“Love and Family During the Great Death”
Chapter 17: Lawyers, Guns and Money
(minus the dangerous one)
“OK, Billy, maybe you’d better start at the beginning,” David said over the radio, as he sat down on a chair several feet from the bed. “I have a feeling I’m not going to like this.”
“Well, we’ve been up for a while, as you’ve probably guessed,” Billy began. “At first we were excited to have electricity again, so we were anxious to play with everything, then we started to play some poker. But after that excitement began to pale Adrian and I decided to crash, but Frank told us he wasn’t ready to sleep yet. So we climbed into bed and left him to his own devices. But after having lived without electricity for so long, we found it impossible to sleep with the lights on.
“Anyway, after a while Frank assumed we were asleep, shut off the light and climbed into the sleeping bag with all his clothes on. Now, I’m sure you’re well aware that even though it’s been unseasonably cool since the meteor shower, it’s still summer, and that’s just odd. Both Adrian and I were sleeping on top of our sleeping bags wearing only boxers.”
“Yeah, I get it, so what happened?” David asked, just to keep Billy engaged.
“We got into an argument about it, asking what’s going on, but Frank wouldn’t say anything. One thing led to another, and soon we were having a fight. Basically Adrian and I stripped him, ripping his clothes off. That’s when we saw the problem.” Here Billy took a deep breath before continuing.
“While his face was clear, he had two small marks on his neck which weren’t really noticeable, but his chest was covered with those odd little blue star marks. You know the ones I’m referring to, right?”
“Yeah, I’m quite familiar with them. They’re one of the signs of the plague. Or at least, one variation of it,” David responded.
“It seems Frank was afraid to admit he had it, terrified we’d leave his ass behind, and he didn’t have anyone else to watch out for him. It seems that after his friends left, his ‘pal’ got sick and died suddenly. When we met him on campus we quizzed him on his potential exposures, but he assured us he hadn’t had any. Alas, that wasn’t the case.
“As you can see, it’s a good thing you insisted on the restriction you placed on us. If it was up to Frank you’d all be infected now, instead of just us. He’s been grousing about how restrictive you’ve been, complaining about how unreasonable you are, so we’ve no doubt he wouldn’t have hesitated to expose each of you as well.
“So I guess the question is; where do we go from here? Do you want us to leave? Head back to the campus? Possibly disinfect this place before we leave?”
“No, I can’t very well leave you to stalk off only to die alone,” David told them. “You’re welcome to stay, but I’ve got to insist that you keep your distance from everyone here. So far we’ve managed to keep ourselves pretty safe, so I don’t want to jeopardize anyone here. If any of you approaches one of my people, or purposely exposes them to the virus, not only will I toss you on your asses, I’ll make sure you don’t suffer as I’ll put a bullet through your brain to prevent you from infecting anyone else, got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” Billy answered, sounding relieved at David’s ominous warning. There was silence on the other end of the radio for a couple moments, and then the other two guys cheered in the background as Billy spoke again. “So as long as we don’t threaten any of you, we’re allowed to stay? Can I assume we’ll still have access to clean water, electricity and food?”
“Yeah, I’m not going to punish you for getting sick. What’s more, we’ll give you whatever medical care we can manage. We’ve got some medical supplies, but just be warned, the only training we have is some nursing, and so far there’s no medical treatment for this disease.”
“That’s understood. That’s the best we can expect, and more than we ever believed you’d be willing to grant us.”
“How about the animals you were trapping? What’s their status? If they’ve been exposed….” David said, not bothering to finish the question since they all knew what it meant.
There was a momentary delay before Adrian answered. “I caged a few animals, a fox and two rabbits. The other cages are untouched, and I don’t think any other animals were exposed. What do you want me to do with them?”
“Just leave them as they are for now. We’ll bring out some feed for them so you can take care of them. I’m anxious to study them to see if they’ll contract the disease. Besides, if they did and you released them, you’d expose the rest of the animals, assuming they haven’t already been. But I’ll have the girls start trapping another set of animals so we can watch the unexposed ones, that way we can determine if they were exposed before you touched them, and if not, we can potentially keep them as livestock in case things turn uncomfortable come winter.”
“You see, that’s why I like you, you’re always thinking ahead. Everyone else is only thinking about getting by; where’s their next meal coming from, how can they get to the store to get food, how can they keep sick people away from them. But you’ve been thinking ahead all along. You’re the only one with electricity, you’re helping everyone in the community, you’re training everyone listening to the radio how to survive, and you’re making plans on how to survive well into the future. I’ll tell you, if there’s anything we can do to help you, without risking any of you, you can count on our help.”
“Well, that’s nice to know, but for now let’s just concentrate on your health. Since it’s likely you’re going to be getting ill, you’d better get as much rest as you can, and exercise during the day, since it’s unlikely you’ll be able to once you get sick. Also, we’ll finish cleaning the place tomorrow. Once you get sick your immune systems will likely be compromised, so any dirt or mold remaining in that trailer could prove fatal to you. I’ll bring you some more bleach, gloves and face masks in the morning.”
“Thanks you, Sir. You have NO idea just how thankful we are for all of this. We’ll each be as careful as we can be, even Frank. Now that he knows he won’t be thrown out, he’s not about to risk pissing you off. He was only getting defensive before because he was afraid he’d be alone if his exposure was revealed.”
