by AJ Newman
I gave the signs for MMax to stay and guard the girls and said, “MMax stay. MMax guard Missy and Chrissy.” MMax walked between the girls and stood on guard.
I steered Karen into the kitchen, and she cursed under her breath when she saw the needless destruction of her home. The refrigerator door had bullet holes, and all of the counter appliances had been thrown against the wall. The room was filthy. I led her into the living room, and we could now smell the urine and feces. She saw bullet holes in her TV and piss stains on the wall. Tears flowed down her cheeks, but she kept on touring the home. Her master bedroom wasn’t ransacked, but the bed was filthy. All of her clothes were gone, except for some shoes.
The girl’s rooms were just like the rest of the house, filthy and used for the asshats’ orgies. Karen kicked a condom under the bed and went to Chrissy’s dresser. There were only a few things left, and we headed to Missy’s room when I heard MMax bark. I ran to the back door, but stopped to look around the opening before barging out the door.
***
The odor of evil men was all around MMax, but it was weak. They hadn’t been here in a few days. MMax stood between the girls and shifted his gaze from side to side. Then he heard the sound of a door-slamming coming from several houses down the block. The wind blew toward the sound so MMax knew he would probably see the evil men before he smelled them.
Nothing happened for several minutes until an odor caught MMax’s attention coming from the opposite direction of the slamming door. The evil people had tried to fool MMax, but they couldn’t fool MMax’s nose. He pushed the girls back against the house and then growled for Jason to come. He crouched and waited to spring out and tackle the evil ones.
***
When I cleared the kitchen door, there were two rough-looking men standing in the yard leering up at the girls. I heard one say. “Come on, girls go with us. We can party. We have plenty of alcohol and drugs.”
Karen whispered, “That is my neighbor’s brother. Be careful. He’s usually on drugs.”
The man raised his foot to come up the steps, and I drew my gun. MMax growled, and the man pulled a pistol. I yelled, “MMax, Attack. MMax Bite!”
MMax charged the man with the gun, and a shot rang out from behind me as I fired my weapon at the second man. MMax grabbed the first man by his gun hand and dragged him to the ground. The man dropped the pistol and screamed for mercy.
I commanded, “Hold em,” to MMax, so I could check to see if the girls were injured. The man on the ground had two chest wounds and died while I checked the girls. Karen’s daughters were scared, but otherwise okay. Karen was shivering with fear. She had never seen someone shot, much less shot someone. I held her close for a few minutes until she calmed down. The girls joined in, and we now had a group hug while the thug writhed in pain. I untangled myself and turned toward the man.
“Please call your dog off. He’s breaking my arm.”
“MMax, Bite!”
MMax shook the man as he clamped down harder on the man’s right wrist. I asked, “What were you going to do with the girls?”
“Nothing. I promise. I was just kidding. Karen, tell him I’m Paul’s brother. I don’t mean any harm.”
“MMax, Out! …MMax, Watch him!”
Karen yelled at the man. “You’re nothing but a worthless drug addict and pervert! I’ve seen how you leer at my girls!”
I aimed my gun at the man’s forehead. “Karen, you need to have the girls look away while you keep on guard for any more assholes like this one.”
Karen barked orders to her girls and stood watch while I interrogated the man. “How many more thugs like you’re in this neighborhood?”
“I don’t know. Some drifted in when they escaped from the Tennessee State Prison, and some others came up from the Rutherford County Jail. Maybe twenty to twenty-five.”
“Is there a leader?”
The man laughed. “Yes, a black man called Big Gun. He’s due here any minute, and he’s my friend. If I were you, I’d get the hell out of here.”
“So I should be afraid of this thug? I don’t think so,” I said.
The man sneered, “Big Gun will like your women, especially the young ones.”
I thought about Big Gun being in the area, so I quickly drew my knife as I sidestepped around the man. I then yanked his head back by pulling on his man bun and drew my blade across his throat. Blood squirted from his jugular vein, and he collapsed as he tried to yell for help. Only bloody froth came from his lips.
