by Robert Boren
She looked into his eyes. “I didn’t say that. I want to see if it’s still here after I’m a little sobered up.”
“What?”
“The feeling that started when you cried about those kids,” she said softly.
“Oh,” Hendrix said, taking a sip of water. “Sorry to get emotional like that.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” she asked.
Suddenly there was a boom outside, in the distance. Hendrix’s eyes got wide and he snapped himself out of the daze Maria had him in. “That sounded like artillery fire!”
“Oh no,” Maria said, trembling.
There were two more booms, and a couple of explosions. The building rumbled.
“Kip!” she cried, looking at him.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here,” he said, taking a hundred-dollar bill out of his wallet and throwing it on the table. “Ought to be enough.”
Maria grabbed her purse and took Hendrix’s arm as they raced for the door. Outside was pandemonium, people running back and forth. There were more booms, closer now, explosions less than a block away, approaching from the south.
“We need to leave now,” Hendrix said, taking her hand and running to his Mercedes. He used remote start and helped her into the passenger seat, then ran to the driver’s seat, taking off with tires squealing, heading for South Congress Avenue, punching it as the cannon fire intensified, weaving in and out of traffic in a panic.
“You okay to drive?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “No problem.”
Maria looked out the rear window. “Is that a tank?” There was another boom, blowing up a building just behind them to the right.
Hendrix checked the rear-view mirror. “My God, that’s an M-1. Son of a bitch.”
“Can they catch us?”
“No way,” Hendrix said.
“I can’t go back to my apartment, can I?”
“Not tonight,” Hendrix said. “We’re going to my place. I’ve got a compound northwest of the State Capitol. It’s got a bunker, high walls, and a security system.”
“How’d you get that?”
“Part of the position,” Hendrix said. “It belongs to Texas.”
“It won’t protect us against that, will it?”
“The bunker will,” he said. “I’ll take you somewhere else if you don’t want to go with me.”
“You’re kidding, right?” she said, looking at him. He was focused on the road as she watched him drive. His steely reserve calmed her, then warmed her. “My God,” she whispered.
“What?” Hendrix asked. “Something else happen?”
“No,” she said. “It’s just me.”
Chapter 18 – The Homestead
“You sure this is gonna be safe?” Kim asked as they rolled down the dark country road. Eric was driving now. They’d been on back roads, some of them dirt, for hours.
“It’s too late to go anywhere else,” Eric said. “It’ll be dark in a hurry, and we know Sonora isn’t safe.”
“Doesn’t it bother you to be here, after what happened to your parents?”
“The house might, but we don’t have to go inside,” Eric said. “There’s several acres to park on, and there’s hookups out by the barn, according to Jason.”
“You going to call him?”
“No,” Eric said. “His phone might have been compromised again, and we don’t want to reveal our location. I’ll call him when we leave tomorrow.”
“Skinny road,” Kim said as they got to the switchbacks. “Hope nobody’s coming in the other direction.”
Eric’s phone rang. He handed it to Kim. “Put it on speaker. I need both hands on the wheel right now.”
Kim nodded and answered it, pushing the speaker button. “Hey Dirk, got you on speaker.”
“Where the hell are we going? This is a scary road.”
“My parent’s house,” Eric said. “We can overnight here. Maybe pick up some supplies too.”
“The enemy knows about this place,” Dirk said.
“That’s true, but I doubt they’ve got somebody here watching it just in case somebody returns. They’ve got bigger fish to fry. Watch the phone usage, just in case.”
“Roger that,” Dirk said. “How much further?”
“Ten minutes,” Eric said. “The road gets better shortly. Once we get down into the valley.”
“Good, this is hairy. Glad it’s not quite dark yet.”
“Talk to you guys later,” Eric said.
“Later,” Dirk said. Kim ended the call.
“It’s pretty back here at least,” she said.
“It is,” Eric said. “I was already half-way out when my folks got this place, so I didn’t live here much.” His face was grim.
“Thinking about your falling-out with your dad?”
“Yeah,” Eric said. “Seems so stupid now.”
The road got back down to the valley floor and widened.
“What a peaceful little valley,” Kim said, looking around in the dusk.
“We’ll be able to see the house in a few minutes,” Eric said, turning on the headlights. “Almost dark.”
They rode silently along the bumpy road until they saw the house.
“There it is,” Eric said.
“Rustic.”
“There’s still police tape around the front door,” Eric said, eyes getting glassy.
“You sure you’ll be able to handle this?”
“I’m sure, honey,” he said, looking at her for a moment. “I’m going to park by the barn.” He turned into the driveway and drove to the large flat section in front of the barn, circling so he was pointed back at the driveway, making enough room for Dirk’s rig and the Suburban to pull in.
Paco trotted over and whined, jumping up at Eric’s seat.
“Okay, pal, we’ll take you out right away. I know it’s been a while.”
“I’ll get his leash and a flashlight,” Kim said, getting out of her seat.
“Hope the power’s still on,” Eric said as he followed her. They hooked up Paco and went out the side door.
“Nice spread,” Dirk said as he got out of his truck.
“Yeah,” Eric said. My folks had a good setup here. I’ll see if I can get the power turned on.”
