by A J Newman
“Son, where are you going and how did you get a truck to run?”
Mike had a bad feeling about these two, so he lied, “Sir, we’re from Central City and trying to get home. All older vehicles will run if you just change the points in the distributor. If that’s all you need, I need to get the kids home.”
“No, that’s not all. We need to confiscate your truck and use it to help our community. Now unload and get on your way.”
“Look, my sister lives on this side of Owensville. Could we make it there and I’ll help you get several more trucks running? Her husband has several older trucks and cars.”
One of the men leaned over, whispered in the other’s ear and laughed. The Sheriff had the right uniform but had dirty tennis shoes and biker tattoos all over his arms. His badge had Constable – Dale, Indiana, on it.
“I think we can let you go to your sister’s house. I’ll ride up front with you and drop ya’ll off there.”
“So you’re the Sheriff of Daviess County?”
“No, we’re deputies assigned to this end of the county. We need your truck to patrol. Ralph, I’ll be at the station in a couple of hours.”
“Joan, Callie, please get in the back. Callie, watch out for the bad men. They’re everywhere.”
“They can stay up front. One can sit in my lap.”
They got out and joined the others in the back of the pickup which was already crowded.”
“Fine, suit yourselves. Let’s go, I have to get this truck back to the station before dark.”
“Are you at the new station on this end of Parish Avenue?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Now move it.”
Mike knew the guy wasn’t from this area and there was no station on this end of town. He drove along towards Owensville and knew he had to choose the right place to confront this fake cop. He saw a house on the right up ahead that had several old cars in the driveway and decided it was as good as any.
“That’s my sister’s place. I’m sure her husband will let you have a couple of his cars to help protect this end of the county.”
He pulled in the driveway hoping no one was home. He had enough worries about his family being caught in the crossfire and endangering innocent people. He got out of the truck along with the deputy and walked up to the door. He knocked on the door, but no one was home.
“Looks like no one’s home. Get your shit out of the truck, and I’ll be heading out.”
Mike pretended to unload the truck when he suddenly tackled the man and threw him to the ground as they fought for his pistol.
“Joan, take the kids and run. This guy is a thug.”
“I'll show them a thug once I kill your sorry ass.”
They continued rolling on the ground with neither getting an advantage until the thug was on top and he managed to pull his gun on Mike.
“Now you’ll die bastard.”
There was a gunshot and then silence as Mike waited for the pain and death. The man collapsed on Mike and rolled off onto the ground. Callie was standing there with her gun in her hand. The thug was dead.
“Callie are you okay,” Joan called out as she wrapped the child in her arms.
“Yes, that guy was going to kill Uncle Mike. I shot him, and I would do it again.”
Mike hugged them both while getting his breath back.
“That bastard was well over 300 pounds and strong as an ox. I thought I was dead when I heard the gunshot.”
Joan said, “Let’s get out of here. They might come for him.”
“We need to hide the body and then get our butts out of here. Help me drag it behind the garage.”
It took Mike, Paul and Callie to drag the thug behind the garage. They were worn out before they got back to the truck. Mike checked on the woman and then headed back out on Highway 60.
It only took an hour to get to the Highway 54 exit, and they knew they were only nine miles from the farm. Mike had a big smile on his face until they made the turn up the hill and started right on 54.
“Damn, there is another roadblock. Girls get ready. I’m going to run this roadblock and not give them a chance to rob us.”
Mike crept towards the men manning the roadblock, and suddenly a big grin came over his face as he exclaimed, “Thank God, a friendly face.”
“George Pool, you old goat! How’s it hanging?”
“Not too good since the lights went out. What the hell are you doing driving around? Trying to get robbed? Some men will kill for that old truck.”
“George, this old truck has saved several lives today, and yes, one man lost his life trying to take it from us. Why are ya’ll blocking the road?”
“There was a prison break up in Indiana, and a few of the inmates made it across the bridge before we could get roadblocks up.”
“Damn, I think we shot one of them a couple of hours ago. They had badges from Indiana.”
“Yeah, they tried to pass themselves off as the police, and we had a small battle running them out of town. We killed six of them and lost Elmer Perkins.”
“Damn, Elmer was a good old guy.”
“Can we head on out to the farm?”
“Of course, but can you come back tomorrow and show us how to get some old trucks and cars running?”
“Do you have a mechanic in this crew? I can tell them in two minutes how to fix them.”
“Hey Frank, come over here for a minute.
Mike told Frank what to do, and they were on their way again. It only took a half hour to get to the farm, and everyone was relieved to be safe and off the road.
Mike turned down the driveway and said, "Oh shit," when he saw the person sitting on the porch swing.
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Chapter 12 - The Grand Master
Anderson, Kentucky
The young girl was out scavenging for food. Her mom and little brother were working hard to put in a garden in their backyard, but their pantry was empty, and their last meal was a Ritz cracker soup that was way too thin on crackers. Her home was out on Airline Road, and she’d walked from there up Adams Lane and planned to break into some empty houses to find food. She knew a lot of people had fled town and others never got back home after the lights went out. She’d never steal, but if they abandoned their home, the food was there for the taking. She had broken into several homes on Quail Run and only found the leftovers from families that had left when they ran out of food. Her backpack and gym bag were empty except for a few crackers and a bottle of water.
