“No. I shot it up in the air and I hit a goose from that flock heading south over there.” She pointed at the geese that were flying over the mountain. “It landed over that way by the river.”
Sure enough, a few young men were running off to go find it.
“Why are you letting those children handle guns like that if they don’t know how to use them safely? That’s dangerous.” An older woman shouted from the back of the crowd.
“You are dangerous. She knows it, that’s why she tried to scare you. We don’t want to shoot anyone today but we will do what we have to do to protect this trailer and our lives.” Tammy made sure they all saw she was armed too. “As you can see, my dog will protect us too. So back off. You’re scaring my kids.”
Unfortunately, Zoe firing her gun drew the attention of everyone in the area and a larger crowd was gathering. All the people that were on the other side of the river in the large parking area were headed over as well.
“Mom,” Amanda inched closer as she held out her pepper spray ready to use it. “What are we going to do?” Fear was all over her face.
For once, Tammy was unable to answer. She knew all they could do was fend off the crowd with the few weapons they had. There were too many people, though. It wasn’t going to be enough. The crowd was hungry and desperate. She knew they were about to lose everything and they could die trying to protect it. They could also die while giving it up too. Desperate people do desperate things. The stuff she was so fixated on holding onto wasn’t worth their safety, their lives, or the lives of the unfortunate souls surrounding them. She had to blink back tears as she resigned herself to give it up.
She was preparing to tell her daughters to end the standoff when the hillside started to rumble. Gravel and sand spilled from the mountain near Mae where she was hiding behind the trailer with the chickens and the little dog. Tammy had to leave her post to tell Mae to hurry up and move away.
As the deep rumbling grew louder, everyone stopped and looked around for where it was coming from. The noise grew to deafening proportions.
A bomber plane approached, following the main road. It seemed to be flying slower than the planes she’d seen earlier that morning. Or maybe this one was just huge. Once it was almost directly overhead, boxes with small parachutes attached to them fell from the back of the plane. Most of them landed on the road and in the parking lots. A few landed in the river.
Tammy was at a loss at what to do for Tyson. He was crying in terror from the noise. She didn’t want to take him off her back. Charlie came over and covered his ears while speaking to him softly to ease his distress.
It created a frenzy of activity when a second plane followed and dropped more boxes. Everyone surrounding the trailer dispersed to claim a box.
“What did they toss out the back?” Mae asked.
One landed on the roof of the trailer before it rolled off and hit the ground. Zoe got it before anyone in the crowd did. Fortunately, the mob was preoccupied with claiming all the other parachute boxes.
“There’s a message attached to the top and I bet it’s food. It’s heavier than it looks.” Zoe set the box down in front of them.
Tammy watched the survivors fight over the boxes once they realized what was inside. “Hurry up if you want to see what it is and then we need to go. If it’s food, leave it here. We don’t need it. These people definitely need it more.” It was go time. She grabbed the pipe handle from Charlie and put it back on the trailer and directed her oldest two daughters to start pulling while everyone else was fighting for their own boxes. There seemed to be plenty but everyone wanted all they could get their hands on.
“They are MREs and bottled water. The note says that we are at war. It doesn’t say who. The power grid is down with no projected electricity recovery date.” Zoe looked up at Tammy. “It’s true. You guys knew this would happen and that it would be out a long time.”
“Good thing we are heading to the cabin. It is prepared for this.” Tammy motioned for Amanda and Charlie to move faster. “Hurry.” Tyson stopped crying but he continued to whimper while he shuddered every so often.
“But we aren’t there yet.” Zoe gripped the note and watched as the people mauled their boxes. “I wish the note told us more.”
“We already knew most of this. It is not new news to us. But it is for these people. Actually, we don’t need to know more than that. We need to get to safety now. That plane saved us. I was about to give up the trailer.” Tammy tried not to think about what war might mean in Alaska. She couldn’t stop the intrusive racing thoughts. If it was Russia or Korea, they were the countries closest to Alaska. Alaska was so oil-rich, it would make sense if they tried to claim the state as their own while the rest of the country was incapacitated. The worst of the war could be happening up there right at that moment. Ben was too close to the coast where he’d been working all summer. She needed to shut off her brain. “Leave those MREs right there and let’s go. We need to get out of sight and there is a long straight stretch of road up ahead before we are out of view.”
Amanda and Charlie were cruising along with Zoe and Holly pushing in the back. There were hardly any cars and none of them were in the way. Finally, they reached the curve in the road. Mae almost had to jog to keep up and the chickens squawked in protest. Mitsi wouldn’t stop barking as she bounded along, oblivious to the danger they had just been in.
Tammy lingered behind, limping along slowly with Buddy, and watching to make sure they weren’t followed. She motioned for the girls to keep going fast when they would slow down because of how far behind she was. Tyson had finally stopped whimpering and it felt like he had fallen asleep as his weight settled in the middle of her back. At least he wasn’t distressed anymore. She sighed and kept walking, thankful that he was resting. Her back was aching and her leg throbbed but the push of adrenaline to get to safety helped her push through the pain. It wouldn’t be much longer. She was looking forward to locking out the world and sleeping in a real bed. Using a toilet would be nice.
