Into the Apocalypse

by William Dunaway

  “Ok, let's load up and get over there. Who’s ready to go?”

  “Mo and Tag are getting geared up right now. Mike and Red are on the west roadblock and Wit and Santiago are on the east side. The rest are asleep.”

  “Ok, the four of us will go. Mia, call everyone else and tell them to standby just in case.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No, Mia. I need you here. You have proven yourself, and I don’t have a problem with you going, but we need you here in case this is a diversion of some type. I need you to call everyone on the radio and tell them to be alert.”

  As we were walking out, Mia ran over to Paul and gave him a kiss, “Be careful.”

  I looked at her and said in fun but sarcastically, “WE will!”

  Mia looked up embarrassed and chuckled, “You know I meant that for everyone.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” and I walked over to Kim and gave her a kiss.

  ****

  Charlie grabbed his flashlight and started walking out the door when Martha asked, “Where are you going?”

  “I’m not going to let them steal our food.”

  “Vince and them are on their way. Just wait until they get here. I don’t want you getting shot over some apples.”

  “It’s not just a few apples. That’s a major food source of ours, and I’m not going to let this trash take any.”

  “No, Charlie, wait for them to arrive.”

  “I’ll be alright. I won’t leave the porch. Maybe my presence will scare them off. I’ll be alright.”

  Charlie snuck out the front door. The wind was still and as quiet as it was, he could hear the two talking and what sounded like someone trying to shake a tree. Charlie took his six-volt spotlight and aimed the beam towards the sound. He spotted one of them in a tree and the other on the ground holding some type of container in his hand.

  He yelled, “Who the hell’s out there? Get off our property!”

  The one in the tree jumped down to the ground, and both tried hiding behind it.

  “I see you. Did you hear what I said? Get the hell out of here!”

  Finally, one of them spoke up. “Old man, we’re just here getting some apples. Now, you need to go back inside before you get hurt.”

  “Come on Hedge. Let’s get the hell out of here!” Creighton said excitedly.

  “We’re supposed to get apples, and I’m not going to let some old man scare me off.”

  Charlie yelled again, “I’m not going to tell you again! Get the hell off my land!”

  Hedge yelled out, “Fuck you old man! Like I said, we’re just getting……..”

  Charlie fired his shotgun towards the two figures, knowing that at the distance they were at, the birdshot he had in the shotgun wouldn’t kill anyone, but he was hoping it would scare them off.”

  Both Creighton and Hedge fell down to the ground. Hedge picked up his AK-47 and fired a burst towards Charlie, missing him but hitting one of the porch’s support beams. Charlie jumped down to the floor of the porch.

  “I’m going to kill that old man!”

  “Let’s just get the hell out of here!”

  “Old man, you just made the biggest mistake of your life! I hope you’re ready to die!” Hedge yelled out and then shot another short burst.

  ****

  Tag was driving, I was sitting in the passenger seat, Mo was standing behind the mounted SAW, and Paul was in the back seat with the M-16. On the way down, Martha’s voice came over the radio saying that Charlie went out to the front porch and pleaded for us to hurry.

  I picked up the radio and said with aggravation, “Martha, tell Charlie to get back inside! We’ll be there in less than five minutes!”

  “I tried but…..” the radio went silent for a moment, and then Martha in a panicked voice said, “They’re shooting at us. Please hurry!”

  Creighton then yelled at Hedge, “We were told to get the hell out of here if anyone saw us! Now, let’s get out of here!”

  “No, I’m going to kill that old man for taking a shot at me! If you want to leave then ….” Suddenly both heard the sound of our jeep approaching, and Creighton said, “Now, you’ve done it! That’s got to be that Johnson group. I’m getting the hell out of here!”

  “Alright, let’s go,” and they both jumped up and ran across the road and started their ATVs and took off through the woods.

  As we approached, we could see their tail lights and Mo opened up with the SAW but apparently not hitting them as they continued through the woods until they were out of sight.

