Reclaiming The Homestead: An EMP Survival story (BEYOND THE GRID Book 3)

by Connor Mccoy

  Courtney was a second away from shouting for help, but this woman’s story startled her a little. “Wait! This is your place?”

  “Yeah. I’m Domino Avery,” the woman replied. “This house belongs to me and my husband Jacob, and my son and daughter.”

  Domino stepped a little closer, allowing the sun to shine across her face. Courtney’s mouth hung open. “Hey, it is you. The pictures in the bedroom. You’re that woman.” No doubt about it. Domino’s face matched that of the lady Courtney had spotted in pictures in the bedroom and throughout the house. “But…you’re back? Why were you gone so long? I mean, they told me that anyone caught out there wouldn’t have a chance in hell of coming back.”

  Domino giggled. “You never have met our family. My husband prepared us for an emergency. Of course, we didn’t think it would be this much of an emergency. We just came into the area not too long ago.”

  “Oh shit!” Courtney said. As she thought of Terri Boss and Guy Wickers running into the old owners of this house, she almost laughed. Talk about a blindside! It would serve those two right to have to deal with this skunk dropped into their picnic.

  “I know this is a shock. Trust me, I’m not here to hurt you.” She took her hand off her holster. “This gun is just for self-defense. I know I look a little, well, scary.” She chuckled. “It’s been a rough week for me and my family and I’m sure it’s been no better for you. Those two people that are watching you, Guy and Terri, there’s something you should know about them.”

  “What, that they’re losers? I knew that,” Courtney said.

  “No. I mean, I won’t argue with that. But those two don’t have your best interests at heart. They’re planning to bail out of this homestead and leave you and that man Arnie Lerner here by yourselves. They may even kill Arnie before they go.”

  Courtney didn’t know how to react to that. So, Wickers and Boss were planning to run off? It hardly surprised her. Hell, it sounded great, actually. She’d have her own house and wouldn’t have to answer to those two ever again. Well, there was still the matter of Arnie, assuming they didn’t kill him, as Domino said they might.

  But another side of Courtney spoke up inside her mind. Are you crazy? Sykes is coming back here in a few days. What’s he going to do when he sees Terri and Guy have split? He’s not leaving you here alone with the house! He wants the crops. He’ll just plant another worker here to do the job. He might even take you away and put you someplace worse.

  And then a wave of sadness passed through her. The idea of adults ditching her, even ones she didn’t care for, did hurt her a little inside.

  “Really?” Courtney cleared her throat. “And how do you know? You might be trying to trick me.”

  Domino strode a little closer. “You might say my husband and I have been doing a little…secret agent work in our own house.”

  Courtney kept an eye on her, particularly on her hand near her gun. If you’re trying to sound cool, it’s not working. Okay, maybe you’re kind of cute, but still, I don’t know you.

  “So, what do you want? You got the gun.” Courtney looked to Domino’s other hip. “And a wicked cool knife,” she added slowly. “If you want the house back, I can’t do crap to stop you.”

  “My husband and I don’t want a fight,” Domino began.

  “Wait, he’s here, too?” Courtney asked.

  “Yes.” Domino winced a little, as if she didn’t want to give up that info. “We’re both here. We do want our house back, but we don’t want this to get ugly. Do you think Guy and Terri would be willing to talk to us without a fight? Are they armed?”

  “I don’t know what they would do,” Courtney said. A little fear welled up inside her. It sounded like a fight was coming, and she was way too close to it for comfort. “Please, I don’t know what I can tell you.”

  “Easy,” Domino said gently, “all I want to do is make sure you’re safe. My husband’s inside locking the doors. Everyone is outside. That means you can be safe if you go inside the house and wait for us. We’ll talk to Guy and Terri.”

  Courtney still wasn’t sure. Domino sounded a lot nicer than Terri. That was for sure. And she was a mother with a family. Sure, the gun and knife screamed she was a little intimidating compared to your typical suburban mom, but even so, maybe she was telling the truth.

  “What would you do with me?” Courtney asked with such fear that it surprised even her.

