Outpost 9: An Apocalyptic Memior

by Crane, J. J.

  Coming to the first set of car wedges, he ducked behind it and radioed again about the attack. This time, a response came affirming the gunfire. Taking a brief second to catch his breath, he shuffled through his bag to find two shells to reload into his shotgun.

  As he leaned against the car, he saw Emma running up the street. A couple more shots fired, this time coming from the woods.

  “The woods, the woods,” Curtis yelled into the radio. “Defend the north woods!” He turned and fired several rounds in that direction, hoping to slow down the advance.

  Emma rushed to his side, getting herself against a car quickly. “Are you okay?”

  Curtis said he was, but expressed he thought Jenny was dead. Another moment later Maya came running up. She had a rifle in her arms, her bow around her shoulder and a loaded satchel of quivers.

  “Bow and arrows?” Curtis barked. “Really? We’re under

  attack.”

  “I suck with guns,” Maya answered while catching her breath against the side of the same car as Emma and Curtis. “Besides, I can kill with one of these a lot better than some rifle or handgun.”

  “You guys done?” Emma shouted. “Enough of the quibbling shit.”

  Curtis apologized. “Are others responding?”

  “Yes,” Maya said. “They are assembling. Casey and Samantha began shouting for people to take positions in the backyards once they knew the intruders were coming in through the woods.”

  “We have to figure out how many people are involved and if someone is protecting the truck,” Curtis said. “It’s gotta also be their escape vehicle.”

  “Sounds good,” Emma said. “What’s the plan?”

  “We go to the left,” Curtis said pointing to the shoulder of the road. “We keep close to the trees, stay low and see if we can go undetected…it’s still dark enough. I have to imagine more than one person is guarding the truck.”

  They agreed.

  Just before moving out, they spotted Jason in a full sprint coming towards them. He had the look of a wild man, disheveled hair and a beat red rage consuming his face.

  “Where is she?” he asked, his tone in no mood for anything but exact information.

  “She’s up the road, just short of the house wedge,” Curtis said as he stood looking over the car’s roof they all hid behind. A new barrage of gunfire broke out in the woods behind their homes. Curtis could see a few figures maneuvering carefully through the forest towards the neighborhood. One of the attackers yelled out instructions before letting out a shriek of pain. Curtis guessed one of the foot traps claimed its first victim.

  “Who are they?” Jason asked. “How many?”

  “I have no idea, but they came in a truck. I couldn’t see all

  of them, but they’ve obviously come to invade,” Curtis answered. “We were going to check out the truck.”

  Jason listened while glancing into the woods. “I gotta see her,” he said.

  “Not by running up the middle of the road,” Emma said, grabbing his arm, and yanking him back down. “We’re gonna follow the tree line on the left and work our way up. We have to assess the situation, make our way back and hold this edge.”

  Jason only half listened to what Emma said before turning to Curtis. “Is Jenny dead?”

  “I don’t know,” Curtis answered, though he felt he was lying to him. “She’s down, I came under fire and ditched into the woods.”

  Jason’s eyes darted around. “Ok let’s do this. Keep up.” Jason then sprinted off into the woods to their left. The others followed but quickly saw that Jason wasn’t waiting around as he steadily moved ahead of them.

  At the Knowles and Kenderdine houses

  When I heard the first shot, I thought one of the guys bagged a deer. When I heard the second shot, I sat up in bed. When there was a third, I knew something wasn’t right. I quickly dressed and grabbed my gear. As I made my way down the stairs, I heard June cry out, “we’re under attack. Through the woods. They’re heading towards the backyards.”

  “Get a rifle, get a few, get up on the second floor… man a window and as soon as you see anyone that looks like an enemy, start firing,” I yelled, then checked my walkie-talkie to find out I had turned the volume way down. Once I turned it up, I heard a wave of chaos crackle over the speaker.

  Betty appeared. She acknowledged hearing me and said she was going to take the other upstairs window.

