“Good morning to you, too,” Emett said.
“I’m starving,” Alexis said, leaning forward and stretching.
He shook his head, smiling.
“We’ll pull over at the next exit and have some lunch.”
“Lunch?” his daughter said. “We just got up.”
“Yes, but it’s close to lunchtime. You two slept in.”
Ana laughed. “Never thought that’d happen after the world ended. But I definitely needed it.”
“I agree,” Alexis said.
They pulled off at the next exit and Emmett did a perimeter sweep before he let the girls get out of the truck.
“All clear,” he said. He walked back to the bed, climbed inside, opened the toolbox cabinet, and began to rummage around.
“Your dad wasn’t in the military, was he?” Ana asked Alexis under her breath.
“Yeah.”
“I never would have guessed.”
Alexis laughed, “He’s pretty strict sometimes, but you’ll get used to it.”
“What would you girls like? Canned soup? Some chips? MREs?” Emmett asked, showcasing each item.
“An MRE doesn’t sound too bad,” Alexis said. “What do we have?”
“Are they any good?” Ana asked her.
“It takes a little getting used to, but they’re better than nothing, and filling.”
“We have a few different meals. Why don’t you girls come and pick them out?” Emmett asked.
“What are you going with, Dad?”
“Tortellini, as always.”
“Then I’ll go with that too,” Alexis said.
“Me too,” Ana said. “It actually sounds pretty good.”
He came out of the bed with three green packages, gave one to each of the girls, and set his down on the tailgate. Opening it up, he pulled out all the contents—the main entrée, side dish, bread, dessert, flameless ration heater, and accessory pack.
“Wow, there’s a full meal in that little package,” Ana said.
“Everything you need to survive if you were out in the field. Perfect for the end of the world, too. Make sure to keep whatever you don’t use or eat.”
After twelve minutes of heating their meals with the ration heater, they were ready to eat. Emmett dug into his meal, not having eaten anything substantial in over a day.
“This is actually pretty good,” Ana said, “Not bad at all.”
“Growing up, Dad would cook once a week. Most of the time he tried to disguise MREs as real meals. Mom and I always knew, even though we never said anything. We got used to them over time.”
“You girls knew?” Emmett asked. “I tried hard to spruce them up.”
Alexis laughed, “Oh, we knew. Wasn’t hard to look in the trash and find the MRE packages.”
“Damn, I taught you too well,” he said, chuckling, “Guess that’s my own fault then.”
They shared a smile, reminiscing on what life had been like before the divorce, and now this.
“What about your dad, Ana?” Alexis asked.
Ana picked at her food before answering. “He was a hard man, but he loved me. Wanted me to be tough for when he was gone. He always said, ‘The world is a dangerous place, Ana. You have to be tough to survive.’ When all this happened, he tried to get me to safety but was killed alongside most of his men. Those first few days were the hardest. We didn’t know what was going on.”
“What’d your father do?” Emmett asked.
“He was a… businessman.”
He wanted to ask her more, but he knew she didn’t want to talk about it. He figured it didn’t matter much. If she didn’t want to share, she didn’t have to. They finished their meals in silence, putting the leftover items in a bag, which he put in one of the drawers. Then they got back into the truck and headed down the interstate once again.
~~~
The interstate was becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. So when they arrived at the scene of a massive wreck late in the afternoon, Emmett wasn’t surprised. The vehicles were spread over both lanes, the median, and in the ditches. He pulled to a stop and looked it over. There was no way to go around or through it. Fortunately, there was an exit just ahead of them. Pulling out the map, he studied it. They could exit here and travel for a few miles down the highway to the town of Haven, Nebraska. Once through the town, they would have another couple hours and then they could get back on I-29. It would be a detour that would lose them a few hours, but he decided it was the best course of action.
“I want you girls to keep a gun close,” he said, “and keep your eyes open. No telling what we might run into in Haven.”
They pulled off the interstate and onto the highway. After a few minutes they passed a mileage sign with Safe-Haven for Survivors written on it with black spray paint.
“What do you think that means?” Ana said, eyeing the sign.
“Maybe the town is safe,” Alexis said hopefully.
“Maybe…” Emmett said.
They arrived at Haven a few minutes later and he knew right away there was something different about the town. It was surrounded by a makeshift wall at least eight feet tall. He saw a watchtower at the front gate, and he noticed someone in the church steeple in the center of town. Cars with spiked poles sticking out of them surrounded the front gate. There were people on each side of the gate behind the wall and one in the watchtower, all armed with rifles. He pulled to a stop in front of the gate when one of the men held up a hand.
“Friend or foe?” said a new man, walking up onto the platform behind the gate. He had dark hair and was dressed in a white button-up shirt and black slacks. He had a friendly smile and carried no weapon.
“Friend,” Emmett said, his hand on the Beretta at his side.
“Ah, good!” the man exclaimed, smiling widely. “Then we’ll talk inside.”
He signaled to someone down below and the gate was pulled open, allowing them to drive inside. There were two more armed men on the ground and one shut the gate behind them.
