by Payne, T. L.
“We need to get a team and go check this out,” Pete said.
The lanky teen led them through the business section of a small town to a residential area of older homes. It appeared that the town had been evacuated. No one came out to investigate them.
“Which one, Levi,” Pete asked as they stood in the intersection staring down a tree-lined street.
“The third house on the left.” Levi pointed to a small home with bright yellow shutters. It looked like the homeowners had tried to plant a garden in the front yard, but whatever food might have grown there was long gone now. Will’s stomach growled at the thought of a lovely ripe tomato or perfectly delicious carrot. He could almost taste them. He shrugged off the thought of food and followed Pete and Levi toward the side of the home. In the backyard was a portable shed secured by a keyed lock.
“Do we need bolt cutters?” Will asked.
“We don’t have time to track a pair down. We’ll kick in the door,” Pete replied.
A moment later, Pete did his best to get into the shed via the door. After two kicks, he had to rest. Levi took a turn, and within a minute, he’d made a hole in the plywood door big enough to crawl through.
“Be careful picking up the pipes. We have no idea what’s inside them,” Pete admonished.
Will’s butt puckered every time the kid appeared in the hole with one of the short sections of steel water pipe containing some explosive mixture that could potentially blow them all up. Pete gingerly took the pipe bombs from Levi and placed them on the grass next to the shed. Will couldn’t help but wonder what in the world the kid had been thinking to make bombs like that. What had he intended to do with them, blow up his school? He’d likely got the plans on the internet. Will hoped that he’d closely followed the instructions or they could be the ones blown up by them.
“We need something to carry these in. Will, look around for a crate or something,” Pete said as he took their future IEDs from the boy.
Will looked around the sides and back of the shed but found nothing. After a search of the rest of the yard, he ventured into the neighboring yard and found a milk crate.
He stopped near a pile of trash and retrieved a discarded towel to provide some cushioning for the bombs. Pete then placed the pipe bombs down into the crate and covered them with the towel.
“How are we going to detonate these?” Will asked.
Pete pulled back the towel and lifted one end of the pipe. “See that small hole?”
Will nodded.
“The fuse is inserted there.” He picked up a small plastic grocery sack, rummaged inside, and retrieved a bundle of wires. He reached in again and pulled out a switch.
“Bridgewire detonators.”
“Seriously?” Will asked.
“This kid was seriously deranged,” Pete said.
“How did his parents not know?”
Pete stuffed the items back into the bag and handed them to Levi.
“His folks were high most of the time. They couldn’t care less what he was doing as long as he wasn’t bothering them,” Levi explained.
Will shook his head. “Sad.”
“Let’s get these back and kick some ass,” Pete said.
“You think these will work against those armored vehicles?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. It’s the best shot we have, so I sure hope so. Something has to end our Mexican standoff. We’ll have to give them something to shoot at to coax their gunners out. If we can get their gunners to expose themselves, we have a shot at taking them out. Without their heavy machine guns, we can get close enough to place these devices.”
“We should put some on the road leading to the roadblock,” Levi said.
“No. We don’t want to take the chance of them going off-roading and bypassing our roadblock altogether, but pre-positioning them within the kill box in front of the roadblock is an excellent idea.”
Will couldn’t stop thinking about Cayden and Isabella back in the town they’d left them in. He knew that Savanah would be doing her best to make a comfortable place for everyone and hoped that all their preparations had made it a safe one as well. With Pete, Jason, Rob, and others here fighting the Chinese, their families would be forced to fend for themselves if trouble found them. It had been a difficult decision, but Will was sure that going to fight was the right one. With the new information he’d gained from the wounded Chinese soldier, he was even more sure that anything they could do to interrupt the PLA’s plans would make a difference. He was also anxious to get to Shreveport and find out for himself if indeed the US president was there and if there was some semblance of government left in the country.
“What did you make of the information about the Doomsday plane?” Will asked as they made their way back to the roadblock.
Pete stopped and leaned against a tree by the edge of the road. He wrapped a hand around the nape of his neck and rubbed. “I pray he is telling the truth and that the government is still active and doing something to save this country. I know that one of the Air Force’s E-4Bs transports the secretary of defense to foreign countries. I recall reading that the military was planning on upgrading the fleet but I’m not sure if that happened after all the defense spending cuts of the last administration. The president had proposed massive spending to rebuild our military, but that takes time to implement.”
“It makes sense that something of that importance would prompt the PLA to rush to Shreveport. What other strategic importance could the city have?”
“We likely will never know, but we can do our part and hold them here as long as possible. My hope is that our military will show up and finish the job for us. I’m not sure how many of these things will actually work, to be honest.” He nodded to the crate of pipe bombs on the ground next to his feet.
“So, if the president or some member of the government is on a plane and heading to Shreveport, what does that mean? Is DC gone?”
“My guess is it does. Retaliatory strikes would have been made on the countries suspected of taking out our power grid. Nukes could even have been employed.”
