“Good,” Aby said. “Let’s go and talk to Perry. He’ll know what to do...how to get us to rally together...we can round up the other survivors.”
Jake wondered how many people had died in the past few hours. It was sickening to imagine. The town had been bursting with life when they’d arrived. Now, half of the residents were dead. Jake felt like he was on forbidden grounds just by being there, walking around alive when the people who’d lived and died for their town would never get to walk there again. He shook the thought off. He had to stay focussed. If he put in the work to protect the town, then maybe one day he’d be worthy of calling it his own as well.
As they headed outside, Perry was just about to collect them himself. He glanced between Jake and Aby.
“We’ve been thinking…”
“Us too…”
“The barricade,” Aby and Perry said in unison. They nodded to one another.
“Yes. We need to restructure it...those trucks tore half of it down, but we can rebuild it,” Perry said. “You go on ahead...take Megan and John with you. I’ll try and round up others from the town.”
Jake didn’t mention that there might not be anyone to round up. He hoped that they might’ve been the worst hit area of the town since they were on the border, but he honestly had no clue how many people could’ve possibly survived the onslaught. Still, that wasn’t for him to worry about. He needed to hope that whoever was left would be enough to get them through another attack.
Calling Megan and John down from upstairs, the group of them jogged to what was left of the barricade. It was a mess, especially with so many bodies littering the streets, but they didn’t have time to mourn each person who’d been lost. They needed to save themselves.
“We need heavier items this time,” John mused. “To make the barricade stronger...if we work in teams then we can get heavier things to make up the barricade. It’s better than grabbing useless scrap on our own. Let’s split off.”
Jake found himself with Perry and some of the men he’d found in the town. They found some big chunks of metal from their community junkyard and carried them up to the barricade as a team. John was right. It was much more effective working together. It was hot and sweaty work, made harder by their tired bones after the battle, but Jake gritted his teeth and got on with it, running on adrenaline. He hadn’t made it through the first battle just to fall at the next hurdle. He would work until he fell down if he had to. If that was what it took to save the town then he was willing to make that sacrifice.
As he helped lug some of the heaviest items they could find, he saw Aby keeping guard with a few others. He wasn’t sure if he imagined it, but he thought he could see her hands shaking as she held her gun, looking out at the abandoned road and waiting for signs of action. There was no sign of anyone out there, but it didn’t stop the fear of someone turning up. Someone could show up at any time with a force so big they could wipe out them all.
But Jake wouldn’t let that happen while there was still breath in his body.
It was hot and sweaty by the time Perry told them to stop and take a break. They’d just lugged a semi truck manifold across to the barricade and it had taken everyone on the team to get it that far. Jake welcomed the break, ignoring the aching in his arms as he accepted a glass of water and a salted pretzel from a woman handing out supplies.
“Reminds me of being on tour,” Perry said, wiping his sweating brow. Jake raised his eyebrows.
“Where did you fight?”
“Out in Iraq. They always had us busy there, even when we weren’t fighting. Wherever we’d set up base, they always had some work for us to do. It was more like a conservation programme than a war sometimes...we were defending towns and rebuilding them up to make them safe. I guess that’s why I always thought I’d know what to do in a situation like this...I thought I knew how to keep these people safe.”
Abigail and John, who were sitting close to Perry, patted his back.
“You’re doing everything you can, Daddy,” Abigail said with a sad smile. “More than most of us. We’d be lost without you.”
“We still might be in trouble anyway,” Perry said with a long sigh. “We have no idea what we’re going to be up against here...the city folk were one thing, but seasoned fighters? Murderers? Violent gang members? Hell we’ve got trouble coming our way, kid. I’m not sure we can make it through this time.”
“Don’t say that,” Jake said. “Aaron said they might not even come this way...he thinks his was the first town they hit. We might have enough time to prepare…”
That was when they heard the rumble of a car engine. They all stopped eating to listen in horror. Jake’s heart was thudding so hard that he thought it might beat out of his chest. They weren’t ready. The barricade wasn’t finished. They still had to prepare...
Were the prisoners coming already?
Fifteen
Megan
The barricade was coming together. Sure, it was taking a long time and sure, Megan wasn’t doing much of the heavy lifting, but she felt good being a part of things. She was still shaken up by what had gone down in the battle, but she wanted to be useful. She’d seen Aby rushing into the thick of it all and knew she wanted to be like her. She looked up to her as a friend and as a mentor.
Now, she was getting stuck in, too. While the men were doing the majority of the heavy lifting, she’d fallen into the job of helping to arrange the barricade. It was like a giant Tetris puzzle, trying to slot pieces in places to make it as strong as possible. Megan knew that the aim was to keep out vehicles, which was going to be a huge task in itself. Their last attempt at a barricade had been ploughed down by their attackers and they’d barely made it out alive. But this time, they were better informed, they were better prepared and they were making a stronger barricade. She felt confident that they could at least hold people off, even if they couldn’t stop them entirely.