I heard several gasps and turned to see Karen staring at me while Chrissy puked her breakfast up and out on the deck. I wiped my blade on the man’s shirt. “Ladies, I warned you to look the other way. Karen, if there is anything in that house you want, I’d get it now. I need to get you to safety. The man might have been lying about Big Gun, but we can’t take a chance.”
Karen turned to the girls. “Trust me; there is nothing in house that you want anymore.”
“Mom, what about our family photos?”
“They have been destroyed. Let’s go now. I’m sorry, but we have to go,” she said as tears poured down her cheeks.
The girls started crying, and I gathered them all together in another group hug. Trust me, I’m more at home, killing the enemy or drinking with my buddies than soothing a crying woman. My fellow lady soldiers told me several times that I needed to show empathy and be caring when a woman cried or was upset. I just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge when I saw tears and crap like that. Several told me I needed housebreaking, and they pitied the poor lady who took on that task.
I took the pistol from the man I’d just killed and searched his pockets for more ammunition. He had one more full magazine. Karen found a small .380 Auto on the other man and a handful of loose bullets in his pocket.
“Come on with me. MMax and I will make sure those men can’t get to you,” I said.
☆
Chapter 12
We went back by the same route and only saw a few people stirring around their homes. I saw a couple of gang banger types when we crossed on to Highway 41, but they were busy beating on the door to a small shop. I kept the ladies moving, and we were soon back at my parent’s home. The girls slumped down on the couch, and Karen leaned back in Dad’s recliner. They were mentally exhausted, so I put a cold but filling lunch together. Sliced Spam, crackers, and leftover sweet tea would have to do for now.
I served them and then sat in Mom’s recliner next to Karen to eat. No one spoke at first, and then Karen broke the silence. “Girls, there were a lot of good things that happened today.”
The girls looked at her as though she was a two-headed hydra monster. Karen went on. “None of us were injured. MMax saved you two from the bad men, and Jason and I disposed of them. We still have clothes on our back and food to eat. Now, you might ask the question – where will we stay?”
I butted in and said, “I want you to come to my parents’ farm until you figure out what you want to do.”
Karen replied, “I hoped you would keep the offer on the table. We will work hard to help your family and won’t be a burden. I do think we need some additional training to help us survive. I hate to admit it, but I think down deep inside, I felt this whole apocalypse thing would blow over and things would get back to normal. Having to shoot that man drove home to me how precarious our situation is now.”
I nodded my head. “Yes, I agree. I think we need to teach the girls how to shoot and defend themselves before we leave here. We can teach them more advanced survival skills when we get to the farm.”
Karen asked, “Won’t practicing shooting use up valuable ammo and attract unwanted attention?”
“Yes, it would, if we were going to shoot real guns. We have the pellet pistol and my old pellet rifle in my Dad’s gun safe to use. They will come in handy for hunting small game also. I’d like for you three to rest a while, and then we’ll go into the back yard and practice.”
Karen jumped out of the recliner. “Kids, get
your butts in gear. We’re now beginning your lady Amazon training.”
The sudden movement received a low growl from MMax, which reminded me that Karen and the girls would be spending more time around MMax than I initially thought. I said, “Ladies form a circle with me. MMax, heel.”
With MMax at my side, I explained that I was going to help MMax know the ladies were his friends. “Girls, I’m going to pick MMax up and place him in your arms, one at a time. You will hold MMax for a short time and then give him back to me. Do this exactly how I just said. Also, remember MMax is not your play friend. He’s a Working Military Dog and only plays with me and no one else.”
I picked MMax up, being careful to support all four of his legs, and handed him to Karen. MMax looked Karen in the eye and then looked at me. I took MMax back and then gave him to each of the girls. With MMax back in my arms for the last time, I placed him on the ground.
“Now, MMax knows you can be trusted and won’t growl at you unless you threaten him or me.”
