Sean saw his dad walking up through the snow with his rifle slung over his shoulder. His nose and cheeks were red but he had a smile on his face. “It looks like you had a productive night,” he said as he looked at the overloaded wagon.
“Yeah, everything worked out well,” Sean agreed. Nodding in the direction of the new members to their group, “Dad you know Kenneth and his son Brian, right?”
“Sure do,” as he walked over and shook Kenneth’s hand. “Welcome.”
“Kenneth and Brian agreed to come and stay with us, so we brought as much of his store as we could. We shouldn’t have any problems with security now outside of a really large raiding party.”
“That’s good news, real good,” Sean’s dad said as he shook Brian’s hand as well. “We are glad you decided to join us.”
“Dad, we’re headed in to get some sleep. Jackson’s gonna take over your watch for a few hours, so why don’t you come inside and grab a bite and a snooze?”
“No, son. I think I’d like to head over and check on your mother and sister. I’ll grab a bite over there.”
“That’s probably a good idea. Please make sure you get some sleep though. We’ll need you on watch again in eight hours so we can unload, ok?”
“I can manage that,” his dad responded.
“Good. Make sure Mom and Allison have everything we are going to need ready in the garage. We have to make runs to Danny’s and Uncle Luke’s house tonight, as well as yours.” Sean’s dad nodded in response. “Wanna take my bike?”
“No, son. It would take me just as long to ride there as it would to walk straight home as the crow flies.”
“That’s probably true. Just keep your eyes peeled, ok? And if you get into any trouble, just fire off a round and we’ll come running. I’ll make sure the watch has their ears open.”
His dad nodded again. “I’ll be alright.” He started to walk away then stopped and turned back. He ran his hand tenderly along the side of the hay wagon before looking back at his son. “You did real well, son. If you hadn’t come home when you did, our family wouldn’t have survived very long.” Sean felt uncomfortable with the praise and just smiled bashfully and looked down at his boots. When he looked up his dad was walking down the long drive towards the road.
“Alright, guys. Let’s rally up.” Everyone came together and formed a loose circle around Sean. After what his dad had just said in front of the guys, Sean felt a little uncomfortable standing in the center so he casually backed out to the edge. “Alright. When we discussed the shifts, I wasn’t really thinking about those of you with families out there.” Sean gestured loosely in the direction of the road. “Danny, why don’t you take my bike and head home. Help your dad and your families gather supplies. We’ll head over to your place first tonight. Let’s say around nine p.m. or four hours after dark, ok?”
“Yeah, I’d really like to go check on Heidi and the kids. I’m sure they are probably a bit worried.”
“Ok, that leaves Nathan on watch by himself. Kenneth, instead of the third shift, let’s move you to second shift with Nathan. Uncle Lawrence, do you think Barb would mind taking a third shift with you?”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine with that,” Lawrence answered.
Maria was starting to feel a little left out. “I can take a shift too,” she offered.
“No, babe. You are almost two months pregnant. You’ve been stressing yourself hard for three days straight now. You need to get some rest. You can help out tonight if you want.” Sean looked her in the eye and for a moment he thought she was going to put up a fight. After a tense moment she relented and nodded her head. She was really tired and didn’t want to take any risks where their child was concerned.
“Ok, then. We are all tired so let’s swap out shifts in the bus regularly so no one falls asleep. Bug and Jackson, you guys can figure out who starts where, but whoever takes the first roaming watch needs to keep their ears peeled for any shooting coming from that direction,” Sean said as he pointed in the direction of his parents’ house. “My dad is walking back through the fields to the house and I told him to fire off a round if he gets into any trouble. It should only take him about a half hour or so to get there, depending on how fast he’s moving. Just keep your ears open the next hour. If you hear a shot, run and get me and we’ll take a group to bail him out. Also, let’s try and locate some tarps to cover the supplies on the wagon. It may only be overcast, but we can’t take the chance of the rifles or food getting wet. Nathan, it would help if you can point them in a direction when we get done and I’m sure you want to check on your wife and Susan. Maybe take them over some food and crash over there with them if you want. Whoever is on roaming watch at the end of their shift is responsible for waking the next watch. Does anyone have anything to add?”