“Make sure there’s some room to shoot through,” she told the men as they brought up another hunk of metal for the barricade. “The barricade is a good shield, but we don’t want it to be so good that we can’t attack from its safety.”
Jake nodded to her as he sweatily let go of their latest scrap metal find. “Good job, Megan. You’re made for this.”
Megan beamed at him, even though he was already turning away. Because he was right. She was suited to work like this. She wasn’t strong or tough, but she was smarter than she ever let on. She’d spent years being told by her partner that she was useless, but it wasn’t true. When she put her mind to a task, it always got done and it got done well. Now that she was in charge of the barricade, she realized that she didn’t need to be firing a gun to save a life. Aby had pushed her back on the battlefield to do things that she never thought she’d be capable of and it made her sick to imagine how she’d behaved, even if the whole thing was a blur now. This, though? This she could do without a guilty conscience.
As she worked, though, she felt herself getting distracted occasionally. It seemed like every time she looked up, Jake and Aby were looking at one another, or talking, or stealing a touch here and there. Even running on borrowed time they still had so much time for one another.
It made her feel impossibly jealous. She’d never had a love like that. She wanted someone to look out for her the way they looked out for each other. She was always going to be a third wheel when she was with them, but at least she used to have Derron with her as company. Her throat tightened when she remembered what had happened to him. She supposed she should be grateful that she still had her health. But she also knew that life wasn’t worth much without someone to care for. She despised her old partner and the way he treated her, but at least she’d had somewhere to channel her love and caring. Now, she felt more alone than ever. John and Abigail didn’t help either, always sticking together along with Perry. They were a family, after all.
That’s what she craved. A family.
She shook her head to herself as she waited on gu
ard at the barricade. She was being selfish and ridiculous. Why was she daydreaming about love when their lives had been turned upside down? It occurred to her that she might be scared that she’d die before she’d ever have a love like theirs. She might never have her dream man get down on one knee and propose to her. She might never know the feeling of having a child inside her. She might never even get kissed again. The odds were stacked against them, after all.
And as that thought struck her, she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. Her heart skipped a beat and she shrunk back behind the barricade. She couldn’t yet see anyone on the horizon, but if she could hear them, that was a bad sign. She gasped for air, telling herself to remain calm.
“We need to finish the barricade! Hurry!” she cried to the men as they sat resting with glasses of water. They were on their feet within moments and the others on the barricade grabbed their rifles, preparing for an onslaught. Megan felt sweat trickle down her neck. She suddenly felt the absence of not having a job to do. All she could do was wait on others. She was waiting for the mob to show up, or the men to bring more scrap, or someone to give her orders. Standing still made her feel sick with anxiety.
The men arrived back with scrap just as the mob became visible over the horizon. The group was clearly all men, and they chanted as they walked alongside the vehicles they’d plundered. Megan couldn’t understand what they were chanting, but it made her anxious anyway. It surely couldn’t be anything good.
But one thing struck her. The group was badly organized. They were moving slowly on foot, clearly not wanting to rush ahead with the few vehicles they had. They were large in number, but many of them were unarmed, or at least didn’t have guns. Megan surveyed all of this as the others made a desperate scramble to finish the barricade.
These men reminded her of a colony of ants. Scattering around everywhere, focussed on the same purpose, but not necessarily working as a team. Sometimes their chanting would fall out of sync and it occurred to Megan that these people were all for themselves, not for the collective. That was a weakness they’d have to play on.
Behind her, she heard the sound of something slumping to the ground. She turned in shock and saw Jake lying on the floor, completely flat out exhausted. He’d overexerted him. And as he collapsed, several others too, like dominos that didn’t even have to touch one another to fall down. Megan stared at them helplessly. They were needed. Without the strong men of the group, they wouldn’t survive.
“Get up!” she squeaked, but none of them responded. The barricade was pretty much complete, but Megan knew they needed to band together to attack as well as defend. She took several calming breaths.
“Come on everyone, we can do this! On your feet!” she cried. But even as Jake stirred, he didn’t seem able to stand. He was totally beat. Megan’s fear seeped into her heart.
They were doomed.
But the mob had stopped. They were crowding the road, but they were still quite a distance from the town. Megan held her breath as silence enveloped them all. This mob might be unorganized, but the unpredictability of the men made them even more dangerous. She picked up her rifle slowly, not wanting to startle anyone. Everyone stood in silence behind their self-made barricade. She needed someone to tell her what to do, but everyone remained completely silent.
“What now?” she hissed. Suddenly, the sound of a bullet tore through the air. It wasn’t close enough to be one of theirs. Megan whipped her head around, trying to figure out who was shooting and who had been shot.
Then she saw a man standing right where Jake was slumped on the ground. A bullet had torn his chest wide open. Blood seeped from the wound. He clutched at his chest, his eyes wide, but it was too late. Megan knew that now.
He collapsed to the floor.
Sixteen
Jake
The man crumpled on the floor beside him and Jake felt his body shocked back to life. His body somehow forgot that it had gone into meltdown and he sprung to his feet, running to the barricade to give himself some shelter.
