Outside the Fire

by Boyd Craven

  “We’ve had issues of our own,” Steve said, “but I don’t think anything like this. We’ve only had a few break-ins, but nobody was really hurt except…”

  “The people who broke into our house,” Angela said.

  “Oh no, is everyone ok? I saw Amy sneak out with Joseph a little while ago…”

  “Oh, we’re ok. It’s just been… awful, to be honest,” Steve finished.

  “What happened to the people who broke into your house?” Pastor James asked, already guessing by the expressions on the Taylors faces.

  “…that’s why they were insisting that somebody come and inventory our house,” Steve told them.

  “I can understand why you don’t want to do that,” Pastor James said patiently as they all sat on the lawn in front of the church. “But you probably don’t have enough food there to feed the community for more than a few days, I’m willing to bet.”

  “You’d be right,” Angela told him, though she wasn’t for sure how long it would hold out.

  “Well, we still have the bulk of the food you bought for the pantry, and as you can see, our numbers keep dropping,” Pastor James said sadly.

  “Would you mind? It would go a long way to getting some heat off of us and giving the community a fighting chance, in case we have to be strong enough to defend against…”

  “You have another group in the area, competing for resources. Kicking in doors and hurting people?”

  Steve and Angela both nodded and then watched as Joseph went running by them, laughing hysterically as Amy made kissing noises, followed by Amber who was dying the death of the easily amused…and also laughing hysterically.

  “You want to stop that?” Angela asked.

  “Truthfully? I’m glad he’s running. Makes it easier not to shoot him.”

  “Steve!” Angela said shocked.

  “No, I know he’s kidding. I hope,” Pastor James said grinning, “besides, Joseph can run about three times that fast. He’s not trying to lose them all that hard.”

  “You’re not helping my itchy finger,” Steve said, and earned an elbow to the ribs.

  “Oof,” he said and rubbed his side. “For the record, I am kidding. Joseph is a good kid. He’s not some leech like that…” Steve’s smile vanished as memory hit, and a cloud darkened his features.

  “Yeah, I understand,” Pastor James said. “It wasn’t your fault, you know.”

  “Pastor, since everything went to… uh… heck…I’ve probably had to kill three to five people. I don’t…I mean…am I eternally damned?”

  It had been an issue that had been gnawing at Steve, and his former Catholic upbringing had left him feeling conflicted on the issue.

  “You know, the Ten Commandments were written in Hebrew?”

  “Sure,” Angela said.

  “So the whole ‘Thou Shall Not Kill’ thing?”

  “Yeah?” Steve asked.

  “The actual translation is more like ‘Thou Shall Not Commit Murder,’” Pastor James said quietly.

  “You didn’t murder them in cold blood, Steve,” Angela said.

  Steve let out a big sigh and looked at the dirt that was peeking through the trampled and sparse grass of the church’s lawn.

  “Can I load up while we are here?” Steve asked.

  “Yes, I don’t see a problem with that. Most folks here…they get what they need and we’ve got quite a bit right now. Nobody is dying of hunger,” Pastor James’s voice sounded sad.

  “I’m sorry,” Angela told him softly.

  “It is what it is. I wish I could do more, but I do often wonder what is going on. Do you guys have any news? From…outside the area?”

  “No,” Steve said simply. “Communications equipment is not something anybody I know has. I thought about getting some ham radio stuff, but I just never got the time, or never took the time, to do it.”

  “That’s too bad. You would think that after all of this, there would be something. Somebody. I mean, in all the books FEMA comes through or big huge convoys of military vehicles. It’s like…”

  “Everyone is dying out quietly?” Steve asked.

  The pastor didn’t answer, he just looked away and stared off into the distance. That’s the moment three tired and sweaty kids flopped down on the grass in front of their parents.

  “Hey Dad,” Amber asked. “Can Joseph come hang out at our house for a day or two, if it’s ok with his dad?”

  Steve’s eyebrows went up and Angela let out a little snort at the hopeful expression on Amy’s face. She had a pretty good idea what it was that Amber was up to. Steve was kind of lost, but shook his head.