They made great progress considering how sore the girls were. Tammy was working on catching up to the girls when she heard rustling in the brush beside the river.
Two men ran up the bank and were headed across the road right for her. Buddy went for one and she tried to run but her sore leg slowed her down. Tyson’s weight on her back didn’t help either. That’s when she remembered the little one was in danger too when she turned abruptly and pulled out her gun to protect the toddler on her back.
The one that was in pursuit was the one Amanda pepper-sprayed earlier. Tammy knew he was armed. She held her ground and pointed her gun at him. He stopped.
Buddy chased the other guy back to the river.
“Come, Buddy,” Tammy shouted, hoping her dog would listen before he was hurt or killed as she looked her pursuer in the eye. His eyes were bloodshot and he didn’t seem bothered that she was pointing a weapon at him. In fact, he started to smile like he was amused. That instantly made her blood boil.
He didn’t look like the malicious type. He had to be close to her age. He was about her height, and round all over with a reddish scruffy beard and not much hair on his head. What hair he did have was wispy strawberry blond. His face was red and puffy either from exertion from following her along the river bank or it was from the pepper spray. Maybe it was the pepper spray because his eyes were swollen too. She didn’t like the look he was giving her. Dale had given her the same look when he challenged her that night, pushing her over the edge. She glanced down to see if the man was wearing a wedding band and he was not. Tammy had no idea why that mattered as much as it did.
He started to laugh at her when she couldn’t hide that her hands were trembling.
Her hands might have been trembling from fear but she was full of fury. She wasn’t going to let him hurt any of them.
“You won’t do it. You’re all show. I can see it in your eyes. Come on pretty lady, we can be friends.” He winked at her as he took ano
ther step closer and was tentatively reaching for his gun in his vest.
“What you see in my eyes is me remembering how mad I was at the last man that taunted me like that.” She shot his leg without a second thought. The shock from the recoil of the gun almost made her let go but she didn’t. Fortunately, he dropped his gun after she injured him. She knew she had to act fast while he was writhing on the ground and wailing in agony.
Buddy grabbed his pants at the ankle of his injured leg and shook it. Tammy claimed his gun while her dog kept him occupied. “Buddy, leave it.” The dog hesitated to follow her command. “Leave it,” she commanded.
Her dog backed off and did as he was told. Tammy backed away with both guns pointed at him. “Sorry to have to do that to you. Well, I’m only a little sorry because I don’t like hurting people. But you should mind your manners around the ladies and while you’re at it, never underestimate a mother with a gun.” She checked to make sure there wasn’t anyone else stalking them as she rejoined her children.
The man’s friend that Buddy chased into the river returned to help him up and they headed back to Banks. She ignored the obscenities they shouted at her as she walked away.
All the girls were talking at once. Mae was in tears and so was Holly. Charlie wouldn’t stop talking and Amanda argued with her sister over how unimpressed she was.
“Girls, I didn’t kill him.” Her mind was frantic, she should have killed him, though. She couldn’t do that. Not in front of her girls. She couldn’t do it. It was wrong. But if he had come back for them after the pepper spray, he could try to find them again. That was if he didn’t die from an infection. She was about to hyperventilate.
Mae grabbed her around her waist and hugged her tight. “He wanted to kill you, didn’t he?”
“I don’t know but he wasn’t trying to be friendly. I had to make sure we were safe. I had to protect all of us. We’ve worked so hard to get here.” She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.
Amanda did the same and Tammy knew Amanda wouldn’t hold it against her. Mae stayed close to Tammy when they started walking. At least Tyson only woke up for a few minutes after she shot the gun. He was back to dead weight on her back.
They discovered they had renewed energy to get home.
33
Tammy
Adrenaline kept them moving for quite some time. Tammy’s leg and her back were killing her but Tyson was sleeping and he would have slowed them down if he had to walk. The girls were doing the hard work moving the trailer as fast as they could. Fortunately, the section of the road they were on was mostly flat and following the South Fork Payette River. She pushed through the misery and had the girls check on him when he seemed to be sleeping an abnormally long time.
“I forgot that this long boring stretch of nothing but river on one side of the road and the mountain on the other was so long. I thought we were closer.” Holly complained. “I’m tired of all of this .”
“You aren’t even doing all the pulling.” Charlie glared at her sister.
“We’ve been doing this forever. I’m so done with this.” Holly stopped walking.
“Hey, we are all done with this but no one else has quit yet. We have to work as a team to get this job done. Keep going, keep helping, and once we get to the cabin we can sleep for days if we want to. Let that be your motivation.” Tammy gave her a push. “How are you doing, Mae?” Her youngest had never complained once while pulling the wagon and walking the little dog at the same time.
“I just keep singing that song in my head about how the pioneers walked and walked and walked. I remember their stories and how the children died or the parents died. I’m just happy you’re walking today and that you didn’t die. And that man didn’t shoot you. I was really worried we’d be orphans.” Mae rubbed her eyes but kept walking.
“We would be orphans.” Holly nodded and she was teary-eyed too.
