He figured that there was a new type of hunting now. Hunting through abandoned trucks and supermarkets looking for whatever food was still edible after seven long years.
And he wondered how long it would be before the world returned to the way it once was.
Once it was obvious the pickup truck wasn’t going to turn around and go back, David gave them the all clear.
They finished up and started walking back to the compound.
John’s radio came to life again.
“John, this is Bryan. Come in.”
“Go ahead, Bryan.”
“Hey, I just wanted to see if you wanted to help me take some measurements when you’re finished.”
“Measurements of what?”
“Measurements from the old cabin to the fence line.”
“Sure. We’re finished up and heading back in now. If you’re ready now I’ll just wait out here for you.”
“10-4. I’ll be out in three minutes.”
It took five, but it wasn’t a problem. It was a nice day, and John enjoyed being outside the compound’s walls. Even though there was an element of danger in being out, there was also a sense of freedom.
It occurred to him that this was what it must feel like for a man getting released from prison after several years.
Bryan came through the gate with an electronic tape measure, a long steel rod, and a sledge hammer. He met John and Brad as they were approaching the compound.
“I saw on the monitor where you placed the truck. Good job. That should do a pretty effective job of keeping vehicle traffic out of here.”
“Let’s hope so. So exactly what measurements are you looking for? And what’s the rod for?”
“I have to measure the exact center of the cabin’s floor in relation to the corner of the compound’s wall, so we can plot the coordinates of the new tunnel.”
Brad chuckled.
“You have to plot the coordinates? Like, so you can boldly go where no man has gone before?”
“Oh, shut up, bonehead. We have to plot the coordinates so that we don’t dig right past it and miss it. Our GPS will get us real close, like within nine feet or so, but that’s not good enough. We have to do it the old fashioned way, with precise measurements and geometry and other concepts your little brain just don’t understand.”
John couldn’t resist joining in. “Well, excuse me, mister college graduate. So what’s the steel rod and sledge hammer for?”
“Remember when we were digging the tunnel to the feed barn? We hammered this rod into the ground underneath the barn’s floor. It was what we aimed for. When we finally hit the steel rod, it told us to stop digging horizontally and dig up instead. We’ll do the same thing again. We’ll pull up a couple of floor planks, hammer this into the ground, and then put the planks back into place. After we finish the tunnel, we’ll revisit the cabin and make some kind of false floor that we can pull up to enter and exit through.”
“Well, all righty then. Let’s get started.”
Bryan took several measurements from different angles. The other two just watched, bored, not really understanding the science of marking a spot above ground so they could find it again from down below.
But they trusted him to know what he was doing. He’d done the same thing with the feed barn’s tunnel, after all, and they were able to dig a perfectly straight tunnel almost three hundred yards and hit the rod dead center.
Chapter 36
“Johnny Bravo, this is Frank Furter. Come in.”
“Hi, Frank. This is Hannah Banana. Johnny is out and about right now. Can I pass a message to him?”
“Yes. Tell him I’ve been worried about you guys. I’ve been trying to call you for a couple of weeks, and haven’t gotten a response.”
“We had some problems with some bad guys and were away from the radio for a short time. But it’s resolved now and everything is okay again.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Hannah. If you ever need some help with bad guys again, let me know. And tell him I’m glad everything is okay again.”
“Will do, Frank. And thank you”
“You’re welcome. Frank Furter out.”
Brad and Sami walked up to the console about that time.
Sami said, “Go home, sweetie. I’ll take over now.”
Hannah was surprised to see them.
She double checked the shift schedule, hanging on the hall on a clipboard.
“No, Karen is supposed to relieve me. Says so right here.”
“We all know you can’t read, Hannah. And that schedule doesn’t have any pictures on it. So how do you know what it says?”
“Funny. Not very. But a little bit.”
“And Karen has a headache, so I told her I’d pull her shift.”
Brad leaned over and kissed Sami and said, “Well, I wish I could stay here and watch the cat fight, but I have to go. We start digging the new tunnel this morning.”
He started to walk away, and almost made it out of the lobby before Hannah’s words stopped him.
“Hey, Brad!”
He turned around.
“How long are you guys going to be digging today?”
“We’ll do what we did last time. We’ll stop at five sharp every day so we can make it to dinner at six.”
“Okay. Kiss my husband for me, will you?”
Brad grinned.
“Well, that definitely ain’t gonna happen. But I’ll tell him you said hello.”
He turned and walked away.
Hannah turned back to Sami and said, “You know, Brad’s kinda cute. How’d he end up with you, anyway?”
“I don’t know. He’s incredibly lucky, I guess. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, just wondering.”
Hannah got on the base radio and made a call.
“Sarah, you got your radio on?”
“What do you want, oh evil one?”
“Sarah, do you have a minute to stop by the control center?”
“Sure. Be there in a minute.”
Sami studied her friend carefully. She could tell by the look on Hannah’s face that she was up to something.
“Okay, girlfriend. What kind of plan are you hatching that’s likely going to get us into trouble?”
