We enter a large area with a built-in bar that runs the full length of one wall. The room is filled with couches, café tables, chairs, several wall mounted TVs and a pool table.
Leo steps behind the bar, “Anybody want a drink?” He pours himself a shot of whiskey and holds the bottle up for us to see. Gus motions that he wants one and I do, too. Leo pours three shots and then looks at Michael and adds a fourth. He fills three to the top and puts a drop in the fourth one. He hands Michael the short one. “Here, you’re one of the guys now, but you only get a little taste.”
I raise my glass in a salute and they all join in, even Michael. “To those we lost and to the new family we found. And to keeping us safe.”
Michael started choking after swallowing the whiskey. “That burns.”
We laugh but Gus tells him, “Yes, but it burns good.”
“I’m gonna get my stuff.” Leo says as he walks down the hall.
“Me, too.” Gus says, then adds, “The kitchen is through those doors. Why don’t you two, start in there then we’ll go to the armory together.”
Michael looks at me with his hands in a praying position. “Can I have a gun?”
“Not yet. Not till I teach you how to shoot and fight. I want you to be able to protect yourself.”
“Then I can have a gun?” Michael pleads.
I give him an answer straight out of my childhood. “We’ll have to talk to Shelley about that.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “She’ll never let me have one.”
“Maybe not, but you never know, it’s gonna depend on how grown up you act and you’re gonna have to earn it.”
He nods with a determined look on his face. “I can do it.”
“Good answer.”
The kitchen is a coffee lover’s dream, we find fifteen bags of gourmet coffee beans in the cupboard above the coffee machine. There’s also a manual hand grinder. This will definitely put a smile on the face of our coffee addicted leader.
The pantry doesn’t have much food, but we’ll still take what’s there. “Michael, grab those plastic bags, please” I point at a box of white garbage bags.
“Sure, but can I eat some of those chips?” He points at a bag of Lay’s Potato chips.
“Go ahead. Just leave room for lunch.”
A bar-sized refrigerator sits plugged in the wall. The idea of a cool brewski has my mouth watering. I unplug it, clean it out and take it to the back door. It’s small enough to run off the solar energy unit. Perfect.
We work hard and fast, moving filled bags to the outside door. Our walkie talkies go off. “Shelley here. Don’t forget the medicine cabinets and bag everything you find. Over.”
Leo is first to respond. “Got it. How’s things outside? Over.”
“Quiet, but I’m keeping my eyes open. Over.” Shelley answers.
Leo and Gus join us just as we finish emptying the kitchen. Gus says, “Let’s do the meds and then we’ll do the armory.”
We nod, and split into two teams; Leo and me, Michael with Gus.
Ten minutes later, two bags of meds, both over the counter and prescription are added to our pile at the back door.
“You ready to get the guns?” Gus asks.
“Yeah.” Michael adds as he dances on his feet.
Gus leads us down a picture-lined hall to an office marked President. The office has a large desk in the middle and the walls are covered with motorcycle posters. On one wall, the Satan’s Best logo is painted in bright red and black paint. Gus stops and runs his hand over the desk chair. “Our President’s name was Walter Upton, he was a good man.”
Leo sighs, “He was a good leader, too. Fair and honest.”
I put my hand on Michael’s shoulder and signal him to remain quiet. I want to give the men a minute to reflect on their loss.
Gus snaps out of it first. “The armory is over there.” He walks to a wooden door, unlocks and pulls it open revealing yet another door, this one steel with a set of two combination locks. Leo steps up and spins the locks entering the memorized combinations. It takes him three times to get it right.
Expecting a gun safe, I’m surprised when it’s an entire gun room.
Leo volunteers, “This entire room is made of steel and is fireproof.”
I pick up my walkie talkie. “Shelley, you there? Over.”
My radio squawks. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“Can you come inside, please. I want to show you something. Over.”
“On my way. Over.”
I look down at Michael. “Can you go show her the way in here, please?”
