by Davis, James
“Get back to work!” A mean Asian voice sounded behind him as something solid smashed into his back. He groaned in pain as he turned from the fence and headed back toward the garden with Betty Sue, Karen and the kids.
“You’re lucky my boys are at that refinery.” Dub grumbled as he walked away.
The U.N. troops had shown up not long after Sharp took Clay, Ashley and Hank away. They had set up a fence around Dub’s property and taken over his home. The troops made Dub and everyone else sleep in tents at night while they slept in Dub's home and bunker, and during the day, everyone worked.
Dub looked around at the tall corn and tomato stalks before he picked up his hoe and bent over, pretending to work the dirt as he made his way toward Betty Sue and Karen. Betty had basically shut down after the U.N. enslaved everyone. Her smart mouth didn’t help either. A few whacks to the head and now she barely talked at all anymore. She just stayed quiet and wouldn’t look at anyone. It broke Dub’s heart to see her like that, and he was already planning to kill that evil bastard that hit her in the head. He just had to bide his time and catch the little prick off guard. Dub glanced over to Karen who seemed to be off in her own world at the moment.
"Doin’ alright darlin?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.
Karen jumped, startled as she had been almost completely lost in her thoughts. She hadn't noticed Dub’s approach. She looked up and forced "I'm fine." She nodded "You?
"I'm just fine. How’s them youngins?"
"They're doing okay, probably missing their D-A-D's." she said, spelling out the word to avoid getting the kids worked up.
"You think they're gonna be alright? Hank, Clay, and Ashley I mean." Karen asked, looking off in the distance, before turning her head to meet his gaze. Dub seemed to contemplate this, choosing his words more carefully than he usually would. He nodded slowly.
"I reckon they'll be just fine. Them boys are harder to get rid of than a bad case of crabs."
"Oh god, stop it!" She hissed, holding in a chuckle.
Dub grinned.
"I'm sure they're givin ol' Sharp hell right now." Dub wasn't sure if he believed any of that, but didn't see any reason to share that with Karen.
“How’s she doing?” Karen asked, gesturing toward Betty Sue.
“Oh, you know how she is. This entire ordeal has taken its toll on her.” Karen nodded, already knowing what he would say.
Dub took a red cloth from the front pocket of his overalls and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Ain't seen my boys today, have you?" he asked, looking around searching the group of people milling around.
"They took a group of men out early this morning." Karen replied.
"Line up! Dinner time!" A man shouted across the garden.
"Dinner time my ass!" Dub grumbled "Feedin' us slop while they get fat clearing out my damn freezers! Do you know how many huntin’ trips it took to fill those things? A whole damn bunch that's how many!" Dub complained as he fell in line with Betty, Karen and the two kids. Three soldiers led them to the barn where a makeshift cafeteria had been set up. A large metal pot had been set up over a fire toward the back and several wobbly wooden tables and folding chairs filled the room.
Dub grabbed a stack of bowls and handed them out to Betty, Karen and the kids as they waited in line. When it was finally their turn, a fat and very sweaty man, wearing a greasy apron and a hair net dipped his ladle into the pot and dumped it into each bowl.
“Enjoy your meal!” The fat greasy foreigner said with a deep chuckle. Dub glared at the man as they all left the line to find a table.
The soup in the bowls resembled old dish water with small chunks of vegetables floating in it and Dub wasn't entirely sure it wasn't exactly that.
"Them boys get back, we're gonna whip some ass and take back my damn farm. This ain't right." Dub muttered, slurping a spoonful of his soup.
"No, it's not. I'm already fed up with these assholes treating us like slaves." Karen replied. Dub looked over at Betty who was barely touching her food.
“Hun, you need to eat something to keep up your strength.” he said as he rubbed her back. She didn’t reply. She just stared down at the bowl and took very small sips of the soup.
"It's yucky." Toby whined as his mother attempted to shove a spoonful of soup into his mouth, while Emma quietly spooned soup into her own.
