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

by Connor Mccoy

It was worth a try.

  She rounded the wall corner into the hallway. Boss shouted behind her, “Who’s there?”

  Domino ran faster. Damn! She didn’t want to expose her back to Boss. She reached the kitchen. Gun drawn, she sped inside…

  But once she stepped foot in the kitchen, she found Boss inside, turned mostly in her direction. The woman had changed course back into the kitchen and didn’t pursue her through the dining room. Now the two of them were aiming their weapons in each other’s general direction.

  “Stop!” Domino shouted.

  At nearly the same time, Boss screamed back, “Put it down!”

  “Bullshit!” Domino kicked as much rage into her voice as she could. She was pissed at this woman occupying her home and stealing her crops, but Domino also knew that a loud voice could intimidate an opponent. She hoped Boss would shrink back if given a good reason. “Drop it right now or I’ll blow your goddamn head off! Now!”

  Boss stumbled backward. At the same time, she fired off a shot. The bullet, fortunately, missed Domino by a lot, impacting the top of the wall over the counter about half a foot from Domino. The shot even sailed above Domino’s head. It didn’t have a chance of hitting her.

  She’s more like a 5, Domino thought.

  Boss was disoriented. Domino decided to push it. She rushed forward, her gun aimed right at Boss’s chest. “I’m not saying it again! Drop it now or I fill your chest with lead! You hear me?”

  Boss’s eyes widened. The fear was there. Now, if her instinct for self-preservation took hold…

  She dropped the gun.

  “Alright.” Boss said, quivering, holding up her hands. “Alright! It’s down! It’s down! Now, who the hell are you?”

  Domino cocked her head. “I’m the lady of the house.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jacob gritted his teeth. How did he not hear Wickers approach him? Goddamit! I wasn’t paying enough attention. I was trying to make friends with Arnie. Wickers must have seen me from far off and snuck up behind me.

  “I said, ‘Who the hell are you?’” Wickers jabbed the gun in Jacob’s back for good measure. “I won’t ask again.”

  Jacob tried thinking quickly. “Me?” he asked, “I’m your landlord. I’m here to collect on your rent.”

  “What?” Wickers asked.

  “You heard me,” Jacob said, “What? I don’t look familiar to you? You’ve been sleeping in my bed the past few nights. Surely you’ve seen my face in the pictures on the dresser?”

  “Wait! You’re that guy? You’re the man who owns this farm?” Wickers could not sound more shocked.

  “Yeah.” Jacob wondered what Wickers would do with that information. He figured he should be careful.

  Arnie cocked his head. “Mister Guy? What are you doing?” Arnie’s eyes widened. “You have gun!”

  “Just go back to your work, Arnie. This man doesn’t belong here,” Wickers said.

  “Doesn’t belong here, my ass! You’re the one who’s squatting on my farm without my permission!” Jacob shot back.

  Arnie didn’t leave the scene. Instead, he asked, “Mister Guy doing something wrong?”

  “I’m not doing anything wrong, Arnie. Just get going and leave him to me,” Wickers said.

  Then Jacob thought of something. Terri Boss wanted Wickers to shoot Arnie out in the crops, but Wickers resisted every appeal to do so. Jacob didn’t think much of Wickers’ ethics, but the man likely was not a cold-blooded murderer. If Wickers found the idea of shooting Arnie too distasteful, then Jacob had some wiggle room to work with.

  “No, Arnie!” Jacob spoke up. “Stay. Actually, Mister Guy has come to play with us.”

  “Play?” Arnie asked.

  “Sure. Just put down that tool and come here,” Jacob said. Damn, I hope I’m right about this.

  As Arnie threw aside his hoe, Wickers barked, “Arnie, no! Stop right there!”

  “See that mud?” Jacob asked, looking down at the mud patch, “We’re all going to play in it! Even Mister Guy!”

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Wickers asked.

  “Now, jump into it!” Jacob cried.

  Arnie let out a shout of glee as he belly-flopped into the mud. The weight and mass of the man sprayed mud all over Jacob and Wickers. Wickers did not anticipate the mud and yelped.

  Now!