Hannah feigned shock.
She channeled her inner Scarlett O’Hara and managed a deep southern drawl.
“Why, my dear Samantha… I just don’t have a clue what you’re referring to.”
“My ass.”
Sarah walked up.
“Uh, oh. This is a bad sign. You two miscreants in the same room? Obviously trouble.”
“Hi, Sarah dear,” Hannah started. “I had a lovely idea just a few minutes ago, while I was watching Brad walk away and noticed how good he looked in his Levis.”
Sarah interrupted her.
“I’ve noticed the same thing. I’ve always wondered why he settled for Sami.”
Sami pretended to be offended.
“Hey, you two. I’m right here, you know…”
Hannah said, “Sami, did you ever tell Brad that we hid and watched them showering when they were digging the first tunnel?”
“Are you kidding? He’d have killed me.”
“Sarah, did you ever tell Bryan?”
“Nope. I’ll take that secret with me to the grave.”
The light came on in Sami’s head.
“Hannah, are you suggesting…”
Hannah grinned from ear to ear.
Sarah said, “I don’t know. As much fun as that was, I’m afraid we already saw all the eye candy at the candy store. I doubt if the merchandize has changed any. And by the way, I was traumatized by that affair.”
Hannah and Sami just looked at her.
Hannah asked, “Really? Traumatized how?”
Sarah smiled.
“Ever since that day I’ve been jealous of Sami. And nobody in this world should ever be jealous of Sami. I mean, look at her… she’s Sami, for crying out loud.”
Hannah said, “You’re wrong, Sarah. The candy has changed at the candy store.”
“How so?”
“They’re stocking more candy now. Jason is helping them this time, remember?”
All three of them laughed out loud. Jason was Debbie’s oldest son. A strapping young man of twenty two, he bore a striking resemblance to Brad Pitt.
He was the object of Sarah’s desire the day she asked Bryan if they could convert to the Mormon faith so she could have more than one husband.
Bryan had said, “Um… I don’t think that’s the way it works.”
She’d countered, “Rats. Well, a girl can dream.”
Now Sami and Sarah just looked at Hannah, trying to assess whether she was serious.
Hannah said, “Hey, I’m just thinking out loud, okay?”
Sami looked at Sarah.
Sarah said, “Well, it is something to think about, isn’t it?”
Sami smiled.
“Let’s put it on the back burner and see how things play out.”
Chapter 37
Two more weeks went smoothly by. The group was getting complacent, and John was starting the wonder if the threat was real. Marty Haskins had described the man at the truck stop as looking like Grizzly Adams, with a brown ponytail and a brown beard. Further, he had tattoos on both arms.
But Marty hadn’t described any of the other men who came to the truck stop with him.
John had assumed that since none of the men they’d killed at the compound looked like Grizzly Adams, that it was a different group of men.
Was that an error on John’s part?
He’d already seen that the men who attacked the compound lacked any sense of discipline. They were rag tag at best, and seemed to have no sense of camaraderie or group loyalty. They proved that by leaving one of their wounded outside the fence to die, and then shooting him when he crawled back for help.
He had watched on the monitors as Hance yelled at Bennett. He couldn’t hear what was said, since none of the cams were wired for sound. But it was obvious from Hance’s body language that he didn’t like Bennett and was abusive to him.
In such a group of men, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine a possibility that the group somehow fractured.
Perhaps Grizzly Adams visited the truck stop before Hance and his bunch attacked the compound. Perhaps they were part of the same band, and Grizzly Adams argued with Hance. Perhaps Hance shot him and carried on the attack without him.
Perhaps.
But he couldn’t count on it.
If a band of four men was indeed searching for the compound in the hill country around Junction, it wouldn’t be an easy task. There were literally hundreds of private roads and long driveways within a five square mile area. Many of them were service roads which led to overhead power lines, cell phone towers or radio antennas. Others belonged to utility or energy companies and led to oil and natural gas wells or wind turbines.
Hundreds of others led to farms and ranches, or hunting lodges or girl and boy scout camps and church retreats.
Finding one particular compound in the tangle of private roads in the area could take months. Or it could take days. It all depended on how lucky the men were.
John smiled when he considered the possibility that some of the area residents might take care of the problem for them.
Farmers and ranchers in Texas are an independent and defiant breed. They don’t cater to strangers showing up unannounced on their land, and generally consider them all thieves and troublemakers until they prove otherwise.
Something else Texas farmers and ranchers share is a love for guns. And the willingness to use them when needed, to protect their property.
John hoped that the four men, if they did exist, wandered upon the wrong ranch. And that the ranch, full of survivors and livestock they wanted to protect, sent the group away a few members short.
In any event, the security measures needed to be done anyway. Whether these four men would attack soon or not, they’d identified holes in their security system during the first attack. The actions they’d taken recently, and the second tunnel currently under construction, would plug those holes.
And even if these four men never attacked, they would always be susceptible to attack from outsiders. As long as they had things that others desperately wanted.
