by EE Isherwood
“As best we can tell, there were only two homes broken into last night. I went into Carmen’s place to look for ways to keep intruders from getting in there. If you’d like, I can come over and give you an evaluation, too.”
“Um, sure, Frank.” Penny blushed, confirming my suspicions.
“Remind me in the afternoon,” I said, still in business mode, but happy I’d kept the two women off their game. “This morning, I have some suggestions for how we can prepare ourselves for another day of being on our own. For starters, take these.”
I held out a holster for her and a second one for Carmen.
Both women shoved the clasps behind their belts at the waistline, so it hung on their hips, then they dropped their pistols inside. I was glad to see that when I’d been doing other things, they’d both gone home to retrieve their forgotten guns.
“They fit?” I asked them.
“It’s great.” Carmen flared her hip to show off the gun and her short shorts.
Penny’s sat over her capris. She was more reserved in showing it off, as if she didn’t necessarily want to advertise she was carrying a weapon.
“It might seem annoying at first to have a few pounds hanging off your side, but soon you’ll forget they’re even there. At least you’ll always have them with you.”
I hadn’t meant to dig at them about not carrying the pistols when they showed up earlier, but I realized it was how I sounded.
“I wasn’t being critical. I only meant you’ll be ready if any bad guys come around.”
They smiled as if to assure me it was no big deal.
I spoke to the others. “Now that we’re done with that, does anyone have questions before I tell you what we’re going to do?”
One of the redheads in the back raised her hand.
“Yes… it’s Alex, right?” I was almost certain, but with twins it was hard to ever be sure.
“It is.” The girl smiled. “Me and my sister were wondering if we should head out toward home.”
The girls lived at least ten miles away across vast stretches of unknown territory. Since we didn’t have bikes to spare, they’d have to go on foot, which would mean a long, slow trip for whoever escorted them. Since I wasn’t going to let anyone be by themselves out there, we’d need to send a pair of adults. Our guides could walk their bikes on the outbound trip and ride them back on the return leg, but it would still take at least two of us out of the action for a good portion of one day.
My projection also assumed the best case. If we ran into trouble along the way, it could be the entire day, or even days, that we would be away from helping our neighbors on the street. Time was survival during the apocalypse.
The only realistic short-term option was to load them up with whatever weapons we could find, then let them walk home on their own.
I hated even thinking it.
“Look, the situation has changed since yesterday—"
“You aren’t going to help us, are you?” Alex said immediately.
“We are!” I assured her. “But it’s going to take some time before we’re ready. Last night opened our eyes to a lot of potential security problems on our street. We need all hands on deck today to plug those holes so we can provide a safe refuge for everyone, including you two. Once we have a better handle on keeping you safe here, we’ll keep you safe on your journey back home. For now, it’s just too dangerous to go out.”
“You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you need,” Melanie spoke up.
“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “You can share the third bedroom.”
Tyler looked like he was a bit put out by the suggestion, though not with as much distaste as the day before. Maybe he was coming around to the idea of having two extra girls in his house.
Alex and her sister glanced at each other for a few moments, then nodded. Whatever silent communication they’d passed, Alex spoke for them both. “Sorry for interrupting you. Once we heard the gunshots last night, we pretty much knew we’d be staying, so I don’t know why it surprised me.”
“It’s all good,” I said in response. “As long as you’re on our street, you’re family, so don’t think for a second we’re giving up on you.”
Z gave me a curt nod.
“I’m glad we got one thing settled,” I remarked to the group. “Now we have some other problems to address.”
On day one, I’d been focused on gathering our most important resource, which was our people. Day two was going to be about building the most basic defenses for them. We’d seen no aircraft fly overhead, heard no civil authorities come around with news, and, most telling of all, our power and devices were still dead. Knowing those facts, it became imperative to assume we were in it for the long haul.
“We’ve all done our water collection, we’ve done some food preparation, and we’ve taken up arms, so our next tasks are related to protecting our properties. I was thinking about rolling our dead cars up to the houses under construction, so we have a visible border to our miniature kingdom.” I pointed to the four empty houses in the middle of our block.
“Won’t the bad guys just walk around it?” Ben asked. “Or between the cars?”
“The goal isn’t to stop people completely. We want to make it clear that if anyone comes into our ring of defenses, there’s going to be trouble. As it is right now, if someone came down our street, they’d get right up next to us, like Brendan did. We want them to stop a hundred yards away and wait for us to let them in.”
“They could still come at us from another direction,” Ben continued.
There was no way to seal ourselves off completely. Even if we had the materials for a fifty-foot fence all the way around our homes, some clever bastard would figure out a way to parachute over the top or go under it.
“In time, assuming this goes on, we’ll have to get busy securing the other borders of Clownfish Cove. We’ve got the canal to our west, which is a natural deterrent. The roadblock of cars will be to our south. The woods are to our east and north, so we can cut trees to make a crude fence on those sides.”
“That’s going to be a lot of work,” Ben replied, but with renewed interest. It was as if the idea of building something was an antidote to his lethargic attitude from earlier.
