Down the Hole

by Sally Six

  Stick’s brother kept hunting stuff there at the cabin. He had quite a bit of canned goods too, but they are about gone. We figured if he could hunt we could too. We were out hunting for hours and that’s when we came on the wagons. Rod got this big idea that we could just take what we wanted now cause there wasn’t any pigs to stop us anymore like in that old movie, Mad Max. We got the drop on the wagon people pretty easy. After we had something to drink and eat, Rod decided he wanted this woman here for his harem that he was gonna start. She was pretty so he thought she would make a good start. That’s when you people came along and stopped it all”

  Wilbert was hanging his head now and had run out of steam. After he talked about what he and Ron thought and did, he felt pretty foolish. Plus the longer he was off the drugs the clearer his mind was becoming.

  Reese looked down at the young man. “Now son are there any more where you came from? We need to know if we’re going to have problems from anyone else of your party.”

  Wilbert looked up at his captor. “Well there are three more guys and five girls that came to the party. I don’t think the girls would be any trouble but Rufus, Stick and Larry might come looking for us if they ever come too enough to see we’re gone.”

  Reese made a decision. “All right we’re going to have to go see and take care of this trouble before it comes for us. David and Bert will come with me and escort this young man to the cabin where his friends are. The rest of you can guard and pack. Carla and Tammy know what’s going and the how to’s of it all if that’s all right with all of you?”

  Everyone said that was fine. They would be glad to help out here while they went to the cabin with Wilbert.

  “Okay up boy. Let’s get this over with. Tammy would you run in and get three canteens and some protein bars. This may take a while.”

  “Sure Dad no problem.” She took off for the house. She knew right where things were because they had been getting things out to ready themselves for the trip to the ranch. Reese had Wilbert walk ahead of him as they headed back to the road after Tammy gave her dad a small pack and everyone a canteen to throw over a shoulder.

  Wilbert told them, “I don’t know if I can find my way through the woods to the cabin but I can if we walk the road. I know I can get to it that way.”

  It took them over one and half-hours to get to the cabin by walking the road. It wasn’t as far as Wilbert had thought after all. As they approached the cabin, Reese, Bart and David saw cars sitting in the driveway and a couple more sitting in the front yard. Apparently they had been going to the bathroom outside of the cabin, but had not been going very far from it to do so. It really smelled around the place. No one was outside at the moment and it seemed very quiet around the cabin.

  Wilbert turned to his captors. “They’re most likely high and sacked out in the cabin.”

  The three men followed Wilbert across the yard to the cabin. It smelled horrid. It didn’t look like things were any better in the cabin either. Wilbert opened the cabin door and an awful smell assailed their senses.

  “Man I can’t believe I was in here this morning and didn’t notice the smell. I must have been high still when we left and didn’t even realize it.”

  He walked inside and stepped into the living room area. Reese, Bert and David walked in behind Wilbert. The place smelled to high heaven, but they also saw the place had been stripped of anything useful and lying on the sofa was a body.

  Wilbert’s voice got rather loud. “Oh man that’s Stick. It looks like he’s been shot in the head.”

  Reese went ahead of Wilbert now and looked down at the man on the sofa. He then looked up at Bert. “Bert you get on outside and keep guard. This doesn’t bode well.”

  Then he reached down and felt Stick. He was cold as a stone.

  “He has been dead awhile. David you go to that room over there to the left and Wilbert and me will go to the other door.”

  David thought, “Oh man, I don’t want to do this. I hope I don’t find anything.”

  But fate wasn’t with him. He swung the door open and started to gag. Besides the smell, two people were lying on the bed, a young man and a girl. Their blood had soaked into the bedding and then had run onto the floor. They like their friend in the living room had been shot in the head. He looked around and noticed the closet door was open and it was empty of all contents if there had been any. The dressers also had been pulled open and were empty. Then on the other side of the bed David could see a pair of legs on the floor. He went as far as he could to see if the person was alive. But he pretty well knew what he was going to find. It was the other young man, but this young man’s throat had been cut.

  David backed out of the room and stood shaking for a few seconds. He then ran for the front door. He was wiping off his mouth with his sleeve when Reese and Wilbert came out the front door.

  Wilbert didn’t make it as far as David did before he bent over and lost the contents of his stomach. Reese was white but seemed to be able to control himself. It had been awhile since he has seen this kind of death, but he was no stranger to it.

  “You watch Wilbert here David. I’m going back in.”

  David nodded and Reese turned around and went back into the cabin. Cabin, Wilbert called it. To Reese it was a good-sized house. It had two bedrooms, plenty of closet space with a large kitchen and a large panty. Whoever had killed these kids did a good job of taking what was in the house. Any food that may have been left, linens, pots, pans, utensils, dishes, clothes and any of the guns and ammo that had been left by this Stick’s brother, Sam, were all gone. Only the furniture and the bodies were left behind. Reese had seen enough. They needed to get back home and as fast as they could.

  Outside David was asking Wilbert what they had found in the other bedroom even though he pretty well knew what that answer was going to be.

