Matt, woke from a dream and found himself in a nightmare, the dry hay in the barn was on fire and already men lay dead, victims of the bomb, and two other were in flames. The burning men ran from the barn’s door, only to be shot down by Dan's group. Dan's men ran forward, threw the Molotov cocktails against the building, and were surprised when they erupted into flames when they hit.
“Dave, you and three men move to cover the door! Gene, you come with me, so we can spread the flames a bit. Bring your Molotovs and Mason jars of fuel!”
Once at the back of the barn, a blind side without windows or doors, Dan tossed his Molotov cocktail on the roof and then smiled as the flaming fuel flowed down the metal roof, and fell through cracks and holes in the structure. He followed that with two bottles of fuel alone and the flames grew higher. The whole barn was a blazing inferno now, and the men inside all ran out at pretty much the same time. Dave and his men knocked a good 20 to the ground, but a good ten escaped into the darkness.
“Everyone remain in place until daylight. If you see movement near the barn, shoot to kill.”
No one replied, but Dan knew he was heard. He motioned for June to come near. She was half way to him when a rifle barked once and she collapsed to the grasses. Every one of men with Dan, including Dan himself, opened fire on the downed form with a rifle in his hands beside the barn.
A loud scream indicated he took a painful round and he began to twist and scream, as he bled to death. The bullet had struck him in the side of the neck and blood spurted each time his heart beat. Dan got up and moved to June, who he discovered was fine with no injury, but she'd fallen so the sniper would think she was dead.
“You sure you're okay?” Dan asked, knowing at times a wounded person wouldn't feel pain for a few minutes, due to their adrenaline being maxed out.
“Honey, I'm fine, and he didn't get close. I knew if I kept running, he'd probably shoot at me again. So I fell and remained still. It worked.”
Dan pulled her close and kissed her lips and then said, “I don't want to lose you, baby, never.”
She hugged him hard and said, “I don't want to lose you either. I hate the way we live now, like animals.”
“It will change eventually. It will take time, because I suspect Washington DC and all of our coast line is different now. The United States no longer looks or behaves as it did for so many years.”
“Sun's comin' up Dad.” Dave said.
“We still wait until full light.” Dan put his arm around his wife's shoulder.
Suddenly the man, Filmore, on the very end of Dave's position, began to work his bolt action rifle. He lined up an unseen target, took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. A shot was heard and a man twisted and turned in the brush on the side of the barn, nearest the burned down house. He finally gave a loud screech and fell to the hard packed dirt of the barnyard —he lay still. Blood was seen spreading out under him.
“He's got to be dead now.” Dave said ten minutes later, “look at all that blood.”
Thirty minutes later, Dan stood, slipped his shotgun off safety and said, “Let's move in and check these men. If they’re seriously injured, kill them, but if you think they'll survive take them prisoner. Let's move now, and take no chances.”
The barn was close to falling inward, but it was still burning and dark gray smoke rose high in the light morning winds. The structure would be gone and it wouldn't be much longer. The cracking and popping of damp wood inside the building was loud, and then there were a couple of secondary explosions as two five gallon gas cans filled with gasoline exploded, throwing flames in the air and in all directions.
The first man Dan saw was too close to the flames and while not on fire, his clothing was hot. He could see the man's shirt and trousers smoking, so flames were due any second. His right hand held a pistol and as he attempted to raise it, he was struck three times by the big .45 Ruger pistol in the Dan’s hand. The man gave a loud sigh and fell back, dead.
Suddenly there sounded two shots and June fell unmoving on the grasses. Dan ran to her, saw the bullets were spaced apart, with one in her upper chest and the other in her thigh. He applied bandages and then called out for Dave to take her into the woods, away from the fight. When he glanced toward the flames, he saw the one called Matt moving toward him. Dan stood, pulled his big sheath knife, toss his shotgun to the grass and screamed, “Come to me, it's time to end this war!”