Tina looked at us as if to say, “What about me.” I patted her on the head and said, “Good Girl.”
Chrissy asked, “Can we pet MMax?”
“No. MMax is not a pet. MMax will now protect you and tolerate you, but he doesn’t think of you as someone he can play with. Now please remember what I’m about to say. When MMax sits down and points at danger, I’ll call out “My dog alerted.” This means you should take cover or drop down and be ready to fight.”
Their eyes grew in size, but all agreed to obey my instructions.
I had the girls find several coke cans while Karen looked for some boxes for targets. I took a folding table from the garage and set it up in the backyard. We had acquired a small arsenal, and I laid all the weapons and ammo on the table. There were five 9-mm pistols, two .38 pistols, two Ruger 10/22 rifles, and a 20-gauge pump shotgun spread out on the table along with their magazines and loose ammunition.
I decided to keep my M17 9-mm pistols, and gave a 9-mm pistol to each of the girls and Karen. Then, I gave Karen the 20-gauge and the girls a Ruger 10/22. I’d keep the .38s hidden in the cart for backup weapons. Now that each of the ladies had their guns, I taught them how to field strip their weapons and clean them. Then we covered gun safety several times. I didn’t want to get shot in the ass by an overeager teenaged girl.
We moved on to the range, and I showed them how to handle the pellet pistol and rifle, along with the correct sight picture. The ladies took turns shooting the air rifle first, and all were soon good shots with the rifle. The pistol was a bit more challenging, but they got the hang of it in a half an hour. Karen was a crack shot with either pellet gun and came clean about shooting with her grandfather many years ago.
While the ladies were blasting away at the targets, I trained Tina to obey several basic commands. She already knew to fetch, so I taught her to sit and stay. Tina was eager to learn, but I wouldn’t be able to train her to alert on explosives. I’d have to settle for alerting on ambushes and thugs.
“Karen, you shoot like a pro. Did you have any guns in your home?”
She frowned at me. “I had my own 12-gauge pump, a Glock 17, and a Ruger 10/22 target rifle when I married the jerk. He hated guns, so I left them at my parents’ home. The girls never shot a gun until today. Hey, I was also on the girl’s archery team back in high school and college. Find me a bow, and I’ll help provide game for the table.”
I smiled at her and said, “You surprise me every day. Ya did good back there on the deck. You shot the bastard before I could clear leather. Are you okay?”
Karen chuckled. “I drew my gun when I heard MMax bark. Yes, I’ll be okay. I won’t lie. Shooting that man made me want to throw up, but I’m afraid he won’t be the last. Did you have to kill many of the enemy?”
I said, “That’s not something I like to talk about. Yes, it was kill or be killed every day and sometimes every hour. I hate to say it, but I was very good at killing. I hate killing.”
Karen looked at the floor. “I hate killing also, but it’s not a bad skill to have these days. Do you have nightmares?”
“Bad ones.”
“Let’s eat a hearty meal and get some rest for our walk in the morning,” I said. I thought for a minute and added, “We need to start having a guard on duty twenty-four-seven. MMax is great, but by the time he wakes us up, an attack could be well under way. I’ll take the first and last two hours when an attack is most likely. I’ll wake Missy up, and two hours later, she will wake her mom up. Then it’s Chrissy’s turn. I’ll start at nine o’clock.
The guard will stay in the house and look out the windows for intruders. Girls, help me string up some warning devices while your mom starts supper. Grab some empty cans and gravel from the driveway. I’ll get some strong fishing line, large washers, and a few pots and pans.”
We ran fishing line all the way around the house, about fifty feet from the structure. I had the girls tie the cans with a few rocks in them from the line so they would clatter if the line was disturbed. I added one pan on the end of each line with a washer tied to the twisted string, so it would spin and beat on the pan if the line was hit. These noisemakers wouldn’t make much noise, but they would get MMax’s and Tina’s attention for sure.
