by David Nees
He went over with her how to take the average height of a male, around five feet ten inches, and estimate the range using the binoculars with their ranging scale in the lens. Next, he reviewed how to adjust for distance using the tables in the book. Adjustments could also be made for how many degrees up or down she was shooting. It was somewhat intimidating, but Catherine had been exposed to the information before.
“Now positioning,” Jason said. “It’s vital to your survival. Remember, your job is to fight from a distance. You’re outnumbered. You have to always have a back door, a retreat path, and a new position to set up again and continue shooting. In a direct confrontation, you lose, so make them fight you on your terms, and never up close.”
Early the next morning, as the sun rose, Catherine and Bird started walking up the valley road. They wore backpacks carrying two days of trail food and one hundred rounds of ammunition each. Catherine carried the M110 slung over her shoulder. Strapped to her waist was her 9mm pistol. Bird had only his rifle. They trudged along the road in silence. Bird didn’t seem the talkative sort, and Catherine was enjoying the quiet of the morning.
The sun warmed them as it rose in the sky, and they soon began to feel the heat of the day. When they came near the end of the paved road, they veered off to the south and began to hike up the slope.
The road was difficult to detect where it joined the pavement. It was heavily grown over with grasses and small willow shrubs. A close inspection would reveal the traces, but a casual observer would not notice it. The paved valley road ended in a turnaround as it approached the west slope. What one didn’t see through the thicket was the old road connected off to one side. Unless you knew it was there, your eye would not pick out its faint path.
They worked their way through the trees, staying close to the deepening gorge on their right. The old two-track road was off to their right, across the gorge. It came over the saddle on the west ridge and wound its way down into the valley. They were ascending the south ridge, with a ravine separating them from the western slope. They were looking for outcroppings or clearings that would give them clear sight lines to the road as it came over the top and down the ridge across from them.
During their climb, they detoured to the right to look for the old road and to check their altitude. The road was sometimes hard to pick out. The trees covered it under their canopy for long stretches
“We’re only going to have clear shooting at the switchbacks,” she commented as they stared through the trees. The road took a serpentine route, snaking down the slope and turning back each time it came to the gorge separating the western and southern ridges.
“Got to make the shots count,” Bird replied.
“Yeah. Let’s get higher, so we can start shooting while they’re further upslope. We have to take full advantage of each switchback.”
“Might make them stop and think before each turn,” Bird offered.
They turned back to their uphill climb. The day grew hotter as they worked their way uphill. Both of them were soon sweating and swatting at flies that harassed them.
When they had climbed well over halfway up the slope, Catherine stopped at an outcropping that was shielded with a few trees and mountain laurel bushes.
“This is a good spot. We’re not far below the west saddle. We can shoot at them as they come over the ridge. They’ll be skylighted against the horizon.”
Bird shook his head. “That ain’t good.”
“Why do you say that? It’s a clear shot at them where they’re most exposed.”
“We shoot at them at the top of the road, they just back their trucks down out of sight, leave ‘em, and spread out through the woods. That’s what I’d do. We won’t know where they gone.”
Catherine thought about that. “So we have to wait for them to get over the ridge? That means we don’t shoot until that switchback about fifty yards downslope from the top.”
“We start there. If they jump into the woods, we’ll see the direction they gone. I don’t think they’ll be very good in the woods, so we can fight them that way too.”
“I hate to let them get further into the valley, but you may be right.”
They stepped back from the edge of the outcropping and began to set up their shooting positions. They cut some brush and wove the branches through the laurel to better hide their position, and they piled up stones for shooting rests. When they were finished, they moved down the slope and searched out two fallback shooting positions that had sight lines to the other exposed switchbacks on the bark road. By the time they were done setting those up, the day was ending.
They climbed back to the first position to spend the night. Each had a blanket and a ground cloth. They would alternate sleeping and keeping watch. There was no way to know when the attack would come.
If it came at night, Catherine hoped the attackers would be using their headlights to light their way.
For now, she and Bird settled down to dried venison and water, accompanied by some early blackberries they had packed. After they had eaten, they got as comfortable as they could among the rocks, nestled in their blankets and ground cloths, their backpacks under their heads.
With the sun gone, the cool of the night began to advance. Even in summer, the nights often remained cool in the mountain valley. There was no question of a fire. The buzz of insects from the day had faded with the sun. Stillness surrounded them like a thin blanket, soft and loose. Over it an occasional hoot from an owl could be heard in the distance. Frogs began their ritual croaking somewhere below in the ravine.
As the first stars began to show, Catherine thought about Bird. He was the only teenager she had come into contact with outside of the valley after the EMP attack. It made her think about school and the normal life that had ended. “Do you miss school?” she asked.
“Nah. Never liked it much.”
“Did they call you Bird there?”
“Yeah. Everybody did.”
“So they called you Bird Early in school? Did that cause you any problems?”
Bird looked at her. His face was scowling. “You mean like changing it to ‘early bird’…getting’ the worm?”
