by Eric Vall
“I don’t know,” Anna said, and she pursed her lips. “The last guys didn’t.”
“No,” I shook my head.
We watched through the trees as the voices grew louder.
“That last girl we ran across was the best,” a male voice said.
“No way, man,” another one called. “That blonde girl we found in Morrisville.”
I thought maybe they were talking about Viv, the escaped prisoner that Paige and I had helped, but I couldn’t be sure, regardless, I wasn’t happy with how they were talking.
“Yo, I’ve got more pussy since the apocalypse happened than I did before,” another guy laughed. “And that’s saying something.”
I looked over to see Anna roll her eyes.
Just then the men came into view, and I did a double take. There were five men, and they were all dressed in baggy pants, wife beaters, and oversized hoodies, I didn’t see any holsters, but I noticed they each had a backpack, and I saw some handguns tucked into the front of their pants.
“You’re a damn liar,” one of the men said, and he had short blonde hair.
“Ask your sister about it,” the other guy retorted, and his response was followed by a large ‘ooooh,’ from the other three.
“Fuck you, man,” the blonde haired guy said, and he waved his arm at the other man like you see rappers do in music videos and movies.
“What the fuck,” I whispered.
“They’re wangsters,” Anna whispered back.
“What the hell is that?” I asked.
“Wannabe gangsters,” Anna said with a smile.
I rolled my eyes and went back to watching the men. I lined up my shot, but waited.
“Hey,” a guy in cargo shorts down to his thighs said. “I saw a sign for a girl’s college up the road.”
“Yeah,” another guy said. “Let’s find that place.”
“I wonder how many honeys are left,” cargo shorts grinned.
“This town looks small as fuck,” the blonde haired guy said.
“Bet it’s up the hill,” cargo shorts said.
“Aight then,” another guy said, and he rubbed his hands together. “Let’s do it, all these bitches bout to be real grateful when we show up.”
I pulled the trigger of my 9mm and cargo shorts went down while the others threw their bodies away from him.
“What the fuck man!” Blondie yelled, and he reached for his pistol in the front of his pants, but before he could grab it, Anna took him down as well.
The other men crouched down and tried to run for cover amidst a string of curse words, but they didn’t make it before Anna and I took them down.
“We need to take those signs down,” Anna said after the last guy had fallen.
“Yes,” I nodded. “We’ll do that right after we hang the rest of the guys.”
“At least we have more now to line the road,” Anna chuckled.
“Good point,” I smiled, and we both headed out of the woods to retrieve the bodies.
“What the hell is the likelihood of two different groups coming through here tonight?” Anna asked as we strung up the dead men.
“It does seem odd,” I noted.
“They didn’t all seem like Canadians, either,” Anna mused.
“No,” I agreed. “It could be that anyone who was around here is moving south since it’s getting colder.”
“Seems like they started a bit late,” Anna said.
“They did,” I agreed. “But nobody said they were the brightest bulbs in the shed.”
“I guess not,” Anna chuckled.
We finished stringing the men by each entrance to the college, and then we headed back to campus to grab some supplies to take down the signs.
“Hey,” Paige called out once we arrived. “Are you done?”
“Yeah,” Anna said, and she hopped off the ATV. “But we need to go take down the signs that say where the college is.”
“Fuck,” Tara said. “That’s why those guys came this way.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “And another group came too.”
“We heard the shots,” Rolly said.
“Two groups of people in one night?” Paige said, astonished. “That’s scary.”
“It is,” I agreed. “Which is why we’re going to take those signs down, and we’ll work on a better sentry plan tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Tara nodded. “Do you guys need help?”
“I think we can handle it,” I said, and I looked at the platinum blonde. “How’s your chest?”
“Better,” she sighed, and she looked down at her newly formed bruise, then she grinned at me. “But it could still use a few kisses.”
“I’ll get right on it,” I chuckled.
“What do y’all need for the signs?” Rolly inquired, and he leaned forward a bit.
“Probably an axe,” I said. “I don’t think it’s worth it to try to get those bolts off.”
“Probably right,” Rolly smiled. “There’s a few axes in the shed, you sure you don’t need us to come along?”
“No,” I shook my head. “You all stay here, Anna and I can handle it.”
“Okay,” the old man nodded, and he walked toward his tool shed.
Rolly returned with the axes, and Anna and I went around to each nearby road and took down any sign that mentioned Piper College. We threw them in the back of the truck and made our way toward home.
“It’s been a long night,” Anna sighed.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I could’ve used the extra sleep.”
“We should work on our plan when we get back,” Anna suggested.
“Good idea,” I smiled at the redhead.
“Do you think the civilians and farmers are ready for shit like last night?” Anna asked with genuine concern.
“I don’t know,” I said and I narrowed my eyes on the road. “But if they’re not, we need to get them ready.”
Chapter 15
I woke the next morning to find that Anna and I were the only ones left in bed, so I woke up the redhead, and we made our way down to the fire pit. It was just after dawn, but I was still frustrated that I had slept in.
“Why didn’t you wake us?” Anna asked, and we took our seats around the fire.
“Seemed like you could use the rest,” Bailey smiled.