Seeing the man toss his shotgun, Matt tossed his deer rifle, and pulled his old surplus Marine K-bar knife. He knew the steel blade was razor sharp, because he spend a few minutes each day keeping a fine edge on it.
They stopped maybe fifty feet from each other and Dan said, “This needs to end now. I'll not have you trying to steal all I own and killing those I love.”
“I'm simply trying to survive. I want all you have and I'm here to take it, every last cow and woman you call yours.”
Dan noticed the man was filthy, with burns on his arms and shoulders, his eyes were red and almost swollen shut, and he was bleeding from his left leg, near his knee. His hair was spotted with ash from the flames and bright ruddy blood covered most of his light gray tee shirt in splatters.
“You'll have to kill me first. I will fight you to the death to protect what is mine.”
Grinning Matt said, “Well, by God, let the fight begin.”
Both men started circling and looking for a weakness in the other, but neither could find a safe way to strike the other. Finally, Matt lunged and ran his knife blade down Dan's left arm. But the cut cost him, as Dan found his left thigh and pushed about half his knife blade into the leg. Matt gave a loud piercing scream as the knife was pulled from his body. The pain was great, but he kept his eyes on Dan.
Then, without notice, Matt's hands moved to the ground, scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it in his enemy’s face. Dan, with dirt in his eyes, was helpless.
Then, just as Matt had the fight won, Dave threw a Molotov cocktail at the man. Since he was a good fifteen to twenty feet from Dan when the bottle broke, he was in no danger. Matt had not seen the bottle coming so the splash of gas on him and the flames that followed were hard to accept. He screamed loudly and nonstop as the fire began eating at his clothes and flesh. He began to run in circles and slapping at the hot flames as he moved.
A loud shot was heard and the man collapsed and Gene said, “I won't allow any person to burn to death if I have a loaded weapon. Good God, what a horrible way to die.”
Turning his head and puking, Dan said, “Nasty. The smell, I can't take it.” He then moved up wind from the still burning body. He fought dry heaves for a few minutes, as he walked in a small circle, and then moved to check on June.
“June, baby, are you okay?” He said as he neared and saw her sitting up. Blood, it's cherry stain, covered most of her chest. She looked to be alert and fully conscious. He squatted beside her.
“I . . . I'm fine. The bullet struck me at an angle and my wound is not deep. Apparently, it struck my rib cage and then zinged off into space. Gene said it never penetrated my ribs. I think he called it a flesh wound. I know it hurts.”
“Gene!”
“Yo?” Gene replied.
“Check our people and see how many injured we have.”
“Will do. Come with me, Dave, this won't take long.”
Dan then said, “Look in my pack beside you, where I put some drink before the fight started, and pull out a quart bottle of whiskey. That's all we have for pain, but we have gallons of it.”
“Dave ended your fight, and I'm glad. I hate the fact the man burned almost to death before Gene shot him. What a horrible way to die.”
“He's beyond pain now. On the way back to camp, you can ride behind me on the motorcycle. Anyone else hurt?”
“I heard Billy say that Clyde was down and so was Bubba. Other than that, I know nothing.” June said, her voice losing its force toward the end of her statement. She was tired, in pain, and sleepy. She opened the bottle, t
ook a long pull, and then said, “I don't like the taste of whiskey much, but if it kills my pain, I'll drink it and be glad to have the strong drink.”
Gene neared and said, “Billy is dead and Bubba took a wound to his chest. It missed his lungs but his upper left shoulder was torn up pretty good. The flat bone in his back, part of his shoulder, is shattered.” He stood as he spoke and Dan noticed his rifle was still in his hands.
“Cecil!”
“Yo!”
“Take Dave and find the truck these men were using. Bring it here and we'll use it to take our wounded and dead home. Clyde, I need you to check the dead in and around the barn. If they so much as twitch, put a hole in them. Also, see if you can find anything of value in the place.”
June said, “Dan, remember Jonas telling us some things were buried deep in the ground in the center of the barn?”
“I think we need to keep a few men here to try and open that area up. If the backhoe still works, then so much the better.” Dan said.
