Duncan had stayed silent all up until that point, having not spoken a word. But now, he spoke to them for the first time.
“If I may speak, this ain’t their fault, Alexandra,” he said. “They wouldn’t have come here on their own if they thought there was nothin’ here.”
“Shut up, Duncan,” she snapped. “I’ll handle this.”
Duncan took a few steps back with his head lowered. It was clear he wasn’t exactly the best at standing up for himself.
“I am going to need reassurance that my people will have the supplies you promised,” Alexandra said as she turned back to Randall and Robert. “Or else if you fail to deliver…”
“Or else what?” Robert interrupted.
“Or else this story isn’t going to end well for the two of you or your sister back at our camp,” she responded.
Suddenly, Robert lunged forward and flung Alexandra against the wall!
Stunned, he had his hands gripped around her neck before she could recover and respond.
“Robert!” Randall shouted.
Through Robert’s hands were wrapped tightly around her throat, Alexandra managed to gurgle out: “You lose.”
Robert looked down and saw that she had Randall’s 1911 .45 pointed directly at his gut. The hammer was cocked and the safety off, and her finger was on the trigger. She could easily shoot him right now.
“Let go of me, right now,” Alexandra managed to speak again.
Slowly, Robert released his grip over her.
“Now step back,” she ordered. “And both of you, hands in the air.”
Robert did as he was told and raised his hands. Randall followed.
“I’ll have that big revolver of yours now,” Alexandra said. “Pull it out slowly and with your non-dominant hand.”
Slowly, Robert pulled out his big Ruger .357 from under his waistband.
“Duncan,” Alexandra said.
Duncan hesitated, not sure what to make of the recent turn of events.
“Duncan!” Alexandra yelled again.
Duncan reluctantly stepped forward and seized the .357 from Robert.
“Now you,” Alexandra said to Randall. “I know you must have got another pistol under that jacket, or else you wouldn’t have so willingly given me this one. Pull it out and hand it over like he did.”
Randall unzipped his jacket and slowly removed his Beretta 9mm from his shoulder holster and set it on the floor before kicking it over.
With both eyes on the two of them and her .45 stilled aimed at Robert, Alexandra knelt down, picked it up, and jammed it in her belt.
“Alright,” she said. “You say we’ve got two more homes to check out for supplies. We’re gonna pay them a visit. You will lead the way, but neither of you will speak unless I ask you a question and I don’t want to see any kind of non-verbal communication between the two of you. But if it’s the same story, if there’s nothing there at those homes, I hope you say your prayers quickly because I am not going to hesitate to shoot the two of you. Understand?”
Randall and Robert nodded.
“Alright, now lead the way,” Alexandra motioned to the door with the pistol.
Chapter Eight
Hill Overlooking Priest Lake
Gale was leading the scouting expedition to find the Parker family, with a total of two vehicles and eight other armed men under his command.
Parked on a hill overlooking Priest Lake, Gale was scanning the lake through high powered binoculars.
“See anything?” one of the men asked.
“A few camps, RVs, and houses along the lake,” Gale responded. “Let’s check ‘em out.”
“Wait, you can’t literally suggest that we go and talk to people,” another of the men said. “I thought your father said no contact was to be made.”
Annoyed, Gale put down his binoculars and said, “I’m in command here. Is that understood? And in case you didn’t realize, we’re not going to find the Parkers just by running around and looking through a spying glass. Besides, how are we going to get more people to join our side if we don’t even engage with them?”
The other men stayed silent.
“Fire up the trucks,” Gale continued. “I see a tent with four people outside of it and we’re going to go talk to them. Let’s go.”
* * *
Everyone was anxiously awaiting the return of Randall, Robert, and Jane at the Parker lake cabin.
Jane was usually on watch but since she wasn’t there today, so Claire, Marcus, and Bruce took shifts in patrolling the surrounding woods. Susan, Angela, and Christine were preparing food inside the cabin.
Thomas was recovering quickly from his injuries, faster than anybody had anticipated. His hands and fingers were still bandaged, but he was on his feet and walking around outside to get some fresh air.
He found his grandfather, Barry, outside conducting maintenance on the Ford RV that they had resting outside. The RV served as the sleeping quarters for those who couldn’t squeeze into the single story cabin.
“What are ya doing, grandpa?” Thomas asked.
“Just a little routine maintenance,” Barry replied.
The hood to the RV was open and Barry was tinkering around with the engine.
“You do realize that’s not gonna run because of the EMP, right?” Thomas asked.