  “Great. Grab as many weapons as you can to keep you loaded,” I said. “Where’s Ted?”

  “Outside,” she shouted back as she disappeared to gather weapons.

  I began talking on the walkie-talkie asking for locations. Pops and Jean said they took rear positions along the back of their property line along with Bo. Ted set himself up behind one of the large wood piles at the end of our backyard close to the edge of the woods. Samantha joined him. The location gave them good sight lines at the intruders. The Kenderdine family, ten fighting, formed a line in their backyard behind their shed, and woodpiles. Thinking smart, they brought both rifles and shotguns out with them.

  After an initial barrage of gunfire that lasted less than five minutes, a silence fell over the area. Max, Bruce, Stephanie, and Beth appeared, planting themselves along Ted’s RV. I waved for them to take positions by either the sheds or the woodpiles facing the woods. This gave us seventeen people in our two yards and when Pam arrived, made it eighteen.

  When everyone found a spot, I made a run for Ted’s position.

  “Movement in the woods, there’s movement. Can’t tell how many, but more than a dozen,” Ted reported. “It’s still a little dark to accurately tell.”

  Several shots pierced the silence.

  “Who’s firing?” I asked on the radio.

  “Both sides,” Casey answered. “They’re spread out… they’re trying to make their way along the fortifications. I think one or two of them are down.”

  I was thankful for all the work that people put into securing that defensive line. If any of the attackers tried to break through, they would be easy shots for us. I was hoping a few would be just that stupid.

  Back at the Road

  Jason easily outpaced Emma, Maya, and Curtis while moving in and out of trees like an animal in pursuit of its prey. The other three tried to keep up but took a more cautious approach even though all the gunfire now took place in the woods to their right. Within a minute, they spotted Jenny’s body lying in the road. They also saw the truck beyond the wedge, whose lights were now off. It was lighter out, and the four of them easily spotted four men watching the battle unfold. All the men held rifles either out in front of them or slung over their shoulders.

  Emma spotted Jason lying prone just off the shoulder, barely under any cover looking at Jenny’s motionless body.

  Jason twirled a fist and pointed ahead of him signaling for the group to move up past the wedge.

  “This is it,” Curtis said, his breathing heavy, trying to corral the adrenaline rush consuming his body. “Once past the wedge, we should have a better look at these pricks. Maya, can you get a bead on one of them and take him out.”

  She nodded. “Easy at this range. What do you think they are… fifteen yards?” she asked, reaching behind to pull out an arrow from her quiver.

  “Give or take that,” Cutis said before looking at Emma. “As soon as Maya lets that arrow go, we fire. If I know Jason, he’s going to go psycho on those poor shits. We’ll have them at two angles, and we’ll drop them all.”

  “What if there’s more?” Maya questioned.

  “Then we’ll kill them too,” Curtis said.

  Crouching behind trees, they could clearly see four men with their backs to them watching the actions of their own people in the woods.

  Maya pulled back the bowstring. She shook more than she wanted. “Easy,” she heard Curtis say. She looked down to see him flashing her a reassuring smile. Refocusing, she chose the clearest shot. There was little wind. She eased her breath; calm came over her a
s she aimed the arrow perfectly square into a man’s back. With a steady hand, she let the shot fly.

  The arrow pierced the man’s ribs just to the right of his spine. Before the man could fall over, Emma and Curtis began shooting. The spray from their quick shotgun blasts clearly hit the men, toppling one instantly. The other three twisted and writhed in pain, first dropping to the pavement then trying to seek cover.

  Jason sprang from the ground after the first shots and charged. He fixed his attention on the nearest man who scrambled for the house wedge. Jason, with his shotgun ready from twenty feet away and closing, blasted. The man’s face exploded, spraying blood like a fine falling mist. He spotted another man limping away while trying to unsling his rifle. Jason unloaded a round that hit the man square in the chest, instantly killing him.

