by Dave Conifer
“This is worse, I think,” Nick said.
“I wonder what they did a hundred years ago before there was a CVS on every corner,” Sarah said. “They just rode it out and hoped it got better.”
“Or they died,” Dewey said. “We’ll be doing the same, pretty soon.”
“Too bad this didn’t come up at our meeting last night,” Nick said. “Somebody’s bound to have something in their medicine cabinet. We should be inventorying medicine like we’re doing for food. What time is it? Think any of the neighbors are up yet?”
“I wouldn’t chance it until it’s lighter outside, dude,” Dewey said. “It won’t be too long. It’s getting brighter already. I heard your gun nut pal Chuck say he’s going on all-night guard duty. He seems like a ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ kind of guy.”
“You got that right,” Nick agreed. “But that’s our best hope for the moment. I don’t see any point in going out looking for a drug store. They’ve all been looted by now.”
“Yeah,” Dewey said. “We probably wouldn’t find a stick of gum left.”
“Can you hang on a little longer, Sarah?” Nick asked.
“Does she have a choice?” Dewey asked. Nick rolled his eyes in the dark. Empathy was just something you couldn’t teach.
Sarah’s grip on Nick’s wrist tightened. “Sure. Why not? I’ve been hanging on all night? What’s a few more hours?”
“You could always take a few of those pain-killers,” Nick said.
“I just might do that.”
“Let me know, I’ll go get them,” Nick offered.
“Nick, where do you think Eli is?” she asked. “What if he found his way back home, and I’m just a few miles away here? The girls ask for him every day.”
Nick shrugged in the darkness. “I have no way of knowing, same as you. All I know is that you'd be in serious danger if you left to go back to Medford. Especially if you tried to bring Jenny and Ashley with you. There’s a lot of craziness between here and there. And even if you made it, what would you do if he’s not there?”
Sarah sighed. “I know. I just don’t know what to tell the girls.”
They lit some candles and prepared to wait for sunrise. Nick walked to the back window. He was considering a trip to the outhouse, but it was still so dark that he could barely make out its shape. It would be better to wait a few minutes, he decided, just in case Dewey was right and Chuck was out there shooting at anything that moved. He was about to suggest firing up the grill long enough to brew the last of the coffee, something he knew would help keep Sarah’s spirits up, when the quiet of dawn was interrupted by the crack of gunfire from behind the house.
“What was that?” Dewey asked after the first staccato burst had subsided. “It was close by!” Another blast came before anybody could answer, followed by a volley that sounded like a lot of guns blasting away at once.
“What the—“ Dewey began.
“Dewey, go back and get the girls down onto the floor,” Nick barked. Dewey crawled from the room in the darkness as fast has he could. Nick and Sarah hit the floor as well, and braced themselves for more shots. Nick peeked out back again, but saw nothing. He could hear shooting from someplace nearby, but he couldn’t discern where it was coming from. Again, he thought about sneaking to the outhouse, this time for a better view of what was happening, but decided not to. It was quiet out there now, but that could change quickly.
The shooting continued, but nothing like the initial cannonade that had broken the morning stillness. Now it was only sporadic bursts. He heard voices shouting, but couldn’t make out the words. As the first tendrils of fear crept over him, he returned to the couch and reached underneath for the rifle, wondering why he’d waited so long. After fingering it in the dark to find the action, he quickly twisted the lever knob and pulled it back, ejecting an empty shell to clatter onto the floor. With an efficient motion that he’d mastered after a few hunting trips with Chuck, he slid the bolt forward, stripping a fresh cartridge from the magazine and sliding it into firing position.
We’re one day too late on our weapons training, he thought to himself. Tom and Matt are unarmed. We screwed this up. He had no idea what was going to happen next. Everybody in the house stayed on the floor, although the girls crawled into the living room to join their elders, followed by a reluctant Dewey.