The night was chilly, and I hid in the shadow of the garage as I gazed across the back yard. The smell of lilacs in bloom filled the night air. I had been on guard duty for a little over an hour when I heard a squeak coming from the deck. MMax hadn’t growled, so I assumed it was Missy coming early to relieve me. I saw Karen with two cups in her hands. She searched the night to find my location. I whistled softly, and she walked in my direction. I pulled up another lawn chair and offered her a seat. “What tasty treat do you have for me? I see the drink, but I smell something chocolatey.”
She moved her chair closer until they touched. “I baked some chocolate cookies from a box and made milk from that powdered stuff. It’s not great, but the cookies help cover the taste. I would have made you some coffee, but you need to be able to sleep. Crush the cookies up into the milk so you can drink them.”
I took a bite from a cookie and washed it down with the milk. I stuffed another cookie in my mouth, and I saw Karen do a double take. I said, “I took the rubber bands off an hour ago. My last trial run went well, and one of the bands snapped. I decided to take a chance. Darn, it’s good to chew my food again.”
I felt her head on my shoulder, and then Karen said, “I’m speechless. You sound much better. Sometimes I had to listen closely to understand what you said. I like the new Jason.”
She leaned in, and I met her halfway. Our lips had just touched when I heard MMax growl. He walked up beside me and pointed at the back of the yard. One of the cans clattered, and then the sound of a washer beating on a pan split the night. I placed my fingers on her lips and slunk down to the ground with my weapon ready. Karen fell to the ground in a prone position with her pistol prepared for action. It was then, I heard another low growl coming from the deck.
Before I could see the intruders, MMax alerted, and then I heard a man talking. “Martha, I know that woman must have some food and other supplies hidden around here somewhere. Those people were preppers. Zack was always trying to get us to put some food away in case of an earthquake.”
“Bill, hurry up. Those looters might still be here.”
I heard the lady and decided to scare the crap out of these wanna be robbers. I yelled, “Stop! Stop! The back yard has land mines. Don’t move!”
The woman dropped to her knees and began crying. The man dropped his gun but didn’t move an inch. He pleaded, “Please help us. We don’t want to die.”
I turned my flashlight on and aimed it at him. “Don’t move or you’ll blow up the entire neighborhood! My brother brought the landmines back from England when the bombs fell. Only he can disarm them, and he won’t be here until about nine am!”
“Oh my God, I don’t know if I can stand here that long.”
I yelle
d back, “Please don’t move until we get the heck away from here! Thanks!”
By this time, the girls were on the deck, wondering what the heck was going on in the back yard. Karen told them, and it was all they could do to keep from snickering aloud. We were all up and wide-awake, so I proposed we should go ahead and travel over to my parent’s farm. We loaded the cart and pulled out a half hour later.
Before leaving, I warned the man. “Now, don’t you move until Jason gets here to defuse the mines. I’m taking my wife and kids to safety.”
We left by taking the dirt road behind the house. I helped the girls into the cart and let them catnap on the way. I hung several bags from the cart and piled the rest on the horse, so the girls would be comfortable. They slept the entire four-hour trip, which gave Karen and me some time to talk. The funny thing was that the almost-kiss didn’t come up in the conversation. We both kinda danced around the topic.
There was silence for the first twenty minutes while I listened for anyone following us. I even pulled the cart off the path and into a thicket to double check. No one followed. With this peace of mind, I asked, “Did you find it hard to start dating again after your divorce?”
She said, “Yes. My first and only date was two months ago with a man my girlfriend fixed me up with. He was her husband’s best friend.”
“How did that go?”
“He was great, and it seemed like we hit it off, but when we got back to my house, he expected to be invited in for drinks. I told him about the girls, but he still wanted to go into my home. I said no in the driveway, and he surprised me by wrapping his arms around me and kissing me. I shoved him away, and he got mad. Apparently, he wanted a lot more than a drink.”
