by Boyd Craven
"What you mean ‘hit the farm’?" Her words were icy, her face a mixture of grief and fury.
"By the sound of things… They're coming here to kill all the men, take the women and any of the children who look interesting to them. If there's any food or anything of use here, they will probably take that too." Carter's words were cold and forceful.
"Kill all the men? Take us? For what?"
"Play toys, barter, currency." Again, Carter's words lacked any sort of warmth.
I could tell when the woman finally understood what it was we’d been trying to get through to her. She was thin from hunger, but her skin tone had a light tan to it. When she realized what we were talking about without overtly saying it in front of the kids, she went pale. If they'd been attacked before, the thought of them dying had probably occurred to them but being raped and traded around as some sort of sexual slaves obviously hadn't. Add that to the fact the kids appeared to be at least on someone's wish list… I felt sick even thinking about it. I could say without a doubt that there would be one man I would have no qualms or nightmares about killing: the guy on the bike named Danny. Even his partner had been disgusted with him.
"And we've got two days?" she asked over the screaming, wailing, and carrying on of the kids, the crying of the grandpa, and the two women who'd gone back to yelling at the kids and not each other.
"I heard it from their own lips. Blue team did another slow drive by and then they were told to head back to base and rest up, because in two days’ time they were hitting the farm here."
"Blue team?" Carter asked me.
"I'll tell you later," I said to him softly. "We need to talk to Jessica."
“Yeah, we do,” he murmured, and I almost didn’t catch his words.
“What should we do?” she asked us.
“Get out of here, take everything you guys can and leave,” I told her.
“I’ll talk to my father-in-law,” she said quietly, then turned and started screaming at the woman who’d walloped me.
It was a good time to get going.
5
Carter and I walked away from the mess I’d made. At least I knew now, from the one woman's words and actions, that the men hadn't necessarily been on the up and up. It weighed heavily on my mind. No one wanted to see a kid be hungry or starve. But how much was enough? I'd given them food that would probably last them awhile. If they were smart they’d take that food and get out of the area. Somehow, I didn't think they would though; I wasn't sure if they even could.
Carter and I had backed out as far away from them as we could and started down the road toward my grandparents’ house. We wanted to make sure we were far out of sight, out of earshot. I knew the grandpa had a gun, but the women were so upset with us that I was half convinced I was going to get a bullet in the back if I would've turned when I walked away. I didn't tell Carter about the bike that I had stashed; instead, we went across the street and up the slope a ways and sat under an old tree. There was a hollowed-out spot in the tall grass where deer or something else had bedded down, and with a start I realized this could've been one of the places the bikers had used to spy on the farm.
"You shouldn't have gone there," Carter scolded me.
"They had no food, and I'm responsible for killing at least one of them. Hell, I know for sure I killed one of them, you guys got the other ones. It didn't feel right, when I didn't know the entire story, to just leave them alone. I wanted to give them some food, at least give them the warning in person."
"That was part of my plan. I've been out here or near the Crater of Diamonds since we left your place. I got the call on the radio, hell I heard your call to Jess. As soon as you got off the horn I switched frequencies and got my marching orders from Linda." Carter swatted at a mosquito that was trying to land on his face.
I didn't know how it had gotten so late so fast, but I realized that dusk was coming. In the summer time the days were long and hot. The passing of time like this normally wouldn't have been missed by me, but it had been an emotional and taxing day. I was ready for it to be over with, and I didn't want to hear any more scolding from Jessica's group.
"What are you guys going to do about the raiders who are coming?" I asked him after a while.
Carter sat down next to me and shrugged his daypack off his shoulders. Next, he laid his carbine down across the pack, mindful to keep the barrel out of the dirt. He stretched and then pulled a canteen out, unscrewed the top, and took a long drink. I waited.
“I don't know," he said after a while. "We don't have the manpower to fight off everyone from the crater gang. We literally don’t have enough people.”
"The Hillbilly Mafia," I said softly. “It's only fitting since most of them are rednecks and hillbillies."
Carter grunted and pulled a protein bar out of a pouch on the right side of his belt. "Want one?" he asked, offering it up.
"No thanks," I pulled my pack to me and took out the other half of sourdough Grandma had sent with me, when she'd reloaded my pack sometime when I wasn't paying attention. I offered him a piece and he broke off a chunk and started chewing it. His eyes got big as its flavor hit his mouth, and he washed it down with water. We sat in silence for a while and considered our options.
"The only thing we can do is hope that they take our warning and get out of there."
I looked at Carter, nodding, but wishing there was more that could be done.
"Do you have any idea what time they were talking about coming?" Carter asked quietly.
"Do I know when they're planning to attack? No, no I don't. I wish I did, but I don't even think Lance is in charge anymore."
Carter finished off the chunk of sourdough I’d given him and washed it down with water. I dug in myself, being used to eating simple foods like this. Flour, water, sourdough starter; just add heat and you have a simple bread. And sourdough starter wasn't anything special to begin with; you just kept it fed and growing with flour and water. It was simple food that people had been making for hundreds if not thousands of years.
