by Mike Kraus
“Yeah, I guess.” Jacob crinkled his nose. “As long as you remember that I’m a better shot. Dad even said so.”
Dianne smiled and whispered conspiratorially. “Darned straight you are. Now hurry up and help your sister, okay?”
Dianne watched from the front porch as Jacob and Josie got into the rear seats of the truck. Mark came out of the house behind her, keys in hand, and held them out. “Here you go. Everything’s locked up and double-checked.”
“Thanks, buddy. Hey.” Dianne put her hand on Mark’s shoulder before he could walk out to the car and lowered her voice. “You remember the four rules of gun safety, right?”
Mark nodded. “Yeah… it’s always loaded, don’t point it at anything you don’t want to destroy, finger off the trigger till you’re ready to fire and be aware of your target and anything behind it. Why?”
Dianne nodded proudly and held out the shorter of the two rifles. “I need you to help me out while your dad’s away. Keep this unloaded at all times and make sure the safety’s on. I’d like you to keep it tucked away in the back of the truck along with a couple magazines of ammunition. If I need your help with shooting something I’ll let you know and then I want you to do everything you can to help, okay?”
“Is everything okay, mom?”
Dianne nodded. “I think so. I want you to understand how serious this is, though. This isn’t a game. Your sister doesn’t really get what’s going on and your brother understands to some degree, but right now you’re the man of the house and I know you understand how bad things are. Keep your eyes open and remember what we taught you. Got it?”
Dianne felt terrible about talking to her son like she was. She felt as though she was pulling away precious moments of his childhood innocence, but she dearly hoped that her talk with him was the only thing that would have to take place. If situations worsened, though, she knew that he would step up and be there to help—though she hoped and prayed that wouldn’t happen.
“Yeah, I got it. You want me to put it in the truck now?”
“Yep, thanks. Here’re the mags.”
Mark took the rifle and ammunition and piled them carefully in a narrow box bolted in the back of the truck. As he did that, Dianne quickly double checked her rifle and tucked two magazines into the vest she was wearing. She slapped one into the rifle but didn’t pull the bolt back, preferring to keep a round out of the chamber for the time being.
We’re just going to check on the neighbors. Not to war. Repeating the facts of the situation didn’t seem to help and she found herself continuing to worry as she got into the car and glanced back to check on Jacob and Josie.
“Everybody buckled?”
“Good to go, mom.”
Dianne glanced at Mark before starting the truck up. “Let’s go see if the Statlers are home. Then we’ll check and see if the Carsons are there.”
The truck started without a hitch and Dianne threw it into gear and began the slow, plodding ride down the driveway and onto the road. Instead of turning right towards Ellisville, though, she turned left and headed farther into the woods and fields of southern Virginia. The thick walls and roof of trees suddenly gave way to a burst of sunlight as the wooded area abruptly ended and wide fields stretched for a good half mile in either direction of the road. Off in the distance, to the left, was the home of Tina and Dave Carson. Ten minutes later, on the right side of the road, Dianne pulled off onto a gravel drive that stretched through field and then through woods as it approached the home of Sarah and Jason Statler.
Sarah and Jason liked to stay close to home just like Dianne did, and though the two families only visited in person occasionally, Dianne and Sarah spoke on the phone nearly every other day. Despite their age and Jason’s health, he and Sarah both were aggressive in their work on their land and had some sort of project going on all the time. It was for that particular reason that, as Dianne pulled up to the house and slowed to a stop, she frowned at the lack of apparent activity going on.
“Huh. Usually they’re outside working. Did you boys see them when we were driving up?”
Mark shook his head. “No… I saw one of their tractors parked outside the barn but that was it.”
“Hm.” Dianne furrowed her brow. “All right, let’s go see if they’re home. Jacob, I want you and Josie to stay right next to each other and follow me. Mark, hang by the truck and if you see anyone give a shout and come running for us, got it?”
