“See friend,” Jackson said to Phil, smiling. “The injun’s got it right. There’s nothing to talk about. This place is mine, and I’m taking it at sundown. Now take my gift and get the fuck out of here before our trigger fingers start getting itchy.”
The mob raised their firearms and pointed them at Phil and Wyatt. Being outnumbered like this out in the open meant that they would be dead within seconds if they tried to fight. Wyatt got off his bike, picked up the backpack Jackson had tossed over the gate, and then got back on the bike and rode off, with Phil following close behind him.
When they were out of sight of the gate, both men pulled their bikes over to the side of the drive.
“I’m not taking that bag into the house,” Phil said.
“I don’t think it’s a bomb or anything,” Wyatt said. “He wouldn’t have just tossed it like that if it were an explosive. I’m gonna open it up.” Wyatt opened the backpack, and when he saw what was inside, he dropped it and staggered back, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
“What is it?” Phil asked, alarmed.
“It’s…oh my God…it’s…” Wyatt couldn’t even complete this sentence; what he’d seen was beyond horrific.
Phil walked gingerly over to the backpack, his heart in his mouth. And when he looked inside, he saw the severed heads of Anthony and Debbie.
32
After recovering from the shock of seeing what was in the backpack, Wyatt and Phil rode over to the barn, picked up a pair of shovels, and then rode out to a quiet, scenic spot and buried the heads. Phil said a quick prayer over the grave and then sent Wyatt off to round up everyone for an emergency meeting. He instructed him not to say anything about Debbie and Anthony just yet.
Phil debated over whether to tell the other workers about the severed heads. On the one hand, the knowledge of what Jackson had done to Debbie and Anthony may well fill the workers with righteous wrath, giving them fire in their bellies to fight off Jackson and his so-called army. On the other hand, though, it might traumatize them and make them panic. Phil thought about it for a long time, only making his decision on what to tell people once they were all gathered by the porch of the farmhouse.
“What’s going on, Phil?” Doc Robertson asked as soon as Phil took his spot at the top of the porch stairs. “I could have sworn I saw one of those orange signal flares go up during the storm, around an hour ago.”
“I’ve got some bad news, everyone,” Phil announced gravely. “We’re about to face a terrible threat…a direct threat to our lives and our very existence out here.”
Gasps of shock rippled through the crowd of workers.
“A gang leader, warlord, whatever you want to call him,” Phil continued, “has discovered this place. Most likely after he…after he killed Anthony and Debbie.”
“Oh God!” Doc Robertson gasped, and other exclamations of shock and horror exploded from the crowd.
“Oh my God, Phil,” Alice murmured, the color draining from her face. “Are you…are you sure they’re…dead?”
Phil nodded grimly and exchanged a quick glance with Wyatt, who remained tight-lipped. “I know without a doubt that this man, Jackson, murdered Anthony and Debbie,” Phil said. “He showed Wyatt and me irrefutable evidence of this. I’m not going to go into details about it…but we’ll have a proper funeral for them and the other members of their group—who I think he murdered as well—if we survive the coming storm.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?” Doc Robertson asked.
“Jackson already has around fifty thugs with him, all armed with firearms, and he says the rest of his ‘army’ will be here by sunset. He’s given us until then to vacate the ranch peacefully before he takes control of this place. After that, anyone who’s still here will be killed.”
This time there were no gasps or exclamations of shock or horror. Instead, a deathly silence settled over the group. None of them had felt so frightened and worried since the initial EMP attack on E-Day.
Phil gave them a few moments to process what he’d just said before he continued. “I intend to stay here and fight,” he said calmly. “This land has been in my family for generations, and if I have to die fighting to defend it from a murderous scumbag and his gang of looters, who’ll just destroy everything I’ve spent my life working for, and leave it in a state of ruin when they abandon it in a few months to move on to the next place, then I’m prepared to die for that.”
“My ancestors hunted and fished in this area for thousands of years,” Wyatt added stoically, “and this ranch, this self-sustaining place where we live according to the principles of nature without raping and abusing the land, is as close a vision to how the land should be used as my ancestors had. They would turn in their graves if they saw me abandoning this place to scum who are nothing more than a plague of locusts. I’m staying, too, and I plan on fighting to the bitter end.”
