by L. L. Akers
Curt did.
Trunk crooked a finger at him, calling him over. Backfire came to stand with the boys while the two men walked away and had a quick talk in private.
A minute later, Trunk and his crew were on their way out of Tullymore, leaving behind the terrified neighbors, and the grieving families of the bloody and broken dogs—and one cat—in their wake.
47
Grayson’s Group
Gabby and Olivia sat in the kitchen staring at each other across the table. Like a matching set of bookends, they both had their chin in their hands, holding up sad faces; bored silly and missing their husbands. They were a mirror image of each other.
By the time the guys had come in, the night before, Grayson’s face had been a mask of pain; swollen from his bad tooth. He was short-tempered and all he wanted to do was eat, get a shower, and go straight to bed. He’d failed to mention to Olivia that he'd picked up a home-remedy from Neva, so while he bathed, she took it upon herself to find some medicine in his preps, break it up, and put it in a bowl of hot stew for him.
By the time he’d finished eating and taking a shower—blissfully singing and finally pain free—the medicine had hit him like a ton of bricks. She’d messed up the dosage and had doubled it, knocking him out for the rest of the night. He’d slept until morning, and had been sick to his stomach, and grouchy when he’d woken up. Soon, he’d gone back to bed where he’d stayed all day.
Now she remembered why they still had that medicine. Grayson had never done well with painkillers. He’d saved it in case someone else could use it, never intending on ever using it for himself.
Oops.
Jake had waited quietly for Grayson to finish his shower, and then did the same, not wanting to talk much, and later seemed even more upset about Olivia wasting the painkillers than Grayson was. Gabby had probed him, prompting him to tell her what was really wrong, or about their adventures at Tullymore, but he’d put her off, saying maybe tomorrow.
Now, it was tomorrow. He’d beaten Gabby out of bed, spent hours outside chopping wood and then came back in. Sweating profusely, and with a killer headache, he too had gone straight back to bed again—in broad daylight.
Something was still bugging Jake, but he kept denying it. Whatever it was seemed as much physical as it was mental, but other than the sweating and headaches, he didn’t have any other symptoms—al least none that he would admit to. He waved his wife off every time she tried to get to the bottom of it.
Gabby knew there was something there, and whatever it was had started before they left for Tullymore. But, she knew her husband well enough to know he’d talk about it when he was good and ready, and to push him would only result in a complete shut-down that would last longer; she’d just have to wait until he was ready to talk.
Tina and Tarra had made themselves scarce, too. They’d barely said two words to anyone the night before, insisting they wanted to sleep in the barn. Olivia hadn’t argued. She’d gladly handed them quilts and pillows and helped them on their way. At daybreak, they too got up with the sun, grabbed a quick breakfast, and disappeared, leaving a note hanging on the fridge that they were ‘scouting for meat,’ and would be gone most of the day.
Puck was in bed, suffering terribly from the pain in his arm, as well as the bee stings, with Ozzie curled up beside him.
Olivia had spent over an hour scraping stingers out of Puck the night before with credit cards. She’d pumped him full of Benadryl—and dosed Ozzie with some, too—and sent them back to Graysie’s room to sleep it off.
And sleep he did.
Like a rock, he slept through the night.
That morning, Olivia had cleaned and changed the bandage over Puck’s gunshot wound, and applied a fresh layer of baking soda paste onto his bee-stings. She made him breakfast in bed and he swallowed two more Benadryl. She’d tucked him in, kissing him on his swollen head, and he’d peacefully drifted off to sleep again, after asking for GrayMan a dozen times.
Puck had been sorely disappointed he hadn’t seen him since the men returned, and pouted like a child, begging to wake him. Olivia refused, knowing Grayson wasn’t good company right now, and soon Puck drifted back to sleep, pulled under by the antihistamine.
Gabby and Olivia had spent the day unloading Jake’s truck and putting stuff away, weeding and working the gardens, and even stacking firewood that had been split, but not stacked yet.