  “Tag, stay here with Mo. Paul, you come with me.”

  Tag jumped behind the wheel well on the passenger front side, using the engine as cover, as Paul and I ran to Charlie’s house.

  “Charlie, Martha, it’s Vince. Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, I’m alright,” Charlie said while walking out to the steps.

  I immediately got on the radio and called Mia and told her to relay to everyone that we were clear but to keep their eyes and ears open for the rest of the night.

  Martha burst open the door and yelled, “Charlie, you old bastard, you nearly got yourself killed! Don’t ever pull that shit again!”

  “I’m alright, Martha. I told you I would be.” He responded while walking over to give her a hug.

  “Don’t you hug me! You’re just lucky that Vince and them showed up when they did. You almost got us both killed.” Then she broke out into tears and slammed the door.

  “I guess that was kind of dumb on my part. It just drove me crazy watching those sons of bitches steal our food.”

  “I know Charlie, but you should’ve waited until we got here. This could’ve turned south very quickly, you know that don’t you.”

  “I know Vince. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, you don’t owe us an apology, but it sounds like you have some repairs to make on the home front with Martha. Charlie, I think it’s time you think about moving into our perimeter. Your place being so isolated isn't exactly safe any longer. Why don’t you move a little closer in? There are some empty homes within our two-mile sections that we patrol.”

  “NO SIR! Thanks, Vince but I won’t let these bloodsuckers run me out of the home that I’ve lived in for over a half a century. No sir!”

  “Charlie, I know what you’re feeling, but it’s just not safe.”

  “I know what you’re saying Vince, but we have everything here. The orchard, everything. No, I won’t do it!”

  Suddenly Martha popped open the door, “Thank you, Vince, but I have to agree with this old man. This is our home. I don’t want to leave here.”

  I could see I wasn’t going to get anywhere, not tonight anyway, so I just said, “Well, I understand, but I hope you both will reconsider. Until then, we’ll try and patrol down this way. We’ll include it on our route, but our vehicle patrols aren’t that often.”

  “Thank you, Vince. That would make me feel better.” Martha replied.

  Charlie spoke up, “Vince, you don’t have the gas to drive down here every night. You can’t do that.”

  “You let us worry about that. But, I’d like you all to think it over. I promise you these clowns aren’t just going to go away.”

  “Well, we’ll talk about it but don’t bet the farm on it. This is our home Vince, and as I said, I don’t like the idea of those bastards getting anyone to give in. Anyway, we have all these apples to harvest. That would be a good food source for everyone.”

  “Charlie, we can help you harvest the apples and anytime you say, we will, but I still want you to seriously consider moving up closer to us, temporarily anyway.”

  “Well, we can talk about it later. Sorry to call you out like this. I know you had to have been in bed.”

  “Yes, Vince, tell everyone thank you.” Martha included.

  “That’s not a problem. Listen, anytime you guys feel like there’s a threat, give us a call. I’m serious. We all have to watch out for one another.

  Alright, we’ll le
t you folks hit the sack. Before we go, we’ll probably check out the woods real quick.”

  Charlie replied, “Thanks again. Tell everyone, thank you.”

  “Yes, thank you, Vince.”

  I turned and waved meaning “anytime.” “ Charlie, listen to Martha next time. Don’t try confronting anyone by yourself, ok?”

  Charlie waved, and both him and Martha entered the house. As we were walking away, we could hear Martha ripping into Charlie.

  Paul laughed, “Well, it sounds like he’s going to catch hell for a while.”

  “Yep. I think he’s in trouble.”

  When we approached the jeep, Tag, Paul and I checked out the woods to see if there was any sign or maybe even a little blood but there was nothing, so we headed back to the house.

  On the way home, Mo commented, “You know this problem isn’t going to go away, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I know. I was just hoping maybe it would but I know it was wishful thinking. What the hell is wrong with people? I’m so sick of this bullshit!” I said with disgust and anger.

