“Hope you don’t get shot.”
“Me too. Let’s see what happens.” Justin pulled out in front of Cory and drove to the front of the house, where Ben got out and walked up the porch to the front door. He knocked and waited for the occupants to answer. A middle-aged man appeared from the side of the house carrying a double barrel shotgun at the low ready. Cory aimed his AR at the man, who immediately dropped the weapon and raised his hands. A long silence ensued.
“Can I help you?” the man asked in a quivering voice, his hands still raised. He was a diminutive person with a nervous mien, who glanced between Ben and Cory as he spoke. Ben walked down the steps and offered his hand, which the man shook with a look of reluctance.
“We’re wondering if we can sleep in your barn tonight. We’re headed north from Phoenix and didn’t figure on hitting a storm on the way.”
“I guess so,” the man replied after a moment. “But you can’t come into the house.”
“Fine by us. You got any heat in the barn?”
“Got a propane heater in there and that should do you.”
“You want to show us the place, or should we just go bed down?”
“I guess I can show it to you,” he replied. “Feel like I should offer you some coffee, too. We’ve been trying to hide out here and not get too visible to those passing by.”
“You have coffee?”
“Whole freezer full of it. We got to town before it got too bad and cleaned out the grocery store.” The man was clearly beginning to relax with the group of strangers. “Let me get the wife to brew some and we can sit on the porch and chat for a while.”
“Sure, I’ve never turned down a cup of coffee in my life, and I guess I’m too old to start now.” As the man went into the house, Ben turned and motioned for the group in the ATVs to come to the porch. There were only two chairs, so Ben took one and the rest stood near the steps to the porch.
“Here you go,” the man said, handing Ben a mug. “My wife will bring the rest. By the way, my name’s Ken.” He offered his hand, and Ben shook it and introduced the group.
“Thanks for putting us up,” Ben said. “It was going to be a cold night for us.”
“No problem,” Ken replied. Moments later his wife emerged with a pot and cups on a tray. She passed them around and then hung back in front of the door.
“This is Ben,” Ken said to his wife. Ben nodded his head and she nodded back. “My wife is a little shy of strangers,” he added. “We’ve had a little trouble around here over the last month.”
“Understandable. But you have no worries with us,” Ben directed his comment to the nervous-looking woman.
“My name’s Rosa,” she said in a soft voice. “Welcome to our home.”
Ben performed the introductions for the rest of the group and they sipped coffee and chatted for a time. Oddly, Eric and Justin seemed to gravitate to Rosa, and she was quickly put at ease. She was a short Latina, with dark eyes and a cheerful expression that came and went as she got more comfortable.
They had a son, Ron, who lived in Los Angeles. They had not heard from him since the disaster struck and had no idea how he was. Her face saddened as she recounted how much they missed their boy, and she seemed to take comfort from the presence of the two young men, both of whom towered over her like lampposts. When she spoke to Tim, the contrast was even sharper, and Cory wondered if she would suffer from neck cramps in the morning.
The conversation turned to what the couple had gone through since the EMP struck, and it became quickly apparent that they had a far different experience than the rest of the group. Although they had people who stopped to beg for food, they had not seen any violence in the relatively peaceful country setting in which they lived. Since they were able to stock up on food before the shelves went empty, and they raised cattle and chicken, they had not experienced any food shortages, and the windmill provided enough power to run their well and provide limited lighting to the house. Since they lived in the foothills, air conditioning was not needed, and the fireplace kept the small house warm as the weather got colder.
They continued to chat, sipping their coffee, until the sun started to fade into the west when Rosa disappeared into the house. A few minutes later, she came out with an armful of blankets and pillows and a kerosene lantern.
“I’m sorry we can’t put you up in the house,” she apologized. “But we only have one bedroom and one sofa, so there really isn’t any room.”