  Jacob jabbed Wickers hard in the stomach, then spun around and tackled him into the corn stalks. The two men struggled hard, but Wickers’ thin frame could not repel Jacob’s muscular one. Jacob made sure to slam down Wickers’ gun hand against the ground, so the barrel was not aimed at him or Arnie.

  “Let…me…go!” Wickers cried out.

  “Not a chance, asshole!” Jacob retorted as he pinned Wickers’ gun hand even deeper into the soil.

  Arnie’s shadow loomed over them. “Mister Jacob?” he asked.

  “It’s okay, Arnie. Mister Guy and I are having a wrestling match,” Jacob said quickly. “Say, could you kick that gun out of his hand? Don’t pick it up, just kick it hard.”

  “No, don’t!” Wickers cried.

  But Arnie did not listen. Instead, he did as Jacob instructed, giving the gun a hefty boot. Wickers screamed as the kick struck his hand as well.

  “Very good!” Jacob jumped off Wickers. As Wickers tried sitting up, Jacob slugged him good, knocking him into a daze. Wickers, lying on his side, groaned in pain.

  Jacob panted. “There. See? I think we’re done playing.”

  Arnie frowned in confusion. “Can we do it again later?”

  Terri Boss glowered at Domino. Domino could understand. She had tied Terri to the chair and placed her outside on the porch by the cast iron stove. Even so, Domino had the feeling that Terri wore a scowl almost daily.

  Courtney stood on the other side of Domino near the kitchen door. Every now and then she would peer nervously out to the fields or inside the house. Even though Terri Boss was now under restraint, the teen still was apprehensive about what would happen next.

  Domino itched to leave her and help Jacob. With Boss tied up, she ought to. Was she worried that her captive had another card up her sleeve?

  I’ll just bring Courtney with me. I won’t risk that Boss will get free and take her hostage. I should be able to keep her safe.

  However, before Domino could tell Courtney her plan, the teen spoke up, but not at Domino. Instead, she asked Boss, “So, were you really going to ditch me?”

  Boss’s frown faded a little. “How’d you find out?”

  Courtney nodded at Domino. Boss’s scowl deepened again as she turned to Domino. “How the hell did you find out? How did you get inside the house? How are you even still alive?” She laughed in disbelief. “I never thought the owners of this house ever would come back.”

  “I guess it’s your rotten luck, huh?” Domino asked.

  Boss returned her gaze to Courtney. “Yeah, it’s true.”

  Courtney smirked. “Hey, that would have been cool. I never liked being with you anyway.” She turned and walked around Domino to the edge of the porch.

  Domino, however, was not done with Boss. “She may not show it, but she’s pretty hurt by what you were going to do. Don’t you feel anything for her?”

  “She was dumped on us. We were expecting grown adults who could help us,” Boss said.

  “Well, so sorry for you. Sometimes you have to make the best out of what life gives you,” Domino said.

  “So, what are you going to do with me?” Boss asked.

  Domino backed up toward the edge of the porch. “Guess it depends on how Jay made out. If anything happened to him…” Her hand brushed against the gun in her belt. “Just hope I come back in a good mood.”

  She turned around, but before she could tell Courtney to accompany her to the crops, Courtney jabbed her finger to the fields, shouting, “I see Arnie coming! And I think that’s your husband, Miss Domino.” The teen squinted. “Is Arnie carrying Guy on his shoulders?”

  Boss�
��s jaw dropped. “I’ll be damned.”

  Arnie Lerner approached the porch with Guy Wickers slung over his shoulders. The giant beamed with a happy grin. Jacob, beside him, flung some loose dirt off his arms. “Hey everybody.” Casting a glance at Boss, he added, “Doms, it looks like you made your catch.”

  “So, did you?” Domino laughed.

  Courtney grimaced. “Did you three fall in the mud or something?”

  Jacob took note of the mud on his clothing, picked up when he was wrestling Wickers. Arnie was especially caked with mud from jumping into it. Some of it had landed on the semiconscious Wickers. “We definitely got acquainted with Mother Earth,” Jacob said.

  “We had fun,” Arnie said with a grin.

  Arnie turned around, permitting Wickers to turn his head and look at Boss. Wickers didn’t say anything. He just shook his head and sighed.