  “We found the other girls. Their throats had been cut. It was an awful mess in there. They hadn’t even been fooled with if you know what I mean. Looks like they were just plain slaughtered. It had to have happened while they were high. It didn’t look like there was any kind of fight. The dresser drawers and the closet were open and the clothes and other things were gone. Someone just killed them all and cleaned the place out.”

  They heard a noise and both jumped. It was Bert coming around the cabin from the left.

  “I found tracks. It looks like they had horses and a couple of wagons. I also found motorcycle tracks. They must have gotten one or more running.”

  Reese walked out the front door about then.

  Bert told his dad. “I found some tracks Dad. Horses, wagons and motorcycles. They were headed down to the road and turned away from our place.”

  “That’s a relief because there is no way we could make it home to our folks if we had just happened to miss them and they were headed our way. But we need to make double time back to the house. We can do that going through the woods this time. So let’s book it and right now.”

  As they headed towards the trees, Bert asked his dad if everyone in there had been killed or if some had gotten away.

  “Dead son, all dead. No one got away. Just stupid kids in the wrong place at the wrong time doing stupid things and they paid the price.”

  This time Wilbert was between Reese and Bert with David taking up the rear. He wasn’t in as good a shape as the Porters’ but neither was the drug head. They did stop from time to time so Wilbert and David could take a couple minute breather. Their short cut through the forest took forty-five minutes off their trip back. They came into the back behind the coral. Reese and Bert stopped and Reese gave a birdcall this time a Bobwhite call.

  Tammy called, “Come on in Dad. All’s clear.”

  They went on into the back yard with Wilbert staring at the mini cow and calf as they walked past the coral.

  Tammy ran up to her dad and gave him a big hug. “I’m sure glad you are back safe.” She looked at her brother. “You too brat boy.”

  “Oh gee little sis
, I’m all choked up.”

  “Ok that’s enough you two. We have more important things to do right now than take snips at each other.”

  By that time they were across the yard, Reese stepped into the back door to the kitchen and started on through the house. He was checking to see what had been done while they were off on a walk about to the drug heads friends. He noticed all the furniture was still in the house. Well he hadn’t expected to take all of it, but it was ALL still in the house. He walked out of the front door and noticed both wagons were packed tight. He also noticed his bed was apart and on one wagon, also his dresser so he was wrong. Not all the furniture had been left in the house. Reese turned around and went to his bedroom. He had wanted to take the gun cabinet, but he saw it was empty. Maybe sometime they could come back after it or even at some time move back up here. He was going to leave his buried cache where it was 100 feet behind the corral in the woods and another one 100 feet after that one. You never knew when that would come in handy and for now they didn’t need any of it.

  By the time he got back outside, Annabelle, the cow, and Turk, the calf, had been tired to the back of a wagon. He went around back and opened the storm cellar doors and went down in. Nothing, it was empty. “I guess they did a good job without me,” he thought. “Well good for them.” He was smiling when he got back up out of the cellar.

  Wilbert was sitting right behind a wagon seat on supplies and was being tied up hands behind his back, yelling. “Why tie me up. I have nowhere to go. All my friends are dead and the city is too far away for me to get to alone.” Then he started to cry.

  Greg was doing the tying and frowned.

  “Look son, what you did was wrong. You held us at gunpoint and stole from us when all you had to do is ask. Your friend attacked one of ours and you just told him if he couldn’t do it right you would take over. You are a criminal and will have to meet your punishment. There are consequences now for your actions. More so now than before. You won’t be able to get off cause it’s your first offence or because of your upbringing or any such idiotic excuse. Being on drugs is no reason either. You pretty well knew what you were doing by the time you found us. No son you will not be treated like the victim. I don’t know what will be meted out. We can’t get you to any law enforcement so it will be up to our community.”

  Greg then hopped off the wagon and left Wilbert to wallow in his grief and feeling sorry for himself.

  Reese was very glad that they had gotten on the ball and had them pretty well ready to go. He should have known that would be the case with Carla in charge. He walked up to Carla who was just adding the last of her clothing to the wagon and helping to tie it all down on one of the wagons.

  “Carla,” he said as he helped grab a robe end and tie it down.

  “Yes?” Was her reply as she worked.

  “Can you tell me why so little of our furniture is being taken? I saw my bed and dresser are on, but no one else’s. Is it cause of so little room or what?”

  “We’re not taking it Reese because we have been told the cabin we will get has some furniture. All we needed was one more bed and dresser. So we elected to take yours. The North’s offered us one of theirs, but it may be needed in the future for someone else. You will be working hard and doing far more than Tammy and me. I am sure because I know how you are. We need to make sure you get a good night’s sleep to keep you going. When it comes to Bert, he’s young and can sleep about anywhere and get up feeling good.”

  Reese was all choked up that Carla and Tammy thought about this and put him first over themselves. He knew they were right about Bert. Oh to be that young again.

  “Carla, thank you. I don’t know what else to say.”

  “Oh Reese, don’t mention it. The rest of us will be just fine. This is one time we are putting you first.”

  The last items were on the wagons and people were climbing aboard and sitting where they could. You could get three on a buckboard so that helped. They were off and should be to their new home this evening.

