by M. C. Allen
“How many more do you think we need to kill to have some peace?” I asked quietly.
I was afraid that the answer was going to be “a lot more.” How could it have all fallen apart so quickly? Are people that close to their base instinct that the slightest disruption causes us to lose our damn minds? I went a little nuts when I lost Kate, but I didn’t go out and start stealing and killing for no good reason. Oh, I killed for good reasons. That is how I justify my actions, and that is how I sleep at night.
Joseph must have found the keys to the vehicles since I heard one of the trucks fire up outside. It ran for a minute, then it was shut down. The second truck also ran. It was a little quieter. The deuce started and I could hear the turbo whistle like a teakettle. Things were looking up.
And then Lisa and Danielle told us their story.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Lisa Rodgers and Danielle Reyes were both single ladies, who at one time lived in the same apartment complex on the east side of Dallas. Lisa worked for a large corporate bank in the downtown area. Danielle was a nurse who worked the surgical floor of one of the large university hospitals in the Dallas area. They were both at work when the lights went out and were able to walk home without any major problems, but the thick smoke from the fires to the west made them rethink staying.
They were both in the process of getting their bikes out of storage when they ran into each other and decided to stick together and head to Lisa’s ex-boyfriend’s house. Packing some canned goods, bottled water, and some essentials, they arrived with little difficulty except for having sore legs. As luck would have it, he was home as well. Lucas, the confident ex-boyfriend, felt that the fire would be under control soon, and he talked them into staying over until things settled.
The next day, the fires had joined into one large conflagration and flames could be seen soaring into the sky. They ate everything they could out of his refrigerator, loaded all they could on the bikes, and headed east. Lucas had them stay on the major streets, and they finally made it to Interstate 30. They headed east, along with a teeming sea of humanity. To them, it looked like everyone from Dallas was on the move. On the bikes, they were able to get out ahead of most of the pedestrians, and they soon found the road clear. Except for the stalled cars and people who were leaving their vehicles behind, they were doing fine. Once they were outside of the sprawling suburbs, the trio pulled into a rest stop to use the restrooms and see if they could look at the state map on display behind a glassed in frame.
Lisa and Danielle were looking at the map when Lucas was shot dead. He had stayed to watch the bikes and their meager possessions, when a man walked up and shot Lucas. The man then jumped on Lucas’s bike and started riding away while guiding Danielle’s bike that had her pack strapped on the rear luggage rack. Danielle ran after the man while Lisa went to check on Lucas. The man on the bike stopped, turned, and fired at Danielle. She ducked behind a stalled car and screamed at the man. He turned and continued on his way. Danielle went to help Lisa, but the gunshot to the head had taken Lucas instantly.
A few people stopped to help, but there was nothing they could do. They stayed at the rest stop overnight. They used a tarp they found in the back of an abandoned truck to wrap up his body. Danielle wanted them to move on, but Lisa demanded they stay with Lucas until someone came to collect his body.
At one point, an officer with a local police force walked up, saw the blue tarp, and asked what had happened. He wrote the report on a notepad. He took note of their names and addresses and phone numbers. The officer was efficient and polite, and told the two women that he would take charge of the body. Without any real plan, the two ladies left the rest stop, which was brimming with refugees.
Lisa and Danielle took turns riding the bike for several days until they were too weak and dehydrated to go further. They knocked on the doors of homes just off the interstate and were turned away by the occupants. One family agreed to give them water and food and a place to rest. The Chambers family only asked that they help out with chores and to watch their young daughter, Michelle, while they worked in their garden behind the house. They stayed with the Chambers family, and they all waited for the world to go back to normal.
It never did. A mob of hungry people came to their door and demanded to be let in. Mr. Chambers said that they didn’t have enough food left, and he was sorry, but they had to leave. The now angry mass of humanity spilled around the house and found the garden out back. This drove the horde into a killing frenzy.
They broke down the door and dragged the entire family outside along with Lisa and Danielle. Mr. Chambers had his head crushed by a concrete block within seconds. Mrs. Chambers was held down while her throat was cut with a steak knife. Lisa and Danielle huddled around Michelle and didn’t resist. The woman who had killed Mrs. Chambers came and took Michelle. She said she would kill the child if they didn’t tell her where the extra food was hidden. Lisa knew instinctively that telling the truth would lead to her death, and lying would earn her some time. She pointed to the little shed where the well and pumps were located.
That drew some of the people away. Lisa yelled out that the food was buried in a box behind the pump. The shovels were in the larger shed. Once the starving marauders were distracted, Danielle and Lisa made their escape. Unlike the mob of scarecrows, the two ladies had retained most of their strength by keeping fed by the Chambers’s garden. Without any other option, they left Michelle behind and headed into the wooded area next to the house. They just ran. Danielle sobbed uncontrollably on the couch. It was a high pitched keen. “We just left her with those animals! We are as bad as they are!”
Lisa was tearing up at that point too. So I got their attention.
“It was the only thing you could have done. You would be dead otherwise.”
Lisa shook her head. “We should have died there that day. That little girl didn’t deserve to be thrown away like that. Everything that happened after that was all our fault.” Her voice trailed off.