“Yeah. I’m not making fun of it, Bird’s a nice name really, but I know how kids can be. I got kidded a lot in school.”
“I got that. Got in some fights over it.”
“That why you didn’t like school?”
“Some. I didn’t like sitting in a chair all day…being inside.”
They were quiet for a while, with only the sounds of the forest intruding on their silence.
Finally Catherine spoke again.
“You miss the power being on? I mean how much it’s changed our lives?”
“Not so much. I like what I do now…being in the woods and all…you know, huntin’, fishin’, trappin’. I always liked that. Now I get to do it every day.”
Catherine thought about that for a while. “I kind of miss going to school…learning things.”
“Bet you had a lot of friends. You’re pretty. I didn’t have many friends. Most looked down on kids like me.”
Catherine smiled at him. “Thank you. I had a few friends, but not that many. A lot of the kids were more popular than me. I was pretty quiet.”
“Quiet’s good. Most people talk too much anyway.”
“Some of the kids looked down on me and my sister since we came from this valley. They really treated Billy bad.”
“Who’s Billy?”
“Billy Turner. He’s my age. He moved to Hillsboro two months ago.”
“I think some of us are related to him. I heard Clayton talk about it.”
“I didn’t know that. Turners have lived in the valley for a long, long time.” Catherine thought about Billy. “He’s a country boy like you, that’s for sure. But he wasn’t always nice…like you are. You have an honest look and nice, clear eyes. I like that.”
Bird looked down at the ground, grabbed a stick and began to poke around with it. “You
got a boyfriend?”
Catherine smiled. “Yes. We’re getting married as soon as this fighting’s settled.”
“Pretty young to get married, ain’t you?”
“Not really. Times have changed. I’ll bet you got some girls eyeing you.”
Bird snorted. “Maybe. Some of ‘em just too fussy for me.” He looked up at Catherine. “They not be like you. They can’t shoot and take care of theirselves. I like that you can do that.”
“Most boys don’t, I think.”
“Well, I do. Not sure I’ll find a girl like you.”
“You’ll find a girl. Maybe you just have to teach her how to shoot and hunt. Jason taught me.”
There was an awkward pause.
Catherine tried to change the subject. “You think they’ll come this way?”
“Can’t be sure, but I think you right about watching this road. It’s what I’d do if I was to attack the valley. ‘Specially since they know how you fought at the bridge. Bet they don’t want any part of that.”
“Then we have to stop them.” Catherine felt the burden of their task pressing down on her. If her fears were proven right, they would have to significantly slow down the attackers until help could come. It was up to her and Bird to keep them from hitting the farms, killing their friends, and destroying what they had all built.
She wanted to steer the conversation back to lighter things, but the import of the moment pressed other thoughts from her mind.
Bird said, “Look, if something happens to me, you get out of here. Don’t try to save me and get yourself killed.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to you. We’ll just shoot at a long distance and keep out of sight. I doubt they can shoot all that well.”
“Still, I don’t want you to get hurt…or worse, caught by them. No tellin’ what they’d do.”
Catherine had faced down outlaws that had killed, raped, and even participated in cannibalism. In that fight she had known the fate that threatened her, and it had only made her fight harder.
She spoke in a quiet tone. “We’ll both be all right. I’ve been up against even worse than these.” Her voice sounded so sure of itself, but there was a kernel of fear inside her that tried to grow and take over her confidence. She pushed it down.
She yawned and stretched out her arms. “Okay then, you go to sleep,” Bird said. “I’ll watch first.”
“All right, but wake me. I don’t want you to stay up all night. We both need some rest.”
Chapter 42
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L ori Sue and Billy lay in their bed, spent from making love. Billy savored the feeling of intense satisfaction coupled with a deep relaxation. He had found a girl that liked him, that made love to him, that respected what he knew and what he could do. He was calmer now when they made love. Lori Sue had shown him how to please her. And she certainly knew how to please him. He rolled over toward her and propped himself up on his elbow, “I love you, Lori Sue,” he said quietly.
“That rhymes,” she said with a giggle. “Maybe you could write a song about me.”
“I doubt it. I ain’t good with words. But I’m sure glad I found you.”
“Me too,” she answered.
After a moment she turned over to put her face close to his. “You know we been talking about what we can do after Stansky’s gone. I know you don’t want me to keep doin’ what I’m doin’—”
“I don’t like you seeing other guys…now that you’re with me.”
“I know. But the way things are now, it’s what I gotta do.” Lori Sue put her fingers to his lips to keep him from responding. “But after, things’ll be different. I’m thinkin’ we can start a bar and restaurant. You can hunt for the food, make the moonshine, and I can run the place. I used to work in a bar before the power went out. We’ll have good food to eat, lots to drink.” She went on, excitement building in her voice. “We’ll have sawdust on the floors. It’ll be warm inside and smell like beer. I’ll find us a cook and some guys to play country music. People will come and drink and dance and have a fine ol’ time. We’ll make lots of money.”