“And we’ll only have hand tools,” I said. “So, yeah, it’s going to take time. That’s why I’m proposing we do the easy thing first, which is roll our cars into position up there.”
“We’ve got two vehicles.” Ben seemed to chew on it for a bit. “If this is what we’re doing, I’d be happy to park them on the line.”
“Oh, gosh, Ben, at least let me get my stuff out of my car,” Evelyn complained, “before you commit it to his little project.”
“I haven’t even moved,” Ben snapped back. “You have plenty of time.”
I didn’t want to let them take over my briefing.
“Ben, I have another task for you, if you don’t mind.”
Ben gave me his attention, which in turn silenced Evelyn.
“I know you’re big into fishing. Would you mind showing the four youngsters how to throw lines into the canal so they can catch a lunch for us?”
“Sure!” Ben’s eyes lit up.
“Over the course of this day I’m going to set up my garage to be the neighborhood watch office for the street. Since it faces the length of the road, it will give us good visibility of the fronts of our houses. I’ll put up some tables, chairs, and get it ready to be used around the clock as a guard post and street headquarters. Does that make sense?”
Silent nods all around.
“We’ll get to yours, Ben, but I want to give Evelyn time to clean out whatever she needs. So, since I’m in it to win it, let’s take my Corvette up to the roadblock first, okay?”
The next few minutes were a scramble as everyone got prepared to push their cars up to the new roadblock. Unlike Evelyn, I had nothing to clear out of my Corvette. It was so new it still had the manufacturer’s sticker on the side window and a
bundle of paperwork on the passenger seat placed there by the dealer.
Luke and I were able to push it out of my garage and roll it backward into the street. Penny and Carmen joined us as I turned it around, so we could steer it forward around the central island of the circle.
“She sure is a beautiful car, Frank,” Penny said while pushing at the back.
“She cost a bunch,” I chuckled. “So, she better be beautiful.”
“I’m sure you can fix her eventually,” she said in a sympathetic way.
“I’d like to think you’re right.” It sucked to lose the ability to drive it, but I was also glad to have it at home, so at least my hot ride could serve a purpose by blocking our lane. If the EMP had gone off while I was on the road, some other person would probably be using her for the same purpose, or it would remain abandoned.
We rolled the paperweight on wheels past Luke’s driveway, but we hadn’t gone much farther before Trevor strolled out of Levar’s home.
“Everything cleaned up?” I asked while holding the steering wheel.
“Yeah, sure,” Trevor said sarcastically as he walked across Levar’s lawn. “Looks like you’ve got ‘found on road dead’ with your shitty car.”
“You’re thinking of Ford. I drive a Chevy. We don’t have a stupid acronym.”
“Well, whatever you drive, it sucks donkey nuts compared to my Ferrari.” He and Pike crossed the street behind us as we kept on pushing.
“Remember you’re on probation,” I shot back, not interested in rising to his insults. “Might want to lay low for the rest of the day, you know?”
“Whatever,” Trevor said as he headed for his garage.
We rolled on for another hundred yards until we reached the first two under-construction homes. I yanked the wheel and turned into a driveway, then backed it straight into the street, so it was sideways compared to regular traffic. When I had it where I wanted it, it blocked off most of the narrow two-lane street.
“One down, a hundred to go,” I said to be funny.
“Let’s do this,” Penny replied.
The second vehicle we rolled to the blockade was my black pickup truck. I was intent on clearing out my garage for the watch office, so it was a good choice. Ben joined us when we got the third vehicle, which was his old Subaru wagon, since it was parked closest to the roadblock. My pickup went in front of the Vette, while his went behind it.
When we had the three cars in a line, we took a breather. Penny and Carmen leaned against my truck, while Luke and I stood closer to the Subaru. We all looked back toward our houses during the break.
“How many cars do you think we have on our street right now?” Luke asked.
It was hard to say. Some houses probably had no cars, like the first one on the right, which was owned by the two workaholics. On the other hand, if we took all the cars from Trevor’s place, we’d add an extra eight or ten.
“Quick guess, probably twenty,” I said. “Assuming we get cooperation from the owners.”
Everyone laughed, since it was obvious what I meant.
“Remind me again why we’re building this huge wall?” Penny inquired. “I get that we want to stop people at our border, but can’t we use something less labor intensive, like a bunch of sticks in the ground with keep out signs?”
“The cars will make it obvious, even at night.”
“Ah,” Penny replied.
“That’s why we need every vehicle we can get,” I went on. “I want to park them up the driveways of these two houses. We’ll probably need four cars for each driveway to plug all the gaps.”
“But then won’t they just drive or walk around the houses?” Carmen asked, continuing Penny’s line of questioning.
Since the houses weren’t completed, they didn’t have backyards to speak of. They were empty plots of land with a few scattered trees for decoration. If someone wanted to avoid our roadblock, it was a snap to drive around the unfinished homes.