All day they’d worked as a team, and even cleaned up the house and hand-washed all the men’s laundry and hung it to dry. Now, they were totally out of things to do. Or at least out of things they wanted to do…
Grayson surely had a dozen tasks he could assign, but he was too sick and too tired to even bother with assigning work. The ladies puttered around for hours, sometimes banging a few things around, hoping to rouse their husbands.
But so far, no luck.
Graysie walked into the kitchen. “What are you two doing staring at each other like that?” she said, her face screwed up at the sight of them sitting so quietly, grimly looking at each other’s faces.
They both laughed. They hadn’t even realized what they were doing.
For them, staring at each other wasn’t like gawking at someone else. It didn’t feel awkward or weird. It was more like looking in a mirror at their own faces, and after a moment or two; something completely normal and comfortable.
“We’re bored,” Gabby mumbled, her chin still resting on her hand.
Graysie grabbed some cheese crackers and a bottle of water and leaned against the counter. She popped one whole cracker in her mouth and chewed, studying her aunt and stepmother. “What about your foraging book, Olivia? You guys could see if you can find some of those plants and mushrooms you’ve been reading about. Maybe surprise Daddy with a salad of some sort from the woods for dinner.”
Olivia perked up. “That’s actually a really good idea. Want to, Gabby?”
Gabby stood up and stretched. “We can. But we need to be back before dark.”
“We’ll definitely be back before dark. I bet a lot of things grow right behind the house. We won’t go too far. Let me get my book, so we can identify stuff. Can you pack up snacks and water for three?” She stood up to go.
“For three?” Graysie asked, scrunching up her eyebrows.
“Yes, three. Me, Gabby and you. We all need to learn to identify edibles—and non-edibles. And don’t start with me…you’re going,” Olivia answered and smiled, and then hurried out of the room to find her book.
Graysie groaned. “Aunt Gabby! Help me!” she moaned.
Gabby laughed. “Hey, if I have to go, then you have to go, too. It was your idea, princess. Unless you’ve got a toothache, a bee sting, or are too depressed to get out bed…”
Graysie rolled her eyes. “I can fake any of that.”
“Nope. Suck it up. You’re going with us. Grab us some flashlights for my bag, just in case,” she said, and laughed. She turned to start gathering food. “And where’s your gun? You’re supposed to be wearing it. Go get it and make sure you bring extra mags too. You never know what we might run into in the woods. Better to be prepared for anything.”
But on that night, it wouldn’t be the woods where they’d run into monsters… in fact, they were much safer in the woods, than at home.
48
Grayson’s Group
The full moon shone above the small clearing, and tiny specks of light twinkled brightly. If they hadn’t been lost, they would have enjoyed the beautiful night sky, finally void of smog, smoke, and the infamous chem trails that may or may not have existed before the grid went down. It was the brightest they’d ever seen the moon and stars.
Olivia twirled around with her face turned up, studying the glimmering stars. “I can’t believe you didn’t bring a compass, Graysie!”
“Me?” she protested. “Why didn’t you bring one? You’re the adult.”
Olivia walked off a few feet, ignoring her, and circled a tree. “What is it they say about moss growing on a
tree? Which direction is that supposed to be?”
Gabby sighed. “I don’t know, Olivia,” she answered in a frustrated voice. “Even if I did, that wouldn’t tell us which direction the farm is. I don’t understand how we both can be so directionally-challenged. This is almost embarrassing.”
Graysie flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Yeah, for y’all. I don’t live here.”
“Pfft… yes you do,” Olivia answered. “This is your home. College is… well, college. You haven’t been there long enough to call it home yet. And you don’t know either, so stop trying to sound like it’s all our fault,” she snapped.
Graysie mocked fright, lifting her shoulders up around her ears and dramatically waving her fingers in the air. “Geesh. Evil stepmother much?”
Gabby intervened. “Look, it’s no use snapping at each other. I think home is this way. Come on.” She walked in a new direction, really having no idea which way to go. She knew if they could just get out of the woods, they’d stumble upon a road, and find their way home from there.
