Dawson piped up. “It makes sense. We could send a few of us in on foot, just to check things out. See if there’s anyone around that shouldn’t be. Our world is not business as usual any more, so there’s no reason why we should be.”
Both the kids were hanging on Dawson’s every word. He looked back and forth at them. Veronica’s eyes showed fear, and Chase was doing his best not to show anything, but his head nodded no.
Sensing their concern, Dawson offered another suggestion. “On the other hand, maybe we should just stick together. I’ve spent more than enough time separated from these two.” Dawson could feel Chase and Veronica’s bodies relax. “Is there a back door into the bunker? One that nobody would know about?”
“Of course.” Jake answered. “We can walk there from here.”
Twenty minutes later, they were creeping through the wooded area behind Jake and Maggie’s property.
“Isn’t this about where the sniper would have been shooting at us from?” Maggie asked.
“It is actually.” Jake answered. “Whoever was doing the shooting, was closer to a jackpot than they realized.”
“We should be able to get a good vantage point from here to the house.” Dawson said. “If I could get up high enough, I’d be able to survey the property without being seen.”
“Good idea.” Maggie said. “If the sniper had a clear shot at us, I’d bet it was from that tree over there.”
Dawson made his way up the tree, while everyone else remained concealed. A few minutes later he came back, looking unimpressed.
“I made out at least a dozen armed men on the property. None I recognized, but I’m pretty sure they’re not good people. Definitely not police or federal.”
“What the hell?” Jake said. He motioned in the direction of the back door.“Are any of them in that area?”
“I didn’t see any, but I’m not sure I spotted everyone.” Dawson answered. “They’re searching in a pattern, and moving in this direction. Even if we managed to get into the bunker, we might be spotted.”
“Do we or don’t we have time to make it?” Jake asked. Maggie shot him a look of concern.
“We might. We might not. If they caught us between here and there, we’d be sunk. They’re heavily armed, we’re not. Plus, there’s a lot more of them. Who knows what they want.”
“We can’t take the risk.” Maggie said. “Think about the kids Jake. They’ve been through enough already.” Jake hesitated. “Look, I understand what this place means to you Hon, but it’s pointless if we’re not alive to use it. We can come back. Let these guys poke around, and do their thing. When they don’t find anything, they’ll give up. Eventually.”
“I’m with her.” Chase said. “If these are some of the same guys that took us, I don’t want to have to spend another second with them. They were scary enough the first time.” Veronica, with a closed mouth, nodded adamantly in agreement.
The sound of approaching voices startled all of them. They were speaking Arabic. Maggie whispered sternly “lets go”, and immediately started making her way back to the truck. It wasn’t a question up for discussion, as they all followed.
Chapter 38 ~ On the Road
“I don’t care what you think is best for him, or if you think you’re going to lose your job and hurt his damn feelings or something. We need to do this. It’s not a question of maybe or maybe not. We need to get out of here. It’s no longer safe. You’ve seen what those assholes are capable of. I don’t know where they came from, but the bunker has been compromised. That thing was never designed to be a fortress built to keep out the army, or terrorists, or anyone really hungry enough and determined enough to get in. In time, anyone could. That place was supposed to be secret. We need to move and get to higher ground. If you can’t ask him, then I will,” Jake said.
“Look, I get that you’re pissed. I would be too, if I’d lost what was mine, but there’s got to be a better way of doing this. We can’t just throw the guy off his land. Have we really sunk that low already?” Dawson said.
“We don’t have to throw him out, he just has to cede some control of the property to us. He won’t be able to take care of it on his own for much longer. Not the way things have changed around here. For all you know, he may be grateful for the extra help. He needed you just to keep things going, and you haven’t been there in a while.”
“He may want help,” Dawson agreed, “but he sure wouldn’t admit to it. That’s his land. That’s the only thing he has. It’s been in the family for generations. He’s barely holding on now, with the big outfit in Dallas trying to pull it out from under him.”
“Whether he wants help or not, he’s going to get it. We need some place. Who knows how many more of these desert rats are going to start showing up. We need to regroup. Everyone’s pretty shaken up. They could all use a good night’s sleep in a safe place.”
“I know, I know. Let’s do this. Let’s go talk to him.”
They weren’t the only ones on the road these days. The majority of the people they passed on the way were hiking back into town. People instinctively wanted the support and comfort of others when things started to go bad. Crowds can be comforting to some. Even if they’re not family. It’s why we like cities. We’re drawn to them. At times like this when people are desperate, being in a crowd can be dangerous. People will turn on you if they think you’re standing between them and survival. It’s ironic that our survival instinct to seek out the comfort of others can actually get us in a lot of trouble.
They drove through the front gates of Bert’s farm just as daylight was breaking. Bert was already up and doing chores. He saw the group led by Dawson making his way down the road. He grabbed the shotgun from the kitchen table and made his way out the door and down the road to meet them.
“Been wondering where you’ve been the last few days, Dawson. You’re behind on getting things done around here,” Bert said.
Dawson eyed the shotgun in Bert’s arms. “Yeah, about that. We need to talk, Bert. About a few things.”