“I agree. Might be some things we really need. Only they'll have to wait for the flames to die and the place to cool down.”
“Has the whiskey kicked in yet?” Dan asked and then yelled, “Clyde, Dave, and Cecil go see if the backhoe works. It's parked on the other side of the barnyard, near where the back porch used to be on the farmhouse; you need to dig a deep hole. According to Jonas, there are supplies buried there and about six feet down.”
“We’ll dig.” Dave responded.
Looking at June, Dan asked, “You feeling the booze yet?”
June gave a little girl’s giggle and replied, “Yes, baby. I feel pretty good right now.”
Grinning, Dan said, “I just bet you do.”
“I want to sleep.”
Minutes later the pickup truck was there and then Billy, along with Bubba and June, were loaded in the back.
Before Dan walked to his motorcycle, he said, “I'm leaving now, Dave. Two of you work on the supplies and one stand guard. There may be some of them out there we know nothing about.”
“I hear you, Dad. The backhoe has some scorched spots, but it started right up. I suspect if you return with the truck as soon as you can, the hole will be open.”
“I'll do that. You three keep your eyes open as you work.” Dan said and then moved for his motorcycle. It started on the first try, so he slipped it into first gear and moved to the truck. The recovered vehicle would move at a slow speed, no faster than 10 miles an hour.
Chapter 21
Once back at camp, Dan dismounted his bike and made his way to the truck where he said, “Gene, stay where you are for now, until I tell Norma Billy was killed. We'll have his funeral at dawn. I need to also tell Faye that Bubba was injured. I hate to have to do this, but as the leader, I feel it's my responsibility.”
“I'd not like doin' it either. Both women knew when we left that men would die or be injured. I'm surprised we don't have more dead.” Gene replied.
The women all gathered at the fire, so they could see what men were missing way before anyone said anything.
Dan walked to Norma, took her hands in his and said, “Norma, Billy didn't make it. He died instantly.”
After his first sentence, Norma was crying and by the end of the second she was wailing and sobbing, “No, God! No, don't take my Billy, please. Maybe he's only hurt and not dead.”
“Norma, the man stopped a bullet with his head. He's dead, and I hurt too. Billy was family and we all loved him.”
“I ain't got no body but Billy and William Junior. God, he can't be dead! How am I to survive with no man to care for and protect me? Please, God, let him live!” She collapsed to the grasses and began to moan as her body rocked.
“April, will you and Sue care for Norma, because I need to unload the dead and wounded. Faye, Bubba took a serious wound, but he has no reason to die. He's still conscious and able to talk, but moving hurts him. We will put him in your cabin and you can care for him. Later, after noon, I’ll come by and dig the pieces of bone and debris from his wound. Until that time, feed him whiskey and make sure he doesn't start bleeding again. No solid foods either, but meat broth will be okay, if he wants it. All of the wounded will come down with fevers later today, because it always happens with gunshot wounds. Expect them to get feverish. I'll treat each of them at some point today.”
“What about drinks?” Faye asked.
“Water or whiskey will be fine, but nothing else. I'm afraid if they eat or drink too much, they'll get sick and throw it up. Right now they need to lower their pain levels by drinking whiskey.”
Thirty minutes later the wounded were resting and Billy's body was in his cabin. Billy and all of the men that had come with Gene were Dan's cousins, except Clyde, and he was a nephew. Dan loved all of them, but as a man he never spoke of his love. For him, men just did not do that sort of thing and he rarely cried at a funeral, unless it was a military funeral and someone played 'Taps.'
“Gene, get in the truck and lets get back to the barn. If the backhoe worked well, the supplies have been unearthed by now.”
Back at camp, Dan and Gene exited the truck and found the men standing by the wide open barn door. Most of the building was gone because of the fire, and the front and part of one wall remained in place. The rest had burned down during the attack.
