A Powerless World (Book 2): When the Peace is Gone

by P. A. Glaspy

  He heard it before he saw it; there was no hiding a running vehicle these days. When the SUV turned the corner, he was already grabbing the shotgun on the seat beside him. He stepped out as Joe, Mac, and Dave walked out of the house across the street with some loot. They dropped their goods and reached for their pistols. Dave, who was a new addition to the scout team, got excited.

  “Hey! Somebody’s comin’, Les!”

  No shit, Sherlock. Les shook his head and looked back at Dave.

  “Do you think I can’t see that, dumbass? Do you think I didn’t HEAR it before it got here? Do you think I’m stupid or somethin’?”

  Dave was shaking his head vigorously. “N-no, Les, n-no way, man. I just got taken by surprise, ya know? We ain’t seen nobody else for a couple of days.”

  That was true. The last people they had seen had been a large group heading away from the burned out street by the mall. They had stayed away from those people because Les and his guys were severely outnumbered, and they didn’t look like they had anything worth fighting for. They were dirty, skinny – pretty disgusting as far as he was concerned. They were carrying garbage bags and pushing grocery carts, and all of those looked pretty lean. Definitely not worth the trouble. The women didn’t even look appetizing. Les had a thing about dirty bodies, especially women. Since then, there had been nobody else out this way. Before that, those assholes on that sweet street had been the last they’d seen. They needed to get back over there. It’d been a few days and Les was betting they were either gone by now, or were sitting on a huge stash of stuff. If they were gone, he wanted a look inside those houses. If they weren’t…hell, he still wanted inside. Yeah, they’d go there next. First, he needed to get rid of these assholes who were trying to take his stuff. This is my street now, dicks.

  Mac looked at Les. “What do you want to do, Les? Want us to shoot ‘em?”

  “Nah, I’ll take care of it. Hell, look – they’re already high-tailin’ it outta here.”

  The SUV had slammed on its brakes, hit reverse, and was backing up to the cross street, tires spinning on the wet asphalt. Les knew he couldn’t hurt any of them, but he was pissed they’d showed up, so he shot anyway. He was rewarded with the sound of pellets hitting the truck. The driver got turned around and headed out of sight. He turned to his men. They were laughing and slapping each other on the back, like they had done something. Les saw red. Those idiots didn’t do anything but stand there and watch him. What were they so happy about?

  “What the hell are you doing? Show’s over! Get back to work!” They hurriedly picked up what they had dropped and carried it over to the truck, then headed for the next house.

  Good help was damn hard to find, because these guys were morons. He climbed back into the truck and lit another joint.

  ****

  When he heard the SUV again, he was livid. That’s it, I’m gonna kill these sumbitches, he thought to himself. He grabbed his shotgun as his men were running out of a house just down from where he was parked. They came together in the street, ready to get this over with.

  “We got too much to do to keep dealing with these fuckers,” he told them. “When they get in range, take ‘em out.”

  So far, they’d only killed a couple of people. That old couple that had a shit ton of food and hadn’t wanted to come up off it. The old man thought he could draw down on them. He was wrong. They killed the old lady because, hell, he was already gone, and she was wailing like a damn banshee, and Les just couldn’t take it. So, it wasn’t like they hadn’t done it yet. Les was tired of these interruptions.

  Joe and Mac had been with him for that one, but Dave wasn’t there, and he looked like he was either going to puke or piss on himself. Yeah, you’re a bad ass, Dave. Your “I killed a dude for looking at me wrong” was a punk ass lie, wasn’t it? Les smirked at him, then turned his attention back to the SUV. He saw them exit the truck and go to the back. Putting the engine block between them and us. Not bad for a bunch of pencil pushers. It never crossed his mind that they could have been much more than that, such was his narrow view of the world. He caught sight of the guy on top with the scoped rifle. Man, that looks sweet from here. I’m gonna keep that one for myself.

  While he was walking toward the SUV and daydreaming about getting his hands on the rifle, he was surprised to see a lot more men step out from behind the SUV than he had thought were there. Those sneaky bastards. Must have climbed through the back window so we couldn’t see how many there were of them. Les was seething, but they were outnumbered, which meant outgunned, and he didn’t trust these idiots to shoot well enough to do much good. He needed more guns. He needed the rest of his crew.