“Nukes?” Levi asked, his voice pitching.
“Almost certainly. We have ships out at sea capable of launching if we are attacked. I wouldn’t be surprised if Beijing and other countries’ capitals were hit with nukes,” Pete said.
Will tried to imagine what that might do environmentally. It would suck to succeed at repelling the invaders only to die of radiation poisoning. He imagined it would be a slow death, though, ending in cancer or something since they hadn’t been in a nuclear ash cloud or anything.
Pete picked up the crate and sat it on his hip. “I bet we’ll find out that the whole East Coast is wiped out once we get to the FEMA shelter. Hopefully, someone there is a gossip, and we can find out some inside information. I doubt they’re sharing much in the way of detail with the general population.”
So much of the plan was now up in the air. Will hated not knowing what life would look like when they arrived at the shelter. Life might be totally different in other parts of the country. They could learn that the Midwest was spared or the West Coast. They could be evacuated to someplace with electricity and running water. He’d never allowed himself to hope that before.
“Doomsday plane,” he said under his breath. It could change everything. “Please, Lord, let there be a government out there somewhere with the ability to save this nation.”
Eighteen
Isabella
Roseville, Vernon Parish, Louisiana
While Will and the others set off for Beauregard Parish, Isabella and the rest of the group made their way north to Roseville. They’d twice had to detour their route to avoid gangs on the road, but safely made it just before dark on the second day. After settling everyone in at the grocery store, Isabella and Walker patrolled the town.
Resting her bat on her right shoulder, Isabella continued down the street back toward the grocery store. She’d been on patrol for a little over an hou
r, walking the four-block section, and felt confident that they were the only people in the area. She stopped at the corner and listened. It was eerie to hear near-complete silence. There wasn’t so much as a dog barking. She was used to the lack of mechanical noises now, but rarely did she get far enough away from the others to hear silence. Even though they’d been taught all about noise discipline by Pete and his family, it was impossible to enforce with babies and small children.
She glanced across the street toward Walker, her patrol partner. He held his bat out in front of him, ready to pounce if needed. She was grateful that he’d stayed behind to help protect the group though there wasn’t much that could be done if they were attacked with much force. They had very little ammunition for their guns, only the walk-in freezer to be used to protect the children.
The good thing was that most of the groups that did roam the streets looking for prey were also unarmed—at least with anything with bullets. There were a plethora of knives, swords, and other sharp weapons. One of the women in their group carried a bow and arrow. She was a good shot and even brought them back a squirrel once, but she only had a few arrows left, so it wouldn’t be useful in a fight with numerous attackers.
Walker pointed to the street on their left, and Isabella turned and walked down the south side of the street. Walker cut across the intersection and walked along the north side of the street. Isabella glanced at the store windows as she passed. The gift shop and art supply store looked untouched. There must not have been anything useful for survival inside. Next to the flower shop was a dress store with bridal dresses on display. Isabella slowed and admired the gowns. She imagined herself wearing one on her wedding day. Will would be in his black tuxedo and Cayden in a shirt and tie. She couldn’t help but think about how different their lives could have been if not for the stupid war. When she turned her attention back to patrolling the street, Walker had pulled ahead of her and was just reaching the next intersection. She double-timed it to catch up with him.
He stopped and turned to look back. A shot rang out and Isabella jumped, barely recognizing the sound. When she did, she dropped to the ground and crawled to a space between two buildings. She prayed that the others back at the store had heard the shot and were taking action now to protect themselves.
“Walker!” she cried out.
She heard no reply. Isabella stretched forward, taking the risk of being shot to see if she could locate him. She spotted him pressed up against the wall of the building on the corner, his only cover the wall of the entrance to the shop. “Walker,” she called again. He held up a hand and gestured for her to stay put. She desperately wanted to know where the shot had come from and how many attackers there were, at the same time fighting the urge to run away. Running could get them killed. Where would she go? She could go back to the store but she might lead the shooter there. If she ran away, she’d be separated from them and may never see Cayden or Will again. She couldn’t bear the thought of that.
She waited for what seemed an eternity before the shooter revealed himself.
The gunman, dressed in a sleeveless T-shirt, shorts, and cowboy boots, slowly inched forward from the side of the building just twenty-five feet from Walker. In his hands, he held a rifle on a sling around his neck. He either had plenty of ammunition or was an idiot. He was obviously not a good shot. With a rifle like that, and aimed in Walker’s direction, he should have hit him. Isabella had heard that the marauders who roamed the area were drug-seeking, mostly. They were strung out on prescription painkillers and other drugs they’d found in homes while moving from town to town.
Walker must have been listening to the man’s footsteps. When he was within striking distance, Walker leaped from the alcove and smashed the bat down hard on the man’s arms. The rifle dropped and dangled on its sling as the gunman screamed in pain, clutching his broken arm to his chest, and hopping around.