Mark nodded and clambered out of the truck with Josie and Jacob following. Dianne grabbed her rifle, stepped out and headed for the front door of the house with Jacob and Josie behind her. She rapped on the front door several times and rang the doorbell twice, then slung the rifle across her back and waited on the porch for an answer.
When none came after a few minutes of waiting, Dianne motioned to Jacob and Josie. “Hang out at the truck with your brother, you two. I’m going to check out back.”
Dianne headed around the side of the house to the back and opened the screen door that led onto the large enclosed patio off of the back of the house. The area was open to the air but entirely enclosed with a roof and screen walls, making it the perfect place to sit in the evenings without having to worry about insects getting in.
After rapping on the first set of sliding glass doors and receiving no response, Dianne headed to the other side of the patio and was about to knock on those when she saw a sheet of paper taped to the inside of the glass door.
Dianne/Tina/Judith/Rachel – If any of you stop by, we’ve gone away for a few days. We’ll be back by the weekend, though. If you need us for anything just call us on our mobile phone.
-Sarah & Jason
“Great.” Dianne mumbled to herself. “Why on earth did they go out of town?” She shook her head and sighed before heading back around to the front of the house. Josie was sitting down on the rocks in front of the truck playing while Mark and Jacob were leaning up against the side talking when Dianne walked up to them.
“Nobody’s home.”
“Where did they go?” Mark asked.
Dianne shrugged. “There was a note on the back porch saying they left for a few days. Hopefully they make it back soon, but if they flew anywhere…”
“They might be dead?” Jacob was at that stage in his life where morbid and taboo topics were ones he wanted to discuss more than anything else.
Dianne sighed and shook her head, not wanting to either encourage or antagonize him too much since a neutral approach was usually the one required to get him onto another subject. “No, I’m sure they’re fine. It is odd that they would go away without letting anyone know. Maybe if Tina and Dave are home they’ll have some more info about it. Let’s go check on them.”
“What about the animals?” Josie looked up at Dianne from her play at the front of the truck.
“Hey. Good question, kiddo. Let’s go take a look. Mark, can you run on ahead and see if they’re loose or if Sarah penned them before they left?”
Sarah and Jason hadn’t pursued the self-sufficiency and prepper lifestyle as much as Rick and Dianne, but thanks to Dianne’s constant encouragement Sarah had eventually persuaded Jason to buy a flock of chickens and start on a small vegetable garden. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that Dianne was suddenly worried about what might happen to the chickens if Sarah and Jason had left in a hurry.
As Dianne, Jacob and Josie walked back along a dirt path toward the barn and fenced-in area where the chickens were kept, Mark came racing back toward them.
“They’re all locked up inside and the automatic feeder’s full.”
“Is the outside pen connected to the barn so they can get some sunlight?”
Mark shook his head. “No, they’re all inside.”
“All right. Let’s get the pen dragged over to the side of the barn and hook it up so they can get some fresh air. I’ll start on that while you check and make sure the automatic water trough is working.”
“What about the garden?” Josie tug
ged on Dianne’s shirt as she trailed along behind.
“That’ll be fine until the Statlers get back, sweetie. Right now let’s just make sure the chickens are fine and then we’ll go check on Mr. and Mrs. Carson.”
Josie nodded and ran on ahead after Jacob and Mark. With the clear autumn sky overhead Dianne could almost forget what had transpired over the last couple of days if not for the steady thunk of the rifle on her back as she walked along. There was no sign of smoke in the sky, though she wondered if that was simply because they were too far removed from a major city to see any.
Though she had a brief reprieve from her thoughts of Rick for the last few minutes, she once again wondered where he was and if he was still okay. She knew without question that he was working tirelessly to get back to Virginia, but whether or not he was in a position to be doing that was another matter.
“Water’s working fine, mom.” Mark walked out the front of the barn and wrung out his shirt with a disgruntled look on his face. Dianne laughed at the sight and gave him a smile. “Thanks, bud. Help me get this pen pulled around, will you?”