“What I think you're seeming to forget here is that it doesn't matter who's in charge over there. We know for sure that they've killed close to ten people now and kidnapped more. We’ve been keeping an eye on them. I really think the only chance those women and kids have is to get out of there and go into hiding.”
He was right, and I knew he was right. But what if they didn't go? Could I live with myself? I was thinking about all of this when Carter put a hand up to his left ear and cocked his head to the side. I hadn’t noticed it before, but he’d put in an earwig and it must've been attached to the radio on his vest. I couldn't hear what was said to him, but he spoke into the radio softly.
“… Westley? He's here with me. Yeah, he went back to bring them some food. No, no they were all in pretty rough shape. They don't look like they've had a solid meal in weeks. No, there were no problems getting out of there. Yeah, the gunshots our scouts heard were the farmer letting us know he had us in sight. No, they weren’t hostile, and they didn't try to hurt us. Yeah, I would say Westley is pissed. That ain't my problem, Jessica, you talk to them. Okay, see you back there. Carter out.”
“Well, what did she have to say?” I asked him.
“Other than the fact that you’re a dumbass? Nothing much. She just wanted to know if I'd made contact, because she hadn't been able to get you and your grandparents on the radio.”
“That's because I got the radio on me, and when I was doing my stalk, I had it turned off so wouldn't give away my position.”
“Someday I want to ask you about that, how you got so good. Sneaking up on me like that?”
“Lots of years getting squirrel and deer out of season.”
“That's why you got that little varmint rifle then?” He tapped the can on the end of the barrel.
“Yeah, it doesn’t make a lot of sound, but most of the time it was other things like trapping. Making snares, only using the gun if I had to put something down, or I was
in a spot where I could shoot without the shot being heard. Speaking of shots… scouts?” I asked.
“We’ve had this entire area being watched. When they heard the farmer trying to scare us with those shots, they radioed it back in along with the general direction.”
We’d talked and waited awhile before he got another message on the radio and motioned for me to follow. We’d stopped talking, with nothing much to say. He was of the opinion that we’d done all we could to help the families by giving them enough food for now and warning them to get out of the area. I wasn’t happy with that, and I wished I had my buddy Raider here with me. More than likely, he’d know what to do. Lord knows I didn’t. My brain said I’d done enough, but my heart didn’t agree.
I didn’t ask where we were going, but saw we were more or less moving north and west. We’d left the main road and had been moving cross country, first through some brush, then into a thinly wooded area I was familiar with. I saw old landmarks, places I’d hunted before, like a small creek that always had been good for taking frogs and turtles but never had any fish. We stopped in a spot I’d once taken a deer, and I hunkered down next to Carter.
“What are we doing?” I asked him quietly.
“We’re waiting for somebody,” he said cryptically.
“Who?” I wanted to know.
He didn’t say anything, but instead looked over my shoulder. I turned and saw a figure in camo come out of the brush behind us by about twenty feet. I shouldered the rifle without thinking about it when Carter gently pushed the barrel down.
“Jess.”
I lowered the rifle’s barrel, but kept it shouldered. I watched as the figure walked closer and then it took off the boonie hat, her hair flowing free as she shook her head. It looked both scripted and unconscious at the same time.
“Wes,” she said, walking up to me, her carbine held low and to the ready.
“Jessica,” I said, tipping an imaginary hat.
“Ma’am,” Carter said, “think I’ll head back to my spot.”
“Take care,” Jess said quietly, not even watching him leave.
I was suddenly so pissed at her, at myself, at the world. My emotions were all over the board. She hadn’t sounded like she was going to help them, but half a day later, as the sun was setting, here she was!
“What are you doing out here?” I asked her suddenly, my voice cross.
“Told you we would handle it,” she said, her voice just as angry as mine.
“Sure, didn’t sound like you were planning on doing anything,” I shot back.
“We were on unsecured radios, where anybody who could dial into the frequency could have listened in. The chances of that happening were slim but…”
I felt stupid. She was right; what else was she going to say over the open air? The radios looked fancier than CB radios, and I’d forgotten we probably weren’t the only ones in the world who had them. Stupid! I kicked myself.
“I… You’re right,” I agreed.
“I know I am, and if you learn that now, you’ll go a lot farther in life,” she said with a grin.
It was infectious, and despite the residual anger and tension, I let out a small chuckle myself.
“It’s going to be dark soon,” she pointed out.
“I have to get back to the farm, figure something out—”
“We don’t have enough people to do anything if they decide to hit the farm, and the family hasn’t left. The crater gang is close to seventy people now, with more coming in daily.”
“What if we snuck in there and attacked first? Like when you got the Guthries out?” I asked her.
She was already shaking her head. “We don’t know how many of them are innocent. There are people coming and going, but mostly coming in. They’ve killed several of their own in various squabbles, but they’ve been shooting some of the people they’ve taken hostage.”
“Taken hostage?”
“Like our mutual friends, they believe some of these folks hid back from the government and have a stash of food.”
“So, they’re just…”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“I didn’t leave the radio with my grandparents, so I need to get back tonight,” I said suddenly.