After trying and failing to get Toby to eat something, Karen grabbed her own spoon and took a bite. Emma and Toby giggled as she screwed up her face and choked it down. She dropped her spoon into the bowl of now cold soup and pushed it away. They were all losing weight faster than normal as the food got worse and worse. Karen was starting to resemble a skeleton with skin draped over it, and the two kids didn’t look much better.
"You'll get used to it." Dub said, turning his bowl up and slurping the last of his soup down.
"Dinner is over! Back to your bunks for the night. Headcount in five minutes, get moving!" A large tan soldier with wide mustache and a thick middle-eastern accent shouted to the room.
“Come get some grub bro.” Hank said as he came up the hill and stood next to his brother. Clay looked at Hank, seeming to consider his words and then stuck a hand out for Hank to help him up. They both stood in silence watching the last bits of daylight sink below the tree line.
“You hungry?” Hank asked.
“I could eat.” Clay replied with a nod. Hank nodded and started back down the hill and Clay followed. Once they were inside Hank led them to the back of the store and through a door he hadn’t previously seen. The door opened to the bottom of a staircase.
“I never even saw that door earlier.” Clay said as he followed Hank up the stairs.
“Me neither. This is Bear’s apartment up here. That’s how he got the drop on us earlier.” Hank replied. The sweet smell of cooking meat wafted through the air into Clay’s nostrils causing him to salivate, immediately lifting his and everyone else's spirits.
“What is that smell? It smells amazing!” Clay said as his stomach began to rumble. Hank heard this and chuckled.
“Bear killed himself a deer yesterday and has been cooking the meat constantly so none of it goes to waste. There is more than enough to get your gut filled up.” Hank explained as they cleared the final step and approached the final door to Bear’s apartment. Before Hank could knock the door swung open and Bear ushered them inside.
“Alright girls, I’ve got plenty to choose from, steak, burger, stew you get the picture. Just help yourselves. Mi casa, su casa, and all of that.” Bear said with a wave of his hand as he sat back down at a table to finish his own meal. A flash of blonde hair caught Clay’s attention and he turned to see a short skinny woman making two heaping plates of the deer meat. She brought the plates over and sat them down on the table before taking her own seat next to Bear.
“This is Wendy, you guys met earlier.” Bear said with a chuckle as he stuffed a huge chunk of meat into his mouth. Wendy glanced up at the two brothers.
“Sorry about that y’all. You just never can tell who is good and who isn’t nowadays.” she said with a thick southern drawl.
“Don’t worry about it. We would have done the exact same thing if it was the other way around.” Hank said, pulling his chair out and sitting down across from Bear as Clay did the same across from Wendy. They all sat in silence eating for the first few minutes until Hank spoke up.
“So, we told you all about us, what’s your stories?” he asked as he cut off another bite of his steak. Bear finished the last few bites from his plate and sat back in his chair and let out an enormous burp.
“Jesus, Bear! We’re all still trying to eat!” Wendy exclaimed as she leaned away from him. He chuckled and sat forward, placing his forearms on the table and crossing his fingers.
“There’s not much to tell honestly.” Bear started with a shrug of his shoulders.
“I was driving up from Florida when it all started. Luckily, I made it here before it got re
ally bad. Anyway, this store and apartment belonged to my parents. They were gone when I got here though. I searched everywhere for them. I just kept filling the tank in my car over and over, sometimes twice a day from the pumps downstairs but I just could not find them.” he said, smacking his hand on the table with each word to emphasize his point.
“Once I had used up all of the fuel, I had to let it go and hope for the best. My guess is that they went to one of those damn FEMA camps.” Bear said, shaking his head with disgust.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Hank said. Bear raised his hands, palms up and shrugged.
“It is what it is. I can’t afford to have my mind tangled up like that, especially in the world we all live in now. Those kinds of distractions will get you killed quick these days.” Bear said as he looked right at Clay. Clay ignored him and finished eating. After dinner, Bear showed them where they could sleep and brought out some extra pillows and blankets.
“It’s not much, but it beats sleeping out there.” Bear said, pointing a thumb behind him.