“Yeah, I understand, but let’s not get any more wound up tonight. Just relax and get some sleep. I’m sure there will be a lot more to discuss in the morning, once we’ve all had time to consider it.”
“OK, thanks again, David,” the three guys called out as one before signing off, leaving David looking at the women sitting on the edge of the bed.
“OK, I’m assuming you all heard that,” David said, loud enough for everyone outside the room to hear. “The guys have been exposed, but so far no one else has, so we should be safe. I want everyone to be cautious around them, but this will give us an excellent opportunity to study the effects of the illness up close in a way we’ve been unable to before. While we’ve been getting reports from across the country, everyone has been studying the people sick enough to either die or to head for the hospital. Now we can see how long it takes for these guys to get sick, and whether they all get sick or not. I want each of you to keep detailed records of anything you observe concerning these guys or the animals outside, and I especially want to know if any of you are exposed. Got it?”
The women quickly nodded their head, and a chorus of “Yes, Sir” echoed from the doorway.
“Good, now as I told them, I think we all need a good night’s sleep, as we’re going to have that much more to do tomorrow. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m damn exhausted, and I’ve pretty much lost any desire to play around anymore tonight.”
He got no objections, so it wasn’t long before they all curled up on the bed, the girls and Bobby heading off to their own beds. However, sleep didn’t come easily to any of them, as they considered that the safety of their protective isolation was about to end. While they’d each avoided much of the close exposure to death the rest of the country was experiencing, that was about to end, too.
“So that’s where we stand at the moment,” David explained as he fixed some more pancakes, a popular treat with the girls.
“So you aren’t going to chase them off?” Linda asked, just to be sure. Despite her desire not to see anyone get hurt, she wasn’t overly fond of the idea of having any of the girls, but especially her daughter, exposed to a potentially deadly plague.
“No, as long as everyone is careful and no one exposes themselves unnecessarily, it should be fine,” he assured them.
“Uh, David, I think we’ve lost someone,” Emily said from the edge of the kitchen, where she was peeking in from the entranceway.
“Um?” David asked curiously, not sure if this was something important or just another teasing comment.
“Bobby’s wandered outside. I asked what he was doing and he mumbled something about ‘seeing the sun one last time’.”
“Damn,” David grumbled as he set his pancakes aside. “Can someone watch that for me? I’ll be right back.”
David hurried outside, where he found Bobby standing about eight feet beyond the door, looking up at the sky.
“Bob?” David asked, not sure whether this was a problem situation or not. After all, Bobby was pretty adept about getting around on his own.
“Hmm?” he responded absentmindedly, not paying David much attention.
“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine. I was just wondering where the sun was. It seems like I haven’t felt it in a long time. I’d like to feel it again.”
“There haven’t been many sunny days since the initial meteor shower,” David patiently explained. “They kicked up a lot of dust in the upper atmosphere as the meteors disintegrated.”
“Yeah, it’s colder, too. It feels more like fall than the middle of summer.”
“That’s another thing we’ve been watching. We’re expecting a cooler than normal year, and we’re preparing for a very cold winter.”
“I just wanted to feel the sun on my face once more. Ma and I used to go to the beach all the time. We’d play in the water and we’d both swim.”
“You aren’t planning on going anywhere, are you?” David asked, not quite sure what Bobby was getting at. “If you’re interested, I’m sure the girls could take you to the pond nearby. It’s got more weeds than the beach does, but it’s still pretty nice.”
“No, I just wanted to feel the sun and remember what we used to share. It seems we’ve lost so much.”
“That we have, Bobby,” David said, even as he tried to guide Bobby back into the house. Even though he seemed to be rational, something about his demeanor was bothering David. He just didn’t quite seem to be with it today, and David would rather he be inside where someone could watch him rather than having him wandering around outside. Even though he was pretty good about getting around, there was no telling what might happen if there was no one with him at the time.
“Ah, I’m not as concerned about the cold,” he responded, letting David lead him back to the house. “I don’t plan on being around for that long anyway.”
“Don’t even suggest that,” David cautioned him. “We rely on you. We need you here, both the girls and I. Things will get better, you’ll see.”
“But that’s just it, they won’t. We all know that everything is getting worse, and without Ma I’m not sure I’m strong enough to withstand the changes that are coming.”
“Don’t worry, there are plenty of people here to help you adjust.”
“Yeah, but—Ow!”
“Bob, what the hell are you doing wandering around outside without your damn shoes? In fact, you’re not even dressed properly. You know better than that.”
“I just wanted to feel the wet grass on my feet, the sun on my face, and the wind in my hair to help me remember better days,” he responded as he rubbed his foot.
“Don’t rub it. Let me get Maggie to check it for you.”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing. It’s part of walking through the grass.”
“Still, I’d prefer having you inside. Besides, the pancakes are almost done.”
“No thanks, I’m not really hungry anymore,” Bob replied, waving the suggestion aside as David guided him inside the house and shut the door.
“Alice, could you get Maggie to examine Bob’s foot. I think he may have cut it on something. And one of you should probably sit with him for a while, I’ve got to finish preparing the food.” When Alice took charge of Bobby, David hurried back to the kitchen. Luckily Linda had taken over the breakfast so it hadn’t burned, and she was already ladling out the pancakes, even though no one was eating yet as they were watching him.