“I’ll come with you.” She spoke into her own radio softly, nodding at whatever they were saying.
“I have to find my bike before it gets too dark.”
“Ok, let’s do that then. Road is directly south of us,” she said, looking at a compass.
“I know where we are,” I told her. “Spent most of my youth up and down this patch. We’re actually on the Crater of Diamond’s land right here.”
“But…” she said, her words trailing off as we heard the sound of a gunshot in the distance.
I turned and followed the direction I’d heard it come from. The farm. I waited, tensing, praying they weren’t starting the attack tonight. We were waiting in silence when I felt Jessica’s hand take mine. Her hand was rough, calloused, and small. Like it was made to fit right there.
“I think we’re safe to go,” she said, breaking the silence.
We found my bike right where I’d stashed it, and I walked it back with her. Both of us had probably come to the same conclusion that we couldn’t ride double on it. There wasn’t any room and with my pack and my weight, it was almost enough to pancake the tires. Besides the fact was no room to actually fit both of us made it almost a no-brainer.
“So, have you thought about trading our group some of that moonshine?” Jessica asked me suddenly, the light of day almost gone.
“Here I am worried about somebody else’s kids getting snatched by bad people, and you’re wanting to talk about getting liquored up?” I teased.
“One of the big problems we have is that some of our vehicles are gas powered. We tried to get more as the troops showed up, but we couldn’t. Resources were federalized. Once we bugged out, we realized that water must have gotten into our gas storage tanks. We’ve gotten some of our vehicles working again, but…”
“You used regular unleaded when you got your fuel stores setup?” I asked her.
“Yes, we didn’t want to raise suspicions by buying in bulk and having a tanker deliver gasoline to an old clear cut on forestry land.”
“Ahhh, I actually meant, you got the stuff with ethanol in it?”
“Yes?” she said, her voice uncertain.
“That doesn’t store as well. The additives in it remain good for a while, but ethanol itself attracts and absorbs water,” I avoided lingo I knew from college. “So, if you had it stored for more than a year without adding something like Stabil in it, it might have pulled moisture out of the air every time you filled a drum.”
“I… We did use some Stabil in each drum, but… I guess that makes sense. We could never figure out how water got in.”
“Lots of useless things I learned in college,” I told her truthfully. “A degree in chemistry makes me a better moonshiner.”
“Chemistry,” she mused, “like the art of making things go boom?” she asked, using her hands to mime a big explosion.
“Most of the time, we take precautions to keep everything we’re doing from catching fire or…” I let my words trail off.
Two days... we had two days. Less now, after today. Not nearly enough.
“I hope they decide to leave,” I told her.
“They have to, we can’t protect them.” Her words were soft, but I could tell her mind was already made up; mine wasn’t.
A bark had both of us looking up the slope. A figure ghosted out of the edge of the darkness and a canine came to a rest next to him, tail wagging so hard his rear end was nearly bouncing.
“Grandpa?” I asked.
“No, it’s the lollypop guild, here to get yer dues,” he shot back.
Raider lurched forward when he heard my voice and put his front paws on me. I pushed him back a little bit, then hugged him close. My face got a quick wash down from my happy dog before I
backed up, forcing him to go down to his feet.
“Your grandma was worried about you when I left a couple hours ago. We heard a few rifle shots but wasn’t sure if it was from your direction.”
“It was,” I confirmed. “Two when Carter and I were there at the farm, and one later on, after I’d met up with Jessica.”
“Ma’am,” Grandpa said, tilting an imaginary hat, “almost didn’t see you there.”
“Am I really that hard to miss?” she asked.
“No,” he said shortly and turned. “Lights are on inside, and your grandma has boiling water… just in case.”
“Nobody’s hurt,” I assured him.
He stopped and turned to me, his hand reaching out to my chin, turning my head.
“Moonlight here sucks,” he said, looking up at the tree cover, “but it looks like you got yourself some spousal correction, if the bruise looks about right.”
“Spousal correction?” Jessica asked, an eyebrow arched.
“Yeah, it’s what his grandma tells me when I do something stupid and she backhands me. Come on, we got food ready at home. I don’t think she’ll mind so much if you decide to stay for supper.”
“She can have my room tonight,” I said.
Raider whined and rubbed his head against my thigh, pushing me a little bit away from Jess. Grandpa laughed slowly at the dog’s antics and kept pace with us.
“Where two grown assed adults sleep is none of my business. I’m half deaf anyway,” Grandpa groused.
My ears burned in the dark, and Jessica took my hand. I saw her grinning, teeth showing. I rolled my eyes and Grandpa laughed a little louder, reaching across her and smacking me on the shoulder.
6
Grandpa changed out of his homemade ghillie suit while we tucked into the food. Grandma came out once to kiss me on the forehead, then scurried off. It wasn’t like her and Grandpa to make themselves scarce so quickly. They loved to talk as much as anybody. In fact, I think they did it, so we could have some alone time. We both avoided talking about what happened at the farm today. I knew I was thinking things over and praying that the families moved on.