“No man, this is perfect. Thank you.” Hank replied. Bear nodded.
“You fellas make yourselves at home. I’m going to bed.” Twenty minutes later the apartment was silent and everyone was starting to doze off. Except for Clay. He was wide awake.
I have to get home to Emma! he thought as he lay there staring up at the ceiling. Hank raised up on an elbow and looked over at Clay.
“I know you’re worried sick about Emma. Hell, I’m worried about Karen and Toby myself, but we can’t get in a hurry. If we start rushing, we’ll make mistakes that could potentially get us killed, or cause someone to trail us back to the farm.”
“You don’t think I already know all of that? You’re not the one that just had to bury your wife or lay here and think about how you’re going to tell your kid that her momma is never coming home.” Clay snapped back, a little too aggressive.
“Look, I’m just trying to give you some advice. You don’t have to be an asshole about it.” Hank shot back.
“I didn’t ask you for any fucking advice Hank. If you want to help me just stay the hell out of my way!” Clay all but shouted, rolling over to face the wall. Hank shook his head at Clay’s sudden outburst and then laid back down without saying another word.
When the first snores became audible Clay slowly got to his feet and eased over to his gear and started to put it all on as quietly as he could manage. After double checking everything, he eased over to the door and slowly started opening it. He quietly slid out the door and gently closed it behind him making sure not to make any noise.
He made his way down the steps and back outside in under a minute. When he finally got far enough away from the building he stopped and pulled out a red headlight. The red light was just bright enough that he could see where he was stepping without showing his position to anyone that might be around watching.
Several hours later the sun was starting to brighten the eastern sky behind him as he made his way down the edge of the road toward the West Virginia state line.
“Need to find a place to lay low until it gets dark again.” Clay muttered to himself. He had made up his mind to only move at night to lessen the chance of being spotted. Clay spotted an old van with dark windows on the far edge of the field he was crossing, and decided that would be the perfect location to hole up in until dark. He picked up his pace and two minutes later he was climbing inside the van for some much-needed rest.
Chapter Four
Hank sat bolt upright glancing from side to side trying to figure out where he was at. When it finally dawned on him, he chuckled and flopped back down on his pillow. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up to stretch. A satisfied groan escaped his lips as his back popped several times. Wendy walked into the living room with two steaming cups of coffee and handed one to Hank, then turned her head left then right before looking back at Hank.
“Where’s your brother? I brought him a cup too.” she said, glancing around the room once more. Hank did the same and then shrugged.
“I’m not real sure. Just set it down over there and I’ll give it to him when he comes back in.” Hank said pointing a finger at a small wooden table. She set the cup down and turned to go back in the kitchen. Before she was out of sight, she craned her neck and said.
“Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.”
“Alright, thanks Wendy.” Hank replied, before taking a long sip from his cup. A few minutes later the coffee started working its magic on Hank, just as Bear came into the room.
“Hey man I think you better go check outside for Clay. I don’t want to alarm you or anything but I’m positive I heard the front door open last night like someone left. I listened for a long time to see if it opened again but it never did.” Hank set his coffee down and grabbed his plate carrier from the floor and was about to put it on and go look for Clay when he noticed that Clay’s gear was no longer sitting next to his own.
“Son of a bitch! He took off without me.” Hank said, throwing his hands into the air.
“Calm down, he could just be taking a walk or something, maybe he went to his wife’s gravesite.” Bear said in a confident tone before taking a sip of his coffee. Hank shook his head.
“No way. He wouldn’t have taken that heavy pack with him if he was just going for a walk. I know Clay and he’s not out taking a walk for the fun of it.”
“It could be one of a hundred reasons. No sense in getting yourself upset over it just yet.” Bear said, giving Hank’s shoulder a quick pat as he headed for the kitchen. Hank got up and followed Bear into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Wendy came around and sat a large plate of food in front of them both before sitting down with her own plate. They sat there eating in silence for a while when something outside suddenly caught their attention.