  As Olive climbed onto the buckboard and sat next to David, she thought of how she would sure welcome a bath. She had changed her shirt after washing up earlier but she still felt dirty. It would be good to be home and feel a bit safer.

  They all snacked as they rode along. No one wanted to stop so it would take more time to get to the ranch as it was it would be getting on pretty good into the evening when they got there.

  * * *

  At Home:

  Red came running up to the house where Theodore was stitching a saddle while he sat in his favorite chair on the porch. Red hadn’t wanted to use the bell at the gate. “I hear motorcycles Theo.” Red huffed through trying to catch his breath.

  “Rats in a hat.” Theo said as he put down his work and picked up his rifle.

  “Run tell Buck. I’ll go get us some extra ammo just in case.”

  They both left in different directions and were both hoping for the best. Being down to just four of them, they didn’t know how much of a chance they had against a group. Theo was hoping this wouldn’t happen until they had several more people on the ranch to protect it and them. But he guessed it had been enough time for people to start to overcome some of the problems and go looking for good pickings elsewhere. He had shoved his money into fortifying the ranch, animals, feed, seeds, food, guns, ammo, a water-pumping windmill, hand pump, lamps, oil, treated kerosene and extra places for people to live and all that went with it. He wished he had the money for things like 4-wheelers and motorcycles to get around quicker. All that money it would take to store treated gas or diesel he just didn’t have it.

  “Well can’t cry over spilt milk. There is just nothing I could do about it all and here I go talking to myself again.”

  He went down the cellar stairs and opened a cabinet door and started to pull out metal ammo containers. He lugged two up the stairs and then went back for the third and fourth. He had decided to do it right and just get them each a box of 500 rounds right off. He still hoped this wouldn’t be needed. But if hopes and wishes were dimes, he would be rich.

  By the time he came up with the other boxes he could hear the engines also. Buck and Red met him as he brought up the boxes of ammo. They each grabbed one and went to their pre-assigned log wall positions. Each wall had a cooler with water and snacks inside waiting for when needed. He went in and brought an ammo can with him and told Kate who was working in the kitchen what was going on and to stay in the house. He would use her as backup if he needed to.

  Buck was at the closest hole to the right of the gate beside an old shed looking building with the back of it to the road. It was also new even though it didn’t look it. It gave the appearance of a shed, but was really a dugout with a roof so whoever was at gate guard could be out of the sun or rain but had enough slots as to see the area well. The log wall was more bullet proof, but you could throw yourself into the dugout part if need be and shoot from somewhere else to give any attacker a surprise. Buck sure wished the others had gotten back to the ranch, but he guessed they would have to do their best come what may.

  * * *

  Stinger Lukas spotted the ranch a while ago in his binoculars. He hadn’t seen anyone around until they stopped the second time so he could have another look at it. Then he had seen a lone man running up to the ranch house. He turned to his partner, Karen, on her bike beside him. Luke was one mean looking bear of a man. Black hair ran over his shoulder blades and a black beard to match that grew to the middle of his chest. He wore all black leather and steel. He considered himself death walking.

  “Looks like easy picken’s hon. This shouldn’t be any problem at all.”

  “Don’t count on it before hand Luke. We never can tell now can we?”

  That’s what he liked about her. She had a level head on her shoulders. He put his hand in the air and gave the hand signal for the rest of the Devils Hornets to ride. He and his women took off in the lead.

  The Hornets had been holed up in a
small town 50 miles from here. Things had gotten worse and worse in the town after their big party and his crew had pretty well burned it to the ground. That’s after taking what they wanted which hadn’t helped matters on that front. They had burned themselves right out of a place to stay. The local mechanic shops, all two of them, had all they needed to get their bikes rolling again first off. It had felt good to get back on the road. Most of the people in the town had just run and hid. The few that stood up to the gang were no longing standing, not in this world anyway. He had lost five of his men in that town, but then the town had lost a lot more people and their homes as well in payment. This was going to be some life, doing what they wanted, taking what they wanted and not being chased by any pigs. This was a dream come true. That was for sure.

  One half mile from the ranch Stinger Lukas called a halt and decided which battle plan to use.

  He was watching the place again and he didn’t see a soul moving around. He knew whoever was on the ranch had to have heard them coming. He wasn’t stupid after all. He knew others could hear them coming from a long way off.

  His second in command, Buzz, was standing beside him and with Buzz’s aid, Colt, beside him. They thought they had come up with a good plan. They would ram through that old brown wooden fence. No way would it hold the likes of their Hogs. It would snap like twigs under their weight.

  The rammers rode up until they were 100 feet from the gate and front fence and took up their area. Ten bikers with huge Hogs staggered out every fifty to sixty feet and making sure they were in between posts. They roared off on the leads signal. The rammers were special built bikes with metal shields that they could hook on the front that covered the front tire and bumper, but with a slot for them to see where they were going. They were sure of themselves. They had rammed their way into buildings after Jake had come up with this idea. They were on their way at full speed and hit the fence almost all at the same time.

  Hit is right. The shielded Hogs hit the improved fencing and stopped dead smashed against the fence, but the riders didn’t. The fence was dented and a little bent, but fence one bikers zero.