Survivors Series (Book 2): Heroes Never Die

by Voeller, Cody

  “What’s wrong with my grip?” he said defensively.

  “Nothing big. You just need to move your left hand further down the barrel. It’ll help stabilize your shot. Also, you need to make sure you take a breath and hold it before taking your shot.” He frowned but raised the rifle and followed my instructions. His first shot was much closer to center and his second even closer. The third shot was damn near dead center.

  “Hey, thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  I moved down the line to a woman who had to be in her mid-thirties. She was attempting to fire a .22 Magnum revolver which was far too big for her tiny hands. That wasn’t the only problem she was having with the gun. Apparently, the trigger pull was too heavy for her, and she was forced to pull the hammer back before firing. “Excuse me, ma’am?”

  “Ma’am was my mother. Please call me Lexi.”

  “Hi Lexi, I’m James.”

  “Hello, James. What can I do for you?”

  “Well, I just noticed the trouble you’re having with your revolver.”

  “Oh, not much I can do about that,” she said with a smile.

  “You could always switch weapons.”

  “I couldn’t do that, it was my husband’s.”

  “I understand. Do you mind if I take a look?”

  “Of course,” she said handing me the gun butt first.

  I looked at the guns almost five-inch barrel, nine shot cylinder and felt its considerable weight for a revolver. I aimed the gun down range and squeezed the trigger. I was correct in my assumption that the trigger weight was too much for her. “I’m sorry for asking but was your husband a big man?”

  “Yes, he was.”

  “Did you have children?”

  “Yes,” she said softly, curiosity and sadness competing in her voice.

  “My guess is that he upped the weight on the trigger so your kids couldn’t accidentally fire the gun, it’s pretty heavy.”

  “Oh, that makes sense. Marcus was pretty concerned about Kevin getting to his gun.”

  “Well, I might be able to fix that for you if you’d like.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “It’s no problem, especially if it’ll help keep you safe. Do you have the case that he kept it in?”

  “Of course, it’s right here,” she said handing me the plastic case that had been sitting on the ground.

  I opened the case and found a set of springs that would change the trigger pull. There was the hammer spring and the trigger return spring and changing either would change how the gun fired. I decided to change the hammer spring which would lighten the trigger pull without slowing down the trigger reset. It didn’t take long before I had the gun back together and back in Lexi’s hands. “Give it a try now.”

  She raised the gun and took aim. She pulled back on the trigger, and the gun jumped in her hands. She let out a little “Oh,” and looked at me.

  “Don’t pull the trigger so fast. Squeeze it slowly. The weight is quite a bit less now so it shouldn’t be a problem,” She nodded confidently and tried again. This time, she took aim and hit her target.

  “Thank you,” she said grinning and looking at Sarah said, “Don’t you let this one go.”

  “I don’t plan to,” she said grabbing my arm.

  I went down the line helping the other two people with their aim and stance. After doing what I could Sarah and I moved on. “You can’t help it can you?” asked Sarah.

  “What? What did I do?”

  “You can’t help but help,” she said laughing.

  “Yeah, so?”

  “I didn’t say it was a bad thing, it’s just the way you are.”

  “Whatever,” I said grinning at her.

  We walked back to Luke’s office and found him waiting for us outside talking to a small five-person group.

  “This must be our team,” I said to Sarah.

  “Gee what gave you that idea?” she said smiling sarcastically.

  “Shush,” I said as we approached the group.

  “James, Sarah, meet your team,” said Luke.

  We were introduced to the team that would back us up on the raid. There were two women and three men, Kelly, Samantha, Robert, John, and Liam. We spent the next hour and a half going over the plans for the store and working on the formation that we would be using and what roles they would be playing. “Do you guys have it down?” I asked. I received several head nods and a few murmured agreements. “Great,” I said, dismissing them. The group went back to whatever they were doing before gathering to practice, and Sarah and I went to say goodbye to Luke.

  We entered his office and found him and Adam arguing. As we walked in, Adam looked at me and sneered, “What are they doing here?”

  “They were helping to train a few of our people to help in a raid,” said Luke.

  “We don’t need their help,” said Adam with outright disdain.

  “They came to us for help. We can all benefit from the raid.” Adam shook his head and stormed out, “I’m sorry you two, I didn’t know you’d be back so soon.”

  “It’s fine,” I said, “We just came by to tell you we’re taking off.”

  “Alright then. I guess I’ll see you here bright and early tomorrow?”

  “You bet,” I said shaking his hand again.

  “Goodbye, you two.”

  “Bye Luke,” said Sarah.

  We walked out of his office and climbed into our truck. We drove past the guard booth and saw Adam of all people talking to the two guards conspiratorially and pointing at our truck as we drove off.

  “What do you think that’s all about?” asked Sarah.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” I said looking back at them in my rearview window, “I really don’t like it.”

  Chapter 2

  The drive back home was silent as we were both lost in thought, both wondering what Adam was up to and what it could mean for us. I did my best to push thoughts of Adam out of my mind and focus on the raid tomorrow. While the Fred Meyer isn’t as big the Costco it had more corners and areas where people could be caught unawares, which made it a lot more dangerous. Hopefully, Luke’s team would be able to watch our backs.