“I know, I know, probably not,” Barry replied. “But it gives me something to do.”
Thomas could tell that his grandfather was anxious.
“They’ll be back,” Thomas said. “Randall said they would be back within twenty four hours. It’s only been like six so far.”
“If you’re feeling well, maybe you should help out your father and uncle on patrol,” Barry said, still not looking up from the engine.
“I would, if only…” Thomas said as he held up his hands.
His dislocated fingers had been put back into place but he was still in a lot of pain and for the time being he couldn’t use them. It would take a good week at least before Thomas would be able to remove the bandages and attempt to use them again.
“Yeah, yeah…” Barry’s voice trailed off.
Thomas could tell that Barry wasn’t exactly in for a long conversation so he turned and walked out into the open area in front of the lake. He could see a few other houses and tents set up on the other side of the lake through the trees, but the Parker’s hadn’t bothered to engage with any of them as far as Thomas knew.
Thomas ventured out to the beach and then strode out onto the dock. He sat down and at the edge of the dock just above the water, and waited his brother and two cousins return.
* * *
Gale and his men stood in front of a family of four who were camped next to Priest Lake. They had a tent and some basic camping supplies, and as far as Gale could tell, they were unarmed too.
“You know the Parkers?” Gale asked.
“Yes,” said the father of the family.
The very fact that Gale had two working vehicles and eight men armed with rifles and shotguns was enough to intimidate the family into submission. The father was trying his best to act as unafraid as possible, while his wife stood behind them with their two small children, a boy and a girl.
“And do you know where they live?” Gale asked.
“Northern end of the lake, they’ve got a cabin up there,” the father said. “But Barry and Christine are good people. Why do you have beef with them?”
Gale turned to his men and then turned back to face the father.
“They killed my brother,” Gale said sternly.
“What?” the father asked.
“That’s right,” Gale said. “He was out on patrol with a couple guys, and two of the Parker’s got the jump on him and gunned him down in cold blood.”
Gale was lying through his teeth and he knew it. Even so, his hatred for Parkers burned and seethed in his breath.
“What was your brother’s name?” the father asked.
“Gerald,” replied Ga
le. “His name was Gerald.”
“Gerald,” the father said, taking a moment before speaking again. “So what are you going to do?”
“We’re going to do what needs to be done,” Gale replied. “Bring justice to the Parkers. This is a dangerous world and with people like them out there right next to us, it’s a threat to our families and our children.”
“You’re not suggesting going after them and getting in a fight, are you?” the father asked.
“They attacked us first,” Gale said. “Launched an attack on the Compound. One man is dead and two are in critical condition. They all have wives and children.”
The father’s wife put her hand over her mouth.
“We can protect you,” Gale replied. “We can protect you and the other innocent people here. But we’re gonna need your help.”
“Absolutely,” said the father. “We know a few other families here, we can help spread the word for you.”
“That would be most excellent,” Gale said, pleased. “What’s your name?”
“Phillip,” said the father. “Phil is what I go by, though.”
He extended his arm and shook Gale’s hand.
“Can you fight for us too, Phil?” Gale asked. “We may need you.”
“I don’t know, I gotta family to provide for,” said Phil.
“The Compound is willing to give food, medicine, and supplies to anyone who joins our cause,” Gale promptly replied. “In addition to protection for your families.”
That immediately perked Phil’s interest.
“All I got is an old .38 and a couple of boxes of ammo,” Phil said. “I’m not exactly much of a shooter, it’s been a couple years since I fired the thing.”
“That’s alright,” said Gale. “We got plenty of guys and gals at the Compound who can fight, but we still need to make sure we have an advantage. That’s why we’re looking to further increase our numbers.”
“I’ll talk around and see who can help,” said Phil.
“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Gale said. “Thank you for all your help. We appreciate it.”
* * *
Randall, Robert, Alexandra, and Duncan finally arrived at Randall’s parents’ neighborhood after a good hour of walking.
Alexandra and Duncan kept their handguns hidden as they walked. Per Alexandra’s orders, Randall and Robert never said a word to one another, and they all walked in single file line with Randall at the front and Robert behind him.
Randall was relieved to see that the neighborhood was in much better shape then the rest of town. There was still plenty of trash lying around and stray dogs and cats, but the houses were still in great condition mostly. Some windows were boarded up, but Randall didn’t see any doors beaten down or anything of that nature.
The four finally arrived to the front of Marcus and Susan’s house.
“You have the key, right?” Alexandra asked.
“Yes,” replied Randall.