  Sheryl listened to Brandon’s latest lecture on what berries to look for in the woods. She had to chuckle. No, Sheryl, not everything that looks good to eat in the forest actually is. Brandon just had finished talking about how yew seeds inside yew berries can be toxic. Before that, Jubilee had talked about how ivy berries can make your face and tongue swell up.

  For a while she was afraid to touch anything out here until Jubilee assured her that she was fine if she asked them first. And if she was still unsure, Sheryl should ask Jubilee about it first and not Brandon. “He might try to prank you a little,” Jubilee warned.

  Sheryl was grateful for her niece and nephew’s input into her surroundings. She was amazed how much there was to learn about the landscape around her. Jacob, you’ve done a hell of a job with these kids. And Domino, too.

  She continued wondering if she had not been giving Domino enough credit as a mother. Domino and Sheryl were always likely to be very different people. Yes, that would be a given. But Sheryl suspected that Domino had respected her a lot more than Sheryl had respected Domino.

  Once all this is over, we’re definitely going to be a family. I might as well prepare for that.

  She looked up at the sky. The trees that towered overhead blocked a clear view of the sky, but Sheryl felt sure they were past noon now. Jacob warned her that it might be close to nightfall before they could come back for her and the kids. He simply didn’t know how this fight for the homestead would go.

  Better not to dwell on that. “So, Brandon, tell me more about partridgeberries,” she said. “Those are okay to eat, right?”

  A crunching of twigs interrupted their conversation. Sheryl’s hand flew onto her gun but she did not draw out her weapon. “Get behind me,” she said in a deathly whisper. Someone was coming from their right.

  The footsteps, as they drew closer, seemed to divide between gentle footfalls and stomps. Two people must be coming. “Jacob and Domino,” Sheryl whispered, “please let it be you.”

  A man’s hand pushed aside an overhanging branch. Sheryl’s heart quickened. That wasn’t Jacob at all. That was Arnold Lerner!

  But seconds later, Domino pushed aside some remaining brush to reveal herself. Sheryl sighed. Domino seemed perfectly calm and in no distress.

  “Thank God,” Sheryl said as the two closed in.

  “Mom!” Jubilee cried. Brandon repeated the greeting as he and his sister raced out into the open.

  Domino squatted down to hug each of them. Sheryl, meanwhile, eyed Arnie, who looked at her with a slight smile.

  “Hello,” he said.

  Sheryl, smiling awkwardly, wiggled her fingers at him. “So, uh, Domino. It looks like you made a friend.”

  Domino stood up. “Yeah. Arnie, this is my sister-in-law, Sheryl. Sheryl, Arnie.”

  Arnie frowned. “Sister? Law?”

  “Uh, she’s a friend,” Domino said. “She’s Mister Jacob’s sister.” With a chuckle, Domino said to Sheryl, “I’m sure he’s trying, but some words are just going to go over his head.”

  Sheryl, leaning closer to Domino, whispered, “Is he, you know, okay?”

  “I wouldn’t worry,” Domino answered. “He’s like a big child. Just don’t drink any coffee around him. I’ll explain later.”

  “Mom,” Jubilee approached Domino, prompting Sheryl to back up and let mother and daughter talk. “Is Dad all right? You won, right? I know you did.”

  “We’re both fine. Your dad is back home guarding our new houseguests.” Domino chuckled.

  “So, you mean we finally can go home?” Brandon asked.

  With a grin, Domino nodded in approval.

  “Yes!” Jubilee shouted as she jumped up and down. Brandon joined in her euphoria. Arnie cheered along with them, although he probably didn’t know what the fuss was about.

  As the trio carried on, Sheryl stepped closer to Domino. “Hey,” Sheryl said, “it sounded like everything went okay. I guess I was wrong to be worried about you two maybe going too far. You did your best not to hurt anyone.”

  “Thanks.” Domino smiled a little. “And you kept my babies safe. I guess we both kind of know what we’re doing, don’t we?”

  “I guess we do,” Sheryl said.

  Jubilee and Brandon had finished cheering, but Arnie still carried on, jumping around so erratically that he nearly bumped into Sheryl. “Whoa!” Sheryl cried as she leaped away.

  Arnie stopped. “Sorry! Sorry!” He held his hands up as if to deflect an oncoming blow.

