by AJ Newman
Chrissy said, “Hello. Have you seen Jason? We miss him so much and are worried about him.”
Maria said, “No, we haven’t seen him since we left the plane crash. We didn’t think he survived. He always talked about his mom and dad’s place, so we came here. Our homes are both over a thousand miles away, and we hoped to join Jason’s family.”
Karen said, “The decision is Jan’s and Zack’s on you two staying, but I like the idea.”
Jan took them to the empty trailer. “You can get cleaned up and rest a bit until supper.”
Jan left, and they looked at each other with sad looks on their faces. Maria said, “I can’t believe we left Jason for dead. I took his pulse. He was dead.”
Murph replied, “Don’t beat yourself up. All three of us thought Jason had died.” Murph placed his hand behind his back and crossed his fingers. “Perhaps the doctor gave him something to slow his metabolism down, or his pulse was so weak you couldn’t feel it.”
Maria forced a smile. “I can’t get it out of my mind that we abandoned Jason.”
“You have to remember. We were under attack by that crazy hillbilly with the AK47. We barely escaped alive. Damn, he only shot at me. I think he had plans for you,” said Murph.
Maria hit Murph on the back of his head. “I wonder if Karen and Jason are sleeping together.”
Murph snickered. “I hope so. That might give me a chance with you.”
“Murph, we’ve had this discussion several times. You’re a great big brother, but I don’t think of you in the way you want.”
Murph was pissed. He boiled over inside but tried to keep it to himself. “Then what about Jason? You’re like a bitch in heat around him.”
“Thanks for calling me a bitch. I don’t know why I’m attracted to Jason. I don’t want him full time, but …”
Murph wouldn’t let it go because he had secretly loved Maria for years. “You want friends with benefits. Well, you saw how that woman stared at you when she heard your name. Jason has probably told her about you while they were in bed.”
Maria replied, “I think you might be right about Jason and Karen. She had that puppy love look when we talked about Jason. I think Jason will choose me over a woman with two kids.”
Hearing that didn’t make Murph any less pissed. “So, you want to marry Jason?”
“Hell no! Jason and I are bedroom buddies, and that’s all I want.”
Murph went to his room and sulked for a while before a new direction leaped into his thoughts. Maria obviously didn’t want him, so he was free to pursue other opportunities. His heart had been broken for a while, but he finally realized Maria had no love in her heart for him. This lifted a massive weight from him, and he was happy for the first time in years as he thought about Karen.
☆
Chapter 4
The Catholic Church - Southeast Clarksville, TN.
Michelle took MMax and me to her room and pointed to a very uncomfortable wooden chair. “Sit there. Sorry, but the furnishings are a bit spartan. Does MMax need a cushion or pillow to lie on?”
“No, the floor is fine.”
“So, Mom and Dad sent you to bring their wayward daughter home. What if I don’t want to come home? I like it here. They treat me very well, and I like working with children and homeless mothers.”
I didn’t know what to say. Mom had told me that my sister still had a drug problem, but I saw a sober and well-spoken young lady in front of me. I stammered a bit and said, “You …err …seem to be ….
“Brother, spit it out. You’re wondering how a druggie got sober and became a nun so quickly. I didn’t even believe in God a few months ago. The damned bombs killed the grid and my drug supply. I was trying to sell myself for some Oxy when some thugs raped me and left me for dead. Sister Madilyn and Father James found me and took me to the convent. They nursed me back to health, and I’ve become one of them.”
“Then you’re not a nun, are you?”
“No. I wear the habit to keep the thugs from … well, you know what they can do to women. I don’t want to become a nun, but I do want to help people. Please go home and tell Mom and Dad that I’m doing well and want to stay up here,” Michelle said.
I moved to sit next to her on the bed and wrapped my arms around her. “Big Sis, I want you to have the life you want. I’ll get some rest, and I’ll head back home in the morning.”
“Thanks, Jason. Now, tell me about you and your vicious puppy.”
Michelle and I talked for hours about our lives since we’d last been together. I told her about saving a young woman. “Kat was about to be attacked. I grabbed her, and MMax attacked the man stalking her. I thought she was a teenaged girl but was surprised to find a small grown woman.”
I then told my sister that I would have liked to have gotten to know Kat, but she’d left abruptly. “Sis, she was a mixture of nice and good mixed with stubborn and moody.”
Michelle said, “My brother is a dumbass.”
“Why am I a dumbass today?”
“You just described most of the females I know. Did you get tired of the women who just want sex without any commitment?”
“Now, wait a minute. We’re not discussing my sex life.”
My sister said, “Okay, let’s get back to talking about killing people and MMax biting bad guys.”
We were sill playfully arguing when Sister Grace called us to supper. The meal was meager at best, and I felt guilty eating their food. I fed MMax some of my jerky over their protests. The small talk centered around how thankful they were to have Michelle join them until there was a knock on the door. MMax stood up and gave his low warning growl. I told him to stay.
Father James went to the door, and we heard a man raise his voice at the Father. I jumped from my seat and was about to go help Father James when Sister Madilyn blocked my path. She said, “Let Father handle the gang. We don’t need an already delicate truce to fall apart. Father James knows how to handle these poor misguided people.”