  Emma charged out of the woods with her pistol ready. Curtis followed. Maya hung back for a moment to watch and keep cover. As Emma and Curtis ran forward, bullet fire rang out from a different direction.

  Maya quickly saw the source. The shots came from behind the truck. She spotted a dark figure standing and keeping cover. Too bad his cover didn’t protect him from her angle of fire. She instantly lined up an arrow. The man got off another shot before she could. Maya heard a scream. It was Emma. Without looking to see what happened to Emma, Maya let the quiver fly, and it struck the man in the thigh. He buckled down to the pavement in agony, shocked at seeing an arrow lodged into his right quadricep. The man didn’t get back quick enough as Maya lined up another shot, then fired. It missed. Quickly, she had another one ready. She could see the man was trying to pull the arrow out of his leg. She let another one go, this time hitting him in the bicep. The arrow pierced the muscle, the point sticking out the other end. The man screamed, tumbling out of sight behind the truck.

  Curtis rushed to help Emma who dragged herself up to the front of the truck. He instantly saw she’d taken a round in the left thigh. It didn’t appear bad until he noticed her blood-soaked pants. Curtis took out his first aid kit from the small backpack he always carried. He dressed the wound as best he could. Emma said it was okay; they would treat it later. She expressed being more concerned with stopping the intruders.

  “Curtis,” Maya shouted. “There’s one more behind the truck. I don’t think I killed him.”

  “Okay,” he acknowledged looking back that way. “Where exactly?”

  “Not sure,” Maya said.

  “He’s on the ground, squirming,” Emma said, now lying on her back.

  “How do you know?” Maya asked.

  Emma pointed from her position on the ground. “Cause, I can see him from this angle. Get him then let’s get out of here.”

  “Maya, put the bow away,” Curtis instructed. “Rifle out and ready. You take one side, and I’ll take the other. We work our way to the back. I’ll go first, then go around the other side.”

  “Then what?” Maya asked.

  Curtis shrugged. “We kill him.”

  Maya hesitated. “Isn’t that murder?”

  Curtis closed his eyes for a moment, squeezing them shut as if battling an ethical dilemma. “No. We just do it.” Without saying another word, he stood up, turned, and slowly headed towards the rear of the vehicle.

  As Curtis approached the back of the truck, he could hear the man cursing and crying. A pang of sympathy ran through him. He had to kill the man. The thought ate at his stomach. Still, he reasoned, they came to kill us. Without giving it another thought, he dashed out into the open, pointed his weapon at the man on the ground. To his surprise, he came in eye to eye contact with a boy his own age, maybe a little older. The person’s blue eyes were wide with fright, tears streaming down his dirty face. Curtis watched as the young man’s lips quivered. Raising his rifle, Curtis heard the man plead for his life. Curtis began to visibly shake with nerves. Suddenly, the young man moved to grab a weapon. Curtis fired two shots. The intruder immediately slumped to the ground as a stream of blood oozed away from the body.

  “He was going for the pistol,” Maya said, pointing at the gun on the ground inches away from the dead man’s hand.

  Curtis let out a long exhale before lowering his rifle.

  “You did the right thing,” Maya said. “Let’s get back to Emma.”

  Emma sat against the front tire of the truck when they came to her.

  “Where’s Jason?” Emma asked, her breathing labored.

  Curtis stood, glanced around. He spotted Jason looking over Jenny’s body. He watched as Jason brushed back Jenny’s hair while talking to her. She was dead. They could see Jason pleading for her to wake up. His lips by her ears, his forehead resting on her head hopelessly.

  “No time,” Curtis said seeing his sister tear up at the sight. “Jason!” he yelled. “We have to move.”

  Jason nodded as he slowly pulled himself away from his wife. “The keys to the truck… see if they are in there. They can’t escape if there are no keys.”