  He turned to his men. “Alright, I’m done playin’ with these assholes. We’re gonna get the rest of the boys. We’re gonna finish this. C’mon, get in the truck.”

  They got in the truck and Les turned the key. “No more ‘Mr. Nice Guy’, boys. From now on, we take out anybody who gets anywhere near us or our stuff. There ain’t enough to go around as it is. The more of them we get rid of, the more there is for us.”

  He put the truck in gear and headed out. We’re gonna finish this. Today.

  ****

  When they heard the pickup, everybody panicked. Could they get away? If they could, where would they go? They couldn’t go back to the farm. What if these guys followed them there? Mike took charge and stared issuing orders.

  “Everybody in a car. NOW! One gal in each one, everybody else, divvy up!”

  They quickly headed for one of the cars, mostly the ones they had come out in, except for Kate and Bob. She went to the wagon. Bob wanted to drive his SUV, so the Lawton brothers went together to the wagon, with Bill behind the wheel. All of this was negotiated in a matter of seconds, as they were running for the vehicles.

  By the time they got in and could get them started, the truck had turned the corner. When Les saw they were trying to leave, he let out a roar.

  “OH, HELL NO! You ain’t goin’ NOWHERE! You been a pain in my ass all day, and that shit is OVER!!”

  He sped up and pulled his truck in front of the SUV, which Bob had just put into gear. Bob slammed on his brakes as Les and his men jumped out of the truck. He had all six with him now. They were all pointing pistols or revolvers at our people. Mike shoved Sara down in the back floorboard. Kate saw this from the wagon and took it upon herself to do the same. Bob put the SUV in park, and sat there, waiting. The scavengers were still outnumbered but somehow they hadn’t figured that out yet, even though there were now two vehicles. Unfortunately, they did have the advantage at the moment.

  Les started issuing orders. “Alright, everybody out. Hands up, no sudden moves – my boys are just itchin’ to shoot somebody today.”

  Mike looked down to Sara and whispered, “Stay in the truck. Stay down. Don’t make a sound.” She nodded, so scared her whole body was shaking. The guys climbed out and shut the doors, doing their best to shield Sara from the crew’s sight. In the wagon, the guys did the same for Kate.

  Les was strutting around like a rooster in front of Bob’s ride. “Well, well, well. Look what we got here, boys. A bunch of cowboy wannabes. Y’all thought y’all had us outnumbered, didn’t ya? Hell, looks like you do – but we got the upper hand now. So, we’ll be taking both those rides, everything in ‘em, and all your guns. If you don’t cause us no trouble, we’ll let you walk out of here.” He had no intention of doing that, but he wanted them to comply until he had gotten their guns from them. No reason to get stupid here.

  He looked at Russ in recognition. “Don’t I know you from somewhere? Yeah, you’re them guys from the other side of the mall. Drew down on us for no reason. We was just out lookin’ around…”

  Russ didn’t want to escalate the situation, but he couldn’t stand a liar. “You were looking for houses to break into and rob. We heard your men talking about it.”

  Les got mad. “We were collecting resources. Seems like that’s what you’ve been doing here.”
He sneered at Russ. Russ didn’t bother to answer.

  When Les decided Russ was too scared to reply, he continued. “Joe, Mac, go see what they were so hell bent on getting in here to get.”

  The two men started toward the SUV, which was the closest to them, but Mike stepped forward and spoke. “No.” That was all he said. Les looked at him like he had lost his mind.

  “What did you say? Did you just tell my men not to do what I told them to do? Are you insane, boy? Do you want to die?”

  Mike looked him right in the eye. “No. Do you?”

  Les laughed. “You are insane! How do you think you’re gonna stop them?”

  Mike calmly replied, “Like this.”

  With that, he pulled the knife from the sheath on his belt faster than anyone could see or believe, and threw it at Joe, where it buried in his chest. The man’s eyes grew wide as he looked down at the knife hilt protruding from his shirt, blood seeping out around it. He dropped to his knees and fired his pistol as he was going down. The bullet hit the pavement and ricocheted into the SUV.

