Small Town EMP (Book 3): Survive The Conflict

by Hamilton, Grace

“I’ll go check it out,” Ezra volunteered.

  He started walking towards the truck, his rifle aimed outward, ready to shoot the first thing that moved. Amanda watched from behind a small passenger car, waiting to see if he’d be attacked. When Ezra reached the truck, though, he looked in the windows and turned to wave his hand, indicating it was all clear.

  She jogged over, inspecting the empty vehicle. “What do you think happened?” she asked.

  Ezra opened the driver’s side door and jumped inside, turning the key in the ignition. When the truck started, he and Amanda stared at each other, both slack-jawed.

  “Did that truck just start?” Mike asked, rushing towards them with the others hot on his heels.

  “It’s running,” Amanda gasped. “Everyone, get in. I don’t know who was driving this thing, but we’re taking it. Go!” she hollered.

  Ezra got behind the wheel, sliding the rifle between the two front seats. Gretchen and Tonya got into the back seat of the quad cab while Amanda took shotgun. The others climbed into the bed of the truck.

  “Do you remember how to drive?” Gretchen teased as Ezra seemed to struggle for a few seconds before putting the truck into drive.

  “Not a bit,” he joked, and then he hit the gas, bumping along the edge of the highway before finding a hole between stalled cars and getting into the left lane.

  Amanda sat back, the window down and the wind blowing through her hair. It felt good to be in a moving vehicle. She closed her eyes and let herself relax for a moment as Ezra drove as fast as he could down the highway, slowing down to pass the occasional vehicle in the road. They traveled for an hour before Ezra cursed under his breath.

  “What is it?” she asked, her eyes immediately scanning the area for trouble.

  “Gas. We’re going to run out of gas,” he muttered.

  She groaned. “Figures. Did anyone see that last sign? How close are we?”

  “The sign I saw said eighteen miles to Cheyenne. That couldn’t have been more than a few miles back,” Tonya answered.

  The truck began to sputter, making it clear they’d been running on fumes. “Come on, come on,” Ezra quietly begged.

  The truck jerked a few times before the engine cut out. Ezra coasted to a stop before putting the transmission in park. They all sat quietly for a few seconds before Amanda opened the truck door. “Let’s go. That saved us a lot of time, but we still have a good five to six hours of walking. We’ll make camp outside the base and go in first thing tomorrow,” she said.

  Everyone piled out of the truck before setting off. Amanda looked back at the truck as they moved. It didn’t look like it had belonged to the now, but there was no way to know for sure. She hated the idea of stealing someone’s vehicle, but it had been for the greater good. They had to get to Cheyenne if there was even a remote chance of returning the world to normal.

  The limited water they had was almost gone, though Amanda thought they’d escaped getting sick. They’d each taken another round of the antibiotics to stave off any chance of developing typhoid, which gave Amanda hope they would all be okay, but they needed more water and they needed food. She could only hope they’d find sustenance in Cheyenne, as well as survival. It was early evening when the massive base came into view, its large hangars standing out on the horizon. The surrounding land was barren, showing no signs of life. Part of her had been hopeful they’d arrive to the base and find American forces not just in command, but gathered in force.

  “That’s it?” Gretchen asked as they stood on a small hill overlooking the area.

  “That’s it,” Amanda said with a nod.

  “And we’re supposed to walk in there and push buttons to launch missiles, like it’s no big deal?” Ezra asked skeptically.

  “That’s the working plan,” Amanda replied.

  “Tonight?” Mike asked.

  Amanda pulled the messenger out of her pocket. She’d resisted the urge to turn it on time and time again. Sarah had warned her and Austin both about the potential for the battery not holding power, and she really just had to trust there’d be enough juice for her to get the signal from Austin. Without it, they’d be shooting blind and could make things far worse. Resolve firming her spine, she put it back.

  “I think we need to do a little surveillance. If our Air Force is in there, we aren’t going to get far,” she replied.

  “If they are in there, why don’t we have them take care of it?” Ezra asked.