“Where are we going to put all this stuff?” Bug spoke up.
Sean thought about it for a minute. “Not real sure, to be honest with you. Let’s have everyone brainstorm while they are on watch and when we come back together in eight hours, we’ll come up with a game plan. Anything else?” No one else spoke up so Sean broke up their meeting with, “Okay, let’s get to it.”
Everyone started off in their own directions and Nathan walked off with Jackson towards the barn, most likely to show him where some tarps could be found. “Hey, Danny,” Sean stopped his cousin as he was walking away. “Go ahead and take my bike. Also, since you were the one loading the wagon earlier, where are the two duffle bags with the AR’s I said to keep accessible?”
“I set them aside near the front of the wagon,” he said, pointing up above Sean’s head. “I think that’s them right there.”
“Let’s get you lined up with one before you head out. I know you’re proficient with your deer rifle, but one of these AR’s could save your life if you get into it on the ride home.”
Danny shrugged, indifferent. “Okay.”
“Hey, babe. Why don’t you head inside and help Grandma and Barb rustle up some grub? I’ll be in shortly.”
“Ok,” she agreed. She went up on her tip toes and gave her tired husband a kiss then headed inside. He was beginning to look really tired. He needed rest just as badly as she did.
Sean climbed up and handed down the two large heavy duffle bags to Danny. Sean pulled out one of the rifles, and after about ten minutes he had Danny lined out on the basic operation of an AR-15. Danny had never handled an AR before, but he had extensive knowledge with other types of rifles and picked it up quickly. Kenneth and Brian helped by loading up magazines and offering pointers that Sean overlooked. When they were finished, Danny had eight thirty-round magazines in a shoulder bandolier loaded with twenty-five rounds each. Unfortunately, when Sean had loaded the two duffle bags at the store he had thought of everything except shoulder slings. They were packed somewhere else randomly on the fully loaded wagon. Danny was in a hurry to get back to his wife, so Kenneth found a length of binder twine on the barn floor and rigged up a two point sling so he could get going.
“It kinda’ digs in,” Danny said with a smile as he rotated his shoulder.
“Yeah, but it will get you home,” Kenneth offered.
“Alright, Danny. We’ll see you a little later tonight.”
“See you then,” he said with a smile, then turned and walked away. Kenneth, Brian, and Sean headed inside to the smell of deer meat stew heating in a large pot. Sean’s mouth was instantly watering.
“I think I’ve come to the right place if this is how your family is going to eat,” Brian joked.
Sean smiled, “I can’t argue with you there, Brian.”
Chapter 12
It was a beautiful late autumn day as Sean sat on a large log beside the back pond in the lower pasture of their family farm. His eight-year-old boy sat next to him, his small fingers wrapped tightly around the handle of his little Snoopy fishing pole. There was a slight breeze and the smell of turning leaves reached his nostrils. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to s
ee his beautiful wife looking down at him. She was wearing a flowered summer dress with a sweater buttoned over top. She looked at their son who was engrossed in watching the bobber ten feet from shore just like daddy had shown him. With their son being so absorbed in fishing, she took the opportunity to lean down and kiss her husband on the mouth. Sean reached up and ran his hand through her soft hair and gently pulled her in closer. A small splash from the lake and his son’s “whoop” brought Sean around in a rush.
“Hey, bro. It’s time to get up. Your shift starts in ten minutes.”
“Huh?” Sean’s head was groggy as the bright autumn day disappeared and was replaced with a flood of light coming out of the total darkness surrounding him.
“It’s time to get up. It’s your turn at watch.” Sean heard his brother’s voice clearly now as he slowly cracked his left eye open. His brother knelt next to him with a lantern in his hand. What Sean wouldn’t give to go back to that perfect dream world. But the dream was gone now. Then again, Sean thought, maybe it was a promising vision of the future eight years from now. He sat up in his sleeping bag and wiped his hand over his face trying to pull the dream out of his sleepy thoughts.
