“I'm Richard “Dick” Shaw, sir, and I just joined you three weeks back.”
“Dick, from now on, you will take the place of Isaac as my second in command. You can take his room in the tack room, and all in his room is now yours. Interested?”
“Yes, of course I'm interested, but wondered if I could have a woman.”
“Do you know where they are locked up at? If so, get you as many as you wish, because you're the second man in charge. Now, a word of warning. If I catch you stealing from me, killing women, or breaking serious civil law, I will kill you.” Matt stood and extended his hand to shake.
As they shook, Dick asked, “what is an example of breaking a serious civil law?”
“Raping kids, selling human meat as pork, failure to obey my orders, or things that just naturally cause our organization problems with the community. Questions?”
“No, sir. That's all I wanted to do, inform you of their deaths.”
“Good. Now, enjoy your evening but starting tomorrow, I want you to report to me each morning at 0600 hours. That's —”
“I know what time that is, because I spent four years in a Ranger unit. I left as a Staff Sergeant.”
“Good, then you and I will get along together well. Do what you're told, keep out of trouble, and keep the men in line and all will go well for you. Go by the lamp post today and see if the three bodies are still there. If they are, take them deep into the woods and leave them. No need to have a fancy burial, because none of them were Christians.”
“Will do, and what's this rumor going around about some people who have been causing trouble for us?”
“Some farmer family by the name of Baker. Here, pull up a chair and let me tell you all about them.”
Thirty minutes later, Matt said, “And, that's it. We're slowly weeding them out and before long they'll be our of my hair. I do want the beef and horses they have, and I'll eventually have them all.”
“You need a special team of, oh, maybe five men who are well trained to take on small but important jobs like this for you.”
“Can you train them?”
“Of course I can.”
“Then see that it's done, Dick. When their training is completed, let me know. Now, go see to the bodies and if I need you, I'll let you know.”
“Sure. I'll have them ready in two weeks.” Dick said, turned and walked out the door.
*****
Ten days later, Gene and his large family arrived at Dan's camp in three pickup trucks. There were four males, six women, and eight kids. But punching in the coordinates of where Dan was, the GPS took them right to his location.
Dan was standing outside his cabin when the first 4X4 broke through the brush and moved toward him. Holding his sawed off shotgun at the ready, he smiled when he recognized his brother driving. Then, two more big trucks parked beside Gene's vehicle. The trucks engines were turned off and people exploded from the open doors and stood stretching. He spotted Gene's camper mounted on his truck and knew it was old, but well cared for. It had taken them 24 hours to drive only 200 miles.
“How were the roads?” Dan asked as he moved forward to shake hands with his brother.
“It took us exactly 24 hours to get here, so I'm sure you can imagine. There were spots so bad I had to drive around holes, cracks in the macadam or pushed together so hard they rose 2 or 3 feet in the air, but we're here. What scared me was listening to the bridges groan and moan as we went over them. Most of them, I'm positive, were not safe to cross.”
“How many are with you?”
“There are eighteen of us, counting the kids, but not counting me or Lisa. Twenty is our total count. I have four men, 6 women, and 8 kids, with one on the way in a month or so.”
“Any of the women good with a gun?” Dan asked eyeing the women. One or two looked like they'd know one end of a gun from another.
“Just one, my Lisa. She hunts with me every year and usually gets her deer tag filled.”
“We'll train the others and I guess after y'all rest and sleep tonight, we'll start on your cabins in the morning. Those married will need their own places and the singles can share a place.”
“Two of the women are not married, Jane and Rose. Rose was married until last month when men broke into her home, raped her and killed her husband, Henry C. Crider. He was a good man.”
“Come, have a hot meal, get some rest and have a few drinks. I know all of you are tired and worn out, so follow me. Are there any more people coming, like from Lisa's family?” Dan began walking toward a small fire burning.
“I'm not sure. Lisa's family sounded like they want to come too, but they never made it to our place, and finally I had to leave. I left without them. Now, they have the coordinates for this place, so don't be surprised if they show unannounced one day. But, the trip is not easy and more than once we were almost hurt or killed.” They neared the fire, so Gene sat on a log that Dan affectionately called his sofa.
June walk into camp; she'd been out helping Dave mark their cattle with a branding iron.
“Well, I'll be. It looks like company and I didn't cook a cake or anything!” She then moved to the women and began hugging them.
Gene laughed and said, “You're looking as beautiful as always, June.” She smiled, moved to him and gave him a big hug, as she kissed him on the cheek.
“Honey,” Dan said as he pulled a quart bottle of Kentucky bourbon whiskey from a box near his stump, and poured a little in two glasses. “do we have anything you can warm up or fix for this tribe of Gene's to eat?”
“I have some stew from last night. Does everyone like stew?”
Silence.
“I'll take the silence to mean everyone loves stew. I have some biscuits with the meal. After I put it on to warm, I'll put some beans on to soak too. Then when I cook them tonight, I'll add some beef to the beans. One thing good about our situation right now, you may die, but by golly, it'll not be by starvation.”
“How is your guard detail set up?”
