Defending Home: An EMP Survival Story (Surviving The Shock Book 4)

by Connor Mccoy

  Maybe the nightmare’s finally over, she thought.

  Chapter Nineteen

  So many of them were hiding in tents.

  Tom and his friends checked tent after tent, finding huddles of scared and hungry people in each of them.

  Is she in this one? Tom wouldn’t leave each tent until he discovered the little girl he had met before. While he hadn’t run across her yet, he was finding children, quite a lot of them.

  No wonder Clark captured so many people. It’s all these parents can do to feed their children. Clark just has to dangle scraps in front of their faces to make them stay. Tom thought about all this as he pulled aside the latest tent flap.

  As before, this tent was filled with adults and a sizable collection of children. But this time, one of their faces was very familiar. As he helped lead them out, one by one, he waited for his chance to talk to the little girl.

  Finally, they met. “Hi,” Tom said, “Long time no see, young lady.”

  The girl looked at him with great curiosity. “What’s happening?”

  Tom smiled. “You’re free.”

  “You did this?” asked a young woman behind the girl.

  “You bet. I’m Thomas Criver,” Tom said.

  The woman clutched the girl. “I’m Wendy. This is my daughter, Melanie.” She then pulled her close. “Did you hear that, sweetie? We…we don’t have to stay here anymore.”

  “But where will we go?” Melanie asked. They may be free, but the poor girl still worried about where her next meal was coming from. It’d likely be the same for so many of these people.

  Tom leaned down. “We’ll take you to our hometown. It’s a town filled with wonderful people who will love you and be friends with you, and you get to go to school. It’s a place you’ll be free.”

  “Oh God.” Wendy clenched a fist. Tears trickled down her face. “It’s all for real?”

  Tom nodded. “You bet it is.”

  Jake jumped out of the driver’s side of the red truck. “Got three quarters gas.” He jogged up to Tom and Cheryl, who were at the pickup’s open tailgate. “This thing could make several round trips from town and back.”

  “Don’t worry about that. The healthy are leaving on foot. We need to conserve all the gas we can,” Tom said as Lee and Jake finished helping Kovacs in the back of the truck bed.

  Stark lay beside them, barely conscious. The two men hastily were bandaged up, and the smell of dried blood was pungent over them. Lauren was keeping a close eye on the pair.

  The truck was one of the spoils of victory. It was supposed to be used for Clark’s trade runs to the warlords. Now it was Eagleton property, and would be used to take the wounded back to the town.

  Kovacs looked at Tom sleepily, his breathing labored. “Ah, Mister Criver. Never…thought…I’d see you…again.”

  “I heard you two helped Cheryl out,” Tom said, “Thanks.”

  “We’re going to have to cut the talk short.” Lauren backed up toward the passenger side door. “These two have been torn up bad and I have to get them to our hospital.”

  “Take care.” Cheryl then turned to the two wounded soldiers. “You two did good. We’ll do all we can to help you.”

  Stark just nodded once. The green in his face was unnerving. It’d be a challenge for Lauren to save their lives, but if anyone was up to it, she was.

  Jake manned the truck and brought the vehicle roaring to life. Tom and Cheryl watched the red pickup pull away from the camp and toward the road beyond.

  Tom Criver once again was faced with a choice.

  Twelve men sat or stood before him, fully disarmed of all weapons. More of Tom’s militia surrounded them. Not a single one of them had a chance to rebel and escape. Their fate was in the hands of Thomas Criver and the fighting men and women of Eagleton. Tom had done this before with the five survivors of the NATO force. Of those five, one had been killed by Clark’s men, another died of the disease that had ravaged Eagleton, one had joined Clark, and the last two ultimately had joined with Eagleton. So, there was the possibility of either redemption or recidivism for each of these individuals.

  However, letting them go didn’t seem like the proper option this time. Perhaps there were just too many survivors, too many to form a band that could cause trouble for other people, or perhaps even take a shot at Eagleton. But perhaps it was more likely that Tom wanted to impart some of their town’s values on these men. Besides, these people weren’t soldiers. They were just survivors. God knows what Clark had promised them. If exposed to honest work, they might become better people in time.

