EMP [Collateral Darkness] | Book 4

by Tony Mastrolacasa

  After Leo had run into the bedroom two minutes early, catching Stacey only half dressed, the parade’s organization had been tweaked a little. They now alternated between male and female days as best they could. Stacey still believes that Leo had cut his shower short that day on purpose, but Leo had been adamant that he hadn’t. Regardless, he still considers it one of the greatest moments of his young life and regrets nothing.

  The entire scene was ridiculous, but it served its purpose. It preserved their fuel while giving as many people as possible a chance at a shower before dinner was ready and the generator needed to be shut down again. Dinner would get cooked, the battery would get charged and on average six or seven of them would get squeaky clean. For this reason moose roast night was particularly popular. A decent sized roast would take an hour and a half to cook, enough time for almost everyone to take a quick shower.

  ◆◆◆

  “Well, what did they say, Hal?” Hess asked, sitting down at the dinner table.

  “Didn’t one of your spies come run and tell you?” Hal asked in return.

  “I haven’t seen my husband or daughter since this morning. Nate’s out on guard duty and Olivia’s on shift in the greenhouses with Nora. What did they say?” Hess asked again.

  “They’re coming.” Hal replied. “I told you I’d ask. You didn’t have to send your husband along to hold my hand, you know.”

  “Hal, ever since we were kids you’ve been too pigheaded to ask for help. Why would I expect today to be any different?”

  “Well, it was. I asked, they agreed and tomorrow they’ll be here. End of story. Write that down in your little diary, so you don’t forget it.”

  “Hal, take it easy, man.” Rob said, coming into the dining room. He was carrying a tray with three sizzling moose steaks on it and he was very interested in enjoying his in peace.

  “It was a journal and you know that I haven’t kept one since I was 14, you dick.” Hess said, firing back.

  “Guys, enough!” Rob said, raising his voice.

  “How many of them are coming?” Hess asked, completely ignoring her younger brother and continuing the interrogation of her elder.

  “I didn’t ask. Three or four, I imagine.” Hal replied while stabbing his fork into a juicy steak and dropped it onto his plate.

  “That’s it?” Hess asked. “We gave them a 20 percent share of this place and that’s all we get… Three or four guys? Didn’t you tell them that those pricks are all armed?”

  “They know.” Hal replied plainly.

  “And we didn’t give them anything, Hess.” Rob added, taking a seat and getting into the conversation now. “We sold them that share. We get a lot from those guys in return. This moose, for example.”

  “You wait until you see how these guys operate, Hess.” Hal said. “I doubt they’ll need more than two of them. You’ll be happy they’re on our side.”

  “I hope you’re right, Hal. My family lives here now too.” Hess said.

  “I’m right.” Hal said. “Now let’s dig into these beautiful steaks that our little brother barbecued up for us. After dinner, if you want to continue on with your bitching, you can go stand out in the snow with your husband.”

  Rob blew a chunk of potato across the room as he tried and failed to stop himself from laughing with his mouth full.

  “Oh, real nice, Rob.” Hess said. Then cracking a smile, she eased up and started to laugh too. “You guys are such jerks.”

  “Family… ain’t it a bitch.” Hal said before placing a fork full in his mouth.

  After dinner, Hal had Rob and Hess follow him into the front room. He had one last thing to discuss with them before Hess went back to her cabin for the night. He also had something to give to each of them, a little gift from their minority partners.

  “Stu gave me this package when he got me alone for a minute.” Hal said. “He was hoping we could keep it a secret. I mean, Nora and Nate can know about this, but maybe don’t say anything to Liv or the others.”

  “Oh, my goodness, do you have a handgun in there?” Hess asked, delightfully surprised.

  “There’s three handguns in here, one for each of the Weyr kids.” Hal replied with as smile of his own.

  “Oh, that’s awesome!” Hess said, tilting the box towards her. Seeing three identical Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm handguns, she pulled one out without hesitation.

  “Careful, Hess, all three of them are loaded.” Hal said.