They both suffered from survivor’s guilt and most likely had a serious case of post-traumatic stress. We needed to keep a suicide watch on them at all times, or they would take their own lives if they were left alone. It had happened back in the old neighborhood. We lost members by their own hands after only a few weeks of the pulse.
“Lisa, Danielle, I know this is hard for you. The men who were holding you here, who were they?” The answer was a shock for us all.
“They said they worked for the regional government under orders from the director himself. We were suckered in by them. We were so hungry that we just walked up to their roadblock and begged for something to eat. They treated us well and fed us. We were given a place to sleep for the night. We woke up being handcuffed and tossed in the back of one of the trucks out front. They moved us all over. They killed the owners of different houses out here and set up shop for a few days at a time. When they got here, they decided to work with the men who were already here. A few days ago, they left to go kill some people. They didn’t come back. Was that you?”
“I guess so, the timing lines up. Did you know that the men who were already here were cannibals?” Lisa had a horrified expression on her face.
“Oh my God, I wondered why they looked at us the way they did. They didn’t just want to use us, they wanted to eat us!”
“But they didn’t. You survived this. We can help you both, but you have to try to keep going. It will be easy to just stop caring. We all know this from what we have seen and done.” I knew they were hanging in there by a tenuous thread. “We are going to use this house for a while. We need to clean it up and use it for the people back at the campground. We could your help though. Will you help us?” If nothing else, we could keep them occupied long enough to take their minds off of their past traumas.
Danielle recalled hearing the men complain that they needed more gasoline for the generator, but their trucks were diesels. They said that more would be brought to the h
ouse in a few days.
There were more of them out there, and they would be here soon bringing more supplies. We needed to be ready for them. We needed a plan. I mentally thought of all of the pieces in play on my mental “chessboard,” and I realized we needed more people to secure this farm. It had a working water well, but we needed gasoline for the generator. Free flowing drinking water would make life a lot easier for everyone involved. We also needed to protect this oasis. William Pogozelski had lied. Water hadn’t dried up; the generator had run out of gas. I called over the radio, “Joseph, when you finish playing with our new toys, can you come in here. We may have problems coming at us soon.”
“I’m coming that way.” I heard the trucks being moved around outside. It sounded like they were going to the barn. Based on the sound, the deuce hadn’t moved yet. I used the radio again to ask Joseph if he needed my help.
“Do you need me to move the big truck for you? I’ve done it a few times in the past.” Really, I had driven most of the older equipment in our military arsenal. I had once held licenses for most wheeled vehicles and several of the tracked variety.
“That would be nice. I can get it started, but I’m afraid I’ll screw something up.” Joseph was just being careful.
“Tell you what, come on back out front and I’ll show you how to operate it.”
“Sounds good.” I asked Alex and Regina to stay and help Lisa and Danielle. They were going to get an inventory of everything useful in the house and keep the two ladies from hurting themselves.
I took Jordan, Kofi, and Dale back outside and pointed to the ladder. They got the message, and soon enough they were all up there stripping the bodies and dumping them over the side. I noticed they dropped them on the side where the burials were going to take place.
Joseph met me at the idling M35 truck. I wasn’t sure of the model number until I checked the data plate inside the cab. It was the version that would run different types of fuel, and if the gauges were accurate, there was half a tank of fuel in it. We would need to get more soon, but for now, I walked Joseph through the basic operation of our new personnel carrier.
“We can’t drive any of these trucks on the roads until they have been scouted for bad guys. We can’t afford to get chewed up in an ambush right now. The problem is with moving everyone from the campsite to this location. Can they all make the hike, and can they carry enough gear? We may need to take multiple trips, but how can we hold off an attack when our forces are divided?” I had an idea, but I needed Joseph to understand my dilemma.
Joseph got it. “We need to protect this spot first. Do you know what we are facing?”
“Lisa and Danielle heard that they were waiting for resupply that should be here soon. They specifically mentioned gas for their generator. That’s why they were using the outdoor latrine. We need to get every piece of equipment these guys have on them and use if for our people. Also, we need to note which frequency their radios were set to monitor and have one of them on at all times set up to listen in. If they get close to us, we may hear their transmissions and give us a heads up so we can prepare a party in their honor.” I was rambling, but the big guy was following me pretty well.
“After Jordan helps with the bodies, I’ll set him up in the house with the radios. The batteries will need to be charged, and I bet that is going to involve a gas run.” Joseph pointed back south. He understood that all of the cars at the original camp carried at least some gas in their tanks.
“We might as well use it up now. Without the proper fuel stabilizers, that gas will be bad in a year, if not sooner. Who can we send back there to siphon and carry?” I asked.
“Angel can do it, but the smart approach would be to send him with several of the empty cans from here and have him ‘volunteer’ some of the lazy guys back there to do the actual hard part. Angel can also get them moving this way. It will take a while to get everyone here so we might as well start that process.”