  Doc’s House

  As rehearsed if we came under attack from the woods to the north, Katie, Dave, Doc, his wife Belle, Linda, and Steve would protect the southern end of the street from attack using the Jensen’s house as a base.

  Listening to the battle unfold, Dave wanted to assist at the active front. Katie told him he had a duty to honor. Dave paced, agitated at not helping repulse the frontal assault. They all listened to the pounding gunfire and chatter on the radio.

  Dave watched from the front porch, listening, and occasionally seeing people shift positions around our yard, the Kenderdine’s and Pops’. He could even spot a few attackers in the distance. Finally, he decided he’d had enough of doing nothing, checked his handgun, placed two extra magazines in his pocket, slung a rifle over his shoulder, and began to leave. Katie pleaded for him to stay but he didn’t want to hear it.

  “It’s Patriots Day, and I’m fighting for our freedom,” Dave said.

  “You’re abandoning your post,” Katie yelled. “What if we come under attack?”

  “Listen,” Dave said turning back towards her, his face tightening around his already sunken cheeks. “I’m not abandoning. If I’m ordered back, I’ll return, if not, then they obviously need me.” Dave let his steady stare linger in his wife’s eyes. “Channel two on the radio. If you come under attack, call me, and I’ll get back to help.” When she said nothing, he leaned in, kissed her, turned, and ran out into the open neighborhood.

  Knowles’ House

  After another heavy volley where the air filled with the smell of gunfire tingling the nostrils, a lull proceeded. I whistled towards the Kenderdine yard. Pam and John (Doc’s son) saw me. I signaled for them to come over towards me. I could see the two look at each other with reluctance. Their position wasn’t twenty-five feet away from me. Keeping low, they ran in a sprint towards me, collapsing to the ground as soon as they reached my position by my shed.

  “Follow me to Ted’s RV,” I said.

  As soon as I began my run, they followed. Thankfully, no shots fired our way.

  Standing by the front of the RV, I looked out at our firepit between mine and Pops’ yard. Two weeks prior, a few of us made an arc shaped defensive position around the firepit. It was part of our defensive makeover. Ted’s sturdy metal trailer he used to haul wood in was there as well as some old furniture we planned on breaking down and burning. We also stacked a small woodpile next to three wheelbarrows. Two decent sized Poplar trees flanked the end closest to my house while another anchored a corner towards Pops. In all, the position had good protection and fifteen feet of working space to operate in. It was also the closest point to the funnel area.

  “I am going to call for cover fire,” I said to Pam and John. They bore nervous expressions as their eyes didn’t seem to blink once as I addressed them. “We’re going for that fire pit. There’s enough solid cover to protect you. Your job is to find the best sight lines for firing.”

  Neither said a word as a blank look washed over them.

  “Are we u
nderstood?” I demanded. “We need this. Hold that spot. It’s the gap that glues my yard and Pops. I’ll have reinforcements over soon.”

  Both said they understood, barely.

  “June, Betty,” I barked into the radio.

  “Yeah,” June returned.

  “Hold on,” I said. To my amazement and confusion, Dave appeared. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Here to help. Heard the chatter, thought you might need an extra body,” he said.

  “Fine enough,” I said. “Follow me when I say go.”

  June’s voice crackled over the radio. “Honey, you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “What did you need?” she asked.

  “I need a few seconds of cover fire,” I said. “Need to move a few folks into different positions.”

  “Roger that,” she answered. A few others heard my request and confirmed.

  I took a big breath. “Ready,” I said into the radio while looking at Pam, John, and Dave. “3, 2, 1, fire!”

  As soon as I heard the first shots echo, I said ‘go’ and took off for the pit, the other three running behind me.

  It only took a few seconds to slide across the ground and land in the pit, a small amount of ash puffing into the air.

  I got on one knee and turned to them, “This is your post. You hold this spot until otherwise told. You guys are plugging this gap. I have to make sure other positions are secure. Don’t waste ammo. Wait until the enemy works their way towards the funnel area, then fire.”