Mark and Dianne walked to the back of the barn where a ten foot by fifteen foot section of chicken wire caging was sitting atop large rubber wheels. The contraption had been thought of by Rick and built by him and Jason after Sarah had mentioned that they needed a way to get the chickens outside without her or Jason having to run around after them. Rick’s solution was to cut a small hole in the side of the barn where the chickens roosted at night and build a fully enclosed cage that could be rolled up to the hole and secured with steel pins to keep it in place. The wheels of the contraption could then be popped off and the cage would sit on the ground, allowing the chickens to get out into the grass without having to worry about them wandering off or being attacked by predators.
Once Dianne and Mark pulled the cage into place and set it up, she called out to Jacob who was inside the barn with Josie playing with the chickens. “Jacob! Pull the door open so these guys can get outside, okay?”
There was a muffled squawk as the one of the chickens got in Jacob’s way and then the door opened inward. An explosion of feathers poured out as the chickens fought to squeeze through the narrow opening and get outside. Dianne watched them for a moment before making her way inside to verify that everything was set up properly.
Jacob and Josie were both playing with the chickens inside the barn and Josie held up a chick and squealed with delight. “The eggs hatched! See! He’s so cute! Can’t we take him home?”
Dianne knelt down with a grin and examined the chick. “Sorry, sweetie, but these are Mrs. Statler’s chickens.”
“But what if they don’t come back? Can we keep them then?”
Dianne felt her gut wrench as she thought about the possibility of Rick not coming back, but forced a smile anyway. “Sure, kiddo. If they’re not back soon then we’ll have to come pick these guys up and keep them at our place until they get back. But I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”
Dianne looked at the automatic feeder and the water trough and nodded. “All right, looks like everything’s set here. We’ll come back and check on them in a few days.” Dianne looked at her watch and tapped it. “Come on, we need to get going to check on the Carsons.”
After closing the front door to the barn and checking that the cage was secured one last time, Dianne and her children headed back to the truck. “Hands.” Dianne intoned, mostly for Josie’s benefit, as she had to do every time they finished playing or working with their animals. All three of them quickly coated their hands in alcohol-based sanitizer from a bottle in the front console in the truck as they were climbing in.
As they pulled back onto the road and took a left back towards their home and the Carson’s home, Dianne saw that the previously-unmarred sky was now tainted with a thick column of black smoke. While the source of the smoke was initially hard to see, once they got onto the Carson’s driveway it became obvious.
“Mom… is that…”
“Hold on, kids!” Dianne mashed down on the accelerator and sent the old truck lurching forward down the bumpy dirt road. As they reached the end of the driveway Dianne hit the brakes and the truck slid forward several feet before coming to a stop. Dianne, Mark, Jacob and Josie all stared in horror at the sight before them.
Chapter 5
Las Vegas, NV
“Go!” Rick spat out the last word and threw himself against the back door of the bus. He expected it to be damaged enough to require a substantial amount of force to open and was surprised when he nearly fell out as it opened smoothly and easily. Outside, the midday sun beat down on the street and the air was hot and dry. Dust swirled around the bus and the stench of gunpowder filled his nostrils.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of heavy machine gun fire from farther down the street where the bus had been heading made Rick turn to try and locate the source. Behind him the woman from the bus finished stepping out and clung to his arm again. “Where do we go?”
Rick held up his hand as he peeked around one side of the bus and then the other. There was no sign of any of the shooters so he began looking for a building that they could hide in. “There!” Rick pointed at a building down the street with a large overhang and wide glass front doors that were shattered. “Wait a second, first. Hold this!” He handed his gun bag to the woman and unzipped it as she clung to the handles. He pulled out the shotgun and zipped the bag back up before looping the bag around his back. It stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to the thickness of his backpack but it enabled him to shoulder the shotgun which he did before looking at the woman.