  We pulled into the driveway and went inside. I was about to announce that the raid is a go but Sarah beat me to it. “Luke’s going to help. We’re on for the raid,” she called out to the house.

  “Hey, I was going to do that,” I said to her with mock indignation.

  “You’ll get over it,” she said smiling up at me and kissing me.

  “Yeah I think I will,” I grinned at her. We gathered in the living room to talk and do some last minute planning. “Does anyone have any questions or concerns?”

  “Yeah,” said Liz, “Are you sure you want to bring in Luke’s people? I mean, we’ve worked together before, and we’ve done fine, do we need extra people who we’ve never worked with?”

  “I think we do. I’m trying to build a bridge with Luke because he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. The extra manpower won’t hurt.”

  “If you’re sure,” she said.

  “Have a little faith,” I said giving her a confident smile. She nodded. “Alright, anything else? No? Ok then. No work today. Read, relax, do whatever you want. We’ve got enough to do tomorrow.” They all smiled and dispersed, the couples taking advantage of the free time to be together. “What would you like to do?” I asked Sarah.

  “I don’t know. Give me some options.”

  “How about you put something comfortable on and meet me back here in fifteen minutes?”

  “What do you have planned?”

  “Just go get changed,” I smiled.

  She narrowed her eyes but said, “Fine.”

  “Have a little faith,” I said grinning. I didn’t know it was possible, but her eyes narrowed even further. I grinned even wider, “Have I ever told you that you look absolutely beautiful when you do that?”

  She stopped glaring and kissed
me on the cheek, “Flattery, Mr. Ryan, will get you everywhere.”

  I smiled and ran outside. I only had a few minutes to take care of what I needed to do. A little more than fifteen minutes later I was standing in the living room wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Sarah walked out of my room wearing a pair of my shorts and her own shirt. “We’re going to have to get you some of your own clothes,” I said wrapping my arms around her.

  “But yours are more comfortable.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “What? No blindfold,” she said jokingly.

  “We don’t need one, but I could always grab one of you’ve grown to like it,” I said teasing her.

  “Oh, shush,” she said slapping my chest.

  We walked down my driveway, and when we reached about halfway, we turned off to the right, walking through the long grass. Normally I would have brush mowed the sloped field but since gas was a precious commodity and the mower was extremely loud I had let the grass grow, and it had taken over the small hillside with a vengeance. Until now the only bare spot had been the area around the burn pile. I had taken my short fifteen minutes to use a weed eater to clear the area beneath a cluster of trees and rake away the cut grass. Waiting for us in that clearing was a blanket and a small lunch, we were going to have a picnic. Sarah raised an eyebrow at me and smiled. “This is what you can do in fifteen minutes?”

  I smiled, “You should see what I can do with an hour.”

  She let out a laugh and sat down on the blanket. I sat down next to her and looked around, the grass was tall enough that it looked like we were in our own little world. “So what did you make for lunch?”

  “Well I didn’t have any time to kill any ducks, but I was able to make a few sandwiches, some chips, and some soda.”

  “You made sandwiches? Out of what?”

  “Some of Liz’s fresh bread and some canned chicken that I improved on with a little seasoning.” She wrinkled her nose. I laughed, “Just try it, you might be surprised.” She looked skeptical but took a hesitant bite. Her look turned from skeptical to surprise. “How is it?”

  “It’s actually really good.”

  “Good, I’m glad you like it.” We ate our sandwiches and chips and drank our soda. After we were done, we lied down on the blanket and watched as two eagles flew in lazy circles around their nest. I could feel her pressing deep into my side as her breathing grow steady. “Hey beautiful, still awake?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Good. Why don’t you come lay somewhere more comfortable.”

  “Mmmmm I don’t want to go inside,” she said quietly.

  “Who said anything about going inside?”

  “Well what did you have planned?” she said lifting up her head.

  “How about we walk right over there,” I said pointing. She turned her head to look where I was pointing and smiled. “I guess you missed that?”

  “Yeah, I guess I did.”

  I was pointing at a hammock hanging between two trees a short distance away. She tried to climb into the hammock but almost fell when it flipped. I let out a little laugh but quickly silenced it when she glared at me. “Can I help you?”

  “No.”

  “Come on Sarah, don’t be stubborn,” I said smiling.

  “Fine.”

  We laid together, our bodies settling in the middle of the hammock and, using my free hand I gently rocked us back and forth. Looking up at the canopy of trees you could see rays of sunlight shine through the leaves. The breeze was rustling the branches, and I could hear the quaking aspen that my dad planted in the distance. I glanced down at Sarah and saw she had a small content smile on her lips. I couldn’t help myself, I kissed her, and she kissed back. At that moment there wasn’t a thing on my mind except her.

  We stayed in the hammock until dinner, and after everyone had eaten, I suggested that everyone go to bed early. “We’re meeting at Luke’s camp at a seven, so it would be a good idea go to bed as soon as possible. You’ll want to be wide awake for tomorrow’s activities.” There were murmured responses of compliance as everyone went their own way once again.

