The End of America

by Pete Thorsen

  He got out and went to where he had hid his keys when he had left. They were still in the same spot and he opened the small back door. He got a shopping cart and started hauling supplies to the back. After some effort he got one of the big overhead doors open and backed the pickup up to it.

  Don loaded all the full propane tanks, both the 20 pounders and the little one pound bottles. He got the rest of the food he had bought and all the food that was worthwhile in the store including the soft drinks. Flashlights, dry cell batteries, every cigarette lighter, everything he could think of that might come in handy later he took with him.

  Next Don loaded until the pickup box was full. Then he closed the store up tight again and locked it. Then he went to his Suburban and opened the back and unlocked the big slide out drawer. He put all the ammo and other items from there into the cab of his truck. With that all done he turned around and drove back out of town.

  On the way back home he stopped at a trailer dealer and hooked up another covered trailer. Then next he stopped at a couple of the trucks he had seen on the way in to check them out. One of the things he had taken from the store was a bolt cutter with three foot handles. This was like a master key for any padlock and a very fast way to open them.

  He used it on the lock that was on the first truck. Again he found some items and loaded them into his new trailer. By the time he got to the dirt road that led to his house the trailer was full. When he got home he backed trailer next to the garage and left it loaded. It would now just be a storage shed. He put much of the stuff from the pickup box into his other covered trailer which he would now also use as a shed.

  The food and some other things he did put into the house. He made a light lunch and then loaded the cart he had used when he had first left town and brought a full load to the cabin in the woods. With this load he brought the pistol and rifle with plenty of ammunition that had once belonged to Bev’s murderer.

  He wanted both a rifle and pistol at the cabin so he would be outfitted if he ever needed it. Don seriously never expected to use or stay at the cabin in the woods. It was like an insurance policy that you figured you would have and pay for but never use. With this load Don had brought a camp stove, lantern, and plenty of fuel.

  There was now plenty of food, a tent, two sleeping bags, a backpack, a case of water bottles, and a large supply of matches along with many cigarette lighters. He had brought some new clothes that fit him from the store along with an extra new pair of hiking shoes and a winter jacket.

  Don liked the cabin and thought it had a nice view from the front door. It was actually pretty nice inside now with all the work that he and Bev had done to it. The old rusty metal roof looked bad from the outside but Don didn’t think it even leaked. One thing he had brought to the cabin was a bucket and rope so he could get water out of the old well if he needed to. He thought he would have to be very desperate before he would drink any of it but it was good to have the bucket here just in case. He stayed at the cabin until late in the afternoon and then returned back to the house for supper and bed.

  Day Twenty Six

  After breakfast in the morning Don drove all the way back to the trailer dealer and got another covered trailer. Then he drove to a truck he found yesterday that contained food. He backed up to the big truck and loaded food into the trailer which he thought he would drop off up at Sam’s house. He even made sure he loaded a bunch of cat food for Murgatroyd.

  When he finished he closed his new trailer up and was just pulling down the door of the truck when he heard something. He finished shutting the door and switched the safety off his rifle. The noise he heard was an old car and it was coming from town.

  He walked up to the front of the dead truck so if there was shooting his pickup would not be hurt, he also wanted to meet any trouble head on. He would never hide again. Holding his rifle at ready he saw that the loud car was slowing and had two guys sitting in the front seat, he couldn’t see into the back to know it there were any more.

  When the car stopped about thirty feet in front of him and the driver and passenger looked like they were going to get out Don yelled.

  “Stay in the car or get shot.”

  The driver’s door opened all the way and Don leveled his rifle at them.

  “Wait, don’t shoot we only want to talk.”

  “Step one foot on the ground and you die. I have no desire to speak to you. Drive on and live.”

  The passenger door opened all the way now. Don started to take up the slack in the trigger.

  “We only want to talk about what happened. We will just get out to talk.”

  “No you will not get out. I’ll not tell you again. Move on now or you will surely die.”

  Don could see both men pretty clearly through the windshield. When he saw that the passenger had a pistol he did not hesitate at all. Don shot right through the windshield into the passenger with his .308 and swung towards the driver. The driver dived out the door and was bringing a pistol to bear on Don when they both fired. Don shot three times and knew he had put two into the driver before Don himself fell down.

  One of the driver’s bullets had hit him in the left leg. He could feel the blood wetting his leg but he watched the driver and the car for a minute before looking at his leg which hurt something fierce. When he looked at it he knew it was far from fatal because it was a through shot on the outside of his leg.

  It was pumping blood out pretty good though. Don got back on his feet and limped over to the driver and looked into the car. Both the driver and the passenger appeared quite dead. No one else was inside the car. Don laid his rifle down and drew his knife. He shoved the knife partway into the driver and got no response then cut a large section of shirt from the back of the man’s shirt which he used to temporarily bind his leg. It certainly did hurt and tying the rag on it did not make it feel any better at all.

