The Pulse Effex Series: Box Set

by L. R. Burkard

  And then I had a flashback of the moment I’d stabbed Mark Steadman when he’d been about to murder my brother. Normally I hated that memory and did my best to suppress it. I didn’t like that I might have mortally wounded him—I’ll probably never know. But right now, the memory boosted my resolve. I didn’t have to see myself as a victim—I was a protector! I could help defend us now just as I’d saved my brother then!

  With Kool barking behind me, I couldn’t hear if anyone was within range. I was about to take a blind shot-–what the heck—when Angel stopped me.

  “Wait! Your brother and my husband are out there somewhere!”

  “So put Kool in the bedroom,” I answered “and then I can listen.” No sooner did Angel return than I heard voices! I looked at Angel. “Can I shoot?”

  “Oh, glory,” she murmured, which meant she was perplexed. But she said, “No. Wait. Our men could be out there.”

  “I wish they were. I wish we knew for sure they’re okay.”

  “Me, too.”

  And then we heard a beep—from the two-way radio! Angel turned without a word and rushed to the counter where she’d put her unit. We all had our own. If we went any distance from the house we were supposed to take one with us. We’d been good about remembering to do that, especially since the last attack. We hadn’t initiated contact because each unit emitted a beep even when turned off, when another tried to connect with it. One beep could give away their location if Richard and Tex happened to be hiding and within earshot of the enemy.

  But they’d contacted us. Angel gave a sigh of relief as she surveyed the trusty instrument, grasped it and was about to turn it on.

  “Don’t!” I shouted.

  “Why not?”

  “What if they’re hiding? What if you turn it on and it crackles and gives them away?”

  She hesitated, thinking it over. “I don’t think Tex would’ve beeped us if he couldn’t talk.”

  “But he might just be trying to tell you they’re okay.”

  She stared at me a moment. Slowly, she said, “I guess that could be the case; but it’s not. I know my husband!” Before I could say another word she flipped on the unit. I stared at her, at a loss. Had she just endangered our men?

  At first we only heard static. To me, Angel said, “We need to know if they’re coming so we can be ready.” Into the unit she said, “Tex? Honey, you hear me?”

  The static grew for a few seconds and then suddenly cleared. We heard Tex’s heavy voice. (Later I’d remember this and chuckle because he sounded like they’d just returned from collecting eggs from the hens, not facing an enemy!)

  “We’re at the back door, sweetheart. Think you could let us in?” Angel didn’t even bother to answer but with a gasp of joy nearly threw down the unit and both of us rushed pell-mell to the back.

  “Why didn’t they just knock?” I asked, as we ran.

  “Probably so we wouldn’t mistake them for marauders and shoot!”

  In seconds we were working on the locks and bars and then we had the door open and there stood Tex and Richard! My exuberance faded because at their feet were the two bodies of the men Angel had shot. And Tex was holding Kane, who was completely limp, in his arms.

  Kane is a big Husky. But Tex is a big man. He carried him into the house and it was all I could do to lock up once they’d entered. I wanted to rush to my dog. Kool was let out of the bedroom so he could slobber all over Tex but for once Tex didn’t stop to greet him. He put Kane on the sofa, on a blanket which Angel quickly provided, and we all gathered around him.

  As we said his name, his tail gave the smallest, feeble wag. He whimpered faintly and blinked. Angel and I were crying.

  “It’s okay, wolf-dog,” I said, wishing I could believe it. I spoke softly beside his head. His tail thumped lightly. I stroked his head and face. Angel handed me gauze which I used to dab at the wound. It broke my heart that Kane’s beautiful head now seemed misshapen on one side, where he’d sustained the worst blow.

  Richard looked glum, and Tex—for the first time since I’d known him—looked truly despondent.

  “What can we do for him?” I asked. Angel brought water. I lifted Kane’s head gently but he showed no interest in it.

