  Picking up the old revolver, Jessie ran into the cloud of smoke to once again encounter the man who had sent him tumbling down the stairs. “Jonah!” he shouted, recognizing the man as Jonah Hofstadter.

  Seeing Jonah release his grip on Tina to raise his AR15, Jessie fired a shot from his Colt at point-blank range, knocking Jonah backward and off his feet.

  Taking Tina by the arm, Jessie pulled her toward the stairs and shouted, “Go! Get the hell out of here. I’ll get…”

  Interrupted by gunfire from the lower floor, Jessie and Tina both dove out of the line of fire as bits of the old house’s wood ceiling filled the air as bullets from the gunfire below struck it repeatedly.

  With their path into Archie’s room now blocked by the fast-moving fire, Jessie urged Tina toward Michelle’s room as she screamed, “Daddy! Daddy, no!”

  Bursting into Michelle’s room, Jessie dodged a powerful blast of a .30-06 rifle as Tina shouted, “No! It’s us!”

  Hearing heavy footfalls hastily ascending the stairs, Jessie kicked open the window, breaking the latch, and shoved the women toward the opening and onto the roof of the wraparound porch below. “Out! Now! I’ll get Allison!”

  Turning to run out of the room, Jessie was greeted by gunfire as the men reached the upper landing of the staircase, firing blindly into the smoke.

  Quickly reversing course, Jessie ran to the window and climbed out onto the porch roof just as he saw Tina jumping down to the flowerbeds below. Firing his remaining three shots into the window to slow their attackers, Jessie leapt from the roof, rolling upon impact with the ground.

  Hurrying to his feet, Jessie said, “Run! Run toward the woods!” when he saw Tina’s brother Frank emerge from the darkness, waving for them to follow.

  Turning to look at the house that was quickly becoming engulfed in flames, and seeing more armed invaders running around the house in pursuit, Jessie knew the home was lost and they had to retreat.

  Just then, he saw Allison leap from a window at the opposite end of the house, hitting the ground and frantically trying to crawl away as the room she just left behind became overtaken by flames. Running to her side, Jessie took her by the hand and led her toward the others as she coughed and struggled to breath from the effects of the smoke.

  Jessie looked back at the house with regret deep in the pit of his stomach, as they were forced to leave the others behind for now.

  Running through the woods in the dark, following closely behind Frank, Jessie, Allison, Tina, and Michelle struggled to keep up, running into branches and occasionally tripping over roots in the darkness.

  Reaching the edge of the property, approximately a half mile from the house, Frank waved them into a mass of blackberry briars where he had neatly trimmed a narrow passage that weaved right then left, disguising the entrance into the brush. In the center of the brush, he pulled open a metal door that covered a concrete entrance to what appeared to be a cellar or storm shelter of some sort. Holding the door open, Frank hurried them down the steps and into the darkness below.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hearing the door behind them lock with a bolt from the inside, Jessie turned back to Frank, who lit a match and said, “Have a seat,” as he gestured to a wooden bench lining the wall. Lighting an oil lamp, a soft glow filled the room.

  “Paul!” Allison wailed, as she ran over to her husband who lay on a sleeping bag on the floor. “Is he okay?” she cried, seeing bruising and trauma across the side of Paul’s face and feeling a large knot on the back of his head.

  “They walloped him pretty good,” Frank said. “He’s alive, though.”

  Feeling for his vital signs, Allison exhaled and felt a feeling of relief when she detected a strong pulse, and watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. “Has he been conscious?” she asked.

  “When I found him, he was mumbling gibberish,” Frank said as he walked over toward them. “He was by the chicken coop where he had been standing watch. The Hofstadter guy was gone. Then I heard a gunshot come from inside the house. I carried him here and immediately went back to look for others, which was when I saw you running away. What happened? Where is Daddy? Where are Shauna and the kids? Where is Mike?”

  Sitting down on the bench, Jessie placed his elbows on his thighs and rested his head in his hands. With a sigh, he said, “The Hofstadter clan seem to be in cahoots with the McCullough bunch. They used the guise of helping us as a Trojan horse. I can’t believe we fell for that.”