He nods and runs off.
“What are you thinking?” Leo asks.
“That this room is too valuable to waste.”
Shelley walks in holding Cindy’s hand. Her eyes bug out when she sees the weapons. “My God.”
I jump right in with my idea. “The room is fireproof and with two combinations on the door, I think it makes a perfect fall back location. You know, in case something happens at the house.”
“Just a minute.” She hands Cindy off to me. “Let me look around.” She walks out. Michael and Leo follow her.
“I guess she wants to see the whole place.” Gus says as he picks up an assault rifle. “We were ready for anything here, except a damn killer virus.”
Cindy reaches for a gun. I grab her hand and pull her away from the shelves. “No, Sweet pea, these are not toys.” I walk her out of the armory and sit her in the big office chair behind the President’s desk, pull a piece of paper from the printer and take a pencil from the top desk drawer. “Sweetie, can you draw us a nice picture? We can put it on the frig at home.”
She reaches for the pencil. “Draw Duff.”
“Good idea.”
Gus looks at me like I’m amazing. “How the hell did you know how to do that?”
“My brother had a little girl. He always did that. I learned it from him.”
Shelley and the others are back within a few minutes. “This place would be perfect as a fallback location but only temporarily since it has no water source.”
“We can always go get water,” Leo adds.
We take the military grade long guns and the NVG goggles I find still in their packaging plus part of the ammunition.
Cindy runs over with her drawing and hands it to me. “Duff.”
It looks like a bunch of squiggles, but I’ll never tell her that. I squat down next to her. “Sweet pea, this is perfect.”
I smile at Shelley and hand Cindy’s artwork to her. “This needs to go on the frig at home.”
“It sure does. It’s wonderful.” Shelley says as she pats Cindy’s head.
Cindy beams back at her.
Chapter Fourteen
Shelley
Leo speaks up as we load the last of our finds in the backseat of the Caddie. “We really should ride with our windows down, that way we can hear what’s going on outside.”
Gus, Leo, Hank and I exchange looks. None of us want to scare the kids about the Car Guys. We keep our talk obtuse.
Hank adds, “And no talking, just listening.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “So, here’s a new rule. Car windows open. Silent travel.”
Michael puts his eyebrows together in confusion. “You mean no radio?”
“That’s right. No radio. No talking. Nothing. We ride in silence and listen for other cars and people.”
“Why? I like listening to music in the car.” Michael says in a half whine.
“Because we need to know if there are any other people out there.”
Michael shrugs and accepts that answer, thank goodness.
The van and car are overstuffed. Cindy ends up riding on my lap and Michael squeezes in the front seat of the Caddie between Leo and Gus. I know it’s dangerous to hold a child on your lap, but I’m not leaving that little refrigerator behind.
Halfway home we hear them; roaring engines and squealing brakes. Hank whispers over to me. “They’re only a couple of blo
cks away.”
“I know.” I look down at Cindy who’s asleep on my lap and then back at Hank. “We need to keep the children safe.”
“I need to keep you safe, too.” He adds as he reaches over and squeezes my arm.
Before we can even think of an escape, the Caddie pulls up alongside us. Leo, who is driving, points at the Home Depot on our left side. Gus calls out the window, “Follow us.” They race down the loading alley behind the building stopping about half way down.
We follow pulling past the Caddie and stopping behind a large trash bin as Gus and Leo scrabble out of the car and brace their rifles on the hood pointing back down the alley.
“Stay in the car and try and keep her asleep.” Hank whispers through gritted teeth as he grabs his rifle.
I don’t want Hank to leave me here. “But.”
He interrupts, “I’m gonna send Michael over. You’ll need to explain what’s happening.”
With my hands and lap full of little girl, I nod and whisper, “Okay.” My jaw trembles too much to say anymore.
Hank runs and opens the Caddie door then points Michael over to the van. The poor kid’s eyes are blinking nonstop and it looks like he’s going to cry.