  “I don’t know, Hal… What the hell do I know about handguns?” Rob asked as he looked inside the box. Unlike his sister, he was a little apprehensive about pulling one out.

  “About as much as I do, I’m guessing.” Hal replied. “Stu showed me how to operate them though. There really isn’t a lot…”

  …Hess pressed the mag release button on the side of the handgun’s grip ejecting the magazine. Then she quickly pulled the slide back and locking it into place. As she inspected the chamber to prove it was safe, Hal and Rob looked on in shock.

  “What the hell, Hess?” Rob asked. “Where did you learn that?”

  “Nate and I got our restricted licences a few years ago.” Hess replied. “We have a couple of handguns locked up in our safe at home.”

  “I don’t understand a word of what you just said.” Rob said.

  “Yeah… I’m a little confused myself here, Hess.” Hal added.

  “Ha! Is it that surprising, guys?” Hess asked. “We all grew up around guns, hunting and whatnot.”

  “True, but with rifles and shotguns.” Hal said. “Mom and Dad never kept any handguns in the house.”

  “Well, neither of us were interested in hunting.” Hess said. “I wouldn’t even know where to go hunting around Niagara Falls anyway. A group of people in the accounting department at the casino belonged to a shooting club and they asked if we wanted to join them one night after work. We went, we loved it and a week later, Nate and I took the courses and wrote the exams. A couple of months later, our licences showed up in the mail.”

  “Incredible… What did you buy?” Hal asked.

  “I got a CZ Shadow 2. the cool looking black one with blue grips. Nate bought a black edition Beretta M9A3.” Hess replied.

  “Ha! Too funny.” Rob said. “Can you imagine? A bunch of accountants with handguns.”

  “Screw you, Rob! Our club was ranked 9th in the province.” Hess said, defending her team. “Once we closed our laptops and opened our gun cases, we were a force to be reckoned with. The ‘Paperwork Assassins,’ we called ourselves.”

  “How do we not know about any of this?” Hal asked.

  “Nate didn’t want his parents finding out.” Hess replied. “That whole side of the family is anti-gun… big time.”

  “I bet they regret that now.” Hal said.

  “Big time.” Rob added.

  “It’s too bad we can’t go get our pistols.” Hess said. “I was getting pretty good with that thing. We both were.”

  Encouraged that they now had an experienced trainer with them, Hal and Rob both pulled a pistol out of the box. Rob gripped his tightly with a huge grin on his face. Recalling what he had seen Hess do, he pressed the small button on the side of the grip. The magazine immediately ejected into the palm of his left hand. As Hess helped him lock his slide back, Rob took another look in the box.

  “Where’s the ammo?” Rob asked.

  “Well, that’s the thing, guys.” Hal replied. “They’ve managed to pick up a few extra firearms, but they didn’t have a lot of 9mm ammo to give us. The mags in these ones are fully loaded, but that’s all we have for them, 17 rounds each.”

  “Well, that’s a bummer.” Rob said.

  “Stu wanted the three of us to conceal them on us and start carrying them full time.” Hal said. “They’re only to be used in an emergency. In a fight, these handguns could be the difference between life or death.”

  “That’s why he wants them kept a secret.” Hess said, understanding now.

  “What? Why? I
still don’t get it.” Rob said.

  “If people don’t know we have them they’ll think we’re defenseless.” Hess said. “They could protect us from someone that thinks we’re unarmed.”

  “That’s it exactly, Hess.” Hal said. “Of course, once one of us flashes it, that particular advantage will be gone. For the most part, it’s a secret weapon we can use when all else fails. Stu told me to think of it as a fire extinguisher… it might only be good to fight one emergency, but you’ll be glad you have it when you’re under fire.”

  “Now you think that 20 percent was worth it, Hess?” Rob asked his sister.

  “Damn… I guess I do.”