  “Let’s get this out of the way first. We’re not going to kill you, and we’re not throwing you in a prison.” Tom stiffened up. “But that doesn’t mean we’re letting you go, either. This isn’t about us being judges or lording our superiority over you.”

  He started at the end of the group, where Jess sat, and paced toward the other end. “It’s more like detox. You’ve been guzzling on power for way too long. You’ve abused people. Imprisoned them. I’ve even heard about rapes. If you’re going to keep on living, you must learn how to work and live in peace with others. So, you’re all coming back with us. We have a lot of work that needs to be done, and you’re going to pitch in. You’re going to be watched closely. We’ll see how you interact with others. In time, perhaps a few years, you’ll be let go. You can find your way in the world and, hopefully, it’ll be a better place by then.”

  Tom then narrowed his eyes, his forehead tightening. “But if we see any problems, any stealing, any assault, any harm coming to our citizens, then it’s going to get nasty. We’re letting you into our home. And if you do anything to it, hurt anyone in it, you will pay a thousand times over.”

  He let that last statement linger in the air. A few of the men gulped, slunk back or nervously looked away. Good. He already was weeding out the guys who just were following orders. Time would tell with the rest.

  Jess was the last one in line. He hesitated, looking briefly at Tom, but turning away.

  “Jess,” Tom said. The man froze.

  “You’ll like it in Eagleton.”

  Jess pursed his lips. “Thank you.” Then he left and rejoined the other enforcers.

  A short time after Tom’s dressing down of the captive camp enforcers, he joined Cheryl in the center of the camp. Clark’s victims were gathered, all of them with bags of provisions culled from the camp. With the camp stripped bare of all supplies and food, it was time to leave this prison behind. The question, however, was where these people would go.

  “We’re all done here,” Tom said, gently, knowing he was speaking to traumatized people.

  “And I’m sure you all want to make this place a distant memory. I don’t know where you all came from, or if you even have homes to go back to. So, I’d like to invite you to make our town your home. It’s a real, honest to God community, with homes, a school, stores, places to eat…” Tom smiled. “And people to call neighbors, friends, maybe even find a new family.”

  Tom and Cheryl started for the camp’s front entrance. They walked slowly, waiting to see who would follow. The procession started as a trickle, but then got bigger. About fifty people were tagging along.

  Tom and Cheryl rejoined a squad of Eagleton men on the road leading back to Eagleton. The Crivers waited as more refugees emerged. About seventy—men, women and children—filed out into the open. Tom waited longer, but the crowd ceased at about eighty. He checked back into the camp. A crowd of about equal size was trekking in other directions. It was a surprise to see so many people refuse to come along. Also, many of them broke off into couples, small groups, or even loners.

  Damn, Tom thought. They don’t know how to trust. Perhaps. Or maybe they really did have homes to go back to. He hoped so.

  He turned back to Cheryl and rejoined her.

  “…I wouldn’t worry.” Cheryl wrapped her arm around Tom’s. “They made their choice. Eagleton’s probably not for everyone.”

 
; “You’re probably right. God knows what they’re thinking,” Tom replied. The two were near the head of the large procession heading down the state road. Above, the sun was dropping lower in the sky.

  “But we did get a lot of kids. I think it’s almost half the group,” Cheryl said, glancing behind them.

  “You’re right. Our kids are going to have a hell of a lot of new friends.” Tom laughed.

  Cheryl laughed, too. “I just thought of Catherine in that library. It’s going to be overrun!”

  “You know she’ll love it.” Tom imagined Catherine Rossi handling all the little ones in Eagleton’s library. “And then there’s the school. We’re going to be adding, what, about forty kids?”

  Cheryl tipped her head up to the sky. “So much is going to change. So many more mouths to feed, so many to shelter. Do you think we’re going to piss off anyone with all these new arrivals?”