“Bob’s a little distracted this morning. I’m sure he’ll be OK with a little more rest,” he assured them all, even though he had his own doubts about that.
“Hey, where are you guys going? I told you that you were welcomed to stay,” David called out when went out to speak to the guys out in the trailer. He was surprised to find them preparing their car.
“Don’t worry,” Billy said as he walked around the car, being careful not to approach any closer than that, “we’re on our way into town to help with the Sheriff. Remember, you’d asked us to do that yesterday?”
“Yeah, I remember, but I’d thought that after yesterday….” He left the rest of the sentence unfinished, not wanting to state the obvious, not sure how they were reacting to the bad news at this point. That had been the reason he’d come out this morning, to talk it over while he brought them their breakfast.
“Hell, even if we’re already infected, we’re certainly not going to infect the dead. As for catching what we may already have, we’ll be doubly careful now. But we’ve got the gloves and equipment you gave us yesterday, so we feel we’re safe enough.”
“Besides, after all you’ve done for us, it’s the least we can do,” Adrian replied as he stood and waved from the far side of the car. “We’re anxious to follow your lead and pay back some of what you’ve done for us. We figure it’s only by pitching in and helping those less fortunate among us that’ll keep us all from backsliding into all out anarchy. If we can keep the community together, then everyone wins out.”
“And what about you, Frank? Do you feel the same way?”
“Yeah, I’ve got to admit that I do. I was pretty defensive before, but then I was sure that if you knew the truth about me that I’d end up homeless and destitute. Knowing that I’ve got a safe place to call my… our own, makes me feel comfortable enough to be a little more honest, and like Adrian says, I’m anxious to extend that kind of charity to others. If we can only do that behind the scenes then that’s good enough.”
“Well, I’ve got breakfast for you, so come and get it. I figured we’d discuss what you’ve been through since last night while you’re eating. Do any of you need any medical attention from your fight last night?”
“Nah, although Frank put up quite a fight, we didn’t actually come to blows over it. He just didn’t want us to find out what was wrong with him,” Billy said as he walked up and grabbed one of the paper plates full of pancakes David had laid out for them, before he sat down cross-legged to finish speaking with David. The others following suit.
“So, how are you dealing with the news?”
“We’re not real happy about it, but we’d figured it was inevitable,” Adrian answered as he too dug into the pancakes. “We were hoping if we could get up here, we might be able to avoid it, but even then we figured the odds were against us. As it is, if we are infected, then we’ll make the most of it, work hard and enjoy ourselves for the little time we have remaining.”
“So you’re fine with it, then?” David asked, a little stunned that they were so comfortable with a virtual death sentence hanging over their heads.
“I wouldn’t say comfortable,” Frank answered. “I’d say resigned. I knew I’d already been exposed, and the others knew they’d eventually be, especially as we were all running short of food and other supplies and knew we’d have to start trying to scrounge up some more, thereby exposing ourselves even more. However, it’s better to go out fighting, contributing to the community and making a difference, than it is dying alone in a dark apartment where no one would ever know what happened to us.”
“And what’s more, as you said yourself, there’s always a chance we’ll survive,” Adrian answered with a bit too much enthusiasm. “Whereas if we were on our own, chances are we wouldn’t even if we pulled through, simply because we wouldn’t have access to food, supplies or medical care. At least we have a fighting chance now.”
“Tell the women we really enjoy these pancakes,” Frank said. “We were hoping for anything, scraps even. These are way beyond our expectations. By the way, are the girls avoiding us, or do we still get to speak to them?”
David laughed more easily now that he saw how well they were coping. “No, they aren’t afraid of you, I just thought you’d want some privacy to discuss this so I told them to leave us alone.” With that he waved his arm, and the door opened and a couple of the girls stepped out, looking on hesitantly.
“Come on, girls. As strange as it seems, they seem fine with what’s happened to them.”
“Really?” Caitlyn asked. “You’re going to have to explain that. We expected you’d be near suicidal by now.”
So the boys explained themselves again, everyone sitting about ten feet apart, no one reacting negatively to anyone else, but everyone keeping a safe distance just to be careful. The girls asked the guys a lot of questions and they answered honestly, even if the answers were a bit embarrassing, having to do with family, friends or their limited future. In return the girls brought them seconds of breakfast, as well as sandwiches for their trip, and enough extra that they could potentially trade for anything they might need on the street. Everyone was well aware that it had become a barter economy, as money had become worthless since the banks had closed.
What’s more, the boys got a chance to commiserate with another group of young people, a group that had been sheltered from much of the damage inflicted since the meteor storm, and who thus represented the life they’d so recently lost. That, in itself, was worth a tremendous amount to them.
The banks had opened temporarily, only allowing people to withdraw so much on any given day, but after the President had sided with the Pentagon, who felt they were fighting a battle to remain in charge, they’d ordered the banks closed, hoping it would quell any protests. Only it seemed to have sparked even more open rebellion. Now, no one had anything to lose by resisting the supposed government that refused to do anything for anyone, and anyone with a gun was willing to us it against those representing the interim government. And most cities in the region were opening their armories to anyone willing to take up arms against DC. Thus it didn’t look like the economy was likely to recover anytime soon.
