Joshua started moving forward with his AR-15 at the ready. “Stay!” Sean yelled at him. “Get back; we move as one. Everyone sound off! Bug, you ok?”
“I’m good,” he hollered back from just outside the woods.
“Jackson, Brian, sound off!”
“I’m ok!” he heard Jackson yell followed by Brian sounding off, “I’m good!”
“Ok, everyone make sure they have a fresh mag in!” He waited for a few moments as he suddenly felt the blood trickling down through his chin hairs and running down his neck. He loaded a fresh magazine himself and repositioned his magazines in his vest, placing his half-empty magazine into the mag pouch under his right armpit which would be the last he reached for. “Alright, guys. We’re pushing the rest of the way through!” He yelled so Bug, Jackson and Brian could hear him, not worried about the element of surprise. “Keep your eyes peeled; there may be more of them! And that goes for you out there in the field! We’re coming for you next, so you better have your hands touching the sky when we get there or you’re going to join your friends! Squad, move out!” Sean yelled in the most menacing voice he could muster. They cleared the last twenty yards of forest and as they approached the pasture, Sean could see a man covered in blood up to his elbows kneeling behind the cow with both hands high in the air.
“Don’t shoot!” the man yelled out. He had tossed his gun ten feet away. “I surrender! Please, don’t shoot me!” He looked at Sean’s bloody face with a look of horror as Sean exited the woods and walked towards him, rifle pointed at his chest. “I surrender!” he yelled again.
“Don’t freaking move!” Sean grunted at him as he came closer. He waited for the rest of the party to catch up. “Is there anyone else, and if you lie to me, I’ll kill you first.”
“No, No! There were only four of us,” he said in desperation.
“Keep your eyes peeled, guys. Joshua, cover me.” Sean slung his rifle across his shoulder and pulled his Glock, walking over to the man and pushing him roughly down to the ground on his stomach. He kneeled in the center of the man’s back, forcing the wind out of his lungs. “Lace your fingers behind your head and don’t move.” The man quickly complied and Sean patted him down, searching for any weapons and emptying his pockets. Once he was certain the man didn’t have another weapon, he opened the man’s wallet and pulled out his license. Sean got back up on his feet. “Ok, Steven Waters. Sit up!” The mid-thirties man sat up and folded his hands in his lap. Sean could now see that the man was sobbing. “What in God’s name were you thinking, man?” Sean asked him angrily.
The man just shook his head. “We... we were hungry.”
“You never thought to try and hunt deer? You come on to our property and kill our cow, our livelihood?” Sean’s voice rose as he finished.
“It wasn’t my idea. Bob said... Bob told me...”
“Bob’s dead, buddy!” Sean yelled at him.
“He said that the people at the farm wouldn’t be able to see the lower pasture and that the cows came down to drink each morning. He said that if we were quick we could... we could...”
“Get away with it?” Sean finished the man’s sentence for him. The man just nodded. Sean turned away from the man and raised his hand up in the air and waved three times in the direction of Kenneth’s group. He saw Kenneth step out into the far end of the pasture and wave three times back. Sean gave the rally up signal. He ignored the man for the time being. “Bug, if he so much as flinches, shoot him.” He said in as lifeless a tone as he could.
“My pleasure,” Bug responded menacingly as the man started sobbing again.
“Joshua, Jackson, hustle up and make sure those other three aren’t suffering. Be sure to bring back any weapons they might have on them.” Joshua and Jackson disappeared back into the woods as Sean watched the other group walking across the field in their direction.
“Baby, are you ok?” Sean heard Maria ask as she came up next to him and reached towards his face. He shrugged her off but didn’t answer. He wasn’t in the mood nor ready to worry about his face. She pulled back irritably as she was only trying to help. They stood there in silence as the other group walked up.
They all had looks of concern as they approached. Sean’s bloody face must have been a bit of a shock to them. “Are you okay there Sean?” his Uncle Nathan asked, concerned, as they got close.