The voices dissipated soon after Nick returned to his kitchen vantage point. The frequency of gunshots tailed off as well, until it was clear that whatever had happened was over. After a few minutes of uneasy quiet, a loud knock came at the back door. “Nick! Open up! It’s me, Chuck!”
“Why am I not surprised?” Sarah asked. “I knew he had something to do with this. Anything that has guns involved.”
“At least it’s somebody from our side,” Nick reminded her as he shuffled to the door while staying below the window line. After a quick look through the living room window to confirm who was out there, he unlocked the door.
“What happened?” he asked while Chuck removed his cap and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
“Are you hit?” Dewey asked. “Did they get you?”
“Relax,” Chuck said. “Nobody got shot out there. At least nobody I know of.” He clicked something on his pistol and laid it down flat on the table, then pulled another one out and did the same. That done, he nudged a chair away from the table with his foot and sat in it. “You got anything to drink?” Dewey picked up a glass from the dish rack and walked to the thermos jug on the counter.
“So what happened?” Nick asked again.
“It was a raid,” Chuck said. He took the glass of water from Dewey and downed it in three gulps. After wiping his mouth and slamming the glass onto the table, he continued. “I was coming out of the john when I heard a vehicle in front of Shardlake’s house. Before I knew it, four or five men came through into the back, a few on each side of the house. They fired at me, and I fired back.”
“How’d they see you?” Nick asked as Dewey took the glass to refill it. “Weren’t you still in the outhouse?”
“I came out,” Chuck replied.
“Cronin,” Nick said. “It’s got to be.”
“Maybe,” Chuck said. “I couldn’t see anybody. Just muzzle flashes as soon as I came out.”
“He said they’d be back for me,” Nick said. “Maybe they were trying a rear attack this time.”
“This is getting intense,” Sarah said. “They just tried to attack this house?”
“Not exactly,” Chuck said. “They—“
“How’d you stop them?” Dewey interrupted. “Weren’t you on your own?”
“Simmer down, four-eyes, and let me talk,” Chuck said. “I don’t think they were heading here. They got into Shardlake’s backyard and stopped, even before I fired a shot. But I didn’t mind being the first to shoot. They were invading our territory.”
“You shot first?” Sarah asked.
Chuck paused before answering. “That’s how I remember it, at least.”
“Maybe they heard the shots and realized they hadn’t surprised anybody,” Nick said. “So they turned around and left.”
“I can’t say for sure what was in their heads,” Chuck said. “But even if that’s what happened, I don’t think they left empty-handed. It was almost like they came for something in Shardlake’s yard. And there’s only one thing there. That cockamamie water bottle setup he’s always playing around with.”
“What’s he got, just a bunch of buckets and a fire pit?” Dewey asked. “There’s not much to it.”
“And his filtering device,” Nick said. “The one he was so proud of. I bet they got that, too. Too bad. He’d made a lot of progress just in the last day or two.”
“What I don’t understand is why they would want it,” Chuck said. “There’s no shortage of junk in these parts right about now.”
“Wait. Like, how did anybody know it was there in the first place?” Dewey asked slowly. “Junk or not? It’s not like anybody
passes through these yards. Except for us.”
“Maybe somebody saw Matt pushing the Barneymobile around, and got curious,” Nick speculated. “Other than that, I got nothing. I still think they were coming for me.”
“If they were, you can thank me for saving your skin,” Chuck said.
“Thanks,” Nick said with a smile. “But I still don’t get it. How’d one guy chase off ten?”
“I’d like to play hero,” Chuck said, “But it ain’t like that. All I did was fire some shots in their direction, trying to scare them off. They fired back. I moved, fired again, and they did the same. Round and round. That’s all it was.” He paused to drain the last of the water from his glass. “If they wanted to get past me, they could have. But they didn’t know how many of us there were. I did that on purpose, moving around and all.”
“This isn’t good,” Dewey said. “Are they, like, watching us? It’s not good if they know what’s going on in our backyards.”
Nick glanced at the window. “It’s much lighter out now,” he said. “Think it’s safe enough to take a look?”
