Return To Ely

by Darrell Maloney

  Maybe the sentry on duty was just in a lazy mood.

  Instead of watching constantly maybe he was just looking out every few minutes.

  If that were the case he needed to be fired immediately.

  Maybe even beaten for being so sloppy.

  But it wasn’t Dave’s show.

  Maybe that was the way the Dykes did things.

  He tried to remain calm as he swept the Bushnells back and forth between the firing ports.

  For ten full minutes he watched, hoping that at any time a head would pop up. That somebody would finally decide to do his damn job.

  At the end of the ten minutes he had to face reality.

  The pillbox was empty.

  Something terrible had happened.

  People had almost certainly died.

  He felt sick to his stomach.

  Chapter 46

  Dave broke out of the woods and scampered back to the rig, then climbed back aboard without so much as a word.

  Sal could tell by the look on his friend’s face that something was amiss, but didn’t ask.

  He knew Dave would tell them whenever it was prudent.

  Beth didn’t sense trouble.

  She’d been so excited she was on the cusp of seeing her mother again she just didn’t entertainment any other possibility.

  “Daddy… what’s the matter?”

  Dave, for his part, wasn’t one who kept many secrets.

  He was a straight shooter who believed everyone had a right to know what they were up against.

  At the same time, though, explanations were a secondary requirement.

  He’d already seen evidence of a hostile engagement in the forest.

  He’d already seen that a battle had taken place at the bunker.

  They were on a narrow road which cut a swath through a dense forest.

  There was a very distinct possibility they were being watched at this very moment.

  Someone might have the crosshairs of his rifle trained on the back of Dave’s head.

  Or even worse, on Beth’s.

  They might be breathing their very last breaths.

  No, Dave didn’t want to say anything to frighten Beth unnecessarily.

  In all likelihood, if there was anyone watching they’d have taken Dave out while he was in the woods, scoping out the bunker.

  If they’d had eyes on him then, he was an easy target.

  His rifle was still slung and he sat in the same place for at least fifteen minutes.

  In all likelihood, whatever went on at the bunker, whoever was killed or still alive, they were in no immediate danger.

  But that might change at any moment.

  He’d have plenty of time for explanations later.

  Right now he needed to get Beth and Sal to a safer place and consider his options.

  Chapter 47

  Old Lenny happened to be standing on the walkway in front of the sheriff’s office when Dave steered the rig back up Main Street.

  Lenny was a life-long smoker.

  He started out in Vietnam. Camels with no filters, because back then “Only sissies needed filters.”

  He himself switched to filters after his third tour in Nam because by that time he figured he proved to the world he was no sissy. He was as manly as any other soldier he knew.

  He made another concession ten years before when his wife talked him into switching to lights.

  His wife, bless her soul, died from coronary heart disease at age sixty.

  They both knew it was coming. It was in the family blood. Everyone in her bloodline died young. She lived longer than most.

  That didn’t make it better for Lenny, who was a lonely old cuss.

  He was also a stickler for the rules, and the town council of Eden had prohibited smoking in public buildings since the 1990s.

  The sheriff’s office was considered a public building.

  These days, Lenny was the only one there.

  He could have made his own rules, but he didn’t.

  That’s what he was doing outside.

  Smoking his Camel Light and missing his wife.

  Now, Lenny couldn’t see so well.

  His eyesight had been failing him for years.

  Back when there was a world, meaning life before the blackout, he went to see his optometrist religiously, once each year.

  And every year old Doc Hallen would issue him new eyeglasses with prescription lenses a little stronger than the year before.

  When the power went out Lenny’s annual appointment was but a week away.

  He went to the appointment because he was a creature of habit.

  “Nothing I can do, sorry,” Doc Hallen told him.

  “I can’t examine your eyes without electricity.

  “And even if I could, the lab up in Conley couldn’t make the lenses. You’re just gonna have to wait until the power comes back on.”

  Back then, a week after the blackout, folks in rural America still clung to the hope it was only temporary; that the lights would be back on at any time.

  Now everybody knew it was permanent.

  That things would eventually come back, but that it would take decades.

  Dr. Hallen was gone now.

  Suicide, like so many others.

  And Lenny had resolved himself to being blind as a bat.

  He took a drag on his cigarette and peered down the street.

  He knew Dave had returned, although the rig was nothing but a red blob a hundred yards away.

  What else could it be, really?

  These days there weren’t many big red things which came slowly up the street.

  Especially being pulled by two brown things which made a steady “clomp, clomp, clomp” sound on the pavement.

  “Uh oh,” the old man muttered beneath his breath. “This is probably bad news.”

  He was right.

  Dave pulled up reins right in front of him and jumped down.

  He could have stayed on the rig and said what needed to be said.

  But he wanted to shield Beth from some of it.

  “You stay here, sweetie,” he said as Beth started to follow him to the ground.

  To Lenny he said, “Can I speak to you inside, sir?”