  “If they believe us, you mean. But first we need to know if anyone is in there. This base could be overrun already. We need to see if the NWO has taken over,” she said, hoping that wasn’t the case.

  “I think I see water over there,” Gretchen said pointing off to the side of the land they’d come upon.

  Everyone looked in the general direction, pleased to see a small lake. “Let’s go. We’ll get a small fire going and get our water needs taken care of,” Amanda said.

  They turned off the road, walking through the tall grass towards the lake. There were a few houses scattered about, but all were set back far enough from the road that Amanda felt confident no one would see them as they made their way down to the water.

  “I can’t resist. I have to get in,” Mike said apologetically.

  Amanda looked at the water tinged green. It did look very inviting after a long, hot day on the road. “I’ll stand watch. Go ahead,” she encouraged.

  Part of her wanted them to have a little fun on what could very well be their last day on earth. She had no idea what the base held in store for them, but the very idea of walking in there, finding the silos, and entering the launch codes without any problems was a pipe dream. Their only advantage was that the NWO didn’t know their plan. They would still be chasing Austin west. She sat down on the bank and watched the men strip down to their underwear and wade into the water. Gretchen and Tonya settled for rolling up their pants legs and wading at the edges.

  The men had fun, diving under the water and splashing one another. She watched them, smiling at seeing them act so normally. This was why they were doing what they were doing. This was why they had pushed their bodies beyond endurance. There had to be more good times like this in the future, when they could relax by a lake and frolic in the water. Savannah and future generations deserved to know what it was like to feel safe and have fun. Amanda let herself relax, feeling relatively safe for the moment.

  But, as always with good moments in this world, the moment was short-lived. The first sign of trouble floated across the peaceful lake. Men’s voices. Amanda clapped her hands once, grabbing the attention of the men in the water. Gretchen and Tonya were already out of the lake, hurriedly putting on their socks and shoes.

  “Company,” Amanda hissed.

  The men rushed back to the bank, trying to get out of the water as fast as possible.

  “Stop right there!” a male voice rang out.

  They stopped on command, their half-naked bodies dripping water as they stared up the slight incline. Amanda turned to look behind her and saw four men, all wearing black and carrying semi-automatic rifles.

  “We weren’t doing anything,” she said, infusing fear into her voice.

  “Who are you?” one of the men asked.

  “I’m Jessica and these are my friends. We’ve been crashing in that house over yonder and just thought we’d come out for a swim,” she said, trying her best to sound ignorant and innocent at the same time.

  “We’ve been through all those houses. No one is living there,” the man replied.

  “We only arrived a few days ago. We saw the house was empty and claimed it for our own,” Mike said easily. “We didn’t know it was spoken for. We’ll move on.”

  The soldiers exchanged looks before one stepped forward, eying Amanda closely. The gun was still sitting in her waistband. She could reach for it, but she’d be shot before she ever got a shot off. Ezra’s rifle lay next to his pile of clothes, which the soldier immediately spotted.

  “How
many weapons do you have?” he growled.

  “Just the rifle, sir,” Ezra replied, taking another step out of the water.

  “Don’t move,” the soldier ordered, raising his gun and aiming the barrel at Ezra’s head.

  Ezra’s hands went up. “We’ll go.”

  “This area is under our control,” the soldier announced proudly.

  “I thought this was an Air Force Base,” Amanda asked.

  The soldier sneered at her. “It’s our base now.”

  “Oh, we didn’t know. We came here looking for refuge. We’ll move on,” Amanda said, using a small voice.

  The soldier stared at each of them in turn. The men in their state of undress was actually helping their situation, Amanda realized. If the soldiers would have encountered them thirty minutes before, the situation would have been very different, but as things were, they couldn’t have looked more harmless and unthinking.

  “You seen anyone else out here? We’re looking for a group of people, a woman and a couple guys who would have come from the west, making trouble,” the soldier asked.