“Now stop. You aren’t orphans. We don’t know anything about your dad. I’m still here to be bossy and tell you that I love you and will do anything for you so remember it’s not that bad for us. We could have been robbed by all those refugees in Banks and have nothing that we have worked so hard to get this far. We will be sleeping in the cabin tonight. Even if we have to pull this thing in the dark, we will get there tonight.”
The girls kept going. Even though they were making progress, it was slow progress. The road they were on had fewer abandoned vehicles than the road to Banks so they were able to move around most of the disabled cars.
Tammy vigilantly kept watch. She thought she was hearing things as she went. She knew it was her heightened anxiety after the last ambush. At the same time, it was a reminder that they weren’t safe yet.
She hated to wake up Tyson when she couldn’t keep going with him on her back any longer. They took a short break to eat some protein bars and fill their water bottles before continuing on. She made sure she had extra measures to protect herself and that the girls were prepared in case someone else came along to threaten them. They were getting closer to the town of Crouch and more houses.
Finally, they could see the first house and the turn in the road where the river finally curved away from the road. They were so close to the end of their journey. They still had to pass a few streets that led to the other cabins in the area before they reached their turn off. Then it would be dirt road and uphill almost all the way until they made it to their property. They had been lucky that the inclines had been easy to manage so far. The ones to come would put them to the ultimate final test when they were already exhausted. Unfortunately, it could be some time before they could finally rest.
The girls were excited at the first sign of civilization. They knew that house was the first indication that the end was near.
Something pelted Tammy on her ear. She rubbed it and looked around. Her heart started racing as she searched for who was lurking nearby.
All of the girls and Tyson froze when a man casually stepped out from the driveway. Tammy recognized him right away. He was the second man that had attempted to attack her at the intersection. The guy looked tall but he wasn’t really. He was just a skinny beanpole without any common sense. His face was so nondescript and round that she couldn’t guess how old he was. He was muddy from his knees down but apparently the muck clinging to his shoes didn’t slow him down. He grabbed a handful of rocks from the driveway and slowly swaggered closer.
“You thought you were safe now, didn’t you?” He threw a rock at Tammy. It hit her arm. He threw another at Charlie and kept throwing them at all the girls. Mae hid behind the back of the trailer with the wagon and called Tyson over to her. He ran to her with his arms outstretched for her to pick him up.
Buddy didn’t need to be told what to do, he ran for the man but the guy was ready for him. He pelted her dog hard with the rest of the rocks.
Buddy yelped, backing off from his intended target. Her dog circled back to the girls and paced in front of them all, barking his warning for their attacker to stay away. Tammy waved for the girls to hide. But they weren’t paying attention to her.
“You know, you shot my buddy. I can’t let that go. And in that trailer, I’m sure you have everything I need to survive this ordeal.” He pointed at Tammy. “You’re gonna listen because I’ll shoot your kids if you don’t. Don’t even think about shooting me because I will do the same to you and then I will take them out one by one.” He pulled a handgun from his sweatshirt pocket and pointed it at Zoe.
Her daughter wasn’t sure what to do.
Tammy clenched her jaw and she frantically waved at Zoe to run for it. “Go!”
Zoe was too scared to move
Tammy casually walked over to the man with her hands up hoping it would give her girls an opportunity to hide while he was focused on her. Fortunately, she had reclaimed the stun stick after her last ordeal. It was tucked in the waistband of her pants under her shirt. As soon as her kids and her dogs were out of sight, she was going to incapacitate him
before making sure that jerk wasn’t going to bother them anymore.
Zoe finally ran to hide once his gun holding arm was relaxed by his side as Tammy approached.
She rested her hand on her hip and could feel the handle of the stun stick with her fingertips as she slowly approached him. This man was far more unpredictable than the last. She had already dealt with the wrath of a man who had lost someone close to them days ago and she was still in pain from that ordeal. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy to escape this time. There was no place to go but to stand there and face him.
“You have a place out here, don’t you?” he fiddled with his gun nervously while he motioned for her to come closer.
“I’m not answering that question.” She inched her fingers over a little more when she knew he couldn’t see her arm very well as she stood in the shadow of the pine trees.
“I don’t want to play games. I’m far from home. It’s getting cold out here. I want to stay somewhere warm and with food. I know you have everything I’m looking for. I can cut you a deal.” He narrowed his eyes as he looked her over.
She felt dirty after the look he gave her and she wasn’t having it when that same look was on his face as he glanced over where her girls were hiding. She prayed that Charlie wouldn’t decide to come help. That girl had courage with little thought to self-preservation and she needed to stay put.
“I am not in a negotiating mood.” She nearly had the stun stick out and was debating on how to approach her attack. Slow and stealthy or just go for it. Her balance wasn’t the best if she were to rush him. He was getting closer and she needed to make a decision in a hurry.
He moved when Tammy wasn’t anticipating it and hit her elbow with the back of his hand to get her attention. She dropped the stun stick.
“What is that?” He took a step back to see what landed on the ground. He was about to reach for it.
Endure Series (Book 2): Enduring The Journey: Page 23