It had been six days since their night raid to Giant Eagle and Duke’s Gun Shop. There were now 26 adults and 8 children living between the two houses on the farm. The only family not to show up was his cousin Lucy, her husband and two children. A few days ago, his uncle Donald had ridden Sean’s bike into town only to find their house empty. It had been a harrowing journey for him. At one point he even had to empty an entire magazine from an M1A at a group of men armed with handguns who had tried to block the road in front of him. He was pretty shaken up over it and said he wasn’t sure if he hit any of them as they scattered in all directions. He fled in the opposite direction taking some side streets to circumvent the ambush area. He had reported back to everyone what Sean feared. The city was in chaos. He heard multiple gunshots as he rode through town. There were numerous fires and houses that sat smoldering, and he said that he couldn’t even count the number of bodies he had seen littering the streets. He said it reminded him of war movies set in some third world country.
As far as the supplies, they had split them up between the two houses. Everything had been organized and cataloged to keep track of usage. They still didn’t know how long their food supply would last and it would be a few weeks before they were able to track it and get a good idea. In the farm house they had taken one of the basement rooms and stored most of the extra shotguns and bolt rifles as well as any odd caliber handguns and some extra canned food that they had an overabundance of. They removed the door trim and built a section of shelves in front to hide the opening. Another cache of guns was hidden deep in the woods. One of the old fifty-gallon oil drums had been filled with numerous battle rifles, deer rifles, magazines, and ammo. A second barrel was filled with canned goods and some survival essentials. In each barrel a Remington Rem Dri 35 desiccant bag had been added to prevent moisture, and then both barrels were thoroughly sealed with tar. The oil barrels were hidden among a large pile of trash and junk car parts that had accumulated over the years deep in the woods behind the farm. If the farm was ever overrun, they would at least have a cache available to try and retake the farm.
Some other improvements had been the addition of an LP/OP on the hillside overlooking the farm. It had taken nearly two days to dig out, frame up, and camouflage into the hillside. A car horn had been wired up fifty yards away from the LP/OP which used their entire roll of Romex wiring that uncle Nathan had at his house. There had been some debate over using all their wiring, but everyone finally agreed over the importance of having the horn as far from the LP/OP as possible to prevent any intruders from zeroing in on its location.
A second watch position had been established in the barn to keep an eye on the cattle at night. The bay window in the farm house overlooking the road had received an upgrade as well. Empty feed bags from the barn had been filled with sand from the old sandbox behind Nathan’s house. It turned out to be a lot of work as the sand was frozen and had to be smashed with a sledge. The makeshift sand bags were stacked below the bay window for some ballistic cover in the event of a firefight.
Sean had also been coordinating and practicing some tactical drills and exercises from his limited experience. Hand signals from his days of teaching night evasion had been taught as well as basic techniques such as travel movements as a group, ambushes, ambush detection, and watching crossfire. Most of Sean’s knowledge came from his friend and retreat member Brody. Brody had been an Army Ranger in Afghanistan and Iraq before his squad was ambushed and he took a grenade to the legs. He had made a full recovery but scars still remained and not just on his legs. Over the course of the last two years, Brody had drilled their small group in tactics he had learned overseas. Sean still only possessed a fraction of the knowledge needed and wished Brody was there to help him square away his relatives. In the absence of Brody, Kenneth had proven to be a big source of information due to his experience in Vietnam. He had become Sean’s right hand man while they were drilling.
Two days prior they had spent a day teaching each female that didn’t have prior experience how to shoot. Kenneth and his son were also a big help with that. They had put it to a vote first since some in the group were concerned about the attention shooting may bring to the farm from the neighbors. But at the same time, Sean and some others felt it was vital that each person in the group was able to defend themselves. It had been the only close vote they had so far and Sean’s half of the group won out. There were risks involved in any decision they made, but a day spent shooting would also let the neighbors know they were well armed. They limited the shooting to a twenty gauge shotgun, a Glock pistol, and a small caliber rifle (which were in numerous supply). It turned into an all day affair with some of the older children getting involved as well.