“You girls stay in the truck,” Emmett said, stepping out. He looked around. The men on the wall went back to looking outside, but the two on the ground kept an eye on him. The man who had been talking walked up to him and held out his hand.
“Levi,” he said, smiling genuinely.
“Emmett,” he said, giving Levi’s hand a firm shake.
“Nice to meet you, Emmett. You seem like a good group of people,” Levi said, looking them over.
“Yes, sir,” Emmett said.
“Is this your whole group?”
“Just us.”
“That’s too bad. We love guests here. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Welcome, friends, to Safe-Haven!” He spread out his arms with a flourish.
“Thanks. Haven’t seen any communities still standing like this. It’s impressive.”
“We take a lot of pride in our accomplishment. Now, will you guys be staying or going on today?”
“Let me talk with the girls,” Emmett said, walking back to the truck.
“Take your time. There’s still plenty of light left. We don’t open the gates after dark.”
Emmett got into the truck and closed the door. “Do you girls want to stay here tonight?”
“What do you think, Dad?”
He thought about the question. He didn’t trust them, but that didn’t mean much. He didn’t trust anyone. He didn’t think Levi meant them any harm, though. They didn’t seem like killers. But he knew from experience that some men didn’t seem like killers until they were plunging the knife into their victim.
“We could just stay for a night, get a real meal, maybe even a real bed,” Ana said.
“That does sound nice,” Alexis said. “Dad?”
“One night then,” he said, getting out of the truck and walking back to Levi.
“What’ve y’all decided?”
“We’ll stay tonight, then be off in the morning. What are the accommodations?”
“Exce
llent! We have beds for all of you, adjoining rooms or same room if you like. Food is free the first night. After that we’ll have to barter. You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you like. We do have a few rules, of course. You’ll have to follow those or move on.”
“And those are?”
“Only handguns are allowed inside the walls. You can keep your other firearms in the truck, but you must park it in the parking lot. Keep your truck locked so others can’t get into it. Other than that, be kind and polite to the people around you and we won’t have any issues.”
“Simple enough. Where’s the parking lot?”
Levi pointed to the far end of town, “See the gate over there? You’ll see a fenced-in area with some cars parked inside. I’ll meet you over there and show you to your rooms.” He stretched out his hand again. “We’re glad to have you here.”
Emmett shook it. “Thanks for the hospitality.”
They drove through town, only seeing a handful of people. A settlement this size should have three to four times that amount of people living in it. But he figured with all that was going on, they were lucky this many had survived.
They pulled into the fenced area, which used to be someone’s yard. The fence was chain-link and only six feet high, but they’d strung barbed wire along the top except for the gate. It wouldn’t stop vehicles from plowing through if someone really wanted to, so he figured it was more for effect than practicality. The back gate to the town looked similar to the front, but there was only one guard on the wall and one on the ground. There was also no tower, probably because fewer people came from this way. He parked next to a Blue Ford Explorer. There were some clothes scattered in the backseat, along with some food items. Looked like whoever owned it was on the messier side. He turned the truck off and the girls got out, stretching.
“We have to leave the rifles here, but keep your handguns close and a melee weapon, just in case the infected get in. We always need to be ready to leave on short notice.”
“I have all I need in my backpack,” Alexis said.
He smiled. She always caught on quickly.
“I don’t have anything anyway, so I’m ready,” Ana said.
“You can borrow some of my clothes if you want to. I have more in the back of the truck. Or Mom’s… you’re about her size.”
“Thanks, Alexis. I’d like that.”
The girls went to the bed of the truck while he stood, taking it all in. His daughter had lost her mother but made a new friend, and she was taking all this rather well. She never ceased to surprise him.
He studied the town. If they had to leave on unfriendly terms, the back gate would be easier. It could possibly be rammed through with his brush guard. He figured he’d have no trouble getting out of the “parking lot” as there was no barbed wire on the gate. He was confident that if things went south he should be able to get them out. He hoped he wouldn’t have to.
“Emmett!” Levi called, walking up to the gate of the parking lot.
“Yes?” Emmett said, walking over to him.
“One other thing. Get whatever you need out of your truck for the night. We lock the parking lot during the night.”
“What if we need something?”
“You can grab whatever you need now. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait till morning.”
“Okay, I’ll go tell the girls.” Emmett walked back to the truck. “Grab whatever you need for the night. We won’t be able to get into the truck.”
“Why?” Alexis asked, getting out of the bed.
“We’re in their town and they have their rules. I think they’re afraid someone will come back here, get their guns, and start killing people. Either way, it’ll make little difference to us. We’ll have whatever we need with us.”
Ana came out of the bed with a bag in her hands. “I have all I need now.”
“Good. Alexis?” Emmett asked.
“Let me grab my bag from the backseat.”
She went to the backseat while Emmett grabbed his go-bag out of the front seat. Inside he had a Glock 37, ammo, MREs, first aid kit, tarp, hatchet, change of clothes, and some other equipment. He kept this packed at all times, even before the apocalypse. He met the girls at the back of the truck, closed the tailgate, and locked the truck, sticking the keys in his pocket.
