Simon looks up at him, but then quickly looks away.
“Well alright then, boys. Let’s say we get you situated in one of the residences and get you a hot meal and a hot shower. How does that sound?”
They each nod their head and follow the major down to an elevator.
“Ah hell, I almost forget, we need to get you boys microchiped.”
Simon and Jason both stop. “Microchiped? What the hell are you talking about?” Jason said.
“Standard protocol, gentlemen. When we ran your fingerprints we found out that you men weren’t microchiped yet. And by the way, this is not an option, we have chipped all civilians and military personnel after the outbreak.”
“This is outrageous. How can you be microchiping everyone? This is insane!” Simon said.
“Like I said, this is standard protocol now; it’s not an option and everyone must be chipped. It’s for your own protection.”
They argue more a little while longer, but then eventually give in and follow the Major to get microchiped. Once they get to their barracks and the door closes, Jason grabs Dave and slams him up against the wall, and Dave doesn’t put up a fight.
“Whenever you want to tell me what the fuck is going on, please by all means, let me know. I don’t even know what I would say to you right now or how I would react, but at some point in the near future, you need to spill your guts and come clean.” Jason lets Dave go and they turn to opposite sides of the room, Simon not saying a word.
Chapter 21
Maggie holds up the straws and waits for everyone to slowly grab one, relief evident on most faces—except Eric’s. He clinches his jaw and drops his head at the sight of the short straw.
“Sonova fuckin’ bitch!”
“I’ll go if you don’t want to, Eric; it’s my house and my responsibility.” Maggie tries to hand him her straw but he declines.
“Now how would that make me look letting my girlfriend go up on the roof and clear off the snow. I drew the short straw, so it’s my responsibility. We all need electricity so it must be done.” Eric throws the straw on the ground and looks away.
Maggie just bobs her head and doesn’t look him in the eye, feeling torn between her boyfriend going and the need to get solar power back up so they can lock the house down again. After Peter and Kelly told them what could happen to the infected if the snow melts, and considering how the sun has been shining for days, makes everyone fear the worst, not to mention the threat of Brock’s home invaders paying them a visit.
Nobody says a word and avoids eye contact while Eric puts on his gear. As soon as he’s ready, Maggie hands him a handgun and a walkie-talkie which he puts in each pocket and then zips them up. They quickly go over the plan one last time before Maggie, Kristie, Kelly, Peter, and Nate follow Eric upstairs. Once they get upstairs, Peter leads Dusty into one of the bedrooms and closes the door; he doesn’t want him to get in the way.
Eric gets to the window and turns to Maggie and gives her a kiss on the cheek. “I know I’ve been an ass lately, but I promise I’ll get my shit together soon. You deserve better and I know I can give you at least that.”
“Don’t worry about it, Eric, we’ve all been under a lot of strain and it’s only human nature that people act differently. Just focus on the task at hand and we’ll worry about the rest once this place is locked down and safe, okay,” Maggie said.
He nods his head and lifts his arms while Nate proceeds to tie a rope around his waist, and then Peter ties the other end around the foot of the bed. Eric opens the window and he and Maggie peer out. He pops the screen off and tries to grab it, but he misses it and it falls in the snow on the roof. He looks at Maggie who just shrugs her shoulders and looks like she doesn’t care.
The snow on the roof is still deep and appears to be about three feet deep. Kristie hands him the Avalanche shovel without hesitation or remorse, obviously knowing the job must be done. He takes the shovel and leans out the window looking for the best way to exit. He takes the shovel and attempts to push some of the snow below the window off the roof, but the heaviness of the wet snow makes it very difficult. He eventually manages to clear a small space just below the window, so he lifts one leg out and tries to get traction on the roof. Nate pulls the rope taut as Eric climbs out of the window while holding onto the sill, nervousness evident on his face.