Chapter 39 ~ The Arrival
The morning outside started as it usually did every day on the farm. The sun rose and the animals started moving around in their stalls as they waited for someone to feed and care for them. But this morning, the routine of the farm was disrupted. The occupants were different. For the first time in a long time, Bert Williams woke up to a house full of people. It had been a long time since his family occupied the main farmhouse. He fondly remembered those days. When his children were young and growing, before his wife passed away, and before the kids moved on to big city careers.
Today wasn’t the kind of day that would elicit memories for Bert to wax nostalgic about in the future. Today, he’d been invaded. It wasn’t the big corporations coming in to shatter his daily routine and take away his life. It was his hired help, with his family and friends in tow. The whole world was turning on its head. In Bert’s mind, it was an opportunity for people to pull together and help one another. He remembered stories from his grandfather about how families came together to help during times of need, not infringe on an old man's home.
Dawson made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. It was later than he normally got up. Even though he didn’t wake in his own room, it felt more secure than waking in a bunker in the ground, and more secure knowing that the people around him were people he trusted. At least most of them. He’d hoped that Bert would understand what they were doing, that it wasn’t safe any longer to be in the city. It’d be safer for Bert as well, having people around to protect him and help.
Bert had been spending so much time worrying about the big corporations swooping in to steal his livelihood and his legacy that he couldn’t see what was going on around him. The world had been turned on its head. People needed to work together. Some wouldn’t be able to. They could just give up and let the world have its way with them. Dawson couldn’t do that, and didn’t want to see that happen to Bert. He’d been through too much to just
give up.
Maggie was up long before everyone else, and decided she needed some time to think. She went for a walk to get the lay of the land and sort some things out in her head. It had been a tumultuous few weeks leading up to where they were now. They’d lost so much of their former life, and she worried about the kids. Not knowing where they were, what they were doing, or even if they were still alive. She had to believe they were OK. She didn’t want to imagine a world without her children. She chose to believe that they were still doing well, fighting the good fight and doing everything they could to get through. Their world had changed, but she knew her kids. They were tough. Tough and smart and resourceful like their dad, and like her. She reassured herself that they had raised them right. They showed them not just how to survive, but how to thrive. She had to believe.
She opened the big doors leading into the barn where the horses were. She’d heard Dawson talk about them endlessly. He’d never lost his love for them, no matter how off track his life got. That had to be a good thing, she supposed. Any man who loved animals as much as he did, in spite of his faults, couldn’t be that bad. I have to believe, she thought, that deep down inside he’ll come around and make something of his life. She prayed, that he’d give his kids the same opportunities that she and Jake had given to theirs.
She heard the gentle neighing of the horses as she walked through the door of the barn. She didn’t know if that meant they were hungry or restless, or just saying hello. She walked up to the first horse, which leaned over the stall door and shook her mane at Maggie’s approach. Memories of being around horses and farms as a little kid came to her mind. She was always a little afraid of them. They seemed so big. They didn’t seem quite as big as they used to, but those old feelings were still there. The mare shook her mane once more and gently whinnied. Maggie walked closer. “You know I’m a friend, right? You’re not as angry with us invading your home as Bert is, I hope.” Maggie reached her hand forward slowly and rubbed the head of the mare. The mare rolled her head in gentle rhythm with Maggie’s touch. “Good, good. Glad to see that we’re getting along. Now, if you could just put in a good word with your master about us. We’re not really all that bad. Maybe he’ll listen to you. Maybe he won’t feel so bad about having the company.” Maggie continued rubbing her head. “We’re best friends now, aren’t we?”
Maggie’s reverie with the horse was interrupted by the sound of rumbling off in the distance. The mare’s ears perked up as she shifted uneasily.
“What do you suppose that could be?” She looked around the stalls at the other horses. They seemed alert but not agitated. Maggie walked back outside to investigate. In the distance, there was a convoy of vehicles coming down the road to the farm. Who could that be, wondered Maggie, and where did they get so many working vehicles? This has to be good news, she thought. This must be one of the government support groups coming down to help out. As the convoy came closer, she recognized one of the faces in the lead vehicle. Oh shit, she thought, this is bad. Maggie turned and raced back to the farmhouse.
Chapter 40 ~ Leadership
Maggie ran frantically into the house, slamming doors. “Wake up! Wake up! Dawson! Jake! Where are you guys?” She ran from the front porch through the living room and into the kitchen at full sprint. She slammed into the kitchen table, nearly knocking breakfasts everywhere.
“Maggie, what the hell? Are you OK?” Jake rose and reached out to her.
“No, I’m not OK. There’s a convoy of vehicles coming down the road and the lead car belongs to those son-of-a-bitch terrorists. The ones that had Veronica and Chase.” She suddenly looked around and noticed the kids weren’t in the kitchen. “Where are the kids?” She ran toward the stairs and started calling, “Veronica! Chase!”
Jake caught up to her, grabbing her arm. “The kids are fine. Dawson just came down a few minutes ago and said they were still sleeping. Come back here and tell us exactly what you saw.”