  Inside the sheriff’s office Dave explained.

  “I don’t know what happened out there, but the bunker has come under attack.

  “I don’t know who’s dead and who’s alive, or whether they were able to fend off the attack.

  “Worst of all I don’t know whether the bunker is under the control of the good guys or the bad guys. Nobody’s working the pillbox, so it’s impossible to tell.”

  “What are you gonna do?”

  “I have no choice. I have to attack the bunker. But I have to do it in such a way I don’t accidentally kill any of the good guys.”

  “Dave, you know I’d offer to go help you, but I can’t see to shoot farther than ten feet in front of me.”

  “I know that, Lenny. But you can help me out in other ways.”

  “Name it. I’ll help however I can.”

  “Thank you. The first thing I need is a safe place to put Sal and Beth. I don’t want them anywhere near the place when I go in.”

  “That’s not a problem. Mrs. Taylor’s boarding house is still open. She’s got a working generator and lights, and fans to help her guests stay cool.

  “She generally charges twenty dollars a day in gold or silver. But if you have no money to pay she might be able to let them stay anyway. She’s got a couple of guests who earn their keep by helping with the gardening and hunting and fishing and such.”

  “Money’s not a problem. We’ve got some jewelry stashed in the rig.”

  “She’s up Main Street, on the corner of Main and Maple. It’s the only three story house on Main. You can’t miss it.

  “What else do you need?”

  “Remember when I was here a few weeks ago? On the day you loaned me the sniper rifle I asked how you came to
have one.

  “You laughed and told me about what you called ‘the Rambo-ization of America.'”

  Lenny chuckled.

  “Yes. I remember that conversation well.”

  “I don’t remember the specifics. Would you tell me again what you meant by it?”

  Chapter 48

  “Back during the Bush administration… Bush Junior, that is, not Pappy Bush…

  “The Department of Defense decided it had a whole bunch of excess equipment and materials they’d stockpiled during the Iraq war that they no longer needed.

  “They decided that keeping it and managing it was a burden, and it would be cheaper and more cost effective to get rid of it.

  “At the same time, though, it would have caused an uproar among the citizens to just destroy it, because it cost billions of dollars.

  “Watchdog groups would have crucified the DoD for wasting so much taxpayer money and it would have been much harder to get what they needed the next time they went to war.

  “So they came up with a plan.

  “They wouldn’t destroy their excesses. Instead they’d offer it to law enforcement agencies around the country.

  “That was when armored personnel carriers and Hummers started showing up on the streets of America.

  “Bradley fighting vehicles.

  “Light armor too.

  Everything except tanks and artillery pieces. And believe me, some agencies would have grabbed those if they were offered.

  “And it wasn’t just vehicles either.

  “It was millions of uniforms. Flak vests. Hand grenades, smoke bombs, land mines. Even M-16 rifles.

  “That’s why half the cops in the country wear camouflage uniforms now, even though they’re nowhere near a jungle or a desert. They don’t blend in with city streets, they stand out like neon signs.

  “I think they look ridiculous. I wore a khaki sheriff’s uniform for almost thirty years and wore it proudly. I never looked like a soldier getting ready to go off to do hand-to-hand combat with the Viet Cong.

  “My friends and I call it ‘the Rambo-ization of America.’ One of them, Joe Johnson, goes even farther. He says it’s a bunch of grown men playing G.I. Joe.”

  The conversation was started to wander off track.

  Dave brought it back.

  “Do you have anything that might help me on my mission?”

  “Oh, yeah. Our last sheriff, Martin Riley, he did the paperwork and grabbed his share like everybody else. I still remember that day the Army rolled into town with two truckloads of stuff for him.

  “Sheriff Riley was found dead on the highway about six months ago, God rest his soul. No witnesses, no suspects. He was a good man. He deserved better than that.

  “That’s one of the reasons I still come in here, besides to tell people we no longer have any deputies and to refer them to the State Police.

  “I guard the stuff in our storage rooms.

  “Follow me and I’ll show you what we got.”

  Lenny led Dave to a room that was locked not only with a keyed doorknob and two deadbolts, but also a hasp with a high security padlock.

  “Man, you definitely didn’t want anybody to get in here, did you?” Dave asked as Lenny began the long process of finding the right key for each lock.

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Lenny responded.

  “What you don’t see is the work they did on the frame. We had two carpenters come in and remove the wood from the original door jamb.

  “Then they installed steel framework beneath the wood so the door can’t be pried open with a pry bar. You either have the keys or you get it open with dynamite.

  “But that would be foolhardy and would probably get you killed from a secondary explosion, because there’s more explosives behind the door.”

  Dave got a feeling of deja vu as they entered the room and he looked around.

  The room was dim, because the light fixture was encased in a heavy glass globe.

  Explosion-proof lighting.

  Dave hadn’t seen such a setup since he left Iraq.