  Chapter 7

  The snowfall overnight had been relentless, but this morning the sky was bright, blue and cloudless. It was a perfectly beautiful day, but there was at least a fresh half metre of snow on the ground. The stake that the Brody and Joey had marked and mounted in the front yard showed the snow level at the 120 centimetre mark, four feet of snow depth. It was cold, light and fluffy, but it was deep. The kids would have a lot of shovelling to do today, but at least it wouldn’t be too heavy. More concerning was the fact that the Bronco would likely need to have it’s snowplow down the entire trip. That would burn a lot of extra gas.

  Corey and Stacey started heading over to the Bronco ready to leave on their all expenses paid ‘vacation’ to Weyr Resort. Seeing Stu just ahead, Corey thought he’d try something out on him, a little insolence he’d been trying to get the hang of for a little while now. He left Stacey behind and jogged ahead to catch up to him.

  “Morning, dipshit.” Corey said as he started walking along side Stu.

  “What was that?” Stu asked, mildly amused.

  “I thought I’d, you know, kind of take over for Carl.” Corey said with a shrug. “Start using a few of his old classics.”

  “Oh yeah…” Stu said.

  “Figured it was a good way to honour the old boy.” Corey said. “You got a problem with that, dipshit?”

  “Well, I don’t know… let’s see.” Stu replied as he stopped and turned around. “Hey, Stace, you mind if I shoot your boyfriend?”

  “Stop calling everybody dipshit, Corey.” Stacey said, not at all amused.

  Corey laughed, patted Stu on the back and walked off as Brian approached.

  “What was that all about?” Brian asked.

  “Ha. Just Corey being Corey.” Stu replied with a chuckle and a shake of the head.

  “The weirdo strikes again.” Brian said.

  “Gotta love this place.”

  Sydney and Fran were waiting at the Bronco, eager to give the group of travellers one final farewell. They already had the doors open and the seats tilted forward as the group drew near. Being the first to arrive, Corey currently had all of their attention.

  “Damn, Corey, leave any guns behind for us?” Sydney asked, seeing all the hardware he had strapped to him.

  “There’s plenty.” Corey replied. Looking down at himself, he added, “What? You don’t like it?”

  “I told him to just pick a handgun and be done with it.” Stu said, stopping beside them.

  “I did… the Beretta.” Corey said, tapping the handgun in his chest holster. “I only have three mags for it though.”

  “We must have 20 for that Browning on your leg.” Stu said, reminding him of a second option.

  “I’ve got a few of those too, but the Beretta stays with me.” Corey said.

  “Just get in the truck… dipshit.” Stu said, pointing towards the backseat.

  “See, Corey, that’s how you use it.” Stacey said as she climbed into the back ahead of him.

  As everyone climbed in, Stu turned back for one last word with his wife.

  “You and George are on your own for a few days, babe, so please keep your Glock on you at all times. Make sure Grace, Cole and the others keep their rifles handy too.”

  “We know, Stu. Don’t worry about us.” Sydney replied. “Let’s just agree to keep everyone and everything in one piece.”

  “Deal.”

  Stu climbed in, started the Bronco and kissed his wife one last time. Then he placed it in gear and headed out.

  After draining almost every jerrycan they had into the Bronco’s tank, the empties were now strapped to the roof rack. They would be coming along for the ride, as refilling them would be made a high priority on their return trip. George would be topping up his generator with the gas from the spare truck. It still had a full 120 litre tank, so they wouldn’t be leaving the others in the dark.

  In an attempt to preserve the Bronco’s fuel, a few of the guys had gone out ahead in the Dodge. They would plow all the way out to the road and then wait there for the Bronco to come out of the trees before heading back in. At least the most difficult part of their journey, the hour long trip up the narrow snow covered forest trail, would be taken care of for them. Not to mention, if one of them did manage to get a truck stuck, they would still have another around to help pull it out.

  When the Bronco came out of the forest and turned onto the gravel road, George, Terrell and Cole were outside standing in front of their own truck. They were working away at locking their plow into the raised position. As essential as these snowplows were, changing their position was a bit of a pain. None of their controls or hydraulics still functioned, so raising, lowering and tilting them all had to be done by hand. It wasn’t an impossibly difficult task, but it was definitely a two to three person job.