“Well, it was just me and my son, so twelve hours on and twelve off. Now, with the five men and 6 women, we can ease up a might. We'll need to guard for an hour and a half each. Tonight none of you will pull guard because I imagine you're all tired, but tomorrow night we'll all do our thing. We have guard during the day too, so not all shifts are at night.”
“That sounds pretty good. Boy, the earthquakes messed up my home, lost my class C RV due to the quake, and my neighbors had their whole home swallowed by a large crevasse, with them in the thing. I saw her trying to get out, but neither of them survived. Their daughters came looking for them and when I told them them were dead, well, they didn't take it well.”
“I'll tell you about us another time but we've come close to being killed a couple of times and June was captured by some men, who I think will attack me here again. It's not like them to leave us alone, and they want the cattle and horses I have. I have just slightly less than 600 head, so when on guard, keep a close eye on my animals. The number of animals keeps changing as cows leave or join the herd.”
“How about, after we eat something, you show me your cows and I'll see that everyone who pulls a guard shift knows where our future meals are.”
“Sure, little brother, I can do that.” Dan replied with a big grin.
“I'm glad mom and dad are gone, because they would have a real rough time living like most people are.”
“I think about them at times, and I miss both of them a lot. I miss their humor and all the laughs we shared. They're gone now, only to a better place and we'll join them before long. Life will eventually end for all of us.”
“Yep, it surely will, but I'd like to be older before I die.”
“I heard that, and I feel the same.”
“Okay,” June said, “Get a bowl from the box near the log and if you'll come to me, I'll give everyone some stew. The biscuits and spoons are on the very end of the log. Once all of you eat, we'll find places for all of you to sleep
tonight.”
“Did you have any serious security problems getting here?” Dan asked.
“Some, but before I started I took an old chunk of steel plating and placed it behind my grill, to protect my radiator, if shot at. About every 4 or 5 miles they have roadblocks set up to check for women and food. I just didn't stop, drove right through the men, and we took a few rounds coming here and most hit the grill, then the bullets ricocheted off. We did take a few in the RV itself, so I had everyone lay on the floor, so we survived. At night the roadblocks were gone. I even heard rumors of cannibals in my area. Just the thought made me shudder, so you know I was glad to leave.”
“Cannibals may be why the roadblocks stopped at dark. I'm sure no one wanted to be out after dark if man eaters were roaming around.”
Gene met Dan's eyes and shrugged with a grin.
The meal was eaten in silence as everyone realized they were at a new place, with new rules and duties everyone needed to do well if they wanted to survive. Most were breathing a great deal of relief, because here they had food and the adults would all fight. Back home, they didn't really feel safe.
Chapter 19
Dick Shaw watched his men kick the door open to an occupied building that was home to a good dozen people, with most of them being young women. The women were toys for his men, and when they tired of them, they were either killed or traded away. Young or pretty slaves were always traded, because they were worth a great deal on the market. The older the woman the less she was worth.
The loud blast of a shotgun was heard and one of Dick's men was knocked out the door with a huge hole completely through his belly. He landed hard on the three steps leading to the main entrance, where he began to scream and jerk in pain. Shaw moved to the man, pulled out his pistol and shot him in the back of his head. All movement stopped and the steps were now soiled with blood and gore.
“Why did you kill him for?” One of the men asked.
“He was dying anyway. Have you ever seen someone survive after having his spine blown in two?”
“No, but —”
“I simply put him out of his misery, and now his pain has stopped. I'd seriously want someone to kill me if I was fatally injured, in serious pain, and had no hope for recovery. The strongest thing we have for pain is alcohol and with a severe injury like his, the drink is not strong enough. Rumor has it that Matt once had a whole gallon size bottle of pain killers, but he traded them all for two women. That sounds like something he'd do too.”
“Well, okay, I guess. What you said makes sense me.” the man said, shrugged, and then entered the house with others. He didn't mention a word about the pills, because Matt had a lot of spies with the men.
The six women were pulled from the house and raped in the front yard. A man was pulled from the building, made to kneel, a pistol was placed behind his left ear, and the trigger was pulled. The contents of his head spattered on the sidewalk and the gore made one of Dick's men puke.
“Thompson!”
“Yo!”
“Get everything of value out of the house and let's return home. Freeling!”
“Sir!”
“Secure the young women prisoners and kill all that look over 40, unless they are exceptionally beautiful. However, I want no males in this house left alive.”
There was a loud noise and screams, coming from the house. All of this was followed by a gunshot and a few short yells.
A man called Jimmy walked from the house and when he saw Dick he walked to the man and said, “Was an old man in there and was armed with nothing but a can of hair spray and a lighter. One of our men was sprayed with flames that resulted when the hair spray passed through the open flame of a lighter. It was like a portable flamethrower. The man took most of the flame to his face and eyes, so he's blind and in great pain. His eyelids are burned brown and he has blisters forming already. The medic, Buckskin, is sure he'll live but his eyes are gone. He managed to burn three men, but only the one was burned badly.”
“Kill him, and on my personal orders. How much use do you think a blind man will be to us?”