  “Sweetie, we’re not going to do anything with you. I mean, we want you to be safe and taken care of. We would find someone close by that could take care of you. Or maybe…”

  “Maybe what?” Courtney asked.

  Domino looked as if she wasn’t sure about what she was thinking. Quickly, she shook her head and returned to her pleasant smile. “Once this is over, I know we’ll find a good place for you to live. You won’t have to worry about being abandoned or having to work for people who don’t care about you. But we need you to help us, to come inside and take shelter so we don’t have to worry about involving you in a crossfire out here.”

  Courtney was torn. Wow. She sounds so nice. She also recognized that Domino very well could have pulled that gun on her and forced her inside if she had a mind to do so. Why go through all this trouble to talk her inside if she didn’t have to?

  Courtney glanced at the fire in the stove. “I probably should turn this fire off. I mean, I don’t want to accidently burn down your porch before you take your house back.”

  Domino chuckled. “I appreciate your courtesy.”

  Courtney reached for the damper on the stove and turned off the fire.

  However, footsteps were approaching. “Shit,” Domino said as she backed into the house.

  Courtney looked up. Terri Boss was approaching!

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jacob tried quelling his fears as he slipped out the back door. He hoped Domino was not running into problems with Courtney. If his wife could secure Courtney’s loyalty, one quarter of their problem was solved.

  As Domino made her way back in the kitchen, Jacob made himself busy securing the front door. Once he had finished, he slipped back down the hall to the laundry room. There had been no commotion. Arnie, Wickers, or Boss had not made any effort to reenter the house from here.

  Jacob had wondered about simply barricading himself and Domino in the house and waiting for his “guests” to try reentering. It seemed like a good idea, but Jacob worried about Boss or Wickers starting a gun battle to try breaking inside. Plus, Jacob wanted to resolve this matter. He didn’t want Wickers or Boss or Arnie Lerner wandering around outside as loose ends, especially not with his children and Sheryl still out there.

  So, Jacob was going to confront Wickers, Boss and Arnie openly. He would gamble that Wickers and Boss weren’t up for a fight. As for Arnie, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

  As it turned out, Jacob was about to cross that bridge sooner than he thought. As he strode toward the farthest crop row, which housed his lettuce heads, he spotted Arnie in the distance, digging in the ground.

  He must be working on the end of the carrot row. Wickers must have seen that area could use some tilling. I’ll give him that much credit, he’s not a total newbie when it comes to farming.

  Jacob didn’t want Arnie to see him approach from too far away. He would have to seek some cover to mask his approach as much as possible. Walking along the lettuce rows would not do. The corn stalks, however, might do the trick. They were a few rows over, but they would deposit Jacob fairly close to Arnie.

  Jacob bit his lip. He tried walking as softly as he could. Inevitably, Arnie would hear the crunching of Jacob’s boots against the soil. Jacob feared Guy Wickers would detect his approach first, but so far Jacob had not spotted the man yet. Wickers might have gone to the animal stalls. Jacob wouldn’t see him from here if that was so.

  The last thing I want is for Wickers to get the jump on me. I’ve got to get Arnie on my side first.

  Jacob took big steps to t
ry covering as much ground as he could while touching down softly. Unfortunately, on his latest step he happened to press down on a mud patch. The slippery surface sent him tripping and falling onto the ground, flopping out into the open, out of the immediate cover of the corn stalks.

  Jacob tried with all his might not to exhale the profanity that rose in his throat. That trip hurt.

  He might have succeeded in keeping his mouth shut, but that did not prevent Arnie Lerner from detecting his presence. As Jacob looked up, he saw the giant of a man staring over him, holding a gardening hoe over his shoulder.

  Well this isn’t going as well as I hoped, Jacob thought.

  Arnie didn’t attack him. The man just stared down with a puzzled expression. Jacob was afraid to even move.

  Then Arnie spoke up. “Weird man. Mud is for pigs!”

  Jacob rolled his eyes. Well, at least Arnie did not perceive him as a threat. “Who knew?” Jacob replied as he climbed to his feet.