  And in fact, much of what he saw had the very distinctive National Stock Numbers and NATO nomenclatures of the United States military.

  The lid was open on one wooden box directly in front of him.

  The box was stenciled, in black letters:

  M-67 Fragmentation Grenade

  48 Each

  NSN: 1330-00-133-8244

  Only two words seemed to suffice.

  “Holy crap,” he said.

  Lenny said, “Yep.”

  “But why on earth would you guys need this stuff?”

  “I asked Sheriff Riley the same thing.

  “He said because it was free.

  “But he was a little more diplomatic when the town council asked him the same question.

  “He told them it was because he had a duty to protect the citizens of Ely by any means necessary, and you never could tell when there might be a riot he had to quell.”

  “A riot, in Ely?”

  “That’s what he said.

  “Also, it was all over the TV at the time, or at least on one of the stations, that said the Muslims were forming armies and were gonna attack us.

  “So he said he had to be ready for that.”

  “Do you even have any Muslims in Ely?”

  “Not to my recollection. At least I ain't never seen one.”

  Dave wandered around the room, examining case after case to see what else was available.

  “Take whatever you need,” Lenny told him.

  “It ain’t doing us any good, just sitting here and slowly turning to dust.”

  Chapter 49

  Dave took several of the wooden crates and stacked them close to the door.

  “I don’t want to load these up just yet. I want to go get Beth and Sal situated at the boarding house first. Are you gonna be here awhile?”

  “I don’t generally go home until sunset.”

  “Good. I’ll be back in an hour or so. Where did you say the boarding house was?”

  “Up Main Street until you get to Maple. It’s the three story house.

  “The keeper’s name is Mrs. Taylor.”

  “Thank you, Lenny. And one more question… if I lose the battle and never come back, is it safe for Sal and Beth to settle here in Ely?”

  “Ely’s a shadow of her former self, but what’s left of it is peaceful and safe.

  “Mrs. Taylor is a God-fearing Christian woman. She’ll help them find one of the abandoned homes and help them settle there.

  “And I’ll make sure no one harasses them or causes them any problems.”

  “Thank you, Lenny. See you in a bit.”

  Beth was a bit peeved when Dave climbed back aboard the rig and started out again.

  She didn’t much appreciate being left out of the loop, or being told to stay outside when her father went in to confer with the little old man.

  She saw herself as more grownup than child and was convinced she could help her father in whatever was getting ready to go down.

  Her father, of course, saw it differently.

  He wanted to get her out of harm’s way.

  And Sal too, because if Dave was killed it would fall on Sal to watch over her.

  At least until she was grown and could return the favor.

  They found the boarding house easily enough.

  It was right where Lenny said it would be, and was indeed the only three story house anywhere in sight.

  Mrs. Taylor was supervising two men working in a huge garden she’d planted in the whole of the front yard.

  Dave walked up and introduced himself.

  “Hello, ma’am. My name is Dave Spear.”

  “I’m Hallie Taylor. I run the place.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I got your name from Lenny at the sheriff’s office. I’d like to put my friend Sal and my daughter Beth up with you for a day or two if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind at al
l. I just happen to have two rooms left. Normally I charge twenty a night, gold or silver. But if you’d like both rooms I’ll give them to you for thirty.”

  “Yes ma’am. I assume you expect payment up front. Shall I see your clerk to weigh out?”

  “I’m an excellent judge of character, Mr. Spear, and you strike me as an honest man. We’ll do the weigh out when you check out.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “And if you don’t mind me saying so, Mr. Spear, you also strike me as a man with a great burden on his shoulders. Might I ask what it is?”

  The question was rather bold, but Dave appreciated people who didn’t beat around the bush.

  If someone wanted to know something, he respected people who were forward enough to ask.

  “Beth’s mother and sister are staying with the Dykes brothers. Their place appears to have been overrun. I’m going in to see if anyone is still alive, and to liberate them if I’m able to.

  “I don’t want Beth and Sal to be in danger, and I don’t want Beth to see the carnage they may have left behind.

  “I see. Best of luck to you, Mr. Spear.

  “The Dykes boys are good men. I hope that no harm has come to them.”

  “Yes ma’am. Me too.”

  “The rooms are the first two at the top of the stairs.

  “Please tell your friend and daughter supper is at six o’clock sharp, and I’ll introduce them to the other guests then.

  “Do either of them have any special dietary needs?”

  “No ma’am.”

  “If I have time before supper I’ll stop by and say hello.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Dave carried the backpacks upstairs and placed a rifle and a handgun in Sal’s room.

  “Daddy, do you have to leave right away?”

  “Yes ma’am. I need to find out what I’m dealing with.”

  “Will you be back today?”

  “I doubt it. Expect me tomorrow or maybe the next day.”

  He turned to Sal and said, “I should be back by then.”

  Sal nodded.

  He understood Dave’s unspoken message.

  If he wasn’t back by the day after tomorrow he wasn’t coming back.