“Not to worry,” Ben assured her. “We’re just happy to have a warm place to sleep and some blankets. We had to leave a lot of supplies on the way back to make room for the folks we picked up. So, again, we thank you.”
“If you want to get settled in the barn, go ahead, and I’ll bring you out some dinner.”
“That’s okay,” Cory replied. “You’ve done enough already and we really appreciate that. We have some MREs left that we can eat and we don’t want you to run out of food.”
“Don’t be silly. Save your food for the rest of your trip, and don’t worry about us running out of food. We have plenty here, including fresh meat and eggs, and I can vegetables for the winter from the garden.”
“Well, we appreciate that. That’s very kind of you,” Cory answered. The remainder of the group echoed their gratitude and they started to leave the porch and walk over to the barn.
“Is it okay if we park the ATVs in the barn?” Ben asked. “We’re kind of fond of them and want to make sure they don’t disappear.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that around here, but sure, go ahead.”
“Thanks.” Ben and Cory moved the ATVs into the barn while Ken spread some straw around the floor of the building.
“It’s not a bed, but at least you’re not sleeping on the dirt floor and you’ll stay warmer this way,” Ken muttered, apparently speaking to no one in particular. He fired up the propane heater and walked back to the house.
The group laid out the blankets in a rough circle, then sat chatting while they waited for dinner. As the sun truly disappeared into the horizon, Rosa appeared with a large bowl of green chile stew and homemade tortillas. Ken was behind her with bowls, napkins, and spoons. The couple sat with them as the gorged on the stew and moaned their approval. Finally, the stew was gone and the conversation slowed to an occasional comment on the quality of the food. Finally, Ken and Rosa said goodnight and went back to the house.
“You boys haven’t told me what happened in your subdivision. We saw the pile of bodies and the shot-up houses when we went looking for you. It looks like it got pretty bad,” Ben said, a little reluctant to have the discussion with the rest of the group present; but since they had all seen ugly things, he decided to pose the question.
“Well, things weren’t bad at first,” Eric recounted. “Everyone had some food. We were far enough away from the city that we all tended to stockpile food, and we were in pretty good shape. Justin and I were better off because all our food was bachelor stuff, mostly canned and dried food. We were pretty sure it was going to get bad, so we rationed our food from the beginning and went down to one meal a day.
“We had an old community well that we managed to get going by repairing the pump, so water wasn’t ever a real problem until the very end, when the pump gave out again. Before all this happened, it was a tight-knit community. We felt more like we lived in our own little village, so it took a while for things to get bad.” His voice took on a wistful tone and he stared at the floor for a moment, then looked up at his brother, who nodded in acknowledgement.
“Then things started heading south the second week,” Justin continued, his voice troubled. “We had neighbors stealing from each other, then gunfire every night. Toward the end we actually saw neighbors kill each other for food.”
“I guess we all saw stuff like that,” Rachael added. “It wasn’t pretty at the condo complex either. I’m just glad we’re away from all that and finding good people like Ken and Rosa.”
“How did you guys stay
alive?” Ben asked.
“We moved everything we had into the barn at the back of the subdivision where we found the horses,” Justin said. “We knew we could leave the back way if we had to, and not have to pass through the neighborhood. That was at the start of the second week. Two of the neighbors found us and tried to steal our food. We killed both of them and dragged them away from the barn at night. They fired the first shots after we told them to leave. By that time, nobody even stuck their head up when they heard gunshots. It was so common.”
“Where did the pile of bodies come from?” Ben asked.
Justin and Eric glanced at each other and then Eric sighed and took over. “We put them there. They were all our ex-neighbors who killed each other. The worst were the ones who had kids. They would do anything to get food for them, and they were the ones that got violent first. We piled them on that corner because you would have to pass the bodies to get to the barn, and we figured that would discourage anyone from exploring and finding us.”