  Even standing up, Jacob was overshadowed by Arnold Lerner. It was a little unnerving to be this close to him, and yet, looking into the man’s eyes, Jacob didn’t feel immediately threatened by him. The man was indeed mentally no different than a child, which meant Jacob could not explain the situation to him in all of its complexity. Jacob would have to relate to him as a child might understand it.

  “Although sometimes…” Jacob glanced at the mud patch behind him. “It’s a little fun to play in the mud. You like to play, don’t you?”

  Arnie nodded. “Playing is fun.”

  “It is. And work is, too.” Jacob pointed to the hoe Arnie was carrying. “In fact, you know who that hoe belongs to?” With a smile, Jacob tapped his shoulder with his thumb. “Me. I made all of these crops. Well, with help from my kids and wife.”

  Arnie leaned a little closer. “You make all this?”

  “That’s right. And the house you live in is mine, too. I guess I should welcome you to my farm. My name is Jacob. What’s your name?”

  “Arnie!” came Arnie’s reply. He pointed to Jacob. “Jay…cob. Mister Jacob?”

  “Sure, you can call me that. Mister Jacob.” Jacob patted himself. “And I want to be your friend. Who told you to work on this field?”

  “Mister Guy,” Arnie replied.

  “Is he a nice man?” Jacob asked. He was curious what Arnie thought of him.

  Arnie nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Yes! But I don’t like Miss Terri. She’s mean, but not really, really mean. But she does sing to me. That’s good.”

  “You like singing? My wife, uh, she’s Miss Domino, she always sang to my kids. I’d like you to meet her,” Jacob said. “She’s a very nice lady.” Jacob winked. “Much nicer than Miss Terri.”

  “Miss Terri is poo!” Arnie said, then let out a belly laugh.

  Jacob couldn’t stop himself from laughing as well. “Well…” He coughed before continuing. “…I think we ought to head back to the house so you can meet her.”

  But before he could turn around, he felt something jab into his back.

  “Who the hell are you?” asked Guy Wickers from behind him.

  Domino’s heart pounded. She wondered, as she pressed against the kitchen wall in the shadow near the door, if Terri Boss had seen her retreat into the house?

  As Terri approached, Domino cursed herself for not taking Courtney in with her, but that would have taken up too much time. Terri Boss would have spotted Domino for sure. Domino gambled that Boss would come in, deal with whatever business she had with Courtney, and then leave.

  And what if Terri spots you and takes Courtney hostage? It seemed like an outlandish outcome, as Boss couldn’t have suspected that Courtney had accepted Domino’s offer. But Domino knew Boss and Wickers were treacherous. They thought nothing of possibly killing a mentally challenged man. Why wouldn’t they go as far as harming a young teenage girl if it suited their aims?

  Domino did her best to control her breathing as Boss stopped before Courtney’s workbench. If Terri doesn’t see me, I possibly could take a shot…

  It was grim to think about. But she had to, in the event Courtney was in any real danger. So, Domino stood tight and waited.

  Courtney’s heart raced. It had been racing before, when she first heard from Domino, but it had managed to calm down before Boss approached. Courtney wondered what Boss saw or heard. Her footsteps were pretty far away, and she approached from around the house. She couldn’t have seen Domino, could she?

  Boss wore her usual sour demeanor. She didn’t walk with any urgency, as if she had sensed an intruder. Courtney stiffened up, trying to act natural.

  Boss stopped short of the workbench. “Any problems so far?” she asked.

  “Problems?” Courtney asked.

  “With the canning,” Boss said.

  “The canning? Oh, right. Uh, no, no. The jars are fine.” Courtney mentally cursed herself as she realized she was speaking too curtly and too quickly. She was bound to trip Boss’s suspicion antennae.

  The woman glared at the stove. “Is there some reason the fire is off?” she asked.

  Courtney looked down. She had turned off the fire so it wouldn’t burn with her gone. Damn. If she had heard Boss’s approach just a few seconds earlier, she probably wouldn’t have quenched the fire.

