Lance looked at two of the guys who had walked out with him and cursed under his breath.
“Lance, my wrist, that dog tore me up,” Aaron said, the anger and threatening tone were now gone, replaced by one full of pain and fear.
“We got bigger issues,” Lance said softly, breaking the eye lock he had on me. “Go get cleaned up. If you gotta go to the doc, tell them it was a wild mutt, and it didn’t happen here.”
“I got no insurance,” Aaron said, a note of panic coming into his voice.
Lance rolled his eyes and then pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and peeled off three one hundred dollar bills and handed them to one of the guys I recognized as having done the slow drive by the homestead last night. “Take him to the urgent care. If it isn’t enough, call me, and I’ll give them my credit card number, but don’t talk about this,” he hissed.
“You got it. Come on,” the one guy said, pocketing the money.
“Ryan, you go with those two,” he said to the other man I recognized.
“But, boss, he’s got—”
“I know what he’s got. I’m diffusing this situation. Wes isn’t going to shoot anybody, are you?”
“Don’t plan on it. When it became a five on one fight though, I wanted to make sure I could leave safely when I so chose,” I said softly, Raider’s ears turning to the middle. He backed up until his rump hit my leg and then sat, a low growl turning off and on.
“So you guys get. I need Larry to help me unload,” he said, looking at the third man who came out with the group.
We watched them walk away, the men’s voices animated and angry sounding. Aaron’s voice was softer.
“You sent him out here to scare me? Rough me up?” I asked.
“I might have told him to intimidate you, but I didn’t tell him to rough you up. If this was going to be our last deal, I wanted a better deal.”
That sounded actually on target with what I’d thought he was going to do, and his honesty surprised me.
“So the whole decking me in the face thing?”
“I didn’t tell him to do that. Listen, growing up, you and I, we never got on. Now that I’m older, I get that things aren’t the same as I thought. I’ve always tried to play this fair with you.”
Larry stepped from foot to foot uncomfortably, and that was when I noticed he was staring at my hand. I holstered the pistol and pulled my shirt over it. Both of them visibly relaxed.
“Ok, but this is the last deal. I’m not carrying the buckets in, and I want the money before you unload. Minus the three hundred, you sent for Aaron. My dog was just protecting me, and I’d like there not to be any hard feelings. I’ll pay that much to get his hand fixed up.”
“You got it,” he said, pulling the wad of cash back out and then did a count of the buckets in the bed.
He counted the cash and held it out to me, staying as far back as he could. Somewhere, Raider had gone silent, but the move made him grumble an almost inaudible warning.
“Thank you,” I said pocketing it. “Raider, get in the truck.”
He looked up at me and then at the open driver’s door before back at me.
“It’s ok, the danger’s over, and you did well.”
He let out a huffing sound and then turned and got in the truck. He settled near the opening, sitting on his haunches, watching all of us. Tense.
“Damn good dog. Listen, I really wish you’d change your mind about getting out,” Lance said as he reached into the back, pulling a bucket out and handing it to Larry.
“I’m starting a new job and to go any bigger than this… I’d need to build something big, and there’s no way to hide something like that. I’d need larger fermenters. Things I can’t do without drawing attention.”
“Can I even talk you into once in a whi—”
“No. The boys you sent with Aaron did some slow drivebys, trying to stare me down last night. I really don’t like how you’re doing things. Couple that with me already wanting to get out, I just want a clean break. Maybe once in a while…”
“That’s what I’m talking about, just a once in a while. Like that rum you made me.”
“I’ll think about it,” I told him as he pulled the last bucket out.
Larry took two and headed in the back door, shooting me a wary glance. Lance looked over at me and put his hand out.
“I’d appreciate it,” he said, and after a moment, I reluctantly shook with him.
“Hey, boss,” a waitress said, pushing her way out past Larry who looked over at Lance in shock, “the power just went out.”
Lance cursed and then made a shooing gesture at her. She turned to leave, and he slapped her on her shapely backside. She squeaked and turned, smiling at him, then headed in, hips swaying.
“Hopefully that gets her mind off what we were doing.”
“I just parked here and happened to be talking to you, while you were putting buckets inside,” I told him.
“Good. All right, just… keep me in mind.”
“Good enough. Go through Les when you want to get back in contact with me,” I told him and then turned and waited for Raider to move before I got in the truck and slammed the door.
“Will do, thanks.”
I fired up the truck and put it in gear. I headed out slowly, making sure I wasn’t being followed. I was relieved that the three of his heavies had all left, and I really didn’t think Lance was going to call them to come back and do something stupid, so I took a long way, doubling back and taking scenic routes before deciding to head in.
“You did good back there,” I told Raider.
He gave a low bark and wagged his tail, putting his head against my side and pushing my arm up. I took my right hand off the wheel and scratched his ears until he settled against me, his weight resting against my side.
“If he’s going to do anything, it’s going to be the next couple of days,” I said to the dog, coming to a halt at a stop sign. “You know what, though? Let’s go drop off Les’s cut today. Put the old guy’s mind at ease.”