Dawson and Bert headed to the front door as Maggie turned and looked at him in a sweat, saying, “We don’t have time. We need to go. We need to get the kids and go. They’re going to try and take them again.”
Dawson was standing on the front porch with Bert. Bert was loading his shotgun, but Dawson pulled him reluctantly back into the house. They were arguing as they entered the kitchen.
Bert was shaking and irate. “Damn it, this is my property. My home. If I want to die protecting it, then that’s damn well what I’ll do.”
“This is not just about you any longer, Bert,” Dawson said. “Not everyone here shares your desire to be a martyr.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t invite you here, if you remember. You can damn well go any time now. These bastards are here because of you. They’re here on my property because of you. I told you to leave, and now I’m demanding it. You’ve brought nothing but trouble. Go on, get the hell out.” Bert gestured towards the front door just as the kids came stumbling down the stairs in the clothes they had slept in. Maggie was hurrying them down stairs from behind.
“Daddy, what’s going on?” Veronica said, still rubbing sleep from her eyes.
“Bert,” Dawson said, “we don’t have time to debate this. I’d hoped that we’d have time to get ourselves situated before they found us, but for now we’ll have to go to plan B.”
“You have a plan B?” Maggie asked.
“Not yet,” Dawson answered. “Just give me a second though, and I’ll come up with something.”
“Jesus, boy!” Bert chimed in. “You don’t have a second. Did you see the number of vehicles coming up the road? They’ll be swarming this place in no time. We’re massively outnumbered, and even with every weapon I’ve got on this place, we’ll be massively outgunned as well. Whatever plan B you come up with, it won’t stand a chance.”
The group was quiet. Even the kids didn’t say a word.
Bert shook his head. “You people need to follow me.”
Maggie picked up Veronica, then handed her to Dawson as she squirmed, reaching for her dad. The sound of vehicle engines could be heard from inside the house. Bert motioned out the back kitchen door, and they all made their way in that direction; through the back storage porch and down the stairs into the yard. The backyard was large, about a hundred meters in each direction, with a few random fruit trees. The grass and weeds were cut short, and there was still an old kid’s climber towards the back that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. There was no fence around the yard, but its border was clearly defined where the short grass ended and the tall grass started. It backed onto a small woodlot, which was the direction in which Bert was heading.
Even carrying Veronica, Dawson was the quickest of the bunch of them. Bert waved him past as Dawson slowed to say something to Bert.
“We’ll have time to talk later. Don’t bother me with whatever is on your mind now. We need to make it to that woodlot before anyone spots us.” Bert pointed to the back of the yard.
They could hear the squeak of brakes as vehicles came to a stop at the front of the farmhouse, which hid them from view. They were just over halfway through the yard and starting to feel winded. Chase stumbled but didn’t fall as Maggie caught his arm from behind. They exchanged a quick glance as Maggie urged him on. “Go! Go! I’ll catch up. We’re almost there.”
Dawson glanced over his shoulder and started to slow, but Chase waved him on as he regained his stride. Dawson was just on the edge of the woodlot. Jake was next, followed closely by Chase and Maggie, with Bert bringing up the rear with ten meters to go.
The invaders kicked open the front door, even though it wasn’t locked. They systematically went from room to room and floor to floor checking for people.
Bert made it into the cover of the woodlot and fell to his knees gasping for breath. The rest waited there for him. Dawson and Jake watched the back of the farmhouse door, waiting for men to come crashing through at any minute.
“Did anyone close the back door?” Jake asked.
; “I did,” Maggie answered. “I locked it from the inside first, so it didn’t look like anyone just ran out.”
Jake kissed her on the cheek. “I knew I married you for more than your looks.”
“The hell you did,” she answered. “I remember what you were like as a teenager.”
“Sorry to interrupt your little trip down memory lane here, kids,” Dawson said, “but whoever the hell that is won’t take long to search the house. We need to keep moving. Bert, what’s on the other side of this woodlot? Can we get to the road or the next farm from here without being spotted?”
“Not a chance. Those guys will start searching the area any minute. They’ll track us down in no time,” Bert said.
“We should split up. It’s too easy to track us down as a group,” Jake added.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Bert said. “Follow me this way.” Bert took off through the woods.
Maggie looked to Dawson and Jake as they both shrugged their shoulders.
“Well, get moving,” Maggie said, nodding in Bert’s direction. “He’ll be out of sight in no time.”
Bert moved through the woods with remarkable speed for a man of his age. He was charged with a new sense of energy. He had grown up in this place, he knew these woods and the property intimately. It was his childhood and his adult home. He darted amongst the trees and down past the stream, which the group waded through for a bit. Not that he was intending to hide their footsteps, but it was the most direct route. The banks of the stream rose at sharp and uneven angles in both directions, and it would have been nearly impossible to traverse the banks with any reliability.
Before long, they came to a less dense area of the woods, and saw a small cabin with a collapsing roof that looked like it was about to fall in on itself. The walls on both sides were canted in opposite directions, as if being pulled by opposing forces. As they got closer, they realized that there were several cabins or more appropriately the remains of cabins in the area. Compared to the rest, the first one was in the best shape. The others resembled chaotic wood piles more than cabins.
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