  Stu pulled up along side and placed the Bronco in park, so that his crew could get out and lower their own plow for the rest of the trip. Instead of a straight blade plow, like the one they had found for the Power Wagon, the plow mounted to the Bronco was a tapered V-blade. It was always left in the arrow head position, so it pushed snow to both sides of the truck at once. The blade’s face had an exaggerated curve forward that started relatively low in the middle and climbed higher at both ends. Because of its design, their plow didn’t just push snow off to the sides of the truck, it threw it. At speed, the snow they were throwing would sometimes fly clear over the ditches on either side of the road.

  “Nice job, guys.” Stu said. “The snow pack under the tires is actually making the trail fairly smooth back there.”

  “Yeah, this sun will probably turn it to solid ice by the time you get back.” George said. “Make sure you guys take it easy on the return trip.”

  “You got it, George.” Stu said.

  “Thanks for the help, guys.” Brian said, joining Stu at the plow.

  “Damn, Bri, didn’t you have anything a little more… intimidating to wear?” Terrell asked with a smile. “Look at these other guys. They look like they’re going to war and you look like you’re going sledding.”

  “What? You don’t like the toque?” Brian asked.

  “It’s got a freakin’ fluffy ball on top, for crying out loud.” Terrell said.

  “It’s called a pom-pom and I like it.” Brian said, defending his ridiculous wool hat. “It’s supposed to be disarming. Encourages people to let their guard down and open up to you.”

  “…Or laugh their asses off.” Corey added. “Let’s lower this plow and roll out.”

  “Ha. We’ll see you in three days, guys.” Stu said.

  “Be careful.” George said as he, Terrell and Cole headed back to their truck.

  While Stu concentrated on driving, plowing the road as he went, Leo began going over their equipment from the seat beside him.

  Leo had a Colt C8 semi-automatic rifle lying across his lap, a CZ 75 handgun holstered in his gun belt and a Kevlar vest under his shirt. Other than the handgun, which was a gift from George, all of his gear had been furnished by the Ontario Provincial Police. Leo had also chosen to wear a black hoodie, black cargo pants, and black beanie. Combined with his ammo vest, he was looking totally badass and fully prepared for a battle… as long as it occurred after dark. Leo didn’t know it yet, but his father would insist that he put his stark white parka
on over top of it all. That would mess with the badassery substantially, but it would at least add a little in the way of day time snow camo.

  Once Leo had his weapons and magazines squared away, he moved onto his father’s equipment. Stu had his Glock 17 tucked into his drop leg holster, so Leo turned to his rifle. It was a Canadian Army issue Colt C7A2, one of five that Corey and Stacey had picked up from the dead soldiers at the Monroe SaveCor. It was a fully automatic combat rifle with an Elcan C79 optical sight and 30 round magazine. It had gone through hell over the last few months, but it was still extremely dependable and Stu insisted on keeping it as his primary weapon. Leo checked the four spare Colt mags and four spare Glock mags in his father’s ammo vest as well. Then he set it all back down on the seat between them.

  “Good to go, Dad.” Leo said. “I’ll leave the Glock to you unless you want to hand it over.”

  “The Glock’s always good to go, son.” Stu said. Then he leaned into him with a wink and added, “I checked it just before we left.”

  “We’ll be there in a half hour.” Stu then said to Corey, Stacey and Brian in the back. “You guys do an equipment check yet?”

  “Doing mine and Stacey’s now, Stu.” Corey replied.

  “Yeah, I’m on it.” Brian said.

  “We got anymore 5.56 for these C7s?” Corey asked.

  “No, I left it with George and Syd.” Stu replied. “All your mags are loaded, though, right?”

  “The six that I have are, yeah, but you know… more is better.” Corey said.

  “Normally I’d agree with you, Corey, but we’re running a little low on the mil-spec.” Stu said. “I figure 17 mags between the four of us plus whatever Stacey has for her rifle should be more than enough to handle four guys with bolt action deer rifles. I think that’s better than 500 rounds.”