“I’ve felt better,” Sean answered dryly. Joshua and Jackson reemerged from the woods carrying three deer rifles and a 1911 pistol. Joshua’s face was ashen. “What’s up?” he asked his brother. Jackson looked away as Joshua stared down at his boots not saying anything. “What is it?” he asked again, this time irritated.
“It’s just a kid...,” Joshua answered quietly.
“What?” Sean asked, already knowing the answer.
“The... the last one,” Joshua answered, still looking at his boots.
Sean stood there stunned for a few moments. He knew it deep inside to be true. He could visualize the young teen’s head coming out from behind the tree into view before he pulled the trigger. He remembered the face now. It was the smooth face of a young boy. He could also remember the red mist. He felt nauseous as if he was going to puke. The thought never crossed his mind earlier. All he knew was that someone was shooting at him and his family and he had to stop them. He wondered how he could have done such a thing. His anger burned hotter and hotter: anger at the people who brought this kid to his death, anger at himself for having to do what he had to do, and anger at the world that had turned so ugly. He turned around and punched the man square in the face, knocking him back onto the ground where he rolled around clutching his face. His sobbing turned into outright crying: actually more of a gurgling as blood from his nose ran down into his mouth. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he cried aloud. “Please don’t kill me.”
Sean looked up and nearly everyone stood staring at him with blank faces. They were uncomfortable but not about to intervene either. A couple just looked down at the ground, shuffling their feet. Sean didn’t like the way they looked at him and immediately regretted taking his anger out on the man. He looked down at his own feet and gathered himself back together. “We need to come to a decision and figure out what to do with this one.”
“Please don’t kill me!” the man cried out again, this time in loud desperation as he came up to his knees clutching at Sean’s pants. It reminded Sean of some peasant from medieval days pleading with the king after getting caught poaching.
Sean reacted quickly and knelt down next to the man grabbing his shirt collar pulling his face up close. “Nobody said anything about killing you yet, did they? I swear to God, though, if you open your mouth one more time while we discuss this, I’m going to knock you out so we can talk in peace without your sniveling. Do you understand me, Steven?” Sean said, looking him square in the eye. The man’s crying slowed back to a sob as he nodded his head that he understood. Sean let go of his shirt and the man fell backwards onto his back. “Just sit there, let it bleed, and be quiet,” he reiterated as he got back up to his feet.
“Anyone have any ideas?” No one offered any suggestions and most of them were still standing there, uncomfortable with the whole situation. Sean turned back to the man on the ground. “Where did you all come from?”
“We came from Miller’s Trailer Park up the road. Bob and his boy were my neighbors and Bob’s brother was staying with him after the power went out. Bob knew that I hunted and asked me to help gutting and butchering the cow.” He said the last few words sheepishly, like a school boy who was forced to admit to some wrongdoing.
“This boy, does he have a mother?” Sean asked in a heated tone.
“Yes...,” the man replied quietly with his head down.
“So if we let you go, what would you do then?”
Steven’s eyes brightened for a moment. “Well, I had planned to head up to my uncle’s farm at some point if the power didn’t come on. He lives on the other side of Butler and I wasn’t really lo
oking forward to the walk....” He looked up at Sean’s angry face and continued more quickly, “but I guess now would be as good a time as any.”
“And the boy’s mother, what’s to come of her?” Sean asked in a slow serious manner.
“I... I don’t know.”
“See, now, that doesn’t work for me!” Sean said, visibly upset. “You and Bob’s stupid decision just ruined that woman’s life. She has lost her husband, her son, and her whole world, and you are partially responsible for this tragedy. If, and I mean if, we decide to let you go, I want your word that you will take her wherever she wants to go or take her with you and take care of her.”
Steven’s head was already bobbing up and down. “Of course, of course I will.”
“I want your word on it,” Sean said, staring him in the eye.
“I give you my word. I swear on my mother’s grave that I will take her with me and look after her,” the man promised.