  “Find a piece of meat,” Tex said. Meat, of course, was scarce. The dogs had gradually gotten used to a diet of stored dry dog food, occasionally getting scraps of meat if it was available. Angel got a piece of salt pork—it was all we had handy—but Kane wouldn’t even sniff it. Kool had to be held in order not to grab it but when Kane wouldn’t so much as open an eye, Angel gave it to him, and he gobbled it up. As I continued to sit with my dog, stroking him softly, Tex and Richard gave a run-down of their exploits outside. “That barn exploding helped us,” Tex said. “When we got out there, we took down the two at the front door, but we saw a lot of ‘em running away already.”

  “A couple of them looked injured from the blasts,” Richard added.

  “It sounded like you were running them off,” said Angel. “Except for the two who did this to Kane,” she added, ruefully.

  “They must have rounded back,” Richard said.

  “We took down six or seven,” Tex added. “The others got off.”

  “How many were there? Do you have an idea?”

  Tex and Richard looked at each other. “Looked like at least a dozen,” Tex said.

  “Daisy?” asked Angel.

  “She found us. Walked right through the bushes and poked me with her nose. I almost shot her! They must have tried to take her—but she’s as stubborn as a mule.” They chuckled at that. I don’t think I even smiled, because I was too heart-sick about Kane.

  Suddenly Kane shuddered. I spoke faster, softly, trying to comfort my poor wolf-dog. Everyone came back around him, and then, as I stroked his side and head, he gave a sudden, wracking shudder that seemed to travel through his whole body—and went still. It took me a few moments to comprehend that Kane—my poor, loyal protector—had died!

  Tex turned away. I sobbed against Kane’s body, so soft yet. Angel’s face, tear-stained and red, must have mirrored my own. I tried not to lose control of myself, but the day’s events, the constant danger, losing Kane—I was suddenly sick of it all!

  “Listen,” Tex said. “We always knew that if things got bad, we’d eventually have to give up the dogs.” He was speaking to Angel. She nodded, sniffling.

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “Why would you give them up?”

  He turned to me. “There’s no room for the animals in our escape plan.”

  “So what is that plan?” asked Richard, who had sat down in a side chair wearily.

  “It’s what we do when we have to vacate the cabin,” Tex said.

  “Yeah, but what is it? Where do we go from here? And how do you figure on getting away safely?”

  Tex looked at Angel for a moment. “Let’s get us some grub and then we’ll sit down and explain it to you both. But first,” he glanced down at me and Kane. I was still holding him with my head against his side, not able to stop stroking his fur.

  “We need to bury Kane.”

  Angel said, “I don’t want you going back out there! We can wait for daylight!” Tex hesitated, and said, “Okay. But let’s move him to the back.” He gently nudged my head up and removed my arm from Kane’s side. “Sorry, dumplin’.”

  It normally makes me smile when Tex calls me that because even though we eat well here, I’m still the furthest thing from a dumpling. I was way undernourished when we arrived and I’m still skinny. I think he calls me that because I’m so skinny. He says it affectionately. But as I watched him carry off my beloved pet, I had no smile.

  “C’mon, Sarah. Help me get some supper out,” Angel said. I suspected she was trying to get my mind off my grief. There was no discussion about trying to put out the fire. The barn was destroyed by the blasts, and we did not have enough water readily available to fight fire, anyway.

  I thought about our loft going up in smoke and
it gave me an all-too-familiar feeling. The loss, the emptiness. It was like a replay of what had happened back at the apartment building right after the pulse. We’d lost everything then; later we’d lost a stash of great food when the soldiers burned up that abandoned home we’d found; and now our barn, the place I’d slept until recently, was gone, destroyed.

  When Tex returned, he said, “We did overhear enlightening conversation out there.” Angel and I looked up at him curiously. He continued, “I was wondering why they would keep at us when we’re not an easy target. I mean, let’s face it, most people don’t have rebar and steel mesh in their walls. But we heard them saying this was personal, on account of us killing somebody’s cousin the last time they were here.”

  Angel said, “I knew it was personal!”

  Richard said, “They also think we’re hoarding a lot of good stuff or why else would we be protecting it so well?”

  Tex said, “And they would be correct.”