I took off from the light slowly and glanced in the rearview, my blood running cold instantly. I gripped the wheel tightly as two state police cruisers closed the distance behind me at breakneck speed. I pulled off to the side of the road, waiting for the lights and the sirens indicating I was going to jail. Suddenly the wad of cash in my pocket had real weight, and in that half a second, my heart felt like it was going to explode.
“Easy, buddy,” I told Raider, petting him on the head and coming to a stop just as the two cars raced by, easily doubling the speed limit.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and then pulled back onto the roadway.
“I appreciate you dropping this off, but you didn’t have to do it tonight,” Les said as I gave him his cut.
“That’s ok, I figured I’d lay low for a day or three after what happened.”
“What happened?” he shot back.
I told him, and his face seemed to tighten as I filled him in. He looked into the window of the truck and pointed to Raider, “You keep his ass safe.”
Raider barked once loudly and his tail started wearing a hole in my threadbare upholstery.
“Sumbitch,” Les said when I finished.
“Yup. I told him I might throw him some product now and then, but to go through you from here on out.”
“I don’t want to deal with that kind of a mess,” Les said.
I rubbed my shoulder where Aaron had slugged me. “Yeah, me either.”
“Y’all set for a time then?” he asked me.
“Yeah. I’ll still do the normal business for you until Grandpa is back on his feet, but we’re in good shape for a while,” I said again, thinking about the lump in my pocket.
“Glad to hear it. Thanks for bringing the money by. I’ll be in touch about the next drops,” he said quietly.
“Thanks. Hopefully business picks up now that we’ve dried out the Tonk.”
“Oh, it
isn’t dried out, he’s just not going to make as much money selling legit booze.”
“I hear that. I’ll see you, Les.”
“See you, Wes,” he said and gave me a wave.
I started the truck and backed out, before putting it into drive and heading home.
12
“So ya didn’t have to shoot ‘em?” Grandpa asked me again for the third time, really cranking the accent hard, making ‘didn’t’ sound like ‘decent’.
“No,” I said exasperated, and pulled out the money I’d collected and put it on the table.
Grandma put her hand over her mouth, and her hand reached out slowly, taking the bundle and counting it. Even though this was my last run of liquor to the Barred Rooster, I’d still had sent out a ton of liquor. Almost double the usual payday. Even after giving Les his cut and the $300 for Aaron’s wrist, we still had close to $3,000. That would hold us for a long time. It would pay for the propane I’d used up and the summer taxes on the homestead.
“You know, how about you use some of this and call on your lady friend?” Grandma said, handing the stack over to me.
“I don’t have a lady friend,” I told her. “And why are y’all sitting in the dark?”
We were sitting at the kitchen table, and although my grandparents were frugal, they usually at least had the light on over the table we were sitting in, or a fan going in the corner to move around the hot air.
“Power went out about an hour, hour and a half ago,” Grandma said.
“I betcha it’s the damn apocalypse,” Grandpa said and then burped loudly, his hand covering his mouth. “Excuse me, darn gassy after that surgery. At least it wasn’t from the other end!”
I laughed as Grandma shook her fist at him.
“We were listening to the ball game on the radio, and they said there were rolling blackouts in the area. Too many people running their air conditioning probably.”
I perked up at that a little bit. “Radio still working?”
“See, I told you that’d freak him out, but he done drove back here!”
“Oh don’t you fuss him,” Grandma chided.
Raider’s tail started thumping in anticipation of the back and forth that usually ended up with one of them cussing and the other cackling. Sometimes I got in the middle, but I tried to merely be a spectator.
“So the radio…?” I asked.
“It went fuzzy. Been coming in off and on,” Grandpa said. “I turned it off, it was giving me a headache.”
“Well, we know how to handle a power outage,” I said simply.
“Oh yeah. Don’t have much in the fridge that needs to be eaten up right away, do we?” Grandpa asked Grandma.
“Naw, we can leave it shut. I have some canned stew we can heat up on the stove. But with the power out, you’re going to have to run the hand pump.”
We’d gotten the well fixed, and the pump replaced a couple of years ago. It had been something we’d gone without more than we’d gone with. Truth be told, after the hot Arkansas summers, the cold water was a little bit refreshing, but in the winter we’d kept a large kettle of water going on the wood fire. We’d use that plus buckets of cooler water to take what my grandma would call a bird bath.
“I can handle that,” I told her.
“I won’t be on my ass that much longer!” Grandpa grouched.
“Well, doc says—”
“Doc can kiss my wrinkly old white ass,” Grandpa said and turned away from both of us.
“Did ya call your lady friend about the mutt and his lessons?” Grandpa asked without looking at us.
“I… oops.”
I dug into my pocket and pulled out my phone and speed dialed Jessica, one of the very few numbers I had on my personal phone. I heard her answer and then tried to ask how she was doing, but I was getting static and some sort of feedback that sounded like the tones you’d get from old rotary phones before the call dropped. I tried again and just got the fast busy signal. I had one bar of signal, and with my WeBoost, I should have had full… no power. I felt like a dolt.