She had a kitchen knife for protection and little else to sustain her. She turned the corner to the next house and walked into the middle of several people.
“Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in our neighborhood?”
“Calm down Jamie boy. It’s a nice sweet thing who wants to join our clan.”
“I’m not looking for trouble. I just want to find some food and go home. I’ll leave your area, and you can go back to what you were doing.”
“Grab the bitch.”
Before Carrie could run ten feet, two of the boys tackled her and brought her to the ground. They held her tight until the leader slowly walked over to her. He stood over her and looked her over from head to toe.
“My, oh my, I know you. You are that rich bitch cheerleader at County High. I quit school last year. Learned all I needed to know and look at me now, I’m the leader of the East Side Gang. You get to be one of my women. Tie her up and take her back to the club. Todd will want to see her.”
“Who’s Todd?”
“Todd is the big Kahuna. He is the Grand Master of all of the gangs. He will like you. He likes them young. Todd is an old dude.”
Carrie knew she had to escape before they got to the club or she would never escape and see her family again. She wondered how Callie and her family were doing and thought perhaps she could escape and get to Callie’s house. It was only about half a mile away.
They untied her hands, but tied a rope around her neck and pulled her along as they
headed towards their club. The main group and the leader had gone on about their business, and these two scumbags were told to take her to the clubhouse. Carrie had run track in high school and knew that if she got free, she could outrun these two overweight assholes. When she noticed they were taking her right past the street Callie lived on she waited then grabbed the rope, wrapped it around her midsection and took off like a jackrabbit. When the rope played out, it caught the boy looking the other way, and he slammed to the ground and dropped the rope. Carrie ran like the wind towards Callie’s house leaving the two fat asses behind.
She ran two blocks and saw Callie’s house up ahead. There was Callie’s mom’s boyfriend, Todd. She lurched to a stop as she saw him leering at her. She thought, “Oh shit, Todd!”
••••
Anderson quickly degraded into anarchy as food ran out. Most of the people dependent on the government for welfare began to riot when they realized no one was going to continue feeding them. Many hadn’t worked in years, and only a few knew how to plant a garden, so they began looting every store in sight. The police and store owners fended them off several times with the great loss of life on both sides. Several gangs sprang up overnight to challenge the few remaining police but were also beaten back. The town was on the verge of taking back its streets and running the scum out of the city when the massacre happened.
The city council was meeting with the Sheriff, and Police Chief when Todd walked into the room.
The Mayor looked up and said, “Todd, I’m glad you came in today. With your background in social work perhaps you can help make these people realize we can’t keep feeding them and they have to help grow gardens and work for a living.”
Todd laughed as he pulled a Saiga shotgun from a large bag and began shooting the police first then all of the city officials. Several escaped the room only to be gunned down by Todd’s men stationed outside the room. When Todd finished, only the Mayor was left alive.
“Mayor Jackson, you now work for me, and this is my town.”
Todd quickly took over the remaining food supplies and shot anyone resisting him. This started a war with the town folks fighting back with all they had. Todd quickly allied himself with several other gangs and became the head of all of the local gangs. Looting, rape, and slavery were the norm for the area after that day. The locals continued to fight back but were outgunned and outmanned by Todd's coalition of drug addicts, criminals, and thugs.
••••
Carrie ran all the way back to her home only stopping a couple of times to make sure that Todd or his gang wasn’t following her. She briefly hid in a house a few blocks from home when she heard someone yelling a block away. After a while, she searched the house and found that the upstairs had been looted. She lit a match, went down into the basement, and found that it had been searched, but there were a couple cans of Spam and beef stew that had been lost under a couch. She moved the couch and found a large black bag containing a treasure of food and survival supplies. It was too big to carry so she thought, “They must have thought they would hide it and come back for it later. Sorry, but my family is starving.”
She found a smaller bag and filled it with the food and some of the survival supplies. She was pleased to find a .38 caliber pistol and a box of ammunition. Food and protection, now she had to get back to her family, talk her mother into leaving home and finding a safer place to live.
She arrived home after a slow and stealthy trip through her neighborhood. Her mother saw her through the window, hugged her and asked what was in the bag.
“Mom, I found some food. Here you and Billy eat some of this while I fill you in on what’s happening in Anderson.”
Her mom patiently listened to the story and Carrie’s plea to leave the area, but finally said, “But where will we go? Is it safer anywhere else?”
She thought for a minute and replied, “I know the perfect place. Remember my friend Callie? Her dad owns a big farm on the other side of Owensville, and she told me that they have a large lake full of fish, gardens, and plenty of fruit trees. I want to go there.”
“But sweetheart, that’s 40 or 50 miles away.”