He gives everyone a fake reassuring smile and takes a deep breath, followed by a nod to Nate. He lets go of the window sill and grabs the rope that only moves an inch or two. Kelly sees the movement and moves behind Nate and Peter to grab the rope, along with Kristie doing the same. Maggie waits at the window, ready to jump in where needed when Eric gives a quick smile to everyone and a thumbs up for reassurance, but doesn’t say a word. He carefully takes a few tiny steps to his right, digging his boots into the snow to grip the shingles.
While holding the rope with one hand, he swings the shovel into the snow with his other, hoping to loosen the snow and send it falling to the ground. But his swipes at the snow are useless, and the heavy snow doesn’t budge an inch. “Alright you guys, I’m gonna have to let go of the rope and start digging my way up to the solar panels. This shit’s too heavy, and it’s really hard to move. You guys got me?”
They all adjust their stance and give confirmation that they are ready. Eric gives a quick head nod and lowers his body to get closer to the roof. He grabs the shovel with two hands and feels comfortable with his stability, so he digs into the snow and starts tossing it off the roof. He tires quickly from the weight of the snow and has to take breaks often. His shoulders are already burning and he hasn’t made much progress.
He gets to the side of the window and looks up to see what he thinks is the top of one of the solar panes, and it looks so far away. The amount of snow almost seems impossible to get through, but he knows he doesn’t have a choice, he must succeed.
He continues to chip away at the snow, allowing his mind to wander. And much to his surprise he’s not thinking about Maggie, but about Samantha and her massive breasts that he fantasizes about on a daily basis. He thinks about that one night when they were alone—very stoned—and both very horny. He wonders how far it would have went if he didn’t stop it, even though he’s never been that turned on when he and Maggie fool around. But the attraction was starting to show amongst the group, and even though Maggie didn’t have a clue what was going on, he just knew others had their suspicions.
But those breasts, those huge fake breasts, was all he could think about when it hit him. Like a landslide hitting him head-on, the snow above him breaks away and slides down the roof—forcing him off his feet. He yells in distress as the snow pulls him down the roof. He tries desperately to grab the rope for dear life while still holding onto the shovel, unwilling to let it go. He feels the rope tighten but then immediately loosen and his heart starts to race as he lies on his back holding on as tight as he can. He waits for the snow to stop falling from above, but he can still hear the yelling and screaming coming from the window, he’s just unable to make out what anyone is saying. The snow finally stops and he yells up.
“I’m okay! Just a little snow falling, that’s all. Just don’t let go.” He hears his radio go off but doesn’t want to reach for it. He flips around on his stomach and gingerly gets up to regain his footing again. He can barely see in the window but can see Maggie’s face red as can be from holding on with everything she’s got. He makes eye contact and gives a heads up and a small smile, and can see her turn her head and say something to everyone.
Once he gets his traction again, he slowly moves up the roof and gets to the window again. “Hey guys, just a little hiccup, that’s all. Nothing I can’t handle.” He continues to make his way back around the window and once he gets along side of it, he can see that a lot of snow has fallen and a portion of one of the solar panels is visible. He feels a little at ease when he realizes the digging just became that much easier.
He takes one step at a time, slow and steady as
he makes his way up the roof. There’s no tension on the rope anymore as he gets farther from the window, and so they let out more and more slack. He gets above the window overhang and right up to where the wall of snow begins again, so he starts digging. He digs to one side of him and more and more snow falls off the roof, but this time in chunks.
He continues to make progress with every swipe of the shovel, and he finally gets to the bottom of one of the solar panels. He grabs the mounting bars, pulls himself up, positions himself behind the panels, and takes a break. He takes a few minutes to regain his breath and then pulls out his radio. “Hey, are you guys there?”
After a short pause, he hears, “We’re here, Eric, how’s it going? Have you made it to any of the panels yet?” Maggie said.
“Yep, I have. I’m behind one of the panels to take a quick breather. I just wanted to let you guys know.”
“Copy that. And great job by the way. And take your time and just continue to be safe and not rush anything. And don’t forget to be gentle when cleaning off the panels, you don’t want to damage any of them.”