“Follow right behind me, okay?” The woman stared at the gun in his hands like she hand never seen one before and nodded slowly. Rick began moving forward quickly, staying as close to the building’s wall as possible as he moved along. He continually scanned the area in front of him, behind him and to the side, looking for any signs of movement. Another burst of gunfire down the street made him stop and duck behind a large planter on the sidewalk.
The sounds were farther down the street than they had been before and Rick realized that the fight must have continued down the road. “I guess their convoy moved on. Why the hell would they leave us behind?” Rick shook his head and glanced at the woman who was crouched next to him. “Let’s run and get inside that building, okay?”
She nodded and Rick stood up and began running with her close behind. With the blood pumping through his veins and the shotgun in his hand he was beginning to remember some of the years-old self defense and tactical shooting classes he had taken with Dianne long ago. The lessons were simple but the practice had been hard for him to maintain due to his work schedule and he had eventually dropped out, leaving Dianne to finish up. I’m glad she finished. The thought of his wife brought a surge of nausea to his stomach and he tried to push the thought from his mind. Need to survive. Just have to survive for now. Can’t help them if I’m dead.
Rick and the woman made it to the building he had pointed out from the bus and they ducked inside the lobby. It was an office building of some type judging by the décor and layout, though that mattered little to Rick. The only thing he was concerned about was getting off of the street and making sure both he and the woman from the bus were safe.
“Come on, over here.” Rick spoke quietly to the woman as he guided her into a chair. “Let me look at your stomach again.” The woman lifted up her shirt and Rick gulped as he saw that the bruising was even worse than it looked. “What’s your name?” He helped her put her shirt back down before taking off his backpack and gun case.
“Jane.” The woman’s eyes were still wide and she kept looking around the lobby of the building nervously.
“Nice to meet you, Jane. I’m Rick.” Rick dug through his backpack, pulling out wet clothing and supplies until he found a water bottle that was undamaged. “Here, drink this.” Jane accepted the water bottle gratefully and took several large gulps before handing it back to Rick.
“Thanks. Where are we?” The look in Jane’s eyes made Rick wonder if she was suffering from shock and he then wondered if he was suffering from it as well. His whole body was shaking and he could feel his heart still racing. He closed his eyes and sat down on the floor, taking several deep breaths to calm his nerves before replying.
“I don’t know. I’m not even sure where we’re at in the city.” More gunfire came from down the street as he spoke, though it was far enough away that he didn’t jump at the sound. “Are you from Vegas, Jane?”
She shook her head. “No… I’ve never been here before.”
“Hm.” Rick pursed his lips. “That makes two of us. If we had a map that’d be extremely helpful. I guess at this point we just have to rely on a compass.”
“Where are you going?” A look of concern flashed across Jane’s face as Rick started picking through the supplies in his backpack and on the floor, looking for a compass he knew he stuffed inside when he was at the sporting goods store.
“We are going to get to the Nellis air base on the Northeast side of the city. I won’t leave you behind, especially with how injured you look.” Ha! Rick grabbed the compass out of the backpack and stuffed it in his pocket. Here we go!
“What about all the gunfire out there?”
Rick shook his head. “I wish I knew what was going on. The soldier in the bus said there’s been a lot of gang activity. I didn’t expect a warzone after only a couple of days, though. Especially in a city this size. Where are you from, anyway?”
Jane was staring off into the distance again and he had to repeat his question before she answered. “I was… visiting L.A. Everybody said to get out of the city so I just started driving east.”
“You got anyplace in particular you’re trying to get to?”
Jane shook her head at first before nodding slowly. “Colorado. I flew in from Colorado. Wait… my rental car! I left it behind!”
Rick raised an eyebrow as Jane’s mutterings became less coherent. “Take it easy, okay? Don’t worry about your car or anything else. Just sit there and take it easy. I’m going to see what’s going on outside and see if we can get going to Nellis soon, okay?”