  Sarah and I climbed into bed, and while she fell asleep almost instantly, I was stuck running over our plans for the next day. I had a bad feeling about how Adam had acted yesterday, and I had the uneasy feeling that he would do something to fuck me over. I didn’t know where or when but I just knew that he would. I didn’t know if I could stop him or how bad it would be, all I could do was to try and be ready for anything. I rolled over, and my nose was filled with the delicious smell of mint. How does she still smell like that? I wondered. I shrugged and put one arm around her. It didn’t matter what Adam had planned, I would deal with it when it came.

  I woke early the next morning and glancing at my watch, it was a quarter to six. I stood and stretched, cracking my back and neck. Without changing, I walked to the armory and selected the weapons I would use that day. I had my two pistols, my knives, and bow. I checked the weapons for dirt or grime and cleaned my guns. Taking a look around at the stacks of weapons I found a notebook that contained the details regarding what guns we had and what supplies we gathered from the gun shop. I glanced down the list and saw that we had several boxes of extra-large glow sticks. Used for night fishing when you didn’t want the harsh lights of a flashlight to scare away any fish. I went through the supplies and found the boxes. I pulled out one of the glow sticks, it was as big around as my thumb and probably a foot long. I cracked the two chemical capsules contained inside and shook the now light green rod. It didn’t take long before the stick was producing a soft green that dimly lit the room. “Cool,” I said and began to unload several of the boxes. The sticks would come in handy in the dark store, seeing as we wouldn’t have the advantage of large skylights to help light our way. I took another look at the manifest, and something caught my eye under the clothing section. We had dozens of pairs of jeans, shirts, thermal socks, sweatshirts, and coats but what interested me was something labeled hard-knuckled gloves. I frowned and searched through the stacks until I found them. They were a pair of three-quarter fingered black leather, hard-knuckled gloves. I had no idea what they would be good for, maybe bow hunting or riding ATVs. I slipped them on and tightened the Velcro around the wrists, they fit great. I made a fist and saw that my knuckles bulked up the hard plastic covering of the gloves. I would hate to be punched by a pair of these, I thought and took the gloves and glow sticks with me to the living room. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was six-fifteen and figured I should wake Sarah.

  Back in my room a gently shook her awake and grinned as she gave a long catlike stretch across my bed. “Why are you up so early?”

  “Couldn’t sleep. Come on, it’s time to get up.”

  “Ok, fine.” She got up and, after telling me not to peek, changed into some more suitable clothes. Just between you and me, I peaked. After she left I changed into a pair of tactical pants, t-shirt, and riding jacket, I laced up my combat boots and went out to say good morning. Everyone was just starting to wake up and get ready. Some were eating, some were checking weapons, and some were prepping packs, no one seemed nervous. I smiled as I watched them work quickly and efficiently. This wasn’t new to them, and they were ready for anything, or at least they thought they were. It would be Liz who was staying with Michelle, but she was up and helping others get ready.

  “Everyone ready?” I called out.

  “Almost,” said Matt.

  “Gimme a minute,” said Hannah tying her boots.

  “Alright, we’ll leave in fifteen,” I said pulling on my new gloves and walking outside. I looked over the trucks to see if we left anything in the backs and checked to see that the cabs were clear. As I was finishing with the last truck, Thomas appeared to talk to me. “What’s up?”

  “Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to talk to you about Christina.”

  “Yeah sure, what’s going’ on?”

  “I just wanted to ask you to keep an eye o
n her. She’s just getting comfortable with going back on raids.”

  “Yeah no problem, but she can stay home if she wants to.”

  “No she wants to go, she’s just a little nervous.”

  “Well, I’ll keep a close eye on her.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “Like I said, no problem.” He turned to go back inside, but I stopped him, “Hey, Thomas.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re not going to need that rifle,” I said motioning to sniper rifle slung across his back.

  He looked a little crestfallen and asked, “Should I leave it here then?”

  “It might be a good idea. We’re going to be working in close quarters and not going to need any long-range cover.”

  “Alright,” he said with a sigh.

  He turned to leave, “Hey, tell ’em we leave in five.” He waved over his head in response. I climbed into the driver seat of my truck and rested my head on the steering wheel. I let out a breath I hadn’t even know I was holding and said, “It’ll be fine.” That was the extent of my own personal pep talk, and when I checked my watch again, it was time to go. I honked my horn a few times, and everyone came pouring out of the garage, all armed and ready to go. “Let’s go,” I said out my window, “We’ve got some shopping to do.”

  Sarah hopped up into the passenger seat, and our nine truck caravan rolled down the driveway. We arrived at Luke’s camp and were let through the front gate right away like they could have stopped us if they wanted to.

  We parked in the lot near Luke’s office, and I jumped down, motioning for everyone to stay in their vehicles. I knocked on the door to his office and Luke gave a tired, “Come in.” I opened the door, and the man behind the desk didn’t resemble the one I had talked to yesterday. He was ragged and tired looking like he had been up all night. His head was in his hands, and he looked up when I walked in. “Good morning my boy,” he said quietly.