Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series)

by A. American

  “Wow, I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been to leave those kids behind,” Mel said.

  “It was awful. But I had my own kids to think of.”

  “It became clear the situation was only going to get worse. I went there every day to bring stuff to Brandy. After a few weeks, I knew we had to go. It just wasn’t safe,” Tyler said.

  “How’d you guys get out of Daytona? I mean, you couldn’t all ride on that motorcycle,” Bobbie said.

  “I traded the Suzuki for that cart and some other stuff,” Tyler said, pointing to a two-wheeled cart attached to a mountain bike. “Between that one and the kids’ cart we were able to get out of town pretty quickly.”

  “If it wasn’t for that cart, I don’t know how we would have hauled everything. We already had the kids’ trailer, which made life easier,” Brandy said.

  “So you guys ride from place to place on those?” Danny asked.

  “Yeah, we’re looking for a place to call home, so to speak. But it’s hard, because every time we find a nice place, there is either someone already there or people show up and we leave because they put off a bad vibe,” Tyler said, then jutted a thumb over his shoulder. “Where’d you guys get that rig out there? Looks pretty sweet.”

  “It’s not ours, belongs to a friend,” I said.

  “Looks military.”

  “It is.”

  “Man, that’d be nice, but I guess gas would be an issue.” Tyler stared thoughtfully into the coals of the fire then looked up. “You guys remember that show Doomsday Preppers? I used to watch that and laugh at those people. I thought they were all so crazy. But they were right. Everyone called them crazy, but they’re probably the best off out of any of us.”

  “A lot of them were nuts,” Danny said.

  “Not just them, but all those people, they called them Preppers, Survivalists, or nut cases, but they were on to something. I wish I’d have been one of them.”

  “Hey, man, you’ve done a pretty damn good job so far from the looks of it. You’re here, your family is healthy. It isn’t about what you’ve got, but what you’re capable of,” I said.

  “I’d be capable of a lot more if I had more, though,” Tyler said with a laugh.

  “Wouldn’t we all.” I chuckled. “How long have you guys been here?”

  “Four days so far.”

  “You plan on staying put?”

  “As long as we can. There’s water, fish in the lake, and plenty of firewood,” Tyler said, waving toward the tree line.

  “How is the fishing in the lake? We were talking about that when we were driving in,” Danny remarked.

  “Great so far.”

  “Are you guys hunting at all?” I asked.

  “A little, but I don’t have much ammo left. I’m down to ten rounds for the Mini 14. I have a little .22 too but only a few rounds left for it.”

  I looked at Danny, who gave a knowing nod. I pulled a mag from my vest and started to strip rounds from it. Tyler looked on, unsure of what I was doing at first.

  “Here, Tyler, take these for now,” I said, holding the rounds out.

  Tyler looked at Brandy, then back at me. “I can’t take these. I have nothing to offer in exchange.”

  “This isn’t a trade, man, you’ve got a family to protect.” I gestured toward my family. “I can relate.”

  Tyler stuck out his hand. “Thanks, Morgan, I really appreciate it.”

  “We’ll be by in the next day or so with some .22 ammo too,” Danny said.

  “Wow, I don’t know what to say.”

  “It’s uncommon today to see someone willing to do anything for someone else,” Brandy said.

  “We don’t have much ourselves, but we can spare a little ammo. Nowadays, you need it to feed and defend yourself. It’s a modern necessity,” Danny said.

  Tyler nodded. “Sad but true.”

  “It’s starting to get late. We’re going to head home,” I said as I stood up.

  “It was nice to meet y’all,” Mel said with a smile.

  Danny and Bobbie said the same, and Brandy shared her sentiments as well.

  “Come on, Ashley, we have to go now,” Mel called out.

  The kids were sitting together stacking sticks like a log cabin. “Aw, come on, Mom, can’t we stay a little longer?”

  “No, it’s time to go.”

  She pouted and stomped her way over, then ran back and hugged her new friend.

  After rounding her up, we headed back to the buggy, where the older girls were hanging out. Tyler and Brandy came over to say good-bye.

  “Thanks again for the ammo. I really appreciate it.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Brandy added.

  “No problem. You guys be safe,” Danny said.

  They waved as we pulled out. Mel leaned forward and commented, “They seemed pretty nice.”

  Bobbie agreed with her. “I hope they’re going to be all right.”

  “That’s why I gave them the ammo. I hope it wasn’t a mistake,” I said.

  “What do you mean?” Mel asked.

  “You know, people aren’t always what they appear, but since they don’t know where we live I’m not worried about them.”

  She looked at me like I was nuts. “They’re just a couple with two kids. They aren’t going to hurt you.”

  “I guess you forgot the story I told you about my trip home, when that couple with kids nearly killed me.”

  She didn’t say anything, turning instead to look out the side of the buggy. I stopped on the way back to pick up the greens I had pointed out to Chase. They’d make a nice addition to dinner.

  We made it back to the camp without seeing anyone on the road. Pulling up to the camp, I saw Jeff sitting by the fire, poking at something inside of a pot.

  “What’s in the pot?” I asked Jeff as we all sat down.