Phil exchanged an intense look with Wyatt, silently thanking him for saying this. Then he addressed the workers again. “I don’t expect anyone else to stay and fight,” he said. “I know that this ranch holds a special place in all of your hearts, but I don’t expect anyone to die for it. If you want to pack your belongings and leave before sundown, I won’t think any less of you. That goes for every single one of you, and I say this from the bottom of my heart. This is my fight, and the only life I’m willing to risk is my own. I’m not going to put you on the spot now. I’ll let you talk among yourselves for a few minutes before you all come to a decision about what you want to do. When you’re ready to tell me, I’ll be in the kitchen with my family.”
Without saying anything else, Phil turned around, took Alice’s hand, and led her into the farmhouse. David and Wyatt followed them, and Wyatt closed the door behind him. Once they got to the kitchen, Phil could focus his attention on his wife and son. Both of them were understandably, immensely distraught.
“Dad, I’m staying here to help you fight,” David said, doing his best to be brave.
Phil could see the terror in his son’s eyes, though, and didn’t want to subject him to the horrors of having to fight a monster like Jackson. Of course, he also didn’t want to diminish his son’s courage and make him feel as if his offer to fight was unworthy. “I really appreciate you saying that, Davey,” he said, giving David a hug. “You’re a brave kid, you really are. And that’s why I need you to take on a really important role. You think you can handle some serious responsibility?”
“I sure can, Dad.”
“In the event that things…well, go badly for us, someone has to lead the women and children out of here and make sure they’re safe in a retreat.”
“Phillip McCabe,” Alice said sternly, folding her arms defiantly across her chest, “you are not sending your wife and son away to hide while you recklessly throw your life away! David and I can shoot as well as anyone on this ranch, and we’re not going to hide away like mice and let these violent thugs overrun you.”
Phil had to chuckle at his wife’s fiery attitude. He wasn’t surprised that she refused to back down in the face of a threat. “I really appreciate you saying that, honey,” he said, “but I’m not throwing my life away. I’m buying time for anyone else who stays to get away with their lives. And there’s no use in all of us dying. David still has his whole life ahead of him. And I meant what I said; someone has to make sure that the women and children get away safely in the event that we lose this battle. Jackson is a cruel, evil monster, and if he gets hold of any women and children…I don’t even want to imagine that. You two can take up sniper roles in the initial assault, but the instant that it looks like we’re going to be overrun, you two must leave, and make sure that you take all of the other women and children safely with you. I’m sorry, but I’m putting my foot down about this.”
“And if you two don’t do that, I’ll shoot you both myself,” Wyatt said. “Trust me; this guy is a psycho. I couldn’t die in peace knowing he’d got hold of you alive.”
“All
right, all right,” Alice said, reluctantly giving in. “But we are going to fight in the early stages of this battle. Neither of you two are going to stop us doing that.”
“I’m okay with that,” Phil said. “Come here, everyone.”
Everyone huddled together and had a group hug. Before anyone else could say anything, there was a knock on the kitchen door. Phil opened it, and Doc Robertson was standing there with everyone else behind him, wearing expressions of grim determination on their faces.
Doc Robertson’s message was simple and direct. “We’re going to stay and fight, Phil,” he said. “Every last one of us.”
33
“Everything’s packed and ready to go, right?” Phil asked.
The group, assembled before him below the porch, all called out cries of affirmation. Everything essential—the medical supplies and medication, the few working electronic items protected by the Faraday cages, long-life food, some fuel, ammunition and camping supplies—had all been packed into hiking backpacks, which would be carried by those who fled the ranch in the event that the defenders were defeated.
“Excellent,” Phil said, looking down at the group with pride sparkling in his eyes. “And I’m doubly impressed at how fast you all managed to get it all together.”
“Teamwork and a ticking clock,” Doc Robertson said, grinning, “make for the most efficient work.”
“Indeed they do,” Phil said. “All right, the rain’s stopped, the sky’s cleared up, and we’ve got the whole afternoon to get our defenses set up and get a solid plan of action together. Wyatt’s got military experience, so he’s going to be overseeing that.”