  “I am not sure that’d be a good idea right now. We’ve had so much happen, and I’m worried that Doug or some of his cronies will want to make some sort of play. I don’t think it’d be safe right now.”

  “Oh, ok,” Amber said. “But when things aren’t so crazy?”

  “We wouldn’t mind,” Angela answered, and looked at Pastor James who answered, “I wouldn’t mind either. He needs to get out more.”

  “See, that’s how you do it,” Amber said to Amy who picked up a handful of dead grass and chucked it at her sister.

  That elicited a scream and then a small turf fight, before the three of them were off and running around again.

  “If things are that rough, who’s watching your house right now?”

  “Deputy Lucy,” Angela told him.

  “Ah, it’ll be nice and safe then.”

  “Safe for Lucy. We told her we wouldn’t be gone that long, so—”

  “I’ll give you a hand loading some stuff up, go ahead and pull your truck up to the back door, nobody here will give us a problem. Hell, I’ve sent food home with some of them now that things have really…well… you know.”

  “You mean you don’t feel safe here with all of it?” Angela asked.

  “Oh no, it’s not that. I just think I’m going to run out of people to feed long before I run out of food.”

  “It can’t be that bad, can it?” Steve asked.

  Again, the Pastor didn’t meet his gaze and shook his head, “Just… not feeling as hopeful as I let on sometimes,” he finished, his gaze finding the running and laughing kids.

  “I told you, that’s where he’s been getting it,” the man whispered as the three of them watched the Taylors loading up the pickup truck.

  “I always knew you’d come through for me. I never doubted it.”

  “Thanks, Alan.”

  CHAPTER 29

  The food was dropped off at the community center with very little fanfare. People saw the Taylors back up to the doorway to unload, and they started walking and sitting down on the grass. Some of the residents had gone in, but there wasn’t very much being done. Steve grouched that it didn’t look like many people were making an effort.

  “They might not have the energy,” Angela said simply.

  That sobered everyone up. Jeff wasn’t there to help them unload, but Cheryl Jacoby, one of the HOA leadership was there. She seemed shocked, but she had problems moving the fifty-pound sacks. The Taylors took over that part, all except for Amy, who watched the front door as everyone started filing in.

  “Where’s everyone at?” Steve asked Cheryl.

  “They’re…I don’t know. Jeff asked me to watch the place. I’m glad you came, we really didn’t have anything to feed people today. The gardens aren’t doing so good, and I was worried about what we were going to do.”

  “I didn’t know you ran out, I knew it had to have been getting low.” Steve told her.

  “Yeah, yesterday was smaller rations. A couple of groups showed up earlier asking directions to your house, but I told them you’d already made it clear that you weren’t…I mean, wouldn’t…”

  “No, I don’t have much, and what I do have, is for my family,” Steve said softly, “but I did bring this. It’s part of what my family put away for hard times.”

  “I know, I just… none of this is easy. Especially as you
watch your friends and family all slowly starving to death. You want to do the right thing, but the hunger gets you and when your babies are crying nonstop and there’s nothing to eat—”

  “I need some air,” Steve told her, interrupting her and pushing by.

  “I’m sorry, did I say something?” Cheryl asked Angela.

  “Yes, you did,” Angela said, and put the last bag inside the door. “Tell Jeff and whoever else that there isn’t much more left for us to share. We’re probably going to be avoiding the meetings for a while. We’re still going to do the neighborhood watch like we did before, but this whole big community dinner…I don’t know. It hasn’t gone well for us the last few times we’ve come here. It seems like everyone hates us and that isn’t fair to my husband and my daughters.”

  “If you’d only share out a little more—”

  “Why didn’t you buy your own food?” Amy interrupted.

  “I did, but the stores are closed now and there’s no fuel to go anywhere if the money was any good,” Cheryl told her, a condescending note in her tone.

  “I meant like before. Isn’t that your job as a parent to make sure you’re always ready and prepared to help your family and feed your kids?” Amy asked, oblivious to the woman’s tone.