“So, how many people are still left up there at Miller’s?” Uncle Nathan asked him.
“I don’t know for sure. Half of them have left already. We heard some gunshots a couple places down from us two nights ago and woke up to find their trailer had been ransacked. I guess an elderly couple committed suicide yesterday or at least that’s what Bob told me. It’s pretty rough. No one has any food left.” He looked back at Sean as if he was looking for empathy, but Sean didn’t have any to give.
“Are there any other neighbors left that you still talk to?” Sean asked.
“Yeah, there are the neighbors behind my place. We always got along pretty good. I visited them briefly last night. They don’t have any food left either, or at least that’s what they said.” Steven was obviously trying to be as informative as possible if it would help him get out of there unscathed.
“The other thing you have to do is to make sure that you get the word out about what happened here today. Make sure you let everyone know that our security on this farm is flawless. We see everything that happens here on every square inch of this farm, every second of every day. You make sure they know the firepower they are up against and that they have no chance of taking anything from this farm. You have only seen half of our number. We have fully automatic weapons and an unlimited supply of ammunition that we are obviously not afraid to use. We will kill anyone who trespasses on our property!” Sean wasn’t serious, but he needed there to be enough fear at the local trailer park that no one would be stupid enough to try for their cattle again.
Sean turned back to his group, lowering his voice. “Here is what I propose: We send Steven on his way with two duffle bags full of food, some extra ammo for his rifle and some seed for his uncle’s farm. I propose this more for the sake of that boy’s mother than this piece of crap. What do you guys think?”
Kenneth spoke up. “How do we know you won’t just take our stuff and leave the woman behind?”
The man started shaking his head aggressively. “I gave my word, that’s why,” he said angrily. “You guys may just look at me like trailer park trash, but no one can say I don’t keep my word. And I disagree with you about it being my responsibility for little Bobby’s death. I didn’t do any shooting and never wanted any bloodshed out of this. At the same time, I gave you my word to take Gloria with me because I do agree that it’s the right thing to do, so that’s what I’m gonna do.” The man spoke with conviction and Sean could tell that he was being genuine.
Sean looked around the guys and could tell that they, too, felt he was being genuine. “Ok, it’s settled then. Brian, double time it back to the farm house and let everyone know that we are all safe. Grab Uncle Lawrence on the way and have him head over to the various watches and then to Nathan’s and let them know as well that everyone is safe and sound. Grab two duffle bags and get with Aunt Eva. Since she is handling the food inventory, find out what canned goods we can spare. Grab an assortment of various seeds for him as well. Make it twenty of the small individual packets of the seeds we got from Giant Eagle, not the stuff I brought from home in the big Mylar pouches.” Sean turned back to Steven and pointed to his rifle on the ground ten feet away. “What caliber rifle do you have there?”
“.35 Remington lever action,” he responded.
“Do you own a handgun?”
“No,” was all he replied.
Sean turned back to Brian. “Grab him five boxes of .35 Remington and one of the .45 long colt revolvers we have with three boxes of ammo for it as well. Is that ok with you, Kenneth?”
“That’s fine with me,” Kenneth agreed.
“Alright then, Brian, go ahead. Just make sure you don’t give any details about what happened. Let everyone know that we’ll have a meeting to discuss it when we get back.” Brian nodded then took off at a jog through the field back towards the barn and Uncle Lawrence. The group started shuffling around as the flow of adrenaline started wearing off. Even Steven seemed more relaxed. “We still have a really tough decision in front of us, guys, and I want your input, Steven. We have three bodies to take care of and I’m not sure what to do here. What do you think would be harder for Gloria: never seeing her husband and son again or holding them one last time, bloody and lifeless?”
Sean had just brought the seriousness of what they had done over the group like a black cloud. People’s faces went limp and no one wanted to say anything. Or better yet, who could make that decision? “What do you think, Steven?”
“I’m not too sure,” he said slowly. “She was against this idea when Bob brought it up last night. Actually...”