  “We’ve seen lots of women and lots of men. Most dead,” she replied nonchalantly, fear making her nervous.

  They were looking for her, it seemed, but how had they known she’d be in the area? Her mind raced as she thought about Austin being captured and tortured for information. She quickly corrected her thinking, however. He would never give up the plan. Though, one of the others might have.

  The soldiers seemed satisfied with her answer, and slowly retreated, leaving them with instructions to get out of the area by tomorrow if they didn’t want to be removed in body bags. Once they were out of sight, the men quickly dressed, no one talking in case the soldiers remained nearby. Amanda didn’t want to look like the woman in charge. She walked over to Ezra, whispered in his ear, and then wrapped her arm around his waist. His arm went around her shoulder as he pulled her into his side.

  No one questioned them as they put on a big show, looking like the happiest couple in the world, Ezra carrying himself proudly and taking on the role of the leader of their group. If the NWO soldiers were watching, she hoped they had eliminated all suspicions about their identity. Things were going to be much more difficult now. Getting into the computer center to launch the missiles was going to take some serious planning.

  31

  Savannah walked alongside Raven, Andy barely keeping his eyes open as the gentle rhythm of the horse’s hooves lulled him into contentment. They weren’t far from Boise, and all she could think about was seeing her father again. She owed him a huge apology for running off. She knew it was wrong to have done it, but she couldn’t change things—and, in her mind, she wondered if maybe she’d been meant to be there to save Andy. There was no doubt in her mind that he wouldn’t have survived without her and Malachi finding him, and she figured that had to mean something.

  “I think we can be there tomorrow,” Malachi announced, walking beside Charlie.

  “I wonder why they didn’t go to that other base,” Savannah mused aloud. “It was closer.”

  “Amanda and Sarah said the missiles needed were at the Warren base. Your dad did mention it,” he answered.

  “Oh,” she replied, staring across the flat terrain with the freeway seeming to stretch on forever. She was so tired of the flat, dry land with so very few trees to break up the monotony.

  “Look!” Malachi pointed to a sign, never seeming to tire of pointing out even the smallest of sights.

  Savannah herself was sick of the signs and the history. As it turned out, they really were following the Oregon Trail. There were various signs marking spots along the way. It was like the world’s longest, most exhausting history lesson. Reading about the journey was one thing. Actually walking it was entirely different.

  There was a large gazebo off the road they were traveling, which seemed odd—why would anyone have bothered planting it in the middle of the southern Idaho desert? Malachi had already veered off-road, taking Charlie with him as he headed in the direction of the structure.

  “Come on, Raven,” Savannah sighed, too exhausted to tell Malachi they needed to keep going.

  “Check it out!” Malachi said again.

  Savannah helped Andy down, walking to where Malachi was reading a large board describing what they were seeing.

  “That’s the city?” she gasped, staring at the buildings sprawled out in the distance.

  “It is. That’s Boise. We’re about ten miles away.”

  “Look at the river,” she said longingly. She would have killed to dive into that cool water, drink gallons of it, and wash her hair all at the same time. They hadn’t bathed in a week. There was dirt and sand clinging to her skin and her hair, and even coating her teeth.

  “We could stay here tonight and go into the city tomorrow. Your dad is down there somewhere. There’s a National Guard base, he said. He was supposed to be in that area,” Malachi added excitedly.

  “Okay. We can stay here for tonight. It’ll be nice to have a solid roof over our heads and something other than the ground to sleep on. That tent gets stuffy. Does that sound good, Andy?” she asked.

  The boy slowly nodded, still not talking a lot. Savannah looked around the area. It was filled with weeds and sagebrush. She saw nothing they could forage for dinner, though the river in the distance was beckoning. It was too far for them to get to before nightfall. She could wait one more day, she assured herself.