“When we see how many cars we have, we can put a few in the backyard of that house.” I pointed to the one backing up to the canal. “So they’d fall in the water before going around.”
“And the side with the forest?” she pressed.
“If we have enough cars, maybe we can extend the wall to the tree line behind the house. That would do a pretty good job of blocking them completely, unless there are undeveloped roads and paths in the woods that can take them around our blockade. We’ll have to check that out eventually, but not today.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Luke added.
We took a few more minutes to recover our strength. From our vantage point, I caught sight of Evelyn messing around in her garage, still cleaning out her vehicle. Melanie was keeping watch on the four kids fishing the canal, plus Daisy. Every so often she’d poke her head around the corner of her house, as if making sure her husband was doing okay. Trevor and Pike hadn’t been seen since they went back in their home, which was the way I preferred it.
“You guys ready?” I asked.
“Yeah, let’s get my car next,” Carmen suggested.
Ben and Luke hopped into action, ready to follow the Cuban bombshell, but Penny remained where she was.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“I’m fine. Would it be alright if I took another few minutes of rest? I think I overdid it with that last one, which is ironic since we pushed it the shortest distance.”
I looked at Luke and the others. “You guys go ahead and get set up. Penny and I will be down in a few.” I didn’t want to leave Penny alone at the roadblock.
“Roger,” Luke answered.
The trio walked into the humid morning.
“You don’t have to stay with me,” she said, not sounding sad I was there.
“Nah, it’s okay. We’re probably getting to a point where no one should be left alone, especially not this far from our other neighborhood watch members. We have to look out for each other until the real police are back on the job.”
“Your holster is working great for me.” She patted the pistol holster attached to her hip. “Not only do I feel safer with it on, but it’s also not interfering at all when I push heavy things.”
We both chuckled.
“And I’m sorry about before,” she continued. “Carmen was tickled silly that you visited her home. She mentioned blowing your mind when you got in there, but she wouldn’t say why. It sounded like she made a pass, or something…”
“It’s not what you think,” I laughed. Carmen did seem like she was making a pass at me a couple of times, but I didn’t want to get into the details with Penny. “You wouldn’t believe what she showed me, even if I’d taken pictures. Just ask her for a tour sometime, then come find me so we can discuss.”
“Wow, now I want to go see it…”
“Yeah, I—” Motion down the street caught my attention. “Shit, hold that thought.”
Six men rounded the corner at the end of our block, all riding bikes shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the road, as if they were in a movie. They had rifles or shotguns slung over their shoulders, but they dressed like everyone else in suburbia. Cargo shorts. Sneakers. Colorful shirts.
“Did you somehow know these guys were coming?” Penny asked.
“Nah, the roadblock isn’t even done yet. This was just lucky timing, I guess. Let’s see what they want. Be ready with the pistol in that holster, but let’s be friendly to start with, okay?” I pulled the shotgun off my shoulder, safety hot and ready for use.
“I’ll do my best,” she said in a tense voice.
The men stopped when they got about fifty feet away.
“Hey there, can we approach you guys and talk?” a man yelled out.
I glanced over to Penny. I saw silent determination on her face, which was probably a result of staking out our land with the roadblock. At the same time, her feet and legs were restless, as if she could run away in a flash. She passed nervous looks my way to see what I would do next.
“H
ere we go,” I whispered.
“Come on over!” I replied to the man.
The men closed the distance.
I had no idea what to expect.
CHAPTER 14
“Thanks for not shooting us on sight,” the lead man said as the group approached our three-car roadblock.
I set the shotgun on the hood of my Corvette rather than hold it. I wanted it obvious we weren’t helpless, but I didn’t feel the need to be belligerent about it. Not until I knew what they wanted.
“If you don’t mind, we’d like you to stop about right there.” I pointed, indicating a position about twenty feet away from our cars. Enough space we could duck down if they made threatening moves with those weapons.
“Sure. No problem.” The guy put a foot down and straddled his bike frame. “My name is Zen.”
I gave all six of them a once-over. They appeared to be Trevor’s age, probably early-to-mid twenties. All of them were dressed in cargo pants, white sneakers, and silky button-down shirts with half the buttons open. Their necks were adorned with thick gold necklaces. My first impression fit with the young men who’d left Trevor’s place the day before. Trust-fund kids.
“Hiya, Zen. I’m Frank. This is Penny.”
The guy’s eyes darted between us. Unlike what other guys had been doing lately, he did not dwell on my pretty companion. Either he wasn’t into older women, or he was only visiting for important business.
“Nice to meet you both,” he said with some sincerity. Zen’s black hair was pulled back tight in a ponytail, adding a hippy vibe to his metrosexual nightclub aura.
“You, too,” I replied. “Those are some nice rifles you’ve got.” While they got off their bikes, I had time to observe their weaponry. Most of them had AR-15s decked out with expensive stocks, grips, and red dots. The leader, however, had a compact AK-47. “I dig the underfolder.”
“Thanks. Bought it recently, actually. I don’t like to carry what everyone else has.” Zen motioned to his friends.