Damn it, I can’t let Michael see my fear. I need to put on a brave face for him. I take a deep breath, hold it a second and then exhale.
Michael climbs in the driver’s seat. “Wha, what’s happening?”
In as calm a voice as I can manage, I ask him, “Did you hear the loud car noises a few minutes ago?”
He shakes his head yes.
“Those cars have bad guys in them.”
“Did they shoot at you?” He asks, his face pale with fright.
“No, but they did shoot at Leo and Gus.”
His eyes open even wider. “They did? Why?”
“Not sure, sweetie, all we know is that we don’t want to get shot and we need to protect ourselves from them.”
Michael climbs up on his knees and looks around the headrest and down the alley. “Are, are they coming in here? Are they gonna shoot us?”
“I sure hope not.” I point at Hank and the others in defensive stands behind the Caddie. “The guys won’t allow them to hurt us. Do you understand?”
He sits back down and whispers, “Yeah.”
After a minute, he looks at Cindy sleeping on my lap and runs his fingers down one of her curls. “Hank said he’d teach me how to shoot. It’s important. I need to take care of her.”
“Sweetie, we’ll take care of her together, but I agree, we both need to know how to handle a gun. Let’s learn together, okay?”
“Yeah,” he says with a determined look on his face.
Cindy stirs, but with a little pat and a kiss on the head, she falls back to sleep. We don’t need her crying or talking loud right now and she’s too little to understand what’s happening.
The sound of souped-up motors bounce off the concrete walls. I can’t see the alley entrance but the looks on the guys faces tell me trouble has arrived.
What if a bullet hits the van? The kids! “Michael, get down on the floor and stay there.”
He scrabbles down under the steering wheel. He points at my lap. “What about Cindy?”
“I’m gonna put her down there with you. Keep her quiet and don’t let her up until I say the coast is clear.”
His eyes huge, he nods and whispers, “Okay.”
I slip Cindy onto his lap. “You can do this, Michael, I know you can.”
A male voice yells down the alley, “We know you’re in there. Get your asses out here.”
Hank yells back. “No fucking way.”
Wanting to see what’s happening, I kneel on the driver’s seat and look around the headrest. There are two cars blocking the alley. One is black just like the one Hank and I saw on our first day. The other is a neon green.
My walkie talkie goes off. It’s Hank. He turns his head, so he can see me while he talks. “Shell, Leo is gonna see if there’s another way out of the alley. A walkway or something. He’s gonna try and come up behind them with Adolph. Over.”
“Can Duff do this? Over.”
“Leo thinks so. I guess we’ll find out. You got your gun?”
“Yeah.” I take it out of the holster and wave it, so he can see it.
“If things go Fubar, protect yourself and the children. Over.”
He gives me a smile. “Listen Shell, bad timing and all, but I just want you to know…”
I interrupt him because I don’t want him to finish the sentence. “Yeah, I know. Me too. Over.”
Leo waves as he runs by the van with Adolph at his heels. He explores the end of the alley then disappears around the corner of the building. I guess there is a walkway over there.
“Michael, you religious?”
He nods.
“Then lower your head. Let’s say a prayer. “Please God, let us get out of this mess and please don’t let anyone in our new family get hurt. Amen.”
Michael whispers. “In Jesus name, amen.”
“We won’t shoot you. We only want to talk.” The guy down at the black car shouts.
“Not interested in anything you have to say.” Hank yells back.
“Let me make it clear. Come out or we start shooting,” is yelled back at us.
My heart is beating hard and my chest hurts. What if they shoot the guys? Will they take the children? Enslave us?”
Cindy’s high-pitched whine pulls me out of my head. Shit, she’s awake.
She starts to wiggle and kick her feet. “Don’t wanna.”
Michael tries to soothe her, but it doesn’t work. She tries to wiggle out of his arms. “Let go.” She manages to break loose and pushes herself up next to me.