  “Some more limb rats. Thad and I went out to check the snares. We took .22s with us and managed to shoot a bunch, so we got a good dinner going for tonight.”

  Cool,” I said, then looked around. “Where’s Thad?”

  Jeff jerked his head toward the pigpen. “He’s back there. We cut up a cabbage palm and he’s throwing it to the hogs. He brought in the net earlier. There weren’t many fish.”

  A few minutes later, Thad walked up, carrying something.

  “Hey, Little Bit, come see what I got,” he said. As he got closer I could see what it was—a tiny piglet.

  “It’s a baby piggy!” she shouted when he knelt down. “It’s so cute! Are there more?”

  Thad was smiling. “There’s six more with the momma. You want to come see them? We need to get him back so he can eat.”

  Little Bit started hopping up and down. “Yes, yes, yes, I want to go see them.”

  We all walked over to the pen to find the momma pig lying under a small tree nursing her brood. The piglets were a mass of tiny bodies all trying to get to a teat. The girls were gushing over them. Little Bit wanted to get in the pen. As Thad leaned over and gently laid the piglet on its momma’s side, he said she needed to wait a few more days. She frowned but was quickly transfixed.

  “I didn’t even know she was pregnant,” Danny said.

  “Me neither,” Thad said with a smile, “but I’m glad she was. In a couple of months we’ll have a bunch of pork.”

  “Yeah, we could butcher one of the others now that we have more,” I said.

  “Yeah, it’ll be nice when they get a little bigger. Maybe barter with someone,” Danny said.

  I laughed. “Barter for what?”

  He shrugged. “Dunno. Guess we’d have to find someone to barter with first.”

  “How was the drive?” Thad asked.

  “Good, Chase is still hanging in there. Those boys all left, though,” I said.

  T
had raised his eyebrows. “Really? Wonder where they went.”

  “No idea. He doesn’t have any idea either,” I said.

  “We went over to Clear Lake and met a couple over there with two little kids,” Danny said.

  Thad nodded. “Where’d they come from?”

  “Daytona. They rode bikes all the way here,” I said.

  “Pretty long ride, especially with two kids.”

  “They had a couple of cool little trailers, one for the kids and one for all their gear.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Thad nudged me and smiled. “Bikes would have been nice on our trip home, wouldn’t they?”

  I laughed. “You ain’t lying, brother. I would have given almost anything for a bike back then.”

  “What’s in the pot on the fire, Thad?” Mel asked as she walked over.

  “Just boiling some squirrels. Tonight we’ll have squirrel and grits,” Thad said with a smile.

  “That should be interesting. But I’ll trust your instincts, chef,” Mel said with a wink.

  We went back over to the fire over Little Bit’s protests. Soon, everyone gathered around the tables for dinner, the light of the oil lamps illuminating our surprisingly delicious meal. This was a nice habit we’d gotten into—everyone coming together to eat and talk. The real reason for it was that we had to prepare communal meals and that forced everyone to eat at the same time, but it developed into something that we all looked forward to. It was a very happy circumstance, something that was needed in these unsure times.

  Chapter 17

  Sarge stood before the assembled noncommissioned officers. “Everyone clear on their assignments?” He was answered by a row of a half-dozen nodding heads.

  “Remember, we want to do this without firing a shot. Shooting is the last thing we want to do, but if it comes to it, pour it to them and attain fire superiority quickly. We want to avoid civilian casualties—that’s a priority. It won’t do us any good to free the camp if we’re killing the very people we’re there to help. We roll out at 0600 tomorrow morning, any questions?”

  He was met with silence.

  “All right, then get your trucks in order. Make sure your squads are squared away and be ready in the morning.”

  As the crowd broke up, Sarge joined Sheffield and Livingston.

  “I hope this works,” Sheffield said.

  “It will if everyone does their jobs right, especially you. They’ve go to buy into the fact that you’re an army officer sent to assist them.”

  As Sheffield was thinking that over, Vance walked up. “Captain, what do you want me to do tomorrow?”

  “You stay here and keep an eye on the folks we’re leaving behind. Once we take the camp down, we’ll send someone back. We’ll move everyone over there, where we can have shelter and access to supplies.”

  Vance looked unhappy. “What, just ’cause I don’t have a black rifle, I can’t go?”

  “The army hasn’t carried lever actions for some time now,” Sarge said with grin, looking at Vance’s .357 lever gun.

  Vance laughed. “I guess not. Fine, I don’t mind sticking around here.”

  “Besides, you gotta keep an eye on them three we got trussed up over there,” Sarge said.

  Vance looked in the direction where the prisoners were being kept. “No problem, me and a couple of the guys will keep watch. I’ve already talked with them, and we’ll split it up into shifts.”

  “Good, be careful with ’em, don’t take any guff from ’em.”

  Vance smiled. “Oh, we won’t,” he said as he headed off toward the camp.

  “All right, let’s make sure everyone has their shit together,” Sarge said, then looked at Ted and Mike. “You two make sure all the trucks are ready to go in the morning.” The guys nodded and headed off to where the trucks were being staged.