“First thing we’re gonna do is real simple but deadly effective,” Wyatt said grimly. “And it’s guaranteed to take out a couple of those bastards before they cotton on to what we’ve set up, especially seeing as they’ll be coming in after sundown when it’s getting dark. Jonathan, Eddie, and Rick, I’m putting you three in charge of this operation. Everyone else needs to listen up, though, and pay close attention, because you all need to know where these traps are so you can avoid ‘em.”
“What kinda traps are you talking about, Wyatt?” Doc Robertson asked.
“Tiger traps,” Wyatt said. “Pits in the ground with sharp spikes in ‘em. Primitive and crude, but extremely effective against an unsuspecting invader. We’ll cover ‘em up with straw, and I guarantee at least a few of those scumbags will step on it. Jonathan, you’re gonna take the backhoe and dig trenches at least four feet deep across the drive here, here and here,” Wyatt said, pointing at different spots on a map of the ranch he’d drawn up. The ranch still had a working tractor and backhoe, as both of those items, like the other vehicles on the ranch, were 60s-era machinery which hadn’t been affected by the EMP.
“What do Rick and I do?” Eddie asked, studying the spots Wyatt had marked on the map.
“You’re the strongest man on the ranch,” Wyatt said to Eddie, a huge man who was close to seven feet tall and over three hundred pounds. “And you’re gonna put that strength to good use. Get a couple of wheelbarrows, tanks of water, and bags of quick-dry cement. You’re gonna be hauling the cement around, mixing it, and filling the bottoms of those trenches with it.”
“And me?” Jonathan asked. In physical terms, he was the opposite of Eddie, a thin, wiry little man with quick, dexterous hands. “What’s my role?”
“You’re gonna cut a bunch of rebar into twenty-inch lengths, which you’re gonna sharpen at one end. Stick a bunch of ‘em into the cement with the sharp ends facing up once Eddie’s laid it down. After that, cover up the pits with straw, branches, dry grass, anything flimsy that’ll cave in right away as soon as any weight’s on it.”
Jonathan flashed Wyatt a wicked grin. “Can do, Wyatt.”
“While you three are busy with that, Phil’s gonna need some help setting up some other booby traps,” Wyatt continued. “Phil, you wanna take over for a bit?”
Phil nodded. “My team is going to set up some more sophisticated traps,” he said. “But before that, we need someone to double-check all the early-warning tripwires beyond the perimeters of the ranch. Davey, you’re the fastest rider on the ranch. As soon as this meeting is over, you take your dirt bike and ride to each of those tripwires and make sure they haven’t been tampered with. We need to know when this army arrives.”
“I’ll do that, Dad,” David said, doing his best to sound confident and determined.
“Take an AR with you, and if you spot anyone suspicious, shoot first and ask questions later, son,” Phil said gravely. “And don’t hang around outside the ranch. Come straight back in.”
“Okay, Dad.”
Phil then addressed the others. “The last trap I’m gonna set up will likely do a lot of damage, and it’ll be the second trap that goes off in the battle. Hell, in the best-case scenario, it might be enough to end the battle without a single shot being fired. It won’t make for the first kill of the battle, though.”
“What will set up the first kill?” Doc Robertson asked.
“I’ll tell you about the big trap later, but as for the first kill, I’m gonna set up a car battery with a capacitor and hook it up to the main gate. I’m ninety-nine percent sure Jackson and his army are gonna come straight in through the main gate. They’re overconfident, and it’s the easiest point of access. I changed the code lock for a keyed lock long ago, but even so, they’ll probably just shoot the lock off, and then they’ll have access. Whoever touches that gate first, though, will get a lethal electric shock.”
“From a car battery?” Doc Robertson asked, looking skeptical.
“With the right capacitor setup,” Phil said, “a car battery can deliver a charge high enough to kill a grown man. And that’s exactly what I’m gonna set it up for.”
“What about the big trap?” Alice asked.
“I’ll get onto that, honey,” Phil answered. “I’m going to have to spend some time tinkering with a few chemicals in the workshop to get everything set up just how I need it to be, but it’ll be devastating when they set it off. Don’t worry about that just yet. I’ve got a whole bunch of other traps I’m gonna need help from everyone getting set up.”