Joseph and I walked over to the observation point where Angel had been waiting and watching the road through my scope. Joseph outlined the plan with Angel. I made sure he had one of our little radios and Joseph directed him to the location of the empty, red, five-gallon fuel cans. Angel used rope to tie four of the plastic cans together by looping through the handles. He strung them over his neck and started making his way back. He carried his personal weapon and only took a small pack of provisions. Angel intended on moving back and getting the camp moving. I called Kofi over to take over the rifle.
“I need you to keep an eye on the road for me. I’m going down there to see if we can defend this location. Don’t shoot me.” Kofi chuckled but nodded in agreement.
“Are you sure you want a teenager on the gun, Mr. Metcalf.”
“Kofi, I trust nobody like I do you kids.” I patted his shoulder and headed out.
I went to the barn, looking for tools. I came away with a limb trimmer, a double-bit axe, and a decent shovel. I found Joseph and outlined my plan. The kids were busy either burying dead bodies or getting an inventory of everything. I left Joseph to supervise getting the pair of 240s off the roof and making sure they were ready for action. I took my M14, the hand tools, some water, and of course my body armor down the road to find a suitable spot for a slaughter.
I think a fair fight is one that I win. I also believe in cheating at every opportunity.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
From where Kofi was set up, I estimated distances at one hundred-yard intervals along the road. I used the shovel to dig up small, inconspicuous holes along the side so I could install range sticks on my return. I had to stop when I reached five hundred yards. The road curved sharply to the left and almost immediately to the right.
A dried up pond was in the way, and the road had been directed around it. When the rains came again, this pond would fill with water and the overflow would run down into the familiar creek running south. Vehicles had to come this way. People in the business of taking up arms to defend this now royally screwed country would call this a natural choke point.
This is where I would paint my masterpiece. The two M240s from the house would go here at the bend. The rifle positions would need to be dug in too. The secret to a good ambush is the element of surprise. For that, I needed to find firing points that were concealed and survivable once the enemy tried to counter attack. Any decent rifleman knew to fire back and attack if you find yourself ambushed. It was something drilled into recruits during basic training.
I wouldn’t give them the chance to counterattack. To do this right, I needed to pay attention to the topography of this spot. The dried up pond offered no cover or concealment for enemy troops trying to escape, so they would try to dive into the ditch on the opposite side. I started there. I used the limb cutters to remove enough weeds and brush to reduce the concealment, but not too much to make it obvious. Next, I moved into the heavy brush about twenty yards from the road and started digging in firing positions.
I stayed at it until sunset when I heard Joseph call for me. I needed to take a break. I had to swing the axe to cut roots and loosen the soil for the deeper positions. Although the shovel was full sized and was easier to use than the folding one I had used for so long, the positions for the machine guns were not deep enough. I needed another day to get everything finished, but I had a good start.
As I made my way back, I stopped and placed large sticks into the holes I had made earlier and tamped the loose dirt around the shaft to hold them upright. I used the axe to cut off the bark on the side facing the observation point. Through the scope, we would be able to see the lighter colored parts of the wood. I placed five marks for five hundred yards, and I completed the job at the one hundred mark as the light faded.
Back at the house, I could see a lot more people moving around, making themselves at home in the barn and outbuildings. I even heard the generator running. The water tank was filling, based on the sounds coming from the concrete cistern placed up on the six-foot s
tand. That should get enough pressure to start the water in the house running again. Good news for me. I could use some liquid refreshment.
Jordan came over to greet me. “Mr. Metcalf, the house is a bit crowded so we set up in the barn. Did you know they have a tractor in there? We can’t get it to start, but Kofi said you probably could since you know just about everything.”
“Did you find keys for it?” I asked.
“They were already in it. When we turn the key, it makes a sound like it wants to run, but it won’t catch. And yes, it has fuel in it. It’s a diesel.”
“It could be several things. Did anyone think to bring the automotive tools from the truck back at the camp?” Jordan nodded as we entered the barn. It was decently large, and still had small square bales stacked to the back right-hand side. The tractor was backed all the way in, next to the hay. It was too dark to work on it that night, and it needed to be pulled outside before I tried to fire it up. We would also need to move people out of the way. The barn was not full of people, but it would be tight if we took in many more strays.
My kids had staked out a spot near the door, off to the side, with Joseph’s people. Somehow, we had become one big happy family.
“Who has the guard shifts covered?” I asked Jordan. He pointed to a piece of paper that had been hung on a rusty nail inside of the door. The guard spots were listed with times and I noticed for the first time in months that my name was off the list. I looked at Jordan curiously and pointed. “Am I being punished by being left off the list?”
“No sir, we were able to get some to volunteers to help out. We also felt that you needed some rest.”
I wanted to grumble, but in a way, I was relieved. I wasn’t getting younger. “Thank you for that. Who is monitoring the radios?”
Joseph walked in just then and answered for Jordan. “I have the first shift over in the ‘big house.’ That’s what we’re calling it. The elderly ladies who help with the little ones will be in charge of that. We are going to run the generator until the water tank is full then we will shut it down to conserve gas. It’s almost full now. We charged some of the radios already. How does it look down the road? We didn’t hear from you and you didn’t fire any shots, so we all figured you were good.”