The door slammed, and Father James came stumbling down the hallway from the front door. He was bent over, holding his stomach with blood running from his nose. Sister Grace helped him to a chair, and Sister Madilyn held his head back to help stop the bleeding. I asked, “Father, what happened?”
“The new gang leader doesn’t believe in God or the sanctity of the church. He’s giving us twenty-four hours to give up all the women and children to him, or he’ll attack.”
Sister Madilyn said, “Surely, he doesn’t mean us, nuns, also.”
Father James chin dropped to his chest. “Yes, he does. He told me that if I turned you over now, he would spare any men in the church. If we wait the full twenty-four hours, he plans to kill the men and take the women.”
I whispered to Michelle. “Let’s take them down to Walter Hill to Mom and Dad’s place.”
Michelle stood up and said. “My brother has an excellent idea. Why don’t we all go to our home on the outskirts of Nashville? Jason says it will be safer for us, and we can continue helping people down there.”
Sister Madilyn raised her voice. “We can’t leave the people of Clarksville. Many will die without us.”
Father James said, “Sister, we don’t have a choice. If we stay, you nuns and the other women will be abused and then be made to work in the fields after many beatings. They will kill Ed, the janitor, and me. We won’t be able to help anyone. I won’t order you to go, but I’m going. I may not be as brave as you are, but I know if I’m dead, I can’t help anyone.”
Sister Madilyn said, “I’m staying.”
The other nuns voted to go with us to Walter Hill. About half of the women staying in the convent voted to go to Walter Hill. I had about three or four days to figure out how to tell Mom and Dad that one priest, three nuns, seven women, and nine kids were joining our flock.
Father James and I spent an hour discussing how to sneak everyone out of the church without being detected, while the nuns and other ladies packed backp
acks and shoulder bags. We were almost ready to leave when Michelle came to me. “Jason, we’re gonna need a wagon to carry everything.”
I went into the lunchroom and saw piles of clothes and personal possessions stacked beside enough bags to move a football team. I jumped on top of a table. “Ladies, stop and listen. You can’t take all of this. We will have to walk for about five miles, and you aren’t strong enough to carry these bags. We have to sneak out, so we can’t use a wagon. Forget any extra clothes. Take any necessary medicine, some toiletries, water, and food. We can get clothes later.”
One middle-aged woman was stuffing makeup products into a large bag. She looked up at me and glared. I pretended not to see the bag and walked on. I would have rather faced three of the gang members than tell her to pitch the crap. I probably saved my life by keeping my mouth shut.
There was some grumbling, but an hour later, the ladies and children were ready to leave. I snuck out the back door along with MMax and led the way. There weren’t any asshats guarding the church. They must have thought we were too scared to leave. This was a huge break for us, and I wanted to take maximum advantage of the time before the gang realized we had fled the church. I picked up the pace and walked faster than some of the …err … less athletic women could handle.
Sister Grace said, “Could we slow down? Several of the women can’t keep up.”
I snapped back at her. “They need to hang in with us. We just passed Meri Court Park. We’ll slow down when we get to that tall building. That puts us a mile from the church. We need to be out of the city before the gang stirs for the morning. We have four hours before the sun comes up.”
I kept up the pace, and all but two stragglers stayed with the main group. Now, I walked at my usual pace, which was still too fast for the laggards. My sister begged me to slow down, but Father James said, “Jason is right. We must get far away from the gang before they start looking for us. They have several old cars that run, and they’ll threaten people to make them tell if we passed by their homes.”
Crap! I hadn’t thought about them having working cars. I had to get them all to the warehouse and then find a trailer to haul everyone back to my parent’s home. Most of the women and kids couldn’t walk the eighty miles to Walter Hill. Traveling by any method was dangerous. We’d have to move after midnight but before daybreak. That only gave us four to five hours at a slow speed to travel.
We walked another mile before I stopped and gave them a ten-minute break. The lady with the large makeup bag didn’t have any bags at all now. I walked past her with a grin on my face, and she gave me the middle finger salute. I said, “I’m number one! I’m number one!” and walked on past her.
Two hours later, we arrived at the warehouse. The ladies and children were leg weary but very pleased they were safe. I gathered the nuns, Father James, and my sister together and said, “I’m going out to find a trailer or another vehicle, so we can all ride to my parent’s home.”
Michelle said, “Let me go with you. I hate for you to be alone with all of these gang bangers searching for us.”
I looked in my backpack and handed Michelle my spare 9 mm Sig. “Michelle, I know you know how to shoot. You need to stay here and protect these people. Hide if you see any strangers and only shoot as a last resort.”
“But …”
I interrupted her. “Michelle, MMax, and I are trained soldiers. We know how to survive and take out the enemy if necessary. Don’t worry about us. Take care of the others.”
“Okay, but remember, you’re still my little brother.”
I looked down at her and then gave her a hug.
***
“How did they leave the church with fifty of our men and women all around the church and not seeing them?"
The man replied, “Oscar, no one thought the priest had the balls to leave the safety of the church. Manny should’ve posted guards instead of partying all night down by the river with most of the crew.”