  Richard and I exchanged impressed glances. We’d searched high and low in the cabin for a secret panel, a sliding door, something that might open to this hidden treasure we’d gradually realized existed. But we’d never found it.

  “Richard, tomorrow you and I will go back out and double up on our traps—close to the house this time.” He looked at Angel. “But we’d better start emptying this place out. It’s only a matter of time. They’re determined to get us.”

  Chapter 18

  SARAH

  Somehow we managed to fall asleep last night and held Kane’s burial today. Before we lowered him gently into a hole that Tex and Richard dug, I stared hard at his lifeless form. I dug my hands into his thick fur and stroked his head. I was afraid I would forget my wolf-dog. Angel took pictures of him as a puppy but we had no recent photos. I wished I’d taken the time to sketch him.

  Things like that—art and hobbies—there’s no such thing these days. Every minute except for the time I spend on my journal is taken up with living.

  The smoking remains of the barn is another sad testament of yesterday’s attack. Like last time, Tex and Richard took anything we could use from the dead marauders and then placed the bodies onto a pile of simmering embers, which Richard had stirred into flames. I refused to look closely at any of them. The very idea of there being dead people around is creepy enough for me. Since the pulse I’ve seen more than my fair share of dead bodies—but I’ll never get used to it.

  While the men did their work, Angel and I took stock of our remaining garden. We actually found a few baby squash hidden among greenery that hadn’t burned or been destroyed by the explosions. They need to grow, so we left them. Tex didn’t want us venturing far from the house so we didn’t get to check on more of the survival crops; instead, Angel and I got busy inside the cabin, boxing up all the food that isn’t already boxed up.

  “C’mon, Sarah,” she said. “Let’s get the rest of our stuff into the hallway.” I eyed her doubtfully. I still didn’t get how piling all our things into the hallway was a good idea, and I realized then that Tex had never explained their backup plan last night.

  “Angel, how do you figure on getting any of this out if we’re attacked? Tex forgot to tell us what Plan B is.” I shook my head, following her from the storage room with our arms full into the hallway. The length of the hall was now lined with plastic tote bins and boxes. There were also a few white buckets like the ones we’d seen at that house before the soldiers burned it.

  “We’re just making it easier for them to get this stuff,” I added, wearily.

  “Tex wants to explain it to you and Richard,” she said. “Just know—we’ve got a plan. It’s an emergency plan, and I hoped we’d never have to use it—but it’s coming to that.”

  I kept my backpack handy and began squeezing some items into it as we worked. Extra dried beef sticks, small wrapped packages of crackers. One tote held vitamins and minerals and I shoved a bottle of multivites into the pack as well. It was absolutely stuffed, now. But if we were going to be on the run, I wanted to be ready.

  When we’d finished boxing up most of our supplies, Angel said, “Well, I guess I could use help moving all this stuff, so you’ll get to see Plan B!”

  “Cool!”

  But at that moment Tex and Richard slammed open the front door and ran inside. Tex was already pulling extra mags from his pants pocket and checking them.

  “We’ve got company!”

  Angel and I gasped. “So soon?” Angel asked. “They don’t want to give us time to regroup, that’s for sure!”

  Richard and Tex continued to stuff their pockets with ammunition and extra mags. Angel cried, “Not again! You are not going out there again! If they are back, then they are ready for you this time, or they’re fools!”

  Tex pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss. “Richard and I set up a barrier in front of the cabin. Keep the front door unlocked. If we get overrun, we’ll get right back inside.”

  Angel nodded but her eyes watered up. I was instantly filled with fresh indignation at these horrible marauders. Two people shouldn’t have to face that they could lose each other so violently every single day!

  Tex peered out the door, Kool at his heels, rifle ready. Angel grabbed the dog. “You can’t take Kool!”

  “Okay,” he said. He and Richard disappeared outside.

  “I wish I had a view from that window!” I said. “I can get the muzzle of my rifle through that slit but what kind of back up is that when I can’t see hardly anything?”