“Yeah,” Tara nodded. “You all worked hard yesterday.”
“So did all of you,” I smiled.
“Coffee will be ready soon,” Rolly grinned, and he poured some grounds into the pot on the fire.
“Thank you.” I smiled at the old man, and I looked around at the group. “Is Paige on guard duty?”
“Yeah,” Bailey nodded. “Winchester went up with her too.”
“He’s a funny little dog,” Rolly chuckled. “He follows you girls everywhere.”
“Are we running drills today?” Anna asked me.
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Oh yeah,” Tara said. “What did you guys come up with yesterday?”
“We have a few good ideas,” Anna grinned.
“We need the civilians and farmers as well,” I added. “So, we’ll run drills later today, for this morning I think we’ll focus on our home.”
“That sounds good to me,” Rolly smiled. “Yesterday was enough excitement for a while.”
“Unfortunately,” I chuckled. “I don’t think the excitement is quite over yet.”
“Probably not,” Bailey frowned.
“That’s okay,” Anna comforted the blonde hippie. “That’s why we came up with a few drills to run, so everyone feels prepared next time something happens.”
“I would feel better if we had a set plan in place,” Tara nodded.
“Yeah,” Bailey agreed. “I felt really confident when we took out the bikers.”
“You’ll feel just as confident once we run drills.” I grinned at the girls.
“Coffee’s ready,” Rolly smiled, and he started to pour cups.
“Great,” I said. “I’l
l take a cup to Paige.”
“I’ll make some breakfast,” Tara offered.
“That would be great,” I smiled at the platinum blonde.
I took a cup of coffee from Rolly and made my way into the dorm building, up the stairs, and to the roof where I found Paige sitting with a rifle and a folding chair.
“Hey,” I smiled at the brunette. “Brought you some coffee.”
“Thanks,” she smiled up at me, but she was snuggled in an oversized hoodie, and I thought she might be cold.
“How are you doing up here?” I asked with concern.
“I’m fine,” she shook her head, and held the coffee in both hands to warm them. “It’s a bit chilly up here, though.”
“It is,” I nodded. “I’ll set up a rotating schedule. How long have you been up here?”
“I already set one up,” she smiled. “It’s in the library.”
“Good job,” I smiled at the brunette. “Who’s next?”
“Anna,” she said.
“Okay,” I nodded. “How many hours do you have everyone up here?”
“Four hours,” she told me. “There’s six of us, so four hours each makes a whole day.”
“Smart,” I grinned at her.
“Thanks,” she grinned back.
“Tara’s making breakfast,” I said. “I’ll bring you some.”
“Will you bring Winchester some, too?” Paige asked as she reached down to pet the black headed dog.
“Of course,” I smiled and I ruffled his head before I headed back downstairs.
“It’s getting cold,” Bailey said as I rejoined the group. “Is Paige okay up there?”
“She’ll be fine,” I smiled. “We’ll all have to get used to this for a while.”
“Right,” Bailey nodded.
“Some hot breakfast would do her well, though,” I said and I looked over to Tara.
“It’ll be ready shortly,” Tara grinned.
“How’s your chest?” Anna asked the platinum blonde with a wry smile.
“Hurts like a bitch still,” Tara responded. “But I think I’ll live.”
“Let’s hope so,” Rolly chuckled.
“Getting shot is no fun,” I said. “Even with a vest, it can hurt a lot.”
“Have you been shot before?” Bailey asked.
“I have,” I nodded. “My vest saved me, but I had a huge bruise on my back for quite some time.”
“What happened?” Rolly asked, and he took a large gulp of coffee.
“Same thing as in every war,” I shrugged. “Enemy territory, and my team got caught off guard.”
“I never would’ve thought about you getting caught off guard,” Anna said, and her eyes widened.
“It didn’t happen very often,” I chuckled and then took a drink of coffee before I continued. “But when it did happen my team reacted quickly, and we didn’t suffer any fatalities.”
“Should we tell the others that they're doing drills today?” Tara asked, and she stirred the meat and vegetables she was cooking.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Why don’t Tara and Rolly go? Bailey and I can work on the garden.”
“Okay,” Rolly smiled big.
“Excited to see Betty?” Tara teased, and she elbowed the old man in the side.
“Always,” Rolly chuckled.
“What time should we tell them?” Tara asked.
“Around two o’clock,” I said. “We’ll need a few hours to practice.”
“This is going to be just like biker drills all over again, isn’t it?” Tara asked with a raised brow.
“Even worse,” I grinned, and the platinum blonde rolled her eyes.
Tara served us all breakfast, and Anna took relieved Paige from guard duty and sent her down to eat, then Rolly and Tara headed to the farms, and Bailey, Paige, and I worked in the garden.
“These tomatoes look ready,” Bailey said as she inspected the plant.
“They do,” I smiled at the blonde. “Good job.”
“I didn’t do much,” she blushed. “They grow pretty well on their own.”
“Yeah,” Paige nodded, and she smiled at Bailey. “But plants grow better when they’re loved.”
Bailey blushed, and we all worked to harvest the vegetables that were ready while Winchester laid in the sunshine and chewed on a bone.