“Those guys are long gone,” Chuck promised.
“So wait a second,” Nick said. “It all started when you were in the outhouse?”
“Yes sir,” Chuck said. “I finished up real quick and went outside. They must have seen me, because they started shooting in my direction, so I slipped away into my back yard.”
“I thought you said you shot first,” Nick said.
“Well, maybe,” Chuck allowed. “I forget.”
“And they were shooting at you the whole time?” Nick asked.
“Pretty much,” Chuck said. “I was firing too, but mostly up into the air, from different places, to keep them off guard.”
“We should go see the Shardlakes and the Helliksons,” Nick said. “They’re probably wondering what’s going on.”
“Yeah,” Chuck said. “Too bad Matt didn’t take one of my guns last night.”
“Were you giving them out?” Nick asked. “I must have missed that.”
“He could have leaned out the back window and cleaned up this mess all by himself if he’d been armed,” Chuck said, ignoring the question.
Dewey snorted. “Yeah, right. That’ll happen.”
~~~
Matt Shardlake was at his back window when Nick, Chuck, Dewey and Sarah slipped into his yard in the light of dawn. When he saw who’d come over, he disappeared from the window and emerged through the back door seconds later. “They took everything,” he lamented. “What happened? Was that you shooting back, Chuck?”
“Yeah,” Chuck said. “I was outgunned, though. I was mostly trying to make sure they knew somebody was here, to keep ‘em honest.”
“Did they get everything?” Nick asked.
“Looks like it,” Matt answered. “I’d added some new boiling buckets, and made better filters. I don’t see anything left of it. So who were they?”
“We were about to ask you that,” Dewey said. “Have you, like, told anybody about this?”
“Just you guys,” Matt said. “I haven’t said a word to anybody else.”
“Well, somebody knew about it,” Nick said. “This wasn’t some random burglary. They pulled up in front of your house, came around and grabbed it, and took off.”
“Sorry, dude,” Dewey said to Matt. “Looks like your back to square one. At least you still have your ideas.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Matt said. “It just so happens that I brought some of my equipment into the basement last night. I was working by candlelight.”
Nick nodded. “Nice move,” he said. “So it’s not a total loss. You should go ahead and make the basement your factory. It’s more secure.”
“Secure?” Matt asked. “Does that even exist anymore?”
Sixteen
Later that morning, after the excitement was over, Nick settled back down on the couch and tried unsuccessfully to sleep. But sleep never came; there was too much on his mind. At eight o’clock he gave up. Without being noticed, he pulled on his shoes and headed out the front door looking for answers.
It took a few minutes to walk around the block to the front of the Shardlake house. He purposely took the long route so he could look for clues about the dawn invasion. There were none. No shells, no skid marks, no new debris. Nothing to indicate that a mob of looters had invaded just a few hours earlier. He proceeded to the front door, which Matt Shardlake pulled open quickly after Nick knocked.
“Everything calming down over here?” Nick asked.
“For the most part,” Matt answered. “Everybody else slept right through it, right up to the part where I fell down the stairs coming out to see you all.”
“Crazy morning,” Nick said. “Hey, you got a few minutes? I want to bounce something off you.”
“Sure,” Matt said. “Come on in.”
“Um, let’s stay out here on the porch,” Nick said. “If you don’t mind.” He lowered his voice. “I want to keep this between us for now.”
Matt stepped out and closed the door behind him. Nick took a seat on the top step, so Matt did, too. “What’s up?”
Nick sighed. “This is going to sound strange. Remember, keep this to yourself, okay?”
“Of course,” Matt said.
“Well, I’ve been walking through Chuck’s story about what went on this morning. You know, the shooting and all, and somebody stealing your equipment. I can’t make it all add up. It doesn’t pass the look test. I’m all tied up in knots worrying about this, because it takes me someplace that I really, really, don’t want to go.”
“I didn’t hear it firsthand,” Matt answered. “So I can’t really say.”