  A look of pure hatred crossed Cheryl’s face and she took one angry step towards Amy. Before Angela could react, Amber got in the middle and pushed the mid-thirties woman hard. Cheryl’s feet went out from under her and she slid on the slick floor of the community center for several feet before she hit the edge of the doorway into the meeting room. Amber advanced with a clenched fist, held close to her waist.

  “Amber!” Angela warned. “That’s enough.”

  “If she comes anywhere near my little sister like she was going to, I’ll knock her block off. I don’t even need to use my gun on her.”

  “You fucking brat,” Cheryl said getting to her feet. “I’ll teach you some manners, you no good, slut of a whore.”

  “Now you did it,” Angela said, putting her hands over Amy’s ears. “Go ahead, Amber.”

  Amber made a feint and Cheryl put her hands up to protect her face when Ambers uppercut took Cheryl in the stomach. She made an ‘Ooof’ sound and sat down.

  “Take it back, or I’ll use my knees next time.”

  “You can’t do this, you fucking—”

  Amber took half a step forward and her knee shot out. At the last second, she held it back as Cheryl cried out. The knee never connected. Amber grabbed the woman by the hair and yanked it savagely.

  “My dad isn’t the only one who’s a badass. Nobody talks to us like that. Nobody,” Amber said, starting to pull the woman across the floor.

  Cheryl had been screaming bloody murder as soon as the knee fake to the head happened. Steve walked in the door to see Angela holding her arms around Amy, covering her ears as filth fell out of Cheryl’s mouth. Amber didn’t hurt her so much as she humiliated her. Steve locked gazes with his wife, seeing his daughter deftly avoiding slaps, kicks, her grip never letting up on a handful of hair.

  “What in the—”

  “Shh, she deserved it. Amber is being nicer than I would,” Angela finished.

  “I hope you all die,” Cheryl screamed.

  Amber got a second handful of hair and dragged Cheryl into the center of the floor, spitting and screaming, away from the wall and kicked her hard in the side. Then she let go of her and stepped back.

  “What….” Steve asked, surprised at the brutality his daughter just showed.

  Cheryl was curled up on the floor, dry heaving, her feet twitching.

  “She got ugly and was going to go after Amy. I gave her a polite shove and…”

  “Let’s go,” Angela said, “We’ll explain when we get home.”

  “I don’t…” Steve said, his words trailing off as he saw a few scratches on his daughter’s arm.

  “So, let me get this straight, you let Amber fight a grown woman?” Steve asked, a tumbler of whiskey perched on his knee as the girls fought over how to spice dinner just inside the house, but within earshot of their parents and Lucy.

  “Yeah, she said some pretty stupid, hateful things. You know how I feel about language. I was going to let Amber stop after the shove, but when she started calling my baby names even after getting put on her ass…I told Amber never mind, continue.”

  Steve chuckled. “In another lifetime, that kick to the kidneys might have caused her some legal issues.”

  “Well it’s a good thing it isn’t in another time. It’s this time. She needed to be taught a lesson, and if she has to have a little blood in her urine, so be it.”

  “I’ve never seen her act so…”

  “Brutal?”

  “Yeah,” he said reluctantly. “I mean, I never saw her move like that, it’s like she’s a scrapper and I didn’t even…”

  “Come on, she knows how to fight. We used to have her in Krav Maga classes with me, back in Ohio,” Angela said.

  “Yeah, but she was barely a little older than Amy when she quit. It’s been years and years…”

  “Some things you never forget, you just get a little rusty at. Like target practice,” Lucy said, chiming in.

  “Yeah, I suppose that’s true,” Steve admitted. “Does Amy know how to—”

  “No, but she wants to learn. Me and Lucy will show her, right Sis?”

  “Sis?” Lucy said with a grin. “Sure, we will.”

  “Are the guys going to come out for dinner?” Angela asked her.

  “I don’t know. I can walk home and ask them if you’d like. What’s on the menu?”