  “I know it,” Angel said, as she leashed Kool, still barking, to a wooden column. “But we can open up the side window shades and keep watch from there so they can’t come at our men from the back! You take the storage room, I’ll take the bedroom!”

  I grabbed an AR and two extra mags, my heart pumping madly, and ran to the storage room. It was dark in most of the house since we’d kept the metal shades down but I could see dimly. I’d have to raise the shade in order to see outside so I got to work. Tex was able to do this in seconds but it took me longer.

  When I finally got the shade up a couple of inches, I had a decent view, checked the action on the rifle, and flipped off the safety. Suddenly it felt surreal—and voices in my head accosted me.

  Who are you, Sarah Weaver, to keep guard at a window with a rifle! Do you really think you can shoot a fellow human being? What gives you the right? You are a coward! The girl who wouldn’t take the elevator alone if she could help it. If you see someone out there—who are you kidding? You’ll panic and do nothing!

  “No!” I said, out loud. “No! I am not that girl!”

  Angel came rushing to the room. “What is it?” she asked, running to the window to peer out.

  “I’m sorry—I’m just—talking to myself.” I felt my cheeks flush.

  Angel surveyed me, her face a mixture of compassion and curiosity. “I never heard you do that before,” she said. But she put a hand to her heart. “I’m glad that’s all it was, though. I thought you were talking to one of them.” She looked hard at me. “Can you do this?”

  “Yeah! I want to do this! I want our men to be safe!”

  “Okay,” she said, patting my arm. “Because if you can’t, let’s close up this window right now.”

  “No, I’m doing this,” I insisted.

  We heard shots. Tex and Richard! Angel dashed back towards the other room. “Shoot on sight!” she called.

  “I’m doing this,” I repeated to myself, grimly. “I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength.” Suddenly Angel was back and she handed me a shotgun. “This might be better in case there’s more than one. Just shoot in their direction!” And she was gone again.

  I hadn’t ever used the shotgun but I could tell it was ready to go. I got in a position that would allow me to shoot instantly.

  Then I smelled smoke, which seemed strong and close. Were they going to burn the house down around us? I heard thumps against the house off to my left.

  “You burn the
house, you burn their supplies, you idiot!”

  “I’d rather burn them than leave them!” came the reply. “They killed my cousin!”

  I turned in the direction of the voices but they were still out of sight. Evidently they’d come from the back of the property—if they got past me and Angel, Tex and Richard would be at their mercy!

  A third voice joined the others. “Tell me you did not try to burn this place!”

  “It was Kyle,” said one.

  “Look, we’re not getting in there,” said the man who must have been Kyle. “They got armor or something in these walls. I was just gonna burn the wood away so we know what we’re up against.”

  “Stupid!” said a new voice. Something about that voice bothered me. Had I heard it before? I was dying with fear at this point. There were at least three grown men out there and I was only me!

  “Watch out!” Someone yelled. Shots rang out. They weren’t from me—I couldn’t see anyone! But I heard them running away and then Tex’s voice. “They went around back.”

  I heard Angel cry, “Get inside, now!”

  “Go to the back!” I yelled, dropping my firearm, and rushing out of the room to get to the back door. As I ran I yelled to Angel to lock up the front—our men weren’t out there any longer. There was gunfire outside as I worked on the bars and locks and I realized that I couldn’t see who was getting shot—what if Tex and Richard were down? What if I was unlocking the door for the enemy?

  A loud blast shook me to the core. Angel was in the doorway to the storage room—the one I’d just fled from—and had shot at someone. They’d found my window unmanned! Shame filled me. “Did you get them?” I asked.

  “I got one,” she said. Then, “Let me at the door. You close up that window. We can’t keep more than one opening at a time.” But the door handle jiggled and I heard Richard’s voice. “It’s us—me and Tex! Let us in!”

  Gasping, I quickly lifted the last bar and opened the door to our men. As they hurried inside we heard a shot. A second later and I think one of them would have taken that bullet. The three of us hurried to get all the bars in place while Angel went and closed up the window. Then I finished the locks while Tex and Richard ran to the front of the house.