“Everyone take cover!” Perry cried. It was easy to see why he’d taken the lead with all of his experience and his relationship with the townsfolk. Jake felt good having someone else take the lead for once. After all, he was quickly losing the ability to walk and think, let alone lead the group to victory.
If victory was even possible, at this point.
“Save your bullets until they’re in range!” Perry ordered. “Hold off for now. The barricade should hold.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Megan asked in a squeal. It was clear she wasn’t physically or emotionally prepared for another wave of attack. Perry swallowed.
“If it doesn’t, then I don’t know what we’ll do. But this is our best shot.”
The mob began to advance, chanting once again and shooting their weapons at the barricade. The bullets ricocheted off the barrier each time, but Jake still jumped every time one got close. He felt useless, sitting there and waiting, but he knew patience would keep them alive. Even after ransacking the bodies, they had to be careful with their ammo. Once it ran out, it would be gone forever, and they didn’t want to risk ever being unarmed.
As the others gathered at the barricade, another man was shot down with a cry. Jake turned to him immediately and tried to see if there was anything he could do for him. He knew a little about first aid so perhaps he would be able to save a life instead of taking one. He had a bit of time before the mob arrived to at least try. He sliced open the man’s shirt, ignoring his cries of agony.
The bullet had hit his abdomen and was seeping dark red blood. Jake couldn’t tell if the bullet had passed through him or whether it was still lodged inside. That was a worry in itself. He had no idea if he was supposed to get the bullet out or whether he was meant to leave it. The man groaned beneath him and Jake hastily ripped off a section of the man’s shirt and applied pressure to the wound. It was the one thing he was certain would help. He couldn’t stand the idea that he might do something to hinder instead of help the man.
Around his ears, the battle was commencing. Jake felt each gun shot jolt his heart, but somehow, it didn’t seem completely real. The gunshots were too quiet to him to seem like they were real. They popped around his ears like firecrackers on bonfire night. It reminded him more of a party than a battle.
And then he looked down and saw the blood on his hands. He saw the colour draining from the man’s face. It brought him back to reality. He had to do something or the man was going to die.
He looked around for someone to help him. Everyone was at the barricade, now returning fire under Perry’s command. They were too busy to help the fallen soldier. After all, they needed every single person they could get firing back when they were so massively outnumbered. Jake knew he should probably join them. The man was becoming more of a hindrance by the minute.
But he didn’t want to give up just yet.
“Oh my God,” Aby said, joining Jake at his side. “I didn’t even know someone else had been hit...what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Jake shouted over the sound of gunfire. “He’s losing blood fast. I don’t know enough to treat him. He needs a doctor or a nurse if he’s going to survive.”
Aby clutched at the man’s wrist. “His pulse is very low...he’s not going to make it if we don’t do something right now.”
Once again, Jake considered giving in, but the man stared at him with fearful eyes and Jake knew he couldn’t abandon him in his final minutes. He had to at least try to keep him alive.
“Perry!” Jake shouted, rushing to the barricade. Perry didn’t take his eyes off the battle, aiming and shooting his rifle expertly. His eye was pressed into the rifle’s scope. He pulled the trigger once again and it kicked back a little. There was a scream in the distance.
He was pretty good.
“What, Jake?”
“There’s a man down. Do you have any kind of doctor here?””
“There’s a nurse in town
, but I haven’t seen her for hours. She might even have been killed before.”
“If she’s alive, where would she be?”
“She lives in the red house on the main street. It’s right at the end of the road you can’t miss it.”
Jake thanked him gratefully and ran back to the man’s side. He looked at Aby.
“Perry says there’s a nurse in town...if she’s alive, she will be able to save him.”
“I’ll go,” Aby said immediately. “I can run fast to go and find her...you’re a better shot, too. They need you.”
Jake wavered. As much as he knew she was talking sense, he also knew that running out into the line of fire was something he could never let his fiance do. He knew it would be dangerous at the barricade too, especially if the mob got close enough, but at least the others would have her back. He shook his head at Aby.
“No. I’ll go. Stay with him, apply pressure to the wound...and watch your back.”
Before Aby had any time to object, he was already running to the main street. He could hear bullets whizzing past, but fuelled on pure adrenaline, he knew he was going to make it. It didn’t matter somehow that minutes before, he'd collapsed on the ground, exhausted by the efforts of the day. The survival instinct inside him was too strong to let him down now. He was relying on miracles to keep getting him through each battle, but he was coming out each of them even stronger.
The red house was easy to spot. As he sprinted toward it, his lungs burning, he prayed for another miracle. That somehow the nurse was alive, unhurt by the battles of the day. That she would be willing to help even if she’d been hiding in terror up until now. She never signed up to be a nurse on the battlefield, after all. Before today, they’d all been just ordinary people, really. Now, they were soldiers.
Bullets sprayed around his feet, but he kept running. He’d almost made it. He stumbled, his legs aching like crazy, but he didn’t stop. He collapsed against the door of the red house and knocked on it hard, waiting for someone to show up.
The End of the World Series | Book 2 | Survive The Onslaught Page 9