“I have to run up the hill. My antenna for the phone in the house here doesn’t have juice, so I don’t have any signal.”
“You don’t gotta tell me, not when a lady’s heart is at stake!”
“Grandma…” I said without too much grouching. “Come on, Raider,” I told him.
He barked softly, then ran to Grandpa who gave him a pat on the head then back to me. I opened the door and then followed him out. We both walked slowly up the driveway. Once I got to the top, I knew I’d have at least three bars, more if I had my signal booster running. I pulled my phone open and looked up and down the dirt road, making sure a car wasn’t coming because Raider staying right on my side without a leash was still a new thing.
I hit the button to redial Jessica again. I got a fast busy signal again and looked at my phone. It kept going between one bar and none. I tried dialing again. This time, nothing happened, and that was when Raider whined. I looked where he was looking and saw the telephone pole that had the transformer and power and phone lines on it. Several of the heavy wires were sagging, and I realized I could taste something in the air, like biting tinfoil. I got a whiff of ozone right before transformer blew up. I fell backward and tumbled down the driveway several feet until I got my hands down.
I was shaking as I got up and started brushing off my arms and legs, feeling for any injuries. Other than scratches from rocks and the shaking from being startled so badly, I was in good shape. The spot where the transformer had been was engulfed in flames. A long time ago, in some prepping fiction book from the library, I had read that some of the older transformers had mineral oil in them. Was this what that was? It was burning, and I realized without our well running, I wouldn’t be able to do anything to put out the fire if it lit the tall grass and brush on the side of the road on fire.
“This is not good,” I said, “We can’t let this…”
Raider. I looked around in a circle and heard a barking down the hill. I took off, feeling a little unsteady from my nerves and made it halfway down the hill where my Grandma met me, the shotgun in her hands.
“I didn’t do it!” I said, putting my hands up.
“What was… oh lord,” she said, catching sight of the burning transformer. “I thought somebody shot at… never mind.” Her words were hard to hear, and I realized my head was ringing from the transformer going up.
“Good boy,” I told Raider, realizing he’d gone downhill and made enough of a commotion to get help.
“I’d like to think he would have stuck around if you were shot, but he knew what to do.”
“We have to figure out what to do with that!” I said, pointing.
“I’ll bet your grandpa knows.”
Three hours. Three long hours where I ended up sooty, stripped to the waist with a rake and shovel. I’d had a couple of scary spots where the grass had lit and almost got away from me, but I’d been able to beat it out or rake dirt and gravel over the areas smothering it. Still, there was a large swath of area around the road that the flames had gotten. It wasn’t just the fire that had come from the transformer, it was as if the electrical and phone lines were on fire too.
In the distance, I could see other streamers of smoke, and the entire time I’d been fighting the fire, I’d thought about the solar storm and how the news said it was supposed to be stronger today. Something on the radio had stuck with me, how the country had been having rolling blackouts and one caller on the talk radio had warned about a cascading effect if parts of the grid went down. He said it didn’t have to be any particular area hit, but if critical locations went down… What had happened in the Midwest a decade back could happen again on a larger scale.
I remembered that and the guy had sounded like a crank, but over and over I wondered where the heck were the utility work crews? Where were the fire department? The streamers of smoke suggested they might have their hands full. Still, there were wires down across the
road here, and I could see further down the road they were as well. I used the rake to push the cable the best I could, but the heavy wire for the electrical was bending the wooden handle of the rake. I was able to make a path wide enough for a car or truck to drive through in case the power came back on. Nobody would have to worry about live cables zapping them, and I could get out.
“Here,” Grandma said, handing me a thermos.
I took a long drink. She’d made lemonade and must have gotten into the freezer for ice. I could taste a bit of a bite to it and grinned, slowing down as I realized she’d enhanced it with a touch of liquid courage.
“Figured you could use that,” Grandma said with a smile.
“I did,” I told her. “I can’t finish it though, I’m going to drive into town and take a look.”
“Do you think the cars will start?” Grandma asked, her voice quivering.
Grandpa didn’t know, but Grandma and I used to sit inside the house murmuring when he was running his still. She knew all about my fears of an EMP. Something had happened, I’d never seen wires sag like that, but the solar storm could have done something like that if it was powerful enough…
“Let’s go look,” I told her, glancing back to the roadway where I’d raked. Any sticks or deadfall that had lit were smoldering out on their own.
If the wind picked up, I might have to go back to work, but the fire seemed to be done. I took another swig of the thermos and handed it back to her.
“Raider calm down?”
“Yeah, he’s sleeping on the couch. Your grandpa invited him up!”
“I think that transformer blowing scared him,” I told her as we both started walking down.
“It scared all of us, but I think he was more worried about you being hurt. He barked his fool head off until I came outside.”
“Well, we’re all safe,” I reassured her, coming to a stop at my truck.
“You know, the guy on the radio… and the solar EMP thing…”
“Solar storm, coronal mass ejection,” I supplied, knowing there was a difference but not really wanting to correct her.
Blackout: Still Surviving Page 9