  “It’s okay.” Sheryl softened her tone. “I guess you just got a little too excited there.”

  Sheryl looked up into Arnie’s eyes. Domino studied the two of them. They seemed fascinated by each other.

  “I’m Arnie,” Arnie said, “What’s your name?”

  “Domino told you my name.” Sheryl shrugged. “It’s okay. You probably forgot it. I’m Sheryl Avery.” Sheryl stuck her hand out to receive a handshake.

  But Arnie didn’t understand what to do. He just looked at her with a confused expression. Blushing, Sheryl withdrew her hand.

  Domino whispered into Sheryl’s ear. “There’s a lot to tell you. I’ll explain on the way back home.”

  Well this is certainly the most pleasant job in the world, Jacob thought as he kept watch on Terri Boss and Guy Wickers, who were both tied to chairs on the back porch. Courtney, meanwhile, spent time both in and out of the house. Jacob was content to let her be after all she had been through.

  Wickers had regained full consciousness after Jacob had knocked him cold out in the corn row. Wickers and Boss had remained mostly silent at first, but as time passed, they grew more talkative, if not necessarily more pleasant. Jacob took the time to get to know these two and what their involvement was with Sykes. As it turned out, the pair had hooked up with Sykes only recently, and out of a need to find food and shelter. Sykes had been gathering other people in a similar fashion, finding abandoned farms for them to occupy and work in.

  Jacob’s anger toward this pair faded, though not completely. He wasn’t sure if he could trust them. They would have to show some solid cooperation before he could determine what to do with them.

  His stomach rumbled. He would have to find something to eat. He wondered if Wickers or Boss were hungry as well.

  Before he could entertain further thoughts of food, he spotted movement on the horizon. Domino, Arnie and Sheryl were on their way through the fields, with the kids in tow.

  “Perfect,” he said with a smile.

  Jacob waited until the party arrived. He greeted his kids with hugs and a celebratory cheer that their house was liberated.

  Wickers, chuckling, quipped, “There’s so much cheer I almost feel good we got our asses kicked.”

  Boss shook her head. “Okay, now that everyone’s back home, could you please untie us?”

  Jacob looked to Domino. “I’m feeling a little better about them. If they don’t have any weapons, I think we could entertain them for dinner.”

  Domino, smirking, asked, “Shall I make my special lasagna for them?”

  “Would that be the one that put me on the toilet three
times that night?” Jacob asked.

  Domino slapped his right shoulder. “It was twice!” Shaking her head, Domino turned to Boss and Wickers. “Promise not to say anything bad about my cooking and you’re free.”

  Wickers and Boss, exchanging looks, laughed. “Sure,” Boss said.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jacob rubbed his face. Fatigue finally had set in now that he was home. It was as if his body had proclaimed he could come off his hours of adrenaline high and finally crash.

  Seeing his wife and daughter seated in the living room added to the sense of familiarity. Sheryl was there as well, standing amongst the Avery family and Courtney and Arnie, both of which sat near the hallway door. Brandon was standing near them, entertaining Arnie with one of his old contraptions, a pulley attached to a rope that was intended to drop a fishing lure into the water and automatically pull the fish in once the fish bit on the lure.

  At the moment, Terri Boss and Guy Wickers kept Jacob’s attention. The pair reclined on the sofa, with Guy appearing partially relaxed, while Boss sat so stiffly that she reminded Jacob of a department store mannequin, if one could have a scowl on her face. Jacob was relieved that he did not have to kill anybody while liberating his house, and it seemed these two were eager to get away from here as quickly as possible. Jacob was inclined to let them go, but not without asking some questions.

  Sykes.

  Jacob bristled at the thought of the name. He knew this game wasn’t over. He had asked them some questions upon capturing them, but he wanted some facts to be explained again for the benefit of Domino and the rest of his family.

  “I overheard your chat with Sykes in my front yard.” Jacob rolled some emphasis onto the word “my.” “He put you up to this. Tell me how this happened. How did he find my home in the first place?”

  “One of his men came by this place a few days ago,” Guy said, with all the ease of addressing a friendly acquaintance. “He scouted it out, didn’t find any trace of anybody living here. He let Sykes know, and then Sykes came to us and told us to take up shop here.”