“Alright, no funny business,” Alexandra said, putting her hand over the .45 jammed in her belt and starting to pull it out.
They stepped up to the front door and Randall unlocked it. By this point, the .45 was in Alexandra’s hands and pointed at Robert’s back. She tapped Duncan on the foot and he drew the .357.
After the four had stepped into the house, Duncan shut the door behind them.
To Randall’s utter amazement, the entire inside of the house was completely untouched. How could this be when all of the other residences they had seen had been vandalized and stripped clean?
“Alright, now where is it?” Alexandra snapped. “Where’s the food and supplies?”
“A few different places,” Randall said. “There will be some in the garage, some downstairs, and some more in the pantry.”
“Lead the way,” Alexandra said. “But let’s try the pantry first.”
Since the house opened up to a split staircase when you walked in through the front door, they immediately had to step up the staircase.
Randall’s heart was pounding. He knew that Alexandra was not going to keep Robert and he alive once they found the supplies. Marcus had always kept a revolver for home defense in the upstairs closet. If only he could get to it…
They stepped into the kitchen and Randall opened up the pantry. Sure enough, it was completely filled with food: noodles, pasta, ramen, flour, soups, raisins, soda, and everything else you could imagine.
Alexandra’s eyes went wide. It had been a long time since she had seen so much food.
“Alright, start gathering it up,” she ordered. “Put everything in those grocery bags there.”
She motioned to the used grocery bags that Susan had kept stuffed together in the side of the pantry.
“Robert, do you want to gather the food?” Randall asked. “I can get the blankets and medicine in the closet over there.”
“I said gather up the food!” Alexandra barked. “Both of you!”
“Look, we need the food and we need the medicine and warm blankets,” Randall said. “We could speed this up if one of us gets one and another gets the other.”
Alexandra hesitated for a moment.
“Fine,” she finally said. “Duncan, keep an eye on him.”
Duncan nodded, still not saying a word. Randall led him over to the closet while Robert began to collect the food in the pantry and stuff it in the grocery bags under Alexandra’s watch.
Randall opened the closet while Duncan kept Robert’s Ruger trained on him.
Randall picked up the two containers of medicine that were there and set them down on the floor. He then turned to the blankets that were folded up nicely there and began to lift them up.
He carefully lifted up one blanket and sure enough, the polymer grip of Marcus’ Smith & Wesson M65 .357 Magnum revolver was there. Randall managed to get it out without Duncan noticing by sliding it out between two of the blankets.
“You say there’s more stuff in the garage and downstairs?!” Alexandra shouted to Randall.
“Yes!” Randall replied.
Randall was holding two folded blankets, with his dad’s .357 concealed between them. He was prepared to use it in the next five seconds if he had to.
“I wanna see them!” Alexandra shouted back. “Let’s leave this stuff alone for now and head down there.”
She and Robert came back around the corner of the house. Robert was carrying two grocery bags filled up with food. He set them down on the floor.
“Let’s go downstairs first,” Randall said.
He lead the four downstairs with the folded blankets in his arms. They got down to the split stairwell and then turned the corner to go downstairs when Alexandra said, “Why you got those blankets there?”
“We need these blankets,” Randall said, almost meekly.
“Yes, but why are you carrying them down there dumbass?” Alexandra rolled her eyes.
Randall had reached the downstairs level by this point. Robert, Duncan, and Alexandra were still standing on the staircase above him.
“You want me to set them down, I’ll set them down,” said Randall.
He got down to his knees to set the blankets on the floor. That’s when Alexandra started to grow suspicious. She raised her .45 and aimed it at Randall.
“What do you have in between those blankets?” she asked Randall.
“Nothing,” said Randall.
“Let’s see,” she said. “Unfold them. Now.”
Just then, the front door behind Alexandra creaked open. She turned to see who it was. Randall looked over her shoulder to see to.
Standing there in the doorway was Justin, Randall’s neighbor and a former police officer. Justin was a big, muscular man with a bald head. You could tell he was a cop or ex-cop immediately just be looking at him. He was a good and trustworthy neighbor from when Randall knew him from still living in his parents house. Randall had even talked with him briefly when he came searching for his parents in the neighborhood right after the EMP had gone off
.
And to Randall’s immense relief, Justin had a Glock 19 9mm in both hands aimed at Alexandra!
“Drop it, lady,” he ordered, his voice calm and yet stern.
Alexandra could tell he meant business.
“Who the hell are you?” she asked.
The Will To Survive Page 5