  Everything happened really fast after that. Men were diving for cover on both sides, everyone but Mike. He pulled his pistol and shot Mac in the leg as he was backing up to take up a spot on the other side of the SUV’s engine block. Mac went down, but not without firing back at Mike. He grazed Mike’s arm – not enough to stop him, but enough to piss him off even more. Mike shot him in the chest, and Mac went down for good. He swept to line Les up in his sights next.

  For all his brazen talk, Les was already hiding behind his truck yelling at his men before they were all there as well.

  “Shoot those fuckers! They killed Joe and Mac! Take them out!”

  The rest of his crew were behind the truck by now, firing wildly toward our people. Our folks were returning fire. One of the bullets hit a window on the SUV, causing Sara to scream. Les jerked around at the sound and stood up.

  “Hold up! Stop shooting, you dipshits! They got women with them!”

  The gunfire slowed to a stop. Les stood up behind the truck.

  “Well now, y’all didn’t say you had women with you. Tell ya what – you give us the women, and we’ll let you take everything else. No reason to be greedy. Everybody wins.”

  Lee yelled back at him. “Touch them and you all die! They are not property to be traded. They are human beings! They’re wives and mothers; they’re people who matter a hell of a lot more than any of you!”

  With that, Lee fired at Les. He missed, but he made Les duck back down behind the truck. Les’s men started firing again, and ours returned fire. No one but Mike had any military training, and no matter what anyone tells you, Monroe was right: shooting at a paper target is not the same as shooting at a person who’s shooting at you. Everybody mostly missed, although the vehicles took a lot of shots. Bob thought he winged one of them; Mike knew he got another in the leg. The marauder band climbed in their truck on the protected side, trying to stay down, with their guns above their heads, firing wildly to distract our guys. Les fired up the truck, threw it in gear, and took off. He was still crouched down in the seat, driving blindly since he couldn’t really see where he was going. He took out several mailboxes before he got back on the road. As he sat up so he could see, the back window exploded around them all in the backseat. Brian had retrieved the rifle from the back seat and opened fire on the retreating truck. He worked the bolt to load another round, but the truck had already disappeared around the corner.

  With the action finally stopped, the guys came out from behind the SUV to survey the damage. Mike had been grazed on his left arm. Ryan had several cuts on his face from exploding glass. Bob had the worst injury; he had been shot in the top of the thigh. Nothing life threatening, but he was raising hell over it.

  “Those bastards shot me! Look at this! It hurts like a son-of-a-bitch! Janet’s gonna kill me!”

  Russ called for Kate, who came rushing over. She looked at Bob’s leg, then ripped the bottom of her t-shirt off and wrapped it around his leg.

  “It went all the way through. I see the exit wound. We need to get back so I can get it cleaned up. Let me see that arm, Mike.”

  It’s fine, Kate. He just winged me. Help me get this bandana tied around it. It’ll keep ‘til we get back to the farm. Check Ryan out. I think they might have messed up his pretty face.”

  Ryan jumped up and pulled the side view mirror out. He looked at his face and swore.

  “Dammit! Look at that shit! We need to find those assholes and finish them, Russ! Look at my face! I’ll never get a date for the dance now!”

  The guys hesitated, then laughed at Ryan’s antics when they saw his grin. Russ slapped him on the shoulder and started for the wagon.

  “I’d love to think we’ve seen the last of these guys, but I doubt that’s the case. Right now we need to get back to the farm and get our people seen to. Keep your eyes open. Stop at every intersection so we can listen for anyone who might be following us. The last thing we need is for these douchebags to know where the farm is. Let’s get back.”

  They loaded up in the vehicles. Bill drove the SUV and Russ drove the wagon. Lee was in the SUV with Sara. As they were heading out, she touched his arm to get his attention. He turned to her and saw tears flowing down her face.

  “Thank you. I can’t imagine what might have happened if those men had taken me and Kate.”