  Sarge went off to get his own gear ready. He would be riding in one of the lead Hummers with the officers. The rest of day was a flurry of activity with everyone getting ready to move. It wasn’t until late in the evening, when things finally started to wind down, that the camp got quiet. The NCOs broke up with their respective squads to go over the plan again. Sarge stood in front of the CP tent looking out over the numerous small fires that were burning, each one representing a squad.

  The Guard unit was made up of engineers. While they were trained for combat, it was never their primary mission, though the combat requirements of the various Gulf wars and Afghanistan meant that nearly all of them had seen combat. For many of them, their orders were to act as if they belonged there, which wasn’t hard in theory. But the idea of rolling into a FEMA facility and facing the unknown kept many of them awake that night.

  Sarge was up at 0400. After dressing and putting his gear on, he headed out to look over the convoy. For the most part the camp was still asleep. Only the sentries were up and moving. Sarge nodded as he passed them. Each of them had a hard look about them, trying to steel their nerves for what lay ahead.

  A little after 0500, Ted and Mike found Sarge leaning on the hood of the Hummer he would be riding in. They joined him and stood together as the camp began to come alive, silently observing the activity in front of them. The air was heavy with morning dew, giving everything a clammy feel. By 0530 the camp was fully awake, with people moving all over. Wives were hugging their husbands, who were about to leave on the mission, and in a few cases, those roles were reversed.

  At 0600, Sarge stood at the door of his Hummer, looking back along the column. It wasn’t very long—eight large trucks and five Hummers—but it looked impressive enough. Diesel exhaust hung low around the line of vehicles. With everyone loaded, it was time to move out. Mike, Ian, Jamie, and Perez were in the lead Hummer, while Sarge, Sheffield, and Ted were in the number two truck. After performing a quick radio check with each truck, they started to move out.

  Five miles of dirt roads took them from the highland pines down into low oak hammocks and swamp lands before reaching the paved road. The route had been memorized by every member of the unit: one left turn and one right turn, then the camp would be on the left several miles down the road. Sarge watched the scenery as it passed by, smiling to himself. Unlike many of the others, he was at ease and not even thinking of what lay ahead.

  At Highway 19, they turned right for the last leg of the ride.

  “You ready, Captain?” Sarge asked Sheffield.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Just remember, for the purposes of this mission, we’re on the same side as they are. Don’t look at them as the opposition—at least not yet.”

  Sheffield nodded and pulled out the drawing the guys had made of the camp. It was going to be one of the best pieces of evidence they’d offer to Mr. Tabor to prove their “allegiance.” Despite his efforts to remain calm, Sheffield’s stomach was in knots. He wasn’t certain this was going to work, and they’d be inside the perimeter of the camp with nowhere to maneuver if it didn’t.

  As they approached the sign that read NAVAL BOMBING RANGE OCALA, Sarge slipped his Kevlar helmet on. This too was part of the ruse—they had to look the part of an army unit, and his old ratty 101st Airborne hat wasn’t exactly regulation.

  “All right, Ian, nice and slow till you see their gate,” Sarge said into his mic.

  Ian turned onto the access road to the range, slowing down so those behind him could catch up. As they eased down the road, the burned-out bus came into view.

  “That your doing?” Sarge shouted up to Ted, who was manning the SAW in the turret.

  Ted smiled and nodded back. Sarge shook his head but couldn’t help but smile. Shortly after the gate came into view, three men in front of the bunker became visible.

  Sarge looked at Sheffield and clapped his hands. “It’s game time! You ready?”

  Looking quite the opposite, he nodded.

  They halt
ed the trucks and Sheffield, Livingston, Sarge, and Ted all got out and approached the now six men gathered at the bunker. They were carrying on a lively conversation amongst themselves. Ted kept a close eye on them as they were all armed, though none of them attempted to raise a weapon. In the lead Hummer, Mike kept the SAW pointed in their general direction, though not directly at them as he didn’t want to instill fear. Upon reaching the men, Sarge waited for Sheffield to speak first. It was important that the ranking officer be the first to say anything.

  Sheffield nodded at the men, who simply stared back. “Gentlemen, I’m Captain Sheffield. I need to talk to your CO, Tabor.”

  The six men looked at one another, unsure of how to respond. They had clearly never been told what to do if the military rolled up and started talking. In fact, the only thing they’d been told of the army was that they would attack—this soft approach completely threw them.

  Sarge, being the diplomat he was, was growing impatient with their bewildered silence.

  “Get on the horn to your CO now, dammit! It wasn’t a fucking request!” Sarge shouted. The sudden outburst startled the men, causing some of them to visibly jump. Two of them quickly disappeared into the bunker.

  • • •

  Tabor was at his desk going through the reams of paperwork piled on it. Even after the world ended, paperwork continued.

  “Main gate to Alpha One.”

  Tabor looked at the radio. Why in the hell are they calling me? He picked up the handset on his desk and punched a couple of buttons. “Ed, see what those idiots at the gate want, would ya?” Then he picked up the mic to his radio. “Stand by.”

  “Sure thing,” Ed said. He left his office and climbed on an ATV and headed for the gate. As the gate came into view, he was shocked at what he saw: a line of Hummers and trucks and several men standing at the gate in army uniforms.