Eric and Kim approached the house.
“You got keys?” Kim asked.
“I know where my dad always hides a set,” Eric said. “Hopefully Jason didn’t take them.”
He walked to the side door. It had yellow police tape tacked in front of it in a crisscross fashion.
“The eave over the door,” Eric said. “Hold the leash for a minute.”
Kim took it, watching as Eric reached up on top of the wood frame of the door. He came down with keys in his hand.
“Good,” Kim said.
Eric pulled the tape away from the door and unlocked it. “Here goes nothing.” He opened the door, reaching around to switch on the kitchen lights. Nothing.
“Maybe it’s just the main breaker,” Kim said.
“I hope so,” Eric said. “It’s around the back. Follow me.”
They walked to the back of the house, Eric shining the flashlight at the wall, stopping at the rectangular box with the glass dome above.
“That it?” Kim asked.
“Yeah.” Eric opened the cover and shined the light in. “Main breaker is off.” He switched it on, and the kitchen light flooded out onto the driveway.
“Yes!” Kim said.
“There’s flood lights by the barn that will light up this whole area,” Eric said. “C’mon.”
They walked to the barn and found the switch. Eric flipped it on and the whole area lit up.
“Perfect,” Kim said.
Eric reached into the barn and turned the lights on inside. “Let’s go check out the house, okay?”
“Should we take Paco back to the coach?”
“No, we need his eyes and ears.” Eric said, leading her to the side door. They walked int
o the lighted kitchen.
“Not so rustic in the kitchen,” Kim said. “This is nice. They remodeled it, obviously.”
“Somebody cleaned it,” Eric said. “I’ll bet it was some of his friends on Fredericksburg PD.”
He walked into the living room. It was in good shape too, the furniture and lamps covered with plastic sheeting. Eric uncovered a big lamp inside the door and turned it on. Paco sniffed around.
“They had a dog?” Kim asked.
“Yeah, Dingo,” Eric said. “Australian Shepherd. Jason has him now.”
“Paco can smell him,” Kim said, watching him.
“That hallway goes to the bedrooms,” Eric said.
“Where did they find your parents?”
“In the master, lying in bed,” Eric said. “C’mon.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go in there.”
“It’ll be okay,” Eric said, walking into the hallway. He switched on the hall light. The first bedroom was set up as an office. Further down was a bathroom, and another bedroom set up as a guest room. The final door, at the end of the hall, was the master. Eric paused for a moment before switching on the light.
“You sure?” Kim asked.
“I’m okay, sweetie,” he said, switching on the light just inside the door.
“Good, the bed’s gone,” Kim said.
“And the carpet,” Eric said, looking down at the old hardwood, tac strips still there. “They cleaned things out pretty well. Makes it a lot easier.”
“Could you ever live here?” Kim asked.
“Yeah, I think I could,” Eric said. “Might happen if we stay in Texas. Good place to raise kids. What do you think?”
“It might be difficult for you after a while.”
“I don’t believe in ghosts,” he said.
“I wasn’t talking about ghosts,” Kim said, “but never mind. What next?”
“Let’s go check out the RV hookup situation,” Eric said. “I’ll let Dirk use it. He might need it more than we do. Then maybe we can gather in here and watch the TV. I’d like to see some news.”
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
They left the lights on in the house and walked to the rigs.
“There’s the hookup,” Eric said, pointing to a covered electrical box on the side of the barn. He flipped up the cover. “Wow, fifty amps. Nice.”
“I’ll put Paco inside and feed him, honey,” Kim said.
“Okay,” he said, walking over to Dirk and the others.
“House check out okay?” Francis asked.
“Yeah,” Eric said. “I’ll fire up the TV so we can catch up on some news. There’s an RV electrical hookup right there. You guys need to plug in your trailer for a while?”
“Probably be a good idea,” Dirk said. “Doesn’t charge very well while I’m driving.”
“What are you running?” Eric asked.
“Thirty amp,” he said. “I got an adapter for fifty amp output, though.”
“Good, bring it over here,” Eric said, walking towards the box. “Your cable reach this far?”
“Yeah, should,” Dirk said. “Thanks. You don’t need it?”
“Nah, my batteries are full,” he said. “If we were staying more than one night, I’d need to plug in.”
“Okay,” Dirk said. “Thanks. When are you going to watch TV?”
“Give me about ten minutes. We can use the kitchen in the house to cook.”
Eric went into the coach. Kim was sitting on the couch, looking at the browser on her phone, face grim.
“What are you seeing?” he asked as he sat next to her.
“Rumors on the message boards,” she said. “Scary rumors.”
“What?”
“Tanks rolling into Austin from the south.”
“Shit,” Eric said. “I figured they’d stay in the small towns for a while. Anything official? Maybe it’s just the usual web BS.”
“Nothing official,” Kim said. “It’ll be interesting to see if anything shows up on the news tonight. Where we sleeping?”
“I’m okay with sleeping in here,” Eric said. “but if you want to take that guest room in the house, fine with me.”
“Let’s see how the evening goes,” Kim said. “There’s two couches in that living room, too.”
“Ready to go over?” Eric asked.