“Well, he gave a real quick blow-by-blow of where he was and what happened,” Nick explained. “There was a lot of action right out back of my place, near the outhouse. But that’s the one place I happened to be watching, and I didn’t see anything. I heard a lot of shots, but I didn’t know who was shooting or where they were. Except I know they weren’t anywhere near the outhouse.”
“There was a lot going on,” Matt said. “He could have mixed it up. Maybe he doesn’t remember where he was. It’s possible, I mean.”
“The first time he told the story, he makes a point of saying that he shot first,” Nick said. “Five minutes later, it’s all about how he didn’t shoot first. If he doesn’t remember, why tell it two different ways in five minutes? It just makes me wonder.”
“Yeah, I get where you’re coming from,” Matt said.
Nick shook his head. “Either he’s got some details wrong, or, uh, something else.”
“And that’s what’s on your mind right now,” Matt said.
“Exactly,” Nick said. “Like I said, it doesn’t add up. We went out to look around after the sun came up, and—“
“Yeah,” interrupted Matt. “You came over to my place.”
“Right. And Matt, I’m telling you, I didn’t see any sign that anybody else was here at all. I looked again just now on my way over here.”
“You think he faked it?” Matt asked. “Seriously? Why would he do it?”
“I don’t know,” Nick answered. “Here’s what I really wanted to ask you. He says they pulled up in front of your house in a truck. Did you see anything like that?”
“Well, no,” Matt admitted. “That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And there’s one thing I do know. Somebody stole the equipment from my yard.”
“Yeah, there’s that. I don’t know what to think,” Nick said. “What if I’m right about this? Where do we go from here?”
“At least wait until you know something for sure,” Matt said.
“By the way,” Nick said. “Try to make it to the meeting tonight. Same time, same place. A lot of it’s about you and your water project.”
“Okay, I’ll be there,” Matt said. “But there’s not much left of my water project anymore.”
“You’ll have to start over, that’s all,” Nick sa
id.
“Well, I’ll be at the meeting, for what it’s worth,” Matt promised. “It’s not like my schedule is full. But why so soon? Didn’t we just do this last night?”
“I think I have a way to solve your problems,” Nick told him. The downside is it means inviting somebody new into the group. That’s what I want to talk about tonight.”
“Hmm. Well, I’ll be there,” Matt said. “What’s your idea?”
“I guess I can tell you,” Nick answered. “One word. Transportation. You need it. You need a way to get water. And not that unusable garbage from the creek. Something better. Clean water that isn’t filled with poop, even if you have to go farther to get it. And you need a way to bring in firewood. And maybe, someday, you’ll need a way to make deliveries.”
“Okay,” Matt said. “So who is this magical person who has everything we need?” Matt asked.
Nick braced himself. “You know Brian Martinsen?”
“Ha,” Matt said. “I wish I didn’t. Are you serious?”
“It’s just an idea.”
“He’s got a car?”
“He’s got a Volkswagen bus that runs,” Nick said. “I saw it.”
“So you’re thinking we bring him in so we get use of the car?” Matt asked.
“Exactly,” Nick said. “And we’d have to bring in his whole family, of course. But think of the benefits. We could drive down to the Cooper River to get water. That’s a lot cleaner. And we could find firewood just about anywhere along the way, probably.”
“All that’s true,” Matt said.
“But what?” Nick asked. “On top of that, it wouldn’t hurt to have a little more manpower.”
“You know me,” Matt said. “I get along with just about everybody. I don’t like to talk anybody down like this. But Brian Martinsen is a jerk. You know it, I know it, and everybody but he himself knows it. As a matter of fact, he probably knows it, too.”
“I won’t argue that,” Nick conceded. “But he’s got something we need.”
“The thing about all the people in our group is that we trust each other,” Matt said. “Even though we don’t always agree, it’s going to work because we like each other. We believe in each other. That’s why I don’t like the idea of bringing this guy and his family in. And they live two streets away. Are you putting them up in your house? Because we’re not taking them in, I’ll tell you that.”