“Hi, Dad. Anything going on?”
Sami walked up and broke his train of thought.
“Hi, honey. No, it’s actually pretty quiet. Are you here to relieve me already?”
“Yes. I’m a little early, I know. But I was all caught up with my chores, and had nothing better to do. So happy early birthday.”
He groaned.
“My birthday’s not for another week. And to be honest, I was hoping you were going to forget.”
“Oh, Daddy, that’s never gonna happen. How can I forget the birthday of the most wonderful father on earth?”
“Honey, when you get as old as I am, you’ll realize that birthdays are nothing to celebrate. All they are is reminders that I’m getting older. How’s the shoulder, by the way?”
“Good. I’m not wearing a bandage on the entrance wound anymore. Debbie says a few more days on the exit wound and she’ll stop bandaging it too. It’s still a little stiff, and I can’t lift the arm as high as the other one. But all in all I’m doing well.”
“You got lucky, honey. I hope you know that.”
“I know, Daddy. Getting shot sucks, and I don’t ever want to do it again. Once is enough.”
“Well, since you’re here early, I think I’ll walk on over to the tunnel and see how the guys are doing.”
“Don’t forget to wear your respirator. I was over there yesterday and they’re kicking up quite a bit of salt dust.”
Chapter 38
John walked to the feed barn and slipped under the false floor, which had been propped up. He could instantly smell the salt.
The first time he’d entered the mine, the smell surprised him. He’d never associated salt with having a smell. But it wasn’t an unpleasant smell, and he got used to it. Now, after being out of the mine for a few days, it seemed to draw him back. Like an old friend.
At the foot of the steps someone had placed an old wooden coat rack. But the rack didn’t hold coats. It held hard hats and respirators.
He tried on several of the hard hats and they all fell down and covered his eyes. He muttered that the men working the tunnel all must have big heads as he tightened the strap on the inside of one of them.
Then he took a respirator off the rack and carried it into the tunnel, past a very noisy ventilation fan.
Seventy yards into the tunnel he came to a branch he’d never been in before. The boys were moving fast. They’d only started the new tunnel two weeks before, and they were already so far into the new tunnel extension he couldn’t see them. Of course, the thick white cloud of fine powdered salt didn’t help his vision much, either.
He put on his respirator and walked slowly into the milky white cloud. He could only see three or four feet in front of him, and moved at a snail’s pace so he wouldn’t crash headlong into one of the tunnelers.
About fifty feet in, he finally came upon Bryan, using a commercial boring machine to drill holes at random ninety degree angles on the tunnel’s face.
John stood and watched, fascinated by the process, for a full five minutes before anyone noticed he was there. Brad saw him out of the corner of his eye and waved, but didn’t say anything.
The noise from the drill was deafening. John noticed that the four men were wearing ear plugs. He hadn’t thought to bring any, but he didn’t expect to be here long. He just wanted to check on the progress and see the process in action.
After Bryan drilled a dozen or so holes, Mark tapped him on the shoulder and relieved him on the heavy drill. Mark drilled another dozen holes, until th
e entire face of the tunnel was pockmarked with holes about eight inches deep.
Then Mark put the borer off to the side, and Bryan and Jason each took a heavy metal bar and inserted them into two of the holes.
Working the metal bars up and down and then to each side, they were able to break off huge chunks of the hard packed rock salt, which fell to the floor in a debris pile. As the chunks fell, Brad dragged them back out of the way with a heavy metal garden rake.
Brad then used a snow shovel to scoop up the debris and dump it into a long line of orange Home Depot paint buckets that were queued up along the tunnel wall.
Bryan wiped a heavy coating of salt dust from his wristwatch and then tapped each man on the shoulder. When they looked at him he pointed to his watch.
The international symbol for “break time.”
John turned to exit the tunnel with them, until Mark yelled at him. John turned back to see Mark pointing at the filled orange buckets, and then held up two fingers.
The bastards were putting him to work.
He picked up two of the heavy buckets and headed back to the main part of the tunnel, then continued into the mine. Up the steps and to the right he went, with the four men behind him, each of them carrying their own buckets. They stopped just long enough to remove their respirators, and for the four tunnelers to take the plugs out of their ears.
Halfway down the mine’s Bay 24 they came to a huge pile of tunnel debris. John dumped his buckets onto the pile and then placed the empties onto a stack. The others followed suit.
“Welcome to hell, John!” Mark shouted. “Nice to see you.”
“If I knew you were going to put me to work, I wouldn’t have come by to visit.”
“Hey, it’s the rule. Nobody leaves the tunnel for any reason without carrying out two buckets. It’s how we keep the filled buckets from backing up on us in there. Anytime we take a break, anytime we go to lunch, anytime we take a leak… two buckets go with us.”
John couldn’t resist a smile.
“Do you know how ridiculous you guys look?”
The four tunnelers, to be sure, were a sight to behold. Covered with a thick coating of salt dust from top to bottom, except for their heads and faces. Those had been covered with their respirators and hard hats.
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