  But it did sure slow the blood down that was coming out to just a slow ooze. Don walked over and stuck the knife a little into the passenger and again received no response. The back seat was full of stuff that Don thought he could use at least some of but it would likely still be there in a few days when he might be feeling better.

  He did start collecting all the guns when he heard some noise coming from the trunk. He drew one pistol and taking the keys from the ignition he limped back to open the trunk. He put in the key and when he turned it he quickly stepped back and had the pistol raised to fire. The trunk came open to reveal a naked woman inside with wide open eyes and a very wild look on her face.

  “Easy ma’am. I won’t hurt you. Stay inside for just a minute and I’ll get back away.”

  Don limped back near the driver’s body while holstering his pistol and retrieved his rifle then limped back toward his own pickup yelling over his shoulder.

  “You can get out now and have the working car and whatever is inside it. There is more food inside this big truck. Good luck to you.”

  Don slowly and painfully got into his pickup. On the way past he had double checked that he had closed and latched his trailer so he was ready to go. Once in the driver’s seat he reached for the key to start the truck but started feeling real light headed. Then everything turned black.

  When Don opened his eyes he could see blue sky above him. He realized he was very uncomfortable and lying on the pavement right next to the open door of his truck. He hurt all over and his leg burned something awful. His head was tipped up just slightly and it felt like something softer than the pavement was under it. He heard something and saw the naked woman now wearing some very ill fitting man’s clothes walking toward him with a water bottle.

  “Here try to drink some of this.”

  She held his head up a little straighter and held the bottle to his lips and tipped it to get some water into him.

  “Just lay there for a bit. You went into shock and passed out. While you were out I cleaned your leg wound with some booze they had in the car and bandaged it up as best I could with what I foun
d. Thanks for killing them.”

  “We’re even. Thanks for patching me up. If you could just give me a little boost up I’ll just be on my way.”

  When he tried to get up she did help him to his feet and caught him when he just about passed out again. Don realized she was pretty strong. He leaned against his pickup with his weight resting on his good leg for a couple minutes.

  When he felt strong enough he used mostly his arms to pull himself into the driver’s seat where he gratefully just sat still. Don looked down at his leg and saw that she had cut off his pants leg and cut that up to use for bandages. Looked like a good enough job. Seeing his water bottle on the seat he took a long drink of the water and just rested a bit.

  “There is no way at all you should be driving. You could pass out at any time. I’ll drive you wherever you are in such a hurry to get to.”

  “No ma’am. I am sure I’ll be fine. If I start to get woozy I’ll stop until it passes. You should be fine now with the guns in the car and plenty of food.”

  “I seriously doubt that I’ll be fine and neither will you. You are obviously a very stubborn man. Your leg will heal but it should be properly dressed and the bandages changed regularly. It will have to be watched for infection and you will have to stay off of it for a week or more.

  I checked and luckily no larger veins or arteries were damaged in your leg. The bullet passed right through. Whether you like it or not we need each other for awhile.”

  “Thank you for your concern and I do appreciate it. I think we will both be fine. I tried letting a woman come with me once and she ended up being killed. I will not be responsible for getting another one killed.”

  “Your excuses are pretty lame and you will just have to stop being so damn stubborn. You lost a fair amount of blood and you are at serious risk of infection. I’ll drive you home and we can fight about this issue later. Now slide your butt over in that seat if you are so darn strong.”

  Don stared at the woman for a bit and saw the determined look in her eyes. He then a little at a time slid over in the seat of the truck. The woman walked back to the car and returned with the keys and a handful of guns. All of which she threw down on the seat. Then she climbed in and started Don’s pickup.

  “Which way?”

  “Straight ahead for about five or six miles. A dirt road on my side.”

  She took off with the truck and when the turn came up Don directed her to turn. When his driveway came in view he again told her to turn. After she turned and drove in a bit Don told her to stop and brush out their tracks. The woman stopped, looked at him, and just nodded.

  She jumped out of the truck and picked up a branch that was lying next to the truck and brushed out their tracks before getting in and continuing up to the house.

  “Just leave the trailer on the truck because it’s not for here.”

  The woman got out of the truck and came to Don’s side to help him in into the house. He just pointed to the kitchen where he sank down into one of the chairs.

  “Do you have any medical supplies at all here?”

  “In the second bedroom there is a tote box that says ‘medical’ on it. It should have what you need.”

  The woman left and soon was back with the large tote. She opened it and went through it to see what was there before setting some on the table to use on him.

  “This is likely going to hurt pretty badly. Take these Tylenol first. I’ll get you something to eat and give the pills a chance to work before I start working on your leg.”

  With that she opened the refrigerator and cupboards and soon had made a lunch for both of them. Don noticed she ate quite a bit and had been likely starving for quite awhile. After they were done eating she knelt done and removed the bandage she had put on earlier.

  She looked the wound over well before applying some antibiotic to the wound and wrapping it back up again. Though it hurt bad Don kept his mouth shut and let her work. She seemed to know what she was doing and certainly wasn’t the least bit squeamish about it.