“No worries, and I’ll be down in a jiff.” He puts the radio back in his pocket and just lays there for a second, staring up at the sun but not caring how blinding it is, even through his goggles. He takes one last deep breath and pulls himself up and hangs over the solar panel. He tries to hit the back of the panel hoping the snow would fall, but he doesn’t have any luck. So he leans over and starts sweeping the snow off with the side of the shovel and then using his arm when he gets close to the panel. The thin layer of moisture seems to instantly melt away from the heat of the sun as he exposes more and more of the panels.
Once he cleans off one of the panels, he then makes his way across the roof and gets behind the other one. He follows the same routine in cleaning the glass, and this one doesn’t take as long. Once done clearing that panel he radios Maggie. “Hey, you there?” He waits for a response.
“Yep, I’m here. How’s it goin’?”
“Great. I’ve cleaned off both panels and the sun is taking care of the rest. The batteries should start charging soon. The only problem is the snow below the panels. If it snows again they’re just goin’ to get covered up quickly because it’s just going to build on top of the snow below. I think I need to clear the snow below the panels so that won’t happen. What do you think?”
A few seconds later and he hears, “Ah—well, that’s your call. It’s definitely a good idea, but if you’re too tired it can be done another day, so I’ll leave that decision up to you,” Maggie said.
“I think I’m going—oh shit, hold up. Fuck! We got company, people.” He ducks behind the solar panel.
“What! What do you mean company, what’s going on?” Maggie asks.
He whispers into the radio. “Keep your voice down. I don’t think they’ve seen me up here. But we gotta group of men going inside Brock’s house, could be the guys from last time. Listen, I want you guys to let go of the rope and close the window.”
“What—no, no way. We’re not letting go of the rope.”
“Listen, I’m in a secure place behind the solar panels and these things aren’t going anywhere. I’ll pull up the rope and tie myself off to one of the mounting brackets and hang out until they’re gone. That way if we need to get back up here for maintenance we already have a safety line ran that we can use to pull ourselves up. So don’t argue with me, and just do it.” He waits for a response but gets nothing. “Do you guys copy? Release the rope and close the window.”
Another short pause and then he hears, “Alright fine. You have a point about next time. Just make sure you’re completely secure and we’ll release the rope.”
“I’m completely secure, now let’s go, I don’t want them seeing the rope or you guys in the window, so hurry up.”
“Alright, it’s loose. You can pull it up.”
Eric tugs on the rope and feels a little tension as he tries to pull. It soon releases and he can see it whip around the window overhang. He quickly pulls it up and ties himself off to the solar panel bracket, and then peeks around and sees one guy standing guard just outside Brock’s backdoor, unaware of his presence. He moves back behind the panel and tries to get in a comfortable position, but it’s not easy. He presses the radio button again and whispers. “Alright, so far so good. There’s one guy just outside the backdoor standing guard, and the rest of them must be inside. Have you guys shut the window yet?”
“We just closed it, it made a slight noise when it shut, but it wasn’t that loud. I’m just worried because you can see his backyard from the window, so that means he could potentially see us,” Maggie whispers.
“Okay, just stay out of sight and I’ll let you know if the situation changes. Let me take another look.” He again peeks around the panel but this time doesn’t see anyone out back. “That’s strange, now the guys gone. Stand by . . . oh shit, wait—” He sees two guys exit the back door and one of them is pointing in their direction and saying something to the other guy. The guy runs back inside while the other one proceeds to check his weapon. “Fuck—I think they know we’re here, I just saw them pointing in this direction and one of them just ran inside, and the other dude is now checking his rifle.”
“What! Wait, they know we’re here?” Maggie said with distress evident in her voice.
“Shit—fuck! There’s a few of them out back now and they’re arming themselves. Do you have power yet? You need to lock this place down now!” Eric hides behind the panel and pulls out his handgun.