“You just tell us what to do, Phil, and we’ll do it,” Doc Robertson said, curling his liver-spotted hands into fists, his jaw set with determination. “We’ll stop these bastards in their tracks.”
“I’ve got a job just for you, Doc,” Phil said. “You know cattle better than anyone, and I’m gonna need you to get ‘em all riled up in the pen. When I give the signal, you’re gonna open the pen and spook ‘em into stampeding, hopefully. The herd stampeding at the right time should flatten a few of the invaders.”
Doc Robertson grinned. “Don’t worry, Phil. I’ll get ‘em good and spooked and ready to stampede. Hell, if there’s a bunch of gunfire going off, they’ll be spooked enough without any encouragement from me. But I’ll make sure the cattle get a little kick in the pants at just the right time.”
“Perfect,” Phil said. “Everyone else, listen up. We’re going to have to approach this battle in stages. We must assume that these people will keep attacking, even if my big trap does a lot of damage. The truth is, I don’t know how many men Jackson has in his so-called army. It may be a hundred. It may be two hundred, maybe even more. Even if my big trap takes out a few dozen of ‘em, they could be desperate enough to keep coming. They’ll lose a few more men to the tiger traps, and then maybe a few more to the stampede and our snipers, but even then, we have to assume they’ll simply keep coming.”
“So, what do we do if that happens?” Alice asked.
“We defend from the farmhouse first,” Phil said, “but when they get too close—which they very well might—we have to retreat to the barn. That brings me back to you, Eddie, and the other men, when you’re finished setting up tripwires and improvised bombs, like how I’m gonna show you.”
“Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,” Eddie said.
&nbs
p; “All the men need to build a sandbag corridor between the farmhouse and the barn,” Phil said.
“Phil, that’s a really long way, it’d take days to build that,” Eddie said.
“I know that, and it doesn’t have to be one long corridor. Just sections of sandbags that people can sprint between, rest at, then sprint to the next pile of sandbags, so that it isn’t one long open run to the barn with no cover.”
“Got it,” Eddie said. “I can do that.”
“And once we’re in the barn, what then?” Alice asked.
“We shoot flares up to light up the battlefield,” Phil said grimly, “and fight until we either win or we can’t fight any longer.”
“And if the latter is the case?” Alice asked, looking worried. “What do we do then?”
“I’ve got one more major weapon to use that’ll draw the heat from the attackers long enough to give you all the chance to flee. Below the basement, there’s the old underground tunnel that comes out near the southern border of the ranch. If it looks like the fight is lost, Davey, you and Alice lead the retreat. You’ll have to take the survivors out of the ranch through the woods to the south. Follow the river to the lake, and row out to the island in the middle, where you make camp. If I survive my last stand, I’ll meet you there at sunrise tomorrow. If I’m not there by then, you’ll know that I didn’t make it. Row across the lake and head west. You’ll be safest in the wilds there…and you’ll have to look for a place to make a new start.”
A somber silence settled over the group at this point. The reality of what was about to happen was starting to sink in, and everyone understood that there would likely be casualties on their side.
Phil, sensing this, cleared his throat and addressed everyone. “Regardless of how well-prepared we are, some of us are going to be hurt, maybe even killed. Jackson and his men have a lot of guns, grenades, and maybe even some other weapons we don’t know about. We may well be able to do a lot of damage to ‘em, but it’s naïve for us to think that we’ll come away from this battle—even if we’re victorious—without a scratch. I’ll say it again, at this point: anyone who wants to leave now, you’re free to go. I won’t think any less of anyone who pulls out right now. You’ve all been such heroes up to this point, and you’ve all already done so much more than I could ever have imagined. In fact, if any of you think you’re not going to be able to handle the coming fight, I’d rather you left now. One weak link in our chain could result in disaster for us. Again, I just want to say that regardless of what you choose to do, you’ll always be a hero in my eyes and my family’s eyes for what you’ve already done.”
EMP Survival In A Powerless World | Book 19 | EMP Ranch Page 18