  “Are you a nurse?”

  “No. I was a veterinarian’s helper. Animals and people are about the same. I’ve patched a couple people up before too. My name is Lynn.”

  “I’m Don. In the bedroom you got the med kit from there are some woman’s clothes. Help yourself if you think anything might fit you. You can use any of my clothes but they would be huge on you. You are welcome to use the shower in the bathroom but there is only a very small water heater so you might run out of hot water.”

  “I could hardly believe it when I tried the faucet here in the kitchen and water came out. We should maybe move you to the couch and put that leg up a little first.”

  Together they got Don onto the couch where he laid down. The woman went and found some clothes and while she was on her way to the bathroom again she saw that he was already sound asleep. After she got cleaned up and dressed in the clothes that were pretty tight on her more muscular frame, she let him sleep and went out to look over the place.

  When she got back inside she looked and snooped over the whole house and that did not take very long due to its small size. She was amazed at all the food that was piled everywhere in the house. And the food that was in the trailer attached to the pickup (she had checked what was inside it) he had said wasn’t for here so he must deliver to someone else also.

  The house was small but everything inside worked. She had turned on the light switch out of habit when she entered the bathroom and the light had come on. She did not know if she would ever see electric lights again and here they were.

  And running hot and cold water with a flush toilet and all the water she wanted to drink. Plus all the other drinks she found in the house. This was like heaven after what the last month had been like.

  She went back out to the garage and grabbed the 1x6 board she had seen in there earlier. There was an axe there too and she used it to bring the board to a crude point on one end. She tried it to see if it would make a crude crutch but it was too tall for her which she thought might be about right for the taller man.

  Later in the afternoon Lynn started to make some supper. The noise or smell must have woken Don because he hobbled into the bathroom and later into the kitchen where he sat down. She had laid the homemade crutch next to the couch and she saw that he had used it.

  “How is the leg feeling?”

  “It hurts. But I think in will be fine. I can walk on it but it does hurt some.”

  “Just don’t try to overdue at all. You lost a bunch of blood but you should recover fairly quickly from that. The leg will be sore for quite awhile. Tomorrow we’ll know more when I change the bandage. You should make sure you get plenty to eat and drink until you are all healed up. Especially the first few days when your body is refilling with blood again.”

  With supper Lynn had Don drink a sports drink that had some minerals in it. She did not know if it would help but it sure couldn’t hurt anything. When he had sat down he had put a bottle of vitamins on the table so he would remember to start taking them because he usually did not remember. He told Lynn she should take a vitamin everyday also because he had plenty.

  “You have a pretty nice setup here with electric and running water.”

  “I was lucky to stumble on this place and find it empty. The owner lives someplace in New Jersey so I doubt that he will show up.”

  “So who is the load of food for?”

  “Just someone I owe a debt to.”

  “You seem like the type who always pays his debts.”

  “I try to. In a couple days when I feel a little better we can find you a place of your own. All we need to find is a place with water. It is easy to add some solar power for lights and such. And there is still plenty of food around we can stock it with. Or you can just go wherever you want with the car. Do you know how to shoot a gun?”

  “I’ve hunted before and shot different game so I do know how to shoot. I’ve shot pistols before a few times but I would rather have
a rifle.”

  “That’s not a problem. I can give you a rifle and you can have whatever guns those two bad guys had.”

  “There is no rush in finding me a place but I would like some clothes that fit a little better.”

  “I think we can find you some clothes that fit but they might not be very feminine.”

  “Working for the vet I always wore work clothes anyway so that would be perfect.”

  They talked through the evening but Lynn thought that Don remained rather distant toward her. She guessed that the woman whose clothes she now wore must have been someone Don really cared for. She was surprised that they had used separate bedrooms if that was case though. Then she realized it had likely been his sister.

  At the end of the evening they went to their separate bedrooms. Lynn had brought in one of the pistols she had brought from the car and had laid it on the night stand by her bed. She decided she needed to get a belt and holster so she could wear it all the time like Don wore the two he carried. It was so pleasant to be clean, not hungry, and safe when she went to bed. It was quite a change.

  Day Twenty Seven

  In the morning they were both up early. Don’s leg was sore but it didn’t hurt near as much as yesterday. He saw the bandage while a little red had not leaked out. It did not hurt any more if he put weight on it but he could feel it try to pull apart sometimes if he moved it too far.

  It was way better if he took baby steps. He hoped it healed quickly; he did not like being less than a one hundred percent. Lynn made a big breakfast which they both ate with gusto. Lynn had some catching up to do and Don had to eat so he could heal faster.

  “Feel free to do whatever you like today but I am going to just spend some time on the couch. Reading and resting to try to heal faster.”

  “I’m glad you are being sensible about the leg. You’re strong so it should heal pretty fast if you don’t pull it open all the time. I’ll probably walk around some for a little exercise. You don’t have a spare holster do you? I’d like to carry one of the pistols I brought yesterday.”