“Mom, it’s more like 30 or 35 miles, and we can walk there in 3 to 5 days. We have food and can get water along the way. There are ponds and lakes all along the way. Did you hear me say that they are raping women and making sex slaves out of them?”
“Don't talk like that in front of Billie. Pack your backpack, put on some hiking boots and give me that .38.”
✪✪✪
Chapter 13 - One Big Happy Family
Highway 57 in Illinois
Davi looked over her shoulder at the newcomers and said, “Dad, can we trust these new people? They seem a bit flakey to me.”
“Davi, always trust but verify. We will keep an eye on them until we know they can be trusted. Now finish bringing up the guns and ammo and let’s get out of here before that gang shows up.”
Davi, Geena and I were carrying the guns and ammo out of the secure room when I saw the night vision glasses.
“Wow, I have to try these out.”
I grabbed a pair and headed upstairs with them and a load of ammo. I placed the ammo in the back of the Jeep and put the glasses, which were more like goggles, on my head. I looked out into the darkness behind the house and saw a coyote walking along the fence line. Suddenly he took off, and I saw a head bob where he had been. Then I saw several glowing red dots. The idiots were smoking as they tried to infiltrate our position.
“Aaron we have company coming up from behind the house. They are about 500 yards out and slowly advancing towards us. There are about 10 of them, and they are heavily armed. Wow, these night vision glasses are great. Geena, go down and bring up several more so we can see them, but they can’t see us.”
Aaron added, “Bring up a couple of the green boxes that say “Claymores” in yellow on the sides. Davi, show Zack how to place and arm them.”
Aaron shifted into high gear, had us start turning lights off as though we were settling down for the night and directed us to positions around his house.
“We only have a few minutes before they begin their attack. Stay behind cover while we get prepared.”
Davi showed me how to set up the Claymores, and we crawled out about 20 yards from the house towards the largest concentration of our enemy. The men made a lot of noise and were probably half drunk or stoned. I set the Claymore into the ground with the safe side towards the house, armed it and started back while paying out the wire to the deadly device.
We barely had wired the mines to their firing devices when Sally yelled, “Damn they have us surrounded. There are 20 or 30 more coming down the road. Duck, they are dropping to fire on us.”
I had hit the dirt behind one of the Jeeps when bullets started striking the house blowing out the windows. Sharon fell to the ground with a blood-curdling scream. Damn, she was hit in the right shoulder. I crawled over to her and pressed hard on the wound to stop the bleeding. Sally slithered over, we both drug her into the house, and Sally took over caring for her.
I grabbed two M4s from the back of the Jeep and several magazines. I gave one to Geena, took the other one to the side of the barn and started looking for targets. They stood out like neon signs. The M4 had a red dot sight, and along with the night vision goggles, I couldn’t miss. Every shot I took dropped a thug. I had to move every few shots to keep them from firing at my muzzle flash, but I killed eight of the bastards in just a few minutes.
One of the men surprised me by coming up from behind me swinging his rifle butt at my head when Geena shot his sorry ass. I looked over, and Aaron was wiping his knife on another dead thug’s shirt.
He looked up, smiled at me and said, “This is just like the good old days down in the Sinai.”
“You have a very perverted sense of fun,” I replied as I shot another thug that was trying to rush our position.
Davi and Geena were also killing them at an alarming pace. It was
so dark that they didn’t realize that we were decimating them so easily. Finally, they caught on, and the last five started running for their lives. I killed two and Davi nailed one more. The others were out of range and got away. The entire firefight lasted 8-10 minutes. Those bikers were stupid, and we were lucky I saw them, or we’d all be dead.
“Is anyone else wounded?”
Sally replied, “I caught a ricochet in the butt. It’s just a scratch, but I need a Band-Aid. Zack, can you take care of it?”
“Come on in the house and drop your pants. I’ll take care of it,” said Geena, as she dragged Sally into the house and winked at me.
“Those two are in love with you, Zack Johnson.”
“I don’t know about love, but they do think they need a man to protect and take care of them. I am focused on getting to my daughter and don’t have time for love.”
“But you have time for lust judging from the hay in your shorts and Geena’s panties. Your focus was off a bit last night, and Sally knows it. You have chosen Geena, and you’re going to have a major cat fight. Oh, and by the way, both killed several bastards tonight. I think they are learning to take care of themselves.”
“I like both, but I don’t know if either would be a great mom to my daughter. Yes, I care for Geena, but just can’t focus on a relationship right now. I promised to help train them in fighting and train them on weapons. Could you help train them also?”
“That hay in both of your pants told Sally all she needed to know, and you’re going to break Geena’s heart if you’re just using her.
Davi left me to help her dad tend to her mom. Before she walked into the house, she looked back and smiled at me.
“Aaron, why didn’t we use the Claymores?”
“Son, we had them outmanned, outgunned and besides there probably won’t be any more Claymores manufactured for quite a while. We might need them if we encounter a serious threat. Now go gather them up and place them back in their boxes.”