“Standby, let me find out. Jen, did you copy that? Do we have power yet?” She waits for a second and then repeats. “Jen, can you hear me? Do we have any power yet?”
Another brief pause and then they hear, “Not much, it says the batteries are at one percent.”
“Okay, try to engage the house lockdown and Eric, just stay outta sight. They probably just saw the window close and hopefully didn’t see you. Do you guys copy?” Maggie said.
They both acknowledge and soon after the sound of the steel doors engaging can be heard. Maggie can see the steel door begin to move but much slower then usual. She panics and says over the radio, “The security system doors are moving too slow. We need to arm ourselves and prepare for a possible home invasion attempt. Does everyone copy? Armed men are heading this way and we need to be prepared to defend ourselves.”
* * *
She doesn’t wait for a response but hears something over the radio. She and Kristie run downstairs to find Peter, Kelly, and Nate already in position covering two facing windows from where they would be coming from. Jen runs up to Maggie and Kristie holding assault rifles and hands them both one. They discuss a quick plan and then hears Eric whisper over the radio.
“You’ve got three armed men moving into the backyard and fanning out, and I think one guy ran off probably going to get reinforcements. The three appear to be moving toward the back door but they just got outta view. Do you guys copy?”
Maggie says “copy” over the radio and Peter and Nate both leave their positions and run to the backdoor. Maggie follows close behind and stands to one side of the doorway to the mud room connected to the backdoor flanked by both Peter and Nate. They hear some talking outside, then the sound of glass shattering.
Maggie grits her teeth while she holds her breath anticipating an attempted breach. And then it comes. Two shotgun blasts to the back door locks followed by the door being kicked in. Peter and Nate both fire their weapons quickly taking down the guy that kicked in the door, but not seeing anyone else. Maggie ducks down and then peeks around just enough to see the steel door not even a quarter of the way down. She gets back behind the wall when Nate bumps into her leg while he remains crouched down behind the wall next to her. He aims his rifle back through the doorway and then looks at Peter on the other side of the doorway doing the same.
The dead silence is soon broken by a creepy voice from outside. “Hello, soon to be dead people. Nice of you to invite
us into your beautiful home.” He laughs in a way that makes Maggie’s hair on the back of her neck stand up. “Your fancy little security system doesn’t seem to be working quite right, so why don’t you just hand over your little rifles and give yourselves up. I got foot soldiers on their way over here as we speak, so this place will be surrounded in no time. Yeah, so boo-hoo. Sucks to be you guys right now.” He laughs again. “Now, all we want is your supplies and your women if you have any. So let’s just make this easy on all of us and just give up, and maybe I’ll let you live.”
Nate peeks around the door, but doesn’t see anyone in sight. “Go fuck yourself, asshole. Get the fuck off our property or you’ll end up like your buddy there lyin’ on the ground.”
“Ha ha ha. That fuckin’ junkie was a piece of shit that deserved to die. He ain’t like most of my boys; he didn’t possess the sheer killer instinct that myself and the rest of my crew possess. So like I said, give us your supplies, your guns, and your pussy, and we’ll be on our way . . . oh now, would you look at that. Here comes the rest of my boys right now, and I don’t think your little metal door protector is going to make it in time to save your asses. So again, and this is your last warning, hand over your shit and I may let you live, maybe even let you join our little gang here, your choice. But this place is completely surrounded so you got thirty seconds to comply.”
Nate looks up at Maggie and puts his finger to his lips and shakes his head. He checks his ammo and slams the clip back in his rifle. “We have no women here and not many supplies. So why don’t you just get the fuck outta here and no more blood has to be shed.”
“Alright, if that’s how you want it, that’s how you’ll get it . . . the hard way.”
Suddenly gunfire erupts from inside the house and glass shatter is heard followed by screaming. Nate tries to peek around the door but flinches back when bullets burst through the drywall just above his head, covering him with dust.
The Ark Series (Book 2): The Ark of Attrition Page 12