  “Rabbit,” both Angela and Steve said at once.

  “Is that how you’re keeping the grass cut back here?” Lucy asked with an amused grin.

  “Yeah, we let the grow outs munch on the lawn some, plus I have pellets. The trick is to not let them dig out. It’s time to get some on the grill. I figure two or three grow outs will feed the seven of us, and I’ll do something veggie wise.”

  “Want me to bring anything? I made some flatbread the other day while I wait on my sourdough.”

  “What the…yes!” Steve said at once.

  “Easy there, carb monster,” Angela said, playfully closing his jaw.

  “Why was she so mad at me?” Amy asked Amber as they rubbed spices into the rabbit sections.

  “You weren’t trying to be mean to her, but your words must have made her feel guilty. That came across as her being mad.”

  “That’s when you went all Jackie Chan on her. That was pretty cool,” Amy said.

  “I thought so too, at first,” Amber told her, “but now I sort of feel bad.”

  “What do you mean? She was saying all this hateful stuff. Even though Mom covered my ears, I heard what she said.”

  “Well, that’s just it. The only one she really hurt in the end was a couple of scratches she gave to me. I might have hurt her really bad.”

  “You did it to protect me,” Amy told her.

  “Yeah, but I could have done it a little less hurtful. Sometimes you have to act and worry about it later. That’s all I’m doing. Worrying that I went too far.”

  Amy walked up and with grimy hands, hugged her sister hard. “Well, I don’t worry so much with having so many badasses around me.”

  “I heard that!” Lucy said, breezing through the back door.

  “Doh!” Amy said in an almost perfect Homer Simpson impression.

  “Don’t let your parents hear you. I’ll be back, I’m going to get the Matts.”

  “Yes,” Amber said, making a fist pump.

  Amy just sulked a moment. “But Joseph can’t make it. I wish he could.”

  “He’s too old for you,” Both Lucy and Amber chorused.

  “DOH!” Amy all but yelled at them in a louder repeat performance.

  CHAPTER 30

  It was midweek, and the Taylors had been avoiding the nightly food and meetings at the community center. The only time they left the proper
ty was to go to Dwight’s, or do the volunteer neighborhood watch. Things had been quiet. They were all sitting in the living room when Amy shot upright.

  “Dad, a whistle!”

  Steve bolted upright. Another whistle sounded and a gunshot.

  “Don’t move my piece,” he said motioning to the never-ending Monopoly tournament.

  “You’re not going out there alone,” Angela said. “Amber—”

  “I know,” she said and rotated to see her sister, “let’s go get ready.”

  “I hate this, sometimes,” Amy said.

  “I do, too.”

  Both Steve and Angela put on AR-500 vests and had several magazines already loaded and in the ammo pouches. Then they both got the spare magazines for their side arms.

  “I wish you would stay here with the girls,” Steve told Angela.

  “No, we’re a team. Amber has proven herself more than capable—”

  Gunshots rang out, a long stream of them coming in from several directions. People screamed.

  “Get in the shelter,” Steve bellowed in the direction the girls had been in.

  “Locking it down,” Amber’s muffled scream came to them from the direction of the garage.

  “Good girl,” Angela said softly, and both of them made sure their ARs were charged and on safe.

  The community center was on fire when they got there. Several people were laid out on the grass, either bleeding or dead. Neither Taylor could have counted the number of shots fired, but it sounded like a small war had gone on. They had hurried as much as they possibly could, but with that much lead being thrown around, they had to be careful.

  “Is somebody putting that out?” Steve shouted to Matthew who stood off to the side, looking shocked.

  “I don’t… I can’t,” Matthew said and sat down hard.

  Angela rushed over to him and started checking him over and he pushed her away as gently as the big man could and pointed.

  The cries of half the volunteer community watch group were loud. Several of them were among the dead, but a lot of them were wounded. Steve didn’t try to pay attention to any one injury, because most of them looked like they’d been used like a large pincushion. Angela was good at patching people up, but she wasn’t that good.