  They sat down on one of the picnic tables under the giant gazebo. It did feel good to rest her feet and get out of the heat of the day. Her eyes stared down at her hands, covered with a layer of dirt she felt convinced would require a full bar of soap to scrub clean. The color of her skin was darker than she had ever seen it, and it wasn’t all dirt. She’d gotten a deep tan from the hours spent in the sun every day with no sunscreen. She figured skin cancer was the least of her worries, of course. She wasn’t sure she’d live long enough to develop cancer.

  Malachi stretched out across one table, closing his eyes. Savannah watched him as he fell into a quick sleep and began snoring, and then her eyes moved over to Andy. The kid was just as dirty as she was. She offered him a small smile. Andy’s eyes widened as he stared at her, and in another moment she recognized the look as fear.

  “Andy, what’s wrong?” she asked, reaching out to take one of his hands in hers. “You’re okay,” she assured him.

  There was the slightest sound from behind her. Malachi bolted upright.

  “Don’t move!” a woman’s voice called out.

  Savannah spun around, ignoring the command. A woman wearing camouflage and pointing a rifle at them greeted her from perhaps thirty feet away, and she was getting closer, with other men and women in camouflage further out behind her. The woman’s dark brown hair was pulled back in a sleek bun. Savannah guessed her to be in her mid to late forties. She had a hardened, weathered look about her that was intimidating.

  Andy whimpered behind her. “He’s a little boy and you’re scaring him!” Savannah seethed.

  “You’re all kids! Is this a trap?” the woman barked.

  More women and a few men were coming up behind her, hurrying forward now that she’d gotten so close and initiated contact, all of them wearing the same green fatigues. She recognized them as U.S. military, but couldn’t determine which branch. “We’re not a trap,” Savannah said firmly, hoping the people pointing guns at them were actually the good guys.

  “What are three kids doing up here? Did Staff Sergeant Harrison send you here?” the woman asked.

  Malachi and Savannah looked at each other. “We don’t know who that is,” Savannah answered.

  “We’ve traveled from Colorado. We’re supposed to be rejoining our group in Boise,” Malachi explained.

  “Your group? What group are you a part of?” the woman asked.

  “My dad, his mom, and a few friends. We’re not a part of any army or whatever,” Savannah quickly added, noticing the way the woman
had gone on edge.

  “You’ve come here from Colorado? On your own?” she asked skeptically.

  “Yes,” Savannah answered firmly, staring into the woman’s eyes to try and prove she wasn’t lying.

  The woman seemed to be evaluating them, sizing them up. “Get them some water,” she ordered.

  “Thank you. This is Andy. I’m Savannah, and that’s Malachi,” she said, hoping to put the woman at ease.

  “I’m Master Sergeant Beth McAuliffe. Everyone calls me Macbeth. We’re with the Air National Guard,” she announced.

  “You’re with the Guard? Does that mean the government’s running?” Savannah asked excitedly.

  The woman winced. “No. Not technically.”

  Savannah sighed. “Oh.”

  “Who is that other person you asked about?” Malachi questioned.

  Macbeth let out a long sigh. “She was my right hand until a few weeks ago. We had a difference of opinion. Her tactics are not in line with my own way of doing things. We’ve sworn to fight for our country and that’s exactly what my team and I will keep doing. Harrison has taken a small faction of Airmen and some other people she’s recruited. They’re holding one of the hangars where the bulk of our supplies has been stored.”

  Savannah groaned. “More fighting?”

  The woman’s look softened some, understanding in her eyes. “Is it like that everywhere?”

  Savannah nodded, her eyes going to Andy, who was greedily gulping down the water that had been flavored with a packet of electrolytes. “Yes. My dad is hoping he can stop this from getting worse.”

  “And how does he plan to do that?”

  Malachi and Savannah exchanged a look. As much as she wanted to trust the woman, she knew it was foolish to take anyone at face value, but if they couldn’t trust the government and a woman like this, who could they trust? Ever? “He’s trying to stop the NWO,” she said simply.

  “You know about the NWO?” Macbeth asked, sounding surprised.

  “Oh, we definitely know about them,” Malachi muttered.

  “You know about them and your dad left you alone?” she demanded, sounding irritated.