She just wanted to keep moving. The guys were probably all awake and worried sick about them.
Olivia gasped. “Wait! Where’s Ozzie?” She turned around in a circle, looking for her dog. “He’s gone!”
“He’s probably on his way home,” Graysie said sarcastically. “If you’d stop babying him all the time, you could’ve told him the ‘home’ command, and we could’ve followed him. But he only listens to Daddy cuz you’re too soft. Now, he’s gone on without us. He’s probably there now, with his feet kicked up on the couch, crunching through a bowl of kibble and bits, and wiping his paws on the furniture.”
“That’s enough, Graysie,” Olivia snapped. “This isn’t even funny. What if he’s lost?”
“We’re lost!” Gabby yelled. “I promise you, that dog isn’t lost. He knows exactly where—”
“He’s not lost,” a voice loudly said, interrupting Gabby.
Graysie, Olivia and Gabby jumped in fright.
Ozzie ran back into the clearing, wagging his tail happily, with Tina and Tarra following him.
Gabby ran and hugged her friends. “Oh, thank God. Wait, are you lost, too?”
Tina and Tarra both laughed. “No,” Tina said. “We were still scouting—and y’all need to be quiet. We were on the trail of a wild boar. Those suckers are mean.”
Olivia gasped. They’d had a run-in with a wild boar once. She was terrified of them now.
Tina bent down and tightened the laces on her boot. “We weren’t ready to come back, until Lassie showed up and told us Timmy fell in the well.” She and Tarra cracked up laughing, with Gabby and Graysie joining in.
Olivia stood with her arms crossed, staring at the group. “If y’all are done hee-hawing around, can you just show us the way home?” she asked in a prim voice.
Tina turned her back to Olivia and wordlessly mocked her, screwing up her face.
Tarra answered. “Come on. It’s this way.”
Ozzie jumped ahead of everyone, knowing exactly where he was going, just as Gabby had said.
They trudged through the dense woods behind him: Tarra and Tina, then Graysie, Olivia, and Gabby bringing up the rear. Ozzie zig-zagged on and off the very thin trail in front of them all; he’d missed his dinner time and was ready to get to the house.
Five minutes into their walk, Ozzie growled and stopped.
Everyone froze.
They listened as Ozzie continued a low growl, his hair standing up on the back of his neck. Suddenly, he took off, dashing through the underbrush in pursuit of something.
“Ozzie!” Olivia yelled. “Oh no, what is it?” She clutched her chest.
Tarra and Tina both checked their firearms and adjusted their head-lamps. They were going after him. “Home is straight that way about half a mile.” She pointed the same way they’d been walking. “When you walk out of the woods, you’ll be right behind the house. You can’t miss it. We’ll go after Ozzie. He’s probably caught the scent of that pig,” Tarra said.
“Will it hurt him?” Olivia asked in desperate voice.
“Not if we get there first,” Tina answered, and they both stepped off the trail into the woods, moving quickly to catch up with Ozzie.
“Can I go with them?” Graysie asked. “Please!” she begged.
“No,” both Gabby and Olivia answered in unison.
“I’ll go,” Olivia said. “Ozzie might not listen to them. They’re strangers.”
Gabby grabbed Olivia’s arm. “He will listen to them, and they’re not strangers. Stop being such a bitch about my friends. Come on, let’s go home.”
Olivia hesitated.
Gabby moved in close to her face and spoke slowly. “You-Don’t-Have-A-Gun. If that boar takes a run at you, what are you going to do? Tell it to go away and that you really really mean it? It’ll run through you with its tusks.”
That got Olivia moving toward the house.
49
Grayson’s Group
They were almost home now, and not a minute too soon.
Graysie and Olivia were sniping at each other, and Gabby was cut and scratched all over, from being first in line to break through the branches and brambles.
The moon winked against the glass of a vehicle. “Look. I see Grayson’s truck through there,” Olivia said, pointing through the stand of trees in front of them.
Gabby bobbed her head left to right, trying to see through the low-hanging branches. “That’s not Grayson’s… that’s Elmer’s truck.”