“Pete, Manny made two mistakes. One wasn’t guarding the church. The other wasn’t inviting me to the party. If I’d been invited, I would’ve known there weren’t any guards. One more mistake and Manny will end up at the bottom of the river.”
“Oscar, the men are afraid of you and don’t want to bother you.”
Oscar said, “They had better damned well be afraid of me. You’re my second in charge. Make sure they talk with you and make sure you pass on and follow up on my orders. Now, send a team to find those people and bring the women back. Do what you want with the others.”
“Boss, one of the men told me he’d seen a young man with several of the nuns the other day. He looked like a soldier. It was the same day several of our men disappeared.”
“Find him and bring him to me. Dead or alive. No matter to me.”
***
The sun had risen. The sky was blue, and only a few wispy clouds floated across the heavens. This wasn’t a great time to be out searching for a trailer. I’m pretty good at soldier stuff, you know, marching, lobbing grenades, and killing but finding a suitable trailer in a city was tough work. Oh, I found plenty of over the road trailers. Several even had full loads of canned goods, groceries, and beer.
I saw a car dealership and broke into the showroom. I walked over to the receptionist’s desk and found a phone book. A U-Haul dealer was only a block away. Even keeping in the shadows and back alleys, I was there in fifteen minutes. Right in front was a line of moving trucks and trailers. The largest trailer was a six by twelve foot enclosed cargo trailer. This one had a sign that said, “Only $69.99 per day.”
I didn’t plan to pay but would write an ‘I owe you’ note for the loan of the trailer. Now, I had to fetch my truck and get the trailer. I was only a few miles from the warehouse but was in a hurry, so MMax and I walked directly back using the streets. I scanned every door and window as I had been trained to do in combat, and MMax walked several yards ahead of me sniffing the air.
***
MMax sniffed the air and identified several good people hiding in the buildings along the way. He also smelled the stench of fear and apprehension caused by him and his human. MMax stopped suddenly. His ears perked up when he recognized the familiar smell. His eyes darted around him, and he growled when the wind shifted, and another familiar smell hammered his senses. Then he remembered; it was the smell of the man who had assaulted Father James. MMax liked Father James and wanted to bite this evil person.
MMax had caught a whiff of the good woman who smelled like a cat several times during their journey. He had alerted the first time, but since she was his human’s friend, he stopped alerting.
***
I saw MMax alert. He sat, facing a building across the street. I called, “Come, MMax,” as I darted behind a truck a half-second before a bullet blew a hole in the pickup’s tailgate, just missing my arm. It scared the crap out of me. The sound of the shot echoed off several of the buildings, so I couldn’t pinpoint where it had come from. I low crawled to the front of the truck and stuck my hat out on the end of my rifle barrel. As I’d expected but dreaded, I heard a shot, and a bullet tore through my hat.
There was another shot. Something struck the ground on the other side of the truck, and then I had instant pain. Two bullet fragments had hit my leg. One hit me on the side of my upper thigh and the other on the side of my calf. I rolled up on the curb and got behind the front wheel for protection. These asshats weren’t as dumb as I’d thought. They’d figured out they could ricochet bullets into me.
Damn, I had MMax beside me behind the wheel, but a fragment hit him on the side. If we stayed there, we would be slowly bled to death. I took a couple of deep breaths and steeled myself to prepare to charge the thug on my right. Before I could move, there was a loud gun report on my right, and the asshat fell out of a window to his death. He made a thud when he hit the pavement headfirst. There were two more loud gunshots, and a man screamed. I searched the area for the great person who had saved MMax and me but didn’t see a
nyone. I double-timed it back to the others.
Sister Grace and my sister patched MMax and me up quickly as I told them about my experience and that someone has saved MMax and me. I asked Michelle to look after the others while I drove back to get the U-Haul trailer. One of the women caught me and said, “I’m Ann Tidwell. I was an MP in the Army and have my service pistol. I’ll ride with you to watch your six if Michelle watches out for my mom.”
Michelle agreed, so I said, “Glad to have you. Were you on active duty when the shit hit the fan?”
“Yes, but I was home on leave. That’s my mom by Father James. I was at her place when the nukes hit us. Mom hasn’t come to grips with the current situation.”
Her mom sat there, just staring out in space. She was in shock, and none of us knew how to treat her. I saw many more people who couldn’t cope with the world falling apart during the early days. Most took their own lives. Several killed their families to protect them from the chaos. I could never understand killing your kids to protect them from bad people.
On the way over, I noticed that Ann didn’t have a spare magazine for her Sig. “Ann, do you need an extra mag or some bullets?”
“Yes, if you can spare them. The short story is I had to bug out with my mom during a running gunfight. I have five rounds.”
I handed her a handful of lose 9 mm rounds and a full extra magazine. “Keep these. I have some more, but we need to gather more ammo and weapons. You already know that we’re in danger and could be fighting for our lives every day.”
Ann had a big smile on her face as if it was Christmas. She said, “Thanks. This means a lot to me.”
“Hey, I have an idea.”
She asked, “What’s that?”
“Could you help me train some of the women how to shoot and defend themselves? We’re very short on manpower but very long on unskilled woman power.”