  “So what are we going to do?” Paul asked.

  I sat there shaking my head in disgust.

  “We’ll have to address it.”

  Mo added, “By what we’ve heard, that’s not going to be easy. They’ll be on defense, and it sounds like more firepower.”

  “I know. First of all, we’ll have to see what they have and if Brian’s description of the place is accurate. We’ll fly over them and scout out what we have to work with.”

  “Well, we should have more manpower than they do,” Paul commented.

  Tag asked, “Where do you get that?”

  “Well, we have Pine City and all the other neighbors that we should be able to count on.”

  Tag laughed, “Don’t count on it.”

  “I’m afraid he’s right, Paul. Oh, there will be a few that will volunteer, but you’re about to see how much people are willing to stick their neck out for others.”

  “Do you really think so? After all, we’ve done for some of them?”

  I just shook my head, “We’ll see,” knowing deep inside though how most people are. “One thing though, let’s hold off on telling everyone what we’re talking about. I don’t want everyone worrying today about having to go on an offensive mission.”

  We then stopped by Mike’s location and told him to work up a schedule that included roving patrols all the way down to 2 highway on Old Drum Road, that Charlie and Martha lived on. I also told him that we needed to start using the motorcycle and ATVs that we retrieved. We had hesitated to use them as we were worried about the reputation that these bikers had in the area, and we didn’t want to be confused with them.

  Mike suggested that we contact everyone on the route and inform them that while patrolling, we’d be using the ATVs.

  “You know that means we’ll need to bring that section of road into our group, don’t you?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah, that’s what I had in mind. It’s going to be tough with the wood line being on the east side and these bikers having several paths through them, but it will increase our manpower.”

  Mike rolled his eyes. That meant a couple of new roadblocks being built, but he knew that also meant more manpower.

  Mike, of course, complained about it but I think he does it more or less in fun. More manpower meant better security and less work for everyone after the roadblocks were built.

  “Alright, I’ll start arranging it in the morning.”

  I chuckled, “We’ll have a few of the guys make contact with everyone tomorrow.”

  The next morning, Mo, Tag, Paul, and I planned on sleeping in, but with the day that was planned, I think we all woke with anticipation as we all arrived in the kitchen for our morning coffee within fifteen minutes of each other. I was going to need several cups because after we got home, I stayed up for another hour filling Kim in on everything that happened and letting her know that with the situation with the bikers, we were going to have to go on offense very soon. Even though I told the guys not to mention this to anyone else, I had learned to fill Kim in on everything as she always kept me balanced and always kept it to herself when I asked her to.

  It wasn’t just us that was tired though. Once we headed to Charlie’s and Martha’s, no one really got any sleep. But, having what we hoped was going to be a fun day, I knew we’d all wake up sooner than later.

  After eating and while we were sitting around, quieter than normal, drinking our coffee, I did notice that since it came out about Paul and Mia’s relationship and Brandy and Mike’s, they were more open about it, which was good. Now they didn’t feel like they had to keep it hidden, even though they did a lousy job when they were trying to.

  Mia caught me smiling and staring at her and Paul, and she made eye contact and gave me a sweet smile.

  Even though Brandy was kidding around with everyone and spending some quality time with Mike, I could tell she was distracted a bit. At one point she got up to get her and Mike another cup of coffee, and I grabbed her arm and stopped her.

  “Have you figured out what you’re going to tell your mom and dad?”

  She hesitated a moment and then sighed a bit, “Not really. I plan on telling them, but I’m also going to see how the phone call goes. That is if I get to make the call and I get a hold of them.”

  I could see some real apprehension in her eyes, and I didn’t blame her. She had a tough job and a hard decision to make. I squeezed her arm and told her good luck.

  Soon Jake came pulling in the driveway with his tractor, obviously wanting to start roasting the beef half. Mo, Brian and I met him in the driveway.

  “Good morning.” He said with a big smile.