“No way! Really?” Olivia was delighted, and tried to push past her sister. “Maybe he brought Emma back.”
Gabby held her arm out, blocking her. She spoke in a quiet voice. “Wait. Something’s wrong. Elmer said he didn’t trust that truck on the road when he brought us all home. That’s why he drove the tractor. He also said he didn’t have enough gas. So why would he trust it now, and where would he have gotten more gas?”
Olivia shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, Gabby… come on, what does it matter? He’s here. We can ask him,” she whispered. She was anxious to get home, as they all were.
Graysie tried to peek around their shoulders. “Maybe somebody stole it?”
“And ended up here? What are the chances of that? Unless that somebody knows us,” Gabby answered. “This world ain’t that small.”
Suddenly, Gabby grabbed Graysie and Olivia, pulling them down to the ground with her, behind a large leafy bush. “Shhh! I see someone.”
The three women squatted, peeking through the bush, and saw a mammoth of a man sneaking around the house. His arm was wrapped in thick white bandage that stood out in the moonlight. He met up with a smaller man and they huddled together beneath the dark kitchen window. They were both holding pistols.
“Is that Elmer?” Olivia whispered, trying to pull apart the bush to get a better look.
“No.” Gabby’s stomach flipped. “That’s the guys from the rest area,” she said. “They found us… and they have Elmer’s truck.” She looked at her niece. “This can’t be good. Graysie, check your gun. Be ready.”
While Graysie checked her firearm, Gabby slid her own gun out of the holster and popped the magazine out, checking to be sure it was full. She smacked it back in and racked the slide, chambering a round. She reached into the bag and fumbled around until she found all four extra magazines, handed two to Graysie, which Graysie in turn pocketed.
Gabby was glad she’d worn her 5.11 tactical pants on their excursion. The pants were made for easy access to magazines with multiple pockets and a reinforced waist.
Olivia pulled Graysie in close beside her as they hunkered on the ground. Her hands were shaking. “Oh my God, Gabby… If they came this far to hunt us down…let’s just stay here. We’ll hide.”
“Seriously? What about Grayson and Puck? They’re probably still knocked out from you doping them up. What about Jake? I’m not just going to hide back here and wait for them to wake up dead,” she snapped.
“No…I meant…”
Gabby held up her hand, silencing her sister. She needed to think. Trunk must be here too, somewhere; probably around the front of the house. While they all were dangerous, the leader was the one she most worried about. That man had crazy written all over him.
If Trunk was already inside… Gabby didn’t want to even think about that. She put it out of her mind. She needed to come up with a plan.
There were no lights coming from the dark house. The guys were apparently still sleeping; one in each bedroom. They were sitting ducks for Trunk and his men. If she and the girls made any noise, Grayson and Jake would probably jump up unarmed and be hurt—or worse.
But if they did nothing, the men would sneak in on them. The doors weren’t locked. Gabby was surprised they hadn’t gone in yet.
“Let’s just run up there with our guns, Aunt Gabby. We’ll tell them to drop theirs,” Graysie said.
Olivia frantically shook her head.
Gabby agreed with her twin sister, for once. “No. They could shoot us before we even get there. If they’re sneaking around like that, they’re up to no good.”
Olivia nodded her agreement. “Trust me, Graysie. These men are probably very angry with us. We don’t want to take any chances.”
Graysie gasped. “Look! A light inside.” She raised up on her knees to see better.
“Stay down,” Olivia hissed at her, pushing her back to the ground.
A flashlight beam bounced around in the dark. They couldn’t see who had the light. Could be Jake or Grayson. But it didn’t matter. Whoever it was would surely be looking for the girls. Someone was about to be surprised—and not in a good way.
The two men were standing underneath the kitchen window back to back, leaned tight against the wall, their guns up and ready. They faced opposite corners of the house.
Gabby’s heart thundered in her chest as her mind raced. She had to warn the guys, especially whomever was awake and walking around with that light, before the men outside stormed the house.