He stopped mid-sentence and Sean pushed him on. “Actually what?”
Steven seemed like he didn’t want to continue, but the look on Sean’s face didn’t give him the option. “Actually, she didn’t even know we were coming here this morning. She thinks we went out deer hunting.”
“Holy crap!” Jackson let out. “This keeps getting worse.”
Sean couldn’t even respond. He just shook his head and closed his eyes. He couldn’t even imagine being the one to break the news to the woman. “What was the boy’s name?” Sean asked somberly, looking off into the distance.
“Bobby Jr,” Steven replied solemnly.
“You are going to be the one to carry Bobby’s corpse back to his mother.” Steve nodded his head in understanding. “We are going to carry these other two bodies up to the road for you. You are going to make three trips and take the bodies back with you. Don’t take Bobby’s corpse directly to his mother; leave him near the entrance to the trailer park because I want you to come straight back here for the other two bodies. I want them off our property immediately. You can burn them or bury them, whichever the mother prefers, and I want those neighbors of yours to see the burial or burning of the bodies. I want the word to spread that this farm is off limits to looters. Do you understand where I am going with this?” Sean asked seriously and Steve nodded his head again in acknowledgement.
“When you tell her what happened here, you tell her the truth. Don’t embellish or try to change what happened. She needs to know that we gave them the option to surrender and they fired upon us first. We had no choice but to defend ourselves. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Sean cocked his head to the side reading Steve’s expression and trying to read his response. “I agree. I heard everything and it happened just as you said. We should have discussed what we would do if we were confronted. We didn’t have any luck hunting the last couple days and I guess it was a stupid spur of the moment decision on our part. We really didn’t plan anything. I can’t fault you for defending yourselves. Again, I never thought anybody would get hurt.”
Sean didn’t try to comfort Steve or ease his conscience. He would have to face that on his own. “Tomorrow morning or the next, whenever she is ready to travel, you can stop back for your weapons and supplies for your journey. You will make no mention of the supplies we are giving you to anyone, understood?” Steven nodded his head in understanding. “If she is not with you, don’t bother coming
here because you will get nothing from us. Whatever you do, you will not step foot onto our property again. You will stop on the road next to the mailboxes and wait for us to come to you. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” Steven answered.
Chapter 14
They spent the next twenty minutes taking turns dragging the bodies up to the road while Steven carried the young boy. Sean was surprised at how difficult it was to drag dead weight even with two people pulling at the same time. They dropped the other two bodies next to the mailboxes and Steve continued to carry the boy back to his mother. The image of Steve carrying that young man cradled in his arms down their icy, deserted road made Sean’s stomach turn. He was sure that mental image would haunt him the rest of his life. All the planning and research Sean had done before the power went out couldn’t have prepared him for the emotions he now felt.
Planning and prepping with his other group members, all of whom should now be safe at their retreat, had been fun. Buying all the gear and testing it on backpacking trips had been fun. Researching and buying their weapons, then spending one weekend a month drilling and shooting had been fun. Sitting around a campfire with a beer in your hand, discussing and debating what the after effects of a pandemic, EMP attack, or fiscal collapse and the group’s contingency for each had been fun. Buying their retreat last year and all the construction projects they had done on the place had been fun. Watching someone carry a young boy you just shot through the head back to his mother was not fun.
Every day when Sean woke up, the reality of the situation would hit him, but not nearly as hard as today. There was so much to do at the farm and Sean always stayed busy so the reality hadn’t really sunk in. He wondered if he would ever be in the position again where he might have to take a young boy’s life to save his own. Would he hesitate next time? Sean fought back a dark cloud of depression that was trying to waft through his thoughts. He knew right then that if he allowed it to, this tragedy could bring him down and make him lose focus on what was important. He knew that he had to keep his immediate family and unborn child safe. If he had reservations before about leaving the farm and his relatives, they were settled now. He needed to get Maria to the retreat as soon as possible.
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