“I bet that’s Clay. It’s about damn time!” Hank said as he raced to the window overlooking the front of the store where the noise had come from. Bear stepped up behind him and gazed down at the street below. Hank’s eyes grew wide when he saw the amount of people that were down there.
“There has to be a hundred people out there!” Hank said as he watched the group start bashing the SUV with a mixture of bats and tire irons.
“I sure hope you weren’t too fond of your ride.” Bear said with a chuckle.
“Shit! Watch out!” Hank shouted, quickly stepping back away from the window as a brick plowed through the window Bear was looking out of. Glass peppered Bear’s face causing him let out a string of choice words as he stumbled back holding his face. Blood trickled down between his fingers as he continued to hold his hand over his left eye.
“Are you alright?” Hank asked. Bear jerked his hand away from his face revealing a bloody cheek and eye covered in small shards of glass that were still embedded in his face and eye.
“What the fuck do you think?” Bear growled.
“Oh, shit man, sit down and let me get that out! Wendy! Get in here please and bring a first aid kit!” Hank shouted as he ducked more flying rocks and bricks. Wendy ran into the room holding a small white plastic case and dropped down next to Bear, who was still cursing.
“Let’s get him to the bathroom, this room isn’t safe right now.” Hank said as he tried to help Bear to his feet. Wendy stood up to help him, just as another brick sailed through the window, smashing her in the side of the head. She hit the ground hard with blood seeping from her ear and Hank moved over next to her.
“Shit, Wendy are you alright?” he asked as he tried to keep himself from freaking out. Wendy didn’t answer and Hank looked over to Bear who was still on the floor clutching his bloody face. He turned back to Wendy and checked for a pulse, but found none.
“Bear, man get your shit together! I think Wendy is dead!” Hank shouted over the growing noise of the crowd outside. This seemed to sink in with Bear and he gazed over at Hank with his one good eye.
“Pull her into the bathroom then come back and help me.” Bear said
in a now calm voice. Hank nodded and grabbed Wendy’s lifeless body under her arms and started pulling her toward the bathroom. As soon as Hank got to his feet more rocks and bricks came flying through the window and crashing down all around him.
“Shit!” Hank shouted and dropped back down to his knees to continue pulling Wendy. After a few minutes he had her propped up against the bathtub and headed back out to help Bear. They were slowly crawling to the bathroom when Hank heard the sound of the windows downstairs smashing in.
“We have to hurry!” Hank said and started to drag Bear along. Once he got him into the bathroom, he slammed the door closed and quickly crawled back out to his gear and started putting it on. He press checked his rifle while sitting against the back wall next to one of the broken windows. Footsteps pounded up the stairs and Hank raised his rifle to aim at the door. The first person burst through holding a large machete over his head, and Hank fired a three-round burst into the man dropping him instantly. Two more followed behind the man but Hank was able to put them down quickly. One with a shot to the throat and the other a gut shot. The man with the gut shot let loose with a primal scream. It was something that Hank had never heard before and it disturbed him to say the least.
The screams continued as Hank sat there focusing on the destroyed door, waiting for someone else to come in, but they never did.
“That guy’s screaming must have made them think twice about coming in here.” Hank thought as he eased up onto a knee so he could see further down into the stairwell. He spotted the very top of a man’s head and took aim. He slowly released his breath and eased back on the trigger. The rifle bucked and the top of the man’s head disappeared in a cloud of pink mist.
“Screw this! I’m outta here!” A panicked voice sounded from the stairwell followed by fading footsteps. Hank chuckled.
“That’s what I thought.” He murmured as he eased his way closer to the door. Finally at the door, all he could see was the motionless bodies lying down the steps. Seeing that the immediate threat was gone for the moment Hank rushed over to the bathroom and ripped open the door to find Bear hunched over Wendy’s corpse. Tears fell from the big man’s right eye and blood dripped from his left. Hank moved in next to him and said in a soft voice, “Bear, let me take a look at that eye.” Bear turned to face Hank and sat back against the tub, still holding Wendy’s hand in his own. Hank knelt down and got a good look at his eye for the first time and breathed a sigh of relief.