  C’mon stupid, think of an excuse!

  “I, uh, it seemed a little too hot. I didn’t want to burn the jars. I wanted to relight it, give it another try.”

  Boss’s frown deepened a little as she inspected the four jars on the burner. Courtney, backing up a little, didn’t want to talk again for fear of saying something even more suspicious.

  Boss didn’t touch or try to move the jars, as expected, since Courtney just had turned off the fire. Instead, Boss paid close attention to the lids.

  “Well, it looks like you did okay with this batch.” Boss glared at the side door. “Why is that door open?”

  Courtney spun her head around. The door was open because Domino had ducked through it. She must not have had time to close it.

  “Did you have to go inside and get something?” Boss glanced at Courtney, who bristled at Boss’s glare this close up. “You know you’re letting in insects. That’s why we have the windows open, because they have screens.” She rolled her eyes. “God, of all the kids I could have ended up with—”

  She stopped talking and looked down. Courtney followed her gaze.

  For the first time, Courtney noticed a trail of dirty boot prints leading back through the doorway. Those were Domino’s! The prints were not very big or messy, but they were noticeable.

  Boss studied them. My God, the wheels are turning inside that woman’s head. She knows something funny is going on here.

  The woman suddenly spun around, lurching toward Courtney so fast that Boss almost knocked into her. “Was someone here?”

  “What?” Courtney asked.

  “Was someone here, right here, now, talking to you?” Boss glared back at the door. “Was it Lerner? Guy? No, I saw them out with the crops. They couldn’t have circled back here that fast.”

  Courtney’s throat caught. She was in deep trouble. Boss was glaring at the door and the window close by it. What should she do, sell out Domino? Give away that Domino was here? And just when she was getting used to the idea that she might break away from Boss and Wickers.

  Boss drew her gun. Courtney gasped. Her worst fears were coming true. A fight was about to break out and she very well could end up in the middle of it!

  Domino clenched her teeth. No, no, no, go back. But Boss was staring right through the kitchen window, with her weapon in hand. Boss knew something was wrong. Domino could not fire her weapon now with Courtney so close.

  Courtney, run, Domino silently pleaded. The teen looked petrified. She might not be thinking clearly.

  Domino drank in every visual detail of Boss that she could. Domino’s firearms training helped develop her sense of people whenever they were handling or drawing a weapon. She could tell by h
ow they held a weapon and how they moved with it whether they were amateurs who barely knew what they were doing, or experienced shooters who could aim and fire with confidence. Domino mentally hammered out a scale of zero for the worst shooters and ten for the best.

  Judging by Boss’s stance and countenance, Domino pegged Boss at a six. She probably had had some recent training and maybe had fired off a few rounds. With the blinds down in the house, Boss’s vision would be hampered unless she stepped inside. Her aim would be slightly off unless Domino exposed herself.

  Boss’s finger twitched.

  Domino hit the floor.

  Her training also had taught her how to detect the intent to shoot. Some people could fire almost instantly. Those were the nines and tens. Boss was not as confident. That saved Domino from sure death. Boss’s shots pierced the window. Glass shards rained down on her.

  Outside, Courtney screamed. Domino hoped that Courtney would flee, because this was about to get ugly. Boss almost certainly had spotted Domino’s movement.

  Domino scooted as far back from the window as she could before she dared jumping to her feet. She spun around and ran through the doorway into the dining room. At the same time, Boss charged through the open door, gun in hand.

  Keep moving, keep moving, don’t give her a chance to pin you down. The thoughts raced through Domino’s head as she backed into the dining room. The windows were open, but the blinds remained down, shielding the room from much of the sunlight. This gave Domino some cover, but once Boss got inside the room, she still could spot Domino with little difficulty.

  Domino had one clear advantage—she knew this house inside and out. Her mind effortlessly plotted how to use the house’s layout to get the upper hand. The dining room had a second entrance out into the hall, which reconnected to the kitchen. If she ran fast enough, she might make it around Boss and surprise her.