David still had access to some funds he’d had squirreled away, and that he kept sticking under the doors of the gas stations he visited, but he also had access to other things more valuable than money at the moment; news, electricity, gasoline and a willing hand to help out, thus David and the others were now considered a wealthy benefactor, even though he’d been just scraping by before, living off of a limited income from his inventions. Not many people actually knew where he lived, but whenever they’d pass anyone on the street they’d wave, glad to see them out and about, helping everyone. It garnered them a lot of support.
“So what are your plans for the day?” Frank asked.
“We were planning on working on the garden and the pens, getting them functional. We want them to be efficient so we don’t have to dedicate a lot of extra effort to maintaining them. It’ll be hard enough raising our own food, but if we can minimize it, we’ve got enough hands we should be able to manage. But I’m afraid of what’ll happen if the weather continues to worsen. It didn’t look like the meteors kicked up much debris from strikes with the earth, but apparently there was enough created by their burning up in the upper atmosphere that it’s causing a substantial cooling effect. I certainly don’t have to remind you guys of how cool it gets here in the winter. Just think what’ it’ll be like with a mean temperature at least 10 degrees cooler and no sunlight all winter. So we’re trying to focus on becoming self sufficient.”
“Do you want us to start spreading the news to anyone with existing food or supplies that you’re either willing to trade, or may be able to help them if they have difficulties?” Billy asked.
“No, I just want to ensure you minimize your exposure. But if you talk to anyone, and if they’ve got resources they can use to help others, then tell them we can work out a deal where we’ll help compensate them for helping others. I’m sure we can arrange something where everyone wins.”
“That sounds good, we’ll mention it to the sheriff. I’m sure he’ll know who to get the word out to.”
After that they broke up and the three guys headed to their car, laden with the supplies the girls had given them, and drove off to do their grisly good deed for the day. David was sure they’d need to talk afterwards, so he warned the girls to keep an eye out for them and to be willing to sit and talk to them afterwards, as long as they had an adult with them at the time to ensure no one tried to take advantage of the situation.
Everyone got busy after that, struggling to build weather resistant pens for the animals, separate ones for the potentially infected wild animals caught the day before, and others for the ones they’d traded for. But it soon became apparent that they needed to get some more supplies. They were short on cages, wire and feeding supplies, and they needed to ask someone more knowledgeable about what they should be doing as well. So David arranged for yet another trip into town.
David took Maggie, Alice and Amy with him to visit with one of the local farms near their home, a different one than they’d bought the seeds and animals from before. They were on their way there when they passed a local armory of the National Guard. It had been closed since the disaster and had been heavily locked down. But as they approached it, David saw a heavy pickup parked out front, and the large metal doors blocking the entrance to the protected supplies had been ripped out of the wall. Pulling over, he stopped the car and advised everyone what he was doing.
“It looks like we’ve got some survivalists who’ve decided now’s the time to start plundering and pillaging. These guys are likely to be armed and dangerous. I’m going to approach them and ask them to surrender, though they’re unlikely to do so. I want you to cover me when I do, since I’m pretty sure they’ll shoot first and never bother with any questions. I’ve got my rifle, a shotgun and my pistol.”
“I brought my own rifle,” Maggie admitted. “I figured it was only a matter of time before we’d run into something like this.”
“OK, I want you there, and you girls over there and there,” he said, pointing to where he wanted everyone stationed. “I’m not expecting much from you girls, since you’ve never had to shoot at anyone or anything before, but if you can create a distracting cover fire, hopefully Maggie and I can cover the rest.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Amy hurriedly assured him. “We’ve been practicing our shooting, and we’re more than ready to shoot someone. We realize it’s necessary, and we’ve been thinking about this a lot since you first told us you’d let us learn how to shoot. As Maggie said, it was obvious it was going to happen.”
“OK, we really can’t afford to discuss it as we don’t want to give them any more time to stock up. Just make sure you keep down. Unlike most armories like this in other cities, this one was designed for temporary staffing, thus it only has two entrances. They can only fire from the open doorway, as the windows are small, inconvenient and bullet proofed.”
With that everyone quickly scurried away. David waited until they were positioned, then walked out until he was directly in front of the armory before he called out in a loud voice. “This is a member of the local police force. Put down your weapons and come out and you’ll be able to live. Try to escape, or shoot your way out, and everyone is likely to die.”
There was no response, and since there were no windows they didn’t know what was happening inside. However David took the time to lie out on the ground, making a smaller target of himself. It was several long seconds later that someone jumped in front of the open doorway, opening fire with an M4 on full auto. The man didn’t look like one would expect, being older, heavy set, pale and clearly out of shape. It was obvious this group weren’t ex-military personnel, and likely wouldn’t even know how to use the equipment they were stealing. David swore and tried to lay flatter while trying to aim at his attacker, when a shot rang out and the man flew back into the entranceway. David used the reprieve to carefully aim, so he’d be better prepared for a second attempt.
He’d seen the impact on the man, and he’d clearly been hit in the chest, but after only a couple seconds the man started to get up. David could see him drawing something from his waist as he rolled over and stood up again, so David didn’t wait. He fired, already scanning for any other attackers even as he noted the bullet striking the man in his armpit, knocking him back and to the side this time.
“They’ve got body armor. Aim for the head, the armpits, or their crotches and thighs,” David yelled, alerting those inside he wasn’t alone. David took that opportunity to scramble for the protection of a nearby car, a little off center from the entranceway and away from where he’d already declared himself to be.