“Dick, I'd not do that if I were you. If you start killing those injured or disabled in the missions you and Matt put together, I think many of the men will desert you two. They want that insurance that if hurt badly, you'll still care for them.”
Dick gave the matter some thought, and after a minute or two he said, “Okay, then, I guess you have a good point, but get him out of the way. Anyone else in that house?”
One man stopped and said, “Just some kids six years old or less. I don't want kids so I left them alone.”
“Go fetch them and we'll take them back and give them to the women to raise. It will do them good and maybe save the life of a few rug rats. Go, and do as I said.”
Once back at the house, Matt said, “Your bringing the kids back for our women to raise was a stroke of genius. The woman are now smiling and caring for their new babies. Collect more of them when you can, because we've more females than children. Take a full gallon of whiskey to your room, as a reward for the idea of using the kids.”
“I'll do that. God knows the water isn't safe to drink now. I think every pipe under this town has been shattered. The last water I tried out of a tap was dark brown in color.”
“I don't drink from the tap, and have bottled water from Buy-a-Lot we found shortly after the rock hit California. I cleaned that store out completely. Well, I got what was left. I wasn't the first person in there. Most passed up on the water, beer, vitamins, prescription meds, and canned foods, but I took all of it. I can tell you all of this at another time. Go rest, and be sure to get your whiskey.”
“I'll go, and I will be back at 0600 in the morning.”
In his room later, which he once shared with 4 other men, he realized he had no roommates and no one to drink with. He showered, returned to his room and poured a half a water glass of good quality Kentucky bourbon. He was tired and his muscles were stiff. He called the guard in the hallway to his room and asked the man to get him some food from the kitchen. Now that he was in his room, he wanted to stay there and as the second in charge, he had a lot of pull.
The guard said, “I'll get the food, but you have to stay in the hallway and guard for me.”
“I can do that. Just get me a decent helping of each food, so I can eat and then go to sleep. I'm beat after today.”
“I'll be back in a few minutes.”
Ten minutes after the guard left, Dick bent down to stretch his back muscles and while squatted a small hand ax struck the wood less than two inches from his neck. He swung around as his rifle came up and fired two rounds into a beautiful woman, who'd obviously thrown the edged weapon. The bullets from the AR-15 took her dead center and she screamed as she fell. Behind her, men rushed forward and Dick thought, They must have entered through the broken glass in the other bedroom and I'm sure the men who sleep in there are dead. The guard he'd replaced was suddenly in the hall, so Dick was unable to fire his weapon. The guard, armed only with a .45 handgun, began firing at the men between him and the assistant leader.
One of the targets squatted and placed three shots into the guard, who fell without a sound. Once the guard was down, Dick opened fire on the two remaining men. One fell instantly, the top of his head missing. The last man was firing at Dick, but it's hard to hit a target when bullets are zinging all around a man. Finally, Dick felt a slight tug on his left arm and fired at the shooter’s right arm. His bullet struck the man and he fell back to land on his butt.
The downed man tossed his rifle away but Dick would have none of that, and his two bullets hit the man in the very center of the chest, killing him instantly. He then fired into the heads of all four bodies and insured they stayed dead.
His arm was bleeding, but not seriously. He swung around just as two other men ran into the room, but their clothing identified them as friends. His put his safety on and placed the rifle against the wall in the hall.
“Shaw
, you okay?” one man asked as he neared.
“I'm fine, just took a flesh wound. Who are those guys?”
“Hard to say, but I think it was someone after food or supplies. The whole town knows we are well stocked.”
Matt was suddenly in the doorway and said, “I want everything from this place within 12 hours and relocated to our headquarters in the barn. It's bad when I can't even spend a night in town without a fight. I think coming back to town was a mistake.”
“I thought we already took it all to the barn.” Someone said.
“Not all the supplies and food. Matt wanted to leave some so we could work out of here at times too, but it's not working out. Boss, I'll have it all done in less time than that.” one of the men Dick didn't know said. Dick, turning, walked back to his room. He would catch a ride to the barn with one of the truck loads of supplies being removed.
Early the next morning, right after dawn and an early morning tremor deep in the earth, Dick was up and dressing for a mission. He ran outside and waited for the shaking to stop. It wasn't a hard quake this time. Ten minutes later, all was back to normal.
He was ordered to take 10 men and look for a large herd of cows that may have been moved. If able, they were to kill and pack one back, if at all possible. He checked his weapons, magazines of additional rounds, and his knife. He'd use his rifle as a secondary weapon and carry his 12 gauge sawed off double barreled shotgun. In close, the gun was hard to beat, and it was sure to clear a room.
Halfway to the herd, according to his map, they encountered a booby trap. One of the men stepped on a shotgun shell that was in a two by four. The size of the shell drilled out in the wood, and a nail inserted at the bottom. A shotgun shell was placed in the drilled hole and when someone stepped on it, the simple force of a foot pushed the shells primer down onto the nail, causing it to discharge. The man lost one testicle and part of his penis was missing. As he screamed and rolled in the dirt of the trail, a medic ran to him and bandaged him good and gave him a bottle of whiskey for his pain. He was pulled from the trail, placed under a big oak and then left. He was told he'd be picked up on their way back.
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