  Tom scratched his right cheek. “They’ll be okay with it. It may even be just the godsend we’re looking for. We lost a lot of people taking down Volhein and his army. Then the disease took out a few more. We’ve been punched in the gut several times this past year. Maybe with all these new people, it’ll give our town some new life. You never know. We could have more doctors in that bunch, or farmers, or electricians. Maybe some weird-ass job that can help Eagleton in some way we’re not even looking for.”

  Cheryl chuckled. “Weird-ass job, huh? I want to see that.”

  “Who knows?” Tom gazed at the horizon ahead. Indeed, who knows what they would be bringing into their town. It was like a treasure chest of talent and skill just waiting to be opened.

  Karen, kneeling down by Cooper, watched his eye as he blinked it. “What do you see?” she asked.

  “Blurs,” he replied, “Wait, I think I see a shape. I can’t tell what it is. It’s…blue?”

  “You’re looking at the other bed,” Karen replied. But even if Cooper couldn’t immediately discern objects in this hospital room, it was a great sign that he was starting to see anything.

  “Yes, yes, I think I can tell what it is now!” Cooper got off the bed and took a step toward the other bed.

  “It’s still very blurry, but I can tell where it ends.” He reached out his hand, intending to touch the bed, but instead grabbed the air just a few inches away.

  Karen took Cooper’s arm. “You’ll get there.”

  Cooper turned in Karen’s direction. “I hope very much to see your face again if I can’t see anything else.”

  Karen smiled. “Well, me and…”

  Before she could finish her sentence, Doctor Tran poked his face in the door. “Oh, excuse me.” He backed off. “Hope I’m not interrupting something.”

  “No! No,” Karen replied, “Did you need to tell us something?”

  “Kovacs is awake,” Tran said. “The surgery went well. It appears Kovacs is no longer in danger.” He bowed his head. “If you wish, you can come see him for a moment. I think he’d appreciate it.”

  Karen and Cooper followed Tran to the room where Kovacs was recuperating. He was reclining in bed with a blanket draped over him, reaching up to his collarbone. Karen immediately noticed the source of Tran’s discomfort. In the spot where Kovacs’ right leg should be, the blanket instead fell flat to the bed. The leg had been amputated.

  The soldier was awake, and even reacted a little sharply as the three of them entered his room, turning his head almost immediately. “Doctor, you have fetched me some visitors,” he said cheerfully.

  “You are feeling well?” Cooper asked.

  “The aching pain in my right leg is gone,” he replied with a grin. “Your doctors here are miracle workers.” Karen clutched her mouth, stopping herself from laughing.

  Kovacs had intended to make a joke, but it was hard not to feel sorry for him in his condition. Just then, a fourth visitor crossed the threshold. Karen’s heart quickened a little as Stark passed by. The soldier, dressed in his army boots, clean khaki trousers and a green buttoned shirt, walked with a limp, and his right arm was in a sling. Karen tried to hide her squeamishness as she spotted patches of green on Stark’s arm. He looked deathly ill, and the fact he could walk around was amazing. The newcomer simply nodded to them before turning to Kovacs.

  “They took your leg,” Stark said.

  “I gave it up. They told me I was almost certain to die if I didn’t lose it,” Kovacs replied, “I won’t have full use of my other leg either, but at least it is not going to kill me.”

  “But how will you live? This is not a world that looks kindly on the crippled. And I’m sure there are many in this town who would not look kindly on you.”

  “I’ve heard talk from Doctor Lauren. Word is out there about me, but many have chosen to forgive and accept me.”

  “But not everyone.”

  “Tom Criver says he will do his best to help me settle here. Many of his friends have pledged to help also. I think I will be fine. But if I was to die tomorrow, I also would be fine. I have a peaceful bed and a nice town to die in. A week ago, I could not have dreamed of anything better than dying in a ditch.”

  Stark shook his head. “I can’t picture a life of peace. If I’m not out there on the battlefield, then I don’t have a purpose. I’m as useless as week-old garbage.”

  Kovacs sat up. “Wait, didn’t Doctor Lauren say you had to lose your right arm, possibly your left leg? What did you tell her?”