A moment later another figure jumped into the doorway, this time aiming a rocket launcher while kneeling to one side of the doorway. This man also looked atypical, as he looked more like an older biker, wearing leather chaps and jacket and bearing numerous tattoos. However it took him a moment to guess where David was hiding, during which time David fired, striking the man in the head. The man immediately jerked back, but he’d apparently had his finger on the trigger, and a missile flew from the doorway, though it arched off to the side, well behind and to the side of David. It struck a parked car which exploded, throwing fragments across the street.
However David never took his eyes off of the doorway, and he saw no further movement. What’s more, the man he’d shot didn’t move again, and neither did the other man he’d shot. After several long moments someone made a grab for the rocket launcher, but several shots rang out and whoever it was quickly backed away. A few moments later a single shot rang out from the side, and it appeared that Maggie had made an excellent shot, as the remaining charge on the rocket launcher exploded, casting debris inside the armory and darkening the entrance.
Taking his eyes off the doorway for a few moments, David picked up his walkie-talkie and called the house.
“This is Julie. What’s happening?”
“This is David. We’ve encountered a group of survivalists at the armory. Call the sheriff and warn him we’re involved in a firefight. We’ve taken out two of them, but we have no idea how many there are. We count three vehicles, one pickup and two SUVs.”
“Shit, I’ll call right away, take—” however her response was cut off from inside the armory.
“Look, stop shooting, and if you’ll come forward we’ll talk about turning ourselves in,” someone from inside called out. “We’ve got wounded in here and we’ll need some medical assistance.”
“The hell I’m going to make a target of myself. Come out with your hands raised and we’ll talk, but if I see a weapon, or anyone makes an unexpected movement, you can forget it.”
There was a quiet sound of someone swearing from inside the building but no further response. Finally, several moments later, the same voice, deep and gravelly which David guessed was from a well educated African American, called out again.
“OK, we’re throwing our guns out, but we’ve got injured, you’ll have to help us leave.” A moment later a couple of guns of various types clattered to the ground outside the door.
“Nice try, but we’re not idiots. We know you’ve got no limit of guns you can toss out, and we know you’ve got body armor. We’re not about to believe you don’t have another hundred guns ready to shoot us with. If you’re injured, you’d best drag each other outside the door, and don’t dare try to draw down on us.”
The man swore again and nothing more was heard. Considering what he’d do in similar circumstances, David make circling motions with his finger and saw the girls get up and move around the building.
What he’d been waiting for occurred several minutes later. Several shots rang out behind the building, and David hoped it was his girls firing, but all he could do was wait and see what played out. After those few isolated shots there were no further sounds. After another delay, David signaled Maggie then scrambled up and headed forward in a zigzag pattern, ducking behind various structures, but no one fired at him. When he got near the door he motioned to Maggie again, and while he covered the door, she too followed his example and ran to him using a similar technique. She was almost there when there was a huge explosion from the side of the building. Maggie looked up, trying to see what was happening. She and David glanced at each other, not knowing what to expect, when there was another large explosion, and David knew the morons hadn’t taken into account the reinforced walls of the armory, which had been specifically designed to resist assault, either from the exterior or from inside. It was obvious they were attempting to blow their way out of the building so they wouldn’t be restricted by the narrow doorways which would expose them to gunfire. David knew enough to know that the walls were not only thick, but they were likely reinforced to resist such an attempt. They’d have to do more than just fire a couple of shots against them to bring them down, and firing high explosives in such close proximity was never an intelligent move.
However, the latest attempt to break through the walls proved their undoing, as they could hear several cases of ammunition going off randomly inside the building, obviously causing confusion. Inside they heard someone screaming. Deciding to take advantage of the distraction, David moved beside the open doorway and waited until he was sure that Maggie was covering him before he continued.
The fireworks were still going off inside the building, causing a real ruckus, so David dove into the entranceway, rolling to the side. When he came to a stop he quickly got up and took up refuge behind a counter, but no one took a shot at him, so after waiting a moment, he ventured further down the aisle he was on. At the end he ventured exposing himself to see if he could observe anyone. There was black smoke and soot everywhere, and it sounded like an ongoing battle at the far side of the open room. But seeing no one else present, he assumed the remaining people were either injured or had taken refuge somewhere. He could hear one man moaning piteously, but someone shut him up. Not wanting to waste too much time and allowing those inside to regroup, David moved within sight of the door and motioned Maggie inside, then turned back, scanning the room for any movement.
Noticing movement behind him, he turned as Maggie entered the building, moving immediately to a defensive position once she’d done so. David motioned her forward, indicating she should advance along the far side, as far away from the exploding ammunition as possible, even though it was mostly exhausted by then. As she disappeared down another aisle he headed down another one himself, watching carefully for anyone lying in wait or coming out of an attached room.
David spun around at the sound of a gunshot, and he quickly but quietly headed down the aisle he was on and headed down the connecting aisle, heading toward where the gunshot had come from. Just before he reached there, though, he saw someone scurrying through an opening ahead of him carrying an M4 across his arms. This man was more like he’d have expected. Even though he was clearly wearing body armor, he was short and squat, looking like the stereotypical drug dealer, skinny, gaunt and flighty. When they saw each other they both raised their guns, but the newcomer was slower moving the larger rifle, and David squeezed off two shots before his opponent was ready. The man flew back, landing heavily on the floor with a thud. Knowing the man was protected by body armor, David ignored his potential exposure and quickly advanced on his new opponent.