“What do you want to eat?”
“We can zap some frozen stuff in the kitchen,” Eric said. “We still have a pretty good assortment.”
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s do that. How about Paco?”
“We take him,” Eric said.
“Good,” Kim got off the couch and went to the fridge, looking in the freezer. “There’s a couple of Italian meals.”
“Fine. I like everything we have, so just grab me whatever.”
She nodded as Eric put the leash back on Paco. “Want me to bring any beer?”
“Nah, I want to stay straight,” Eric said. “You go ahead, though.”
Kim laughed. “After that Southern Comfort last night, the thought of drinking makes me queasy.”
He chuckled and opened the coach door. They walked out into the bright light of the floods and headed for the kitchen door.
“Shall I zap these now?” Kim asked.
“Might as well, since the fridge has been off,” Eric said. “Take a while to cool it down.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Kim said.
“I’ll go uncover the rest of the furniture in the front room and turn on the TV.”
Francis and Sherry walked in, carrying a big frozen lasagna. “The oven working?” Sherry asked.
“Yeah, should be,” Eric said. “It’s electric.”
“Works for me,” she said. “You guys are welcome to have some of this.”
“We’re zapping some meals,” Kim said, “but thanks.”
Sherry turned on the oven as Don and Chance walked in.
“You guys drinking tonight?” Don asked.
“Not me,” Eric said. “Too nervous.”
“Good, I thought it was just me,” Chance said.
“Where’s Dirk?” Kim asked.
“Looking for his power adapter,” Don said. “His storage compartment is pretty full.”
Alyssa and Chloe walked inside, nodding to everybody.
“Nice house,” Alyssa said. “Anywhere we can sleep in here? The back of the SUV is getting a little old.”
“There’s a guest room, down the hall off the living room. It’s got two twin beds and a sofa sleeper. Help yourselves.”
“There’s also two couches and a couple recliners in the living room, too,” Kim said.
“Now girls, you let Eric and Kim have the guest room if they want it,” Don said.
“It’s fine,” Eric said. “We’re comfortable in our rig.”
Kim nodded in agreement.
“I’ll turn on the TV,” Eric said, walking into the living room. He finished pulling the plastic off the furniture and set it in the corner, then found the TV remote. He looked at it closely, seeing the worn buttons and lettering. “Daddy,” he muttered to himself, feeling the tears again.
“You all right?” Kim asked, coming up behind him.
“Yeah,” he said, pushing the power button. The TV came on after a few seconds. He switched it to the local news channel. The video was showing aftermath of the Stonewall attack.
“The Stonewall death toll sits at sixty-three,” the news woman said. “Nearly a hundred people are in hospitals all over the surrounding area, many of them in critical condition.”
“Good lord,” Sherry said, watching from the doorway to the kitchen. “They get all the bad guys?”
“Good question,” Eric said. “Haven’t said yet, but the tanks are all blown up. Not much left of the town.”
Alyssa walked out from the guest room, staring at the devastation on TV. “Is that what happened in that town we had to go around?” She looked terrified.
“Yeah, sweetie,”
Sherry said. “Don’t worry, they’re a long way from here.”
Don walked in. “You okay, honey?”
“Yeah, dad. I’m going to go get my speaker, okay?” she asked. “Chloe and I want to listen to some music in the guest room.”
“Not too loud, okay?”
“We’ll be quiet, dad,” she said. “Thanks. Hey, Chloe!”
“Coming,” Chloe said as she emerged from the hall. They walked into the kitchen and out the side door.
“Where are they going?” Dirk asked as he walked into the living room.
“Alyssa wants her speaker,” Don said. “They’re going to play music in the guest room.”
“Oh,” he said. “Found that damn adapter. It was really buried. Don’t know what I was thinking. Shit, that Stonewall?”
“Yeah,” Eric said. “It’s a mess. I’ll turn the sound up.” He pointed the remote at the screen.
“Highway 290 remains closed between Johnson City and Fredericksburg. Portions west of Fredericksburg are also considered to be unsafe at this hour, as are parts of I-10. ”
“Dammit,” Eric said. “Those are the two routes we can take.”
“You know, this is pretty remote,” Chance said. “Maybe we ought to fortify this place a little bit and hang out for a while.”
“I want to join my brother,” Eric said.
“He might have the right idea, honey,” Kim said softly. “Wouldn’t hurt for a few days.”
Eric thought about it for a moment.
“Crap, what’s going on now?” Don asked, nodding at the TV. The breaking news banner was stretched across the entire screen.
“This video is coming to you live from our helicopter over southern Austin. Tanks have come into town and are blowing up buildings and mowing down civilians.”
“Daddy,” Alyssa said, standing in the doorway with her speaker in her hand. “Are they gonna get us?”
“No, sweetie,” Don said as she came over to him, Chloe right behind her.
“Son of a bitch,” Eric said, watching the screen with wide eyes as the tanks moved along, cannons firing, buildings exploding.
“Eric,” Kim said, trembling. He rushed to her, taking her into his arms. “What are we gonna do?”
“I count thirteen tanks,” Dirk said. “Look at how fast they’re moving. They’re heading towards the State Capitol area.”