“Ready?”
“Yes, sir,” Ana said.
“Yeah,” Alexis said.
They walked over to Levi, who was standing by the gate, smiling warmly at them.
“Got everything you need?” he asked them.
“Yes,” Emmett replied.
“Good. Now for the tour. I’ll show you to your rooms. You can shower and relax for a few hours. Dinner will be at six in the Dining Hall across the street from your rooms.”
“Showers?” Ana asked in awe. “Are you serious?”
“Of course. We have hot running water.”
“Oh my…” Alexis said, “I was ready to never have a real shower again.”
Levi laughed, “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. We have our own water system here. We just ask you take a reasonable shower. No need to waste water.”
“Sure, we can do that,” Ana said, squeezing Alexis’s arm. They were both grinning ear-to-ear. He didn’t know if he’d seen his daughter this excited before, and it was just a shower. But it was all about the simple things in life now. The end of the world really had a way of changing one’s perspective.
10
Breaking
The brothers sped down the road to town, desperately aware of each second that passed. It would be getting light in an hour and they needed the darkness for cover. They had almost crashed twice now, but James had been able to dodge the zombies before they splattered against his brush guard and flew up through the windshield. His brother was in the passenger seat, ready with his AR, machete on his back. James’s AR was next to him. Driving into town, they pulled into an alley two blocks from the courthouse.
“We gonna try to do this quietly?” James asked as he parked behind a dumpster. The white truck didn’t blend in well, but it was currently dirty enough not to stand out too badly. He looked over at Connor, who sat with his eyes closed. “We got this, brother. We’ll come out the other side. We have to.”
“I know, just trying to calm down. I know if I go into this angry, it’ll be hard to keep focused. We need to be at our best out there. Mom’s life depends on it,” Connor said.
He looked over at James, intensity in his eyes. James knew this could go very badly for all of them, but he didn’t think about that. They couldn’t—no—wouldn’t fail. There was no other option. It was succeed or die.
“I will, brother. You won’t see any hesitation from me ever again,” James said, determined.
“I know. I’m not worried about that either. I have your back and I know you have mine.”
“Yes, I do. We got this.”
“Now, let’s go kill those bastards and get our mother back!”
“Hell yeah!”
Connor got out of the truck and checked his gear. He grabbed his small daypack and threw it on. James also got out, grabbing the Mossberg shotgun and shoving it in a strap on the back of his tactical vest. They had taken the tactical, extended-tube Mossberg 500 shotgun from one of the guys outside the barn. He then grabbed his AR and shut the door, locking it and sticking the keys in his pocket. His brother looked at him.
“What? At least if it’s locked and someone breaks in, the alarm will go off, and maybe make them hesitate.”
They began to walk towards the end of the alley and James hesitated. His brother stopped and looked back at him.
“What?” Connor asked.
“I don’t know, but do you think we should pray quick?”
James didn’t want to pray. He was pissed at God right now. But when he thought about it, he still had his faith. He knew in his heart that God was with them, even in this. But he didn’t want to think about that because it just brought up those painful
questions. Why would He allow his father to die? His mother to get taken captive? And Felicia? The world was in turmoil, but it was nothing compared to the storm that raged inside him.
“Sure,” Connor said after thinking about it also. “Won’t hurt, I guess.”
“Lord,” James began, “we ask that you continue to guide us and direct us. Protect us as we are about to enter the lion’s den… Help us get Mom out safely. Protect her also. Lord… Be with the world, it’s broken. If this is the end, then we’ll be seeing you soon. Take care of Dad… Amen.”
He opened his eyes and looked at his brother, who looked at him.
“I love you, bro,” Connor said, embracing him.
He hugged his brother back, “I love you too, little brother.”
“Little? I’m only two years younger, and you know I’m bigger than you, right?”
“Oh, I know. That’s why you have the pack on, but you’re still my little brother.”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go already.”
They jogged toward the end of the alley and the courthouse beyond.
~~~
“Locked and loaded,” Connor said as he lay prone with his AR, looking across the street at the main entrance of the courthouse.
The building was a classic courthouse, with three stories, big steps leading up to it, and a domed roof. They’d been in the courthouse before when visiting family and remembered the layout. Inside was a big entrance room with steps leading to the top floor. The left side went around to the middle floor and the right had steps leading down to the basement. They would take down the men outside first, then go inside and head down. It was the creepiest place in the courthouse, and if the men they were about to face were psychopathic killers, that’s where they’d take a prisoner.
“Let’s rock and roll,” James responded, lying next to his brother.
They’d counted a total of four men out front and had established an order for taking them out without the others knowing right away. It would be risky, but if everything went as planned, they’d have no problem. But things rarely went as planned.
James took the first shot, taking down the man standing on the left side of the building. Connor shot right after his brother, taking out the man by the front door. The man farther down the steps must have heard something because he turned around to see his comrade bleeding by the door. He was about to call out when a bullet took him in the neck, dropping him to the ground in a spray of blood.
The Brother's Creed (Book 1): Outbreak Page 10