“That didn’t work out too well,” Justin admitted. “Sometime during the fourth week, we started hearing motorcycles passing by. Eventually, they got around to entering the subdivision. So we moved into the desert about two miles from our house and stayed there until they stopped coming around. By that time, there was nobody left. Anyone who didn’t get killed left and went somewhere else. We figured the gangs would pick the place clean and move on. We thought that once that happened, it would be safe there.”
“So, after they went through the first time, we moved back to the barn and I guess we got a little careless,” Eric sheepishly recounted. “That was my bright idea,” he added in a self-deprecating tone. “We didn’t figure there would be more than one gang in the area, and started going out at night to see if the first gang missed any food our neighbors may have hidden.”
Justin continued the story. “We were out foraging one night and two gang members from what we think must have been a different gang spotted us. We were both armed and the idiots were using flashlights. We led them back to the barn and shot them when they came though the entrance. We knew where they were because of the flashlights. I guess they were so used to getting what they wanted, they didn’t think anybody would fight back. They made it pretty easy. We didn’t have much left by that time, so we just got on the horses and took our weapons, ammo, some water, and the three cans of stew we had left. Of course, we forgot the can opener.” The entire group emitted a collective chuckle. A silence ensued as everyone digested the story.
“How did you get the cans opened?” Tim finally asked.
“Dad taught us how to do that when we were kids,” Justin answered. “But we didn’t remember that until the second day. You just rub the edge of the top of the can on some concrete or a rock and it will wear away the solder they use to attach the lid to the can. It takes a little doing, and you have to go all the way around the lid to get it to come off, but it works.”
“Did you manage to get away clean?” Cory asked.
“We did,” Justin replied. “We rode all night. We were afraid that they would follow us when they found the two bodies, so we rode all the way to the foothills and set up an ambush. But nobody showed up, so we rode the rest of the way during the day.”
“Why did you come up the switchback during the day?” Cory asked. “You made a real easy target.”
“We were out of food and water,” Eric replied. “We had two gold coins and figured if we could get to Wickenburg, we could resupply and make it home. We knew it wasn’t a good idea, but by that time we were running out of choices.”
“You boys did seem a bit hungry when we gave you the MREs,” Ben commented dryly.
“You have no idea how hungry we were,” Eric replied. “It’s funny, but it’s not the physical sensation of being hungry that gets to you. It’s the idea of not eating for so long. I know you can live three weeks without food, but going even one day plays with your head, and you fixate on it and it becomes the only thing you can think about. The lack of water is even worse; I can’t even describe how horrible that is.”
“Well, we now have full bellies and some MREs. And we can get to the ranch in a little over a day. So we’re gonna be fine, and all this stuff will be a distant memory before too long,” Ben said. He stood up and walked to his sons, sat between them and looped long arms over both their shoulders. “I thought I had lost you both,” he whispered. Ben squeezed them tightly and added, “don’t be so damn stubborn in the future. You should have come home right after the EMP hit.”
“That wasn’t really an option, Dad,” Justin replied. “We had no transportation and we thought we could ride it out there. It wasn’t until we found the horses that we could leave, and we did.”
The group sat in silence for a few minutes as they digested these events. “Tim, you want to tell us your story?” Cory asked, looking over to where the larger man sat with Rachael nuzzled under his arm.
“I was in the ER when the crap hit the fan. We had so many injured that we were putting them in the parking lot of the hospital. Some cops showed up and told us about all the injured people around the area, so we went out with the emergency responder kits we kept in the ER and tried to treat them. That was the first two days. Then the gangs showed up and started shooting it out with the police.”
“What happened then?”
“Well, it got more interesting to say the least. It was like being a corpsman again. I was moving around in a battle zone trying to help the wounded and dodging fire. I had my .45, but that was not a lot of help against the long guns they were firing. I did my best, but lost a lot of people the first few days.” Tim sat up and wrung his huge hands as he remembered that time. “I feel bad about the ones I lost,” he added. “It shouldn’t have been that way.”
“But you did save some lives, right?” Cory asked.