  Lee looked at her with the most serious and determined expression she had ever seen. “I can. I have imagined the absolute worst things that could have happened to Jackie. I have nightmares every night about what she might have gone through. I won’t stand by and watch that happen to anyone else’s wife; any other child’s mother. That’s my tribute to her. That will be her legacy.”

  Sara cried harder and leaned her head over to lay it on Lee’s shoulder. He smiled and closed his eyes, remembering the many nights he and Jackie would sit on the couch watching movies and she would do the same thing. He cried silent tears at the memory as they made their way back to what was now their home. He was anxious to get there. He needed to hug his kids.

  CHAPTER 13

  There was a lot of action when they got back to the farm. When we saw Bob and Mike with blood-wrapped appendages, and Ryan’s face, everybody started asking questions at once.

  “What happened?” “Are you guys alright?” “Oh my God, Bob, you’re bleeding!!” That was Janet.

  Russ yelled above the din. “Calm down, everybody. We’re all okay. We’ll tell you all about it right after we get these guys cleaned up.”

  Kate herded Mike, Bob, and Ryan down to the basement, with Janet hot on their heels. I rushed to my husband, looking him over carefully.

  “Are you hurt? Was it those guys from our neighborhood?”

  “No, I’m fine, and yes, it was them. And the leader remembered me. It was bad, Anne.”

  I wrapped my arms around my husband and held him tight. I wanted more than anything to know what had transpired, but I knew he needed to process it, then tell everyone. I could wait. He needed this more than anything right now.

  “I’m so glad you’re home safe, Baby. What can I do for you? You need anything?”

  “A tall bourbon, but I’ll settle for a glass of water right now.”

  “You’ve got it. Have a seat.”

  I went to the sink to pump up a fresh pitcher of water and pulled out a half dozen glasses. I was pretty sure they’d all need to hydrate after whatever they had just been through. I looked out the window and saw Lee sitting at the table with both his kids in his lap. They had their heads together, like they were having a private conversation. Lee was hugging them fiercely, as if he thought he might lose them – or possibly that they had come close to losing him. Yes, we definitely needed to hear this story.

  As I was handing Russ the glass, Mike came up the stairs, followed by Ryan. Mike’s shirt sleeve was gone; in its place was a bandage that wrapped around his bicep. Ryan was complaining.

  “I can’t beli
eve she can’t do anything else for my face, besides dab it with alcohol, which hurt like a mutha. Now I have to walk around looking like I have a disease or something. Bob is already calling me Spot.”

  Mike turned to him. “Next time he does that, just reply ‘Whatever you say, Pinky.’ He’ll shut up.”

  “Why Pinky?”

  “Private joke. He’ll know what it means.”

  Ryan shrugged and walked over to the pitcher to pour himself a glass of water. Mike sat down beside Russ at the table. I fetched him a glass as well.

  “Thanks, Anne. Russ, you got any idea where those jerks are holed up? Might be doing society a favor to go there and finish the job. They serve no good purpose to anyone.”

  Russ shook his head. “No, I don’t. We’ve only interacted with them once, right before we left our homes, and we weren’t on friendly terms. At the time, I just wanted them away from my family. We did see them several times on our street early on, so it could be they are in that area somewhere, but I have no idea where. I truly hope we’ve seen the last of them, because I don’t want us venturing out of here toward ‘civilization’ again.”

  Mike nodded. “Agreed. The less we are exposed to the rest of the world, the better. I’m sure we’ll have to deal with those Glass boys again at some point, but I hope it isn’t soon. The Bird’s Nest,” He paused and slowly shook his head at the name, “is done. We didn’t get the foxholes finished, but we can do that tomorrow. I think we need to give everybody a break for the day, don’t you? It’s been a hell of a morning.”

  “Agreed. Lee is pretty shaken up; I think he just needs to be with his kids right now. No working on the bunkhouse. Let’s get some tarps laid out in the barn, and we can pull all the clothes out so they can be sorted and washed, if needed. Anne, do we have any idea how we are going to wash clothes for this many people? If you try to do it with your little hand crank unit, you ladies will spend all day, every day, washing clothes, and probably still never get through all of what we brought back.”