He was almost upon him when the man started getting up. David dropped to one knee, took aim, and waited for the right moment. However the man realized what was likely to happen, and rather than simply sitting up rolled over and leaned up while bringing his gun to bear. As he did so, a couple of shots rang out behind him. It distracted the man, who obviously had no idea where David was positioned, finally exposing him. David could see that he wore a full flak jacket, so he quickly fired, smashing the man’s head back into the concrete wall behind him with a sickening wet sounding smack.
Assuming he was out of it for the moment, David immediately spun around, looking for anyone approaching from behind. Seeing nothing, he turned back again and checked on the man he’d just shot. As he’d assumed, he’d gotten a clean shot to the head, though it was off slightly, having entered high on the man’s cheek. Still, he was done for. However David knew he only had so many shots left in his pistol, so he grabbed the man’s M4, shoving his pistol into his pants.
Hearing a noise, he looked up to see someone drawing a rifle on him. The man looked like he’d been through hell, with blackened skin from exposure to smoke, a bloodied shirt and looking disheveled, but again, he was hardly a typical survivalist, being tremendously overweight and having trouble breathing due to a combination of wheezing and gasping for breath. This was obviously the man injured in the explosion, and he was favoring his side, which bore a large seeping bloodstain. But David was focused on the muzzle of the rifle pointing at him. He saw no way out, and froze as he tried to think of options. A shot rang out, and David waited for the blast of pain as the bullet ripped through him, but was instead surprised when the man toppled over to the side. He tried to raise his weapon, when another two shots rang out.
Remembering the body armor, David quickly jumped up, bringing his M4 to bear, and advanced on the man. He’d been knocked to the side, so David cautiously edged around the side, and was preparing to fire as the man struggled to sit up. Before he could fire another two shots rang out, and the man flew to the side, bearing a hole in the side of his forehead and spouting blood from a shot that twisted his body to the side. Spinning around, expecting to see Maggie, David checked to make sure there wasn’t another risk nearby.
Instead he saw Alice and Amy, both standing kitty corner from each other at the ends of different aisles, both drawing down on him.
“It’s me, relax. Spread out and check for anyone else. That’s four down, but we have no idea how many there are.”
They both nodded and disappeared, and David dashed down another aisle himself, being cautious of anyone else remaining. They’d taken out four men, but they could potentially be as many as ten to twelve, based upon how many people their vehicles would hold. More if they’d been crowded together.
David quickly moved along the aisle he was in. The place was set up like a large store, with wares stacked in various thick aisles containing a variety of goods. But it provided plenty of areas to hide. Luckily, though, since there weren’t many offices or living quarters in the building, there weren’t a lot of side rooms to worry about.
Coming along another corner he saw someone facing away from him, aiming a rifle pointing away from him. He drew down on them, but then recognized it was Maggie, her short ponytail tucked neatly into the back of her shirt so it wouldn’t fly around.
Taking up a similar position in the adjacent aisle he made a soft hissing sound, just to alert her that he was there. When she glanced back, not taking her eyes away for long, she recognized he was friendly.
“What do you see?” he quietly asked in a near whisper.
“I saw a couple of bogies,” she answered, despite never having been involved in combat before.
“That might be Alice and Amy. They just saved my ass, taking someone down a moment ago. Did you finish off that one guy?”
“Yeah, though I had to put a couple extra shots in him from close up due to his armor. He had on a damn helmet, so I had to shoot him point blank in the face.”
“I’ll treat you to some therapy once we get out of here.”
David noted there was no sound of anyone approaching on the road outside, so he knew the police wouldn’t be coming to their assistance anytime soon. Knowing they only checked in every so often to save their generator, he knew it would be a long time before they’d show up.
“I don’t know how many are left, but I’m guessing we outnumber them now. We’ve got four people and I haven’t heard them doing any shooting, so I’m guessing the others are holed up, hoping to catch us unprepared, so be careful of traps.”
“Will do. I’ll take the left side, you take the right, hopefully the girls are somewhere in the middle. Between us we should be able to flush them out.”
“Just be careful. I don’t want to lose any of us because we walked into something. These people may be a ragtag band of misfits, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. What’s more, I suspect they’re being led by someone with some military experience.”
They split up, moving swiftly but cautiously. David was midway across the room when there was a rapid fire burst of automatic gunfire, followed by the sound of Alice cursing.
Forgetting what he was doing, David sprinted towards where the gunfire had come from. The gunfire stopped, but he knew the shooter was just biding his time, and they were hunting for his daughter. Nearing the end of the aisle he was in, he slowed up and reached in his pocket, grabbing some loose change. Tossing the coins over the aisle, he waited a moment before exposing himself. The coins clattered noisily to the ground but nothing happened. David was about to check another aisle when the automatic M4 spat out another series of shots. David recognized the shooter was several aisles over, so he gave him a few seconds to approach where he’d thrown the coins before spinning into the aisle, checking for any other gunmen. Seeing none, he entered the aisle he’d thrown the coins in, seeing the man with the M4 checking for what had caused the noises. Taking careful aim, David called out.
