Scott pointed a finger directly in Bryce's face. “Back the hell off, Bryce. I'm warning you!”
Jamie again stepped between the men to break up their argument. “Guys, guys! Now's not the time. Look at us. We have no idea where Gordon is. It doesn't matter who's to blame. We're all in this thing now. We have to find him. If we split up and walk the same path like a search team, we're bound to find him. He couldn't have gotten too far.” Jamie lowered his arms, hoping that he was able to talk some sense into them. Bryce and Scott both backed off and nodded at Jamie.
“You're right,” Bryce said. “We cover as much ground as we can but stay within range of each other.”
“What do we do if one of us finds him?” Aaron asked.
“We kill him,” Scott said. “It's the only choice left.”
The men proceeded forward, separating into intervals of ten feet. Finding one man in the forest seemed like a fairly simple task. Gordon was alone, afraid, and like the rest of them, not an experienced woodsman. At least they hoped. They moved at a steady pace deeper into the forest with hopes that any minute they would find him hiding behind tree and begging for mercy. They continued ahead for an hour, finding nothing. They were tired, dehydrated, and dispirited.
“Keep moving,” Scott said. “I can smell the son of a bitch.”
“Our packs,” Bryce said. “We left them by the creek. We need to go back and get them.”
“No!” Scott said, raising his hand. “We stay the course.”
Bryce wanted to shout at the top of his lung, but he saw no point. In protest, he stopped walking. The others did the same. Scott turned around to face them. “What are you guys doing?” he asked, confused.
“We gotta go back, Scott. If we don't get those packs back, we'll be in serious trouble,” Bryce said.
“Our main priority is Gordon,” Scott said.
“You're fucking crazy,” Bryce said.
“Guys...” Jamie said, cutting in.
“We go get our shit first, and then we'll continue the search,” Bryce said. “Look, like Jamie said, he's not far. He's right under our noses. But we have to go back. Our map, my compass, everything is in my pack.” Bryce threw up his hands and began walking away.
Jamie and Aaron turned to follow Bryce, as Scott stood motionless. He felt betrayed but didn't want to continue the pursuit alone. They would find Gordon. They had to.
They tried to backtrack to the creek, but couldn't quite find their way. Another hour passed, and dusk was approaching. The sun was peering through the trees over a hill to the west. Nightfall would soon come, and without any supplies, or direction, their venture into the woods was proving to be a disaster. Accusations flew left and right. The reality of being lost soon consumed them, and they temporarily forgot about pursuing Gordon.
Bryce tried to use the sun as a guide, but even walking west had its problems because all they saw before them was more forest, no matter the direction. They rested, walked, rested, and walked some more. Soon enough it was dark out, and the men found themselves spending their first night of many in the woods alone.
The Good Samaritans
Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 4:35 p.m., Milledgeville, Georgia (Four Days Later)
James, Mark, and Janice went back outside to talk to Bryce's group. Janice carried a plate of beef jerky, which they devoured instantly. James and his preppers felt bad for them. If their own group hadn't prepared, they could easily resemble the very men in front of them who so desperately needed help. Ultimately, they looked too weak, too sickly to pose any real threat, and James considered their “journey from home” story to be genuine; however, he did not trust them fully and chose not to indulge Bryce's repeated request to see inside the house.
Inside, Christina refused to leave or to let Paula out, so Terrance had no choice but to leave the group and go talk to her.
“Who are those men out there?” Christina asked as he walked inside.
“Just a couple of guys who need help,” Terrance answered. He walked past her and headed downstairs to the basement. Tobias and Paula watched the men from a window, concealed by curtains. Christina turned and followed Terrance down the steps.
“Tobias said that they snuck up on both of you when you were in the front yard. He said they came out of nowhere. What's their story?”
Terrance searched the shelves in the faint light of the basement provided by small windows near the ceiling. Particles of dust floated down in the light from the windows. Terrance had a tote bag in one hand and grabbed assorted bags of dried fruit with the other.
“They live on the other side of town, small little neighborhood in the middle of nowhere, just like us now. They ran out of supplies, and the men banded together to try to get help.”
“You know what they say about feeding the bears, don't you?” Christina asked. “It just attracts more of them.”
Terrance stopped and turned to her. “I'm surprised at you. What if a young black family came here and needed some help? Would you so easily turn them away?”
“What does race have to do with anything?” Christina asked, angered.
“I'm just asking. I think you're mainly suspicious of them because they're a bunch of white men.”
“I don't care who they are; we don't know 'em, and they don't know us. You're being complacent, that's your problem.”
Terrance resumed shuffling the bags of preserved food on the shelves. He grabbed some large Ziploc bags of dried bananas, apricots, and peaches and tossed them into his tote bag. “The sooner we help them and send them on their way, the sooner they're gone and back to their families. We have to be prepared for this. People are going to come to us, no matter how deep in the woods we are.”
Christina had nothing more to say about the matter. The house, it seemed, had spoken. “Give them only what we can spare. Nothing more, nothing less,” she said.
“I plan to,” Terrance said, tossing the last Ziploc bag into his tote. He turned around and began to walk toward the stairs. “After dinner tonight, Tobias and I are going to hit the road.”