  “Oh, God. Billy,” Tina moaned at the revelation. “That means…”

  “We don’t know that yet,” Jessie interrupted.

  Looking to Jessie, Frank said, “You stay here with them. I’m gonna go take another look for others.”

  “No, I’ll come, too,” Jessie insisted.

  Holding his hand out to stop Jessie, Frank insisted, “For God’s sake, just do what I said.”

  Nodding in agreement, Jessie conceded, “Okay, I’ll bolt the door after you leave. Hurry back.”

  “I will,” Frank assured them. Turning to leave the cellar, he slid the rusty bolt open and quietly opened the door before slipping away into the darkness.

  Locking the door behind him, Jessie turned to look around the room. It was an old structure. It had to be at least one hundred years old by Jessie’s estimation. The room was damp, but had no standing water. The concrete walls contained pebbles from nearby streams, and at one place, it appeared a large crack caused by a tree root had been hastily repaired.

  Shelves lined the walls and contained canned foods, as well as sealed storage containers labeled rice, flour, and cornmeal. There were also several jars of honey, and some Ball canning jars full of various vegetables from the family’s garden. On the back wall of the room were first aid supplies, several knives, an older hunting-style compound bow, and several boxes of ammunition.

  Opening an old cigar box, Jessie found a .38 special snub nose revolver, as well as several dozen loose .38 special cartridges of various manufacturing origins.

  Utilizing the .357 magnum’s ability to also chamber the lower-powered .38 special round, Jessie held his old Colt in front of him, flipped open the loading gate, and one by one, removed the spent .357 brass casings before replacing each of them with one of Frank’s .38s.

  Looking over to Allison, Tina, and Michelle, Jessie saw that Allison’s mind was adequately occupied by her worry for Paul, but both Tina and Michelle seemed distant and very distraught—and rightfully so, he reasoned. Their entire world may have just been taken away from them.

  Turning her attention to Jessie, Allison said, “I guess this is where he’s been hiding out all these years. I guess his odd, reclusive nature is paying off.”

  “That it is,” Jessie replied.

  “What about Daddy?” Michelle asked with tears in her eyes. “He was still unconscious. He couldn’t have gotten out of there on his own. And those bastards wouldn’t have risked their necks for him. They probably just let him burn.”

  With the realization of her father’s certain death, Tina too began to shed tears in disbelief of w
hat had occurred just moments ago. “And Momma. Momma’s body was still in the house.” Sniffling, she sobbed, “I guess she and Daddy are together again now.”

  Turning to Tina, Michelle asked, “And what about Shauna and the kids? What about Mike?”

  In a reassuring tone, Jessie said, “Frank knows his way around out there. I’m sure he’ll bring word back to us about what’s going on.”

  The room turned to silence as everyone contemplated the unknowns and the knowns of the tragedy that had just befallen them.

  ~~~~

  Approximately an hour later, Jessie heard a light tap on the metal door at the entrance to the cellar. “It’s me,” a familiar voice whispered.

  With his Colt in his hand, Jessie slid the locking bolt out of the way and pushed up on the door while Frank opened it the rest of the way from the outside.

  Quickly entering the cellar and locking the door, Frank looked to the group and said, “Shauna and the kids are okay, but they took them. I didn’t see any sign of Mike.”

  “Or Daddy?” Michelle asked.

  Looking at her as if the answer should be obvious, Frank paused and said, “No. I’m sorry. The house is completely gone.”

  Remaining silent for a few moments and allowing Tina and Michelle to absorb in the news, Jessie looked at Frank and said, “Thanks. Thanks for helping us make it this far.”

  Responding initially with only a stare, Frank explained, “I’ve been playing in here since I was a kid. I never told anyone because I knew Momma wouldn’t want me down here by myself. She’d have said there were snakes in here or something. It’s the storm cellar to the old house located further back on the farm. Once our granddaddy built the new one closer to the road, this old place must have simply been forgotten. I stumbled across it one day after I had a fight with Tina. I think I was ten years old at the time. It’s been my secret hideaway ever since.

  “When the attacks started and the fighting began, I knew this place might come in handy someday, so I began to stock it with emergency food and supplies.”