“We should’ve asked Rolly and Tara to pick up one of the canners,” Paige said, and she pursed her lips.
“We can send this home with them,” I said.
“I guess,” Bailey nodded. “But it does feel wrong to pass off our work to them.”
“You all do plenty of work,” I smiled at the girls. “They can handle the canning.”
“That’s true,” Paige agreed. “We do the runs, so it evens out I think.”
“Everyone brings something to the group,” I chuckled.
Bailey, Paige, and I were able to fill two five-gallon buckets with crops, then we rinsed them and fed and watered the horses before Tara and Rolly returned.
“How’d it go?” I asked the two as I walked to the truck.
“Had to pry this one away from Betty,” Tara joked, and she pointed a thumb at Rolly.
“Hardly,” the old man chuckled, and he hopped out of the truck. “How are things here?”
“We got three buckets of veggies,” Bailey said proudly.
“That’s great,” Tara smiled.
“We can send them home with Betty tonight,” Rolly nodded, and he grinned at Bailey. “Good job, kid.”
“Thanks,” the pretty blonde smiled.
We worked for several more hours, and I had Rolly take over for Anna once the others arrived, but before we got started, I gathered them around the fire to explain what we were doing.
“We’re going to run drills today,” I told the group.
“That’s what Rolly said,” Jenny commented. “But what exactly does that mean?”
“We’ll practice our plan in case there’s a threat,” Anna told the other redheaded girl.
“Okay,” Jenny nodded.
“How will we know when there’s a threat?” Jeff asked.
“We’re going to practice that too,” I smiled.
“We also want everyone to be extra on guard,” Anna said.
“Why?” Donna asked, and her dark black hair was pulled into a high ponytail. “What happened?”
“We had two different groups wander through here last night,” I told them.
“Is that where the bodies came from?” Cathy asked. “Because that was quite shocking.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. “We should have warned you.”
“Are they supposed to be a warning?” Joanna asked.
“Yes,” I smiled at the young sandy-haired girl.
“Worked for me,” Mike half chuckled.
“Me too,” Betty laughed.
“Let’s just hope it works for people who aren’t quite as smart as you are,” Anna grinned.
“Right,” I smiled. “We’re gonna make sure there is always someone on guard duty and to take out any potential threats.”
“Okay,” Marla nodded, and she pulled her boys a bit closer to her.
“So,” I started. “Here’s the plan.”
I went over each person’s position, where they would run to, and how to handle themselves, except for Marla, she was to stay with the boys if anything were to happen, but those who were the best shot were given areas to go that gave them good vantage points, and I had each person practice being on sentry duty, though we didn’t light any actual fires that day, only practiced where they would be and where to run.
We ran drills until it was almost dusk, and I was proud of my team, the civilians, and the farmers, nobody had complained once, and each person followed directions very well, but I was most proud of Anna, she commanded the group with ease, and I couldn’t help but find it hot the way she ordered and encouraged the others.
I caught Jeff as he was getting into the truck to ask him about the exp
losives.
“Hey,” I said, and I caught him by the arm.
“What’s up?” the red bearded man asked.
“I wanted to let you know that we got dynamite and C-4,” I told him.
“You got C-4 too?” he asked with wide eyes. “We can blow up whatever we want with that shit.”
“Good,” I chuckled. “I’m counting on you to put it all together.”
“I’ll take a look at the bridge and draw up some plans,” he grinned.
“Thanks,” I smiled. “And good work today.”
“Thanks,” he smiled back, and he hopped up into the truck.
“Good job today,” I told Anna after everyone had gone home for the night.
“Thanks,” the athletic beauty replied with a grin. “It was fun bossing everyone around.”
“You did a great job encouraging too,” I smiled. “That’s just as important.”
“You’re going to give her a big head,” Tara chuckled.
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “But she deserves a little praise.”
“I admit,” Tara nodded. “You did a good job today.”
“Thanks,” the redhead smiled at the platinum blonde. “So did you.”
“Let’s make some dinner,” Paige said. “I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” Anna chuckled.
“True,” Paige grinned. “But I’m especially hungry after today.”
“We did a lot of running,” I said. “I think we all deserve a hot meal. I’ll cook.”
“I got it,” Tara smiled. “I snagged a few veggies from our buckets before I sent them with Betty.”
“Oh, yay,” Bailey grinned. “I was kinda sad we wouldn’t get to eat any of them fresh.”
“I got you covered, girl,” Tara said, and she winked at the other blonde.
“Thanks,” the hippie girl chuckled. “I’ll go relieve Rolly.”
“Good call,” I nodded. “He’s been up there a while.”
“Maybe after the food is done, we can all go up to the roof,” Paige suggested. “Then we can eat together.”
“I like that idea,” I grinned at the brunette.
“I’ll let Rolly know,” Bailey smiled, and she headed inside with Winchester in tow.
“For now,” Anna said, and she stood up. “I think we’ve earned a drink. Anyone want one?”
Sighs of relief and ‘yes pleases’ erupted from the girls, so Anna chuckled and went to retrieve some booze for the group. She returned a moment later with a bottle of clear rum, and some soda.