“Dad,” Dave said, “you'll be surprised at all the stuff we found in here, as well as buried under the dirt. The backhoe worked just fine. Some of the medicines we found were brought here by the men we killed and placed in a different hole. We found it because the hole was freshly dug. I'm not sure what all of the meds we discovered do for a person, but we have cases of different stuff.”
The contents of the barn was stacked in the barnyard.
“We'll look it all over as we load it, but I think it will take us three trips to recover all of this. I even see some deer rifles with scopes. Gene, lets get this stuff loaded, and I want the heavy stuff first.”
The other men joined in and as the boxes were loaded, Dan wrote the contents on a sheet of paper with his pencil. The medications surprised him.
“Well, so far was have antibiotics, serious opiate painkillers, sleeping pills, and even some stuff to deaden local pain, along with needles to administer the drug. Great haul here, and the antibiotics might keep Bubba's injury from getting infected. I'm not sure I got all the bone fragments from his shoulder.”
“I'm surprised at all of this stuff. What is most of it, Dave?” Gene asked.
“A lot of foods, canned of course, and ammunition, 30.06, 7 mm, .45 and 38 rounds. Two of the boxes are nothing but shotgun shells, with most of them being 12 gauge and 20 gauge.”
“Let's do a little more loading and less talking. Dave, move to the rise behind the house and keep watch. We don't want to be surprised by an attack. I'm sure there are others who'd kill us in a heartbeat for all the supplies we have.”
An hour later, as Gene drove off with the loaded truck, Dan squatted by the remaining supplies and then smiled.
“Dynamite in two wooden cases here and blasting caps in another case, along with a detonator. We need to plant this stuff around our camp, so we're ready the next time we are attacked.”
“Why would we be attacked now when the gang that was after us is dead, Dad?”
Meeting his son's eyes, Dan said, “I'm sure there are others who have little, and once they find out or hear of us, they'll come for what we have. This is the ultimate survival situation and only the fittest will survive. I fully expect to win, because to lose means death. Now, let's separate what will need to go back next.”
Early the next morning, all stood near a grave as Billy was honored by his family.
Dan said, “Lord, Billy was a good God fearing man, a Christian, and I ask you to welcome him into heaven and to allow him to sit at your feet. He was a good man who loved his family and friends. They in turn loved him, and I never heard him talk bad about anyone. I ask you to give his wife, Norma, strength Lord be
cause she's lost the man she loved, the father of their son, and her protector. Death of a loved one is difficult and your blessings are needed for the survivors to get through the day. This I ask in the name of Jesus, amen.”
Most people walked by and lightly touched the clean blanket the man was being buried in, because they didn't think to bring lumber from the destroyed barn. Finally, Norma had said the blanket was good enough, and Billy would never know anyway and he surely wouldn't care. Now beside the blanket, she burst into tears. Gene knelt beside her, talking to her in a low tone.
“Oh, Billy! Damn you for leaving me like this, all alone!” she almost screamed the second sentence, then her anger disappeared. Almost whispering now she added, “I . . . I love you, Billy. I don't want to live without you, baby. I feel so empty . . . empty and alone. I miss and love you.”
She then squatted beside the grave, and leaning over, put her head on his chest. Now she was crying, so Dan nodded at Clyde and Dave, who were waiting to fill the grave. He then walked back to camp.
“Is Norma okay?” June asked as soon as Dan was seen.
“No, not really. She misses Billy and they were married for over twenty years. She'll be okay or better by morning.”
“If so, I want you to use her to inventory all the gear and supplies we brought from the barn.”
“I'll make her do it to give her something else to think about, besides death.”
Cecil walked to Dan and he held the drone controls in his hands.
“See something?”
“It looks like four cars in a convoy head in our direction.”
Dan looked at the screen and then yelled, “Saddle up! We have visitor coming, but I intend to ambush them before they ever get close to here.”
People began to run around looking for their gear and guns.
“How far out?” June asked.
“Maybe two miles. Faye, Sue, and April, grab your long guns, we have to hurry. Gene, you fetch Dave and Clyde from the grave. We'll finish the grave when we return. I need all of you behind me when we leave.”
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