“Drop it, assh—”
The man spun around just as another M4 began firing from the side. Even though he knew it was the wrong thing to do, David squeezed off a single shot, hoping his aim was true, as he dove to the side. As he fell to the floor, the cabinets to either side of him split apart as gunfire ripped through it. David hit the cement floor hard, withholding the grunt he instinctively wanted to expel. Having taken his eyes off of his target he had no idea whether he’d hit him or not, but he was too busy trying to hide from the bullets strafing him to check. But he knew the gunfire would likely affect his opponent as well as him.
The gunfire halted, and David quickly glanced up, but instead of seeing a body, he saw the aisle where he’d been was now empty. David swore to himself mentally, since he didn’t want to warn anyone where he was. Instead he backtracked, quietly running to the end of the aisle, where he braced himself, waiting before exposing himself again. Not hearing anything, David quickly swung into the opening, pointing his own M4 in one direction, but not seeing anyone and fearing someone in the other direction, instead dove headlong into the other aisle.
“You realize you don’t stand a chance, don’t you?” a woman with a slight Hispanic accent called out. However, from the way they called out from a couple of aisles over, David was clear they weren’t aware of where he was, and thus weren’t an immediate threat to him. Instead David immediately spun in the other direction, realizing the taunter was trying to distract him so their partners could circle around on him. He got to his feet and cautiously moved to the other end of the aisle, waiting for someone to show up, shooting as they did.
His wait was interrupted, though. There was a single gunshot, followed immediately by a rapid fire series of gunshots and a loud groan from someone close to him. David didn’t dare show himself yet, and waited, once again having to check both directions since he knew the other gunner would be approaching. Taking the same approach he did before, David dug in his pocket for more change, pulling out some more. He threw these farther away and over a wider area, then waited until they clattered as they hit the hard floor. When someone started firing wildly, then spun around, remaining on the floor.
He saw three figures. One, moaning, lying bleeding on the floor, was a short woman dressed in combat fatigues and socks but wearing no shoes. The other was on his hands and knees, struggling to stand up, while the last, hidden from his sight by the other two, was quickly approaching. David quickly ruled the woman out as being too wounded, however the second man made eye contact with him and started to dive to the side. David knew he’d be drawing on him soon, and opened fire on him before he could get away, even though he didn’t know who was behind him.
He squeezed off several shots, shooting rapidly but using single shots. He missed the first three, but connected on the fourth, then glanced up to see who was approaching.
It was then he saw it was Amy, aiming her shotgun directly at him. He started to relax, when suddenly her eyes blazed and she pulled the trigger. David ducked, fearing the worst, but he heard a grunt from between. Glancing up, he saw she’d shot the man he’d taken a shot at but hadn’t incapacitated. He wasn’t moving at the moment. Getting to his feet, David advanced on the man, remembering his body armor might have protected him from the shots he’d already received. But it was clear when he rolled him over with his boot, that the man was dead. David figured this must have been the ringleader, as the guy had the looks of an ex-army grunt. He was in relatively good shape, aside from being dead at the moment, and retained the short haircut of the military. Glancing up at Amy he made a circling motion, and when she ran off he advanced to check on the woman.
When he got to the woman, checking his exposure once again, he looked her over. She was still moaning and was alert, but was obviously badly wounded. He was about to see how badly when he remembered the sickness, and decided against trying to administer first aid too quickly and potentially exposing himself to her blood too soon. Several moments passed and he could hear the others moving around, finally noticing the difference between stocking feet and work boots on a cement floor, but hearing no further signs of resistance he took a chance, deciding to risk himself.
“Where do we stand?”
It was silent for several moments before Maggie’s voice called out.
“I think we’re clear. I’m checking the last few aisles, but I don’t see anyone remaining.”
“We’ve got two bodies here. No one’s moving, but one’s probably critical,” David answered. However no one else responded. Finally Amy called out.
“I think we’ve gotten all of them.”
Remaining cautious, David continued to scan the approaches to him. Damning his lack of foresight in bringing any medical supplies, he watched as the woman before him continued to bleed out, but about all he could do would be to shove his shirt against her wounds, which looked like several gunshot wounds to the back, which wouldn’t stop the bleeding and would also expose him to whatever she might have. Finally Amy and Maggie showed up.
“We checked the place over, there’s no one remaining,” Maggie assured him.
“Where’s Alice? I heard her cry out when she was shot.”
“I’m OK,” she answered from behind him. “I headed out, thinking that they might make a break for it while you were busy in here,” she told them.
“OK, what happened?” he asked his daughter.
“The guy shot at me and hit my arm. It’s bleeding slightly, but it’s not bad.”
“We’ll see about that,” he responded. He turned towards Maggie, but she was checking on the wounded woman. However she was already gurgling her last breaths, blood forming a wide puddle around her.
“There’s nothing I can do for her,” Maggie told him. “I wonder whether she was in on this, or if she was just going along with it because of one of the others?”
“I don’t think we’ll ever know, just as we’ll never know who these people were, or whether they were connected with another group,” David responded. “Could you check on Alice, though? Amy, you come with me and finish the story.”
“After he started shooting at Alice, I circled around, trying to get around the shooter. We were separated, so I didn’t see what happened to her. I heard her shout, but I wasn’t about to run to her and expose both of us before I could figure out where the gunman was. That was when that guy started shooting like there was no tomorrow. I dove into another aisle and waited. I heard someone walk past me so I stepped out behind them. I knew they were both armed and probably better shots then me, so I kind of cheated and shot the one guy without any warning,” she admitted, as David led them around the room until they reached where the guns were stored.