I hold her face in my hands. “You need to get back down there with Michael.”
“Don’t wanna.” Her cheeks still rosy from sleep are covered with tears.
“I’m trying to keep you safe.” I forcibly put her back on Michael’s lap and tell her sternly, “You need to stay right there.”
Michael asks,” You got a blanket or something?”
I remember Cindy hiding under the sleeping bag in the store. “Yeah, there’s a tarp right here.” I grab the cloth covering the supplies and pull in down on top of them.
“Cindy, you and I are gonna stay under this like we did in the tent.” I hear Michael tell her.
She doesn’t answer, but she remains still and quiet. Smart young man.
“Two minutes or we’re coming in to get you.” The voice yells down the alley.
Hank yells back. “What do you want from us”
“Looking for women.”
Loud barking and snarling breaks the silence followed by a rifle shot and a painful scream. One of the men at the end of the alley falls to the ground.
Leo. It had to be Leo who shot first.
Bullets hit the Caddie and ping off the walls surrounding us. Hank and Gus return fire. I lay across the seats and put my hand on the children. “Stay down. Please stay down.”
Cindy screams and kicks her legs under the tarp.
I can’t help it. I cry. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want my new family to die either. “Please God, protect us.”
It’s hard to tell how many shots are fired and by whom. After a few minutes of intense firing, the gunfire slows and soon everything goes quiet.
The cars at the end of the alley start their engines and drive away.
Leo contacts us on the walkie talkie. “The bastards picked up their hurt people and left. I shot one of them and you guys winged another one. Over.”
I key my walkie talkie, “Did they just give up? Run out of ammunition? What? Over.”
“This is Hank. Doesn’t matter why. We’re all okay, that’s what counts. Let’s get out of here. Over.”
“You guys can come out now.” I tell the kids as I remove the tarp from over them. Michael’s face looks ashen and Cindy just wants out; she’s too young to understand what just h
appened.
I pull both of them into a hug. “We’re okay. Everything is okay.”
A minute later, Hank runs over to the van. I’m ecstatic he’s alive and unhurt, I jump out and wrap my arms around him. “Thank God, you weren’t shot.”
He pulls me into him and places a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t cry, Baby, I’m fine. I promise.” as he pushes the hair out of my face.
Gus joins us. I hug him, too. “Thank you, Gus. Thank you.”
He picks Cindy up and she lays her head on his shoulder. “You okay, Sweet pea?”
She doesn’t answer just lets out a big sigh.
Leo and Adolph run up the alley and Michael runs down to meet them. “You’re okay.”
Relief is on everyone’s faces.
Hank suggests, “I think we should take different routes home. If they’re watching, maybe it will confuse them.”
Leo gives a thumbs-up. “We’ll take Lindley Ave to Strathern.”
“We’ll take Parthenia over to De Soto and then come back around.” I tell them.
Everyone gets back in the vehicles with Michael once again riding in the Caddie.
With Cindy on my lap, I put my left hand on Hank’s arm. I don’t want to let him go just yet.
He smiles and squeezes my hand. “We’re okay.”
“Yeah, but we need to rethink these trips. I’m not gonna let the kids come out at all.”
“That’s probably best, and I think we need to go back to night trips.”
I agree. “No Kids and only at night with no car lights.”
We drive in silence the rest of the way home.
“That’s my house.” I point at the front door.
Cindy’s lips quiver as she starts to whine. “Michael. Want Michael.”
“Honey, Michael will be here, too.”
She continues to cry and tries to wiggle out of my arms. “Don’t wanna.”
I look over at Hank for help. “Get Michael.”
Hank waves at the Caddie that’s just pulling in the driveway across the street. “We need Michael over here.”
Michael, followed closely by Adolph, runs over to the driver’s window. “What’s wrong?”
Hank nods at Cindy. “She thinks we’re taking her away from you. Tell her you’re staying with her, please.”
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