Christina paused, nearly forgetting that her husband and son were leaving tonight. She then followed him up the stairs. “OK,” she said. “After dinner it is.”
As Terrance climbed the stairs to the top, he noticed Paula and Tobias peeking out the living room window. “What are you two doing?” he asked.
Both children jumped a little, surprised to be caught, even though they had heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Tobias and Paula turned around to see their parents standing behind them. Christina stood silently next to Terrance with her arms crossed. Terrance awaited their response while holding a tote bag full of food.
“Just looking,” Tobias said. “Keeping an eye out.”
“Who are you watching?” Christina asked, approaching them.
“The dirty men,” Paula answered.
Christina placed a hand on both children's shoulders. She looked at Terrance then back to her kids. “Let's try not to judge them by their appearances. Lord knows, we get enough of that on our own. We're better than that.”
“So are they good?” Paula asked.
“We don't know just yet. We're going to give them some food and send them on their way,” she said.
“You've all been hiding inside long enough. I want you all to go out there and introduce yourselves,” Terrance said. No one moved or responded. “Come on,” he added, walking toward the back door. Christina, Tobias, and Paula slowly followed him outside to join the others. Christina, the last one out, closed and locked the door behind her.
It was late afternoon, and the sun was gradually sinking below the tree line. Scott, Aaron, and Jamie were sitting at the picnic table, staring at the empty plate in the middle with longing in their eyes. Only moments before, it was full of beef jerky strips. Bryce was in the middle of explaining to James how they came upon the bug-out house. Mark and Janice stood to the side, quietly gazing around.
Bryce cleared his throat and
continued his story explaining how they came upon the house. “So Scott here, says, 'I see a roof, guys, I really think I see a roof,' then Jamie here is all, 'The roof of what?’, and Scott says, 'The roof of a house. What do you think I'm talking about, a tree fort?' And that drew us closer to the place.” Scott and the others laughed along when suddenly Scott decided to cut in.
“Has anyone else come by, since, you know, the incident?” he asked James.
James thought to himself. “Not that I know of. Can't say that anyone has.”
Scott had looked around, constantly surveying the house, which James took keen notice of. Suddenly, everyone looked up to see the Robinson family approaching.
“Ah, what do we have here?” James asked. “Looks like the rest of you decided to come out of your cave.” Terrance and Christina smiled as Terrance set the tote bag of goods on the bench. He hoped to get the men on their way before nightfall. James had planned to fry some fish for dinner, and they didn't have enough to share.
“Bryce, this is my wife, Christina,” he said.
“Pleased to meet you,” Christina said, with her hand out.
Bryce cupped her hand and shook it. “The pleasure is all mine,” he said. “This is Scott, Aaron, and Jamie.” Each man nodded and shook her hand. Christina introduced Paula, and the men seemed cordial enough not to raise too much suspicion.
Terrance held his tote bag up in full view of the men.
“We loaded you up with dried fruits, pecans, and a bunch of other tasty stuff. Should be enough to sustain you for the walk back home.”
He handed it to Bryce, who took the bag graciously. “I can't thank you enough,” he said, looking around. “All of you have been so generous to us, it really is something.”
“Not a problem,” James said, leaning against the bench of the picnic table. “We'll top you guys off before you go.”
Scott scanned the area discreetly. In the far corner of the backyard, next to a wooden shed, he noticed a large camouflaged tarp with the shape of several vehicles protruding from underneath. He looked back at the house. Solar panels rested atop the roof in sheer abundance. The back of the house had three windows with bars over them and thick curtains concealing the inside.
One of the curtains, however, was slightly cracked, and he could see some artificial light, like that of a light bulb. It was faint, but unmistakable. The house had power. Scott was sure of it. The owners had lied about their status. Scott couldn't blame them. He probably would have done the same thing. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to probe as far as he could go.
Bryce was in the process of thanking their generous hosts. But Scott wasn't going to give up that easily. He had some questions of his own. He suddenly noticed that Bryce's voice had cracked and that the expression on his face went from jovial to dour and serious. “Don't do it,” Scott said under his breath. He knew it was a mistake to agree to let Bryce do all the talking. Bryce pushed him away.
“My friends and I have a confession to make,” Bryce said, garnering the attention of everyone. “This is hard, but we have no other choice but to come clean. We haven't exactly been straight with you guys.”
James looked at Terrance. Terrance looked at James. Mark and Janice looked at each other. Christina looked at Bryce in startled apprehension. Tobias stood behind his parents, tying to look bored, but he felt scared. Paula locked her arms around her mom.
“What is it, Bryce?” James asked, keeping his voice steady.
Suddenly, Scott cut in. “We don't have families back home waiting on us. OK. There, I said it. We all live together in a three-bedroom house in Milledgeville. We figured you would be more willing to help us if we said we had families to support. The world commonly discriminates against single middle-aged men.”
“But what about your wedding rings?” Christina asked, exposing the biggest flaw in the story.