Billy looked up at her. Her eyes were gleaming, excited. She grinned at him. “Whaddaya think? Want to do it?”
Billy looked at her, this honky-tonk girl who had opened his horizons, made him feel wanted, accepted. “Yeah. I’d do that with you.” He figured he’d do almost anything she asked him to.
Lori Sue fell onto Billy and wrapped her arms around him, wiggling her petite body all over him, trying to connect every part of her skin to him. “We’ll be famous…and rich!”
Billy smiled as his body started to respond to her embrace.
Suddenly a thought came to his mind. “What will people use for money? How they gonna buy the food and drinks?”
“Oh, they’ll get money going again. There’s people know all about that stuff, you’ll see. We can’t just keep tradin’ things, it’s awkward. So people will get paid to work on projects, they’ll come into our bar and pay us to eat and drink, and we can buy what we need with the money, so you can keep hunting and making liquor. It’ll all work out, you’ll see.”
Billy thought it sounded good, but he couldn’t quite picture how all that would get started. Still, it had to start again sometime, he supposed. The prospect of living his life with Lori Sue warmed his whole body. He began to run his hands over her back and bottom. She responded to his touch, and soon they were lost in kissing and nuzzling one another, the rush of the vision now replaced by the rush of their bodies enjoying each other.
They lay entwined in their bed; a nest safe from the world outside. A pale light from the moon came through the window. The city outside was dark. Some of the empty buildings might never be lit again. Grass and weeds grew in cracks along the streets and sidewalks. Broken windows went unrepaired, with the rooms behind them laid open to the elements, becoming homes for birds and bats. In the empty quarters of Hillsboro, the desolation advanced with nothing to slow it down. Wildlife crept back into the city, taking over abandoned spaces even within the great curve of the wall, while the people huddled together in the smaller inhabited parts of the city and worked to keep the decay at bay, at least on their own blocks. The hopes of Lori Sue and Billy warmed them in their nest, but the outside world seemed indifferent, even impervious to their plans.
Later in the night, after they were spent, Lori Sue was talking about Donna and her plans to get Donna free when Leo was away.
“I don’t want you to go back there. It’s too dangerous,” Billy said.
“But I gotta help her. She’s got no one. I’ll go when Leo leaves to raid the valley. I’ll be all right.”
Billy just shook his head, but he was beginning to fall asleep. “I still don’t like it,” he murmured.
“You just help me find a hacksaw or a chisel. I’ll be okay.”
In the morning light, the column of Army Humvees, troop trucks, and tankers moved slowly through the main gate in the rough city wall. Frank had gotten there a little beforehand; he had parked his car a block away from the barrier, not wanting to create any disturbance with his presence. There was nothing further he wanted to say to Captain Roper. Roper was leaving and that was all that mattered. They were free of the Army. Finally.
Now Frank and Joe could finish getting the city under control. Once they took out the valley and got the proper seed to start their own farming, Frank figured that the internal dissent would wither. If it didn’t, a few more executions would do the job. It was distasteful, somehow more so than it had been in the early days after the attack, but he could see how effective it had been. His visits to the water mill and the wire plant had given evidence of that fact. The technicians were more focused and were working harder. No one seemed to talk about the executions, but their effect had been a renewed burst of productivity.
Soon they would get the power back on. The unpleasant actions would then be forgotten. And as he and Joe solidified their dominance over the o
ther towns, as they rewarded their own citizens with increased security and more food, as they reestablished normal patterns, the people would fall in line. All anyone had to do was obey the authorities. Frank would make sure life got better for everyone.
He smiled as the last Humvee drove through the barrier and disappeared down the road. All the obstacles were fading away.
Then his thoughts shifted to Charlie, and he felt his smile waning. He had worked closely with the man for so many years. No, Charlie was not as politically sophisticated as Frank, but Charlie had managed to navigate the world of policing crime without using a scorched-earth approach. And Charlie Cook had always been willing to follow a path that didn’t upset the power structure. As a result, the criminal elements in town, while not defeated, had been contained and didn’t impact the lives of the ordinary law-abiding citizens. Charlie’s easy hand had kept life calm in Hillsboro. Since the EMP attack, Charlie and his department had been a calming influence just by being seen still doing their jobs; Chief Cook had become a reassuring symbol for the town that normalcy wasn’t dead. But now Charlie had dug in his heels. The man seemed to have taken sides…the wrong side, Frank thought. What to do about him?
Frank knew that Joe was capable of eliminating Charlie without hesitation. It was an uncomfortable thought.
Still, they had a future to secure, one in which Frank would play the prime minister to Joe’s king. Frank knew that, when the feds showed up and it came time to navigate those tricky waters, Joe would need him more and more. He would come to recognize Frank’s value, and Frank would ultimately gain a large share of power.
As much as he liked Charlie, he couldn’t let the old man get in the way of that goal. Charlie had had his chance and had turned his back on it.
A gray pall came over Frank’s vision.
It was Charlie’s decision, he thought regretfully. He couldn’t do anything about what would come next.