Revolving watch times were written down and posted by the door as well as cooking and hunting schedules. It was tough coordinating sleeping arrangements for so many people between the two houses. Sean’s father had been smart enough to bring all the mattresses over from Danny’s, Uncle Luke’s, and his own house the night after the raid. Most were placed in Nathan’s large finished game room down in the basement next to the room with the wood furnace.
Their most recent dilemma was firewood. Although both the farm house and Nathan’s house had wood burning furnaces, both were previously used as supplemental heating for conventional gas forced air furnaces. Therefore, neither of them had a large supply of firewood on hand. They could probably make it another month or so but they would never make it through the entire winter months. At some point they would need more. Sean’s father and Uncle Luke both had a large supply of firewood at their houses, but a consensus on when the best time to go get it hadn’t been reached. Some thought to make hay while the sun shined, but some worried about taking the tractor out at night this long after the initial EMP strike. Sean was convinced that people would definitely be getting desperate by now. The tractor was very loud and would draw a lot of attention back to the farm. Although it was a little morbid, Sean felt it would be best to wait a while and see if the neighbors “thinned” out.
Sean’s brother, Joshua, was already in his sleeping bag snoring away by the time he was fully dressed and ready to leave. Sean had drawn barn watch for this shift. In the evenings he and Maria would share a shift at the two person LP/OP. It was the only two hours of privacy they got each day. It was fun whispering back and forth and discussing baby names as they kept watch over the farm. Sean stepped outside into the bitter cold and began his march over to the barn. It was still mostly dark but the very edge of the eastern sky was glowing orange and it wouldn’t be long before that large yellow ball began its daily ascent into the sky.
As Sean stepped inside the barn, the familiar childhood scent of cow and hay met his nose. It was humid in the lower barn as the large animals radiated body heat and steam slowly rose from
their backs. It was pretty easy to coax them into the barn each night as his grandfather rattled an old metal coffee can with oats in it. The cattle could be in the lower part of the pasture near the swamp, yet they would still come running at the sight of Grandpa with that can in his hand. Sean wondered what would happen the day they ran out of oats. How long would it take them to figure out that the can Grandpa held was empty? Luckily, they had a large supply of field corn in the corn crib and the barn was filled to the roof with hay.
Apparently, Grandpa had sewn an extra field of hay this season for a neighboring farmer who was struggling. Grandpa had agreed to sell him the hay for his cattle on the cheap. Unfortunately, the poor farmer had been given notice that his farm was being put up for sheriff’s sale before the hay was even bailed. Grateful for my Grandfather’s efforts to help him out, one morning Grandpa woke up to find four extra cattle in the field. Although the neighbor would never admit it, Grandpa said the old farmer couldn’t help but smile every time he denied it. “Screw the tax man,” is all he would say.
Sean’s turn at watch was uneventful. When Bug came to relieve him, they opened the barn doors and ushered the cattle back out to pasture for the day. They chatted for a few minutes before Sean set off to go find Nathan. They had pushed Grandpa’s early eighties Chevy pickup into Jim’s garage a few days ago. Since it was carbureted and not fuel-injected, Nathan felt that he may be able to bypass the CPU and re-wire the truck to get it running again. It was a daunting task, but if he could get it to run, it would be a huge asset to the farm.
Sean was just turning the knob to the garage when a gunshot pierced the silence of the morning. His hair stood up on his neck as he froze trying to figure out where it came from. To the best of his judgment, it sounded like it came from the lower pasture, but being a hunter, he was also aware of how a gunshot’s direction could be deceiving. Two quick bursts of a car horn from the LP/OP got his adrenaline pumping. He burst through the garage door and ran through the kitchen door, scaring his aunt who was cooking breakfast. “TO ARMS!” he yelled. “We have gunshots in the lower pasture and two alarm blasts! Everyone meet up in the barn! Come in a group. Dad and Uncle Donald, split up and guard the houses! Hustle Up!”
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