Scott looked down at his ring finger and examined the glittering golden band. “We're all divorced. Divorced friends who decided to live the country life. I guess we all just have a hard time letting go of the past.”
“That's quite enough, Scott,” Bryce said. “We don't need to bore these friendly people with our personal lives.”
“Well, you wanted to put it out there, Bryce, so I thought I'd take the lead,” Scott said.
“How very thoughtful of you,” Bryce said, glaring at him.
“So that's the big secret?” James asked. “You're a bunch of bachelors?”
“I guess so,” Bryce said, pulling himself back together. Scott's stunt made him rethink coming clean, though he was still scared of having to venture back out into the woods, especially with the night approaching. He wanted James and the others to know, at the very least, that he and his men were lost. That even if they were to be given a year's supply of preserved fruit, they hadn't the faintest clue how to get back into town.
“The other problem is that we're completely lost. We were trying to get to downtown Milledgeville and ended up in your front yard instead,” Bryce said.
“You're a long way from downtown Milledgeville, I'll tell you that,” James said.
“That's what we thought,” Bryce said.
“Do you have a car that can take us into town?” Scott asked.
James and Terrance looked at each other, then back to Scott. “Our vehicles haven't worked since the EMP blast,” James answered.
“Interesting,” Scott said. “How about your house? No power in there? Even with all those solar panels.”
“We have limited resources we're using to get through this thing,” James answered.
“How do you know each other anyway? I guess what I mean is, what are you all doing out here?” Scott asked.
“We're friends,” James said. “Friends spending some time together.” James stopped, looked around, then laughed. “It just so happens that now we have to put up with each other longer than planned.”
Bryce and his men smiled, all but Scott. He wasn't convinced. Before he could continue his questions, James cut in. He walked away from the bench, and waved Bryce and his crew over. Sure enough, they stood up and walked with him.
“Now if you're trying to get downtown, all you have to do is follow the dirt road out here for a few miles until you reach the highway, then you go east for about ten miles. It's a no-brainer.”
Bryce looked up into the sky, noticing the fleeting sun. It was now an orange orb, thick like egg yolk descending rapidly. He turned to James with one last plea. “Perhaps we could stay with you guys for the night. We've got quite a long journey ahead of us, and we're tired enough as it is,” Bryce said, holding the tote bag of goods.
James looked at him with sympathetic eyes, knowing that a simple act of altruism was going to be anything but simple. He would need approval from the others. With regard to the bug-out house, all decisions would come through a vote. “I'm afraid it's not that easy,” James said, in the most honest assessment he could offer. “We're pretty cramped as it is. I would have to talk to everyone first.”
Bryce nodded his head. “Of course. We understand completely.”
James could see that the men were in no hurry to leave. They stood there watching him like children waiting for instructions on what to do next. “Give me a minute to discuss the matter with my friends. Wait here, if you don't mind,” he said.
“Not a problem at all,” Bryce answered. “We appreciate your consideration.”
James walked away, leaving the men near the front of the house, as he returned to the backyard. Mark, Janice, Terrance, and Christina all looked up as he approached. Tobias and Paula had already gone back inside.
“What's up?” Mark asked.
“Follow me,” James said, signaling the group to the tree line of the backyard. They rose from the bench, slightly confused, and followed. Once they were out of range from their visitors, James turned to them and spoke.
“Here's the deal, guys. They asked to stay with us for the night. So what's the decision?”
> “I think the obvious answer is no,” Mark said.
Janice gave him an immediate look of disbelief. “How can you say such a thing? Just look at them. They're not going to last another night out there.”
“They spend one night here; they're not going to want to leave. I guarantee that,” Mark said.
“We don't even know who they are,” Christina said.
“They're just a bunch of confused, unprepared men,” Terrance said.
“I mean who they really are,” Christina said.
“Look. We don't want to stand here forever. Let's put it to a simple vote. Who is in favor of them staying here?” James asked. Janice and Terrance both raised their hands slightly. “And who is in favor of them not staying here?”
Mark and Christina both raised their hands, and James soon followed.
“James!” Janice said. “I thought you had a little more compassion than that.”
“Mark has a point. We don't have the resources to take on four grown men.”
“I'm really disappointed in you guys,” Janice said.
“We've done all we can for them,” Mark said. “More than enough, really.”
Janice shook her head in disagreement.
Near the front of the house, Bryce and his crew talked amongst themselves in a small circle, trying to plan their next move.
“You actually think they'll go for it?” Jamie asked Bryce.
“I put it out there. Whether or not they agree to it remains to be seen,” Bryce answered.
Scott chimed in. “I'll tell you one thing, something isn't right about this bunch. They're keeping things from us. They're not being honest.”
“They don't owe us a thing, Scott,” Bryce said.
Aaron, quiet up until then, decided to add his two cents. “They don't want us here. Plain and simple. Better just cut our losses and leave.”
“I suppose you guys are also forgetting about a little matter involving our mutual friend, Gordon,” Scott said.
“He could have made it into town already for all we know,” Aaron said.
“This is stupid. We're in the middle of the woods with nothing. I say we take the house and everything in it,” Scott said.
End Days Super Boxset Page 182