“Here, keep talking, but help me carry these to the SUV. There’s probably too many for our car, so we’ll have to take the other SUVs these people brought.”
“You’re taking the guns?” Amy asked in confusion.
“We can’t very well leave them here,” David countered. “The building’s been compromised. We’ll take the weapons so no one else can, and we’ll inform the Sheriff so he can contact people assigned to this unit, and hopefully they can came relieve us of the weapons.”
“Uh, wouldn’t it make sense to keep a few of them for ourselves?” Amy asked, contradicting her previous questions.
“If we’d come across them honestly, maybe. But we’re not going to steal them while we’re working for the sheriff’s department and also trying to maintain order. No, we’ll hold onto them until they can be picked up. We’ve got several weapons, that’ll be enough. We’ll keep our eyes out for any others we can pick up, but we’re not going to break the law because we’ve gotten paranoid, otherwise we’ll end up like these people, trying to shoot law enforcement personnel because they’re afraid of society falling apart, something they’re doing their best to hasten. Now pick up that crate of guns and let’s get them loaded.”
“OK, but why don’t we use the dolly sitting over there? That would be a lot faster.”
“Hey, that’s why I keep smart kids around me. I’d be lost without help occasionally.”
“You know, there are also other supplies we shouldn’t leave here, otherwise someone else will grab them,” Maggie called out, having heard their discussion in the cavernous building. Instead of loading the shit into our vehicle, how about we borrow either a reinforced truck or even a hummer. Chances are they also have a tanker truck that could be used as an offensive weapon that would be better applied to a hospital or something.”
“Again, I’m surrounded by people with better ideas than I have,” David answered as he and Amy began gathering material.
“What about taking a ‘service vehicle’, to move and repair damaged vehicles?” Maggie asked. “Surely that would come in handy.”
“Again, we’re not taking whatever is handy,” David reminded them. “I’m trying to protect what’s here. The wreckers can stay here, where we know where to find them if anyone needs them in the future. But securing the fuel is a decent idea. Even if we can’t return it, it would prove invaluable to a struggling hospital, and we’d be better prepared to transport it than anyone else.”
“I also think we should burn everything else,” Amy responded a bit angrily. “After all, we don’t want this shit falling into anyone else’s hands.”
“That makes sense, but again, if we did we’d have to explain our actions to the National Guard if they were to come looking for it, and while I don’t mind sacrificing myself for something that needs to be done for the common good, I’m not sure burning a National Guard depot qualifies.”
“You’re just a quagmire of nuanced restrictions,” Amy complained, proving just how bright she was, despite always trying to sound tough. “Just tell us what to take and we’ll try to get it.”
So after Maggie bandaged Alice’s arm and put something on it to minimize scarring, they helped them move all the weapons and ammunition they could carry. It turned out that once Alice and Amy figured out the people inside were involved in a gun battle with David and Maggie, they’d risked entering through the back door, where they’d come upon David just in the nick of time. After Alice had gone outside she’d taken the time to flatten the tires of the survivalists’ tires. Thinking they would also be useful, David decided they should keep them, since their owners no longer had any use for them, but that would take changing the tires and bringing in extra people to drive them. So he grabbed his radio and called home, requesting some assistance ‘transporting a few things’, he said, not wanting to broadcast what they’d be carrying.
It took a while, but they managed to find a large diesel tanker which Maggie and Alice managed to fill, while Amy and David loaded all the supplies into a spare hummer and a spare supply truck. There were still a lot of supplies left, and certainly nothing to stop anyone else from stealing them, but they’d managed to secure most of the dangerous elements. Even if there was still plenty of diesel fuel, as long as it couldn’t be turned into an offensive weapon by driving a tanker into something, David wasn’t overly worried. If people could find a way to survive by stealing a few gallons of diesel, he wasn’t going to fight them over it.
Leaving the dead men’s vehicles, David took the military tanker truck, which could handle the damaged roads, while Maggie drove the hummer with the weapons. Amy tried to drive the supply vehicle, carrying everything else they’d acquired, with Alice helping her by checking for obstructions, but they managed, despite none of them having had any experience driving such vehicles. But then again, the roads were mostly empty, so it wasn’t like they’d be obstructing traffic by struggling with a difficult to control truck.
On a whim David stopped by the local gun shop, and they found that it too had been broken into. They’d found the weapons in one of the SUVs, and Maggie had commented that they didn’t look like military issue. They proceeded to empty out the guns in the gun shop as well, leaving a note telling the owner to check with the sheriff, if he came looking for the weapons.
With a lot of work and some repacking, they managed to get everything loaded, including the remaining cash registers, which they didn’t want to leave and also didn’t want to break open. When they finished, they thought it better that they didn’t try to drive to the farm with all these weapons lying around, so they headed home, after asking calling to remind Ellen she’d have to visit the farm themselves after picking up his little ‘surprise’. He’d left them instructions on what to do when they got to the armory, and he gave them a brief explanation on what they should do once they reached the farm as well.
After they finished, David looked over the fully loaded vehicles he and the girls were diving, and wondered just what the hell he’d gotten himself involved in.
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