  “Morning, I see you’re ready to get to work.”

  “I don’t consider roasting a half beef work and I can already taste it.”

  Just about that time, Kim came walking out with a big pot full of the sauce the girls had made up.

  “Will this be enough?” she asked while pulling off the lid.

  Mo and Jake at the same time both said that it looked like the perfect amount. I dipped some out with my finger to taste it and even though she growled at me, she looked at me with anticipation of what I thought about it.

  “Wow! That’s really good. Heck, if things ever go back to normal, you could bottle and sell that stuff.”

  A big smile came over her face, “Good. We thought it was pretty good, but it’s nice to hear that.”

  Putting the half beef on the spit was not easy. We had to make sure it was secure because we sure didn’t want it falling off into the coals. But the hardest part was placing the spit across the hay ring that we were using as the fire ring. We didn’t take into account the weight and trying to do it over hot coals, but we eventually figured it out.

  Mike, Brandy, Red, and Wit had decided to take the jeep to let everyone know that we were going to start using the ATVs and motorcycles that we confiscated on patrol and to also take a look at where to build the next roadblock on Old Drum Road.

  “Dad, I was thinking, instead of setting up the roadblock at the end of Old Drum and 2 Highway, why don’t we set it up at Charlie’s and that way the roadblock crew can also guard his apple orchard?”

  The minute he said it, a big smile came over my face, “That’s a good idea. That apple orchard is a good food resource, and I know Charlie and Martha would be happy to have someone watching the place. Of course, that means we wouldn’t have quite as many people in the community, but for the short term, that may be best.”

  “I agree. I thought about the extra manpower, and we can always bring them in later, but for the meantime, this would kill two birds with one stone.”

  “You’re pretty sharp, Mike,” Mo said with a smile.

  “How long before you think you can have it set up?” I asked.

  “We can have it done by the end of the day tomorrow.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me. Ok, let everyone know that’
s within our perimeter about what we’re planning but don’t take too long. They’re going to arrive at one today.”

  Wit spoke up, “This should only take about an hour at the most.”

  “You know we’re not going to miss out on any food,” Red said with a laugh.

  We all laughed, and I stated, “Ok, be careful,” and they sped away in the jeep.

  True to their word everyone got back within the hour and reported that everyone was notified that we’d be patrolling with the ATVs and motorcycles and they were given the colors and descriptions. Charlie and Martha were thrilled with the idea of having the roadblock set up in front of their house, and to say thank you; they sent up a bushel basket of apples, which thrilled the kids and the women as they knew of several recipes they could use them in.

  Soon we all jumped in and started setting up tables, just like they did for my birthday. We also set up the croquet set in the front yard and the horseshoes. It was a beautiful day, and the temperature was sitting at about 60 degrees.

  At 12:55 p.m., we could hear the choppers approaching and before we could even get outside the Apache was over us doing a security sweep. As soon as we walked outside and waved, the Apache circled the farm doing an additional sweep, and then three Blackhawks approached from the east, one carrying something hanging below it. As they did, I ran out to the field to the east of the trailers and signaled them to land there. After a few moments, two of the Blackhawks landed, and a crew member ran out and directed the third Blackhawk as they lowered their cargo. After disconnecting it, that Blackhawk soon landed and after one more sweep of the area, the Apache landed as well.

  Kim, Mia, Brandy, Paul, Mike, and myself walked out to greet everyone. I walked up to Jim and shook his hand, and Kim gave him a hug, and after some quick chit chat, Jim asked if we had a trailer hitch on the jeep and what size balls we had.

  I told him, and he said, “Good! I come as a bearer of gifts.” He then laughed, “Whatever you do, don’t ask where some of it came from. But for the record, as far as the paperwork goes anyway, you guys are now a military contractor,” while rolling his eyes and giving us a signal to follow him.

  As we approached, I recognized the Muststore HT 250 gallon flexible-fuel tank.