Walker slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Before Isabella could reach them, Walker had disarmed the man and was standing pointing the rifle at the man who was still writhing on the ground in pain, complaining about his arm.
“Shut up. You deserve to have every bone in your body broken for shooting at us,” Isabella said. She pointed her bat at the man. “You better shut the hell up, or I might just test this thing out on your shins.”
The man’s eyes grew wide, and he looked away. “I’m sorry. You scared the hell out of me. There ain’t supposed to be nobody left in town. The mayor and everybody left two weeks or more ago.
“Are you from here?” Walker asked.
“No. My sister lived here. She had a house over on Fourth Street. I was going to stay there for a few days.”
He raised his hand to wipe his nose, and Isabella jumped backward with her bat held ready to strike.
“I was with a group, and they were getting on my nerves, so I thought I’d crash here for a few days to pull myself together before pushing on to Shreveport. I was going to try to hook up with my sister and the rest of the folks from town here.”
“You strung out?” Walker asked.
The man looked up. “I’m hurting real bad.”
“When’s the last time you used?”
“Yesterday.”
“You say you left this group voluntarily?” Walker asked.
Isabella was trying to understand why Walker was giving the man the third degree about his drug use. What did it matter now? He wasn’t going to arrest the man for drug possession, was he?”
“Yep. I got tired of those assholes. That leader—he’s a prick. He was always bossing me around, telling me I had to go find booty for the group to earn my keep. I ain’t nobody’s bitch. I go where I want when I want.”
“You sure they didn’t kick you out?” Walker asked. “You sure they didn’t follow you here to this town?”
That was what he was getting at. Now, Isabella was concerned. Walker was on the right track. If they were after this guy, her group could get in their crosshairs.
“No. They didn’t see me leave. I waited until everyone was asleep. They were passed out cold when I slipped away.”
Walker handed the rifle to Isabella who took it and stepped back, aiming it at the man’s head. Her finger found the trigger, and then she placed it resting just to the side of the trigger guard. She was shaking so hard that she was afraid she might pull it by mistake.
Walker bent and patted the man down, checking the pockets of his jean shorts and stepping back. “Where is it? In your drawers?”
“I ain’t got nothing on me.”
“Where did you stash it then?” Walker asked.
The man drew in a breath. He’d stashed it.
“Oh my God. They’re coming after you for drugs, aren’t they?” Isabella said, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks.
“It’s mine. I earned it. They had no call to treat me like that,” the man whined.
“Show me!” Walker said, hauling the man to his feet. He shoved him forward, causing the man to stumble. Walker caught him and pulled him into the intersection.
“Which way?”
“I...”
“Which way?”
He lowered his head, resigned that Walker was not going to give up. “It’s in that stack of tires beside the tire shop.”
“Let’s go.”
Savanah paced back and forth, stopping in front of the man several times. She looked like she wanted to kill him. He sat on the stool with his head bowed.
“He’d better be praying,” Isabella said under her breath.
She scanned the room. The stares of angry parents would have made her wet her pants if she’d been him. She wasn’t sure if she’d rather have taken her chances with the marauders. These folks looked like they were ready to tear him from limb to limb. Isabella understood how they felt. This man had put their children’s lives in danger. She glanced back at Cayden who sat on the floor with Kendra and Karson, his arms folded across his chest; he felt the tension rising. She want
ed to go to him and take him away from this place, but she had no idea how to find his father. She wondered what Will would do in this situation. What would Pete do?
She was pretty sure she knew what he would do. His wife had already suggested it.
“Take him out and dump him beside the road out on the interstate. They’ll think he overdosed or something, and then they’ll have no reason to come here.”
They weren’t killers. Isabella doubted that anyone here was to the point that they could do something like that even to save the group. But they could run him out of town. He could go east. Would they still trace him to the town? She couldn’t be sure.
The door banged open, and everyone jumped up.
“They’re here!” the teenage girl yelled.
Nineteen
Savanah
Savanah had her back to the door when it banged open. Her first thought was that she had a rifle trained on her back. She spun around, searching for her children. Kendra and Karson were sitting with Cayden.
Where are Kylie and Keegan?
And then she remembered. They were with Jane and Luca inside the walk-in freezer. The door was latched tight, and they were both armed. The little ones were safe.
She barely registered the words from Rebecca. Pete’s daughter had been one of those sent to watch the road into town. She was breathless and sweating. She’d run all the way. How much time did they have? Minutes? Could they hide from the vile group heading into town?
“What about him?” Jack asked.
Jack had only recently moved to Sugar Cove Road. Savanah hadn’t known him all that long, but from what she knew of the man, he was an honest and hardworking sort. Her grandfather would have liked him. Jack been injured in a fight defending his family and his broken leg had healed badly. He walked with a limp and was in constant pain. He couldn’t run. None of them could. They’d have to hide. They would fight, but only if forced to.