  Stark ignored the question. Instead he dug into his pocket, produced a pair of dog tags, and placed them on the table near Kovacs. “You know what to do with those,” he said before turning around.

  The soldier limped toward the door, but stopped at Karen. Then he reached into his pocket again and produced a switchblade knife. “This is my only personal possession.” Gently, he handed it to Karen. “Except for my boots.” Then he turned to Cooper.

  “Criver says there is a lot of trash in your town that needs to be burned. I will go help.” He stood in the doorway, giving each individual a glance before departing.

  Tran turned to Kovacs. “I don’t mean to pry, but what the hell was that about? He’s in horrible shape and needs to be treated at once.”

  Kovacs smiled, though a little sadly. “He is going out to die with his boots on.”

  Karen put Stark’s knife in her pocket as Cooper said, “It is a shame he did not want to stay here and live with us.”

  “Don’t feel bad for him. Stark would not be happy here. We both have made our best choices. I will live trying to contribute to your society without being able to walk. In the end, perhaps Stark has made the better choice.”

  Karen shook her head. “I don’t think choosing to die is the better choice. I’m glad you’re staying here with us.”

  Kovacs’ smile grew deeper. “Thank you. That—that means a lot.” The soldier then yawned. His eyelids were growing heavier.

  “I think we should let Kovacs rest. It’s going to be a while before his strength is back.” Tran turned to Cooper and Karen. “How about we get you two down to the cafeteria and see if Jamie can tell the salt from the pepper shaker?”

  Karen grinned. “Actually, Doctor, it’s really the three of us.”

  “Three?” Cooper asked, “Who else came in here?”

  Karen took Cooper’s hand and placed it on her stomach. “He’s right here. Or she. Actually, Lauren hasn’t ruled out twins, either.”

  Cooper stammered. “Wha-what are you talking about?”

  Tran, on the other hand, got it. “Jamie! Well, you are full of surprises, aren’t you?” He grabbed Cooper by the arm.

  “I-I still don’t understand.” Although the nervousness in Cooper’s voice told him that he was starting to get what Karen was saying.

  “Cooper! You have gotten this woman with child!” Kovacs shouted before erupting in laughter.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tom Criver waited until all eyes were on him. The living room of the Criver home was so packed that it was obvious he couldn’t wait any
longer. He reached for the switch on the side of the fan stuck in the window.

  “Now, if my friends and I did our jobs right, and the solar panels on our roof don’t explode, we’re about to witness history. This will be the first Eagleton home post-EMP to actually have circulating air.” Tom cleared his throat. “Of course, it’s only for the living room, and God knows this fan is as old as shit, and it may burn out after a few hours…”

  “Tom?” Cheryl, leaning against the easy chair, spoke up.

  “Yeah?” Tom responded.

  “Shut up and flick the switch,” she replied, to laughter.

  Tom smiled. “I just didn’t want to tempt fate. Okay, here we go.” He flicked the switch.

  The fan blades creaked a little as they started moving. The crowd was fixed on the blades’ speed. They spun faster and faster, and in seconds a breeze blew through the room. Claps and hollers broke out among the Criver party guests. Tom coughed. The fan, jury-rigged into the solar panels on the roof, might be working, but it also put out an arid, musty smell. Old machines largely escaped damage from the EMP shock, but the downside was that they didn’t smell anything close to pristine.

  “Now, we still can’t have this thing on all the time,” Tom pointed to the fan with his thumb. “Only when we really need to cool down.”

  “Or when you have friends over for a beer,” Ricardo spoke up.

  “Damn straight,” Lee added. More laughter followed.

  “Well, we’re definitely having it on for this party, so let’s eat and drink. And just remember, I’m the one who’s cleaning up after you, so feel free to pity me and clean up after yourselves,” Tom said.

  Lee waved Tom off. “Eh, screw him. Go do what you want!”

  Tom chuckled as he passed by the front door, when suddenly he heard knocking from the other side. After a quick look through the peephole, he unlocked and opened the door. Doctor Tran stood on the doorstep, flanked by a small crowd.