“Maybe a few. But to tell the truth, I am really pissed off at the world right now. I did my combat tours, came home, and thought I would spend the rest of my life keeping people alive that had diabetes or heart disease. Instead I found myself in the middle of another war.”
“Well, you did the best you could,” Eric offered.
“Yeah, don’t beat yourself up about it,” Ben added. “We get how you feel, but nobody could make it right for the world after the EMP hit. We all just struggled to survive and hoped for the best.”
Cory walked over to where Tim sat looking dejected and squatted down to look him in the eye. “You got my sister to take care of from now on, so focus on that, and I’ll call you my brother. You did what was needed today, and I want you in our lives. You’re a good man who got dealt a lousy hand, yet made the best of it. Welcome home, brother.” Cory put his hand out, thought the better of it, and instead embraced Tim in an awkward hug. “I’m not really good at this touchy, feely stuff, but this feels right to me,” Cory added as he was engulfed in a tight bear hug that was almost painful.
“I guess we all have our stories,” Ben said, “But we need to get on the road tomorrow, so let’s call it a night.”
“Naw, me and Tim gotta have a bromance before we go to sleep,” Cory quipped as they released out of the embrace.
“You’re on your own on that one,” Tim rumbled. “Rachael is much prettier in the morning.”
“All right, let’s call it quits for the night. I can’t compete with Rachael on the pretty scale."
The group all moved to their blankets and settled in for the night. Ben turned the lantern off and the barn fell into total darkness. Cory fell asleep immediately, but others fidgeted under their blankets until, one by one, they all went into the dream.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I want to thank you again for putting us up and feeding us,” Ben said the following morning as he shook Ken’s hand. The group had risen early that morning after getting a full night of mostly comfortable rest. Everyone seemed cheerful and ready to get on with the trip to the ranch. They all sipped coffee provided by Rosa and ate some crack
ers from the MREs for breakfast, loaded the ATVs, and again started north. Ken and Rosa let them keep the blankets, which was a real bonus. That evening they would be sleeping at a higher elevation, somewhere in the Prescott National Forest, and the blankets would help fend off the colder temperatures. Cory thought they would be back before nightfall, but that was not proving to be the case.
Eric drove the first ATV with Cory and Justin, while Tim drove the second with Ben and Rachael. Cory and Ben rode shotgun in the passenger seats with their ARs pointed out the sides of the vehicles.
They passed the railroad tracks that had connected Prescott to Phoenix in the old days. The service was discontinued when logging operations ceased in the areas around the small town. It was a deathblow for the region, which depended heavily on the forestry industries for jobs and tax revenue. The town stumbled but recovered after a few years with the advent of a regional medical center and becoming a large retirement destination.
They passed an area where the hilltops were dotted with trees, but nothing grew on the barren slopes that looked almost like a lunar landscape. Then they went through an area filled with dude ranches that were obviously closed and probably not going to reopen in their lifetimes.
A few hours later they entered the National Forest and continued north on forest roads until Eric held up a bunched fist. Large granite rock formations and snow-dusted mountaintops surrounded them; the temperature had fallen noticeably.
“I need a comfort stop,” Eric said, disappearing into the forest. The others followed suit, all moving in separate directions. They all carried their weapons with them. They had come too far to let their guards down now. They assembled at the parked ATVs and Cory pulled out a map of the forest, looking to see if there was any way to get to the ranch before sundown. Although he knew the forest well, he wasn’t very familiar with the network of forest roads in this particular area.
He traced a finger over the map, peered more intently at a small trail that was designated for hiking, and wondered if the ATVs could make it up that route. Parts of the trail had to be very steep, and they were fully loaded. At best, it would be a crapshoot; if they had to turn around, they might run out of gas before reaching the ranch. He decided to stay the course and accept the fact they would spend a cold night in the forest.
Prepper's Crucible: Volume Five: A Post Apocalyptic Tale Page 8
